Zombie Attack! Box Set (Books 1-3)

by Devan Sagliani

  “Whatcha carrying,” he asked, looking back over to Felicity and winking, “aside from this pretty girl?”

  Felicity pulled her skirt down and put her legs together. Man, I thought, it must be scary as hell sometimes to be a girl.

  “Just some food rations and water,” I lied. If they found out about the gas they’d want it for sure. For a biker, fuel was maybe even more important than air. It was how they maintained control over the area. Without it they were just a scary tribe of guys on foot.

  “We’re going to need to take a look,” he said.

  “We’re kind of in a hurry,” I explained. “And we don’t have much to spare.”

  Rabbit chuckled.

  “You don’t get it do you, sport?” He spat on the ground. “I’m not asking.”

  “We’re not looking for any trouble,” I said, holding my hands up. For a moment I considered flooring it and trying to fight our way out right then and there while we still had the element of surprise on our side.

  “Well I guess this is our lucky day then, isn’t it?” He scoffed at us. I could feel Felicity trying to make herself smaller in her seat.

  “Now this is what’s going to happen,” Rabbit said. “You’re going to step out of the vehicle and we are going to search it for things we might find useful to our cause.”

  “So basically you’re just going to steal all our stuff.”

  “We’ve claimed this road,” he said, undisturbed by my outburst. “The toll for driving on it is generally half of whatever you are carrying, depending on how valuable we determine your cargo to be. We’re not monsters like them Unity Gang. We’re Sons of the New Dawn. We use what we take to fight them off, keep them from taking over all of Southern California. You might not think it’s noble, but then again who cares what the hell you think?”

  I began to fidget with the blade. I saw Felicity cast me a wary glance. The last thing she wanted was a fight, but I was fairly certain that, noble or not, it was going to come down to that. There was no way I was letting a gang of deluded bikers steal all our stuff and kidnap Felicity.

  “Now get out of the car,” he said coldly, adding with a smile, “pretty damn please.”

  “No,” I said casually, wrapping my hand around the base of my blade. I figured I could yank the door open and knock him over, then hop out and begin carving up anyone who got in my way. It wasn’t the best plan I had ever come up with, but I was starting to get really angry. I’d been through too much to let them take my chance of getting back to my brother away from me. I was sick and tired of other people derailing my plans with their nonsense.

  “Excuse me?” he said, looking genuinely shocked. “I don’t think I heard you correctly, little man.”

  “You heard me,” I said in a low growl.

  He shook his head in disbelief and laughed.

  “All right then, you little idiot,” he said, reaching in and grabbing me by the shirt. “We’re going to have to do this the hard way.”

  I smiled at him. My right hand was crossed over my lap with my fingers on the door handle. My left hand was now wrapped around my blade.

  “What are you smiling about?”

  I didn’t answer. I’m smiling, I thought, because in just a few moments the same fingers that are pulling on my shirt are going to be laying on the hot asphalt permanently detached from your body, you punk biker scum.

  Just as I was getting ready to make my big move, a booming voice came from behind Rabbit.

  “Rabbit! What’s taking so long?”

  His expression changed and he let go of my shirt, backing out of the window. He turned and I could see his buddy, a much larger version of himself with the name SCAR stitched on his jacket.

  “Nothing,” Rabbit said. “They are just getting out of the car now.”

  Scar walked over to the window and looked in. His expression changed dramatically when he saw Felicity.

  “Holy Jesus,” he said, sounding almost like a convert. “Do you know who that is? That’s Felicity Jane!”

  Rabbit looked confused. Felicity came back to life. The guy was obviously a fan.

  “Who the hell is Felicity Jane?” Rabbit asked.

  “Only one of the hottest and most talented actresses of her generation,” Scar said.

  Felicity blushed and pulled down the visor on her side to check her makeup. I rolled my eyes.

  This isn’t happening, I thought. A second ago we were ready to battle for our lives with hardened biker scum and now we’re being accosted by a die-hard fan. Unbelievable!

  Scar leaned in the window to get closer.

  “You probably don’t remember me,” he said, the heat of his breath practically in my face. “I met you at Comic Con last year. I stood in line for over an hour to get a picture with you.”

  “You were at Comic Con?” I asked, laughing dismissively. “What for?”

  Scar turned and gave me a nasty glare.

  “You see what I’ve been dealing with?” Rabbit protested.

  “I was in Starfire Galaxy,” she said. “I played the child queen of the warrior Amazonians.”

  “Ursa,” Benji said from the backseat. “They made that poster from the movie stills of her in the fur bikini. It sold like a million copies.”

  I suddenly remembered the poster on the ceiling in New Lompoc.

  “What are you doing here?” Scar asked.

  “My friends and I are heading to see my mom in Ojai,” she said. “I haven’t seen her since the outbreak and I am worried about her. We were taking her and my stepfather food and water. He’s diabetic so I am really concerned, you know?”

  “Right,” Rabbit scoffed. “A minute ago they said they were going to Malibu.”

  “I’m sorry,” Scar said in a soft voice. “We gotta take half your supplies. It’s our policy.”

  “You can’t make an exception for me?” She leaned over and gave him those sad eyes.

  “I wish I could, but the rest of the guys wouldn’t understand,” he said. “I promise you we won’t take the car though. We will need some of the gas, but that’s it. You really have no idea how huge a fan I am.”

  “If you’re really a fan then you won’t rob me,” she pouted, turning on all her charm. “I need this stuff for my mom. Please?”

  “I can’t do it,” he said, sounding really torn.

  “I do remember you. You were so sweet after waiting all that time. You brought me a teddy bear and I gave you a signed DVD for being so nice.”

  “That’s right,” he said, sounding shocked and pleased. “Do you still have the teddy?”

  “I named him Rasputin. He’s at my mom’s house.”

  “That’s amazing,” he said. “Rasputin . . . I like that.”

  “I have an idea,” I said. Scar and Rabbit glared at me for interrupting but I pressed on. “We have a spare can of gas in the back next to the water. That’s got to be pretty valuable right? Why don’t you take that and let us get on our way?”

  Scar stopped to think it over, running his dirty fingers through his salt and pepper beard in the process.

  “Yeah,” he said. “That might work. Go ahead and pop the hatch.”

  I did, and he walked back and took both gas cans instead of the single one I offered. I was glad that we were driving a hybrid. There was no telling when or how we’d be getting gas again. The last thing I needed was to run out ten miles from the base and have to fight my way across an urban jungle filled with zombies and bad guys.

  “You know you’re lucky,” Rabbit said with a nasty grin. “Usually when someone mouths off we just take the whole car and make them walk to Ventura on foot.”

  I didn’t say anything for fear of upsetting him further.

  “You’re very kind,” Felicity said. “I hope our contribution helps your cause.”

  “I remember you now.” He laughed. “You’re that broad from Star Dancers whose partner got chomped on live air. Yeah. I saw that on the internet. Funny as hell.”

  Fe
licity blanched and went silent. She sat back down and pulled on a pair of sunglasses, looking ill.

  Scar slapped the side of the Lexus with his big, meaty hand.

  “You are clear to go,” he said. “Good luck Miss Felicity Jane. Say hello to your mother for me.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The bikers moved the cars blocking our path and waved us through. We drove along the deserted highway in silence for a while.

  “That was close,” I said.

  “Yeah,” Benji said. “I thought for sure you were going to freak out and get us all killed.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, bro,” I said, flabbergasted.

  “Just saying.” He shrugged.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” I turned to Felicity. “It’s okay now. We made it out, thanks to you.”

  “Yeah thanks,” Benji said. “I guess being a celebrity still has its advantages.”

  “You okay?” I asked. “You look like you’re going to be sick. Do you need me to pull over? It’s okay if you do. It happens to the best of us.”

  “I was just thinking about what Ewan did to Mario,” she said.

  “Oh, that must have been rough.” I wasn’t really in the mood to get all negative again. We just escaped some serious trouble. We should have been celebrating, not grieving. I thought about Jackson. It had already been a long day and it wasn’t even noon!

  “The show was sponsored by Snax Max,” Felicity said. “They are a corporate food conglomerate that owns a bunch of fast food restaurants. Ewan was eating a Beefy Max Burrito supreme when he snapped.”

  “That’s not what made him sick though.”

  “How do you know?” She turned to look at me. “No one knows what’s causing people to kill and eat each other. How do we know it wasn’t contracted through bad food?”

  “Man I hope not,” I said. “I’d do just about anything right now for a Wetzel’s Pretzel.”

  “Have you ever tried the pepperoni twist?” Benji sat up from the backseat. “They are amazing!”

  “Almost worth risking a run through a mall for.”

  “Not me,” Felicity said. “I can’t get the image of Ewan biting him out of my head. One minute he was chowing down on that stuff and sipping a gallon of soda. The next he was on stage biting Mario’s jugular.”

  “That’s understandable,” I said. “I’d probably feel the same way if that had happened to me.”

  “Turn off up here,” she said as we passed the sign announcing Ojai.

  “We’re not going to Ojai,” I said, firmly shaking my head from side to side. “We talked about this. Especially now that we’ve given away most of our gas. We barely have enough to get to Hueneme.”

  “If it wasn’t for me, we’d be walking right now,” she said. “Plus it was your genius idea to hand out our fuel.”

  “That was the only way to get them to let us go,” I loudly protested.

  “He was this close to just letting us go. I had it all under control until you butted in to the conversation.”

  “Don’t act like I didn’t help.”

  “I saw your hand on the door,” she said. “You were getting ready to pick a fight. We’re lucky we’re not all dead. If that guy wouldn’t have come along and recognized me . . .”

  “You mean Scar?” I interrupted.

  “If Scar wouldn’t have interrupted, we might all be dead on the side of the road now.”

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I am sure they would have kept you for a pet, like you kept Rasputin.”

  “Let’s put it to a vote,” Felicity said, ignoring my not so playful jab. “Everyone who thinks we should let me go see my mom and be with my family, especially after I just saved our lives from bloodthirsty bikers, raise your hand.”

  She raised her own hand. The cocky smile on her face meant only one thing—that Benji had sided with her.

  “Come on Benji,” I said, adjusting the rearview mirror to see his hand fully extended. “We don’t have enough gas for that.”

  “Fair is fair. She has a point.”

  Sell out, I thought. Who’s side are you on anyway?

  “Two to one,” she said. “Looks like we’re heading to Ojai.”

  “I thought the saying was you can never go home again once you’re famous.” I turned onto the connecter and took us up and over a bridge toward Ojai. She cheered and Benji joined in.

  Little Judas, I thought. You’d do anything to get her attention.

  Was that a pang of jealousy I was feeling? I couldn’t lie. I did like Felicity, but I was trying to figure out if that was because of who she was as a person or if it was because she was famous.

  Give it time, a dark little voice in the back of my mind said. Just give it time.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “I know my way around town like the back of my hand. I could guide you there blindfolded. Plus I know an out-of-the-way gas station you can hit up when it’s time to go.”

  We drove the short distance east into town and she guided us along a series of roads toward her mom’s place. Since she told me it was up on a hill, I wasn’t all that worried. For some reason zombies tended to move with the path of least resistance when left alone. Of course that was before they began to form hordes and knock down walls, so I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t just giving myself a false sense of security for nothing.

  The road up to her mom’s place looked like something out of Christopher Robin’s wildest fantasies. There was a crooked old tree and a wooden mailbox with her new husband’s name on it, SWANSON. I half expected there to be a red balloon tied to it and one of the S’s to be painted backwards.

  “This is it,” she burst out, unable to contain her excitement.

  “Did you really grow up here?” Benji asked.

  “Yep. My dad lived in Las Vegas, so my sister and I would have to see him twice a month for the first few years after the divorce. Mom gave up everything and moved us out here. When she remarried her new husband moved us in with him out here. It’s paradise. I wish I had never left. After I started getting gigs in Hollywood, she got an apartment out there too, on Gower. That place was literally a roach motel.” She laughed.

  Benji climbed up to hear her story. He was totally spellbound.

  “She didn’t come to live with you?” I found it hard to believe. The media had always painted her mom to be the cause of all her problems--a money hungry failed actress who pushed one daughter into acting and the other into an early grave. Her little sister moved to Vegas at fourteen to live with her dad and ended up an underage stripper at a biker bar outside Glendale. She went missing for over a month then phoned in from Sturgis to say she was still alive. Two weeks later she was found stabbed to death in a motel in midtown Manhattan. No one knew how she got there. There were needle marks up and down her arms. Felicity was just starting to become a household name. Her sister’s death pushed her over the edge. It was all the media would talk about for nearly a year. The crime was never solved.

  “After Cassie died, she thought about it,” Felicity said. “The media began hounding her, following her around the grocery store. It took a real toll on her marriage. I told her that she and Phil could come live with me. I was leaving to shoot in Mexico and they could stay there while I was gone. I was so excited when she said she would, but then she backed out at the last minute.”

  “Was that when you shot Double Trouble?” Benji asked.

  “It was,” Felicity said, tearing up.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “I didn’t realize how much I missed her,” Felicity said, laughing and fanning her tears away with her hand. “I can’t wait to see her.”

  “Here we go.” I drove up the hill. There was a Ford F150 with huge monster truck tires in the driveway and a Subaru next to it in front of a ranch style house. We parked and got out. I grabbed my blade and held it out in front of me, twisting from side to side and leaning over to stretch. I glanced around, searching the trees for signs of people, livin
g or dead. It was eerily quiet but we appeared to be alone.

  Thank God for small miracles, I thought.

  Benji and Felicity started to walk into the house but I called out to stop them.

  “Let me go first,” I said. “Just in case.”

  Felicity looked annoyed but she didn’t protest. I walked in and she pointed to the right, toward the master bedroom. Moving along the hallway I could see pictures of her and her sister from when they were kids.

  Stay focused, I thought. There will be time to get the full tour later.

  I hadn’t wanted to come to Ojai in the first place. I was damn sure I didn’t want to get turned into the living dead for my troubles.

  The bedroom door was ajar, so I pulled it back slowly. A dry wind coming in through the open window blew part of the curtains back, making me freeze in place. Then I saw them. On the bed, dressed in their wedding clothes, were an older man and woman. They were perfectly still with their eyes open and just the hint of a smile on their faces. The woman was holding a note in her hand.

  No, I thought. Not another note. Not more tragedy. Not today.

  But it wasn’t in my control. Already Felicity was making her way into the room. Deep down inside I wished I could protect her from what she was about to see, but I knew I couldn’t. First Jackson and now this. It almost made me want to give her back the pills I’d confiscated at the beach house.

  “What’s going on?” Her voice faltered. Even as she spoke she knew the answer.

  I stepped aside and bowed my head.

  “No,” she cried. “No!”

  “What is it?” Benji asked.

  Felicity turned to me.

  “Don’t let him see this,” she said in a hushed tone. “Go out in the living room and wait for me. Please?”

  “Of course.” I walked to the door and turned Benji around, leading him away.

  “Are they dead?” He looked up at me, waiting for an answer he already knew.

  “Yeah.”

  “What are we doing?”

  “Giving Felicity some space. It’s a lot to take under normal circumstances, much less on the same day as Jax.”