I was ecstatic that Zoe was going to be ok. I cried happy tears when Chang and Zoe exchanged I love you’s. I should have seen that coming. They spent so much time together. I wondered if they knew they were falling in love or if it just happened.
Either way, I was happy for them. They were very obviously made for each other so it was bound to happen.
We left them to her room for a few more hours to let Zoe rest off the virus. We weren’t sure how long it would take her since her sickness was nothing like Zeke’s.
That evening she hobbled down the stairs. I could see that she was still weak but not as sick as she was. Zoe was going to be just fine if she rested and had plenty of fluids.
Although getting fluids into her wasn’t a problem. She downed a whole gallon of water in just an hour. Her immune system was fighting hard and we were all thankful for that. It only took her another 24 hours after that to get completely better. I was immensely relieved Zoe hadn’t become a zombie.
After all the excitement of her infection we began to watch the news again. So far we hadn’t had any response from the government to Aunt Brooke’s internet broadcast of the President and Governor Owen’s admission of spreading the virus.
CNN was the first channel to air her latest broadcasts and the first to remove the 2 million dollar reward for Aunt Brooke’s head. I knew they were investigating the situation.
When they aired the broadcasts there was much speculation to whether or not it was falsified. CNN had hired investigators to see if what they were watching was real. This evening the verdict had come out and they declared it real footage.
The next 24 hours was spent with CNN trying to get an exclusive interview with the President. They announced he had declined but his press manager called the broadcast ‘an apparent hoax’.
Our website was in a frenzy. We had billions of hits every day and people were sharing the info on social networking sites. Everyone in America was bound to have seen it.
CNN was also trying to get an interview with Governor Owen and Arizona’s Governor Glenn. They refused as well.
The only thing we could do would be to wait it out.
CHAPTER 7
ZOE
It was very obviously springtime. I awoke to birds chirping at my window. I felt almost 100% better since I’d slept so much the last few days.
I was glad to be healed. I was really worried I would become a zombie too. I made plans to write John Ombie a letter and thank him for bringing us the cure. If it hadn’t been for him, I would be a flesh eater right now.
Life had changed so much over the last few days that I didn’t know what to do with myself. I decided to eat breakfast and take a walk around the grounds to make sure it was still secure.
As I walked the fence, the zombies that were there did not try to eat me. They didn’t reach for me at all. Normally they clawed and moaned at the smell of a human. I had wondered if the reason behind that was because I was getting over being one of them. I would have to investigate this further at a later time.
I walked on the south side of the fence and as I turned the corner I saw him, Chang. I would never see him the same again after our passionate kiss at the beach. He was no longer my friend. He was much more than that.
He strode over to me with longing eyes. Once he reached me, he reached out for my hand. He took it gingerly and we walked the grounds together hand in hand. It felt strange being this intimate with another human being. I hadn’t had a boyfriend before and I wasn’t sure how to act. I wasn’t sure Chang was my boyfriend but I knew I wanted him to be. I would need to bring it up eventually.
I didn’t really have to bring it up. He interrupted my thoughts and did it for me.
“Zoe, are you feeling better?”
“Yeah. I’m almost 100%. I wanted to say thank you for taking care of me. Mom told me that you didn’t leave my side the whole time.”
“How could I leave you like that?”
“I don’t know. But I think it was real sweet that you stayed.”
“I didn’t want to leave you. After all, I had just told you I loved you.”
“Is this weird for you? I mean, is it weird that we love each other?” There was an air of uncertainty coming from me that I wasn’t quite sure where it was coming from. I was always so brave and confident.
“No. It feels right to me. Loving you comes natural to me. I just wish I had figured it out sooner.”
“When did you figure it out?”
“When that psycho woman tried to slice your throat.”
I smiled at him. I was still thankful he had my back on that one too.
“When did you figure it out?” He asked in a teasing manner.
“When you kissed me on the cheek after we posted the President’s phone conversation.”
“It took you that long?” He was very obviously teasing me, so I punched him on the arm.
“So what does this mean for us?” I asked.
“That means I want you to be my girlfriend. We are in love. It’s the thing to do,” He chuckled.
“Ok.”
“What do you mean ok?”
“I mean that’s good. That’s what I wanted.”
He stopped mid step and turned around to face me. Then he stroked the hair out of my face and lightly caressed my cheek. I giggled in embarrassment. All of this handsy feely stuff would take some getting used to. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I didn’t like it; it’s that I wasn’t used to it. I didn’t let people get into my personal space.
In the distance I could hear someone yelling my name. It sounded like my mother. I began to walk back to the house and the look on her face was pure excitement.
“What’s going on mom?”
“Come inside quick!”
We followed her into the house and into the living room. CNN aired footage of the outside of the government building that we had just infiltrated. In big bold letters on the screen read: GOVERNOR OWEN FOUND DEAD. Everyone in the manor huddled together to watch the newscast. The reporter said this:
“Governor Owen was found dead today at 8am with a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. No one on the staff would comment except the janitors to say that they arrived at the office building at 8am to do their routine cleaning and found Governor Owen hunched over his desk with a gun in his hand. Police are deeming it a suicide. Officials are speculating this is due to Brooke Johnson’s recent webcast that exposed Governor Owen, Governor Glenn and President Mann. Is this death truly a suicide or was it made to look like one? There would be no way to be sure until they get forensics in there. Stay tuned for more news as we get it.”
“Can you believe that? He killed himself?” My younger brother Chris asked, clearly astonished.
“I don’t think it was a suicide. You heard President Mann’s threat. He had it done,” I retorted.
“Yeah, I agree. He was murdered,” Brian said sternly.
Governor Owen was murdered. I wondered to myself if Governor Glenn was next. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why the government had not responded to our webcast yet. Maybe they were formulating just the right things to say. Anyhow, I could care less as long as they released the cure so that everyone would be safe.
We waited weeks before we heard anything else. The Governor’s death was ruled a suicide by Los Angeles police department. Governor Glenn was speculated to be in hiding but we all knew what that meant. He was dead too.
The government ignored the webcast completely. Maybe they thought it was safer to say nothing at all than to be caught in another lie. Every news channel was alive with speculation and conspiracy theories. Because of that the president went into hiding. He was showing exactly how much of a coward he really was.
It disappointed mom that she got no response. She figured that they would at least release the cure. Instead
she was met with nothing, no response. She knew something would happen and something would happen fast.
We faithfully watched the news these days, waiting for something. Anything. The U.N. was meeting today to discuss what would happen to the President and the future of the United States of America. They seemed to deliberate all day. A press conference was scheduled for 7pm today. We would make sure not to miss this broadcast.
It felt like the day stretched out into 2 days. I hated waiting and I knew that whatever we heard would be life changing. The President was still in hiding and not a soul would admit to knowing where he went.
It was time. We sat by the TV anxiously waiting. They started out showing the press room. The meeting had not been called yet. Finally a man stepped to the podium. He was white and middle aged. Sweat furrowed his brow as he began to speak.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the U.N. has been in deliberation all day. It has been decided that Brooke Johnson’s broadcasts are legitimate and there has to be some changes made to the U.S. Government. The U.N. cannot just sit by and watch the entire world die because of one government’s attempt at population control. The entire world has been affected by this decision and the U.S. government is being seized as of immediately. We will find President Mann and he will be imprisoned. As for the rest of the system, it will be under review until further notice. We are initiating martial law and you will now be subject to the armed forces without any further notice. Citizens of America, please continue to follow your laws until peace has been made. We will update you further as more information develops.”
Several people stood up to ask questions and were quickly silenced. They had given enough information at that time. He then stepped back to the microphone and addressed the audience again.
“I want every American citizen to stop hunting Brooke Johnson. She is at no fault here. Anyone who attempts to hurt her is subject to death. Brooke, I know you are watching. Please contact the U.N. We need to discuss things further.”
The meeting was over. I couldn’t believe they had addressed mom directly. She couldn’t believe it either.
CHAPTER 8
BREANNE
“Aunt Brooke, do you think this is a trick? Do you think they want to find you and that is why they are asking you to contact them?”
“No. This is the U.N. not the United states.”
“So are you going to contact them?” Chris asked with hesitation.
“I think I am.”
“You aren’t worried at all about what will happen if you do?”
“No. If I die because of it then I died for a good cause. They must want something important or they wouldn’t have addressed me personally.”
“I hope you are right mom,” Zoe said with a sigh.
Aunt Brooke would contact them. I wasn’t sure why but she felt she needed to. I hoped she was right about their intentions. I didn’t want to lose the closest thing I had to a mother.
I suddenly felt very sleepy and went upstairs for some shut eye. I got settled in and could hear Brian enter the room.
“Hey honey, you doing ok?”
“Yeah just really tired. I am worried about Aunt Brooke too. I wish she wouldn’t contact them. I think it’s a trick.”
“I’m going to pray about it. God has never let me down. If something is hinky about it then I will know.”
“I hope he does.”
I could hear Chris screaming outside suddenly. I jumped up and looked out of my window to see him looking towards the ground.
“Something is wrong!”
“I’m going out there. Stay inside. I don’t want anything to happen to you or the baby.”
Brian ran out of the room and down the hall to the window that had the bridge connecting the house to the tree house. I could see him run across the bridge and stopped next to Chris. They were both looking towards the ground now.
I ran down the hall to the bridge that connected the manor to the tree house and climbed out of the window. Whatever was making Chris scream was obviously not coming from up here so I took a chance and made my way over to them.
I looked down to see what was causing them so much anxiety. To my horror, I saw Zeke lying on the ground covered in his own blood. He didn’t appear to be breathing but it was hard to tell from this distance and from the fact that darkness was starting to set in.
“I’m going down there,” Brian stated.
“No you are not! You need to find out what caused him to be that way before you put yourself at risk!” I demanded and stomped my foot.
“She’s right dude. You need to find out what did that to him.”
“Chris, keep a look out here and I’m going to the front of the house to the lookout area. Give me a radio and I’ll call you if I find something.”
Brian ran back through the window and motioned for me to come with him once he got there. I shook my head no. There was no way I was leaving this spot.
A few minutes later I heard Brian call on the radio.
“Chris.”
“Yeah.”
“There’s a zombie dog in the yard. Get your gun. Tell Bre to get inside.”
“I am not getting inside,” I huffed.
“Dude, she says she’s not getting inside. She’s getting a gun from the tree house as we speak.”
The radio went dead. I went back to my spot on the bridge and waited with the gun cocked and aimed, waiting to blast the Zombie dog’s head off.
Chang came out of the window at that moment and Chris caught him up on the situation.
“Let’s do this,” Chang replied.
The dog was running so fast around the yard that I could barely see it. That sucker was fast. Then I heard a BOOM.
Chang dropped the dog. I couldn’t even see it. I wasn’t sure how he was able to shoot it. He was spot on. The dog lie there twitching until it finally froze.
“Somebody needs to go check on Zeke. Maybe we can get him the cure again,” I looked to Chang.
Just then Brian climbed back through the window.
“Did you get it?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go check on Zeke.”
The men climbed down the ladder and made their way over to Zeke’s lifeless body. They slowly approached him and Chang knelt down to study him more closely. He placed two fingers on his throat.
“Dude, he’s dead.”
Brian stood there shaking his head. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He reached down to Zeke’s neck to check for himself.
“Nothing.”
The men stood there in shock. Zoe exited the back door to the manor and joined the them.
I could hear them discussing the situation and Zoe’s face suddenly turned green.
“We need to put a bullet in his brain so he doesn’t come back.”
“He’s dead. Why would we need to do that?”
“Just to be safe.”
“I’m not doing it,” Brian said as he walked away.
“I will.”
Zoe pointed her gun and shot Zeke’s lifeless body right in the temple. It was official, Zeke was gone. I could feel myself beginning to cry.
CHAPTER 9
ZOE
Chang and I stayed up late and drug Zeke’s body over to Mr. Gong’s back yard. It took us a while to bury him. We had to be careful not to dig up our last grave there. Nobody wanted to see Nick’s corpse. We went to the opposite end of the yard to bury Zeke.
Chang reached over and closed Zeke’s eyes. He began digging without saying anything. As a matter of fact, he didn’t say anything for a long time. We stood opposite each other digging our newest grave. This wasn’t particularly my favorite thing to do, even if I was doing it with Chang.
I kept thinking about Chris. He and Zeke had become even closer
since Maria’s death. I knew he was in pain right now and I could tell by the look on his face earlier that he wasn’t doing well. I hated the fact that we had to bury yet another member of our family.
Chang dragged Zeke’s lifeless body into the pit we had just dug. It was dark but I could see the internal struggle on his face. He was just as much upset over this as I was.
Zeke and I had had our problems but I didn’t want him to die. He was a good person. I hated that this was going to crush my brother.
We would bury him tonight and have a service for him tomorrow. We scooped dirt with our shovels until he could no longer be seen. We pushed through the aching in our muscles and kept going until the job was completed.
Chang came over to me and put his arm around my shoulder. We jumped the fence back to the manor and said nothing until we got back to the house.
Actually, we didn’t say another word to each other for the rest of the night.
I went up to my room and showered. I climbed into my bed and tried to sleep. I was more messed up over Zeke’s death than I thought. I went downstairs and grabbed myself a xanax and waited on the couch for it to kick in.
I climbed the stairs and stopped because I heard voices in mom’s room. She was comforting Chris. It made me happy to know that someone was doing it because I just couldn’t.
The next morning I woke up with a start. The previous night’s events flooded my memory. My heart ached for Chris and what he would have to go through today. Burying a friend was never easy. The bright side was at least he didn’t have to watch his friend turn into a zombie.
The air was thick around the manor this morning. Death loomed over each and every one of us. I waited for Chris to come downstairs and he was the last one to come down. His eyes were swollen from crying. He looked like crap. I couldn’t stand seeing my brother this way.
I wanted to take his pain away. I wanted the whole thing to go away. I didn’t like seeing him suffer. He may be 18 years old but he will always be my baby brother.
It didn’t take us long to eat and head over to Mr. Gong’s house. We drove the Suburban over there and ran quickly through the closed gate. Chris wasn’t as fast as all of us and I retreated to make sure he made it safely.
Zombies were close though, I could feel it. I couldn’t see any but we knew there was always one around. The hair on my arms began to stand up and it alerted me to impending doom. I shook my body in an attempt to forget the feeling when in the blink of an eye, there stood one.