As I neared the end of the restaurant’s parking lot, a short female zombie moved towards me along the sidewalk, dragging a bloody, dismembered arm.
Grimacing, I stopped and waited for her to drop the arm and charge me. Amazingly, however, she stayed on her course, paying me no mind.
“Hey,” I said, out loud.
Her glazed eyes met mine for a brief second and then dropped away.
“You sure about this?” I tried again, wondering if she thought that maybe I was one of them.
In response, her eyes stared blankly and she continued to ignore me.
I watched in troubled silence, even more stunned when she passed in front of me, without so much as a pause. Raising my arm, I sniffed my skin wondering if I smelled as repulsive as they did, but found nothing unusual in my scent.
I frowned. Her ignorance of fresh food was unsettling.
Brushing it aside, I crossed the street towards the mega mall’s parking lot, bracing for a different reaction from the others.
I’m nuts, I thought, staring at the massive crowd of dead in my path. What was even crazier, however, was that they also appeared oblivious to my approach. I’d almost expected the entire group of zombies to stop what they were doing and charge after me, but not these zombies- they just kept wandering around with no particular destination in mind..
As I approached the closest of the group, two males who were so emaciated that I could see the bones in their ribcages, stepped out of my path, ignoring me.
What in the hell is going on? I wondered in disbelief as I stared at their retreating backs. Then, another zombie approached and before I could raise my ax, she changed course, also taking no interest.
Grunting, I picked up my pace, zigzagging around dozens of them without interference. When I made it past the parking lot and to the main entrance of the mall, I turned around and stared at the crowd in disbelief, wondering if maybe I was truly losing my mind. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw headlights.
Crap.
It was the white truck, returning. As it drew closer to the mall exit, it slowed, as if searching for me.
“You made it, child.”
I whipped around and stared at an old man, holding the door open for me. He had white hair, blue eyes, and a friendly face. “Who are you?” I asked, in shock, staring at his priest garb.
He chuckled. “Well, I’m a friend, here to help you.”
I glanced over my shoulder one last time and noticed the pickup was still there. I could almost feel his eyes on me and felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
“Who is that?” asked the priest, as the truck took off.
“Some asshole. Oh,” I turned back around and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”
“It’s quite all right, child. I’m sure you have your reasons.”
“You have no idea. Say, have you seen two girls and a baby around here?”
“Yes. That’s why I’m here, actually. Are you the sister to one of the girls?”
“Thank goodness. Yes, I’m Allie’s sister. Are they safe?”
“I am Father Brambati,” he replied. “Why don’t’ you just come in and check for yourself.”
“Thanks,” I said, stepping past him. “So, is there a man named Billie with them?”
His eyebrows furrowed. “Billie? No, I don’t think so.”
“Really?” I turned and caught him staring at my legs.
His eyes moved back up to mine and he smiled. “My… my… that’s a very interesting outfit, young lady.”
I suddenly felt very subconscious of the skimpy shorts. “I know. Not really my choice, but what can you do. Where are the girls?”
He started walking. “This way. They’ll be very excited to see you.”
I started walking next to him and noticed that there were zombies heading towards us from the opposite direction. I raised my ax. “Watch out, Father.”
He smiled. “Oh… don’t worry. They’re harmless.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Just watch.”
Sure enough, as we approached, the zombies ignored us and kept walking.
“Why are they ignoring us?” I asked, watching them.
“It’s his will,” said the priest.
I raised my eyebrows. “You mean God’s?”
His eyes moved to my ax.
“Father?”
“You won’t be needing weapons here,” he said, frowning. “In fact, why don’t you leave it behind and retrieve it later? To be honest, t’s making me quite uncomfortable.”
I stared at him in surprise. There was no way I’d give up the ax. No way. “Well, I’m sorry that it’s making you feel that way, but I can’t give it up. It’s all I have and it’s too dangerous, even if the zombies are ignoring us.”
Just then, a woman and a man rounded the corner. When they noticed us standing in the corridor they froze.
“Is everything okay?” asked the priest.
“Yes,” said the man, who appeared tense. He looked at my ax and his face darkened.
“Very good,” replied Father Brambati. “This is Cassie. She’s here to see the girls.”
They didn’t say anything, just continued to stare at me as we approached.
“Everything okay?” I asked, studying the couple uneasily when we stopped in front of them.
The woman smiled. “Of course.”
“Where are the girls?” I said, watching another zombie stagger towards us.
“Follow me,” replied Father Brambati, stepping around the couple.
I did and when we turned the corner and began walking towards the center of the mall, I gasped in shock.
“What in the hell is that?” I asked, staring in disbelief at the monstrous black hole in the floor.
The priest put his hand on my back. “It’s a miracle. Something that words alone cannot describe. Come and see for yourself.”
Frightened, I took a step away from him. There was no way I was going to get close to that thing. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie. “No, I’ll pass, thank you. Where are the girls?”
“Ah… she’s here.”
My head whipped around and I sighed in relief. “Billie, thank God. The priest said you weren’t here.”
He stepped out of the shadows. “Here I am, alive and in the flesh.” He smiled. “I’m glad you’re here. I believe I’m going to need your help.”
“Uh, sure,” I replied. “Where’s my sister, Kylie, and Adria?”
“Oh, they’re around here somewhere,” he replied. “They’ve got the mall all to themselves. Every girl’s dream, right?”
“Under normal circumstances,” I replied, staring at a zombie who was nearing the hole. “Right now, I’d say that it’s a little too dangerous for them to be having a ‘shopping spree’.”
He giggled eerily. “I agree. Try telling girls that age though, huh?”
My eyes settled back onto him. He’d shaved and was now dressed in an expensive-looking black suit, which was odd considering the situation. “You look good.”
He put his hands in his pockets. “I make the suit look good.”
I smiled.
“You look pretty good yourself,” he said, his eyes flickering to my uniform.
I blushed. “Obviously this isn’t mine.”
“Well, you have an entire mall of clothing at your disposal, pick out something else if you’d like. I’d lose the ax, though, it’s not working with your outfit.”
I looked down at my weapon. “No, someone special gave me this and I’m not letting it go.”
“Suit yourself.”
I wanted to ask why he’d taken the girls, but decided to wait. If he had the zombie virus, then he could be volatile and I didn’t want to antagonize him.
“So… are you really doing okay, Billie?” I asked, stepping closer. I wanted to touch his forehead, to see if he was feverish, although, admittedly, he looked pretty darn healthy. “You feeling sick or anything?”<
br />
“Actually, I’ve never been better.”
I looked into his eyes and there was something I didn’t recognize. A coldness. “Well… that’s a relief,” I said, feeling uneasy.
“Shall we find the girls?” he asked, glancing at the hole again. He smiled. “I’m sure you’re anxious to see them.”
“Very.”
“Get away from there!” hollered the priest. “You stupid idiot.”
I turned back towards the hole again and noticed a zombie near the edge.
“Dai!” shouted Billie.
The zombie turned around and walked away.
I raised my eyebrows. “Uh, what just happened?”
“Let’s go this way,” replied Billie, ignoring the question. He turned around and began walking towards the shops. “You should start calling for the girls, so they can hear your voice. They could be anywhere in this place.”
I followed him. “Billie, so… um… what’s going on with that hole? How did it get there?”
He smiled back at me. “It’s truly amazing, isn’t it?”
I felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck. “Amazing? More like freaky scary. I’ve never seen anything that deep in my life.”
“You’ve got that right.” He stopped walking and cocked his ear. “Hmm… Why don’t you call for your sister.”
I cleared my throat. “Allie!”
We waited. The mall was eerily quiet without the usual music or people noise.
“Keep calling,” he said.
“Kylie!” I yelled louder.
“Let’s go this way,” he said, pointing towards another corridor.
“Okay.”
We neared a clothing store that my sister adored. “Hold on,” I said, sticking my head inside of the dark entrance. “Allie!?”
“She’s not in there.”
“How do you know?” I asked, looking back at him.
He shrugged. “She would have answered you, right?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I suppose.”
We continued down the corridor.
“Allie!” I hollered again.
No answer.
“Are you sure they’re safe with all of these zombies walking around?” I asked, as two more rounded the corner.
“The zombies aren’t interested in them. Don’t worry.”
“But why?” I asked. “Why would they suddenly not give a damn about us? We’re their food supply, right?”
“It appears that way,” he replied, sniffing the air. “They’re close. I can sense them.”
Sense them?
He turned to me. “Keep calling.”
“Allie! Kylie!” I screamed.
“Cassie!” hollered Allie. “Get away from him!”
I turned around and found my sister standing at the end of the hallway next to a toy store. Relieved, I grinned. “Allie!”
“Get away from Billie!” she yelled, looking panic-stricken.
I glanced at Billie. “What did you do to piss her off so much?”
“Nothing.”
“He’s trying to kill Adria!” hollered Allie.
He looked down at his nails and frowned. “What a little drama queen. God, she’s really starting to piss me off.”
I narrowed my eyes. He’d done nothing but piss me off in the last few hours. “Okay, you stay here. I think I need to talk to her alone.”
“Dammit, time is running out. Where is the baby you little bitch?!” growled Billie.
I stared at him in shock. “Billie?”
“Run Cassie!” hollered Allie.
“Run Cassie,” he mimicked. “Like you can really escape.”
I started backing away from him. “I… I’m going to talk to her, okay Billie? I’m sure she’s just upset and scared after everything that’s been happening.”
“Stay where you are,” he ordered, the rings of his eyes beginning to glow.
I paused.
He smiled and held up his right hand. “Allie,” he hollered. “If you want to see your sister’s beautiful face again, you’ll come here. Now.”
He’s threatening me?!
I glared at him. “You stay there right there, Allie! Don’t you dare move a muscle.”
Billie’s hands began to glow. “Remember this?” he asked, looking into my eyes.
I stared back at him in horror.
“Yes,” he replied, answering the question jumbling around in my mind. “It’s really me.”
“Travis?”
He grinned wickedly. “Would you like to see how quickly skin melts from the bone, Allie?”
My sister began to cry. “No!”
Fire flowed out of his hand, forming a small ball. It hovered in the air next to his face. “Last chance.”
“Run Allie!” I screamed and began running towards her.
“Cassie!” she cried.
I’m not sure what exactly I tripped over, but my foot caught something on the linoleum and I fell forward just before the ball of fire shot past me and hit a wall. Staring at the flames in horror, I quickly got back to my feet and began running again.
“No, please Billie!” screamed Allie, peaking around the corner.
Knowing he was launching another fire ball, I spun to the side and ducked right before it hit me.
“Impressive!” hollered Billie. He smirked. “You just never disappoint, do you?”
When I reached Allie, I pushed her around the corner and grabbed her arm. “Where’s Kylie and Adria?”
“I don’t know. We split up,” she said.
I pulled her down the corridor towards Nordstrom’s. “I’m going to find a place for you to hide, and then search for them,” I said, grabbing her hand. “There should be plenty of places in Nordstrom’s.”
“What about Billie?”
“I’ll deal with him, too.” I hoped to at least.
We hurried into the store. I looked over my shoulder and was surprised to find that he hadn’t followed us.
“How did he do that?”
“What?” I asked as we past the perfume department and headed towards the escalators.
“The fire? How did he make the fire?”
We began climbing the escalator. “I don’t know.”
“Is he a demon?”
When we reached the top, my eyes stopped at the Linen Department. “Come on,” I said, pulling her hand.
“Cassie? Would you answer me? What is going on with Billie?”
“Uh, a demon?” I wanted to shrug it off by laughing but her question actually scared the hell out of me. He obviously wasn’t my friend Billie anymore. He was Travis. The problem was that I had no idea what Travis was. “I really don’t know.”
“I’m so scared,” she said, squeezing my hand.
I led her to an assortment of hanging shower curtains and stopped. “I know,” I said, turning to her. “But I’m here now and I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Her blue eyes searched mine. “Are we going to be okay?”
“Yes, we are.”
“I don’t want him to kill us.”
“He’s not going to, Allie. I won’t let him.”
“What about that hole? Did you see it?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think Satan is going to come out of it?”
I paused. “Satan?”
She nodded. “That’s what Kylie and I were thinking. Billie wants to sacrifice Adria and then Satan will know she’s dead. Then he’ll come here to try and rule the world.”
“That’s really… dark,” I replied.
She smiled grimly. “I know, but it’s starting to make sense.”
I sighed. “Listen, nobody is sacrificing Adria and you’re going to be safe, too.”
“How can you be so sure?”
I smiled. “Because, I’m your older sister. I know everything.”
She snorted.
I sighed. “Look, I don’t know for sure what is going to happen, but we’ve survived a lot and I’m not going to let t
hat freak kill any of us, okay?”
She nodded.
“Now listen to me- you have to hide and stay hidden. Here,” I handed her my ax. “Hide behind these curtains and wait for me to come back for you.”
“What if you don’t come back?” she asked, her eyes filling with tears.
I hugged her. “I will, Allie. I promise. Just don’t leave here unless… there’s a fire or something.”
“And if there’s a fire?” she asked as I released her.
I thought about the people in the restaurant. “Remember that restaurant that dad used to love. The steak joint, right across from the mall?”
She nodded.
“There are other survivors there. Nice people. If I don’t come back in a couple of hours, try to find a way to get to those people. I know they’ll help you.”
“A couple of hours?” she asked, horrified. “I have to wait that long?”
“Well, yeah… It might take me a while to find Kylie and then get back here to you. Look, this place looks pretty safe and nobody will see you behind these curtains. Please, just promise me you won’t leave.”
She sighed and nodded. “Okay. Not before two hours.”
“Right. I don’t want you to leave any earlier. Okay?”
She frowned. “I don’t have a watch.”
I rubbed my forehead and looked around. “Fine…. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay.”
I rushed over to the cooking department and found a small handheld kitchen timer. I then hurried back and gave it to her. “There you go. Wind up the timer and when it goes off in an hour, rewind it for another hour. Easy, right?”
“Please come back,” she begged, her lower lip trembling.
I hugged her again. “I’ll do my best.”
“Do you think that Adria is the ‘Chosen One’?”
I released her. “Honestly, I really don’t know.”
“I think she is,” said Allie. “So, you’d better save her.”
Chapter Sixteen
Bryce and Company
“Did you hear that?” whispered Kristie.
“I didn’t hear anything,” said Tiny, pulling a long screw driver out of a zombie’s forehead.
“That’s because you were too busy with him,” said Kristie, nodding towards the corpse. “But I definitely heard something.”
Zombie Games Book Five (End Zone) Page 10
