Dead Chaos - Book 1 - Zombie Apocalypse

Dead Chaos - Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I heard Riley crying as soon as I walked through the front door. Nacho ran up to greet me and I leaned down to scratch behind his ears. “What’s the big baby whining about now, Nacho?”

Walking into the living room, I was bombarded by tears and snot as a red-faced Riley rushed to meet me. “Oh, Anya, it’s so horrible!”

Holding her away from me before she could face-plant her mess onto my shirt, I said, “I’m sure you’re exaggerating, Riley.”

“You don’t understand, Anya. He’s been bitten!”

A chill coursed through me and, I don’t know why, but the first person who came to mind was Justin. “Who?” I whispered.

“Kyle’s been infected!” Riley cried out.

In a knee-jerk reaction, I slapped her across her lying face. “That’s not funny!” Riley palmed her cheek, sobbing louder.

Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked down to see Paulina’s solemn expression. “Viktor and Melanie locked him in their room upstairs.”

I pushed past both of them, heart thundering in my chest. “Kyle!” I shouted, running to the stairs. Tripping halfway up, I scrambled the rest of the way. At the top, Melanie stood with her arms crossed and head down. “Anya,” she rasped. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t real.

“Move out of my way.” She complied and went down the hallway, encountering Viktor in front of the deadbolted bedroom door, billhook machete in hand. “Unlock it!”

“Where’s Levi?” he questioned stubbornly.

“He’s still outside, putting gas in the cars. Now let me in there!” I screamed at him. “If Kyle is infected, he’s got two days!” Stopping to take a deep breath, I pleaded, “Viktor, that means I only have two days with him.”

After a long moment of just staring down at me with a mixture of pity and sadness in his eyes, Viktor turned around, inserted a key and swung the door open. “I’m locking the door behind you.”

I wasn’t listening to him anymore. Kyle lay partially on the bed, with his legs hanging off the side and his arms clasped together over his eyes. The bandage on one arm was a harsh dose of reality.

“Honey?” I breathed, moving to the bed while hearing the lock click behind me.

Uncovering his face, he looked at me with dry, bloodshot eyes and opened his arms to me. I swallowed my tears and practically threw myself into his arms. We laid there for a long time, more than long enough for my dad to be informed. Long enough for the room to darken because of the setting sun. Viktor must’ve told him to give us time alone.

All I could hear was the beating heart in the chest beneath my right ear. It sounded so strong. The house was quieter than normal. At this time of day the family would mostly be in for the night and competing personalities usually meant a cacophony of sounds. I’d been crying off and on, trying to do so as silently as possible. I wanted to be able to keep hearing the steady beating of his heart.

He coughed, interrupting my vigil. “I really wanted to marry you, Anya.”

Lifting my head off his chest, I got up onto my elbows, cupping his cherished face in my palms. “You are my husband, Kyle. We don’t need a chapel and Pastor Dan to make it true.”

“I want to kiss you so bad,” he said.

“I know, me too,” I commiserated. We’d never kiss in that way again. It was thought that the virus passed on through saliva. We couldn’t risk it. Instead, I kissed him on the chin, then up his jaw and back down to kiss up the other side.