Darlings of Decay

by Chrissy Peebles

  We took a few twists and turns, but I really wasn’t sure which way to go. I slowed and turned the motorcycle down another alleyway, which ultimately led us to a beach.

  “Turn around,” Jackie said.

  Just as she said it, I heard hissing and moaning wafting through the night air and glanced over my shoulder to see a new group of undead coming out from behind deserted buildings and heading toward us. “Um, scratch that!” I said. “There’s no way we’re going back.”

  Chapter 13

  “The sand! It’ll slow them down big time,” I said, turning left onto the beach and hitting the gas. I scanned my surroundings. To the left, tall trees stretched into the sky, their crowns swallowed up by darkness. Behind us, a white sign glowed in the darkness, pointing out that it was a private beach and any intruders would be prosecuted. We didn’t know what we might stumble upon in either direction, and I wasn’t sure which way to take. While I was deliberating, my wheels suddenly squealed, throwing up sand everywhere.

  “What’s going on?” Jackie asked behind me. Her frantic tone and the way her hands clutched my waist told me she was slowly getting worried.

  “Hold on,” I said calmly, even though my hands were shaking. There wasn’t enough time to dig the tires out. If we were stuck, we’d have to make it out of there on foot. We had no flashlights and, worse, no idea what was lurking around the next corner. Shuffling through the sand, groups of zombies slowly came from every direction, drawn to us like moths to a flame. I assumed they were attracted to the roar of the motorcycle. I met Jackie’s terrified gaze. “If we can get free, we can zigzag around them.” It was a crazy idea, but it wasn’t impossible. They were still at least a hundred feet away, but one particular zombie seemed to move faster than the rest; I wondered if he’d been just recently turned. I kept the zombie MVP in my line of vision.

  Jackie pulled out her gun. “I’m going to keep these freaks from getting too close. You just work on getting us outta here.”

  “Remember, aim for their heads.”

  “I know,” she said flatly.

  The motorcycle rattled as I revved it up, the tires digging deep into the sinking sand. Time was running out, and I contemplated running on foot if we didn’t get the Harley out within the next minute or so.

  “Hey!” she said. “Try not to spin the tires. Digging us halfway to Australia isn’t going to do us any good.” She squeezed the trigger and missed.

  “Concentrate!” I said.

  “I am!” she said. She fired again, this time hitting the zombie in the chest. “It’s still coming!”

  “They will unless you hit them in the head!” I yelled. With the zombie inching forward, I needed to get the motorcycle tire out of the sand, but I couldn’t focus on helping Jackie and digging our way out all at once.

  “Got it!” She slid off the bike. She walked right up to the zombie, until she was only a few feet away, then aimed and shot him right in the forehead, sending him to the ground, where he flailed around for a moment like a dying fish out of water.

  “Are you crazy? Get back on the bike!” I yelled.

  “I’m not going down without giving us a fighting chance.” She aimed at the approaching crowd, and three more fell. Jackie was finally realizing that fighting had become a necessity for life, but she was failing to realize that two people couldn’t take on an entire zombie herd by themselves.

  “You need to quit playing hero and get your butt back on this bike!”

  Reaching down, she grabbed some loose branches from the beach. “I have an idea.”

  “I think your gun’s a much better choice,” I said.

  “Try to lift the motorcycle when I count to three,” she said.

  I heaved as hard as I could, but with the sand shifting everywhere, I only managed about two or three inches.

  “Hold it up,” Jackie said, kneeling down.

  I clenched my teeth and held the weight of the machine as I watched her squeeze the branches under the front tires, then move to the back. I held my breath as I dropped the front tire, then lifted up the back so she could stabilize the branches beneath it.

  “The branches will provide traction, or at least I hope so,” she said.

  It was a brilliant idea; I had to give her that. I rocked the motorcycle back and forth, spewing a cloud of sand in the air. Some of the smaller twigs snapped beneath it, making me doubt it would hold. I knew we had to hurry. I could just picture that undead army pulling us off the motorcycle and biting into our flesh, and I shuddered at the thought. “Jump on,” I said to Jackie before starting the engine. I could feel the twigs giving way beneath the tires, so I hit the gas. With one last squeal, the tires were free. I turned in the direction with the least amount of zombies and was able to easily pass by them, my heart racing even faster than the bike.

  Speeding up, I followed the beach strip, my thighs clutching to it to keep it steady. I turned right. There has to be an opening or exit somewhere. If we could only find it… “Look for a gate or something,” I yelled to Jackie, my gaze still fixed on the ground. As I turned the bend, I saw that the south side of the beach was also swarming with zombies. To make matters worse, I was sure our loud motorcycle had just rung the dinner bell.

  “There’re too many of them!” Jackie said. “We’ll never get through.”

  She was right, for I saw no way to break through them without becoming their midnight snack.

  Jackie started shooting, and two dropped in our path.

  I abruptly turned the bike and zigzagged past a few stragglers. I revved up the motorcycle and sped toward a nearby pier.

  Jackie wrapped her arms tight around my waist. “What’re we doing?”

  “Can you swim?”

  “Yeah, sure. I take it we’re going for a dip?”

  “Yep, hold on.” Adjusting my speed, I raced down the pier. The engine revved and the tires squealed as the motorcycle drove into the lake with a giant splash and began sinking, pulling us beneath the surface.

  Cold water gushed into my mouth and soaked my clothes. Somewhere in the back of my swirling mind, I realized I could no longer feel Jackie’s hands around my waist. With deliberate, long pushes of my legs and arms, I broke the surface and spewed out water, my whole body screaming for oxygen. I took giant gulps of air and searched for Jackie. “Jackie? Jackie! Where are you?” I asked between breaths.

  A few moments passed, but the dark surface of the water remained undisturbed. I scanned the area around me frantically, fearing the worst. Suddenly, a spluttering noise echoed from behind me. I turned sharply to Jackie, throwing her arms around me.

  “You’re okay!” She laughed.

  I melted into her embrace. “Never been better. I shook my head to push the scary images to the back of my mind. If anything had happened to her, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.

  She motioned toward the shore. “You don’t think they can swim, do you?”

  “No way! I live on an island. Trust me, those things can’t swim, and they know it.” My gaze darted over to the shore. Under the bright moonlight, zombies were pacing up and down it, moaning and groaning, just waiting to tear us apart. Lots of them had also followed us up the pier. It gave me the creeps, but I knew they wouldn’t come into the lake.

  She squeezed my arm. “I bet they’d love it if we were stupid enough to swim back.”

  “Yeah, but we’re not that stupid.”

  “Let’s swim to the other side and get our butts out of here,” Jackie said.

  I had no idea how big or deep the lake was, but I didn’t even want to think about it. With no other choice, I had to remain positive, so I glided forward with long strokes.

  After a few minutes of swimming, Jackie stopped. I halted next to her and followed her line of vision, down the water surface to the darkness stretching in the distance. “You see that?” she whispered, pointing at what looked like a shore.

  “What?”

  She started forward, then swung back. “There
’s somebody over there.”

  I was sure it was just more zombies, so we’d have to keep swimming until we found a safe way out. I could see the opposite shore not too far away. Squinting to get a better look, I made out figures in the distance. A second later, a strong breeze carried their shouts to us. My lips curled into a big smile when I realized Nick and Claire were pacing along the shore, waving their hands wildly. “I can always count on my brother!” I pounded the water with my fists, splashing it in all directions.

  Jackie smiled. “We’re saved!”

  I met her gaze when she gripped my shirt tight and pulled me close, wrapping her legs tightly around me. Catching me off guard, she captured my lips in a hot, hungry kiss. I swirled my tongue over hers. My heart pounded as adrenaline surged. I had never kissed such a hot girl before—or many girls, for that matter—and it was the most amazing feeling in the entire world.

  She broke the kiss and said with a coy smile, “C’mon. Your brother’s waiting.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, let’s go.” With powerful strokes, I cut through the water and swam toward shore.

  “Hey, we saw headlights, and then a bike drive off into the lake!” Claire called as soon as we were within earshot, only a few feet away. “When we saw it, we raced our Jeeps over here to the other side, hoping it might be you.”

  “Yeah, with all that screaming to get your attention, I thought we’d attract zombies,” Nick said.

  I scanned the beach for any shadows, but saw none. It looked safe for the moment, and I was happy when my feet finally touched the ground beneath me. As I waded through the waist-high water, pebbles and sand shifted under my feet. I climbed out, shivering in the cold breeze running over my body. “How’s Val?” I asked my brother.

  “Sleeping,” he answered. There was something in his voice though, some kind of hesitation, as though he was keeping something to himself, but I didn’t press the issue.

  Happy to have made it out, I let out a sigh of relief and squeezed Jackie’s hand, and then my gaze fell on the gun in Claire’s hand. “You pack heat now?” I asked.

  She noticed my staring and held it up. “Your brother showed me some tips at the house, so I thought this might be the perfect time to put them to good use.”

  “Yeah, well, Nick can talk anyone into anything,” I said.

  “C’mon,” Nick said. “You know a stun gun wouldn’t cut it out here.”

  “I thought that too,” I said, “but then Claire saved my butt back in the store.”

  “What?” Nick gasped.

  “One of those zombies grabbed me through the shelves and I lost my gun. If Claire hadn’t come and stunned the freak, I’m sure the thing would’ve bitten me.” I threw Claire a thankful look. “Thanks, Claire.”

  “Not a problem.” Claire slipped her gun into a holster around her waist, then threw an old blanket around me and Jackie. The wool felt so warm against my freezing skin; I couldn’t stop shivering.

  Nick hugged me. “I’m so glad you two are safe. You scared me to death!”

  “Sorry, man.”

  “That was crazy!” Nick said. “Don’t you dare ever pull a stunt like that again. The bike could’ve dragged you underwater and drowned you.”

  Jackie laughed. “A stunt? As if we planned it.”

  I nudged her, smiling. “Yeah, I knew he’d be totally freaked.”

  “Why wouldn’t he be?” Claire asked, as if standing up for his honor. “The last thing we saw was you guys heading off to the lake on a motorcycle with a herd on your butts.” She let out a trembling breath. “We tried to distract the zombies by beeping the horn.”

  “And then Claire’s Jeep wouldn’t start at first…about giving me a heart attack,” Nick said.

  “I really think we should be on a lookout for a new vehicle,” Claire said.

  “Yeah,” Nick agreed. “Anyway, Claire laid on the horn like you wouldn’t believe!”

  Claire nodded. “Some of them turned, but most of them had their eyes set on you.”

  I found it funny that Claire had tried so hard to deter the undead army. The girl I’d met only hours earlier wouldn’t have dreamt of attracting their attention when she could have just run away. It was quite a change, quite an accomplishment. I was sure she didn’t do it entirely for me though. It was for Jackie, her cousin. When someone’s loved ones or friends are in trouble, they’ll go to astonishing lengths to save them, no matter how scary it is. I learned this firsthand with Val.

  “We got separated when the zombies knocked the shelves over,” Jackie said. “We made an escape out a window.”

  “Yeah, we were totally freaked out when we lost you guys.” Claire wrapped her arms around both of us. “I’m so glad you’re safe now.”

  “Thanks for finding us,” whispered Jackie, hugging her tight.

  “You think I’d let my BFF and cousin get eaten by zombies?”

  Jackie chuckled. “Not in this lifetime.”

  We all laughed.

  Nick insisted I ride with him because he wanted to discuss game plans and routes, so Claire and Jackie drove one Jeep while Nick, Val, and I took the other. We took off, heading for the highway. Val was sprawled out across the back seat, Nick drove, and I rode in the passenger seat.

  “You really think Val’s okay?” I asked. “She looks so pale.”

  “She’s fine, but I’ll tell you one thing. If our crazy sister pulls another stunt like she did back there, I’m gonna…” He didn’t finish the thought.

  She had definitely put us in a dangerous situation, and I hoped she would stay passed out for a while because I had no idea how to handle her. “When’s she going to turn so we can see if the cure works?”

  “Soon—very soon.”

  A thumping sound startled me. Turning sharply, I signaled Nick to keep quiet as I listened for any more strange noises. A second later, the thumping started again, stronger than before. My head snapped in Val’s direction, even though I knew she was out cold. With my heart racing in my chest, I whipped out my gun and motioned for Nick to pull over as I prepared for yet another surprise coming from the storage compartment of our Jeep.

  Chapter 14

  We’d been on the highway for at least half an hour, listening to the rhythmic sound of our tires on the asphalt, when a strange noise made me look up. I held my breath and listened. For a whole second, nothing stirred, but then a thudding sound reverberated from inside the Jeep, the strange thudding and thumping we’d heard before. “What the heck?” I mumbled, motioning Nick to pull over and cut the engine. “I think something is in here with us.”

  “I hear it too. Stay calm,” Nick said. “Let’s not confront anything until we’re all safely out of the Jeep. That’ll give us a huge advantage.”

  The moment the Jeep ground to a halt, I grabbed Val and jumped out, setting her softly on the grass. If something was in that Jeep with us, I didn’t want her to get hurt, especially while she was out cold and couldn’t defend herself. I dashed for the back of the vehicle, with my weapon drawn.

  Nick reached me in two long strides and placed his large body on the other side of the rear hatch.

  Signaling him to keep quiet, I pointed my gun at the storage compartment located behind the second set of seats, and mentally prepared myself to shoot the miserable stowaway between its dead white eyes. I had no idea how a zombie could’ve gotten in there, but I was going to make it pay. With my eyes glued to the rear hatch, I inched closer and reached to open it.

  Suddenly tires screeched on the asphalt behind us, and the doors opened and slammed shut.

  “Get back inside!” Nick yelled. “There’s nothing to see.”

  “What’s going on?” Jackie asked, ignoring him. “You just stopped in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Is it Val?” Claire asked, appearing beside me.

  I pushed her a step back and peered at Nick’s face, which resembled a mask of irritation. “We all have to be quiet,” I whispered, “or you might just wake up the monster—and
I’m not talking about the zombie in the storage compartment of the Jeep.”

  As though in answer, a thud echoed from inside, followed by a louder one.

  Claire jumped back, startled. “What the heck? A zombie? How did it get in there?”

  “Probably while Val was on her little moonlight shopping spree.” I shrugged. “As to why it would have wanted to crawl in there, don’t ask me. I guess they’re not claustrophobic or prone to motion sickness.”

  “Okay, we’re opening,” Nick said, pointing at Jackie. “Can you stand guard?”

  She nodded, pulling out her gun.

  “Okay.” Nick sighed heavily, then unlocked the rear hatch and slowly opened the compartment door.

  I drew a sharp breath and held it, bracing myself for the worst.

  Something stirred inside, as though whatever was in there had sat up groggily and tried to maneuver themselves out. Then a voice echoed from within.

  I blinked several times before a face came to mind to match the voice.

  “Please don’t shoot, Nick! Don’t shoot, man!” Tahoe pleaded, appearing in my line of vision. His face was covered in darkness, but I would have recognized his hands anywhere, for they were the hands that had almost cost Val her life.

  From the corner of my eye, I noticed Nick stepping closer, his jaw clenched in anger. “Nice touch remembering my name, Lake Tahoe, but do you think that’s gonna actually save your sorry butt? The tables have turned for you, buddy. Now I’m in charge.”

  I shined the flashlight in Tahoe’s eyes, unable to believe the guy’s luck. He’d ventured out into the night, and when we’d watched his friend being eaten alive, we’d all mistakenly assumed Tahoe had been a side dish. I couldn’t believe he was still alive, let alone standing in front of us. Either he had to be the luckiest moron in the whole wide world, or else he’d been bitten, so the venom had kept his future kind at bay. I knew which option was more likely. Taking a step back, I pushed Claire behind me, just in case, and focused my attention back on Tahoe. His hands and clothes were bloody, but whether the brown and red stains were from his blood or someone else’s, I couldn’t tell. If he had been attacked and infected by zombies, I knew Nick wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him; at least that would have given Nick the perfect excuse to put a bullet in his head, a fitting death sentence for his attempted murder of our sister.