Free Trepidation by Chrissy Peebles Page A

here when the zombie virus broke out?” Lucas asked. He blinked and kept his eyes shut for a moment, then snapped out of it. 
    I laughed. “Looks like somebody needs a nap. You shoulda gone to bed with Nick.”
    “Now look, Dean. My brother and I are friends, but even in these desperate times, I’m not gonna lower myself to going to bed with—”
    “Lucas!” Val squealed before he spit out another of his crude jokes. “You know what Dean meant.”
    He laughed. “Right. But there’s no way I’d go to bed before supper. Have you ever known moi to be a party pooper?”
    Rita chuckled at their banter. “Well, back to your question. When the zombie thing first happened, the police tried to evacuate me, but I refused to leave. This is my home, so we stayed and fought.”
    “Have you ever encountered a herd?” Val asked.
    She sipped her V8. “Can’t say we have.”
    Lucas scooped another bite of mashed potatoes into his mouth. “Count your lucky stars. But even still, you should have some sort of escape route, just in case you wake up one morning and find you’re completely surrounded.”
    “A few have banged on the windows,” she said, “but we put those out of their misery pretty quickly.”
    Kate excused herself to use the bathroom. A few moments later, she returned with a disturbed look on her face, carrying a taxidermied black cat. 
    “What the heck?” Lucas asked. “Find a friend?”
    “Yeah...a dead one,” she said.
    “Put him back!” Rita roared as anger suddenly consumed her.
    “Do you know who this is?” Kate slurred like she had a few too many drinks.
    Rita stood. “Put him down.”
    Kate read the gold nameplate. “Says here his name is Harvey, but didn’t you say Harvey made that crash upstairs earlier? Is Harvey a ghost?”
    Rita grabbed the cat from Kate and helped her sit down. She then stomped out of the room to put her dearly departed critter back wherever Kate had found it.
    Meanwhile, Kate was acting very strangely, playing with her food and laughing.
    “She must’ve found the liquor cabinet,” Val said.   
    “Did you do a few shots or what?” Lucas asked. “Because if you did, you could’ve invited me, ya know?”
    “What? I-I don’t drink.”
    “Well, you’re acting drunk,” Val said. “What’s going on, Kate?”
    “If I were you, I’d be more worried about that dead cat. She lied to us!”
    Rita came back in and sat down. “I didn’t lie. That was the original Harvey. He died ten years ago. The one you heard upstairs is the second Harvey.”
    “Really?” Kate asked. “Well, I’d love to see him. Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!”
    “He’s locked in a room upstairs. I-I didn’t want him jumping on the table while we eat.”
    “Hmm. Well, if ya don’t mind, I’m gonna go find him,” Kate insisted.
    Rita shot her a glare. “I’m sorry, but I can’t have that.”
    “Why? Because he doesn’t exist and because you’re a liar?”
    “No!” Rita screamed, slamming her napkin down.
    “Listen, Kate,” I said. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? And calling our hostess a liar—”
    “Yeah. I mean, I’m no Martha Stewart or anything, but I’m pretty sure that’s not a good thing—not very good manners,” Lucas finished.
    Kate yawned. “I’m too tired to walk up the stairs anyway.”
    Her yawn must’ve been contagious, because I suddenly felt as if everything was catching up to me. As everyone talked, I began to feel as if my head was in some sort of fog. 
    “Dean?” Val said. “Dean, are you okay?”
    “My head’s spinning.” When I tried to stand, the room spun even more, as if I’d just stepped off of some kind of supersonic carousel. “Wh-what’s happening?”
    “Let me take you to your room,” Rita said. “You’ve had a rough day.”
    “Okay,” I said.
    She led me out of the dining room, but I could have sworn she was taking me downstairs instead of up to the room she’d shown me earlier. Instead of that soft bed, I’d