[Teen and New Adult Zombie Apocalypse Romance]
"If you would've told me the last day of our peaceful existence would be a boring Tuesday in November, I would've called you an idiot."
High school senior, Casey Whitmore, is about to discover her life...
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Once I hit the foyer, I went straight to the kitchen, glancing around for a weapon of any kind. My thoughts were reeling out of control and I couldn't seem to figure out what I was looking for.
It didn't help that Mrs. Cunningham was still screaming bloody murder. The entire neighborhood was probably thinking someone was actually being killed, and they'd be right.
Get it together. Come on. What was I looking for?
Just as I remembered the best knives were in the dishwasher, Derek ran past me, ripping open drawers, stopping at the cooking utensils. Spatulas and tongs clattered to the floor as he riffled through them.
"Where're the damn knives?" Thomas opened the drawer full of eating utensils and pulled out a steak knife.
"Here." I yanked open the dishwasher door and pulled out the lower rack to grab our largest knife. I'd just used it last night to cut veggies for Mom.
I held an agonizing sob back as the awful ache cut through my heart. Mom and I had been laughing in this exact spot twenty-four hours ago.
"Casey!" Derek's wide eyes shattered my worry.
"We keep an iron skillet in there." I pointed toward the oven. Thomas pulled out the skillet as I reached in the dishwasher to pull out a sharp fillet knife, which would work better for me. "Here, take this one."
"Thanks," Derek gratefully grabbed the larger knife out of my hand.
Suzie stood frozen against the wall, watching us in confusion. It relieved me that she didn't ask any questions.
"What the hell is going on here?" Matt's voice barely broke through the tiny lady's screaming.
"Get out of my way, piss licker. The big boys have business to take care of." Thomas elbowed Matt out of the way as he took off toward the screams.
Derek scoffed. "You better get a diaper on, kid. You're about to see something that's gonna make you sh—"
"Casey!" Dad yelled from down the hall.
Carrying the knife in the safest way possible, I jogged past Suzie and Matt. "Stay in here, Su. I don't want you anywhere near what's about to happen."
The screaming stopped just before I made it to Suzie's room. They'd busted her door open, breaking the door latch off at the frame, meaning someone had locked it from the inside. And, God, the stench.
The room was full of people.
Mr. Stanley, I mean, Jim was sitting down on Mr. Cunningham's torso, struggling to hold his arms down. Mr. Cunningham easily matched Jim's size, he could even be larger and appeared to be giving Jim a run for his money.
Mr. Cunningham appeared to be alive, but I couldn't be sure because he looked exactly like Mike the Security Guard had before Thomas blew his head off. The way Mr. Cunningham moved was awkward with lots of jerking around. His eyes were blood red, and like Mike, he was doing everything he could to get a bite out of Jim's face.
