"Is he okay?" asked Kristie.
His eyes were closed.
"Uh, I think he may have died from the zombie virus," I said.
"Wouldn"t he be attacking us right now, then?" asked Henry, moving closer. "You know, trying to eat us?"
I touched Billie"s cheek. "Well, he is still warm. And look, the color is coming back to his cheeks."
Plus, his skin no longer looked mottled.
"Maybe he"s going to be alright?" murmured Kristie.
Before I could answer, Billie"s eyelids began to flutter.
"Billie?" I said, grabbing his hand. "Hey, are you okay?"
His eyes opened. "I"m back," he whispered.
I smiled. "Yes, Billie, it looks that way."
"Help me up?" he asked.
I stood and pulled him with me. "How are you feeling?"
He nodded. "You know what? I"m doing pretty good, actually."
I stared at him in disbelief. He looked healthy and totally refreshed. Nothing compared to the monster who"d tried attacking us. "You sure you"re okay?"
"Oh, yeah." He walked over to Travis"s body and nodded. "Looks like you guys were busy."
"You don"t remember anything?" I asked.
Our eyes met and he smiled. "Guess not."
"He must have been in some kind of trance or something," said Henry. "Just like that young man, Justice. Listen, we"d better get out of here and head back to Atlanta. Got us so many dead bodies on the lawn, your neighbors are going to start talking."
"Oh my G.o.d," I said, forgetting all about the zombies. "How are Justice and Bryce doing?"
"They"re working hard, that"s for sure. Told me to check on you whilst they was finishing the last of them."
Before I could walk out to check on them, Bryce raced through the door. "Thank G.o.d," he said, pulling me into his arms. "I heard that Travis made it into the house and I thought I"d lost you."
"He did make it in here but Henry took care of him," I said, hugging him back. "Shot him straight through the heart."
"What did I tell you," said Bryce, releasing me. He walked over to Travis"s dead body and with a grimace, said, "There"s no way this guy was a demon. If he was, he"d still be alive."
"That"s what I thought," said Kristie, clucking her tongue. "You girls and your wild imaginations."
"We should leave," said Paige. "All of this blood is making me nauseous."
I yawned. "Yeah, and I"m so exhausted, I"m going to need a nap soon."
"You?" said Bryce. "I just took out forty or fifty zombies just on my own."
"Fine," I said. "I"ll drive while you and Adria take your little naps."
Henry cleared his throat. "I don"t think that"s such a good ideal. We all know how you drive."
"Everything okay in here?" asked Nora, walking back into the house with Tiny, behind her, trying to catch his breath.
"Look!" said Paige. "We killed the demon!"
Nora stared at Billie in disbelief. "Oh my G.o.d, are you okay?"
He smiled. "Doing fantastic."
She rushed over and threw her arms around him. "Thank G.o.d," she sobbed. "I thought I"d lost you."
He chuckled. "No, I"m fine."
"Where"s Adria?" asked Kristie.
"She"s in the van with Justice and the girls," said Nora, still staring at Billie in wonder.
Kristie sighed. "Okay. Did you guys take care of all the zombies?"
"We got most of them. There are still some heading this way, but nothing we can"t handle," said Tiny.
"What about Travis"s driver?" she asked.
"He took off," said Tiny. "When I tried approaching him."
She smiled. "I"ll bet."
"I can"t believe everyone made it," I said.
"Everyone but Luke," said Kristie, shaking her head.
Bryce closed his eyes. "Yeah, that poor kid. Justice told me what happened. I still can"t believe it."
"Belinda"s going to be devastated," said Henry, scratching his whiskers. "Even if they weren"t really related. She grew quite attached to that kid."
None of us said anything. We"d all lost so many loved ones in the last few weeks, but the pain was still so raw for each and every one.
"Well, we should get going," said Billie, after a couple of minutes.
We agreed and started packing up what was left of the snacks, water, and baby supplies.
"I should make the baby a bottle for the road," said Kristie.
"Good idea," said Tiny, handing her the formula and a bottle of water.
"Everything ready?" asked Bryce, carrying a couple of extra pillows from the bedroom.
"We just have to load the vehicles."
Billie walked over to Kristie. "Why don"t I bring the bottle to the girls and let them start feeding Adria."
She handed it to him. "Sounds good. We"ll be right out."
"Okay," he said, walking out the back door.
"So, who are you riding with, Justice?" asked Paige.
He shrugged. "I don"t know. You guys okay with me tagging along?"
Paige twirled her blond hair around her finger, and stared at him as if he was the last pair of Jimmy Choos on the face of the earth and she couldn"t live without them. "Uh, of course you have to come with. You"re part of the team now."
He smiled. "Then, I guess I"ll be riding with whom-ever wants me."
"Of for crying out loud, you"ll be riding with Paige," said Henry, getting up from the kitchen table. "That girl has had her knickers in a bundle ever since she"s laid eyes on you."
Paige"s face turned crimson. "Don"t listen to him. He doesn"t know what he"s talking about."
Justice"s lip twitched. "Too bad. I always wanted to know what knickers in a bundle looked like."
"Hey, that"s my daughter you"re flirting with over there, young man," said Kristie. "There will be no knickers bundling up anywhere. Period."
"Oh my G.o.d, mother," mumbled Paige, walking out of the kitchen.
"Oh, I think you"re in for an earful later, Kristie," I said.
"That"s fine. I"m used to it."
I laughed and went outside to join Paige.
"Ca.s.sie!" she hollered, from the side of the garage. "Did the guys move the van?"
"Not that I know of," I said, walking up the cement steps.
Sure enough, the van was gone.
So were the girls, the baby, and Billie.
Her face turned white. "I think we have another problem on our hands."
"You girls doing okay back there?" asked Billie, as he turned onto the freeway.
"Yeah," said Kylie, closing her eyes, trying to block out the sounds of Adria, cries.
"I don"t know what"s wrong with her. She just finished her bottle," said Allie. "So she can"t be hungry. Poor thing."
"Well, we have a long way to go before we reach our destination. You need to try and shut her up," replied Billie.
"That"s not nice," said Kylie, opening her eyes. "She can"t help it, you know, she"s just a little baby.
"I don"t care, keep her quiet so that I can concentrate on the road."
"Um, so you never told us, why are we riding with you and not the others?" asked Kylie.
He looked back at her in the rearview mirror but didn"t say anything.
The hair on the back of her neck stood straight up. "Billie?"
A cold, evil smile spread across his handsome face. "I prefer that you call me...Travis."
Author"s Note.
Thank you for reading the fourth installment of Zombie Games. I had a lot of fun writing it, although, to be honest, I had trouble deciding which road I wanted to travel with these characters. In the end, I chose this one and hope that it was both unexpected and entertaining.
Obviously, there will be another Zombie Games, as the world is on the brink of becoming an amus.e.m.e.nt park for someone much more evil than Travis. Unfortunately, this last book will not be available until the end of the summer. In the meantime, if you enjoy my writing, please check my website for information on other books that are available now at www.kristenmiddleton.com.
Thanks again and happy reading!.
Kristen Middleton.
end.