Page 13 of Dyana
Dyana pretended we weren’t there as she moved around the kitchen area. I hadn’t realized she dyed her hair. Jack never said anything about it, but the red hair suited her better, in my opinion. I watched the fiery redhead from the corner of my eye as I quietly inspected our new accommodations. Each side was half window, half wall, allowing us to see 360 degrees around us. Already, my brain was cataloging areas for improvement. This was a unique setup, one I hadn’t considered. Living in a tower had its benefits. The top one was that we were out of reach of the zombies. I wandered to one of the windows. The second was the view. It would be nearly impossible to ambush us here. That was a big plus when you considered the monsters who had risen in this world. Even so, we were still vulnerable without a secondaryescape route. I eyed the cabin down the mountain. It wasn’t that far away. The hike up to the tower had been quick. If we installed a zipline, that would give us a quick escape to the house below.
Bryce nudged me and jerked his head in Jack’s direction. I turned to watch my friend stare at Dyana like a love-sick puppy. Sometimes, his expression shifted to confusion when Dyana did something he didn’t expect. I was honestly happy for him, even if Dyana wasn’t thrilled that we were here. I knew she’d come around if her love for him had been even a fraction of his love for her.
I was a little embarrassed to admit that after spending all that time searching for Dyana and listening to Jack’s stories about her, I felt like I already knew her and was pretty sure I had already half fallen in love with her. And if I wasn’t mistaken, so had Bryce. Being in the same room with her, alive and well, was surreal and soothing. It felt like we had won. That even in this fucked up world, good things can happen. Fairy tales and happily ever afters could still exist. Dyana represented a goal we had been fighting to achieve. Finding her had become our sole purpose for existing. And now that we had found her, I found it hard to resist the urge to take her into my arms and kiss her. The suspicion that if I tried to get within two feet of Dyana, she would cut off my dick was a good deterrent.
I recognized that staring at them while Jack stared at Dyana didn’t help decrease the awkward feeling in the room, so I shoved Bryce toward our belongings we had dropped inside the door. “Come on, let’s put our stuff away.” It had been a long time since we had a place to hang our hats, so to speak. Four years, to be exact, but who was counting?
Past
We held court in the Quad like we did every Monday morning after our first class. I sipped my coffee and rolled my eyes at the sudden burst of giggles from the girls around us. Jersey chasers were an unfortunate side effect of being a football star. Not that any of them were there for me. I was a little too nerdy for them. I also didn’t go out of my way to engage with them, preferring to keep to myself and observe. Not that I didn’t get my fair share of hookups; I did. They just didn’t stick around long. I was on the bottom rung of the ladder. Where they started their journey to fuck their way to the top. Sometimes, I suspected Bryce was the reason for that. He never fucked around with anyone who didn’t first sleep with me. I wasn’t sure if it was his way of being a good wingman or what, but I wasn’t complaining. If a coed wanted to fuck me for clout, I was going to let her, and I didn’t feel bad about it. When a woman’s only standard was the jersey, it made it difficult to attach any value to them or our time together.
I wondered what they would think if they knew I didn’t care much about football. I was the only child of late-in-life parents. When I got to high school and realized that football scholarships were worth more than academic scholarships, I made sure to join the team and be the best. Football was a means to an end— the most economical way to achieve my greater goals. I enjoyed playing. I valued my friends and couldn’t imagine my life without them, but I didn’t live for football.
I saw Jack stiffen and look across the Quad, and I didn’t have to look to know that Dyana was there. The man had a sixth sense for when his ex was nearby. Even with the beauties hanging all over him, he only had eyes for Dyana. Looks were deceivingbecause while he looked like the biggest player around, he never slept with any of them, and I wasn’t convinced he ever would. He loved Dyana even if she made it clear that she didn’t want anything to do with him. Not that any of the girls around us knew that. I’m not sure it would have deterred them if they did. Jack was the ultimate prize. The girl who bagged him would be the self-proclaimed queen of the campus. No matter where Jack went, there was always someone quick to drop to their knees to suck his dick in hopes that he would want more from them. He never did, and they still kept coming.
Anytime Bryce or I asked him why he didn’t talk to Dyana and clear the air, he told us he would when the timing was right. What he was waiting for, I didn’t know. I suspected he wanted to let Dyana have the whole college experience without being tied down. I suppose that was noble of him or something; I didn’t get it. If you love someone, you do everything you can to be with them.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jack said as Dyana walked away. We also spent Monday mornings in the Quad so Jack could see Dyana. We never talked about it, but Bryce and I knew that was why. Especially since as soon as he did, we left quickly afterward.
“Don’t go yet, Jackie,” one of the girls pouted as she grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to press her body against his. “We miss you when you’re gone.”
Jack stiffened at the hated nickname. He grabbed her shoulders and physically moved her away from him. “We have to go.”
The coed opened her mouth to whine more when Bryce swept in with the Band-Aid. “Hop along, sweetheart. We need to get to our next class, and so do you. What will we do if they kick you out of school for not showing up?” Bryce shuddered dramatically. “The thought of not having you here with us is terrifying.”
I rolled my eyes as she gobbled up the plate of bullshit Bryce served her, and after a heated kiss, she and her friends scampered off, the sound of giggles trailing behind them. “You know, if you can’t stand to be around them so much, there are ways to deal with that,” I said as we walked toward our next class.
“They help preserve the image,” Jack replied.
“Yeah, but have you considered the impact that image will have on your future chances with Dyana?” I asked. This wasn’t the first time we had this conversation, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last. Jack would tell me he knew what he was doing. I’d tell him he was being an idiot. Bryce would tell us both to let it go and stop trying to ruin his fun. Sometimes I felt Bryce leaned too far into the image as well, but as one of several siblings from junky parents in the trailer park, Bryce learned at an early age that he had a role to play and, under no circumstances, was he to deviate from it. There were no beatings as long as he acted like everything was fine. No punishments. And if he was fortunate, a dinner big enough to feed the whole family.
Just as we reached the edge of the Quad, we heard a chorus of screams behind us and turned around in time to see a guy stumble into the Quad. It looked like a chunk of his neck was missing, and he was bleeding profusely. Someone rushed to his aid, and as soon as they were within reach, the man lunged at them and... bit them? All at once, I understood what was happening. “Run back to the dorms!” I yelled. “Everybody run!” The virus that I’d seen on the news had reached us even though the government had spent weeks assuring the public that the virus would be contained and managed within the larger cities.
We lived in the athletic dorms, which I’d never been more grateful for until now, when we banged on the doors and were quickly yanked inside and then held at hockey stick point. “Have you been bitten? Strip! Now!” our RA yelled. We quickly shedour clothes to prove we weren’t infected. “Ok. Get dressed and go help the others board up the ground floor windows and doors,” he instructed as more people knocked on the door. We rushed off and heard the door open and shut as he yelled, “Have you been bitten? Strip! Now!”
The others already had the windows and doors taken care of, so we ran to the roof to watch the chaos below. How the fuck were we supposed to get out of this alive? Bloody students screamed and ran from the growing horde of zombies. Bodies lay scattered across the campus, and we watched in horror as they twitched and then rose to join the others.
“I have to go out there,” Jack said.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked. I looked at him, but his eyes were focused not on the mayhem below but across campus, toward Dyana’s dorm.
“I have to get to Dyana,” he replied.
“Do you see what’s happening down there?” Bryce yelled, forcing Jack’s gaze to the ground below. “Now is not the time to play fucking hero for a girl you’ve spent the entire year avoiding!”
“I have to!” Jack shouted, pushing Bryce off of him. He looked at us with a wild, desperate expression. Jack dropped his guard, the mask he was so careful to keep in place, to let us see the tortured soul within. We wouldn’t be able to change his mind. Jack was going after Dyana with or without us.
“Shit,” I swore as I pinched the bridge of my nose. “We’ll come with you.”
“We’ll do what?” Bryce exclaimed as he spun to face me with a look of surprise.
“Listen,” I said, “You and I both know we won’t let Jack go alone. While they’re doing a great job, for now, keeping infected out, it’s only a matter of time before that defense fails, and either one slips through, or a group breaks in, and we’re fucked. Notto mention the important topic of food. There isn’t much stored here, and we will run out soon. I’d rather take my chances out there where I control my destiny rather than in here waiting to die.”
“God dammit!” Bryce yelled after staring at me for a few more seconds. “Fuck. Fine. We’ll go. But I suggest we do it sooner rather than later when most of the campus has been zombified.”
“Agreed.”
“Thank you,” Jack said. “I appreciate the fuck out of you.”
