Ryder nudges me, and I raise my own gun, just in case. The man takes the gun from Ryder, and turns away from us. He takes aim at his wife's head, but the gun is trembling so badly I know he won't hit her if he pulls the trigger. He takes a few deep breaths to calm himself, and then tries again.With one last shuddering breath, he turns the gun around, sticks the end in his mouth, and pulls the trigger. The back of his head explodes, coating us in blood and skull fragments, and I scream as the man drops to the ground, missing half of his face. I'm still screaming when Ryder takes the gun from him and shoots his wife.When he turns to me, all I can see is the man's blood that coats Ryder's shirt and arms, and then I look down at myself. Bits of blood, brain matter, and bone coat my clothes. I slap at my arms, trying to scrape everything away, trying not to see it as I do. Right now, I don't want to think about what's sticking to me and soaking into the carpet, I just want to clean mysel
Tobe doesn't come out for dinner, and our talk is mostly subdued. I know that I should be worried about Tobe's drinking, but she is an adult, and she is relatively safe here. If she wants to get drunk once in a while, I don't really have a say in the matter. I can tell that Ryder and Reese don't necessarily agree with me, and I know Ryder is tempted to say something to her, but I keep him from doing it.After dinner, Ryder gets up to explore all of the cupboards and drawers in the house, and I sit on the couch with a book, trying to read by candlelight. I've barely read five pages when Ryder comes back with a triumphant smile on his face. In his hands is an old, massive, purple radio with a built in CD and tape player.Reese sees it and smiles. "What did you find? Anything good?"Ryder shrugs. "Don't know. Thought I'd let it be a surprise."I set my book on the table next to the purple radio, and get to my feet. I haven't heard music in ages, and I've really missed it. Almost as much
Tobe shakes me away some time later, and when I open my eyes, I notice that it's barely light out. She puts her finger to her lips, nods to Reese's still sleeping form, and drags me from the couch as quietly as possible. She looks terrible with her un-brushed hair and her crumpled clothes, but she looks excited about something.She shuts the door to our room behind us, and forces me to sit on one of the twin-sized beds. I sigh, "Tobe, what are you doing? It's so early," I complain, covering a yawn.She shushes me, and starts to dig around in one of the three white bags against the wall. It looks like they're filled with new clothes, and I groan. "You did not get me up this early to show me a new pair of jeans, did you? If you did, you're gonna pay.""No, I do not want to show you a new pair of jeans," she says. "Aha! Found it."She pulls a sundress from one of the bags and holds it up for me to see. It's a sky blue color, sleeveless, and it has white flowers all over it. The dress isn
In the morning, I help Tobe cook breakfast, and I try to ignore Ryder when he takes a seat across from me at the dining room table. Sadly, I can't avoid him forever, and Reese knows that. "Ryder's going hunting for game today, and I'm going to stay here with Tobe," Reese says, looking at me. "You're gonna have to go with him and look after each other."I narrow my eyes at Reese. If he's purposely trying to shove the two of us together, I'm gonna kick his ass later. "Reese-""Look, the prepared meals won't last forever, alright? We should probably be trying to save as many as possible in case we have to leave in a hurry. Ryder's also going to hide a bag of them on the boat today, just so we don't have to leave with nothing if we have to leave in a hurry. Sam, I know you two probably don't wanna spend the day together right now, but you'll have to suck it up and get his done."He's right, but that doesn't make me hate him
"Ryder, I care about you. More than I ever have before about someone. More than I probably should, especially considering the situation we're in, but I can't help it. I can't explain why I don't feel the same way about Reese as I do about you. I can't explain why I'm drawn to you the way I am. It's just the way I feel.""Sam, Reese is my little brother, and I know he likes you. I can't hurt him. I have a problem with being into a girl that he likes.""You know, you didn't seem to have a problem with it last night when you asked me to dance! You almost kissed me, and you would have if Reese hadn't interrupted."He frowns again. "I shouldn't have; I don't know what the hell I was thinking. But don't worry, because it won't happen again. We need to keep our heads clear, and we need to focus on surviving, not stupid feelings that'll probably go away in a few days or so."I flinch, and turn
Tobe prepares breakfast for everyone while Ryder and I head to our rooms to wash zombie blood and sweat off our bodies. I change into newer, clean clothes, and toss the dirty ones in the corner. Tobe and I will probably clean them later, but for now they're fine right there.When I'm clean and dressed, I head back out into the kitchen, and take a plate of eggs and bacon from Tobe. She smiles at me. "You got to spend the entire night in a tree, cuddling with Ryder. How did that go for you?""It didn't. We fought a lot last night. He told me that he didn't wanna risk his relationship with his little brother for some girl. He thinks that because we've only known each other for a week, these feelings will pass.""Well, I think he's stupid. You guys have been through so much. I mean, look at all the times he's saved you.""I know! That's what I said. I told him that being in this kind of situation forces
The bullets riddle the side of the house, and Ryder and Reese both duck down, flattening their bodies to the ground. Tobe and I join them, squishing our bodies as flat as they can go, and we simply wait for this all to be over with. When the bullets cease, Ryder gets up and begins shooting again. but this time, his eyes widen, and he throws himself down to the ground just as a fiery bomb explodes ten feet to our left.The front door bursts into flame, and the flames begin creeping slowly along the windowsill and up to the ceiling. "What the hell just happened?" Tobe shrieks, staring at the growing flames with a deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face."Molotov cocktail. They've got more prepared. This place is gonna be completely engulfed in flames soon, and we can't stay here. Head for the back door, and we'll circle around through the trees and make our way to the boat."Reese shoves me and Tobe toward the back d
On the morning of our fourth day in Frank's camp, Frank himself finally comes to visit us. When he pulls the tent flaps aside, Naomi cringes, and Melissa and Tobe both start to cry. He doesn't look at any of them though; he walks straight over to me, and crouches down in front of me."How are we feeling?"He has to already know the answer to that. I can finally see out of my left eye again, but I'm sure it's still black. I have two swollen and broken fingers on my left hand, and my ribcage, back, and legs are riddled with footprint-shaped bruises. It hurts every time I move, but I refuse to show him that pain; he'll just get off on it.I'm not going to answer, and he knows that. It's the same question he's asked me several times over the last three days, and I've never answered. I don't think he really expects me too, but he always asks anyways. Every time he checks in on us, which is several times a day.He doesn't usually stay long. He just comes in and tests me before leaving again