The Zee Brothers: Halloween Holocaust: Zombie Exterminators Vol.3

by Grivante

  The dead in front experienced a gooey, squishy death as the drum smashed into them. From the rear, two of the fast ones still jumped and clawed at the heavy equipment.

  “I can’t get a clear shot,” Judas said.

  Jonah gasped, clutching at the canopy column to keep himself on the bucking ride. He scanned the neighborhood, trying to spot where JJ had seen Xanadu but the whole world jostled while the roller continued its onslaught of flattening death to those unfortunate souls of the dead. He surveyed ahead, realizing the roller’s course and shouted out a command. “Hold on!”

  The massive Caterpillar tandem steamroller crushed the last of the slow-moving zombies in its path and then plowed straight into the brothers’ rental car. The force of the impact knocked everyone off balance. Jonah’s head smacked into the support column, making him wish he still had the stupid mask on to protect his skull. Beside him, he watched helplessly as Judas lost his grip and fell from the vehicle.

  “No!” Jonah cried out, watching his brother fall.

  In the front, JJ had barely regained her wits after being knocked onto the controls when the jarring impact bounced her back and forth between the security bars and Burt. He became pinned by her in the seat.

  The screech of metal and shattering glass from the collapsing car echoed off the houses creating a cacophony of carnage.

  JJ’s hands swung as if she were swatting at bees, searching for the big red emergency stop button every roller had. By the time her purple mitts found it, the construction vehicle was parked on top of the shattered Prius.

  Judas slammed into the concrete on his back, the thick costume saving him from breaking anything but getting the wind knocked out of him all the same. He was glad, even as he struggled for breath, that he no longer chewed tobacco, he would have swallowed it and he knew too well how that scenario ends.

  The roller settled atop the small car, filling the air with the groans of stressed metal. Judas could hear his brother shouting over it, but couldn’t make out what he was saying due to his own ears ringing. He sat up, gasping to draw oxygen into his lungs, then he saw what Jonah was yelling about.

  Two of the remaining cocaine-crazed zombies came straight for him. Their jaws chittering like madmen as they ran. The one in front wore a red cap, a big white beard, a tight red jumpsuit and the blue painted skin of Papa Smurf. The other was the female wearing the ugly Christmas sweater, she had pants on that resembled gold-colored garland.

  Judas grasped inside the arm of his costume for his gun, but couldn't find it anywhere. It must’ve fallen out when he slammed into the ground. He swayed on wobbly legs, searching the concrete for it. The roar of Brutus blasted as Jonah fired his last bullet, dropping Papa Smurf in an explosion of fleshy gore with a shot through the back of the head.

  Judas could do little more than throw up his padded arms to block the assault of Mrs. Ugly Sweater and keep her from getting at his face. He looked up as the creature collided with him, knocking him down and leaving him gasping for breath. Behind them, he saw the giant form of Po leaping off the roller.

  Jonah slammed into the ugly-sweater wearing woman, sending her sprawling onto the pavement, then diving on top of her to hold her down. She struggled and gnashed her teeth at him, but he kept the suit's large arm against the back of her neck, smashing her face into the concrete.

  “You ok, bro?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Judas nodded, wheezing, still unable to breathe more than shallow gasps. “No bite.”

  Behind them, he heard JJ’s voice. “I’m coming!”

  She rushed up beside them, the barrel of her pink revolver sticking out the hole at the end of the costume’s arm. “I got this one!”

  Jonah sat up and gave JJ an unobstructed shot.

  Blam!

  The final drug-fueled zombie dropped dead for good.

  Jonah stayed on all fours above her, struggling to catch his breath as adrenaline surged through his veins. He watched JJ help Judas to his feet. This had been a close call. He stood, looking back at the trail of blood and crushed body parts lining the street. They’d rolled out the red carpet to hell. A handful of still-moving corpses whose heads hadn't been squished pulled their way through the slick mess toward them.

  He scanned from the top of the carnage-laden path, counting and making a note of how many they needed to dispatch once they’d had a moment to regroup. He silently thanked the fact that clean-up was not in his job description. Seven. His eyes ended at the rear drum of the construction vehicle and he spotted Burt stepping down from atop the crushed Prius. Jonah’s stomach filled with dread. He hadn’t liked the guy, but knowing anyone that was bitten made it that much harder. “Dammit,” he muttered as he walked back toward where Judas and JJ stood, supporting each other.

  “Just breathe in deep, sugar,” she coaxed.

  Judas wheezed, short breaths, his face fed and perspiring.

  “How many shots do you have left, Judas?” Jonah asked as he walked up.

  Judas shook his head and held up the dirty and blasted right arm of the costume. “I don’t know. My gun fell out somewhere when I hit the ground.”

  “I’ve got two in the Pink Lady,” JJ said, glancing around for any sign of Judas’s weapon. She caught sight of Burt wandering drunkenly near the wreckage.

  “Ok. We’ll need to check if we can salvage anything from the Prius, there’s sure to be some straggl—”

  “Oh no,” JJ said, a hand covering her mouth. “Has he turned?”

  Jonah glanced over at Burt. “No. I don’t think so. Not yet.”

  Judas’s eyes widened and he took in a deep breath. “Burt’s bit?”

  “Yeah,” Jonah nodded, “happened when that fast one got up on the roller. Bit him on the neck.”

  JJ broke away from them and walked to Burt.

  “Hey,” she called out, “you still with us?” She gripped her revolver tight in her hand.

  Burt’s head snapped around to look at her, his eyes wet and wide as he released a long ragged breath. “Yeah… for the moment.”

  She smiled at him, walking closer. “You saved us.”

  “Did I?” he glanced at the destroyed car.

  “Yeah, you did.” She put a large purple arm on his back. “Thank you, Burt.”

  “I guess sometimes, when you’ve got nothing left to lose, you can do anything.”

  Judas regained his breath and pointed to where a lone straggler came staggering up the road from behind JJ’s Charger.

  “Shit. Ok, time to start taking care of the loose ends.” Jonah said and moved away. “See if you can find your gun. I’ll keep him away from Burt and JJ.”

  “Okay, bro.” Judas looked around, searching for his lost weapon.

  Jonah lumbered over to the zombie, an old man in red and black flannel pajama bottoms, no top, his chest covered with oozing bite marks. Jonah wished he’d had time to get out of the bulky costume, but for now, he decided to use it to his advantage and shoved the thick padded right arm into the zombie’s face. He used his left arm to push the man back, then looked to find Judas stumbling around in a daze. He obviously hadn’t found his gun yet.

  “Hey beautiful,” he shouted at JJ, grinning. “Can I borrow one of those bullets you’ve got left?” He nodded his head toward the zombie.

  “You got it, sugar!” She smiled back at him and stepped away from Burt who swayed like a drunk.

  They heard it before they saw it, the rumble of the van’s engine as it tore down the road toward them.

  Burt looked up at its dark shape and bright headlights barreling in their direction and spotted the open side door with a gun-toting man leaning out. Burt lunged forward, putting JJ behind him as the weapon fired.

  The staccato of the machine gun blast brought Jonah spinning around in time to watch the bullets tear into Burt. The yellow costume stained red with small holes appearing across the chest. Burt fell back, knocking he and JJ to the ground.

  The van slowed and the gun turned to Jonah. He twis
ted the zombie around, using it as a shield and thrust it forward into the hail of bullets. They pierced the dead man’s body and Jonah fell back, rolling to the pavement.

  Judas, who had been between the wreckage of the Prius and the Charger stood unshielded as the man took aim at him. Shots thumped into the chest of his costume, throwing him backward like a can used for target practice.

  JJ screamed, seeing Judas fall. She pulled herself out from under Burt’s motionless form and raised the Pink Lady.

  The van had stopped now, the shooter swinging the rifle around to where Jonah lay. Shrouded in darkness next to the man, JJ spied the woman she’d seen grabbing Xanadu earlier, grinning out at the massacre.

  JJ spat a curse and fired. The shot hit the man with the gun in the shoulder and flung him back, the automatic rifle falling from his grasp and clacking to the pavement.

  The woman in the chair stared at JJ with wide eyes as the pink revolver swung in her direction. “Go!” she growled at the driver and the van lurched forward.

  JJ’s final shot thunked into the van's rear window, its tires screeching as it tore away. She rolled over and sprang to her feet, movement from across the street catching her eye.

  Xanadu ran from underneath a bush on the far side of the neighboring yard, a small form skittering behind him. A sense of relief flooded JJ and she ran to meet him.

  They connected in the middle of the road where the van had been, JJ bent low and swooped him into her arms. The little leather coat wearing Chihuahua yapping at her feet. She kissed Xanadu’s face. “Hang on lil' buddy, Momma’s had enough.”

  She launched him into the air and shouted his name.

  “Xanadooooooo!”

  Then, she bent to the ground, picked up the fallen automatic rifle the thug had dropped, and turned toward the escaping van.

  The disco music came to life, bright colored lights filled the sky and JJ raised the gun. The van rounded the far corner, seeming to stretch as time slowed.

  JJ fired, emptying what remained in the magazine and watching as bullets poked holes in the van, hoping she hit the bitch. As soon as the rifle clicked empty, she dropped it and looked up to where Xanadu floated down to her.

  The van screeched and lurched as the music faded, but kept moving, disappearing from sight. She caught Xanadu and hugged him close. “You had Momma worried!” He licked the stream of tears on her cheeks. A mixture of relief and dread filling her as she spun to see the destruction that remained. At her feet, the small Chihuahua barked, hopping excitedly.

  Part XVIII - The Quiet Aftermath

  For a neighborhood that had been alive with partiers a mere hour before and filled with hungering dead just minutes ago, the hush of absolute death covered them like a wet blanket.

  Jonah staggered to where Judas lay in the fetal position, coughing and gasping for air, lips coated with blood. “Judas! Judas!” he called out kneeling at his brother’s side.

  JJ stared after the disappearing van, gritting her teeth and cursing until a groan caused her to spin around. She found Burt’s crumpled, bullet-riddled body and, behind him, the red and green shapes of her boys huddled together on the ground. She let out a wail and set Xanadu at her feet.

  Judas’s eyes flickered as he wheezed through bloodied lips. He squinted to make out his brother’s face.

  “Are you shot?” Jonah asked.

  Judas blinked. “Shot? Yes, but I think…” he groaned, “all in the chest… in the armor.”

  JJ ran up and fell to her knees beside them. “Are you okay?” She reached out and wiped the blood from his lips as he nodded yes, between gasps for breath.

  “Gonna be sore tomorrow,” Judas coughed.

  “For days, more like,” Jonah said.

  Seeing they were still alive and going to survive for the moment, JJ felt relief, but questions roiled in her brain. She turned to Jonah. “Who was in that van? They tried to take Xanadu!” Tears continued running in rivulets down her cheeks.

  “They what?” Jonah asked her, his eyebrow’s raising.

  “I saw them, Jonah. When we were on the roller. A woman and those thugs, she had my baby in her hands. That’s when I yelled his name.”

  “I don’t know,” Jonah shook his head. “Maybe they witnessed what he could do when we escaped Burt’s and they tried to steal him.”

  “But who are they, Jonah? Who are these people controlling the dead and wanting to steal my dog?” She crossed her arms and new tears sprang as she released her fear.

  “I don’t know. It was a big corporation. She had lots of employees that worked for her. Someone must’ve continued her research.”

  “Her?” JJ spat, through her now blubbering tears. “There was a 'her' in that van. What makes you so certain it wasn’t the same her that you two don’t want to talk about?”

  Jonah leaned back and took a deep breath, “I can’t…” When JJ’s face soured, the realization that now was the time to come clean dawned on him, but before he could continue, movement from close by caught his attention, followed by both Xanadu and the little Chihuahua barking.

  “Judas,” he knocked an arm against his brother, “Burt was bitten. We have to…” He shook his head, sighing. “Plus, there are seven crawlers in the…” he waved in the direction of the gore-strewn path the roller had left. “We need to deal with them and then sweep the neighborhood.” He held out a hand and helped him to his feet.

  “Ok, bro,” Judas stared at Burt and exhaled, spitting blood to the pavement. “I got it.” In truth, he was glad to be getting away from JJ and her line of questioning. He wobbled over to the remains of the Prius where the smashed trunk stood partly open on one side. He maneuvered his hand through the blasted hole in his costume’s arm and dug around in the trunk until he found something solid. He gripped the object and pulled out a small metal tire iron. “This’ll work.” He circled the car to sneak around behind Burt.

  Jonah turned to JJ, both of them standing now. “Will you help me out of this suit? I’ll tell you what happened once we clean things up here. We’ll get ‘em, honey. We’ll make sure they don’t come after Xanadu again.” He offered her reassurance.

  Burt groaned as he stumbled toward Jonah and JJ. Judas approached from the rear, clutching at his chest and still gasping for breath. As he neared, Burt heard him and spun, toppling over in the bulky suit.

  Judas wanted to laugh and cry. Sometimes the dead were such a mess it was almost comical, like Larry, but when it was someone you knew… his head sagged. Burt wasn’t anyone he knew anymore. He put his costumed foot on Burt’s neck, holding his head in place and rammed the long end of the tire iron through the dead man’s ear hole. Burt’s body went still with a shudder that ran all the way through Judas.

  “Dammit,” he muttered. “Sometimes this job sucks. I’m sorry, Burt.” He stepped away from his former co-worker and trudged up the street to exterminate the half-dozen mashed corpses that lined the bloody pavement. He’d never witnessed carnage such as this before. The road to hell, he thought… paved with zombie pancakes.

  JJ unzipped the back of Jonah’s blood-soaked costume and helped him out of it. “We oughta burn these,” she said. “If a little kid sees them, they’ll be scarred for life.”

  “If a kid saw any of this, they’ll be scarred for life,” Jonah sighed. “The only positive is that underneath the suit, my clothes are still clean.”

  “Why do you think they did it?” She turned so that Jonah could unzip her suit. When he didn’t reply right away, she added. “Why kill all these people, I mean?”

  Jonah bit his lip. Why did she have a way of asking questions he didn’t want to answer? “My best guess is they were testing something, trying to make sure they got it working. If they’re ready.” A lump formed in his stomach as he watched JJ's mostly naked form stepping out of her purple costume. Her flesh glistened with a sheen of sweat in the light of the lamp post, distracting him from his darkening thoughts.

  “Ready?” JJ turned to look at him. �
�You think they’re prepared to try whatever this Dr. Nitsau was going to do?”

  “Yeah. I’m afraid so,” Jonah nodded.

  “You mean a full-scale zombie apocalypse?”

  “Yep.” Jonah stared after his brother, who was offing the last of the squished dead. A long sigh escaped his mouth and he closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. When he opened them again, JJ had gone. He found her standing at the trunk of her Charger, tossing clothes around until she pulled out a black leather skirt and slipped it on.

  “We’ll have to put Larry back here.” She watched as Jonah strolled over, then returned her gaze to her mess of a trunk. "I need to find a shirt."

  Behind them, Judas walked up, bloody tire iron in hand. He stopped, watching as JJ slid a tight-fitting t-shirt over her shoulders. When he caught the mix of tears and fire in her eyes, he looked to Jonah. “It’s all clear out there, bro. How about here?”

  “Thanks, Judas.” Jonah gave him an awkward smile. “Let’s get you out of that costume, then we'll make a sweep of the neighborhood and look for stragglers. As for JJ, it’s time we tell her everything.”

  Judas’s face paled and he swallowed with an audible gulp. “Everything?”

  “Yeah,” Jonah nodded. “We can’t keep secrets from her, not about this.” He waved his arms at the chaos around them. “Not anymore.”

  Part XIX - Everybody's Got Secrets

  The brothers departed to check out the neighborhood, leaving JJ sitting on the sidewalk with the dogs as she smoked a cigarette.

  “So, who’s your new friend?” she asked Xanadu, then plucked up the leather coat wearing Chihuahua. “Nice collar,” she smirked, seeing the spikes on it. She noticed a tag hanging from it and used the flashlight on her phone to read the name and a phone number.

  “Jefe’, huh? Well, let’s call this number and see if we can find your home.” She dialed and waited.

  A phone rang not too far away and JJ got up to look around. It sounded like… she set the pup on the ground and walked the steamroller's trail of horrors. The dogs padded behind her until she neared the source of the ringing, then Jefe’ ran ahead, sniffing the flattened remains. The dog whimpered.