We Will Rise: An Adrian's Undead Diary Novel (Lockey vs the Apocalypse Book 2) Carl Meadows (red queen ebook txt) 📖

coming to rest in his ugly face. A millisecond after I pulled the trigger, Nate fired a single round and popped the rifleman’s melon.

The other two were so taken by surprise that their heads went on a swivel, and Dean snatched the handgun from his hip and double-tapped the man holding the shotgun like a boss, while I was already moving my sight to the leader. Glocks with no safety are always ready to party.

The leader’s weapon was halfway out when my next burst ripped up his flank, smashing his hip and ribs, and Dean fired twice again to finish the job.

Three seconds, maximum.

With the bad guys down, I just skipped my way over to Nate, handed him my rifle so I could run, and just said, “That’s my Dean!” And I was off.

I nearly knocked him clean off his feet when I leaped into a hug with him. We were both a mess, he couldn’t believe it was me, and when I remembered my idiot self and told him Maria was alive and she was two minutes down the road, the wind went right out of him. Pure relief.

Freya, this had to be the best day of the apocalypse thus far. Charlie’s birthday was pretty damn good, but reuniting Dean and Maria? Shit, I was a mess.

Dean had three kids with him, one of them I recognised from photos in their house. Sarah Walsh is a redhead, not long turned eighteen, and the Williams’ are her godparents. She had a pistol at her hip, so I guess Nate wasn’t the only one teaching Dean’s girls how to shoot. The other two were boys, Alex and Zain, and a bit younger than Sarah, I think. Alex looks to be of Chinese heritage, and Zain is sub-continental Asia. I think he’s Indian, maybe Bangladeshi? I don’t know. I’ll find out at some other point.

Turns out that when the world fell apart, Dean was asked by Sarah’s dad to get her from the private school she boarded at, which is in the local area apparently. Dean secured the campus with the kids and one teacher that remained after clearing out a gun locker at the HQ where he worked. They’ve lost some people in the four months that have passed as well, which sucks. There are eight of them remaining in total, including Dean.

I had no idea there was a fancy country private school anywhere near here. There’s a different private high school in one of the towns, but it’s in a residential built-up area and doesn’t have boarding facilities. I had no idea this Crenshaw school even existed. Today I learned.

Dean also did go back to their house, but Maria had already been taken by then.

There was lots of hurried sharing of stories, and while it was amazing watching Maria and Dean be reunited, my heart did go out to Nate a little.

After we gathered up all the weapons and gear from the assholes, Nate climbed into the Humvee – as there was no way he was missing that opportunity for a big new toy – and told us to walk back down to where the others were. He’d take the vehicle round the top end of the service road and meet us behind the surplus store.

Dean’s SUV was the one out in front of the pharmacy shredded by the gunfire, so we were going to have to transport them all back home or at least get them a vehicle. We called our mission short for the day and decided to take them back to our place first to sort a vehicle and some supplies. We had plenty and Dean was no random stranger that we needed to build trust with. This was the man that helped put me on the straight and narrow. My entire moral code was constructed by Dean and Maria. He’s family.

Maria stood and stared for a moment as we approached on foot. Freya, I can’t tell you how happy I was in that moment. Maria’s eyes moved from Dean, to me, and to Sarah, her hands slapped over her mouth in shock, then the couple were hurtling towards each other like the final scene in a romance movie. It was very cinematic.

After they were reunited, Maria then folded Sarah in a crushing hug, hardly believing she was there as well. There were many happy tears, many hugs, and I got my fair share as well from them both.

When Nate pulled up in the Humvee, he was a little awkward, the first time I’ve ever seen him that way. He hovered in the background, still being all professional and keeping watch, while survival stories were hurriedly shared. Maria eventually spotted him on the periphery and went to him, thanking him for bringing her family back to her. She hugged him and planted a little kiss on his cheek, raising an affectionate hand to touch his face, and returned to her husband.

I think Nate’s been burning a candle for Maria, and it was hard to see him take a deep sigh as she moved back to Dean. It was a resigned, “ah well,” kind of gesture, punctuated with a little shrug to himself. Don’t get me wrong, he was happy to have reunited Maria with her beloved and give her such joy, but it’s also kind of sad.

He caught my eye, realised I’d seen his little moment, and just smiled and nodded, letting me know everything was okay.

Dean was pretty amazed with our little lodge and said that tomorrow we should all go over to the school, everyone, just to see the place. We now have two allied sites. But then?

“There’s plenty of room at the school,” said Dean. “We should all band together, it’s a great site.”

And there it was. The fart in the elevator.

I hadn’t even thought about that, and then realised Maria would move out of the lodge for sure. With both Dean and Sarah there, it was pretty much a given. Dean was the