by Gayle Katz
“Wait, I’m coming with you,” said Zan.
“OK, Owen and Mike, get this camp back in order,” instructed Charlie.
“On it,” said Mike.
“I’m going to haul this load to the school bus,” said Owen.
Zan followed after Charlie. “I wonder where Allan is?”
“Don’t know, but let’s get this checked out,” said Charlie.
The first-aid cabin was up ahead. The two girls quietly snuck up to it. The door was closed. Charlie went up to one window, motioning Zan to check out the other window.
“I can’t see anything,” she whispered back at her.
“That’s because it’s empty,” Charlie whispered back, wondering why they were being so quiet when there wasn’t anyone inside.
Charlie walked up to the door and opened it. “Nope, no one here. It appears that nothing has been touched.”
“That means they didn’t make it back here,” Zan said.
“Nope.”
Charlie closed the door and then looked around. “Stewart can’t get here fast enough with that dagger.”
“Any chance he can speed it up?” asked Zan.
“I’ll try,” she said, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. “Don’t go far,” she commanded, as she watched Zan wandering around.
“No signal. Darn it! I’ll have to go back to the beach.” She put her phone back in her pocket.
“Yuck!” yelled Zan. Charlie raced over to the bushes where she was standing.
Sam was on the ground, almost completely disemboweled. Zan took out her dagger and ran it through her head. “There. Should we be getting rid of the bodies?” she asked.
“Let’s just tuck them into the bushes for now so no one else is alarmed,” said Charlie. “When and if the police arrive, they’ll find them and deal with them then. Should have done this with the others. It would keep the civilians from panicking and freaking out, at least for a short time.”
“OK, so, Tonia is actually a zombie. But she must still be hungry because she ate her victim instead of biting and turning her.”
“Right,” said Charlie. “That might mean that there aren’t too many others out here.”
“Help! Help! Help!” yelled a voice in the distance.
The girls raced away from the first-aid building and back to the campsite. It had been considerably tidied up. But right in the middle, there was a girl on top of Mike. She was biting his neck.
“Hey, you sure that’s a zombie and not a vampire?” asked Zan.
“No such thing as vampires,” said Charlie, running in.
Both Zan and Charlie plunged their daggers into the zombie girl’s head, to little effect. She merely let go of Mike’s throat. Mike was already gone.
The girl peered into Charlie’s eyes. One of her eyes glowed green, a colored contact lens sticking out of the corner. The other eye was a normal blue color.
“Give it up,” the zombie girl said. “Soon, the world will be mine!”
“Don’t think so,” said Charlie, tossing her backpack on the ground and pulling out a larger blade. She swung it wide. It connected with flesh, muscle, and bone. Tonia’s head lulled forward, only connected by a bit of gristle and tendons.
Charlie went in for one more cut, but right before her eyes she watched as the girl regenerated her muscles and bones. It took seconds. Her head was back where it should be.
“Whoa!” said Zan. “I knew that could happen but never seen it in person before.”
Charlie smiled. “It is rather amazing, isn’t it? However, we have a problem.”
Zan ran forward and quickly dispatched Mike before he could turn. “Sorry, Mike,” she said.
“Damn,” said Charlie. “That guy had a sick mom and a sister.”
“Everyone’s family is messed up,” said Zan, warily watching Tonia.
“So, you are Tonia?” asked Charlie.
“Yesssss,” the zombie leader said. Since her body had to momentarily regenerate itself, she had slowed down considerably. She didn’t even notice as Zan pulled rope out of her backpack and tied her to the nearest tree.
“Smart,” said Charlie. “I didn’t think of that. You should be on my team.”
“I am on your team,” Zan said. The girls smiled at each other.
“OK, I’m going to hide this guy.” Zan pulled the body behind the bushes.
Behind them were some stomping sounds. A man rushed into the clearing. “Oh thank god, you girls are all right.” It was Principal Allan.
“Well, we are, but Mike and Sam didn’t make it,” explained Charlie.
“That’s sad,” the Principal said. “I’ve put most of the students onto the bus and they are on the way out of here. I did have the sense to check them for cuts and bites before they departed, as the last thing we need is for them to turn and infect the city.”
“Great,” said Charlie. “Say, was Ben on that bus?”
“Yes, he was.”
“Good. That’s something anyway.”
“So, I counted all of the students on the bus plus the remaining teachers,” said the principal.
“OK, so that leaves me, Zan, Owen—wait, was Owen on the bus?”
“No, he chose to stay behind,” said Allan.
“What about camp personnel?” asked Zan.
“They’re fine. I’ve instructed them to go home,” said Allan.
“Isn’t it a bit odd that there are so many people here and yet no one is batting an eye that zombies are real?” asked Charlie.
“Well, this is Oregon after all,” said Zan.
“Yes, I know what zombies are, thanks. And yes, this is Oregon where creatures naturally like to congregate. Oh, nice job by the way of subduing the zleader. However, her strength will soon improve and she’ll be too strong for those bonds,” said Principal Allan.
“How do you know—?” Charlie asked.
“Not now. I’ll explain later,” Allan replied.
Zan went over and tied more rope around her body. “This should give us another hour.”
“So, what’s next then?” asked Charlie.
“Say, where is Owen? He really shouldn’t be wandering around outside by himself. I know he’s growing more confident in his fighting, but he still doesn’t have our experience.”
“I’d send him a text, but my phone isn’t working,” explained Charlie.
“That’s odd,” said Zan. “My phone was working here earlier when we set up camp.”
Principal Allan checked his phone, but he couldn’t get a signal either.
“Oh, thank god! There you are! I didn’t think I would find you guys!” said Owen, entering the clearing.
“We were just about to send out a posse to find you,” said Charlie.
“Well, I could have just gone back to the city, but I decided to find you guys instead.”
“Right. What’s next?” asked Charlie.
“Ahhh!” screamed Zan. “Get her off me!” She was fighting Tonia. Tonia rushed in and bit Zan on the shoulder. She must have escaped the ropes. Zan punched her in the face. Tonia backed off, and then went barreling into Principal Allan, Charlie, and Owen. They tried to block her, but she knocked them over and raced away.
“Dammit!” said Charlie. “We should have been watching better.”
“Quick! Let’s get her to my car. I have an anti-serum that will at least slow down the process.” They propped Zan up and began the trek to Allan’s vehicle.
“I think once we get this done, we should head back to the city,” said Principal Allan.
“But what about Tonia?” asked Charlie. “Shouldn’t we go after her first? Or the other student or zombie?”
“Tonia isn’t going to make the mistake of hanging around here, especially when she knows we’re out to hunt her. I think she’s heading back to Portland,” explained Principal Allan.
“That’s great,” said Charlie. “But I need to reach Stewart, as he has something I need.” She tried to call him again, but the pho
ne still had no reception.
The group raced back to Principal Allan’s car. He used his fob to unlock it, and then opened up the trunk. Inside was a sizeable first-aid kit. He quickly popped the latch to open it up. What looked like a vaccine bottle was off to the side. He quickly grabbed a syringe and the bottle. He unwrapped the syringe, flicked off the plastic cap, and inserted it into the bottle.
While he was doing that, Owen leaned Zan up against the side of the car while Charlie opened the doors of the car and got it started up.
“How do you feel?” asked Owen.
“Brain dead,” said Zan. “So, this is what it feels like. And darn it, the bite is so close to my head. If she had bitten my hand, I would have just chopped it off.”
“Don’t worry. Allan has something to slow down the process,” he said, rolling up her sleeve.
“OK, folks, hold her down. This is going to hurt a bit,” he said. Owen held the zombie slayer down.
Principal Allan held the large syringe in his hand. He plunged it down into her left shoulder.
“Arrghh,” Zan cried, trying not to scream.
“OK, that’s done.” Principal Allan put the cap back on the syringe and put it into a disposables box inside his vehicle.
Owen pulled her sleeve back down again. “So, what does that actually do?”
“It stops the zombie virus from reaching her brain,” said Principal Allan.
“For how long?” asked Charlie from the interior of the vehicle.
Principal Allan sighed, and then paused. “Quite honestly, it’s only a temporary fix until we can get her to her family to say goodbye.”
A tear ran down Zan’s face. This was the first time anyone had seen vulnerability in her.
“OK, let’s go,” said Allan.
Charlie quickly looked at her phone again, waiting for the others to get in the vehicle. “Hey, I have service,” she said.
“Don’t come,” she texted Stewart. “Z disaster at camp. We’re coming back to the city.”
“OK,” he texted back. “But city is quarantined. No one in or out. Outbreak.”
“Damn!” she said. “Bad news. We can’t get back into the city. It’s closed off due to an outbreak.”
“Will try to get the dagger to you somehow,” Stewart texted again.
By now everyone was in the car and buckled up. Charlie pulled the car out of the parking lot.
“Say,” Principal Allan started to speak. “There might be another idea.”
“What is it?” Owen asked, as he checked the wound on Zan’s shoulder. It actually appeared to be healing over.
“Well, I’m not an expert, but there are other outcomes besides her dying,” he said.
“Oh, you mean letting her turn?” asked Charlie.
Chapter 9
________________________________________
The group was in the car, driving as close as they could to Portland. Charlie drove the vehicle, with Principal Allan in the passenger seat. Owen sat in the back seat with Zan, who appeared to be slowly turning.
“Pee yew!” said Owen. “Something in the vehicle smells.”
“Well, that’s normal,” said Allan.
“Hey, her eyes are turning green. Is that normal, even with the vaccine?” asked Charlie, keeping an eye on Zan in the rearview mirror.
“Yes, but we should see some signs of reversal in a few minutes. Then she should have a couple of hours after that. Otherwise, she’ll need another dose.”
“Can we just keep on giving her the vaccine again and again?” asked Owen.
He shook his head. “Nope, sadly that won’t work after the first couple.”
“So, what was your other idea?” asked Charlie.
“Well, two things here,” he said. “One is as you suggested, let her turn and not worry about it. The other two options are related.” He paused.
“So, what are they?” asked Owen, pulling his t-shirt up over his nostrils so he didn’t have to smell the stench.
Charlie seemed unaffected. She was a zlayer after all.
“Well, if we let her turn, then kill off the other zleader, that will mean she’s in our court,” he said.
“What? How would that even work? Once a zombie, always a zombie.”
“Not necessarily,” said Allan. “The only reason the other zleaders have been against us is because they’ve always turned in private. Kind of due to embarrassment.”
“So, we keep her locked up and hang out with her?” asked Owen.
“Exactly. Though this is just a theory,” he said.
“So, you want to turn our friend into a zleader?” Charlie pondered the thought. “It could just work. Just imagine, we’d have all the remaining zombies pouring in. We could kill them off, then be done with this forever.”
“Right,” Allan said. “But there is one more thing.”
The students stared at him.
“It’s possible that Zan will have some immunity to zombie bites,” said Principal Allan.
“Wait a minute, how would you know that?” asked Charlie.
“Just some history,” said Allan. “There have been cases, or so it’s been said, that some zlayers are immune.”
“That’s great,” said Charlie. “All this time I’ve been worried about being bitten and I didn’t have to be!”
“Well, don’t get too confident. It’s just a theory,” said Allan. “And there may be spells associated with that immunity.”
“Wait a minute,” said Owen. “How do you know so much about zombie slaying anyway?”
“Well, isn’t it evident?” said Zan, perking up. Her eyes were glowing green, but her skin had returned to its normal healthy pink coloring. “He’s a mentor.”
“What?” said Charlie. “Who are you mentoring?”
There was silence for a few seconds. “Sadly, my zlayer student got killed about two years ago. I haven’t been mentoring anyone for a while now,” explained Allan.
The car slowed down, and then stopped.
“Hey, why are we stopping?” asked Owen.
“Not certain,” said Charlie. “There appears to be a closure ahead.”
“Hey, where are you?” Charlie texted to Stewart.
“Can’t get out of the city,” he texted back.
“Great. Stewart is stuck inside the city.”
There appeared to be several long winding rows of vehicles trying to get into the city. On the other side, many vehicles were heading out, but at least it wasn’t blocked. As they waited, they saw a police officer, wearing a bright fluorescent orange and yellow vest, walking down between the lanes of traffic. At regular intervals, he’d stop and chat with some of the vehicles’ drivers. Some of them he directed to turn around. The median was flat grass, so it was easy enough to do a U-turn and get onto the other side of the freeway.
Finally, the cop reached their vehicle. Charlie rolled down the window. “What’s up?” she asked. “We’re coming back from a school camping trip and need to get home to our parents.”
“Hi there, folks. Unfortunately, we have a confirmed zombie outbreak in the city. I’m here to inform you that it’s not safe. You’re far safer out here. Do you have any relatives you can visit until it’s over?”
Overhead, several helicopters flew, each touring the perimeter. Occasionally, one would lower to the ground and shots would be fired.
“Wait a minute, how did this happen when Tonia was with us?” asked Owen quietly.
“She must have bitten some folks back in the city before we left on our trip,” whispered Allan. “So, officer, are we allowed into the city or not?”
The officer frowned. “You are, but it’s at your own peril.”
“Thank you, officer,” said Allan.
Charlie rolled the window back up. By now, they were the next car in the queue. Ahead of them was clear sailing. Some vehicles had decided to go on ahead, while others drove onto the grass and made U-turns out.
“OK, what’s the plan then?” asked Charlie
.
“Well, we go in and fight,” said Principal Allan. “Is everyone in?”
“Wait. We’re going back into Portland. What about Tonia?” asked Charlie.
Allan smiled. “Don’t worry. Like I said before, I’m a hundred percent confident that she’s heading back to the big city too.”
Charlie pulled out her phone again. She texted to Stewart. “We’re back in the city now. We’ll meet you at the school and plan our attack.”
“Excellent,” he texted back. “I’ve just accessed a big store of weapons under the school.”
“Really?” she texted. “Principal Allan is going to be pissed.” She smiled.
zzz
It was a cumbersome drive back to Portland High School. They had to stop the car and take turns driving a few times so Charlie or Allan could jump out and kill a zombie or two.
“I don’t understand why the infection is so fast,” said Charlie. “I haven’t seen anything like this before. Usually, it’s gradual, over several months.”
“I have a feeling that something has sped it up. Not sure what, though,” said Allan. “Does Stewart have the spell book?”
“Yes, he does, but he’s very protective of it and usually keeps it hidden.”
“I understand,” he said. “I actually had a copy, but someone destroyed it. I’ve had to rely on my memory ever since then.”
“That’s sucks,” commented Charlie. “We can make a copy of it for you,” she suggested.
“That would be fantastic,” he said.
The car made it to the school. Allan parked it in the back, in the teachers’ parking area.
“OK, everyone be careful,” he said, as they exited the car.
They headed to the back entrance of the school. Principal Allan carefully opened the door. Out jumped three zombies.
Everyone quickly backed away, but soon Charlie, Zan, and Allan had their daggers out. The zombies were quickly dispatched.
“Hey, you can still fight,” commented Charlie to Zan.
“Yeah. I actually feel more confident. Like I can understand them or something,” she explained.
“OK, keep an eye out,” said Allan. “Let’s go find Stewart, as we need to see that book and find out what the heck is going on.”
