White Trash Zombie Apocalypse (White Trash Zombie 3)

His uncle nodded. “One of several. Having the movie here is a nice boost to the local economy. In fact the other investors are here tonight as well. J. M. Farouche, Francis Renauld, and Nicole and Andrew Saber.” He gave a nod toward the fake zombies. “I have no doubt this performance is partly to reassure us that our money is being well-spent.” Pietro’s mouth twitched in amusement.

As the hideous group made its way past, a zombie woman with half a face groaned “Braaaiiins” and lifted a shredded hand toward us. Another zombie with a bloody face and protruding guts lurched toward Nicole Saber, who took a half-step back, an expression of genuine interest on her face. She peered closely at the extra as if assessing the realism and quality of her investment, then dismissed him with a laugh and wave of her hand. Beside her, Andrew Saber took a sip of his drink and looked on with utter disinterest.

Marcus grinned, leaned close to me. “Weird as hell, right?” he murmured.

I bit back a laugh. “Yes!”

Marcus turned to Pietro. “How many extras did they hire?”

“Close to a hundred,” he replied, still watching the zombies as they continued up the path to the cheers and applause of the crowd.

“Yikes. Do they have to do makeup on all of them?” I asked.

“Well, yes, but the majority of them have very basic makeup since they’ll be in crowds seen at a distance,” Pietro explained. “Only a couple dozen or so will get the more detailed makeup like those.” He nodded toward the cluster of zombies as they drew out of sight. “Those are the ones who’ll get the close camera work.”

Jane turned to Pietro, expression aglow with excitement and delight. “You’ll get me onto the set for filming, right?” she asked with a smile. “I’d love to see.”

“I’ll check with Vince and get you in on a good crowd scene,” Pietro told her, smiling.

“Oh, it doesn’t have to be anything big,” she protested, though her eyes brightened at the thought. “I don’t want to get in the way, and I certainly don’t want to be on camera.” She let out a soft snort, then chuckled. “I get enough of that now. I simply want to see how it’s done.”

Pietro smiled. “Too bad you’re a congresswoman-elect. You could get yourself made up.”

Jane laughed. “Oh, my goodness, no. I love watching zombies and zombie movies, but I don’t ever want to be one.”

Okay, so not a zombie, which means her injuries are real, I thought, very carefully keeping my expression under control. But that still doesn’t answer the question of whether or not she knows Pietro is a zombie.

Marcus gave me a light squeeze. “Hey, babe, did you ever get the bread pudding you were lusting after?”

“I wasn’t lusting…” I stopped, then shrugged. “Okay, I was lusting. It smelled amazing. I would do terrible things to that pudding.” I gave him a bright smile. “You offering to go get some for me?”

Jane raised an eyebrow. “Lustworthy bread pudding?”

Pietro chuckled. “Come, Marcus. The ladies want bread pudding, and we should oblige them.”

It wasn’t until the two went off together that I realized I’d been left alone to talk to a congresswoman. Okay, I can do this. Now try not to say anything stupid. Easy, right? “So, um, you and Pietro,” I said. “You known him long?”

“A few months now,” she replied, a flicker of something I couldn’t identify passing quickly over her face. “I met him at a fundraiser.”

“I only met him about six months ago or so,” I said, then couldn’t think of a damn thing to follow that up with. An awkward silence threatened, but Jane saved me.

“I absolutely love your jacket,” she said with an appreciative smile. “The color is gorgeous on you, and it’s a terrific style.”

“Thanks!” I replied, then added, “I actually picked it up for fifteen bucks at Goodwill.” Somehow I had the feeling it wouldn’t matter to her where I got it. And there was also a small part of me that wanted to establish that I wasn’t a snob like Heels.

She didn’t disappoint me. Her face lit up in honest appreciation of the find. “What luck!”

“I’m a pro at finding the good bargains,” I said with a laugh. But then I sobered. “At the risk of being rude and nosy, what happened to your leg?”

She sucked in her breath with a hiss and shook her head as though it was an ugly memory. “Pietro and I were in a serious car accident a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been told I’m lucky to be alive.”

“Oh, man, I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, then hunched my shoulders. “I mean…not sorry you’re alive. Sorry you had the accident…” I groaned. “Jeez, someone needs to shoot me right about now.”

But Jane merely gave a nice laugh. “It’s all right. I know what you meant. And I still don’t know how Pietro managed to get out with only minor injuries. Moreover, his driver was completely unscathed.” She shook her head in amazement. “A real miracle.”

“A miracle,” I echoed. She doesn’t know we’re zombies, and Pietro’s pretending to have an injury. What the heck was he up to? Was he trying to get a congresswoman in his pocket? It certainly wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, especially for Pietro. And maybe their relationship had started out that way, but judging by the way he looked at this woman and how his voice seemed to deepen on her name, it was pretty clear he was crazy about her now.

“Pietro told me that you and Marcus are an item,” Jane said with a slightly questioning tone, as if wanting to be sure of our status before continuing.