Claws of Doom

by Peebles, Chrissy

  “Tell Claire she’s safe.” She leaned back into the back seat.

  I could see she was overwhelmed with tiredness by the way her brows drew together with a tiny crease forming in between.

  Lucas cocked a brow at me. “What’s she talking about?”

  “I’ve taken her off my hit list,” Val said simply.

  “That’s good.” Lucas nodded.

  She licked her lips, as though she was thirsty. I raised a water bottle to her mouth, but she shrugged it off. “Yeah, it’s good. For her. This might be one fight she couldn’t win.”

  “Why’s that?” Lucas asked, as if humoring her.

  “Because once I change into a zombie, I’ll probably end up bored and determined and particularly hungry. Combine that with the fact that I won’t be very choosy as to what or who I eat and how I get my next meal, and you’ll have a deadly combination.”

  A dark shadow crossed Lucas’s features for a second, but it disappeared quickly, and his easygoing smile was back in place. “You’ll be the first pretty zombie,” he whispered. “I think that makes up for the deadly part.”

  With her confused gaze focused on him, she leaned back into the seat and wrapped her arms around her waist. Her lips moved, but no words came out.

  Lucas inched closer, until his fingers almost touched her cheek. He shot me a questioning look. When I nodded, giving him permission, he brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and leaned in to whisper something in her ear.

  I strained to listen, but I couldn’t make out his words.

  Val’s fingers clutched his forearm, and her head bobbed once, then again.

  Lucas reached into his backpack and pulled out a mini black bag. Unzipping it, he pulled out a syringe and a vial full of blue liquid.

  “What’re you doing?” I yelled at him, already picturing the worst. Whatever he’d said to her, I could only hope he hadn’t asked her for consent to kill her, or he would have been the next to go.

  “She needs it,” Lucas said.

  Nick pushed me aside, taking charge of the situation, probably fearing what I might do if Lucas didn’t explain himself immediately. “You can’t just whip out a needle and not explain to Dean what it is.”

  “It’s Tyrima,” Lucas said, as though I was supposed to know what he was talking about.

  “What the heck is that?” I asked.

  “It’ll take a few hours to work, but once it kicks in, she’ll feel better. I’d rather give her the last vial than see her suffer.” He met Nick’s gaze. “You cool with that?”

  “Yeah, do it,” my brother said.

  “Nick!” I shot him a glare. “I hope it doesn’t slow down the process because we need her to change into a zombie as soon as possible so we can give her the cure.”

  Lucas fumbled with the equipment while my brother steadied Val, who assured me, “It won’t slow down the zombie transformation one bit, but it’ll help her keep her mind until the very end. It’ll just take a little while to kick in.”

  “It’s safe,” my brother reassured me. “We’ve used it on the front lines to get important information from people going loony from zombie bites or scratches.”

  Nick obviously knew what he was talking about, and I trusted him. Val was my sister and I hated to see her suffer going through this zombie transition. I slowly nodded my consent, albeit not quite convinced. “Okay, but if something goes wrong, I’ll hold you responsible for it.”

  “I would expect nothing less,” Lucas said, turning to Val. His voice became softer, more soothing. “Hey, like promised, this is going to help you, but you need to trust me. It’s going to keep you from losing your mind. Nick told me about the grocery store incident.”

  Val’s voice came so low that I had to crane my neck to hear her. “I don’t want to put the others in danger. If you can help me keep my mind a little longer, please do whatever it takes.”

  Lucas nodded and gripped the syringe tightly.

  The serum caught the light and shimmered blue. Val’s gaze fell on it, and her face paled like a ghost. For a moment, I thought she might be sick, but instead of showing fear, she broke Nick’s grip and jumped out of the Jeep, yelling, “You touch me with that thing and you’re a dead man.”

  “Val, we’re trying to help you,” I said.

  “I’m going to bite Lucas,” she said. “He’d better watch out because I’m pretty hungry.”

  “No you’re not!” I said.

  “I repeat, suspect is armed and dangerous,” Val said. “All Philly PD units be advised; suspect is armed and dangerous! I need backup immediately.”

  Nick gripped her arms from behind. “Quick! Do it!”

  She let out a long growl a moment before Lucas pierced her skin, injecting her with the serum while she thrashed about, calling him every name in the book. I knew it was a temporary fix, but we had to do what we could to keep Val sane and calm. She was starting to get weird again with all that growling and hissing, just like back at the grocery store. It was for her own good, and I knew if she could think straight, she would’ve agreed with me.

  Val’s eyes fluttered shut as she slumped back into Nick’s arms.

  “Okay, she’s out cold,” Lucas said. “I didn’t know a girl could even talk like that. Where did she learn that kind of language?”

  “She was a police officer back in Philly. Couldn’t you tell from the cop lingo?”

  “I seriously thought she just watched too many cop shows on TV.” Lucas grinned. “If she had her gun, I bet she’d have shot me dead.”

  “Lucky for you, Nick disarmed her earlier,” I said.

  “Did you see the hate in her eyes?” Lucas asked.

  “C’mon, man. She can’t help it. She’s not herself. She’s just mad that you dragged her out of our parents’ house and threw her in jail, and now you just injected her with something.”

  “Yeah, I put her in jail, but I was just following orders!” he said. “And did she forget I helped you get her out? Without me, you wouldn’t have gotten anywhere! She’d be dead right now.”

  Reloading my gun, I smiled. “Yeah, we’ll remind her about that later, but right now, she’s kind of grumpy.”

  Nick rested his rifle on his shoulder. “Yeah, really grumpy.”

  “Zombifying will do that to a girl.” I slipped my weapon into my holster.

  I looked up at the towering pines along the road. The jungle-like ground was covered in a blanket of green ferns and colorful wildflowers. “You guys keep watch, and I’ll change the tire,” I said. A gust of cool morning air brushed through my hair. For a quick second, I considered getting a jacket, but I just wanted to get the heck outta here.

  Lucas nodded and took off after Nick. I watched them with my weapon aimed, making sure I had their backs. Glass and metal crushed beneath their feet, the sound reverberating in the early morning.

  Half the distance in, my brother turned and waited until I had caught up with him, then grabbed my arm. “Just a sec.”

  “What?” I asked, following his line of vision as he scanned the area. Gazing around, it made me think I was living in a dead world of chaos and twisted metal. I wondered what had happened to the drivers and their companions. Are they dead? Turned into lost souls who never asked for that kind of sorry existence? Souls who were never given a choice, just handed a monstrous fate? I stared at an empty baby seat still strapped in the car and tried not to think about what had happened. There was no dried blood, so I hoped that meant the people were able to get away in time. It sure was a different world out there and my brother was right about that. Back home, I’d had no idea how bad it was. Now I was getting a taste of it firsthand. I wondered if the people out there even knew about the safe cites around the U.S. Maybe the government should have a rescue mission to help those who are still stuck out here in this disease-ridden place.

  “All’s clear.” My brother motioned for me to continue, and we reached the Jeep in no time.

  Sure enough, the rear passenger-side
tire was flat as a black rubber pancake. I grabbed a jack out of the trunk while Nick fetched the spare. The girls stood at the rear of the car and kept watch. They both offered to help, but I assured them we had it under control. I placed the jack under the side of the Jeep and hooked the crank to it, then started cranking it up.

  “It’s so freaky out here,” Nick said. “What a place to break down. I don’t like it. There’s no visibility.”

  “Me neither.” Thick fog swirled around everywhere, putting my overactive imagination into play.

  “Don’t worry,” Lucas said. “I’m keeping a close eye out. Kind of reminds me of a Stephen King novel though. Remember the one where a thick mist descends from the mountains to cloak the land in fog?”

  Nick chuckled. “Yeah. I saw that movie, and now’s not the time for a recap. Creatures lurking in the mist? They’re real, and they’re called zombies. You can’t scare me with that Stephen King crap. I’ve seen worse than that movie in real life.”

  “You’re not kidding,” Lucas said, nudging me. “Hey, we aren’t scaring you, are we?”

  Their chitchat wasn’t exactly settling my nerves, but I wasn’t going to admit it. I set my jaw and rolled the bad tire out of the way, muttering, “Just keep a lookout, okay?”

  “Sure,” he said. Just as I glanced up at him, Lucas suddenly threw his head back and pointed his gun into the trees. “There’s something up there. See it, Nick?”

  Nick stepped closer and peered into the overgrown vegetation. “Yeah, I think I see it, but I’m not sure what it is.”

  I tilted my head to look at a black patch of shadow in the trees. I had no idea what it was, and frankly, I wasn’t keen on finding out. The mist and eerie silence added to the scary atmosphere and made us feel like we were on pins and needles. “We better hightail it outta here,” I whispered. “If whatever that is gets a good glimpse of us, it might decide it wants to join our little crew—for dinner.”

  “It’s probably nothing,” my brother said, “but let’s hurry up, just in case.”

  I didn’t like the “just in case” part. Rubbing a hand over my face, I let out a breath to calm my nerves then focused back on the tire.

  “Hey, I got a good look,” Nick said. “It’s only a deer foraging for food so you have nothing to worry about.”

  “Good,” I said, relieved.

  The Jeep door slammed behind us.

  Groaning inwardly, I looked up at Val dashing down the street toward us.

  “What are you doing here?” Nick growled.

  Ignoring him, she wiped her forehead with her sleeve. “I can smell it.” Her nostrils flared as she sniffed the breeze that washed over us, as though to prove her point.

  “Get back in the car, Val,” my brother said. “We got this.”

  “The smell’s getting stronger by the minute,” she said.

  “Okay, I’ll bite,” Lucas said. “What smell?”

  She spun in a slow circle, sniffing the air like a dog. “Death, terror, affliction, torment, horror—”

  “Way to use a thesaurus, Val, but you’re tinkering a little in the dark side there,” Lucas said.

  She met his gaze as the sunlight reflected in her eyes, giving her an eerie glow. “One of humanity’s greatest fears is the terror of death. You better flee while you can, because the living dead are on their way!”

  Lucas nudged me. “She always so dramatic?” His tone was nonchalant, but I could tell her words were getting to him from the way his gaze scanned the area around us.

  I shrugged. “How much longer before that shot starts working?”

  “Maybe a few hours.”

  I nodded. “Good. The faster, the better.”

  Val walked a few steps closer to the forest. “There’s more than one.”

  “Your sister’s kind of freaking me out,” Claire said, pacing around the Jeep as her gaze scanned the trees around us.

  “She’s hallucinating,” Nick said.

  “I’m keeping a close eye out,” Jackie said. “Just in case she isn’t.”

  Val spun around. Spots of decaying flesh mottled her once perfect skin. Thin flaps of greenish skin peeled from her face. Her bloodshot eyes met mine. “They’re coming,” she hissed.

  I swear she looked like she was possessed. I tried to ignore her and tighten another lug nut.

  Lucas patted me on the shoulder. “Focus, okay? She’s hallucinating. Nothing’s coming.”

  “Lucas is right,” Nick said. “It’s all in her head.”

  “I’m going to call this in,” Val said. “We’ll need backup and medics on the scene as soon as possible. How could anyone have survived such a horrible pileup? Have you checked for survivors?”

  “Let’s get her back in the Jeep,” Nick said.

  She shot him a look. “Bite me.”

  “Please, Val. You need rest,” Nick said gently.

  “No! And why are you looking at me like that? It’s my face, isn’t it? It is! I can’t help the botched-up chemical peel.”

  Nick gently grabbed her arm. “Come on. Let’s get you a bottle of water from the Jeep.”

  She yanked her arm away. “Listen, Sergeant, just because you took my badge and gun, that doesn’t mean I can’t fight as a civilian. They’re coming! Don’t you smell them? I do!”

  Nick ran a hand through his hair, seemingly frustrated.

  “Play by her rules,” I whispered. “It might help.”

  He moistened his lips and nodded, then turned back to her. “As your commanding officer, I order you to get back in the patrol car so we can drive back to the station. I’ll expect a full report.”

  “You’re a dirty cop, and I’m going to prove it. I saw you taking a bribe from a major drug dealer, and then you had me raid that house, where a million bullets happened to come my way. In case you haven’t learned by now, I’m hard to kill.” Her voice thundered. “I’ll spend the rest of my life taking you down. You’re going to regret the day you messed with me.”

  Jackie and Claire suddenly yelled for us to get back in the Jeep. Out of nowhere, six or so zombies moaned and broke through the thick blanket of fog. Val’s nose told no lies.

  “We can handle a few zombies, right?” Nick asked casually as he aimed to make his famous lethal headshot.

  “Oh yeah. No problem. Dean, you done?” Lucas asked calmly over his shoulder.

  “Almost!”

  “Just hurry!” Claire said.

  Gunshots echoed as they all fired away.

  My hands trembled. Get it together. Concentrate! I tightened another lug nut.

  “It’s not just a few. More are coming!” Lucas shouted. “Dean, that looks good enough to me. Let’s roll!”

  I scrambled to my feet. A zombie in a torn suit walked toward me, his head leaning to one side. He had a metal rod protruding from his head, and bite marks ran across his green arms and neck. Behind him and out of the fog, more zombies stumbled toward us.

  Val jumped straight into their path, with no weapon. “I’m going to arrest every single one of these sorry thugs. You have the right to remain silent…” The girl had guts. She started taking one down with her bare hands, using impressive karate chops and lethal roundhouse kicks like in those old Kung Fu movies. She sent the zombie rolling across the asphalt. If I hadn’t been so utterly terrified, I’d have been cheering her on.

  Nick grabbed me by the upper arm. “Let’s go! Who has the keys?”

  “Me.” Claire jammed her hands down her pockets and whipped them out. Jumping into the front seat, she tried to start the Jeep, but it just clicked when she turned the key. “It won’t start!”

  “What?” Jackie asked in a frantic tone. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No!”

  “Let me try then.” Jackie pushed her aside and turned the key.

  The engine spluttered but didn’t start. It wasn’t good, because I knew we’d never make it to the other Jeep without being mauled to death.

  Nick covered Lucas while he popped
open the hood to see what the problem was.

  “There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it,” Lucas yelled over the gunfire.

  “Have you checked the belt?” I yelled back, firing away, hoping to stall the zombies until Lucas could fix the Jeep.

  “Negative.”

  I frowned, trying to focus on doing two things at the same time. I knew a bit about cars—not quite as much as Lucas, but enough to possibly be helpful. I thought if I could take a peek under the hood, maybe we could figure it out together and get the thing up and running again.

  Jackie stood close by, with a determined look on her face. She wasn’t the best marksman yet, but she was going to stand next to me and help me fight. I admired that. If there had only been two or three zombies, I would’ve let her have a go at it, but this wasn’t the movies. There was no way she could take down all those zombies after one fighting lesson. “Get back inside the truck!” I yelled.

  “I’m not leaving you.” She aimed and fired, letting out a round of shots, but she only managed to hit a zombie in a blue, sparkly party dress.

  It threw its head to the side and let out an angry roar but didn’t drop to the ground. The thing kept coming at her, this time with more vengeance than before.

  Chapter 18

  Stopping near the car pileup had been a bad idea. I’d known it all along, yet we had to help the girls change their tire. If only we’d just picked them up, squeezed them inside our Jeep, and driven away before we managed to raise half the undead population in the area. But Nick and Lucas didn’t want to lose a good vehicle loaded with precious supplies over a simple flat tire.

  Swallowing hard, I peered around me. The sun was breaking free from behind the clouds, but the fog made it difficult to see into the trees. Lucas continued to try to fix the Jeep and the rest of us gathered in a circle, pressing our shoulders and arms together so we could watch all angles as the undead neared us, their calls breaking the silence of the morning. From the corner of my eye, I noticed a zombie in a fancy sequined dress, heading straight for the girls. Jackie and Claire began to shoot, but their bullets did nothing to slow down the corpse.

  “Headshot!” Nick yelled.