Read Online Zombified by Adam Gallardo - Free Book Online Page A

but it didn’t earn any points with a dainty flower such as myself.
    But then I planted my butt on the bit of heaven that was the leather bucket seat and I was prepared to forgive everything. It was like having your cheeks cupped by angels.
    Warren turned on that smile and I couldn’t help but notice the very dimple-ness of his face.
    â€œWho’s first?” Warren asked.
    â€œFirst?” I asked.
    â€œHe wants to know who to take home first,” Cody called from the backseat. “What the hell did you think he was asking?”
    â€œOf course I knew that’s what he was asking,” I said. “Screeched” might have been more accurate. “I’m not mentally deficient.”
    â€œWe’ll take your word for it,” Cody shot back.
    I turned to glare at him, but he’d already forgotten me as he and Phil whispered with their heads together. I sat back in my seat and restrained myself from delivering an audible harrumph.
    â€œFrom here,” I said to Warren, “Phil lives closer than me. Cody does, too . . .” I realized I had no idea where Cody lived.
    â€œTake Courtney first, if you don’t mind,” Phil said. “I’ll have you drop me at Cody’s house. Tomorrow he can drive me to the auto parts place for a new alternator.”
    â€œWhen were you gonna let me in on this plan?” Cody whined. “Maybe I had things to do tomorrow.”
    â€œ Do you have things to do tomorrow?” Phil asked.
    There was a long pause during which I did not turn to sneer at Cody.
    â€œYeah,” he finally said, “take Courtney home and then take Phil to my house.”
    Warren did something complicated-looking to the gear shifter. “Okay,” he said, “how do we get to your house?”
    I gave him basic instructions with lots of unasked-for help from the whisper twins in the backseat. Once we’d gotten it hashed out how to get me home, we settled into an uneasy silence.
    After a mile or two, Warren cleared his throat. I recognized this for the conversational gambit that it was.
    â€œSo you were probably wondering why I’d been asking about you,” he said.
    I tried to play it casual. You know, Oh, had you been asking about moi? I simply hadn’t noticed. What I said was, “Hmm?”
    He flashed a grin even though he kept his eyes on the road. “One of the first people I met when I moved here was Crystal Beals. She mentioned what happened out at that kid’s cabin last year. I thought to myself, Warren, you’ve got to meet that girl .”
    â€œWhy?” I asked, skeptical.
    â€œBecause I’ve never known anyone else my age who was great at hunting Zs.”
    Putting aside the fact that he’d just proclaimed himself great—which seemed sort of grandiose—it was sort of flattering. Then a small, nagging voice told me to come clean about something.
    â€œThat night I just did what I had to to save myself and my friends,” I said. “Truth is, I never hunted shufflers in an organized way until I hooked up with these two knuckleheads.” I hooked my thumb behind me.
    â€œThank you,” Cody said instantly like he’d been waiting for me to give him credit.
    â€œThen I’m happy to meet you guys, too,” Warren said. “I hope we can hunt together sometime.”
    â€œCrystal didn’t mention them?” I asked.
    â€œI don’t think so,” Warren said and he frowned a little. Good God, he even had dimples when he frowned.
    â€œTypical,” Cody said. “We’re probably invisible to people in her caste.”
    Nice vocab word, Cody, I thought.
    â€œWell,” said Warren, “the way she tells it, things were pretty confused that night. Lots of gunfire, lots of real fire, zombies everywhere. That sound right?”
    â€œYeah,” said Cody. He sounded suspicious.
    â€œIn all that noise, she probably just wasn’t aware of