The Living Dead Boy (The Living Dead Boy #1)(42)

The word ‘little’ stung, but Josh understood what she was doing.

“That’s why they’re dead meat. You and me are older and stronger. We’ll survive. The shorties are dead meat. Right, losers?”

Chad tried to ruffle Josh’s hair, but Josh ducked away from him. “Just give us food, Chad.”

“Nah. I don’t think so.” Chad focused on Corina, something in his eyes dark and needy. “Look, you can come in. But they can’t. I’ll show you the place. If you help me clean it up, you’ll see that it will be okay.”

Josh was impressed that Corina had predicted Chad’s actions so well.

Corina glanced toward Josh and Troy. “I’m going inside to talk to him.”

“He’s a jerk!” Troy protested.

“Corina, you said that we were going to stick together.” It was easy for Josh to sound upset when he was so worried about her.

“I’m just going to talk to him,” Corina promised, stepping over the threshold.

Chad grinned. “Yeah. Talk.”

He slammed the door shut.





Chapter 25


“Give it a few,” Troy whispered. Then, raising his voice, he said, “Corina, come back! Don’t leave us!”

Joining in, Josh banged on the door and called out Corina’s name.

From inside, Chad yelled, “Go away, losers.”

Instead, the two boys kept up the commotion. They carried on for a few minutes, then tapered off to give the impression they were giving up.

Troy pressed his ear to the door and so did Josh. He could hear voices, but they sounded far away and not like they were in the hallway.

“Okay, now it’s time,” Josh decided.

Troy picked up Corina’s big empty sparkly bag and slung it over his shoulder. “I’m ready.”

Dulce had given them the house key off the keyring. The old man had each one marked with a sticker. The key slipped easily into the lock, and Josh very slowly turned it. There was a slight click. He waited a few seconds, then with equal caution opened the door.

Chad and Corina’s voices came from the front of the house, but they weren’t in sight. The hallway was empty except for the dead old man. They slipped inside, and Josh carefully shut the door so it wouldn’t make noise.

Together, the boys sneaked across the hallway searching for the kitchen. They found it through an archway. It was small, with the counters cluttered with all sorts of appliances, cookbooks, ceramic rooster decor, and big mason jars full of flour, sugar, rice, and other staples.

Josh very stealthily opened several cabinets before finding one filled with cans. Picking out the ones like pork and beans, ravioli, Spam, and hearty soups, he handed them to Troy, who packed them in the big bag he’d set on the floor. Once they finished filling it halfway, Josh moved on, searching for crackers, cookies, peanut butter, and bread.

Scavenging took longer than he’d expected and it seemed like every little sound he made echoed throughout the house, yet the entire time Chad continued talking loudly.

“See, once we get the zombies outside, we can burn them,” he was saying.

“Covering them with dirt would be better,” Corina suggested. “You don’t want to start a fire you can’t put out.”

“I can put out any fire,” Chad replied confidently.

Josh located several jars of peanut butter in an economy pack and handed it to Troy.

“But how would we defend the house?”

“Once I find bullets, I’m going to patrol the fence every hour. I’m also gonna get some wood to cover the windows. You’ll stay inside and clean up all the blood and guts. It really smells gross, right?”

“Okay, so once we clean things up, then what? How do we get help, Chad?”

“We don’t get help. We stay here. I’ll be the man. You’ll be the woman. You know what I mean?”

Josh whirled around, almost dropping the package of crackers and cheese in his hands.

Troy grabbed his arm, and mouthed, “Chill.”

“I’m fourteen. I’m not a woman,” Corina answered.

Chad’s voice dropped so low they couldn’t hear his answer.

Knowing that things were growing increasingly dangerous for Corina, Josh shoved the package on top of the rest of the food. The tote bag was overflowing and bulging dangerously at the seams. Troy pointed to large plastic cups with fast food restaurant logos resting in a dish drainer next to the sink. He mimed drinking. Fighting his desire to run down the hall and defend Corina, Josh very carefully started to extract the cups from the rack, and stack them.

“No! I’m not okay with that.” Corina’s voice rose sharply. “Let go of me.”

Again, Chad’s voice was too low to make out the words he was saying.

Josh handed Troy a stack of the cups. “Go.”

Eyes wide with fright, Troy nodded and hobbled under the weight of the bag to the back door.

“Let me go, Chad. I mean it!”

Not caring if Chad knew he was in the house, Josh picked up a dirty skillet off the stove and hurried out of the kitchen. With determined steps he stalked down the hallway. Chad and Corina weren’t in the first few rooms he looked in. There was the usual den, dining room, and bedroom. The reek of blood and other terrible things made him flinch as he neared the dead zombies. It looked like they’d somehow gotten into the house and the homeowner had killed them before barricading himself inside. Furniture was rammed up against the front door at the end of the long hallway.