Floyd & Mikki (Book 2): Zombie Slayers (Dawn of the Living)

by Tatner, Joseph

  “Oh, no you don’t! You are dangerous enough with normal grenades. I’m not turning you lose with a nuke. I don’t care how small it is!”

  “Oh, come on, Floyd! You remember how we got stuck on that roof? If the NCH guys hadn’t rescued us, we’d a been toast. This coulda saved our lives and got us outta there!”

  “If you woulda fired that thing at the zombie crowd outside the hospital, the whole damn building woulda collapsed and you woulda toasted us! Besides, you said that thing won’t even fire in close quarters.”

  “No, but I coulda aimed a block away and the blast woulda wiped them out right below us. Oh, I’m takin’ these babies!”

  “Mikki, please! You know I love you, but you scare the hell out of me sometimes! I don’t trust anything that powerful in your hands!”

  “Oh, relax, Floyd! I’m a trained professional.”

  Floyd was flummoxed. He stammered a bit and finally blurted out, “Trained by who?”

  “By you, dumbass! And that nice navy guy.”

  “Nobody trained you to use a freaking nuclear grenade!”

  “Oh, relax! It’s just like a camera. Point and click.”

  “Yeah, point and click and we all get blown to shit! Please Mikki, I’m begging you! Leave those here. We don’t need them.”

  Mikki paused, thinking about what Floyd had said. She did love him, and she could see he was genuinely scared. She knew he was just as much scared for her safety as he was for his own. She could hardly resist Floyd’s puppy dog eyes pleading with her, begging her to leave the nukes behind. But she did.

  “Nope! I’m keepin’ ‘em. I love you, Floyd!” She crammed three of them into the remaining space of her backpack, the ends sticking up into the air.

  Floyd knew he had lost. He picked up the four regular missile launchers, praying to God as he headed back to the vehicle that Mikki wouldn’t ever have a chance to use the nukes. Praying that if she did, she didn’t blow herself up—or him. He had never prayed so hard for anything in all his life.

  Chapter Forty-One

  When they got back to the Freedom Riders, Floyd and Mikki realized why the group had stayed alive so long. They knew how to adapt. Every Super Z corpse had been stripped bare and people were sorting the clothes according to type and size. Some of the armor were too damaged or deteriorated to be useful, but there were still more than enough for the number of people in the group. Several of the men had already put on the helmets and were trying to figure them out. They were all pretty excited.

  Everyone dropped what they were doing, however, when they saw the two Zombie Hunters approaching in the Doom Buggy. The Freedom Riders gathered together to meet them as a group.

  “What’d you find out?” Jack asked.

  “Well, we didn’t visit the town, but we cleaned out the last Super Zs in the military camp,” Floyd explained. “Everything is on mobile trailers, and there are weapons and some good supplies in there. You could move in or pull a few of the smaller trailers with you.”

  “Great! Thanks again, both of you.”

  “Oh, there’s one more thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Hamburgers.”

  “What?”

  “Hamburgers! Flash frozen, ready to cook, buns and everything.” Floyd had a huge grin on his face.

  “They’re really good!” Mikki added.

  All the Freedom Riders looked at them with comical looks on their faces. None of them could figure out if this was a joke. They kept waiting for the punch line. But there wasn’t one.

  “Hamburgers?” Jack asked incredulously.

  “Hamburgers.” Floyd confirmed. “There’s a big kitchen trailer. All kinds of food to cook. We figure we can make you all breakfast in the morning. Anything you like. We’ll show you what’s in all the trailers. No medical supplies, unfortunately, but a lot of other stuff you can use.”

  “So the hamburgers are real?” Mya asked. Mikki bristled just at the sound of her voice.

  “Yup,” Floyd answered.

  “Floyd, I could just kiss you!”

  And she did.

  Mya grabbed Floyd’s face in her hands and planted a big wet one right on his lips. He was stunned. He didn’t know how to react. He didn’t kiss her back, but he didn’t break away either. He just froze.

  The others all had various reactions. Crazy Joe yelled at Mya and yanked her away. A couple of the women giggled (secretly, they had wanted to do the same thing ever since they first laid eyes on Floyd). A couple of the men hooted. The rest, including Jack, voice disapproval, knowing this couldn’t possibly turn out well. But no one could have predicted the coming events that would shatter their little world completely.

  “Get away from my man, you bitch!” Mikki screamed.

  “Your man?” Mya shot back. “You’re just a little girl! Floyd, here, needs a woman.” Breaking away from Crazy Joe, Mya tried sidling up to Floyd again. He backed away rapidly, throwing his hands up in front of him.

  “Whoa! Let’s all calm down now, ladies!” he pleaded.

  Mikki had had enough. “Looky here, Missy! I don’t look for trouble, but I don’t take no shit from no one!”

  Mya answered, “Yeah? Well I am trouble and I give shit to everyone!”

  “Amazing that you’re still alive then, with that mouth.”

  “Maybe you’d like to shut it—if you think you’re tough enough, bitch!”

  “Oh, you did not just call me a bitch, you bitch!”

  “You’re damn right I just called you a bitch, you bitch!”

  “You’re the bitch, bitch!”

  “Well…double bitch on you, bitch!”

  Mikki almost went apoplectic. She opened her mouth a couple of times, but no words came out. She eventually spat out, “That doesn’t even make any damn sense!”

  This was going downhill fast, so Floyd intervened, saying, “Mikki! That’s enough! Let’s just go!”

  Crazy Joe shouted from the sidelines, “Dammit, Mya! Knock it off!” only to be ignored, as well.

  “Stay away from my man, bitch!” Mikki repeated, as she turned to go with Floyd.

  “Oh, please. Maybe he was your man when he thought you were the only girl left on the planet. Why would he want a little girl like you when he can have a real woman like me?”

  “A real bitch, you mean. Back off!”

  “You back off, Little Bitch!” She shoved Mikki hard, knocking her backwards a couple of feet. “This kitty got claws!” Mya added.

  Mikki broke out laughing. An evil, almost maniacal laugh.

  “Those ain’t claws, bitch!” She threw her helmet down on the ground, pulled off her gloves, and threw them down as well. She held up her hands to show the fine points on her blood red nails. “These are claws!”

  The other women in the caravan weren’t unattractive, but Mya clearly had no competition in the looks department. Nor did any of the women seem to have the guts to stand up to her. They stayed on the outskirts of the crowd, cringing at the growing battle for dominance between Mya and Mikki. It was a battle Mikki didn’t want, but one that she was not about to back away from, either. The two women were a lot more alike than either was willing to admit.

  “Mikki, please!” Floyd shouted. “Stand down! This ain’t worth it!”

  “That’s right! Listen to your boyfriend, Little Bitch, before you get your ass handed to you!”

  That was all Mikki could take. She exploded into an uncontrollable rage. She dove at Mya, knocking her to the ground and landing on top of her.

  “Alright! Cat fight!” one of the men shouted with a laugh.

  Jack and Crazy Joe were yelling at Mya to stop. Floyd and Raul were begging Mikki to stop. Doc and Grover were begging for both of them to stop. Becky burst out crying and screamed for both of them to stop. None of it did any good.

  A couple of the men continued to laugh and cheer as the women rolled around on the floor, each trying to gain a physical advantage over the other. Hands tried to slap and pun
ch, only to be grabbed or blocked. Apparently Mya wasn’t all talk. She was as every bit as tough as she had claimed to be.

  Two hand grenades dislodged from Mikki’s straps and went rolling. Floyd snatched them up quickly and checked to see if the pins were still in them. Fortunately, they were. He breathed a sigh of relief, but only very briefly.

  Mikki got on top and made a good swipe at Mya’s face, leaving four red stripes with her fingernails on the girl’s cheek. Mya answered with a well-placed punch that stunned Mikki a bit. That gave Mya enough room to get her foot under Mikki and send her flying backwards.

  As the two women scrambled to their feet in the dirt, Crazy Joe grabbed Mya from behind and Floyd threw Mikki over his shoulder, kicking and screaming as she pounded her fists on his back.

  Mya screamed back at Mikki, “This isn’t over, Little Bitch! You’re nothing but trash! You hear me? You’re nothing but a worthless piece of trash!”

  That was, beyond any doubt, the absolutely, undeniably, unequivocally worst possible thing that Mya could possibly have said to Mikki. They were the exact same words that Mikki had heard all her life. They were the exact same words that Mikki’s father had said to her, over and over and over again. They were the exact same words that Mikki could not bear.

  Mikki saw red. Literally. Tiny blood vessels in her eyes swelled and broke, due to rage. All of a sudden, the world around her took on a red hue, as though she were wearing red-tinted shades. She squirmed her way violently out of Floyd’s grasp just as Mya broke free from Crazy Joe. The two ran screaming at each other.

  Mikki launched into the air at the last minute to deliver a flying kick to Mya’s chest. A move that Mikki had previously reserved only for fighting Super Creepers. Mya went flying and landed on her ass, stunned and gasping for breath, blood still dripping down her cheek from Mikki’s claw marks. Now it was Mya’s turn to lose all control.

  The fight was so vicious that even the Cat Fight fans stopped cheering. Everyone was terrified. Becky was crying even harder, and now everyone was screaming for it to stop. But nothing was going to stop these two now. If Moses had parted the Red Sea between them, they would have found a way to get at each other.

  Mya punched Mikki in the stomach. The Super Z absorbed much of the blow, but it still had its effect. She followed up with a right cross that sent blood flying from Mikki’s mouth. She tried ending the combo with a left hook, but Mikki dodged it and doubled Mya over with kick to the gut.

  Mya was vulnerable and Mikki drew her katana. She had the perfect angle to send Mya’s head flying into the dirt. She pulled back on the sword, its shining blade gleaming in the sun.

  But Mikki stopped. Becky had caught her gaze. Mikki saw her sobbing, She saw the tears streaming down her little face. She saw the pleading look in the little girl’s terrified eyes.

  Becky’s weeping had hit Mikki harder than any of Mya’s blows ever could. While she saw her father in Mya, Mikki saw herself in Becky’s tears. Mikki had grown up crying that way. She knew that terror. That pain. That feeling of utter helplessness. She couldn’t do that to Becky.

  Mikki started gasping for breath, as though she had been physically kicked in the stomach. Her vision returned to normal. Her hands started trembling. She threw the sword behind her. She turned and walked away.

  “Oh no you don’t!” Mya gasped. She swept her leg and knocked Mikki’s feet out from under her, dropping her to the ground. Then she lunged for Mikki’s sword and picked it up. Letting out a blood-curdling shriek, she ran at Mikki, katana high in the air.

  It wasn’t exactly a sneak attack, so Mikki had more than enough time to see it coming. She scrambled to her feet and easily dodged out of the way, then looked around anywhere for a weapon.

  Of course, Mikki could easily have pulled one of her pistols and shot Mya, but she didn’t. This had to be done hand-to-hand, if she was to prove herself the tougher woman. Only a coward would shoot her way out of this one, and Mikki was no coward. Still, Mya had just changed the rules by attacking Mikki with her own sword.

  It was a foolish mistake on Mya’s part. She knew nothing about fighting with a sword, while Mikki had become a self-trained master. Mikki saw a long piece of wood nearby with a jagged tip and grabbed it. There was also a short metal bar, but Mikki didn’t want to break her sword in the battle.

  Mya swung clumsily and Mikki ducked, then laughed at her. She swung again, but Mikki deflected it with the wood. All the while the girls kept taunting each other, calling each other names. Mikki planned to tire Mya out until she collapsed, but Mya managed to get a swipe at Mikki’s leg.

  If Mya had known what she was doing, she might have managed to slice the leg off. As it was, she didn’t even cut through the armor, but the attack still stung pretty badly. Reacting on instinct alone, Mikki swatted the sword away and drove the piece of wood straight through Mya’s stomach, the bloody, jagged edge protruding from Mya’s back.

  Not a sound could be heard. Mya looked down at the wooden stake embedded in her bleeding belly. She reached around behind her to feel the other end sticking out of her back. Her face turned to one of unfathomable hatred as she looked at Mikki, gasping for breath.

  With bile in her voice, Mya said, “Bitch!” Then she collapsed.

  Mikki stood tall. She leaned down, picked up her sword, pulled a cloth from a pocked to wipe it down, then sheathed it. She looked around.

  Everywhere she looked, Mikki saw stunned faces. Sad faces. Disapproving faces. She looked at Floyd. She had never seen such a horrified look in his eyes. He came over to her and asked softly, with a trembling voice, “Mikki! What did you do?”

  Becky looked up at Mikki, her face wet with tears. “Why, Mikki? Why? I looked up to you!”

  The little girl turned and ran away somewhere behind the trucks. Two of the women ran after her. Doc jogged over to Mya’s fallen body, pausing just long enough to shoot Mikki a look of utter disgust.

  Mikki was used to being alone, but she had never felt so alone in her entire life. And this was a bad kind of alone. A really bad kind.

  For the first time ever, she felt regret for something she had done. She felt…guilt. Maybe she should become Catholic? Or Jewish? But there was no one here who could offer her absolution for what she had done. She turned and ran all the way back to the military camp.

  Pausing only long enough to mutter, “I’m really sorry,” to Jack, Floyd picked up Mikki’s helmet and gloves, jumped into the Doom Buggy, and went after her.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  “Hop in!” Floyd shouted, steering the Doom Buggy over to Mikki.

  She complied without saying a word. Instead of heading back to the Freedom Riders, he drove back to the military camp. He parked just inside the dilapidated fence and they both sat there for several minutes.

  Eventually, Mikki broke the silence. “You hate me now, dontcha?”

  “What? Hell no! I don’t hate you! I could never hate you. I love you! You made one helluva mess, alright, but frankly, that bitch had it coming. She kept begging for it.”

  “Thanks, Floyd,” Mikki said weakly. “It’s just that…”

  “What?”

  “Nothin’. Skip it.”

  Floyd got out of the buggy, opened the back door and leaned in next to Mikki. “No, what is it, baby? Tell me. We’re in this together, remember?”

  Mikki loved when he called her “baby.” Almost made the world seem normal again.

  “Well, it’s just that…dammit, I scared myself, Floyd! I totally lost it! I never been that angry since…” Her voice trailed off.

  “Since you…took care of your old man.”

  “Yeah,” Mikki answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

  “Another asshole who deserved it, though, right?”

  “I guess. Shit, Floyd, I love killin’ creepers and stuff, but they’re already dead. What if I get mad at you sometime? What if I get really pissed off and hurt you? I couldn’t stand that!”

  Mikki started crying.
Her shoulders tense as she sobbed deeply. Floyd put his hand on her back, rubbing it slowly and gently.

  “Oh, baby, I ain’t worried about that. Not at all.”

  “Why not? You seen what I can do, Floyd! I can be a real crazy person.”

  “Yeah, you’re a crazy one alright! But you would never hurt me,” he said with a smile.

  “How do you know that, Floyd? How do you know?”

  “Well, first, because you had plenty of chances to do it before now. And second, because you love me. And you know I love you.”

  Mikki started crying even harder, but it was a different kind of crying now. They were tears of gratitude rather than fear. Floyd really did love her. And he always knew what to say to her. How did she ever get so lucky to find him? What did she ever do to deserve a man like him?

  He helped her out of the vehicle and they walked to the kitchen trailer. On the way Floyd promised again to mount the grenade launcher they had found on the Doom Buggy. That got Mikki to laugh again, and he dried her eyes with a handkerchief from his pocket. Then he handed her the two grenades that had fallen off during the fight.

  “Try not to lose these again, OK?” he advised. “The pins might not stay in next time.” Mikki nodded with a slight smile. “You know we gotta go back there, right? Can’t just leave things like this.”

  “No, I guess not,” Mikki agreed.

  “I’ll go back alone at first, just to see how things stand. Then I’ll come get you, OK?”

  “No, Floyd. This is my mess, and I gotta clean it up. I feel bad about runnin’ away. I ain’t no damn coward. I gotta go back and face ‘em all. Shit! I hope she ain’t dead! That’ll screw up everything!”

  “Maybe, maybe not. I tell ya, Mikki, there were more than a couple people I saw there who didn’t like that bitch much. At least some of them probably thought you did them a favor.”

  “Yeah, well, there will be enough others there who want my head on a stick.”

  “Yeah, well, they’ll have to get past me and Clyde here to get it. And believe me, that ain’t gonna happen!”