Benji let out a moan and writhed around. Felicity looked up at me with concern.
“Hang in there, buddy,” I said. “We’ll be there soon.”
We connected onto the 101 and headed south without incident. As we drove through the remains of Ventura, I couldn’t help but think how much it looked like a Hollywood movie set for the end of the world. Like the kind you might see on a back lot tour of Universal Studios—only there were real dead bodies everywhere. Smashed cars littered the road. There were so many I had to slow down to maneuver through them. At one point I had to push a car out of the way with my front bumper.
Benji sat up. “What’s happening?” He looked groggy, but otherwise okay.
“We’re passing through what’s left of Ventura,” I said. “Just pushing some scrap metal out of the road to get through. How you feeling?”
“My head hurts.” He moaned. “And I am really thirsty.”
“That sounds about right. We’ve got plenty of water. Go ahead and crack open a bottle.”
Felicity was already on it. She reached back behind the seat and brought out a couple of water bottles, unscrewing the lid of one and handing it to him. Benji gulped it down as fast as he could and moved on to a second bottle.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Felicity asked.
“I’m not sure. It was all like a dream.”
“Try to think,” I urged him on. “Did they give you something?”
“That’s just it. I don’t remember taking anything. One minute I was watching you drive off, and the next thing I knew everyone was gathering around Bryan and me and crying and praying. I started to feel kinda funny, like my head wasn’t really attached to my body. My heart felt full of love, like it could burst out of my chest, you know? For a moment I thought maybe I had caught the holy spirit they are always talking about.”
“They must have slipped it to you before we left,” I butted in.
“Go on,” Felicity cooed. “What happened then?”
“I can only remember parts. I was in a big white room. They kept giving me some kind of sour grape juice to drink while I was changing into these.” He gestured to his homemade sacrificial outfit.
“How much did you drink, buddy?” I needed to know he wasn’t going to fall over and die on us. Even though he was talking, he still looked pretty sick.
“Not much,” he said. “It tasted funny. They kept telling me to drink but I’d only take small sips.”
“What else did they tell you?”
“They said I was going to a place where there was no more pain or suffering. I remember that because they said my family would be waiting for me there. One of the girls was singing some hymn and crying, but it didn’t seem weird. Her tears were glistening on her face like she was an angel. That’s the last thing I remember, other than waking up here. What happened?”
“They were going to kill you,” Felicity said. “They wanted to sacrifice you to the zombies for some religious ceremony. They were trying to get us out of the way so we wouldn’t interfere.”
That seemed to sober him up a bit. He sat up and stared at her.
“What happened? How did I escape?”
“She saved your life,” I said. “Felicity offered to take your place. She was ready to die for you, but in the end they settled for one of their own instead.”
Benji turned and gaped at Felicity.
“Why?”
“Because,” she said. “We’re family now. I couldn’t let them hurt my little brother.”
“I am really glad we met you,” he said.
“Me too, kiddo.”
She kissed him on the forehead again. Benji looked past me out the front windshield. He pointed off in the distance.
“What is that?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Looks like some kind of fire.”
We came around the corner and the Pacific Ocean burst into view. The Ventura pier was completely on fire. I didn’t even know how that was possible. It was eerily beautiful in a post-apocalyptic way. We marveled at it in silent wonder.
Just past the pier we ran into a full flock of zombies ambling across the freeway in search of food. They looked like a herd of cows that had wandered from a field to block traffic, but in this case they most likely wandered onto the interstate to find and eat drivers in stalled cars.
“Lock the doors,” I yelled.
“They are locked,” Felicity hollered back.
“Good.” I calmed down. “Then buckle up and hold on. We may have to hit a few to get past.”
“Be careful,” she cautioned.
I didn’t want to slow down but I knew from firsthand experience that speeding up could be disastrous. The zombies would not get out of the way. We were going to have to hit them to get through. The last thing we needed was to be stalled out in a zombie horde with no way to escape.
“What’s the plan here?” Felicity asked.
“Drive straight through,” I said, nudging the car forward.
Instantly they were on us. The zombies surrounded all sides of the car and began beating their fists against the windows. Either this batch of the dead were smarter than the rest or they were starting to learn to work together. The car rocked back and forth and Benji began to freak out.
“I don’t want to die!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
“We’re not going to die out here,” I said, giving the car some gas and running down a couple of flesh hungry monsters in the process. “Just relax.”
The words were barely out of my mouth when a big man in a tattered blue Mammoth Mountain hoodie punched through the window and grabbed Benji by the arm. We all screamed at the same time. There was shattered glass all over the backseat. I tried to turn around and hit the man but my seat belt kept me locked in place.
Now that would be an ironic way to die, I thought. Trapped in a car by a seat belt. I thought these things were supposed to save lives.
Felicity began beating the man in the head as he tried to pull his weight up and into the car to get a bite of either of them. I hit the seat belt release and swung around, punching the man square on the top of the head and driving him out of the car.
“Get us the hell out of here!” Felicity screamed.
I slid back down in the driver’s seat and hit the gas. We accelerated hard and ran over several zombies in a row. They made loud thumping sounds as their upper torsos slammed into the hood, in one case denting it. I could feel the tires going over the ones we’d hit, like large and gruesome speed bumps. Up ahead to the left there was a break in the horde. I turned the wheel and floored it that way. A woman’s arm hit the side of the windshield, causing it to crack into a brilliant spider web of broken glass.
We were free again. The road ahead was not obstructed. I looked in the rearview mirror, expecting to see a line of carnage we’d cut across the horde. Instead they had just reformed and began slowly lumbering after us.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked. “Anyone bit or injured?”
“We’re fine,” Felicity said in a shaky voice. “That was close.”
“What about you Benji?”
“I’m fine,” he said. “He grabbed me but he didn’t get a chance to bite me. Man, he smelled horrible. I can still smell it.”
“Good. I’m glad we’re all in one piece.”
“That was rough,” Felicity admitted.
“You look like you sobered up a bit,” I said to Benji.
“Yeah. I’m just hungry now.”
“Don’t worry. It looks like we’re almost in Oxnard now. We’ll stop up here in a bit and make some of that space-age grub that we brought with us from Jackson’s place. I’m personally looking forward to trying some exotic cuisine.”
“So close to the base?” Felicity seemed shocked by my plan.
“They’ll take everything once we get there,” Benji explained. “At Vandenberg the only thing they left me were my comics.”
“That’s right,” I said in my best o
ld timers panhandler impression I could muster. “And I’ve been dreaming about them there fancy pancakes since yesterday.”
Felicity and Benji’s laughter was cut short by the sound of several hard thuds hitting the side of the car.
“What the hell was that?” Felicity managed to get the question out just as the answer came.
Several men dressed like rogue warriors from a Mad Max movie came running out onto the highway, pointing weapons at us and firing. They hit the side of the car again. The air was filled with the sound of metal pinging on metal and then the passenger side window shattered and sprayed me with glass. I shook my head to free the loose shards from my hair.
“Get down!” I hollered.
A man with a bright pink Mohawk, wearing dusty outdated military gear, ran out in front of the car. In his hands he carried a bow and arrow. He raised them up and took aim directly at me. There was no time to swerve and I worried I might flip the car. I slid down in my seat and punched the gas pedal hard. I could hear the man’s legs crack as the front of the Lexus slammed into him. He screamed in agony and flew over the top of the car, but I didn’t stop.
Steam poured up from the radiator. The temperature gauge began to rise. The check engine light went on. Worst of all, the fuel gauge began to fall. I didn’t know if we were really leaking gas or if we’d just damaged the sensor in some way. Either way, it looked like we were going to have to abandon the car sooner than I thought.
“Damn,” I yelled. “We’re not gonna make it. We were so close!” I punched the steering wheel in anger.
“Who are those people?” Felicity asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, feeling the panic rise up in me. “But I am guessing they’re not friendly.”
“What are we gonna do?” Benji asked.
“I’ve got to get us off the freeway. We’re leaking fuel and we need to find cover in case they track us.”
“Won’t the zombie horde take them out?” Felicity asked.
“We can’t count on that, but I sure hope so.”
I saw a place in the road where it came level with the city streets and I jumped the barrier, popping the back left tire in the process.
“Hold on,” I screamed as the car shot like a bullet over the succulent covered divider and onto the asphalt. Sparks flew out from the back of the Lexus like Fourth of July fireworks as the rim hit the ground.
“I thought you said we were leaking gas,” Felicity shouted over the sound of rushing wind coming through the smashed windows.
“I’m pretty sure we are,” I said, doing my best to keep the car under control as I rammed up and over another curb and into a mall parking lot.
“Oh my God,” Felicity wailed.
“What?”
“The car is on fire!”
I looked in the rearview mirror but couldn’t see it. My first thought was that we were going to explode, like when a car is hit in the movies. I slammed on the brakes and the car skidded to a stop, wrapping around the concrete base of a light fixture near the entrance to Macy’s. I turned around to find Felicity and Benji huddled together in the back, waiting for the explosion.
“Don’t just sit there,” I shouted. “Get out now!”
They yanked open the door on the side that wasn’t smashed into a pole and scurried out. I threw mine open, grabbed my katana, and bolted.
My head hurt and I was feeling slightly disoriented and dizzy. Something warm and sticky ran down my face. I reached up and discovered it stung when I touched the top of my head. I stared at my hand when I saw it was covered with blood.
You must have smashed your head into the windshield in the accident, I thought. It’s not going to kill you but whoever those people are might. Plus there could be zombies out here. You’ve got to stay calm and find cover. Whatever you do, you have to stay awake and not panic.
My little motivational pep talk was working. I motioned for Felicity and Benji to join me.
Felicity held her hands over her mouth when she saw me.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I lied. “It’s just a scratch. We’ve got to keep moving.”
“What about the car?” Benji asked. “All our supplies are in there.”
“The car is done. It’s just a matter of minutes before it goes up in flames, leading those people to us and probably another horde of zombies as well.”
“What are we supposed to do?” Felicity asked. “We can’t just go on foot.”
“For now, it’s our only option,” I argued. “We’re pretty close now to the base. I say we cut across the mall and head toward the coast. We can use it as a guide to make sure we stay on course. If we keep walking, we’ll reach Hueneme before sundown.”
“You want to go in there?” Felicity asked. “How do we know it’s not crawling with zombies?”
“We don’t. It’s just that out here in plain sight we’re sitting ducks for whoever those crazy maniacs are that attacked us.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Felicity asked, touching my face. “I’m not sure you’re supposed to move after an accident like that. You might have a concussion.”
“I think it’s okay as long as I don’t go to sleep right away.”
She leaned in and kissed me.
“Guys,” Benji said. “I think I see someone coming.”
I looked past Felicity to see a cluster of men in the distance walking on the highway. These weren’t zombies. They were hunters, coming to get us and have their revenge for their fallen comrade, no doubt.
“Let’s move.” I drew my sword.
Benji practically sprinted past me and Felicity followed him.
There was tenderness in my right ankle as well. I didn’t notice it until I began the walk up the mostly empty parking lot toward the front entrance.
Please let the doors be open, I thought. If they were operated by electricity, or locked up and we had to go the long way round, we were goners for sure.
Benji reached the front first and waited for me. A pane of glass had been removed cleanly from the store window, letting us freely step in. I poked my head inside, half expecting to get it chomped by a hungry zombie, but the store was empty of people as far as I could see.
“Stick together.” I turned to Benji. “Whatever happens, I don’t want you running off unless I say so. Got it?”
“I got it, boss man.”
We climbed in, sliding past a rack of dresses as I glanced back toward the abandoned Lexus. The cluster of hunters was getting closer. They were definitely coming for us.
Chapter Twenty Three
We made our way through the department store, walking up a frozen escalator and out into the main part of the mall, without spotting a single zombie. As far as I could tell the place hadn’t been infested with the dead. There were none of the telltale signs--no blood, no human remains strewn about, no smell of rotting death and decay. It seemed totally impossible, but the mall was clean. The stores were all open, but shrouded in darkness.
Above us a clear panel skylight allowed rays of the sun to illuminate our path. Birds flapped around over our heads, going back and forth between stores on the second level. My stomach growled as we marched past the food court toward an exit on the other side of the mall, passing a Wetzel’s Pretzel.
That’s just what I needed to see, I thought. I’m freaking starving. I’d have killed a hundred zombies for a pretzel right then and there and stacked the bodies into neat piles for our not so friendly new friends.
“Can’t we stop and check to see if there is anything edible?” Benji was as hungry as I was. Maybe more since he’d just come down from drinking the blood of the Lamb.
“There’s no electricity,” I said. “Which means the food’s all spoiled anyway. Besides, if we did find anything we’d have to prepare it. We’ve got hunters on our trail. We don’t have time to stop and cook.”
“The smell would lead them right to us,” Felicity added in a soft voice.
“She’s right
,” I said. “Our best hope is to head to the coast like I said and hope we lose them along the way. For now we’ve got to at least stay ahead of them.”
“We can’t go forever without eating,” Benji pouted.
What’s wrong with this kid, I thought? We’re being hunted down like wild animals and he is crying about missing his juice box at snack time?
Benji was usually pretty easy going. I chalked it up to the trauma of the accident and being grabbed by that big zombie. That would be enough to freak anyone out. Still, I hoped he would get it together and not slow us down. Everyone needed to stay focused if we were going to make it out alive and together.
“We’ll find food along the way,” I said.
“What if we don’t?”
“We will. Worst case scenario, we eat at the base. Now stop arguing and hurry up.”
Benji scowled at me. I had become the mean parent. I guess someone had to play the role but that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it.
“Come on,” I said. “I don’t want to argue about this all day.”
I heard a high pitch whistle hum through the air to my left side.
“Xander?” Felicity’s voice sounded off, like she was fighting back tears. I turned in surprise to see an arrow sticking out of her right arm.
“What the hell?”
I walked over and looked at it. It had pierced all the way through the skin under the bone and out the other side. Bright red drops of blood dripped from the barbed tip. I heard another whistle zing right past me before I could comprehend what had happened to her. The second arrow skidded off the shiny stone floor next to me, clattering across the tiles. I looked off in the direction the weapon had come from to see one of the hunters stringing up a third arrow. He smiled at us with black teeth.
“What do we do?” Felicity looked at me with big pleading eyes.
“Run,” I yelled, drawing my sword and holding it out in front of me. Benji and Felicity turned and bolted for the sliding doors at the end of the mall.
The third arrow whirred directly toward my head. I brought my blade up as I ducked and knocked it into a planter between the Orange Julius and Hot Dog on a Stick.
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