Everything hurt.
But almost as soon as it had happened, the pins flared white again, burning off the red stain.
I breathed. My lungs weren’t on fire anymore . . . I sat up. “It worked,” I said, looking at my hands—really looking at my hands, since it had been days since I’d been able to see straight.
I was fine. Lady Siyu had cured me . . .
I heard laughter coming from where Cooper was still lying in a heap. “I’ll tell them it was you,” he said between laughs. “Who do you think they’ll believe?”
“Benji will say something.” Benji might not be a hero, but he had a conscience. Besides, he wouldn’t want someone like Cooper in charge of the rest of his life.
Cooper shook his head, still laughing. “Benji will play ball because that’s what he does.”
I should have hit him harder when I’d had the chance. Didn’t change the fact that he was right, of course.
“Oh they won’t believe Owl,” Carpe said.
I turned to where he’d spent the fight, hiding behind the mausoleum with the laptop. Not even a scuff.
Lightweight.
Carpe spun his computer around for Cooper and me to see. “But I’m betting on them being real interested in this YouTube video. Has a ton of views already, and I only posted it a minute ago.”
I watched the arrogance fade to disbelief, then shock as the video played out. Carpe had been live-streaming Cooper trying to sacrifice me on the bench, going on about zombies. Everything had been picked up in the audio, including Cooper talking about his supernatural ally.
Never, ever underestimate a hacker.
Cooper’s eyes shot to me, then Carpe. In a surprising show of athleticism, he bolted up and ran for the bridge. He would have made it if Nadya hadn’t clotheslined him.
Rynn caught him, and I’m pretty sure he dislocated Cooper’s shoulder before connecting Cooper’s face with his knee. Before Cooper could scramble back up and make another run for it, Rynn caught him by the back of his green cargo jacket. “New model, remember?” he said, and hit Cooper in the face.
Nadya kicked him hard in the kidney. “If you ever tell me I look good again, Cooper, I will do worse than Alix and Rynn combined.”
Cooper stared at her, not believing that the woman previously known as the “superhot chick” amongst our archaeology cohorts had taken him out so easily.
“What do you want to do with him?” Rynn asked me, still holding Cooper’s jacket.
“Knock him out until the IAA gets here. And get the damn lamp—”
A gunshot sounded. Rynn, Nadya, and I dove out of the way, leaving Cooper where he was.
Odawaa, his sanity looking worse for wear, kept the gun pointed at us as he motioned for Rynn to back up. The downfalls of fights in places with no cover; I was completely exposed, and so was Rynn.
“I need to recover my losses somehow,” Odawaa said as he grabbed Cooper and began to drag him towards the SUV.
Rynn and I started to run after him as soon as the car started, but Carpe stopped us. “Owl!” he yelled. “You need to see this—now.” He showed me his laptop.
A CNN bulletin from L.A.—Hollywood Boulevard, to be precise—was now playing. A news presenter was trying to broadcast what looked like a mob of people screaming and running for their lives behind him.
That wasn’t what got my attention though . . . it was the line that scrawled across the bottom of the screen. Zombie Apocalypse of 2014.
Shit.
20
The Summer Zombie Invasion of Hollywood Drive
Well . . . That one’s out of the bag.
I couldn’t pull my eyes off Carpe’s computer screen.
It was . . . well . . . surreal.
Not the zombies, mind you . . . just how prepared everyone was . . .
“We’re not entirely sure yet if this is a hoax or an elaborate publicity stunt orchestrated by one of the local movie production companies,” the newscaster said. “But one thing is for certain; locals are voicing their concern—”
I figured the newscaster would’ve said more, but he was forced to dive out of the way as two Humvees screeched by; their passengers held various weapons out the window, including baseball bats, a rifle, a handgun or two . . . and at least one chain saw. In the background I heard someone yell, “Everyone out of the way—zombie apocalypse—we know what to do!”
I watched a few more seconds of video play out as the Humvees knocked over a street sign and caused two cyclists to careen into a bus stop. I think there was a gunshot fired as well before the camera cut out. Not one zombie had made an appearance on-screen—just panicking people.
OK . . . somehow I wasn’t the least bit surprised. Where there’s a will, a way, and a large conglomerate of people with semiautomatic weapons . . .
“I hate to say this, but this is kind of like that game Zombie Walkers—”
Nadya just stared at me in shock. “How stupid are you people?”
“Have you played our video games? We’re practically conditioned for this stuff.”
She said a few less-than-complimentary things in Russian while I frowned at the screen.
“That’s Hollywood Boulevard—there’s no way zombies got that far before Lady Siyu dropped them” . . . unless they’d started running. Not a comforting thought . . .
Carpe already had YouTube videos up on-screen. “I think the problem is worse than we initially thought.”
He showed me a choice video highlighting a very fresh-looking zombie in a hospital gown. In fact, all the zombies in the image looked . . . well . . . fresh. It really wasn’t doing much, just randomly changing direction as people ran and screamed around it, though it did lunge at someone who got too close. Well, at least Cooper had no ambition besides filling the streets with zombies—he hadn’t told them to attack or chase or run.
I turned to Lady Siyu. “I thought you said you got rid of the zombies?”
She curled her lip. “I did,” she said. “Every zombie here is no longer moving.”
“Cooper’s curse must have had a wider range than we thought,” Rynn added.
She seemed to consider that. “I suppose, not knowing the effect of the multiple artifacts and the addition of your blood, that is possible.”
I jerked back from the close-up on the screen as an arrow lodged into the hospital-gown-wearing zombie’s forehead while the nearest neighboring zombie had its head smashed in as two guys rode by on bikes, one carrying a crossbow and the other a baseball bat. They traversed the crowd, picking off zombies.
“People are going to get killed,” I said. If they hadn’t already. “Any sign of the lamp?”
Everyone shook their heads. I noted there was no sign of either Daphne or Alexander. Amidst the gunfire they’d disappeared—without their artifacts, so at least for now their teeth were cut . . . figuratively speaking.
Well, at least I wasn’t cursed anymore . . . “Damn it, we need to get that lamp off Cooper.”
“He went with Odawaa in the jeep,” Rynn said. “Lady Siyu, the elf, and I will deal with them.”
I didn’t argue. We didn’t have a lot of time before the IAA was all over this place—and let’s face it, Lady Siyu and Rynn were the best suited to handle the situation.
“We’ll try to curtail the zombie hunters before anyone else gets killed,” I said, and grabbed Captain’s leash before heading off to the gates with Nadya.
“I believe you are forgetting your payment to the pins,” Lady Siyu said.
There was the trace of a smile on her face, and she looked happier than she had any right to be. I stuffed Captain under my arm. “Yeah, well, it’ll have to wait until I’m back in Seattle. You can have your pick of the treasure then—”
“The payment has already been decided on, and as you are carrying it with you, I see
no reason to delay.” Her smile widened, and I followed where she was looking.
Captain mewed at me, wanting to be let down.
My heart caught in my chest, and I tightened my grip around him. “No—there is no way I offered you up my cat—”
“You offered your most prized possession, which I attest you are currently holding. The pins do not lie,” she said.
My prized possession meant treasure; Captain wasn’t a possession, he was my damn cat. Besides, I wasn’t convinced I could make him stay with anyone—even if I considered it, which I wasn’t. “Over my dead body,” I told her.
I think that’s what she’d been waiting for. “I will be happy to arrange,” she said, and took a step towards us.
Realizing something was up, Captain let out a cross between a mew and a growl.
Rynn stepped between us and grabbed my shoulders. “Alix, not now, it’s not worth it,” he said.
“I’m not giving that harpy my cat—”
Rynn turned to Lady Siyu. “I don’t believe the cat will go willingly this evening, and there is the issue of Alexander and any other vampires in L.A. Can we agree to leave this matter until later?”
She inclined her head in agreement, but the smug expression didn’t vanish as she headed towards the black convertible she’d come in.
“Rynn, under no circumstance am I handing over Captain to her.”
“I don’t think it will come to that, but now is not the time or place. We’ll find something else, I promise.”
I drew in a breath and let Captain down, still holding his leash for dear life. “I’m trusting you,” I told him. How could I have been so stupid—it was Lady Siyu!
“I know,” he said as he touched his head to my forehead, a heavy look on his face. “Alix, be careful.”
I snorted softly. “You’re the one going after the pirates and the zombie king. We’re just going to try and persuade a few zombie apocalypse enthusiasts to stop . . . well, shooting.” I pushed away, wanting to get Captain as far away from Lady Siyu as possible right now in case she changed her mind, but Rynn held me back.
“It’s not the humans I’m worried about, it’s the supernaturals who might be involved.” He glanced to where Lady Siyu was pressing the horn in the black convertible. “Think. Out of all the convoluted things you’ve seen over the past week, does it make sense that Alexander and Daphne were behind it? You said it yourself, they had no idea what they were orchestrating.” He nodded around at the chaos around us. “And whoever is behind it is someone Lady Siyu, Mr. Kurosawa, and I can’t pinpoint—and they don’t want us to know what their game is yet.” He looked around the cemetery, as if searching. “Despite the chaos, it feels like this was a test—probing, to see where the weak spots are.”
“I’d be more concerned about you; you’re the one chasing after the powerful artifacts with the Naga.”
“Oh I plan on being careful,” he said. He kissed me fast—without worrying about who the elf was looking at this time—and ran to join Lady Siyu and Carpe.
Captain with me, I joined Nadya in our jeep. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get this clusterfuck over with,” I said.
“What is the plan when we reach the zombies?” she said, gunning the engine.
“Your guess is as good as mine, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”
Nadya and I peeled out of the cemetery. We didn’t have far to go before we ran into the first batch of zombies. All we had to do was follow the screams.
“Now that we’ve found them, what the hell do we do with them?” Nadya said as she halted the car in front of a troop of ten or more zombies wearing nothing more than morgue tags.
“That depends—how stupid are these guys?”
In response, Nadya honked the horn three times and hit the floodlights.
The pack of hospital zombies turned away from their slower, screaming, and panicking prey in favor of us.
“Pretty stupid,” she said.
I searched around the area. Paramount Pictures wasn’t too far away—they had to have gates and buildings that could hold back a few zombies. “We’ll lead them out of the way.”
Nadya honked the horn again to make sure we kept their attention, and we started leading them towards the movie lot. Best-case scenario, we could get the bulk of them locked up. Once we got to breaking Cooper’s damn spell, it’d be easier to spin it as a promotional prank—the IAA loved that stuff.
If we didn’t figure out a way to break the spell? Well, worst-case scenario, the assholes at the IAA would eventually find the zombies . . . and they wouldn’t be able to attack anyone in the meantime.
Apparently lights and horns were too delectable a temptation for the zombies to resist . . . not only did they take the bait, they picked up their pace too.
“Back up, back up,” I yelled at Nadya, banging the top of the jeep as the first few zombies staggered within grabbing range.
“No backseat driving.” Nadya threw it in reverse—not too fast, in case the zombies lost interest—and maneuvered into the Paramount lot.
There was a warehouse not too far away. When we got within running distance, I could jump out and open the doors—it looked like we might even be able to drive right through. Lead them in, then close the barn doors behind them, so to speak . . .
It was a good, clean plan. The kind of solution I’d brag about to Rynn the next time he accused me of being reckless.
If it hadn’t been for the Humvee cruising by the lot, I think it would have worked.
It was the same guys from the video; a man, who looked like he’d be more at home on the beach, leaning out the front passenger window with a chain saw, and a woman in a camouflage baseball cap leaning out the back window, brandishing a sawed-off shotgun.
The Humvee stopped outside the main gates, and a few moments of silence passed as we sized each other up. Me and Nadya with our pack of zombies, and the zombie hunters with their guns and chain saws.
Yeah, there was only one way this was going to go . . .
“Zombies!” Chainsaw yelled as a battle cry.
A Molotov cocktail followed. Nadya and I ducked as the bottle exploded—spectacularly, to say the least—just short of our jeep, in the midst of the zombies.
Now, you might think this was a fantastic idea. Why not kill all the zombies using fire, then add a few bullets? That solves the problem, doesn’t it?
The problem isn’t killing the zombies; the problem is firearms and explosives in the average video gamers’ hands are dangerous for everyone else around them.
The guy’s aim was good. The Molotov cocktail burst over one zombie’s head, and from there the fiery contents splashed out onto the rest of the pack, as well as some nearby plants. Those went up fast, the dry leaves acting as an accelerant, and in a matter of minutes the fire had engulfed the guardhouse and the front of Paramount in flames . . . On top of that, zombies now burning towards a second death strayed from the herd, running in every imaginable direction.
We’d only been a few feet away from the open storage trailer too.
Damn it.
A security guard burst out of another building after two flaming zombies crashed into his door. Yelling, the guard ran for the front gate, only slowing down as he caught sight of more flaming zombies setting anything and everything they collided with on fire.
“To your left!” Chainsaw yelled.
Camo hat in the back swung her ponytail and aimed her sawed-off shotgun at the guard, pulling the trigger.
The security guard never knew what hit him. One minute he was watching something out of a bizarre movie, the next . . . well, that was it.
It happened too fast for me to do anything except watch the disaster unfold.
“Son of a bitch, they just shot him,” I said.
We both ducked as bullets ri
cocheted off the jeep. It was only a matter of time before they confused us for the walking dead as well.
Shotgun yelled, “You two been bitten? Come out so we can see you.”
Oh for Christ’s sake . . . I stuck my head up. “Fuck off, you stupid gamers. This is not a fucking zombie video game.”
I ducked back down as they answered me with a shot. Who knew this many people were waiting for a zombie apocalypse in L.A.? Texas, Montana, sure, but L.A.?
Guess an unhealthy fear of home invasion will do that to you . . .
“Well, at least if they’re shooting at the jeep, they aren’t shooting other people at random,” I said to Nadya.
“We need to work on your definition of bright side.”
My phone rang. I checked the ID. What the hell did he want?
“Artemis? Bad timing,” I yelled as another bullet struck the jeep.
“You’re welcome. Been watching things on the news. Quite the Rome burning you have going on out there.”
“Can’t take all the credit,” I said, peeking around the jeep.
“Hey, question . . . are you looking for two men, one brunette all-American, the other African with a number of very scary-looking guns strapped in various locations, possibly towing around a bunch of zombies? Because they’re out front.”
Fuck.
“I’ll take that silence as a yes,” he said.
“Thanks, Artemis, I’ll get back to you,” I said, and hung up. I dialed Rynn next. I swore as his voice mail picked up, then I stole another glance at the trigger-happy zombie hunters.
“Remind me not to play Zombie Walker when it comes out,” I said to Nadya.
“Just remember you said that when the time comes.”
Now what to do? “We need to split up,” I said.
Nadya scowled at me. “Are you sure Lady Siyu lifted that curse? That’s the worst idea you’ve had yet.”
“Well, I’m open to suggestions. Otherwise Cooper might get away.”
“He doesn’t have the other artifacts.”
“He only needs those to control the zombies. The lamp is enough to raise them and control the ones walking around here already.”
Owl and the City of Angels Page 40
