Free New Title 1 by Bonnie Dee Page A

flu.”
     
    “ That’s great, Lainie. Guess the antibiotics you gave him kicked in.” I smiled at her, glad for this bit of good news to balance the rest of the terrible day.
     
    “ I should’ve been with you,” Daylon continued to rant.
     
    “ Because you could’ve prevented this from happening?” Carl’s tone was dry. “You’re not God, Daylon, much as you’d like to be.” He stalked past the other man into the house.
     
    I’d had enough talking, enough blame and guilt and accusation. If I didn’t get some peace and quiet soon, I was going to explode. Without another word, I walked toward Brian’s house where a hot shower waited to wash away my tension.
     
    Although I’d only stayed there one night, already the place felt like home. I stripped off my bloody clothes and dumped them in trash can in the kitchen before going upstairs. I turned on the shower, took off my underwear and stepped beneath the steaming spray.
     
    Closing my eyes, I turned my face up and let the water beat against my cheeks and eyelids. My muscles turned to melting candle wax and the knot of fear in my gut eased but my sorrow only increased. I’d lost traveling companions today, some of whom I hadn’t gotten to know well yet like the Marys, others I’d felt pretty close to. Still, I hadn’t allowed myself to care for any of them too deeply. After what had happened to Denny, I’d started keeping an emotional distance from the people I met. Life was too precarious these days to count on anyone being around for long.
     
    Denny. The playback of today’s horror show gave way to memories of my last boyfriend. We’d been dating a little before the zombies attacked. Nothing too serious. We met when I waited his table and he over-tipped me. We had some good times. He was the kind of arrogant male who attracted me like a mosquito to a bug light and usually zapped me in exactly the same way. Our relationship would’ve ended badly for me at some point. Instead, it ended bloodily for Denny.
     
    When the zombies swept through Las Vegas, we were at a bar having a drink. I don’t think Denny would’ve come to find on me if we weren’t already there together. But as it was, we battled through the shit storm together, met Daylon and then headed into the desert.
     
    It was natural that two men as testosterone-fueled as Denny and strong-willed as Daylon would butt heads. They argued over what direction to take. Daylon was concerned about running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere and wanted to follow a route where there’d be an occasional gas pump. I don’t think Denny really disagreed with him. He just didn’t want to be told what to do. As their hostility escalated, it looked like we were going to split and travel on our own. I didn’t want that. I wanted to stay with the group, but my opinion didn’t carry much weight with Denny and ultimately I would’ve gone where he led.
     
    That’s when the attack happened. We were at a deserted gas station in the desert. A blood smear was all that was left of the attendant. In land so flat we should’ve been able to see danger coming, but it was dark and, just like in the field today, a couple of zombies came out of nowhere. They grabbed Denny and tore into him before he could even pull his weapon.
     
    It was obviously too late to help Denny, who was spouting from a main artery, and more zombies were coming so Daylon shot Denny dead to save him pain. I fought waves of nausea as I climbed on the back of Daylon’s cycle and rode away leaving my dead boyfriend behind.
     
    The next town we reached that had a motorcycle shop, Daylon helped me choose a bike that matched my size and taught me how to ride it. Since then I’d never allowed myself to dwell on Denny or what happened that night. But now, as I washed my body and rivulets of pink swirled down the drain, it wasn’t memories of today’s attack that bothered me. Instead I kept picturing Denny ripped apart. His screams as they