I looked up at him in horror. "What?"
"Guess you two have more in common than you thought. She left with Kylie and Luke, to search for you."
"When?" I asked.
"Right after you left."
"Oh my G.o.d," I moaned, closing my eyes. "It"s too dangerous for those girls to be out on the road."
He nodded. "Exactly. Too dangerous for all of you. My only consolation was that you had Henry backing you up. Luke, though, Luke is just a kid."
"We have to find them," I said, storming out of the bedroom.
I had to find her. My little sister.
He followed me. "Yeah, well we"ve been trying to do that without any luck. I think we should stick around here, see if they show up, like you guys just did. I think our odds are better there."
I began to pace. "I just found her and now she"s missing again? And now Kylie too! Oh my G.o.d, what were they thinking?"
"What were they thinking? Isn"t it obvious?"
I stopped. "What, that she feels like I abandoned her?"
"Those are your words, not mine. Obviously, she loves you and wants to be with you."
Sitting down in the arm-chair, I put my head in my hands. "I don"t know what to do, now."
"Like I said, we wait here for a few days and see if she shows up."
I nodded and stood up. "Okay. Meanwhile, I"m going to the Mall Of America."
His eyes widened. "Excuse me? Now isn"t the time to shop for a new purse."
I told him about the man on the radio and how they were urging other survivors to join them. "Maybe the girls heard him, too, and decided to go there first?"
"Maybe. Well, obviously I"m coming with you," he said.
Just then Paige walked into the living room. "Okay, where are you going, now?
I told her what we"d heard on the radio and she immediately volunteered to join us.
"You should stay here," said Bryce.
She glared at him. "Don"t tell me what to do. Kylie is my sister and I"m leaving here with you guys."
"She should come," I said. Paige had already went off on me about leaving her behind in Atlanta and I wasn"t about to p.i.s.s her off again. Besides, it was her sister that was missing, just like mine.
Bryce sighed. "Fine."
"Well, Billie is still unconscious," said Kristie, walking into the room. "We have him tied up and Nora is watching him."
"What in the h.e.l.l was he doing with Adria?" asked Paige. "Is he going crazy or something?"
Bryce shrugged. "I don"t know. He"s been acting strange ever since that zombie bit him."
"A zombie bit him? How long ago?" I asked.
"About four hours," answered Bryce.
I closed my eyes and sighed.
Poor Billie.
My fault.
"Nora is pretty distraught," said Kristie. "First, seeing her father and now Billie. I think she really cares about him."
"Has he been showing signs of aggression or other disturbing behavior?" I asked, opening my eyes.
"Stealing a baby and running off into the night, that"s pretty disturbing," said Bryce. "He was also mumbling something about taking the baby to "him". We just can"t trust Billie anymore."
"He might pull through this," I said. "Allie and I did."
"Maybe. But for now we"re going to have to watch him closely and keep him away from the baby," said Kristie. "Where"s Henry and Adria?"
"I think they"re outside on the porch," I said. "Watching the sun rise together."
Kristie smiled. "Did you see the way his eyes lit up when Adria smiled at him?"
"He loves children," I said and then told her about our ordeal at the church.
Paige scowled. "What kind of a person would try to torch a church?"
"And one filled with children," I added. "G.o.d, I hope that Allie and Kylie don"t run into these guys. The chances are slim but..."
"Which way were these two knuckleheads traveling?" asked Kristie.
"I have no idea," I said.
"Well, let"s get going," said Bryce. "We shouldn"t waste anymore time."
Kristie"s eyebrows shot up. "Where in the h.e.l.l are you going, now?"
I filled her in on the radio transmission.
"You think Allie and Kylie might have went out there to meet that guy?"
"I don"t know, but it"s worth checking out. For all we know, the girls beat us to Minnesota, heard the announcement, and decided to see what was happening there. You know those two and malls." I smiled. "An open mall with designer-clothing and millions of shoes at their disposal. It"d be like winning the lottery for them."
She smirked. "Now I"m starting to get jealous! Well, we"ll hang out here and see if they show up while you go to Bloomington. Who knows, you might even find your grandparents there."
"They"re supposed to be in Atlanta," I said.
"Are you kidding me? n.o.body is where they"re supposed to be," said Kristie.
"This is true," I said.
"I"m going with them," informed Paige.
Kristie nodded, reluctantly. "Fine, but listen to Bryce and don"t try anymore crazy heroics."
"Okay," said Paige as Kristie kissed the top of her head.
"I"m going to tell Henry," I said, walking out the front.
"Tell me what?" he asked, as I shut the door and joined him on the porch. Adria was in his arms and he was in my grandfather"s favorite rocking chair, rocking her gently.
"We"re going to MOA."
He snorted. "Leave it to teenaged girls and shopping- not even a zombie apocalypse will stand in the way."
"Well, you heard that guy- there should be other survivors out that way. More people that we might know. Maybe even Allie and Kylie."
"Maybe," he said. "Well, obviously I"m coming with you, too."
"No, you should stay here," I said. "Get some rest."
"Oh, I"ve got all eternity to rest," he said, holding the baby out to me. "Here, now, take little Adria, so I can go drop some kids off to the pool before we set sail."
I looked down at the sleeping baby and felt an odd sense of peace. Here, we were in the middle of an apocalypse, my sister and Kylie were missing, Billie had been bitten by a zombie, and we"d witnessed Nora"s father getting murdered by her zombie grandmother, but amazingly for the first time in weeks, I felt a wave of hope wash over me. Even with all of the obstacles we still faced, something told me that things were going to be okay.
Her eyelids fluttered open and she stared at me.
"Don"t worry, Adria," I whispered. "Things are going to be okay. I won"t let anything happen to you."
Her little bow-tie lips curled up into a smile and something told me that she believed it.
Chapter Twenty-Four.
Ca.s.sie "Hey," said Bryce, grabbing my hand. "We need to talk."
"I thought we already did," I said, following him into the bedroom. He"d taken a shower and was wearing a new pair of Levis and a white T-shirt that hugged his still very-chiseled pecks. I had to admit, even though he"d lost a little weight and had dark circles under his eyes, he still made my pulse race with that s.e.xy little smile of his.
He closed the door and then turned to me. "We have talked, several times, but you never seem to really listen to what I have to say. So I"ve decided to try another approach."
Before I could respond, he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into his arms.
"What are you doing?" I asked, feeling my cheeks turn pink. "I don"t think we have time..."
"We don"t," he whispered, staring into my eyes. "And that"s why we have to make every minute count." Then his lips found mine and I soon found myself underneath him on the bed.
"I"ve missed you so much," he said, pulling my shirt over my head.
"Me too," I answered, gasping as his hands began moving around my body.
Four minutes and twenty-three seconds later, he was gasping above me and I was staring up at him in amus.e.m.e.nt.
He turned onto his side and touched my lips with his fingertips. "You"re so beautiful."
"Thank you."
"Sorry," he said, smiling sheepishly. "I know that was too fast, but I just lost control."
"No, it was fantastic," I said. "Short and sweet. Kind of like those miniature candy-bars, where they"re so awesome that you just can"t eat one, but if you only have one, it leaves you still craving more."
He stared at me for a second and then burst out laughing. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"I"m just saying...I wasn"t... dissatisfied, I"m just still... craving you," I said, kissing his lips.
"I don"t know what"s more disturbing, comparing me to a miniature candy-bar or reminding me that it just wasn"t enough to settle your craving. Both could be construed as rips on my manhood."
I stood up and slipped my shorts back on. "Are you kidding me? You"re manhood is...just...awesome. I mean it"s the best out there, I"m sure."
"Because you"ve had so much experience, you"d know," he said, his eyes sparkling.
"I know that I"m more than happy and that"s all that matters."
Someone began pounding on the bedroom door. "Hey, you two done talking about candy in there?" hollered Henry. "Because we"re all waiting for you so we can leave."
My face turned bright red.
"Don"t worry," whispered Bryce, kissing me, again, "he doesn"t know what we were up to."
I bit the side of my lip. "Okay."
After we left the bedroom, I overheard Henry teasing Bryce about adding a little more nuts to his candy-bars, and I had to leave the room so he wouldn"t see me laughing.
"Everyone set?" asked Bryce, starting the van. "You all have weapons and water?"