by Gayle Katz
“Spinel, but almost as valuable.”
“OK, I’ll just play with my own daggers,” said Charlie, pulling hers out of her back pocket.
“Hey, does Charlie have two?” asked Zan.
“She has one of the special daggers from the box. I have no idea where she got that other one,” said Stewart.
Charlie shrugged. “It’s amazing what you find in second hand shops.”
“Yours has some engraved brass in it,” said Zan, admiring Owen’s dagger.
“Yeah, but Charlie’s is kind of cool. Super shiny titanium, I think.” Owen smiled at her dagger.
She shrugged. “I don’t need any fancy gems.”
“OK, folks. Here’s the plan.” Stewart proceeded to whisper to them.
The teens smiled, their eyes opening wide. Charlie even laughed.
zzz
“How is my City Hall doing?” asked Jane over the phone.
Bourne grimaced. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to her. “It’s fine. Don’t worry. They aren’t going to torch the thing.”
“But what are they doing?” she asked. “They didn’t just move in to do nothing.”
“Oh, apparently they want every single business owner to donate a thousand dollars. And they want a bunch of science equipment, microscopes, and needles, that kind of thing. They also want every single male between the ages of 20 to 40 to line up out front.”
“What the hell? It sounds like they’re building an army.”
“Oh, don’t worry. By three o’clock, things are going to escalate.”
“Just promise not to burn down my City Hall, please,” she pleaded with him.
“I promise. Stay safe, Jane. Do not come out of hiding. The zombies could kill you.”
“Agreed,” she said.
“The last thing this city needs is to lose its mayor.”
“Got it, Jay. Say, did you know that I really care…”
But he’d already hung up. He didn’t want to listen to mushy stuff.
zzz
It was five minutes to three o’clock. Sergeant Bourne knew that the zombies were having a big meeting in the boardroom at that time. During this event, they’d be presented with several gifts, or so they expected.
Zan and Owen distracted the zombie guards in the hallway, leading them down to the basement stairs, while Bourne lingered near the display case.
He looked at Stewart, who was all set, holding his smartphone in his hand. Charlie was ready, by his side.
The big pendulum clock in the hallway struck three, letting out three loud chimes.
Everyone came out of their respective rooms and headed for the boardroom.
zzz
Zan and Owen quickly killed the three zombies who had come downstairs with them.
“Supposed to be a truce,” said the last one, before Zan quickly thrust her blade through its skull.
“Nah, not when you hold me for ransom,” she replied.
“That’s the chime,” said Owen. “It’s time to head back upstairs.”
“Should we leave these guys for now?” asked Zan, looking down at the ground.
“Can’t see why not. I don’t think anyone else is coming down here. We can deal with the bodies later.”
“Sounds good,” she said, bending over and cleaning her dagger on one of their shirts.
“Good idea,” said Owen, doing the same. “I’m going to need this later.”
The two teens headed back upstairs.
zzz
It was now three o’clock and everyone was seated back in the boardroom. Dr. Arora, or her soul who possessed Rina Orzola, was standing by the podium.
“Thank you all for joining us today. We’ll first attend to the key ceremony, and then we’ll receive gifts. After that, I’ll inform everyone of our plans for the city.”
The zombies started clapping. Charlie and Stewart looked at each other, shrugged, and joined along. Zan and Owen sat beside them, doing nothing.
“Since our former mayor has disappeared, along with her staff, Sergeant Bourne has kindly allowed us to deputize him. So, I am proud to present to you, Deputy Mayor Jay Bourne.” She clapped first to get it started.
“What the fudge?” said Zan from the back.
“I hope he knows what he’s doing,” whispered Charlie.
“Don’t worry. He does,” said Stewart.
“Thank you,” replied Sergeant Bourne. “I’m proud to be here today as all zombies are afforded the same rights as the living. It was through no fault of their own that they became zombies.”
“Yeah, Dr. Arora is to blame. She went on a stabbing spree to make them,” called out a voice from the audience.
Everyone looked around, but no one knew who said it.
Sergeant Bourne ignored the voice.
“This afternoon, the zombies shall take their rightful place in history.” He smothered a laugh and looked worriedly at Dr. Arora, but she hadn’t noticed. “And now, I’m proud to hand over the keys to the city of Portland.” He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a large set of old brass keys.
“This is just symbolic, right?” Charlie whispered to Stewart.
He nodded. “Don’t worry, it won’t affect our plan.”
Dr. Arora took the keys from him.
“At last. The past three years have culminated in this momentous occasion. I thought I’d never see the day when zombie and human could walk past each other on the street without fear of retribution. I shall always treasure these keys.” She placed them in her blazer pocket.
“And now, the gifts,” said Sergeant Bourne. He motioned to one of the zombies.
“Gifts? I get gifts!” said Dr. Arora in mock surprise.
A zombie brought forward three humans.
Sergeant Bourne motioned them forward.
“These three men represent your new human army. They shall serve and protect you. For each man, there are ten thousand more waiting in the arena.”
“Good job, Sergeant Bourne. But I can count. There should be more like one million men waiting.”
“Please, accept these men while we continue to do good work.” Sergeant Bourne tried not to roll his eyes.
“Accepted. I realize it’s hard to gather an army together at a moment’s notice.”
Bourne waved the next zombies over, while the three men took their places behind Dr. Arora.
“And here is a treasure chest, full of jewels for you.”
The two zombies carried it, placing it at her feet. They opened it.
“Wow! How lovely,” she said. “I’d keep them, but these jewels shall be used to finance my army. What else?”
“Here is a check for one million dollars, written out to you,” said Sergeant Bourne, motioning a zombie forward. There was a small paper check on a red velvet pillow.
“Fantastic!” she replied, taking the check from him. She scrutinized it, but everything was in order. She folded it up and placed it in her pocket.
“But we’re not done yet,” said Sergeant Bourne.
“No?” she said, rubbing her hands together. “I haven’t had this much fun since I infected my professor with the zombie vaccine. He died a long and painful death for the crimes he committed against my friend and me. Heehee!”
“Really?” asked Sergeant Bourne, somewhat curious about her story.
“Why yes, my dear Deputy Mayor. That was the whole point of this zombie apocalypse. I wanted to make the world pay a steep price for what happened to us. And if not for the entitled, powerful, and elite, we wouldn’t be here today.”
“This whole thing is because you sought revenge rather than justice?” yelled Sergeant Bourne.
“No, no, stick to the plan,” called out Stewart. Then the room broke out in chaos.
“Oh shit,” said Charlie. “This isn’t what was supposed to happen.”
Chapter 20
________________________________________
Stewart pushed through the crowd. He had to get to Sergeant Bo
urne to get him back on track. He tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey, get with it,” he said. “You can argue with her later about being a vigilante.”
“Oh right,” said Bourne. He pulled a paper bag out of his jacket pocket and pulled something out.
“And this is for you,” he said, presenting the shrunken head mask to her.
“What is this?” she asked.
“It’s a mask that you wear. It will give you more power.”
“Is that so?” She took it from him and placed it on her face.
“Now!” called out Bourne.
Stewart rushed up to her and whipped out the bottle of whiskey. He dowsed her from head to toe. He tossed the bottle aside and pulled out his smartphone.
Bourne rushed forward and stabbed Rina’s body with a needle syringe. He quickly pressed the plunger to release the vaccine into her body.
“Come on, come on,” said Stewart. “Releget aut ad animam non reversurum.”
The teens had now pushed their way to the front.
Charlie looked on in horror, as the mask loosened up. A green light glowed around it. The wrinkles in the mask softened, while the dark leathery skin lightened up.
“This has gone on long enough,” said the mask. “I am Margarita Avarra, daughter of Emmanuel and Eliza. The day the tribe took me, I vowed to run a plague on mankind for the next hundred years. After I was murdered, my family killed every single one of the tribe. For centuries, my power has animated a zombie plague, killing as many humans as possible.”
The entire room looked on in horror.
“But now, I am done. My punishment has been exacted. Before my life was brutally taken, I was to be one of the wives of the Founding Fathers of America. Many years later, the daughter of my fiancée sat on council and drew up a plan during the American Civil War to preserve the lives of all living beings. Up to this point, many zombies had chosen sides. A pact was created. If they violated this pact, their freedoms would end and they would not be able to move between cities and states, unless they were peaceful and law abiding. They would perish or expire if they did.
“Those zombies that did not choose a side still could move freely. Over the years, lore had grown that zombies could not move beyond borders, but this was not true for all zombies. There is such a thing as a good zombie, who can traverse these borders.
“Now there is no longer a purpose for zombies. My revenge has been exacted. I am dismayed to find that others tried to purpose the zombies for their own revenge.”
As she spoke, Stewart was reciting many other spells from the photocopies of the spell book he had on his phone.
Then she pulled the mask from her face. It burst into flames.
There was screaming coming from the room.
Owen grabbed Zan’s hands and checked to be certain that Charlie followed behind him. She was.
They raced out into the hall.
Anyone who was a zombie suddenly burst into flames too, and then magically disappeared into thin air. Since most of the room was composed of zombies, this took some time.
Sergeant Bourne raced to the fire extinguisher on the wall, grabbing it. He ran over to put the fire out to stop it from consuming the drapes.
“Is this it?” asked Charlie. She noticed Stewart was still in the room reciting the spells.
After Sergeant Bourne had put out the fire, he guided Rina Orzola to the hallway where the teens were.
“What’s happening?” she cried. “Where am I? Why are things on fire?”
In the distance, the sounds of sirens were heard.
“Charlie, get everyone out of here,” called out Sergeant Bourne. “This building is old and I can’t guarantee it won’t quickly catch on fire.”
“Yes, sir,” said Charlie, guiding some of the remaining people out the door, while Zan and Owen did the same.
Once the halls were clear, Charlie ran back inside.
It appeared that Sergeant Bourne had the flames under control. By now, there were no zombies remaining.
“Come on, Stewart! It’s done! Let’s go,” said Charlie, grabbing onto his sleeve.
But he shook his head sadly, as he continued calling out the spells.
“Exorcizm,” he called out. “Must read through all of it.”
Charlie went to stand by the doorway, just in case Bourne tried to toss her out.
“Et ego creavi fructum labiorum pacem servabit et alius Zombie,” Stewart added, then stopped.
Charlie tried to puzzle out what he had said. “I offer myself that no other shall become a zombie? Noooo!!!!!!” she screamed out.
In that moment, flames consumed Stewart.
Charlie rushed over to him, but Bourne grabbed her by the arm and shoved her back to the door.
“There is nothing we can do! It’s too late!”
He wrapped his arms around her and they watched as Stewart was totally consumed by flames.
A tear ran down her cheek.
zzz
Charlie was lying in the hospital bed, being treated for shock.
“She’ll be OK,” said the doctor. “Just some rest and quiet and time.”
“Thank you, doctor,” said Gran. “Charlie, I’ll let your friends in now.”
“OK. Thanks, Gran,” said Charlie.
Zan, Owen, and Sergeant Bourne entered the room.
“Hi!” said Zan.
“How’s it going?” said Owen.
“I brought you some flowers,” said Jay, handing them over.
“Thanks, everyone. I just,” she said, pausing. “I would still friggin’ be happy to kill zombies, if only Stewart were still here now.”
“I know,” said Jay. “But it’s better this way. No more zombies. He knew the risk.”
“He didn’t tell us,” said Zan, grumpily. “Did you know?” she asked Owen.
He shook his head. “No, I knew nothing of his plan. He kept it hidden from all of us.”
“Well, the good news is the curse is lifted,” said Jay. “I’ve been a cop for a few years and I’ve seen a lot, but this definitely takes the cake.”
“I think this is why that mask had revealed its sadness to me,” said Owen. “It grew weary of all the violence through the ages and decided to help us instead.”
“It’s just wild that all this history is connected together,” said Zan. “When did the shrunken head tribe exist?”
“No one knows for how long, but it’s known that shrunken heads were still being made as late as the early 20th century,” said Owen.
“So, the timeline matches up for when the United States was founded then?” asked Charlie.
He nodded. “Definitely. How awful for one of the Founding Fathers to have his fiancée taken and killed that way.”
“Yes, but this at least had the effect of organizing the zombies, even if they couldn’t kill them all,” said Jay. “What a stroke of brilliance to force the zombies into zones when the first state lines were mapped out.”
“But why would they agree to that?” asked Charlie.
“My guess is that the Founding Fathers had something that could be held against the zombies. It was either follow the pact or all be destroyed.”
“Probably something to do with the mask,” said Owen. “Somehow, this woman was extremely powerful,” he said, laughing.
“What is it?” asked Zan.
“She was a voodoo priestess.”
“No!” said Charlie, perking up. “The President of the United States was going to marry a voodoo priestess?”
“We don’t know which of the Founding Fathers it was. She never revealed that to us,” said Owen. “But yes, I do think that tribe messed with the wrong woman.”
“Wow, crazy,” said Charlie. “I think I need to get some history books!”
“I’ll get you some,” said Zan. “I’m going to Main Street Books tomorrow.”
“Great, thanks,” said Charlie, smiling. “Hey, we forgot to search Dr. Arora’s house,” she said, remembering.
Jay chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll do a quick once-over again just to be certain there is nothing left that would hurt anyone. I heard her house has sold, so it’s our last chance.”
“Good,” said Charlie. “What do you think, Owen? Is there anything left there?”
“No, I don’t think so,” said Owen. “She really depleted her resources. Also, her house is being torn down. If there is anything, it’ll just be destroyed.”
“Good,” said Zan. “Oh, how I’ll miss Stewart.”
The humans were silent for a few minutes.
“I’m recommending that Stewart George get a medal of honor,” said Jay. “We can present it at his funeral. Oh, and I managed to track down some cousins of his, so they’ll be in town.”
“Oh, so, he did have family? He always told me everyone was dead,” said Charlie.
“That’s because they had a falling out and wanted nothing to do with each other. But when I called, that didn’t seem to be the case. I do think he’ll have a great turnout at his celebration of life,” said Jay.
“Good,” said Charlie. “I’m glad. I can just see him now, beyond the grave, pleased with how everything turned out. Is Rina in prison again?”
“Yes, but since there are no more zombies, or at least bad ones anyway, she has a good defense in court that she had nothing to do with something that isn’t real,” said Jay. “I might just be in court though, to mention that Rina financed Dr. Arora’s lab experiments.”
“Well, doesn’t matter now,” said Zan. “The problem was solved. Dr. Arora is gone permanently. She won’t be terrorizing the Orzola family anymore.”
“That’s a good thing,” said Jay. “I do feel kind of bad that she ruined that entire family. I guess there are some things that we’ll never really know.”
“Yeah, and now we don’t have Stewart around to ask anymore,” said Zan sadly.
