My Zombie Girlfriend

Chapter 21

"We've got weapons," Zane announced after they'd made their way to where his friends were. Much like Zane's parents, Wilson and the others had built a small barricade out of cots turned on their sides, and they were simply crouched and trying to avoid the zombies and bullets.

"Sweet," said Wilson. Joey, Hunter, Josh, and Mike Snow each took a baseball bat, while Dylan or Tyler grabbed a bow and some arrows.

Rebecka hefted a field hockey stick in her hands – well, one hand. The other was wrapped and could fit around the handle, but Zane could tell she wasn't going to be able to hold on to the stick with it. "I was on varsity freshman year," she told everyone.

Zane still had his aluminum bat, and Tamiko situated herself with a bow.

"Looking good, Katniss," said Hunter.

"Back off," Wilson said with surprising aggression.

Tamiko and Dylan or Tyler took a few good shots at the zombies. The rest of them stood back.

Zane looked down and realized his hands were still shaking. What was his problem? His hands hadn't shaken when he killed Brian Erickson, or when he had pushed Ricky away. But then, those guys were clearly zombies. Harmony, on the other hand...

"So, Zane, when were you planning on telling everyone about Harmony?" Tamiko asked. She had an arrow at the ready.

Wilson tilted his head. "What about Harmony?"

"Well, we ran into her in the locker room," Tamiko said. "Apparently she was hungry earlier, and decided to eat Zane's cat."

"What?" Hunter exploded. "Dude, I knew that chick was a zombie!"

"Did you gank her like you ganked Brian Erickson?" Josh asked.

Zane shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"What did you do?" Wilson asked. "Tell me you killed her. Please."

"Look, she isn't like the other zombies. I don't know what she is," Zane said. "I locked in the equipment cage."

"Seriously? Z, what is it going to take to convince you that there is something wrong with that girl?" Wilson cried.

"Look, I don't know." There was a tense moment as a couple of zombies came at a nearby soldier who was distracted. Tamiko and Dylan or Tyler pulled their bow strings back, but the soldier pulled out a handgun and shot both zombies quickly. Everyone relaxed. "She talks. Look at these zombies." Zane gestured to the moaning undead creatures stumbling through the pile of thin mattresses. "These things are definitely dead. But Harmony isn't."

"Interesting," Wilson said, stroking his chin. "Perhaps the virus mutated."

"Or maybe," Tamiko said, "Harmony is Patient Zero."

"What's patient zero?" asked Mike Snow.

"Patient Zero is the first victim of a plague, the carrier that infects everyone else," Tamiko explained.

Wilson hopped up and down. "She's right! Think about it: you and Harmony were at that party last weekend, right, Z? And that's when everyone got infected."

The stream of zombies that had been coming through the boys' locker room had lessened. The soldiers closed in and began radioing for reinforcements. Soon, more soldiers arrived. The survivors in the gym were instructed to back up toward the folded-up bleachers. Zane and his friends dragged their cot-bunker with them.