A Plague on All Houses Read Free Page A

onto his back and jumped to his feet, fists clenched. I quickly stepped in between them just in case Matt decided to take another swing. Probably not the smartest move, but a) I didn't want Matt to get hurt and b) I wanted my lunch.
    Fortunately Matt's surge of protective testosterone faded as quickly as it'd risen, replaced by the male bonding urge. “Damn, that was fast!” Matt looked at Gabriel in admiration, fists uncurling as he relaxed. “Judo?”
    Gabriel shook his head. “Aikido. You okay, man?”
    Matt nodded. “Maybe a little embarrassed at being taken down in front of my girlfriend.”
    “Don't be,” said Gabriel. “I've been training for the last fifteen years.”
    I couldn't resist it. “In what? Being a pain in the ass?”
    Gabriel's lip twitched in what might have been a smile if it had a chance to grow a little. “Sorry. I owe you an apology.”
    I waited expectantly, finally giving him a “yes?” expression.
    “Er … I'm sorry.” The words didn't quite stick in his throat, but they at least paused briefly. “I'm working on five hours’ sleep over the last three days and it's made me short-tempered.”
    “Oh, dude, that sucks,” said Matt before I could decide whether or not to accept Gabriel's apology. “I did a couple of all nighters for mid-terms last year. Totally screwed with my head. Sorry I swung at you.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Um, Matt? Can we get some food please?”
    Gabriel ended up sitting with us during lunch. Normally I'd be totally jazzed to be sitting with two guys as majorly hunky as these particular specimens (and okay, I did get a kick out of the envious stares of the cheerleaders two tables over), but I'd had enough of Gabriel this morning, and there was something really irritating at how fast Matt went from protective boyfriend to total boy-crush on Gabriel.
    I dared Gabriel with a glare to say one more word about my buffalo burger-and-onion ring combo, but he seemed to be out of self-righteous snark for the time being. I'd cut him a little bit of slack for the sleep deprivation—it really can mess with your head—but I still had to wonder what I'd done to be labeled with a big old bull's-eye for his shitty temper this morning.
    “So you don't eat any meat?” Matt took a big bite of his burger, oblivious to the irony.
    “No meat, no poultry, no dairy.”
    “No fun,” I muttered, dipping an onion ring in ketchup.
    “Not true,” Gabriel retorted. “You'd be amazed at the variety of foods I eat.”
    “I bet I would. What about onion rings? There are no animal products in onion rings, are there?” I waved one at him.
    “Vegan diets are free of cholesterol and are generally low in saturated fat.” Gabriel sounded as if he were reciting from the Vegan Bible or something. “So, no onion rings.”
    “I repeat,” I said, shaking my head, “no fun.”

Chapter Three
    “Ash, have you seen my Sassy exfoliating scrub?” This was followed by a rattling coughing fit, reminiscent of mine two weeks earlier. Poor Zara had been bitten hard by Walkers, but even bedridden she insisted on following her skincare regime.
    I ran into the kitchen where she huddled in front of the open fridge, feebly digging through apples and diet Cokes for her facial supplies. She looked terrible, the circles under her eyes so dark she looked bruised, and the rest of her skin sickly pale. Her dark brown hair hung in sweat-soaked hanks down her back, strands plastered to her face. All the exfoliant in the world wouldn't help right now.
    “Zara, get back in bed!” Putting an arm around Zara's shoulders, I led her back to the twin bed across from mine. “You can exfoliate later, okay?”
    Zara coughed again, then smiled weakly up at me. “You'll find it for me, though, right?”
    I held up my right hand and crossed my heart. “By the time you're ready for a facial, I will have unearthed your Sassy scrub from the veggie drawer.”
    Zara heaved a sigh, as though a heavy burden had been