“Take a good look,” I commanded.
“No man,” Skeeter cried, his voice rising high as tears leaked out of his eyes. “Please don't feed me to him man. Please. I was just doing what I was told. I'm new man.”
“Prospect,” I snorted. “This is what you want to be a part of? A pack of men no better than animals, who think no more of a human life than to throw helpless children to monsters and take bets on how long they will last or how they will die?”
“I didn't know man,” Skeeter blubbered, falling to his knees in the mess of bodily fluids smeared on the killing platform. “I swear man. They brought me here last night. That's the first time I've ever even seen the place. Honest. What was I supposed to do?”
“So why didn't you leave when they took off?” Felicity's voice sounded strangely calm, but a fire burned in her eyes I could not mistake. She wanted him dead just as much as I did. She was using all her strength to fight back her rage, just as I was. What had happened in those tents was too despicable for words. No normal human being could stomach it. The urge to eradicate all who were responsible for it, to hunt them down one at a time and bring them to justice, was nearly overwhelming and yet somehow totally natural.
“And go where? Huh? You think of that? Alphas are everywhere now. They're connected to the Warriors. Hell, they're even in bed with Unity Gang. If I took off, they'd just run me down like they did the night they took over my trailer park and grabbed my wife and son.”
“Liar,” I yelled in his face. “Alphas don't take hostages and then make them new members. They kill for sport. Everyone knows that. They torture their victims for fun, then eat them.”
“That's what I thought too,” he said, shaking his head. “But that's not what happened. It doesn't matter if you believe me. In fact it doesn't matter if you kill me.”
He looked up for the first time and made eye contact with me. I held his stare, but I couldn't tell if it was a well-rehearsed act or not.
“Why's that?”
“Because once the big chief finds out that the kids they were looking for came here and I let them escape, they're going to kill me anyway,” he said in a soft voice, looking back down at his blood soaked clothing. “They'll probably make me watch my family die first, then feed me to one of these guys.”
“No one has to know we were here,” I said, offering him a way out. “On one condition.”
His face lit up as he looked in my eyes again.
“Name it.”
“We need a vehicle. You get us keys to something we can drive out of here, and we'll leave you in one piece. What you tell your boss is up to you at that point.”
Sonya looked outraged, but Felicity caught her attention and with a shake of her head cautioned her not to interrupt.
“Deal,” he agreed, reaching into his pocket and fishing out keys. “My truck is through the back there. Just unlock the gate and head to the back of the trailers. You can't miss it.”
He held the keys out toward me, hope glistening in his teary eyes.
“Not so fast,” I warned, motioning for him to stand up. “You'll have to forgive me if I don't take you at your word, Skeeter, considering the cowardly way you almost took my head off back there. Tell you what, why don't we go together? You get us in that truck of yours and on our way, and in exchange we promise to let you live.”
“Sure,” he said a little too quickly. “I get it. No problem man. Let's do it.”
He shot back to his feet and began heading off stage.
“Slow down,” I cautioned him. “Unless you want a matching lump on your head, you're gonna wanna stay within a few feet of me and my friends. I'm not letting you lead us into some trap without making sure you're caught in it right along with us.”
“This ain't no trap,” he sang out, but I shook my head and he fell quiet. To the right of the stage I saw the remains of the top half of a girl. There was something familiar in the sad, vacant stare on her face. Then I recognized her.
“Airi,” I murmured. “God no.”
“Xander don't,” Sonya cautioned, but it was too late. I ran forward and leaned over the lifeless body, confirming my suspicion.
“Who is that?” Felicity asked.
“I'm not sure,” Sonya said.
I stood back up and turned away.
“She was the girl left behind to watch me at Hellfire to make sure I didn't escape,” I said. “She failed when you sprung me so I guess this was her punishment, to be sent here to die at the hands of mindless zombies, while other people laughed at her.”
“That one came in last night,” Skeeter offered, trying to be helpful. “The other tribe brought her. She jumped the line and got put on right away.”
“What do you mean, she jumped the line?”
The words were out of Felicity's mouth before I could speak, but I was thinking the exact same thing. I knew the answer would only make it harder to keep my promise not to kill Skeeter, but I had to hear him say it.
“They bring in the cattle in order of capture, usually,” he said.
“Cattle?”
“That's what they call 'em,” he spit on the ground. “Some of the guys call 'em the entertainment, but most call 'em cattle.”
“And how do they get these cattle?”
“Generally the same way they got me,” he said. “They ride into an unprotected area and kill anyone who fights back. Then they divide up the women and children into categories for sale as food or slaves or entertainment. We get sent the cattle, mostly kids. Every now and then, traitors or enemies show up and get put to the front of the line.”
“I thought you said last night was your first night,” I reminded him, exposing his glaring, bald-faced lie.
“It was,” Skeeter protested, shaking his hands for emphasis, “but that don't mean I never heard anyone else talk about it. They kept me in a small prison cell and beat me for information. I used to be a local cop. Plenty of times they told me how I would end up here when they were done with me. Said it was better than watching me dig my own grave. Eventually they broke me with the threat of killing my family. I'm not proud of what I've done, but I'd do it again for my wife and son. I just hope they're still in one piece, wherever they are.”
Sonya, Felicity, and I all exchanged looks once more. I wasn't sure I believed him, but I also knew we didn't have much of a choice at this point. We needed his help to get out of there, but first I had to see for my own eyes that we weren't leaving any kids behind for these monsters.
“Where do you keep them? The prisoners.”
“The kids you mean? Out back in the pens. That's why they call 'em cattle. They got them locked up until they're ready to perform.”
“How many are back there?”
“Pens can hold up to a hundred kids, but usually they don't keep more than a weeks worth of cattle at a time,” he said with a shrug. “They're too hard to feed and care for. Alphas aren't known for being motherly types, if you know what I mean. We ran out of live bait early because of the big emergency. Last thing the boss man did before he left was let all of them loose at once. It was a slaughter, as you can see. After that everyone just took off.”
“Take me to the pens,” I said, the bile rising back up in me. “Now!”
“It's your world, boss man,” Skeeter said, turning and walking slowly out in front of us. We followed him back through a series of flaps to a large gated area that cut the circus tents off from a walled community of trailers sitting idly by – and to the animal cages. He fumbled nervously with the padlock. Sonya slapped him upside the head, right on his juicy bruise, and he let out a fresh cry of pain.
“Quit stalling,” she advised him.
He snapped the lock apart and pulled the squeaky gate open. Casting cautious glances, he made a beeline past empty iron cages filled with dead animal corpses riddled with bite marks. There were the remains of lions and bears and zebra, all now covered in thick moving blankets of flies. One last cage had an angry-looking elephant that p
aced back and forth, knocking against the bars of its cage. It let out a loud roar when it saw us.
“What the hell is going on?” Felicity asked.
“Looks like they've been using the circus animals they found as part of the act,” Sonya said with disgust. “And when they're done, they just feed them to the giants.”
“Close,” Skeeter said, a strange look crossing his face as he smiled, “but no cigar.”
“Where are the kids kept?” I demanded.
“Here are the pens,” Skeeter said, his smile growing as he pointed to a series of wooden boxes sitting in the grass behind him. I moved forward to see they all had tiny scratches covering the outside. They reeked of piss and fear, but were otherwise empty. Glancing down I saw that there were no locks on the boxes. It didn't make any sense.
“There are no locks on the pens,” I pointed out. “How exactly did you keep the cattle from escaping?”
“We didn't have to,” he giggled, looking like the tables had turned for him. “They did it for us.”
Before I could ask what he meant, Skeeter threw back his head and let out a long, high-pitched whistle. The question died on my lips, as I heard the sound of low moaning coming from all sides of us in stereo. I turned to see an impossible sight, and my mind reeled in sheer terror. Rows of blood splattered zombie clowns were closing in on us from every side.
“Xander,” Felicity called out. “What are we gonna do?”
Before I could answer, Skeeter turned and bolted, sliding under one of the trailers and scurrying out the other side. A moment later I heard the sound of his bike being fired up, the loud rumbling only drawing more of the nightmarish monster clowns in our direction.
“See you suckers in hell,” Skeeter cried out, as he pulled back on his throttle and ripped off into the early dawn.
I raced to Felicity's side along with Sonya, who had begun to turn in wide circles, her lips moving like she was trying to count them all.
“This doesn't look good,” Felicity cried.
“Don't worry,” I said, holding her tight as we backed toward the animal cages. “I'll think of something.”
“You better do it fast,” Sonya said. “We're running out of time.”
“I hate clowns,” Felicity wept, turning her scared face into my neck and shoulders and burrowing in. “Please, Xander, make them go away! I can't die like this.”
“I'm working on it,” I promised, holding my sword up and trying to come up with a plan. My mind raced, but try as I might, all I could do was focus on the gnashing teeth of the zombie clown horde descending on us, as if a dinner bell had just been rung. There were easily a hundred of them, maybe more. I wouldn't be able to cut them down before they reached us. There were just too many of them to take on at once!
Think! There has to be a way out of this! It was no use. My mind was stuck on the terrible, streaked faces, torn with gashes, leaking pus and oozing black gunk, hungrily making their way straight to us.
The elephant behind us roared once more, making Felicity shriek in fear. I could feel the air move, we were so close to the trumpeting, and my ears were sharply ringing. The elephant stomped hard and rattled the bars of its cage for good measure, the padlock on the iron cage rattling against the rusty metal. Suddenly everything became clear.
“I've got it,” I exclaimed, “but you're not going to like it.”
“What is it?” Felicity's eyes brimmed with fear like I'd never seen before.
“Just stay right by my side no matter what happens. When I move you move, you got that?”
“I got it,” Felicity babbled, her lips trembling. “Xander, please don't let me die. Please don't let these clowns eat me!”
“None of us are going to die,” I promised, turning to Sonya who seemed to understand my plan without me having to tell her. “On three, got it?”
“Got it,” Sonya mouthed her approval, picking up a metal pipe out of the grass near her feet.
“One, two...”
Please let this work, I silently prayed.
“...three!”
Chapter Nineteen
With one swift movement I turned and brought down my katana blade, connecting with the padlock to the elephant's cage. The lock offered little resistance to my sword, falling away into the crop of sprouting weeds clumped around the edges of the animal cages. What happened next reminded me in so many ways of a bomb going off. First there was a booming crash, then the earth shook around us as a terrible roaring came over us in stereo, and finally the mangled body parts of zoms began to rain over us in revolting chunks.
It's almost like the explosion at Hueneme, I thought. After General Conrad blew the trenches.
“Get down!” I yelled, crouching into a huddle with Felicity as the elephant came charging out of the cage, violently knocking the door completely off its hinges. Sonya did her best to huddle into a ball as well, but the majestic beast ignored us all and went straight for the mob of zombie clowns, knocking down the first row and trampling them under its massive feet. Slowly we backed into the elephant cage, motioning for Sonya to join us.
“Stay absolutely still,” I said in a low voice; and once more we all crouched together, watching as the swelling number of ghoulish hell clowns ambled past us and toward the source of the commotion. Soon they were all clawing and biting at the elephant, but unable to slow it down. Their hands and teeth were not strong enough to pierce the tough animal’s wrinkled skin. Instead, they had been trampled underfoot like grapes in a wine vat, their thick dark blood staining the legs of the bucking beast a deep shade of burgundy.
“Xander,” Felicity whispered, tugging at my arm. “We can't stay in the cage forever. We need to find a way out of this place before it's too late.”
“Skeeter went that way,” Sonya pointed off in one direction. “That means there must be a way out over this cluster of tent folds if we head in that direction.”
“Still a lot of traffic over in that general area,” I chimed in. “I have another idea.”
Without explaining, I stood up and walked slowly out of the cage. Felicity waved her arms to call me back, giving me a look that showed she clearly thought I'd gone crazy again, just as I had in Paradise City before I'd been bitten. I walked to the side of a tent wall and raised my sword. With one silent-but-committed swipe, I cut a vent through the colorful fabric revealing a patch of dirt road just outside that wound around toward the parking lot. We'd come back over to the front of the tents without even realizing it.
“This way,” I motioned. “Hurry.”
Felicity and Sonya scurried out of the elephant cage and over to me. They hustled through the opening I'd slit in the cartoon-colored wall, and I didn't waste a second before following them. It didn't take much for us to stand out as a tasty alternative to an angry elephant. Several clusters of decomposing death-clowns had picked up our rapid movement and turned their attention back to us as an easy meal. By the time I had fought my way through the narrow aperture, my left foot catching on the fabric at the last second and sending me staggering into a dusty roll on the loose gravel road, there were already several grayish, bite covered, bloody arms reaching out for me like crazed fans at a rock show demanding an encore. Luckily for us, they weren't as nimble or as coordinated and were unable to navigate the impossibly small portal to follow us. I held my katana and turned to make sure we were still alone. There were no signs of the living or the dead around us, but off in the distance I could hear the rattling hum of bikes once again being carried in our direction on the honeysuckle sweet, high desert wind.
“Do you hear that?” I asked.
“Sounds like Skeeter found his buddies,” Sonya commented, spitting on the ground in disgust. Felicity glared at her, shocked by her complete lack of manners. We were a ridiculous-looking bunch, me in my Big Top Ringmaster outfit and the girls in torn and dirty Western debutante dresses, one a cornflower blue and the other a light shade of stained mustard. I was just so ecstatic to have avoided being eaten alive
by an ocean of terrifying clown-faced zombie demons that I had to fight back the mad desire to laugh.
“We never found any car keys,” Felicity reminded us. “How are we supposed to stay ahead of them on foot? They'll run us down in no time. Xander, why didn't we just siphon the gas? You were almost shot, I just got to relive my worst nightmare from childhood, and now not only are we nowhere closer to safety, but our enemies know exactly where we are!”
“Please tell me that you're not putting this on me right now,” I said, feeling totally blown away. “You want me to go back in there and fight off some clowns to get a set of keys? I'll do it. Just say the word and I'll fight my way back through those monsters for your keys.”
Felicity looked hurt by my comments and immediately I regretted them.
What does she want from me? I thought. We're all tired here. We're all trying to do our best. We all fought death and almost died.
“What are we going to do about the elephant?” Sonya asked, breaking the awkward silence between us. I turned on her, happy to have a new target.
“Now you want to start in on me? Is that it? What are we supposed to do?”
The elephant let out a loud roar.
“We can't just leave her in there,” Sonya said crossly, throwing me a dirty look.
Zombie Attack! Box Set (Books 1-3) Page 48