I couldn't agree with her more. She was right, after all. There were more and more former humans tied to the trees along the side of the road as we moved deeper toward town. I began to recognize the clothing on some from the night we'd spent as guests of Bryan Crowe. They were his followers, or what remained of them. Someone had come along and turned them into nothing more than hungry corpses. But why? And how? The last I recalled, they'd been both paranoid and armed to the teeth. Whoever had done this must have had some serious backup. They were certainly not people to be playing around with.
I began to see shadows moving quickly between the trees behind the tied-up zombies. I couldn't make out what they were. Every time one would catch my eye, I'd turn toward it only to have it vanish before I could identify it. Meanwhile, another would move from the opposite direction and be picked up on the edge of my peripheral vision. I'd turn back, and it too would cease to exist. I began to fear it might be some sort of vengeance demon, brought to life by Bryan's opportunistic cult, as punishment for his human-to-zombie sacrifices during the monthly harvest festivals on the full moon.
“Xander,” Felicity whispered. “Do you see them?”
“Yes,” I breathed out, speaking as quietly as I could and still be heard.
“What are they?”
“I can't make them out,” I said, speaking low. “But I'm certain they're getting closer.”
All at once they came from every side, leaping out from behind trees and surrounding us at gunpoint. They were swathed from head to toe in dark black, with masks that covered all of their head except for the eye slit.
Ninjas, I thought. Just great! What's next?
“Climb down nice and slow,” they ordered.
Felicity and I instinctively had our hands up in surrender. I turned to look at her, and saw the guys behind us. We had absolutely no chance of slipping out of this one.
“Looks like we've arrived at our destination,” I said grimly. “Thanks for the lift, Nelly.”
I patted the elephant, and then slid off her side to the ground. I reached up to help Felicity do the same. She hesitated and looked around, then realized what I had realized, that there was no safe way to escape, and relented. She landed in my arms and I set her back on her feet. Taking her by the hand, we approached the head ninja in charge who held up his handgun to my face and began to look nervous.
“That's close enough,” he said. “Now take off your sword and set it on the ground.”
“No,” I calmly answered back.
“I said take off your sword,” he started again, but I cut him off.
“And I said no,” I replied, still trying not to sound confrontational despite refusing to comply. “I'm not going to willingly disarm. You've got us surrounded on all sides. You could easily kill us if we attempted to get away. We are completely at your mercy. If that's not enough for you, I'm sorry. I made myself a promise and I intend to keep it. I'm not handing over my blade again. Deal with it.”
Felicity squeezed my hand, as if to suggest that I'd been doing well enough standing my ground without tossing in threats or insults. I gently squeezed back in reply that I got it, and of course I also meant 'once again you are right dear.'
The masked man in front of me looked puzzled. From the amount of time it took him to respond, I gathered that he wasn't used to having this much trouble once he'd moved his ninja hit squad into place. I heard the sound of a vehicle coming our way from behind him. The masked man anxiously turned toward the noise, then back to us.
“Don't move,” he ordered, just as the Jeep came into sight. He turned and walked purposefully toward it as the vehicle came to a halt. Before he could explain the situation, the driver was up and out of the car, hair waving in the breeze as he locked eyes with me and practically ran in my direction. He looked both shocked and pleased, a nasty grin spreading across his face.
“Who is that?” Felicity asked, realizing things had just gone from bad to worse in a hurry.
“That's John from New Lompoc,” I gulped, my mouth going dry.
“I'll be damned!” John proclaimed, stopping just short of me. “We got guys looking all over hell and back for you and the misses there, and what do you do? You just stroll into town and surrender, on the back of an elephant no less! You are something else, you know that?”
“What are you doing in my hometown?” Felicity demanded. “What did you do to all these people?”
“This must be the little lady,” John said, ignoring her question. “I've heard she's a real firecracker. To tell you the truth, I've been looking forward to meeting her. I've only seen pictures of you, Miss Felicity Jane. I gotta say, despite your complete lack of both manners and makeup, I still think you look better in person. I'd even go so far as to say you look good enough to eat.”
I pulled my sword, and the ninjas surrounding us moved slightly closer.
“He refused to disarm, sir,” the head ninja informed John, still slightly out of breath from running to catch up with him.
“Is that right? Well don't you worry about Xander here,” John sang out condescendingly. “He's not much for rules, but he's got himself a conscience, or at least he used to before he murdered my buddy, Tank, in cold blood. Ran him down, and left him to die in a zombie horde. It was a crying shame. His daughter, Tammy, was left absolutely heartbroken. To this day, we can't mention Xander's name without her bursting into tears.”
“And how would you know what happened?” I felt the fire rising up in me. I didn't like to be played with; and I didn’t like the way he was staring at my wife. I also didn't appreciate being disparaged by a man I'd last seen eagerly trading his loyal followers to a zombie horde, to save his own hide.
“I seem to recall you fleeing the scene in that very Jeep, like a coward, and leaving your men to die.”
“That is one hell of a version of events, son,” John howled, making a show of his laughter and smacking his leg. “That's one of the things I love about you, Xander. You always spin things to make it sound like you're the big hero. It's a talent really, not so far removed from an old storyteller spinning a yarn, and about as useful.”
“I'm sorry, but Tank wasn't really your friend,” I countered, feeling puffed up by the truth of my statements. “He'd been lying to you for a long time, and manipulating you. You just couldn't see it. He tried to kill me twice. If anything, he died because you ran and left him behind. If you wanna blame someone, all you need to do is find a mirror.”
“The game is over, kid,” John continued. “You put up a good fight, you ran, you hid behind your friends and let them die for you, but it's over now. You're mine. So if I say that's how it happened, then that's how it happened. Got it?”
“Like I said,” I persisted. “I was there. You weren't.”
“Okay then,” John relented. “Have it your way. I will tell you that I have a very good eyewitness to the accounts of that night, however – one whose judgment and loyalty I've never questioned. Maybe we should have him tell his side of the story, see if that straightens things out.”
“Bring him on,” I laughed contemptuously. “I happen to know for a fact that the only people that made it out of that death trap you set up were me and my pal, Benji.”
John smiled in a way that made me almost sick to my stomach.
“Come on out then,” he called at the top of his lungs. From behind him another larger man exited the Jeep and began heading our way. The closer he got, the worse the feeling in the pit of my stomach became. I didn't recognize him at first because he was riddled with horrific scars that disfigured his arms and head, like lumps of flesh that had been crudely sewn back together by a lazy mortician. He was missing his right eye as well, or presumably so, since it was covered with a black patch making him look like the scariest pirate I could ever imagine. It wasn't until he smiled that I knew who he was, and why the sinking feeling was now blossoming into a full-blown panic attack.
“Well look at you, Sleeping Beauty,” the monster-sized m
an said in a croaking, unearthly voice. “I almost didn't recognize you without the curly locks of flowing girl hair. Nice buzz cut, kid. You know you didn't have to dress up for the occasion, right?”
“Tank,” was all I could manage to say before the wind seemed to just die in my throat, his name coming out like a forced hiss.
-The End-
Praise for Zombie Attack! Army of the Dead
"Army of the Dead is bursting at the seams with treachery, misdirection, and teenage angst. It will engage readers..."
--SHANA FESTA, The Bookie Monster
"Army of the Dead is an incredible story. It's filled with constant character development, multi layered plots, romance, intrigue, even some tongue in cheek humor that gave me a few chuckles along the way...a nonstop thrill ride from start to finish."
--BLOOD, SWEAT & BOOKS
"Sagliani makes the conception of a compelling tale appear effortless. His sense of comedic relief interwoven with rising tension, relatable characters and plot development is the stuff of a veteran story teller that resonates among his audience long after the final chapter."
-- DAVE GAMMON, Horror News
"A meaty story, worthy of a read."
--HORROR AFTER DARK
"A plot that will keep you on your toes at all times! I definitely recommend this series to all zombie fanatics everywhere!"
--TONI, My Book Addiction
"I highly recommend this series to anyone who wants to read a great zombie book, and those parents who are looking for a book for their teen to read. Especially those young men who might not be that into reading. I think they’ll really like this series."
--LORI, Contagious Reads
"I thoroughly enjoyed Army of the Dead - a sequel that definitely did not disappoint."
-- JUSTINE WINANS, YA Lit Chick
Zombie Attack: Army of the Dead
by Devan Sagliani
Laughing Crow Media copyright © 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Cover art by Christian Bentulan
This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.
Chapter One
“I missed you too, little buddy,” Tank said, his voice like rolling gravel. “I've thought a lot about you since we last met. I've been waiting a long time to catch up.”
I felt the sword slipping in my fingers as fear spiked through me. I'd seen him die. It wasn't possible. But here he was, standing in front of me, a walking nightmare come to life.
It can't be, I thought. He was turned into a zombie. I saw it. He couldn't have come back, unless...
“You two sound like you've got a whole lot of catching up to do,” John said, jumping in to move things along. “Tell you what, let's take this little reunion back up to base camp.”
John turned to walk back to the Jeep, but no one followed him. The rest of us stayed rooted in place. Tank stared me down with an icy, gloating smile, while I did my best to hold the katana up and block Felicity from him. The ring of ninjas kept their guns trained on our heads, never letting up for a second. John realized he was on his own, and wheeled around with a practiced laugh like a cheesy villain on a bad television cop drama.
“What seems to be the holdup?”
“He's not disarming, sir,” the head ninja said without hesitation, never taking his eyes off us.
“And I don't plan on disarming,” I reminded them, speaking in a loud, clear voice so I wouldn't have to continue repeating myself.
“If you don't want me to start killing people you care about, you might want to rethink your attitude,” John shouted, his usually honeyed speech slipping as his anger began to undermine his nice guy act. “Now put down the sword and get moving.”
“No,” I said, not taking my eyes off Tank, who burst into laughter.
“What's so funny?” John demanded.
“It's nothing,” Tank guffawed, doing his best to pull himself back together. “It's just he ain't changed a bit. Didn't I tell you? If anything, he's worse than the last time we crossed paths with him. This isn't going to work, John. Why don't you just let me kill him here and now with my bare hands. At least that way one of us will get something out of this, other than a huge hassle.”
Tank began inching in my direction and I brought my sword back to full attention, seeing the ninjas lean in gun first as I moved.
“It is going to work!” John roared. “Playtime is over, kiddies. You can drop the act now!”
I smiled slightly at seeing him come unhinged. I had forgotten how watching him lose control always gave me a sense of satisfaction. It reminded me of what Moto always said. I did seem to have a supernatural ability to get under people's skin when I wanted to. I had also forgotten how dangerous John could be once he was pushed into a situation where his leadership was tested. The mad look in his eyes reminded me, and I began to worry he might try to make an example out of Felicity. Still, I knew that once I was disarmed, any chance we had of ever leaving alive dropped to almost nonexistent.
“You've got us surrounded on all sides by armed guards,” I said at last.
“That's right, Xander,” John said, “so now that you've stated the obvious, let's get moving. I have a lot more to show you and it's gonna be dark soon.”
“So if I tried to do anything, you'd cut us down in a hail of bullets,” I replied, ignoring his instructions again.
“Yeah, that about covers it,” John grumbled in a condescending tone.
“We'll come with you,” I offered, “but I'm not putting my weapon down.” I turned and looked John right in the eye, then looked back to Tank's malicious, grinning, deformed face. “Not while he's around.”
“Come on, John,” Tank groaned. “You gonna let this kid talk like that to you in front of your men? He's the prisoner, and he's making demands.”
“If you give me your word you won't hurt us, I will come with you,” I cautiously continued. “Despite our differences, I feel like I can trust your word. But I'm not going to give up my only chance to defend myself against the man who tried to set me up and murder me. I'd rather die here and now, than come along and have Tank make up some story about how I was trying to escape so he had to twist my head off like a chicken.”
“And what am I supposed to do if you decide to get all brave and try to slice and dice your way out of our friendly little campground?”
“You've got more than enough firepower to turn us both into Swiss cheese if we try anything stupid,” I laughed. “You want me to come along, those are the terms.”
“Fine,” John said without hesitation. “This whole thing is boring me half to death anyway. I forgot what a pain in the butt you are. I've still got a big reveal yet to come, unless you've found a way to ruin that too. Now let's get going.”
“Are you serious?” Tank looked like he was ready to explode in a fit of rage and kill us all.
“Xander will sit up front with me,” John said, ignoring the outburst. “Tank and Haki, you bookend his lady friend in the backseat. I'm done with this conversation. Do I make myself clear?”
There was a dark look that crossed his face with the last sentence like none I'd ever seen before, as if John's true face, his true nature, was shining through. It was scarier than anything Tank had ever shown me. I gulped as acid rose up in my stomach.
“Yes sir,” Tank acquiesced, his face transforming from outrage to stone.
“Good,” John said, still not relaxing. “Let's move on to phase two then. And Haki, let's see how fast we can get word out to our riders to call off the search. We could use the reinforcements back at base camp, despite how much I hate having to share close quarters with biker scum. I wanna make sure the handoff goes as smooth as possi
ble.”
“What handoff?”
“I thought you'd never ask,” John said, flashing me the most wicked, self-satisfied grin I'd ever seen in my life. “Hop on in and I will tell you all about it.”
I was expecting John to launch into his grand plan, but he wasn't ready to tell it just yet. We rode in silence toward the Great Hall where Bryan Crowe had once ruled over a religious cult of thousands, not even a year prior. The last time we'd been here the main road had buzzed with craftsmen working, women cooking, and children laughing and playing. Their functioning community thrived on interdependence, hard work, and the pride of self-reliance that comes from being labeled martyrs. They'd been religious zealots, brainwashed by a charismatic leader strung out on happy juice and group chanting, but they'd also been content with the lives they'd chosen, for the most part. Instead, now those happier sounds were replaced with a growing chorus of hungry moans from the starving masses of zombies tethered to the trees by unyielding metal chains. The closer we got, the more of them there were. I tried to see if I could recognize any of them from my last trip to the promised land of Ojai, but I couldn't make out any familiar faces.
I turned and looked behind me to see Felicity wedged between Tank and Haki. I gave her a grim smile and she returned it with a blank stare of disbelief. Things weren't looking all that great. I had to agree with her there.
This hasn't been the kind of day I'd expected, I thought. So far we've seen zombie clowns, resurrected neo-Nazis, and ninjas. I'm not looking forward to what comes next.
“You're going to love what I've got to show you,” John merrily told me, making me jerk my head in his direction like he'd just read my thoughts. He was back to his easygoing casual self, the early rage he'd shown us safely tucked away again.
“I can't wait,” I sarcastically remarked, trying to keep from freaking out. Inside, I kept wondering how far Felicity and I would make it into the woods before they started shooting if we were to jump from the moving vehicle.
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