Zombie Slayer Box Set, Vol. 2 [Books 4-7]

by Katz, Gayle

  “What the hell?” said Zan, after plunging her dagger into the zombie’s skull, only to have it break off at the hilt. “Shit! I’m done.” She backed off as the zombie dropped to the ground.

  “Go into that room, kiddo,” said Sergeant Bourne. “I’ve got it all covered.”

  Charlie managed to stand back up again. She and Owen took down two more zombies each. That left only one in the hallway.

  “Stop!” cried out someone, running into the hall. It was an old man. He tried to run, but limped instead. He stopped in front of the one remaining zombie.

  “Hey, old guy, you’re blocking my shot,” said Bourne.

  Then they saw Julian rush up behind the old man. He had tossed off his demon mask.

  “Julian!” said Charlie. “It’s great seeing you, but what are you doing here?”

  “Long story,” he said. “Hi, Owen.”

  “What’s going on?” asked Bourne. “Can I shoot the zombie?”

  “No!” called out the man. “I’m Dr. Arora.”

  “Really?” said Bourne. “Why are you picking on the old guy?”

  “Because the zlayers recognized my other possession,” she explained. “And you won’t shoot me as it’ll hurt the old guy.”

  “What was the point of this?” said Charlie. She stomped up to Dr. Arora. “All you did was kill a dozen more people.”

  “I never do anything without a medical purpose,” she said. “And each and every death is a heartbreak. Necessary, but still a heartbreak.”

  Charlie just stood there staring at the old man.

  “Hmm. I can shoot you in the thigh,” said Bourne. “That would be enough to loosen your hold on the old guy. And unless you have hair clippings of some of the other kids here, then you’ll have to stick to your ether for a while.”

  She laughed. “I have a stockpile of hair.”

  Julian spoke up. “She told me that she had to save one of the zombies, as it contained a microorganism that she no longer had, or something.”

  “To make more zombies?” asked Charlie.

  “No, this is the microorganism called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. That’s what is responsible for Julian still being with us. It can be of great benefit in helping people, should they be terminally ill.”

  Zan just shook her head. “No one is going to agree to be turned into a zombie, just to give themselves a few extra months.”

  Julian stepped forward. “Actually, I did. I was going to die and I agreed to it. But I’m thinking that now, it’s not so great.”

  Charlie waved her dagger around menacingly. “See! Sounds good at first, but people don’t know what they’re getting themselves into.”

  “And why don’t you work with a university or research lab on this?” asked Owen. “They could help you to find more ethical sources for your testing.”

  The zombie between them was confused. It looked back at Bourne, and then at the teens on the other side of the hall.

  “You are so high and mighty,” said Dr. Arora. “Just look at all the people you’ve killed too.”

  “Really?” said Charlie. “These are people you turned into zombies. It’s not like they’re going to have good lives after that. They try to kill and eat people.”

  “But not all,” said Dr. Arora, motioning at Julian.

  “Yeah, so, one guy out of a thousand is a good zombie. Wow,” said Zan in a sarcastic manner.

  Julian walked closer to Dr. Arora. Then he walked around her and looked at the zombie standing there. “This is just not right. I don’t care if it ultimately could save millions of people. It’s just wrong.”

  “Whatever,” said Dr. Arora. She pulled a knife out of her pocket.

  “Look out, Julian,” said Charlie.

  He turned and watched as she took the knife and scratched her arm.

  “No!” he yelled. “She’s getting away!” He jumped at the man, but they both toppled to the ground together. “Damn!”

  “What’s happening?” the man said, groaning. “I think I need my heart pills.”

  “Damn it,” said Charlie, stomping up and down the hall. “That was pointless.”

  “Yeah,” said Owen. “But we know that she has supplies stored somewhere. We can find them.”

  “Yeah,” said Bourne. “I won’t stop until I find the last of her spells and zombie supplies.”

  Julian’s presence seemed to be keeping the zombie calm. But as he stood there, another one of his fingers fell off. “Damn, I’m totally falling apart,” he said.

  “Maybe go to the hospital?” asked Zan.

  “This is happening fast,” he said. “I think I just need to leave.” He turned to head in the direction of the door.

  As he did so, the zombie behind him became more animated. It turned and looked at Bourne, heading in his direction. But Bourne was too busy chatting with Zan to notice.

  “Hey, zombie,” said Julian. He felt so hungry. He walked back to the zombie. The zombie seemed to be coming alive. Its arms were out in front of it and it was opening and closing its mouth.

  Julian wondered if this would work. He rushed up to the zombie and bit it in the neck. The zombie stopped its movements.

  “Hey look, guys, me biting the zombie seems to have had an effect.” He pointed, but they weren’t paying attention.

  Bourne had turned around and shot the zombie through the head.

  “Hey!” yelled out Julian.

  But Bourne just turned back to Zan and continued the conversation.

  It was funny, but Julian felt much better after biting the zombie. So it worked both ways, but he figured he’d better get out of there.

  “Well, guys, it was fun, but I need to leave and get fixed up.” He picked up the fingers that had fallen off. Then he left the building.

  “That was weird,” said Charlie. “I wonder how much time he has left?”

  Owen walked up to stand beside her. “Not a lot of time. I have a bad feeling he’s going to take care of it.” He frowned.

  “Oh,” said Zan.

  “OK, kids. Have we cleared the building?” asked Sergeant Bourne. “One person takes each room. I’ve already called an ambulance for the old guy.”

  They spread out, checking every room and every closet.

  Charlie checked the bathroom. Then she saw something in the garbage can. She pulled it out, and then walked back into the hallway.

  “Hey, I found something,” she called out.

  “What is that?” asked Owen.

  Zan walked up. “Hey, that’s familiar.”

  “What is that?” asked Sergeant Bourne.

  “Zan and I found this at her house.”

  “So you brought it?” he asked, confused.

  “No, we were searching Dr. Arora’s house and found it. We gave it to Stewart so he could conduct some experiments.”

  Sergeant Bourne put his gun away. “Oh. OK. He’d called me earlier, upset that someone had broken into his place and stolen some vials.”

  Charlie held the container up. “That’s this.”

  “But I thought he told us that they contained organisms that were dead?” asked Zan. “How did she just inject a bunch of people at the haunted house and turn them?”

  Charlie moved aside a Halloween decoration on one of the accent tables in the hallway to place the clear plastic container down. She sifted through the vials. “These are all open and looked dried up.”

  Owen walked over and peered more closely at it. “Look at that,” he said, pointing to the base of the container.

  “What is that? A drawer?” Charlie stuck one of her fingernails into the small gap and gently pulled. A small drawer came with it. “Oh crap.”

  “Well, whatever was in there is now gone,” said Owen.

  “Hey, guys. I found this on the floor in the kitchen.” Zan held out a needle.

  “Hey! Be careful with that!” said Bourne.

  “I am.”

  Charlie peered into the drawer. “So I wonder how many were in ther
e?”

  “Or better yet,” said Owen, “how many people can be infected with one?”

  “OK, I’ll return it to Stewart. There could still be live viruses in it that he can test.”

  “OK, kids. If you don’t mind, let’s get you out of here. I have to do some chatting with the local media on our amazing and remarkably real Halloween exhibit at City Hall today.”

  Zan rolled her eyes. “Seriously? More lies?”

  “Yes, cupcake. More lies.”

  “Cupcake?” she muttered as she followed Charlie and Owen out the door.

  As they walked back to Charlie’s car, they chatted about the zlaying.

  “So for once the mayor isn’t here during a zombie attack,” said Charlie.

  “Ha-ha, right,” said Owen.

  “How old would you say Dr. Arora was?” asked Zan, opening the car door.

  Charlie tossed her purse inside. “I don’t know. Three weeks old, maybe?”

  Zan laughed. “No, I mean as a human.”

  Charlie got in and sat down, slamming her door. She put her seatbelt on. “I don’t know. Four years of med school, at least another four years of residency, a few years of working at the hospital. I’d say about thirty?”

  “Plus the three weeks,” said Owen, laughing.

  “Thirty years old,” said Zan.

  “Why?” asked Charlie, putting her keys in the ignition.

  “Well, she’s had about twelve years to do all this shit. Like, we have no idea how much shit she has stored everywhere.”

  Owen checked his seatbelt. “We can go back to her house if you want.”

  “Sure,” said Charlie.

  “I know, but I mean, twelve years. And all she’s been doing is playing all this time,” said Zan.

  “Playing?” asked Charlie.

  Owen frowned. He didn’t like the sound of what was coming next.

  “She’s just playing. Because she has something even bigger and better planned. And, she purposely had us kill her, so she could access another realm.”

  Owen shivered. “Oh my god, Zan. That’s incredible. You may have just figured it out.”

  Charlie paused before pulling out of her parking space. “But what could possibly be in another realm that would help her here? Help her to take over the city?”

  Owen spoke up. “It’s not what’s possible in the other realm. It’s more like, what is there.”

  Epilogue

  ________________________________________

  Dr. Arora was back in the ether, but only for a while. When she had been alive, she had set up the spells to bring her back from the dead, inside other people’s bodies. She had a nearly endless supply of victims, as long as no one found the source of her spells.

  But for now, she settled down on the spongy pseudo-ground of the ether. She even had a way of disguising herself from the Shredders so they’d leave her alone. But right now she really just wanted to rest, as it was exhausting trying to hold the possession of another body in the real world.

  She also needed to put her big plan in place. This was a plan to turn every single person in Portland into a zombie, who would do her bidding. She smirked as the first stage of her plan was already in place.

  Prologue

  ________________________________________

  “One of the prisoners appears to be going into cardiac arrest!” yelled one guard to the other.

  “Let’s get her out of there and onto a stretcher. I’ll call for an ambulance.” The other guard pulled out his phone and entered the number.

  The first guard pulled out his keys and opened the cell door. Inside, the prisoner was lying on the floor, her body jerking and spasming, with her long gray hair flying everywhere.

  “No, I don’t know if she did drugs, just get someone out here! Pronto!” He hung up. “Geez, she’s still a human being. Stupid emergency services.”

  He ran over to help his colleague place her body onto the stretcher. “Is she still alive?”

  “Let me have a look. Her seizures are settling down, and yes, I do discern a faint heartbeat and a pulse.” He tucked her hand back by her side.

  “OK, on three, let’s lift her. We’ll meet the ambulance outside.”

  “What a shame. She hasn’t even had her trial yet.”

  “Well, it could be a good thing. I heard she was going to get at least six. It’s not so great being in prison when you’re her age.”

  The two guards lifted the stretcher and headed down the cellblock to the exit. As they were carrying the stretcher, the prisoner’s eyes opened. They glowed a bright green.

  Chapter 1

  ________________________________________

  “Hi, Jay! It’s so good to see you again.” Jane was dressed in an elaborate business suit that likely cost a few grand. She strut around the City Hall lobby, proud of her accomplishments.

  “Wow, Jane. Nice job.” Sergeant Jay Bourne walked up and down the hall with her. “You’d never know there had been a zombie massacre here, just a few weeks ago.”

  “Well, a bit of paint hides even the worst crimes.” She giggled.

  “What the?” said Jay, peering into the display case near the entrance. “Why haven’t you gotten rid of this monstrosity yet?”

  “What are you talking about, Jay?” she asked, walking over to have a look. “Hell! Marta was supposed to get rid of that damn thing. I’ll have to have a little chat with her.”

  “You do that,” he replied. “That thing is creepy as fu—” His radio went off. He pressed the button. “Yeah? OK, I’ll call them.”

  “Who is it?” she asked, being unable to discern the mangled sounds of the radio or the codes.

  “Some disturbance at the prison to the south, apparently.”

  Jane smirked. “Well, you go and have your fun. I’ll still be here when you get back.”

  Jay looked at her. Then she started to laugh. She knew he didn’t like being told what to do.

  “Fine, Jane. We’ll have coffee or something during the week.”

  “Let’s do that,” she said. She watched as he left the building. “Now, where is Marta? Oh, there you are. Marta. I explicitly told you to remove that mask and burn it.”

  Marta stood holding a file folder in her hand. She looked confused. “Sorry, Jane. That mask? I tossed it in the trash can.”

  Jane walked into her office. “But it’s back in the display case.”

  “What are you talking about?” Marta walked past her and out into the hallway. She strode up to the case. “What? That’s odd. I wonder if the janitor saw it in the trash and put it back?”

  Jane followed after her. “I don’t know, but do it properly this time, please.”

  “I’m on it. I’ll go grab the key.”

  Jane sighed, and then shivered. That mask was too creepy.

  zzz

  The teens were back in Stewart’s living room.

  “Wow. That was a crazy two months,” said Charlie, chief zombie slayer in the group. She carefully selected a can of diet soda from the table.

  “Tell me about it,” said Zan, rolling her eyes. Then they were back looking at her smartphone.

  Owen sighed. “It’s been quiet for two weeks now.”

  Stewart, their mentor, smiled. “Don’t get too comfortable. As long as Dr. Arora’s soul is on the rampage, and there are more injectables out there, Portland is still at risk.”

  Zan dropped her phone on the table and sat up. “You know what we should do?”

  Everyone looked at her. “We should search her house.”

  Everyone groaned.

  “Come on, Zan. We already did that,” said Charlie.

  “I’m not doing it,” said Owen.

  Stewart listened, nodding his head in agreement. “OK, folks, here’s the thing. As long as Dr. Arora is on the loose, she could still be going back to her house whenever she wants.”

  “Maybe there should be surveillance on her house?” asked Owen.

  Stewart shook his
head. “No one is going to pay for that. I can ask Bourne to rig some sort of video camera in the front and back, but she’d just see them and yank them out.”

  “But I thought there were some tiny cameras? They could be hidden?” asked Zan.

  Stewart shook his head again. “Those have a really limited range. They’re not as great as you think.”

  Zan sighed.

  “Anyway, moving along, I have some bad news.”

  The teens looked up at him.

  “Unfortunately, Philly, I mean Philomena or whatever the hell her name really is, has succumbed to her bullet wounds in the hospital.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Charlie.

  “Oh. I’m sorry, Stewart. It means she’s dead,” said Owen to the others.

  “I’m fine, really. I got over it. It wasn’t meant to be. I’m not going to mope when she deceived all of us by pretending to be related to Dr. Arora, and then tried to kill me,” said Stewart.

  Charlie frowned. “I still feel bad about that. It was like you had some happiness, for a few weeks anyway.”

  “Say, it looks like you finally got that alarm system installed.” Owen had a look at the ceiling.

  “Yes, and I did it without the approval of the landlord. They can’t complain after what I’ve been through,” said Stewart. “Anyway, I think it’s a good idea to do another search of Dr. Arora’s house. You may just find something else.”

  “I’m out,” said Owen. “I have no desire to continue a life of breaking and entering.” He laughed.

  “I’m in,” said Zan. “Will you help out again?” she asked Charlie.

  Charlie knew full well that Zan had no idea how to pick a lock. “Hmm. Let’s see. Should I?” said Charlie, dragging out her answer, while Zan looked on in annoyance. “Yes!” she finally said.

  “Good. Let’s do it in a few days.”

  “Sounds great,” said Stewart, wincing a bit as he switched positions in his chair.

  “How are you doing?” asked Charlie. “Has the bullet wound healed up yet?”

  “Thanks for asking,” he replied. “It’s still a bit stiff, but getting there. I have two more sessions of physical therapy, so let’s hope that’s enough. Otherwise, I’ll have to get insurance to OK a few more sessions.”