Page 1 of Dyana
Prologue
Jack
Present
Ifelt a wide range of emotions as I watched Dyana stomp away. The strongest was relief. Dyana was alive! I hadn’t realized how much hope I was holding onto that I would see her again until I saw her in the flesh. Her hair was different, but I imagined finding black hair dye in the apocalypse was difficult. I always preferred her natural red, anyway. It matched her fiery personality better. The next strongest emotion I felt was hurt at her instant rejection. After all this time, Dyana was still holding on to her grudge. I didn’t betray her the way she thought I did, but she didn’t know that since she never gave me the chance to explain what happened. Still, you’d think after four years of a life filled with zombies, she’d be happy to see someone she onceknew and loved alive and well. I knew I was, so I focused on that emotion over the others.
“You look like a goober smiling at her like that,” Bryce chuckled.
A pretty blonde with a bald, drooling baby on her hip watched Dyana walk away with a worried look before turning to me. “Who are you, and how do you know Dyana?” Isaac chuckled, which brought her attention to him. “And what the fuck is so funny? Why would you bring strangers here?” She handed the baby off to Derrick, and judging by his gurgling squeal, the baby was more than happy to have one of his Daddies hold him.
My attention turned back to her as she placed her hands on her hips and looked between me and Isaac expectantly. I vaguely remember seeing her in town from time to time. She had lived off-grid up here with her father. I think she was friends with Dyana’s little sister. What the hell was her name again?
“Now, Princess, don’t be mad,” Isaac said, holding his hands up in surrender. “When we ran into them, and he asked about Dyana, I knew we’d have to bring them back. And since he and Dyana have a history, arranging lodging wouldn’t be difficult. Besides, now that you’re pregnant again, having extra hands around the place would be helpful.”
The blonde—I needed to figure out her name—looked shocked. “You knew?”
Trent laughed. “Cora, did you think we didn’t? We aren’t nearly as oblivious as you seem to think we are.”
Finally! A name!
“So you knew I was pregnant, and you all went to town anyway?” Cora asked.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Remington huffed. “If one of us stays behind with you, we’re hovering and don’t trust your abilities to keep yourself and Johnny safe. If we all leave, you still aren’t happy. Pick one, woman! It can’t be both.”
Cora blushed. “We’ll talk about this later,” she replied primly. Once again, I found myself under her scrutiny. “Who are you, and how do you know Dyana?” Cora repeated.
Before I could answer her, Evan did. “His name is Jack. Mine is Evan, and that is Bryce. We all attended the same college as Dyana, although Bryce and I didn’t know her. Jack, however, is Dyana’s high school sweetheart. We came looking for her because even after all this time, the man was hopelessly in love with her and had to know what had happened to her.”
Cora’s eyes softened slightly as she studied me. “You love Dyana?”
“I do,” I replied, “have since I was fourteen.”
After regarding me for a few more seconds, Cora nodded. “I’ll talk to her. But if she doesn’t want you here, you’ll have to find somewhere else to stay. I won’t force her to share her space with you if she doesn’t want to.”
“Understood,” I replied quickly.
Cora rushed after Dyana, and we watched her go.
“Don’t worry,” Isaac said quietly. “We’ll make sure you stay. Why don’t we give them a few minutes? Then we’ll take you to the tower and show you your new home.”
“But understand one thing,” Derrick said. “If you end up hurting Dyana, which would, in turn, hurt Cora, I’ll kill you.”
While he made puppy dog eyes at his son, the dichotomy of his threat was startling and a good representation of the world we lived in.
“Understood,” I replied. I wouldn’t hurt Dyana, but I wouldn’t let her run away from us anymore, either.
Chapter one
Dyana
Past
Ileft my only class of the day, stepped outside, and turned my face to the morning sun. I paused for a moment to bask in its warmth. I hated morning classes, and I hated Mondays. Sadly, this was the only time I could fit ECO102 into my schedule if I wanted to graduate early. I had a plan that didn’t involve staying in school longer than needed. If I pushed myself now, I’d be rewarded later. I adjusted the weight of my backpack and started back to my dorm. Usually, I would crawl back into bed after this class, but the sun was so inviting that I contemplated dragging my roommate out of bed to spend the rest of the day at the lake.
Or maybe not, I thought to myself as I noticed the quiet groups of students gathered silently around their phones. They were likely watching more news coverage of the attacks goingon around the world. Something was happening, and the speculations of what that was were running wild. Laughter broke the relative silence of the morning, and I looked across the quad to seehimlaughing with his friends, and the group of girls flocked around them. Some people were too preoccupied with themselves and their status as football Gods to worry about the rest of the world. He looked up and met my eyes before I quickly looked away. Jack Scofin wasn’t part of my life anymore, and I certainly didn’t belong in his.
I walked back to my dorm and pushed through the doors, surprised to see how many people were in the lounge. They were all sitting or standing around the large TV mounted on the wall, showing footage of the attacks. I joined the crowd and watched as people ran screaming from another horde of people— if you could call them that. The disease, which had been spreading like wildfire, turned people into monsters best left on the Sci-fi channel.
