I noticed there were several tables and chairs set up surrounding the pool, giving spectators a great view of the carnage that would soon take place. Large cameras and lights also surrounded the pool, and I felt a shiver go down my side when I thought of the circus that would soon take place in such a lovely setting.
“Ladies,” said Donnie, when we all lined up by the shallow part of the pool. “Drop your clothes and get in.”
We all stood, staring at him in horror.
“Come on, chop chop,” he said, clapping his hands.
I stepped forward. “Nobody mentioned anything about being naked,” I snapped.
His smile was smug. “New game, princess; one I like to call ‘Naked Babe Zombie Games.’ The fans requested more skin, and we aim to please.”
“More skin? Sick bastards!” hollered one of the girls.
She got that right, sick fans and even sicker promoters. “Sorry, but I can’t do that,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.
He scowled. “I’m not asking you to do it, I’m telling you.”
My mind raced for a way to get out of this. I’d never been completely naked in front of anyone since I was a baby. I was still pretty modest considering the short dress I was currently wearing.
“Well?” he said. “You gonna take off your clothes or do you need help? I know Marcus would love to volunteer.”
I’d kill him before he touched me.
“You think I’m joking?” prodded Donnie.
I bit the side of my lip and tried to summon up some kind of tears. I thought of my family and Bryce, who I missed desperately. “I’m only seventeen… I’m still underage,” I said, feeling my eyes filling up. “It’s immoral to have me remove my clothing.”
Okay, so everything they were doing was immoral but I had to try.
Donnie’s eyes narrowed. “You’re under eighteen? Seriously?”
I nodded and brushed away a tear. “Yes and if I’m not correct, this would be considered child pornography. You guys aren’t into that, are you? I didn’t figure you to be into kiddie porn.”
His eyes traveled up and down my body. “Bullshit. You don’t look like no kid.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Girls younger than me are far more developed. So what you’re saying is that if I was fourteen and still looked like this, it would be okay to make me run around naked? That’s definitely child pornography.”
He rubbed his jaw but didn’t say anything.
I sniffled. “I mean, it’s twisted enough be feeding us to the zombies, but having us do it naked, too? And I’m still considered a child in most states. Do you have kids, Donny?”
He let out an exasperated breath. “Fine, I’ll talk to Tony. We don’t condone no child porn. That shit’s immoral.”
Are you kidding me? I thought. Where did they draw the line?
“That’s a relief,” snorted Carly. “And I thought you guys were sick perverts.”
He pointed at her. “Watch it, Carly. Keep your yap shut!”
Carly glared at him but didn’t say anything else.
Then Donnie stormed off, leaving us with a couple of guards who seemed to be quite amused with the exchange we’d just had.
Fifteen minutes later, he returned with a bewildered expression on his face. “You’re lucky that Tony likes your gumption, kid,” he said, pointing to me. “And he thought up a new way for us to make a little more profit. You’re all going to keep your bra and panties on. We’ll negotiate a better deal from the fans the next show if they want to see more skin than that.”
“In our underwear? But…” I sputtered.
He clenched his fists. “Shut up before I lose my cool with you. The show will start in fifteen minutes, and I don’t have time for this shit. Now undress down to your underwear and shut the hell up.”
I sighed and began undressing with the others.
“How degrading,” mumbled Carly with despair, “and inhumane. I can’t believe anyone would force this upon defenseless women. I hope they all burn in hell.”
“Hey,” I whispered to Carly. “Put your boots back on, use them as weapons.”
She had been wearing brown leather cowgirl boots with her faded jeans and T-shirt. They were narrow in the front with a medium heel which I knew could do some damage to the enemy, and possibly help save her life. I’d killed many zombies with my old hiking boots, of course I was also trained in martial arts and had to admit, my kicks could be lethal.
Carly nodded. “Good thinking, kid.” Then she slipped her cowgirl boots back on.
The other women looked at us in confusion, especially with me and my heels.
“Hit them with your shoes,” I said under my breath. “Hard.”
They seemed to understand because everyone kept them on. Soon we were all standing around in just our undergarments and shoes and I felt so self-conscious, especially with the way the guys were all leering at us. But the heck if I was going to let them think they made me nervous. I raised my chin and resisted the urge to cover myself, praying that the underwear, which were already loose, wouldn’t slip off when I moved.
“What’s with the all the shoes?” asked Donnie.
“We all have cold feet,” I said.
Donnie laughed. “You know, I kind of like the fact you left your shoes on, especially the heels,” he said, looking at my feet. “It’ll be even more alluring for our viewers.”
Just then, the rest of the girls from the banquet room were brought in by Marcus, Rico, and Johnny. Their faces turned pale when ordered to sit in the chairs surrounding the pool. Paige was among them, walking slowly and painfully. She looked shocked and shook her head angrily when she noticed us in our underwear.
Tony came in next and nodded in approval while everyone was getting situated.
“Zombies ready?” he hollered.
“Yeah, boss,” yelled one of his men.
“You got this live on the Internet yet?” he asked Donnie.
Donnie nodded. “Jimbo has the cameras set and is getting us live right now. Right, Jimbo?”
Jimbo, who was somewhere in the background, acknowledged it.
“Perfect,” said Tony with a satisfied smile. “Let’s begin the games, shall we?”
“Hey, Tony, you gonna introduce the lovely contestants?” hollered Marcus, smiling down at me smugly.
“Oh, yeah. Did you get the sound to work this time?” asked Tony.
“Yeah,” said Donnie. “You can hear everything online. Even the grunts and moans from the zombies.”
Tony nodded. “Well, let me say my spiel and then we’ll drop the zombies down and give our viewers their little show.”
When the cameras were ready and Tony was equipped with a microphone, he strutted down to us and began talking to the sickos on the Internet waiting for the zombie snuff games to begin.
“Thank you for joining us in viewing tonight’s entertainment. I’ve received word that your packages have arrived, and as always, I’m grateful that we can still continue all of our partnerships. Now,” he said with a broad smile, “enough business, let’s get down to some real fun. As you can see, we have five lovely ladies who will be involved in tonight’s game. As a special treat tonight, they are all dressed scantily. This is just a taste of what we’ll be offering in the future, which we here like to call, ‘Naked Babe Zombie Games.’ If you would like to view that action, let us know and we’ll contact you with our payment requirements, along with the dates and times of those particular festivities.”
As he rambled on, I could hear the familiar moaning sounds coming from the zombies they’d obviously rounded up for the game we were forced to play. We all watched with trepidation as the monsters were wheeled into the atrium in a cage and placed on the edge of the deeper part of the pool. Five zombies stared hungrily at their living captors, reaching out of their cages for anything they could get their mangled hands on. The rotten smell of their dying skin wafted down toward us and I swallowed back my vomit.
“The
zombies have arrived, and it looks like that’s my sign to leave,” said Tony as he got out of the pool. He looked as pumped as my dad at a Viking’s game.
“You’ll be leaving for hell soon, you piece of shit!” hollered Carly as he sat down in a plush-looking recliner they’d set up for him.
His smile was smug. “Not before you, Carly, so save me a seat by the fire. Now, good luck, girls and try not to die too quickly. We want a damn good show.”
“Oh, my God,” sobbed one of the women in the pool. “These guys are animals! How can they allow this?”
“Don’t insult animals like that,” I muttered, thinking of Goldie.
Goldie.
I blinked back sudden tears and wondered if anyone was taking care of her. She was still just a puppy and thrived on attention. It seemed like forever since I’d felt her nibbling at my hands while I rubbed and tickled her soft belly. I hoped that Megan or Kylie had been taking good care of her.
“All those zombies have to do is scratch us and it’s all over,” growled one of the other women, a redhead. “If I get scratched or bitten, I’m making a rush for one of those pricks. I’ll make sure I share the virus with as many of those Gumbas as I can.”
I don’t think any of us were really prepared when they dropped the five zombies into the empty pool. We all watched in horror as they were released and it took me a minute to react after they toppled to the ground in a heap. As they got back on their feet and started barreling toward us, many of the viewers watching above the pool even started shrieking in terror.
25
I took a deep breath and summoned up the courage to attack the zombies first. I reminded myself that I had a lot on my side and not to worry about surviving this particular fight. The only obstacle in my way was Tony keeping his promise of releasing us when it was over. With his morals, I’d be lucky if we weren’t shot in the head when it was over.
Pushing that horrid thought out of my mind, I concentrated only on surviving. As the undead opponents charged us like we were an all-you-can-eat buffet, I sped toward the nearest zombie and introduced him to my flying kick, which connected nicely with his deteriorated chest. As he toppled to the ground I turned and knocked over a second one with a hard swivel kick. Predictively, both zombies got back up and staggered toward me again.
“Back for more, huh?” I snarled, grabbing the first one by the arm and swinging him into the other one. They fell backwards together and before they could get back up, I grabbed both zombies by the hair and slammed their heads together, hard.
“Wow, it actually worked,” I said in wonder, backing away.
Their heads were pretty rotted so the impact had done enough damage to finish them off.
“Help!” screamed one of the other girls. She had her shoe off, some type of clog, and was attempting to hit another zombie in the face, but not hard enough to do much. It soon had ahold of her arm and was trying to bite it.
I rushed over to them and kicked the zombie in the side, sending him flying to the ground. I then removed my shoe and slammed the heel into its eye as he screeched in anger. It wasn’t long before both of his eyes were oozing jelly and he’d stopped moving for the last time. As I moved away from him, I heard Carly screaming and turned to find her running from a very determined female zombie. The zombie grabbed her by the back of hair and opened her mouth. I charged toward them as fast as I could.
“Oh, God!” Carly screamed, trying to get away from the female, whose teeth were gnashing grotesquely as it tried to get closer to her head.
I caught the zombie before her mouth reached Carly and slammed the heel of my shoe into her rotten cheek. The zombie let her go and turned toward me.
“Watch out, Cassie!” sobbed Carly, backing away.
My shoe was still stuck in the side of the zombie’s cheek so I took the other shoe and smashed her in the nose as hard as I could. Before long, I had possession of both pumps and was going to town on the zombie’s face. When it was over, the thing lay on the ground motionless, and my shoes were sopped with zombie gore.
“Thanks,” said Carly, still out of breath.
I looked at her boots, wishing I was wearing them right now. “Carly, have you ever done any kick-boxing?”
She nodded.
“Good. Use what you’ve learned and aim as high as you can. Push your fear aside and just kick them with all you’ve got!” I hollered, rushing toward another zombie.
With the help of Carly and her shit-kickers, we killed the last two zombies. Unfortunately, two of the women had lost their lives before we’d gotten to their attackers.
“You have zombie blood on your skin,” said Carly as we both struggled to catch our breath.
“It’s okay, I think I’m immune to their virus,” I said, eyeing Tony who was walking toward me, holding a gun.
“Seriously?” asked Carly.
Before I could answer, Tony clapped his hands and walked over to our side of the pool.
“That was truly… amazing,” he said. “I guess I know how you’ve survived thus far in the zombie apocalypse.”
I smiled grimly. “Well, it still hasn’t been easy,” I said. “Now, can Paige and I leave?”
From the look on his face, I knew the answer. “Are you kidding? I can’t let you go. You were the star of the show! In fact, some of the viewers were rooting for you this time instead of the zombies. This could be very rewarding, for me as well as for you, honey.”
“First of all, you made me a promise. Second of all, why would it be rewarding for me?” I asked, incredulously.
He smiled. “You’re good at kicking zombie ass. Tonight’s show was… spectacular! From the online comments, the viewers will pay more to watch you shred the undead. You keep fighting for us, and I’ll set you up comfortably; you know what I’m saying? Nice hotel room, food, whatever you want. All you have to do is fight a few zombies and stay alive, which obviously you can do.”
I wanted to tell him exactly what I thought of his proposal, but he was holding a gun and currently all of my options. It was then that I decided to play along with him until I found my chance to escape.
“Okay, but only if you leave Paige alone,” I said. “She doesn’t fight, and Marcus keeps his distance from both of us.”
He nodded slowly. “You just give me a good show and I’ll let both of you live.”
“And… you’ll also let the other girls go,” I said.
He snorted. “No, that’s not going to happen.”
“Why? You said you’d put me up against the zombies. You certainly won’t need any of the others.”
“Sweetheart, I will always need other players; especially if you die.”
I raised my chin. “I won’t die.”
He smiled coldly. “Look, I’m a businessman. I don’t put all my eggs in one basket; you know what I’m saying?”
I really wanted to shove his eggs somewhere. “No, not really.”
He waved his hand. “I need the other girls to perform, too. In fact, they’ll be the opening performance and you’ll be the main event.”
“Perform? You mean you’ll need them to die to bring in your clients?”
He shrugged. “As long as they’re entertaining and get me my product, I don’t care one way or the other.”
He was a very evil man and all I could think about was kicking him in his arrogant face.
“So what’s it going to be? I’m going to make you fight against the zombies, no matter what.”
I nodded. “Fine. But I want new clothes, a pair of hiking boots, and food for everyone.”
“Still trying to make deals for the others, huh? You’ll get yours and they’ll get theirs. Now, no more talk. Donnie will set you up in one of the rooms and I’ll send my boys to find you something to wear.”
I nodded.
He pointed his finger at me and his face became dark. “And one warning to you; just one. Don’t fuck with me, ever. Got it?”
“The thought never even occurred to me,”
I replied, holding back my smile.
His smile told me he knew better. “Right. Now make sure you rest up and eat something when they bring it to you. Next show is tomorrow night.”
As far as I was concerned, my next fight would be much sooner.
26
As far as our new accommodations, Tony was good on his word, which was kind of a surprise. Paige and I were put in a room on the tenth floor with a large king-sized bed and a whirlpool tub.
“I really liked Carly,” I said, looking out the window. “I should have negotiated for her, too.”
Paige shook her head. “They wouldn’t have let her go. I’m surprised they even allowed me up here with you.”
I sighed and turned around to face her. “We’re getting out of this place, and I’m going to free the others, too.”
“Cassie, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you’re not a superhero. I mean, you’re awesome at martial arts, and you can fire a gun pretty darn good, but you’re not invincible. Let’s just get the heck out of here and then find someone to help us stop these jerks. There’s just too many of them guarding this place, we’d never make it.”
“We’ll see,” I said stubbornly.
She pointed at me. “I mean it. They have guns that can kill us, and I’d bet my money that they wouldn’t hesitate.”
“I know, but they’re no match for common sense.”
She rolled her eyes and groaned. “You’re stubborn.”
I shrugged. “I like to think of it as being determined.”
She yawned. “I’m determined, too. Determined to take a nap before we plan our grand escape.”
“I hear you. I feel like I could sleep for days,” I said, eyeing the bed.
She wrinkled her nose. “Take a shower first,” she said. “You’re still covered with zombie blood.”
I looked down. I’d forgotten that I was still only wearing my underwear, too. “Jeez I’m a mess, aren’t I?”
“Good observation. Let me know when you’re done,” she said, moving toward an armchair. “I could use one, too.”
I noticed that she was still walking much too carefully. “Are you okay?”
Zombie Games (Uncut) Boxed Set Page 40
