Plague of the Dead | Book 3 | Plague of the Island

hiding out, waiting. I thought these things were dumb. That was almost calculating," Phoebe said seeming to think out loud.
"Maybe he was just hanging out there."
"How did he get there? Shelly, the perimeter has been clear forever. It was like we were drawn into a false sense of safety."
I looked at her, knowing what she was getting at but not wanting to dwell on it. Not wanting to give power or truth to it.
"It was a coincidence," I stated.
She shook her head but made no reply.
The heat was beating down on the car, so I turned on the vehicle for a while. Daniel came to check on us more than once. I could tell by his creased brow, his frowning lips that he disapproved of what I was doing but he didn't talk me out of it.
I got out of the car for a bit when he brought Lasa, along with water and canned pasta.
“Is Aunt Phoebe okay?” Lasa asked me, holding tight to Chippy.
“We’ll see baby. Just pray for right now okay?”
She nodded and gave me a hug and a kiss.
Daniel did the same.
“Be careful,” he said.
“Always,” I replied and gave him the most convincing smile I could.
I got back in the car with Phoebe. She declined the food and the water. She had also grown pale. I was worried she was about to turn.
She was quiet and wouldn't talk. Eventually, I fell asleep. It wasn't a smart thing to do but my energy was already on low due to the baby and the sun had drained what little I had left.
I woke up to a growling noise. A familiar and disturbing growling noise. One I was a bit too used to despite not hearing it that often in the past few months.
It took me a moment to gain my bearings of where I was. I remembered after a few disorienting seconds.
I realized the grave mistake I had made. I looked for Phoebe above me but didn't see her in the moonlight.
I looked to see the growling was coming from the driver side door. A zombie stood by the cracked window, barring its grayish teeth at me, and trying to stick its hand through the small gap.
I ignored it, knowing I was not in immediate danger from the creature. I looked back to see where Phoebe was, but she was not visible.
I knew I couldn't climb over the front seat due to my growing belly. I would have to go out the door to get into the backseat.
The zombie continued to growl. I pulled out a knife and scooted closer to the door. The zombie began to chomp its teeth excitedly due to the new promise of food being within its grasp.
I opened the window a smidge more. It was just enough to stick the knife through the roof of its mouth when it opened it.
The zombie stopped moving and growling. It dropped to the ground after I pulled my knife from its brain.
I looked out and saw no other dangers lurking. I unlocked the doors and moved as quickly as I could. I exited the front driver side door and slipped into the back. I quickly locked the doors back with the key fob.
I looked over the backseat into the cargo compartment of the Jeep. Phoebe was curled up in a ball fast asleep.
I thought it was weird. She looked almost okay. But the light was not good, and I knew it was probably my own wishful thinking. It was me seeing what I wanted to see.
There was a loud bang against the window, and I jumped back and hit my head against the top of the car. The pain on the top of my head blurred my vision and I couldn't see anything but stars.

Chapter 7
I felt a hand touch my arm and I let out a scream, pulling out my knife.
“Whoa, it’s okay,” Phoebe said trying to calm me down.
I was confused that Phoebe was talking to me. I rubbed my head where I had hit it on the ceiling of the Jeep. I had seen something undead out the window, but it appeared to be gone now. What didn’t make sense was how Phoebe wasn’t also undead.
“Why are we here?” Phoebe asked looking around the Jeep.
“What?” I asked trying to regain composure.
I was more than a little disorientated. I was a bit worried that I had hit my head harder than I thought. Or I was hallucinating due to the heat but honestly, I didn’t feel even a bit dehydrated. My mouth wasn’t even dry, still I took another sip of water.
“Why are we in the Jeep?” She asked still looking around confused.
I looked at her a long moment trying to figure out what was going on.
“You don’t remember?” I finally asked.
“I remember going to check the perimeter with you. That’s it,” She stated with a shrug.
I couldn’t believe it. How could she forget being bit? That didn’t make sense. Though the fact that we were having a conversation at all didn’t make any sense either. She should have turned or be near turned by now.
“You were bit. I took you here.” I said feeling more than a little lost.
She looked at me a long moment as if thinking over the words I had said. Her eyes left me and went to her ankle.
“On my ankle?” She finally asked.
I nodded feeling relieved she was remembering but was surprised when she said, “That’s why it hurts?”
She pulled out a flashlight and removed her bandages. She shined the light on the wound.
The bite wasn’t as deep as it seemed. The zombie had just bit off the surface of her skin. It wasn’t pretty and it desperately needed