The Zombie Chronicles - Book 5 - Undead Nightmare (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

worried my parents and my grandmother probably were.
    “It’s gonna be all right, Dean,” Nick said, noticing the strain in my voice. “Deep down, I know they’re fine.”
    I nodded as emotion consumed me.
    “Besides,” he said, “Grandma is too stubborn to die. I can totally see her giving some poor, unsuspecting zombie what-for.”
    Val laughed. “You’re right about that. I know I haven’t known her as long as you two, but she doesn’t seem like the knitting kind of grandma. She showed me pictures of her skydiving.”
    Nick laughed. “That’s Grams for you. I guess tenacity and adventure are part of our DNA.”
    I met Nick’s gaze. “Stubbornness too.”
    Nick smirked, easily catching on to my deeper meaning, since we both knew he was the most stubborn person in the world.
    I watched Claire fumble around with a Polaroid camera. “What an antique,” I said. “That thing can’t possibly work.”
    Claire turned on the power and wound up the film. “It does, and there’re lots of film cartridges and batteries in that desk drawer. Would you mind taking a picture of me and my cousin?”
    Jackie rushed over and threw an arm around Claire, and the two of them smiled as I snapped the photo. After the picture exited the slot on the camera, I laid it flat on the coffee table to give it time to develop.
    “Okay, now I want one with Dean!” Jackie said.
    I got in position and wrapped my arms around Jackie.
    “Smile,” Claire said.
    “Yeah, man, but don’t say, ‘Cheese’, or you’ll make me hungry,” Lucas piped in.
    I grinned as Claire snapped and the flash lit up the room.
    “Can I see it?” Jackie said.
    “Takes a minute,” Claire said, putting the picture on the table next to the others.
    When I kissed Jackie, Claire unexpectedly snapped again, and we all laughed. We began playing around and goofing off. Everyone made funny faces for the camera, and when I whirled Jackie around and dipped her in some crazy kind of waltz, Claire snapped another. We had such a blast, and Claire continued taking pictures of everyone till the film ran out completely. I even managed to convince Nick to get in a snapshot with her, and we were all surprised how well the photos came out.
    ***
    We all surrounded Nick as he laid a map out on the kitchen table and flattened it. Asia found a flashlight and shined her bright beam over the map, and Kate pointed to the place where she thought we were.
    “Uh…looks like we were a little off base about the location of that lab,” Nick said, squinting his eyes at the map and using his thumb and forefinger to measure the miles by inches.
    “A little off base, huh? How far is a little?” I asked, afraid to hear the answer.
    “Well, quite a bit farther than Jonathon, that scientist, told us.”
    Lucas shook his head. “That guy woulda said anything to get us to go to his lab with his team. He couldn’t stop talking about that serum, so it doesn’t surprise me that he exaggerated about how close we were. He was just trying to get us to go with him.”
    “How far, Nick?” Asia asked.
    “Well, if we run into no more problems and we can find a car, I’d say two days.”
    “I say we go,” Val said. “I need to know what’s in that serum I took, to know if I’m going to change like the others.”
    There was complete silence as we all exchanged pained glances. We took a vote and it was decided it was in everyone’s best interest to head for the lab, one way or another.
    ***
    Lucas, Nick, and Jackie went outside to guard the perimeter of the cabin, and the rest of us chatted among ourselves. Our newest members to the group, Asia and Kate, asked how we met Claire and Jackie, and I briefly filled them in.
    “Val hated me when we first met,” Claire said.
    “Hate’s a strong word,” Val said.
    Claire looked at her and rolled her eyes. “Just admit it. You weren’t happy with me.”
    Val tried not to laugh. “Well, I’ve never been too much of a fan of damsels in