Page 55 of Property of Zombie

Me: Um… sorry?

“Why the fuck are you apologizing?” Trick demands.

“I don’t know,” I bark, panic hitting me like a freight train.

Lucy: Sorry? About?

Me: For hanging up

Lucy: So you love me?

“What the hell do I do?” I demand, my heart racing.

“Do you love her?” my brother asks.

“Of course, I fucking love her,” I bark.

“Then tell her.”

“What if she doesn’t love me? What if she says it’s too soon? What if I’m making the biggest mistake of my miserable life? What⁠—”

“Say ‘what if’ one more goddamn time, and I’m gonna call Lucy myself and steal her from you.”

That jolts me out of my panic, and I lunge to my feet. “I swear to Christ, if you⁠—”

“Calm your tits,” Trick says with a laugh. “Man up and tell her. The VP I know wouldn’t be afraid to speak his mind.” He eyes me up and down. “This man, the pussy in front of me, isn’t you, Zombie.”

I fall back to the mattress, hanging my head. “She has me all tied up in knots, man,” I say. “We’re so damn new, and with everything else going on, it’s hard to tell how she really feels, ya know?”

“Not two minutes ago, she agreed to let you bring a human to the zoo and feed him to the lions. Shit, she even sounded a little excited about it. I’d say you have nothing to worry about.”

Taking a deep breath, I let his words sink in as I look at my cell again and start to type out a text.

Me: Yes, I love you.

Lucy’s response is immediate, almost as if she already had it typed out while she was waiting on me to respond.

Lucy: Love you too

I start to type out another reply, but Trick’s phone rings, and all my focus shifts.

“It’s Quake,” he says as he answers. “Hey, brother, give us some good news.”

“We got him,” Quake says. “We’re heading back to the motel.”

“Is he still breathing?” I ask.

“Unfortunately,” Whiz responds, telling me that Trick and I are on speaker.

“Keep him that way,” I order. “We’ve got big plans for him.”

“Care to fill us in?” Quake asks.

“I just talked to Lucy,” I begin. “She said the lions are pretty hungry.”

“Aw, damn, that sounds like fun,” Whiz replies with an evil chuckle.

“Trick and I will be ready to head out when you get to the motel. If we leave then, that’ll put us at the zoo sometime after midnight.”

“Sounds good.”

“See ya soon.”

Trick disconnects the call and toss his cell onto the table. “Man, I thought for sure we’d never get to do this again when Dr. Binks retired.”

“Same.”

I shoot off a quick text to Lucy, letting her know about the plan, and telling her that I love her… again. Now that I’ve said it, I’ll never stop.

Quake and Whiz arrive two hours later, and we hit the road.

This is gonna be a great night.