It's also the kind of place you find too many zombies.

Oh, I hear you. Zombies? On the cape? During the tourist season? Seems crazy, but if you think about it, it does make sense. More bodies per square foot and where there are bodies, there are brains. So lon g as you're not talking about a beauty pageant.

It all started two weeks ago. There was a full moon, an eclipse of the sun, a seventeen-car pile up and a meteor that landed about ten miles from the center of town. Being local law enforcement, my dad was first on the scene.

He came home three hours later. The decomposition was already well advanced. Doug, mom and the girls were all ready to run out there, but thanks to my unlikely friendship with Dawson Leery, I knew better.

I grabbed the illegal - but who was going to arrest him? - sawed off shotgun, leveled it at him and, with pretty much no remorse, blew his fucking head off.

Mom screamed, Kerry fainted. Doug looked at me, the smoking gun and then at Dad, his body still trying to move. "What the hell did you do?"

"Zombie."

Doug nodded, looked at our father's now-still body then back at me. "Raise your right hand."

I did as he said, the shotgun still in my grip, pointed at the floor. "You want me to pledge allegiance or something?"

"No," Doug tossed me the badge on his chest. "I want you to kill me some zombie ass."

Don't think that I'm completely heartless. Shotgun in hand, shells in my pockets, the first thing I did was head to Dawson's house. Hell, growing up, his parents were more of a family to me than my own, so I at least owed them a warning.

When I got there, Gale and Mitch were practically copulating on the dining room table. Nothing new for them, though I thought it was nice that Mitch let Gale be on top every once in a while.

The penny dropped about the time I opened the fridge. The noises were right, grunts and groans, but something about the smacking was off. Not the slap of skin on skin, more like the smack of bloody lips dining on grey matter.

I turned, gun raised, ready to fire, only to find zombie flesh splattered all over me and the wall. Joey grinned grimly. "We've got a zombie problem."

Gale's body was slumped over Mitch's, half of her face clinging to what was left of her scalp. "Where's Dawson?"

"He's in the attic looking for weapons. Bessie kept my dad's other gun." She gestured to the star on my chest. "What's that?"

"Dad's dead." I shrugged, wiping Gale's flesh from my borrowed Capeside PD windbreaker. "Guess that makes me the new deputy in the family."

"Where's Doug?"

"Police station. Then I think he's headed for Leery's Fresh fish."

"Bbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnsssssssss."

Mitch sat up, half of his face eaten away. He turned toward me as I leveled the gun, doing him a favor and blasting his head into so many pieces that Humpty Dumpty looked like a kiddie puzzle. "Anyone else you know that's infected?"

"Not so far. Gale was in the pile-up." She draped her gun over her shoulder. "Let's go help Dawson then make the rounds, huh?"

I nodded, grabbing a kitchen towel and wiping the last of his parents off of me as we headed for the stairs. The Leery's were pretty peaceful folks, but I knew Mitch had at least one hunting rifle and an old musket passed down from the Revolutionary War. Not that I had any desire to take a half hour to reload, but some gunpowder might come in handy.

Joey went first, her ass encased in tight jeans that rode so low on her hips that I could see the strap of her thong. Figures I had to fuck her before she got all liberated in college.

"Dawson?" She stopped at the base of the ladder that led up into the attic. "Find anything?"

There was no answer. I motioned her out of the way and started up the ladder. I heard the crying before I cleared the floor of the attic. Joey was hard on my heels. I spread my fingers and showed her my hand, attempting to stop her or at least slow her down.

"Dawson?"

He was curled up in the corner, his head buried on his knees.

"Dawson?" My voice was a little harder this time, annoyance suddenly getting the best of me. "Come on, man, there's shit to do. Did you find any weapons?"

"Are they dead? I heard shots?" His voice milky with tears, Dawson looked up. His face was flushed red, his eyes bloodshot. He flew toward me, grabbing my shirt, screaming. "Are they dead?"

As if the blood all over me wasn't a fucking clue. "Yeah." I didn't have time for theatrics. "They're dead, but they were dead before I killed them."

"We killed them," Joey corrected, refusing to allow him to blame me, even though we both knew he would. She forced his fingers free of my shirt and jacket. "What did you find?"

He shrugged and pointed to a stockpile of rifles. I suddenly wondered, had he not had film as an outlet, if our buddy Dawson would have turned Capeside into a shooting gallery.

"Okay. Take what you can carry. We'll head next door, get Grams and Jen. Take the Mitchmobile to Joey's. Grab Bessie and Alexander. Meet Doug and Bodie at the restaurant. Regroup, dole out weapons."

"Okay." Joey cocked her rifle and then grabbed a pistol from Dawson's pile. "Let's go, Dawson."

"They're dead."

She rolled her eyes and tossed me a belt of ammo. "We know."

"You don't know what it's like."

"My mom's been dead for years and Pace took his dad's head off with a shotgun. Now get off your ass and grab a gun or you're going to find yourself on tonight's menu."

Christ. It's probably a good thing Joey hadn't been like this in high school or we both would have flunked out of school. I wouldn't have let her out of bed.

There were three dead bodies lumbering up the slope from Dawson's dock. Joey nailed one and I took out two. Dawson stood behind Joey, whimpering like a little girl. If he wasn't careful, before the day was over, I was likely to throw him to the zombies, just to have a reason to blow his fucking head off.

The rest of the trip to Jen's was uneventful. The porch door slammed loudly behind us, the front door banging open. Grams's serene face peeked out from behind some serious firepower.

"Mitch and Gale are dead." She stepped back and let us in, the gun still trained on us.

"You want to put that thing down?" Joey snapped.

"As soon as I'm sure." Grams eyed Dawson suspiciously.

He met her gaze, tears standing in his eyes. "What?"

Grams lowered the gun, her eyes back on me. "What's going on out there?"

"Dad's dead. The streets are pretty gruesome. Doug's out rounding up firepower."

"Bessie's waiting for us." Joey glanced around. "Where's Jen?"

"Upstairs. She's keeping a lookout for Jack and Andie."

"Andie?"

"Visiting Jack." Grams inspected the small arsenal we laid on her floor. "Is this all we have?"

"Doug's getting more. We're supposed to meet up at Leery's…" I stopped as Dawson let out a tortured wail.

Joey jabbed him in the ribs, her irritation no longer contained. "Shut up, Dawson."

"Jack and Andie are coming up the walk," Jen came down the stairs, the crossbow in her hands surprising all of us. But I wasn't about to question it. Firepower is firepower. "There's someone with them though, so everyone be a little wary."

"A little?" Dawson squawked. "There's zombies around here and we're supposed to be a little wary?"

Jen aimed the crossbow at Dawson's head. "Yeah. A little wary. You have a problem with that, Dawson?" She walked up to him and grabbed the gun out of his hand. "Anyone else feel better with him unarmed?"

My hand lifted and I smirked as everyone else's did as well. Dawson threw himself into one of Grams' chairs, crossing his arms and pouting as Jen went to the door.

"Holy shit. Sorry Grams." She sucked in her breath and opened the screen, ignoring both Jack and Andie and throwing herself into the arms of the person tagging along. I felt a kick in my gut as I recognized him, wondering if I was actually supposed to be pleased or pissed to see him.

"Drue was on the same flight as Andie," Jack informed us. "He was the one who told us to avoid the crash area. It's because of him we're not out for a little head cheese."

"These jokes are going to kill us before the zombies do," Grams snapped. "Okay, pick your weapons and don't take more than you can carry comfortably. I'll have no problem leaving anyone behind if they can't haul their own weight."

I grabbed another gun and checked the barrel, making sure it was loaded. Stuffing it inside my waistband, I repeated the gesture with another, tucking it in the small of my back. I watched in appreciation as Jen and Joey both did the same, their faces determined.

Glancing at Andie, I noticed Drue watching me as he checked his own guns. "You got a problem, Valentine?"

"Just wondering if there's going to be a problem if you've got to waste one of your ex-honeys."

"I think I can manage. It's not like I'm going to want a blow job from a flesh eating zombie, now is it?"

"I don't know, Witter. Your taste in women has been questionable from time to time."

Jen gave a disgusted snort. "You guys done with your pissing contest? Just tell him you nailed Andie in Europe and be done with it, Drue. He still wins because he's bagged Joey and you haven't." She tossed him a pistol and shook her head. "So stow it, all right? Pacey wins the big dick contest."

Andie sat next to Dawson, glancing nervously at the rapidly diminishing stockpile of weapons. "So, uh…hi."

"Pacey and Joey killed my parents."

"I'll refrain from the how are you then." She wrung her hands and I smiled, her typical nervous demeanor fitting in nicely with Dawson's self-absorbed pity. I wondered briefly why they never hooked up. Of course, maybe they did and I just never heard the details. Lucky me.

"Okay," Grams slammed open a barrel and spun it then slapped it back into place. "Here's the plan…" Her words were cut off by the screeching of tires, the blast of gunfire and the black smoke the drifted past the window. Joey ran to the door and headed out into the yard, the rest of us at her feet.

Bessie was leaning out the window of the old, blue pickup, a long rifle sighted on the mass of moving dead flesh that was lumbering behind her. A guy was standing in the bed of the truck, tossing Molotov cocktails into the huddled mass.

"Zombies at the inn," Bessie shouted. "Hop in. Doug and Bodie are meeting us at Leery's. Looks like we're the town's last line of defense."

Grams swung into the front seat beside Bessie, sliding over and allowing Andie to sit beside her. The rest of us jumped into the bed, taking aim at the line of decaying flesh.

"Hold on!" Bessie floored it, all of us falling into each other. Bodies got pushed and shoved and, most likely, felt up until we were all sitting, staring at each other with a mixture of emotions.

"Tobey?"

We all stopped short at Jack's broken voice. The blond shrugged. "I was staying at the B&B. I just checked in when the meteor hit. Bessie threw me a gun and told me to get behind the counter just as Joey ran out. So here I am."

"This is only slightly absurd, isn't it?" Jen asked. "I mean, what are the odds?"

"About the same as an eclipse, a meteor and a massive highway pile up, don't you think?" Drue snapped back. "Face it, babe, weird shit is happening."

"Nothing's weirder than the fact that I slept with you once."

"Never say never."

"Say that to Joey, Valentine, because there's no way in hell I'd fuck you again."

He grabbed her, his hand curving around her neck, pulling her to him and kissing her, hard and fast. I cocked an eyebrow, watching as she fell against him, not complaining as he drove a knee between her legs, giving her something to grind against.

Joey kicked Drue's leg. "Put it away, horndog. We've got company." She lifted her gun and gestured toward the road behind us. A car was headed toward us as high speeds, the creepy gray flesh of zombies flapping in the rushing wind through the windows.

I grabbed one of the bottles Tobey had been lobbing earlier and dug in my pocket for a lighter. Setting the gasoline soaked cloth on fire; I stood, Joey's hands clinging tightly to my legs as I tossed it, hitting the car in the windshield. It swerved before heading straight into a tree, already dead bodies falling out of the doors.

Bessie jerked the steering wheel and I fell back into the bed of the truck, landing on Joey. I rolled over, looking down at her. Her chest was rubbing against mine, nipples tight and hard as she arched her back slightly. "You want to get off, Pace?"

"You've got no fucking clue, Potter." I angled off of her and made sure I had all my weapons, adjusting my cock at the same time. We all hurried off the truck, leaving it blocking the front door of Leery's Fresh Fish. We squeezed past it, hurrying into the dark restaurant.

"Bodie?" Bessie called out, her rifle directed at the door behind the bar. "You here, hon?"

"Here," he came through the door, his shotgun clearing the top of the counter. "Doug's here too. We're going through the weapons he was able to liberate from the evidence room at the station."

Doug followed Bodie into the room, glancing at the assembled group. His eyes moved quickly, taking stock, checking arms. I waited, knowing what was coming, knowing how hard it was for him to take as long as he did. Finally, his eyes settled on Bessie. "Where's Alexander?"

"Out of town. He and Lily are at Aunt Gwen's."

"Good to know the families are keeping up the tradition of inappropriate relationships."

"Gale and Mitch are dead."

"So there's hope then." He grabbed a bottle from behind him, slammed the neck against the bar and poured the golden liquid down his throat. "So, what do we know?"

I poured myself a drink, not even sure of what I was sucking down as I watched the rest of the group shift nervously around the table. Jack was staring at Tobey with a mixture of lust and disbelief, rubbing the gun in his lap in a not so phallic gesture that let me know exactly what was on his mind. Grams was sitting between Doug and Bessie, making me wonder how much exactly she knew about al of us.

Jen and Drue were sitting beside Andie, virtually ignoring her as they touched each other under the table. Her jeans were doing little to keep him from doing his best to finger her and, if her chest's rapid rise and fall were telling the truth, his best was pretty damn good.

Bodie was standing next to Bessie, leaning down over Dawson's shoulder and helping him sketch out our plan of attack. I ignored them all, watching Joey as she stood at the door on guard duty. The denim of her jeans looked like it had shrunk in the past few hours since Dawon's house, and I couldn't manage to pull my gaze away.

Doug clapped his hands, bringing my mind up out of the gutter and down into the sewers, which, due to our vast knowledge of zombie films, were where we thought we needed to be.

"Okay, here's our plan." Doug pointed at the rough map of the city he'd grabbed from the office. "We've got a shitload of firepower." He smiled his apology to Grams. "The only problem we have is that we don't know what to do with it. We can't kill all the zombies. There's too many of them and too damn few of us. So we have to figure out the source."

"The meteor." Drue shrugged. "It's got to be. I mean, there have been eclipses before. There've been pileups before. The meteor would be the wildcard here, don't you think?"

"But what do we do to it?' Andie asked plaintively. "If we get close to it, will we turn into zombies? Do we have any recourse?'

"It's a meteor, Andie," Joey rolled her eyes. "We're not going to reason with it. We're going to blow the fucker up."

"And spread it all over?" Drue laughed incredulously. "That'd be great, Potter. Let's make little zombie making babies."

"And what's your plan, Valentine? You want to fuck it away?"

"It's a hell of a lot more logical than your plan."

"Oh, right. Random sex is much more likely to save our lives than actually actively doing something."

"Like you ever actively do anything," Drue sneered.

"Enough!" Doug slammed his hand down on the table. "I could care less about all your petty bullshit, but I don't particularly want to spend my last days on this earth running around looking for somebody's brains to eat. So let's use a little logic and, since all the smart people in town are supposedly gathered in this room, maybe we can come up with an answer we can live with. Literally."

"Doug's right."

Bodie glanced at Bessie then back at Dawson's outline. "According to our movie buff, here's what we have to chose from…"

"Movies aren't going to help us." Grams stood up. "We have to go to the source and figure it out from there. Do you people really believe that movies have anything to do with real life? And I suppose you think those reality shows are actually real as well. You're more pathetic than I'd previously thought." She moved away from the table, carrying her gun with her, her eyes trained on the glass windows that lined the street. "Pacey, pour me a drink."

I did as she asked, barely able to hide my smile. Dawson looked devastated, his entire purpose for the afternoon wiped away. He crumpled his list, his face wrinkled with the threat of tears. I looked away from him as Grams joined Joey at the door.

"You wonder where they are."

"I've been watching, expecting them." Joey pointed at the dock, the stained fence lined with bodies. "They're out there but they're not moving."

"Like they're waiting for something."

I walked up behind them, handing Grams a stiff whiskey. "What do you think?"

"I think they're waiting for something."

I watched with them, my hand straying to Joey's waist, my thumb hooking under her waistband, rolling the slim band of her thong slowly. "Maybe we should go out there and start something."

"You're a typical boy, Pacey."

"Man."

Joey snorted quietly. "Whatever you say."

My hand moved, cupping her ass and squeezing. My breath whispered over her neck. "Man."

"No. Look at them." Grams downed the shot and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Something's happening."

Everyone clustered around us, the hot press of bodies almost disconcerting. Jen moved up next to me, her body wriggling against mine as she tried to get closer to the window. I could feel the sexual tension radiating off of her and couldn't help myself. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back against me, letting the curves of her ass rub against my hardened cock.

She moaned softly and shook her head, smiling at me as she pulled away, moving up to Drue. I ignored his smart-ass look, my grin of triumph telling enough.

Joey glared at me over her shoulder and I brought my attention back to her, staring out at the mass of dead flesh currently mulling by the water. They were growing agitated, their moans and cries getting louder as the started swarming, moving in strange patterns as a loud rumbling seemed to fill the air.

"Get back!" Doug shouted, grabbing me around the neck and pulling me to the ground. I fought for breath as we fell, my arms around Joey and bringing her with me. I rolled over as I landed, noticing that Doug had managed to land on Bessie, his hands moving over her breasts as he made sure she was okay. I started to sit up, pulling Joey back between my spread legs as a beam of hard green light shot through the street, hitting the zombies with a loud explosion.

"Oh shit," Drue reached for his gun, using the floor for leverage. He thrust the rifle forward and broke the window, clearing glass out of his way. "Did you see that?'

"What?" Andie crawled across the floor and got closer to Drue. She touched him as she came up from behind him, her hands snaking along the inside of his thighs. I shuddered and focused back on Drue as his shot rang out. A woman on the opposite end of the street fell, her body twitching. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"That." Drue pointed with his gun. The woman twitched again then stood up. "She was running this way. The light hit her and she froze."

"I would have too."

Drue ignored Andie's petulant tone. "Yeah, well, before the light, she was human. Now she's a fucking zombie." He aimed the gun again and waiting until the woman stood up, her gaze locked on Drue as she started stumbling down the street. He loosed another shot, grinning grimly as her head exploded into countless pieces. "And now she's history."

"Okay." Doug grabbed another bottle of booze and took a drink. I gave him a hard look, knowing that dulling the pain of watching Bessie and Bodie was very likely going to get him, or worse, me killed. "Here's what we do. We go to the sewers like we planned. It doesn't mean that we'll be able to avoid those green light spikes, but it'll make the access to us much more limited."

"I'll pack some food." Bodie headed for the kitchen.

Grams followed him. "I'll watch his back."

As soon as the door closed behind them, Bessie moved closer to Doug. I wanted to turn away, but the sight of them made too much come to the surface and it was like a fucking car accident. She took his hand, pulling it to her face, pressing a kiss to his palm. I finally looked away, watching Joey watch them instead.

Drue was sitting at a table, his legs stretched out in front of him. Jen was leaning against the table, the heat between them making the room itself sweat. Jack and Tobey were not talking, sitting in a booth with their very own tension on the opposite seat. Andie and Dawson sat together and alone all at once, shifting uncomfortably.

"Joey and Pacey killed my parents."

"They were fucking zombies," I reminded him without taking my eyes of Joey. She was moving closer to Bessie and Doug, occupied with their whispered conversation. "I could have let them live Dawson, except they were dead and they would have eaten mine and Joey's brains for dessert if I hadn't."

"Why would my parents be zombies?"

"Who fucking knows, Dawson, but they were and, as much of a novelty as seeing your mom sucking your dad's brains out of something other than his cock was, I think it was in everyone's best interest that I blew 'em to bits, okay? Now grow a pair of balls and just suck it up." I grabbed another bottle of booze and took a drink of my own. "Doug, let's get everything settled."

"Okay." He moved away from Bessie, ignoring her soft sound of protest. I wondered briefly how often they were fucking behind Bodie's back. He opened the door so that Grams and Bodie could hear him. "We'll go down and we stay together. No heroics, no cowboys." He looked directly at Jen. "Or girls."

"Whatever." She stood up and moved to the bar. Drue followed her, as did the rest of the gang. I moved back, standing closer to the door and keeping watch.

"If we hear that rumble, we hit the floor. I don't know that being out of the direct line of it will help, but being in here kept us from getting affected. Try and get below it. The water in the sewers will help."

"You want me to dive into sewer water?" Dawson asked horrified.

"Yeah, I do. I want you to get covered in piss and shit and I want you to be happy about it because it's going to keep you from being a flesh eating zombie, you stupid prick, so shut up and listen, got it?"

I smiled. Sometimes I did like my older brother.

"After each one, we do a roll call. Name only, from the front of the line back. If we don't hear a name, we assume the worst, so make sure you're paying attention or you're going to end up with your head splattered on the walls. We'll go until we can't go anymore or until we find the meteor. As we get closer, we'll try and figure out what's going to work on it."

"That's a great plan," Drue smirked. "Maybe we can ask the nice hunk of space rock what it wants so that it will go away."

"Maybe you can come up with an actual idea instead of just being a punk asshole." Doug glanced at Jen then back at Drue. "I know you've got ways of shutting a man up, Jen. You want to do me a favor and maybe employ some on the new boytoy?"

"Maybe you should cut him some slack, Doug. After all, he's the one who found out about the light."

"True enough." Doug gave Drue a look. "You got any ideas?"

"Not a fuckin' one, buddy."

"Great. Well, keep up the good work." He looked around the room and heaved a heavy sigh. "All right. That's our plan for now. Any other objections, I suggest you voice them now otherwise we're headed for the sewers."

We all dropped into the sewers, none of us wanting to touch the slimy ladder, even though we were about to be at least ankle deep in the same shit. Literally.

I made sure my guns were all where I wanted them and moved forward, taking the lead while Doug got his jollies helping Bessie and Jen into the darkness. I listened for the telltale sound of dragging feet and the moans for food, keeping an eye on the whole area.

Everyone finally made it in and we pulled the crate cover back over our entrance. We started walking with Doug, Bessie and Bodie moving into the lead. Grams and Dawson trailed behind them. Joey and I were next with Jen and Drue right behind us, Jack, Andie and Tobey bringing up the rear.

Doug was saying something to Grams, his whole body tight with tension when the first rumble started echoing through the tunnel. "Shit! Hit the deck!"

We all dove into the water, more slowly than we should have. We came up as it passed, the roll call starting. Everyone shouted out their name, relief flooding through us.

I decided to ignore the soap opera in front of us and slowed my steps, falling in step with Jen. She was walking alone, Drue having dropped back to talk to the McPhee gang. I took her hand quickly and squeezed it. "Hey, Lindley."

"Joey let you off your leash?"

"No leash," I laughed. "Maybe a cock ring, huh?"

"Joey knows what one of those is?"

I shrugged and smirked, glancing back. "So why was he with Andie?"

"Same flight."

"You believe that?"

"Doesn't matter if they were flying the friendly sky together, Pace. He's not interested in anything more than a fuck."

"And he is with you?"

She glanced down at her body then back up at me. "What do you think?"

"I think I'll stop asking questions."

She grinned. "Good plan." I turned around, walking backwards and watching them. "You'd better watch out, Joey's likely to get jealous and start thinking you're interested in Andie again."

"That's not gonna happen."

Drue shrugged off Andie's hand several times. She finally caught him with both hands and held on, tugging him away from Jack and Tobey. Jen slowed her pace and I did the same, letting Jack and Tobey pass us as we edged closer to Drue and Andie. I looked up at Joey, caught her slight smile.

"Can't we get out of here," Andie asked him quietly, the acoustics of the sewers still carrying her words to each of us. "I'm scared, Drue."

"Yeah, well, you're supposed to be scared when there's a shitload of zombies after you, toots." He shrugged off her grasping hands, shaking his head. "Just suck it up and stay away from me, okay?"

Drue walked back toward us, ignoring Andie's soft whimper. I wanted to feel sorry for her, but I was just as covered in shit as she was, and I wasn't bitching and moaning and neither was anyone else.

"This sucks."

Except Dawson. He'd sidled up to Joey, trying to get closer to her. I kicked my speed up slightly, moving closer. Her ass wiggled right in front of me, her quick glance backwards letting me know that she was well aware that I was watching.

Dawson was about to continue when there was another rumble. We all dove, this time without Doug's warning, waiting until the heat of the light spike passed over us before getting to our feet. I looked back just as Drue lifted his gun, the shot ricocheting through the small area. Everyone turned, our eyes on the blonde on the floor, her body twitching as the life quickly drained out of her.

"Was she…" Jack started toward her then stopped. "Was she a zombie?" Drue shouldered his gun and gave Jack a hard, defiant look as he draped his arm around Jen's shoulders. "No. She was just fucking annoying."

I expected at least a pang as I walked over Andie's body, the sole of my shoe slippery with blood and brains, but couldn't feel anything. Maybe later. Maybe not. Drue was right. She was annoying.

Tobey and Jack lagged behind, Jack's sorrow weakening him as he sank down beside his sister. Tears slipped down his cheeks and I turned away, disgusted. The time for emotion was after all of this was ended. If it ended. If we lived through it.

"She's his sister."

"Was."

Joey shrugged at the semantics. She glanced up at Bessie, walking in front of us. I started to say something when Doug's shout echoed back through the tunnel. Like one, we all dove into the mucky water, holding our breath as another tremor hit and a shaft of green light speared the air above us.

I broke the surface and sucked air greedily into my lungs. Joey was beside me doing the same, looking around to see if we'd lost anyone this time. Two strikes close together. It was nerve-wracking. The name game started.

"Doug."

"Bessie."

"Bodie."

"Dawson."

"Grams."

"Jen."

"Drue."

"Pacey."

"Joey."

"Tobey."

There was a pause and we all turned, the break in Tobey's voice telling us all we needed to know, even before we saw Andie sink her teeth into Jack's neck.

"You kill her," Joey shoved the butt of her gun into Drue's stomach, "You blow her fucking head off."

Drue fired from the hip, the heat of the bullet singing the hair on my arm. Andie's head exploded. "Happy?"

Joey rolled her eyes. "Thrilled."

Jack stood there, wearing his sister like a cheap suit. His mouth hung open in shock, his eyes wide. Tobey moved over to him, his voice low and calm as he inched closer. We all watched in morbid fascination as he brushed Andie-bits away from Jack's face trying to see what blood was his and what was his sister's.

"Jack?"

Tobey pressed his fingers to the small fountain of blood spewing from Jack's neck, his eyes searching his ex-boyfriends.

Jen stepped toward them, her progress halted by Drue's hand. She was about to protest when Jack's eyes closed then opened, the strange green glow over taking their natural color.

"Tobey!"

He looked back at Jen just as Jack lunged for him, his teeth sinking through flesh. We all raised our guns, but stopped as Tobey's barrel clicked and rolled, the .45 slug shattering Jack's skull. Nothing was said in the ensuing silence, even less after a second shot rang out and Tobey's headless body dropped to the floor.

We all stood there for a moment until Bodie's voice broke the quiet. "Come on. I've found a place to camp for the night."

Doug built a fire and Bodie dug some food out of his pack. Bessie stood guard at the steel doorway, listening for the low rumbles and the cries of hungry zombies. I'd volunteered for the first shift, but she'd wanted away from Doug and Bodie.

Not that I could blame her. They were being polite to a fault and it was creeping everyone out.

"…so we managed to avoid the collision and we got the hell away from the meteor." Drue shrugged. "Never once have I run toward a glowing hunk of rock. Wasn't about to start."

Jen was sitting next to him and I could tell the adrenaline was wearing off. We'd all hosed off with the garden hoses we'd found, but Grams and Dawson were in the adjacent bathrooms, each taking their turn in the shower. Dawson first to shut him up, Grams first out of respect.

And to keep her from seeing what was about to happen.

I could see the emotions run through her eyes like the wheels of a slot machine suddenly landing on all cherries. She moaned once, maybe pleasurable anticipation, maybe the death toll catching up to her. Either way, it was a fucking sexy sound.

Her shirt came off and she and Drue were on the floor. Joey and I just sat there, watching them as they shed their clothes, their bodies striped with dirt and blood, even tanned skin seeming white next to the day's carnage.

He kissed her, his tongue and hers warring in open mouths. She sucked on his tongue for a moment, releasing him as he made his way to her breasts. The skin was creamy white but flushed, tinged pink, her nipples hard and tight, dark, dusky rose against the sharp pink of his tongue.

My breathing sped up slightly as he kneed her legs apart, sliding between them, sliding inside her. She moaned, definitely pleasure, wrapping her legs around his waist, colliding with him on every thrust.

I didn't look at Joey as her hand slid between my legs, massaging my cock through my jeans. I was rock hard and her hand just made it worse, fingers curving around the outline of it as Jen and Drue fucked in front of us.

Jen's hands grabbed at Drue's shoulders, pushing at them, rolling them both over. She straddled him and rode him, her breasts bouncing slightly with every stroke downward, his hands doing their best to still them and failing miserably. Her nipples were tight and hard and I licked my lips hungrily.

"Dinner's almost ready," Bodie called out from the other side of the room.

Nobody said anything, all of us wrapped up in Jen's rapid breathing, the heavy rise and fall of her chest, the soft gasps that slipped past her lips and Drue gave up on her breasts and slid his hand down between them, playing with her clit as she closed around his cock again.

They both groaned as Jen's body tightened, her own hands pinching her nipples as she came, soft jerks wracking her body as it shot through her. Drue was practically convulsing beneath her, the back of his head and the soles of his feet the only parts of him touching the floor as he arched into her.

They collapsed silently and I glanced over at Joey, watching her fingers as they rubbed the thin material against her crotch, matching the slow strokes she was still using on me. I wasn't coming any time soon, wanting more than jus a few fingers of pressure, but I was pretty sure she was close to the edge. As Drue and Jen groped for their clothes, crashing together for an occasional kiss, tongues warring with each other in every battle, I leaned over and pressed my fingers over Joey's, my breath hot in her ear.

"That's nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you tonight."

She closed her eyes and I could feel her body responding, could imagine the heat pooling beneath my fingers. She quivered hotly and I could practically taste her orgasm on her lips as I sucked the lower one into my mouth. She gasped for breath, rocking her hips as the hard nub of the seam of her jeans rubbed against her clit, dragging out her climax.

We all moved silently over to where Doug was as Bodie went to call out to Dawson and Grams. Drue moved up behind me, his hand smacking me on the ass. His voice was low and husky, his smile self-satisfied. "So, does that count as me getting your girlfriend off?"

"The closest you'll ever get to a threesome, Valentine."

"Closer than you, Witter." He slapped my ass again and moved past me, wrapping his arm around Jen's waist. She grinned up at him then turned back to me, giving me a grin. She should know.

Showered and fed, we all crashed for the night. Bodie pulled door duty while the rest of us slept. I passed him the flashlight and shotgun, the biggest bang for the buck going to the first line of defense. I walked back to where I had planned to sleep, about to be pissed off when I noticed another body in the spot. The complaint died on my lips as Potter rolled over, her naked breasts softly lit in the pale yellow light the emergency back-ups provided.

"You're not sleepy, are you?"

I was exhausted, but I wasn't about to share the information with her. Instead, I pulled my shirt over my head and lay down next to her, my hand settling naturally around the curve of her breast. "Not so much, no."

She pressed a finger to my lips. "Shh," she whispered as she nodded behind me. I closed my eyes, my thumb playing with her nipple as I listened, unable to keep from grinning as I realized what I was hearing.

Apparently our little drawing of straws had been rigged. I turned enough to see the pile of bodies next to us, past their sleep-drugged forms to where Doug and Bessie were hidden in the shadows, their frantic touching punctuated by their harsh breathing.

"Seems to run in the family," I whispered against her finger, licking it before sucking it into my mouth. It was strange, hearing her moan in stereo, Bessie responding to whatever Dougie was doing at exactly the same time. My grin grew feral, and suddenly, I thought maybe we should put the family stamina to the test. See once and for all which one of us was the better Witter brother.

I reached down and stripped off Joey's jeans as quickly as I could, knowing Doug and Bessie were at least a few items of clothing ahead of us. A quick glance at them let me know that he was taking off his jeans, enough to know that I had to hurry to catch up. Not that Joey wasn't ready. A brush against the hot pink of her thong and I knew she was more than. Fortunately, her well-hidden oversexed personality worked in my favor for once.

She arched her hips and let me strip it off of her. I fumbled out of my boxers and felt the hot flesh between her legs with my fingertips. God, she was wet and ready, her legs spread far enough I was pretty sure every single person in the room could have fit between them. Obviously it'd been a long time since Potter'd been laid.

I heard Bessie whisper Doug's name, heard his barely whispered response. The following gasp let me know where they were and, with one quick, hard stroke, I was inside Joey again.

She was like fire engulfing me, the slick wet of her earlier orgasm still clinging to her flesh like a residue as I pushed deeper. She moaned aloud, stuffing her hand against her mouth to keep from making too much noise, her head turned to the side. I figured she saw them, since she didn't look back at me, just watched as my brother and I set a matching rhythm, brothers fucking sisters in one big, cosmic joke. All we needed now was my zombie dad fucking her zombie mom and we'd be a fucking soap opera.

Passions admittedly, but a soap, nevertheless.

Joey's hands brought me back into the moment, fingers raking down my arms. Her hips rocked into mine again and again and her soft little moans let me know she was certainly enjoying the competition, even if she knew nothing about it. Bessie's noises were necessarily muffled, Bodie being less than 50 yards from us, but I could still hear her soft grunts matching Doug's. Their breathing had escalated, or seemed so considering I could barely hear it over the blood pounding through my ears as Joey ran the nail of one fingertip over my nipple and nearly shot me out of my skin.

"Christ, Potter," I mumbled against her skin, "I'd like this to last a little longer."

"Then you shouldn't have been fondling me all fucking night," she closed her teeth around my nipple, licking it with her tongue at the same time. I groaned and pushed deeper, suddenly not caring at all how long Doug was going to take to get Bessie off. My hands curled in the blanket underneath Joey, my hips powering forward, colliding with hers.

I slid my arms underneath her, holding her body against mine until nothing could come between us, not even the drops of sweat that clung to my skin. Closing my eyes, I tried to close the rest of the world away, not caring about zombies or green lights of anything else, just the warm heat of Joey surrounding my cock, feeling me, pulsing around me, but I couldn't quite shut out the voice in the back of my head, the one that kept reminding me that I was the outcast, the black sheep, the fuck up.

"Oh, Christ," Joey breathed, her legs sliding around mine, slick with sweat. She was gasping, burying her mouth against my flesh, her tongue sucking the salty perspiration from my skin as I pumped inside her, strokes long and hard and angry, frantic release of all the years of pain and inadequacy.

I glanced over at Doug, his hips rocking into Bessie's, her posture mimicking Joey's. I could last. I could last longer. Bessie's groan echoed Joey's and, for a moment, I was lost back in a pre-pubescent fantasy of Bessie and me on the beach and the back of my brain exploded. Joey gasped as I rocked forward, shooting my orgasm inside her like a freight train, pinning her to the floor with one violent thrust of my hips.

I sensed more than saw Doug do the same to her sister, the whole room seemingly alive with our quartet of satisfaction. It lasted a second, maybe longer, and no one else stirred in the room. I rolled off of Joey and grabbed my shirt, pulling it on before collapsing back on the blanket and falling sleep, knowing I was still half naked and not giving a shit at all.

Doug took up a spot near the door, his completely out of place jealousy showing through as he turned our way, watching as Bodie lay down next to Bessie. I was about to get up and go to the showers and see if I could catch Joey or at least clean up when a soft rustling of cloth caught my attention.

I looked over at Doug and noticed he'd heard it to, both of us looking in the general direction the sound had come from. He angled the gun toward the mass of clothes, lifting it up out of range when Joey sat up, giving both of us a view of Jen's naked body.

My morning hard-on increased tenfold and I wished that I hadn't zipped up my jeans, given that my cock was now intimately acquainted with the fabric. Jen's nipples were tight and hard and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where Joey's mouth had been before she'd sat up. I could see the wet mark of saliva staining Jen's flesh. Joey grabbed Jen's wrists and lifted them over her head, pinning them to the floor. The movement put Joey's breasts in range of Jen's tongue and the pink muscle darted out and swept over a nipple as well. Joey mewled with pleasure and pulled back, her fingertips trailing along Jen's arms.

Joey slithered down Jen's body like a snake, all muscle and sinew as she slid between the blonde's parted legs. Her tongue rasped the dark blonde curls before sliding down, entering Jen in one rapid thrust.

I glanced over at Doug, watching him stroke the shotgun as Joey went down on Jen, her hands moving over Jen's body while Jen grasped for Joey's hair, tangling her fingers in the ratty brunette mess.

Joey's ass lifted in the air and I bit back a groan, the wet flesh between her legs pink and swollen and wet. She renewed her attack on Jen, tongue flashing pinkly. Doug cocked the shotgun, the sharp sound not breaking Joey's concentration, although it did cause Jen to start squirming.

Joey pulled away reluctantly, looking up at Jen. The blonde just smiled and brought her down into a kiss then pushed her to the ground, turning and raking her teeth through Joey's dark curls. Joey grasped Jen's hips and pulled her warm flesh back down to her mouth, the slick folds catching her gasp as Jen's tongue dove in, tasting Joey.

They suddenly dissolved into skin on skin, fingers and tongues as they lost control. Doug fell back against the wall, the shotgun resting against his cock. I was about to reach down and stroke mine - cock, not shotgun - when a hand snaked into my open slacks before mine could. Drue's mouth was hot and wet over my hard flesh.

I threaded my fingers through his hair, holding him down against me as I watched the two girls, dark and light, fall into a pile of sweat and skin and hair and soft, quiet gasps that shot straight through my blood stream. My hips jerked off the floor and I came, shooting my climax into Drue's mouth. He drank it down as Jen sat up, moaning hungrily, her orgasm flooding Joey's mouth and fingers.

Drue pulled away and moved back, watching as the girls finished up, licking each other like kittens finishing up a bowl of cream. They curled together, Joey's breasts crushed against Jen's as they finally collapsed, their arms wrapped around each other.

I stood up and headed for the shower, glancing at Doug then at Drue before I left the room. I couldn't help but smile, wondering if Doug was going to be watching the door or slammed against it by the time Drue was done with him.

We ate breakfast, most of us in a satisfied silence, though Dawson continued to bitch about his parents' deaths. We were almost finished, the last of the bread grabbed by Bodie when Grams stood up, the gun that had been beside her plate in her hands. She pulled the safety back and aimed it at Dawson.

"Shut up."

He looked at her, his eyes wide, unbelieving. "Do you people not understand that my father is dead? My mother? That…that bastard," he pointed at me, his usual smarmy, indignant self. "He killed them. They hadn't done anything and he killed them."

He sobbed, bowing his head onto the table. We all stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and disgust. Joey started to speak, smooth things over with him like she always did when Grams pulled the trigger. Blood and tissue flew everywhere. Bodie dropped the bread and pushed his plate away, his appetite apparently gone. Doug took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh before standing. "Okay, so, let's get going."

I stood up, watching Joey as she glanced back at Dawson's headless body. She stared for a long moment then shrugged, falling in step with Jen. I grinned and headed for the door, grabbing the one small gun we'd allowed Dawson to carry out of his back pocket. The safety was off, a round in the chamber. It was a wonder the idiot didn't blow his own ass off.

The rumbling hit the second the door opened and we all dove for the ground. Jen slammed into me and we tumbled down into the slightly sunken sewer route, filthy water churning over our heads. As we came up for air, I patted her ass. "Thanks, Lindley."

"You were in my way," she smirked. "Don't think I was out to save your life or anything."

"Nice to know that you're watching my back. Or at least my ass, huh?"

"You two done?" Joey held out her hand and I took it, climbing out of the water. I reached back down for Jen and helped pull her out, ignoring the smirk that Doug was sending our direction.

"So," Doug signaled us all over to him and we gathered around. "Grams and I think that our best plan is to go directly to the meteor and do a little scouting. Water seems to negate its power, so we're thinking that, depending on where it is, we can either drown it out or, with a huge wall of water, push it into the creek."

"Thus contaminating the water around here for the rest of our lives."

Doug gave Bodie a hard glare that had less to do with his comment than the protective arm he had around Bessie's shoulders, I'm sure. "The rest of our lives are going to be pretty fucking short if we don't do something, so you make the choice, Wells. Either we short circuit this thing or we all end up dining on each others brains for dinner."

They shared a touching moment of glaring, broken up by Bessie as she pushed between them. "Save the macho bullshit for when we're done with this, okay?" She gestured down the hallway. "We're going this way, right?"

"Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnssssssss."

We all froze for a second then turned, the mass of zombie flesh coming toward us spurring us all into action. Grams fired the first shot and Dad's hunting partner ate cement. Joey was about to fire the next round when she heard it.

"Brrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnsssssssss."

"Oh…" Her face fell and she lowered her gun, her eyes filled with tears. The zombies were playing hardball now. "Mom?"

Mrs. Potter's face was unrecognizable, dried flesh falling off fairly sturdy looking bones, but despite the message, the voice was clear. "Joooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyybbbbbrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnssssssssssss."

"Mom?" She started to drop to her knees, but I caught her, hating that I dropped the gun as I did. I heard Bessie's soft sob in the background and winced, knowing that Mrs. Potter had been the final nail in the Doug and Bessie coffin years ago.

Time stood still.

A shot rang out.

I wondered, for a second, who would have the balls to kill Joey's mother right in front of her, wondered who she was going to hate in the next seconds of her life.

"There." Dawson leaned against the wall, blood pouring out of his chest. How he was still moving and functioning I didn't know and I sure as fuck didn't know where he got the gun, but he was smiling proudly despite the fact his life was over in more ways than one. "An eye for an eye. A parent for a parent."

I didn't see her move the gun, but I saw the end result. Dawson's head splattered like an overripe melon and hot, red blood sprayed everywhere. The encroaching zombies went insane…er and headed out direction with renewed shuffling. I grabbed Joey's hand and pulled her along, wanting distance between us and the gathering mob before we tried to blow them away.

Jen and Drue took the front line, shooting into the mass of decayed skin with a disturbing sense of glee. I grabbed the shotgun out of Joey's hand and aimed it over Jen's head, blowing Matt Caufield's brain into next week.

"That's for Joey's mural, you ass wipe."

"Good to know you're living in the now, little brother." Doug pushed Joey toward Bessie, behind us. She protested, but he ignored her, tossing me another gun. "Do me a favor and think with your brain instead of your cock for a minute. The last thing I need is for you to go off half-assed and try and avenge every slight against your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend."

"And I don't give a fuck. If the map I grabbed is right, we're about fifty yards from the edge of the cemetery. Do you understand that, little brother?"

"Well, obviously not, since it has nothing to do with sex, unless you're a necrophiliac, Dougie." We continued firing, wincing as Grams blew away both Mr. Brooks and her dead husband. All she needed now was the decrepit corpse of Thomas Culpepper and she'd be having some serious misgivings about love. "So we're going to get hit from both sides, is that what you're saying?"

"I'm saying we need to hurry." Doug blew away Mom and Kerry and then two of the rugrats. I wondered for a second if they were actually zombies, but then realized I really didn't care. I hit Gretchen, home from college, and felt a slight pang until I remembered she actually gave more of a shit about Dawson than me. "We need to end this. Which means we need to split up."

"And let me guess who's getting Bodie and who's getting Bessie?"

"We've opted for a threesome," Doug sneered as he nailed Mr. Potter right between the eyes. Damn, I bet that felt good. "We need a team to rig the water supply into the sewers. We need a full force tidal wave to wipe this fucker out."

"Who's on my team?"

"Grams, Bodie, Bessie and I will stay in the sewers. You, Joey, Jen and Drue go topside and work on the water issue. We'll split up at the next tunnel. According to the map, it leads to the water reclamation plant on the edge of town."

"I don't know anything about the water system, Dougie."

He stopped and stared at me, his blue eyes serious as he shoved me toward the tunnel. "Learn fast."

We started running in opposite directions. "How the hell will we know if you're alive?"

"Trust me, little brother, some fucking zombie gets the best of me, you're the first person I'm coming after."

The zombies seemed confused when we split up, but more than our fair share followed us. Drue took point, leading the way through the dark, damp tunnel. Jen carried the flashlight, shining it in front of him as we ran. Joey ran in front of me, her emotions still too close to the surface for her to be much help. I took the rear, carrying a large portion of our firepower as I leveled row after row of dead bodies.

"It's just ahead." Drue shouted back to me, all of us skidding to a stop in front of a huge metal door. We could hear the roar of water even through the concrete and steel. "How are we going to blow this door?"

Jen hit it with a bullet, all of us diving to the ground as it ricocheted off the door. "Jesus Christ!" Joey roared, kicking Jen hard in the thigh. "You trying to get us killed?"

"I'm trying to do something more useful than crying about my mother who's been dead for six fucking years and fucking whoever happens to be willing."

"You spread your legs all on your own, Blondie."

"You guys want to fight over me later?" I got to my feet, kicking a long steel pole as I did. I grabbed it and tossed it to Drue. He levered it in the slim gap between the door and frame and wrestled with it. I tossed Joey my gun, hoping she wouldn't use it on Jen, and helped him, throwing me weight on the bar.

The door creaked dangerously and we called out to the girls, getting them out of the way just as it popped free of its rusted hinges. We all ran into the building, guns ready as the zombies followed us like a wave of their own.

I stopped recognizing the faces as I blew them away, the stench of blood overwhelmed by the chemical smell that flooded the plant. Joey and Jen scrambled up the ladders that ringed the large vats, heading for higher ground.

Drue headed to the left and I started right, firing back into the crowd. Bodies fell as I hit the ramp leading up to the control. Jen shouted and I looked up, ducking just in time to avoid a zombie dive-bombing me from above.

"Shit, they're in the rafters!"

Jen and Joey aimed for the sky, blowing zombies away from 50 feet in the air. Bodies rained down and I headed for cover, hoping the Joey or Jen was watching to see if anyone was headed my way.

I felt a wash of something on my back and turned in time to catch the body falling toward me, the head obviously staining my filthy clothes. I'd definitely had better fashion days. "Thanks," I yelled out, reaching the girls on top of the huge tanks.

"My pleasure," Jen smirked. "It was Mr. Wilhelm."

"Calculus, huh?"

"He deserved to die." She tossed one gun aside and loaded another. She had a belt of bullets strapped over her shoulder.

"Jesus, Lindley, you've never looked sexier."

"I could just be wearing the belt."

I grabbed her hand and pressed it to my cock, letting her know how her statement affected me. "You keep it up and Drue's going to have his turn with Joey."

"And you don't want him to be disappointed?"

I laughed and released her, groaning softly as she didn't remove her hand, her fingers tightening around my shaft. "I don't think we have time for this." I aimed above us and nailed two zombies with one shot. They fell and dropped all the way to the ground. "But I promise to take you up on the offer later."

"What makes you think the offer will still stand?"

I caught her hand and threaded my fingers with hers, kneeling down beside her. "Because I'm me."

"And you're hot shit?"

I kissed her, my tongue electric over hers, her body hard and soft against mine all at once. We broke apart, both gasping. I fired a shot over her shoulder and a zombie hit the metal grating, the impact echoed by the one she'd nailed behind me. "I'm hot shit."

She laughed and pushed me away. I got to my feet and grabbed one of the guns she'd set aside, reloaded. I left my old one and joined Drue where he was standing beside Joey, both of them staring down into one of the tanks.

"What have we got?"

"A fuckload of zombies swarming this place like it's zombie heaven."

Drue glared at me, the hint of a bruise already forming around his eye. "What's the matter, Valentine? Joey say no?"

His glare turned into a grin and he shook his head. "Oh no, Witter. She said yes. In glorious Joey Potter style."

Joey's shot rang between us and the zombie kept falling, landing in the churning water twenty feet below us. We watched as the body sizzled then vanished in a puff of smoke. "Looks like Doug's idea holds water."

I groaned and shook my head. "You keep those puns up, Potter, and you're likely to end up with a black eye."

"You're just jealous." She purred at me, her hand on my chest. "Wondering what he asked for that earned him my right hook, right?" She pressed her breasts against my chest, her nipples rigid against my skin. "And jealous as all fuck that, whatever it was, I said yes."

"You want to go slummin', Potter, I ain't gonna stop you. After all, I'm not your boyfriend." I pointed to the walkway across the room from us at the weird mix of orange and green flesh. "He is."

Jen blew Eddie away before Joey could so much as miss him then tossed new guns to all of us. "You have crappy taste in men, Joey."

"And yet, you've almost managed to fuck them all too." She took the gun and pointed at the joints that held the vats. "We have to blow those. I figure both of these, blown at the same time will flood the sewers down to where the meteor is. The only problem is that we're going to need some serious firepower and what we've got here isn't going to cut it."

"I think I can help with that." I pulled a small pouch out of my back pocket. The deerskin was rotted, but the inner leather lining was in perfect condition. I opened the cap and tilted the bag just enough to allow a small amount of the black silvery powder to spill into my hands. "Thanks to Dawson's ancestors."

"That's not going to be enough." Drue glanced around as the zombies seemed to creep backwards, the stench of blood and sweat surrounding us. They hovered at the edges of the room, none of them brave or stupid enough to come forward. "But that," he pointed to the wall, that might just save all our asses."

I followed his gaze and nodded, the supply cabinet of chemicals and supplies open and overflowing. "We're in business. Science girl," I slapped Joey on the ass, "go make with the bombs."

She and Jen hurried to the cabinet, both of them grabbing bottles and passing them back and forth to each other, mixing up lethal cocktails as Drue and I stood guard. He glanced at me, his smug smirk dancing on his lips. "You're dying to ask, aren't you?"

"What?"

"What I said to her."

"Whatever you and Potter do, that's your business, Valentine." I got closer to him, my breath hot on his face. "And the more she likes it, the more likely I am to hear about it the next time she fucks me. So do what you want, hot shot."

He looked over at Jen, her long, blonde hair falling around her face, her ass high in the air as she read through ingredients on the back of a bright orange bottle. "Ditto, my friend." His grin was huge as he looked back to me. "Ditto."

We all stood at one of the joints of the two vats, all of us vulnerable with our guns either set aside or holstered. The zombies seemed to sense that something was up, their indecipherable voices suddenly rising and falling in a manic pattern, their shuffling growing louder.

The gunpowder fanned out around the pins, mixing with the toxic smells as we poured the chemicals, the sudden sizzle and fizz as it hit the powder loud despite the noise from below. A spark burst upward and I jumped back, spilling the rest of my bottle as I scrambled back to the walkway. "Fuck. It's catching fire."

Everyone looked at me as a flame leapt toward the ceiling. The metal started melting and the other three jumped off the vats, landing on the walkway, sprawled out like beached whales. I grabbed my gun as the zombies started moving, the flames turning them into the fucking monster from Young Frankenstein.

I shot into the flames, hitting the pin. I expected a sharp ping of metal on metal, but instead the bullet melted into the superheated steel, liquefying. With a sudden roar, the first vat fell, hitting the floor and toppling over. A rush of water flooded the room, pushing out the door and into the sewers in a maddened wave. Zombies disintegrated, clamoring for the ladders, body parts falling off as they grasped the slippery rungs.

I looked over at Joey and Drue, both of them yelling at their vat. Joey fired a shot into her joint and screamed when it didn't move. I hurried over, Jen at my heels. Drue swung through the girders and dropped down onto the joist that held the main line the joint hooked in to. He pulled his bottle from his jacket pocket and poured more on the smoking metal, leaning back as flames spilled around him. He ignored Jen as she called out his name, leaning back on the steel framework, bracing himself as he fired emptied his magazine into the bending metal.

He jumped back as it creaked, his feet leaving the joist as it cracked and fell. His hands clung to the edge of the walkway and I wrapped my arm around his neck and hauled him up, my arm tightening a little too much before I dropped him down onto the clanging metal. "What the fuck was that?"

"We can't all be heroes?" He coughed and got to his feet watching the water spill out of the room. "Our work here is done, huh? Let's get the fuck out of Zombieville and back out to make sure your brother and his girlfriends do their job."

We slid down the ladders, barely holding on to the metal. I went first, my feet slamming into zombie faces as I gained speed and momentum. When I landed hip deep in water, I avoided the bubbling heat of expired zombies, wading toward the door, the other three right behind me.

There was a huge rumbling sound as we hit the sewers. We all looked up then dove beneath the surface, the cement around us shaking. The noise finally passed and we all scrambled for air, gasping as it penetrated our lungs.

"Shit! Duck!" Drue's hand shoved me underwater again and I fought him off, kicking him in the stomach as I swam away from him. I surfaced and glared at him as he came up coughing. "What the fuck, Witter?"

"You tell me. You're the one that went for the attempted drowning."

He jabbed a hunk of green glowing rock that was slowly fading to black in the water where my head had been. "Trust me, asshole, if I was trying to kill you, you'd be dead."

"Cut the crap, both of you." Jen trudged in front of us and started toward where we'd split from the rest of the gang. "My grandmother's out there, and I'd kind of like to make sure she's all right, so get the fuck out of my way."

We walked in silence, nobody looking or talking to anyone, though we kept our eyes on the sides of the sewer tunnels, just in case some zombies were still lingering in the surface streets and working their way down toward Mama Meteor. When we got to the main tunnel, we stopped, a floating mass of bodies moving past us. Joey shuddered and looked away. "I thought the zombies dissolved."

"Me too."

"Near as we can tell, they're bodies that hadn't quite turned." Doug had a huge gash across his forehead, blood spilling from it. "Good job."

Jen waded through the bodies to Doug and hugged him, her mouth pressed to his in a long kiss. She wrapped a leg around his and held him against her and I narrowed my eyes. Certain things I would do for a woman, but if she so much as hinted at a threesome with my brother, she was in for a world of No.

"Where's Grams?" She breathed when they came up for air.

"Down the way. She's resting and taking care of Bodie. He's hurt." Something in his voice made me wonder if the cut on his head was from some battle with the undead or the battle with his past. "Bessie's there too." He grinned at Joey. "We're all alive and kicking."

"The meteor?" The rest of us made our way through the liquid cemetery and joined him, heading toward the hunk of rock.

"The water seemed to short it out. It exploded then the pieces stopped glowing. The zombies around us that had managed to avoid the water just dropped." He shrugged. "So we saved the town, though I don't know how much of Capeside is left."

"Only one way to find out."

We climbed out of the sewers, all of us wincing at the harsh light of day. Bodies littered the streets, rapidly dissolving into salt-like piles. We stared at each other then at the deserted streets. "Good thing we're all headed back to Boston, huh?" Joey asked quietly.

"Not all of us." Bessie supported Bodie, her arm around his waist, though her eyes never left Doug. "For some of us, this is home."

A wind blew down Main Street, scattering particles of townsfolk all over the road. I turned away to keep from getting anything in my mouth. I shrugged and looped my arm around Joey's shoulder as we all staggered toward the all-night café. "No offense, Bess, but you might want to consider moving."

5/21/03