They got into the cafeteria to join the others and Zoe's eyes found Zachary at a table with the other San Antonio team. She had not gotten her meal yet when she almost danced over to him, standing right behind him as she patted his shoulder, then she folded her hands behind her and greeted, "Hi!"
When he turned around, she had a big smile for him and he gave her one of his own as he stood and turned fully to face her.
"I'm going to be on the team with you," she informed.
"That's cool!" he declared.
Silence gripped them as they just stood there and stared at each other. Everyone had their attention focused on them.
A moment later, Zoe managed, "Um, I'm going to go get some lunch, okay?"
Zachary nodded. "Sure. I'll, uh… I'll save you a seat."
With a flirty smile, Zoe spun around on her heel and swayed her shoulders and pony tail as she left the dining area and strode back into the cafeteria.
She found a tray and got in line behind Morgan, and Morgan was looking to her and shaking her head.
"What?" Zoe barked.
Looking to the food that was prepared, Morgan moved along and shook her head again. "That was sad, Zoe."
"What are you talking about?" the girl spat as she looked to the white clad woman on the other side of the sneeze guard. "Any Spaghetti-O's today?"
"You guys so want to kiss," Morgan observed, "and all you do is stand there like a couple of morons and stare at each other."
Looking down at her tray, Zoe mumbled, "I don't want to kiss him."
"Yeah," Morgan laughed, "and I really hate hunting zombies."
"Then why do you do it?"
They got back to the table and Zachary was sure to pull out Zoe's seat for her, and she smiled at him as she set her tray down and settled into it. Morgan sat across from her and raised her brow as she made eye contact with the zombie girl.
Once again, the two did not speak to each other as they ate, but they laughed along with the team who seemed to have no end of jokes and jabs for each other.
When they were finally finished, a civilian volunteer in camouflage commando trousers and a white tee shirt approached Josh and handed him a folded piece of paper before he turned and strode away.
Josh opened the note, read, and raised his brow. "Listen to this, guys. Halstead says there's some activity in a strip club about ten miles from here and he wants us to check it out."
Dan wiped his mouth and stood, grabbing his tray as he bade, "Come on, guys. Let's go."
"All right!" Donny declared as he also stood. "Zombie strippers!"
Morgan rubbed her eyes, shaking her head as she mumbled, "I can't believe these guys."
Putting their trays away, the team hurried along to the rally area, got weapons, then they made their way toward the garage.
Zoe and Zachary were bringing up the rear and walking side by side, and when nobody was watching, Zachary took her hand.
A smile forced its way to Zoe's mouth and she looked up at him, shrugging her shoulders up slightly as he smiled back at her. She turned her attention forward again and absently said, "It's funny."
"What's that?" he asked.
Her eyes slid to him and she replied, "I've always wanted to just be a normal girl. Now I'm kind of a zombie and…" She looked down to their joined hands, then back up at him. "I've never felt as normal as I do right now."
Zoe, Undead is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any places or persons, living, dead, or undead, is purely coincidental, with the exception of the wonderful sports of the San Antonio Zombie Response Team, who are keeping the world prepared for the impending zombie apocalypse. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the author.
© 2012 by J. R. Knoll