Z Day +9

  SHAE

  Everyone walked on eggshells around me and tended to shy away from me one-on-one. I couldn’t blame them; I’d freaked out the first time I saw a vampire feed. We were genuinely terrifying when we let our basic instincts overwhelm us.

  As the days passed, everything seemed to worsen in the world. While the chaos appeared to be slowing, there was no sign of it stopping. New cases were reported outside the quarantine zones hourly. It appeared nowhere was safe, and the government wasn’t exactly leading the way.

  The president had addressed the nation from an unknown location, stressing everyone to remain calm and cooperate with authorities. “Everything that can be done is being done. This crisis will be over quickly as long as we all come together as Americans, pitch in, and do our part.”

  Miria had made the comment that pretty much summed it up for all of us. “The country is being eaten alive, and that guy is running for re-election!” she spat in disgust. “Why the hell did I vote for that asshole?” That at least had brought a chuckle amongst us.

  We’d been cooped up for so long, and outside contact was slowly failing. The normal phones and cell phones were gone now. So was the Internet and a few TV stations had disappeared.

  Shortly after the president’s speech, the emergency broadcast system activated, replacing all channels with the same generic information we’d already been told. Report to safe zones. Travel by day. Report any injuries for immediate treatment. Avoid all contact with the infected.

  While the news had admitted some of the infected were dead, they still refused to call them zombies, as if anyone had any doubt at this point. It was like if they used the z word, they wouldn’t be taken seriously.

  “Why is it most of the zombie books take place in Texas? Have you ever noticed that?” Miria asked.

  “I thought you didn’t read that stuff Miria,” James looked up.

  “Well, you shipped enough of the damned things to me to store for you; I figured I’d see what all the hype was about. They were usually too gory for me, though. Seemed all they wanted to describe was intestine eating. Blecch!” Miria said.

  “I dunno, maybe all the undead nuts are here in Texas? Maybe because we love our guns too much?” James indicated the pile of weapons on the bar. “I mean, we do need something to shoot at that’s more entertaining than road signs.”

  “I never understood the word undead,” Mark said. “I mean, if you’re dead, you’re dead. If you’re undead, wouldn’t that mean you’re alive? How’d undead come to mean dead things that were still walking around?”

  “Actually, that’s what the word actually means,” Richard replied. “You and I are undead, while someone who’s dead is just that, dead. It wasn’t until Bram Stoker used it in his works that it took the meaning of someone who was once dead but is now reanimated.”

  Miria looked at him incredulously.

  “What? I read too, you know. Got a degree and everything,” Richard said.

  “Stoker!” I exploded, causing everyone to stop and stare. “Oh, I wish I could get my hands on that man.”

  “What? Why?” Miria asked.

  “Are you kidding? You’ve read the book. What complete and total garbage! He gave vampires, and the Irish such a bad name. I personally feel that a lot of our bad apples are because of him. Those eejits wanted to live up to that hype.” I shook my head in disgust.

  “Just like that whole chivalry drivel that everyone thought was made up by that idiot Mallory! Did King Edward’s Order of the Garter get any credit whatsoever? No! Just oh, King Arthur this and Galahad that. BLARG!” I finished my tirade by feigning a swoon.

  Everyone looked at one another, speechless.

  “Blarg?” Becca mouthed to Mark, who shrugged.

  “Did you know King Edward?” Richard finally asked since no one else would.

  No one had pressed me for any information about my past. While I’d slowly started to warm up to James, the rest were still outsiders I tried to keep at arm's length, but they were beginning to wear me down.

  I blanched. “How old do I look?” Shaking my head, I left the room.

  I could practically hear all heads turn to James.

  “Hey, I’m not going there, so don’t even think about it!” James said.

  The TV stations cut out entirely shortly after. The radio still carried emergency broadcasts, but they were more of the same and had started to repeat.

  “We’re starting to run short on food,” James told me during one of the few free hours we shared. He was rubbing my shoulders as I sat on the floor in front of him on “our” couch.

  James had been on daywatch while I’d taken over nights. With my “spray on tan” fading, I was forced to return to the night. The black blister on my arm was a grim reminder I remained a “creature of the night,” as Mark would say.

  I had forgotten how depressing the lack of sunlight was. I missed the simple act of walking in the sun. The last forty years or so seemed like a dream already. Realizing I may never do it again stressed me out to the point my shoulders had started hurting. James offered to rub them, and I wasn’t about to pass up a free back rub.

  “I guess we’ll have to start working on foraging, huh?” I said.

  “You mean like shooting deer?” James said.

  “Do you know how to dress a deer? Or how to butcher one? Didn’t think so. No, I mean like raiding the local shops and abandoned homes.”

  “Oh,” James said, flushing slightly.

  Over the past week, James and I had eased into some sort of relationship. I still wasn’t clear on the details, but the more time I spent around him, the easier I found it to be myself. I still found myself pulling back from him if things became too personal, but it was happening less and less.

  We had cautiously shared a bloodtouch, careful not to exchange too much blood. I figured when the government made James’s serum, they’d laced it with a poison. They probably figured if one of their Airmen were captured by a vampire, they’d act like a “blood bomb” and give the vampire a nasty surprise.

  James seemed to be doing OK on blood. He still couldn’t’ handle more than a mouthful or so at a time. I was pretty sure it was psychosomatic, but I couldn’t prove it.

  More disturbingly, I noticed a few things were still off with him. He always had to move, usually his leg, tapping or bouncing up and down when he sat. There was also this weird tick in his left eye. Sometimes, James would forget what he was doing right in the middle of it.

  I was starting to worry the blood may not be enough. Maybe the military had put something else in the drug that wasn’t blood-related; I didn’t know. In addition to this, I noticed his shortening temper. I knew he was on edge; we all were, but James seemed to get a little worse every day.

  Meanwhile, we had fallen into a cycle with Mark and Becca. I only took a small amount from Mark every three days, whereas James took an even smaller amount from Becca every other day. The results had been a bit unexpected.

  The couple enjoyed the afterglow a little too much and even came to me asking if they could do it more frequently. I told them that anymore, and they would both become sick and too weak to enjoy the “afterglow.” This seemed to take the wind out of their sails, but I felt it wasn’t the last I’d heard about it. From what I sensed from them, they would bring it up again and possibly expand it into a more group setting.

  When I told James some of the images I’d pulled from Mark’s mind, James felt we may have bitten off more than we could chew with those two.

  When we did share blood, it remained thumb pricks, just enough for me to slip into James’s mind. I tried to fill in memory gaps I didn’t know I had with scenes from his mind. It was sometimes tedious and sometimes entertaining as I would stumble upon something he didn’t want me to see. It was good to know he could still blush. I had a feeling he had managed to delve into my past as well, but James didn’t talk about it except when it came to our shared nightmares.

  I shut James down when he wanted to talk about my reoccurring nightmare concerning my captivity at sea back when I was still human. It had taken my previous master many years to get me mentally stable enough to get by day to day. I don’t think I would ever truly be over that experience, and we had enough problems as it was.

  James pretty much did the same to me regarding his desert war tragedies. The military had sent him into some genuinely horrible situations that didn’t always involve the supernatural. It seems humans could be just as scary as monsters sometimes.

  Soon, we both realized we were well and goodly damaged, and no amount of therapy would probably fix us. Strangely, it somehow brought us closer together.

  “He still hasn’t summoned you?” James asked.

  “No.” I’d explained how Pagoda could summon me, and I would have to go to him. Pagoda couldn’t touch my mind unless I were in direct blood contact with him, but certain things, like a summons, could traverse kilometers.

  “Perhaps he’s dead.” James’s warm hands ran over my cool shoulder blades, finding knots and working them smooth.

  “No,” I sighed. “If he were dead, I would have felt that…probably. Besides, I don’t have that kind of luck.” The more I thought about it, the more I wouldn’t know if Pagoda was dead or not. When my previous master had died, I never felt a thing.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” He put his arm across my chest and pulled my shoulders back, rotating them and forcing the blood to circulate. “You’ve still got me.”

  “Your moderate masseuse abilities aside, what else do you bring to the table?” I teased and immediately berated myself. James’s ability to put me at ease was unnerving. Usually, keeping my guard up was easy, but with him, I couldn’t seem to keep him at arm’s reach. It was as if my body recognized him, even if my mind didn’t. It was maddening.

  James put his knee in the middle of my back and grabbed both arms, pulling them back and popping my breastbone. “Moderate, huh?”

  My body shivered with the tension release and, to be honest, the manhandling. It had been well over a year since Pagoda had touched me. He’d been the only one since…since he’d bound me. The thought sent a not-happy shudder through me. I wondered how much of my past decade with Pagoda had been real and how much had been commanded. Were there other things he’d made me forget? Other things he’d made me do? I tried to push those thoughts from my mind and return to the present.

  “Above average?” I tried, but my heart wasn’t in it.

  James held my arms behind me forcefully and brought his lips to the base of my neck where it met my shoulder and bit; not hard enough to break the skin, but enough I knew it would leave a mark.

  I gasped and shuddered, finding he was strong enough to keep my arms pinned at the awkward angle. My body betrayed me as a quiet moan escaped my lips, and my eyes closed as he continued to use his mouth.

  Sexual tension had been building between us since the day all this started. I initially ignored it, too confused with the mixed-up memories. I knew James wanted me desperately. I felt it every time I touched his mind. It was like static electricity when we were around each other. The more physical contact between us just made it worse, and we’d been practically inseparable since Z Day.

  “James…” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

  “Hmmm?” he said, his mouth still busy.

  “Stop,” I managed through the chaos of my own emotions. I still couldn’t tell whose emotions I felt regarding us.

  He gently kissed my neck one last time and pulled away, releasing my arms and returning to kneading my shoulders.

  This wasn’t the first time things had become heated between us in the past week. I honestly wouldn’t mind the attention if it weren’t all the uncertainty between us. I felt his frustration as much as I felt my confusion. To his credit, James always backed off with the gentlest of nudges.

  I leaned back against him, sighing.

  “It’s alright,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”

  I could feel the tension in his body; he was as taut as a bowstring. I briefly considered relenting but couldn’t bring myself to do it. I wasn’t sure what to do now. I didn’t want to be a tease, but I didn’t want to leave either. He solved it by pulling me up onto the couch with him.

  “Sleep?” he smiled at me.

  I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I nodded.

  I curled up in front of him on the couch, spoon-style. James always seemed warm to me. When I brought it up, he joked it was because he ate too much salsa as a child. His warmth against my cool back was like having a warm blanket. It was more like a warm sweater, as James had a good deal of chest hair. I never thought I’d like a man with chest hair, but…and I stopped my train of thought right there.

  “What I would have given to have you with me in the desert,” James said.

  “What?” I looked back at him.

  “You’re so cool, like my own cold pack. You would have come in so handy in the heat of the desert,” James said.

  I frowned at him. “Were you just in my head?”

  “No, why?”

  “Nothing, don’t worry about it,” I said. Somehow, he’d been able to touch my mind occasionally. He shouldn’t be able to do that, adding even more confusion to the situation.

  “I hate saying it, but I don’t think we can stay here,” James said a minute later.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I think we’re still too close to the city. Eventually, those infected in the city will wander out looking for food. We’re still on the outskirts and next to a main road. We must find a place to hole up in the middle of nowhere,” James said.

  “I don’t know. With the phones out now, the others have been worrying about their family. Some have even talked about trying to go after them. I think you might have a hard time convincing them to follow you,” I said.

  He kissed my shoulder just once. “Well, I can’t stop them if they want to go. But I can’t see how they would make it if things have gotten as bad as I think.”

  “Would that deter you?” I asked.

  James admitted it wouldn’t.

  “In that case, maybe in addition to food on these scavenger runs, we should try and find what they will need to survive on their own. Maybe we can get some new information and come up with a new plan?” I said, snuggling up against him and letting his warmth penetrate deeper into my body. With my restricted diet, I’d been much cooler than usual, and his warmth was a welcome pleasure.

  I sensed he wanted to say something else but kept it to himself.

  ∞?∞

  JAMES

  That night, a small handful of shamblers paraded past the property, causing a long discussion in the morning. I used the previous night’s visitors as just one reason I wasn’t satisfied with our current place and wanted to find someplace safer. I also mentioned that some people were worried about their loved ones and made everyone put it on the table.

  Becca wanted to go to Georgetown to look for her mom but was too afraid to go through the nightmare that was Austin to get there. She finally concluded that her uncle would keep her mom safe until things settled down enough for a realistic attempt to check on her.

  Miria, while worried for our father, knew if Becca couldn’t check on her mom a couple of towns away, there was no way she could make it to Colorado.

  This hit me harder than I thought it would. I’d been so busy keeping up with our immediate problems that I hadn’t had time to stop and think about my father.

  Our dad lived in the middle of a small town in Colorado. It wasn’t a huge town, but there was enough population to overrun the place if things turned ugly. Miria had tried twice a day while the phones still worked to get a hold of him but never had.

  I wanted to think he was up in the mountains in one of those little secluded towns he liked to go to for painting classes and such. When I shared the thought with Miria, she said when Dad had been in town, he’d told her he had to get back because he was in an art show in one of those little tourist towns in the mountains. We just hoped he was still OK.

  Richard dismissed his folks way too quickly for my liking. I wasn’t sure if they weren’t that close or if he was just in denial. Regardless, he agreed with wanting someplace safer, but he wasn’t going anywhere without Miria.

  Trish had finally started coming out of her shell. She took turns cooking but never took a watch. She didn’t seem comfortable around guns and was still prone to mentally shutting down at random. She didn’t speak that often, and when she did, it was usually only to Miria. When we asked her about family, she just shook her head and said her mom was in Galveston.

  I told everyone to be thinking of places they thought might be defensible and write them down. We’d sit down and discuss them when we got back from scavenging.

  Miria and Trish were the only ones who knew the area. They said there were a couple of “stop and rob” gas stations around, but nothing like a Walmart. They didn’t know much else about the area aside from that.

  It was eventually agreed that we would need to scout the area more before anything serious could be planned. The priorities were food, fuel, transportation and ammo.

  The bullets we’d stolen from Walmart had made a good-sized pile. The problem was I knew just how quickly a pile of ammo could disappear in a firefight. I had to be honest with myself; I was working with untrained civilians. If things turned sour, panic fire would eat our reserves up quickly. So far, we had only used a few rounds daily, dispatching the stray zombie who took too much interest in the ranch. Besides, you could never have too much ammo. I was pretty sure John Wayne had said that, or maybe it was John Woo.

  There was a burned wood sign on the front of the house that said, “Welcome to our Hacienda.” So, we’d started calling the ranch the Hacienda.

  Our next problem was deciding who should go scavenging and when.

  We all agreed that no one would go alone. Shae volunteered to go, but that required a night operation. Anyone going with her would be blind in the dark. My new-found night vision would make me the perfect choice to go, but it wouldn’t leave a trained “soldier” at the ranch, and I wasn’t comfortable with that.

  A day operation was more desirable. We could make out the lay of the land better and use sunlight to get into buildings where power was out. The flaw was that the Hacienda would be short a body as Shae couldn’t come out into the sun.

  Ultimately, I was outvoted and voluntold for a night operation with Shae. The others were offended when I tried to express how I didn’t want to leave them without someone trained. I probably could have said it better, and I probably would still be arguing if Shae hadn’t dragged me out of the room.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  We used my mom’s truck as it was still in pretty good shape and had three-quarters of a tank of gas. We went towards a small town west of us, each taking a rifle, a pistol and a machete.

  The machetes I had grabbed from Walmart at the last minute turned out to be one of the best things I could have grabbed. They were actual steel, had sheaths and were solidly built.

  I remembered what the survival guide said: swords were great, but good ones were rare and required a lot of training to keep from chopping your leg off. I bought a practice katana while stationed in Louisiana. It was long, heavy, and solid. I had beat on a few trees but quickly learned I didn’t have the faintest idea what I was doing. I swung it like a baseball bat and tried the fancy moves like in the movies, but after a few flesh wounds, I had gotten rid of the thing.

  The machete was long enough to keep the zombies at arm’s reach. It was also light enough to keep you from getting tired swinging it. As a bonus, I had yet to cut myself with it. All in all, I liked it much better.

  The road towards town was deserted. We came across a Walgreens across the street from a 7-11 convenience store. Both were pitch black as we slowed and shined the headlights over them. We looked at one another as we saw the glass of the 7-11 doors were smashed in. A vehicle by the gas pumps appeared to be abandoned, its door hanging open and a blood trail leading into the darkness.

  The doors to Walgreens seemed to be boarded up. A large white truck that delivery companies used was parked off the side of the Walgreens and appeared untouched.

  “You think the gas pumps still work?” Shae asked.

  “Not without power,” I said.

  “What about the refill points, where the big trucks fill the tanks?” Shae pointed at several small utility plates on the ground to the side of the station.

  “I don’t know, never messed with one before. Let’s check it out when we hit the 7-11. But back to the question, which first? Both places usually have food,” I said.

  “True, there’s drugs in the pharmacy as well,” she said.

  “You know anything about them or what to get?”

  “Not a clue.” Becca was the only one with medical training above basic first aid, and we hadn’t considered meds when we planned this trip. “To be honest, I haven’t needed much in the way of medical supplies for a while now.” Shae smiled at me.

  “Yeah, I guess not,” I said and waited.

  “Not going to ask this time?” Shae asked.

  “To be honest, I got tired of asking how old you were. Doesn’t matter anyway. Would you answer if I did?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “There you go.” I shrugged.

  We debated briefly and decided to try the 7-11 first. It was a smaller building, and we could quickly see if anything was worth keeping.

  We parked close to the building, shining the lights on the broken fa?ade, and turned off the engine.

  I grabbed Shae’s arm as she started to get out. “Just wait and listen.” This was something else I’d picked up from the survival guide. Zombies weren’t stealthy. You’d hear them if they were around.

  “I know that!” she whispered harshly and shook off my hand. “But you can’t hear a lot from inside this truck now, can you?”

  I nodded and got out to wait with her. After a minute, we looked at one another and moved forward.

  We didn’t have flashlights. That was one of the things we hadn’t thought of when making our initial “escape from the zombie apocalypse” kit. No matter how much you prepare for a trip, you always forget something. We forgot flashlights and hadn’t found any at the Hacienda. Luckily, we both had good “natural” night vision now. But I still wished I had a flashlight, just in case.

  We slung our rifles and proceeded with pistols drawn. We didn’t have suppressors and knew gunfire would bring all sorts of unwanted attention. Trigger pulling was a last resort, but I’d much rather make noise and beat a hasty retreat than end up zombie chow.

  I knelt beside the tank refill covers on the ground and examined them while Shae kept watch. I used my knife to pry open the cover, cringing at the clatter and drawing Shae’s attention.

  “Well?” she whispered low, where only my enhanced hearing could pick it up.

  “Some sort of locking valve. Not sure how it would open, to be honest,” I said.

  “Leave it; we’ll figure it out later,” Shae said.

  Our shadows played over the store as we stepped into the headlights the closer to the store we came. The sound of crickets and the truck’s engine occasionally clicking or thudding as it cooled down was the only noise to be heard.

  Shae stepping on a piece of broken glass was like a gunshot going off and caused me to jump. She glanced at me, and I shrugged.

  *It shouldn’t have been that loud,* I thought to myself.

  We picked our way through the busted glass and into the store.

  The smell of soured food hit us like a wall. It had been nearly two weeks since the whole mess started, and we were pretty sure places like this had been looted, but we had to check.

  We pressed forward and glanced down the short aisles, trying to look for signs of movement. We made a slow circle of the inside, noting the bare shelves, broken glass, and other goods that appeared to have been destroyed in the chaos.

  Unless we wanted old lottery tickets or torn magazines, there wasn’t much for us to take. Shae grabbed a handful of cigarette lighters next to the register and was about to leave when there was a quiet thump from the back.

  I spun, thumbed on my Beretta's laser, and scanned the area. It wasn’t like a flashlight, just a simple red dot used to pinpoint a target. But the electronic eye blazed and illuminated shadows for my newly delicate eyes. It acted like a miniature sun for Shae.

  The door to the back had a small window that neither of us could see through; it was pitch black beyond. Again, the thump came, and we looked at one another. Shae shook her head, “It’s not worth it—”

  The door exploded outward, knocking us back as the zombie crashed through. It wore the remnants of a clerk’s uniform with a nametag that read “Dante.”

  We sat in stunned silence as the creature began to pick itself up and reached out, grabbing a hold of Shae’s leg. She immediately began to kick at it, but its grip was like iron.

  I finally recovered and reached with both hands to pull the arm away from her leg, only to jump back as the thing’s vile teeth snapped at me.

  Shae got her other boot up and kicked it in the face, knocking teeth loose and dislocating its jaw.

  I grabbed its legs and pulled, half pulling Shae with it as I tried to drag it away from her. My actions caused Shae to lose her footing and fall back, hitting the back of her head on the floor with a hollow thud, dazing her.

  With a limp victim in its hands, the creature drew Shae’s leg to its ruined face and attempted to gnaw on Shae’s leather boot.

  I dropped the legs and reached for the clerk’s hair, pulling his head back and reaching for the jaw, trying to keep the mouth away from her. Not realizing the jaw was already dislocated, I grabbed it roughly and pulled. I wasn’t sure if it was my newfound strength or the creature’s state of decay, but its jaw ripped free, sending a cascade of gore across the floor.

  Shocked, I let go of the fiend as its head snapped forward and bounced off the floor.

  Having been released and regaining some of her senses, Shae rolled away as I brought my boot down onto the creature’s skull.

  At first, my boot just bounced off, but I grabbed a nearby counter for balance and proceeded to stomp the creature repeatedly until the skull split underneath my boot and stopped moving.

  We both stood panting and trying to shake off what had just happened.

  “Why didn’t you just use your machete?” Shae asked, rubbing the back of her head.

  “Machete?” I’d completely forgotten it in the heat of the moment. “Uh, I was afraid I’d hit you,” I lied, trying to cover my embarrassment.

  “Uh-huh.” Shae glanced at the back room. “Might as well see what we can find,” she swallowed and pulled one of the lighters from her pocket.

  The backroom was pitch black with no windows. There was a door to the cooler that neither of us felt like opening since we already knew it was empty by looking through the glass soda cases out front. We found a few bottles of cleaning supplies and some toiletries but nothing else. We claimed the bottles of bleach and toilet paper so that we weren’t leaving empty-handed.

  Shae tried the water faucet, but nothing came out. “Water’s out already.”

  “Good thing we’re on well water at the Hacienda. Let’s put this stuff in the truck.” I picked up a stack of magazines as we headed towards the door.

  “What’s that for?” Shae asked.

  “Boredom. Not a lot to do around the ranch; people are getting a little nuts,” I said.

  “And the porn?” she noted the pornographic magazines; I’d grabbed everything there was on the shelves.

  “Uh, for Mark,” I started, and then she gave me a look. “Diversity?” I tried.

  Shae rolled her eyes and started to leave but stopped. She moved around to the other side of the counter and started looking at the low shelves. She found a stack of paper manuals in the farthest back corner, buried beneath a bunch of other crap. She pulled them out and put them on the counter. “Eureka!” Shae smiled, holding up a manual detailing the gas pump workings.

  “Genius,” I smiled and pointed at a metal box on the wall, “probably keys.”

  Shae reached over and flipped the box open, revealing rows of keys. “Not too shabby yourself.” She pocketed them all as we returned to the truck.

  We turned and looked at the Walgreens. It didn’t have big plate glass walls like 7-11 did. It only had two glass doors in the front. Upon closer examination, the boards blocking the doors were propped up from the inside.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “Probably just as wiped out, but we should check,” Shae said.

  I nodded and repositioned the truck so the lights could shine on the broken doors, providing a little light. The building was much bigger than the 7-11 next door.

  We found that the boards would, with a bit of effort, slide to the side. They’d been propped up with pushcarts.

  “You know, this would be much easier if you could turn into a bat and fly around and check it out inside,” I complained.

  She glowered at me. “Bats can’t see.”

  “Yeah, but they got that echolocation thing,” I retorted.

  “Yeah, well, I can’t do that, so shut up and push.”

  We climbed through the small opening we’d made and entered cautiously. We stepped down off the carts and onto more broken glass. There was merchandise scattered all over the place. It was more of a mess than anything else. There was also the smell. Again, soured food but also the funk of body odor this time.

  Taking our time, we cleared each aisle, slowly circling the store.

  I stopped at a display and grabbed a package off the shelf. I tore the plastic open and handed the flashlight to Shae before grabbing another for myself.

  She looked at the light, shook her head, and put it in her back pocket.

  I crossed the light under my pistol and panned it around the store. I was trying to figure out why there was still so much stuff here and who’d boarded the place up.

  As if in answer, we heard movement from the back of the store near the pharmacy. I pivoted my flashlight in that direction as another noise came from behind one of the counters near the front. Another noise and another all followed it from different locations.

  “No heartbeat, no breath, and silent most of the time? These things are starting to creep me out,” Shae whispered.

  “Yeah, I bet when you’ve been able to hear every living thing around you up till now, suddenly having blind spots with teeth is unnerving,” I whispered back. “Uh, I think I know why this place is untouched.”

  “Yeah, let’s get out of here,” she said.

  We made our way to the front exit, only to find it blocked by four ghouls. Two were employees, while the other two appeared to be shoppers.

  “Where did they come from?” I said aloud.

  “Not sure; I thought we checked everything on this side!” Shae said.

  “You think they decided to hole up in here?” I asked.

  “Don’t know, don’t care,” Shae said as she spun, discovering four more coming from the side and another two from a different aisle. “We need to move; it’s getting crowded.”

  “Let’s try the back door,” I said.

  “Why? Just shoot them.” She had her back to me now, covering the six shamblers approaching.

  “Ricochets…and drawing others,” I answered.

  “Well, whatever you’re going to do, do it fast,” she growled.

  “Aliens again?” I didn’t wait for her reply as we sidestepped the group and headed back towards the pharmacy.

  A double set of doors was off to my left, leading to the back, while the pharmacy was off to my right. I was about to turn into the double doors when the doors started to open towards us. Instinctively, I kicked the doors hard, causing them to swing back on their hinges and hit whatever was inside.

  “Follow me,” I said as I leaped up onto the high pharmacy desk. *Why do they make these pharmacy desks so high?* I pushed the stray thought aside as I quickly shined the light around the rows of drugs as Shae swung up effortlessly behind me.

  We stood on the high desk as creatures approached from different angles. The double doors opened again, and more shambled in from the back, all in various states.

  “Now what?” Shae asked as she swung her pistol at the encroaching crowd. “I don’t see a door back there.”

  “Nope, but there is a window.” I hopped down behind the counter and came face to face with a shambler in a white lab coat. The smell almost knocked me over as its hands closed around my shoulders.

  My training kicked in as my hands came up between the creature’s arms and knocked them to either side while, at the same time, I brought my knee up into the zombie’s crotch, having absolutely no effect. I pushed hard, knocking both of us off balance. I recovered as the creature struck a counter and fell.

  “Come on!” I yelped, excitement getting the better of me.

  Sprinting to the far wall, I found an old-fashioned drive-thru window and tried to open it but found it locked. “Shit, I need a key!” I glanced around the area, looking for a key hook or anything, and froze as a gunshot rang out.

  I turned, finding Shae kneeling over the lab coat and rifling through his pockets. Her pistol was smoking, as was a hole in the pharmacist’s head. A moment later, she approached with a key ring.

  “Try one of these,” she said.

  “What?” I yelled, my ears ringing from the gunshot.

  She pushed me out of the way and started to go through the keys until she had it open. We snaked our way out of the window as fists pounded on the door to the pharmacy within.

  The truck started quietly, and we pulled away from the parking lot before more trouble appeared. We drove for a few minutes in silence. The next building we came upon was a CVS pharmacy. It seemed to have the same setup as the Walgreens. We shared a silent look and kept going. A nearby restaurant looked like it might have something, and we considered stopping, but when two ghouls stepped out from behind the building, we drove on.

  Something was gnawing at the back of my mind like a fly that wouldn’t go away. I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was getting annoying.

  As we approached the outskirts of a small town, we passed a retirement home, causing me to shudder at the thought of the old being attacked helplessly in their rooms by infected orderlies.

  The thought made old memories come flooding back, making my agitation flare into anger. I didn’t understand what was happening to me, but we needed to get this done, so I gritted my teeth as we pulled into a “Wag-A-Bag” convenience store next to a liquor store.

  I was out of the truck practically before it had come to a stop. I fell back into my combat mindset as I pulled my pistol and flashlight. It was comfortable and easy when I turned off the thinking and let my instincts take over. I entered the store, not waiting for Shae.

  “James!” I heard Shae hiss.

  As I entered the store, a creature rose from the back aisle. I pivoted and fired twice, striking it in the face and shoulder. As it fell, I continued to clear the store. Again, my pistol barked as I put another zombie down.

  “James!” Shae caught up as I turned and was about to enter the dark back rooms. “What are you doing?”

  “To hell with this!” I growled, glad to be letting go of the stealth approach. A dynamic entry was so much easier. I ripped the door to the back open, revealing nothing beyond but an empty storeroom. I was disappointed; it had felt good to pull the trigger again.

  I stepped into the cooler and ensured nothing else was in there, ignoring the smell of old milk and soured beer.

  I could sense Shae watching me. She was doing an excellent job of avoiding my line of fire, which was surprising since we hadn’t practiced any movements together.

  Shae kept glancing outside nervously.

  We’d both brought plastic garbage bags from the Hacienda and pulled them out. I filled mine with the few boxes of dry cereal and other foodstuffs left behind in the haste of the panic. Shae followed suit, grabbing anything useable.

  We tossed our spoils into the truck before Shae whirled on me.

  “What is going on, James? What was all that about?” Shae demanded.

  “It’s all going to hell, can’t you see?” I turned away from her, my head starting to pound. I knew I was wound up. Not the best way to enter a fight, but we needed to get this done. I began walking towards the liquor store.

  If Shae saw my hands shaking, she didn’t say anything as she caught up to me halfway to the door. I took a breath and tried to calm my shaking hands, but I didn’t stop. Neither did my hands.

  “These things are literally eating our society,” I said as I kicked in the door to the liquor store hard enough to shatter what glass remained. My pistol spat flame repeatedly as I put down two more shamblers.

  Shae's revolver barked as I reached for one of the few intact bottles on the shelf.

  The head of the zombie that was about to take a chunk out of my arm splattered, jerking the body to the side. In my haste, I hadn’t seen it, even though it was right beside me.

  I glanced at her, my eyes hardening momentarily before grabbing the remaining bottles off the shelf and heading back to the truck.

  ∞?∞

  SHAE

  I shoved James over on the seat so I could drive. I didn’t trust him in the state he was in. I could feel waves of rage pouring off him and didn’t understand why. Yes, things were bad and getting worse, but why was he acting like this all the sudden? Was it more withdrawal? Was it being out and seeing the state of the world? All I knew was this trip was over. James was a liability in this state.

  I saw several more shamblers coming from the area of the old folks' home we’d passed. I quickly headed back the way we came before James could jump out and start shooting again. We rode in silence all the way back to the house. Glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, I could see his leg trembling violently.

  Once we were back, James was out of the truck before I could put it in park. He avoided all questions put to him as he entered the house and went straight to our room, closing the door.

  The others looked at me questioningly as I came in behind him, arms full of our meager haul. I just shook my head as they helped unload the truck.

  “After our grandfather passed away, our grandmother went downhill quickly,” Miria explained as she and I sat in the kitchen a little while later.

  I told her what happened as James still hadn’t emerged from our room.

  “She soon became too much for our mom to handle, and she had to be put in a home as we couldn’t afford the full-time nurse she needed. We really couldn’t afford the home either, but James and I pooled our money to help pay for it. It wasn’t the best place, but it was the best we could afford. I think James still blames that home for her dying.”

  “Was she mistreated?” I asked.

  “No, not really. I mean, have you ever been to one of those places?”

  “No,” I admitted. “Vampires…don’t have those types of places.”

  “Yeah,” Miria continued, “well, it was an older place. The staff seemed nice enough, but apparently, they had a high turnover rate, so they were always shorthanded. The ones like my grandmother couldn’t take care of themselves, and when one person’s trying to do the work of three, things fall by the wayside. It’s not an excuse, just a fact of life.”

  “So, when he saw that rest home…” I said.

  “It probably just added to the crap already on his mind,” Miria said.

  Standing up, I said, “I’m gonna go check on him.” Having a little more background gave me some insight into what might be happening in his head.

  While James’s mental state worried me, the physical issues like his shakes made me more nervous. For all the strangeness going on with him right now, he was still just a human with human mortality.

  As I entered the room, the smell of the whiskey nearly knocked me over. He was sitting in a chair by the boarded-up window, leaning back against the wall with his eyes closed. The bottle sat beside him, 1/3 empty already.

  “You know, I actually don’t like the taste of this stuff,” he mumbled through closed eyes.

  “Then why do you drink it?” I crossed the room and leaned against the wall beside him. I could smell the alcohol already coming out of his pores.

  “Some people say it makes you forget, eases pain, or lowers inhibitions. I just like the feeling it gives me once I’m only a little drunk.”

  “That’s like being a little pregnant, James. Either you are, or you aren’t.” I nodded at the bottle, “and seeing as you just downed 1/3 of that bottle, I’m gonna call second trimester.”

  He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. “I’m not talking about the slobbering on myself, falling down drunk. I’m talking about that warm, floaty feeling you get once you start. That’s what I like. Besides, I play video games better in that state anyway.”

  I knelt next to him, took the bottle, and set it down on the dresser out of reach. “There are ways to get that feeling without that poison,” I said.

  “Yeah, but I never did drugs,” he sighed. “Never smoked, never touched drugs, and never drank to excess. I was a friggin’ poster boy for the military.”

  I straddled him in the chair and took his face in my hands. “I’m not talking about drugs, my dear,” I said as I kissed him lightly.

  “You are a drug to me,” he sighed. “When you left—”

  “When I was taken.” I kissed his forehead. I could sense…something that seemed to be coiling inside his mind, something I didn’t understand.

  “I was lost…for a year; I was a complete wreck. I didn’t care about anything but trying to find you,” his words slurred. “I drove my friends and my family nuts. You were the only thing I’d talk about, and they got sick of it.”

  “They love you.” I held his head to my chest as he continued.

  “When I finally gave up, I joined the service and got as far away from your memory as I could. I didn’t even like coming home for visits cause it hurt. It was like an open wound that would never heal. The few times I came home, I…would start looking as soon as I got to the airport. I’d search every face, expecting to find you, and being disappointed when I didn’t. I would drive by places we’d been to on the chance you might be there. I’m sure my friends and my family thought I was a complete nutter.”

  “You’re not crazy,” I assured him.

  “There were others…” he sighed, seeming to collapse in the chair. “But…they just weren’t you…they couldn’t be. It was nice for a while, but they couldn’t fill that spot in me. It was like they were a piece of the wrong puzzle trying to be wedged in. It just didn’t work…I was ruined for anyone else.”

  “I’m here now,” I said.

  “But for how long?” he asked.

  I pulled back and looked at him.

  “What happens when Pagoda calls you?” James asked. “What happens when you leave to go to him and I never hear from you again? I can’t take that, Shae.”

  “Then don’t.” I searched his eyes. “Come with me to him. I’ll say you’re my tap boy again.”

  “Don’t lie to yourself; you know that won’t work. He wants you. I saw that in your mind as well,” James said.

  “He’s sick of me,” I said.

  “Yeah, but I might change that just because I want you,” James said. “When he discovers me, I’ll be disappeared quickly and quietly.”

  “I won’t let that happen,” I said.

  “You can’t protect me, not from him,” he said.

  “Then I’ll kill him.” The words were out of my mouth before my brain could register I’d said them.

  “I thought it was impossible for one to kill their master,” James asked, looking up at me.

  “It is. Normally, one can’t even think it, let alone say it.” *What is going on?* I thought in a panic. “Listen to me, James. I know today was rough; we had some close calls, and some bad memories came up, but I want you to know this.” It took a moment for his eyes to clear and meet mine. “I’m not going anywhere unless you send me away.”

  “Silly girl,” he slurred. “Didn’t I tell you I was addicted to you? I couldn’t turn you out if I wanted to…I don’t have the will.” The last part came out as a mumble.

  I could feel his mind fading as the alcohol finally caught up to him.

  Sometime later, we lie dozing. I was behind him, watching the artery in his neck pulse. My hand was on his chest, feeling it rise and fall when I felt his mind stir.

  “You know, I was thinking,” I said gently as he woke. “Pagoda’s compound is out in the middle of the hill country and has a four-meter cement wall around it.”

  “Mmmm, sounds like a fortress,” he murmured, still groggy.

  “Yep, it’s guarded by dogs and familiars. The house itself is an old mission converted into a sprawling Spanish monstrosity. Lots of rooms and such,” I said.

  “Sounds like a LaQuinta motel to me,” James mumbled, eyes still closed.

  “Uh huh…got its own water supply straight out of the aquifer as well.”

  “Must be nice; aquifer’s bout the only thing that doesn’t run dry during the—”

  I could almost hear his mental wheels clicking into place as he came fully awake.

  “How many familiars?” he asked.

  I bit my lip out of habit. “But first,” I turned him to look at me, “how do you feel?”

  A smile crossed his face as he curled back into me. “That’s a silly question,” he said, his words still slightly slurred.

  “I’m being serious,” I said. “Have you noticed anything strange in the past week? Headaches, shaking, trouble concentrating, anything?”

  “Now that you mention it, yeah,” he said.

  “I thought so.” I was quiet then, thinking.

  “What? It’s just stress. We’ve had a lot going on,” James said.

  “I don’t think so,” I sighed. “You may not know this, but I kind of keep an eye on you.”

  “I didn’t know you cared, Mom,” James said.

  I slapped him lightly, “Don’t call me that.” I grabbed his chin, “Be serious a minute.”

  “OK, one minute. Aaaaaand go!” He looked at his watch.

  “Maybe now’s not the time.” I shook my head and let go of him.

  James rolled over to face me, his expression sobering. “I’m sorry. Please,” he said.

  “It was little things at first.” I looked down at his chest. “I’d notice a tremble in you after feeding. I just chalked it up to your body adapting. But then I’d notice you getting the shakes at other times. Shakes like the ones you had that first night, the withdrawal shakes. You didn’t seem to notice it.”

  I looked up into his eyes, “Then there’s your mind.”

  “My mind?” he asked.

  “Yes. When I’ve...touched you. There’s this...jumble...like a tangle of thoughts in your head. The first time I felt it, it was small, nothing to it. I didn’t pay any attention to it until I encountered it again later, and it was bigger. Each time, it’s gotten bigger and...and you’ve become more erratic.” I was having difficulty putting my thoughts into words, at least words that made sense.

  “Erratic?” he asked.

  “Losing control, making bad decisions. Like tonight,” I said.

  “Listen, tonight was a bad night, I admit. But I didn’t lose—” James started, but I cut him off.

  “You lost control. You went into that shop guns blazing like some John Wick movie! You NEVER would have done something that reckless two weeks ago, even if you were that angry.” I realized I was angry with him.

  “You’re supposed to be this professional soldier, James. You’re the one that should be keeping us together when it comes to fighting, not the other way around,” Shae said seriously.

  He paused a long while, letting my words sink in. “OK,” he said finally. “You’re right; I shouldn’t have run into that store. I’m sorry; it won’t happen again.”

  “I’m not here to chastise you,” I said. “Am I angry? Sure, but I’m not your boss; that’s not what I’m trying to say.”

  “So, what are you saying?” he asked.

  “I don’t think the blood is working,” I sighed, “not completely. It might be helping to stave off what’s coming, slowing it down, but I don’t think it will stop it.”

  Then, we were both quiet.

  “What should I do?” he asked soberly.

  “I don’t know James,” I said honestly.

  Again, see Book 0. [Maybe it wasn’t all teenage vampire romance after all. --Rhiannon]