Novel Full 239 Norbert's Crush
“You are alive!”
The joy in Norbert’s voice was so genuine, so vivid, it simply couldn’t be faked. And despite the massive bomb that the woman just dropped on everyone, even she failed to stop herself from smiling a little when showered with this kind of emotional reception.
“Norbert…” the policewoman muttered. She then pressed her stump even harder against her chest, causing her expression to sour. She then averted her face to the side. “How many times have I told you not to call me like that?”
‘Dang,’ Mathew froze for the second time. Even though the woman averted her eyes and turned her face away, he stood in a different place than Norbert. And as such, he could easily see the blush that the woman attempted to hide from her colleague.
‘Could the two of them be a thing?’ he then asked himself, gritting his teeth as he realized what that could possibly mean.
‘I guess this is what politics is all about,’ he then thought, taking a breath before shaking his head. ‘It’s all about weighing what options are most favorable. But before that…’
“Yeah, yeah, Beatrice,” Norbert said, not minding the changing expressions on Mathew’s face. “How is your arm?” he then asked to the woman’s clear and obvious dismay.
And yet, for how much of an all-seeing eye he had, he failed to notice that it was one of the sore spots that the woman didn’t want to talk about.
“I…” Beatrice hesitated for a second. She then glanced at Norbert, gulped down her saliva, and ended up averting her eyes again. “I will manage…”
“Hey, I know this will sound bad, but man,” Norbert said, turning his face to Mathew. “Is there any chance you could restore her arm?”
“What?” Mathew and Beatrice said at the same time. And while the woman instantly turned her eyes to Mathew as if to verify just what the hell her subordinate was talking about, Mathew directed his wide-open eyes at Norbert.
“You surely do know what would need to happen for me to do it?” Mathew said, sending a quick glance at Beatrice only to move his eyes right back to Norbert.
‘How could he be so eager to have her sleep with me?!’ Mathew screamed out in his thoughts. ‘Is he some sort of cuck?’
“We are all adults here, are we not?” Norbert replied, raising one of his eyebrows as if weirded out by Mathew having any sort of problem with what his request entailed. “That price is nothing when compared to restoring her arm!”
“What the hell are you guys talking about?” Beatrice uttered with bated breath. Her eyes were wide open and struggling to decide whether to lock on Mathew’s or Norbert’s face.
“You are right,” Mathew said, nodding his head as if to endorse Beatrice’s words. “Whether I can restore her arm or not, we can’t say for sure. But for now, there is something else we should focus on. And we actually might need your help with it too.”
“What is it?” Norbert asked, squinting his eyes in an unhappy expression.
He was just reunited with a girl that was likely his crush. And from Beatrice’s reactions, she appeared to like him back as well.
As such, it was no wonder he was pretty unhappy when Mathew suddenly forced him to turn his attention elsewhere.
“I need you to sit down and figure out which of the cars do have some survivors left in them,” Mathew then revealed the problem only to glance over at the female officer. “She’s the one who told us there are more survivors so I believe we should trust her.”
“There is more?” Norbert opened his eyes wide. “But how?” he then turned his eyes towards Beatrice. “There were only five of you left when you sent everyone inside. And at least two had to die in the first car!”
‘Wait, it doesn’t make sense…’ Mathew suddenly realized the inconsistency. ‘If there were only five of them… how did they get to move all those cars into the formation?’
There was only a tiny time frame during which the police cars could be arranged in this specific kind of formation. Just a quarter of an hour into the apocalypse and the streets would likely turn too busy for such precise maneuvers. And for all the cars to align so perfectly…
‘Unless they wanted to…’ Mathew finally realized what the real purpose of that arrangement of the cars was.
Initially, it wasn’t supposed to hold the zombies at bay from all directions. It was only an attempt of Beatrice at establishing a stronghold for the men she sent into the school.
“I guess you attempted to call everyone back,” Mathew suddenly said out loud, right as Norbert ignored his own concerns and sat down on the floor before closing his eyes. “Didn’t you?” he asked, looking right at Beatrice’s face.
“I did,” the woman answered while a little bit of shock flashed in her eyes when she looked back at Mathew. “No one answered…. but wait, how did you know?”
“I figured it out,” Mathew replied, shaking his head. “I just couldn’t help but wonder why would anyone put those cars in this formation while leaving both sides of the main street open. And a presence of a group of men with heavy guns seems like the only possible explanation.”
“Okay,” Norbert opened his eyes before Mathew could get any further into explaining the situation. “There are two more officers in one of the cars. And five more civilians still alive in another one,” he explained only to raise his eyes at Mathew. “Are you going to save them?”
“There are no zombies inside, right?” Mathew asked, ignoring the puzzled look on Beatrice’s face.
“Guys, what the hell are you talking about?” she asked once she couldn’t stop herself anymore. She then looked right at Norbert’s face. “There should be twenty-five of them!”
‘Ouch,’ Mathew gulped down his saliva, already aware of what that meant.
“Bett… Beatrice…” Norbert muttered, only to avert his eyes, unwilling to look at his crush while breaking the bad news to her. “The people in the cars to the right…”
“What? Did you see them or what?” she said out loud, still not aware of what Norbert’s skill was.
“Yes, I did see them,” Norbert replied, turning his eyes back and bravely looking the woman right in the eyes. “But they are all either dead or turned by now.”