Deadies: Book 1, 2 & 3

by Krystell Lake

  Really the race card? Isn’t that a kick in the balls? “Okay O.J. pump the brakes on your white Bronco.” I was mildly pissed but not enough to raise my voice. “Malik I don’t give a shit where you stick your cock. I personally wouldn’t stick mine in a teenager but you’re not me. I’m trying to keep the peace around here. What the hell do you think her daddy’s going to do when he finds out?”

  “How ‘bout you let me worry ‘bout that broh.” Malik remained calm. Weed can do that for you, make you cooler and calmer. I want to be cool and calm.

  “You don’t seem worried.”

  “I’m not…” He blew smoke through the gate and directly into my face. “I wasn’t the first man in the kitty and I’m sure I won’t be the last.”

  Was that his way of telling me Kait wasn’t a virgin? “Well you’ve been warned.”

  “Okay daddy do the right thing.”

  I would normally be amused by Malik but I didn’t have it in me after today’s events. The weed smoke seeped into my brain, maybe somewhere by my medulla oblongata, if not there than some other part of the brain. High school Biology is a blur. I couldn’t hold my concentration on the topic of Kait. “You ever heard of puff puff pass?” Damn, there, I said it, too late now. Hope he doesn’t pass it to me.

  “Yeah muthafucka I heard of it but I thought you was on that rehab thing.”

  “Fuck it. I got a lot of shit on my mind.” More shit than he would ever know.

  Malik handed me the weed through one of the small holes in the gate. “You fuckin’ a supermodel. You ‘aint got no problems.” He said it and I wanted to believe it but I do have problems.

  I took a long hard drag off the blunt and savored the feeling as it tickled my throat. I wanted to laugh out loud. But I was too cool for that goofy shit. I held in the smoke and closed my eyes before I exhaled into the chilled mall air. This was not the cheap weed. This was high quality cannabis. I smiled at Malik. “I got 99 problems but a bitch ‘aint one.” I hit the blunt again and the second time was better than the first.

  “Is that right?” Malik smirked as I handed the marijuana back to him through the hole in the gate.

  “You have no idea.” I slicked my stray hairs back with my hands.

  “Well in that case I got something for you.” Malik reached in his pocket and pulled out a Ziploc bag half filled with marijuana. He handed the bag to me underneath the gate.

  I took the bag and tried to contain my excitement. “So is this a bribe?” I was wondering if there were any strings attached to this gift bag.

  “Naw broh, I know you’re not going to tell the Doc. I’m not the first guy she blew in this camp.”

  “What does that mean?” Why was I going down this pointless road? Maybe it was the weed.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Bullshit.” I had to call him on his lie. “Naveen is out of the question.” Who? “Ray?” I asked although I felt like I was being bull-shitted times ten.

  “Not Ray?” I was running out of people. “Joe?” Malik tilted his head towards me, the nod of acknowledgment.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Oh your buddy didn’t tell you. She popped him off a few times before she made her way to me.”

  “Bullshit.” Was I going to believe this crazy allegation? Kait and Joe, no way.

  “There are zombies around every corner. We got to find some way to take the edge off. Why keep jagging off when there are women here. Don’t trip ‘cause your BFF didn’t tell you. We all got secrets.”

  “What’s yours?” I asked him. I knew he wouldn’t tell me.

  “Ha, now that’s a secret.” Malik blew a dense cloud of smoke through the gate.

  “Be careful.” I warned.

  “I can handle myself.” He added with his cocky cannabis confidence.

  “So what am I supposed to roll this with?” I held up my prize bag of grade A marijuana.

  “We in a mall, go shopping… here.” Malik handed the joint through the holes in the gate. “Take it. I need to get some shut eye.”

  I happily took the joint and walked away smoking it. I looked over at Panera Bread and the lights were off. I stood outside the shoe store smoking until I was done. Wonder why this store is called Aldo? I ducked under the gate and made my way back to the office. Jesse was still asleep tied in her chair. She looks peaceful, beautiful even. Will she wake up a freak?

  CHAPTER 16

  I didn’t know I was asleep until a heard someone shaking the gates of the shoe store. I rattled in my chair, came to my senses and realized where I was.

  “Hey Nick!” Joe yelled from the outside of the store’s gate and I jumped up to standing. I looked over at Jesse. She was asleep. My cock was saluting. I grabbed it and patted it down like it was a barking dog. I grabbed my Glock and I stumbled my way out the office to the gate where Joe was wide eyed and waiting for me.

  “Hey.” I wiped my dry and probably blood-shot eyes.

  “Hey your ass, princess. It’s noon. What you doing still sleeping?”

  “I was up late last night.” And all throughout the night.

  “Stop banging your supermodel all night long and get some Zzz’s stud.” Joe taunted. “I need you on a recon mission with me. So bring your whiskey tango ass out here with a loaded weapon or two.”

  “Give me a minute to wash my face.”

  “Hurry.” Joe said as he walked away from the gate and left me standing there alone.

  I walked to the small restroom at the rear of the storage area in the back of the store. I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I did a quick wash of my armpits and wet up the front of my gray sleeveless t-shirt in the process.

  I grabbed my Glock 19 off the restroom sink and picked my Desert Eagle .44 Magnum off some shoe boxes stacked in the corridor. Next to my Magnum was the Colt .45 1911 I gave Jesse. I glared at it and it strike me that this gun would always remind me of her.

  It was time to see what all the fuss was about. I hoped that no one would come into the shoe store while I was gone and see Jesse tied to a chair. If that happened I would have a lot of explaining to do.

  I peeked in the office before I left and Jesse was still asleep.

  I raised the Aldo store gate and closed it all the way down when I left out to meet Joe. He was waiting for me on a bench a few feet away from the shoe store. I walked up to him as he stood.

  “What’s up?”

  “Follow me. There is no need for alarm at this time. That’s why I didn’t tell everyone else about this.” We walked away from the camp as Joe talked. “I was doing a little exploring early this morning about six. We are not in this mall alone.”

  I stopped walking to fully digest the words. “What?” Like I need any more drama.

  “Not what, more like who?” Joe corrected. “I don’t know who or how many but I do know that it’s not freaks.”

  I was tempted to ask Joe how he knew but I refrained. It was a waste of time. Joe was a lot of things, some good, some bad but he had good judgment when it came to this zombie apocalypse survival stuff.

  “Come on dude.” He ordered. I resumed my walk through the mall with Joe. We walked for a while and I wondered where he was leading me. Joe pointed up to a store sign. It was Victoria’s Secret. “They got any posters of your girlfriend in there?” He smirked.

  “Funny.” I punched Joe in the shoulder and I thought about breaking into the lingerie store later to look for a catalog or picture of Jesse so I would have something to remind me of her after she turns into freak.

  We arrived at the other end of the mall to the Sears department store. The glass walled gate that divided it from the mall was slightly ajar. Joe shook his head and pulled out his 7.65 Walther PPK. I had only seen Joe cleaning the Walther. The Walther PPK was a German gun made famous by the Ian Fleming character James Bond. Joe said it was also believed to be the gun carried by Adolf Hitler. It was without a doubt Joe’s pet gun and he only pulled it out for special occasions. Apparently thi
s was one. That was my cue to pull out my heavy hitter, my Glock.

  We crept into the glass doors opening and we were now inside Sears department store on the lower level. I followed Joe as he crept in and stayed low to the floor. Joe went down on one knee and motioned for me to do the same. He pointed and that’s when I saw two legs a good hundred feet away from us by the women’s fitting room. Through the clothing racks all I could make out were baggy blue jeans and black combat boots.

  I already knew the plan. We were going to split up and he would approach the subject from the rear while I approached from the front. Joe took a look at me and then he was off on his mission to sneak up on the subject from behind. Sears department store was so far away I believed if we had to use our guns our camp wouldn’t probably here the shots. I stayed low and gained ground by hiding behind the racks of clothing. I checked for the subjects legs and they were in the same spot near the fitting room. What the hell is he doing in the ladies clothing section? I hope he isn’t trying on women’s clothes. I’ve had enough shocking things revealed to me.

  Joe was almost behind the subject. We were going to take this guy down without much of a fight. I was quite sure of it. We had an advantage, the element of surprise.

  After a few seconds I was close enough to the mystery guy. Joe signaled from down low that he was going to make his move. At the silent count of three, Joe went charging for the guy just as I leapt out from behind a rack of clothing.

  Joe jumped on the guys back and took him down without extreme brute force. Joe did manage to knock over a rack of denim jeans.

  Joe had the guy in a bear hug and for some reason the guy tried to struggle. I didn’t see any weapons on the guy but that didn’t stop me from scanning every single inch of him with both my eyes. Joe tossed the guy into a clothing rack knocking the rack over to the carpet. Joe jumped back on top of the guy. I kept my Glock on the guy as an extra precaution but Joe could probably knock the little guy out with one punch.

  “Stop fighting.” Joe yelled while he tousled with the guy in a baseball cap, t-shirt, jeans and combat boots.

  I held my Glock directly at the scuffling duo. Then the blue Chicago Bears baseball cap fell of the head of Joe’s hostile. Damn, it’s a girl. Long black hair spilled out the baseball cap and cascaded down her petite shoulders.

  The wrestling had stopped abruptly. I believe she just got tired. She was no match for Marine Joe. She was a feather weight. She weighed in at about one hundred pounds and five foot four, maybe. Joe was on his feet fast, leaving Rapunzel frazzled on the carpet in between overturned metal clothing racks.

  “Don’t move.” I shouted and she froze when she noticed I had moved my gun closer to her. “What are you doing in here?” I had questions and I needed answers.

  She was scared shitless. Her eyes shifted to Joe and then back to me. I took a good look at the mini combative. She had tanned olive skin and small eyes like a cat. She looked Asian but maybe she was just black.

  “Answer him?” Joe barked as he reached down and yanked the girl to standing. His voice was a bit more forceful then mine. When she didn’t speak Joe shook her hard and she stumbled in his brutish grip.

  “I’m hiding from the fucking zombies.” She cried out in a panic. Joe pushed her away.

  “No shit.” Joe peered at her. I was glad I wasn’t at the other end of his military stare down. “Who are you in here with?”

  She looked at me first and then back at Joe. “I’m by myself.”

  “If you’re lying I will kill you.” Joe removed his gun from his underarm holster and pointed it directly at the panic stricken girl. There was no need for that. He was posturing. Apparently I was bad cop and he was badder cop.

  “I’m not lying.” She whimpered as her eyes darted from Joe and me too many times for me to count.

  “Do you have any weapons on you?” I asked to make sure. She had on an oversized t-shirt and baggy jeans. There were no weapons I could see but I had to make sure.

  “I don’t have any weapons.”

  “How did you get into the mall?” I asked. She didn’t look like she could break into a piggy bank.

  “I had a key.”

  “You had a key?” Joe chuckled in disbelief.

  “I got it from a security guard that worked here.”

  “Where is he?” I asked as I lowered my weapon. She didn’t seem like much of a threat.

  “He’s infected I guess. I don’t know where he is. Everyone is infected.”

  “You need to come with us. We got a camp set up at the other end of the mall.”

  “Why should I? I’m perfectly safe right here.”

  Joe chuckled. “You call this safe?”

  “I don’t know you. Are you going to force me to go with you?” She responded with guts or it could have been survival apprehension. It’s hard to tell under these intense circumstances.

  Joe took a step in the girl’s path. “We’re not here to rape and pillage. You don’t have to go anywhere with us but we have other people with us and you will probably stay alive longer with us then here all by yourself.”

  “I’ve been okay all by myself until you two showed up.” There was a bit of acerbity oozing from her lips.

  “Okay, suit yourself.” Joe shrugged her off without an actual shrug. “What’s your name?”

  “Why you need to know that?” She defensively asked with a sassy undertone.

  “So, I’ll know what to call you when our paths cross again.”

  “Why do our paths have to cross? I can just stay here in Sears and you can stay wherever you are.”

  Damn this pint size chick sure did ask a lot of questions. I could have sworn I saw her roll her eyes. She’s definitely a black girl.

  Joe took an aggressive step in her direction. “Look here, me and my guy have a camp full of people that we have to kept safe. Just because we’re not forcing you to come with us doesn’t mean I’m not going to keep my eye on you.” Half pint spurt out another eye roll that Joe ignored. “I’m Joe and that’s Nick and you are?”

  “Tailyn.” She quickly blurted.

  “Thailand.” Joe repeated what I thought she said.

  “Tai-lyn.” She slowly pronounced like Joe was a dimwit. Maybe she is Asian.

  “Okay well we’re leaving. I advise you to stay on your side of the mall. I don’t want you to accidentally get shot. We’re armed to the teeth. I hope you were being honest when you said you were alone. If I run into anyone else in this mall I will shoot to kill.”

  “If you run into anyone else in this mall they have to be zombies.”

  Joe smirked at the smart aleck remake. “You got a working clock around here?” Joe asked Tailyn a question for reasons I couldn’t seem to figure out.

  “Yeah,” Tailyn answered just as confused as I was.

  “We’ll be back tomorrow at six, right outside the entrance here on the lower level. You be here. Maybe you’ll change your mind Thai-land.” Joe mispronounced her name on purpose. Do not come and look for us. Other people in our camp have guns. They could shoot you. We come to you. You don’t come looking for us.” Joe reached down and grabbed Tailyn’s Chicago Bears baseball cap of the carpet and handed it to her. Joe raised his chin to me. “Nick you ready?”

  “Yeah.” I guess we were just going to leave the girl alone. I wasn’t too sure I was cool with that but I wasn’t about to drag her kicking and screaming either.

  “Tomorrow, six.” Joe ordered.

  That was that and I could have sworn I saw Joe wink at the girl. I followed him to the mall entrance and we left the girl standing there alone. We got half way to our camp near Macy’s before I had the nerve to address the strange encounter.

  “Do you really think she’s alone?”

  “Yeah, I think so. But I’m always prepared if she’s not.”

  “Are we going to share this with the others?”

  “No way, I’ll tell Naveen. He knows we went on this recon mission. I’m sure you’re going to
tell Vicki.”

  Joe was still calling my Jesse, Vicki. I hate hiding her dire condition from him but I don’t know how he would react. I need time to get used to the idea of her being dead. Will she be a freak when I return to the shoe store? I dreaded going back there and that’s where I was headed.

  I could use a change of subject. “What’s going on with the blonde chick?”

  “It looks like she’s getting better. She’s not talking yet but the Doc checks on her regular. He treated her for that severe sunburn and dehydration. She’s in and out of consciousness. Naveen looks after her. He prays for her too. I’m not sure that will make the difference but if he wants to blast her with some Islam chants I’m like whatever.”

  “That’s good.” I was stalling because we were getting closer to Macy’s.

  “Hey you need a holster for your weapon? I got another one somewhere in my gear. I packed a lot of shit.”

  “Yeah I could use that.” The steel against my bare skin wasn’t the best feeling.

  “I don’t want you to accidentally blow your balls off.” Joe joked.

  “No we wouldn’t want that.” Jesse tied to the chair flashed in my mind. “Do you have handcuffs?” An odd question I know. I hoped he wouldn’t ask me why I needed them.

  “Yeah I got a pair. I lifted them off an infected cop. You trying to get rough with Vicki?”

  I nodded. “I think she might like it.” I was so worn-out from lying or more like concealing the truth.

  “I’m sure she will. Come on over and I’ll hook you up. You got to try some of this bread that Naveen made. It’s some kind of Muslim bread called nang. It’s pretty good. He figured out how to work all the equipment in Panera bread.

  “Okay, cool.” I followed Joe across the court-way and into Panera bread. Naveen was behind the cashier’s counter.

  “Nick.” Naveen waved as he called my name with his light almost womanly voice. He had absolutely no bass in his voice. I waved back and Naveen disappeared into the kitchen of the store. He was wearing an apron, another odd sight in a world full of odd sights.