Page 19 of My Undead Love Life

“It’s late.” Luck pushed himself to his feet with a tired groan before shrugging off his backpack. He crouched near the center of the cramped closet and started digging through supplies. “We need to make a floor bed.”

The zipper of his bag rasped loudly through the small room.

“We usually sleep close for warmth,” he continued while pulling out rolled sleeping bags and blankets. “The subway tunnels are freezing during the day but even worse at night.” He glanced toward me over his shoulder. “Do you have a sleeping bag or anything?”

My throat tightened. “Keith kept my blanket in his bag.”

Another sob escaped me before I could stop it, and I pressed both hands hard against my chest. My fingers dug painfully into my ribs while grief twisted viciously beneath them.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered shakily.

“Don’t be sorry,” Mad murmured softly. “We get it.”

Luck paused while unrolling one of the sleeping bags. “It’s the apocalypse,” he reminded me. “We’ve all lost someone.”

A hollow ache settled even deeper into my chest after that.

I missed Keith so badly that it physically hurt.

The room blurred slightly around me as fresh tears gathered again. I stared down at the filthy concrete floor, trying desperately not to cry harder. It was probably why I didn’t notice what Oxi was doing until I looked up and found him completely naked across the room.

A scream tore from my throat instinctively.

Mad lunged forward so fast I barely saw him move before his hand clamped over my mouth. “Spencer—it’s okay,” he whispered urgently. “We can’t have the zombies hear us, remember?”

I shoved his hand away hard enough that he immediately backed off. I scrambled and nearly tripped over one of the sleeping bags in my rush to shove myself into the farthest corner away from all of them.

My back slammed against the cold concrete wall while my pulse thundered in my ears. “You’re naked!” I hissed at Oxi in disbelief. “Why are you naked?!”

Luck let out a nervous laugh that sounded more exhausted than amused. “He won’t be the only one.”

My heart dropped. “Explain. Right now.”

“Fuck,” Maddox muttered, dragging a hand down his face. “You two seriously need to warn people before stripping.”

“We do this every night,” Oxi replied flatly, as if this was completely normal.

“That does not make it less weird!” I whisper-shouted.

Maddox held both hands up slowly toward me. “Spencer, listen to me, okay? We carry out full body checks every single night to prove none of us has been bitten.”

The seriousness in his tone cut through my panic enough that I stopped shaking.

“It’s for safety,” he continued quietly. “People hide bites. Even good people. Especially when they’re scared.”

Luck’s expression darkened slightly as he leaned back against the shelves. “We had another guy in our group about a year ago,” he explained softly. “His name was Henry.”

The candlelight flickered across his mismatched eyes as his gaze lowered toward the floor.

“He got bitten during a supply run after we got cornered by a small horde,” Luck continued. “Didn’t tell anybody.”

“He hid it from us for hours,” Maddox said grimly. “Said he was fine when he ended up going to bed early.”

Oxi spun slowly in place with complete indifference, arms slightly out. “Then, he turned while we were asleep and tried to kill us all.”

Silence settled heavily across the closet. The only sounds were distant groans outside the door and the faint crackling of the candle flame.

“I’m not bitten,” Oxi stated simply.