by D. C. Gomez
“You are the youngest intern; there is hope,” Dave said softly. “I know you’re busy, so I won’t keep you long. I got two trespassers in the shop. There is something wrong with them, because nothing I tried is working. It’s like they don’t register there is a ghost in the room. They keep yelling your name.”
I shook my head and just stared at Dave. Why did I attract all the crazies? Dave looked at me, a little sad.
“Dave, we need to get them out before they destroy the place or tip Abuelita’s potions over.”
“Too easy, on my way.” Before I could say anything else, Dave was gone. I wasn’t sure what to do. Before I could move, the two thugs that had attacked me three months ago at Abuelita’s were back. This time they had a little zombie help going for them.
“Look who’s here. It’s about time you showed up,” One of the thugs said to me. I couldn’t tell them apart by their faces, and I was pretty sure they weren’t twins. Their faces were contorted, and they looked almost like they were foaming, just like the bobcats. At least they were wearing different clothes. The one that spoke was wearing a red shirt and the other a blue. I started backing up slowly.
“Dave, what did you do?” I said to the wind, since Dave was missing.
“You said you wanted them out. I whispered to them you were outside and they left,” Dave told me from behind the thugs, proud of himself. I wanted to choke him to his second death.
“True, but you at least could have warned me they were heading my way.”
The thugs were coming toward me.
“Sorry. I thought you were ready.”
Nobody was ever ready to get beat up. What was Dave thinking?
I pulled my paint gun and pulled the trigger. It was empty. I tried the second, and the same thing happened. I had my 9mm in my lower back, but that was for last resort. These two were annoying and a pain in the neck, but they didn’t deserve to lose their souls.
The reasoning was not going to work with these two. They couldn’t make rational decisions when they were only humans; now it was a lost cause. My situation was deteriorating very quickly. Blue zombie was carrying one of Abuelita’s large knives. That thing looked more like a sword than a knife. I needed a weapon now.
I ran back to Ladybug, and the zombie started chasing me. I wasn’t sure how, but every zombie here was moving with a purpose. I barely had time to get to my door when they were on me. Blue was moving the fastest. I had no idea what to do on short notice, so I slammed him with the driver’s door. The reinforced door took Blue Zombie out. That was going to leave a horrible mark I was afraid he dislocated his kneecap with that hit. At least Blue dropped down like a sack of potatoes.
That gave me enough time to grab my machete from the ceiling of Ladybug. Red ran directly at me. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with these two today. I still needed to get to the park, and this was not part of my master plan. I had no idea how he did it, but Red managed to grab the knife his buddy had dropped. He was petty agile with a weapon for a zombie. I had to block several swings very quickly with the machete.
“Hey, Dave, a little help over here!”
Dave was bouncing up and down like he was shadow-boxing.
“What do you need, Ms. Isis?” Dave was running in my direction, finally.
“I’m out of ammo for the paint gun. I have more in my trunk; I need you to fill it for me.” I was blocking with the machete with my right hand and with my left, I passed Dave the gun. He shook his head in wonderment. “Dave, take the gun now.”
He made it to my side and reached for the gun. His hand was shaking. I handed him the gun, and he held it firmly in his hand.
“How is this possible?” Once again, I didn’t know what Dave was talking about.
“Dave, hurry! I need the gun now.”
Dave moved around the car and headed toward the trunk. Blue was starting to twitch back to life. Red kept on coming, and I was not happy. I managed to drag him away from Ladybug to keep Dave focused. When I finally got a clean angle, I kicked him in the ribs and knocked him to the ground. I knew that wasn’t going to keep him down for long. They just kept coming. I got distracted, and Blue pulled me down to the ground.
“Dave, anytime now.”
Red was getting ready to join the fight. I kept trying to get away from Blue. I was trapped by two of the most annoying zombies ever.
“Ms. Isis, cover your eyes.” I had no idea what that meant, but I did as Dave told me. I opened my eyes to find both zombies out.
“Thank you, Dave.” I slowly pulled myself to a standing position.
“It’s not possible, how can I hold it?”
I looked at Dave, and I finally understood. He was not supposed to be able to hold solid objects, which explained his hesitation. He looked at me for answers. I thought about it for a minute.
“Because I gave you a direct order. I guess it’s part of Death’s gifts.” I didn’t have a more reasonable explanation. Death’s powers were still a huge mystery to me. “Are you going to be OK?” I wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to freak out.
“I helped an intern. That was awesome. Let me know if I can do it again.”
Not the answer I expected, but at least Dave was back to his cheerful self. Ghosts were weird at times. My phone vibrated as I was watching Dave do his celebration dance. I wanted to scream. This stupid phone was worse than a leash.
“Hello.” I didn’t even bother looking at the caller ID. I just didn’t care anymore.
“Isis, where are you?” Constantine sounded angry.
“At Abuelita’s,” I told him, as I made my away around Ladybug to close the trunk.
“Why?” Constantine asked. “Never mind. You can tell me later. They need you at the park. The apocalypse is under way.”
“I’m low on ammo, and I’m struggling here,” I admitted to Constantine. I was getting exhausted.
“You’re just around the corner. Head over here first, and I’ll get you fixed.” I was hoping Constantine had a plan before I passed out.
“On my way. Can you send Shorty this way? I got a couple of bodies for him to pick up. Also, have him lock up Abuelita’s while he’s here.”
“Got it. Hurry.” Constantine hung up as usual.
“Dave, I got to run. Are you good here?”
Dave walked over, smiling brightly. “Yes, ma’am. This has been a great day. You are the real deal.”
“Sure. Watch the place. I’m off to chase more zombies.” I shook his hand for good measure, and he smiled. This was becoming a weird day.
Chapter 35
Constantine had understated the situation at Spring Lake Park. I parked by the baseball fields closest to the entrance off I-30, and it was nuts. Our little local sociopath had been busy. There were as many zombies running around as humans. I got out of Ladybug and went to the trunk to get my gear. I finally felt prepared to face the world. Black cargo pants and combat shirt, hair in a long braid, steel toe boots and enough ammo to take on an army. This was how you went to war. Constantine had sent me out with another shake. I had taken two before leaving the house. Eric was my hero right now. Who needed those five-hour energy drinks when you had these?
Modifications to my gear were in order. I strapped two paint guns to my legs, grabbed my backpack full of extra ammo, and hooked up a police baton in the place where my machete usually went. The screams were overwhelming, and I wasn’t sure who was chasing whom at this point. I finished my shake, dropped the bottle in my trunk and pulled out my extra-large paint gun. It looked like a modified M16, but with enough rounds to take down at least one hundred of these bad boys. I did the sign of the cross one more time. In cases like these, it didn’t hurt to have some divine intervention.
“Father, don’t let us die today,” I prayed.
“Are you talking to me?” Constantine asked in my ear. I forgot my mic and ear
piece were hot.
“Sorry, Constantine, just talking to the big guy,” I told him as I took a quick survey of my surroundings.
“Good call. You might need him over there.”
If anybody else had said that it would have sounded condescending. With Constantine, it was just a fact.
“Constantine, where are our boys?” I looked around at the chaos.
“Bartholomew is by a field near the plane, where they have the stage. Start there.” I took a breath, and Constantine continued. “And Isis, hurry. He’s surrounded.”
“Why didn’t you say that first?” I said, as I took off running.
“No need to add any more pressure to this mess.” Since when was Constantine so considerate?
Running across a field of zombies was like taking a leisurely walk across a minefield. There was no point in stealth; they were everywhere. I was convinced our accountant had fed half the town. Bartholomew was right; we had at least five thousand people in this mess. I decided to be Moses today; I was parting the sea by shooting everything in sight. At first, I didn’t seem to make a difference until the humans noticed the zombies dropping.
“Get down,” I screamed at a mother who was holding her baby. I wasn’t sure if it was her husband who had turned, but the scene was terrifying. She hit the ground and covered her baby with her body; only a mother would do that. I took the guy and five others out around her. “If you can, get in your car and stay in. Got it?”
“Yes, thank you.” The young mother picked up her child and took off. She was fearless. She would die before anyone touched that baby. I took a knee and cleared a path from my location. If she were willing to face hell for her kid, I would give her a way. When I was sure she was safe, I took off again.
I made it to the central area of the bowl. The place looked like a riot site. Tables were overturned, tents ripped apart, chairs in pieces. I wasn’t sure where the humans were, but zombies were everywhere. A group of ten zombies was charging the only vendor’s booth still intact. I had no idea who was there, but they were putting up one hell of a fight. I took out the first five before getting near. By the time I made it over, three more were out, and the residents of the booth took out the remaining two. I tagged them each one more time, just to be on the safe side.
“Of course you would be here. Mayhem and destruction in Texarkana. It was only a matter of time before you would appear.”
I looked in the booth and saw no other than Angelito smiling back at me. Abuelita was on the other side, facing the rear.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in Florida?” I asked him, as I kept shooting down zombies.
“Are you serious? And miss all this fun? Got back last night just in time,” he told me, as he threw some weird red flame at the zombies. Abuelita had said to me after last fall that Angelito’s powers had manifested. She was starting to train him.
“Hey, we want them alive.” I had no clue what that red stuff was, but it didn’t look safe. He gave me an odd look. “Death’s order.” He shrugged, closed his eyes, and his ball of whatever that was changed to blue. I was hoping blue meant good. I was still firing when I heard Abuelita.
“Dear, how is the restaurant?” she asked from behind me. I looked behind, and she was throwing green stuff from the opposite side.
“Secure. Shorty is locking it up.”
Angelito was sweating, unlike Abuelita, who looked like she wasn’t even struggling. I grabbed one of my paint guns and handed it to him. “Here you go, my little warlock. I don’t need you burning yourself out in your first fight.” I grabbed extra ammo from my cargo pockets.
“Thanks. This is harder than it looks. What is this?” Angelito took the gun and aimed. The boy’s accuracy was scary.
“No idea, but it takes them out, and that’s all I care.” I smiled at him.
“I do wonder if you are not part of the terrorist group, because you’re a force to be reckoned with.” He gave me a quick visual inspection. “By the way, you’re rocking your Lora Craft look.”
I shook my head and suppressed the desire to shoot him.
“Thanks, Angelito. Love your tan.” He was glowing, and his mocha complexion looked amazing. I turned back to shoot five more zombies before reloading when I stopped short. “Is that Eric?” I asked
“Oh wow, he can run.” Angelito and I were staring in awe as Eric sprinted across the field with at least ten zombies chasing him. “Is he being chased by the soccer team?” Angelito asked me, still in awe.
“Or the track and field team. That has to be the most traumatizing image of the day,” I told Angelito as we watched them running away. That was karma for all those horrible running sessions he had put us through. At least he was running. I had no time to chase them.
“Isis, you need to hurry. Bartholomew is in trouble,” I heard Constantine tell me in the earpiece.
“On my way,” I told Constantine. “You two need to get out of here,” I told Angelito and Abuelita.
“No way, dear. You need help. We can take a few out from here for you.” Abuelita was smiling at me. “Family don’t leave when things get messy. Go. We’ll guard your rear.”
She was serious; they weren’t leaving. What had I done to deserve people like this in my life?
“And it is a nice rear,” Angelito added and ruined the moment. I rolled my eyes.
“Just be careful and don’t let them bite you.”
Angelito gave me a look like I had lost my mind. “Bite me? Girl, those things are not getting near me. Go Wonder Woman, save the day.” Angelito couldn’t be serious, even under attack.
It was hard to run with all the zombies, so I just shot them down. I wasn’t sure who was a zombie or who were the regular humans being attacked by the zombies. We had blood everywhere. I heard a loud explosion from the opposite side of the park. It shook the ground.
“Constantine, what was that?” I could see flames over the trees. The sound made all the zombies in the area run in that direction.
“Bob just took out one of the pie stands,” Constantine said.
“With what? A missile?” Why was I even asking? I should know by now my people did not believe in overkill.
“In tough times, we must improvise,” Constantine told me very calmly.
I shook my head and kept on running.
Chapter 36
It took me longer than I had hoped to get to Bartholomew. He was at the far end of the park, near the Frisbee golf trail. Why did Texarkana have a Frisbee golf park? Something to ponder on my next run. When I finally made it to where Bartholomew was, I was impressed. Give a boy genius unlimited funds, and he will build you an eight-foot, fully functioning robot. That thing was huge. It was like a cross between Ironman and the Pacific Rim robots. No wondered he was stressing. That was a massive undertaking.
I wasn’t sure what capabilities Bartholomew’s Terminator had, but now he was using it to swat zombies away. Bartholomew was keeping the zombies at bay, but they kept coming. He was going to be overrun in less than a minute. I pulled my second paint gun and took off at a full sprint. If Death’s gift augmented my natural abilities, I was praying for perfect aim now. I couldn’t afford to miss a single one. I cleared the field in less than thirty seconds, shooting with both guns. I had never played baseball, but I had seen enough players sliding into a base to know the drill. I slid in next to Bartholomew, making sure his rear was covered. I had cleared a path that looked like a runway.
“Nice. That was a great entrance,” Bartholomew said when I stood up by him.
“Practicing my moves.” We gave each other a fist bump and a smile. “You’re a tough man to find, Bart.” I passed him my extra gun, and we started taking the zombies out within his perimeter, about twenty feet wide.
“Not my idea to put the robot judging area this far. I think they were trying to leave space for the relay races.” I wondered
if those were the kids chasing Eric.
I took off my backpack and handed him extra ammo. I added more to my gun to be on the safe side. Bartholomew was firing, taking zombies out.
“How many people do you think she fed?” he asked rather casually.
“Probably the whole town. I wondered if she was giving them away at every school in the four states area. They just keep popping up.” I glanced around, and we still had humans in the area. “Why are those kids still here?”
“They think this is part of the event. They’re convinced it’s all a hoax, and they refused to go,” Bartholomew said. We watched a group of kids climbing the stage and throwing stuff around.
“They can’t possibly believe that.” I glanced over at Bartholomew to make sure he wasn’t joking.
“The human mind can’t process this kind of situation. Besides, we have years of brainwashing that things like this could never happen. It’s easier to deny it’s happening than believe in the alternative.”
I looked around and wondered how it was possible not to believe. “They don’t even believe in God anymore. Do you honestly think they’ll believe in this?” Bartholomew was right. People only believed in the power of the dollar. Nothing else mattered.
“Bart, please tell me they are not still eating pies.” I looked around and saw kids stuffing their faces with fried pies. “This will never end if we don’t stop them.”
“I’m afraid they were giving the pies away for free. People are turning a lot faster,” Bartholomew said over the shoulder. Our backs were touching as we took out more zombies. After five minutes of straight shooting, the place was finally cleared.
“I’m pretty sure she increased her doses for those pies.” I lowered my weapon and wiped my forehead. I was drenched in sweat. “Constantine, we need to blow up that pie stand.”
“Oh really, now you want me to blow something up. What happened to that whole speech to behave? Oh, how the tables have turned.” Constantine was dripping with sarcasm. I rolled my eyes, mentally slapping Constantine over the head. Bartholomew looked at me, confused. I noticed he wasn’t wearing an earpiece.
