Magic, Mystery & Zombies: YA starter set

by Elle Klass

  As I dozed in and out of sleep I thought of all the zombies in Naples covered in drying, hot lava. Their bodies melted, nothing left except bones. Or possibly those were melted too. The volcano continued to rumble but didn’t erupt again. If it did, I figured we were high enough it wouldn’t affect us. The ash from the eruption still spilled into the air, falling like a light snow dusting.

  “We-yak,” screamed a man as he chased me through wetland marshes at home, my legs splashing into the water beneath me. “We-yak,” he screamed again, closer this time. I was suddenly on an airboat coasting through the marshes – nasty lovebugs splatting against the boat and my face. I wiped them out of my eyes then put on goggles conveniently placed in front of me. “We-yak!” he screamed as I bolted upright in bed.

  It took a minute for me to get my bearings and the dream lingered as if it meant something. We-yak that’s what Bryce’s father said after he turned, but Bryce hadn’t a clue what it meant, if anything. Something inside told me we had to get back to Florida, back to his father. Maybe Bryce’s mom would know what we-yak meant. Did she know about her husband? Life was becoming a nightmarish blur, but I was sure I remembered Bryce mentioning that he told his mother about him turning. I brushed chunks of hair from my face and lay back down. It was still dark outside.

  The smell of powdered eggs and toast grabbed my attention and urged me awake. My parents had already vacated our little sleeping quarters. I sat up in bed. My entire body screamed at me as pain radiated throughout it. I pushed it aside and padded gingerly into the living area and it was empty, so was the other bedroom, meaning everyone was outside. I glanced at the little bathroom and wondered if it was safe to use for a tinkle. Shrugging. It didn’t matter, we were leaving the boat, so I took my tinkle in the toilet then joined everyone outside.

  They all sat around the campfire and shoved food into their faces. It might be the last decent meal we had for a while. I joined them after we suited up to take on the mountain; nine tiny living people and a cat against whatever horrors awaited us.

  We geared up; Jack with the rifle, Bryce with the shovel, and my dad with a heavy wrench and heavy-duty bolt cutters. We had enough bats that Bryce used extra clothing to rig carriers on our backs for weapons, extra shovels as well as a bottle of water each and a couple flashlights. Heather donned a medical kit and hoe -- I assumed so she wouldn’t have to get close to anything. My mother had some type of gardening tool that doubled as a walking stick and weapon. Sarah wore a jacket she tucked Cat into, his head popped out the top and a fireplace poker. Everybody carried at least one weapon, except little Melissa. Jack pulled the cart we stole from Spain loaded with food. I wasn’t sure how well it would fare in the terrain, but respected the idea.

  In a pack, we headed over the mountains. We went downhill as much as we went uphill. It was silent, like everywhere else, and we each moved slowly as our bodies were past sore. There was nothing moving, we were isolated with no GPS. I did stuff my phone and charger into my pocket in case. It hadn’t done me any good for days but seemed a waste to leave behind.

  For what felt like hours, we walked and my body loosened up and the pain lessened. Bryce or I carried Melissa when she grew tired. Finally we stopped when we made it to a tree line. The vegetation wasn’t thick, but offered shade.

  “It’s about noon,” my mother announced, shading her hand over her eyes as she peered at the ashen sky.

  We put together a small lunch and rested. Katrina sat with Melissa who sucked the juice out of a can of fruit she just finished. I thought to ask her about we-yak but thought better of it. I’d wait until we were someplace relatively safe.

  “I’m guessing we’re somewhere in Africa,” announced Jack, stuffing a bite of tuna sandwich into his mouth.

  “How do you figure?” asked my father.

  Jack swallowed then answered, “The tsunami washed us somewhere high, into mountains but we could see the sea below us. The Atlas range extends over the northern region of Africa.”

  That made sense. I left them to their discussion and snuck next to Heather. “Any ideas on the virus yet?”

  “Well, we have a larger crew now, so after I speak with them I’ll have to reevaluate.”

  “But you had an idea?”

  “Sort of, but the pieces don’t all fit so I’m at a bit of a loss to say anything yet.” She smiled. “If we can get back to civilization and find a medical office of some kind where I can take blood samples and such I may be able to come up with a working hypothesis.”

  I nodded.

  She clucked her tongue. “You say you’re allergic to mosquitoes.”

  “Yeah,” I answered, looking at my nails. I’d put on a fresh coat of bug repellant nail polish after my shower yesterday and made sure to bring the bottle with me. I didn’t need to turn into a watermelon while we were wandering through the mountains with only Heather for medical care.

  “Did you know Bryce is allergic too? In fact, we all are to varying degrees. That’s what causes the red welts and itching.”

  Did I know? It didn’t seem like news, so he must have told me sometime in the past. Then I remembered he wore bug repellant bands over his upper arm. I glanced at him and, sure enough, he had one visible beneath his sleeve. Did our allergy mean something?

  “Looks like it’s time to leave,” she said, pushing off the ground to her feet.

  Everyone was rising; our little pit-stop was over. We hadn’t walked more than fifty feet when Jack halted in front of me. I almost ran into his back. “Do you hear that?” he asked.

  We all stood stock still and listened. Water; it was rushing water.

  “It’s water,” said Bryce as he leaned his ear to hear where it was coming from. “We should follow it.”

  Oh no, déjà vu. I remembered the dream and the watering hole we found. That’s when the red-eyed monkeys discovered us and chased us smack into the zombies. Taking in a deep breath and watching my step, I followed Bryce and everyone else toward the sound of rushing water.

  It was possibly thirty minutes to an hour later we found the source of water and followed it. Since water runs downhill it made sense, but I cringed at finding any type of civilization because that meant finding more zombies.

  It was far too thin to be a river, so I figured it was a stream which would eventually lead to a river. The sky was changing shades of color again, meaning sundown was near. We’d need a place to rest for the night. The stream grew wider and the land around us leveled. I lifted my father’s binoculars that hung around my neck, placed them in front of my eyes, scanned the area, and spotted a dot of brown on the horizon. I continued watching the dot grow larger as we moved forward.

  It wasn’t a dot at all but a wooden house, along a wide area in the stream. I moved close to Bryce and handed him the binoculars to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating an oasis on the horizon. “Follow my finger,” I said as he’d said to me in the past.

  Sarah trotted alongside us. “What is it?”

  “A house, maybe a ranger station,” said Bryce, lowering the binoculars and handing them to Sarah.

  By this time we’d gotten the adults’ attention as they stopped moving and stared at us, my dad wearing his tell-me face.

  “A house, where the stream gets wider,” I said.

  We made plans to take over the house for the night. The zombie fighting men would go in first. I offered to go in as well but my dad gave me a firm ‘no’. Bryce made me feel better when he told me he’d rather I was watching his family than Jack.

  The house was still and quiet, which really didn’t mean anything, and a large shed or small barn was a few yards behind it. It sat flush with the ground, no porch, and the wood looked more than a little weathered but the structure was solid. Us women plastered ourselves flush with the house as the testosterone flaming men went inside.

  The house was in a clearing surrounded by woods on the opposite side from the stream. We stood still and a small rustling sound caught my attention. At first, I
thought it came from inside, but when it happened again I realized it wasn’t from inside the cabin but the woods, only fifteen feet or so from where we stood.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Tan furry legs stood close, too close, when I saw they were attached to a lion. Out of the corner of my eyes I glanced at Sarah, Cat still snuggled against her chest, next to me and Katrina beside her. Melissa was sandwiched between them and Heather and my mom stood closest the door. I shifted my eyes back and it was still there.

  My heart thumped hard enough to jump outside my chest, but I stayed still and quiet. The lion was lying, his head on the ground like a puppy, watching the house. I didn’t know if it saw us, but I sure saw it and he was huge. His mane was matted and hung loose around his thick neck.

  I focused my attention toward the men inside and listened as I kept one eye on the lion. My ax wouldn’t do much to hurt him unless I was close, but in that case I’d already be dead. He was bound to be far more clever and faster than the deaders.

  Scuffles sounded from inside the cabin and a door opened, then the door closed and footsteps moved closer to us, then further away. The smell of death carried past us with a breeze. I figured the guys were cleaning up since they killed a zombie or a zombie was close. I kept my eyes and ears peeled and heard and saw nothing. The lion scrunched his nose and whipped it about then moved a few steps backwards. I guess he didn’t like eau de zombie either. I hoped they were going to let us in soon. It had to be safer than outside where we’d soon be lion food.

  The door opened and Jack motioned us in. I put one hand out over Sarah and Melissa and put my other finger over my mouth. Melissa looked up at me and put her finger over her mouth like it was a game. Heather, Katrina, and my mom gave me odd looks but got the message and slid along the wall, staying quiet. One by one we slipped inside the cabin. I kept one eye on the lion. When it was my turn, I grabbed the cart and wheeled it inside with me. It made so much noise I was pretty sure if the lion wasn’t aware of us before it was now.

  “Mommy, I have to potty,” urged Melissa and she wriggled on her feet.

  “All clear,” said my father.

  While Katrina and Melissa were in the bathroom I pulled everyone together. “I didn’t want to say anything outside, but we aren’t alone.”

  “Zombies?” asked mom.

  “No, furrier, smarter, faster. A lion.”

  “You’re serious?” asked Jack, lifting his brows, causing forehead wrinkles that webbed onto his bald head.

  “Yes.”

  “Holy crap, I thought they were extinct here. A lion. Really?”

  How did he know so much about lions? “Maybe zombies took over the “Pride Lands,”” I quoted Lion King, “and he was searching for food.”

  Jack gave a half chuckle.

  Katrina and Melissa returned after a few minutes and Katrina, noticing us all in a huddle, knew something was up and raised a brow. We split up and set up our camp for the night. There were blankets, so Sarah, me, and Bryce made mats for everyone to lie on. My mom, who enjoyed cooking, got to work on a meal with Katrina’s help and Heather played games with Melissa. We all avoided the elephant in the room, or rather, the lion.

  The cabin was one large room and a bathroom but it had running water. The décor was light with a single family picture on the wall of an older man and woman. “Were they here when you entered?” I asked Bryce, pointing at the picture.

  “We had to kill him, but she was already gone. Her legs were eaten and most of her torso.”

  “Zombie dead or dead dead?” I questioned with narrowed eyes.

  “Dead dead.”

  “Was her head intact?”

  “Yeah,” he answered, raking his hand through his hair. “So people… can die without… becoming zombies.” As the words formulated on his tongue the same idea formulated in my head.

  “Where are they now?”

  “We dragged them outside.”

  I figured that because of the sudden stench after I heard a door open, whilst I was plastered to the house stressing over the lion.

  I grabbed his hand and pulled Heather aside, then jabbed him in the ribs to tell the story.

  “Ouch!” he grumbled as he rubbed his ribs, “no need to be so violent.” He told her what he told me and she pulled the notebook I’d given her out of her homemade knapsack and wrote something down, then she asked him more questions about the woman’s color, anything he noticed about her.

  She continued to jot things down then asked him to show her the body. He guided her to a curtain beside the back door that led to the other building and pulled it aside. She wrinkled her nose. “Eww.”

  After, she returned to Melissa and continued playing silly hand games. Cat crawled between them and sat beneath their clapping hands. Every so often he’d put a paw upward as if trying to play too.

  We soon sat and ate dinner, then a tired Melissa stretched her arms and Katrina set about primping her for bed. It amazed me how she made it seem so normal when nothing was normal.

  I snuggled next to my dad who was sitting on one of the homemade-looking chairs with a plush butt cushion and wrapped an arm around his neck. “Do you remember anything about when you…?” my voice trailed off.

  “I remember the marina and getting onboard Earnest Earl,” he quivered slightly at the mention of his dead boat. “Then I remember going to sleep and waking up tied with a sock in my mouth. It was like I lost all those days. The feeling is like losing time during surgery.”

  I’d never had surgery, so couldn`t completely relate. “We kept you full of muscle relaxers.”

  He wrapped both arms around me. “Whatever you and Mom did, I’m grateful. I’m not a zombie and get to live the rest of my life and enjoy each day no matter how much a struggle. I’m alive and I owe it to my family.”

  I kissed his cheek and rested my head against his. Life was crazy and undefined but we still had each other and the ability to love and live each day and person to the fullest.

  Once Melissa was fast asleep with Cat curled next to her, Katrina sat next to Bryce. I listened to their conversation. “So what happened earlier? When everyone was huddled together?”

  He shifted a bit then said, “We have a tiny problem.”

  “And?!” she demanded.

  “Maddie saw a lion outside the cabin.”

  “A what?!” her voice beamed.

  “Quiet, Mom, Melissa’s asleep.”

  She leaned her head against the wall behind her and sighed. I left them to their moment and sat next to Sarah on the mat she’d made as a bed. “It looks like you have competition,” I said, pointing to Cat and Melissa.

  She smiled. “I do. I think that Cat helps keep the both of us sane. Everything is so crazy. What was it like twenty days ago we were regular freshmen with fifteen-year-olds’ problems? Today we’re like survivors.”

  “How’s your arm?”

  She put her arm in front of us and twisted it slightly. “Mostly healed.”

  The smaller teeth marks were gone and only a couple raised bumps remained where his front teeth did the most damage, but in time they’d heal as well.

  “I’m pretty sure we’ve been on three continents in the past couple weeks time,” I chuckled. That sounds so strange.

  She giggled. “When you put it that way.” As soon as the words left her mouth, millions of pings tapped against the roof.

  Rain; it was rain. We leaned against each other and fell asleep. Tomorrow was a new day.

  Over the next the day the rain continued, the sky black with a combination of thick dark clouds and volcanic ash. While the volcano continued to smolder, ash and dust accumulated in the atmosphere that now mingled with the rain, making clay-like splotches in the dirt.

  My mom made full use of the kitchen and the food supplies we’d dragged with us. She fried spam and made biscuits. The stove was gas, so she was able to bake.

  Since the rain continued to pour in buckets, it was decided we wouldn’t go anywhere until
it stopped and the ground dried. The clay splotches were probably slippery as well and since we were all sore and bruised still since the tsunami we mostly lay around and rested our bodies, taking the time to heal.

  On the second day, in our boredom, Sarah and I went through the drawers. Inside we found a map that neither of us could read since it was written in a foreign language, but we understood the universal parts. The cabin was located near a road that led to a bigger road that went over the mountain. There were towns located along the road but none near us. We were truly in the middle of nowhere. Nonetheless, the discovery of the map was good news.

  Curiosity drove me toward the shed behind us. The ground still very wet, I didn’t venture outside toward it, but made a plan that when it was dry enough, and I wouldn’t sink into the mud, I’d explore it. Who knows what kind of treasures might be inside it?

  On the third day before the rain stopped, Bryce discovered the wooden bench opened up. Inside was a gold mine. Two small guns and a sniper rifle along with ammunition but nothing to fit the shotgun -- errr…rifle -- the big gun Jack was partial to. I was beginning to wonder if the dead owners were survivalists of some kind. We all smiled with the luck and fortune, then tore the little cabin apart searching for more treasures, but didn’t find anything.

  A map and more weaponry put us in a good spot and I considered we may be able to stay in the cabin for some time. Feeling comfortable and safe, but not complacent, I decided to bring up the we-yak conversation with Katrina.

  She eyed me curiously and said, “It doesn’t sound familiar. I’ve never heard that term, but I’ll continue to play with it.” We were nowhere with its meaning. I thanked her and joined Sarah and Cat playing with Melissa.

  By the fourth day, the rain stopped, and by the fifth day the ground was dryish. Everyone still sleeping, I sneaked to the back window and moved the curtain back. The bodies lay about halfway between the cabin and shed. They had dark curly hair and their skin was ashy white, partly because of the clay drops covering them. I imagined, when alive, they had darker skin – tannish maybe.