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STANDING ON THE BALCONY, I stared at the monsters who had killed Val. In one moment, my sister and I were there, valiantly fighting back to back, stubbornly determined on making it out of there alive, but in the next moment, she was gone, just like that. My mind spun in an endless loop of memories that didn’t quite make sense to me. My heart raced, pumping blood through my body. My fingers twitched, and my skin prickled, which made the whole situation even more surreal. She was dead, and I was still alive. The world seemed more unfair than ever before. I was caught in a daze, and not the pleasant kind, until Jackie’s words snapped me out of it.
“We have to find Claire and your brother,” she said softly, though her voice betrayed a frantic edge.
The sudden urge to get moving didn’t go unnoticed. I turned to face her. Her eyes were burning with something: Pain? Disbelief? Anger? I couldn’t tell because my own pain had numbed me. My own shock and disbelief wouldn’t allow me to comprehend that experiencing a comrade’s death couldn’t be easy on her either. “I’m—I’ll stay,” I whispered. “I’m not going anywhere until every single one of them is dead.”
“No, Dean. You can’t. We need you. Your brother needs you. Think of those who are still around, those who care about you, and the pain you’ll cause if you give up now and sacrifice yourself for some impossible try at revenge.” She grabbed my arm and yanked hard. “She...Val wouldn’t have wanted you to do something so foolish. Your sister would want you to get yourself to safety. That was what she was fighting for.”
I didn’t budge. Her words registered with me somewhere, somehow in the back of my mind. She was right, of course, but I also felt as though I would be betraying Val if I ran away.
“Please,” Jackie continued. “Nick has already lost one sibling. Don’t make him lose both.”
“Let’s go!” Claire’s voice called from around the corner a moment before my brother and she appeared in my line of vision.
“Dean,” my brother said with a nod, “thanks for holding it together here, man.”
I turned away, avoiding his gaze. I couldn’t bear to tell him what had happened.
“The bathroom window in the back seems like our best bet,” Nick said. “We can make a clean getaway. So c’mon, let’s go!”
My brother’s gaze sliced through me. A single worry wrinkle creased his otherwise smooth skin. I peered into his blue eyes, begging him to understand; I couldn’t dare speak the words that burned a hole in my heart.
“What are you waiting for? Let’s go! This place is turning into Zombie Central.” His gaze became stubborn, and his hands clenched to his sides, as though he already sensed something was wrong but didn’t want to acknowledge it just yet.
I froze and closed my eyes to avoid his probing stare.
“What’s wrong with you?” he hissed, grabbing me hard by the shoulders.
I opened my eyes again and saw him scanning the open landing, his mind putting two and two together.
“Where’s Val?” his shout echoed in my ears. His arms yanked me around like a ragdoll, forcing me to face him.
“Those men...they...” I stammered, my voice barely snaking its way out of my constricted throat. “Earl... he, uh...Tahoe wouldn’t let go, and I couldn’t...Earl just threw Val over the balcony! He used our sister as a distraction.” I pointed a trembling finger to the pile of zombies where she’d been tossed in. The spot was covered in squirming bodies now, and on the remote chance that she was still alive, there wasn’t a thing we could do to save her.
“No!” he screamed as sudden realization set in. “Why didn’t you stop them?”
“I tried!” I shouted, shoving him as hard as I could. “Why would you think I didn’t try!?”
“Well, you should’ve tried harder!” he said, pushing me back. “For goodness sake, she was our sister, and you just let those jerks—”
“Hold on now! We both tried everything we could,” Jackie interrupted. “They took us by surprise. The older one, Evan or whatever his name is, almost killed me.”
“It’s Earl,” I corrected, for it was a name I would never, ever forget.
“He pushed me over the balcony,” Jackie continued, “but I was able to hold on until Dean helped me back up.”
“Oh my gosh!” Claire said, throwing her arms around her. “That’s horrible. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she breathed out.
“Where’s Val?” Nick bellowed. “Maybe we can still help her.”
I shook my head. “She’s dead, Nick, and even if she weren’t, she’d be torn into pieces by the time we made it down there. There’s nothing you—or anyone, for that matter—can do.” The sudden realization that I was right hurt me more than Nick’s pained expression. My jaw clenched until I thought my bones might snap.
Claire placed a hand on Nick’s back, trying to steady him, but she didn’t say a word.
“Don’t!” Nick said, violently shrugging her off.
“I’m so, so sorry,” she whispered, ignoring his command not to touch him. Even though her words were thin and sparse, I could hear the sincerity in her voice.
Nick nodded and kept his head low, and for a second I thought he was choking back tears. Then, letting out a sudden loud yell, like a war cry, he tore away from Claire and began pounding the wall with his fist, threatening revenge on every single one of those cursed things and on the two men who had done such an awful thing, throwing two helpless women over a banister.
I wanted to stop my brother, but there was no chance. Instead, I fought back the urge to join in his cursing. “I’m sorry, man.” My voice trembled, and I felt a tear roll down my face. Even though Jackie wrapped her arm around me to comfort me, I could barely breathe, and the room around me seemed to grow hot.
“There was nothing we could do,” Jackie said. “You can’t blame anyone for this except Earl and Tahoe.”
“We gotta go,” Nick whispered, ignoring her. “If we don’t get outta here, we’ll be next. But first there’s something I need to do for Val.” He disappeared into one of the bedrooms and reappeared a minute later with a gas can. Leaning forward, he started pouring it down from the balcony, soaking the zombies below.
I wanted to stop him before he set the house on fire and risked our lives in the process, but his grim expression stopped me.
“Fire and explosions are fantastic ways to destroy the walking dead.” Grabbing his lighter, he yelled, “Die, you undead suckers! DIE!”
“Dean!? Nick!?”
At the sound of Val’s muffled scream, we froze, dead cold.
Claire grabbed Nick’s hand. “STOP! Listen...that’s her!”
I leaned over and saw Val crawling out from under the pack, unscathed. What? How is that possible? They didn’t even touch her?
“I hit my head,” she said. “Blacked out for a minute. But I’m fine.” She stumbled through the moaning crowd and over to the table. There, she bravely snatched the keys for both vehicles and held them up high.
I shot Nick a confused look.
He smiled, mirroring my relief that she wasn’t dead.
“Meet me out back!” she yelled up.
I nodded and pulled Nick’s arm. “How is that possible? She’s still alive, but how?”
His eyes widened. “It must be because she carries their scent. That wound of hers means she’s turning into one. I’ve heard they don’t eat their own kind, but...” He shook his head. “To tell you the truth, I’m not even sure.”
I laughed, relieved. “Yeah, they must have thought she was one of them. Then again, I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
“I can’t believe it,” Claire said. “If you’re bitten, then you get reprieve from the zombies.”
“It appears that way. And since you haven’t been bitten, no reprieve for you.” Nick thrust a bat into Claire’s hands and motioned her forward.
She let out a shaky breath but didn’t protest. The poor girl was terrified; I could tell from the way her eyes darted to and fro, and her knuckles had turned white where she touched the smooth, cold wood. “What am I supposed to do with this?” she whispered.
My brother cupped her cheek. “Well, it isn’t for playing baseball, that’s for sure. I know you’re scared of guns, but you’re gonna need a weapon of some sort. Just beat the crap out of anything that tries to bite a chunk out of you.”
“I’m sorry, but I just...can’t,” she said eventually. “I can’t hit a—”
“A what? Another person? They aren’t people anymore, Claire. They’re monsters, animals, waiting to eat you alive.”
I felt sorry for the girl to some degree, but my patience was growing as thin as Nick’s. “You know what? Just give it to me.” I snatched the bat out of her hands. After all, my gun had flown over the balcony, and I was in desperate need of a weapon to protect myself. I knew I’d be okay once I got to the Jeep, because my half-zombie sister had packed plenty of weapons, but in the meantime, I had to make do with anything I could get my hands on. I thought my words might talk some sense into Claire, but she just shrugged and let me have her only weapon without protest. I didn’t get the girl, but at that point, with survival on my mind, I didn’t even care.
“Ready, Val?” Nick yelled.
“Yep! Let’s make them pay, boys and girls!” she replied from somewhere to our right.
I craned my neck until I thought I could distinguish her brown locks from the mess of dead people around her, and I saw her standing near the edge of the house, where the glass wall and the door had been.
“C’mon!” Nick said with a wink. Once Val was safely away from the horde, Nick went to work. He pulled a lighter out of his pocket and threw it onto the gas-drenched crowd, starting a zombie roast. Smoke and fire engulfed the small undead army while Nick yelled for us to run down the hall, then motioned us into a small bathroom with a narrow window that we hoped would be just big enough for us to squeeze through.
“There’s a huge tree we can shimmy down,” Claire said.
I nodded. Squinting, I could see the Jeeps in the driveway, and it was a relief to see that there weren’t any zombies in that general area. It appeared as if they had all headed toward the front of the house, where the glass walls had collapsed. I could only assume the noise from the explosion had attracted them and drawn them in that direction.
“Okay, everyone. No talking until we’re safe,” he said, sliding the window open.
Without so much as a look back, I threw the bat out the window and watched it land next to a towering bush. I climbed out. Branch by branch, I clambered down the giant oak tree. The moment I jumped down and landed on the bare ground, I saw Val running toward me. “Val! I’m so glad you’re alive,” I said, burying my face in her hair as I hugged her tight. “I tried to stop him, but I—”
She nodded but didn’t reply. A rush of emotions overwhelmed me, choking me. We just stood there, holding each other. In that moment, no words were needed, because I could feel how relieved she was. The other’s presence was enough to convey even more than we could possibly say.
Suddenly, our Hallmark moment was interrupted by a rude gurgle echoing from the left. Instinct kicked in, and I reached for my weapon. The smell of decaying flesh assaulted my nostrils. The moonlight served as a spotlight, enhancing every black vein, rotting flesh chunk, and seeping, oozing, smelly wound the zombie had endured. I wound up my bat to hit a homerun, hoping to knock the zombie’s head out of the park, but Jackie yanked the bat out of my hands. I shot her a look, but she just shook her head and replied with a grim expression of her own. I knew she was trying to make up for being hesitant about whipping out her gun to save Val. She wanted to prove to me that she was ready to fight now. I knew she had finished the thing off when a whack echoed in the air and the hissing stopped.
“You drive this one.” Val pointed to the black Jeep and opened the driver door so I could jump in, then tossed me a set of keys; a second set to the red Jeep dangled from her fingers. I nodded and took the driver spot while I watched her jump into the other vehicle.
Nick grabbed Claire’s hand and led her to my Jeep. I looked for Jackie, but she had jumped in with Val. I started the Jeep and threw it into gear. As I backed up, I noticed a handful of zombies to our left. My eyes scanned the area for an escape route, but that was about the only path wide enough for the Jeep to muddle through. “They’re blocking our path!”
“Run those slimy numbskulls over!” Nick yelled. “They’re already road kill!”
I hit the gas and sped out of the driveway, ignoring the loud thuds and crunches under my wheels. When a corpse hit the hood, I jumped in my skin; filmy white, glazed-over eyes connected with mine. Clenching my jaw, I threw on the brakes and sent him flying off, then sped up again.
Flames engulfed the giant glass mansion and burned brightly against the night. In the flickering lights to my left, I saw a swarm of zombies eating what looked like a human being. It had to be the mountain men...or what was left of them. The beasts tore at an exposed ribcage, oozing what I took to be intestines. The car Earl and Tahoe had ridden in was still sitting in the driveway. “Look! They didn’t make it,” I said.
My brother followed my line of vision and shook his head. “Justice served and good riddance. What they did to Val was inhuman.”
“Gosh, it’s so...awful,” Claire said.
I pressed the gas pedal down hard, revving the engine and making my brain hurt from the grinding sound. Blackness covered my vision for a second, and I shook my head until my vision returned. Through the blur before my eyes, I saw Val in the rearview mirror, easily following my lead. The vehicle moved at a fast speed down the narrow driveway and onto the unpaved terrain of the woods. Behind us, the glass building became nothing but a burning spot in the evening sky. We drove in silence for a while, until I could see nothing but trees and the darkening sky. Only then did I let out a long breath that it seemed I’d been holding for hours. We had made it, and we were all alive.
“I’m an idiot!” Claire said. “I can’t believe I actually wanted to stay. Had you left without me and Jackie, we’d be dead.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as reality set in. “I’ve never been on my own before. Our group—the group we were with—took care of us. They were like my family.” She took a trembling breath.
From the corner of my eye, I watched Nick squeeze her hand, soothing her. “It’s okay, Claire. Our world has devolved into one where people have to fight and kill each other just to live another day. The people around you sheltered you because they wanted to take care of you, and they fought to keep you alive and safe. Not all people are bad, but not all of ‘em are good either,” he said, pondering Earl and Tahoe’s cruel fate.
“You’re right.” She sniffed. “We didn’t have to fight before, not until today. I’ve never even held a gun in my life. It was surreal that you asked that of me today. I just...couldn’t.”
“I know, but you have to understand those people who looked after you—good as they were—didn’t do you any favors by protecting you, by sheltering you too much. Now you’re unprepared and ill-equipped for what’s waiting out there.” Nick’s tone was soft, but there was a sharp edge to it, as if he was breaking bad news to someone he didn’t want to hurt. I hoped Claire would listen and take his advice at face value. My brother was blunt, but his advice—hard as it was to swallow—would help her stay alive longer. “You won’t stand a chance out here if you don’t learn how to fight and protect yourself,” Nick continued.
I listened intently, his words ringing true in my ear. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was enraged with his brutal honesty, for much of what he said applied to me as well. I suddenly understood why he’d been so angry with me for smuggling Val inside the helicopter. I, too, had been sheltered, living naïvely on Kelleys Island, having no idea that the rest of the world was crumbling around me. Sure, I’d heard stories and plenty of urban legends, but quite like Claire, it didn’t seem real until I was thrown right smack dab in the middle of it. The truth was a painful thing for all of us.
Claire laid her head on my brother’s shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her. I was sure he felt awkward about it and was only trying to be nice, for Claire was definitely not his type. He usually liked girls who took on the action, not the ones who ran away from it, squealing about chipping their nails or breaking their expensive heels. But then again, who knows? Maybe he needs a girly kind of girl right now to balance out all this blood and nastiness. Opposites still attract, right? Or maybe it’s just a bad case of nerves. I knew whatever it was; we had no time for soap operas. We had more important fish to fry, like finding the freeway, for starters.
***
ONCE WE WERE FINALLY on the highway, I felt a bit safer. Val’s Jeep now led the way and we drove for a few hours in absolute silence. I would’ve loved to have thrown some tunes on, but I was sure all the DJs had been gobbled up by zombies.
Then, out of nowhere, I noticed my sister slowing down, and her brake lights flashed as she pulled over to the side of the road.
“What the heck?” I yelled to my brother.
He jolted awake when I stopped behind her and cut the engine.
“It’s Val. She’s pulling over.”
“Why?” Claire asked. “It’s dark outside. Stopping isn’t a good idea, right?”
I shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe she needs a potty break or has a flat or something.”
My brother jumped out of the car and dashed toward her Jeep, yelling, “Are you mad? No stopping unless I deem it safe!”
Claire and I rushed over to the other Jeep, then stopped the moment we reached Val.
She was on the side of the road by a sign, puking into the bushes.
Jackie’s hand rested on her back. She shot us an apologetic look, then went about rubbing Val’s back.
“Are you okay?” I asked softly the moment the heaving stopped.
She nodded but didn’t seem to want to move from the spot.
My brother and I scanned the area as we waited for her to finish. The long stretch of deserted highway posed no imminent threat, or so it seemed. Nick tapped his gun, signaling that we should get a move-on; I was glad for that, because I didn’t want to stick around either. The full moon reminded me of werewolves, and a chill pricked my spine. Get it together. Werewolves are fake, just something for teenage girls to giggle over, unless they prefer sparkly vampires. But zombies were real, and my sister was about to turn into one.
“Sorry, guys,” Val eventually said, standing.
“It’s okay,” Nick said. “I’m the one who should be sorry for yelling at you.”
Claire touched Val’s shoulder. “Is there anything I can do?”
She straightened and flipped her hair out of her eyes. “I’m fine, guys. Thanks for asking. Let’s just get outta here. Sorry for stopping.”
“Wait,” I said, holding a hand up to stop her. “You shouldn’t be driving in your condition.” I knew she needed rest.
Val motioned for Jackie to get back in. Once Jackie did, Val jumped in the Jeep and slammed the door in my face. Her behavior was moody and sporadic, and it went beyond the normal female oddities. Turning the key, the engine cranked but refused to turn over.
“Why won’t this thing start?” she asked. She tried a few more times and the engine finally fired.
Nick peeked his head in the open window. “Dean’s right. You’re in no condition to drive. Also, we need to re-wrap that nasty wound of yours.”
She smiled. “I’m fine, baby brother.”
“That’s for me to decide,” he said.
“Listen, each Jeep is stocked with a first aid kit,” Val said. “I made sure of that. So don’t worry. I’ll have Jackie wrap it up as soon as possible.”
“Let me slap on a dressing from the medical kit, and then Dean’s driving while you get some sleep.” He motioned to the back seat.
“Are you worried I might hurt Jackie?” Val asked. Before Nick could answer, she continued, “Listen, the first thing I did was give Jackie a gun. If I try to bite, she can just shoot me.”
As he reached for the keys, Val threw the car in reverse.
Nick jumped back. “Val! You about ran me over.”
Tires squealed, and she sped off ahead of us. Clearly, the girl had a mind of her own, and she didn’t like being told what to do.
I tapped Nick’s shoulder. “C’mon! We gotta catch up!”
He jumped in the driver seat, looked over his shoulder to make sure Claire and I were in back, and stomped on the gas.
I let out a breath, my gaze focusing on the road ahead. “Why’s she acting like that?”
Nick gripped the steering wheel tightly. “She’s stubborn. It runs in the family.”
My heart jumped when I saw Val exit the freeway into the next city.
“Oh my gosh!” Claire said as my brother swerved into the opposite lane. “What’s she doing? She’s driving like a maniac! She’s gonna kill my cousin!”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with her. We have plenty of gas, food, and water,” Nick said. “There’s no reason to venture into one of those cities. I’m gonna have to kick her infected butt when we catch up to her!”
“Not if I get to her first,” I said.
He pulled off the ramp and turned left into the city. A sharp jolt rushed through me as we ran over a deep pothole, then another. Nick didn’t slow down one bit and rushed to keep up with Val. The place seemed deserted except for a few stray zombies stumbling aimlessly down the street, groaning in unsatisfied hunger. There were no streetlights and no traffic—just eerie silence, darkness, and walking corpses.
Nick looked over his shoulder at us, “I don’t like this one bit.”
“Neither do I! Venturing into the city is beyond stupid. I really don’t want to follow her, but what choice do we have? We can’t just desert them.”
We watched as Val carelessly swerved around a corner, past an abandoned subway station.
Nick beeped the horn.
“Stop!” Claire screamed, popping her head out the window.
“Try cutting her off,” I said.
He sped up and swerved around her as my seatbelt strained against my shoulders. The headlights fell on the other Jeep, illuminating Val’s face for a brief second.
In that second, I saw the dangerous look in her eyes. I yelled for her to pull over.
She suddenly turned left and came to a halt in the empty lot of a grocery store where shopping carts were scattered all about.
“All right. She stopped,” Nick said. “Let’s go talk to her! I’m dying to see what she has to say.” Frowning, he pulled next to her and parked the Jeep.
Claire jumped out after Val. “Val!”
“Claire,” my brother yelled. “Don’t go out there without a weapon!”
“Got the stun gun,” she replied.
I didn’t believe in giving lectures, but Val needed a good talking-to, and I was going to give it to her, whether she wanted it or not. I opened the door, but my brother yanked my arm to keep me inside.
“Wait! You can’t go out there unarmed either.” He reached down and pulled a gun from a strap on his ankle. “Take this. I’ve got another one.”
Nick was right—again: Walking out in dangerous territory without a weapon would have been suicide, so I grabbed the gun. “Let’s go see what Val’s little problem is, and then we’ll get back on the road again. And she’s NOT driving again, no matter what.”
“Exactly.” Nick nodded.
“Hey, sis,” I yelled.
Like a madwoman, Val grabbed a loose brick and whipped it through the window. Glass shattered with a boom, making me lower my head to protect my face. My sister was losing it big time, and I realized Nick and I were going to have to wrangle her back because she wasn’t playing with a full deck.
“What are you doing?” Nick yelled, waving his arms in the air.
Jackie came from behind and shook my shoulder. “Your sister’s talking all crazy. She says you have a cure for her zombie bite, but she has to turn into a zombie first. She’s going mad or something!”
“We do have a possible cure,” I said, “but she’s right about having to become a zombie first.”
She nodded slowly, as if trying to process the words. “The cure...it’s in that black bag you were carrying over your shoulder when I first met you. Isn’t it?”
“Bingo. Hey, you got a weapon?” Nick asked her.
“I lost my gun when I almost went over the banister,” she said, “but Val gave me another one.”
“Good.” Nick said.
“Let’s wrangle my sister back into the Jeep,” I said.
“Crap!” Jackie yelled.
My heart leapt when Val suddenly darted inside the store, disappearing into the darkness stretching beyond.