Zombie Slayer Box Set, Vol. 1 [Books 1-3]

by Katz, Gayle

She nodded.

  zzz

  “Good work, Charlie!” said Stewart at the beginning of bio class.

  “Well, it was a lot of running back and forth. So many zleaders, it was crazy.”

  “I’ve informed the Portland Police that the zombie plague is done. The city is now safe again.”

  “That’s great,” she said. “I guess that means I can retire now.” She went to take a seat at the back of class. It was now October. She’d been at Portland High School for a month now. It felt like it had been a whole year.

  Owen took a seat beside her.

  “Hey, you want to hang out on the weekend?” he asked.

  She shook her head to the negative. “No offense. I just need to stay away from anything and everything having to do with zombies.”

  “That’s OK. I understand.”

  “Did Zan say yes to the dance?”

  He nodded. “We’re only going as friends though. That’s fine with me.”

  She smiled at him, pleased. It was great to have male friends who didn’t want anything from their female friends. People should be allowed to fall in love naturally, without wanting anything in return.

  Zan entered the classroom and waved.

  “When is this dance anyway?” she asked.

  “Later in the month, for Halloween,” he replied.

  She nodded. “Well, maybe I’ll go alone,” she said.

  “That’s cool. Or we can just all go as friends.”

  She smiled. “As long as there are no zombie costumes,” she said.

  “Well, I heard that zombies are popular this year, so I’m sure there will be at least a few of them. Think you can handle it?”

  She pondered the thought. “As long as no one dresses up as a spider, I should be fine.”

  The rest of the day was uneventful.

  Charlie went home and planned her costume. She decided to go as a zombie slayer, mostly because she really didn’t have the garb for anything else. She knew Stewart would frown upon it, but this was the one day each year that she could go as who she wanted, and she could truly be herself.

  zzz

  Not much happened over the next week or so. It was a relief to have a break and focus on schoolwork for a change. Somehow she managed to pass her exams with all As and Bs, despite her mind not totally being there. All she could think about were zombies and more zombies. She wasn’t certain if the solution was to talk about it to her mentor or her friends, or to see a psychologist. But since there were so many zombie deniers, perhaps going the pro route was a bad idea.

  The school still had a lingering smell of smoke. They were talking about renovating the basement and turning it into classrooms, since even the unburned section was so smoky.

  Her phone rang. It was Owen.

  “Hi, Owen! What’s up?” she asked.

  “Hi,” he said. “Listen, I was thinking, maybe I could start a business.”

  “That’s a great idea. You should not become a zlayer,” she suggested. “It’s not as fun as you think. So, what’s your business idea?” she asked.

  “I was thinking that I could run a body disposal service.”

  “What the?”

  “You know, like we had to do. Except you can call someone.”

  There was silence.

  A roar of laughter escaped from the other end of the phone.

  She laughed. “You got me. You’re so funny!”

  “Yeah, fortunately there are no more zombies so no one would need that service.”

  “See you in school tomorrow,” she said before hanging up. “Sheesh. Some people!”

  She finished up her schoolwork, and then did her chores. It helped Gran out. She was just finishing up her chores when her phone pinged. She picked it up. It was from Stewart.

  “In trouble. Need help,” the message read.

  She sighed. “Where R U?” she typed.

  “Ivywood Mansion in the basement.”

  “B there in 10.”

  “Hey, Gran. I’m going to Ivywood Mansion. Stewart is locked up in the dungeon there for some reason or other.”

  “OK, dear. Have fun,” she said. “Don’t stay up too late.”

  She smiled. Gran was so understanding. She threw off her pajamas and put real clothes on. She grabbed her backpack and filled it up with supplies.

  Under the underwear in her drawer, she saw the daggers. Naturally she’d always have her basic dagger on hand for self-defense, but what about the titanium one? It seemed fine. It wasn’t damaged in any way.

  She didn’t really need it, did she? There were no more zombies left. Chances were that Stewart got mixed up with some thugs, as often he needed underground information.

  Her phone pinged again. “Bring the t dagger,” the message said.

  “Bring the what? Oh, the titanium dagger. Great.”

  She slung the dagger and its holster around her body, and then put her jacket on. It was time to go.

  Chapter 16

  ________________________________________

  She drove her car north to Ivywood Mansion. This was an old Victorian mansion owned by the city. It had fallen into disrepair. The family had tried to save it but didn’t have the money. Eventually, the city had purchased the mansion and the surrounding acreage from the family, which made everyone happy. This meant that the city would restore it and treat it as a historic site, preventing developers from getting their hands on it.

  She hadn’t seen the mansion before and was amazed as she drove up the hill. She couldn’t see all of it, as it was starting to get dark out, but it seemed to be in way better condition than many of the other old houses she’d seen over the years. The property it was on was vast. She knew that there were many weddings, dances, and special events held here over the years. The house was also considered a museum and open to the public at certain times.

  She parked her car and headed inside. The front door was unlocked. She walked into the vestibule where it said to clean your shoes before entering. She ignored the sign. She walked through into the main entrance.

  How odd. There should be an alarm or something, but no bells went off. Stewart said he was locked up in the basement, so she headed down the stairs. There might be an old wooden service elevator that ran on cables in the back, but she wasn’t about to waste time to look for it. She walked down two sets of stairs until she reached the basement.

  She was in a narrow hallway with doors on each side. Many of those doors had signs hanging that read, NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. A few were bathrooms for the guests.

  She walked down the hallway, trying to figure out where Stewart was being held. So far, she had not seen anyone else. When she strained her ears, she could almost hear a faint sound of classical or orchestral music, kind of like from a scratchy, old record. It was possible. There could be a caretaker on site.

  She’d better speed things up just in case a security guard was making the rounds. She didn’t want to get caught.

  At the end of the hallway, there was a door. She tried the knob, but it was locked. This would be simple. It had an older style of lock that was easily picked. She quickly opened the door. Ahead of her was a set of old wooden stairs. A damp smell of mildew spewed up into her face. Brushing the air in front of her, she descended the staircase. At the bottom was a small jail cell, enclosed with steel bars.

  “Finally!” said Stewart. “You took long enough.”

  “It’s been ten minutes,” she said.

  “Look out!” he said, but it was too late. Someone hit her over the head. She collapsed to the ground, slowly losing consciousness.

  “Don’t hurt her!” said Stewart. The small dungeon door was opened up and she was deposited inside.

  She woke up a few minutes later.

  “You OK?” Stewart asked.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. “Are there zombies here?”

  “Well, you’re not going to believe it,” said Stewart. “But I’m actually excited for the events ahead.”


  “Why are you here anyway?” she asked.

  “I got a telephone call saying they had some old books from the Victorian era that I might be interested in. I was to meet them here. But when I got here and went to the front door, four people grabbed me, then dragged me down to the basement and tossed me in here.”

  “Did you see any zombies when they took you through the house?” she asked.

  “No, but it’s not like I was able to closely look at anyone.”

  “So you never got to see any books?” she asked.

  He smiled. “Nope.”

  She wandered around the small jail cell, testing the bars. Some were rusted and stained, but they held well. The floor of the cell was dark concrete. It filled most of the small room, with three walls also made of concrete. There appeared to be no escape, except through the main barred door.

  “Forget it,” said Stewart. “I already had a look around.”

  “Well, you forget about my famous lock-picking skills,” she said.

  “Yeah, but they took your backpack away from you.” He nodded to just outside the cage.

  “Oh, I don’t need that,” she said. She touched the brooch she wore on her top. She unhooked it and took the pin off. She walked up to the door. “OK, I’m going to have to do this backwards,” she said.

  “Good luck,” said Stewart.

  “It’s all right,” she replied. “This was all part of that lock-picking class I took.” She stood as close to the door as she could. She reached around with her left hand to feel for the keyhole where the key would fit in. She found it. She held the brooch carefully in her right hand. She drew it around to the front. She slid the brooch deep down into the keyhole and pressed.

  The lock clicked. It was a simple lock. She carefully drew out her brooch and put it back on her top. She pressed the door of the cage and it popped open.

  “Nice work,” said Stewart. “Now let’s get out of here.”

  Charlie grabbed her backpack that was dumped on the floor. She slipped it on over her shoulders, just in case she’d have to fight. She found the dagger that had been in her back pocket, which they had removed, and put it back. She still had the special titanium dagger under her jacket. They hadn’t found that one. That was actually a good thing, as she didn’t want to lose that one. It would be much harder to replace, and Stewart would be mad at her if she lost it.

  The pair climbed the rickety staircase to the basement and headed back into the small hallway. There was no one around them. They walked quickly and quietly to the main stairs.

  While they were heading up the stairs to the main floor, they started to hear music. It was the same classical, mostly orchestral music, and sounded like it was being played on a gramophone, complete with skips and scratches.

  “I think the sound is coming from above,” Stewart said. “Let’s go find out.”

  “Sure,” Charlie said, patting her dagger. “There has to be a reasonable explanation as to why they lured you here.”

  “Well, most likely to lure you here too,” he said, tucking in his blue shirt and smoothing his hair.

  “Ooh, you don’t think this is related to zombies, do you?”

  He looked at her. “Why else are we even here?” he replied.

  Most likely Tonia had gotten word that Stewart had been asking questions around town about zombies. Stewart didn’t like to impede any other types of crime in the city, as he felt it wasn’t his job. While zrug was a concern, he was more concerned with crimes such as zombies eating, killing, or turning humans.

  By now, they were on one of the upper floors. This must be where the family’s bedrooms had been. The doors were large and framed with a richly coated dark brown lacquer. Each door had a tarnished brass keyhole and doorknob.

  They walked down the hallway to the end. No one was here. At the end of the hallway was a smaller flight of stairs, supposedly the one that the staff would have used. They walked up to it and ascended.

  As they walked up, the sound of the music became louder. They didn’t bother being quiet with their footsteps, as the music filled the corridor. Soon they were at the top of the staircase. Ahead of them was a door. Charlie opened it and beckoned Stewart through.

  Ahead appeared to be some sort of festival. She closed the door. She and Stewart slowly crept down the hallway. Up ahead was a party of some sort. The lights were low. On one side was a dance party, with people twirling around to the music. There wasn’t a lot of coordination here. They just did their own thing. To the left was a long table full of food and drinks. The other half of the attendees stood there, chatting.

  A putrid scent filled the room. Charlie ignored it, while Stewart tried to cover his nose with his handkerchief.

  As they crept closer, they realized something was amiss. The people dancing on the floor were actually zombies. They were not only in various stages of decay, but also in various stages of undress. The people to the side were zombies too.

  She watched as one of them drank a glass of wine, but the red liquid came out through their stomach. She looked down at the floor. It wasn’t very clean.

  “I wonder if they turned after they came here for the party?” asked Stewart.

  “Probably,” she said. “Otherwise, I think it’d be difficult to get all of them here.”

  Their voices must have attracted their attention. Every single zombie in the place turned and looked in their direction.

  “Oh crap,” said Charlie.

  “Hey, look everyone,” said one of the zombies. He must have been the lead guy, as he was the least decomposed of them all. “Dinner has arrived!” The other zombies laughed, while some simply groaned.

  “I think we should run,” said Stewart. They both took off, bolting for the exit door, but soon discovered that it was already blocked by a zombie.

  Chapter 17

  ________________________________________

  This zombie was strong. It must have been newly turned too. It grabbed each of their arms and dragged them back to the party. Charlie scrambled for her weapon while Stewart wondered why he hadn’t brought his dagger in from his car.

  The zombie dragged them back to the leader. Stewart leaned in and punched him in the face. The guy behind them let them go. She brought out her dagger and plunged it into his head. He went down.

  Then they felt themselves being pulled to the side. In seconds, they were chained to the wall.

  “Help!” Charlie cried. Stewart was chained beside her.

  They looked up and saw what appeared to be a wedding couple. She was still dressed in a long white gown with satin and lace, while the groom was dressed in a black tuxedo. The pair danced around the room. Some of the zombies were seated and didn’t appear like they would ever be standing up again.

  “I wonder how long this party has been going on?” asked Stewart.

  “Ugh, how do we get out of here?” she asked.

  “Do your lock-picking trick again,” he suggested.

  “Errr,” she said.

  For the moment, they were largely ignored. A zombie, who was likely the emcee, stood up front and was making unintelligible sounds. But somehow the other zombies understood him, as they laughed, or made what sounded like laughing sounds.

  A zombie walked in front of them, dragging her legs. She was wearing a dress, and had a large protrusion coming from her lower abdomen.

  “Say, that female zombie looks pregnant,” said Charlie.

  “Yikes,” said Stewart. “That’s not something you see every day.”

  “That’s sad,” said Charlie. “Whoever bit her should be ashamed of themselves.”

  The next few minutes were fairly uneventful. The zombies didn’t do much but moan and groan, and drag themselves around the party room.

  While they partied, she used her teeth to drag her top closer to her mouth. Then she used her tongue to unlatch the brooch. She then carefully wrapped her teeth around it and slid it out of the fabric.

  Now that she had the brooch secu
rely in her mouth, she carefully turned left to insert the pin into the cuff on her left hand. Fortunately, the cuffs and chains weren’t installed too far apart on the wall. Once she had her hand free, she did the other side. The zombies weren’t paying attention. She quickly did her feet.

  “Quickly,” said Stewart.

  “Hey, what is dinner doing?” asked one of the zombies. He dragged his feet over. “They are trying to escape!” he said accusingly.

  The other zombie faces turned to look at them.

  “I think it’s dinnertime!” he cried. With his jaw chomping up and down, he moved toward Stewart.

  Charlie quickly undid the cuff that held Stewart’s right leg, and then undid the left one. It was the best she could do.

  Just as the zombie leaned into his neck, there was a cry from the other side of the room. Everyone glanced in that direction.

  The pregnant zombie woman collapsed to the floor. She started screaming, her hands on her lower abdomen.

  “Oh no,” said Charlie. “It’s not what I think is happening, is it?”

  “It is,” said Stewart.

  The zombie that had been about to have him for dinner lost interest. He walked over to where the woman was lying on the floor.

  Charlie quickly undid one arm cuff and then the other. Stewart’s chains dropped to the floor. “Thanks! That was close!”

  They could have hightailed it out of there right then, but they were as fascinated by the turn of events as the rest of the zombies were. They watched as the zombie woman took a deep breath and then bore down. It didn’t take long. A small zombie child popped out from under her dress. It was gray and covered in blood and gore.

  “It’s a small blessing,” said Stewart. “It’s dead.”

  Charlie sighed. “Whew. That would be horrific if there were zombie babies.”

  A few zombies lost interest and came their way.

  Charlie yanked her dagger out of her back pocket and handed it to Stewart. He used it to dispatch some of the zombies nearest to them.