Apocalypse: After Reanimation, I Became The Queen

I turn to look at him fully. "A talking zombie?"

Lucas nods slowly. "She fights like crazy. She... she killed two of my friends." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Lucas’s wide eyes remain locked on mine, his fingers gripping his knees like he’s trying to hold himself together. His breath is unsteady, his body curled in on itself like he expects me to laugh at him.

I exhale and shake my head. "Listen, kid. Zombies don’t talk."

Lucas doesn’t laugh. His lips press together, and his fingers pick at his sleeve again doing small jerky movements like his nerves are fraying. "She did."

I roll my eyes. "No, she didn’t. Maybe she groaned a little before ripping into your friends, but I promise you, she didn’t say, ’Oh hey, I’m about to eat you.’"

Lucas flinches but doesn’t look away. "But..."

"They don’t. They groan, they snarl, and they bite. That’s it." I hold up three fingers. "Three activities. No talking, no thinking, no pulling off cool martial arts moves. That’s not how this works."

Lucas swallows hard, his lips pressing together. His shoulders slump a little like he knew himself that he sounded absurd, but there’s still defiance in his eyes. "I know what I saw."

I scoffed. "Sure. And I once saw a zombie tap dance in the middle of the street. I think it was doing the cha-cha."

Lucas scowls. "I’m not lying."

I sigh. "I didn’t say you were. But you were alone, scared, half-starved, and running for your life. Your brain could’ve been playing tricks on you."

Lucas fidgets, staring at the dirt like it holds all the answers. His voice is quiet when he mutters, "It wasn’t a trick and I wasn’t alone."

I let out another breath. The kid is clearly convinced. But I’ve been out here long enough to know one thing for sure; zombies do not talk.

"She spoke. She was fast too—faster than any zombie I’ve ever seen. And she killed two of my friends."

He’s still stuck on this.

I should shut this conversation down because zombies don’t talk. But looking at him; his wide, dark eyes, the way he grips his sleeves like they’ll stop him from shaking, it’s clear he won’t be sleeping if I don’t give him something.

I sigh. "Alright, fine. Let’s say she did talk. What did she say?"

Lucas licks his lips like he’s choosing his words carefully. "She... I don’t know. She saved me, then fought. But she wasn’t like a normal zombie. She was..." He pauses, his brows knitting together. "It was like she was a mutant or something."

I snort. "Right. Because the dead have thoughts."

Lucas glares at me. "I’m not lying."

I’m sick of this and arguing with him isn’t going to do anything but give me a headache.

I shake my head. "Whatever. You’re not sleeping because of this, right?"

Lucas nods, eyes fixated on the ground. Well, I might be able to help with that. Maggie is sometimes like that.

"Well, I have a trick."

He looks up at me, hopeful but wary. "A trick?"

"Yeah." I tilt my head toward the cave ceiling. "Next time you close your eyes, imagine a room."

Lucas blinks. "A room?"

I nod. "A room with four walls. No windows, no doors. Just you, sitting in the middle. Every time a nightmare tries to sneak in, you tell it this is my space. No intruders allowed."

Lucas’s brows furrow. "And that works?"

I shrug. "Most of the time. Unless you’re the kind of person who likes to invite nightmares in for tea."

Lucas lets out a small huff that is almost a laugh. "That’s stupid."

"Yeah, well. Stupid’s kept me alive this long."

He’s quiet for a moment, then mutters, "I’ll try it."

"Good. Now, tell me about your group."

Lucas stiffens instantly. His hands curl into his sleeves, and his face turns guarded. "What about them?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Are they still alive?"

He hesitates, then nods slowly. "I think so."

I study him. Something about that pause doesn’t sit right with me.

Trish’s voice echoes in my head from earlier. This was your idea, dumbass.

And yeah, maybe it was. But if I’m stuck with this kid, I need to know exactly what I just brought into our mess.

I narrow my eyes. "Think so, or know so?"

Lucas fidgets. "They were alive when I last saw them."

"Right. And do you think there’s a chance they have supplies?"

Once again, he hesitates. His eyes flash with something... uncertainty? Guilt?

Bingo.

I lean forward slightly, voice lowering to avoid this conversation being overheard. "You know something."

Lucas tenses. "No, I don’t."

Hm, was a kid trying to outsmart me?

I let out a sharp laugh. "Kid, you’re a terrible liar."

Lucas’s jaw tightens. He looks away with his shoulders stiff.

I let the silence stretch for a moment, then sigh. "Listen. We’re in a really shitty situation right now. Food is running low. Safe places are getting harder to find. The people in this cave?" I gesture behind me. "They’re barely tolerating us as it is. And believe me, if they think we’re dead weight, they’ll turn on us."

Lucas swallows hard.

I keep my gaze steady. "You want to live, right?"

Lucas nods.

"Then help us survive. If your group has a stash, we need to know."

There’s another long silence. Lucas’s fingers twitch, and I can see the gears turning in his head. He knows I’m right.

He better spill. For all we know, his friends might be dead.

He takes a glance behind, and then, he finally sighs. "We have a spot."

See? Bingo!

We just might be able to make it out of this hell.

I tilt my head. "A spot?"

Lucas nods, shifting uncomfortably. "We... we collect supplies. When we find stuff, we don’t carry everything with us. It’s too dangerous. So we hide it in a place."

Bingo again.

"And this place?" I prompt.

Lucas bites his lip, then mutters, "If any of us ever got lost... that’s where we’d go."

I let his words settle. A hidden supply stash and a possible meetup point?

I feel a slow, creeping grin spread across my face.

Well.

Maggie, Daddy might just arrive soon.

I sit up a little. "Where?"

Lucas hesitates, then lowers his voice. "Near an old gas station. About three miles from here."

I nod slowly, running the location through my head. "Good. That’s good."

He shifts. "But... I don’t know if anyone’s still there."

"Doesn’t matter." I glance toward Trish and Dom who are still asleep. "If there’s even a chance we can get something useful, we need to check it out."

Lucas swallows, nodding.

I lean back again. "Get some rest, kid. We’re gonna need it."

Lucas doesn’t argue this time. He slowly stretches out, resting his head on his arm. Within minutes, his breathing evens out.

I stay awake, watching the cave entrance with my knife in hand.

A talking zombie. Lucas is just a kid. A scared and exhausted kid. But his words sit in the back of my mind, nagging at me like a splinter I can’t pull out.

Because if he wasn’t imagining things...

Then we have a bigger problem than running out of food.