CHAPTER 6

We'd been on the road for about three hours now, and Moose was happily sleeping on his doggie bed in the back of the pickup. He'd stood with his head through the sliding glass window between Lucas and me for a while, but after a bit, he'd settled down with the little brown teddy bear that Mary had given him. I still couldn't believe that he was mine, but right after breakfast, as we stood around outside saying our goodbyes, she'd handed me his leash.

"I know that the three of you are perfectly able to take care of yourselves, but I'd feel much if you had Moose with you. He's still pretty young and needs more training, but you won't find a more loyal companion," she stated when Grandma started to protest. "Besides, he's already bonded with Kaylee, and it would be a shame to break them up."

So now I had a dog of my own, which was something that I'd always wanted. Because of their specialized training, Mary's dogs were usually close to two years old before they were ready for adoption. This meant that Moose and I would have to learn things together as we go. But, as Mary said, that's not always a bad thing. And because we would be learning together, our bond would be even stronger than usual.

I turned around in my seat and turned on the radio and started flipping through the channels hoping to find a live station when I came across the station with the whiny DJ Trevor. Only this time, he wasn't whining; instead, he was talking excitedly about trying to make things work with his girlfriend Stephanie, sure she was still a zombie, but that shouldn't stand in the way of true love, should it?

Incredulously, I stared at Grandma. "Is this guy for real?"

She laughed and shook her head, "it must be a joke. Nobody could be that naive."

I reached out to change the channel, but fascinated in spite of myself, stopped as Trevor's voice droned on.

"I really think that we might be able to make it work this time. Stephanie was such a great girlfriend. Oh, I know that we need to figure out what to do about her craving for human flesh, but no obstacle should stand in your way when you love someone. But we'll discuss this more on our next break."

Intrigued, I sat back in my seat and waited for the next break, "I don't know, Grandma, he sounds serious to me."

"I would like to give him a piece of my mind because a boy that dumb is lucky to be alive," she remarked dryly.

Grandma was never shy about giving her opinion, I thought with a small smile and stretched out in my seat to try and get more comfortable. As grandmas went, you couldn't find a better one than her. She was always there for us no matter what, and I wouldn't trade her for anything.

* * *

"What the hell!"

Startled, I jerked out of a deep sleep when Grandma slammed on the brakes. Putting up one arm in reflex to keep from smashing my face on the dash, I looked up in time to see a terrified looking man run across the road in front of the pickup and disappear into the trees.

"What is going on," I breathed and was even more shocked to see a female zombie wearing a blue dress run across the road behind him. The whole scene was so ridiculous I didn't know whether to laugh or to shoot her.

"Nothing good from the looks of things," Grandma said and pulled off the road beside an old radio station before grabbing a couple of guns from the gun rack and handing me one.

"Stay with the pickup," she ordered Lucas.

And I ran to get Moose. He was an excellent tracker, and I knew that we would need the extra help once we got into the heavily wooded forest.

Once I let him off the lead, Moose let out one loud bark and took off like a shot into the forest. There was no way that we could keep up with his speed, but his barking helped give us a general idea of where he was. Finally, after about fifteen minutes, we came to a camping area beside a creek.

Moose, who had apparently lost all interest in tracking the zombie, was playing in the water. Frantically splashing and jumping around while making funny little snorting sounds. And the man who had earlier ran in front of our pickup was quietly sitting at a picnic table watching him play.

Grandma laughed and rolled her eyes when she saw him playing in the water. "You probably better put a lead on him before he takes off after a rabbit."

"Well, he is pretty young," I said with a smile and followed her over to talk to the man at the picnic table. Whom it just happened to turn out was the DJ Trevor that we'd heard on the radio earlier.

"So, where is Stephanie?" I asked curiously. "When you ran across the road, she was right behind you."

He shrugged his shoulders, "I lost her out there in the trees. But she's never all that far away. Zombies tend to stay around the things and places that were important to them during their lifetime."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Grandma said.

" But that's the thing, she's not really gone is she," he stated sadly.

"But the things that made her the person that you knew and loved are gone," I said in quiet sympathy.

"Maybe, but I hope not," He said with a tired sigh and stood up. " Why don't we finish this conversation back at my house. It will be dark soon, and the last thing that any of us will want is to be caught out here in the woods at night."

* * *

Grateful that we'd tried to help him, Trevor invited us to stay the night in the radio station that he'd converted into a surprisingly cozy home. After we were all settled in, Grandma heated up some of her freeze-dried goulash that turned out to be almost as good as my mom's homemade goulash for dinner. And afterward, Trevor served some homemade sugar cookies that his mom had made for him.

"So what's the deal with Stephanie," Grandma asked curiously.

Trevor sighed and put down his half-eaten cookie, "I know that you'll probably think that I'm crazy just like everyone else, but I just can't give up on her."

"How long has she been a zombie?"

"It's been about a month since she first turned, but lately, I've started to notice a difference. It's just small things, but sometimes I get the idea that she can sometimes understand me."

"From what we saw earlier, she didn't seem any different from any other zombie," I pointed out.

Trevor got up and paced around the room, "That did look bad, I know, but she is getting better. I know it."

"You can't just leave her running around out there like that," Grandma said. "Somebody is going to get hurt, and the next time that you run into her, she just might kill you."

He stopped and brushed back a lock of unruly brown hair, " I know. But I do have a plan, and I'm hoping that you'll help me with it."

"What is it?"

It's probably better if I show you," he said and opened a door on the left side of the lobby where we were sitting.

We stepped inside and looked around in surprise. The room had been turned into a small caged apartment complete with a bed and a comfortable chair in one corner as well as a plush rug on the floor in front of the bed.

"Are you sure that this is what Stephanie would want?" I asked.

"Probably not," he replied. "But I have to try, and if it doesn't work out," his voice trailed off for a moment. "Then, other arrangements will have to be made."

I have to admit that when I first heard Trevor talking on the radio, the whole thing just seemed like a big joke. But, after meeting him, I could see how much he loved Stephanie. I still thought that he was fooling himself about her getting better, but I felt for him, and looking at Grandma, I could see that she felt the same way.

"Ok, this goes against my better judgment, but we'll help you get her into the cage. But before we do so, you have to promise me that once she's in there, you will never let your guard down and put yourself in harm's way." Grandma said sternly.

" I promise," he said with a relieved smile. "And I think that things are going to be a lot safer with her in there."

Grandma patted him on the back, "that is why we're going to help you."

* * *

The next morning after breakfast, we started making plans. As soon as Stephanie showed up, Trevor planned to lure her into the room; and escape by the cell's back door while we locked the front door behind her. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans. For some reason, Stephanie wouldn't approach the open door of the radio station. Instead, she just stood there several hundred yards away in the tree line.

This went on for several hours, during which Trevor even went outside to try and lure her in, but she just stood there unmoving. Frustrated, he came back inside, where we stayed out of sight to not confuse the issue by giving her too many targets.

"This is odd, even for Stephanie."

Grandma frowned, "I've never seen a zombie behave that way before. She's acting more like a wild animal that knows we're trying to trap it."

"I know that I'm right about her getting better, and this has to be a good sign," Trevor exclaimed.

"Something has definitely changed with her, but it's still a little early to say if it's good or not," Grandma stated.

"The question is, how are we going to get her into the cell?" Trevor asked, pacing around the room.

"Um, I don't think that's going to be a problem," I said and gestured to the doorway where Stephanie was now standing.

Trevor's eyes widened, and he froze in place with a deer in the headlights look.

"Hurry up and get to the cell." I hissed but fell silent when this only served to draw Stephanie's attention to me. Luckily Trevor managed to collect himself.

" H-h-hey Stephanie, there's something that I would like to show you," he called, stuttering slightly from nervousness and drawing her attention back to him as he started to slowly walk into the cell.

Transfixed, I watched as she slowly followed him inside, she certainly looked like a zombie with the pallid skin and gaunt features. But, still, there was something different about Stephanie. It took me a minute, but I realized that she didn't have the same vacant expression as the other zombies. She looked more confused than anything else. Her behavior was completely different for one thing, she was acting calmer, and from the deliberate way that she was moving, it looked like she was more aware than the typical zombie. She just stood there watching quietly without any aggressiveness as Trevor darted out the cell's back door and quickly locked it behind him.

"I'm sorry that I have to lock you in here, Stephanie, but I think that you'll see that it's for the best. Maybe later, if you feel like it, we can have a cold glass of rootbeer and talk for a while." He apologized to the zombie, who stared silently at him.

"Has she shown any interest in anything besides human flesh?" I asked curiously.

"No, not really," he answered with a sigh. "Rootbeer was her favorite drink, and I keep thinking that one of these times she's going to want one."

He looked at Grandma with a pleading look, "After all of this, do you just think that I'm fooling myself by thinking that she might get better?"

Grandma was quiet for a moment, and when she spoke, I was surprised by her words. " I don't think that you should give up hope just yet. In all of my years of hunting zombies, I've never seen one behave like Stephanie. With that being said, I would hate to give you false hope, so the best that I can do is bring up your case with Celeste and see what she advises."

"O-oh, thank you so much," he stammered and gave her a big spontaneous hug.