by Gayle Katz
“Hello?” asked Zan, heading up to the young woman.
“Hi. I’m Frankie,” the woman answered. She wore no makeup and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She had streaks of blue and pink in her hair.
“Hi, Frankie. I’m Zan. Welcome to my party.” Zan waved her arm in a welcoming gesture.
“Thanks, Zan,” said Frankie.
“Are you here for the party? You seem older,” said Zan in an awkward manner.
“Oh, sort of,” she said. “My brother is over there.” She pointed in his direction. He waved at her.
“Oh, OK. We’ll, you’re welcome to hang out.”
“Um, sure,” said Frankie.
Zan closed the door behind her. She went back to her dancing but watched as Frankie nervously walked around the room. Frankie kept on peering out the windows, like she was waiting for something to happen.
zzz
“Hey, great party,” said a guy to Zan.
“Oh, you’re welcome, err,” she said, struggling to find his name.
“Mac. I’m Frankie’s brother,” he replied.
“Right, Mac,” she said, shaking his hand. “Please help yourself to err.” She looked in the direction of the dining room table. “Whatever remains of the snacks and drinks.”
“Will do! Thanks!” He took off in that direction. She followed him.
Zan went to tidy up the table. She tossed some trash in the can beside the window. She thought she saw something move outside, like a shadow or person. She went to peer more closely. Perhaps some of the teens were fooling around outside.
Just then, she felt something cold on her shoulder and jumped.
She turned and looked to see who it was.
“Oh hey, sorry,” said Frankie. “This is going to sound strange, but I think you should shut down the party.”
“Say what?” asked Zan.
“I think there’s something or someone out there, and that it’s not safe. We should see these kids safely home.”
“They’re safe enough inside my home,” said Zan, staring into her eyes.
“I know, but um, well, this is really hard to say,” said Frankie. “But you know how you watch TV shows and certain creatures are alive in them?”
Zan stared at her, like perhaps she’d done too many drugs that night or something.
“Like vampires and werewolves?” Frankie continued to say.
Zan turned away. “I think you’re at the wrong party.”
“No, wait! Those things aren’t real. But other things are.”
Zan laughed and turned back to look at her. “Like what?”
Frankie smiled. “Like zombies. Zombies are real.”
Zan was about to walk away again when a scream was heard from the backyard.
zzz
“Quick! Get him in the bathroom,” said Zan. Mac was bleeding so she ran ahead to find the first-aid kit.
A couple of the teens helped him into the bathroom.
“Did a dog bite you?” Zan asked.
The teen moved his head frantically around the room. “We aren’t safe! At least a dozen of them!”
“A dozen? What? Dogs?”
“No, zombies!”
“Are you serious?” she asked, as she pushed up his sleeve. “This is a bad bite. I suggest you head to the hospital after I disinfect it and wrap it up.”
“Yeah, good idea,” Mac said. “Don’t want to hang around here.”
In the distance, more screaming sounds were heard.
“Hey! We’re going home,” called out Alicia, peeking into the bathroom with Brooke and Marjorie.
“OK,” said Zan.
In the distance was the sound of breaking glass.
“Are you going to be OK with cleanup?” But she didn’t wait for Zan to answer and just took off down the hallway.
“Um, yeah. Great, thanks,” she muttered. “OK. There, Mac. You may want to get a rabies shot at the hospital, and a tetanus one too.”
Mac looked down at his arm, relieved. “Hey, good job! Awesome!” he said.
They headed back to the dining room. It was a shambles. Debris was everywhere. There was broken glass on the kitchen floor.
“Oh crap,” said Zan. “I’ll never be allowed to have anyone over after this.”
“Mac! Oh my god! What happened?” cried Frankie, rushing up to him.
“It bit me,” he explained.
“Oh no. You know what we have to do, right?”
He nodded. A frown crept onto his face.
“OK. I’ve killed most of the zombies. I saw a toolshed out back. Let’s go.”
She pulled her brother after her, into the kitchen, then out through the back door.
Zan shook her head and pulled the garbage can closer. “Might as well clean up sooner rather than later.” She started.
As she was picking up the place, there was the strange sound of a power saw heard from the backyard. “What’s going on out there?”
A few minutes later, Frankie raced up to her, covered in blood. “Call 911! There’s been an accident!”
Zan found her phone and called 911. She grabbed a few dishtowels and the first-aid kit, and headed to the backyard.
Mac was unconscious, lying on the ground. His right arm had been chopped off just above the elbow. She did her best to wrap a tourniquet around it and stop the bleeding. Frankie knelt down on the ground to lend a hand.
“What the hell is happening?” she asked Frankie, letting her take over. Zan went over to the outdoor tap and washed her hands.
“I shouldn’t have come here,” said Frankie. “Careful! Behind you!”
Zan turned to see what she was pointing at.
“Grab the shears!” cried out Frankie.
Zan saw what appeared to be a zombie heading right for her. Its skin was pale white. But it looked like one of the students she’d invited to her party. That couldn’t be right.
“The garden shears!” screamed Frankie again.
Zan turned and saw the shears on the ground. She grabbed them, and then turned to look at the strange creature again.
“Arrr,” the creature moaned.
“Get back!” called out Frankie.
Zan didn’t know what came over her. She quickly moved forward and thrust the sharp end of the shears into the guy’s eye socket. His head started to spasm, and then he dropped to the ground, dead.
“Oh my god! What just happened?” cried out Zan. She knelt down on the ground and pulled out the shears. She tried to find a pulse on the body but couldn’t.
Frankie reached out to her and touched Zan on the hand. Both women lit up with a bright mauve light. Frankie muttered some words Zan didn’t understand.
Chapter 2
________________________________________
“What the hell just happened?” yelled Zan.
“Calm down, Zan,” said Frankie, leaving her brother on the ground. “We need to get this body out of here, ASAP, before the paramedics arrive.” Frankie ran around to the back of the dead zombie and started pulling on his arms.
Zan heard sirens in the distance. “Oh crap!” she said. She ran over and helped Frankie. They dragged the body inside the house and down the hall.
“In here,” said Zan. “Spare room. We can lock him in the closet.”
“Good idea,” said Frankie.
They’d barely had a chance to push the body into the closet, cover it with blankets and then close the door and the office door, before there was pounding on the front door and ringing of the doorbell. Zan ran to open the door.
“Please hurry. I had a party and someone got drunk and had a bad accident.” She led the paramedics to the backyard.
She watched as they took care of Mac. Soon he was on the stretcher and on his way to the ambulance out front.
“I’m so sorry for the mess. I’ll chat with you later, Zan,” said Frankie, offering an apology.
Zan didn’t know what to say. She closed the door, and then looked at the mess surrounding her. She�
��d better get back to cleaning up, otherwise her parents would freak out. And hadn’t she just killed someone? But somehow her mind seemed dull and numb, and when she tried to think back over what had happened, she only thought about how she really needed to clean up.
zzz
After Zan put all the trash into the cans outside, she came back inside and started trying to get the wine stains out of the carpet. Somehow, there were gouges in the walls too. She could use some spackle and get them fixed, but painting would be a problem. The only thing she could do was fix things as best she could.
She had so many questions about that evening. Had that been a zombie she had killed, or was it a person? Had she actually killed someone? But she didn’t think she could do that. It was like her instincts had automatically taken over. And she wasn’t stupid. She knew all about physics, and yet, those shears had slid so easily into its skull. She looked down at her hand and flexed her fingers. Her hand didn’t even hurt. Surely it would have hurt after stabbing someone? Perhaps she had only stabbed a big doll?
What about Frankie’s brother? Why would he be using power tools at a party?
And what had happened when Frankie touched her? There had been a bright light. And Frankie had said something in a different language that she hadn’t understood.
Zan decided to continue cleaning up in the morning. She must have had way too much to drink and wasn’t seeing things clearly. Had they been watching a zombie movie or something? The worst was cleaned up. The blood was gone from the bathroom, and the trash was out.
zzz
“Zandra!” called out a voice from downstairs. “You get down here right now!”
Zan quickly grabbed her robe and slippers and put them on. “Coming!”
She rushed downstairs. “What is it?” she asked her parents. They were standing in the kitchen.
“Did you have a party last night?” asked her mother. “You know that we have to turn over the keys to the rental company. With this mess, we may never get our deposit back.”
“I had a few friends over last night,” she said. “I did some cleanup, but I’ll do the rest this morning.”
“Really?” asked her dad, walking up to her. “Is there something you aren’t telling us?”
Zan thought a bit. What were they talking about? “Oh crap!” she thought to herself. She’d totally forgotten about the body in the closet! “Oh, err, there was an accident last night,” she started to explain.
“An accident?” said Dad. “And when were you going to tell us?”
“I forgot. I’m sorry. I was tired.”
“There is blood all over the backyard,” said Mom. “I hope you called 911?”
She let out the breath she was holding. “Oh, yes. A guy drank too much and cut his arm. He was taken to the hospital.”
“You let someone bring alcohol into the house?” asked Mom, raising her voice.
“Yes,” she admitted. “I mean, I didn’t know until it was on the table. Anyway, I think he’s going to be OK, and I’ll clean up the backyard after I do the house.”
Her dad grabbed his coat and keys. “Fine, but we’ll talk about this later. I just got a message on my pager and have do to a second shift at the hospital. We could use some extra help with a bus accident. Are you coming, Wanda?”
“I’ll take my own car, Joe. I have to stop and call this Dr. Arora about a job in Portland, first.”
They kissed, and then went their separate ways.
Zan quickly got dressed and then headed outside to see what had happened.
There was blood all over the backyard. “What the? Is this all Mac’s blood?” She wasn’t a doctor, but this seemed like an awful lot of blood from just one person. First, she cleaned up the small power saw and put it back in the toolshed. Then she grabbed the hose and hooked it up to the tap. She hosed down the backyard and the concrete pathway and steps until all the blood stains were gone.
Finally, she took one last look around the yard before putting the hose away. She was about to head back indoors when she heard footsteps coming up behind her.
“Oh. Hi, Frankie,” said Zan. “How is your brother doing?”
“Just great, thanks for asking.” Frankie came up to her. She appeared to be wearing the same clothes. They still had bloodstains on them.
Zan fought off the urge to hose Frankie down.
Frankie continued. “They were able to reattach his arm, so he’ll be fine.” She smiled at Zan.
“They what? That’s incredible! I didn’t know they could do that.”
“Well, I have some healing powers,” she said.
Zan shook her head. “I don’t even know what happened last night. I’m still trying to process it all.”
“OK,” said Frankie. “Are your parents home?” she looked around the yard.
“Relax. They are at work now.”
Frankie sat on the steps, so Zan joined her.
“This is going to sound freaky, but I am a mentor, and last night, we just had a zombie uprising.”
Zan laughed. “That’s hilarious! Is this some sort of school prank?” She pushed strands of hair behind her ear.
“No, I wish. Look, zombies have been around for centuries. Some say, for as long as there have been Homo sapiens. Maybe even before that.”
“Say what?” said Zan, still laughing.
“Kind of like vampires or werewolves,” said Frankie, “but those things only exist in mythology now.”
Zan just smirked.
“So, you’re not going to like this, but a new zleader has been created in Ashland. They moved here and are now starting up their own gang. I’ve been investigating, and saw some hanging around here. That’s why I was snooping around last night. I wasn’t really here for the party.” She paused.
Zan nodded, understanding that part. “But, what happened to your brother’s arm? Like, why play with power tools when you’re drunk?”
Frankie shook her head. “No, remember a zombie bit him? That’s a death sentence! But if you chop off a bitten arm or leg right away, then the victim will live.”
Zan’s eyes widened and she looked horrified. “You chopped off your own brother’s arm?”
Frankie nodded. “It had to be done. It was either that or kill him, or let him turn. I couldn’t do it.”
“That’s criminal!” said Zan.
“But it’s OK now. They reattached his arm, and he’ll be fine.”
“But, how can you do that? Won’t he still be infected?”
She shook her head. “No, the zombie virus dies once the arm is detached. You can safely reattach it afterward. That, combined with my healing powers, means he’ll be fine.”
“That’s insane,” said Zan. “All you’ve told me. I want to see for myself that his arm has been reattached.”
zzz
“Oh! Hi, Zan!” called out her mother. “I heard your friend is in Room 314.”
Zan waved. “Thanks, Mom!” Zan walked with Frankie to visit him. They entered his room. He had a nice private room, decorated in soothing blue colors. Plenty of flowers were set up on the table.
“Frankie! Thank you for coming!” said Mac. “And Zan!”
“Hi!” said Zan, heading in.
“Just look,” he said, pulling his gown down his arm. “It’s almost healed.”
“What the eff?” said Zan, walking closer. There was only a narrow scar surrounding the part of his arm that had been chopped off.
“Frankie is amazing, right?” he said.
Frankie smiled.
“How is this possible?” asked Zan, wanting to look at his arm for longer, but he now had it covered up again. “There was so much blood in the backyard.”
“That was from the dead zombies,” explained Frankie.
“Yeah, that was fun last night,” said Mac.
“You, you are no longer allowed to fight,” said Frankie, pointing her finger at him.
He shrugged. “My sister is a healer, so why not?”
“
Just no!” she yelled at him.
He shrugged. “Fine. I want to catch up on my gaming anyway.”
“What is a healer?” asked Zan.
“It’s one who heals,” said Frankie.
“Duh. Right, but it’s like there is some sort of magic associated with it.” Zan joked.
“Yes, and sorry to break the news, but you have been chosen as a zlayer.”
“What the heck is a zlayer?” asked Zan. And she had thought that the rich, popular girls’ club she belonged to at school was stupid. But at least Frankie was amusing and she could play along for entertainment value.
“It’s slang for zombie slayer. You did great last night. A natural. My instincts were correct.”
“That’s just stupid,” said Zan. “I’m no fighter. I’m interested in science and medicine.”
Frankie nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly why you are a perfect zlayer. Listen, you have a lot to learn as my student.”
“I don’t even know how to fight. This sounds like some weird club.”
“Well, there is a girl in Texas who was a bookworm and now she’s one of our best,” said Frankie. “And you’ll be pleased to hear that most zlayers and mentors are women, though there are a few men around too.”
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on. This must be some sort of elaborate hoax you guys played on me. But at least I have an explanation for my parents now.” She turned and walked away.
“Wait, Zan!” called out Frankie.
Zan turned and looked at her.
Frankie walked closer. “We really need you. The zombies are breeding faster than we can control them. I know it seems far away, but Uganda got decimated last month. Please, you know where to find me if you have any more questions.”
“I won’t,” said Zan, walking out the door.
“Hey, Zan, did you visit your friend?” asked Dad, checking over charts at the nurses station.
She nodded. “I’m sorry again, Dad. I’ll go finish cleaning up the house now. It appears that my friends pranked me on some of what happened last night.”
