Living Dead (iZombie: Livwell)

Part 4

The next day, I sat with Peyton at lunch. Instead of my usual cafeteria tray filled with pizza and chocolate milk, I had a brain smoothie with the thickest straw I had ever seen. I shuddered, but the moment I took a sip, I saw past the strange texture. Relief from the hunger was sweet; the knowledge that I wasn't about to turn into a crazed beast and infect the rest of my school was even sweeter.

"What is that?" Peyton asked, her nose wrinkling as she studied my drink.

"Smoothie," I replied truthfully, struggling to keep my voice even. The other half of the brain I was sipping had been for breakfast. The girl to whom it had belonged had been a fitness freak and had specialised in kickboxing. I could feel an unfamiliar energy pumping through my veins, anf it made everything I said or did just a little more aggressive.

"Since when do you drink that mush?" Peyton asked, eyeing me.

"Since today. It's healthy," I said. For you as well as for me.

"What happened to you yesterday?" she asked. "Did you watch too many makeover reality shows again?"

I tried to look nonchalant as I remembered the episode at the graveyard the previous night. "No, I just felt like I needed a change."

Peyton rolled her eyes with a smile. "You'll be back on normal food again in no time."

I wish.

As I sipped at my smoothie, I couldn't stop my gaze from drifting in Major's direction. He was speaking animatedly to a friend of his and his smile was heartbreakingly adorable.

"Wow, Liv," Peyton said, waving a hand in front of my face. "I thought you had a thing going on with Lowell."

"I do," I lied. "I was just spacing out." I hated lying to my best friend, but it was easier - and more believable - to tell her I had a crush on Lowell instead of telling her I was being forced to help turn him and his friends into zombie food.

Somebody clapped me on the shoulder and I nearly jumped out of my seat. I turned and found Carson grinning at me. "I hear you're joining us this weekend," he said. "Hope you'll be able to handle it." His gaze shifted to Peyton. "You can come too, if you want," he said with a wink.

"In your dreams," she replied, and stabbed a baby tomato with her fork.

* * *

After school on Friday, Holly picked me up in her mom's minivan. Lowell was already inside, so he got out and helped me with my bags. "Your climbing gear is in there," he said, pointing to an intimidating black duffle bag.

"I watched a few videos online," I said as we slid into the car next to each other. "And I have to admit, I still have no idea what to do."

"Like I said before, don't worry," he reassured me, putting a hand around my shoulders and giving me a little squeeze. "We'll teach you."

"Okay," Holly announced once all the doors were closed. "Next stop: Eliza's place."

I turned to wave goodbye to my parents who were still standing on the kerb and watched their faces contort in disapproval when the minivan sped away with a squealing of tyres. I shouldn't have been surprised - there was no way a girl like Holly would be a careful driver - but that didn't stop me from clutching my seat. "Don't worry," Lowell reassured me softly, his soothing voice close to my ear. "She may seem a little wild, but she's an excellent driver. Like a racing driver." He slipped his hand into mine. My first instinct was to pull away - I had a crush on Major, after all - but I found I didn't mind it too much, so I didn't move a muscle.

After we'd picked up the rest of the group, we were officially off. Music blared and we all sang along. When I didn't know the lyrics, I made up for it with crazy dance moves, which Lowell kept trying to copy and he ended up doing them way better than I ever could.

The music finally lulled to quieter, calmer tunes and soon most of us were asleep. Ren had his head in Eliza's lap and she was absentmindedly stroking his hair as she stared out of the window, deep in thought.

I was lazily scrolling through my phone when a message popped up on the screen. When I saw it was from Blaine, I angled the screen so that nobody else could read it.

"You know, car accidents happen all the time when you drive like Holly," the message read.

I knew he was behind us somewhere, lurking in the shadows and waiting to help me clean up whatever mess I made and making it look like an accident. I was very tempted to type a long string of curses in reply, but instead I wrote: "Not so soon. I saw a few bottles of booze in the back which could help later."

The reply came almost instantly.

"Good idea. Just don't take too long. The clients can't wait forever."

I deleted the conversation in case one of the others got hold of my phone and leaned back into my seat. "Your parents?" asked Lowell suddenly.

"Yeah," I lied. "Just telling me to have a good time."

"They needn't worry," he said. "We're going to have the best time."

I didn't know which part of what he said triggered the vision, but suddenly I was looking straight into the eyes of a young woman. She was lying on the ground, her lips turning blue as she struggled to breathe. "You don't... have to..."

She clawed at the hands wrapped around her throat and when a deep voice spoke, I finally realised what was going on. "You said I was going to have the best time tonight. And that's exactly what I'm doing."

I saw the woman's eyes roll back just before I returned to reality. I was trembling with shock. And anger.

How dare Blaine feed me the brain of a psychopath?