Chapter Four: 

“Abeula always said technology would ruin us.” Sebastian is saying as he jabs at the small flickering flame in front of us with a thin stick. “But I don’t think I believed the crazy old hag until now.” 

“How do you know so much about zombies?” I press, hugging myself to keep warm. It’s chilly; the night time sky casting a thick blanket of cold over everything around us. During our scavenging, we were able to find a long strip of soft yellow beach and now we’ve set up camp. But after today’s events, I doubt any of us will get any sleep. 

I know I won’t. 

Monique sits in between Jasper and I, shivering obnoxiously. Her teeth are chattering so loud that I’m afraid the sound will wake the dead. Sebastian sits across from us, feeding an endless array of damp and dry sticks into the small fire he’d managed to get going earlier. Jasper simply doodles in the sand with a stick. 

Sebastian’s eyes lock onto my face, expression stony. 

He seems to be even more evasive than he normally is, his dark eyes shifting between the three of us coldly. Monique and I return his stare evenly, wishing desperately for a blanket, and try to rub some heat back into my blue-tainted arms. 

“Carlos expected it.” He says finally, through gritted teeth. 

Monique then lets out a clipped laugh. “That stupid idiot?” She scoffs, shaking her head, “I guess it’s pretty useful now, so I can’t say much.”

“You won’t say anything.” He snarls at her. 

For the first time I’ve stepped into this zombie infested world, I’m actually truly terrified to the core. Every cell in my body is frozen with fear. From the way all the muscles in his body tighten, coiling like snakes ready to attack, to the nasty mean expression on his face, Sebastian is incredibly scary. 

But Monique is unfazed. 

I have to give her major props for that. She simply shoots him a swift, piercing glare and twists around in her seat to face the dark ocean, grumbling, “Whatever. You know it’s true.” 

Jasper presses his lips together tightly, warily eyeing Sebastian, and I glance over at him. We share a brief wide-eyed look. “For those of you who don’t know,” Monique grumbles so low I can hardly hear. “Sebastian is in a gang and Carlos is the leader.”

Sebastian lets out a grunt –a warning sound, his eyes flashing dangerously.

“Oh stop it.” I snap at him, a fiery sense of impatience burning through the cold splintering fear. “As far as we know, we’re the last humans alive. It doesn’t matter if you were in a gang, or if Carlos doesn’t want you to tell anybody anything. We need to work together to fend off the zombies and if you have information, we need to know it.” 

“Oh, is that so?” Monique glances back over her shoulder, sending a mean smirk my way. “Aren’t we just a picture perfect preacher now?” 

My eyes narrow. 

Lips parting to retort with something nasty, I pause, catching movement out of the corners of my eyes, and end up staring at Jasper –who is beckoning for us to be silent again. It is as if someone’s laid a blanket over us, filled with the strong desire to be silent. No one moves. 

No one even dares to breathe. 

Jasper’s head is cocked to the side, ear twisted towards the woods, and his hand rests on his gun -waiting. I carefully reach back, fingers winding around the hilt of my sword, and I notice the others silently preparing themselves as well. 

The bushes shake, rustling loudly against the painful silence and it takes all I have not to jump up in shock. 

I focus on a small strip of undergrowth and silently glare at it with my secret laser vision. Maybe if I focus hard enough, Superman will grant me his legendary power and whatever it is will be gone in a matter of seconds. 

After a few moments, Jasper whispers, “I don’t hear it anymore.”

“I didn’t hear it at all.” Monique snaps, already eased out of her stance. 

I scowl at her. How could she not hear it? 

Sebastian remains silent. But I can’t relax. It takes all of my will power to wrench my hands away from my weapon and fold them neatly across my chest. Sebastian picks up a small twig and throws it into the fire. “When do they sleep?” I ask him. 

Monique snorts. “Why on earth would zombies need to sleep?”

I shoot her a dirty look. “They’re inside human hosts. All creatures have to rest somehow, sometime, or else the host would deteriorate faster, right? Dead muscles can only work with so much blood.” 

“You’re right.” Sebastian nods slightly, “Although, I’m not sure when they sleep or if the Nanobots are smart enough to put the host to sleep.” 

Jasper stands, clapping his hands together as if he was trying to gain the attention of a crowd of toddlers. “I say we find a zombie and watch it. We need to learn as much as we can about them before we can expect to survive out here.” 

I shake my head. “But how do we know they don’t travel in groups? What if they attack or something? We need to be prepared for anything.”

“I hate to agree with the Leprechaun, but she’s right.” 

“What did you just call me?!” My head snaps around, hands curling into tight fists at my side, waiting - no, itching - to swing out at her and knock that bittersweet smile off her stupid preppy face. 

She simply shrugs, dark eyes flickering down to my feet and back.

I am on my feet instantly. Anger boils through my veins and I see red.

Fingers curl around my biceps tightly. I stifle a gasp and try to wrench out of their grip. I crane my neck back, eyes locking with dark ones, “Whoa there, tiger.” Sebastian muses, eyes cold but amused. “We don’t want to lose anyone.”

I seethe. 

That jerk; I am not a leprechaun. 

He lets me go and I stumble forward slightly -almost tripping on a pile of twigs that have randomly appeared on the ground in front of me. 

Mentally cursing the twigs, I twist away from the campsite, towards the water. My teeth grit and I stomp my way over to the edge. The soft rumbling sound slowly begins to calm me down. I squat down and dip my fingers into the cool sizzling liquid. 

I’ve only ever heard of beaches. I slide out of my shoes and socks, letting my toes tough the water. It pops, like an acid dissolving metal, and covers my toes with a frothy whiteness. 

“Surreal, isn’t it?” 

I glance back. Jasper kneels down beside me, eyes glued to the swaying water. “I’ve always wanted to see the beach again before I died. Do you think what they say about the white stuff is true?” 

“What are you talking about?” I stare at him. 

He chuckles and plops down, wet sand squishing beneath him. He peels off his shoes and stretches his legs, cool water rushing over his feet, “You’ve never heard about that?”

“About what?” I press impatiently, ready to hit him. 

“Man, you must live under a rock.” He grins boyishly. “My dad once told me that the white stuff in the water is whale and fish pee mixed together. Once it crashes against the sand, it starts to sizzle and turn into this white frothy foam. It’s kind of cool.” 

“That’s impossible.” I roll my eyes. Whales went extinct ages ago. “And besides, when did you go to a beach?” 

“When I was five.” 

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. How could he have gone to the beach? There were no beaches, ever since the war…I really must be stupid. My eyes shut and I resist the urge to face palm. 

Jasper King is nineteen -a good three years older than me. Which means he was alive before the War wiped everything out. He was able to leisurely visit the beach. Everybody knows that, anybody who’s anybody that is. He’s right. I must be living under some sort of rock, especially with a friend like Kayla, who is madly in love with the man beside me. 

“My parents took me.” He’s saying, “Before they died. I can remember everything that happened that day. There were tons of people lying out along the sand, in chairs or on towels, beneath umbrellas. My mom and I made a small crappy little sand castle.” He smiles dryly, eyes far off. “And my little brother destroyed it. It made me so mad! But my dad took me to the water and we began to splash around.”

“So you forgot?” I watch the water brush against our toes and then slink back out again into the dark abyss, like a shadow. 

“Not entirely.” He grins, glancing my way. “I managed to steal his Axew card.” 

My heart stops. 

My mouth drops open and my palms flatten against the sand between us. Axew is a small green dragon type Pokémon, one of my absolute favorites. “Do not tell me that the King is a fan of Pokémon…” 

“I don’t care what you say,” His eyes sparkle. “Totodile is the best starter Pokémon ever.”  

I laugh. 

My sides ache. I may have only been two when the war happened, but my dad was a big gaming nerd. He managed to save some of the best video games and all of his precious gaming systems. I used to sneak into his room whenever he left town to play with the Pokémon games –at least, the handheld ones. 

Shaking my head, I sink back into my original spot -leaning back on my hands. “I still can’t believe you know what that is.”

“I can’t believe you do.” 

I shrug. 

Crescent City still has electricity and scientists; it just isn’t what it used to be. And said scientists definitely haven’t worried about coming up with silly games during a period where we need them the most. Their job is to turn back the time tables and fix our atmosphere. 

“Who’s taking watch first?” 

We both glance back. 

Monique stands about a foot away, hands resting on the wide curve of her hips. There is a really sour look on her face, as if she’d just bit into a lemon. 

“Taking watch?” I frown. 

“Some of us, not all,” She flashes me a pointed look, “need our beauty rest. Sebastian and I decided that someone will need to stay up and keep watch, in case a zombie comes while we’re asleep or something.” 

My eyes narrow. “Well thanks for telling us earlier.” 

“I didn’t want to ruin your moment.” The word slips past her lips in a nasty sneer. She then twists around and starts sashaying back to where Sebastian sits, face angled towards the sky. “One of you needs to decide who’s staying up.” 

Once she’s a good bit away, I let out an irritated huff and glare at her retreating form, “You’ll so be eaten first.” 

Jasper snorts. “I hope you’re not talking about me?” 

I shoot him a scowl, “No, that brat,” I jerk my chin in Monique’s direction. He looks fairly amused, the corners of his lips twisted up into a dry smile. 

My lips purse, “I guess I’ll take first watch.” 

He shrugs. “Wake me whenever you get tired. I’ll do the next watch.” 

I nod. 

We stand. I try to brush the sand off. My backside is damp and with each step, I can feel the grains of sand digging through my shorts. But I don’t mind. Monique is already asleep, curled up into a tight ball on her side. Her rich mahogany hair spreads out around her head as if she’d stuck her finger in a socket and gotten electrocuted. 

Sebastian looks up as Jasper stops in front of the fire and sits down. I continue on towards the nearest tree. 

“Where are you going?” He asks, watching as I grab a fistful of tree-branch and hoist myself up like a monkey. 

“She’s part spider monkey.” I hear Jasper explain. “I found her in a tree. She probably just wants to be high enough to spot a zombie if it’s far away.” 

He pays more attention than I’d originally thought. I guess he’s not such a stupid blonde bimbo. 

Sebastian doesn’t respond. I climb up until I find a branch strong enough to support my weight. Swinging my leg out, I ease onto the branch and shift around until I’m fairly comfortable. I look down and realize I’m about ten feet off the ground. 

Then I look back at the camp. 

Jasper is already falling asleep, hair blending into the sand. His hand rests on his stomach, face twisted towards the ocean. Sebastian sits in his seat, across from Jasper’s makeshift bed. I watch as he sighs heavily, his shoulders slumped as if he is holding the weight of the world on them. 

His eyes move to Monique’s sleeping form and soften. 

“Awe.” I whisper softly to myself. “He cares for her.” 

Sebastian’s head snaps up. 

I stiffen. 

For two long moments, I sit in my tree and try hard not to breathe. I’m not entirely sure what he would do, but I can’t imagine Sebastian willingly let me live after discovering his soft spot. He looks my way, obviously searching for me, and I press myself against the trunk -silently praying for a swift death. Or even a zombie. 

A zombie would be so much better than Sebastian. 

But how could he have heard me, a little voice in the back of my mind argues, when he’s a good fifteen feet away? 

Maybe he has super hearing, or he’s half werewolf or something. That would explain it all -why he’s so separate from us, so distant, and why he knows so much about what the scientists are doing. I’ll have to wait for a full moon, or something, to see if he sprouts patches of fur. 

I snicker softly, imagining a furry Sebastian. 

Then a twig snaps below me.