F.E.A.R.: Face Everything And Rise - A Zombie novel

Chapter seven

Ten minutes later, I followed Tyler downstairs. Stepping into the remarkable heat of the winter day, I crept behind the wheel and pulled the door closed. This time, Jack sat in the passenger seat, Tyler, Zombie and Tessa in the back.

I was still thinking about what had happened with Tyler. I had killed my entire family, but they had been infected. Losing your baby brother to a bunch of raging cannibals was an entirely different story.

The silence in the car was deafening. Tyler kept looking out the window, his gaze focused on something I couldn't see.

We had no idea where we were going, but we knew we couldn't take the highways. They were blocked by the cars of the people who had tried to flee, but got infected and crashed their cars. We had to take the long way to get out of Savannah, breaking into former shops and farms to gather more supplies. For now, we had enough to last another two weeks, but who knows what might happen during those fourteen days.

We were good on fuel and food, but we needed spare clothes and another tent. We had tried going back to the shop where I had found mine, but by the time we got there, huge flocks of zombies had been roaming through the streets, attracted by the sound of the gunshot I had fired.

"We'll find another place," I had said and Jack had looked at me with sad eyes.

"I hope so," he had sighed. "Tyler's shoes are completely worn out and I need clothes that are better for this weather. Who had known it would be so hot during winter?"

I had shrugged. "All I know is that we have to find a shop like that, and fast. We can't make Tyler walk around barefoot with the risk of hurting himself. God knows if anyone can get infected through objects."

"If a zombie has been in contact with it before you," Jack had reckoned, "sure, why not?"

Now, in the car, he was rummaging through my dad's old CDs. ACDC, Metallica, Phil Collins, U2, Green Day, Bryan Adams,... He took a quick look at them before putting them back where he found them.

"Not a rock fan?" I asked him, just to break that uncomfortable silence.

He reciprocated happily. "I'm more a female-voice guy."

"Female-voiced guy," Tyler corrected him from the backseat.

I snickered, relieved he didn't remain silent for the rest of the apocalypse. "You take the words right out of my mouth."

Jack rolled his eyes and pulled out a Skunk Anansie CD out. "This is my jam."

I cast a quick look in the rear-view mirror and saw Tessa had fallen asleep. Zombie was watching Tyler closely, as if he expected him to turn into a zombie and attack the little girl. I said, "Play it."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Really? During a zombie-apocalypse?"

I shrugged. "The fact that zombies are now a part of the daily life, doesn't mean humanity suddenly gets the right to ignore perfectly good music."

Jack and Tyler exchanged a quick glance and I looked at them. "What?"

"Who knew all it would take to find a girl with a good taste in music was a zombie-apocalypse?" Jack said.

I laughed. "Just play the damn thing."

"Keep the volume down, though," Tyler added from his place next to the little girl. "It's the first time in ages she's been able to sleep during the day. Before all this, she took a nap every afternoon. She's exhausted."

I frowned and asked, "Did you guys know each other before all this?"

Jack nodded. "Ty and I go way back. We met when we were four and became best friends."