"At least the rain is normal," said Paige, staring out the window. "Nothing to indicate that it"s the "End of The World". Thanks, by the way, Tiny."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Scaring the heck out of everyone by talking about the "End of The World". I"m not ready for that. I mean, seriously, I haven"t made it to college yet, partied until I"ve puked my guts out, or even made it past third base with a guy. I"m only eighteen and have too much living to do before actually dying."
"Seriously," said Bryce. "That"s your "Bucket List"?"
Paige raised her eyebrows. "What"s a Bucket List?"
"The list of things you want to accomplish before you die," he said.
"Obviously, you"ve already marked at least one of those off of yours, Romeo," smirked Paige. "But maybe I"d like to sleep next to a toilet one night, making promises I won"t keep or... reject scary, drunk-a.s.sed men who hit on me at a bar. h.e.l.l, even to feel the euphoria of getting a single line on a pregnancy strip before I"m engaged. There are just too many things I want to do before I die."
Kristie closed her eyes and rubbed the area between her eyebrows. "Thank you, Lord, for making my children so dramatic, cynical and stubborn. If mom was here, I"m sure she"d say "paybacks are a b.i.t.c.h, Kristie"."
Paige leaned forward and patted her on the shoulder. "Hey, you set the standards. I"m just trying to say that I want to enjoy at least the same things in life that you have, before I leave this place."
"Okay, fine, I plead the fifth," said Kristie, with a humorless smile. "But seriously, honey, you should strive for better."
"Better isn"t always as fun though is it, babe?" asked Tiny.
Kristie punched his shoulder. "You"re not helping. I"m supposed to be setting examples."
"Mom, it doesn"t matter anyway. I"m an adult now and can make my own decisions- zombie apocalypse or not."
"Well," said Billie. "You"ve certainly earned your right after everything we"ve been through. h.e.l.l, we all have."
"You got that right, brother," said Tiny.
They drove for a while in silence, listening to the echoing thumps from the hail mixed with occasional cracks of thunder. When they reached the lake on the map, Tiny swore and slammed on the breaks.
"What?" gasped Kristie, gripping the dashboard.
Tiny pointed ahead towards the beach. "Tell me I"m wrong but doesn"t the water look pink?"
"Pink? No, that"s ridiculous," said Kristie, trying to see through the wipers and rain.
Tiny put his foot on the gas and drove into the parking lot leading to Willow Lake"s Public Beach. He then drove over the gra.s.s to the edge of the sandy beach.
"Well, yeah, it does look like an odd color," said Billie.
Tiny grabbed an empty gla.s.s from the cup-holder and opened the door. "I"m going to check it out," he said, jumping out into the rain. "Hold tight."
"Is this really necessary?" asked Kristie.
"I"ll be back," he said slamming the door. He then sprinted through the sand to the end of the beach and filled the gla.s.s with lake water. When he returned to the SUV, they all stared in horror at the contents of it.
"It is pink," said Paige in a strangled tone. "What does it mean?"
Tiny wiped the rain from his forehead. "I don"t know."
"Relax you guys. It could be a number of things," said Bryce. "Bacteria growing in the water, too much iron, dead fish or even zombie contamination. Don"t jump to conclusions."
Paige shook her head. "No, first the ground shaking because of an earthquake, now the water turning red! That"s too much of a coincidence. This is it, we"re all screwed."
"It"s pink not red Paige," said Kristie.
"Your mother and Bryce are probably right," said Billie. "Let"s keep trying to track the others and then we"ll worry about pink water and quakes."
"Exactly," said Kristie.
"Okay," said Tiny, restarting the engine. "I know one thing for certain, we need to start searching the homes around here for bottled water. If the water is contaminated, we don"t want to get near it."
"Whoa, check that out," said Kristie, pointing ahead.
Two rain-drenched zombies, staggered towards the lake and everyone watched in fascination as they entered it.
"Weird," said Paige.
"Check it out, it"s going to be over their heads soon," smirked Bryce, as the zombies stepped deeper. "Wonder if they"ll float or sink?"
"Oh my G.o.d?" gasped Kristie. "What in the h.e.l.l are those idiots doing?"
Paige chuckled. "Fishing? Maybe they"ve figured out another way to eat."
"Maybe they"re drawn to the water because of something else," murmured Billie.
"What do you mean?" asked Kristie, turning to look back at him. "I thought zombies were drawn to living flesh. You know, brains and all that."
"And blood," he said, smiling humorlessly. "Obviously, they"re drawn to blood."
Kristie"s face turned white.
Chapter Eight.
They drove through two hours of hard and steady rain in silence until they pa.s.sed a sign welcoming them to Rockford, Illinois.
"Just in time. We need gas," said Justice, breaking the somber mood in the truck.
"And I have to go to the bathroom," sighed Allie, who sat in the middle.
"Me too," said Kylie, staring out the pa.s.senger window.
"It"s going to be dark soon," said Justice. "Let"s see if we can find a full parking-lot and a toilet."
"And no zombies," said Allie.
"Big city like this is gonna have plenty of those," said Justice. "This is won"t be easy."
"So, um, how much longer until we get to Minnesota?" asked Allie, biting the side of her nail.
He shrugged. "I don"t know, we"re still quite a few hours away. Maybe six or seven?"
"I hope my sister is okay," said Allie.
"You know she is going to kill you when she sees you," said Kylie.
"I"m the one who should be mad," she answered. "She left without even telling me and now that our parents are gone, we need to stick together."
"Did you lose them to the zombies?" asked Justice.
"No. A really bad man killed them. Shot them when they were trying to save Ca.s.sie."
"There are a lot of dangerous characters out there," said Justice. "Look at what happened to Luke."
"You know...it"s all my fault," said Allie, her eyes misting up. "I shouldn"t have asked him to come with us. Now he"s dead and it"s my fault."
"Obviously, it was his choice to tag along," said Justice. "And don"t go blaming yourself for the acts of a psychopath. The guy was obviously messed up."
"I still feel horrible," said Allie. "And what am I going to tell Bryce when he finds out? They were so close."
"Forget about Bryce, Belinda is going to be the one who will be really upset. That"s her nephew."
Allie shook her head. "No, it"s not. Bryce just told her that so Belinda wouldn"t shoot him. That"s what Ca.s.sie told me."
"Okay, you girls are confusing the h.e.l.l out of me," said Justice. "How many people have you had trying to shoot at you?"
"Too many to count," said Allie. She then told him their story, from the very beginning, starting with the first day of the zombie outbreak.
"And I thought the undead were dangerous," said Justice. "You guys have been through a lot of s.h.i.t, especially your sister. I guess if she can handle being kidnapped a few times, getting bitten by a zombie, and watching her parents murdered, she"s probably doing alright at the moment. Sounds like a tough chic."
"I hope she"s doing alright," said Allie.
"So, what"s your story?" asked Kylie.
He shrugged. "It"s pretty boring compared to yours."
"I doubt it," she answered. "You can tell us if you want. Did you lose a lot of friends and family?"
He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. "Well, I"ve always been kind of a loner, so I didn"t lose many friends, just acquaintances and, well, my family."
"What about a girlfriend?" asked Allie, her cheeks turning pink.
He smiled, grimly. "I lost my girlfriend long before the zombies showed up."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
He paused for a few seconds and then answered. "Well, she left for college last fall and decided she didn"t want a long distance relationship. End of story."
"Aw... were you heartbroken?" asked Allie, putting a hand over her chest.
His jaw tightened. "Heartbroken? No. She was too pushy. Always trying to change me and everything."
Allie raised her eyebrows. "Like... how?"
He shrugged. "Guess she wasn"t crazy about the way I presented myself to other people or the fact that I wasn"t interested in college. She probably thought I was white trash, since she grew up on the other side of the tracks. Her parents certainly thought the worst of me."
Kylie gasped. "Oh my G.o.d, did they actually tell you that?"
"They didn"t have too. I could see it in their eyes and the way they spoke to me. I"m sure they were relieved when Lexus went to college and I stayed in Georgia."
"Lexus?" snorted Allie.
He smiled.
"Do you know if she"s still alive?" asked Kylie.
"Nope."
"I had a boyfriend before the zombies," said Kylie.
Allie"s jaw dropped. "What?! Who?"
"Well, he wasn"t my boyfriend, yet, but I know he liked me. He slipped me a note in cla.s.s one day, asking if I had picked out a date for the Sadie Hawkin"s Dance."
"But, the Sadie Hawkin"s Dance isn"t until the eighth grade," said Allie. "That"s like, next year."
"That"s how I know he liked me," smiled Kylie. "He was already reserving a spot."
"Who was it?" asked Allie.
"Jason Peterson," said Kylie.
Justice"s mind drifted away as the girls droned on about boys and dances they"d never get to enjoy. Although he"d been bitter about Lexus for months after their breakup, at least his high-school-years had been interesting. Unfortunately, the two girls beside him wouldn"t ever get to go to dances, parties, or even Homecoming games. Everything in the world had changed, nothing would ever be the same for them and he suddenly felt very fortunate.
"Oh c.r.a.p," said Allie, pointing ahead, as they reached downtown Rockford. "Looks like we"ve found where all of the zombies have congregated."
"Roll up your window," said Justice.
The streets and sidewalks were crowded with zombies in every shape, form, and decomposition. Hundreds staggered through the rain, searching for food.