The next day morning, we were on our way bright and early with Moose sitting happily in the back seat with his mouth open and head hanging out the window. He loved riding, but he loved all of the scents and the occasional bug that he could catch in the wind even more.
"So just how are we supposed to administer this cure to Stephanie in the first place," I asked Norah, who looked back to wave at Celeste as we pulled out of the driveway.
"Well, since zombies don't drink water or usually even eat unless they are trying to kill a human. We're going to have to inject it into her."
"What," I burst out in shock. "How in the hell are we going to do that?"
"It won't be easy," Norah replied. "But we do have a plan."
"Ok, what is it?" I asked dubiously.
"We're going to throw a mesh net over her, and then while you and Travis hold her down, I'll inject her with the cure. This has to be done once a day for three days, so we're going to be there for a while."
"That still sounds dangerous, even with the mesh net." I protested.
"Anything involving zombies is always dangerous, but we'll also be wearing protective gear, so everything should be fine," Norah said soothingly. "Besides, I've already done it a couple of times before with no problems at all."
"So, you've done this before?" I questioned dubiously.
"Yes, a couple of times. And it was even done to me a few months ago."
Shocked, I stared at her in silence for a few moments, " wait, you were a zombie?"
"No, not exactly. I was infected, but Celeste administered the cure right at the moment of death. And as far as I know, I never actually turned," Norah replied quietly.
From the look on her face, I could tell that talking about it was bothering her, but I still had to ask. "Do you remember anything that happened after you were infected? What was it like?" Her gaze was haunted, and I instantly felt ashamed and wished that I could take the questions back.
"It was horrible," she said hollowly. "I wish more than anything that I could just forget it, but I can't."
"Oh no," I breathed in remorse. "I'm so sorry for being so nosy."
She attempted a half-hearted smile and took a deep breath, "It's ok; you didn't know."
"There will be no more awkward questions from this point on."
Norah managed a more sincere smile, "when I'm ready to talk, you'll be the first to know."
This helped me to feel a little better, but I still felt terrible about questioning her like that. Norah always seemed so calm and self-possed that I'd never dreamed she was hiding such a deep dark secret.
* * *
We arrived at Trevor's place early that afternoon when I received my first clue that something was wrong. As soon as we drove up a very nervous looking, Trevor immediately rushed out and started hurrying us indoors without wasting any time on introductions.
"Hey, hold on a minute, I need to walk Moose before we go inside," I protested, digging in my heels and refusing to budge.
Trevor grimaced, looking around nervously, "ok, but make it fast before they come back."
"What are you talking about?"
Trevor took a deep breath and agitatedly brushed back his hair, " It's the townspeople, they found out about Stephanie, and now they want to kill her."
"Things like that are hard to keep secret," Norah commented.
"It's all my fault," he agonized. "If I hadn't been talking about it on the radio, nobody would even know about it."
"Let's just go inside and figure out what to do about," I replied as Moose finished up with his potty break and started chewing on a stick that he'd found on the ground.
Once inside, I took a seat and waited as Trevor locked and then bolted the door before questioning him on what had happed.
"Well, I didn't think that anyone even listened to me on the radio, but someone must have because a couple of people from the town showed up today and demanded to see Stephanie."
"Two people shouldn't be all that hard to handle," Norah said soothingly to Trevor, who was looking more upset by the minute.
"That's just it; when I refused to let them see her, they said that they would be back with reinforcements."
"Most likely, they won't show up until dark, so we should probably get on with Stephanie's first treatment," I stated.
Norah looked at me, quizzically, "what makes you think that they'll wait until dark?"
I shrugged, "in all of the books that I've ever read, the mob always shows up after dark with lighted pitchforks." I frowned for a minute, "how would you even go about lighting a pitchfork?"
Norah rolled her eyes, " I think that it's torches and pitchforks."
"Oh, that makes a lot more sense," I replied.
When Norah explained the procedure to Trevor, he wasn't thrilled with how it had to go down but was eventually mollified when she said that Stephanie shouldn't be able to remember anything afterward. And despite my earlier fears, things went fairly smoothly when we administered the cure to Stephanie; I'm not saying it was easy, though, because zombies are pretty strong, and it took all of our strength to hold her down while Norah gave her the shot in the back of the neck. Stephanie, who wasn't at all happy with her treatment, protested loudly with snarls and growls.
We left Stephanie alone with her thoughts or whatever it is that zombies do, and I got the idea that she was sulking as she just stood there and stared at us with what looked like silent condemnation as we left the room.
"Well, now that's over, why don't you start doing some damage control," I suggested to Trevor.
"What do you mean?"
"I think that you should get back on the radio and say that your story of Stephanie turning into a zombie was just a stupid joke."
Try to make it as believable as possible just in case they are listening to your show," Norah added.
"Right," I added. "The main thing is that you need to go on with your life as usual and act as if nothing has changed."
"All right," he agreed. "I'll get on it right away."
"I sure hope this works," Norah said to me as we listened to Trevor in the broadcast room. And I have to admit that it did sound believable as he talked about making up a story about his girlfriend turning into a zombie as a joke. But unfortunately, she was really annoyed by the joke, so he came on to set things straight.
"Me too, but, if it doesn't, I do have one more idea," I replied as we listened to the end of the show.
"So you see guys, it was just a silly joke, and I'd appreciate it if nobody mentions it around Stephanie because, well, she's still a little mad about the whole thing. Thanks again, and that's all for tonight."
* * *
Apparently, the locals either didn't believe or listen to Trevor's show because we were awoken early the next morning before the sun was even up to the sound of loud banging on the front door. Moose jumped up from his spot at my feet and started barking loudly. I took a peek out of one of the barred windows and saw that there were five armed townspeople on the front step.
"It looks like the horde is here," I announced to Norah and a half-asleep Trevor who'd just stumbled from his bedroom.
"W-w- what do I do?" He stammered in panic.
"Talk to them through the door, but don't open it because they might try to storm the building."
Trevor opened the small window that was eye level on the door and peered through, "what do you want? He called to the men outside.
"Nobody has to get hurt," the one in front replied. "Just let us have the zombie, and we'll be on our way."
Trevor nervously cleared his throat, "there's no zombie here; it was all just a joke."
"Well then, let us inside, and we can see for ourselves," the man said firmly.
Trevor closed the window and stepped back from the door, "what d-d-do we do now?" he whispered.
"Give me a minute to think," I whispered back, feeling a headache coming on as they again started pounding on the door, and Moose started frantically barking and growling.
"Do any of these people know Stephanie?" I whispered to Trevor.
"No, she's from Texas and hasn't met many of the people around here."
"I have an idea," I whispered. "From a distance, Norah and Stephanie look quite a bit alike. They both have the same long dark hair and are around the same height, so maybe Norah could fool them into thinking that she's Stephanie."
"I think it might work," he whispered and reached for the door.
"Wait," I said and put my hand over the door handle. "First, make them move back into the driveway. If something goes wrong, we'll have time to get the door closed."
I looked back at Norah, who was hastily brushing back her sleep-mussed hair and straightening her rumpled t-shirt and shorts, "are you ready?"
"I'm about as ready as I'll ever be," she replied with a grumpy look as we heard Trevor ordering the men outside to move back before we opened the door.
"I'll cover you," I said and took up a position just behind Trevor and Norah, where I had a good view of everything but wouldn't be in the way if we had to beat a hasty retreat. I ordered Moose to my side where surprisingly enough, he stood on silent guard. You never knew for sure what you were going to get with Moose, but times like this did give me hope for him.
Norah and Trevor walked hand-in-hand out on the porch where she glared at the men in the driveway, "what in the hell is wrong with people? Do you know what time it is?" she scolded.
"Stephanie?" one of the men questioned.
"Yes, I'm Stephanie." she snapped. "As you can see, we're all perfectly fine here."
"I'll be the judge of that," the tall man in front who was the spokesman of the group took a step forward.
I raised my shotgun, and Moose gave a low growl looking fierce with his hackles raised in reaction to the threat.
"How dare you," Norah spat. "I want all of you people off my property this instant. You have no right to be here, and I would be well within my rights to shoot your ass full of buckshot."
The men in back lowered their weapons, and a couple started sniggering as all of them broke out in grins that they were unable to disguise.
One of them coughed a couple of times in an effort to compose himself before speaking, "I'm sorry to bother you, Ma'am, please accept our apologies, and it won't happen again."
Norah simply nodded her head at him, and we waited quietly on the porch until they had all left.
"Good job, Norah, you were completely believable." I enthused.
Trevor grinned, "that was amazing; you had Stephanie's personality down to a T. Which is crazy considering that you never met her before."
"Just two more treatments, and you'll have the old Stephanie back," Norah replied.
"I sure hope so," Trevor said quietly.
* * *
Just a few minutes after the next treatment, we started noticing a significant change in Stephanie as her skin started to lose the grey pallor and take on a more healthy appearance. Her pale blue eyes deepened to a beautiful azure, and the skin under her fingernails became pink again. It was amazing to see, and you could tell the exact moment when the cloud of confusion lifted from her mind, and she became completely aware of her surroundings. Probably the best moment was seeing the joy on Travis' face when she asked for a glass of water. Seeing them get their happily-ever-after gave me hope for my brother and our family.
* * *
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