White Trash Zombie Apocalypse

  “I know. I saw.” He gently released me and pulled back to look into my face.

  “Wait, Angel,” Derrel said, shock and disbelief heavy in his voice. “Your house? You lost your house? Oh my god. I didn’t know. I thought you only had a foot of water or so.” He shook his head. “I’m an idiot. I’m so sorry.”

  I wiped at my eyes and nodded. “Lost the whole damn thing. We had to climb onto the roof.” I tried to smile. “But we got a helicopter ride out of it, so that was cool, y’know.”

  “Ah hell,” he said, then moved up to smash me against his chest in his own massive hug.

  I made an oof sound. “Can’t…breathe,” I gasped dramatically. Derrel released me with a gruff snort and shaky smile.

  “Is your dad all right?” Nick asked, expression serious.

  “He’s okay. Small bump on the head but nothing bad,” I told them.

  “What do you need?” he asked. “What can we do?”

  I took a deep breath. “I’m not even sure where to begin. I guess I need a copy of my ID from my personnel file so I can get a new phone and debit card and, hell, new ID though that’ll have to wait ’til Monday. And I need to go to my storage unit, and—”

  Derrel held up a hand, stopping my babble. “You need a ride?”

  “I’d love one,” I replied, relieved.

  “I may be slow on the uptake,” Derrel said, “but I can at least play chauffeur.”

  Nick looked as if he wished he’d thought to offer a ride first, but he managed an encouraging smile anyway. “Angel, when you get your new phone, be sure to call and let me know what you need.”

  “I will,” I said, moving to him and giving him a hug. “Thanks.”

  He gave a little shrug. “No biggie,” he said, trying to be nonchalant and utterly failing. He headed to the investigator’s office without another word. Derrel watched him go, slight frown puckering his wide forehead, then turned back to me.

  “At your service, darlin’,” he said with a slight bow.

  I smacked him on the upper arm. “Don’t make me start quoting Driving Miss Daisy.”

  He chuckled. “Y’know, if I squint you look a bit like Jessica Tandy.”

  “Oh my god.” I laughed. “Shut up and help me break into the personnel files.”

  Chapter 22

  Once again I found myself grateful that I lived in a small town. I expected to have to go through all sorts of hassle to get a replacement phone, since the DMV was closed and my only photo ID was a photocopy of my actual driver’s license. But the guy at the phone store remembered me from when I’d been in a few weeks before, and I scored new phones for my dad and me with practically zero hassle. Unfortunately the brand new phone had barely any charge and, since I actually wanted to use my phone, I ended up buying a car charger as well so that I could give it some quick juice in Derrel’s Durango.

  The bank people were less accommodating and weren’t keen to give me a new debit card without something vaguely official. However, they cheerfully accepted my dad’s cash for deposit, though I remembered to hold back a couple hundred. Until I had an ID, I wouldn’t be able to withdraw once it was officially deposited.

  The storage unit was my last stop. I worried that Derrel would want to come in with me to help get stuff, which would have been awkward as hell since, well, y’know, freezer full of brains. I assured him I wasn’t planning on taking anything out since I didn’t have any place to put it, so there was nothing to lift or carry, and told him all I wanted to do was look for a scrapbook I thought I’d stored a couple of months ago. I spun a line about how it would ease my mind to know that something personal had survived the flood and, luckily, he bought my lie and waited in the car while I went inside. Of course then I got stupidly bummed out because there wasn’t a damn thing in my storage unit but a goddamn freezer full of brains and some pork ribs, which meant that yeah, everything we’d owned really was gone.

  Still have brains at least, I told myself. Could be a helluva lot worse.

  I stuffed three bags of frozen brains into each of my side pockets, then instantly regretted the fact that I now had only the thin fabric of my cargo pants between me and frozen brains. Yeah, totally comfortable.

  I returned to the Durango, gave Derrel a big smile. “It was there!” I lied.

  “Awesome!” he said with a wide grin. Grief of loss swept through me again. Goddammit, but the next time I got some memorabilia I was going to make sure it was stored someplace safe.

  “Can you spare me a few more minutes?” I asked as I unplugged the phone from the car charger. “I need to make a phone call now that I have a bit of charge.”

  “Take your time,” Derrel said in his easygoing manner. I gave him a smile and walked a few steps away from the Durango.

  I dialed Pietro’s number, once again glad that it was so close to my ex-boyfriend’s number and therefore easy to remember.

  He picked up on the second ring. “Angel. I’ve been waiting to hear from you. How are you? I’ve been very concerned. I only recently found out that Marcus didn’t pick you up from the shelter yesterday.”

  “Hey, Pietro,” I said. “I’ve sure as hell been better. It’s cool about Marcus. I saw the paper this morning.” I shifted the phone to the other ear. “I can’t thank you enough for sending the helicopter. I don’t think my dad woulda made it if not for that.”

  “I was more than happy to help,” he replied. “But I’m so very sorry you lost so much.”

  “Thanks,” I said, then blew out my breath. “About Marcus. Brian told me not to say anything to anyone about the highway fight because of security. Does that include Marcus? We have enough crap between us without keeping something like that from him.”

  After only a second of hesitation, Pietro replied, “That situation is settling. Use your discretion and share what you feel you need to.”

  “Okay. Great,” I said, more relief than I expected washing through me. “Look, I also called to tell you I saw Philip last night. Twice.”

  He fell quiet for a few seconds. I heard a click, and I had the strongest impression that he’d done something to record the call. “What happened?” he finally asked.

  I told him about following Philip and what I found in the box under the steps, and about seeing him with Dr. Charish and how she gave him the paper bag with the packets of brains. Then I told him about how Philip came to find me and how I gave him my last bottle of brains.

  “I don’t know why I helped him,” I confessed to Pietro. I wasn’t quite ready to share my zombie-parent-compassion theory. “I mean, he’s been nothing but a complete tool to me, but…god, he was so obviously hurting.”

  “Angel, you have no idea how thankful I am that you helped him,” he said.

  I blinked. “Um. You are?” I asked, baffled. “I don’t understand. Isn’t he working for Saberton?”

  “Yes,” he said. “But as an operative for me.”

  “Whoa,” I breathed. I fell silent for a few seconds while I wrapped my head around that. “Wait,” I said, anger flaring. “He was working for you this whole time? Even when he attacked me? Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

  I heard him exhale. “Angel, I understand how you feel,” he replied. “There was so much at stake. Is so much at stake. Everything has been on a need-to-know basis in order to protect Philip and his assignment. If the Saberton men with him ever witnessed anything from you other than your genuine reaction to him as one of them, he would be compromised…and so would you. However, as he is due to be extracted tomorrow, there’s little harm in you knowing now.”

  “Oh.” I scowled. I hated the answer, but I also understood it. Damn it. “Well, he’s in really bad shape,” I told him, then narrowed my eyes as another piece of the puzzle clicked into place, and I didn’t like the picture that was forming. “Hang on,” I said. “That drop he made…” Son of a bitch. If Philip was an operative for Pietro, that had to mean the stuff he left in the box under the steps was meant for Pietro’s peopl
e. There wouldn’t have been any reason for him to be skulking around to pass something to Saberton since he was openly working with them. And good ole Dr. Charish had been there waiting for the stuff…

  A brand new anger flared. “Is Charish still working for you?” I walked a little farther away from the Durango. I had a feeling I was going to be raising my voice real soon.

  He drew a deep breath and released it, and when he spoke his voice sounded heavy and tired. “I reacquired her a few days after she fled the factory lab incident with you,” he told me. “She is contained and works under Ariston’s supervision.” He paused. “He needs her.”

  “Contained?” I spat the word. “Well no one contained her when she was a vicious cold bitch to Philip. He begged for brains, and she jumped his ass for not rationing properly. Then she only gave him two packets when he obviously needed a lot more.” The plastic of my phone creaked, and I forced myself to relax my grip before I broke it.

  “She and Dr. Nikas were temporarily at the Tucker Point lab location to monitor the data and samples from Saberton’s zombie research that Philip left at the drop site,” Pietro told me. “However, Ariston had to return to the main lab the night of your fight with the Saberton men out on Highway 1790. Heather needed medical attention, and he wanted to preserve the brain remnants for future use from the zombie she killed.” His voice was a bit too calm and even, and I had a strong feeling he was more than a little pissed off himself. But whether it was because Philip had been wronged, or because the oh-so-secret mission had been jeopardized, I couldn’t tell.

  “Great, so he needs help from y’all and gets treated like dirt,” I said, scowling.

  “Philip has other means of signaling that he needs assistance,” Pietro told me. “The lab itself was never a contact point, and he wouldn’t have gone there if he’d been thinking clearly.” He sounded oddly weary. “Ariston failed to foresee an interaction between Philip and Charish and so hadn’t left any instructions. Charish knew him only as a Saberton informant working on the movie set.”

  My scowl deepened. “Well, y’all need to do something for him now. He’s hurting bad and twitchy.”

  “Considering the current circumstances, I’ll get word to him that we’re going to move his extraction up for later today. You said he did get stabilizer?”

  “Oh, the stuff that keeps him from shaking?”

  “Right. That’s Ariston’s formulation to ease the pain somewhat and keep Philip functional.”

  “Yeah. He had two vials. One kinda yellow and the other a milky blue. He drank half of one when he was with me.” I wanted to get pissed off again at the reminder of how Charish had fucked Philip up, but it was getting a bit tiring being so mad all the time.

  I thought I heard a low intake of breath. “Angel, are you certain one was a milky blue?”

  “Totally.”

  “And which one did he drink from last night?” The tension in his voice was palpable.

  “The yellow.” I frowned. “Why?”

  “All right. There still might be time,” he said, almost as if to himself.

  “Pietro? What’s going on?”

  “The yellow vial is most likely stabilizer,” he said. “The color varies with the batch as the formulation is improved. It’s the milky blue one that concerns me since that’s the color of the parasite stimulant that Ariston sometimes uses for testing. I’m no doctor, but I don’t think it would react well with Philip’s already unstable parasite.”

  Fucking hell. Had Charish given him the wrong thing on purpose? I knew in my bones that Dr. Nikas hadn’t messed up the vials.

  “It could simply be a coincidence, but I’m giving orders for his immediate extraction,” he continued. “Thank you for calling me, Angel. This has been very helpful.”

  And with that he hung up. I stared down at the phone while I muttered a few nasty words, then headed back to the Durango.

  “Where to now?” Derrel asked. “Back to the high school?”

  I nodded. “My dad’s probably wondering what’s taking me so long.”

  It was a few miles. Longer than I would’ve wanted to walk, but only a couple of minutes to drive. “You can let me out by the gym door,” I said as we got close.

  “Sure thing.” He glanced my way as he pulled to a stop. “Look, you guys are welcome to come stay at my place tonight if you want. It’s not big but may be better than here.”

  I cocked an eyebrow at him. “I dunno. Do you have roving bands of roaches patrolling the halls? I’m kinda used to those now.”

  His face twisted into a mock grimace. “Unfortunately, I can’t offer roach guards. But I do have a disdainful cat. Will that work?”

  “Thanks, partner. I’ll ask my dad what he wants to do,” I said with a grateful smile. “I have your number if we decide to take you up on it.”

  “You’re welcome, Angel,” he said. “Give me a call later, or you’ll get more texts than you know what to do with.”

  “I will!” I promised, laughing. I leaned over and gave him a hug, then slipped out of the car and headed inside.

  There was no sign of my dad in the gym, and the plastic bag with his clothes and jacket was gone. My heart hammered as I jumped to the worst conclusion: Kidnapped by Saberton. Alarm rose as I swept my gaze around the room again, as if doing so would magically reveal that he’d been hiding. I took a breath and tried to convince myself that, with my dad, it could just as easily be that he left on his own through sheer bullheadedness.

  The tool-stealing teenage refugee was flaked out on the floor in front of the TV.

  “Hey, do you know where my dad is?” I asked.

  His eyes flicked to me and then right back to the screen. “He left with someone.”

  My scowl deepened at the lack of useful information, and I moved between him and the TV. “What kind of someone?” I snarled.

  He jerked his gaze up to mine, an outraged response on his lips, but it died when his eyes met mine. I was fairly well tanked up and oh-so-very-much not in the mood for bullshit, especially when it came to my dad.

  His throat bobbed as he gulped. “A man. About thirty, I think. Short dark hair, on crutches. Your dad knew him.”

  Marcus. I bet he loved faking an injury. The tension drained out of me. “Oh, cool. Thanks!” Okay, so the thought of my dad and Marcus having guy-time together wasn’t exactly comforting but it was better than the other theories I’d concocted. I yanked my phone from my pocket to call Marcus then scowled at the flashing battery symbol. Crap. Obviously five minutes on the car charger wasn’t worth a whole lot.

  “Angel!”

  I spun to see the woman who’d given me the ride to the Coroner’s Office striding toward me. “Your boyfriend was just here,” she announced with a smile, and I had to bite down on the automatic denial that Marcus was my boyfriend. “I told him I didn’t know when you’d be back,” she continued, “but he wanted to go ahead and get your dad settled. He left a note for you.” She thrust a folded piece of paper at me.

  “Thanks,” I said, taking it. She gave me another bright smile and then hurried off. I unfolded the paper and read.

  Angel—

  Your dad’s safe with me. Please call when you get this note. You can both stay at my place as long as you want.

  Marcus

  I peered at a stray mark before his name. It looked as if he’d started to write an “L” and thought better of it. Love? Exhaling, I refolded the paper and stuffed it into a pocket. Stay with Marcus. It wasn’t an ideal solution, especially considering our last conversation, but it was a lot better than remaining in the shelter. And I liked Derrel too much to inflict my dad’s permanent company upon him. My mouth twitched in wry amusement. At least Marcus was already used to the ornery bastard.

  As concern for my dad evaporated, worry for Philip flooded in. Now that I had a clue as to his real situation, I wanted to see for myself that Pietro’s people got him out okay, and if they hadn’t yet, to get some brains to him. I could call Mar
cus as soon as I did so. Pietro had said Philip was working on the movie, so now I just needed to figure out how to sneak into where they were filming.

  Hurrying to the door, I almost ran smack into Jane Pennington as she came in, and it was only a quick maneuver by one of her staffers that kept us from all falling in a heap.

  “Angel!” Her eyes widened in surprise as she recovered her balance and steadied herself on her cane. “I didn’t know you were here,” she said, genuine concern in her voice. “Pietro told me he got you out, so I thought you’d be somewhere besides in the shelter.” Brow furrowed, she swept her gaze around the gym with its cots and motley inhabitants.

  I winced. “Yeah, it’s been pretty crazy,” I said. “We spent last night here, but I think we’re gonna be staying with Marcus. For a couple of days, at least.” I could unpack my feelings about all of that later.

  “I hope everything works out,” she said. “I’m so sorry for your losses.” She looked like she was going to say more, but one of her aides, a middle-aged man with sharp features and a serious expression touched her arm.

  “I’m sorry, Jane,” he said, “but they’re about to start filming the crowd scene. We can come back here to speak to the refugees afterward.”

  Indecision swept over her face. It was clear she cared deeply about my situation, but it was also obvious that she really wanted to see the movie zombies. It was such a totally human and awesome and non-congresswomanly display that I had to choke back a laugh, and I sure as hell liked her even more for it.

  “Hey, is it okay if I tag along?” I said, making the decision moot for her. Besides, this would get me behind the barricades so I could make sure Philip was being taken care of. And if Pietro’s people hadn’t yet reached him, I had two chunks of frostbite on my thighs—or rather, two pockets full of thawing brains—that might be of use.

  Jane grinned. “Absolutely!”

  We left the gym and headed toward the barricades across the gaps in the chain-link fence surrounding the football field. Beyond them, the movie crew positioned lighting and numerous cameras while a whole horde of zombies chilled out, waiting for the start of the filming. As I’d hoped, I had no trouble getting onto the set by following in Jane’s wake. No questions asked.