The Resurrected Compendium Read online

  What would it be like, he thinks, to go up into the stars? To look down at the earth from so far above it, so far the people don’t even look like ants. They don’t look like anything. Like the earth would be a giant blue marble for an alien to play with. Or God.

  Denny’s mom says there’s no such thing as God, but Denny thinks she has to be wrong. Because if there’s no God, there can’t be a heaven, and then where do people go after they die? And they have to go somewhere, because they can’t all be floating around in the radio waves the way his mom says they do, and that’s why you have to turn the TV to the static channel every so often and try to listen to what they say.

  Something shuffles in the long grass.

  If Denny had a dog, or even a cat, he’d think nothing of a noise in the grass, but since he’s never been allowed to have a pet, that means whatever’s in the grass is something…not tame. And possibly not friendly. He hefts the flashlight in his hand, liking the weight of it.

  When the black shape hurtles out of the dark toward him, Denny doesn’t think twice. He rolls onto his back, then his side, gets to his feet and swings the flashlight. Swings, misses. Swings again. This time he connects with the tall dark shape hard enough to crack the glass. Hard enough to make it stumble back with a grunt. When it hits the ground he’s on it, ready to smash its alien invader face, even if it has tentacles.

  Instead, a hand comes up to hold him back. A voice says, “Good job, son! But next time, don’t give me the chance to even fight back. You should’ve been ready for me before I even attacked.”

  It’s his mom, and she taught him all those things because she loves him.

  That noise again. Shuffling and sly, slow. Scraping. Just beyond him, around the corner of the aisle.

  Dennis moved, fast and silent, gun at the ready. Around the corner, leveled, aimed…

  And blew apart a bird feasting from a spilled package of cereal.

  Feathers flew. Blood spattered. There wasn’t much left after that, and Dennis let the gun slowly fall to his side. From behind him, he heard the whirr of the scooter.

  “Well,” Kelsey said. “That’s one way to do it.”

  32

  Kelsey felt better with some water and food, her foot cleaned and bandaged and a first dose of antibiotics inside her. Her wrist, as it turned out, was only sprained and not broken. Wrapped in a tight bandage, she could even use it a little. She sipped now from a full-strength cola, relishing the sweetness and the bubbles and the caffeine.

  “How long until all this stuff disappears?” She lifted the can toward Dennis, who was busy stacking oversized bags of basmati rice on one of the big pallet carts.

  He looked over his shoulder, bared in a sleeveless flannel shirt, at her. “Depends on how many people are gonna eat it.”

  “No. I mean…” She waved the can around, feeling light-headed and floaty. Sort of drunk. “All of this. Stuff. That’s made. By people.”

  Dennis straightened. After blowing up the bird he’d done a complete circuit of the store, making sure there was nothing else in there. No surprises. This time, he’d insisted she stay behind, locking her in the pharmacy to keep her “safe.”

  She was half in love with this guy.

  Now he was loading up his fourth pallet cart. The other three, loaded high with boxes, bags and cartons, waited at the front entrance. He’d been working for a couple hours, working methodically down each aisle while she followed and watched.

  “You talk like it’s the end of the world,” he said.

  “Isn’t it?” She watched his muscles work as he hefted another twenty pound bag of rice onto the cart.

  Dennis gave her half a smile. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. Just seems like it, maybe.”

  “The government was all over the over the place where I came from. But here, there’s hardly any sign of them. I think they gave up trying to keep it under control.” Kelsey sipped her cola and concentrated on making sense. She was still so tired. “I think they’re going to let us be overrun by…them.”

  Dennis put another sack on the cart, then paused to swipe his hand across his forehead. He held out a hand for her can, and she handed it to him. He drank it to empty, then carefully put the can on the shelf. He could’ve as easily tossed it onto the ground, but his consideration impressed her.

  “We’re not overrun. There’s lots of people still okay. You and me, for example.”

  “Yeah?” She challenged. “Where are they?”

  Another of those half-grins sent her stomach tumbling. He was charming, wasn’t trying to be, and didn’t know it, and that made him all the more attractive. Or maybe it was the drugs. Or the fact he’d saved her ass more than once already. Or that he knew how to handle a gun…

  “They all got the hell out of town, that’s where they are.”

  “But the ones who’re left…”

  “Like I said,” Dennis told her, “you and me are okay. I’m sure others are, too. Which is why I need to get this stuff loaded up as soon as I can.”

  She eyed the stack of rice. The other carts contained more dry goods, already enough to feed a hundred people for weeks. “When you said you were stocking up, you weren’t kidding.”

  “Got to take it all, as much as I can. Don’t want to come back here if I don’t have to.” Dennis paused to swipe at the sweat again. He cracked his back.

  “Because of those dead things?”

  He shook his head and said hesitantly, “no. Not because of them. Because of the live ones.”

  “But those zombies, those living dead —”

  “They don’t eat. Least not food, that I can see. People who are alive, though. They’ll be wanting this stuff, and when people want stuff, they’ll do just about anything to get it.”

  “And you don’t intend for them to get it.”

  He looked at her assessingly. “That’s right.”

  “Not much for sharing?”

  He shook his head slowly, eyes cutting away from her gaze at the last second. “It’s not that. Just trying to survive, that’s all. The more I get now, the longer it will be before I have to come back. That means the safer I’ll be. I’m into surviving, that’s all.”

  She understood that feeling very well. “Me too.” She wheeled a little closer. “You’ll take me with you.”

  She’d deliberately made sure it was not a question. Dennis didn’t look surprised, but he did look a little guilty. He put another bag of rice on the cart. He straightened and blew out a breath.

  “You will,” Kelsey said. “You’re too nice a guy to leave me out here alone. Injured.”

  With a hot shower and some makeup she’d have been able to work magic, but instead she’d have to work with what she had. The clothes helped. They were dirty and probably smelling bad, but they were tight and torn and they clung to her in all the right places, revealing just the right amount of flesh.

  She stood. She didn’t need to exaggerate her limp. Every step was still painful, though less now that her foot was properly bound. She did let her hips sway more than they might’ve otherwise, and she did dip her chin so she could let her gaze tilt up toward his. She bit her lower lip.

  “You have to take me with you, Dennis. You have to. I promise you, I’ll —”

  “You don’t gotta promise me nothin’,” he said, then hastily corrected himself. “Anything. You don’t have to promise me anything.”

  “What if I want to?” The words slipped out of her a little lower than she’d intended. A little more slurred. When she wobbled a little and reached for him to steady her, there was no guile in the effort. Her fingers touched his warm skin and the softness of flannel.

  She tipped her head back a little. Waiting. For nothing, as it turned out, which was exactly what he said she didn’t have to promise him.

  Dennis put a swift distance between them, leaving her to stumble. “I have to get this stuff loaded into the truck. It’ll be dark soon.”

  “Are you scared of the dark, Dennis