Life After The Undead (Book 1) by Pembroke Sinclair Page B

to his elbows, making them prominent. He glanced down at me, smiling. I stared at him and the group until they disappeared inside, then I jumped up and followed them. The hotel buzzed with rumors for days that an elite group of soldiers was going to be visiting. They had supposedly been hand picked by Mrs. Johnson to oversee the construction of the wall. I didn ’t believe it, of course, because rumors like that floated around for weeks and nothing ever happened, but my interest was piqued with the new group. I could only hope the rumors were true.
    I lagged behind and stayed out of sight until the elevator doors closed. I watched the lights to see what floor they were heading to. They stopped in the penthouse. I was curious but not stupid. If I went upstairs, I ’d have to wait on them. If they turned out to be plain soldiers who weren ’t tasked with building the wall, I ’d be pissed. I decided to play it safe. My plan was to head back outside when someone grabbed my arm.
    “There you are.” Pearl pulled out my earbud and hissed in my ear. “They have been looking for you all morning.”
    “No.” I groaned. “I don ’t want to go up there.”
    Pearl directed me toward the elevators. “They said they have something important to tell you.”
    Another new development. My curiosity went up another level. “What?”
    “I don’t know.”
    The elevator doors closed, and I turned off my iPod. “Who are those people who just came up here?”
    “They ’r e the soldiers in charge of the wall.”
    I raised my eyebrows. I was right to hope. “So they are going to build one. Who’s the guy with the tattoos?”
    Pearl stared at me for a moment. “Tha t’s Liet. He’s been promoted to general. You don ’t want anything to do with him.”
    I shrugged and turned my music back on.
    Normally, Pearl would have been right. Most of the soldiers in Florida weren ’t very nice to be around. They had attitudes , thinking they were untouchable and could do anything they wanted. Some even stole things from the local markets because they knew no one would do anything. Not all of them were bad, but the vast majority of them were. I had a different feeling about Liet and his soldiers, though. I mean, they were going to build the wall. They were going to make it possible for life to go on. They thought of the greater good. That meant they were the good guys.
    The elevator doors opened, and Pearl and I headed to the kitchen. Olivia Johnson, the head of the Johnson family and our employer, grabbed my arms and pulled me to the corner.
    “Krista, darling, where have you been? The genealogy department called. They found some of your family.”
    My eyes grew wide and my heart fluttered. “Really? Who is it?”
    “Your second cousin.”
    My excitement faltered a little, but I was still curious. “Where are they?”
    Mrs. Johnson smiled. “Well, my dear, it so happens your family is the new general.”   She patted me on the shoulder and left the kitchen.
    I stared after her, mouth agape. This was too good to be true. I willed myself to fly, just to make sure it wasn ’t a dream. I didn ’t pinch myself as you ’r e supposed to, mainly because I still feel pain in my dreams. For some reason, no matter what I’m dreaming, I can make myself fly, so that was the test I used. I couldn ’t, so I was awake. This was turning out to be the best birthday ever. I opened the kitchen door and stared at Liet. I saw him clearly, but I didn’t recognize him. I racked my brain, but had no memory of him.
    I put my iPod in my pocket and then carried a tray of food into the dining room. It was crap that I still had to do my job and Mrs. Johnson didn ’t introduce me to my family, but business was more important. As usual, my happiness would have to wait.
    Mrs. Johnson sat at the head of the table, and Liet sat to her right. They talked softly about their plans for the wall. All I heard was that they needed more workers, and that the ones they