Happy Little Accidents (Z vs A Book 2)

Chapter 5. 2

I tapped a twig against my thigh, watching the soldiers through the trees. "You're certain?"

Princess squatted in the dirt, digging a furrow through the bracken to examine the wiggling creatures in the dirt. The soil was rich and healthy, teeming with earthworms and insects. Nature recovering just fine after the fall of humanity. She sighed, folding the soil back over.

"They didn't let a lot slip but I think they forgot I was up there," she said, looking up at me from her low position. "No matter what they told our lovely boy soldier, I got the definite impression we aren't the first Revived they've seen."

The thought was an unsettling one. The way Kit told it, our human compatriots couldn't believe we existed but if they had encountered altered zombies like us before, why keep it a secret?

"What's your take on all this?" We might have had our differences in the beginning, but I had come to respect Princess a great deal. Not that I would ever tell her, it would go straight to her head.

She stood, dusting a bit of dirt off her fishnets. "Soldiers love their classified info, but this feels like a dirty secret you tell after one too many shots," she said, looking thoughtful. "It feels like politics."

Politics. Give me an alien fire fight any day of the week. Fort Braydon had a militarized structure, peppered by a few personal qualms but was mostly politics free. It ran on precision, habit, and instinct. Probably why we all got along as well as we did. I knew the human city had to run on some sort of governing system, but the idea of secrets and subterfuge wasn't something I thought about.

"We should get back," I said, gathering up a hefty handful of dry dead wood.

Princess hesitated, drumming her fingers against a nearby tree. "Maybe we shouldn't. It might be a good idea to gather the others and head back for the Fort."

I studied her in the rapidly fading daylight. We'd spent far longer out here talking than we should have. I was surprised they hadn't sent someone looking for us despite the possible dangers of our surroundings. "Are you that worried?"

She fidgeted, on the verge of possibly divulging something when Curley crashed through the branches.

"Sorry to bother you ladies," he said, apologetic but determined. "Everyone's wondering where you wandered off to."

I watched Princess, her expression wavered to the patented breezy charm she used to deflect. "We were enjoying a little girl time, Chuckles. What's wrong, Petra can't stand not having us in plain sight?"

The poor guy cringed. "Actually, that's it exactly. They sent me so she didn't have an excuse to come after you herself."

Just what we needed. "Come on, we'll talk later."

"Not bloody likely," muttered Princess, shoving her armful of branches into Curley's hands.

We walked back into a tense semi standoff.

The soldiers clustered loosely around the truck, though they were clearly guarding its contents. The Revived hovered around the fringes of the set up perimeter, uncomfortable with whatever was going down. In the middle Petra, Kit, and JD appeared engaged in a furious discussion. I sidled up to one of the newer Revived, a middle aged woman with salt and pepper hair. There were deep creases at her mouth and eyes in her otherwise smooth face. In my hopes that JD or one of the others would step up into a leadership role, I had been slow to warm up to the influx of the newly altered.

"What's going on Rosa?" That said, I knew all of them by name.

She blinked at me in surprise, her eyes a warm light brown, like frozen maple syrup. "They are arguing about patrols and watches for the night," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She had to be around sixty when she died, maybe older, it was hard to tell. Her voice had a lilting accent to it. "The soldiers do not trust us to patrol alone." She tched with her teeth. "Paranoid idiots," she added in a mutter. I liked her already.