"d.a.m.n straight. My girls are not having kids until they"re close to thirty."
"Well, since there are not many single men left on this planet, those are some pretty good odds."
"Here," said Kristie. "Hold her for a minute, will you?"
"Uh, she"s kind of small. What if I hurt her?"
"Relax, you"re not going to hurt her," she said, placing Adria into his muscular arms.
Tiny looked down at the baby, who gave him a wide toothless grin. "She sure is a sweet little thing," he said as she grasped his index-finger.
"You two have a lot in common," said Kristie, standing up. "You"re both sweet and bald."
"Just don"t tell everyone," whispered Tiny as Kristie left the room. "Wrestler-slash-zombie-killers are definitely not supposed to be sweet. Show no mercy is our motto, you know?"
The baby giggled and Tiny felt as if his heart had outgrown his ma.s.sive chest.
"Nora," whispered Billie, hoa.r.s.ely.
Nora opened her eyes.
c.r.a.p, she"d fallen asleep.
"How do you feel?" she asked, moving closer to the bed.
He sat up and released a ragged breath. "Like s.h.i.t."
She reached over and touched his forehead. "You"re burning up. I"ll get you some aspirin."
"My wrists hurt," he said. "Can you please untie me?"
Her eyes narrowed. "No."
"Nora, it"s me. Come one, babe. Just untie my arms. You can leave my ankles tied up if you want."
"But..."
"Look at my wrists," he said, holding them up. They were indeed red. "The rope is practically cutting off my circulation."
She sighed. "Fine, but you"d better behave."
"Thanks," he said. "I knew you still cared."
She smirked. "You"re lucky I didn"t beat the c.r.a.p out of you earlier."
He smiled. "I"m sorry. I guess I"m not quite myself these days. If you"d still like to beat me, I won"t resist. It might be kind of fun, actually."
"Oh, yeah?" she laughed, untying him. "You say that now but you have no idea what kind of punishment we"re talking about."
He grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into his arms. "G.o.d, I"ve missed you," he whispered, searching her face. "So much, in fact, that I"ve been dreaming about you."
She swallowed. "Um, I"ve missed you too."
He slid his hands over her hips and closed his eyes. "You smell so good."
"I do?"
As far as she was concerned, she needed a toothbrush and a hot shower.
He opened his eyes again and she stared in shock at all of the freshly broken capillaries.
"Are you okay?" she asked, stiffening up.
"I"m fine," he said. "Relax." Then, he raised his hand behind her head and pulled her face to his. When his lips touched hers, he made a strange noise in the back of his throat.
"Billie," she murmured, trying to pull away. "Let me get you something. Even your lips are hot." Although she yearned for his kisses, she had to remember, he was obviously infected.
"Please," he pleaded, touching her cheek. "Just let me kiss you. You taste so good and it"s been so long."
His words warmed her heart, making her feel more wanted than she had in a very long time. She longed for Billie to hold her, to h.e.l.l her that everything was going to be all right. Like he had in Atlanta.
Screw it.
"Okay, Billie. But just on the lips, though, no tongue and no saliva."
Smiling, he pulled her back into his arms and found her lips once again. When his tongue slid inside of her mouth, she panicked and tried breaking free from his firm hold.
"No," she gasped, trying to push away from his chest. "It"s too dangerous!"
"Smells so good," he growled, crushing his lips to hers once again. He pushed her down on the bed and forced his tongue into her mouth. Before she knew what was happening, he bit her tongue, drawing blood.
"Stop!" she screamed, kicking at him.
Kristie stormed through the door. "What in the h.e.l.l is going on in here?!"
Billie backed away and Nora jumped off the bed, her face covered with tears.
"I"m sorry!" cried Billie, his face crumbling. "I didn"t mean to do that, to hurt you! I...I couldn"t help myself."
Nora picked up the ax she"d left on the floor. "You bit my tongue!"
"Nora," what are you doing with that ax?" he asked, staring at her in horror.
"Billie, I"m not going to hurt you. Unless you attack me like that again!"
He held out his hand. "I swear to you, I didn"t do it on purpose. I just...I couldn"t stop myself."
"It"s the zombie virus," said Kristie. "He"s already craving flesh."
"No!" gasped Billie. "h.e.l.l no!"
"It"s true. First the erratic behavior and now this," said Kristie. "Good thing he didn"t get away with Adria."
Billie"s eyebrows shot up. "With Adria?"
"Yeah, you tried to kidnap her, don"t you remember?" asked Nora.
He looked confused. "No, I...I remember seeing your face and then blacking out. Who is Adria?"
"The baby you found," said Kristie. "In Stillwater."
He slumped back against the pillows and put his head in his hands. "I just can"t remember any of what you"re telling me."
Kristie turned to Nora. "We have to tie him back up and then I"m going to have Tiny watch him. Obviously, you two can"t be trusted alone together."
Nora nodded. "I"m sorry. I just..."
She put a hand on her shoulder. "It"s okay, honey. Don"t worry about it."
"Nora," said Billie. "I"m sorry. I swear to G.o.d, I didn"t mean to hurt you. I...I"m sorry."
She nodded and looked away.
"Go get Tiny," said Kristie, taking the ax from Nora. "I"ll watch him until we get his hands tied again."
"Not so tight this time," said Nora, softly. "His wrists are raw."
"I"ll tell Tiny."
Nora left the bedroom, trying not to cry. It was obvious as to what was happening to Billie, he was changing into a zombie and she was going to lose another person she held dear to her heart.
Chapter Twenty-Seven.
Ca.s.sie "Looks pretty quiet," said Henry as they approached the Mall Of America. "Except for all of the damage to the building, you wouldn"t even know what was happening all around it."
"Yeah, it"s quiet, too quiet," I said.
It definitely didn"t look like a survivor bunker. Just like every other place that had once been bustling with people prior to the apocalypse, it now appeared more like an abandoned ghost-town, even with all of the vehicles still parked outside of the ginormous building.
"Should we park in one of the ramps?" asked Bryce.
"Why?" asked Paige. "Let"s just park right outside of Macy"s or Sears. I think it"s safe to say we"re not going to get towed."
"I don"t know if I want to park right out in the open," he replied. "I"d rather sneak up on this guy and find out what"s going on. Just in case his intentions aren"t exactly what he"s been spouting over the airwaves."
"I agree," said Henry. "If it"s who I think it is, this guy might be pulling in survivors and taking their supplies."
Paige snorted. "Because he doesn"t have enough of his own, in one of the world"s largest shopping malls?"
"She has a point," I said.
Henry sighed. "Yeah, but I still say it sounds like that Travis character. What do you think, Wild?"
"I really don"t know," I said. It had kind of sounded like Travis, but I couldn"t be certain.
Bryce looked back at me. "Regardless, we all still have to be on guard. Don"t forget what happened in Atlanta. You just can"t trust anyone."
"Yeah," said Henry. "I agree with Bryce. We"d better park somewhere inconspicuous. Pull into a ramp."
We pulled into the east ramp and ended up parking next to several other vehicles on the first floor.
"Hey," said Bryce, as he got out of the van. "I don"t think these are abandoned cars."
Henry touched the top of the Honda parked next to us. "This one is still pretty warm. Like they just got here themselves."
"Let"s go," said Bryce. "See if we can find whoever arrived in these cars."
"Lead the way," said Henry. "And if you see one of those fancy little electric chairs, grab one. My back is starting to hurt again."
"I"m sure we"ll find you something," I said.
We followed Bryce into the stairwell and to first floor of the mall where it was dark and quiet.
"I guess they haven"t established a welcoming committee yet," whispered Paige.
"Guess not," I said, walking next to her. "Man, I forgot how large this place is. It seems even bigger now that we"re the only ones inside."
With over five hundred shops and millions of square feet, the mall was like its own little city. With enough security, it was an ideal place for a shelter, which reminded me- where were all the zombies?
"Well," sighed Henry. "If this is supposed to be a shelter or bunker of some sort, where the h.e.l.l is everyone?"
"Exactly," said Bryce, as we turned another corner. "Another thing that"s pretty strange, we haven"t come across any zombies. Not even a few stragglers."
"That"s what I was wondering," I said. "There weren"t any outside either."
"I don"t like this," muttered Henry. "Not one bit."
"Hey," I whispered. "You hear that?"