Life After the Undead (Book 1 in the Life After the Undead Series)

CHAPTER 4

It took us three days to get to the Florida border, and most of that was accomplished by driving night and day. The farther east we went, the more hordes of zombies we ran into. We decided it was best just to stop for fuel and food. We were lucky not to lose any members of our group.

After we made it to the border, we realized we weren't the first to think it was the safest place. A group had already set up a perimeter fence and funneled all the traffic through a central location. I thought it was strange that something had been built so fast. How long does it take to erect a fence on one hundred and sixty miles? How long had it been since my family and I were first attacked? I couldn't remember. The days mushed together in a blur. There were guards with guns everywhere, and I was pretty sure they weren't all military, even though they were dressed in camouflage. We followed a short chain of cars to Orlando where the command station had been set up around Disney World. There we were expected to register so we could be reunited with any surviving family.

I'd been to Disney World once before, and it'd been one of the greatest times in my life. It was for my ninth birthday. We came down in July, which was a mistake. It was so very hot and the lines were so long. I don't remember much of the rides, but I do remember what a relief it was to be out of the heat. I thought air conditioning was the greatest invention ever. Mom, Dad, and I all got mouse ears with our names stitched on the back. This trip was nothing like that. Although, it was still hot. Small camps had been set up around Epcot. No one smiled at the happiest place on earth, and I wondered how many loved ones had been lost.

The transport truck stopped at the end of a long line of cars, and the others and I followed the crowd to the golf ball. Spaceship Earth had been transformed from a ride into a receiving center for refugees. The lines moved quickly through the various checkpoints, and I gave my name to the person sitting at the terminal, who typed it into the computer.

"Do you have any surviving family members?" The woman stared at me with soft brown eyes and waited for an answer.

I shook my head.

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen."

"And you don't have any grandparents or aunts or uncles around?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"What are their names?"

I told her the names of my relatives. The woman typed them into the computer.

I tried to lean around and see the screen. "Are any of them still alive?"

The woman grimaced. "I'm not seeing anything, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're dead. It's possible they're not in the system yet. If they do register with us, they'll pop up. Do you know the names of any relatives who have recently been killed by the zombie horde?"

I nodded.

"What were their names?"

I told her, and she typed in the information.

"Okay, if anyone from your family registers with us, we'll let you know."

"What am I supposed to do now?"

The woman grabbed a piece of paper off her printer, handed it to me, and pointed toward another line. I took the information to the back of the line. When it was my turn, I handed the paper to the man behind the desk. He looked at it briefly and stamped it before telling me to get on the monorail and head to the Disney Contemporary Resort. I was given a room and a schedule of classes I was required to attend. I stared at it in disbelief. This was way too weird. Zombies had just attacked, were actually still roaming the country, and I was supposed to go to school? These people took the normal thing to a whole new level. Of course I was only fifteen, so I didn't really expect to get drafted into a zombie-killing army. I supposed they needed to do something with me and the other orphans, and this was their best solution. I went to my room, threw my sparse belongings onto the floor, and with a sigh, collapsed onto the soft bed. I was able to relax for a couple minutes before there was a knock on the door.