Free State of Decay (Omnibus (Parts 1-4)) by Peggy Martinez Page B

table that sat furthest away from the other six or seven people enjoying their breakfast. My position also allowed me watch the entire room from where I ate. I scooped up a spoonful of oatmeal and blew on it a few times before I stuck the yummy stickiness in my mouth. That’s all it took. I was in heaven. I had just shoveled more oatmeal into my pie-hole and was just about vibrating with happiness when a shadow fell over me.
    “You almost look like a regular person when you’re eating.” A voice cut into my haze of euphoria. My back stiffened and I glanced up into his cocky face. I grinned and scooped out another bite of my breakfast.
    “You know, you almost look like a regular person too, Jude,” I said as I turned my eyes back to my bowl. “Well, a normal person with one hell of a shiner.” I continued to eat, hoping Jude would take a hint. He sat down across from me at the table instead.
    “You know, most people would think you don’t like me, but I’ve got a theory,” he said around a mouthful of oatmeal. My mouth popped open. This guy just wouldn’t go away.
    “A theory?” I asked through gritted teeth. He nodded his head, oblivious to my death stare.
    “Yup. See, I think you have some kind of post-zombie-apocalypse-stress-disorder or something and you’ve regressed back to you childhood.” He winked and took another bite. I crossed my arms across my chest and decided to do exactly what he wanted me to.
    “Oh really? Regressed how?” I asked, knowing I was egging him on in his little fantasy, but I had to know what his puny brain had concocted. He looked over at me and shrugged.
    “You know … back to the days where tugging on braids and hitting someone meant you really had a crush on them. Do you like me? Check yes-or-no type of stuff.” He tsked as if he felt sorry for me and then grinned widely when my mouth dropped open again.
    “You are such a jack a …” I began.
    “It is you!” A voice echoed through the room. I flinched and had already rose halfway from my chair, grabbing for my gun before I realized what I was doing. Jude had stood quickly as well, his eyes studying me, his jaw set, wondering what I was about to do. I relaxed and breathed in deeply just as a boy of about fourteen or fifteen, tall and gangly strode up to our table. His eyes were wide with wonder, making me nervous. I sat back down and Jude followed, his eyes never leaving mine.
    “Sorry, must have the wrong person,” I said sharply. “I don’t know a lot of people around here.”
    “No, I’m positive it’s you,” the boy continued, his eyes wide and his smile huge. “I’ll never forget that day as long as I live,” he continued. “You freaking cleared out over a hundred zombies single handedly. You even set some on fire!” he said excitedly. My eyes widened and I stuttered a few times, but the kid just kept on talking. “You took out dozens and dozens, like it was just another day on the job for you. At first we didn’t know who was shooting, but then you came down and walked right out onto the street like you weren’t scared of anything, yelling ‘Come get some, bitches!’ I swear to god, we all about crapped our pants when you lit the old Starbucks and the zombies on fire.” I swallowed a lump in my throat and glanced up at Jude. He was watching me intently, his eyes searching mine for answers I didn’t really have, as the boy told his story for the whole mess hall to hear.
    “We thought maybe you didn’t make it after that, but then you busted through the doors a few building down and just barely escaped from that zombie all lit up like a bonfire! Then we heard you laughing as you turned the music up. You even drove over a few more zombies as you left town.” His eyes were shining as he remembered the day with all its ugly details. “You almost cleared out the whole town. You made it possible for my family and a few other people to get out of the town.” I began shaking my head, knowing where