Chapter dedicated to RElizabethM
One of my favorite Wattpad writers. Be sure to check out her works.
Balancing the still half full can of soup in one hand, I slid closer to the edge of the roof. Even with Shawn standing ready to help me get down, it looked like a really long way down to the ground.
"Come on. I won't drop you," the moonlight lit his face as he waited with arms up to catch me.
Dubiously, I looked at the ground one last time before wiggling to the very edge. I had no doubt that he was strong enough to hold me up, but taking a leap of faith off of the roof was turning out to be harder than I would have guessed. A tight feeling in my chest, I held my breath and slid from the roof.
A heart stopping, short drop later, I was relieved to realize that I hadn't hit the ground after all. Feeling suddenly giddy, I grinned at the face that was now level with mine.
His wide smile beamed back at me, "Told you it would be fine."
I moved to playfully shove his shoulder, but stopped just in time to not splash the soup in my hand all over him. My cheeks heated up and I hoped it wasn't bright enough for him to see. Trying to act like I hadn't just almost dumped our leftovers on him, I indicated that I wanted down.
He had the decency to pretend like he didn't notice a thing, and set my feet on the ground.
Tail wagging slightly, Rex jumped up from where he'd been sleeping in the grass, and walked the few steps to us. With a hopeful nudge of his nose, he sniffed at the soup.
"Here you go, boy." I put the can down and watched the dog lapping at the food intently, glad to have something to focus on for a second. A steadying breath escaped me quietly.
The slightly awkward silence was broken by the swish of feet coming toward us through the grass. Maya melted out of the darkness, followed closely behind by her husband. "Our turn," she hid a yawn behind her hand as she came to a stop next to me.
Responding with a yawn of my own, I waved at the couple halfheartedly, and began trudging to where the others were asleep. I hadn't realized just how tired I was until all of the yawning. Coming up to walk next to me, Shawn bumped my shoulder with his own. Bumping him back, a small smile quirked up the corners of my mouth.
"So, back of the suv, or outside?"
"Bri, I'm shocked. I didn't figure you for an exhibitionist," he looked at me with mock horror, eyes shining at his joke.
I sputtered awkwardly for a second, and I was sure my face was glowing with the blood that had rushed to it this time. "That is not what I meant," I choked finally.
"I know," the moonlight glinted off of his teeth as he grinned cheekily at me.
Why did I have to be so painfully awkward around him? I hadn't reacted like this because of a boy since I was young enough that my peers were, in fact, still boys. Rolling my eyes, because it just felt like the right thing to do at the moment, I sighed. "I'm sick of that suv. Let's sleep outside."
"Ok," he relented. Probably only because we were too close to the others to be able to keep up the quiet conversation without waking them up.
Fortunately, the nights were warm enough that sleeping outside was fairly comfortable, temperature wise at least. Alex and Luna had both chosen to sleep inside the vehicle, the doors open wide to capture the sporadic breeze. Both Maggie and Charlie slept near the small fire. Looking around the best I could in the limited light, I decided on a spot that looked as comfortable as sleeping in the dirt could get, and dropped wearily to the grass.
A second later, Shawn settled down next to me. We lay side by side, looking up at the stars, while my fatigue warred with the anxiety trying to keep me awake. The embarrassment from minutes ago wasn't helping matters much, either.
Padding his way through the grass, Rex suddenly wormed his way between us and lay down with his chin on my stomach. He licked his lips sloppily a few times and stared adoringly at my face with brown eyes.
"You're welcome, buddy," I patted his head and then began trying every trick I knew to relax enough to be able to sleep.
The exhaustion must have finally won out, because the next thing I knew, someone was shaking me awake harshly.
Disoriented, I blinked up at Shawn. It was still dark, though the sky had that look that it gets just before dawn. He held a finger over his mouth in the universal sign to keep quiet, and I bit back the questions that sprang to mind. Blinking, I tried to wake up the rest of the way as I struggled to my feet.
Bill stood a dozen feet away, watching the dark carnival for something that couldn't be good. Maya was shaking Maggie awake. Charlie was already up and throwing our things into the back of the suv with her good hand.
"What's going on?"
Charlie shushed Luna's sleepy question with a shake of her head and roughly shoved at Alex to make room.
The ridge of fur along Rex's spine stood up as he looked in the same direction that had Bill's concentration. Grabbing his collar, I didn't want him running off after whatever we were running from, I hurried to the back of the suv. Helping Charlie with the last of our things, Shawn flung the bags in and followed suit. He was reaching for the door to close it when Bill broke the silence.
"Go, go, go!"
It felt like everything happened in slow motion from that point. Maggie and Maya dove toward the front. Scrambling across the seat, Maya got behind the wheel, making room for Maggie to get in and slam her door. Spinning around, Maya looked into the back. The stark fear on her face had my own heart racing out of control. Very few things elicited that level of emotion from that woman.
Charlie scrambled into the already full middle seat as fast as she could. Her leg and hand both not working at one hundred percent slowed her down. It was the first time I saw Charlie anything less than perfectly in control. With a heave, she made it inside and ended up on Alex's lap to make room for the last person still outside.
Right on Charlie's heels, Bill dove inside and swung around to frantically slam his door closed. He was still face to face with the glass when a body crashed into the outside of it.
A squeak escaped from my throat at the sudden appearance of the zombie. It had been a while since we had seen one that was fresh enough to run. Somehow, I had almost forgotten just how disturbing their jerking movement was.
It was then that I heard it. A not so distant scream called through the night air. An answering shriek blasted from the zombie already scratching at the glass. Whimpering, Luna crawled to the floor between the seats and curled into a tight ball.
"Is everyone alright?" Maggie's voice was shaken as she looked at each of us in turn, double checking that we had all escaped unscathed once again. "Ok, let's get out of here," she nodded to Maya.
Wide eyed, I slumped into a sitting position, letting go of the dog's collar when I realized that I still clutched him in a death grip. Thirty seconds ago, we had been sleeping out there, unaware of just how close to death we actually were. I turned shocked eyes to Shawn.
We were looking at each other with identical expressions of realization when a bump into the back of the suv captured my attention.
The second zombie had arrived, just as fresh as the first. Her stuttering movement brought her blood stained face close to the back window, where bloodshot eyes locked onto my own with singular focus.
Every hair on my body stood at attention at being so close to the creature that stalked my worst nightmares. The red glow from the taillights only made her seem more sinister when Maya finally started the suv.
***
Excerpt from TF30D: Luna's Story
My stomach was growling by the time Mrs. Green told us to get our snack. I tore open my backpack eagerly to search for the little plastic bag of fish shaped crackers that I knew Mommy had packed for me today. Those crackers were my favorite thing out of all of the choices that she sent for my snack.
I was so excited to get those crackers that I forgot to only open my backpack just far enough to reach inside. Mr. Cuddles spilled out onto the floor at my feet.
Before I could grab him, someone hurried by, kicking Mr. Cuddles. I watched as my bear skidded half way across the room and came to a stop at Mrs. Green's feet.
She bent down and picked him up by one ear. "Who does this belong to?" Her face scrunched up and she glared down her nose.
"That's my Mr. Cuddles," I stepped forward with the bag of crackers clutched in my hands. I didn't look away from my bear. I needed to get him back.
"Luna, you know that you aren't to have toys at school."
"I know, but-"
She cut me off, turning abruptly to stalk to her desk. "You may have it back at the end of the day. If you bring a toy to school again, I'm going to have to call your Mom." She opened the big drawer at the bottom of her desk and dropped Mr. Cuddles inside. The drawer slid closed.
I stood where I was, looking at the place where Mr. Cuddles had disappeared, until she snapped at me to sit down. I plopped into my seat and grudgingly began eating my snack, wishing with all of my strength that Mrs. Green's head would explode. It wasn't fair. Mr. Cuddles stayed in my backpack all day. I didn't play with him at school.
There was some sort of commotion in the hall as we were finishing our snacks. The teacher cracked the door to look out, then slammed it again. She looked kinda pale when she turned back around. Muttering under her breath that she was glad she wasn't the janitor, she went to her desk and pumped more of that hand sanitizer into her palm.
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I am currently deep into writing Luna's Story. This will be a short story, and you can expect chapters to begin posting to Wattpad 2-1-18.