Free Curse of the Immune by Levi Doone Page A

equipped with a tape deck and all.
    Rudy puts in the batteries and gives it back to me. I switch the radio to AM and scroll to the end of the dial then back until I hear a familiar voice.
    “No signs of life in the city from where I’m at. Just a lot of unlife, if that’s even a word. If it ain’t, it is now. Again, if anyone out there has the means to fight off a few hundred zombies, I’m at the WBSV studio on West Main Street. If not, then you probably have similar problems like me.”
    Avril continues with her story, then signs off about fifteen minutes later.
    “Poor girl,” Rudy says after I turn off the radio static. “And we thought we had it bad.”
    “Yeah, this whole thing is crazy. Nothing will ever be the same, will it?”
    “Look, we have a long day tomorrow. Go get some sleep. I’m gonna stay down here for a while.”
    I say good night and go upstairs. Bruno stays with Rudy, and I find comfort in having two guards keeping the kids and me safe. I lie down on the floor, wondering if I’ll even be able to sleep. Staring at the ceiling, I think not of the horrors of the day or my brother, but of Rudy and what a great guy he is. Not to mention hot. I may have been able to dodge death, but Cupid’s arrow hit me right in the heart.

Chapter Thirteen
    I awake to daylight straining its light up the staircase along with some noise coming from below. I look around, wondering where I am and why I’m on a hallway floor.
    Once I see Maria and Guille sleeping, I remember the whole end of the world, zombie apocalypse thing. Then I remember Rudy, and my mood lifts.
    Figuring the noise below must be him, I ease down the stairs slowly with my knife thing in hand just in case. I creep my way to the living room and see Rudy and Bruno aren’t there. I look into the kitchen and see Rudy walk by.
    I take a breath of relief and go into the kitchen to find breakfast ready. Oranges and apples are sliced and neatly displayed along with grapes and bananas on a serving platter in the center of the table.
    He notices me and smiles. “Good morning. I just threw some fruit together. We’d better enjoy it. This kinda stuff won’t stay fresh long, and if we don’t come across any fruit trees, this may be the last time in a while we get to have fresh fruit.”
    I try to give him my best, most attractive smile to hide my excitement in seeing he wasn’t a dream. I must be nuts. The world has gone bye-bye, and I’m falling for a guy like I never fell for anyone. I mean, guys just never really noticed me before, and I never really cared. Now that I’m the last teenage girl on Earth, besides Avril, I care very much. I’m just glad the last teenage boy, besides my bro—
    That’s right. We gotta find him. “Hey, when are we going to find Luke?”
    “Relax, eat, and we’re going to do some morning training. Then we’ll be on our way.”
    Maria and Guille come running down the stairs and attack the food.
    “And good morning to you too,” Rudy says.
    I sit and eat some grapes. They taste good. Rudy gives us each a water bottle and says, “Eat and drink up. We have a lot to go over.”
    I don’t know what he has in store for us, and I don’t care so long as we get to Luke as soon as possible.
    It doesn’t take long to finish, and I begin to feel anxiety growing within my chest. “Look, Rudy, can’t we worry about training after we get Luke?”
    “It won’t take long. I promise. And where we’re going, there’s sure to be a lot of Zebs.”
    Guille looks up. “Zebs?”
    Rudy explains, “Yeah, you know like in Vietnam, the nickname for the enemy was Charlie, and in World War II, it was Gerry for the Germans. I figure Zeb is a cool name for a zombie.”
    “Whatever. Let’s just do the training and go,” I say.
    “Zebs, yeah, that’s cool,” Guille decides.
    “Training? What kind of training?” Maria asks.
    “Funny you should ask.” Rudy stands and walks to the door. The three of us follow out and to the