by Gayle Katz
She rushed down the stairs.
“See you at dinner,” she said, giving Gran a hug on the way out.
“Yes, dear,” she replied.
Gran had also been instrumental in getting her through life. She provided love and support. There was a time when Gran had wanted her out of zombie slaying, but then she had realized that it was Charlie’s destiny.
“Hi, Zan! Hi, Owen,” she said to her friends. She followed them to Zan’s car.
“That was weird,” said Zan. “Stewart’s spell.”
“Yeah,” said Owen. “What’s next?”
“Yeah, that Dr. Arora is something,” said Charlie.
“It’s too bad she doesn’t make a spell to get rid of all the zombies,” said Zan, and then laughed as she’d made a stupid comment. The others laughed at her joke.
The three teens got into Zan’s car and headed to downtown Portland.
“I should just pay for an annual parking pass,” said Zan, complaining. “All this money I spend here.”
“I can give you a few bucks,” said Charlie.
“Me too,” said Owen.
“Nah, don’t need it. I’m just saying.”
zzz
Adrienne was getting frustrated. She’d taken three blood samples from the child but had no results. She tried a variety of different combinations to make the vaccine but had no luck.
She tore off her gloves and tossed them into the trash.
“Maybe there is no vaccine,” she said to herself. “Maybe when zombies were created, their magic kept doctors and scientists from ever finding a cure. It’s our human curse.”
She looked at the child lying on the bed, its face twisted and contorted, reaching out for her. It was desperate to feed. Its teeth chomped up and down.
She collapsed to the ground. “Please! Please god, help me!” she whimpered. “We can’t let the children die! It’s not fair. What did someone do that zombies were created?” She put her hands on her face and cried.
Chapter 15
________________________________________
“Let’s do it!” said Charlie, pulling out her dagger. She felt like she had extra confidence today.
“Here’s the store,” said Owen. “It’s full of zombies!”
“Yay!” said Zan, pulling out her own dagger.
Owen pushed open the door. The three teens slipped inside.
On a better day, Charlie would have liked to check out the cute things on display. But right now, they had a job to do.
“Hey, what happened with that scammer?” asked Zan, thrusting her dagger through the eye socket of the first zombie.
“Uh, Bourne told me that this person is known to the police and that he’ll deal with it once this zombie thing is done today,” said Charlie.
“Good,” said Owen. “Is it anyone we know?”
Charlie laughed, while taking down the next zombie. “Yeah, it is. Don’t worry. He’ll take care of it.”
“It’s Dr. Arora’s gang, right?” asked Zan.
Charlie smirked. “Of course. Convenient, huh? I can see them being a zombie disposal team for sure.”
“And the extortion and the scam,” said Owen. A zombie kept on ducking every time he tried to stab him. “Stand still, dammit.” Finally, Owen got him through the skull.
“She never stops, does she? Always keeping us on our toes,” said Charlie, skipping around two zombies.
“Yep, good thing Stewart is on our team. We couldn’t do without him,” said Zan.
“Uh, yeah,” said Owen, frowning. “Don’t know what we’d do without that guy.” He felt a bit uneasy at discussing Stewart, but he wasn’t certain why.
Six zombies came racing out of the back of the store when the three teens were trying to catch their breath.
“Urggh,” they cried in unison.
Charlie wasn’t paying attention this time and got bowled over by them. Fortunately, they didn’t see her on the ground, struggling to get up.
“You OK?” called out Owen, kicking one of the zombies so he could kill the closer one.
“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” said Charlie, trying to sit up.
“Dammit! Why do they always bite me?” said Zan.
“Hey, you OK?” said Owen, killing the zombie that he had kicked earlier.
“Yeah, got him,” said Zan. “I’ll be fine.”
“There!” said Charlie, killing the last one.
“I’ll go find a first-aid kit,” said Owen, heading to the back of the store.
“It’s just a scratch,” said Zan, looking at the bite on her arm. “It just needs some antiseptic and a band aid.”
“You must be the tastiest of all of us,” said Owen from the back.
“Hah, you’re always getting bitten,” said Charlie.
“I know,” said Zan. “I don’t feel as strong as I used to. Is this what being an adult is like?”
Charlie nodded. “I think that we’ll lose our powers soon.”
Owen came back with a large white box. “Found it,” he said. He made Zan stand still while he treated her wound. He sprayed on the antiseptic, and then put a band aid on her arm.
“I should live for another day,” said Zan.
“I heard you talk from the back,” said Owen. “I feel the same way. Not as strong. However, I’m thinking that the zombies are on the way out. Soon, we’ll no longer be needed.”
“Really?” said Charlie. “But we still have six months left of school. None of us turns eighteen until next year.”
“Me in February,” said Zan.
“Mine is in May,” said Owen.
“I’m in August, so I still have a ways to go,” said Charlie.
“Well, you’re the lead zlayer, so it makes sense you’d retain your powers for far longer,” said Zan.
“Cool,” said Charlie.
zzz
“OK, besides that store that the zlayers are in, there should be no more zombies running around,” said Officer Maia.
“Really?” said Sergeant Bourne. “You’d better be one hundred percent certain when you make that statement.”
“Fine. I’ll do another round.” She left to go check the streets and stores again.
zzz
Adrienne was still crying and feeling sorry for the world when she heard a sound from the top of the desk. There was a clattering sound. She lifted her head up off the floor.
It appeared something had toppled over. She’d better go clean it up, as it was her responsibility to keep a tidy workstation. She got up and walked over to the desk.
One of the samples from her case had fallen out and broken. The contents were spewed all over the glass plate.
“Oh crap,” she said. “What a waste.” She grabbed some sterile latex gloves from the box and put them on. She was carefully scooping up the powder when she had a glance at the small glass slide.
It started glowing red.
Adrienne dropped what she had been holding, grabbed the plate, and shoved it under the microscope. Her hands shook as she did it. Finally, she got it into position.
Inside something incredible was happening. The zombie virus from the child was active in the middle, but something was creeping toward it from the sides. As it touched the virus, it erupted into a red glow. Soon, the virus was dead.
Adrienne waited a few minutes, but the virus didn’t come alive again.
She quickly looked at the contents of what had made that happen. She’d had the child’s zombie blood on the slide, along with a compound that she’d been working on for the past year, an antiviral. All that combined with this strange silver powder. What was it?
Adrienne picked up the broken vial. It had a “Z” on it.
“Z?” she muttered to herself. “Oh! Zinc. Right!” She laughed.
She looked at the child on the bed who was fussing.
“OK, my little test subject. If this works, you’re going home.” She smiled.
zzz
“Is that it?” asked Cha
rlie, running up to Sergeant Bourne on the street.
“Yes, and you’re looking well.”
“Yeah, Stewart figured out that we’d been infected with some cold spell.”
Bourne shook his head. “I’ll be so glad when we find Dr. Arora.”
“I know,” said Charlie.
“OK, let’s call it a day. Go home.” He strode off.
zzz
Adrienne had a vaccine made up and ready to go in the syringe. She walked over to the zombie child on the bed.
“Well, either this works or it doesn’t.”
She reached down and grabbed the child’s arm.
She slid the needle into a prominent vein on its arm.
“At least I can really see the veins on zombies,” she said. Soon the fluid was fully inside the child. She released its arm and went and tossed the syringe into her special garbage bin for medical waste.
“Let’s hope this works.”
Before her eyes, she saw a bright red light envelope the child. The child went from saying “arghhh” to “wahhhh.”
Adrienne peered carefully at it. Its skin turned from gray to a light beige-pink color. Its eyes turned from a glowing green to brown.
She examined its fingernails. Some were missing, but they’d grown back. They went from gray to a healthy pinky-white.
“Has it worked?” she asked herself, happy at the results. “I believe so.”
She picked the child up. “It’s a boy! I wonder what your name is?”
It didn’t try to bite her. “OK, little one, let’s find your family, or whatever remains of it. I think a trip to the hospital is in order, first.”
After she had the baby secured in the taxi, she called her boss.
“Success! I did it!”
“You did? Wow!” he replied. “OK, here’s what you do. You make as much of the vaccine as you can. Go out and cure as many people as you can. Because once the board of directors hears this, they’re going to capitalize on it, and no one will get cured.”
“On it,” she said. “I have my first cure right here.”
Chapter 16
________________________________________
It was early spring and after school, so the teens headed out to the school parking lot. They were just about to split up and walk to their own separate vehicles when there were footsteps surrounding them.
“What the hell?” said Charlie.
Owen looked around. “Damn it.” Why hadn’t he felt it? “Look, we don’t want any trouble.”
“Um,” said Zan. “Who are you people?”
An older woman came forward. She was dressed in a woman’s suit. Her hair was long and gray. “Just do as I say and no one gets shot. I really only need Charlie, so the rest of you are expendable.”
“What the hell?” said Charlie, as a man came up behind her and grabbed her. They patted her down and took her daggers from her. They pushed her into an unmarked van. Shortly after she was pushed into the back, the other two teens were pushed in after her.
Charlie watched as a bag of their weapons was dropped on the front passenger’s seat.
“You’d better hold on,” said the woman. “This guy is a terrible driver.”
The teens were hesitant to sit down on the cold hard surface of the van. There were no seats in the back, only the front.
“Who are you?” called out Charlie, as the van was started up.
“Well, that’s depends. I’m Rina Orzola and Dr. Arora.”
“I mew it!” said Zan.
“You mean, knew it. Get it together,” said Charlie.
Zan just looked at her in annoyance.
“Mew it, dammit! Meow! Meow! Meow!”
“Oh screw it,” said Owen, as he starting meowing too.
“Hey, I thought you said these kids were smart? They appear to be a bunch of dunces,” complained the driver to Rina.
She shrugged. “I’m sure we can persuade them at headquarters to shut the hell up.”
The driver pressed down hard on the pedal. Charlie, Zan, and Owen grabbed onto the sides and floor of the van to stay in sitting positions.
zzz
“Hi, Julian! How’s it going?” Dad peeked into his room to see how he was doing.
“Great,” said Julian, looking a bit guilty. “I think I might be up for that trip to visit Nana after all.”
Dad smiled. “That’s great! I’m sure that we can cheer her up after her heart surgery. And I can’t stress enough how important it is to visit loved ones while they’re still around.”
“Agreed! I’ll grab my backpack.” Julian turned to his closet.
As he tossed things in his bag, he wondered how long he’d last. He’d heard that when zombies crossed a territorial line, such as the one between Portland and Vancouver cities, that they fell apart, or disintegrated. His grandmother’s house was only a few blocks across the bridge, but it was far enough away that he didn’t have high hopes of surviving the trip.
Would he have enough time to say goodbye to his grandmother before he died?
zzz
The teens were stuck in the van with Rina, Ray Orzola’s sister, and a goon with green glowing eyes, who was driving the vehicle. They couldn’t reach the people in front, as there was a metal mesh barrier that separated them. Charlie pulled at it, but it didn’t come away.
Her backpack had been taken from her. She patted herself down, hoping that there was something she could use. She felt the cat pin on her shirt, but it wouldn’t be of any help.
“Give it up,” said Zan. “They took everything from us.”
“Except this,” said Owen, holding up a mean-looking pocketknife.
“Nice,” said Zan.
“Put that away,” said Charlie. “If it’s the only weapon we have, we might need it.” She frantically pushed aside the debris that was lying on the van’s floor. There were a lot of plastic bags, candy wrappers, and even a wrench, which she quickly pocketed.
“Here we are,” said Rina, reaching their destination.
“What the hell?” called out Charlie. “Isn’t this the clothing factory?”
“Boring,” commented Zan. “Doesn’t the Orzola family own any other businesses?”
“Shut up and get out,” said the goon. He slid open the van’s door.
Owen and Zan hopped up, and then punched him in the head at the same time. While they were occupied with him, Charlie rushed Rina.
She was surprisingly strong.
“Are you Rina or Dr. Arora?” called out Charlie.
“Both,” her voice said.
“Hey! Get them!” yelled the goon.
With the helpful distraction, Charlie kicked out hard, connecting with Rina’s ribcage.
“Oof!”
Charlie grabbed their things from the front seat, and then ran. She saw that Owen ran in the opposite direction, thinking that Zan was right behind him, but she wasn’t.
“Goddamn it!” Zan cried out, as the goon grabbed onto her arm.
zzz
“It’s time to go!” called out Dad.
“OK, thanks! I just want to let my friends know where I’m going.” He grabbed his cellphone and sent a text. “There.”
Julian grabbed his bag and looked sadly around his room. If he really were a zombie, then he wouldn’t be seeing this room again. He was about to break every rule about crossing zombie lines. And the only punishment for that was death.
zzz
“Where the heck is Zan?” asked Charlie.
“I thought she was right behind me,” said Owen. “There were only two of them and three of us.”
“Shit,” said Charlie, sending texts to both Stewart and Bourne.
“Well, at least we know where they are.”
“Yeah, great, but they’ll move her.” She had no sooner said that then they saw the van on the move. Charlie and Owen raced after it, but soon it was swallowed up by the traffic. They both stopped, panting.
“I have the license plate,” said Owen.
“Good! Text that to Bourne! Oh shit.”
“What is it?” asked Owen, peering at the screen.
“Jay is really, really mad. He wants us to meet him at the station.”
“Let’s go.” Owen started walking. It was only a few blocks away.
zzz
“They got Zan,” said Stewart over the telephone. He heard a string of expletives coming from Bourne. “Relax. We’ll get her back. Have you heard anything? They wouldn’t just take a zlayer for no reason.”
“Yes, I’ve heard from them,” yelled Jay. “They have a whole list of demands.”
“And?” asked Stewart.
“They want me to release everyone in the zombie gang who is still alive. Fortunately, that doesn’t leave many, I can tell you that. They want any injectables that are in storage. They want all of Dr. Arora’s lab equipment. I think we trashed all that though.”
“Doesn’t matter. Just get them a bunch of shit and get ready,” said Stewart.
“Yes,” said Bourne sadly. “I have to get Zan back.”
“At least the other two got away,” said Stewart. “Keep me posted. I’m doing research.”
“You do that,” said Bourne. “I’ll keep you posted.”
After Stewart hung up with Jay, he got another call.
“Julian? Is that you?”
“Hi. Sorry to bother you. I thought I’d let you know that I’m crossing borders.”
“What?” said Stewart, trying to switch his train of thought.
“I’m going to go visit my nana. She’s in Vancouver, Washington.”
“That is a really bad idea,” said Stewart. “You might not make it back.”
