by Gayle Katz
“There’s Seattle,” whispered Stewart.
“We’re heading into the future now,” whispered Gran.
There were more of the same images, and then some of notable Seattle landmarks. Gran and Stewart weren’t aware of the older city buried underground, but some scenes popped up from there.
One scene was of Charlie stalking a zombie from behind. She leapt at it and plunged a dagger into its head. It dropped to the ground. As she was turning around, two zombies came at her. One grabbed her arm, while the other jumped on her, biting her shoulder.
Rose looked concerned but relaxed a bit. “She’s immune. If that’s the future, she’ll be fine.”
Stewart nodded but peered closer. Charlie slayed both of the zombies. Then, the scene changed.
In this scene, Charlie was surrounded by zombies on all sides.
“Oh dear,” said Rose. “How will she get out of that one?”
Stewart frowned. He watched as the zombies came closer to her. But then, something unusual happened. The zombies stopped and listened to her. Charlie raised her arms and it appeared she was giving a speech. The zombies nodded and listened, before finally clapping their hands, then dispersing.
“That’s not what I think it is?” asked Rose.
“I really must go and talk to Charlie,” said Stewart, standing up.
“But she’s already on her way to Seattle,” said Rose.
“Damn it,” said Stewart. “I can’t leave Zan and Owen without backup. There are zombie sightings in Portland. They might need me for something.”
“Perhaps these images aren’t real,” said Gran.
“Rose, in all your days of doing séances, have the images ever lied?” Stewart searched through his pockets to find his car keys.
“Well, no. But what I’m saying is perhaps the images aren’t telling everything. They are blurred out, and the future is changeable after all.”
“Maybe,” he replied. “But I really need to talk to Charlie.”
“But you don’t really think she could be a zleader, do you?” asked Rose, concerned about her granddaughter.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” said Stewart, finally finding his keys. “I’ll have to consult my spell book, as this is a new one for me. A zleader and zlayer in one.”
“But how could that ever happen?” asked Rose. “It’s like they would cancel each other out.”
“I don’t know, but the séance never lies. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to figure out what to do.” He headed for the door.
zzz
Owen and Zan had little luck with the translations. What Stewart had translated was as accurate as they could get. They’d show him what they had come up with later, but there was little point.
zzz
Owen finished getting ready for work, and then headed to his older model car. It was a stick shift and temperamental. The brakes were a bit slow, but they still worked fine. His parents had bought the car for him, so he had to be happy with what it was. Now that he had a summer job, he could afford to take it in for a tune-up.
He drove to the clothing factory and parked his car in the back where the other workers were supposed to park. There were no other vehicles there yet, which was strange. Since it was his first day, he didn’t have a pass for the back door, so he walked around to the front. The front door was unlocked, so he walked right in.
He quickly found reception, which was where he was supposed to work. But the place was dead quiet, which was odd for a clothing factory. Surely there would be the buzz and whir of sewing machines and equipment? He tossed his bag under the reception desk and went on the hunt for his supervisor. The first office on the left was empty. Perhaps there was a big, off-site employee meeting and that was where he was supposed to be.
He nervously looked at his watch, but he was early. He walked down the corridor, checking the other offices, but there was no one in any of them. Finally, he decided to descend the staircase to the bottom.
Down there, he had a look around. All the machines were silent. Then he heard a noise coming from the back.
zzz
“Hi, Dad,” said Zan, slipping into her dad’s office.
“Oh. Hi, Zan! What’s up?”
“I’m just seeing how you’re doing?” she replied. She sat down in the chair opposite him.
“I’m fine. I’m trying to figure out the best antibiotics for this new Legionnaires’ disease outbreak we’ve had in Portland recently.” He closed a book.
“Oh, is that the deadly zombie disease?” She laughed.
“Now, there is no such thing as zombies. Some people may look like zombies, but they’re really just sick.”
“Right,” she said, smirking.
“So, did you need some cash or something?” he asked, frowning, knowing his daughter only too well.
She smiled. “Why, thank you for asking. Actually, I could use about two grand. That would be great.” She kept on smiling, looking right into his eyes.
Her dad rolled his eyes. “OK, so what happened to that two hundred dollars I gave you the other day?”
“Oh, I bought some Latin dictionaries with that. My teacher wants us to study Latin over the summer,” she explained. “That’s ipso facto.”
“OK,” he said, grabbing his checkbook. “And what do you need the two grand for this time? Surely you won’t be buying the rest of your textbooks until school starts again in September?” He flipped open the checkbook.
“That would be great!” she replied. “Well, so, I saw this subscription box online. It’s full of cool stuff, hair care products, makeup, and skincare. This would be for a full year of products, obviously…”
Zan didn’t need to continue as he’d already written out the check. He handed it to her. “Here you go. Go buy your makeup. Though, I didn’t think you were big on makeup.”
“Oh, it’s the natural look now,” she said. “Thanks!”
He’d already lost interest, so she left.
zzz
Owen slowly headed to the dark recess at the back of the factory. Along the way, he grabbed a large paper hole punch from a desk.
“Hello? Is someone there?” he called out. He heard shuffling steps.
“Stand back!” called out a voice. Then, the figure moved into the light. It was a person dressed in a HAZMAT suit.
“Hey, what’s going on?” asked Owen, clutching the hole puncher.
“I’m inspecting the facilities,” he said. “Didn’t anyone tell you not to come into work today?”
“Well, no. Today is my first day.”
“I’ve been testing for Legionnaires’ disease,” explained the man in the bright HAZMAT suit.
“Legionnaires’? Here?”
“Yep. There was a bad infestation, I mean, infection here yesterday. Lots of people died. They spent hours cleaning and disinfecting the facilities. I’m taking these samples to the lab to ensure that it’s safe and that the business can reopen tomorrow.”
“Um, OK,” said Owen, a bit puzzled, backing away. He turned and headed back to the stairs, dropping the puncher on the desk. Well, today was a bust. His first day and he had to leave.
As he walked up the stairs, he thought he’d better call Stewart. This was no Legionnaires’ disease. Obviously, there had been a zombie outbreak here. It might actually be worth it for him to work here, so he might as well show up for his shift the following day. There may just be someone else who worked here who knew exactly what was going on.
As he reached the top of the stairs, he thought he heard crying sounds. He looked up at the ceiling, and then back down the stairs. No wait. Maybe it was a bird? In any event, the HAZMAT team would boot him out if he continued to be nosy, so he headed for the exit, grabbing his bag on the way out. What a big waste of a day!
zzz
The man at the medical supplies store helped Zan put the boxes in the trunk of her car. “What are you doing with all this stuff anyway?” he asked.
“I’m going to mak
e drugs,” she said.
He looked her up and down. “Funny, you don’t look like a drug dealer,” he said.
“No, but soon you won’t be looking if you do that again,” she threatened.
He got spooked and quickly went back into the store.
Smirking, she got into her vehicle and headed for home. Once there, she got out of her car, and then quickly checked the house to see where her parents were. They were out of the way, so she grabbed her boxes and carried them into the house, then down into her workshop in the basement.
Chapter 3
________________________________________
Stewart was putting on his seatbelt when Rose rushed up to the car. He rolled down the window. “Yes?” he asked.
“I was thinking, perhaps I can go and meet Charlie in Seattle. I’ll tell her what we saw and keep an eye on her.”
“That might be a good idea. Then I can stay here and keep an eye on the team.”
“Maybe I can warn her against going to the underground,” said Rose, trying to think out a plan.
“I don’t think that’s going to work. If there is indeed a Seattle zleader around, then they would be smart enough to get out of the underground by now, but return to it when their safety is threatened. That means that the zleader is in hiding and up to something. Charlie will have to go to them. She’ll have to head underground to tackle the problem.”
Rose paced the length of the car. “OK, so I’ll just warn her to be careful then.”
“I can’t see how she could turn into a zleader anyway. That’s not how these things work,” said Stewart, puzzled.
“Right,” said Rose, feeling much better. “I’ll give you a call when I reach Seattle and get in touch with Charlie.”
“Sounds good,” said Stewart, putting his keys in the ignition.
zzz
Since Stewart wasn’t heading to Seattle, he met up with Zan and Owen.
“So, how did the job go?” asked Zan, in Stewart’s living room.
“It went,” said Owen. “There was a zombie attack there.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Cool! Do we get to go?” she asked, turning and looking at Stewart, who had the spell book on his lap.
“Umm, no. The police handled that one. I got the call from Sergeant Bourne that he shot them all down. Ironically, it was during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.”
“Was the mayor there?” asked Zan.
“Yep.”
“I’m finding it kind of odd that the mayor hosts two openings, and both have zombies at them,” said Owen, greatly puzzled.
“Yes, that is suspicious. But Bourne is keeping an eye on the mayor, for now.”
“Wow,” said Zan. “Just imagine if the zleader wannabe is Mayor Jane Cote!”
Owen laughed. “That is so obvious that I’m not sure I believe it. I’m pulling for Sergeant Bourne.”
“Neither makes sense,” said Stewart. “Now, what did you two come up with?” he asked.
Zan held out the translated copy that they had done from a few of the spell book’s pages. “Not so great.”
Stewart took the page from her and had a look. “This is good,” he said. “But it’s exactly what I got.”
“Say, I did notice how the symbols are pretty basic,” said Owen. “I mean, that line of symbols isn’t exactly a sentence.”
“No,” said Stewart. “It’s more a statement or a phrase. I see here that you also attempted a translation of the symbols.”
“Water, earth, fire,” said Zan.
“Hmm,” mused Stewart. “It could also be a river, soil, or heat.”
“Great, well, it seems to have nothing to do with the other section,” she said. “His qui credunt in succedant. Those who have faith will succeed.”
“What part of the spell book is that from?” asked Owen.
“Not surprisingly, from the zombie part of the spell book.”
“So, there are other sections in it?” asked Zan, peering down at the large well-worn leather cover of the book on his lap.
“Yes, many others,” Stewart explained.
“So, what are the other parts?” asked Owen.
“Oh, about vampires, werewolves, and other creatures that don’t exist. At least not anymore.”
“Wow, good to know,” said Zan. “So, why only zombies now? And no other monsters?”
“Well, the best guess is from evolution. Maybe they did exist at one point in time, but due to constant evolution, they’re no more.”
“Cool!” said Zan. “I mean, about killing off the bad creatures.”
“But how odd that the zombies remain,” said Owen, taking a sip of his drink.
“True, but zombies are in man’s own image,” said Stewart.
Zan frowned. “They need a better term than ‘man’ to represent early humans.”
“Well, when you’re a scientist, you can work to that goal,” said Stewart.
Owen laughed. “You’re screwed. Even the word human has man in it.”
Zan turned and glared at him.
“Um, sorry, but it does!”
“OK, so, Charlie’s grandmother, Rose, is heading to Seattle to meet up with her,” explained Stewart, closing his book and putting it back in an old wooden box on the coffee table.
“She is?” asked Zan. “Does she have any zlaying abilities at all?”
“Well, she must have some fighting skills. There is no way with a zlayer daughter and a zlayer granddaughter that she’d be able to avoid danger her entire life,” explained Stewart.
“Oh, I feel bad about this,” said Zan. “Can’t we just pack up and all go to Seattle again?”
“No, because we have zombie problems here, and I fear that we are all stretched too thin as it is. Owen, keep an eye on that clothing factory.”
Owen nodded. “I can do more snooping than that. Maybe go through the filing cabinets or something.”
“Don’t get in trouble,” said Zan. “And if you do, make sure you have an excuse ready to go.”
“I can just say I had nothing else to do and that I’m reorganizing.”
“See if there are any locked doors, or something. It’s a long shot, but you never know,” suggested Stewart.
“What should I do?” asked Zan.
“Just keep on doing what you’ve been doing,” said Stewart, in a knowing way.
Zan frowned at him.
“Say, how are things with your parents?” Owen asked.
“Just fine,” she said. “There’s been no more talk about me playing stupid musical instruments, or about me wanting to go to medical school.”
“That’s progress then,” said Owen. “Maybe they’ll actually pay for medical school,” he said.
“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “I have access to all their bank accounts.”
Owen just laughed and shook his head, while Stewart rolled his eyes.
zzz
“Thanks for the lift,” said Owen.
“No problem. I hope your job goes better today,” replied Zan.
“So far, so good. They’re actually covering two hours of my salary from yesterday, as they did call me in.”
“Too bad it’s for the whole day,” she replied. “So, I’ll meet you at my place later tonight, and we can go over some more translations.”
“Thanks,” said Owen, getting out of her car. “See you then!” He waved as she drove away.
Owen walked up to the clothing factory to start again. This time, when he entered the building, there was someone waiting for him at the front. Overall, he had a great first day, getting a full tour of the factory, and meeting all the staff and workers.
He wasn’t certain if there were any hidden rooms, as the tour was rather quick and he hadn’t been allowed to wander off. But that was no problem, as his shift ran into the early evening, after almost everyone would have left for home. He looked forward to some exploration.
Now he was able to relax in the reception area of the building. Since the workspace was messy
, and the drawers and filing cabinet were also a mess, he began to sort through papers and debris. Of course, he had an ulterior motive too. He wasn’t certain if anyone would leave incriminating evidence at the reception area, but it would keep him busy for now.
zzz
Zan finally had time to unpack the medical supplies she had purchased earlier. The nerve of Stewart implying that she was up to her usual! Adults! But instead of taking over the large basement space she had used before her dad had freaked out at her, and she had broken his precious guitar she still felt a bit bad about that she commanded use of the closet in the back instead.
She didn’t think her dad would go in there, as it contained all her old childhood toys and a bunch of old clothes. Or, at least it did, until she upended it all into the trash cans at the back of the house. Her parents would thank her later.
She carefully unpacked her microscope and set it up. Unfortunately, her dad had tossed out a lot of her old science equipment, but at least the microscope had been spared.
She carefully unpacked the glass test tubes and set them up. Soon, her space was complete. She pulled her smartphone from her pocket and tapped in a number.
“Hey! What’s up?” asked a male voice.
“It’s me, Zan. We sort of met before, at the hospital.”
“Oh right, you’re one of Stewart’s. What’s up? I’m on lookout at the moment and kind of busy,” said Sergeant Bourne.
“Well, I’m kind of studying science. I’ve set up a lab, and I need help.”
“Really?” said Bourne. He had a disapproving voice. “A lab like Dr. Arora or Jaz had?”
