The Living Dead Boy (The Living Dead Boy #1)(34)

“Here I go saving you guys again.” Chad puffed up his chest and grinned jauntily.

“Josh is the one who said to follow the drainage ditch. Not you.” Corina pushed past him, her arm still around Sam.

With an agitated sound, Chad trailed after her, kicking at the gravel at the bottom of the ditch.

“We need to pick up the pace with that storm coming,” Josh decided.

“What if there are zombies in the area?” Troy trudged along beside Josh.

“We’ll deal with them.” Josh’s fingers tightened around his spear, the rough bark pressing into his skin. “We might be kids, but we have survived this far.”

“Do you think the bus is in San Angelo yet?”

Josh shrugged. “I don’t know, Troy. I’m trying not to think about it.”

With a sad sigh, Troy said, “It sucked. All of it. We were so close to being safe, you know?”

“I know. But it’s like what happens in every zombie movie.”

With a bitter laugh, Troy dipped his head. “Yup. It takes just one dumb person to screw it all up. And we’ve got one.”

Ahead, Chad was tossing bits of gravel against the fence posts and into the field. He was far enough ahead that he couldn’t hear the boys’ conversation. Josh was very worried about Chad. He was uncontrollable, and certainly believed he knew better than everyone else when he was obviously very dumb. It was a bad combination.

“Yeah, Troy, we got a really big one.”

Danny dropped back to walk with them while his cousin strolled ahead. “Hey, guys, I know how he really got his black eye.”

“Oh?” Troy said with interest.

“He lied about it?” Josh wasn’t too surprised, but he had a feeling the truth was going to make him even more uneasy about Chad being with the group.

Danny nodded. “Yeah. I saw it happen. Dulce and I were riding the metro bus to go to school when it got stuck behind an accident. It was bad traffic. Like a parking lot. I was pretty bummed about being late to school because my dad would be mad if I got detention.”

“That sounds familiar,” Troy joked, then his smile faded.

Josh knew what his friend was going through. At times he forgot his mom was gone, too, and then he remembered and it hurt all over again.

“So I was staring out the window when I saw a bunch of people running out of a breakfast taco place my dad used to take me to. That idiot, Chad, and his dad, ran to their car. And I know it was his dad because Chad looks just like him. Anyway, this is how he really got the black eye. Chad and his dad were trying to get into the car through the same door. Chad’s dad elbowed him in the eye. Maybe by accident. I dunno. Chad shoved his dad, knocked him down, got into the car, and slammed the door.” Danny stopped in his tracks, his gaze distant. “I know he was scared, but that was his dad. I think his dad could have gotten in safely, too. Just a few more seconds. But Chad won, shut the door, locked it, and the zombies got his dad before he could get away.”

“But if Chad was in the car, how’d he get to the bus?” Troy asked.

“He got out the other side of the car when the zombies were eating his dad.” Danny made a face. “It was really gross.”

“Maybe his dad was a bad guy.” Troy stared at Chad’s back with fear in his dark eyes.

“If his dad was a bad guy, then maybe that’s why Chad is bad. I don’t trust him.” Danny shifted his spear to his other hand. “We need to be careful. He’ll save himself first. He was totally cool with letting Sam die. I think he saved Corina because he wants her to be his girlfriend.”

“We all need to be extra careful.” Josh wished that Chad wasn’t walking so close to Corina. He wanted to tell her what they’d discovered. The first chance he got he’d tell her, but not Sam. Sam was already in Chad’s crosshairs, which made Josh very worried.

“I wish we could ditch him,” Troy muttered.

“First chance we get, we will,” Josh promised.

“Good. Because he’s going to get us killed if we don’t,” Danny said before rejoining his cousin.

“I hate the zombie apocalypse,” Troy declared.

“Tell me about it,” Josh answered, and squeezed the spear even tighter.





Chapter 21


The sound of thunder rolled across the sky. Glancing over his shoulder, Josh stared at the thick curtain of rain flowing across the field. The cows were crowded under trees and a rickety shelter. It gave him a bad feeling in his guts to see them hiding from the storm. The kids definitely needed to get a roof over their heads.

“I hope someone is home,” he muttered.

The drainage ditch emptied into a culvert under the gravel road. The barbed-wire fences ended at the edge of the farmhouse property and a rusty hurricane fence bending under heavy vines took its place. Oak and mesquite trees shaded the farmhouse, and oleander bushes overran the back porch. The strong wind from the oncoming storm ruffled the grass and weeds filling the spaces around the many old cars and sending leaves bouncing along the cement slab in front of the big garage.

“This place is kinda creeping me out,” Troy said.

The garage was intimidating. The doors were slightly ajar and the darkness beyond the threshold was unnerving. Josh didn’t like the lack of visibility around the house either. It was impossible to see what was in front of the house. The one good sign was that the back door was closed.