Only The Dead Don't Die | Book 4 | Finding Home Popovich, A.D. (any book recommendations txt) 📖

knocked on the window with the doll. Wait a minute. Its face was actually clean. Come to think of it. Its hair was neatly braided, not the usual greasy rat’s nest festering with lice and flies. This must be the infamous Katy with a Y. He eyed the zombie-child cautiously, knowing he would jump out of his skin if it asked, “Can Twila come out and play?”

Scarlett rushed to Twila, nudging her awake. “Are you communicating with the sick ones?” Twila hated it when they called them creepers, dead-heads, zombies, and the like.

Tears drenched Twila’s cheeks. “Katy with a Y wants to know if she can live with us. She feels better now.”

Dean pondered over why Twila referred to it as Katy with a Y. What did the Y have to do with anything? Trying to understand the workings of Twila’s rationalizing was far beyond him.

“Twila—” Scarlett started in, obvious agony surging through her, as if responsible for Twila’s behavior.

“Honest me. Katy’s better. She started drinking water. And the rest of them started drinking water too. You see”—Twila’s golden-flecked eyes widened—“water is very, very important. They forgot to drink ’cause the sickness makes them so hungry. All they think about is food. Every second. It’s very painful.” Twila held her head in her hands with the makings of a headache coming on.

Scarlett massaged the child’s forehead.

“Imagine it would be. Your Katy friend is right outside the window.” Dean nodded toward the window.

“Katy, I told you to let me ask first.” Twila dashed to the window before Scarlett could stop her.

Dean kept his hand on the butt of his Glock as the dead-head child dragged a lawn chair from the front porch to the window. It stood on the chair and pressed its clean grayish face to the windowpane. It went into a teeth-snapping fit when its eyes locked onto Scarlett’s.

“No Katy!” Twila scolded. “Be nice to my mommy.”

Beside himself on how to handle the peculiar situation, he merely watched the bizarre scene unfold.

“Tell Katy to leave,” Scarlett implored as the horde pointed at their safehouse with spastic arms.

Twila’s eyes rolled back briefly. Not a good sign. Dean quickly collected his tools.

“I’m so sorry, Mommy. I messed up. They want to be like Katy. They want the magical tea.”

Dean peeked out the window again in time to see another horde approaching.

“Tell them there isn’t any left.” Distress took over Scarlett’s voice.

“I already did. They don’t believe me.” Twila shook her head vehemently. “No Katy! You promised—”

“Promised what?” Scarlett questioned sternly.

“It’s a secret.” Twila’s defiant pout insisted.

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed. “Young lady!”

Twila looked away. “If, if . . .” she spluttered, “. . . if I tell you, you will stop loving me and make me live with them.”

“Oh, sweetie. We’d never do that,” Scarlett consoled.

“I’m a little bit—like them. See, I used to be sick just like Katy. And then the Silver Lady helped me get better. Don’t you see? That’s why I have to heal them. It’s not their fault.”

What the devil was the child going on ’bout? Dean kept his eyes lowered to avoid Scarlett’s reaction to Twila’s morbid confession. The poor girl must be delusional. Well, they had more pressing issues to contend with for the time being.

“Dean!” Scarlett yelled out.

Dean tried not to stumble over his own feet at the panic in Scarlett’s voice as he rushed back to her. The growing horde rambled to the front yard’s withered brown lawn. An eerie low growling took over.

“They want to eat Katy. Run! Katy! Run!” Twila sobbed. “They’re calling all the sick ones trapped in the Forbidden Zone. They’re going to eat us, too!”

Dean gawped.

“They think we have the magical blood that will heal them,” Twila babbled on.

On that note, Dean intervened, “Alrighty folks, ’bout time we get upstairs.”

After herding a reluctant Twila up the stairs, Scarlett helped him haul their meager supplies to the second floor. He stretched out the wire-mesh and then started zip-tying the mesh in order to block the stairway access.

“Twila, tell Katy we’re making more tea. Then we’ll share it with them,” he heard Scarlett say.

“You said lying’s bad,” Twila countered.

“Sometimes, little-white lies are better than the truth. Besides, I think Uncle Luther found some tea,” Scarlett said.

“Think of it this way,” Dean cut in. “If they think more tea is on the way, maybe they won’t hurt Katy.”

“Exactly!” Scarlett gave Dean a thankful smile.

“Okay, that’s not a bad lie.”

“Tell her in your mind.” Scarlett escorted Twila to the bedroom.

“Okay.”

“Hurry, before they hurt Katy,” Scarlett pushed on.

Dean and Scarlett waited on the landing for that first crackle of shattering glass. Justin and Luther better return from the Zhetto Market before they were forced into finding an alternative safehouse. A pixilated image of a renovated bus appeared in the depths of his mind. Was it merely wishful thinking?

Chapter 16

Justin Chen anxiously pedaled through the Forbidden Zone’s deserted neighborhoods, wondering how the heck the shard of glass Luther had left in his care would save his son.

One block to go, he cheered himself on. He couldn’t stop stressing over Luther. What a ballsy move. Going to the lodge. On his own. But really, Justin was ashamed of wimping out on his friend. He braked hard, skidding to a stop. I should have gone with him. He slammed his hands on the handlebars. Or stopped him! But, his job in this undead world was to protect Ella and their son. Right?

He guzzled down the last swallows of water from his canteen in contempt. Contempt for himself. Reluctantly, his feet found the pedals again as he recapped the events at the Zhetto Market. Talk about coincidence. Running into Joe DiNozzo had been so random. What would Scarlett say? That it had been cosmic