Benton: A Zombie Novel: Volume One by Jolie Du Pré

Author:Jolie Du Pré [Unknown]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Precious Monsters Press
Published: 2014-05-18T07:00:00+00:00

13.

WE’RE SITTING AROUND THE FIRE Gary and Mark built. Sara is still over at the tree by Eli.

Outside, at night, is one of the scariest places to be right now.

Eli’s breathing is ragged and, often, he’ll open and close his eyes. Once, he vomited.

Sara seems oblivious to it. She’s poured bottled water on a washcloth and continues to wipe off his face, trying to cool him down.

I feel horrible about what happened to Eli, but I don’t dare sleep.

I whisper to Mark, “Who’s going to shoot him?”

“We’ll worry about that later. We just want to keep him comfortable for now.”

I can feel myself getting agitated. “He can turn at any time, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. I’m watching him.”

“Yeah, so am I.”

Just then, Katie gets up and starts stretching and doing jumping jacks. It’s very unsettling to have this girl moving behind me and having to watch someone slowly turn into a zombie at the same time.

“Katie, would you please just sit down?” I say.

“Hey, you need to relax,” says Mark.

“I’m sorry.” I sigh.

Katie returns to her folding chair. “It’s okay. I’m used to you stressed out all the time.”

My attitude toward Katie has never been great, and I’m not surprised she senses it. I do feel bad for yelling at her again. With Gary and Mark calmly staring at the fire, and Katie in her usual la la land, it seems I’m the only one worried. Even Sara, who stays by Eli’s side, seems less worried than I am.

I lean back in my chair to relax, but I can’t even close my eyes.

* * *

It’s late at night. The fire is still blazing nicely. Except for the zombie that bit Eli, we’re in an area that would be unusual for any zombie activity. There’s literally nothing out here, but Eli is getting worse and worse by the minute.

I grab Mark’s hand. “I have something to ask you.”

“What?” Mark says to me with big, curious eyes.

“We’re all fading fast. We’ll be asleep before any of us knows it. There’s that rope in the van. I think we should tie up Eli with it.”

Sara hears me. “What? Are you crazy? He’s a human being.”

“Sara, please. You’re not thinking clearly,” I say. “He’s getting worse. I don’t know if he’s going to make it through the night.”

Sara gets up and walks over to me as if she’s about to kill me. “Who put you in charge? Mark is the leader here, not you.”

Mark leaves his chair and puts his arms around Sara to calm her, but she pushes him away.

“We’re not going to do it, right?” says Sara. “I mean, what are we here? We love Eli.”

I answer before Mark does. “Please be realistic. We don’t know how much time he has. If we tie him up, it’s only for our own safety.”

Sara throws her arms up in the air. “Do whatever you want. I don’t even want to be here. I just wish I wasn’t here.” She turns and runs for the van.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.