The Living Dead Boy (The Living Dead Boy #1)(7)

Some of the people around Yessica saw her action, and scooted off their seats to crouch out of sight.

“Get down, get down!” Jamie called out.

Rachel and Bonnie immediately obeyed, but Ron defied the order and stood to glare out the window. Corina and Josh fought to get Drake under their seat, and he finally obeyed once he saw Yessica wave to him. Clutching Rex, the little boy sobbed piteously.

“Will this work?” Corina whispered. “Hiding out of sight?”

Josh shook his head, but he wasn’t about to disobey his father. The cries of the people inside the bus definitely had the attention of the herd. A group of them pushed against the rear entrance, rattling the doors, their prey easily visible through the glass insets. Josh dared to lift his head to peer through the window near his seat. The zombies in the road were surging toward the rear of the bus and bypassing the RV behind it.

“We need to go! We need to go now!” someone shouted.

In the back, a woman wailed in fear.

Josh scampered along the dirty, sticky floor to where his dad was huddled on the front stairs. “Dad, they’re making the zombies come to us. We gotta be quiet.”

“You’re right. I’ll take care of it.”

Josh returned to Corina’s side and touched Drake’s arm. His baby brother was sucking on his fingers and didn’t pay attention to his older brother.

Meanwhile, Jamie physically pulled Ron down out of sight. “Don’t let them see you.”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Ron retorted.

“Please, mister, please do what he says,” Rachel pleaded.

A few other voices chimed in, and to Josh’s relief, Ron stayed down.

Jamie continued through the bus, quieting people, and urging them to stay hidden. It was harder toward the rear of the bus where the zombies could see several seats. Jamie squatted out of sight and called out softly to those huddled in the rear. “Keep out of sight. Keep quiet.”

To Josh’s relief, people obeyed. One woman continued to cry loudly, but it sounded muffled, like she’d covered her mouth to squelch the noise.

The sound of a car approaching was followed by a voice on a loudspeaker calling out to the zombies using all the sorts of swear words Josh wasn’t allowed to use.

Again, Josh dared to lift his head just far enough to see. An Army jeep packed with soldiers and police were idling on the side of the road. They were obviously trying to bait the zombies to follow the jeep.

Josh exhaled with relief as the zombies clustered around the rear door rotated toward the shouting men. “They’re luring them away,” he whispered to Corina.

The soldiers and police continued to make noise to draw the zombies’ attention.

“Why aren’t they shooting?” Sam asked in a much-too-loud voice.

“Too close to the bus. They could hit one of us,” Josh answered.

“But they have to kill them,” Sam protested.

“I don’t want to get shot,” Troy said. “Do you?”

“No,” Sam stuttered.

“Be quiet!” Yessica hissed at all of them. “The zombies will hear you.”

The jeep started forward, drawing the undead after them, leaving the area around the bus free of zombies. Still craning his head so he could watch the monsters ambling away, the sick feeling in Josh’s stomach lessened. The zombies were leaving, and soon the convoy would be moving again.

“Oh, thank God,” someone gasped. “They’re gone.”

“Let me off!” The shrill exclamation sliced through the now quiet atmosphere of the bus.

A small figure in jeans, a University of Texas hoodie, T–shirt, and sneakers bolted out of the shadows of the back rows. Jumping down the stairs, the college age girl hurried up the aisle. Jamie attempted to grab her, but she jumped onto the empty seat beside him and evaded him. Sprinting down the narrow passage, she ricocheted off the people trying to stop her. Ron attempted to tackle her, but she was faster and dodged past him. Falling into Derrick, her hand lashed out toward the door controls.

“She’s going to open the door and let them in!” Sam yelled.

Josh froze in fear.





Chapter 5


Josh watched the light from the jeep dance over the bright red hair of the girl lunging for the door controls.

“No!” Derrick shouted, shoving her away.

Her hand clung to the control box, and her fingers found her target.

The front doors whooshed open.

“OHMYGAWDSHEOPENEDTHEDOOR!” Sam screamed.

Falling into the pole near the door, the college girl caught it with a hooked elbow and her body swung toward the steps.

“Close it! Close it!”

The frantic voices on the bus echoed the chant.

Bonnie barked angrily at the open doorway, chiming in.

“I don’t want to get eated!” Yessica shouted from beneath her seat.

It was probably only a split second between when the doors opened and when Derrick hit the controls, but it felt like hours. The girl scrambled down the metal stairs in an attempt to escape. Why she was so certain she’d be safe outside was a mystery to Josh. It made no sense.

“She’s trying to get out!” Sam stood, pointing at her accusingly. “Stop her!”

Ron grabbed the girl’s thick red curls just as she was about to jump out and jerked her head back. She fell backward with a loud thump onto the steps, but her splayed legs prevented the doors from shutting.