Turned: A Spine-Chilling Young Adult Apocalyptic Fiction (The Undead Series, Book 1) (8 page)

Out of nowhere, my mind was suddenly flooded with visions of a perfect blue-eyed little girl with long, curly blonde hair. She looked to be about three years old. Oh she was so beautiful, so perfect. She wore a white overall skirt set with a pink t-shirt underneath it and no shoes on her pudgy little feet. Her toenails were decorated with pink glitter nail polish and she a gold cross necklace, much like Em’s. The little girl was singing a sweet melody to me in the middle of a huge yard and the sunlight behind her lit up her face like an angel.

“Isy, bisy, spida cwimbed up da wata pout,” she sang, eyes as bright as a full moon on a black night, and welcomed me to sing along with her. “Mama, sing!” the little girl called.
Mama
…that word hit me like a ton of bricks. This was my daughter.

A warm breeze blew her luscious hair from her shoulders, and she pushed back a curl from her face with her little cherub hands. Suddenly, a man swooped her up into his arms and spun her around on the freshly cut summer grass. She giggled.

“Mama, mama, daddy got me…daddy, put Zoe down!” she teased. I felt myself smile, Zoe was the name Ethan and I had chosen if we ever conceived a daughter. My eyes met the eyes of Zoe’s playmate, her daddy Jasper. We gazed at each other so intensely that it sparked a fire. I couldn’t see Jasper anymore but I saw Zoe still giggling. The fire finally began to simmer, and began to reveal the face of the man holding Zoe. It started to look like Ethan. “Ethan! Zoe!” I yelled. I could yell but I couldn’t move towards them. As the fire smoldered, Ethan’s skin began to melt off, exposing the flesh beneath it. He transformed into a sinister zombie before my eyes who stared me down with piercing black eyes, then turned his head towards Zoe, who let out the most frightened, gut-wrenching little scream I’d ever heard.

***

“Retta!” a voice billowed. “Retta, come on, wake up!” The voice now belonged to Jasper who I could see in front of me as I opened my eyes.

“She’s waking up!” he yelled.

I must have blacked out because the next thing I knew, I was propped up on Em’s thighs in a gas station parking lot in the center of some deserted town. Em was talking to me, urging me to come to consciousness. Jasper was beside me, and stared into my eyes.

“Oh thank heavens sweetheart, come on, wake up,” Em soothed me. Before I was fully awake, I heard Em mutter under her breath to Jasper not to mention the baby.

              I remembered what had happened, but I couldn’t think about it anymore so I pushed it out of my mind since they wanted to ignore the subject too. God it felt horrible to push the thought of my own child out of my mind, but for my sake and the baby’s sake, I needed to regain my health and composure. I looked out at the barren town and saw nothing but dust, a gravel road, and a few buildings dotting the landscape.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“We pulled off the closest exit we could find, baby girl,” said Em softly. “We needed to get you some fresh air to get you to wake up.”

“I had the worst nightmare ever,” I said, as I pulled myself up into a sitting position.

“I figured,” Em responded. “You were shouting out the names Zoe and Ethan but you sounded so frightened.” Instantly my face felt warm again, but this time it was from embarrassment because Jasper glared at me.

“I…I…I” I stuttered but couldn’t find the right words to finish the sentence.

“Ethan was Retta’s fiancé,” Jasper replied. “Was, before he left her. She probably dreamt he left her again, right babe?” questioned Jasper. With no better explanation, I nodded my head.

“Oh geez, I’m sorry honey,” Em said as she helped me up.

“Everything happens for a reason, and if I was still with Ethan then I wouldn’t be with Jasper,” I said. Jasper smiled proudly at my statement. He stood up and embraced me in his muscular arms, then lifted up my chin to kiss me ever-so-gently.

“Baby, it’s amazing I’m in this maze with you,” Jasper sang, quoting a pop song by Justin Timberlake, once a pop icon now either a zombie or zombie food. I smiled ear-to-ear and embraced him again. He always did manage to make me feel better. And boy, what a maze we were in.

“We better get going,” I stated. I pulled away from him and opened the door.

“No, no, babe, I’m driving now,” Jasper replied and opened the back door for me to get in. “A carriage for my Cinderella.”

“Oh, don’t forget the Fairy Godmother!” Em chimed in. She walked quickly over to the other back door and slid in. I giggled. Jasper slid in the driver’s seat and started the ignition, then pulled away from the abandoned gas station. Em slid over to my side and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. We both gazed out at the abandoned Tennessee wilderness which was now a zombie feeding ground.

As we made our way to the exit to get on the highway, Em played with my hair. At that moment I felt so blessed to have met such an amazing woman on this journey. I felt we were kindred souls. Whatever happened in the future, the two of us would protect each other as if we were sisters.

The decelerating car allowed Em and I to see zombies feasting in a way we had not seen before. Twenty feet out from the vehicle, two zombies were feeding on each other. They weren’t violently attacking each other, they were standing chest to chest feeding on each other’s shoulders.

“What the fuck is that?” Em screamed and pointed.

“Sacrifice,” said Jasper matter-of-factly.

“Huh?” both Em and I questioned.

“My friend, the military guy, told me that in some places, the human population has become completely extinct. So rather than starving themselves, they’re eating each other,” said Jasper. “Kind of like at Saving Grace, Retta. But of course, it’s only out of necessity.”

It made sense. The town looked deserted for miles and zombies didn't walk fast. Despite the sensible answer I’d been given, I felt like I was going to barf. The only thing worse than seeing a zombie tear off the flesh of a human is seeing two zombies tear into each other. Em, on the other hand, seemed fascinated by the spectacle.

We turned onto the exit, forfeiting our tickets to the show, and left the zombies to enjoy their dinner, because…at least it wasn’t one of our kind.

              The next eight or so hours of the car ride were interrupted only by someone needing a drink or food, or me having to stop to pee four times – something that wasn’t completely out of the ordinary because I always seemed to have a smaller bladder, at least that was my logic. We made it through Tennessee near when we decided we should try to find a place to stay for the night before it got too dark out.

Much of the area was as deserted as Georgia. We then drove past a large grocery store called Grey’s Groceries, and we were almost past it when Em abruptly told Jasper to stop the car.

“Just wait,” said Em, “I need to go in there.”

“Em, we have what we need. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to go in there unnecessarily,” said Jasper.

“Is a pregnancy test unnecessary?” Em scolded him with a voice I hadn’t heard come out of her mouth yet. Jasper stayed quiet.

“If you’re going in there, Em. We’re all going in together armed,” I chimed in. “There’s no way in hell someone is going in alone or someone is staying in the jeep alone.”

“You’re right,” said Jasper, coming to his senses. “Get your guns, ladies. Let’s get in and out.” There wasn’t much in the way of useful things in the grocery store. Most of the stock had been looted after the outbreak. Fortunately for me, not too many people got pregnant during the apocalypse, so there were some pregnancy tests left. Em found them and snuck one in her book bag. We did a quick tour around the store to see if there was anything else useful we could grab while we were there and picked up a flashlight that had fallen to the floor, a pack of batteries, two packs of matches, some deodorant and a handful of chocolate bars he found pushed to the back of a shelf.

“Let’s go,” he said hurriedly, in case any zombies were lurking. He turned a corner when he ran straight into an old male zombie who fell directly to the ground. I let out a giggle out of half-fright, half-amusement, but was instantly hushed by Jasper. What I didn’t understand, having been locked up in Saving Grace Sanctuary so long, was that zombies always attacked with the most fragile zombie first, then the stronger ones attacked the victim. It was a sign that showed, in addition to their strength and sacrifice, their species was most certainly evolving.

Instantly, Em pushed me back behind the shelf and she and Jasper battled with three younger teenage zombies, two strong males and a taller, skinny female. They looked like they were punks in their human life, and even bigger punks in their zombie life. The female had her stringy hair still in a high ponytail and wore a leather jacket and ripped jeans with black boots. Her clothes were the only thing pleasing to the eye, certainly not her rotted skin or bulging, bloody eyes. The males were heavy set, and I was terrified to see what one of them would do to Em if Jasper didn’t get to him first. You could see the remains of tattoos on what skin was left on their arms.

“Watch your back!” Em shouted at me as she roundhouse-kicked the skinny female zombie in the face with her cowboy boots on and popped the zombie's head off her torso. Em jumped back as Jasper lifted his gun to the taller male zombie’s forehead and shot him point blank in the skull. Just as that shot fired, the other male zombie tackled Jasper to the ground, and they slid across the floor. The gun flew across the room and let out a shot when it hit the ground.

              The zombie was a solid match for Jasper, and Jasper struggled to keep him away from any place he could sink his teeth into. I took aim, but knew my aim wasn’t accurate enough to guarantee that I wouldn’t hit Jasper.  Em pulled her knife out of her pocket and stuck it through the back of the zombie’s head and it oozed a disgusting slime.

              “I owe you,” Jasper nodded to Em as he threw the zombie’s body off of him. I ran up to hug them both and pulled them both closer together.

              “I love you guys,” I whimpered from fright. As we were walking out the door to get into the car, Jasper handed a chocolate bar to me then a chocolate bar to Em.

              “If you are pregnant, this will help,” he said smiling. “I hear pregnant girls love chocolate. And I don’t want to leave you out Em.”

“Oh gee thanks, Prince Charming,” she said sarcastically.

After we finished at the store, we drove down about two more miles and ran into a charming cul-de-sac with large and fancy McMansions, as Jasper called them, with a sign that read Woodbridge. We didn’t see any zombies wandering around, so we figured we’d try the furthest house in the back – a three-story red brick house with white shutters. We pulled the jeep into the driveway in front of the garage. We needed to park the jeep inside so no one could loot it. Jasper tried the door handle, and the garage door glided open with ease. I kept a lookout toward the other houses while Jasper made sure that no one or nothing was in the house.

“It’s clear,” he called as he walked into the entryway and motioned us in. “It’ll be a nice, comfortable place to stay tonight and get some rest,” he added.

              The house was a breathtaking three-bedroom and two-bath with a deck that wrapped around the back and sides of the house and looked out over a rolling hill. The living room had a brick fireplace, but it didn’t look like there was anything working in this house – gas, water, electricity, nothing.

              “Let’s all sleep out here in the living room,” Jasper suggested. “That way we can be in the same spot if anything goes down. This area is sketchier than the last.” Em and I agreed.

              “I’m going to go look for some blankets and pillows and change into some comfortable clothes,” I said to them, and got off the loveseat to grab my bag. I couldn’t stand uncomfortable clothes right now.

              “Hold on a sec,” Em replied. She dug into her backpack and pulled out a pregnancy test and a flashlight. She tossed the test at me, then the flashlight. I caught both, forced a grin, and walked upstairs.

              Once I found the master bathroom, I shut and locked the door and set the box on the granite top of the vanity. I sat down on the porcelain toilet lid with my elbows on my thighs and my chin in my hands. I stared at the box that held the direction of my future. If this was a normal world, I’d be rejoicing at having a baby with Jasper. But, of course, if this was a normal world, I wouldn’t have met Jasper.

After nearly five minutes of staring at the box, I took it off the countertop, ripped the box open, and slid the test out of the box and into my hand. I carefully read the directions, grabbed a paper cup, pulled down my pants to sit on the toilet, and stuck the cup in between my legs. Once I had a good enough amount of urine in the cup, I pulled it out, and set it on the counter. I picked up the stick and submerged it in the urine for five seconds. I didn’t want to look at it yet, so I kept my eyes on my reflection in the mirror while I counted, then picked it up carefully to lay it flat on the counter. I turned around and sat in the corner between the end of the bathtub and the wall and waited. Though the pregnancy test said that I’d get accurate results within five minutes, ten minutes passed when I heard a knock on the door.

“It’s Em,” the voice whispered. “Can I come in sweetie?” I reluctantly got up to unlock the door, but blocked the pregnancy test with my body.

“Any news yet?” she inquired.

“I haven’t brought myself to look at it yet,” I answered.

“May I look?” Em asked, and though I didn’t want to say yes, I nodded. Em maneuvered around me to bend her head down and view the test. I held my breath and closed my eyes, figuring that maybe if I closed them, everything would just evaporate into thin air and I’d be on the beach at Turks and Caicos, where Ethan and I were supposed to honeymoon so many moons ago. I waited, but Em’s reply frustrated me even more.

“Hmm,” she finally spoke.

“Hmm?” I opened my eyes and turned around to face Em. “What does ‘hmm’ mean?”

“Well, I think it means the test isn’t working because nothing is showing up,” Em answered.

I furiously picked up the pregnancy test and examined it. It was blank. I opened the vanity doors and slammed the pregnancy test into the trash, walked out of the bathroom and into the master suite, and threw myself onto the bed. I was so frustrated. I didn’t want to be pregnant, but I did want an answer. It was my fucking luck. Em walked in after me and sat next to me on the bed.

              “Listen, dear,” she said valiantly. “I’m going back to the store and getting you another one. There were three more there. I’m just going to grab them all because one of them is bound to work. That’s what I should have done in the first place.”

“No way,” I shot her down. “There’s no way in hell that you, or us, is going back there. We’ll find another one later. That place was brimming with lurking zombies.”

“That’s what guns are for,” Em replied. “Look, I’m going whether you like it or not, or whether Jasper likes it or not. I am my own woman, and this is my choice. From a medical standpoint, I need to know if you are actually pregnant because if you are, there are precautions we need to take. From a friend standpoint, I need to make sure you’re okay, and that something else isn’t wrong with you.” She paused when she saw the worried look on my face.

“I’m not losing you already,” I interjected.

“You’re not going to,” Em assured me as she patted my leg. “But I need you to back me up. I’m going to sneak out the back door without telling Jasper. He’ll notice when I open the garage door, but at least he won’t have a chance to stop me.”

Reluctantly, I nodded. I realized there was no way I was changing Em’s mind. Em was extremely strong-minded and resilient. I’d learned that already. So I walked down to distract Jasper while Em snuck out the back door with her gun. Distracting Jasper was easy to do because he was preoccupied with finding out what the pregnancy test said. A soon as I walked into the room, he pounced.

“What’s going on?” he asked me kindly with a hint of impatience in his voice, which I could tell he was trying to hide. I sat down on the couch.

“The test was blank,” I replied bluntly.

“What do you mean blank?” he questioned me in the same way that I had questioned Em.

“It was no good. It didn’t work,” I answered. Jasper looked deep into my eyes in an attempt to coax answers out faster than I was giving them.

“So what now?” he replied. As soon as he asked, Jasper heard the garage door open and the jeep start. He gave me a sideways glance and just as he jumped up to run to the front door, the garage door was open and Em pulled out of the garage and off the driveway. She accelerated fast, as if she knew Jasper would come running after the car to stop her if he could. He turned back to me.

“What the hell is she doing? Is she leaving us?” he questioned.

              “No,” I replied. I hated being sneaky, but Em had insisted. “The test didn’t work, so Em went back to the store to get the others. She insisted she go and didn’t want me to tell you.”

Jasper stood in the entryway to the living room staring bleakly at me. “That was a dumb decision, Retta,” he scolded me, something he’d never done before. I figured he was saying that because he didn’t want Em to get killed, but that wasn’t the reason and his reason shocked me a little.

“If she dies,” he added, “We’re stuck here without a car, Retta. Then what?”

I stared dumbfounded at him. Of course, I hadn’t thought of that because my primary concern was Em getting back safely.

“Oh,” I answered dejectedly, and looked down at the ground. “I guess we’ll have to go look for another one in the other garages.” My answer made me realize that maybe I had made a stupid choice because now I’d be putting both Jasper and I in harm’s way if we needed to go on a hunt for a car. Jasper let out a deep sigh as if he was trying to calm himself down and started to walk up the stairs.

“Where are you going?”

              “Away from this, Retta. Bad decision. Sometimes, I wish you’d use your damn brain.” He shot an angry glare at me.

              I was in shock. Complete and utter shock. He never got angry at me and certainly never acted like I was dumb. But for some reason he was at this moment, and I began to shrivel up like a school girl who was embarrassed by the teacher for not knowing an answer.

“I..I’m sorry babe,” I muttered, but he was already up the stairs.

All of a sudden, I felt like I was suffocating again. I pulled my shirt from my neck and felt my face get warm. My whole life I’d never been made to feel like this, and I felt it put a strain on my heart. I was always the golden child. Everyone always loved me, and thought I was fantastic – a great daughter, an intelligent writer, a bright thinker, a loyal friend. Now all of a sudden, in this moment, I felt like a nothing. And being a nothing during an apocalypse wouldn’t do me any good.

              I walked over to the back of the house for a fresh breath of air where I’d be safe. I opened the French door and walked out into the dry night air. I walked to the end of the deck and looked over at the world around me. Five minutes later, I heard a window open on the floor above me, and I looked up. It was Jasper. We stared at each other for a moment as if this was the first time he really saw me all day.

“I’m fucking sorry, babe,” he apologized. “I’m so fucking sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. You know damn well you’re the most intelligent, beautiful woman I’ve ever met, and I’m not worthy of you. You’ve always known that.” I smiled sheepishly and felt my face start to cool down.