Page 17

Still trying to recover from her encounter with the king, Renee was subdued during the morning’s march with Brie. Renee tried to start conversations with her because if she didn’t, Brie would notice something was off and she couldn’t handle it if Brie asked why. Generally, Brie didn’t ask many questions, but every once in a while, something Renee said would catch her interest and get her talking or wanting to know more.

It always surprised Renee what the topics were that Brie brought up because it was never any of the ones, she’d thought a popular girl would want to talk about. She hadn’t learned much about zombies from Brie but she had learned that Brie liked kickboxing, had taken several self-defense classes, could and had literally run a marathon, and had just started some type of martial art Renee had never heard of just before everything collapsed.

Most popular girls Renee knew talked about things like hair, make-up, fashion, and other superficial topics. They were all about taking selfies in exclusive locations, proving how their looks would gain them access to almost anywhere. Renee glanced at her almost-friend.

Although it was apparent Brie knew all about those things, she had so much more to her. Not only that, but there were characteristics Brie embodied that didn’t match the preconceived ideas Renee had, making her consider she’d been just as judgmental as she believed others to be. She had assumed popular girls were all the same, which was a terrible, childish mistake.

“I was going to learn to use a sword, in a traditional sense, like fencing, but then…” Brie gestured around her.

“But you’ve used weapons, I’ve seen you.” Renee countered.

“Yeah, but I make that shit up on the fly. I guess I’m better at it now than when I was first like… this.” She shrugged.

“It seems like you enjoyed dangerous hobbies and experiences before.” Renee grinned at her.

Brie tried to keep her face neutral but also grinned. “Yeah, that’s true enough. I guess I was a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Or would’ve been, if the world hadn’t turned into this.”

“Yet somehow, even though you’re a zombie badass, you still look great.” Again, Renee was feeling like a mess in comparison, and she was human, the only one in the horde. Shouldn’t she feel special, or above all her insecurities in some way? It wasn’t fair. She had always been a train wreck and struggled with routine her whole life. Her mind was always daydreaming or escaping reality because even before the uprising, she wanted to escape. Only then, it was for different reasons.

Renee’s distracted daydreaming led her to be perpetually late for most things, always showing up in the wrong clothes or forgetting things. Her grades in school had been a rollercoaster. When she kept it together, she would get straight A’s. Her report card fooled a few of her teachers into thinking she was gifted. But if she couldn’t focus or got lost in another fantasy world, sometimes in the form of a book, she would flake out on just about everything for weeks at a time.

“True, for a zombie, I am hot.” Brie actually broke out in laughter.

It made her entire face light up. Renee stumbled because Brie was always pretty but when she smiled – holy crap – she could’ve been a model. Her missteps drew Brie’s attention and her laughter fell away as well as her smile.

“None of that matters now, anyway. Why do you insist on asking me about things before? It’s annoying. Don’t do it again.” Brie snapped and shifted her view to the front of the horde.

Damn. She’d screwed up again. Every time she thought she made progress, it seemed to piss off Brie, one step forward, two steps back. The rest of the march was silent as Renee racked her brain, trying to think of new ways to reach and connect with Brie. If she couldn’t get the king or Brie to trust her, open up to her, at least a little, she’d never be able to uncover the secrets that made them seem more like people and less like zombies.