Zombie Slayer Box Set 1

by Gayle Katz

  “I fell through the stupid floor,” said Zan.

  “Yikes, you OK?”

  “Fine. I’m trying to find a way out.”

  “Why don’t you stay put?” said Owen. “Charlie has some rope in her bag.”

  “OK, but I’d like to get a look in this next room.”

  “Sure. But don’t go far.”

  Zan powered down her phone and put it away. She turned her attention back to the mysterious room to investigate further. All she could see was pitch-black darkness so she shined her light into every corner of the room, slowly panning from side to side. The room was the same, with at least six inches of water. Underneath, it appeared to be sand and debris. If there had ever been any flooring in place, it was long gone.

  She decided to hop into the room, creating a small splashing sound when she hit the floor. The room appeared to be filled in with bricks on all four sides. She gathered that this would have been the basement originally. Chances are they had to deal with the water in the basement back in the day too.

  “Well, waste of time,” she said, turning back.

  But while Zan had searched the room, she hadn’t thought to look in the dark space directly beneath the window. A zombie jumped out at her.

  “Oh crap!” she shouted, dropping her flashlight to grab her dagger.

  Chapter 13

  ________________________________________

  Charlie and Owen dragged the zombie body back into the small room.

  “Wow, look at that,” said Owen, pointing at the body.

  Right before their eyes, the body quickly disintegrated. Soon it was nothing more than a pile of rotten debris.

  “Wow, that’s crazy,” said Charlie. “I’m guessing that super-old zombies decay at a much faster rate once we kill them with the dagger.”

  “Well, that makes our job much easier.”

  They left the small room, and then closed the door. Charlie had to use her pin again to move the lock back into locking position.

  “OK, let’s go find Zan,” said Charlie, putting her brooch back on.

  They headed to the main underground hallway. Just then, Owen’s phone rang.

  “It’s Zan,” he said, whispering to her. “Yeah?” he asked. “Where are you? We’re looking for you.” He paused. “Yikes, you OK? Why don’t you stay put?” said Owen. “Charlie has some rope in her bag.” Owen paused again. “Sure. But don’t go far.” He hung up.

  “It seems that Zan has gotten herself into some trouble. She said she fell through the floor. I guess we have to be careful, as the floorboards may be rotting.”

  Charlie looked down at the hall flooring. “I guess that’s why they confine the tour to the hallway and main rooms and don’t let people into the back rooms. Just be careful.”

  They quickly found the sign that said TELLER’S CAGE.

  “I don’t see any way in, except to climb into the cage.”

  “Let’s do it,” said Owen.

  Charlie pulled the rope away from the post and let it drop to the ground. She walked into the small metal box. It was open on two sides so she walked straight through to the other side.

  “Hey, be careful! That’s probably around where Zan fell through.”

  “I will.” She aimed her flashlight at the floor in front of her. The room was small, about the size of a bathroom. Right in the middle of the floor was a small hole with rotting and jagged floorboards sticking out. “Found it. Hey, Zan, can you hear me?”

  Charlie stepped forward, with Owen right behind her. She knelt down in front of the hole and shined her light down. “I see some water down there,” she commented. “Hello? Zan?” she called, but there was no response.

  “Maybe she’s somewhere else?” Owen suggested. “We should leave and check further down the hallway.”

  “No, this place must be bigger than we think. I’m going down, it’s only a short jump.” She hopped into the hole and dropped down. The water made a splashing sound as she hit the ground. “It’s easy!” she called up to him.

  “OK, incoming,” Owen called out and jumped into the hole.

  He landed a bit more loudly. “Hey cool! I’ve never jumped that distance before.”

  “Well, don’t get too excited.” She waved her flashlight around the room.

  zzz

  Zan was on the other side of the wall, fighting off the zombie. “Hey!” she called out when she heard some sounds on the other side. “In here!”

  She was lying on her back in the wet muck. Her flashlight had dropped into the water, illuminating the zombie on top of her. This must be her weakness, as it had happened before. Recalling what Charlie had done, she clutched her dagger tightly in her right hand and moved her arm directly to the side. She thrust her arm hard toward the direction of the zombie’s ear. The dagger not only went plunging into his skull, but it also forced his body to the left. She let go of the dagger and rolled to the right.

  “Hey, there you are,” said Owen, hopping into the water. Charlie was right behind him.

  “Never mind,” said Zan. She pulled her flashlight out of the water and shook it.

  Charlie came up to her, holding out a hand to help her stand up. “So, are you just taking a nap?”

  “Ha-ha, funny. No, I killed a zombie.”

  “Uh-huh,” said Owen. “I don’t see any.”

  She turned to look at the zombie, but he had already disappeared into nothing. “Whoa! How did that happen? It was right here. It disintegrated after I stabbed it in the head, I guess.”

  Charlie laughed. “It’s OK. We believe you. We had a zombie jump out at us upstairs, and it disintegrated quickly afterwards too.”

  “So, what we have here is an antique zombie outbreak?” asked Zan, trying to brush the water off of her clothes to no avail.

  “I think so,” said Charlie. “These zombies must have been down here since the late 1800s at least, maybe early 1900s. I would have to check on my Seattle history to see when the Great Fire was.”

  “Geez, don’t you pay attention in class?” said Zan. “The Great Fire was in June 1889.”

  “No,” countered Charlie. “Some of us have committed to saving the world. I’m not going to memorize a bunch of stupid dates that I can look up at any time online.”

  “Hey, girls,” said Owen. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Right,” said Charlie, glaring at Zan, who just smiled her know-it-all expression.

  “What’s this room anyway?” asked Owen.

  “I think it’s basement storage or something,” said Charlie.

  “I think the water was here, even back then,” said Zan. “The builders must have built right on top of silt, knowing that the basement would be almost useless.”

  “So, pretty much what happens today,” said Owen. “Build cheap crap and sell it.”

  “Yep,” said Charlie, shining her flashlight around the small room.

  “Brr, the water is chilly this time of year,” said Zan. “I’ll be glad to have a hot shower and get into some warm clothes.”

  “Me too,” said Owen. “Next time we come out, I’m wearing galoshes.”

  “Yeah, the list of gear we need just gets longer and longer. Next time we go zombie fighting, we’ll need a moving van!”

  Charlie was just turning back to the arched window in the wall when they heard a loud crash from above. “Get back against the wall,” she cried, as the entire ceiling caved in.

  Chapter 14

  ________________________________________

  Charlie felt pieces of wood and brick fall against her body. She had her head covered and pushed herself as far against the wall as she could. When it eased up, she jumped onto the arch of the window, and then back into the other room.

  “Hey, guys! Over here! Let’s get out of here.”

  “Is everyone OK?” called out Owen.

  “I’m fine,” said Zan. “Darn it, I lost my damn dagger.” She was shining her flashlight around in the water. “Where is it?”
/>   “Never mind that,” said Owen. “I’m sure one of us has a spare. Let’s go.”

  Zan dejectedly followed him around the perimeter of the wall. They had been lucky. There were three long posts that had plunged down into the middle of the room. She shined her light above but could only see a vast expanse of nothing.

  “Wow,” she said.

  Zan and Owen hopped over the arch and into the other room, following Charlie.

  “Well, thanks for rescuing me, I guess,” said Zan.

  Charlie sighed. “Let’s get out of here.” She removed her small backpack and rummaged around in it. I have rope in here somewhere.”

  “Good,” said Owen. “Because we can come back tomorrow night for more zlaying. These zombies aren’t going anywhere.”

  “Yeah, and I need to find a new dagger,” said Zan.

  “Oh right,” said Owen. He dug around in his messenger bag and handed a spare to her.

  “Thanks.”

  Beside them, they watched as Charlie tied a loop into the rope, and then flung it hard up at the entrance above them. It landed, and she gently tugged on it.

  “OK, I have no idea what it caught on, but I’m taking this one opportunity to get out.” She grabbed hold of the rope and started shimmying up it.

  “Made it!” she called out when she reached the top. “I’ll support the rope while the next person goes.”

  Zan came up next. She helped hold the rope while Owen made his way clumsily up to rejoin them. “There,” he said, standing up. “I think I need to practice my rope-climbing skills some more.”

  “It’s kind of a natural ability,” said Zan.

  “OK, team. Let’s get out of this bank.” Charlie led the way to the small metal teller’s cage.

  “Why have we stopped?” asked Zan.

  “Because the other side is blocked,” said Charlie.

  “Blocked? What do you mean?” asked Owen.

  “Whatever just happened downstairs has also caused damage upstairs,” said Charlie.

  Zan had her smartphone out. “Apparently in the news, we just had a big earthquake in Seattle.”

  “Oh crap,” said Owen.

  “Right,” said Charlie. “Back up, folks.” She came out of the cage and stood with the others in the center of the room.

  Just then, Zan’s phone rang. “Hello? Oh. Hi, Sergeant Bourne. I thought you were calling me back in the morning? Yes, we did experience an earthquake here. Well, we’re here in the Seattle Underground right now and that’s exactly the situation you’re describing.”

  “Tell him we need help!” called out Charlie.

  “Oh right,” added Zan. “We’re also in need of some assistance. After the earthquake, we’re now trapped in the Seattle Underground. Well, I could call 911, except that we broke in.” There was a pause. “Do you know anyone here who could help us? Great! Thanks! Oh, we’re locked in a bank. Just have them walk down the main stairs from above, turn right and head to the bank. Ha-ha, funny, bank robbery! You’re hilarious, Sergeant Bourne.” Then she hung up.

  “So? Is he sending someone?” asked Charlie.

  Zan nodded. “He has some connections with the Seattle Police Department. He’ll contact his guy and send someone to help us.”

  “Good,” said Owen, leaning against the wall. He decided to conserve battery power and turned off his flashlight.

  “Did he say anything to you about these zombies?” asked Charlie.

  “Oh yeah,” said Zan. “Apparently over the past several decades, the odd zombie gets out of the underground. He said that the Seattle Great Fire was actually done to control the zombies. They were then boarded up, and the city built over top. Trouble is, now that the structure is rotting beneath, and with the earthquakes in this region, they’re slowly getting out.”

  “I see,” said Charlie. “So, there’s no new outbreak in Seattle. It’s the original outbreak.”

  “Pretty much,” said Zan. “It also confirms that there never can be two traditional zombie outbreaks in one city.”

  “Well, I’m glad that nothing weird is happening here, like in Portland’s second zombie outbreak.”

  Then everyone laughed.

  “So, we just wait?” asked Charlie.

  “Yep,” said Zan. “He said he’s doing his best.”

  “Say, I have some clean socks in my backpack,” said Charlie, looking at her friend standing there shivering.

  “OK, great,” she said, taking the clean pair from Charlie and kicking off her shoes and damp socks. “Oh, that is much better,” she said putting them on. “I’ll just let my shoes air out for a bit.”

  “Say, guys,” Owen started to talk. They looked up at him. “If these are traditional zombies, then that means that they could eat us and turn anyone who isn’t immune.”

  Both Zan and Owen looked at Charlie.

  “Well, I might be immune, just like Principal Allan and Stewart said. You don’t know,” said Charlie.

  “Maybe. OK, if we work under that assumption, they can still eat us,” Owen said. “And they pose a huge threat to everyone in the city.”

  Charlie frowned. “You’re right, but I’m not certain what we can do. This structure is unsafe. We can’t go traipsing through here tomorrow night expecting it’ll be any safer.”

  “Darn it,” said Zan. “I was just getting started with zlaying tonight.”

  “Well, let’s not worry about it.” Owen switched his position against the wall. “Once we get out of here, we can figure it out after we get some sleep.”

  The team eventually sat down on the filthy ground. They were wary of the big hole in the middle of the room but were secure for the moment. When they didn’t hear anything from the police over the next hour, one by one they nodded off.

  zzz

  The team jerked awake after they heard a loud crash.

  “Where am I?” mumbled Owen, thinking he was in his warm bed at home.

  The group quickly figured out they were still in the underground room.

  Charlie glanced at her watch. “Where are those guys? It’s been an hour already!”

  “Crap,” said Zan. “Maybe I should call Bourne back?”

  Charlie stood up and turned on her flashlight. She aimed it at the metal box. “Oh-oh,” she said.

  “What’s up?” asked Owen.

  “It’s not good.”

  Just then, they heard the sounds of zombies. There was scraping and the shuffling of feet and plenty of moans and groans.

  “There are zombies in the hall out there,” explained Charlie.

  “How many?” asked Zan, getting her dagger ready.

  “About twenty.”

  “Twenty? Why so many?” asked Owen. “I haven’t had to deal with that many all at once before.”

  “I guess the earthquake let them out,” said Charlie.

  “Duck down,” whispered Zan. “Don’t let them see you. We can wait here until the police arrive, and then take them down.”

  Charlie tried to duck back, but it was too late. The zombie closest to the cage saw her, reached out his hand, and walked forward. He grasped onto the edges of one of the posts that blocked the teller’s cage and shook it.

  “Arrrrghh,” he said. He wore a decayed suit that might once have been blue. It was in tatters, coming off his body, exposing putrid flesh and dirty bones beneath.

  The boards that had been blocking the cage, preventing the team from leaving, suddenly came loose. They clattered to the ground.

  “Well, the good news is that we can now get out of this room as it’s no longer blocked,” said Charlie. “The bad news is that there are twenty or so zombies out there.”

  “Great,” said Owen.

  The first zombie kept his eyes on her and walked straight into the cage. Before he had a chance to go further, she had struck him through the eye socket with her dagger. He went down.

  “The downside is that unfortunately we can’t use zombie bodies to block the rest of them from getting in,” yell
ed Charlie. “As these ones disintegrate shortly after dying.”

  “We’ll just have to take them out, one at a time,” said Zan.

  “Maybe you should back up and let them come into the room,” said Owen. “That way you won’t get tired by fighting them all by yourself.”

  “Good point,” said Charlie, backing up but being cautious of the next zombie coming at her.

  She took out the next two zombies, but let Zan and Owen take the next two.

  “Say, guys, I have an idea.” She ran around to the opposite side of the room. “Come over here.” They joined her.

  They watched as the next two zombies entered the room. They quickly plunged through the hole in the floor.

  “Brilliant,” said Owen. “We don’t even have to do anything.”

  Just then, a mass of zombies entered the room. Some of them found their way to either side of the hole. Charlie, Owen, and Zan had no choice but to fight.

  When they knocked one down, another came after them. It seemed like there were far more than twenty.

  The team was getting tired. Many of the zombies had figured out there was a hole in the ground and deliberately avoided it.

  “Owen, get in the middle,” commanded Zan. He hunched down on the ground, taking a short break.

  “I’m so tired,” he said. “I don’t think I can take it for much longer.”

  “It’s OK,” said Charlie. “I’ve got this!” Her dagger went plunging into the head of the next zombie. His teeth scraped her arm, slightly nipping her in the process, but it didn’t matter, as she was probably immune. But to be safe, she fell back and whipped out her first-aid kit. She yanked open an iodine antiseptic wipe and frantically rubbed it across her arm. She saw no damage but wasn’t taking any chances.

  “You OK there?” asked Zan, finally remembering to put her shoes back on. She grimaced as her feet were now filthy, but she could zlay better with them on.

  “Yep. Just in case.”

  “There are too many,” said Owen. “We’re going to be eaten up.” He made an effort to stand up but felt fatigued and dizzy.