The Zee Brothers: Zombie Apocalypse Now?: Zombie Exterminators Vol.4

by Grivante

  “Sometimes, you have to improvise to survive,” he said, comforting himself as he rose and dusted himself off.

  On the rim of the pit, right where he’d driven off, a lone zombie stood. It's green eyes glowed as it stared at the fiery carnage in the distance. Other zombies continued to stumble past and off the edge. Then, the figure seemed to laugh, its head snapped back, and its mouth opened in a cackle. Finally, the light in its eyes faded and it too staggered forward over the edge.

  A few of the dead along the outer edges of the horde had fallen far enough from the others that they weren’t being pushed down the hillside. Instead, they turned and headed toward Judas. He looked at the three grenades tied to his combat vest and pulled free the last remaining frag grenade. He yanked the pin, tossed it at their feet and ran up the path, laughing to himself as the explosion blasted them to pieces.

  “I sure hope Nitsau has security cameras and caught that on tape! That was straight outta Hollywood!”

  Part XXI - It Is Decidedly So

  Judas wiped sweat from his brow, taking a moment to let his eyes adjust as he entered the well-lit garage. He still clutched the 8-ball in his left hand. It only took a second to guess which way Jonah and JJ went. He saw the open side door to the left, but before he followed them, he stopped at the workbench nearest the door and sat the 8-ball on it, face down.

  “I sure hope they’re alive,” he said, then on instinct picked up the 8-ball and studied the screen. ‘It is decidedly so’ it read. That’s a blessing, he thought, smiling. He opened a drawer on the bench and found a notepad, hunted around a moment, and grabbed a pen.

  ‘Jonah and JJ…’ he wrote. When he finished, he set the 8-ball atop it and headed out to find them.

  The click of heels sounded, and Jonah looked away from JJ who was to his right, bound to a chair and gagged, just like him. He searched the darkness until he saw the doctor appear. His blood curdled and his stomach clenched as he let out a stream of muffled obscenities only JJ could hear.

  JJ followed his gaze, and for the first time, got a clear view of the woman behind their problems.

  Dr. Natasha Nitsau strode into the light. From the ground up, she looked good. Long legs in high heels, a black business skirt just below her knees, all wrapped in a white leather lab coat. It was the lab coat that showed the first signs of distress. Black smudges, brown stains, and brighter, redder spots covered it. Beneath it, she wore a low-cut blouse which revealed her cleavage, but starting there and working up the right side of her neck and face were mottled scars only partially masked by her dark hair. Her right eye was black and surrounded by dead, sunken flesh.

  She stopped a few feet away and stared down at Jonah. “Well, hello there, Mr. Zee.” Her lips spread into a wide grin. “I imagine you didn’t think you’d be seeing me again, did you?”

  He raised his eyebrows and mumbled something into the rag in his mouth.

  “Oh, don’t worry,” she laughed. “I don’t care what you might have to say. I’ve only kept you alive for one reason.” She turned her head and looked behind her, nodding to someone.

  From where Jonah and JJ sat, their backs were to a row of windows that ran along the hallway. In front of them was a metal table and a chair. The bulk of the place lay shrouded in darkness, but he heard and faintly saw the shapes of the deadly group of armored monsters the doctor had created. Their eyes glowed a faint green in the blackness.

  A man appeared from behind Dr. Nitsau. In his hand, he carried a large wire cage and inside it lay Xanadu.

  “Mmmmmaaaah!” JJ cried out when she saw him. Eyes widening and watering. She looked over at Jonah as she yanked on and strained against her bonds.

  “You see, long before you and your treacherous brother ever came into my life, I had a dog. Well, that makes it sound like a pet, it was never that. I know you read my archives when you were downtown, so you understand this dog is much more than a simple animal. Early in my days of researching myths of the undead, I discovered references to this man who once defeated a group of zombies. Legends said the witch doctor who created them, could also control them.” She scoffed at that.

  The guard who had set Xanadu on the table returned, this time with a black leather satchel. It looked like the type of bag doctors would use back when they made house calls.

  “I never found out if that was true, but thanks to you, I’ve learned he can do many interesting things.” The man placed a dark bag next to the kennel. “And today, finally, I will uncover exactly what else he is capable of. Isn’t that right, Miss Hembrook?”

  JJ’s eyes darted away from Xanadu to find Dr. Nitsau staring at her.

  “He may not have been willing to reveal himself to me, but he has to you, hasn’t he?”

  JJ spat a string of curses into her gag to which Dr. Nitsau laughed.

  “Hahahahaha. Oh, little one, you have no idea how much struggling and fighting just turns me on.” She walked over and stood in front of JJ, bent at the waist, and breathed into her left ear with a growl. “You’re helpless, and I’m going to enjoy eating that face off of you. Then, I'll kill these damn brothers, once and for all.”

  At that same instance, the building trembled, the sound of a distant explosion echoing.

  Dr. Nitsau turned, glared at one of her men, then walked and sat beside the table. She blinked her eyes closed and when they reopened, they were glowing bright-green. Her head twisted around searching, snapping and growling, her jaw gnashing at the air. She swayed, looking as if she might fall from the chair before going rigid and staring into the distance.

  While Dr. Nitsau zoned out, the beasts along the wall shifted and moved toward them, causing her guards to glance at each other with worry. Jonah spotted a box underneath the table next to the mad doctor, a wooden crate with the butt of Brutus sticking out. If only he could break free and get to it...

  The dead in the room stopped moving, their eyes taking on the slight green haze again and Dr. Nitsau’s eyes faded back to normal. “Well, I guess that leaves me only one brother to kill.” She gave Jonah a one-sided smirk. “It appears your brother drove that little toy truck of yours into the pit. He took several of my children with him, but that’s of no concern. Soon there will be billions.” She laughed again and watched as Jonah and JJ looked at each other, eyes wide and tears streaming.

  “Oh, you two are so precious. To think you would charge in, guns-a-blazing and stop me from bringing about my life's work. I’ve been planning this for over two decades. When Marcus originally came up with the plan for the UCA and decided to launch this secret game between us CEO's on top of it, I knew I'd be the one to win. This won't be another small outbreak. Entire cities will fall in the first few hours, the dead will outnumber the living, and I will control them. I’m going to win this little competition that has quietly shaped the world behind the scenes as I and the others have worked to outdo one another. They thought I was out of the picture after you tried to kill me and destroyed my laboratory, but they were fools, just like you.”

  “After the incident, well,” she paused, laughing again and considered Jonah. “You know what, I’ll tell you the story so that before you die and join your brother, you’ll know the truth. It was all because of you.”

  Jonah’s face flushed. He felt sick to his stomach. He had no idea what she was talking about, but as he struggled against his restraints, he also knew he couldn't get free.

  “That day, when you trapped me with them, they...” She stood again and slipped the worn lab coat off, setting it on the chair and turned her right arm to them. Near the shoulder blade was a perfect round bite mark. Purplish-black spots surrounded it and led to the mottled flesh on her cheeks.

  “Another tore my ear off,” she lifted the hair from the right side of her face, showing the shriveled, dried remains. “That might make you happy,” she said, smiling and looking between them. “But I got away. I made it to one of the rear offices and closed the door, locked it, barricaded it, and here’s where it gets i
nteresting. I felt the infection spreading. It burned across my skin. The zombie virus was in my blood and boiled as it worked its way through my body and inside my head, I could feel the darkness taking over.”

  She stopped, running her left hand up and over her disfigured cheek. “Then I did the only thing I could do, a last-ditch effort. I injected myself with the vaccine, the same one you had used, but something was different for me. With you, with your fingers, I don’t know that the virus spread as rapidly or at all before your brother shot them off. When I injected the serum, I blacked out. When I awoke, I heard voices and smelled smoke, but the voices weren’t those of rescuers, they were the chaotic minds of the deceased. Hunger, fear, anger. They were talking to me, my children, and so I told them to stop, and they did.”

  Jonah stared at her, filling with dread. He closed his eyes and let his head sag, not wanting to hear any more.

  “That’s right…” Her grin widened as she watched him. “I could control them. They no longer wanted to eat me, they were mine to command. The one thing I had struggled to accomplish in my many years of research, and you gave it to me in your pathetic attempt to stop me. Hahahaha!” She laughed, throwing her head back and letting it out.

  After a moment, she regained her composure. “But, it wasn’t sunshine and roses from there, I haven’t been quite the same since. For a while, it drove me mad. I had to learn to separate those sides from each other, to quiet the voices. My company fell into shambles, that’s how I lost track of him.” She nodded at Xanadu in his cage, who sat staring straight at JJ.

  “But earlier this year, I regained full control of myself, restructured the corporation to only produce the toxic gas I needed to complete my plans and began worldwide distribution. The final tanks shipped out this week and will be in place tomorrow. By the weekend, the world shall be on its knees.” Her smile was smug and victorious. “While we wait, we’ll pass the time here, playing a little game.” She grabbed the side of the cage and shook it, knocking Xanadu back and forth.

  JJ cried out, her voice muffled as she thrashed in the chair.

  Dr. Nitsau laughed and laughed, then walked over to where JJ sat, blubbering, make-up streaming in black rivulets down her cheeks.

  “Oh, you poor thing. Did you care for little Judas?”

  JJ sniffed back the running snot and glared back at her, pushing the gag in her mouth with her tongue, trying to work it free.

  To this, the doctor grinned. “Ahh, sweet defiance.” She returned to Xanadu. “When we're done, you’ll be broken. All of you.” She smiled at the dog. “Now mutt, it’s time to begin. Show yourself or…” she twisted her neck to look back at JJ. “I eat her.”

  Xanadu trembled, head bowed, but glaring up at her.

  Nitsau put her face beside the kennel, snapping her jaw and grinning. She gripped it by both sides and shook it again, this time lifting it off the table and slamming him against the bars.

  Xanadu yelped and barked.

  Both of them fought at their restraints, rocking in their chairs and trying to get loose, but unable to do so. JJ continued working the gag, pushing it out and onto her chin.

  Dr. Nitsau set the cage down and reached into the satchel, pulling out a series of metal instruments, each more frightening than the last. First, a pair of different sized scalpels, then a pair of what appeared to be pliers, but had large concaved blades on them and finally, a long, very barbaric looking bone saw. She held up one scalpel. “Well, mutt? Do you have anything more to show me or do I get to play eenie-meanie-miny-moe and decide which of your two humans to carve up first?”

  Xanadu looked to the side, sticking his nose in the corner.

  By now, JJ had worked the gag far enough out of her mouth and on to her chin to speak. “Get the fuck away from my dog, you bitch.”

  Dr. Nitsau’s head snapped around and she glared at JJ, setting the scalpel on the table. “What did you call me?”

  “I called you a—”

  Quicker than any of them could imagine, Dr. Nitsau shot up, grabbed JJ by the throat and squeezed, forcing her face to look up into her eyes.

  “Say it again,” she growled.

  “You fuc—”

  Dr. Nitsau’s right hand flew up and came back down, slapping JJ hard across the face, then she lunged in mouth opening, teeth jutting forward, ready for a bite.

  Judas followed the same route his brother and JJ took, meeting no resistance and finding no signs of zombies until he arrived at the long hallway outside the cafeteria. Here, he noticed something had happened. Spent casings on the floor, blood and bits of flesh everywhere. Plus, it stank to holy hell. At the end of the hall, he discovered the blasted door handle and entered the room.

  Only a few sparse furnishings dotted the room along with more spent casings and a trail of ooze that lead to, and under, a closed door. Whatever the dead were after must have gone that way. But how, he wondered, did the door get shut?

  He listened at it, hearing nothing, bent low with his shotgun at the ready, turned the handle and opened it. The hall beyond was dimly lit and ran along the outskirts of another large room lined with windows. Judas crept along it and peered inside. While it wasn’t well lit either, he saw plenty.

  His brother and JJ tied to chairs. Dr. Nitsau had her hand around JJ’s neck, forcing her to look at her. She was yelling at JJ and this made Judas go cold, he wanted to run in shooting, but took a deep breath and studied the area. He spotted Xanadu in the cage, barking at Nitsau with two guards behind him and along the walls of the room were… oh my god. He took in the sight of the monstrous creations, all metal armor and sharp spikes. Charging straight in there would be a death trap.

  Judas put his knuckles against the wall and prepared to tap out Morse code, something he and Jonah used to do when they were young and grounded to their separate rooms, to let him know he was there. However, when Dr. Nitsau in a fit of rage, raised her other hand and slapped JJ, then lunged down with her jaw spreading, teeth glistening, he ran to the door. It whooshed open and he charged in, yanking an incendiary grenade from his chest, pulling the pin and holding it high above his head.

  “Stop!”

  Part XXII - Final Showdown

  He raised the grenade high so that everyone could see it.

  Dr. Nitsau’s face twisted in rage. The zombies that lined the walls of the room snapped to attention, their metal clanging against each other, making a cacophony of noise.

  “I've pulled the pin,” Judas said, tossing it far away and moving his hand back and forth in the air. “You do one thing I don’t like, Natasha, and we all die.”

  “Judas!” JJ cried, the relief in her voice evident. Next to her, Jonah stared at his brother with wide eyes.

  The dead monsters froze in their tracks.

  “Well, well, well.” Dr. Nitsau stood straight. “If it isn’t my favorite Zee Brother. The lovable goof, the idiot, the one who was so easy to twist around my finger and bend to my will.”

  Judas’s cheeks flushed and he bit his cheek before looking away.

  Nitsau let out a soft throaty chuckle. “To be honest, I’m glad you’re still alive, I think I might keep you alive after the rest are gone. I’d enjoy you as my pet again.” She smirked at him and ran a tongue across her lips.

  “Not anymore.” He waved the explosive. “You’re going to let us go free.”

  To that, Dr. Nitsau laughed again, this time her head snapping back. “Oh my, you’ve grown a pair, have you?”

  “He’s more of a man than you could ever handle,” JJ spat.

  Dr. Nitsau’s eyes narrowed and bore into JJ. “Oh? Do you know that from personal experience?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but instead knelt and sniffed the air around JJ.

  “Get away from her,” Judas shouted, moving closer.

  Nitsau stepped backward, and clicked her fingers together, motioning her two guards forward. “Another thing happened after my transformation, my senses are enhanced. Now I understand the smell about you.” She
looked at JJ with a grin, then turned to one of her escorts. “Take the dog to the roof, we’ll be leaving soon.”

  Judas thrust the grenade above him. “Tell your men to get back or I blow us to hell.”

  She shook her head at him in response. “Oh, Judas. While I believe you might be willing to kill us all over some things, I don’t think you’re prepared to kill your brother or this tramp just because I’m taking the dog out of play.”

  Her guard had picked up the kennel and the three of them were inching backward. The other man had his gun out, aiming at Judas.

  “You may live or die here today, but the mutt is mine.” She retreated one click of the heels at a time.

  “No,” Judas snapped and took a step forward.

  “Don’t be a fool, Judas,” Dr. Nitsau growled, “I’m offering you a chance to live. You and them.”

  Judas opened the palm of his hand, releasing the trigger on the grenade, then closed it again. “Tell them to put their guns down. If I let you get too far away, they’ll just shoot us.”

  In response, she laughed, then nodded. “You’ve gotten smarter, too, I see. Fair enough.” She motioned at her men. “Leave your weapons, you won’t need them.”

  They did as commanded, both setting a handgun and an assault rifle on the table, before resuming their retreat. The man carrying Xanadu disappeared into the darkness and the other stepped in front of the doctor as a shield.

  Judas switched the grenade to his left hand and pulled out a knife, rushing to his brother and JJ.

  “You won’t get away with this,” JJ spat as Dr. Nitsau and her men faded into the dark.

  Laughter came in response. “Hahahaha. Oh my, really? Quoting Scooby Doo now, are we? Can’t you see? I already have.”