Zombie Games (Book 4): Road Kill

by Kristen Middleton

  “Fine,” said Billie, glaring at him.

  Bryce pulled out his knife and began cutting Billie’s rope. “Good thing I brought extra.”

  “Bryce! Look out behind you!” yelled Paige.

  Two zombies were staggering towards him in the parking lot. He quickly turned around and rushed the zombies, stabbing the first one in the head. Before he could get to the second one, Billie appeared by his side with a long wrench and smashed it against the zombie’s skull.

  “Thanks,” said Bryce.

  “See, if I was turning into one of these, I’d be going after you and not those zombies.”

  “Right. Uh, why don’t you go behind that car and pee while I get the formula to Paige.

  Billie nodded and walked away.

  “What do you think?” asked Paige, when Bryce got back to the SUV. “Is it safe to let him go unrestrained?”

  “I don’t know. Probably not.”

  When Billie made it back to the truck, he ignored the trunk compartment and sat behind Paige. “Let’s go.”

  Bryce sighed. “We have to tie you up, man. Sorry.”

  “No. I’m not going to agree to that. Either you trust me or leave me here.”

  Bryce and Paige looked at each other.

  “For the love of God, just relax. I’m not going to bite you guys. Aren’t you the one that said Cassie pulled through?”

  “Yeah, but Eva didn’t,” said Paige. “And either did Austin. Both of them became hostile and angry. Kind of like you’re doing right now, Billie.”

  He smiled humorlessly. “Wow, Paige. Thanks for stomping out any hopes for my future.”

  “Well, it’s the truth,” she mumbled.

  Bryce rubbed his forehead. “Look, fine, we’ll keep you untied. But if you feel like you’re losing your grip on reality, let us know, will you?”

  Billie snorted and then looked out the window. “I’ve felt like that before any zombie ever got to me.”

  “How’s your neck feeling?” asked Bryce, starting the engine.

  “It still hurts like a son-of-a-bitch. But it’s a little more manageable now that the pills are kicking in.”

  “Good,” he replied.

  “You never told us what happened on the yacht,” said Paige.

  He pulled out of the parking lot and zigzagged around a couple of zombies. “They weren’t there, but some friends of theirs were.”

  “Did they happen to tell you where Steve and Irene are?” she asked.

  He ran a hand through his wet hair. “Yeah, they left for Atlanta about three weeks ago.”

  “No shit?” asked Billie.

  “No shit. This entire trip is basically a waste of time.”

  “Only if Nora doesn’t find her father,” said Billie.

  “Exactly,” he replied. “Let’s hope she does.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “How is Travis doing all of this?” asked Allie, staring out the window of the semi as more zombies arrived to join the others. “And what in the heck is wrong with Justice?”

  “I have no idea,” said Kylie. “But there’s one thing for certain…”

  “We’re not in Kansas anymore?”

  “That and we’re in a crap-load of trouble. This guy is obviously dangerous. I actually think that he has some kind of hypnotic power over the zombies and Justice.”

  “He must but how could he?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he’s not human.”

  Allie smiled humorlessly. “Maybe he’s some kind of angel who’s come to save us all from the zombies.”

  “Or maybe he’s from the other place and wants to take over the world.”

  Allie started laughing but stopped when she noticed that Kylie was serious. The hair stood up on the back of her neck as she thought about everything that had happened in the last few weeks.

  Obviously, at this point, anything was possible.

  “So, um, you really think he’s the Devil or something?”

  “I… don’t know, maybe,” she said, her eyes full of fear.

  “He’s been nice, though. I mean if he was Satan, wouldn’t he have tried killing us or something?”

  “Or, he’d try to use us somehow,” whispered Kylie, as if Travis could actually hear them from outside.

  “Not me,” she whispered back. “I won’t let him.”

  They stared at Travis, who was still talking to the zombies, although they couldn’t hear what he was saying. They’d shut the windows when the stench of the dead became too much to handle.

  Allie licked her lips. “Kylie, how are we going to get out of here?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I wonder if we could sneak away while the zombies are like this? They seem really into what Travis is saying.”

  “I can’t believe they’re actually listening to him.”

  “I know, but now would be a good time to leave.””

  “I don’t know if we should take that chance. Plus, we can’t leave Justice.”

  “Justice has obviously left the building.”

  “No, I think if we can just get him alone, we can bring him back to reality,” said Kylie.

  “I hope so.”

  Just then, Travis stopped talking and the zombies began to disburse.

  “What’s going on now?” whispered Allie, as Travis climbed off of the truck. “Where are they going?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Travis opened the passenger door of the truck and smiled. “Time to get out, ladies.”

  “Um, we’d like to stay inside, if you don’t mind,” said Kylie.

  He stared at them for a few seconds and then nodded. “If that’s what you want.”

  “How did you do that?” sputtered Allie.

  His eyes twinkled. “Do what?”

  She waved towards the zombies. “Talk to them. Get them to come here?”

  He leaned forward. “Because I have been chosen to prepare this part of the world.”

  Kylie’s eyes narrowed. “Prepare this part of the world? For what?”

  He sighed, impatiently. “I have been chosen by my Master to prepare the world for the day of his arrival.”

  “Who’s arrival?” asked Allie, her heart hammering in her chest.

  He smiled darkly. “Lucifer, child. Who else?”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Cassie

  “It looks pretty quiet,” said Henry, as they parked outside of Nora’s grandmother’s house- a small bungalow nestled between two very old willow trees.

  Nora opened the passenger door. “It always looked this way.”

  There were no vehicles parked near the house, which I figured was a fairly bad sign. “Sorry, Nora, I don’t think he’s here,” I said, getting out of the truck.

  “Yeah, I know. I don’t either,” she said, walking towards the front door. “But that doesn’t mean he won’t show up at one point. I’ll leave him a note, tell him that we’re going to the Mall of America.”

  “Just hold up there, toots,” said Henry, shuffling towards her with his shotgun. “Let me go in first. In case there are any uninvited guests. I’ll introduce them to my double-barrel.”

  “Henry, we got this,” said Nora, walking up the stairway to the porch.

  He followed her. “And I’ve got the gun, now step aside.”

  Sighing, Nora moved out of the way and Henry put his hand on the doorknob.

  “It’s locked,” he said.

  Sighing, Nora stepped off the porch and then went around the back of the house. A few seconds later, she returned, holding a key. “Grams always kept a spare under the bird-bath,” she said with a sad smile.

  “Smart woman,” said Henry.

  Nora slid the key in and unlocked it. Then she stepped out of the way.

  “Just stay behind me,” ordered Henry. “And you’ll be safe.”

  They stepped into a small cluttered living room.

  “Your grandma like fairies?” asked Henry, staring at the two large curious contai
ning dozens of small figurines.

  “Wow,” I said, glancing towards several shelves that contained fairies of every shape, size, and color.

  Nora nodded. “That’s why she didn’t freak out when I got my fairy tattoo. She actually thought it was cool.”

  “Sounds like your grandma was pretty hip,” said Henry.

  “She was,” said Nora. “It’s just a shame that she was frightened of the outside world.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Henry.

  “She had Agoraphobia,” said Nora. “She was afraid to go anywhere.”

  “I once knew someone with that phobia,” said Henry. “It was weird though. The woman never mentioned it until I called her for a second date- said it had flared back up and she couldn’t leave the house.”

  I thought he was joking and had to bite back a smile when I noticed he was dead serious.

  A noise from somewhere in the back of the house startled us.

  “Sounds like a zombie,” whispered Henry, when they heard it again- a loud gurgling moan. “What’s back there, Nora?”

  “Dammit, that’s my bedroom,” whispered Nora.

  Henry raised his gun. “Stay behind.”

  We followed Henry down the hallway until we reached Nora’s bedroom. He put his hand on the door and took a deep breath.

  “Get ready,” I whispered to Nora.

  He threw open the door and we all gasped in horror.

  “Oh my God,” choked Nora as she stared at the gruesome scene. “Daddy!”

  Her father, who I knew only from his album cover, was lying on the bed, his lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling. Standing over him was Nora’s grandmother, snacking heartily on his entrails. She turned and when she noticed us gaping at her, dropped part of her meal.

  “Stand back!” hollered Henry, pointing the rifle.

  “No!” hollered Nora, pushing him away.

  “Nora, it’s not really your grandma any more!” I yelled as the creature shuffled towards us.

  Sobbing, Nora took out her knife and went after the zombie while we watched in horrified shock. With a quick jab to her forehead, Nora stabbed the zombie and it fell face-forward, onto the ground. “I’m sorry,’’ she whispered, going down onto her knees. She turned her grandmother’s still form over, wiped the blood away from her mouth with a blanket that had fallen, and closed her eyelids. “I’ll never forget you, grams,” she said, swiping at the fresh tears on her cheeks.

  “God, Nora,” I said, feeling my own eyes fill up. “I’m so sorry.”

  She didn’t say anything. Instead, she stood up and walked over to her father. “He came back for us,” she said, her lips trembling. She reached over and grabbed a blanket, covering his mutilated torso. She then ran a hand over his long dark hair and smiled bitterly. “I can’t believe it.”

  “He did,” said Henry. “See Nora, your dad loved you.”

  She nodded and closed her father’s eyelids. Then she kissed the top of his head. “I loved you too, dad,” she said.

  All three of us stood there in silence for a while, until Nora cleared her throat. “Okay. Enough of this, it’s cramping my style. Let’s go.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  When we got back out to the truck she stared at the house and her eyes filled with tears again. “My fault, you know. I should have checked the basement.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  She laid her head back on the headrest and closed her eyes. “Before I left for Atlanta. I knew she’s gotten the flu shot- she’d told me that a nurse had come to the house and given it to her earlier in the week. Well, when the zombies started waking up all over town and I couldn’t find grams at the house, I assumed she’d turned and just walked away, in search of food. But, I didn’t check the basement.”

  “You couldn’t have known,” I said.

  She let out a ragged sigh. “But it had bugged me later, after I left the house. I almost went back to check but then I was in too much of a hurry.”

  “It’s not your fault,” said Henry. “Don’t go blaming yourself for any of this.”

  “Yeah, but he’d obviously been searching for me when she killed him.”

  “Of course he was,” he said. “Because he loved you, Nora. But don’t you for one second think that any of this was your fault, including his death. He let his guard down and that’s not something anyone one of us can afford to do. Especially when nobody is around to watch our back.”

  She wiped her cheeks and sat up straighter. “I know, it’s just that we were so close to finding him. If we wouldn’t have wasted so much time at the church, but,” her face darkened, “that asshole Travis and his side-kick, Dweeb. As far as I’m concerned, it’s their fault that my father died the way he did.”

  “Well, they did slow us up a bit,” said Henry, taking out his can of chew.

  She tapped her fingernails on the side of the door and nodded. “Yeah, if I ever see those two evil assholes again, I’m gonna send them where they belong. To Hell.”

  “Hey, let’s hope we don’t,” I said. That Travis really scared the hell out of me.

  “But if we do,” she said. “I’m going to make sure they pay heavily for threatening the lives of those kids and slowing us down. They’ll be begging me for mercy before I’m done with them.”

  “Oh Nora,” chuckled Henry. “Chances are we’ll never see them again.”

  “Probably not, but there’s always hope,” she said, closing her eyes.

  Funny how the things we hope for can come back to haunt us.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “They’re back,” said Tiny.

  Kristie, who’d fallen asleep in a recliner, opened her eyes. “Which ones?” she asked, standing up.

  “Paige and Bryce,” he said, staring out the window. “Looks like Paige has…oh wow, a baby.”

  “A baby?” gasped Kristie. “What the hell? They weren’t even gone that long!”

  Tiny chuckled and followed her out of the house.

  Kristie stormed over to Paige and pointed at her. “First of all, young lady, I am so pissed off with you right now I could just scream.”

  “Chill out mom and look at what we brought you,” smiled Paige.

  Kristie’s face softened as Paige handed her the baby. “Where did you find this little one?” she asked in a softer tone.

  “Long story,” said Bryce, moving next to Kristie. The baby stared up at him and her lip began to tremble.

  “Back away from the baby,” said Paige. “You know she doesn’t like you.”

  “She does so like me,” said Bryce, scowling.

  The baby started crying and Bryce stalked away.

  “See,” said Paige. “You scare her, karate man. Just keep your distance.”

  “Oh…it’s okay, sweetie,” cooed Kristie. “Aren’t you just the cutest little thing?”

  The baby stopped crying and smiled up at Kristie, whose heart immediately melted.

  “So, can we keep her?” asked Paige.

  “Well, babies are a lot of work, honey,” said Kristie. “And they need a lot of attention. I just don’t know...”

  Bryce rubbed a hand over his face. “Hello! It’s not like we can just drop her off anywhere. Obviously, we’re going to have to keep her.”

  “You are crabby, aren’t you?” chuckled Kristie.

  “You would be too if you had to risk your life getting diapers and formula. I didn’t expect to do that this soon in life. It’s very… sobering.”

  “It’s only sobering until you realize that a glass of wine at night can make everything more tolerable, even spending your last few bucks on diapers when what you really wanted cigarettes. Unfortunately,” she sighed, “even that isn’t so simple anymore."

  “Hey, where’s Billie?” asked Tiny.

  “He must have fallen asleep again,” said Bryce. “He was bitten by a zombie.”

  “What!” snapped Kristie.

  Bryce went over the events as they unfolded, star
ting with finding Paige in the SUV.

  “You think he’s going to change into a zombie?” asked Tiny.

  “I really don’t know,” said Bryce. “He was feverish and in a lot of pain. Fortunately, he didn’t lose as much blood as I originally thought.”

  “What should we do?” asked Kristie, staring towards the SUV.

  “I don’t know. I have enough things to worry about. This is your call,” said Bryce.

  “Just keep a close eye on him,” said Tiny. “We’ll take turns watching him. After what happened to that crazy broad, Eva, I’m not taking any chances.”

  “And don’t forget about Austin,” said Paige. “He blew up your gas station.”

  He sighed. “That’s right. We can’t afford to take our eyes off of him. You guys with me?’

  “Definitely,” said Bryce. “In fact, I’ll take the first shift.”

  “Let’s get him into the house,” said Tiny.

  “You’re grounded, by the way,” said Kristie, placing the baby on her shoulder and bouncing her gently.

  Paige frowned. “You can’t ground me, mother.”

  “The hell I can’t.”

  “I’m eighteen.”

  “Then act your age and quit adding more trouble to our situation. You put yourself as well as these guys in more danger when you snuck off like that.”

  “If it wasn’t for me, Billie might have died and the baby as well!”

  “Paige-.”

  “No!” hollered Paige. “Quit treating me like I’m some kind of princess! I’m a grown woman, with opinions, a temper, and a hell of a right hook.”

  “Yes I know,” said Kristie, “but-.”

  “No buts, mother. Look at me! I’m not a little girl anymore. In fact, what I am is a soldier, one who’s killed more people in the last few weeks than a freaken serial killer would in a lifetime and I don’t know about you, but I’m handling it pretty damn well.”

  “Yes, honey, I know. I just don’t want anything happening to you. I’d never forgive myself.”

  “Nothing will. Look, I wasn’t born yesterday and I’m not going to put myself in a situation I know I can’t handle. You just have to have a little more faith in me, mom. Seriously.”