I Am the Zombie Queen, and My Lover Is the One Sent to Kill Me Chapter 02

I Am the Zombie Queen, and My Lover Is the One Sent to Kill Me Chapter 02

Nolan pressed a finger to his lips.

Then he moved silently to the door and leaned toward the peephole.

My heart jumped into my throat.

The next second, he cracked the door open.

A teenage boy with bleach-blond hair, no older than eighteen, lunged into the apartment.

The moment he saw Nolan, he grabbed his arm, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Nolan!”

I froze.

Nolan?

The live comments instantly exploded:

[Holy shit, isn’t that the heroine’s little brother?]

[Wasn’t the original plot supposed to be the male lead kicking the villainess out first, then rescuing the heroine and her brother at a corner bodega?]

[Maybe because she didn’t cook the lizard, he had no reason to throw her out, so now the plot’s changed?]

My stomach dropped.

This was Sienna’s little brother?

Nolan yanked him fully inside and shut the door fast.

“What are you doing here?”

“My sister and I have been hiding in a grocery store nearby. She got hurt, and she sent me over to see if you were home.” He looked like he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. “I can’t believe you actually are.”

Nolan paused. “Sienna’s hurt?”

“You’ve got to come see her. She’s in bad shape, and we can’t find any medicine.”

He cut himself off mid-sentence when his gaze slid to me. “Nolan… who is she?”

Nolan turned and glanced at me.

“She’s my girlfriend.”

The boy’s face fell instantly.

I stood there feeling like a total interloper.

Forcing myself to step forward, I held out my hand.

“Hi. I’m Delaney Cross.”

He acted like he didn’t even see it. He turned back to Nolan, frantic again.

“You need to come now. She’s seriously hurt!”

Nolan didn’t answer right away. He looked like he was thinking.

A moment later, he turned to me.

“Delaney, we’re leaving today. Go pack. Only the essentials.”

Something sharp twisted in my chest, and I turned toward the bedroom.

Just before I walked in, Pickles slowly crawled out from under the bed.

Nolan stopped when he saw him.

Then he bent down, scooped the gecko into a vented container, securing it inside his pack with surprising care.

He was bringing it with us.

I followed close behind Nolan the whole way.

Outside was even worse than I’d imagined.

The storefronts lining both sides of the street had been emptied out.

Broken glass covered the ground, and some of the buildings were still belching acrid soot into the gray sky.

Several cars had crashed together by the curb, their doors hanging open, something dark slumped inside them.

I didn’t dare look too closely.

Head down, I clutched the back of Nolan’s shirt so tightly my palms were slick with sweat.

The comments started up again:

[Look at the villainess. She practically wants to stitch herself to the male lead.]

[With nerves like that, she’s surviving the apocalypse on his back alone. If it were me, I’d pick the cool, gorgeous real heroine too.]

[How long do you think she’s got left?]

[I’m betting half a day, tops. She’s about to get bitten for sure.]

My fingers twitched, and I fisted the fabric of his jacket.

Nolan suddenly stopped and looked back at me.

“What’s wrong?”

I shook my head and said nothing.

He watched me for a beat, then didn’t press. He just reached out and drew me a little closer to his side.

“Don’t be scared. Just stay with me.”

I nodded.

Then we kept going.

Every now and then, we spotted a few infected wandering in the distance.

Each time, Nolan would pull me quickly behind a car or into an abandoned store and wait until they moved on before leading me forward again.

A few times, I could hear the sounds they made.

That awful clicking noise.

Over and over, like fingernails scratching against the inside of my skull.

I didn’t dare make a sound. I held my breath and made myself as small as I could.

Nolan kept one hand wrapped around my wrist the whole time, and that alone was the only thing keeping me from bolting.

At last, we reached the grocery store.

It was a small neighborhood place.

The glass front door was somehow still intact, but inside it was pitch-black.

I couldn’t make out a thing.

Kellan rushed in first and called in a hushed voice, “Sienna! Sienna, I brought Nolan!”

I grabbed Nolan just as he was about to step inside.

He looked back at me.

“Can you tell him not to call you like that?” I asked, my voice dull and tight.

Nolan looked at me, then suddenly lifted a hand and gave my cheek a light pinch.

“Jealous?”

“…A little.”

He leaned down and kissed the corner of my mouth, quick as a breath.

When he pulled back, there was still laughter in his eyes.

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll talk to him.”