Zombie Attack! Box Set (Books 1-3)

by Devan Sagliani

  “Where is your mom?”

  “She passed long before Z-day,” I said bitterly. “Cancer.”

  “I’m sorry,” Benji sympathized. “I didn’t know.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s not anybody’s fault really, except maybe God. Funny thing is, my dad got all religious after that. Then one day out of the blue there was a knock on the door and there was Moto. He’d tracked my dad down and come to confront him for leaving his mom.”

  “I thought you said he was transferred?”

  “That’s not what Aiko told him,” I explained. “She was ashamed of getting into trouble, especially by an American. In her culture there are strong prohibitions against being with foreigners, so she tried to say Moto’s father was this older Japanese guy who owned a factory a couple of towns over. The only problem was that Moto was clearly part white. The other kids teased him mercilessly, growing up. He says they called him a half-breed and a mongrel. He says he used to get beaten up every day walking home from school. Still his mom wouldn’t tell him the truth.”

  “That’s terrible,” Benji said.

  “That’s what I said,” I agreed. “Moto says it made him stronger though. He says he finally confronted his mother one day and she told him the truth—except the way she told it, my dad had taken advantage of her and left her in trouble. Moto was mad. He wanted to track down his father and challenge him to a fight. He wanted to restore his mother’s honor.”

  “Did they fight?”

  “No.” I laughed. “Once my dad explained everything to him there was no reason to scrap. Moto believed him right away. The truth has a certain ring to it. I guess his mother had lied to him about a lot of things to him growing up. My dad told him he could stay with us if he liked. He was like fifteen years old at the time and didn’t speak much English. We got him a tutor and he did really well. He always was a fast learner. We adopted him on his sixteenth birthday and made it official.”

  “Were you happy to have a big brother?”

  “I was a little weirded out at first,” I confessed. “My friends kept giving me a hard time about him. He was kinda odd the first year, but I guess that was just a cultural issue.”

  “What turned things around?”

  “He saved me from getting beaten up one day after school.”

  “Like the way you saved me back on the base?”

  “Pretty much,” I said, nodding my head. “He didn’t have any friends in his own grade so he used to follow me around. He said he was practicing his ninja stealth skills.”

  “Cool.” Benji smiled.

  “I didn’t think so at the time,” I admitted. “Then I got jumped by these older kids from middle school one day. He came out of nowhere. It was like he literally appeared out of thin air. One minute I was getting pummeled and the next he was there, fists moving so fast I couldn’t keep track of them. After that we got along much better.”

  “So you started training with him?”

  “Believe it or not, I didn’t,” I confessed. “It wasn’t until later when I got older that I realized what a valuable resource he was. I guess part of being a kid is taking things for granted.”

  “Did everyone call him Moto or is that your nickname for him?”

  “Oh yeah,” I said. “I almost forgot the point of this story. So his name was Yasho Ishimoto when he came to live with us. My dad had it legally changed to Patrick Macnamara when we adopted him, but by then I had gotten used to calling him Moto. He liked the nickname. He said it allowed him to keep a part of his identity. He was proud to take his father’s last name, but he didn’t want to lose who he was in doing it. My dad was so happy to have him as a son. We hadn’t been doing too well since my mom died. Moto changed all that. Suddenly my dad was like a new man, not just to Moto but to me as well.”

  “Why?” Benji asked.

  “I think he saw a lot of my mom in me,” I said. “He never said it, but that’s my guess. He loved her so much that just looking at me hurt him. When Moto came, it gave us a chance to be a family again. Instead of focusing on what he lost in life, on Jane or Aiko or my mom, he could put all his energies into us. Suddenly we were going camping and hunting and to big sporting events. Moto gave him an excuse to do all that stuff, you know — to show him how Americans lived, but I think my dad loved getting a second chance.”

  “That’s an amazing story,” Benji said. “And you’ve been close to your brother ever since?”

  “Yep,” I said. “I trust him with my life. He’s about the only person left I can say that about.”

  “I hope you can say that about me one day then,” Benji said with a smile.

  “I’m sure that day will come, little man,” I assured him.

  “Can we pull over? I need to go to the bathroom.”

  “One or two?” I asked.

  “One,” he said tentatively. “I think . . .”

  “I know what you mean,” I said. “We’ve been in the car a long time. I’ll tell you what. The sign said we are almost to the 101 split. We can pull over when we get to the coast and go on the beach.”

  “I’m not going to make it that far,” he warned me.

  “Why didn’t you say something before then?” I tried to hide my annoyance but I was too tired.

  “It just kinda crept up on me,” he said defensively.

  “Fine,” I said. “We’ll take this next exit. But you better keep your eyes peeled. If you so much as think you see a zombie, we’re flipping around and you’re holding all the way to Ventura.”

  He nodded, holding his pants and squirming. I pulled the battered truck down the off ramp and toward a side road that ran parallel with the highway. In the distance, the first rays of sunlight were starting to come up.

  Chapter Thirteen

  We drove down a small street that dead ended at a private school. It had a huge field and a large parking lot full of cars.

  “What is this place?” Benji asked in surprise.

  “Looks like one of those fancy schools for kids whose parents are extremely rich,” I blandly commented.

  “Why are there so many cars?”

  “I don’t know. It’s a bad sign though.”

  “It is?” Benji turned to me in surprise.

  “Cars mean people,” I explained. “So where did they go?”

  “Maybe they’re hiding in the school,” he suggested. “Like a commune. Maybe they’ve stockpiled their resources and are surviving until help comes.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “And maybe they’re all zombies now. Maybe the whole place is crawling with hungry, undead monsters just waiting for us to walk through those doors so they can snack on us.”

  Benji swallowed hard. “Do you think so?”

  “I don’t know. We have to be careful.” I turned the truck around and pointed it back toward the way we’d come. If things did go bad, I was planning on driving back up the off ramp rather than looking for the freeway entrance.

  I put it in park, set the brake, rolled the window down, and got out. Benji followed me. I could feel pins and needles shooting through the lower half of my body. We’d been traveling for so long I hadn’t noticed that my legs had fallen asleep. I grimaced as I forced myself to walk them back to normal.

  “Are you just going to leave it running?” Benji asked.

  “It’s not like anyone is going to steal it,” I said, immediately regretting my choice of words. Now if someone came running out of the bushes and took off in the truck, I would feel like a total moron.

  I shook the feeling off. More than likely if we saw someone they’d already be dead. Stealing the truck would be the last thing on their agenda, right after eating us alive and picking their teeth with our tasty bones.

  “Besides,” I continued, “I’m not so sure it will start up again if we kill the engine.”

  “It’s barely hanging on,” Benji agreed.

  “Right. So this way if something happens we can run back and jump in the truck and take off right away. Worst
case scenario is you lock yourself in and take off without me.”

  The large American flag above us whipped freely in the wind, drawing our attention.

  “I’m scared,” Benji said.

  “I’m here,” I said, drawing out my blade. “Let’s just get this over with as quickly as we can.”

  We walked slowly up to the front of the school and opened the doors. The hallways were empty upon first inspection. Part of me wanted to walk around the school, do a full sweep of the grounds, but the urgency to go to the bathroom overwhelmed me. Inside the hallway were doors clearly marked Men and Women. I walked cautiously to the end of the hall. Peering around the corner, I found both sides empty.

  “Do you see anything?” Benji whispered. He was nearly dancing around now and holding his pants at the crotch.

  “Looks clear,” I said. I pushed open the bathroom door and checked under the stalls. The place was deserted.

  “Hurry,” Benji said, now literally hopping back and forth.

  “Okay. Do your business but don’t waste any time. I’ll keep watch outside the door. If you hear me yell, you pull up your pants and get out of there. Got it?”

  “Got it,” Benji said, pushing past me and running into the stall. I shut the door to give him some privacy. The hallways were eerily quiet. I understood that we were basically in the middle of nowhere but it didn’t make sense to see all those cars just sitting out front.

  Maybe there was a football game or something, I thought. Maybe they parked their cars and took a bus to a sporting event.

  Looking back toward the way we came in, I noticed a huge cross hanging above the door.

  It’s a Christian school, I thought. Maybe they were all raptured.

  A loud flush quickly pulled me back to reality. I heard the water go on in the bathroom as Benji washed his hands. I propped the door open.

  “Everything okay in there?”

  “Better than ever,” Benji said.

  I took my turn while Benji waited outside. It was nice to have a moment’s privacy even if I was too paranoid to really enjoy it. I cleaned up and walked back out.

  “I’m hungry,” Benji said when I came out.

  “Well that didn’t take long,” I countered.

  “Can we search the school for food?”

  “Feels kind of like we’re pushing our luck.”

  “Puh-leese?”

  “Okay,” I said. “But at the first sign of trouble we’re high tailing it back to the truck and getting out of here. Agreed?”

  “Yeah,” Benji agreed.

  “If I so much as see a dead body, I am out of here.”

  We set off into the school at a snail’s pace. It was just too much to believe there was no one there. We searched all the classrooms, but all I found was a flask of whiskey in one of the teacher’s desk drawers.

  We ended up in the teacher’s lounge. I opened the fridge but knew the minute the door swung open there was nothing edible in there anymore. It smelled horrible, like a pile of rotting tuna fish sandwiches.

  “What about the cafeteria?” Benji asked as I gagged and shut the door. “Or maybe some of the vending machines?”

  “Good idea,” I agreed.

  We popped a couple of the machines on our way and grabbed handfuls of junk food. Both times I waited to see if the sound of breaking glass would attract anyone, but there was nothing. So far as I could tell, we truly were all alone.

  The cafeteria had a bunch of frozen food that had gone bad. There were tins of dried pasta and sauce but we’d have to cook them and I wasn’t comfortable sitting in one place that long, even if we could get a fire going.

  “What about these?” Benji pointed to two large tins that read FRUIT COCKTAIL on the side.

  “They’re better than nothing,” I said.

  We rummaged around and found a can opener then peeled the top off one. I grabbed a ladle and Benji used a wooden spoon. We sat down and ate the sugary concoction of peaches, pears, and cherries without conversation. When we were both too full to take another bite, I stood up and turned on the water. It was cold but clean. I rinsed my face and gulped down several refreshing handfuls. Benji followed my lead. I could feel the life returning to me.

  “Did you ever think you’d be so happy to eat canned fruit?” Benji asked. We both laughed.

  Then I heard something and I froze in place. Benji saw the look on my face and turned his body toward the door. I motioned for him to stay still. We sat there for a while, not making a sound.

  “What is it?” he whispered.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “It sounds like a radio picking up static.”

  I took out my sword and held it in front of me as I walked toward the sound. Behind the kitchen was a small hallway leading to the gymnasium. The doors were closed. There was a smell in the air that reminded me of an old campfire that had burned out. I held my hand out to signal Benji to stop. He froze dead in his tracks. Leaning over, I peeked into the gym through a window in the closed doors. I lowered my sword when I saw the bodies spread out on the floor.

  “What is it?” Benji asked.

  “I found the people,” I said cheerlessly. I tried the door but it was locked. “Stand back.”

  Benji stood against the wall and I kicked the doors several times to try to get them open. They held fast together despite my best efforts. Loud booming sounds echoed down the hallway with each kick.

  If there are any zombies here, they’ll know right where to find us now, I thought.

  I gave the door one last kick with everything I had in me. It popped open and the stench of the dead bodies hit me full in the face. I fell over and threw up sticky peaches in syrupy nectar. Benji helped me back to my feet.

  “The smell doesn’t bother you?”

  “I’m used to it,” Benji said. “I mean, as much as anyone can ever get used to it. What happened here?”

  We walked into the room, stepping over the bodies of whole families—parents and kids alike. Their faces were purple and swollen and their eyes bulged horribly out of their heads.

  I found the radio and shut it off. In the middle of the room were the remains of a large fire and several empty bags of charcoal. I knew what had killed these people.

  “Carbon monoxide poisoning,” I reasoned.

  “What?” Benji asked. “How did that happen?”

  “They tried to light a fire in here,” I noted. “I don’t know if they were planning on cooking or just trying to stay warm. With no ventilation, it didn’t take long to kill them.”

  “How is that possible? This place is huge!”

  “It doesn’t take much,” I said. “We used to do a lot of camping. One time this old couple next to us in the campground put their barbeque away under their trailer, thinking the coals were extinguished. They went to bed with their windows closed because it was cold. The coals reignited in the middle of the night. The fumes came up through the floor boards and killed them in their sleep. They looked just like this when the paramedics showed up to take them away the next day.”

  “How’d they know to look for them?”

  “Ranger found them,” I said. “Came around to collect the campground fees and when they didn’t answer he got nervous. I guess he could smell something funny. Smelled just like this.”

  “Is it safe to be in here?” Benji looked around nervously.

  “Yeah,” I said. “It is now. They look like they’ve been dead for a while. That’s why there are so many cars in the parking lot. They probably came here to wait out Z-Day together thinking there would be safety in numbers. They were listening to the radio for updates. More than likely they just got ready for bed and went to sleep but never woke up.”

  I glanced around until I found a well dressed man. I bent down and rummaged through his pockets, pulling out a set of car keys with an alarm.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Getting us a new ride,” I said. “Thanks, buddy.”

  We headed back outside toward
the parking lot. There was still no sign of life anywhere, but I was less worried now. If zombies had been here they’d already discovered there was no food for them. It wasn’t likely they’d be drawn back by the smell of two random teenagers over the scent of two hundred plus rotting corpses. I held the keys up in the air and pressed the alarm over and over. Finally a dirty black Cadillac Escalade chirped.

  “Let’s hope the battery still has some juice left in it,” I said as we hurried over to it in excitement. I hopped in to the plush leather interior and shoved the key into the ignition. Instantly, it came to life. I felt like fighting back tears as the air conditioning hit my face on full. Benji climbed around in the backseat.

  “Look at this,” he said, holding up cans of energy drinks.

  Turning around I saw that there were cases of water, energy drinks, and diet soda.

  “Nice going,” I said. Benji smiled. “You leave anything in the truck?”

  “Just that Metallica tape,” Benji said.

  “This thing has a six disc CD player in it,” I said. “It’s not going to do us any good.”

  We drove back out the way we came and got back on the highway. There were no signs of life along the way and I was grateful. Despite being knocked-out tired, it felt good to be in a luxury vehicle instead of that broken down truck. Benji grabbed us both a couple of sugar free Red Bull’s and we knocked them back as fast as we could. I tried turning on the stereo, but it just kept telling me the GPS couldn’t find the satellite so I shut it off. I was definitely going to miss that Metallica tape.

  In less than ten minutes we turned onto the 101 Freeway and made our way down to the sparkling ocean. I noticed we only had a half a tank of gas. That bothered me. The Escalade was a real gas guzzler. There was no way we were going to make it to Hueneme without stopping to refuel. I wasn’t sure I would make it much longer without sleep, Red Bull or no Red Bull.