Flip This Zombie - Jesse Petersen [74]
I blinked. Of course he had. But if that was true, why had he needed us? I guess I’d have to ask him the second I saw the fucker.
We slung the zombie into the back and propped her up against the opposite door. At Robbie’s insisting, we even buckled her in.
“What are you going to do, use her to ride in the HOV lane?” Dave asked with a shake of his head as we closed the back door.
“Maybe,” Robbie laughed. “Wouldn’t want to get a ticket, right? Now, you two get in the back. It’s unlocked.”
I exchanged another look with Dave. “You could tell him we just got away,” I said softly. “You’ll have his zombie, right? Why not just let us go?”
“We’ve been your friends,” Dave encouraged.
There was a brief moment of guilt that flashed in The Kid’s eyes, but then he shook his head. “But he’s my dad. I have to do what he wants. Just get in.”
“Fuck,” Dave grunted as he climbed into the back of the SUV.
I clambered in after him, but before I could get settled, Robbie said, “Now sit back to back. I’m going to tie you up.”
“What?” I started, but Dave grabbed my hand and gave me a look. The Kid would have to put the gun down to tie one of his fancy knots, which just might give us a chance for escape.
Except… he didn’t. He pulled a handgun from one of those many magical pockets of his and leveled it in my face as he set the shotgun down at his feet. Keeping it steady, he somehow managed to get ropes wrapped around both our wrists and a knot tied.
All with one fucking hand.
“Damn, kid, you really are good at that,” I said with begrudging respect.
He smiled as he started to put the back door down. “Well, there’s not exactly a lot of TV to watch anymore. I have lots of time to practice.”
Then he was gone, the door shut and the two of us trapped behind the cargo gate. I rested my head back against Dave’s shoulder.
“So now what?”
“I don’t know,” Dave sighed. “I’m thinking. Aren’t you supposed to be the brains of this operation?”
I laughed despite our situation. “Well, let’s see, I believed a mad scientist and a crazy kid over you. I’m going to say that my brain power isn’t so great anymore. I may already be a zombie.”
Dave’s fingers found mine and he squeezed gently. “Just stay calm. We’ll figure a way out of this.”
I wasn’t so sure as The Kid got into the SUV and put it in gear just like he did it every day.
“Are you really eleven?” I called forward in the vehicle as he squealed the tires out of the parking lot and steered us back toward the highway.
“Yeah,” he called back. “That part was true. Why?”
“Well, you’re fucking driving the car like you’re in the 500,” I said as Dave and I rocked helplessly as he took yet another corner on all but two wheels. I think he might have been getting even for all the times our driving threw him around in the back of the van.
“You should have seen me following you on the motorcycle earlier today,” The Kid said with the smugness of a child who has the coolest new toy before anyone else. He smiled at me in the rearview mirror, but his eyes barely appeared in the glass because he was so short.
I blinked a couple of times at the idea of such a thing. “You know how to drive a motorcycle. At fucking eleven years old?”
He rolled his eyes. “I learned how to drive when I was eight, running around in the desert while my dad worked in the lab.”
Behind me, Dave shifted. I could feel his rage, his betrayal, bubbling through his body. It made his back hot against mine.
“It’s okay,” I whispered.
He craned his neck back a little in a jerking motion. I could only see a tiny portion of his face from the corner of my eye as I strained toward him, but he looked as pissed as he felt.
“Well, I guess we’ll find out in a minute,” he said. “We’re pulling up to the warehouse.”
I craned my neck. Sure enough we were. And who was waiting for us? Barnes. He waved as The Kid