#horrorprompt #378: Zombie hunting for fun and profit!

I had heard things were bad. Was warned to stay away. "They don't like people like you, up there," the old man had said. He'd been leaning back in the rickety rocking chair; three-legged dog beside him, shotgun loaded. I didn't believe him. Now I knew better. The Welcome to New York sign was hanging by one bolt, blood and something else splattered the surface. I didn't look too closely. I should have turned back then, but Katie had called and like usual my dumb-ass came running. Little sisters, what else are you going to do? So, I went. The air was thick with the scent of decay. The ground beneath my feet was a mottled rusty-brown. Something else I didn't look too closely at. I could hear movement behind her door. I reached out to open it...and prayed.

Typical NYC apartment, tiny freaking entrance that dumped you directly into a living/kitchen/bedroom and my sister, the wannabe Broadway actress staring back at me. Her eyes should have been blue, just like our mothers, but they were bloodshot red and her once long cornflower blond hair was stringy and matted with brain matter. I stifled a scream when she turned towards me, still moving, even with half her head blown off. Katie was a pain in the back-side, but she didn’t deserve this. Not to die by some freaking virus everyone said was over. Well guess what world? It wasn’t. Not by a long shot.

Now I’m standing in a crappy Brooklyn apartment trying to figure out how to not become my sister’s next chew toy. No sudden moves, right? That’s what you’re supposed to do when confronted by zombies or was that bears? God, I suck at this survivor bullshit. Why didn’t I pay more attention to our dad during those horrible summer camping trips?

“Down!”

“Shit!” I screeched, yes, screeched, like the soon-to-be dead extra on that late-night horror movie who said the dark can’t be that bad and wanders off to get eaten. Well, being eaten is not topping my to-do list anytime soon so I dropped, screeching the entire way, hands over my head, eyes screwed shut and butt up in the air, because isn’t that how everyone falls when someone yells to get down?

The silence was split by the crack of a bat and from my position on the ground (one eye now cracked open because I’m that kind of girl) I watched as my sister sailed over her tiny Ikea couch and smashed face first into the far wall. Not a pretty picture, which my stomach made abundantly clear when it rebelled and I dry heaved against the bright yellow cushion that had fallen beside me.

“You okay?”

The voice is lower than I expected, not unpleasant, and seems to match perfectly with the gorgeous guy standing above me. He’s taller than my 5’6”, which isn’t surprising...maybe 5'11" or 6-foot and has that ‘I used to play football’ look to him, and yes, my ass is still in the air, my mascara is smeared and my hair probably looks like rats have taken up residence in it. My sister’s semi-dismembered body is laying less than a dozen feet from us and I’m wearing faded jeans and a stained Star Wars t-shirt. So yeah, it’s just been a day of wins for me.

“No.” I reply. “No, I’m not okay. To be honest, today has sucked massively and I’d like a do-over and coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.”

The guy rocked back on his heels, bat-head dropping to the once white carpet and blinked at me. Then he laughed, a full-belly chuckle that had him doubling over and whipping tears from his abso-freaking-lutely beautiful chocolate-brown eyes.

He reached out a hand to haul me up beside him. “Yeah, Red,” he muttered, “you’re fine. Let’s get out of here.”

"And get coffee?" I semi-beg.

He chuckled again as he steered me towards another apartment down the hall. "Yeah, I've got coffee. Nothing fancy..."

"As long as you have sugar I'm fine."

"Black with sugar, I can manage that."

"I'm Emma."

"Nate. Nice to meet you Emma. Sorry about Katie, that couldn't have been pleasant."

I can't help but snort at that. "Understatement of the year," I mutter sarcastically and, Lord help me, but all Nate does is smile and wave me in his apartment.

"It's clean." I say, completely shocked.

"Yup."

Blushing furiously I stutter-mumble an apology as he starts the coffee dripping in the kitchen. "I'm sorry, God, you must think I'm a right bitch."

He waves away the apology and points to one of the two bar-stools at the tiny counter. "Don't worry about it. My mom raised me, so I got more manners beaten into me than a lot of my male friends. Southern mama's don't mess around with that stuff."

It's only then do I notice the slight twang in his voice.

"Where are you from originally?"

"Kentucky. God's country." He laugh-sighs and stares out the small window. "Should have listened and stayed home, that's for sure."

"I've never been there. Went to Nashville once when I was a kid."

"Tennessee's not bad either, mostly because it's not New York and there aren't any zombies running around."

"I didn't think it was this bad." I whispered, clutching at the cup of coffee like it's a life line as he hands it to me.

Nate nodded, "The last few weeks things have gotten really bad. Two, maybe, three months ago, the only reports were from hospitals and the CDC, but now you'd be hard pressed to find a 'normal'."

"How'd you survive?"

"Amazon Pantry."

"What?!" I'm pretty sure I spat half my coffee out at his answer.

Nate chuckled and pointed across the room to a prepper's wet-dream of canned food, paper products, and enough dried milk to start a dairy. 

"Closest grocery is 4 blocks away and I don't have a car, so I stock-pilled all my basic goods. Water's still running and the electricity hasn't turned off yet, so I'm just hanging until things calm down."

I shook my head at that and nursed the rest of my cup.

"You got a plan, Red?"

Glancing up at him I scrunched my nose and was brutally honest. "Not a freakin' clue." I'd only come here for Katie and now that she was dead I had to figure out how the hell to get home to Wisconsin.

"Plan on sticking around?"

"Not if I can help it. You?"

"Mama wants me home. Not sure it's a good idea to go wandering right now, but not sure it isn't either."

"So that's a what, wait and see, approach?"

He shrugged. "Thought you might want to stay here until you get a game-plan in place."

"Seriously?"

"Why not? Safer together than apart and that couch folds out to a pretty decent bed. You got a better idea?"

No, no I did not. So what the heck, staying with a gorgeous guy with a stocked kitchen couldn't be the worst decision I've made in my life. Well, it could be, but I was going to think on the positive side for once.

Straightening my spine I reached out a hand. "Emma Blackthorn."

"Nate Samuels. Nice to meet you, Emma, welcome to Brooklyn."

Nate shook my hand and I felt a thrill run through me. I had no idea what had just happened, but I knew nothing would ever be the same again.

-------------------

She was cute in a nerdy kind of way. A bit more subdued looking than her flashy sister, but that hair...heaven help me but her hair just made me want to do things no gentleman would dare think about. Not some carrot-top red either, but a deep auburn red that glistened when the light hit it like rubies. Even twisted up in some ridiculous top-knot the damn thing sparkled. Sure, she looked like she'd been through a war-zone, but considering bits of her sister's skull were still sticking to my Louisville slugger by the front door, you couldn't really blame the little gal.

I cocked a hip against the kitchen counter and watched as she tried to make more coffee appear in the cup by sheer force of will. Cute. Totally cute and I had somehow gotten her to agree to live with me. No, no Nate, not live with, stay. Just until she figures things out. Reel it in, boy. I could practically hear my mama's voice in my head.

Chuckling at both of them, I snagged her cup and turned back to the coffee maker. Glancing over my shoulder as I put another pot on I nodded at the backpack she was still wearing.

"You want to shower and clean up?"

"Huh?" Emma's eyes were the stormy blue-grey of a winter squall and with that hair of her's she was a dang knock-out.

"Shower, you want to freshen up a bit?" I repeated.

"But the coffee..."

"Will keep. Why don't you go get cleaned up and changed, you'll feel better and yes, I'll have coffee for you when you're done."

She glanced down at her blood encrusted shirt and grimaced. "Yeah, a shower would probably be best."

"Just through that door," I said, pointing down the hallway.

Pulling herself off the stool she stumbled slowly down the hall, pausing at the doorway to look back at me. "Thanks, Nate. I...I really appreciate it."

The door clicked shut quietly behind her and in the sudden silence the snick of the lock being thrown was loud. It shouldn't have bothered me, but it did and that wasn't acceptable. Emma was a stranger and in trouble and my mama would beat me black and blue if I took advantage of the situation, but when I heard her quiet weeping behind that door I almost broke. What man let's a woman cry by herself?

I felt like a heel when I opened the second entrance from the bedroom, but seeing her huddled on the cold tile floor clutching a towel and her bag open beside her I couldn't stay away.

"Hush, darlin, it's okay. You're safe now." I murmured, pulling her into my arms and rocking her back and forth.

"She's dead." Her voice cracked at the end. "I was supposed to come get her. She begged me to come and I said no. Told her to clean up her own problems for once and now she's dead."

Closing my eyes for a moment I couldn't even begin to imagine how she must be feeling so I just held her, rocking her back and forth and crooning that it would be alright over and over into her hair while she cried.

When the crying jag was over I gently raised her chin to look her in the eyes. They had that bruised look one gets when everything has gone wrong and the sight was heart-wrenching.

"Come on, let's skip the shower for now and get you in bed."

She jerked her head back and forth. "No. I can't...I can't sleep with her on me."

Understanding hit me like a sledgehammer. Her shirt was covered in her dead sister's remains. Yeah, I could see how that would make sleeping difficult.

"You think you can shower now?"

"Yes, thank you."

"No problem. I'll leave you to it while I get the couch made up."

"Thanks, Nate."

"Anytime, Emma." I said as I left. Funny, but with her, I really meant it.