Zombie King

by J. C. Diem

  Landing on all fours, I limped off after the soulless. The pain was already fading and soon I was able to run at top speed again. Wind whipped my face as I galloped towards a building. My mate sent me the scent of the human that he wanted me to save. I smelled the man even before I reached the building. His scent was mixed with others that were also familiar. Two of the scents belonged to my mate and I. It was difficult to remember that we were usually human. I couldn’t even remember any of the people we apparently lived with.

  The entrance to the building had been destroyed by the soulless. I stepped over the door and into a long, narrow passage. I didn’t like being enclosed in the small space and ran to the end quickly. Another door was hanging open and I pushed it aside. The human that I’d been sent to save was surrounded by the walking dead. Fire spurted from the weapon in his hands and the soulless screamed in agony as they died. The man wasn’t quite as helpless and feeble as I’d expected. He was afraid and his fear made him especially appealing. I began to salivate as my hunger rose.

  Another door burst open and more of the vile beings swarmed inside. I let out a roar and the human turned. Terror sweat instantly poured from him. I had a brief image of him fleeing and of myself pursuing him. If he even twitched, I’d pounce. I’d crush his bones between my teeth and chew on his entrails.

  The smell of decomposing flesh overwhelmed me, distracting me from my need to feed. Leaping into the room, I bounded past the stunned man and tore into the undead. I used my claws and teeth to tear them apart. Their rotting flesh and blood tasted horrible, but biting their heads and limbs off was the most effective way of dealing with them. Each one was nearly as strong as me, but they were slow and clumsy.

  Before long, the soulless were also headless. They lay on the floor around me like leaves that had fallen from a tree. Rooted to the ground, the human watched with frightened eyes as I approached him. He was puny enough that I could have picked him up and snapped him in half. I kept the knowledge that this man was important to my mate firmly in my mind. Very carefully, I put my hand out. He flinched and his weapon shifted towards me minutely, but he didn’t unleash the killing fire. I patted him on the head to indicate that I wasn’t going to harm him. He made a sound of terror that very nearly made me drop to my knees and bite into the tender flesh of his stomach.

  My upper lip lifted in a silent snarl as I fought the urge to bite the human’s head off. My bonded called to me through our link, sensing my inner battle. He wanted me to join him, but I had no way of entering the prison that held him. The human must have the means to rejoin me with my mate. Taking the weapon from him, I dropped it to the ground then tucked him beneath my arm and ran back down the narrow passage.

  Drawn to the one that I was linked to, I stopped at the door that kept us apart. He sent me a surge of approval when I placed the human carefully on the ground. I kept him safe, I said and sent him images of my battle with the soulless.

  I wish I’d been with you, he replied wistfully. Hopefully, now that I’d brought him here, the human could open the door so my mate and I could hunt together. Now that the walking corpses were gone, we could concentrate on the many tasty animals there were to choose from in the forest.

  Petrified, the human didn’t realize what I wanted from him at first. I pointed at the door with my claws and gave him a light shove that almost sent him crashing into the deadly barrier.

  Realizing what I wanted, he shook his head and said something that I didn’t understand. I growled and took a threatening step towards him. He blanched and backed away then went still when my mate made strange sounds with his mouth instead of speaking with his mind.

  “Mark.” It was a cross between a growl and a grunt. Linked to my other half, I understood that it was the human’s name.

  Astounded at being addressed by a being he saw as a mindless animal, Mark turned wondering eyes on my mate. “What the hell is happening here?” he asked plaintively. Through my bonded, I actually understood his words this time.

  I nudged Mark and he spun around to stare up at me. I pointed at the gate, urging him to open it. “You’ll kill each other,” he argued.

  “No,” my mate denied, but he couldn’t articulate that we were bonded and that we’d never intentionally hurt each other. I lowered my head until I was eye to eye with the human and growled in warning.

  Dazed, Mark took something out of his pocket and put his fingers on it. A few seconds later the barrier became safe. He put his hand on a device next to the door and the portal swung open. Fierce joy swelled inside me again as I bent to squeeze through the opening and joined my mate at last. Our yips of happiness became full throated howls of joy as we raced off into the trees.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  When I woke, I was lying on my side with arms encasing me and a hard chest pressed up against my back. My mind was wide open and I knew that it was Reece holding me without needing to turn my head. I was naked, but at least I wasn’t covered in blood this time. To my mortification, my companion was also unclothed.

  Blinking at the weak early morning sunlight, I tried to remember how I’d ended up in Reece’s enclosure. I was afraid to move because as soon as I did, he’d wake up. When he did, we’d both have to face this nightmare. His arms tightened and he pulled me against him more firmly. He nuzzled my neck in his sleep. My heartbeat increased at the brush of his lips on my skin and heat instantly flared. Sensing my panic, he woke, realized where we were and went still.

  “Close your eyes!” I commanded.

  “How did you get in here?” he asked in bewilderment.

  I turned my head until we were staring at each other from a couple of inches away. The golden flecks in his eyes stood out more than usual, probably due to his recent change. “I don’t know. All I know is that I’m naked and I want you to close your damn eyes.”

  A smile appeared before he could squelch it. “I’ve seen you naked before, Lexi,” he pointed out but dutifully closed his eyes.

  “I know,” I muttered. “But that doesn’t mean that I want you to see me naked again.” He let go of me and I rolled free. Although I’d told him to close his eyes, I took a long look at him and hated the stab of desire that his chiseled body wrung from me.

  “I can feel you staring at me,” he said.

  Irritated at being caught out, I stood and started walking towards the fence. “Just stay where you are until I find some clothes,” I ordered.

  “I left my backpack about thirty feet from the gate,” he said helpfully. I knew he’d opened his eyes because I felt his desire rise. My face flamed crimson until I’d put enough trees between us to hide me from his view. I’d been told by several guys that I had a cute butt. Reece was the only one to have seen it in the flesh.

  Long before I reached the fence, I smelled rotting meat. For a moment, I thought we must have fallen asleep near one of our meals. Then I spotted a pile of human bones and torn flesh. It wasn’t until I saw a human head lying nearby that I realized it was a zombie. Its bones had been shattered and long, deep claw marks marred its flesh. One of us must have torn it apart while in wolf form.

  Alarmed, I hurried on until I found the backpack. I passed more dismembered corpses along the way. Leaving the cargo pants for Reece, I pulled on the boxer shorts and his t-shirt. My clothes were in the enclosure next door, but they could wait for now. I needed to make sure the rest of the team was okay first.

  Reece jogged out of the woods seconds after I’d dressed in his clothes. He’d been following right behind me and I hadn’t even heard him. He ignored my embarrassment, equally disturbed at finding zombies in his enclosure. “We need to check on Mark,” he said. I sensed his urgency, which spurred my own.

  We could both sense that the electricity had been cut to the fence and I put my hand on the scanner to open the gate. Reece was right behind me when I pushed it open and started running. Kala and Flynn joined us when we were halfway back to the building.

  Kala raise
d her eyebrows at what I was wearing. “That’s an interesting choice of outfits. Did you forget to pack your bra?” I flushed, but I was too worried to get into a debate about my lack of underwear.

  “Did you find any dead zombies in your enclosures?” Flynn asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. “It looked like we tore them apart.”

  “So I wasn’t just imagining it,” Kala muttered. “This is bad.” Her tawny hair was a mess and her eyes went wide with fear for our boss as we all picked up on the old scent of zombie rot. Some of them had gotten away from us and had made their way towards the base.

  Flynn’s expression was intent and he put on a burst of speed. “I hope Mark is ok.”

  We saw signs of a violent invasion when we reached the building. Scratches marred the walls. The door was shiny and new and had been replaced recently. Flynn was the first inside and we rushed down the hallway to the main area.

  Kala wrinkled her nose before opening the door, which was also new. “I smell roasted zombie,” she said and we all shared her fear at what we’d find on the other side.

  Mark was sitting at the dining table, watching something on his tablet. He shot to his feet when we entered. He didn’t seem to be hurt and we rushed to surround him to make sure.

  I was surprised and hurt when he blanched and flinched away from me. “What’s wrong?” I asked, wounded by his reaction.

  He uttered a laugh that held no actual mirth then seemed to take hold of himself. “What do you remember about the past three nights?”

  Frowning, I thought back and, as usual, remembered nothing. “Not much. I remember you escorting me to my gate then nothing until I woke up this morning.” I refrained from mentioning that I’d woken up in the enclosure next to mine.

  Mark stared at me then switched his attention to Reece. “What do you remember?”

  He shrugged uneasily. “The same as Lexi.” He, too, avoided the secret that we shared.

  Rubbing his face with both hands, Mark sank back into his seat. “I triggered both the indoor and outdoor cameras when I became aware that the compound was under attack. I’ve watched the footage a hundred times now and I still don’t believe it.”

  “What happened?” Kala demanded and took the seat beside him. He allowed her to take his hand in hers. Obviously, she didn’t make him as uncomfortable as I did. “We found zombie corpses in our enclosures and we can smell them in here, too.”

  There was no sign of the battle that must have raged inside the building. The Cleanup Crew had probably been called in to put the base to rights again.

  “You might want to sit down for this,” our boss warned us. We obeyed him and I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something strange had happened, and it had something to do with me. It was bad enough being turned into a werewolf, but I also had a weird and inexplicable connection to the undead.

  “As you’ve probably guessed, the bokor sent his minions after us,” Mark said. “I only realized that they were here when they broke down the doors. I had a flamethrower handy just in case this might happen, but there were too many of them to fight on my own.”

  “How are you still alive?” Reece asked. He’d taken the seat beside me and we were unconsciously leaning towards each other. I didn’t want to admit it, but our bond seemed to be much stronger now. I was having a hard time keeping his thoughts separate from mine.

  “Alexis saved me.”

  Dead silence ensued then it was broken by Kala’s incredulous laugh. “How could Lexi have saved you?” she asked. “She was locked in her enclosure just like the rest of us.”

  “I don’t know how she did it, but she got out,” Mark replied. He was watching me with a mixture of fear and wonder. “I’d just finished frying a pack of zombies when more of them broke in through the kitchen door. I heard a roar and a werewolf was standing in the doorway. I knew it had to be Lexi because it had black fur instead of silver and it was too small to be Garrett.”

  I didn’t particularly like being referred to as an ‘it’, but Reece put his hand on my arm before I could protest.

  “Did she attack you?” Flynn asked. His tone was calm enough, but alarm showed in his hunched shoulders.

  Mark shook his head. “No. She went for the zombies and ripped them to pieces.” He went silent as he tried to gather the words to explain what I’d done next. “I thought she was going to kill me, but she walked over and patted me on the head.”

  “I did what?” My voice went so high that it was barely audible.

  “I think you were trying to show me that you meant me no harm,” he explained. “Then you tore my flamethrower out of my hands and carried me outside.”

  Flynn held his hand up to stop him. “She carried you how exactly?”

  Mark mimed me tucking him under his arm. Kala sniggered and I came very close to giggling as well. I pictured a hulking, shaggy werewolf carrying a human like a football and Reece elbowed me in the side before I could descend into gales of hysterical laughter.

  “I take it she took you to my enclosure,” Reece said. It wasn’t a question.

  Nodding, Mark clenched his hands together. “She pointed at the door and pushed me towards it. She clearly wanted me to open it. I told her it would be dangerous.” His voice trailed off and he shook his head in renewed bewilderment. “Then you said my name.”

  Reece’s astonishment flooded into me. “I spoke?” At Mark’s nod, he ran a hand through his short hair in confusion. “How is that even possible?”

  “I have no idea,” Mark replied. “You wanted me to open the door to your enclosure.”

  I had no recollection of these events and felt a creeping numbness trying to take over. Reece’s arm brushed against mine, offering me moral support. He was just as dazed as I was. “I take it you let me in,” I deduced.

  “I said you’d kill each other, but you both indicated that you wouldn’t,” Mark said. “I opened the door and Lexi walked inside.”

  “Uh, oh,” Kala said and I almost wished I could read her mind when a realization hit her.

  “What?” I asked with extreme unwillingness.

  “What if you two did the nasty while you were locked up together?”

  “The nasty?” I asked, deliberately being obtuse about her question.

  “Slept together,” she clarified.

  Reece and I shared a horrified look.

  “Oh my God,” I breathed. “Would my birth control pills work when I’m a werewolf?”

  We all turned to Mark, who had gone pale. His answer was far from reassuring. “I don’t know.”

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  To say I was inconsolable would be an understatement. I fled to my room in full hysterics. I was crying so hard that I could barely hear someone pounding on the door.

  “Leave me alone!” I screamed loudly enough for whoever it was to get the hint. The rooms were soundproofed so we could sleep at night without every little noise waking us up, but our hearing was exceptional. We could detect it if someone knocked loudly enough.

  I wasn’t the only one who was panicked at the thought that I might be pregnant. Reece’s worry leaked through the bond and so did his mental picture of me with a bellyful of babies. I was so shocked that my tears stopped and my mouth dropped open. Leaping off the bed, I wrenched the door open and walked three doors down to the right. Reece’s door was open a few inches and I knew he was inside.

  Pushing the door open, I saw him sitting on the bed. Still shirtless, he’d changed into jeans that were almost threadbare in some places. He was leaning back against the pillows with one knee bent. His eyes were closed and he was listening to music through earphones. He seemed calm on the surface, but turmoil boiled inside him.

  A pair of boots lay on the floor at the end of his bed. Snatching one up off the floor, I threw it at him as hard as I could. Sensing me, his eyes snapped open. He caught the projectile an instant before it would have hit him in the face.

  Shutting of
f the music, he pulled the earphones off and regarded me warily. I knew my eyes were puffy and red and that I looked awful, but I was beyond caring about my appearance. “Am I going to have a litter?” It came out as a harsh croak.

  His wariness changed to guilt when he realized I’d read what was on his mind. “I don’t know, but I doubt it. I imagine there would be something written in the archives if mated werewolves tended to have litters.”

  I put my hands over my face and sank to my knees in despair. His feet thumped to the floor, then he swung me into his arms. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he pulled me onto his lap. “We don’t know for sure that we even had sex,” he said.

  I shuddered and he held me more tightly. “You don’t know that we didn’t.” My words were muffled by my hands.

  My forehead was pressed against his chest and his chin was resting on the top of my head. It was almost peaceful being in his arms. It felt right, as if I belonged there and nowhere else. He sighed and I knew he felt it, too.

  It hit me then that this was the work of our hated bond. I struggled free of his arms and stood. “We can’t let this happen again,” I said in a low voice.

  He knew I was talking about far more than me just sitting on his lap and nodded wearily. “Mark will figure out how you got out of your enclosure. He’ll make sure we’re kept apart in the future.”

  “Good.” My tone was wintry.

  The shock of possibly being pregnant with multiple babies still hadn’t worn off the next day. I couldn’t face anyone in the team and spent the entire day in my room. Reading through the archives was a good way to keep my mind occupied. I carefully stayed away from any cases that were related to werewolves. Instead, I concentrated on reading up more about zombies.

  It was almost a relief when someone knocked on my door later that night. I opened the door to see Kala on the other side. “The bokor is raising some more zombies,” she said. “Are you up to taking a trip into the city?” Her gaze was assessing as she judged my mental state.