Flip This Zombie - Jesse Petersen [86]
Dave dropped down and looked at Robbie evenly. “If it wasn’t for you, I’d be a zombie and Sarah would probably be dead. We owe you everything.”
The Kid gave a crooked smile. A child and a man all in one. Born in death and undeath.
“Come with us,” I pressed.
“Naw,” he said, kicking at the dirt. “Somebody’s gotta stay and somebody’s gotta go.”
“Why?” Dave asked.
The Kid dug into his pocket and withdrew something. When he held it out, I reached for it, figuring it was car keys, but instead he plunked a purple vial into my palm.
“Take this. I synthesized it this morning. You’ll need it when you head for the Midwest Wall. Maybe the government left over there can use it to re-open the border. Maybe they can work out a way to spread it to all the zombies left.”
“What makes you think we’re going to the Midwest Wall?” Dave asked as I carefully put the vial in my pocket.
The Kid grinned. “You still want to save the world, right?”
I stared at the precious vial and then I stared at Dave. What The Kid said was right. If we were going to get this thing really distributed, then someone did have to stay and someone had to go. But shit, we couldn’t leave him alone, no matter what he said.
“I’ll stay,” I said softly.
Dave flinched, but he didn’t protest, even as he reached out to take my hand.
Robbie was the one who leapt forward. “No! You two are not breaking up!”
I blinked to clear the tears from my eyes. “No, but I’m not leaving you alone here, either. So unless you have a better idea…”
There was only silence for a minute, but then The Kid smiled. “Hey, who were those people in the library? The chemist and the girl.”
I shook my head, but then I remembered what he was talking about. “Josh and Drea?”
“Yeah, that’s them. If he really studied chemistry, he could help me more than you.” The Kid chuckled. “Moron.”
“Hey!” I said with a laugh, but then I thought about what he had said. Dave and I had figured we might call on Josh and Drea to help us one day. And this one was as good as any. “You’re right, though.”
“So why not let them in on this shit?” Dave mused. “And they could stay with The Kid while we go to the Wall.”
I nodded. It was the best solution. The only solution since the last thing I wanted to do was lose Dave. Again.
Robbie nodded. “As long as they don’t treat me like a little kid, I could live with that.”
“You are a kid,” I reminded him, but I ruffled his hair while I did it.
Robbie smiled up at me. “I’ll be waiting for them,” he said, then he turned and started back into the warehouse. “Better get to it.”
We watched him go and waited until we heard the hum of the elevator inside fade away. I stared at David, still stunned by the fact that I’d almost lost him, almost lost everything. But he was whole. Or at least so far.
But we both knew full well we’d just have to wait and see if that was going to change at some point.
“So,” I said softly as I reached for his hand. “Do we still want to save the world?”
Dave grinned as he opened up the driver’s side door and waved me in. He shut it and leaned in through the open window.
“It’s about time we did something,” he said. “And I think world saving has a better health plan than exterminating.”
Then he came around to the passenger side and pulled out the GPS. I watched as he entered in Chicago, IL, into the system, our ultimate destination after a quick pit stop to the camp and our friends.
And I put it in gear and we rolled.
extras
meet the author
A Facebook application once told Jesse Petersen that she’d only survive a day in a zombie outbreak, but she doesn’t believe that. For one, she’s a good shot and two, she has an aversion to bodily fluids, so she’d never go digging around in zombie goo. Until the zombie apocalypse, she lives in the Midwest with her husband and two cats.
Find out more about the author at www.jessepetersen.net.
introducing
If you enjoyed FLIP THIS ZOMBIE,
look out for
EAT, SLAY, LOVE
Book 3 of Living