Zombie Town

Chapter 12

A week had passed since I last opened up the journal; an erie feeling filled the air whenever I walked past it in my closet. Eventually, I realized that I couldn't run away from my problems. This had to be faced one way or another. It was at lunch time that I decided to finally do something about it. 

"I have a proposition for you," I said as I slammed my book against the table. Martha looked up at me with her sparkling green glass eyes. I had not only gotten her attention, but all the other girls' as well. They all stared at me. 

"Can we talk about it someplace else?" I whispered very quietly, almost one hundred percent positive that no one else, besides Martha, had heard me. 

"Walk with me." Without anyone noticing, we snuck out of the lunch room and into the quiet hallway. 

"What's up?"

"What do you know about the Owen Patel journal?"

She shook her head. "I don't really pay attention to our town's history. Shouldn't you know? I mean, you were alive when he was, right?"

"No, he was actually my great grandfather."

"Wow, you're really-"

"Old?"

"I didn't mean it that way," she assured me.

"Oh, I know, I won't take it seriously. But you have to admit, I look pretty good for one hundred eighty-three." 

"Okay? Anyways, I don't know much about it. Greg's the one that knows all of that factual history stuff."

"I know that," I mumbled quietly. I didn't want to think about Greg, which was pretty hard to do because he was constantly on my mind. 

Martha noticed my gloomy body language and said, "I'm sorry I don't know anything. Why did you want to know anyways?"

I sighed. "I wanted to know because when I was driving home from the hospital last week, someone tried to kill me. I almost crashed in my car. They were after the journal."

"How'd you get a hold of that?" she wondered. 

"I found it when we rescued Greg."

"That's supposed to be in the museum," Martha informed me. 

"Well it's not. After I was turned, I found a replica of it but it was blank."

She gasped. "Do you think someone planted it?"

"They would've had to. It was open up to a specific entry."

She nodded in comprehension. "Are they after it because of the secret that's in there?"

"I'm positive. This is why I come to you. I looked through it and there was no secret to it. After the last entry, there were just blank pages. That's why I'm wondering if you know anything about another journal or something."

"There is no other journal. That's it. I don't know what to tell you."

I bit my lip. "You know the car thing? That wasn't the first time. Someone's been after me ever since I got here. The bodies I've eaten have disappeared and then shown up on the news, thhen it stopped, and then Greg went missing. The timing of it is all too perfect; like someone's planning this. Martha, I need you to help me. I completely understand if you want to stay out trouble and -"

"Are you fucking kidding me? I want to get in trouble. This is exactly the type of excitement I need in my life! Running around solving mysteries and kicking zombie butt; count me in!"

"Alright then"

"But-," she began, "we might need Greg's help."

I nodded shyly and began to walk away, hoping that she wouldn't read the guilty look on my face.