The Z-Day Trilogy (Book 4): Zombie World

by Mark Cusco Ailes

  Chris was too far away from the zoo to hear the commotion happening there. He was standing in front of the large zombie eating a chocolate bar. Everything was ready for the display. Even though he had objected, it was going to be featured tonight. He knew he shouldn’t care, but for some reason, he cared about it. It reminded him of the movie King Kong and how he was captured and put on display. In the end, King Kong died. It was the same scenario for this zombie. He was homeless and turned into this creature by Dr. Liu. He thought about it. It seemed like the rich people were always doing something like this. They were constantly playing God with no regards for the public’s safety. He watched as the zombie tried to break free from its restraints. What he was witnessing was cruel. Everything about the park was cruel. He wished he didn’t need the job so bad. If he didn’t, he would leave the island and start his life over in another country–one that wasn’t already saturated with the living dead. He took a bite of chocolate. What he needed right now was to go and see his favorite zombie girl. She calmed him. There was something special about her. He wished he could free her from her enclosure, but he knew it would be a big mistake. She was a zombie, and he didn’t want to give her the opportunity to take a large bite of his flesh. He suddenly heard some people heading in his direction to view the zombies. He quickly put the remaining chocolate in his pants pocket and put on a fake smile as they approached. The group stood in front of the main attraction snapping pictures and laughing. Chris didn’t like it one bit. They were making fun of the zombie and wanting to take selfies with it. He shook his head and turned and walked away. He couldn’t watch it. He went over to one of the security cameras and waved to it. He knew he was being watched. He took out the chocolate from his pocket and shoved it into his mouth and held up his middle finger. If they were going to spy on him, he was going to give them something to see.

  “I see Chris is taking his job seriously,” said Julie, standing behind Owen.

  “You know this is Chris you’re talking about. He doesn’t take anything seriously.”

  “Don’t I already know it. Can you switch the view to the arcade? I want to check on Carl and Kylie.”

  Owen switched the view on the screen to the arcade. Carl was at the shooting gallery taking shots at the different targets. Julie then searched for Kylie. She didn’t see her at first and switched the view to farther inside the arcade until she found her carrying a large pair of glasses. She smiled and looked at Owen who had a horrified look on his face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “The animals are out of their enclosures! They are attacking people!” Owen switched the view to the zoo. Julie held her breath and stared at Owen.

  “What the…” she began before red lights began flashing near the door. She peered back at them. “We need to alert Mr. Franks.” Her eyes widened. “I need to get to Kylie and Carl!”

  “I’ll inform Mr. Franks. You get to the children,” said Owen. “You still have time to get to them.”

  Mr. Franks was heading back to his office when he received the call from Owen. He couldn’t believe what Owen was telling him and quickly made his way to the command center. He entered as the alarms were being turned off. He looked at the screen and watched as a young woman was snatched from a tree by a giraffe. It held her leg in its mouth and bit down severing it from her body. Her body tumbled head first to the ground, instantly snapping her neck as she hit it.

  Mr. Franks stood with his mouth wide open. He thought somebody was pulling his leg, trying to trick him by putting on a cheap horror movie. He stared as another person was forcibly removed from a tree by a giraffe and suffered the same fate as the young woman. He looked at Owen and pointed at the screen.

  “Is this for real?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Owen replied with a shaky voice.

  Mr. Franks looked around the room. “Where’s Julie?”

  “She went to find Carl and Kylie. They’re at the arcade.”

  “How far has this spread?”

  Owen checked the different areas of the park and looked at him. “It’s contained to the zoo.”

  “Alert security we have a breach in the park and bring everything they have. Don’t sugarcoat it. Let them know some of the animals are loose and are attacking people.” He turned around and left the room. He immediately placed a call to Kurt. He waited until he answered.

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m at home right now. I stopped by to clean up before going back to the park. Why?”

  Mr. Franks paused for a moment. The words caught in his throat. He cleared it and in a panicked voice said, “Code Red.”

  Kurt remained silent trying to process what he heard. “If this is one of your jokes, I’m telling you I’m not amused.”

  “This is for real, Kurt. I don’t know how, but several of the animals got loose.”

  “That’s impossible. We went to great lengths to make sure nothing like that could ever happen.”

  “It’s happening and people are being killed! Listen, I need you to stay there and lock all the doors and close all the windows. I’m going to try to do something from this end. If we can contain this to the zoo, we’ll be fine. I have to go now. Stay home and stay safe.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Penelope was at the entrance to the zoo when she heard the first screams. She thought it was because somebody had been scared by one of the exhibits but the screams persisted. She looked around but didn’t see anything, and then she saw a gorilla cross the street and grab a clown and slam him onto the ground. It then ripped off one of his arms and shoved it into its mouth. The clown lay there screaming in pain until the gorilla smashed his skull with its fist. It exploded like a balloon. Penelope stood frozen in terror unable to react to the horror. She heard more screaming coming from inside the zoo. Someone suddenly grabbed her arm.

  “We need to get to safety. Some of the animals got loose!” one of the food vendors informed her.

  Penelope let her pull her away from the entrance and they ran into the amusement park, neither of them knowing where to go. There wasn’t any safe place to hide in the zoo with the animals loose.

  “We need to go somewhere away from the zoo,” said Penelope. “Let’s head to the beach. I’m sure we can find a safe place to hide there.”

  “I don’t know. I’m sure the animals will make their way there.”

  “Listen, we need to get there and find a boat. We can get off the island by boat. There are plenty of other people on the island the animals will attack first. We need to think about ourselves and get off the island now.”

  They were about to leave when they heard growling from behind. Penelope turned around, cold chills running down her spine. She was familiar with the growling. Standing behind her were two tigers staring hungrily at her. They were a nightmare of black and orange. She wanted to turn and run, but she knew it wouldn’t do her any good. There wasn’t any way for her to outrun them. The only thing she could think of doing to keep herself alive was something she hoped she could live the rest of her life with if she managed to survive. “I’m sorry,” she said as she pushed the woman toward the two tigers. She fell to her knees as she was taken completely by surprise. She peered back at Penelope with accusing eyes.

  “You…” She never had a chance to finish her sentence. The two tigers pounced on top of her until she lay in a pool of her own blood.

  Penelope didn’t stay to witness the carnage. Instead, she took the opportunity to put some distance between her and the tigers. She didn’t have time to think about what she had done, and for the moment, it didn’t matter. All she could think about was getting to the beach and finding a boat to get off of the island. Behind her all she heard were screams echoing from inside the park. She kept running even though it became harder for her to breathe. She felt nauseous and dizzy. She needed to stop to catch her breath, but she knew what would happen if she did. She kept running as fast as her legs would let her. Her legs became as heavy as logs, but she manage
d to make it to the entrance to the amusement park. To her surprise, she didn’t hear any screaming. All she heard was music and people enjoying the rides. She looked back over her shoulder hoping she wasn’t being followed, but to her dismay, she saw one of the tigers rapidly closing in on her. She focused back on the amusement park and tried to get her legs moving again. She felt as though she was moving through quicksand. All she needed to do was find someone else she could push into the path of the creature following her. She fought to catch her breath and moved forward a couple of steps. She was near a couple of teens eating ice cream cones. If she could reach them in time, she could use them as a human shield from the tiger’s attack. Time wasn’t on her side. She felt two giant claws crash into her back and push her hard to the ground. As she felt the first bite from her flesh, she watched painfully as the two teens walked away, never realizing what was happening not that far from them. Penelope screamed, but her anguish was washed out by the sound of the loud music.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Julie ran frantically across the amusement park toward the arcade hoping she could reach the children in time before something happened to them. Guilt overwhelmed her as she pushed through a large crowd who were oblivious to what was happening in the zoo. She knew she should be warning everybody about the escaped animals, but her mind was focused on the children. They were the only people she cared about at the moment. She was ashamed of herself. She should never have brought them to the island. She should have quit her job and moved to England or Australia with them instead. If she would have done that, their lives wouldn’t be in danger. She continued to force herself through the crowd, rudely pushing people aside as they stood glaring at her.

  She saw Carl playing one of the arcade games and snatched him by the arm and swung him around. “Where is your sister?”

  He stared at her like she was crazy. “I don’t know. She’s around here somewhere. What’s the big deal, anyway?”

  “I don’t have time to explain it to you. Come on. We need to find Kylie.”

  Carl held his ground in defiance. “What’s the matter with you? And why are you holding my arm so tight? You’re hurting me. I’m…”

  “Stop it, Carl! We don’t have time for this! We need to find Kylie and get to safety!”

  Carl was enraged. “Why? What’s going on? I’m not moving until you tell me!”

  She knew he wasn’t going to obey her unless she told him the truth. She was hesitant, but if she wanted to get them to safety, she was going to have to tell him. She looked him squarely in the eyes. “The animals are loose. We need to find Kylie.”

  He knew exactly what that meant. If the animals were loose, they all could be killed…or even worse–eaten alive. He looked at his aunt frightened. “The last time I saw her she was turning some tickets in for a prize.”

  They were interrupted by the sound of screaming. Julie turned to look and saw a man being dragged across the ground by his leg. She looked at Carl. “We’re running out of time!”

  A panic erupted inside the arcade and people pushed toward the exits, trampling over machines and children. Julie snatched Carl out of the way as the panicked crowd emerged on them. She was knocked rudely aside and onto the side of one of the arcade machines. It toppled over sending her rolling across it as it hit the ground. During the struggle, she lost her grip on Carl. Painfully she made it back to her feet and frantically scoured the area for him. She couldn’t see him. The entire area was in total chaos. Machines were toppled over, stuffed animals littered the ground, and several people lay motionless on the ground after being trampled by the panicked crowd. She wanted to scream until she heard crying coming from the prize booth. She turned her attention toward the crying and saw Kylie clutching a stuffed animal behind a glass display case.

  “I see you, Kylie!” she screamed, taking a step away from the toppled machine. She looked down and saw a foot underneath a toppled garbage can. She knew it belonged to Carl. She bent over and pushed the can forcibly away. He was lying there with his hands covering his head.

  “Carl, are you all right?”

  He looked up at her with a bloodied nose and tears streaming down his face. “Is it safe now?”

  She held her hands out to him. “The animals are still on the loose. We need to get to Kylie…” She was interrupted by Kylie screaming horrifically. She turned to look at Kylie and saw a chimpanzee moving toward her, baring its teeth. “Stay right there, Kylie. I’m coming to help you!” She helped Carl to his feet. “We need to hurry, Carl.”

  He wiped the blood from his nose and snatched a fire extinguisher lying on the ground near him. He looked at his aunt. “We can use this to help her.”

  “Good thinking,” she said, taking it from him. “I think I remember how to use one of these things.”

  Carl followed close behind his aunt as she quickly made her way toward Kylie. If she had any fear still left in her, it had now vanished. She was focused on saving her niece. She fearfully watched as the chimpanzee neared Kylie, and once again, she screamed. Julie didn’t have the time to prepare the fire extinguisher. She leaped over a toppled machine and swung the extinguisher as hard as she could across the skull of the primate. Blood showered the back wall and the chimpanzee toppled over landing onto the ground. The three of them peered down at the motionless creature to make sure it wasn’t going to get back up and attack once again.

  Kylie jumped quickly into her aunt’s arms, crying uncontrollably. Julie pushed her away and looked her square in the eyes. “Listen, I need you to be strong right now. I know all of this is scary, but we have to keep it together if we’re going to survive. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”

  Kylie nodded and looked at her brother. “Carl, your nose is bleeding.”

  He wiped away the blood. “I’m all right. We can’t worry about it right now. We’re not safe here. We need somewhere we can hide.”

  “There’s a shelter located on the other side of the park. It was built just in case something like this ever happened,” commented Julie. “All we have to do is make it there before something else happens.”

  They heard more screaming coming from outside the arcade. Julie knew what they needed to do wasn’t going to be easy…in fact, most likely impossible. She watched as a giraffe walked by the arcade with something dangling from its mouth. She peered back at the children. Their safety was resting on her shoulders. She sighed. She didn’t have a clue as how to proceed. She suddenly heard shots being fired outside of the arcade, and she watched as the giraffe toppled over. Sergeant Buckley stood staring at them. “Well, are you coming or do I need to send you an invitation?”

  Julie felt relieved. The soldiers were here to rescue her. She grabbed Kylie’s arm and made her way toward Sergeant Buckley and his men. “How bad is it?” she asked him.

  “Bad enough. I think the entire zoo has gotten loose.” He looked at Carl and Kylie. “They shouldn’t see this, but what other choice do I have? The good news is helicopters are on the way to rescue any survivors.”

  “Then we need to get to the beach,” she said, looking hopeful.

  “One of my men will escort you there. The rest of us are on a rescue mission.” He whispered into Julie’s ear. “An intruder is on the island. We believe that’s how the animals got loose. We’re heading to the human zombies before they’re set free.”

  “I thought something like this couldn’t happen. Captain Jonas assured us no intruder could get on the island.”

  “Captain Jonas is missing, and it is feared he is dead. It appears he was wrong. It’s Indiana all over again.”

  She looked at Carl and Kylie. “That’s it, I quit! We’re moving to Australia. I don’t want to ever see a zombie again as long as I live!”

  “Then you better head for the beach,” said Sergeant Buckley. “I hope the next time we meet it will be under better circumstances. All right, men, let’s move out!”

  “Are we going to make it to the beach?” asked Kylie. “I
don’t want to be here anymore.”

  “I don’t, either, Kylie. I promise I’m going to get you and Carl off the island.”