Zombie Havoc (Book 1): In The Beginning

by McRaven, Vikki

Chase slowly opens the door, walks up to the Zombie, then stabs it in the head. Then he walks around the desk, grabs a couple of room keys, walks back around and out the door where Adam and I are waiting for him. He holds the keys up in the air, “Got two rooms next to each other!” He announces proudly.

  The three of us walk over to the others. Ana looks at us curiously, “Was there anybody…alive in there?”

  We shake our heads, then Chase holds up the two room keys, “I got two room keys though.” He hands one to her. We look over at the rooms, at least they were two bottom rooms.

  Ana nods at him, “Thanks.”

  We walk over to our cars as we all grab our backpacks, then Adam and Chase each grab a box of food and some water bottles. We walk over towards the rooms. Adam and Chase each set down the boxes. Chase looks at me, “We should open the door first, check the room out, then we’ll get settled.”

  I look at him as I nod in agreement, “Good plan, I would never have thought of that myself.” I reply facetiously with a chuckle.

  He smiles at me, “I just wanted to make sure that we were on the same page.

  I put my hand on his cheek as I gaze into his eyes, “We are always on the same page.”

  Chase smiles at me as he leans forward and plants a kiss on my lips, then he looks over at Adam who’s standing outside the hotel room door next to us, “Adam, you ready to check out your room?”

  Adam nods, “Yep, I’m ready.”

  “If there’s too many in there for you to handle, just yell for us.”

  A.J. walks over to our room door, holding his backpack, “I’ll help you two over here with our room.”

  Chase looks at A.J. with a dumbfounded look as he pulls A.J. aside, “Listen man, I like you and all, you’re cool as hell to hang out with, but Candi, you see, she’s my girl, okay. And I’d like to have some alone time with her, if you know what I mean.” He winks at A.J.

  A.J. looks at me and smiles, “Oh, okay, I understand…sorry. I just really like hanging out with you guys.”

  Chase puts his hand on A.J.’s arm, “We like hanging out with you too. You can ride with us in the car, but as far as sleeping arrangements, I’d like to be with Candi one on one, okay.”

  A.J. nods, “Yeah, no problem man, I getcha.” A.J. looks at me and smiles, “Have a good night, Candi.”

  I smile shyly at him, “Good night, A.J.” I feel so embarrassed right now, not in a bad way though.

  As A.J. walks back to his family, Chase turns to me curiously, “I wasn’t too rough with him, was I?”

  I shake my head, “No, you weren’t.” I put my hand on his cheek as I gaze into his eyes, “I’m kind of glad that you sent him back to his family, I’d love to be alone with you for the night.”

  Chase smiles at me as he plants another kiss on my lips. “I’m glad that you’re glad.” He looks over at Adam as the Adam’s family walks into their room. He looks back at me, “Their room must have been good, hopefully ours is too.”

  Chase puts the key in the door as he slowly opens it up. We slowly walk inside, and as we are all the way inside, a Zombie walks out of the bathroom, looks over at us and starts walking towards us. Chase walks up to it as he stabs the Zombie in the forehead. Then he looks at me and smiles, “Want to help me drag this thing out of here?”

  I look at him and wince, “Sure, I’m already bloodied, why not.”

  We each grab an end of it, as we carry it out of our room. We walk a few rooms down, then plop it on the ground. As we turn around, walk back towards our room, grab our things and walk inside. I look at Chase and smile, “I sure hope there’s running water here.”

  Chase shrugs, “I don’t know…maybe…hopefully.”

  I give him a kiss as I go into the bathroom. I look inside the toilet, well there’s water in here, hopefully it’ll flush.” I sit down on the toilet, take a deep breath in…then out. As soon as I’m done, I flush the toilet…and it worked! As I’m standing there, I feel a hand on the back of my neck, I turn my head and there’s a Zombie peeking out from around the shower curtain! I let out blood-curdling scream, “CHASE!” As I jump back away from the Zombie, but the bathroom door is in the way and it’s locked! As I’m panicking, I’m having a hard time unlocking the door! I turn around and try to push the Zombie off me, but it’s strong and it doesn’t budge, so I switch places with it as I get inside the bathtub and I use the shower curtain as a barrier between us! As I’m inside the bathtub, hiding behind the shower curtain, I hear the bathroom door being kicked open.

  Then I feel somebody move the curtain off me as I’m holding onto it tight. “Candi? You okay?”

  I look up and I see Chase’s eyes looking down at me with concern and love in them, “Yes.” I reply as I burst into tears. He puts his hand out as he pulls me up and out of the bathtub. He inspects me from head to toe, to make sure the I’m okay. Then he puts his hands on my face as he gazes into my eyes, “I love you, Candi.”

  I look at him with tear-filled eyes, as my heart starts beating again. “I love you too, Chase.”

  He leans in, places his warm lips on mine as his tongue slips through my lips and begins dancing with my tongue. Then he pushes me back into the bathtub as he turns the shower on…and the water is still working!

  We take our clothes off as we let the water cascade down our bodies. He takes the soap and washes my body from head to toe. When he’s done, I take the soap as I wash his body from head to toe.

  When we’re done washing each other’s bodies, he pins me up against the shower wall, gazes into my eyes, and makes passionate love to me.

  When we’re done with our shower, we wrap the towels around our bodies as we step out of the shower and step over the Zombie body as we walk into the bedroom. I plop down on the bed and stare up at the ceiling.

  As I’m laying on the bed, Chase drags the Zombie body outside.

  It’s getting pretty dark outside, but you can still see a little bit, because the moon is shining bright tonight. Chase finds a bottle of champagne sitting on the table, “Hmm…it looks like our Zombie couple were planning a romantic evening.” He says with a smile.

  I look at him with a frown, “That’s so sad, isn’t it?”

  He nods, “Yeah, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” He pops open the champagne body as he takes a drink out of the bottle. Then he hands me the bottle, “Here, enjoy their champagne. That’s the best way to celebrate their love, otherwise, it was all for nothing.”

  I look at him and shake my head, “You are such a dork.”

  He plops down on the bed next to me, gives me a goofy smile, “And that’s why you love me.” He leans in and gives me a kiss. Then he takes the bottle from me and takes another drink.

  I grab the bottle back, take a long drink, then hand it back to him, “I love you for a lot of reasons, but yeah, dorkism is definitely one of the top reasons.” I smile with a wink.

  “See…I knew that had to be one of the reasons. It’s one of my most charming qualities.”

  “If you say so.”

  He sets the bottle on the side table, then leans in towards me as he begins tickling me as he takes my towel off, then throws his towel aside as he makes wild passionate love to me, round two.

  Chapter 20

  Blake and Parker & Nina and Mandy

  I feel shyness set in as she kisses me. I look into her beautiful, hazel eyes. Then I look back at the kids. “Um…we should probably get going…are you done eating, Nina?”

  “Yes, I am.” She replies shyly.

  “Parker! Mandy! You two ready to go?”

  Parker and Mandy both nod as they begin walking back towards us. I look at Nina with a feeling of enticement towards her. Almost like our hearts are magnets, but yet we’re resisting. It’s kind of weird, I mean, we both just lost a spouse, we shouldn’t feel this way towards each other, or at least, it’s how I’m feeling, but I shouldn’t. I think she’s feeling that way, I mean…the way she keeps looking at me is making me think she’s
feeling that way also, or maybe I’m interpreting it wrong. Maybe…

  Parker and Mandy reach us as we all turn to walk towards the car. Mandy looks up at her mom, “Do you mind if Parker sits in the back with me?”

  Nina looks at me, then looks at Mandy, “Yes, Parker can sit in the back with you.” Then she looks up at me with a warm smile.

  I look at Nina and the kids, “Okay, let’s go.”

  We all pile into the car, then I back out and drive away.

  A couple of hours later, we reach a little ghost town looking place. I see a sign that says ‘café’ on it. “Look, there’s a café. It’s probably not open, but hopefully there’s some food in there we’ll be able to eat.”

  We pull up into the parking lot, and we see a car and a motorcycle sitting out front. Nina and I look around, then she looks at me curiously. “Do you think anybody else is here?”

  I shrug my shoulders, “I don’t know. We haven’t seen anybody since we’ve left town. If there is, then great. But, those could belong to Zombies now. You never know.”

  Nina nods, “True.”

  I get out of the car, “I’m going to check the café out, see if there’s anything going on in there.”

  Nina walks up to me as she grabs my arm, “Please be careful in there.”

  I look at her and smile, “I will. I promise.”

  I walk towards the front door of the café. I slowly push the door open. I walk inside, walk through the dining area, towards the kitchen, then I turn around and walk back to the front dining area. I walk towards the bathrooms, look inside the boys, then I look inside the girls. Nothing. There’s nothing going on in here.

  I walk out of the café, towards Nina and the kids. “It’s safe in there, no Zombies were found.”

  They all cheered as they began walking towards me. Nina walks up to me and smiles, “I’m glad everything went well in there.”

  “I am too.”

  We all walk inside the café. Nina and I go behind the counter while Parker and Mandy each sat on a stool at the counter. Nina and I notice a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter sitting on the back counter, “Look it here guys, peanut butter and bread!”

  They laugh. I look over and notice a box of mixed pastries. I hold it up, “Jackpot! A box of pastries! We’re going to live like Kings now!”

  We all burst out laughing. Nina walks around like she’s looking for something, “Nina, everything okay?”

  “Yeah, I was just looking to see if there’s anything else, like healthier, or something to drink…something. But with no electricity, nothing that’s good for you stays good. And you can’t cook anything really.”

  I look around, “Maybe we could pack up a few things. I noticed a bin of potatoes, we could take potatoes with us and maybe find a grill or make a fire or something.”

  Nina nods, “That’s a good idea. Potatoes don’t need to be kept cold. I also noticed bananas, they stay good for a little while. I just hate seeing the kids not eat healthy.”

  I nod in agreement, “Yeah, I know.”

  Nina grabs a bunch of bananas as I grab the bin of potatoes. We stick them by the door, so we don’t forget to take them with us.

  After I ate a peanut butter sandwich, a banana, and my dinner topped off with a pastry, I look at Nina, “I’m going to wander around and see if there’s a place around here to spend the night.”

  Nina nods, “Okay, be careful, the sun is almost down.”

  I nod, “Yeah, I will.”

  She leans in and gives me a kiss on my cheek. I look into her eyes and smile. Then I turn around and walk out the door. I only take a few steps out, when I notice a little hotel right behind the café. It’s just a small hotel with a few rooms. Huh…that looks quaint. I walk over to the little hotel and I see an office. I walk over to the office and peek inside. Nobody is there. I open the door and look around, nope, nobody is here. I grab a room key and I walk out of the office and walk over to the room that belongs to the key I grabbed. I stick the key into the door as I slowly, quietly open it up. I stick my head inside, but nothing. I continue walking in, I peek inside the bathroom, nothing. Hmmm…that’s good. I walk outside and back towards the café. I open up the door to the café and walk over to Nina as I whisper in her ear, “There’s a little hotel right behind this café. I already checked out a room and there was nothing in there.”

  She smiles at me and nods, “Good, we can actually sleep in a bed tonight!” She replies with excitement.

  I walk over to the kids, “Hey, there’s a hotel right behind the café and I already checked out the room, so that’s where we’re going to spend the night tonight!”

  They both yell ‘yay!’ in sync.

  “Let’s go get our stuff out of the SUV and we’ll get settled.” Nina and the kids follow me to the SUV, where we grab our backpacks and the boxes of food. I look at Nina, “Hey did you want to grab the pastries, bread and peanut butter so there we’re able to have breakfast in the morning”

  Nina nods, “Yeah, no problem, I’ll get it.”

  While Parker, Mandy and I are bringing everything to the room, Nina runs inside the café to get the items from the café.

  The kids and I open the room door and begin setting everything down. Parker looks at me curiously, “So…what are the sleeping arrangements.”

  Hmmm…I didn’t really think about that. “Um…I guess Nina and Mandy in one bed, and you and I in the other, or you can take the bed and I’ll sleep in the chair.”

  Parker looks like he’s thinking for a moment, “I guess we can sleep in the same bed. I don’t want you to sleep in a chair, that doesn’t seem very comfortable.”

  I look at him and chuckle, “Thanks, you’re awfully generous.”

  I walk outside to wait for Nina because I just realized that I forgot to give her a room number. After a minute or so of waiting, I see her walking back with the food. She smiles at me as she approaches the room, “Here we are, breakfast for the morning.” She says with a smile and a wink.”

  “Sounds good to me.” I take the items out of her arms as we walk inside the room.

  Nina looks around and smiles, “This doesn’t seem too bad for the night. At least we’re not sleeping in the SUV again.”

  I nod in agreement, “Yeah, the SUV isn’t the most comfortable place for sleeping. I thought that you and Mandy could sleep in one bed while Parker and I sleep in the other bed.”

  Nina nods, “That sounds fine to me.”

  I look at them as they’re sitting on the beds, facing each other while talking. I look at Nina and smile, “They seem to be getting along really well.”

  Nina looks at them and smiles, “Yes, that is good, especially considering the situation we’re in right now.”

  I open the door and walk outside, as Nina follows me. I light a cigarette while Nina looks at me confused, “I didn’t know you smoked? I haven’t seen you smoke since I’ve been with you.”

  “I always keep an emergency pack of cigarettes with me, I never know when I’ll feel the need for one.”

  Nina looks confused, “A doctor who smokes, huh.”

  “You’d be surprised how many doctors smoke. Being a doctor is a very stressful job, especially Emergency Room doctors.”

  Nina nods, “I can just about imagine.”

  I hold the pack out towards her, “Want one?”

  She looks at me hesitantly, then she shrugs as she grabs one while I light it for her, “What the hell, huh. It’s probably the end of the World anyway, die by Zombies or die by cigarettes. I think I’ll take the lesser of the two evils.”

  We both laugh, “Yeah, right. Anyway, I smoked in high school and college. I actually used to drink a lot and smoke in college. Most of the guys in my dorm did and most of the guys in my dorm were there for medical school. I’m actually surprised I passed, to tell you the truth. Drunk all the time, even getting high. But I passed. That’s what counts.”

  Nina looks at me and smiles, “I was a sorority girl, we d
id the same thing.” She laughs.

  I look at her surprised, “You drank and smoked too in college?”

  “Oh yeah. Of course, I did. I was a high school cheerleader. I met Aaron in high school. He was prom king and I was prom queen. We ended up going to the same college together. He was fraternity and I was sorority. And well, got pregnant fresh out of college, we got married, and I ended up being a stay at home mom. Never did anything I spent all that college time working so hard for. I guess it was all for nothing, but I did have fun partying though.” She replies with a wink.

  I look at her curiously, “What did you go to college for?”

  She looks at me and laughs, “Nursing, how ironic, huh.” We both burst out laughing.

  Then I look at her and nod with empathetic eyes, “Our lives are never what we thought they would end up being. And now, we’re stuck in the Zombie Apocalypse together, started out as complete strangers and turning into good friends, almost like family.”

  She nods and smiles at me, “Yeah, we are, aren’t we?” She takes a step closer to me as she puts her hand on my cheek, “You are a wonderful, caring and smart man, Blake, and I feel very lucky to have you as a partner through all of this Zombie stuff.” She leans in and gives me a warm, soft kiss on my lips.

  I look at her dumbfounded, “Um…I’m very lucky to have found you, Nina. You are a very beautiful and wonderful woman. I hope that we are able to make all this work, with the kids and all.”

  She takes another step closer towards me and puts both hands on my face while gazing into my eyes, “I hope that you don’t take any of this the wrong way.”

  I look at her confused, “Well…um…what’s the right way?”

  She shrugs her shoulders, “That I’m very attracted to you.”

  “Um…we just met.”

  “I know…and I’m very attracted to you.”

  “But…you just lost your husband, and I just lost my wife.”

  “And…they are gone, and we are here. We’re here, together, fighting in some kind of Zombie War, trying to stay alive. They would want us to find a little bit of happiness in this hell that we’re now living in.”