Zombie Games (Uncut) Boxed Set

by Kristen Middleton

  “Look, even the baby wants some,” giggled the woman.

  Adria, staring at the mouthwatering food, tried reaching for the plate.

  “No,” said Allie, stepping away from the pizza. “You can’t have that, Adria. I’m sorry.”

  “Oh… hell, just give her some,” said Billie as Adria began to whimper in frustration. “She needs to eat. Just like you two.”

  “But not this, she’ll choke. Do you have any bottled water?” asked Kylie. “She’s dehydrated and needs water.”

  “I’ll see what we can find,” he replied. He turned to Jenny and nodded.

  Allie’s stomach rumbled again; she wanted nothing more than to eat. “Billie, please let us go,” she begged. “We just want to get back to our families.” And food we can trust, she thought.

  “Tell you what,” he said, sitting down on the bed. “If you do what you’re told and help me with something, I’ll release you.”

  “Help you? With what?” asked Kylie.

  A cold smile spread across his face. “Retribution.”

  3

  Cassie

  “What in the hell is going on?” repeated Kristie for the fourth time. “Why would that numbskull take off with the girls like that? I mean, who does that?”

  Kristie, Paige, Nora, and I were in my grandparents’ family room, stunned and confused as to why Billie had disappeared with Allie, Kylie, and Adria.

  I looked up from the sofa as Kristie paced across the room, obviously on the verge of a panic attack. “Maybe he took them to Atlanta?”

  She looked at me like I was crazy. “Without us? It just doesn’t make any sense. Nora, what do you think is going on? You knew him better than any of us.”

  Nora, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, flicking a lighter, looked up. “I don’t know. I’m as confused as you guys. I mean, he seemed fine, didn’t he?”

  “Yeah, actually a little too fine,” I replied. “He went from mottled and zombish to acting like he could run a marathon. It was beyond creepy, even for Billie.”

  “Billie isn’t creepy,” defended Nora. “He’s just obviously… confused.”

  “Frankly, his confusion is going to bring him a royal ass-kicking when I get my hands on him,” replied Kristie, pulling out an empty pack of smokes from her purse. Scowling, she crumpled it up and threw it across the room. “No offense, Nora.”

  “Don’t be. He deserves a beating. I’ll even hold him down for you,” she replied.

  “If we can even find him,” I replied. Truthfully, I was worried that he was going through the same psychosis as Austin. If that was the case, then the girls were in more trouble than anyone could possibly imagine. I was almost afraid to bring it up.

  “Okay, this is what we should do - once the guys find us a decent ride, we’ll head back toward Atlanta,” said Kristie. “I don’t know, for some reason I feel like that’s where he’s taken them. Obviously, we all know that Billie is a nice guy and I find it hard to believe that he would hurt them intentionally. He’s probably just confused. Like Nora said.”

  “Exactly,” said Nora. “He is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. The Billie I know would never hurt anyone, especially those girls.”

  “Okay, I hate to bring this up, again,” said Paige, who was sitting next to me on the sofa, “and I know you all think that I’m crazy, but… is it possible that he was being controlled by Travis and that’s why he left?”

  “Oh, for God’s sake,” said Kristie. “You can’t possibly believe that after Travis died, his soul jumped into Billie’s body?”

  “Why not?” she asked. “We all agree that Travis was some kind of demon, right? So maybe his demonic spirit is inside of Billie now, controlling him.”

  Kristie sat down on a recliner and put her head in her hands. “I’m sorry, but I’m still having trouble accepting that Travis was nothing more than a freaken psychopath. Hell, he died from getting shot in the chest. If he was really a demon, I doubt that would have happened.”

  “Not if he was just borrowing the body. He probably goes around jumping from victim to victim. Like in the movies… you know?” answered Paige.

  Kristie sighed. “Honey, this is not the movies.”

  “Obviously. It’s real life, one that’s filled with zombies, bloody rivers, and death. If we can accept that, then why are demons so hard to imagine?”

  “Good point,” replied Kristie, sitting back. “Now I’m really going to lose my mind worrying about this. Thank you.”

  “I’m sorry, mom, but we have to consider everything. What about you, Cassie?” asked Paige, turning to me. “What do you think?”

  I stared down at my nails, which were bitten down to the skin. It seemed liked years ago that I’d been sitting in Mae’s chair getting my nails done and my eyebrows plucked. I sighed. “Okay, fine… I think he’s either going crazy from the zombie virus, or,” I looked up, “you’re right and he’s been possessed by Travis. Both ideas are pretty scary.”

  “Billie is not possessed,” said Nora, putting the lighter back into the pocket of her faded blue jeans. “That’s totally ridiculous.”

  “I don’t know what to believe anymore,” said Kristie. “I just want them safe. I hope the guys get back here soon so we can start looking for them. I should probably check on Henry. See if he’s up so we can get moving right away when they return.”

  Henry was in one of the guestrooms taking a nap while Bryce, Tiny, and Justice had gone in search of a vehicle that we could all fit into.

  “Good idea,” I replied. I stood up and walked to the large bay window and stared outside. It was dark, well past midnight, and the yard looked like something out of a horror movie massacre. I glanced at the slaughtered zombies sprawled out all over the lawn and wondered if Bryce and the others were having problems with any more undead.

  “You see them yet?” asked Paige.

  I looked over my shoulder at her. “No. They’ve been gone for over an hour. I can’t believe it would take this long to find something in this neighborhood.”

  Paige walked over and stood next to me. “It’s finding a large enough vehicle with gas in it that’s difficult, I’m sure.”

  Before I could answer, a zombie staggered into view from the side of the house. We watched as it wandered into the center of the yard and then stopped under the moonlight, swaying back and forth. Like the others, it was in rough shape, with its bloody torso and stringy decayed flesh barely covering bone. This one also had a stump for an arm and was one the verge of losing its ratty flowered dress. With her long red hair, she reminded me of Eva a little, and I couldn’t help but shudder.

  “It’s pretty bad when you see something like that and it doesn’t even shock you anymore,” said Paige as we stared.

  The zombie turned around, as if it heard us talking, and started in our direction.

  “Oh, great,” said Kristie, now standing behind us. “I hope it doesn’t attract any other ones that may be hanging out in the other yards. They’re much scarier in packs. Like rabid dogs.”

  The zombie, now clearly on a mission, stumbled up the first two steps and then tripped on the third, landing on her face.

  “What a life, huh?” sighed Kristie, staring at the zombie with empathy. She shook her head. “It’s just a damn shame. I’ll bet that girl had it all before. Now, she’s just a walking corpse with her bra hanging out and her dress stuck in her panties. Kind of reminds me of college. Those parties were crazy.”

  “Actually, if you think about it, they don’t have it too bad,” said Paige. “Think about it - no cares in the world except finding food. They’re not conscious about how they look, if they need a shower, or what may have happened to their missing arm. Nothing matters but finding food.”

  The zombie slowly lifted itself from the ground and then staggered to the window. Placing a hand on the glass, she stared at us silently with her pale eyes.

  “I don’t know what’s creepier – her staring at us or us staring back. Wh
at do you think she’s thinking?” mumbled Kristie.

  “Remember going to the bakery and staring at all of the donuts through the glass?” said Paige. “Thinking they all looked so yummy.”

  I grimaced, and the zombie’s black lips pulled up into a black toothy grin, as if it knew what we were talking about. Its eyes traveled slowly to Kristie, who took a step back.

  “Okay…why in the hell is that thing smiling at me?” she asked in a strained voice. “Like it knows something that I don’t.”

  Page smirked. “Hell, I think she just found her donut.”

  “Time to close shop,” I said, pulling the cord on the curtain. Seeing that cold smile on the zombie’s face was giving me the creeps. It made me wonder if there was something actually going on up there.

  Paige and Kristie stood back. As the curtain started to close, the zombie began to moan its frustration and slap at the glass with its one hand.

  “That window isn’t going to break, is it?” asked Paige when I dropped the cord.

  “No,” said Kristie. “It should hold up.” Her eyebrows furrowed. “Actually, maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to have your weapons within reach, girls.”

  “I think we’ll be fine. That glass is pretty thick,” I said. “She’d have to throw something pretty heavy at it for it to break. I doubt she has enough sense to do something like that.”

  The window slapping sound stopped.

  Paige snorted. “Don’t give her any ideas, Cassie. I think she can hear us through that glass.”

  “Even if she could, she’s not intelligent enough to do that,” I said. At least I hoped.

  “Don’t underestimate those things,” said Paige.

  Now, feeling nervous, I peeked through the curtain and watched as she shuffled away from the window and toward the steps. I winced as she missed them completely, landing on her face once again, this time in the grass.

  I almost felt sorry for her.

  She stood back up and turned around.

  I closed the curtains quickly.

  “What’s it doing?” asked Kristie.

  “Leaving,” I said. “Hopefully.”

  “Good,” replied Paige. “Maybe she’ll bother the neighbors and forget all about us.”

  The neighbors.

  I wondered if they’d all turned into zombies or if any of them were still around. It would have been devastating for my grandparents if they’d had to shoot any of them on their way out of here. They’d been good friends with most of the people on their block.

  “You know, I’m surprised we haven’t seen many survivors. What about you, Kristie?” I asked, turning toward her. “Did you run into any on the way back?”

  She took out a tube of Chapstick and applied it to her lips. “No,” she said, putting the cover back on. “We haven’t seen much. Just Adria, that creep Travis, his driver, and your grandparents’ friends on the Saint Croix. Other than that, nobody else.”

  “They really didn’t want to leave, huh?” I asked, still not liking the sound of that. If things weren’t so complicated, I’d try and talk them out of staying.

  Kristie nodded. “Guess not. I wasn’t there, but they told Bryce they felt safer on the boat.”

  I thought about the zombies entering the water and it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. The possibility of it actually being tainted with blood was unsettling. “Well, I hope they have weapons.”

  “Tom pulled a gun on Bryce,” replied Paige. “So I’d have to say so.”

  I sighed. “That’s good, I guess. I still wish they’d come back to Atlanta with us.”

  Paige sat back down on the sofa and pulled her hair over her shoulder. “I know. I think Bryce may have told them about the hotel, so they can meet up with us if they change their mind.”

  “Hey, are those headlights?” asked Kristie, opening the curtain again.

  I stepped next to her. “I think so.” A rush of relief warmed my stomach as they grew closer. Although I knew the guys could pretty much take care of themselves, they weren’t superhuman. A bullet or even one wrong step when combating a zombie could prove deadly.

  I looked outside as a large SUV stopped in front of the house. I could see Bryce in the passenger seat and I had to fight the urge to rush outside and throw my arms around him. With my luck, the zombie that looked like Eva would be my demise.

  “Thank God,” said Paige. “I thought they’d never get back here.”

  “Missing Justice, Paige?” asked Nora.

  Her eyebrows flew up. “No,” she protested. “Why would I miss him? I don’t even really know him.”

  “Oh, come on, we all saw the way you’ve been drooling over that guy,” she replied with a smirk. “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

  Paige rolled her eyes. “Whatever, I haven’t been drooling over him.”

  Kristie chuckled. “She’s definitely got it for Justice. Her voice even changes when she talks to him.”

  Paige scowled. “What do you mean my voice changes?”

  Kristie fluttered her eyelashes. “Justice,” she gushed. “I love that tattoo of the scorpion on your back. It’s so dreamy!”

  “I didn’t say dreamy, I said cool,” snapped Paige. “Dreamy is like from the sixties.”

  “Oh, come on, since when have you thought scorpions were cool?” asked Kristie.

  “Since Justice removed his shirt earlier,” teased Nora. “Ever since then, she’s wanted to get stung.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” replied Paige, crossing her arms under her chest.

  “Oh, we’re just teasing,” said Kristie. “Lighten up.”

  “Whatever,” she said. “I don’t think it’s funny.”

  Kristie sighed.

  Paige raised her chin. “Seriously, though, you guys have to admit, the tat was really cool.”

  “It was,” I replied. It had been really cool but the sparkle in Paige’s eyes earlier hadn’t been from the tattoo. It was the guy under the ink.

  Just then, the front door opened up and Tiny, Bryce, and Justice walked in.

  “Well that was certainly a pain in the ass,” said Bryce, looking weary.

  “Why? Did you guys run into some problems?” I asked as Tiny locked the door.

  “You could say that,” replied Tiny, moving toward the window. “We were almost shot taking the Yukon that’s now parked in the alley. I think we lost them, but I don’t want to take any chances. Let’s get moving.”

  “Who were they?” asked Kristie, looking out into the darkness nervously.

  “Looters, I think,” said Tiny. “They took us by surprise after we located the keys for the SUV at one of the neighbor’s homes up the street. They chased us for a few miles until we finally lost them. That’s why it took us so long to get back here. You girls haven’t noticed anyone near the house, have you? A big white pickup?”

  “No,” I said. “Unless they drove by without lights and we didn’t see them.”

  Tiny rubbed his chin. “Well, like I said - let’s get packed and moving. Just in case.”

  “I just don’t understand people,” said Kristie, frowning. “You’d think you’d want to ban together with people, not try and rob them.”

  “How many were there?” I asked.

  “Couldn’t tell,” said Bryce. “They started firing at us and we took off.”

  “What happened?” asked Henry, stepping into the family room wearing a clean, white button-down shirt. The other one had splattered blood from Travis and we’d burned it.

  “Looters again,” I said. “The guys ran into some when they went out to search for a vehicle.”

  He smoothed down his white hair and put on his Stetson. “You get them bastards?”

  “No, but they almost got us,” replied Tiny, walking over to Henry. “You get much sleep?”

  “Just rested my eyes some,” he replied, rubbing his lower back. “Feller like me can’t sleep too long with a herniated disc.”

  “You need to take it easy
,” said Tiny. “You’re always overdoing it.”

  “No way around it when you’re trying to fight zombies and rescue people,” he replied, patting the pocket of his shirt. “Oh, hell, where’s my chew?”

  “Forget the chew, why don’t we find something for the back pain? In fact, I think I have some aspirin,” said Kristie, walking to her duffel bag.

  He waved his hand. “Just keep them,” he said. “If I don’t feel the pain, I might mess it up even more.”

  “You sure?” she asked, pulling out a bottle of pills. “I’ve got some right here.”

  “If you really want to help my back, you’ll massage it,” he replied with a wide grin. “Haven’t had me a good back massage since the nursing home.”

  “We don’t really have time, gramps,” said Tiny, frowning. “We need to get out of here and search for the girls.”

  “I know,” he replied. “Obviously, my old bones can wait.”

  “Don’t worry, Henry, I’ll rub those old bones of yours later,” said Kristie, kissing him on the cheek.

  His eyes twinkled. “Haven’t had me a kiss or a promise for some bone rubbin’ in a very long time. This is a good woman, Tiny. Better treat her well or I’m gonna steal her from you.”

  Tiny put his arm around Kristie’s waist and brushed her lips with his. “Whatcha think, babe? Am I treating you good, or do I need to step it up?”

  She smiled grimly. “You find me those girls and there’s no higher step than that, Tiny.”

  His face became serious. “I’m going to do everything in my power. I promise you that.”

  “I know,” she replied, staring up at him. “And I have total faith that you will.”

  “Damn right,” said Henry. “If we have to search the ends of the earth, we’ll find them.”

  Ends of the earth.

  His words made me shudder. The truth was they could be headed anywhere and it was going to take a miracle to find them. If they were still alive.

  “You okay?” asked Bryce pulling me into his arms.

  “Yeah. Just worried.” I closed my eyes and rested my cheek against his chest. As usual, his embrace gave me strength. “I’m just so glad you made it back to me.”