A Mad Zombie Party

I may not trust her, but I do trust that she’s evil and she’ll stay true to her roots. She’ll attack us, whether we relinquish Tiffany or not. She may or may not give us an antidote for thanatos. She may or may not even have one, might even give Milla something to make her worse.
No matter what Smith says, our group stands in the way of her ultimate goal. Eternal life. She’ll do anything to stop us from stopping her. Lie. Distract. Destroy.
 Turn around. Put a bullet in her brain now, before it’s too late. 
Temptation again.
 You might spend the rest of your life in prison, but at least your friends will be safe. 
Maybe. But for the first time, I get why Ali let the bitch go last time. Two evils do not make a right. If I kill Smith, someone else will simply rise from the ranks and take her place.
There has to be a better way.
Black and white, Milla once said. And she’s right. In this, there are no shades of gray.
I reach the tall, wrought-iron gate at the front of the driveway and press my thumb into the brand-new scanner for a fingerprint ID. As the gate swings open, an alert is sent to the cell phone of every slayer in residence, including Milla. No one comes or goes without everyone finding out. Where is she? What’s she doing? Hating me for abandoning her?
I park in the massive underground garage and storm upstairs to the kitchen, where Cole and Ali are waiting for me.
“I’m glad you came back.” She wrings her hands. “We need to talk.”
“We needed to talk weeks ago. Now it’ll have to wait.” My tone is sharp, cutting. “We’ve got bigger problems.”
  
  
Word of Frosty’s encounter with Rebecca Smith spreads through group text.
Gavin: Anyone else listen in on Frosty’s convo w/our Mom & Dad?? Yeah. Me neither.
Mom and Dad. Ali and Cole?
Love: Deets! Gimme!
Gavin: I don’t like 2 gossip, so make sure U get what I’m saying the 1st time. Frost ran in2 Smith—there was epic battle w/words, promise of blood & gore. Looks like we’re back @ war, folks.
Justin: We’ve been @ war. Dibs on Smith!
River: Fine but after U do her, I get 2 kill her.
Justin: My “do” is gonna involve knives. Tag team?
River: R U asking me 2 have a 3-way w/U? Always knew U had a crush on me. Alas, I must decline. I’m a lone assassin.
Justin: Screw U
River: So that’s a yes to the 3-way???
Gavin: Can U make it a 4-way? The ice queen is giving me the freeze out & I could use a little warming up
Jaclyn: Say goodbye to UR penis, Gav.
Gavin: If U can’t have it, no 1 can??
Love: Get a room! All this violent flirting is making me sick.
Gavin: We have a room, thanx. We’re currently cuddling
Justin: My mind needs a bleach bath
Jaclyn: U guys suck—I’m nowhere near UR room, Gav & I never will B again. Every1, we need 2 prepare 4 Smith’s strike.
Bronx: I’m always prepared 4 anything.
Reeve: That’s no joke
I’m furious that Frosty had a semishowdown without me. I knew the moment he left the house, of course, an alert sounding on my phone. I should have gone after him instead of licking my wounds in our room.
He kissed me. I liked it. Actually, I more than liked it. I loved it. I wanted more and would have given him everything. But despite his promise, he would have bailed on me afterward, just like all the others. There’s no doubt in my mind now. When Kat appeared, he couldn’t get away from me fast enough.
 Never good enough. 
“Household meeting in the gym.” Cole’s deep voice echoes over the speaker system wired into every room in the house. “Five minutes.”
I’m already dressed in a tank and jeans, and I stalk into the hall. River is at the corner, coming my way.
“Hey,” he says as we head to the stairs together. “I’ve been looking for you, wanted you to know I called for reinforcements earlier today. Three members of our crew have already arrived.”
Something about his tone... “One of them wouldn’t happen to be a former boyfriend of mine, would he?” Though I kept my relationships secret, River always knew who slipped into my bed.
“Two of them, actually. You gonna be okay?”
My stomach twists, wringing out bile, but I say, “Of course.” How much rejection will I have to endure in one day?
Well, we’re about to find out.
Gavin is waiting at the gym doors. On the lookout for Jaclyn? When I pass by, he hooks his arm around my waist to draw me back. He mashes his fist into the top of my head. “Good work capturing those Zs.”
“Thanks,” I say, kind of loving the brotherly attention.
He lets me go when River tugs on my arm. We enter the room. Justin, who’s sitting on the edge of the boxing ring, winks at me. Love, who is sitting beside him, nods at me. Cole and Ali stand in the far corner, talking quietly with Frosty.
My stupid heart skips a stupid beat.
Chance enters. Marty, Eric and Roger—the latter two the ones River warned me about—trail behind him. All three spot me and scowl.
“I’ve told them not to speak to you. Don’t even acknowledge them.” My brother leads me to Love. “Sit here.”
Not exactly great planning on his part. Wherever Love is, Chance will show up.
An-n-nd right on cue, Chance locks on Love and stalks over with the three amigos in tow. Eric and Marty are actually vibrating with fury, I realize.
I lift my chin, refusing to fidget. They hate me for putting them in danger. They’ll always hate me, and forgiveness isn’t even a blip on their radar because I never meant anything to them.
Well, screw them. I’m worth something, damn it. I’m smart. I’m beautiful. Frosty said so. I’m strong, and I’m loyal. Loyal to a plethora of faults, yes, but I’m willing to die protecting the ones I love. How many can say the same?
Roger, staring at me, runs his tongue over his teeth. Usually an action of flirtation, he somehow makes it a physical threat.
Eric blows me a kiss, all teeth and bite.
No one notices. Or so I think.
Frosty strides over and drills Roger in the back of the head. As Roger crumples, Frosty slams a fist into Eric’s nose, breaking the cartilage. A pained howl rings out.
“Anyone else want to try and make Milla uncomfortable?” Frosty glances around the room, tense and ready to throw down.
Silence reigns.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so. If you change your mind, you know where to find me—or I’ll find you.”
I’m... He... He defended me? Even though he ran out on me?
Does he still like me? Am I still in the game?
Do I want to be?
Ali claps her hands, drawing everyone’s attention. “All right, folks, playtime is over. Here’s what we know.”
She relays the story about Rebecca approaching Frosty. Everyone agrees we should give the antidote a shot—if we can get our hands on it—but no one trusts her to actually deliver it. Some are willing to trade Tiffany, others aren’t.
Then Reeve tells us what she and Weber learned from the captured zombies. “If I were to cut off a chunk of my skin, new skin would grow. Right? Well, these new zombies operate just like that. When a spirit rises from a body, a shell, a new spirit grows.”
It’s a terrible cycle.
She continues. “These zombies have different levels of toxin, each creation weaker than the last. However, Rebecca told the truth about thanatos. When I introduced a sample of Milla’s blood to the zombies, each one had the same reaction, becoming frantic to feed on each other. One bite caused their toxin levels to strengthen exponentially.”
Great. If they bite me, they’ll strengthen and only want more of me. Basically I’m a walking zombie juice box. “I didn’t want to eat zombies,” I say. “I wanted to eat...” Ugh. I can’t say it.