Free The Zombie Chronicles - Book 5 - Undead Nightmare (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) by Chrissy Peebles Page A

mean…well, it seems like there’s more to it than that.”
    “Huh? How so?” I asked, cocking a brow.
    “Well, it seems symbolic. We’re going through a real-life journey, Dean, and no matter how deep and dark of a void we might have to face, we can always find a way to overcome it.”
    Jackie always seemed to have a positive attitude and read a lot into life, and that was just one thing I loved about her. “Hmm. You’re right,” I said.
    She grinned and squeezed my hand. “You were awesome back there, Dean. I’ve never been more proud of you.”
    “It was a team effort,” I said, “not a one-man performance.”
    “Maybe,” she said, “but you were the star of the show.”
    I gave her hand a squeeze as my boots crunched through the leafy vegetation. As we hiked along, neither Jackie nor I said another word, but we didn’t have to. Somehow, she made me special, like no other girl had before, and that made everything so much easier in a very cruel and difficult world.
     

Chapter 7
    After a while, I took the lead through the dense foliage; after I’d proven myself back on the bridge, Nick and Val didn’t seem so reluctant to follow their little brother. The tree canopy rose high and thick, and the ferns grew sparse, giving the jungle the impression of a great, green cathedral. Birds chirped overhead, and insects hummed and clicked in the thickets and grass; I was a bit jealous of the animals, who seemed oblivious to the horror that was unfolding on the planet we shared with them. My breathing was labored, but we steadily moved along. We pushed through the thick undergrowth, moving quickly and quietly, still hoping to find a city where we could find antibiotics and a vehicle. We limited our noise to the inevitable thudding of our feet and the snapping of twigs against our clothes and underfoot. Anxiously, I brushed away the ferns, leaves, and vines and stepped over fallen, moss-covered logs, all of us ever alert for signs of danger. A loud snap of a twig caused us all to stop and investigate, but we were relieved to find that it was only a curious, bushy-tailed squirrel.
    I gently pushed Jackie’s hair out of her face as I placed a peck on her heated cheek. “Doing okay?” I whispered, handing her a thermos of water.
    She nodded and took a long swig, then handed it back to me. “Thanks,” she said. “I needed that.”
    “Thank Lucas,” I said. “He thought to pack it.” I took a few gulps and kept moving.
    Finally, we broke through the woods to a clearing and saw signs of civilization in front of us. We cautiously made our way into the town, around a brick building. Peeking through the tangle of overgrown weeds, I scanned the city in front of me. The place was deserted, the streets devoid of life. Rows of long-abandoned buildings were dark and empty, and the storefronts were unkempt; the windows were boarded up, weeds were overgrown, glass was broken, and all the paint was peeling. It would have been a great place to film a horror movie, but it was, unfortunately, all too real, and that quiet, eerily vacant ghost town gave me very real goosebumps that I never would have felt in a movie theater.
    When my gaze turned to Lucas, I couldn’t help but notice that he was in worse shape than he’d ever admit to any of us. Droplets of sweat rolled down his blotchy red face, and I knew he was burning up. “Lucas looks horrible,” I whispered. “We need to find shelter and some meds…and quick.”
    Nick felt Lucas’s clammy forehead grimaced. “How you doin’, buddy?”
    “I feel like I’m inside an oven,” Lucas whispered.
    “You guys stay here with him,” Nick said to me, Claire, and Jackie. “I’ll take Val, Kate, and Asia to find a secure place and look for some kind of antibiotics. Be careful. We’ll be back soon.”
    “Got it,” I said, giving him no argument, and the four of them walked away.
    ***
    About an hour later, Nick came back and led us to the local Bureau of Motor Vehicles