by Gayle Katz
“Ha-ha. You’re so funny!” she said. “Don’t you think that many have tried to kill me over the years?”
Mark rushed at her to do the same, but she quickly jumped away. “Yeah, but we’re zlayers, not just townsfolk or whatever they were called back in your day.”
“True,” she said. “But you don’t survive for a century and a third by being stupid.”
Charlie tried to sneak up behind her while she was chatting to Mark, but she seemed to glide effortlessly to the right, like she had eyes in the back of her head. She most likely did, at least in the telepathic sense, as she didn’t actually have any eyes left.
“So, why have you been hanging around here for so long then?” asked Charlie. “Why not just head to the surface?”
The zombie leaned against the brick wall. “Because I simply wouldn’t be accepted. But don’t get me wrong, I have actually been upstairs many times. Halloween is my favorite day of the year. That is when I can get out and be myself. I especially like the hotel and the library.” If she could have smirked, she would’ve done so.
So it was confirmed that the suspicious happenings on the surface had been her. This zombie must know quite a few spells to stay on top of things.
“So, are you the zleader then?” asked Charlie.
“Oh, is that what humans call me? Nice,” she said. “I like it.”
“So, what’s your purpose?” asked Mark. “Are you here to party?”
She laughed. “That’s funny. Actually, it would be nice to bring zombie rights to the world. Just imagine that!”
Charlie laughed. “Wow. That’s not going to happen, as long as you guys try to eat humans.”
She stopped laughing. “Well, we’d have to figure out the food situation, for certain.”
“Say, do you have a name?” Mark asked her.
“Well, it was Claudia Zoe Smith, but my friends just call me Claw now.”
“Claw? Ha-ha!” said Mark. “Should be more Fang or something.”
“Well, it’s open to interpretation, I guess.”
“OK, so, where do we go from here?” Charlie asked. She was at a loss as to what to do. They could keep on doing battle down here, but would she be able to do what countless others hadn’t? Kill the zleader?
“Well, I suppose I could kill you,” said Claw.
“OK, then, we’ll fight,” said Mark, keeping his dagger handy.
Claw looked them up and down. “I know I can’t infect you two zlayers, so that either leaves killing or eating.”
Charlie and Mark were busy making eye contact with each other. Charlie did a small motion of her head while Claw had her head in the other direction, though she may have seen the motion anyway.
Mark put away his weapon and then ran up to Claw. She reached for his arm and pulled him closer. He surprised her by jumping on her. They both tumbled to the ground.
“Ahh!” screamed Mark, as Claw bit into his arm.
Charlie raced up to the pair and raised her dagger. It should have been enough to slice through the air and hit her skull, but somehow, her arm went askew. She tried the movement again, but her arm didn’t want to go in that direction. It was as if a magical force were keeping her from striking.
Mark had managed to get his arm dislodged from her jaw, but it was bleeding. She then latched onto his shoulder. It was only a matter of time until she reached his neck.
Charlie tried punching her in the head instead, but that also went awry. It was like a gigantic force field surrounded the zombie.
zzz
Rose looked at the zombie pages yet again. If she didn’t hear from Charlie in thirty seconds, she was calling her. Nothing.
She picked up her cell phone and dialed. “Charlie! Where are you?” she asked.
A loud voice came out from the other end of the phone. “Gran! I don’t know what to do! This zleader is too powerful! My magical dagger won’t strike! She has a force field and she is eating Mark! He’s going to die, Gran! We need help!”
“Oh, dear,” Gran said. “Let me call the police.” Then the call dropped.
Gran looked back at the pages on the table. One sheet of paper lifted in the air. Gran walked over. It was the newer zombie section of the spell book.
“The one spell to rule them all,” said Gran in a trance. “No!” she cried. “Stop!” Gran struggled to walk away from the spell page, but she couldn’t. Then a deep voice spoke the following words right out of her mouth. “Interfectorem ad ductor.” Moments later, the air cleared and Gran grabbed the seat and sat down.
“Oh no!” she cried. “What do I do?”
Chapter 10
________________________________________
Charlie kept on trying to kick and hit the zleader, Claw, but to no avail. She was going to try again, but instead ran around to Mark and tried to break her grip on him. The zombie’s arms were wrapped around his body. Her jaw came loose from his shoulder, with a rather large chunk of flesh missing from it. Mark took one look and passed out.
Then a strange thing happened. The room seemed to fill up with a bright orange mist. This gave Claw pause. She looked around, worried.
Charlie stood upright. It was like she became possessed. “The one spell to rule them all,” she muttered in a daze.
“No!” cried Claw. “How would you know that spell? It’s been lost in time!” Claw took a step back.
“Interfectorem ad ductor,” said Charlie, clearly and loudly. “Or slayer to leader for those who don’t understand Latin.”
The orange light coalesced in one spot above Claw. She looked up, nervous about what was happening.
Charlie raised her dagger once again. She lifted it and struck Claw hard in her empty eye socket. Claw dropped to the ground. Her body rapidly disintegrated, just like what had happened to the other underground zombies that Charlie and her team had fought last spring.
Once the zombie had disintegrated to dust, Charlie snapped out of the spell.
“That was odd,” said Charlie, but she was pleased that the dagger had finally worked. “Oh no, Mark!”
Charlie dropped down to the ground and had a look. He was still alive and breathing, just unconscious. She pulled his torn t-shirt away from his skin. That bite was bad.
In a moment of insanity, she looked down at the ground surrounding the zombie remains. There! She found the chunk of flesh that Claw must have let fall from her mouth. Charlie grabbed it and did her best to attach it back onto Mark’s shoulder. She needed to get him some medical assistance.
Her phone rang. “Charlie, where are you?” asked Gran. “I had a bad vision.”
“Hi, Gran. I’m still in the underground. Mark is badly injured.”
“I’ll send help,” she said. “Where are you?”
Charlie gave the address, and then told her that emergency services would have to come down through the tunnel and turn right.
Gran was relieved and hung up. She quickly called the Seattle Police. They were already aware of the situation and waiting to go in.
It wasn’t long before emergency services arrived down in the tunnel. It was no surprise that they had been down there many times before.
Some guy tried to explain to Charlie about the zombies and how often they had to come down into the tunnels because homeless people tried to set up camp.
She cut him short. “Is my friend going to be all right?”
He nodded. They quickly took Mark away on a stretcher.
One of the cops remained behind. “So, you’re the famous Charlie that Sergeant Bourne told me about. I’m Captain Bates.” He shook her hand.
“Yep,” she said. “So, the zleader is dead.”
“Really? That’s fantastic news! That means our Seattle infestation is over!” He smiled and looked really happy.
“Yep.”
“OK, so, we’re going to clean up here. You can go meet your friend in the hospital.”
“Great. Thanks,” said Charlie, turning and heading down the tunnel. She wonde
red what had come over her. Perhaps Gran had made sense of the zombie pages and spoken that spell again about the one spell to rule them all, or something.
Charlie had walked a quarter of the way down the tunnel when she stopped in shock. This was the tunnel with the zombies in it. But, if these were zombies, they should have vanished, along with the zleader. That meant that the police and emergency services hadn’t seen them because if they had, they would have killed them all.
Charlie shined her flashlight into the eyes of one of the zombies. Perhaps they really were dead. She held up the light. The zombie’s eyes opened up.
zzz
“It worked,” said Gran to Stewart over the telephone.
“Fantastic news! I do hope Mark will be all right.”
“Yes, he will. I’m heading to the hospital now. I haven’t seen Charlie yet. Can you assure me that she’ll be all right?”
She could almost hear Stewart smile over the telephone. “Oh, she’ll be fine. But she has one more task to do.” Then he stopped talking.
Gran hung up, grateful that the zleader was dead. Now she and Charlie could put this nonsense to rest and go back home.
zzz
Charlie took a step back from the zombie. Not only had she woken up the one zombie, but all of them were stirring now.
“Damn,” said Charlie, reaching for her dagger. But which one should she use? The regular one or the magical one? She reached for the regular one.
The zombies left their neatly arranged lineup along the wall and walked to her.
She put her left arm up. “Whoa, guys. Why don’t you stop?”
The zombies all stopped.
“No way,” she whispered. “OK, guys. Dance and wave your arms.”
All the zombies danced and waved their arms.
“So, it’s true then. Interfectorum ad ductor.” But when she spoke those words, nothing happened. “Ductor ad interfectorum,” she said in reverse, but nothing happened. “How odd. But I’m certain those are the words that came out of my mouth. I wonder if it was Gran?”
“OK, guys. Stop.” Charlie pondered what to do. She could just leave the zombies down here, but if the authorities found them, they’d all be slaughtered for certain.
She could order them to kill each other, and then the last one could off himself. That was an option. But the more she thought about it, the more one idea stuck in her mind. This was fantastic! However, she suspected that Gran and Stewart would be unhappy about it. It was settled. She created her diabolical plan, set it in action, and then headed back to the modern surface of Seattle.
zzz
“I’m so glad you’re all right!” said Gran, hugging Charlie. They had met in the hospital. Mark had reconstructive surgery to rebuild his shoulder. The doctor had been impressed with how Charlie had saved part of the tissue and put it back in place.
“And maybe you can be a doctor,” said Gran, but Charlie just grimaced.
“I have so many questions,” she said.
“I’m sure you do,” said Gran, “but first, let’s go back to the hotel, wash up, and get some sleep.”
“You and me both,” said Charlie, following her out of the room.
They both took a cab back to the hotel.
As they were preparing for bed, Charlie had a thought. “Say, Gran, how can a non-magical person perform a spell? Such as Stewart or yourself?” she asked.
“Good question, dear.” Gran put her robe on. “Well, in Stewart’s case, he’s a mentor so he does possess some magical abilities. But he doesn’t have your fighting skills. He can coach you on fighting, but he would never be as strong or talented as you are. He can also perform certain spells but not all. For instance, just the ones related to protection and zombies.” Gran took a deep breath.
“That’s great,” said Charlie. “But what about you?”
Gran frowned. “I expect it has something to do with my daughter. Obviously, I passed something on to her. Thing is that not every person who has the potential to be a zlayer is a zlayer. And those who are chosen and have a calling, like you and your mother before you, need to be wary. Evil has a way of seeking out and destroying those who want peace. While most don’t acknowledge it, humanity needs us on the front lines. Without us, monsters would roam free, and I don’t want to think about what might happen then. Hence, I have some abilities to do spells, I guess. It seems kind of fun, doesn’t it?”
“It does,” said Charlie, laughing.
“If only we could just perform spells against the zombies and not fight. That would save a whole lot of heartache,” said Gran.
That got Charlie thinking. She waited for Gran to fall asleep, and then she snuck out. Two hours later, she was back in the hotel room. She finally went to sleep too.
zzz
The next morning, they checked out. “I’m sorry to see you leave early, but we can provide a credit for the unused nights,” said the hotel clerk.
“Yes, it turns out that our project has been wrapped up,” said Gran.
They headed to the hospital to see how Mark was doing. When they arrived, he was already up and packing.
“Hi, Rose and Charlie!” he said.
“Hey, Mark! How’s it going?” asked Charlie.
“Good, I’ll be fine in a week or so. The doctors said I should barely have a scar.”
“That’s great,” said Charlie. “Well, we came to say goodbye. We’re heading back to Portland. Maybe we’ll see you again. Hopefully not about zombies, though.”
They had a brief hug.
“Yeah, thanks for helping us defeat the zleader! And, thanks to Gran for breaking that powerful protection spell she had on her!”
“That’s the job of a grandmother,” she explained.
“Wow, I sure wish I had been conscious when the zleader dropped. It must have been cool seeing all those zombies disintegrate into the air!”
Charlie laughed, looking a bit evasive. She nodded. “It was cool. It’s not something you see every day.”
The goodbyes done, Gran and Charlie headed back to their respective vehicles. They would tag each other on the freeways. They had already preplanned all their rest stops along the way, just in case they lost touch with each other.
At the first rest stop, they each got out of their vehicles and stretched.
“I do hope the traffic will stay clear,” said Gran.
“That’s why I wanted an early start,” explained Charlie. “As soon as 2:30 rolls around, it’s rush hour. I think we’ll almost be in Portland by then.”
“They’re offering free coffee and treats. Do you want any?” asked Gran, heading up to the small building beside the restrooms.
“Nah, but I’ll go use the bathroom.”
Charlie was sitting on the toilet, reading the graffiti on the walls. “CZS, ha-ha. Now I’ll be seeing those initials everywhere, and wondering if it’s me. But nope, because even Claw had the CZS initials, Claudia Zoe Smith. Ha! That wasn’t even in reference to me.”
Charlie just went to flush when she heard a moaning sound outside the stall. “That can’t be?” she muttered to herself. “We aren’t even in Oregon yet.” She shoved open the door and jumped out.
Some kid screamed and ran to his mom.
“Sorry,” she said. She went to wash her hands, and then joined Gran back in the parking lot by their cars.
“Hey. Check this out,” said Gran. “These cookies are made by a company called CZS.”
“What? How funny is that? Now I’m going to be thinking that every time I see those initials. CZS. Charlie Zombie Slayer, ha-ha!”
Gran just smiled as she went back to her car.
Charlie got back in her vehicle. “OK, two hours left and we should be home.”
Chapter 11
________________________________________
Sergeant Bourne showed up outside of Zan’s house at 1 am. He was about to text her when he saw her coming around from the back of the house.
“Your parents know where yo
u’re going, right?” he asked.
“Sure,” she replied, tossing her purse on the floor of the car. “Even I don’t know where we’re going.”
“It’s just to the dump,” he said.
Her eyes opened wide. “The city dump?”
He started the car and headed in that direction. “Yep. Best spot to hide dead bodies, next to under coffins, of course.”
She smirked. “Under coffins? But, how do you get the bodies under there?” she asked him.
He watched as someone drove through a red light. “Not my job,” he muttered to himself, letting them go. “The best way is to put the body in there after the grave has been dug, but before the person in the coffin is laid to rest.”
“Right,” she said. “So the dump is where the zombies are left?”
“Some of them,” he said. “The ones that are killed by people who don’t call us because they think they’ll go to prison. Obviously, the police and emergency services take dead zombies to the morgue.”
“So, why don’t you clear out the dump then?” she asked, looking at her smartphone.
“You ask a lot of questions. The same reason as why I let those last five people go, who drove through red lights or were speeding.”
“Right, not your problem,” she stated.
He nodded. “OK, we’re here. The dump is technically closed, but we can pick the gate lock and go in. Wait here.”
She was glad he did that, as her lock-picking skills weren’t all that good. She sent a text to Owen, letting him know where she was. What she didn’t see was the angry frown on his face when he saw the text.
The cop quickly came back. “OK, let’s drive in. No one is around. I know for a fact that the security guard has the flu and couldn’t come in today.” He drove the car into the lot and parked.
Zan followed him out of the car.