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JENNA
I don’t ask any questions when Kate tells us to help find pillowcases and string. I have a sick feeling I know what her plan is. It’s too horrifying to put into words.
“Now what?” I ask, staring at the pile of pillowcases we pilfered from a deserted bedroom.
“Now, we catch some zombies,” Kate replies, tossing a spool of string onto the pile.
“There are some gathered outside.” Carter hasn’t said much during our search. I suspect he also knows what his mom has planned.
Kate nods. She looks like an extra from a zombie slasher movie. More precisely, she looks like she rolled in a dead person.
We peer outside. The moon is up. The stars are bright beads in the sky. Five zombies mill around, called by the keening of the one Kate killed inside.
“What’s your plan for catching them?” Carter asks.
“Pillowcases and slipknots.” Kate unrolls a length of string, snaps it with her knife, and ties a slipknot. In a few minutes, there are five nooses next to the pillowcases.
“I’ll be the bait,” Kate says. “Carter, you’re in charge of the pillowcases. Throw them over the head of the zombies. Jenna, you put the noose on and cinch it tight.”
Carter hesitates. I know he doesn’t want his mother to be the bait. I also see by the steely set of Kate’s jaw that she’s dedicated to her course.
Johnson’s face flashes in my mind. The memory of Lila’s weeping sets my teeth on edge. I’m with Kate on this. I might not know her exact plan, but I know she’s out here because of Johnson. Because of what he did. Because of what he wants to do. Living under his thumb is a bad place to live.
“Okay,” I say, picking up the string. “Let’s do this.” I march toward the door, hoping to quell any objections from Carter.
Kate strides after me. Carter has no choice but to follow us.
Kate positions herself next to an abandoned car. “We use this for a barrier.” She rests a hand on the hood. “We draw them to us. Bag them and move onto the next. Don’t let them clump up. We move back around the car and keep them strung out.” She looks to each of us, waiting for confirmation that we understand the plan.
I flex my hands around the nooses. Carter, adjusting the first pillowcase in his hand, nods.
Kate raps with her knuckles on the car. The zombies moan in response. They rotate, their aimless milling becoming a focused march.
The foremost of them runs straight into a pile of bodies and goes down. The second one passes him, nose lifting to scent the air. Kate keeps up her insistent knocking. She grips her knife in one hand, jaw set.
The first of the creatures reaches us. Kate grabs it by the front of the shirt and spins it up against the side of the car. It hisses, fingers clawing at the car.
Carter pounces, yanking the pillowcase over the zombie’s head. I’m a heartbeat after him, dropping the noose and cinching it tight.
It all happens in less than thirty seconds. We don’t have time to bask in our brilliantly executed zombie-catching plan. The second undead is hard on the heels of the first.
We fall back, trying to put space between us and the advancing monster.
I stumble on shell casings, almost losing my footing. Carter grabs me to keep me from going down.
And then the zombie is there, teeth bared as it lunges. Kate kicks, aiming at the knees. The creature falls with a howl. Kate slams her foot onto its back while Carter and I rush in and bag it.
I breathe hard as the third zombie approaches. The first two thrash angrily, biting and clawing at the pillowcases but unable to figure out how to get them off. They weave and twist like erratic pinballs as they struggle against the fabric that stands between them and their next meal.
Just as Kate lures the third zombie closer, one of the bagged creatures knocks into her. She tries to shove it away, but it grabs at her. They both go down right as the third zombie reaches them.
Carter yelps as the third beast lands on his mom. I lunge forward. Snatching my knife from my belt, I swing. The hilt cracks the zombie across the face, turning his teeth away from Kate.
Carter leaps into the fray, pinning the squirming creature as he wrestles the pillowcase over its head.
“String, Jenna!” he hisses.
I dart forward, cinching the noose tight around the zombie’s neck. It thrashes and writhes, moaning.
Carter extricates himself and kicks the creature off Kate. As he does, another zombie staggers around the car.
Fuck this. I don’t know what Kate has planned, but hopefully, she can do it with three zombies. I’m not leaving our lives to chance.
I intercept the undead and drive my knife through its forehead. When the fifth one comes around the car, I do the same thing to it.
“It seemed like a solid plan,” Kate mutters as she extricates herself from the pile of squirming zombies.
“It was semi-solid,” Carter tells her. To me, he says, “Babe, maybe this can be our new profession.”
“What?” I ask, sucking in air.
“You know, since we can’t have our mobile brewery. Maybe we can be a mobile zombie catcher service.”
I stare at him, then smother a giggle. I love the fact that when Carter talks about the future, he talks about us being together. Even if he is being a goofball.
“Maybe we can find rogue scientists working on a cure for the zombie plague,” I say. “We’ll be their go-to team for bagging undead lab rats.”
“Mom, hope you like being bait,” Carter says.
“Fuck that,” she says. “I’ll drive Skip. The two of you can do the hard labor. I’m getting too old for this shit.”
As soon as she says the words, the mood sobers. All of us are thinking about whatever it is that Kate won’t talk about. About Johnson and his lackeys.
“Now what?” I ask, flicking blood off the end of my knife.
“Now?” Kate kicks a thrashing zombie as it rolls too close. “Now we round up our new pets and put them out to pasture.”