Apocalipstick (Hell in a Handbag Book 1) Lisa Acerbo (debian ebook reader .TXT) 📖

expression. Its mouth hung open in an eternal pout. But its upper lip was now mush and puss.

The Streaker child stopped moaning and shifted its head pensive. It could not figure whether to attack Jenna who stood immobile in front of it or Caleb who had woven his way through the aisles to emerge from behind.

Predator and prey faced off in the stale, still air. The creature charged at Jenna. Caleb grabbed an arm before the creature had darted two steps. Bits of flesh tore from the bone, slipping between his fingers.

The undead turned, teeth snapping close to his flesh. Caleb shoved it back. It stumbled and fell. The baseball bat slammed into the Streaker’s skull and reverberated. A second blow lodged in its brain matter and the little girl collapsed to the floor.

It could have been her lying on the floor, a monster lacking intellect and emotions.

He yanked the bat out of the Streaker’s head. The slick, wet sound caused Jenna to squirm.

“Good to go?” Caleb appraised her.

“Can’t leave quick enough.” She moved along the aisle to the front door. Once at the exit, he held her back with his hand, peering into the night before signaling all clear. The two raced to the car.

Huddled in the safety of the front seat and snuggled in the warmth of the camouflage jacket, she expelled a sigh of relief.

From the blackness moans and grunts reached inside the car clashing with garbage cans crashing to the ground close by. A bloody hand smacked against the window. A body slammed into the taillight, then a Streaker lunged onto the hood of the car. Teeth gnashed against the window.

Jenna suppressed a scream. “Go. Go!”

The car squealed off the curve. The Streaker’s body flew off the hood. Seconds later the two were back on the road, heading out of Pittsfield, medication snuggled on her lap. Pride surfaced, surprising her. With Caleb by her side, they’d faced a challenge no one else had been willing to complete and it turned out successful.

He glanced her way as if he could read the thoughts, which ran amuck. “Good work back there.”

“Thanks, but it was all you. I just stood around and looked pretty.”

“And deadly, holding a gun ready to shoot anything in the way of you bringing back the medicine.”

“Don’t mock my bad ass persona.” Jenna wasn’t sure if she should be happy or mortified. “Look who’s talking. Did one of the perfect hairs on your head fall out of place when you tackled the crazy, moaning, Streaker baby in the store? Nope. Not one.”

After he leveled her with another inscrutable gaze, the vehicle squealed to a stop on the side of the road.

“Not another cat.” She peered out the window.

“Not this time.”

The vast emptiness accentuated her confinement within the car. The highway was void of life, holding nothing more than the shells of burnt out and overturned cars. Inside, things were different.

He cupped Jenna’s face in his hands. Unable to turn away, she stared into his eyes, and what she saw their made her shiver.

“I can’t stand having you around.” He broke the silence.

Not the opening line she expected.

“Excuse me?” She tried to pull away.

“I can’t get you out of my mind. Everything you do and say is attractive to me. I often wish I never met you.”

“You aren’t making sense.”

“I’m different. Other. New Race. I’ve been changed by this stupid virus and you’re human.”

“I admit it. I was not supposed to like you. I was even scared of you at first but not now. Maybe I’m still a little scared, but only a tiny drop in the ocean kind of way. I didn’t fathom we’d ever make it here.”

“I can’t stop my feelings for you. When I told you about Eric earlier, I explained. For me, love is consuming.”

“Is that supposed to reassure me?”

“Let me finish. You’re much better off with Quentin, but I don’t care anymore. I had to tell you.”

“Clarify for me.”

He released Jenna and ran a hand through his hair. “I want you more than anything. I care about you and need you.”

“I’ll tell you about Quentin.” Her hand rested on his thigh. “I love him.”

Caleb’s eyes dropped from her face. “I see.”

“Like a brother. Big problem. I wanted there to be more so everything could be normal. I’d have a life and find love. But I can’t. Not with him. He’s one of my best friends. I would do anything for him, but there’s nothing romantic between us.”

“What about us?”

“You abandoned me when Eric died. I don’t know how to process that. It could happen again.”

“Never. Don’t say anything else.” He moved to kiss her.

Jenna slid back.

“Let’s see if I’m right and there’s something worth fighting for between us.”

He tasted her lips.

Jenna didn’t want him to stop. Her mouth demanded more.

In the darkness, they yielded to temptation.

17

The first hint of sunlight hit the horizon when Caleb and Jenna trudged the steps to the inn.

“They’re back.” Tears laced Emma’s eyes when she opened the door.

People swarmed to greet them, and Jenna was suffocated at the center of a tight, group hug.

“Don’t break me. I just arrived home.” She held out the bag full of medicine, Quentin foremost in her mind.

“I’m on it,” Emma said.

“Let’s hope for the miracle.”

Winning over death would be significant. It would mean things had changed, and the group had a chance for a real future.

Jenna followed the physician assistant into Quentin’s stuffy room where he lay buried under a heavy quilt, a glass of water and an empty bottle of aspirin by his bedside.

She’d visited before leaving for Pittsfield but seeing him was a shock.

“He doesn’t look good.” Her voice trembled.

“The meds you brought will perk him right up.”

Quentin’s brow was greasy with fever, skin dank and sallow.

They had to have made it on time. The antibiotics had to work.

Jenna wasn’t even sure he was conscious. “We did it. We got the antibiotics. You’ll be as good as new in a couple days.”

“Thanks.” Quentin’s eyes were puffy, swollen.