My Zombie Summer (Book 1): The Undead Road

by David Powers King

  “That means he knew about this place,” I said. “He works here!” Another chair struck the window. The glass began to bulge. There was no time to explore Kaylynn’s discovery, but she validated my misgivings for Sanders and his creepy smile. Who knew what he would have done if Cody hadn’t released us from that improvised prison. I couldn’t understand why Sanders was lying to us, but I had a feeling we were about to find out, soon enough. “Let’s get out of here.”

  We made it to the door, but one of us was missing.

  Jewel aimed at the glass. “Hurry!” I said.

  “I can’t!” she cried. “I’m going to—!”

  “Stop her!” Kaylynn threw herself at my sister.

  After we wrestled the gun away from Jewel, the unmistakable look of terror leapt from her green eyes. She looked around, puzzled, like a sleepwalker after waking up. “You okay?” I asked. “What happened?”

  “I . . . I was going to shoot the window—”

  “It wasn’t Jewel.” Kaylynn pointed at the Vectors. “Don’t you see?” Given that our rational minds were compromised, we shook our heads. “The infection is using them. It’s taken control of their bodies!”

  Her idea terrified me. “Like you can?”

  When Kaylynn nodded, Jewel and I stood up and ran for the door. Kaylynn stayed close by our side as we entered the hallway, and not a moment too soon. Shattered glass rained into the control room, followed by the deafening roar of over a hundred undead. The heavy door closed. The lights dimmed. An alarm sounded with a woman’s voice on a speaker system:

  Warning: bio-hazardous agent detected in Specimen Storage.

  Just like the movies. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  Containment protocol initiated . . . Evacuate immediately.

  I stopped. This wasn’t a movie. This was real!

  We hadn’t gone too far into the biology wing, so making our way back would be easy. I ran with the others as fast as I knew how. That’s when I tripped, as if something reached out and grabbed my ankle, only there was nothing there to see. As Jewel had been just a moment ago, I couldn’t move my body.

  “Jay!” Kaylynn backtracked and tried to help me up. I was dead weight. Every last muscle in my body refused to work. “They’ve broken the door down!”

  “Jeremy?” Jewel stopped beside me, terrified.

  I had to keep her safe. “Go,” I said. “Go!”

  “I’ll . . . I’ll get the door!” She ran off.

  Good. Jewel had the strongest firepower among us, so she had the best leverage in case she ran into Cody or Sanders. Then again, I didn’t have any idea what Sanders was capable of, or what other resources he had. Whatever. There was no time to stew over what I didn’t know. The groaning of bent metal echoed into my ears from down the hall. I could see the Vectors breaking down a pane of reinforced glass, but a solid steel door? There’s no way that was possible, but they were coming. Their moaning grew louder as their shadowy arms stretched out. If they had breached the specimen door, we had more than a Vector infection to worry about.

  “What do I do?” I said. “They won’t let me go!”

  Kaylynn readied her bat. “Yes they will . . .”

  The thing about being immobilized by a Vector with psychic powers was that I couldn’t turn around and see what Kaylynn did. Ping after ping, Kaylynn worked her Bat-Kwon-Do skills on the Vectors. A few seconds later, I flexed my hand. Moving again, I wasted no time standing up and calling Kaylynn back. She ran around the corner, her bat dented and bloody. We sprinted for the exit after she grabbed me by the hand.

  “I should’ve taken the wooden one,” she said.

  “We’ll find a better one when we get out.”

  Around the next corner was the main door. Jewel was waiting for us on the other side.

  “Hurry up!” she screamed. “It’s closing!”

  Sure enough, two metal panels slid from the walls to the middle. We weren’t going to make it. Jewel’s terrified face was the last thing I saw from the other side. If she was crying or shouting, I couldn’t hear her. The closest thing to us was a security card reader. I didn’t have a card. Neither did Kaylynn. Shadows from the coming horde stretched ever closer, towards us.

  Kaylynn pulled me around the next corner, into a hallway like the one we’d come from. One of the doors was slightly ajar. Kaylynn kicked it open and we rushed inside. We then pushed our backs to the door until it shut. The smell of cleaning supplies stung my nose. I nearly tripped on a wheeled mop bucket. Of all the rooms in in the place, we had to pick a janitor’s closet.

  “Quiet!” Kaylynn shushed. “They don’t—”

  Bam!

  Too late. An infected fist rapped the door. It wasn’t alone. More joined in, each one knocking their fists on the door. This was it. I’d never see Jewel again. Kaylynn and I were about to die from the jaws of the people who used to work for the Dysfunctional Butt Clinic.

  “Make sure Jewel gets out,” I said.

  Kaylynn shook her head. “I’m not leaving you.”

  She said that like she actually cared.

  Even in the dim glow of a single light bulb, her blue eyes were brilliant. I blocked all other sights and sounds and soaked her in. Her face, purple highlight, and her frosty smile that warmed me—if I was going to die here, I wanted her face to be my last memory.

  “This is crazy,” she said, “but I have an idea.”

  “What?” I asked, willing to try anything.

  Kaylynn bit down on her lip and grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me into a kiss.

  I had no choice but to kiss Kaylynn back.

  She leaned into me. She held me close. Nothing as soft as her lips had ever touched mine. One of the higher items on my bucket list—until just then—was to kiss a girl, except I promised to treasure the moment, not steal it from some naïve cheerleader and toss her aside like an empty beer can, like those high school jocks do. No. If I were to kiss a girl, she would have to be special. Kaylynn had special written all over her.

  I nearly pinched myself, just to be sure. I’ve heard of seven minutes in heaven before, but with Vectors pounding on the door, it was seven minutes in hell. All I could think of was kissing her again in the near future without the Vectors trying to break the door down.

  Blood slid down Kaylynn’s chin as she pulled away. And then I tasted it. Blood. Her blood. On my Lip. Open wound to open wound. I was about to gasp when she wiped her chin clean with her sleeve. “Trust me.”

  She didn’t have to explain. Kissing my open wound was the quickest way to infect me. By doing so, the Vectors would lose interest in me—like how they ignored Kaylynn. I had to trust her. I had to believe she knew what she was doing. “I hope this works,” I said.

  “Me too.” Reaching for her dragon pendant, a light pink rose to her cheeks. “Jewel won’t survive without you. If we make it out of here, we’ll find the vaccine.”

  “The vaccine is for you,” I said. “And what if there’s only one dose?”

  Kaylynn raised her bat. “I’ll worry about that when I get there.”

  Fingers wedged their way around the edges of the metal door. It bulged inward, giving way to the feverish hammering of Vector fists. I took up my Glock, ready to pull the trigger.

  “When we get there. You’re not doing this alone.”

  She gave me a big, courageous smile. “Together?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded, smiling back. “Together.”

  My confidence restored, we waited for the undead to barge in. Kaylynn could’ve easily switched her Vector Mode on and I wouldn’t have thought any less of her, but she didn’t. She kept her promise, a promise I had asked her to make. I didn’t feel any different. I didn’t sweat, and I had no fever or any desire to eat someone’s face off. Was this really going to work? There was major direct blood-to-blood contact. Her kiss was going to infect me for sure. All I could do was stare and wait.

  “They’re coming,” she said. “It’s not working.”

  Boom!
Schklikt—Boom!

  The screaming undead joined the pumping and blare of a shotgun, and then there was silence. The Vectors didn’t push on the door anymore. Before I could think of what happened, there was a knock. Not realizing I was holding Kaylynn’s hand, we let go. I calmed my nerves and went for the handle. I pulled the door open. Jewel stood tall on the other side, triumphantly holding the 12 Gauge Maverick in her hands, and her feet planted on a heap of dead bodies.

  “Did somebody order a pizza?” she asked.

  Kaylynn laughed at the inside joke.

  I heaved a sigh of relief. We were safe.

  “How did you get back here?” I asked.

  She held up a security card. “Found this on one of the coats in the rec room.”

  “Great!” Kaylynn said. “What about the Vectors?”

  “I dodged some, but they’re coming back—”

  Kaylynn pointed at Jewel’s feet. “Look out!”

  I saw it as Kaylynn said it. I was too late. A gray hand clamped onto Jewel’s ankle and dug its nails into her. I stomped on its arm until it broke off. Jewel jumped away, crying in pain.

  This wasn’t good. “You okay?”

  Panic filled her face. “It burns!”

  Kaylynn pulled Jewel’s pant leg up. Four deep gashes had lacerated her skin. Cold sweat appeared on her face. I couldn’t deny it. My little sister was infected.

  “We need the vaccine.” I said, looking at Kaylynn.

  She nodded. “Carry her. I’ll take care of the rest.”

  “Here.” I pulled Jewel onto my back. “Hold on.”

  “It hurts,” she cried. “Am I going to die?”

  “I won’t let that happen. Don’t go there!”

  Ping! Kaylynn had swung her bat. “Let’s go!”

  And go we did. Kaylynn swung at a few more Vectors as I adjusted Jewel on my back. As soon as I was on my feet, we were running. The remaining Vectors made straight for us, so we veered around them and threw them off. Without ammunition, the shotgun was useless. I still had a few shots left in my Glock, but I couldn’t use the gun and carry Jewel at the same time.

  The door had closed, but we had Jewel’s card that time. She gave it to Kaylynn, who then swiped it on the security panel. With a swish, we stepped into the dim corridor. Finally we were free from the horde, or so we had thought. The Vectors jammed their arms between the two closing doors. More joined in. Their combined strength—and mental strength—pried the panels apart.

  “Where to?” Kaylynn asked, panting and sweaty.

  I didn’t know. Sanders could be anywhere. I closed my eyes and tried to think of the directory that I looked at. We came from the center, and the corridor was a big square, a wing or lab on each side. Sanders had trapped us on the south side of the facility, and we had just come from the west. This left the chemistry and the research and development wings unexplored. If I had to guess, the vaccine would be in research.

  According to the directory, it was behind us.

  “This way,” I said, but then I froze again.

  I could barely turn my head around. Cecil ran at us, using his zombie powers to hold us down. A dozen shuffled into the corridor with Black Bandana man and Cleft-Chin in the lead. Kaylynn was about to smack the Runner’s head into the outfield when an arrow whizzed by my ear from behind again. It lodged into Cecil’s forehead, sending the Vector to the floor. Only one person could’ve sent that arrow. Cody drew another arrow and aimed without looking at us. The Runner was down, but there were plenty of Stalkers ahead.

  “Thanks,” I said. “Jewel’s hurt. We have to—”

  He walked right past us, like we were invisible. Pulling the bowstring, Cody sent an arrow to his father’s head. His black bandana fell with his body. A second arrow later, Cody did the same to Cleft-Chin—and again, and again—until he ran out of arrows. Drawing a hunting knife from his buckle, Cody held it up and charged at the Vectors, stabbing a woman in the head. He wasn’t interested in running away from these monsters now, or trying to protect himself from them. He’d become a cold-blooded killer.

  Blow after blow, Cody wedged himself into the horde until the undead shrouded him from view. He screamed. He cried. Out of pain or anger, I couldn’t tell.

  “He’s lost it,” Jewel said. “I wanna go now.”

  “Not without that vaccine,” I said, trying my best to stay focused. I didn’t like Cody, but I didn’t exactly want him to die, either. But if he wanted to sacrifice himself to give us time, I was grateful. “We need a distraction or they’ll trap us, no matter where we go.”

  “Then go.” Kaylynn faced the coming horde, clenching her fists tight as the deep blue in her eyes gave way to a blood red. Her jaw tightened. Her arms shook. She was in Vector Mode again. I half-expected the Vectors to turn and run, but they wouldn’t stop.

  “Don’t!” I said. “You promised you wouldn’t!”

  “Jewel’s going to turn before I do!” Kaylynn turned away. “I can sense where she is, so get the vaccine and wait for me. I’ll find you.” She grabbed her dragon pendant, yanked it from her neck and handed it to me. “I want that back. Go on now. I won’t be long.”

  The pendant was dear to her, so arguing with her was useless. “Right,” I said. “Don’t be long.”

  She wrapped her arms around Jewel and me. “I’m right behind you.”

  Whipping her long dark hair back, Kaylynn raised her bat over her shoulder and waited for the Vectors to come. I hadn’t taken five steps before I looked at Kaylynn again. If she fell into trouble, I couldn’t help her. What if she passed out? Would Vectors still leave her alone? I couldn’t. I just couldn’t leave her behind.

  “We’ll figure it out,” I said. “Come with us.”

  “There’s too many!” She wasn’t using her sweet voice that I’d fallen in love with. It was harsh. “Go!”

  With her mind made up, there was no changing it. The first Vector nearly passed Kaylynn when she batted it down to the floor. She swung again. Three times. Five times. She even raised her hands and threw the Vectors back, only for them to get up and try their mindless luck at walking past her again. This was her fight. Not mine.

  Tuning out her struggle, I ran as fast as I could.

  With Jewel on my back, I went around the next corner and entered another long corridor, identical to the others that we’d seen. I drew a picture of the facility in my head as I ran, so we could escape the nightmare later. My only chance to save Jewel relied on that vaccine—and me. I had to find Sanders. We had to get the hell out of there. I couldn’t let fear hold me back.

  Jewel was becoming less lucid each second. Her skin burned against my neck. I couldn’t believe how fast the infection had taken hold of her, and I had no idea how long it would take for her to turn. Both Cassidy and that man in Iowa were zombified within a matter of hours. What if we didn’t have hours? What if she fell unconscious and went straight to chewing on my neck?

  Why wasn’t I having the same symptoms?

  I hoisted Jewel up my back. “Almost there.”

  “Hurry . . .”

  Her weak voice compelled me to sprint through the doors of Research and Development. Like the Biology wing, we could go left or right. I imagined Sanders sitting next to a completed vaccine, like a kid who couldn’t wait to open his birthday presents. Was Sanders even aware that we’d freed his horde? I hoped not. If we weren’t careful, we would never escape.

  I went down the left hallway, reading every label I passed. Offices, a test lab, a recovery room . . . None of them were the right place. Only a quarter of the lights were on, making it hard for me to judge where to go. We wrapped around the next corner, through a door much like the Biology storage room. I carried Jewel in and peeked through the window of a sterile laboratory. The lights were on. Fancy equipment littered the room.

  This had to be it. The entrance had no handle. I didn’t know how to open it.

  “Use the card, dummy . . .” Jewel uttered.

  One security
card later, the airlock door opened, and I jumped when a decontamination mist poured into the chamber. It wasn’t until we entered the room that I realized how disheveled the lab was. Papers lined the hard floor. One table had a few glass flasks and vials—half of them knocked over. The only noise in the big room was a white plastic-coated machine in the center, spinning a green liquid in glass tubes. Against the back wall was another window for observing another room.

  Something small was moving around in the air on the other side. Whatever it was, it was too tiny to see.

  I set Jewel on a chair, found my Glock and went to the window for a closer look. It had a variety of flowers inside, like a greenhouse. In the center was a wooden crate with evenly spaced slots. Fuzzy insects, each of them with yellow and brown stripes, flew from flower to flower. My skin itched. The room was swarming with bees. There were hundreds of them. Maybe thousands.

  “Why do they have bees down here?” I asked.

  “They’re too dangerous outside,” Sanders said. I spun around. The doctor had a weird pistol in his hand—a kind of injection gun. Jewel barely glanced at him, too weak to care. Not me. I refused to buy into Sanders’s fulsome smile again. “Not that it matters now,” he continued. “You’ve seen what they’ve done.”

  If I’d seen such a thing, I totally missed it.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  Sanders adjusted his glasses and stepped forward. His eyes went to my sister. It wouldn’t take a genius to see that something was wrong with her. If I didn’t know who she was, I wouldn’t go near her either. Sanders made his way to me while looking the room over.

  “Your sister is infected,” he said. “That’s too bad. Where’s your other friend?”

  I wish I knew. Kaylynn could’ve been hammering away at one bloody skull after another still. Sanders didn’t know, and I thought he was on top of everything, but he wasn’t even aware of our releasing of his secret Vectors. When it came to that important detail, he had completely left us in the dark. We had reversed roles somehow, an advantage I wasn’t willing to give up.