by Gayle Katz
No! It couldn’t be! He took a step back.
zzz
“Do we attack?” whispered Owen to Zan. His knees were getting tired of squatting behind the bushes. He should have done what Zan had done and just sat on the damp ground, but he didn’t want a wet bottom.
“No, it appears they’re talking. I hope Charlie is getting some intel on this.”
Owen was about to switch positions when the zombie stood up.
zzz
“Thank you for meeting with me,” said Fay.
“No problem,” said Charlie.
“So, you’re not going to turn me into the cops?” Fay asked.
“Nah, that’s not my job,” explained Charlie. “My job is to kill zombies. You’re not a zombie so you’re safe.”
Fay looked relieved. “I’m going to destroy the rest of my lab, documents and everything. I think I’ll switch to an Arts major from now on.”
Charlie laughed. “You can try, but I can’t guarantee that the cops won’t figure it out.”
“That’s fine,” she said. She left without saying goodbye.
Once she was out of sight, Charlie called out. “You folks can come out now.”
She saw Zan and Owen walk up to her.
“What happened?” asked Zan.
“Yeah?” said Owen.
“She told me that Portland is in danger.”
“Wow, I could have told you that,” said Owen.
Charlie sighed. “No. This is even more serious than a golf course or factory full of zombies. We’re talking an entire army.”
Zan sat down. “So, she’s going to help?”
Charlie shook her head. “No, but she is going to destroy her research. And, she gave me some valuable information on where the stolen zombie injectables may be.”
“Cool,” said Zan, yawning. “But can it wait until tomorrow? I’m tired.”
The teens decided that there wasn’t much they could do at this late hour and decided to call it a night. Tomorrow, there would be plenty to do.
zzz
“Hello?” said Charlie, answering her phone.
“It’s just me,” said Stewart. “I made an interesting discovery, but I don’t know what it means.”
Charlie sat up in bed. “Me too,” she said.
“So, I figured out what the symbols mean.”
“Symbols?”
“Yes, the ‘_ / c’ ones we keep seeing all over the place.”
“Oh right.”
“When you connect the dots, it means ‘Charlie Zombie Slayer,’” he explained.
“What?”
“The underscore was actually the bottom part of the letter C. The forward slash was the middle part of the letter Z. And the c was the top half of the letter S. All in capital letters.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” she said. “But once again, that’s me. So, why?”
“Well, let’s see. It was in the spell book, on the note that Owen found at the factory, in the Seattle Underground, and at the mini golf garden center. Besides being in the spell book as part of the protective spell surrounding you, I do believe the other instances were warnings.”
“Warnings?” asked Charlie. “I think when we talked about this before that a warning was mentioned too.”
“Yes, but I can’t figure out why or who would be warning you,” said Stewart. “This second zombie uprising was created by a scientist. There may be some magic surrounding it, but I don’t get how it connects together.”
Charlie started trying to get dressed, while holding her smartphone between her ear and shoulder. “Hmm. I think I know,” she said.
“Really?” he asked. He was glad he had called her.
“Yes. Remember last night I texted you that all was well after our meeting with the zleader wannabe?”
“Oh right,” he said.
“Well, I didn’t have time to explain everything, but I do believe it was the Seattle zleader who left that warning for me in the underground.”
“Yes, that makes sense. But what about the note left for Owen, or at the golf course?”
“Good question,” said Charlie. “It was most likely Fay, our scientist and zleader wannabe.”
“Oh,” he replied. “She was messing with you?”
“Sort of,” explained Charlie. “The Seattle zleader had been in touch with her for a while. The zleader must have told her to leave a note for Owen. And, to leave those marks at the golf course.”
“Then, this means the symbols in my spell book are definitely a warning.”
“Yes, but most of that has been resolved. The protective spell revealed itself to Gran, right? Interfectorem ad ductor or slayer to leader.”
Stewart sighed. “I can’t help but still think I’m missing something here.”
“Nah,” said Charlie. “That’s all wrapped up. All we have to do now is prevent a thousand zombie army apocalypse from happening.”
“Yeah. That’s all. OK, call me if you think of anything else.” He hung up.
Charlie got dressed, wondering where she was going to get started. She guessed that she would start with where Fay believed that the zombie injectables were being stored.
zzz
“It’s nice to meet you,” said Owen to Mrs. Goldberg.
“Oh, it’s nice to meet Zan’s friends,” said Mrs. Goldberg. “I’m often so busy with patients, I never get to meet them.”
“That’s cool you’re a doctor,” he said. “I heard Zan wants to be a doctor too.” He looked proudly at her. Zan looked a bit uncomfortable.
“Yes, well, we might resign ourselves to that,” she said.
“Yeah, Zan told me all about your plans for her to become a musician. You forced her to take piano lessons and everything.”
Everyone laughed.
“I hate that thing,” said Zan.
“Yes, well, Dad still needs to come around. Me, I’m just happy that she is showing an interest in something. For years, it was Barbie dolls. You can’t make a career of that.”
“Oh, that’s embarrassing, Mom,” said Zan.
“Hey, nothing wrong with that. There are cool Barbie dolls now. Female astronauts and physicists,” said Owen.
“I know. I have them all,” mumbled Zan. “Say, where is Dad?”
“Yeah, Dad. I’m looking forward to meeting the man who makes her grumpy Zan.” He frowned. Perhaps he shouldn’t have said that.
“Hey. Are you talking about me?” said a voice. Dad popped into the kitchen. “Hi there, Son. So you’re another one of Zan’s friends?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Dad, he has a name. It’s Owen.”
She watched as they shook hands.
“Say, Zan. I’m sorry, but I think I broke your centrifuge by accident.”
“What?” she yelled, freaking out. She jumped up and raced for the stairs.
“Sorry, I was cleaning,” he called out to her.
Zan came back a few minutes later and glared at her dad.
“Sorry,” he said to her. Then he left to get some groceries.
“We’ll buy you a new one, dear,” said her mom.
“Gosh. I’m so sorry, Zan,” said Owen.
“He effin broke it on purpose!” She got up and left the kitchen.
“Err, bye, Mrs. Goldberg,” said Owen, following Zan out of the house.
Owen followed her to her car. “Seriously? Your dad broke it on purpose?”
“He’s always been resistant to my career choice.” She got in and slammed the door.
Owen hopped in the car with her. He didn’t know where they were going.
zzz
“There, feel better now?” he asked. He handed her a cookie and a hot chocolate in the coffee shop.
She looked at her Star Trek doll. “Yeah, I’ve always wanted one.”
“Maybe you can set up your lab at my place? My parents wouldn’t mind.”
They laughed.
“Really? Your parents are lawyers. They’d think I was making
drugs.” She took a sip of her hot chocolate.
“Yeah, OK. Why not do it at school then?”
She nodded. “Yes, we’re back in a month or so. I think Stewart would be fine with that.”
“Did you learn anything about the zombie virus yet?” he asked.
She shrugged. “They both look alike, but the newer strain moves much faster in blood from what I can recall. That might account for the discrepancies when humans are infected, but I still don’t know how it was created. I can only guess it must have been developed from the original zombie outbreak.”
“Yeah, and according to Charlie, it was the wannabe zleader’s assistant, Fay, who helped created it. So, are you going to meet with her to learn more?” asked Owen.
“I can try, but Charlie said it sounded like she was done with the whole thing and was going to destroy her lab.”
“Well, at least we are getting more answers. Hey, you ever wonder how these zombie outbreaks happen in the first place? Surely it’s not always human intervention?”
She shrugged. “I’m a hundred percent positive it’s humans who’ve created zombies, over the centuries. How? I have no idea. Nor do I know why a zombie outbreak just occurs in some random city in the U.S., or even around the world, for no reason at all.”
They had their snacks and thought about it for a bit.
zzz
Sergeant Bourne watched as the mayor poured gasoline from a container over several boxes. She lit the match and dropped it. As the contents caught on fire, she turned and raced for the stairs.
By the time she’d reached the top, the police officer was already back at his vehicle reporting the fire.
When the fire trucks arrived, the mayor and her car were long gone.
The fire was put out shortly afterwards. One of the firemen brought out a small baggie of charred remains. “Sorry, officer, but this is all that remains.”
Sergeant Bourne took the bag. “Thanks. I’ll have it analyzed back at my lab. We’ll find out what it was that got burned.” He headed back to the police station.
Chapter 18
________________________________________
Owen and Zan finished up their hot chocolates.
“Say, I was wondering, what is your real name?” asked Owen. “Is Zan short for something?”
She nodded. “My full name is Zandra, of all the stupid things.”
“Zandra, I kind of like it,” said Owen. He gathered up their trash and dropped it into the garbage can by the entrance.
“Yeah? Well, don’t get used to it. I prefer Zan.”
“OK, that’s fine. Such an unusual name.”
She grunted. “For the longest time, my dad didn’t want to call me just Zan, but now he does.”
“Wow, sounds like you have some problems with your parents. I should be glad that I can talk to my dad now.”
zzz
Stewart and Sergeant Bourne exchanged notes at his apartment.
“Wow, lots happening,” said Bourne.
“I know. Let me know after you have the remains analyzed,” said Stewart. “I’m curious if it’s anything organic. I know that our contact said she was going to destroy her lab.”
“Yeah, and let me know when you decide to give me her name. She deserves to be arrested.”
“Well, I would, but Charlie is resistant since there is still someone out there who could potentially infect thousands of residents.”
“Yeah, but there is always someone who is behind someone who is behind someone,” said Bourne, sipping his coffee. “It’s never-ending. Stupid gangs.”
“Yeah, and we need her until she gives us more information. Until then, keep your handcuffs to yourself,” said Stewart, joking.
“Fine, but if the captain gets wind of this, I’ll have no choice.”
“Yeah, well, we don’t know her real name or address anyway, so good luck with that.” Stewart always enjoyed the working camaraderie they had. “Besides, you’d have to arrest the mayor too.”
They laughed.
“Something is definitely fishy with her,” said Bourne.
zzz
Charlie didn’t know what to do, so after midnight she just walked up and down streets and alleys, hoping for a chance encounter with a zombie, to give her a clue as to where there may be other zombies.
Creepy men seemed to steer clear of her. She could certainly handle herself on the street. But she expected that her zombie slayer status also afforded her some invisibility protections when on the streets. She also recognized a few of the street people, but they didn’t bother her and she didn’t bother them.
If she were someone making masses of zombies, where would she be? Probably in a large building somewhere. But real estate in Portland was expensive. It wasn’t like there were a lot of empty buildings. Unless? Could it be that Ray Orzola’s clothing factory was being used for that purpose? That was where Fay had figured the zombie virus was being stored. Ray had connections to Fay and whatever other zombie gang was running around.
She’d heard from Stewart that there’d just been a fire there, caused by the mayor. But was it possible that was to take the focus away? No one would be suspicious of a smoky and stinky factory, right?
Charlie decided to check the factory after the smoke had cleared. As she was walking back to her car, she also had an idea. It couldn’t hurt to prepare. She smiled smugly. Might as well use the situation to her advantage.
Stewart, Zan, Owen, and Sergeant Bourne would flip out if they knew what she was doing. So she wouldn’t tell them. But the city of Portland would not be able to cope with a thousand zombies. It would be a disaster. Plus, what was the purpose of a zombie invasion? Probably for money or power. So someone in Portland wanted to control the city’s coffers for their personal gain.
As she headed back to her car and plotted her plan of attack, she wondered who really was behind it all. Was it the mayor?
zzz
The teens were hanging out in the backyard. It was during the dead of summer and it was exceptionally hot. Occasionally, the wind would bring the smell of wildfires to them.
“The world is burning,” said Zan.
“I know. This has to be the first year that it’s been this bad,” Owen said.
“Well, it won’t matter,” said Charlie, “if zombies overrun the city.”
“Speaking of zombies,” said Zan, “there have been more sightings in Seattle.”
Owen frowned. “No way. They should all be gone now.”
Charlie shrugged. “Maybe it’s a new outbreak, or some criminal has released more zombies.”
“What a mess,” said Zan. “I don’t recall any of the other outbreaks ever taking this long to resolve.”
“Oh, you mean, centuries?” said Owen.
“You know what I mean.” She frowned.
“Hey! Look at this. In the news, it says that dozens of zombies were spotted outside of Seattle, heading down the freeway,” said Owen, checking his device.
Zan grabbed the phone from him. “No way!”
“Yeah, it appears that the police took some of them out, but then they got off the freeway and ducked into the forest.”
Charlie frowned.
zzz
“OK, so the lab analysis is back,” said Sergeant Bourne.
“Yes?” asked Stewart over the telephone.
“And, it was just a bunch of papers.”
“Hmm. That’s odd. So no organics or chemicals?”
“Nope,” said Bourne. “But it does back up the theory that the mayor is involved in some financial schemes.”
“Either that or she’s drawing attention away from something else,” suggested Stewart.
“Well, I’ll keep you in the loop if I hear of anything else. I suspect you already heard of the zombie sightings in Washington State.”
“Yep, and it sounds like they’re heading south,” said Stewart.
“OK, bye,” said Bourne, and hung up.
zzz
“S
ay, is it possible that the second strain zombies are being created in Washington State and sent south?” asked Stewart.
Charlie sat on his couch sipping her soda. “Um, anything is possible,” she said. “Everyone is on the lookout for zombies in Portland now. What better way than to create them somewhere else, and then send them down here.”
Stewart placed his glass on the table. “That means that it’s someone in the city who’s trying to gain control.”
“Yep,” she said. “But who?”
“Zan wants to try and find Fay and question her some more,” said Stewart.
“She can, but Fay said she doesn’t know who the zleader wannabe is either.”
“Well, it’s worth a try,” said Stewart.
“Well, keep me posted,” said Charlie, but she believed that would be a dead end.
zzz
“Wow! What’s this?” asked Zan, entering her house.
“Well, with all the extra hours we’ve been working, we have some spare cash for the new entertainment system. Plus, I thought that we could spend more time together watching TV or playing video games.”
Her mom was unpacking boxes of electronics and setting them up on the new entertainment stand against the wall.
“Cool!” said Zan. “Say, where’s Dad?”
“Oh, he’s down in the basement. Says he needs to clear out the storage closet for his gym.”
Zan raced to the stairs.
“Please don’t be angry!” her mom called after her.
Zan didn’t even remember running down the stairs. She raced through the main room to the storage area where she kept her lab.