Page 40 of Cora

“They’re attracted to sound,” Trent continued to explain. “Knives are much more quiet and just as effective.”

They could give me as many pointers as they wanted. I wasn’t coming back outside. I waved my arm at the bodies littering the yard and then at the outside in general and shook my head. I stomped to where the berries still sat, undisturbed, picked up the bowl, and went back inside, slamming the door shut behind me. As soon as I was out of sight I stuffed a handful of berries into my mouth and moaned silently as flavor exploded in my mouth.

Trent said, “At least we got her to come outside. It’s a start.”

And the end, I huffed to myself.

Chapter twenty

Derrick

Iclenched my teeth and adjusted my cock as I watched Cora stomp back inside and slam the door. I loved her stubbornness and how much she could say with a simple stomp of her foot, but my mild frustration with her at the moment made me want to put her over my knee until she acted right. I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I looked over to see her holding a fucking gun. I was still having heart palpitations. It felt like I was in a dream where everything was in slow motion, where you were running as fast as you could, but you weren’t moving.

I couldn’t let something like this happen again. Cora wouldn’t like it, but now that I knew how little experience she had with zombies, she was going to boot camp. We’re going to spend every waking moment in training. You can’t survive in this world without knowing how to bring a zombie down without a gun.

“At least we got her to come outside. It’s a start,” Trent said. He wiped his brow and looked around the yard. “I’ll go get the damn wheelbarrow.”

I looked around the yard at the six or seven zombie corpses. Where the fuck did they even come from? Trent returned, and we tossed half the bodies in the wheelbarrow together. We’d have to make two trips.

“So what do you think my brother is going to be pissed about the most?” Trent asked as we grabbed a handle and started wheeling it toward the zombie pile. “The fact that there were zombies in the yard and that Cora shot them, or the fact that we didn’t get her outside today like planned?”

“The problem with my choices is that you’re implying he needs a reason to be pissed,” I laughed.

“So then both?” Trent asked.

“Both sound good,” I replied.

“It never occurred to me until those zombies went after Cora that she doesn’t have any zombie skills,” Trent told me as we reached the chasm and tossed the bodies in.

I let him wheel back to the house and followed behind him. “Yeah, I’m already working on ways that we’re going to fix that issue,” I assured him.

After the second trip to the chasm, I went inside to find Cora. Luckily, I didn’t have to go far. The little minx was lying on the couch, her feet dangling over the armrest, swinging back and forth. In her hand was a book, and on her stomach sat the bowl of berries she was still snacking on. She popped one in her mouth as she turned to look at me.

“Enjoying yourself?” I asked. I moved to stand at the end of the couch and leaned over her.

Cora nodded and rubbed her belly.

“Good. I want you to have a good memory to look back on in ten minutes.” I was able to appreciate Cora’s confused expression for the few seconds it took for me to set the bowl aside and sling Cora over my shoulder. She pounded her fistsagainst my back angrily as I carried her downstairs to the bunker. “That feels good, Ghost Girl. Move a little to the right.”

Cora stilled, and I could hear the wheels in her head turning as she considered her next move. My clever little girl would no doubt—

“Ouch! Fuck!” I yelled as the little brat pinched my sides. I felt the vibrations of her laughter on my shoulder and delighted that the last laugh would be mine. I set her down in the living room and then started pushing the furniture out of the way. When I had made a big enough space, I stood in front of her and grinned at her annoyed expression.

Cora gestured around us and then threw her hands in the air.

“Why are we down here?” I asked.

Cora nodded and put her hand on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently.

“Welcome to day one of your zombie survival training boot camp,” I told her. “Today, I’m going to work on your stamina.”

Cora cocked one of her eyebrows and pinched her lips together to keep from smiling.

“Dirty girl,” I scolded playfully. “First, we train, then we can explore our other options.”

“First, let’s go over the proper fighting stance.” I moved into position to demonstrate for her. “See how I’m on the balls of my feet?” I started moving around in different directions. “Like this, I’m ready to spring into action in any way I need to. We’re faster than zombies, but they aren’t always predictable, so you want to make sure you can dodge those teeth if they suddenly lunge for an unexpected part of your body. Don’t die because a zombie bit your ass. That’s embarrassing.”

Cora’s shoulders shook in a silent giggle as she watched me hopping around like a ninja with depth perception issues.

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