Val: Prequel to The Zombie Chronicles

by Peebles, Chrissy

  Sammy and I thanked the men and they sped off.

  “I don’t see why they couldn’t help us,” Sammy said. “They booted us outta there like we have the plague or something.”

  “We do. We’re outsiders, and that’s enough.”

  “I say we ditch the car,” Sammy said. “We don’t have time to find that guy just so we can spend the day working for him. Let’s just hotwire a car and find our own gas.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” I said, looking around. “If we can find a deserted car with something in the tank, we can get our butts back on the road.”

  She smiled.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I was just thinkin’, we change cars like most people change their underwear,” she said.

  “Well, both are a luxury these days,” I said.

  Suddenly, three women standing in front of a nearby store began waving at us.

  “Maybe they can help us,” Sammy said. “They look pretty friendly.”

  “Looks can be deceiving. We’d better feel them out,” I said.

  We walked over and introduced ourselves. The women seemed friendly enough, so we made small talk with them. They couldn’t help us find a car, but they did offer to help us find some gas, enough to get us back on our way, and that was better than nothing.

  While we were talking to the ladies, a group of armed men in a black pickup stopped, clearly the town’s security patrol.

  “I ain’t never seen you around here before,” said a man in a dingy, gray hat. “You steal anything or hurt anybody here, and you’re dead. We patrol twenty four hours a day, so don’t try anything funny.”

  “We’re just passing through,” I said, “and we’re not thieves or troublemakers.”

  “Good,” he said.

  A thin woman with frizzy, black hair tied in a messy bun, dressed casually in denim shorts, tennis shoes, and a yellow t-shirt spoke up, “Oh, get your tightie-whities out of a knot, Hank. These girls are all right, so why don’t you boys just be on your way?”

  The man rolled his eyes, let out a disgruntled, “Humph,” and sped off.

  I smiled at her. “Thanks for sticking up for us,” I said.

  “No problem. Hank and them fellas are just…paranoid. I can’t complain, because they really do look out for us all, but they can be hotheads and a bit too judgmental sometimes. I’ll be back in a few,” she said, then darted off with her friends in tow.

  “Boy, she really saved our butts,” Sammy said.

  “Yeah, she seems nice,” I said, “but I still don’t like the idea of going back through that zombie-infested minefield to get to our car. It’s just stupid.”

  “Well, security’s tight here, Val. We can’t just commit grand theft auto, or Happy Hank and his mob will shoot us on sight. My feet won’t want me to suggest this, but we could walk to the next city if we have to.”

  I looked down at my boots, then hers. “All right,” I said. “Sounds like a plan.”

  Nodding, Sammy kicked at the dirt. “Before we leave, I want to see if they’ll give me a drink. We can share.”

  “Okay.”

  She walked inside the little store, humming the tune to a Pepsi commercial.

  I gazed around and didn’t see any zombies. Once I was sure it was safe to let my guard down a bit, I pulled the map out of my bag and studied it.

  All of the sudden, Sammy burst out of the store with a panicked look on her face. “Val,” she said, “we’ve gotta get the heck outta Dodge…now!”

  “Huh? What’s going on?”

  “No time to explain. Just c’mon!” With that, she took off running.

  Since we’d planned to leave anyway, I shrugged and ran off after her, even though I still wasn’t sure what had spooked her.

  She turned down the street, not bothering to slow down to explain her quick retreat.

  Bang! Bang!

  When the two shots dinged past my head, I yelled, “Sammy, why are they shooting at us? What happened back there?”

  “Just run!” Sammy shouted.

  I could hear the panic in her voice even through my racing heart that was drumming in my ears like some jungle war cry. When we reached a dead end, I looked around for an escape route. I pointed to a parking garage, and we hurried inside the dim building. As we hid behind a dark blue car, I finally had a chance to catch my breath.

  “Wh-what’s going on? What’d you do?”

  “What? Why does everyone always assume the worst about me?”

  “Just tell me what happened, Sammy,” I said.

  “I overheard them,” she said. “They were talking about handing us over to somebody.”

  “Who?”

  Her breath came in ragged gasps. “I dunno. Some guy pays them with supplies for every person they deliver. We were gonna be their bartering chips.

  “For what? I mean…why?”

  “I don’t know, Val, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to stick around to find out. Maybe it’s a prostitution ring or something. Heck, maybe they’re selling people into slavery or something, to do all that trench-digging and hard labor that Sal guy was talking about. Maybe that’s why he was so willing to bring us here.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “I don’t know, but we need to get as far away from this town as possible. If it means taking one of their cars, so be it. We need to get out fast.”

  “My thoughts exactly.”

  I pointed my gun in front of me and peeked out around the bumper. I didn’t see anyone or anything suspicious, so I eased my way out and looked both directions, then motioned for Sammy to follow me. I wondered if the garage had another entrance, one that led to a different street.

  Blam! Bang!

  As soon as I heard the gunshots, I started shooting back. From what I could see and hear, about a dozen of them had us cornered. I took cover and fired again. “Let’s go!” I whispered to Sammy, then led her up to the next floor and into the stairwell, hoping we could find a way out. I leapt up the stairs, taking them two at a time, until we got to the top. As soon as we were both safely through the next door, I put a trashcan against the handle. I knew our makeshift barricade wouldn’t hold them back for long, but it would give us the head start we needed.

  On the rooftop, I hurriedly glanced around. I cursed under my breath when I realized there was no other way off the roof except to jump. I almost would’ve tried it if I didn’t have Sammy.

  “They’re gonna kill us, Val!” she screamed.

  “You said yourself that we’re more valuable to them alive. If they wanted us dead, they coulda shot us in the stairwell.”

  “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m not really excited about doing hard labor—in the bedroom or out of it. What are we gonna do?”

  “We have to hotwire one of these parked cars. That one will do,” I said, pointing to a black car slathered with bumper stickers. I went straight to work; I knew if I could get the vehicle started, we could run them over if we had to. I had no idea what kind of sick human-trafficking circle they had going on, but I wanted no part of it.

  As I fiddled with the wires under the steering column, I felt the cold, steel barrel of a gun pressing against my temple. “Crawl on outta there, little lady,” said an eerie male voice, cocking his weapon. “I don’t wanna blow your pretty little head off and make a mess all over that leather interior.”

  Sammy screamed and fought, punching them with her fists in a frantic temper tantrum, muttering some sort of gibberish.

  The man then grabbed me from behind, and that only fueled my anger. In that instant, I decided to attack first. I’d learned at the police academy that throwing the first punch could throw an attacker off and give me the most dominant position to take him down. I landed my boot as hard as I could on his foot, delivering a bone-crushing blow to his toes. I then performed a perfect backward head-butt, flinging back my cranium bag into his nose at full force—a move that would have had WWE fans screaming my name. While he yelped in pain, holding his bloo
dy nose, I elbowed him, and he dropped to the ground. I inched my way back as they pointed guns at me.

  Meanwhile, Sammy had gotten away and ran up behind me. “We can jump off the roof,” she said, then ran over to the edge.

  “We need them alive,” a woman said. “They’re bringing that shipment of guns in an hour, and they need ten people.”

  “Just let us go,” I pleaded.

  I took one cautious step back, then suddenly slipped; the ground seemed to be sinking out from underneath me. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Sammy falling too. Shrieking, I threw my hands up to try and catch my balance. My cry ended in a terrified scream when I landed with a thud, and loosened debris began to rain down around and on top of me.

  Then, there was only…darkness.

  Chapter 12

  My eyes fluttered open, and anxiety crept in. The room was white and very well lit. The shades were wide open, and sunshine gushed in. For a moment, I actually wondered if I’d died. Wherever I was, as my eyes began to focus, I glanced through the long, horizontal window and saw the tops of buildings and tall trees, so I knew I wasn’t on the ground floor. Are there high-rises in Heaven? I mused. It was a relief that the window wasn’t boarded up, and the sweet melodies of songbirds wafted in through the open window.

  I looked around me and realized I was lying in bed, all cuddled up on a white pillow with even brighter white blankets. I was dressed in the ugliest blue hospital gown I’d ever seen, completely backless, yet my black combat boots were still on my feet.

  “What the…?” I muttered. “Where am I anyway? A hospital? But why? What’s wrong with me?”

  As I pondered my predicament, it slowly came back to me: The chase, the thugs, all those guns pointed at me, the roof….It just…collapsed!

  I tested my arms and legs, just to be sure I wasn’t injured. Something pinched my arm when I moved it, and I realized I was connected to an IV. The bag was hanging on a silver pole, and it ran on gravity rather than electricity, because nothing was plugged into the wall. I stared at the drops as they plopped down into the port.

  I looked but didn’t see anybody. “Nurse!” I called. “Sammy!”

  Nobody came, but I refused to stay here. I scooted to the edge of my bed and tried to stand, but I felt dizzy. When I fell to the floor, the IV ripped out of my arm. Gritting my teeth, I held my bleeding arm. I frantically looked for my weapon, but I didn’t see it or my clothes anywhere.

  A woman walked in, and I looked at her in complete panic. “My gun! Where is it?”

  “A gun? Well, honey, you didn’t have one,” she said in an unnervingly calm manner.

  “Look, lady, we’re on the precipice of the end of days here, and I’m not gonna be without my weapon for a second. Where did you put my gun!?” I yelled.

  “There is no need for a weapon here. You are perfectly safe, and we have plenty of security.”

  “Where’s Sammy?”

  “Who’s he?”

  “You can’t miss her. She has long, turquoise hair.”

  “Oh! Samantha Collins.”

  “Yes,” I said, ready to wring her neck.

  “She’s fine. She’ll be back soon, but she needed a few stitches. I hope the two of you don’t mind being roommates.”

  “Stitches? Why? Is she okay?”

  “She’s doing wonderfully, dear.”

  “Well, that’s one relief.”

  “Why am I still wearing my boots?”

  “You put up such a fight that we gave up trying to take them off.”

  “Oh. Sorry.”

  The woman was not dressed in any kind of nurse’s uniform or scrubs. Instead, she was wearing jeans and a short-sleeved shirt, but there was a stethoscope hanging around her neck. She was also packing a little heat, a Glock holstered around her waist, like a regular post-apocalyptic, modern-day Florence Nightingale. I didn’t know her from Eve, though, and I didn’t trust her one tiny bit. I knew I could snatch her gun in a single swipe, but I would only do that as a last resort; for the time being, it was best to stay on friendly terms. I didn’t want to bite the hand that was feeding me.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, helping me up.

  I looked at her. “I’ll be a whole lot better when somebody tells me where I am. And who are you anyway?”

  “You fell through the roof. I assume you were being chased.”

  “Yeah, by some lunatics.”

  “We know them quite well. You’re lucky our people showed up when they did. They chased those idiots off and brought you here for treatment.”

  “But what if they know we’re here?” I asked. “What if they come for us?”

  “No worries, dear. Our security will easily take them out, and there are two guards stationed by your door at all times.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Why were they after you?” she asked.

  “I-I’m not sure. The women were really friendly, and my friend stepped into the store to get a drink, but they just started chasing us and shooting.”

  “Hmm. Well, we fixed your dislocated shoulder and bandaged you up. You’re at Mercy Hospital. I am a nurse, though I know I’m not dressed like one.”

  “Yeah, well, I was wondering about that.”

  She chuckled and looked at me reassuringly. “You’re in good hands.”

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Jeanette. And yours?”

  “Val.”

  Her eyes brightened, and she held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Thank you for your kindness, but Sammy and I really need to get out of here.” I started to head to the door, but another wave of dizziness washed over me, and I stumbled.

  “Whoa there!” she said, catching me in time to prevent me from getting up close and personal with the linoleum again. “Honey, you’re in no shape to be runnin’ the streets. In your condition, a zombie could kill you in a minute flat.”

  “You obviously don’t know me very well,” I said, pulling my gown around to where I felt a cold draft in a most embarrassing place.

  “Sorry about the, uh…revealing gown. We’re washing your clothes.”

  “Thanks. As soon as I get them back, we’re gonna go. We have to—”

  “No offense, Val, but you’re not as tough as you think you are. You’re hurt, and you need to rest and recover.”

  “Well, do you have any larger gowns?”

  “We’ve got short, shorter, extra short, and don’t-bend-over.”

  I laughed. “I guess I’ll stick with this one then, even if blue really isn’t my color.”

  “I don’t know about that. It kinda brings out your eyes…and with those combat boots, it’s quite a…fashion statement,” she said, laughing again and putting me completely at ease. “Just get some rest, hon’. We just want you to get well. Think of this as a little bump in the road. These days, I can think of things a whole lot worse than a backless hospital gown.”

  “You’re right,” I said, reluctantly nodding. More dizziness washed over me. “I guess we can rest here, just for a little while longer.”

  “Thatta girl,” she said. She helped me back into bed. “We’ll have to put in a new IV.”

  “I’m fine,” I said. “I don’t need pain medication or anything.”

  “Wow. You are one tough cookie, aren’t ya?”

  “In this day and age, I can’t afford to be loopy. If a zombie got past your security somehow and I was all drugged up, I wouldn’t be able to defend myself.”

  “You needn’t worry about that, dear. No zombie is getting in here. We do security sweeps every hour, and there are guards posted all around the hospital, equipped with plenty of heavy-duty firepower.”

  I pulled myself into a sitting position and shot Jeanette a weak smile. “I feel so much better knowing that.”

  She reached for a clipboard. “Before you nap, I need you to answer some questions for me. It’ll help us get you on track for a speedy recovery.”

  “Okay. I�
��m all for the whole get-well-soon thing.”

  She smiled, then began asking questions and jotting my answers down.

  As friendly as she was, I didn’t understand why she needed such a detailed history. I wasn’t hurt that bad, and I definitely didn’t need surgery or anything. Besides, I planned to leave as soon I woke up and my clothes were clean and dry. For the time being, I still felt dizzy, so running off too soon wasn’t going to do my health any favors. Still, I was sick of answering her questions. “I’d like to rest now, if you don’t mind,” I said.

  “Just a few more questions,” she insisted.

  I let out a frustrated sigh. “Why? Why do you need to know all this?”

  “The doctor likes to have very detailed charts. If you were to pass out and couldn’t tell us anything, we’d have all the necessary information on hand. He’s a good man, and he hasn’t lost one patient, so we oblige his wishes when we can.”

  “And where is the good doctor now?” I asked.

  “Right here,” said a tall man, stepping into the room. He was balding and dressed in a white lab coat. He appeared to be in his early fifties, and he peered over his glasses at me with beady little eyes.

  “Hello,” I said.

  “I’m Dr. Lornel.”

  I reached out and shook his hand. “Val.”

  The nurse glanced up at him. “She took a nasty fall through a rotting garage roof, Doctor.”

  He pushed up his glasses. “You’re lucky you didn’t break your neck, young lady.”

  “I’d be a zombie right now if I had.”

  “That would be a much more horrible outcome.”

  “Well, Doctor, luckily, I’m in your capable hands.”

  “Tell me a little about yourself,” the doctor said.

  “Like what? You’ve got my whole life history on that clipboard there.”

  “Well, for starters, why you wouldn’t let us take off your boots?”