Zombie Games (Uncut) Boxed Set

by Kristen Middleton

  The buffet was actually coming to him!

  “You’re such a glutton,” I muttered and then aimed the pistol at his head. Unfortunately, when I pulled the trigger, nothing happened. Sweat trickled down my back and I began to panic. "Nora, it's empty!”

  The zombie, who thankfully, was missing part of his foot, stumbled slowly toward me as I tried keeping my distance, now looking desperately for something to hit him with.

  “Just kick him backwards and then use the gun itself to pound the crap out of his face.”

  “Oh,” I said, thinking that made sense.

  I moved forward and kicked him as hard as I could; knocking him to the ground. Then I smashed the gun into his face several times. When it was all over, his rotted brains were splattered across the floor like mud and I was feeling much better.

  “Wow,” said Nora with a satisfied grin, “and I kind of thought you were a candy-ass. I guess that also means you’re over that germ phobia of yours now?”

  I shrugged and opened her cell door. “A little bit.”

  She studied me. “Don’t mean to sound like a bitch, but you really look like crap, Wild.”

  I stared back at her and was amazed that she looked so good. The dark makeup was gone and she actually looked… pretty. With her large blue eyes and pale skin, she almost reminded me of Dakota Fanning. “Wish I could say the same of you,” I answered. “This zombie apocalypse seems to have brought out your eyes.”

  She snorted and brushed past me. “Not by choice. I feel naked without my eyeliner.”

  “Hey,” I said catching up to her. “So how in the world did you get here?”

  “It’s a long story, I’ll explain it sometime if we live that long,” she answered. “Let’s find clothes and get the hell out of this place before we run into more zombies or soldiers.”

  “So, why exactly are we running from the soldiers?” I asked in confusion. I still had no idea what was going on.

  She stopped abruptly and turned to me. “Because, they’re the ones who locked us up in the first place; they’ve been holding both of us prisoner, and if they catch us, they’ll throw us back in the slammer.”

  “But… why?”

  “Because they need you. As for me, I’m just too much trouble to let go.”

  I looked at her incredulously. “They need me? That doesn’t make sense. How long have I been here?”

  “A few days, maybe… I really don’t know.”

  I felt dizzy. Things were worse than I thought. “I’ve been here for three or four days?”

  She shrugged.

  “What happened to my dad and Bryce?” I rubbed my forehead. “How in the hell did I end up in this place?”

  “Sorry, I don’t know anything about them.”

  “Jesus, I have to find my family,” I said.

  She nodded. “Fine, let’s get our hands on some clothes and weapons first.”

  I followed her down the corridor.

  “So, where are we?” I asked.

  “We’re in Atlanta, in some kind of temporary holding cell at the CDC.”

  My heart began to race. “We’re at the CDC?” I wanted to shout with joy. Finally, a break! My mother and sister had to be somewhere close.

  “Yeah, but don’t get too excited. There have been a lot of zombie attacks and things aren’t looking good here for anyone. I think that’s why they were holding you in this place, to study you and keep you from leaving.”

  “I still don’t understand why they would do that?”

  She stopped again and stared at me. “From what I could tell from last few conversations with these quacks, you beat the virus.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, Wild. The soldiers were talking about you. They said your blood is good. Some scientist wearing a lab coat came in and performed a few tests. When it was all said and done, I overheard them say your body’s built a natural immunity to the zombie virus. You know what that means?”

  “That… they might be able to create a vaccine or something?”

  She sighed. “What it really means is that your life is no longer your own, especially if you’re caught. You’re a goldmine to these guys, and they won’t let you go if they catch you. Not ever.”

  17

  As we continued to search the facility, my mind was racing. I still couldn’t believe what Nora had said, that I’d actually beaten the virus. Did that mean that Allie was alive and well? I could only pray my sister was doing okay.

  “Supply room,” said Nora, after opening one of several doors in the hallway. The room was a little dark, but we did our best to rummage through the shelves, which unfortunately, were mostly barren.

  “Thank God,” I said, finding a large unopened bottle of water. I took a few sips and listened as Nora crunched down on some crackers she’d found.

  “Cheapskates only fed me once a day,” she said through a mouthful of crackers. “At least they had an I.V. in you for a while; although,” she said, “you look like a twig right now.”

  I had noticed my legs were even bonier than ever.

  “Here,” she said, handing me some crackers. “Knock yourself out.”

  My stomach growled in response. “Thanks.”

  “So much for finding something else to wear,” she said.

  It was true, the supply cabinet held a bunch of cleaning and medical supplies, but no clothing.

  “I wonder where our stuff is,” I said. “Not that I had much when I arrived…”

  Nora grabbed my arm. “Listen,” she whispered.

  Shouts and gunfire echoed somewhere in the building.

  “We have to get the hell out of here,” she said.

  “Wait,” I said, then grabbed a metal walking cane I’d noticed sitting on one of the shelves. It seemed heavy enough and could possibly do some kind of damage. “Okay, let’s go.”

  She snickered at my weapon and then looked around for something to defend herself with. When she came up with some sort of hacksaw, I couldn’t believe her luck. It might not do much against the soldiers, but it would probably come in handy against the zombies.

  “You know what they use this for?” she asked.

  “No, not really.”

  Her eyes grew round. “Lobotomies.”

  I shuddered. “Wow… that’s disturbing.”

  Nora smiled wickedly. “Come on, Wild, let’s go give some.”

  ***

  We made our way down several hallways until we reached the front entrance of the building, where we found two other soldiers on the ground, dead.

  “Okay, those guys certainly weren’t killed by zombies,” I said, noticing the bullet holes.

  She nodded. “Yeah, and from my experience these last few days, they might be renegades.”

  “Renegades?”

  “Yes, thieves basically. You haven’t run into any of those yet, huh? Lucky you. There are some real assholes out there, taking total advantage of this new zombie apocalypse. Believe it or not, some people are having the time of their lives right now.”

  “That’s right,” said a gravelly voice behind us. “Everything’s ripe for the pickings, why let it go to waste?”

  Nora and I turned around and found what had to be two of the ugliest human beings left on the planet. One of them was a tall, skinny dude with long, stringy, hair and missing teeth; the few he had were blackish-yellow and crooked. The other one was a squat, dumpy, man with some kind of crazy, lazy eye that darted all over the room. Unfortunately, at the moment, his good one rested on my legs.

  “Can I have the skinny one with the cane?” asked the short one, licking his wormy lips. “Please, Dewey?” He reminded me of an old bulldog with his dark, watery eyes and drooling jowls.

  Nora burst out laughing. “Dewey? What kind of pansy name is that?”

  Dewey smiled coldly and raised his gun toward her head. “The kind that’s going to blow your brains out if you don’t shut the hell up.”

  “Um,” I said, raising my hand, trying to def
use the situation. “I’m sorry; she didn’t mean anything by that. We’ve just been through a lot of stress these last few days.”

  Dewey shrugged. “Well, then the bimbo better keep her pie-hole shut if she wants to live any longer.”

  Looking back now, I’d say it was very fortunate for us that Nora hadn’t yet learned to control her temper, even with her martial arts training. I held my breath and watched in morbid fascination as she erupted like a volcano and let out a shriek so loud, it would have woken the dead if they hadn’t already been wandering the streets.

  “Asshole!” she screamed, launching herself at Dewey, slamming him to the ground. She was much smaller than he, but she packed some real powerful punches, and that’s exactly what she started doing to his face. He’d somehow lost the grip on his gun and I knew with a burning rage like hers, it was all over for him.

  The stunned look on Dewey’s craggily face was enough to wake me up. I moved toward Wandering Eye and kicked him in the face so hard, I’m pretty sure I corrected his vision.

  “Oh, my God, you bitch!” he growled, holding his bloody nose.

  “Really? That’s so… original,” I said.

  “You’re dead,” he spat, moving toward me. “I’m going to kill you and then really have some fun.”

  That sounded a little creepy and not in my best interest. Before he lived up to his sick fantasies, I picked up a metal chair and slammed it against his head. He fell to the ground and groaned.

  “Are we done?” I asked. “I’m tired and I have more important things to do than deal with you.”

  “Whore,” he whispered in anguish, reaching toward his ankle. It was then I noticed the gun holstered to it.

  “I’ll take that,” I said, kicking at his hand. I grabbed the gun and pointed it at him. “Last chance to stop embarrassing yourself.”

  “Screw you. That’s my gun, bitch.”

  I cocked the gun, but really only to scare him. Even though he was an asshole, I wasn’t about to kill anyone still breathing if I could help it. The zombies would eventually get their hands on him anyway. “Listen, creep, we’re leaving with the gun. You should probably take a break anyway,” I said. “Your, um, face looks a little more messed up than usual.”

  The look he gave me would haunt my dreams even more than some of the zombie horror I’d witnessed in the last few days. One eye burned into mine with murderous rage, the other stared furiously at some kind of wart at the tip of his nose. It was… unsettling.

  “You’re crazy. I hope a zombie eats your brains,” he growled. Then he groaned and put his head in his hands.

  At least he knew when to finally give up.

  I glanced at Nora to see if she needed help, but she was still pounding Dewey in the face, who I think may have stopped fighting some time ago.

  “Nora,” I said evenly. “He’s either dead or going to wake up needing something much stronger than aspirin. Come on, let’s get the heck out of here before someone or thing shows up.”

  Nora was still breathing heavily when she finally lifted herself off of Dewey’s still form. Just when I thought she was finished with him, she kicked him in the side of his stomach one last time. “Nobody calls me a bimbo,” she growled.

  And I thought my temper was bad.

  Keeping my eyes on Wandering Eye, who now looked like he may have passed out from his injuries, I studied the gun I’d taken and it appeared to be a Sig Sauer P226. It was also loaded. Things were definitely looking up.

  The sound of gunshots from somewhere outside startled us both and we rushed over to look out the glass entrance.

  “More zombies,” grimaced Nora. “And someone else is definitely packing heat.”

  Several zombies were shuffling around in the courtyard surrounding our building, but no sign of the shooter.

  “Okay,” I whispered. “I’m going to try and make a run for it so I can get to the main building. I have to see if my parents or sister are in there.”

  Nora shook her head. “Actually, they’ve pretty much evacuated the entire area after the zombies started busting through. You’ll be wasting your time.”

  “Well, then what am I supposed to do now?” I asked, my voice becoming shrill. “Where in the hell am I supposed to go to find them?”

  “Calm down, Wild,” she said evenly. “You’re not the only one looking for answers. In fact, that’s why I crossed several states to get here. My dad is also here in Atlanta, too. They flew him over from Europe a week ago.”

  “Why? Was he bitten?”

  She bit the side of her lip and nodded. “He was, and Bernie, his manager, found a way to get him over here before all hell broke out in the U.S. I guess the remaining researchers left at the CDC have been looking for this scientist who’d been experimenting with an antivirus. The last time I spoke to Bernie was four days ago, and I’m just as lost as you are.”

  “We have to find out where they moved everyone. Let’s try and find someone still breathing around here who can answer questions.”

  She nodded and then lifted Dewey’s gun. “I’m ready when you are.”

  18

  We left the building and stepped outside into the daylight, where we were now at the mercy of the zombies. Actually, the zombies were now at the mercy of Nora and her pent-up aggressions from being an abandoned rock star’s daughter.

  “Save the bullets if you can, Wild,” she hollered at me. She’d also grabbed the hacksaw and looked more than ready to use it.

  “I’ll try,” I answered as two zombies headed my way immediately. I took a deep breath and kicked one in the head and then turned to bash the other one in the eye with the cane.

  I could really use some steel-toed boots right about now, I thought as I watched the first zombie, a guy who may have once been cute before his face began to fall apart, get back to his feet. He came at me quickly, with his gnarly black mouth open wide, and I rammed the cane through his skull.

  “Here comes a shitload more. Step it up, Wild!” yelled Nora, who’d just given a really close shave to a zombie who looked disappointed with the results.

  We moved toward the main building, which was an impressive sight. It was several stories high and made of mostly glass. I half expected it to be locked, but the doors swung open the moment we approached them. Because there weren’t any guards watching over the entrance, we rushed inside.

  “Uh oh,” said Nora, pointing toward the security booth next to the elevators.

  There was blood, pools of it, some on the security booth and more smeared across the floor. Other than that, there was no sign of anyone in the entry area, dead or alive.

  “We’d better take the stairs,” said Nora. “I’m not getting trapped in an elevator. That shit really freaks me out. Seriously.”

  I definitely didn’t want to see Nora when she was seriously freaked out.

  She pointed. “This way, Wild.”

  I followed her to a stairwell near the elevators and we opened the door slowly, listening for any sounds.

  “Seems quiet but you never know. Stay close,” she whispered, raising the gun.

  We walked up slowly and started exploring each floor, looking for any signs of life. Unfortunately, the first few consisted of nothing but the horrifying stench of decay and a few zombies shuffling around.

  “This is beginning to feel like a waste of time,” said Nora after we cleared the first few floors.

  “Well, I have to keep going,” I said. “It’s the only place with the answers as to what happened to Allie. And your old man.”

  She didn’t say anything.

  The following floor was even more infested with zombies but still no breathing humans and we ended up using the rest of our bullets. By the time we’d cleared it, I was lightheaded and ready to pass out.

  “I’m so dizzy and hungry,” I said. “If we run into any more zombies, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to defend myself. At least one of us will eat, I guess.”

  “No shit, we could both use
some food or coffee. Jesus, they have to have a lunchroom or vending machine in this building.”

  “You’d think.”

  We headed up another flight of stairs, and as she was about to grab the handle, it swung open and I almost fell to my knees with relief.

  “Billie!” I cried, throwing my arms around him. “Oh, my God, what are you doing here?”

  “Cassie!” he smiled and held me tight. “I’ve been looking all over for you and your family. I just about gave up. ”

  I pulled away. “I take it you didn’t see anyone else around here, either?”

  He shook his head. “No, I was just coming back down to search the next building over.”

  “Did you find any grub?” asked Nora.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” said Billie, holding out his hand. “I’m Billie.”

  She ignored it. “Yeah, congratulations. I’m Nora,” she replied. “Do you have anything to eat?”

  He shook his head. “No. The food’s been confiscated here already. There’s not even anything in the vending machines.”

  “Shoot,” I said.

  “Um, did I miss the slumber party?” he asked, his eyebrow’s raised. “I haven’t seen this much skin since my cable television died.”

  I then remembered what we were wearing and how our butts were both visible from behind.

  Nora scowled. “This wasn’t the kind of slumber party you’d be interested in.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “Well, first of all… I was bitten by a zombie,” I shrugged. “And survived.”

  His jaw dropped. “When? How?”

  “They brought a comatose Wild in a few days ago and she made a full recovery. They started experimenting on both of us then.”

  He looked at me. “But Cassie, you must have some kind of immunity to the virus; that’s good, right?”

  I nodded. “It is… but not if they’re going to hold me prisoner. I have to find my family.”

  “Your sister, she might have immunity, too,” he said.

  I nodded. “I hope so.”

  “Let’s get out of here, there isn’t anything upstairs,” he said. “I have the SUV parked in the attached garage.”