by Gayle Katz
“Get away, you imbeciles! Get upstairs! Inject people! Ahhhhhh!” she screamed in horror.
Soon the entire tunnel was on fire, from years of homeless people hanging out underground to keep warm, and leaving their debris and food wrappers lying all over the place.
Epilogue
________________________________________
“Is she really dead this time?” Zan shifted her position to a more comfortable one on the couch.
“She is,” said Stewart. “It was confirmed by Sergeant Bourne, when he arrived at the 911 call.”
“Wow,” said Charlie. “Is this it then? No more Dr. Arora?”
Owen smiled. “What are we going to do with all our spare time?”
Stewart laughed. “I’m sure you’ll find something. And there are still some stray zombies running around.”
“I hope Julian will stay safe,” said Owen. “He’s a bit nervous around you guys.”
“That’s fine,” said Stewart. “We have no gripes with him. His secret is safe with us.”
Owen laughed. “That’s great. I made him a promise, you know.”
“Who do you think we are?” asked Charlie. “Right, Zan?”
Zan was looking down at her phone. “Huh? What? Oh right, I have no beef with the zombie guy.”
The group enjoyed snacks and soft drinks until it was late.
“Good night,” called out Stewart, closing the door.
He was just about to relax in a nice hot bubble bath when his phone rang again.
Owen’s name showed up on the call.
“Hi, Owen. Can’t this wait until tomorrow?”
“I just got a call from Julian. He’s happy we killed Dr. Arora, but now he’s asking when we’re going to kill the real zleader.”
“What?” asked Stewart.
“Dr. Arora had a boss, apparently, a higher up. She wasn’t acting alone.”
“Zuck,” said Stewart.
Prologue
________________________________________
She was surprised that she was still conscious. At first, she couldn’t discern if she was standing up, sitting down, or lying down, but soon realized that she was in a standing position. She felt a hard surface beneath her feet, but when she lifted her foot and then pressed it back down on the ground, her foot seemed to plunge through a spongy substance. She tripped and almost fell, before catching herself.
She figured she was on an unstable surface, so she did her best to gently walk across it. She couldn’t see a thing ahead of her. She patted her pockets, but to her dismay not only was her cell phone not there, but neither were her pants. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms and across her stomach. She had been wearing clothes, so what had happened to them?
Her brain still felt fuzzy. Who was she and where was she?
She started shivering. Wherever she was, it was freezing. Even the chain she had worn around her neck was gone. She reached up to her head and her hair was in disarray.
She decided to keep on moving in order to stay warm. Perhaps it was nighttime. Eventually, the moon would come out or it would be sunrise, then she could figure out where she was. She was uncertain if she should call out to see if anybody else was there.
“H,” she started to say, then stopped herself just in time. She remembered flashes of something bad from the past involving a man who had hurt her when she had raised her voice. Perhaps she should stay quiet right now and figure out what was going on.
In the distance was a strange whirring sound. She wasn’t certain if she was walking closer to it, or further away from it, but she just kept on moving to stay warm.
She struggled to remember her name. She thought she’d been born in United States, maybe, or was it Canada? She had friends too, but couldn’t remember their names either.
As she kept on walking, the sound seemed to come closer to her.
“Hello?” she asked quietly. “Is someone there? I think I need help.”
The noise became louder and louder until she had to cover her ears. Despite her hands covering them, the sound became a high-pitched shriek. And deep within that sound was the noise of a thousand scissors snapping open and closed.
Worried, she turned and ran from the sound. She ran in a zigzag, but no matter where she ran, the sound followed her. The noise seemed to fill her skull. Now she couldn’t even remember where she was born or whether she even had friends who might be worried about her.
She was about to give in when her brain sparked a flame, and then she remembered. She stopped running and turned to face the Shredders. Now she knew exactly what to do.
Chapter 1
________________________________________
It was the end of class so Zan, Owen, and Charlie were waiting for Stewart to finish up at his staff meeting. They sat in his classroom trying to waste time.
“I can’t believe we got rid of Dr. Arora,” said Owen.
“I know! It was brilliant of Stewart to set her on fire!” said Charlie, laughing.
Zan dropped her smartphone on the desk. “Now I feel stupid for missing out,” she said.
“Oh, you didn’t miss too much,” said Charlie. “It happened so fast. I mean, I didn’t stick around to watch or anything.”
“Poof!” said Owen, swinging his arms wide.
“What? Stewart could have set you all on fire,” said Zan.
“Nah, we saw what Stewart was doing and had warning.”
“Hey! Are you folks talking about me?” asked Stewart, suddenly entering the classroom.
“Yup!” said Charlie proudly.
“Well, don’t get too excited. I’m not confident that we’ve eradicated the zombie problem in Portland.” He tossed his briefcase on the desk. “Oh, and let’s keep this brief. I have a date.”
“Ooh,” said Zan. “Are you going to tell us who she is?”
“Well, it’s not Dr. Arora because she is dead!” Charlie said, laughing.
The others laughed too, but Stewart frowned. He sat down. “OK. First things first, remember that just because we killed the zleader wannabe does not mean that all her zinions are automatically killed, as these ones are different than the first strain zombies.”
“Right,” said Charlie. “And Portland will never have to worry about those first strain zombies ever again.”
“That’s right.” Stewart smiled. “At least we don’t have those guys to worry about anymore.”
“OK, so let us know if we need to go out and fight,” said Zan. “It’s been a boring month. Yawn!” She picked up her smartphone again to look at the screen.
Charlie turned to glare at her. “Do you ever stop looking at that thing?”
“Do you ever wear makeup?” she mumbled back.
“I haven’t heard of any other sightings recently. We expect most of Dr. Arora’s zinions were killed in the blaze in the sewers. I might add that Sergeant Bourne was mighty annoyed with us, as that was a big mess that had to be cleaned up by the city.”
“Gross,” said Zan.
Owen ate a piece of his granola bar. “Do you think that we destroyed all her vaccines?”
Stewart nodded. “I certainly hope so. Without her, I doubt anyone else could duplicate that work.”
“But what if they have the formula?” Charlie asked.
Stewart shook his head to the negative. “Dr. Arora used a combination of science and magic, plus she had the talent to do that. I don’t expect that anyone else, even a family member, would have her power.”
“Wait a minute,” said Charlie. “From what I understand, I thought only good people had the capacity to gain abilities?”
Stewart laughed. “In the beginning, yes. It’s like we’re chosen to be mentors, zlayers, or truthsayers for our abilities. But people can go bad.”
Owen turned and frowned at Zan. She looked back at him, puzzled by his expression.
“But what kind of powers does she have? She’s not a mentor, not a zombie slayer, not a truthsayer?” asked Charlie.
Stewart smiled. “I believe she’s a witch.”
Everyone laughed.
“But seriously, we do know witches are real, as it’s believed that witches created zombies down in South America.”
“Have you been reading your history books again?” asked Charlie.
“Yes, and that latest book I found a few weeks back has revealed a bit more info to me. However, remember that these old stories are based on the first strain zombies. While the book has been somewhat helpful, don’t get your hopes up, as some of the rules are different for these second strain zombies that Dr. Arora created.”
“OK,” said Owen. “So now that you’ve cleared that up, who have you been seeing?”
The three teens peered at Stewart, while his face flushed red. “OK, but you’re not going to like it.”
They continued looking at him, waiting for him to make the big reveal.
“It’s Philomena Arora,” said Stewart.
There was silence in the room.
“Who is that?” asked Owen. “Her daughter?”
Stewart shook his head. “No, her sister.” He smiled as he talked about her.
Charlie stomped up to his desk. “What? Are you crazy?” she yelled at him. “You’re dating the enemy!”
“Hey, relax. She doesn’t condone what her sister has done at all. She says she didn’t have any part in it.”
“Really?” she yelled, glaring at him.
“Chill out. This is America. You can’t tell him he can’t date someone. Stewart can date whomever he wants,” Zan said.
“You mean because you like Sergeant Bourne,” Charlie said, turning around to face Zan, with a smug smirk on her face.
“Hey! We’re talking about Stewart, not me!”
“I knew it,” said Charlie, slamming her backpack down on the floor.
“And exactly what do you know?”
“About your crush! You’re not denying it.”
“What? He’s like fifty years older than you!” said Owen, looking visibly outraged. He got out of his chair and walked up to the front of the room. “Are you sure, Stewart?”
Since everyone else was already at the front of the room, Zan decided to pick up her purse and head to the front, too. She didn’t say anything, listening as the argument unfolded.
“Yes, I’m sure. Why would she want to create zombies? Seriously? And she does a lot of charitable work. She has no interest in being mayor of Portland, and she is an orthodontist, so she already makes a lot of money, and likely doesn’t have the skills to be a scientist.”
“I wonder how the mayor is?” Zan mumbled, but no one paid her any attention.
“But Ray and Dr. Arora were involved in that zombie outbreak we had. Even after the city appropriated his property, they still utilized his property.” Owen was emphatic.
Zan peered at him, like she was missing something.
“What has Ray got to do with anything?” asked Stewart. “Philly doesn’t even know who he is.”
Charlie went to gather her belongings.
Owen laughed. “So you don’t know that Ray Orzola and Dr. Arora are related?” There was silence in the room.
Charlie then dropped her bag on the floor. “What the hell?” She raced back to his desk.
Stewart shook his head in disbelief. “Owen, that’s not true!”
Owen nodded. “It is. Julian told me.”
“What the hell?” she repeated. “How are they related?”
Owen shrugged. “Cousins, I believe.”
Zan put her smartphone away. This was getting interesting.
Then there was the sound of heels coming down the hallway. The door slowly opened, and a woman peered around the corner. She was overdressed for a school. Her hair and makeup were perfectly done.
“Hello?” she called out. “I heard loud voices in here. Is everything OK?” She smiled sweetly.
“Yes, we were just having a biology debate,” explained Stewart.
“Oh good. Perhaps you’ll invite me next time. I might be able to apply some of it to the stars.” She smiled again.
“So, I’m out of here. It was fun,” said Zan, leaving the room.
“Um, yeah,” said Owen. “Stew, err. Mr. George, please keep what I said in mind.”
Stewart grimaced.
“I’m not even talking to you,” said Charlie, stomping out of the room.
“I guess I should be going too, Keri.” He grabbed his briefcase and jacket and left the room.
“Good night,” she called out. “See you in school tomorrow.” She watched as they walked down the hallway to the exit door. “Good. They’re gone. Now I have the entire school to myself.” She smirked.
Chapter 2
________________________________________
When Owen woke up the next morning, the first thing he did was mentally berate himself for forgetting to ask the team about Julian, the good zombie. He wondered if the others had heard from him. Was he even still alive?
Owen grabbed his phone and sent Julian a text. He waited five minutes, trying to clear the fog from his brain, but there was no answer back. He had Julian’s address, but had school soon, so that would have to wait until later.
He got dressed and ate, then headed to school. As he parked his car in the lot, he saw Zan. He felt bad for telling her off the day before. She was right. She could date whomever she wanted. It didn’t matter to him anymore. But he felt concern as a friend. And it would be nice if Zan got involved with someone who had nothing to do with this zombie business. She deserved to have a nice, peaceful life after what her mother had been up to, which had eventually led to her death.
He got out of the car and locked the door.
“Hi there!” said a voice, coming up behind him.
He jumped, and then turned. “Oh! Hi, Zan.”
“Wow. You’re jumpy today.” She smiled at him.
“Yeah. A bit. I’m still annoyed at Stewart.” He shrugged.
“I know. It’s crazy, right? But I’ll bet he’s going undercover, kind of like when Sergeant Bourne dated the mayor. Then it turned out she was on our side.”
Owen laughed. “Yeah, I didn’t think of it like that. Maybe he can scope out some zombies as it’s been mighty boring lately.”
“Ooh, look at her.” Zan’s head turned in the direction of one of the teachers. She’d just arrived in her red Mustang convertible. Keri exited her vehicle, smoothing her dress down. Today, she was dressed in a light white dress with white lace and shoulder straps.
“Kind of inappropriate dress for school. So fancy,” said Owen.
Zan turned to look at him. “Yeah, she looks great though. Take a look at Mr. Harrison. He’s always wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants.”
“Yeah, but he’s the P.E. teacher,” replied Owen. “Well, at least last year they did away with the stupid dress code. If I want to wear a short skirt and a halter top, then I will!” Owen laughed at his joke.
Zan laughed with him. “Too funny! I want to see that!”
“I know, right?” They kept on laughing.
“You can wear that to our prom night date,” Zan added.
Owen stopped laughing.
Zan frowned. “Sorry, yeah, I forgot. We’re not going together now, right?”
“Well, Zan, we can go as friends, but I’ve told you that I feel we just aren’t the right match. I like you and all, and you’re beautiful, but look at what we do. And, I have a lot of morals as a truthsayer.”
She frowned again. “Well, I’ve done some stupid things, but the ultimate goal is to fight and kill all the zombies, even if it means shoplifting and breaking into homes.”
Owen had a gentle smile on his face as he nodded. “Exactly. And if I hadn’t said anything, Julian would be dead now.”
“Oh, Julian. Hey, look, we all promised not to hunt him down or kill him.” She shrugged, uncertain what the big deal was.
“I know, and I really appreciate all the changes you’ve made this past
year. But sometimes, OK, I admit it’s not just you, but the team frustrates me.”
Just then the bell rang.
“Sorry, Zan. We can continue this some other time if you want.” Owen headed to the stairs.
“No. I’m good, Owen. Thank you for your honesty.”
The pair walked up the stairs.
“But I know what you mean about being annoyed with the team. Can we ever get Charlie to put some makeup on and do more than tie her hair in a ponytail?”
Owen just laughed.
zzz
Sergeant Jay Bourne parked his unmarked police vehicle right between two parking spots at the Yum Donut Shop. He got out of his car and slammed the door. He hoped someone would complain, as that always made his day. He strode slowly up to the door. He didn’t want to appear anxious or anything. Then he whipped open the door and walked inside. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him.
He smiled and waved, having a good silent chuckle. If you couldn’t have fun with your uniform, then what else was it for?
“Hi, Sergeant Bourne,” said the cashier. “Will it be the same today?”
“Yep,” he said, tossing her a twenty. “Keep the change.” She went to grab his extra large coffee and two donuts, then placed them on the counter. “That will be $12.30. Thank you for the tip!” She worked it out, and then placed the bill in her drawer and the difference in the tip jar.
“No problem. You kids work so hard, but don’t get compensated for it. I’m telling you, the owner of this shop is a millionaire.”
The smile dropped from her face.
“But she’s a nice woman and I’m sure she shows her appreciation.” He smiled at her.
“Oh yes, she’s great to work for. And she gave all of us a $1,200 bonus last Christmas.”
“Well, you’re getting there. Sorry, I don’t mean to be a jerk by reminding you she’s rich.” He shook his head. “Remember that she started where you are now. You can do the same.”
