“You’re children, Hannah, how could they do that to children?”
She puffed up her chest and stared at me. “I’m not a child. I’m the world’s future.”
This wasn’t going anywhere. She may not be old enough to understand the concept of a dead zombie hanging in a boys’ dormitory, dripping into a pan. How could they pass by that every day?
“That is not a good lesson to teach children. Zombies are everywhere. They could have just said that.”
The little girl puffed up again. “We’re not children, we’re the future. I killed a zombie, more than one.”
“What?”
“My brother, he was a zombie. I killed him.”
“What!” I knew my voice went high and cracked, I couldn’t help it. Her words floored me.
“It’s okay,” she tried comforting me. “He wasn’t my brother anymore. He was trying to eat me.”
Hannah said it with attitude, like I had no sense of why she would kill her own brother. There was also a mixture of pride in her tale. She had accomplished something extraordinary in her short life. Her face made it clear she was gearing up for another tale of horror. I sprang into action. I couldn’t tell if she truly was one of the children I had seen earlier and frankly didn’t want to know. “Where can I find Simon?”
“Follow me.”
“Okey dokey.”
She ogled me. I thought I might lighten the mood, I was wrong. Her small hazel eyes flicked back and forth, scanning my face. She turned back around and continued walking without further comment. It was strange, this place was strange. She led me and never dropped the confused expression she held. We went around a corner, down a hall, and around another corner before coming to a door. Hannah knocked in rhythmic fashion. The door flew open and Simon came into view.
“Hey, Zee.”
“Hey, Simon. You up for a visit?”
“Yeah, come on in.”
“I’ll see you later, Simon.”
“See you, Hannah. Thanks for bringing Zee.”
“Un-huh,” she waved bye to Simon and gawked at me before leaving.
“Nice girl.”
“Yeah, she is.”
Now that we were alone, I hugged him again. “Sorry, I can’t help it. I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.”
Simon’s room was small, matchbook small. The room held a tiny bed, a desk and chair, and a basket. Nothing hung on the walls. A candle burned on the desk and an overturned book lie on the unmade bed. I sat on the bed and looked around again, in case I missed something the first time.
“Well,” said Simon, “what do you think?”
“Nice. What gives about the zombie in the hallway?”
I had not meant to say that, the words tumbled out before I could stop them. I’m still trying to correct that bad habit. I couldn’t very well ask him what he was doing with a machete and why he had bloodlust in his eyes.
“Hannah didn’t tell you?”
He knew me too well. “Yes, but I want to hear it from you.”
“That’s Peter. He was fifteen and a fool. He got himself killed for no-good reason. Now the rest of us know to be careful and not be a fool like Peter.”
“Love doesn’t make you a fool.”
I don’t know why I was arguing with him. My guess is that I didn’t want him to lose his humanity. To pass by something like that daily would desensitize him to zombies and reinforce love is for fools. Not only that, but to have a training class where zombies are brought in for children to kill, how barbaric.
Simon surveyed me like Hannah. I obviously didn’t get it. They had adjusted to their new world while I was out fighting zombies. Together, they had grown up and I had missed it.
“How are you, Zee?”
Oh god, here comes the shrink talk. “I’m fine, Doctor Spock. How about yourself?”
Simon chuckled. “Zee, it’s not bad here. These are good people and we are the future. One day zombies will be gone and we will start again, you know, like Adam and Eve. All of us. We will go forth and multiply. I want Florida, how about you?”
I laughed harder than I had laughed in a long time. I hugged him again. He knew how to make me laugh, the smarter of the two of us.
“I don’t know. I think I’ll go for Louisiana. I’ve always liked the word ‘bayou’ and I would have the Gulf of Mexico all to myself.”
Simon burst into laughter. Hearing his laughter made my heart somersault. “That’s a big backyard.”
“Yeah, if bored, I could get in my little rowboat and pop over to Mexico to one of those fancy resorts and live it up.”
We talked for ages and finally, a loud bell sounded. Simon stopped laughing at my latest silliness and grew stern. “It’s curfew, Zee. You have to get going. Come on, I will walk you out.”
I hated for our time to end. I got off the bed and followed him out. I made a mental note of the path so I could find his room without help for my next visit. I intended to be a frequent visitor. We made our way back to the hallway and I l looked at Peter, ahead of us. We stopped. I saw Simon giving him the evil eye and my stomach lurched and then dropped.
Something was seriously wrong with this place. I felt it in my bones. The feeling reaffirmed itself when three boys came in. The first swung the corpse and ran past. The other two made a game of it, trying to time their run to get past it without it touching them. They yelped with delight. I felt my scalp tightening in the front of my head. It was as if a hand was squeezing on my temples, trying to crush my skull.
I peeked at my brother, his grin egged them on. This must be a nightly occurrence, another reason for me to hate this place. I got to get us out of here. The thought rang in my head louder than the curfew bell.
After they made it through, unscathed, they politely spoke to me and left. I told Simon not to come any further. I hugged him and said goodnight, promising to see him in the morning. The truth, I didn’t want him near the zombie. I didn’t like what this new home was doing to these children and what it was turning my brother into. I passed by the zombie and went out the door. It took seconds to reach the front and I left the building.
It was dark outside. I glanced at the clock and discovered it was 6pm. “Excuse me, where do you go for guard duty?”
“That way, ma’am,” he pointed.
On my way there, I thought about what had happened during the day before and after I got here. Not paying attention to where I was going, I walked into a railing and almost fell. I kicked myself for my stupidity and sought evidence that I was safe. No one laughed or gawked at me, I was fine. I went around the barrier and kept marching to a little building near the back garden.
“Hey.”
I turned. “What?”
Jolly? The fire hose soldier, whatever his name was, called me. “Over here, Baker.”
I walked to him, stepped past him and into the small room. “Hey.” I smiled at two guys seated in the room around a small table. They were smoking and the air was choking me. I tried not to cough and to look friendly.
“Girls to the left,” boomed the bigger man at the table.
“Thank you.”
I turned the doorknob and went into the room. “Zee! Hey, how are you?”
“Britt? Oh my god, Britt!”
I ran to her as fast as my legs would carry me. I hit her with a force that sent us both backward, almost falling. We straightened to look each other over.
“Zee.”
“Oh my god, Britt. I forgot all about you, oh my god. How could I forget you?”
“I guess I’m not that memorable after all.”
Brittany said it jokingly, but I hurt her feelings. The one thing she wanted most was to make a difference and to not be forgotten and I, her best friend and blood brother had forgotten her in the space of a day. What is wrong with me? I thought of something worthwhile to say to make it all better.
“Yes, you are and don’t you ever forget it.”
“All right.”
; “Where’s Jones and Charley? Are they here?”
I looked around, forgetting the man told me this side is for women only. Brittany soured. She held her head down and my stomach dropped for the millionth time.
“They didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
I held her arms so she couldn’t get away from me and frantically searched her face for some clue, some inkling of what was to come. What had happened to my team?
“Zee.”
“What, tell me,” my impatience boiled over.
“Zee,” she struggled to get the words out. I gripped her tighter. My eyes darted from her left to right eye for something I could grab on to. “Jones is fine. He will be on guard duty with us tonight.”
“And Charley?”
“Oh, Zee.”
I shook her. “Tell me, damn it. What happened to Charley?”
Brittany’s eyes pooled with large tears that would fall at any moment. “He didn’t make it, Zee. The zombies bit him during our fight. He died yesterday.”
I released her and fell back. Charley was dead. Like a ton of bricks it hit me and I hit the wall, thank god for the wall, otherwise I’d be on the floor. I covered my eyes to keep from crying for Charley. Through my hands I said, “I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”
“I’m sorry.”
Her sorry didn’t help. I was a mess. Brittany came beside me and touched my shoulder. I turned to her and rested my head on her. She was there for me and she understood. We didn’t need words, she held me while I made sense of Charley’s death and his place in my heart.
I knew I had to get a hold of myself. They were waiting for us. Brittany wore an army uniform and when I looked down at her feet, I saw her partially laced boots. She must have been putting them on when I came in. I must have a similar uniform as well. Then it hit me.
I pushed myself from her to gaze into her blue eyes. “Wait! You said he died yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“How is that possible, we just arrived?”
Brittany gave me the same confused look the young girl had given me. Was I crazy? Why did everyone give me the same damn look? What was I missing?
“Zee?”
“What?”
“We’ve been here three days.”
“What! Three days, how is that possible?”
Brittany took a hold of me. I thought she was calming me down, she wasn’t. She pulled up the sleeve on my left arm. There I saw it, a Band-Aid, and beneath it, a wad of cotton. I pulled up the Band-Aid and cotton and saw a yellow stained area with a small puncture wound in the center, an IV drip line. I focused on my friend and commanded her to speak, without saying a word.
“They have a new form of quarantine here,” her voice shook.
I knew she didn’t want to tell me the truth. “Go on.”
“They knock you out for two days, it doesn’t affect the virus. If you turn, you turn in your sleep and never wake up,” she added, “they shoot you in the head.”
“Oh god, no!”
I wailed. A knock came from the door. “We’re okay, be out in a minute,” shouted Brittany. She rubbed my back. I pulled myself together, time to behave like a proper soldier. Many had died and I would grieve for them all, once I was off duty.
Brittany showed me where everything was and I changed. It was difficult and I didn’t mind her helping me. I equate it with a mother helping a child into their clothes after a bath. I checked my look in a small mirror and we exited the room to join the others. We were soldiers, armed and ready. No tears, no pain.
Chapter 23
The walk to the wall was short. We slung our rifles over our shoulders and climbed a ladder to the top of a four-foot wide platform that extended around the entire four outer walls. We would march up and down this platform, keeping watch while the others slept.
“Zee Zee!”
A wave of anger struck me. I focused and it subsided. I readied myself to meet his gaze and like always, his evil grin stared back at me. “Jones.”
“Is that how we talk to our commanding officer?” he smiled sadistically.
I stood at attention and saluted. “Aye, aye, Captain!”
Brittany burst out laughing, drawing us into her web of laughter. Jones slapped me on the arm—an army hug. “I’m glad to see you.”
I could see Brittany’s head moving and saw Jones’ eyes look her way. “Glad to see you too.”
“Well, this is our job, as grand as it is. All night long, we have the awesome task of staring out into the night, looking for zombies. By the way, a gift.”
Jones dropped the smirk and reached into his pockets. He held both hands behind his back and grinned.
“What?”
“Guess, idiot.”
“Oh, um,” I stared down at the arms behind his back. I decided to get smart. “I’ll take the left one, Alex, for $250, please.”
Jones brought the hand around, turned it over and opened it. He held a nice shiny silencer. “Just for you, my precious.”
Brittany cleared her throat.
Jones brought around the other hand and opened it, another silencer. “For the light of the world.”
Brittany blushed as she took it from him. “Thank you, kind sir.”
Jones led us to the far end of the wall, at the same time Brittany and I put our silencers on our rifles. I looked across and saw guards on each of the other walls. It was nice to know we weren’t tasked with the entire job ourselves.
Jones huddled us low against the wall. He looked to make sure we were alone. “One of the guys gave me those last night. The front guards don’t like it, but we do it anyway. When a stray zombie comes into view, shoot it with your silencer on your rifle, until then, take it off and keep it in your pocket. We got the west wall tonight, over on the south wall, zombies are dead all over the place. Everybody thinks they are coming from the city. We try to shoot them so they fall in a straight line. We are making a wall of zombies. How’s that for a barrier?” he grinned.
“Not bad.”
“Any chance of us taking out some zombies tonight?” asked Brittany.
“Yeah,” said Jones, “when those two knuckleheads leave the wall in two hours to make their interior sweeps.”
Our huddle broke. I took the left, Brittany the right, and Jones patrolled the center of our wall. We walked back and forth in our areas, watching the horizon. I liked the distance between us. It allowed me to think without someone constantly chattering in my ear. They weren’t like that, but others were and it was annoying.
My thoughts drifted to Charley and my not getting a chance to say goodbye to him. I wondered if he went peacefully, he slept through the change. Well, I get it isn’t so peaceful when you are dreaming and bam, a bullet slices through your head. I shook off the image and concentrated on the good, Simon. I wondered if I could get him to move in with me. Miss Sandy had already knocked the idea out of my head, or so she thought. It was back with a vengeance. No one could protect my brother better than I. I was a soldier after all, trained to kill and to protect.
Later that night, we gathered in a corner and saw zombies approaching, eight of them. I went first and took one out, followed by Brittany, and then Jones. The zombies fell one by one as if knocked down by the unseen wind. The others went around or stumbled over them. One went down and took a bite out of a fallen zombie, gross. We began a new round and this time, I thought of the wall idea and waited until a zombie was over another fallen zombie. I took aim at its head and with pinpoint accuracy, shattered his skull. Brains flew out of its head as it fell over perfectly on top of its fallen comrade.
Brittany squealed and held up her rifle, “my turn.”
“Wait,” I took aim again, “this one’s for Charley.” I squeezed the trigger slowly. Bang, another fell on top of the other two. My wall was rising. In time, we could build a wall as high as the sun; there were enough zombie bodies in the world to get it done.
My friends were happy. They kicked
up their heels and screamed into the night, reveling in their marksmanship while I remained calm and occasionally smiled. I was wet-blanket Zora again. It’s hard to relax and be loosey-goosey when everything has changed and everyone dies. I looked at them. I was honestly happy for them, but jealousy came to the party, forcing me to come up with my plan. I justified it by saying this place was no better than the wasteland the world had become. Zombies had turned them all, not into zombies, but into something worse: liars, deceivers, sadists, and worse of all, inhumane. My friends found their safety, their paradise. I questioned whether it was for me and Simon.
This is a good place. I had fought to get here to its safety, to be with my brother. We could live here forever. They had two gardens and plenty of people. I had a job, my brother and good friends, but one thing entered my mind, one burning question. I kept pushing it down, but it kept coming back throughout the night. I had done everything in my power to stay alive and get here and before the end of my first night, I was planning our escape. My question: How do I get the hell out of here?
# # #
Thank you for purchasing this ebook. SPECIAL OFFER: Below you will find the blurb for Book 2 of the series. If you post a review of this book to Goodreads or Amazon, email me and point me to it and I will send you Book 2: Kill Happy for free in the digital format of your choice. Enjoy and thanks for the support.
Kill Happy (Book 2 – Zora Baker)
If you thought Children of the Corn were bad, wait until you meet these children. They are strong-willed and have a plan. Zombies have destroyed mankind, but these children have prepared. They are the new generation and have crafted a New Eden to repopulate the world away from the zombie scourge. Their Adam and Eve scenario can work, except some backward thinking adults think the plan is barbaric and must be stopped. They believe the children don’t know what they are doing and are being led astray by possible pedophiles with hidden motives. What would do if in this Brave New World?
Something strange is happening. It’s not the constant zombie threat, this is something new, something sinister. Camp Brandt’s children are Kill Happy and long to slash a zombie with their machetes. But that’s not it, not entirely. Zora Baker keeps hearing the phrase “We’re the Future.” From adults it is wrong, but from the children, eerie.
Zombie Zora Page 20