Zombies! A Love Story Read Free Page B

gun in my life. I didn’t believe in them.
    “Where are we going?” I asked her.
    “Into the village,” she said. “The police department. It’s the safest place I can think of.” She looked at me briefly. “Unless you have a better idea?”
    “Maybe not better, but definitely more essential. I want to go after Chuck. But...but it might not be safe.”
    “Why not?”
    “Cause most of those...things were at the party. Before whatever happened to them happened to them. And that’s where I last saw him and Sally.”
    She nodded just once. “Then that’s where we have to go.”
    “Mom, I can’t take you there. It might be dangerous.”
    “So then we leave them to the mercy of...whatever this is? No. No, we have to go after them.”
    I stared at my mom for about four seconds. It seemed longer. “You’ve changed since I’ve been away.”
    She ran a hand over her hair. “Covered the gray. Red was my natural color you know. This is a little brighter, but–”
    “You’re stronger than I ever knew, Mom.”
    She smiled. “Given the choice between evolution and extinction, I chose to evolve. Thanks for noticing. Now give me back my gun.” She flipped open the glove compartment, reached inside, and pulled out another one, smaller, but just as shiny. “You can use this one. It’s got a full clip. Just turn off the safety, point, and shoot.”
    I frowned at her. “Why the weaponry, Mom? Why are you suddenly packing more iron than Annie Oakley?” And that’s when I realized that there had to be a reason. “Did something happen since the last time I came home?”
    “Nothing worth mentioning,” she said, and just kept on driving.

Chapter Three
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    MY HYBRID WOULD never have made it. Mom drove off the road and into the desert toward the cluster of red rocks that had been party central for generations of Bloody Gulch youth for as long as kids had been sneaking booze and cigarettes.
    We came to a stop just outside the circle of boulders and she shut off the headlights. I could see the dying glow of the campfire beyond the rocks, and it gave me hope. Looking around carefully, I whispered, “Stay here, Mom.”
    “We stick together,” she said.
    I nodded. “Tough as you are, I can still move faster on foot. And you might have to come and rescue me. Keep it running, okay? Watch for me. If I need you, I’ll wave my phone in the air with the flashlight app on. Drive to where you see it, and pick me up. Okay?”
    “Be careful.” She picked the gun up off her lap, held it out to me.
    I shook my head. “I’m not sure I can handle one of these things much less two.”
    “I wasn’t suggesting two. Trade with me. This one packs more of a wallop.” She shrugged, leaned in and kissed my face, shoving the gun into my hands as she did. “Safety’s off so keep your finger off the trigger unless you mean it. Just point and squeeze. Now go, hurry up.”
    “All right.” I got out of the car. “Remember to lock the doors until I come running.”
    She nodded. “Go on, already.”
    So I did. I closed the door as silently as possible, heard the locks engage, and then I crept over the desert to the red rocks I so loved. I moved low and fast, looking around me all the time, holding the detested handgun nose up like I’d seen people do on TV. When I reached the first boulder I pressed my back to it, listening, watching behind me. Nothing. And the only thing I heard from the other side of the stones was the soft snapping of the fire.
    I eased around the giant boulder and the circular clearing came into view. Several people lay on the ground around the low burning fire, sleeping soundly. A handful of tents stood on the outer edge of the circle, between the sleepers and the rocks on the far side of the fire from me. I crept around toward them, staying close to the stone sentries, my focus entirely on Chuck’s tent. About five steps in, I heard something coming from inside it. Snuffling sounds.
    Jeeze, was it one of