Zombie Games (Uncut) Boxed Set

by Kristen Middleton

  Allie shook her head. “No, it’s not. Bryce just told her that so Belinda wouldn’t shoot him. That’s what Cassie told me.”

  “Okay, you girls are confusing the hell out of me,” said Justice. “How many people have you had trying to shoot at you?”

  “Too many to count,” said Allie. She then told him their story, from the very beginning, starting with the first day of the zombie outbreak.

  “And I thought the undead were dangerous,” said Justice. “You guys have been through a lot of shit, especially your sister. I guess if she can handle being kidnapped a few times, getting bitten by a zombie, and watching her parents murdered, she’s probably doing all right at the moment. Sounds like a tough chic.”

  “I hope she’s doing all right,” said Allie.

  “So, what’s your story?” asked Kylie.

  He shrugged. “It’s pretty boring compared to yours.”

  “I doubt it,” she answered. “You can tell us if you want. Did you lose a lot of friends and family?”

  He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. “Well, I’ve always been kind of a loner, so I didn’t lose many friends, just acquaintances and, well, my family.”

  “What about a girlfriend?” asked Allie, her cheeks growing warm.

  He smiled grimly. “I lost my girlfriend long before the zombies showed up.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  He paused for a few seconds and then answered. “Well, she left for college last fall and decided she didn’t want a long-distance relationship. End of story.”

  “Aw... were you heartbroken?” asked Allie, putting a hand over her chest.

  His jaw tightened. “Heartbroken? No. She was too pushy. Always trying to change me and everything.”

  Allie raised her eyebrows. “Like… how?”

  He shrugged. “Guess she wasn’t crazy about the way I presented myself to other people or the fact that I wasn’t interested in college. She probably thought I was white trash, since she grew up on the other side of the tracks. Her parents certainly thought the worst of me.”

  Kylie gasped. “Oh, my God, did they actually tell you that?”

  “They didn’t have to. I could see it in their eyes and the way they spoke to me. I’m sure they were relieved when Lexus went to college and I stayed in Georgia.”

  “Lexus?” snorted Allie.

  He smiled.

  “Do you know if she’s still alive?” asked Kylie.

  “Nope.”

  “I had a boyfriend before the zombies,” said Kylie.

  Allie’s jaw dropped. “What?! Who?”

  “Well, he wasn’t my boyfriend, yet, but I know he liked me. He slipped me a note in class one day, asking if I had picked out a date for the Sadie Hawkins Dance.”

  “But the Sadie Hawkins Dance isn’t until the eighth grade,” said Allie. “That’s like, next year.”

  “That’s how I know he liked me,” smiled Kylie. “He was already reserving a spot.”

  “Who was it?” asked Allie.

  “Jason Peterson,” said Kylie.

  Justice’s mind drifted away as the girls droned on about boys and dances they’d never get to enjoy. Although he’d been bitter about Lexus for months after their breakup, at least his high school years had been interesting. Unfortunately, the two girls beside him wouldn’t ever get to go to dances, parties, or school sporting events. Everything in the world had changed, nothing would ever be the same for them and he suddenly felt very fortunate.

  “Oh crap,” said Allie, pointing ahead, as they reached downtown Rockford. “Looks like we’ve found where all of the zombies have congregated.”

  “Roll up your window the rest of the way,” ordered Justice.

  The streets and sidewalks were crowded with zombies in every shape, form, and decomposition. Hundreds staggered through the rain, searching for food.

  “You’d think the water would clean them up a bit,” said Kylie, “make them appear less… gruesome. I don’t know about you, but I think they look even more gross and disgusting wet. Especially the ones who are missing so much skin and body parts.” She shuddered. “Yuck.”

  “They’re pretty nasty,” agreed Allie.

  Justice tapped on the fuel gage. “If we don’t find a way to fill up this tank soon, you’re going to be getting a much closer view of these freaks.”

  Kylie paled. “What are we going to do?”

  “Look for a parking ramp that’s full and easily accessible,” said Justice.

  “Okay,” said Allie.

  Justice drove slowly through the downtown streets, trying to weave around the massive crowds of undead. When one of them walked directly into their path, he was forced to stop.

  “Run him over,” said Allie, as the horrible creature stared into the cab and began growling.

  “You shouldn’t do that,” said Kylie, growing paler still. “It’s still a person.”

  “No,” said Justice. “What made them a real person has ‘left the building’.”

  “But how do you really know that?” she asked. “Maybe they’re still buried inside somewhere.”

  Allie’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, come on, Kylie! Look at that beast in front of us. He’s walking with half of a skull and a missing arm. If he’s buried inside of that thing, then he’ll probably thank us if we put him out of his misery.”

  The zombie began climbing onto the front of the hood, foaming at the mouth as it stared at them with rapture.

  “Oh, my God!” squealed Allie as the zombie crawled clumsily to the windshield and began licking the glass with its split tongue.

  “What’s wrong with his tongue?” cried Kylie.

  “The forking? It’s called bifurcation. It’s a surgical procedure that splits the tongue,” said Justice. “He obviously had it done before becoming a zombie.”

  Allie grimaced. “Seriously, he had that done on purpose? So he could look like a lizard?”

  Justice laughed. “Yep.”

  More zombies took notice of them and began surrounding the truck, scratching at the windows and growling loudly.

  “Oh, that is so totally gross,” shuddered Kylie as another zombie stopped next to her window, his left eyeball barely hanging by thin, gray tendrils of flesh. The zombie opened its mouth and planted its wormy lips against the glass, as if kissing it passionately.

  “Okay, that’s it!” hollered Allie. “Justice, please take us out of here.”

  “Are you sure?” he said, glancing at Kylie, who looked like she was ready to hurl.

  Allie nodded, vehemently. “Just get us out of here, now.”

  He stepped on the gas, tossing the zombie from the hood and hitting several others along the way. Unfortunately, as they moved into the next block, the “fuel” light popped on.

  “Shit!” he groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “What…. what does that mean?” asked Allie.

  He turned to her. “It means that we’re screwed unless we find fuel. Right now.”

  “There’s a ‘Park’ sign over there,” said Kylie, pointing to the next street. “It looks like a ramp. We just have to make it to that building.”

  “Okay, yeah… we’ll make that,” said Justice. “Good eye, kid.”

  As they entered the next street, however, more zombies stepped into their path, slowing their progress even further. When they finally reached the parking ramp, Justice swore again.

  “What?” asked Kylie. “We made it.”

  “The steering wheel is starting locking up,” said Justice. “Yeah, we made it, but there’s no way we’re going any further.”

  They coasted into the entrance and stopped right as they reached the parking-ticket dispenser.

  “The gate is blocking our path,” moaned Allie. “And obviously there’s no power to lift it.”

  “I was going to try crashing through it,” said Justice. “But we’ve just used the last of the fuel. Looks like we’re abandoning this thing.”

  �
�How are we going to do that?!” yelled Kylie as zombies began rushing the truck from behind, climbing into the bed and surrounding them on all sides.

  Justice’s head was spinning as he noticed an old, bald zombie who reminded him of Gollum from Lord of the Rings, especially when he opened his mouth and exposed several rotted teeth. As the zombie put his face against the glass and stared at him with longing, he felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck.

  Precious…

  “We have to get the hell out of here before more of these things show up,” he said, turning away from the transfixed zombie. “I’m going to distract them and then you two are going to run.”

  “Run? Where?” asked Allie.

  “Get to the very top of the ramp,” he said. “The roof. I’ll meet you both there.”

  “Why don’t we try the elevators first? There’s usually a door separating the elevators and the garage.”

  “You forget. There’s probably no electricity for the elevators. We’ll just get trapped inside with zombies surrounding us. Just meet me at the top of the ramp and we’ll try to locate another vehicle.”

  “What if they get you?” cried Kylie, her lips trembling.

  “I won’t let them.”

  “But…”

  “Kylie, I’ll be fine,” he said, grabbing her hand. “Don’t worry about me. Just get to the top of the ramp and hide until I meet you both there.”

  She nodded reluctantly. “Okay.”

  He reached under the seat and pulled out Luke’s bat. “Take this with, just in case. And here,” he said, opening up the glove compartment. He pulled out a large hunting knife with a black handle. “I almost forgot about this.”

  “I can’t use that,” said Kylie as he handed the knife to her.

  “You will if you need to, unless you want to die,” said Justice, handing the bat to Allie. “Now, get ready to run as soon as the zombies start chasing me.”

  “What are you going to use to defend yourself?” asked Kylie.

  “My gun and I still have the machete,” he said, pointing toward the bed of the truck which was now completely filled with zombies. “I just have to get to it.”

  “How are you going to get out of the truck?” asked Allie, staring at the group of zombies pawing at the windows. “There’s, like, over twenty of those freaks out there.”

  He pulled out his revolver and unlocked the door. “Like this,” he said, slamming the door into the Gollum-zombie, knocking him backwards. “The roof!” he yelled, clamoring out of the trunk and slamming the door.

  The girls watched as Justice shot Gollum-zombie and then two more.

  “Look out!” shrieked Allie, as more zombies advanced toward him as he reached for the machete.

  “I can’t watch,” gasped Kylie, covering her eyes.

  Raising the machete, Justice began swinging and moving away from the vehicle while the zombies followed.

  “Okay,” said Allie, when the zombies had moved far enough away. “We should go, before they come back.”

  Sighing, Kylie unlocked the passenger side door and they both slipped out of the truck on that side.

  “Oh, my God,” whispered Kylie, as they crouched down. “More of them.”

  Three zombies had entered the parking lot with their noses in the air, sniffing. It didn’t take them long before they noticed the commotion on the other side of the parking lot, where Justice was still swinging away. They stumbled in that direction, leaving the girls alone once more.

  “Come on,” said Allie, grabbing Kylie’s hand.

  The girls ran toward the next level of the ramp and ducked behind a van, when they noticed another zombie wandering down from the second level.

  “Keep going, keep going,” pleaded Allie as he shuffled closer to the van. When it stopped and began sniffing the air, both girls looked at each other in horror.

  “Oh no, he must smell us,” whispered Kylie.

  A loud growl of excitement confirmed their suspicions, and seconds later, the girls found themselves facing a hungry and very scary giant of a zombie.

  “Back off,” said Allie, raising the bat. “Shoo!”

  The lips on the dark-skinned zombie, who stood close to seven feet, turned up in a gruesome smile. He lurched toward the girls.

  “Oh, my God!” screamed Kylie.

  Allie swung the bat as hard as she could and hit the zombie in the waist. The zombie swayed slightly backwards but then steadied itself, growling angrily.

  “Allie, try it again!” yelled Kylie.

  This time she raised the bat over her head and hit the zombie in the chest, knocking him to the ground. “Let’s go!” she cried, lowering the bat.

  The girls ran past the zombie and continued their way to the next level, pausing only to gauge the safety of their path. When it looked clear, they ran to the next two levels until Allie stopped, gasping for air.

  “I’m tired,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “Let’s walk the rest of the way.”

  “I hope nobody shows up and takes our food and water from the truck,” said Kylie, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “I’m dying of thirst.”

  “Me too. I’m sure Justice will drive us back to the truck once we find another vehicle with gas.”

  “If he makes it,” said Kylie, her eyes big.

  “Don’t say that. He will.”

  “Did you see the zombies entering the lot when we left? There were so many…”

  “Justice will make it. He promised.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  They walked the rest of the way in silence, reaching the roof of the parking ramp. Both girls hesitated to step into the rain as they watched it come down in heavy sheets. The rain had obviously picked up.

  “At least there aren’t any zombies waiting up here to greet us,” said Allie.

  “Maybe they just don’t like the rain.”

  “Maybe.”

  A growl from behind startled the girls. When they turned around, they found two gruesome half-naked zombies heading in their direction.

  “Great,” said Allie, gripping the bat tighter. “At least these two are a little smaller than that last sucker. He must have been a good basketball player being as tall as he was.”

  These two zombies both appeared to be women, one much older than the other, but from the neck down they were both so chewed up and rotted, they barely resembled humans, let alone females.

  “I can’t do it,” said Kylie, her hand shaking as she pointed the knife at the zombies. “I just can’t.”

  “Fine, let’s just run,” said Allie, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her into the storm. The girls’ feet splashed through the rain puddles until they reached the door to the stairwell. When they glanced back, they noticed the two zombies hadn’t given up on them that easily.

  “Let’s hide in here!” yelled Allie, grasping the door handle. Unfortunately, it was locked. “No… no… no…” she cried. “This is not happening.”

  “What’s wrong? Open the door!”

  “I can’t. It’s locked!”

  “Oh no!”

  Allie stared at her friend, whose wet, dark hair was plastered against her face. “We’re going to have to kill them before they get us.”

  Kylie’s eyes widened in horror. “I –”

  “You have to!”

  “Oh no. Oh, my God!”

  The younger zombie reached the girls first and Allie stepped forward, her bat held high. “Leave us alone!”

  The zombie ignored her and lurched forward with arms open wide.

  Allie swung the bat and bashed the zombie in the head, crushing its skull. Horrified and disgusted, she dropped the bat as the zombie dropped to the ground.

  The second zombie arrived and went right for Kylie, who screeched in horror as she tried jabbing at its chest with her knife.

  “In the head, remember!” yelled Allie, moving toward it as it tried reaching for her friend. She grabbed it by its stringy dark hair, ripping stran
ds out of the zombie’s decayed skull. “Oh, gross,” she shuddered, releasing the hair.

  The zombie howled and then turned toward her, its mouth open and teeth bared.

  “Come on, do it!” gasped Allie, backing away in terror.

  “You leave her alone!” cried Kylie.

  The zombie turned back to her and she raised the knife, plunging it into its head. Shaking violently, she released the knife and the zombie fell backwards with it still embedded in its skull.

  “Are you all right?” asked Allie, rushing to her.

  “I think so,” she said, weeping. “I can’t believe I had to do that.”

  “It would have killed you,” said Allie as the girls hugged each other in the rain. “You had no choice.”

  “You two okay?”

  The girls turned to find Justice limping toward them. They rushed over and both threw their arms around him.

  “Oh, my God!” sobbed Kylie. “We were so scared!”

  “It’s okay,” he said, patting her softly on the back. “I’m here, now.”

  “Are you okay?” asked Allie as they released him.

  He gave her a lopsided grin. “Well, I almost broke my neck falling over a raised slab of cement but other than that, I’m fine.”

  Allie smiled proudly. “We killed us some zombies.”

  “I see that. Good job.”

  “It was horrible,” said Kylie. “I hope I never have to do it again.”

  He put a hand on her shoulder. “I agree, kid, it’s horrible, but you do what you have to do to stay alive. Don’t ever hesitate if one of those things comes after you, again. They won’t change their mind about killing you, and neither should you.”

  She sighed and nodded.

  “What now?” asked Allie.

  Justice scanned the lot, which held only three vehicles. He pointed to an old Ford pickup. “I think I can hotwire that one. Hopefully it has enough gas to get us out of this town.”

  “What about that car with the sunroof?” asked Allie, pointing to a newer Buick Regal.

  He shook his head. “I feel a little safer in the taller truck with the crowd of zombies down there trying to get to us. Plus, I know I can hotwire the Ford because it’s older. I’m just not sure about the Regal.”

  “Okay,” she answered.

  They followed Justice to the truck and found that it was unlocked.