Val: Prequel to The Zombie Chronicles

by Peebles, Chrissy

  Many shots were fired, and I stuck a knife right through a zombie’s eye as it leapt up at me like it was on a springboard. I stepped aside as black blood squirted out of the wound. Another reached for my neck; I could have sworn the thing looked as it had slithered right out of some creepy underworld, with its sunken cheeks and grotesque scars along its forehead, cheeks, and neck. It reached for me, emitting a long, raspy wheeze, but I shot it, point blank, in an explosion of fatal gore.

  Bony fingers snagged my hair, and I turned to face yet another opponent from Hell. This one was sporting hair like a rat’s nest, and veins bulged from its face. When its teeth clacked, I popped a bullet in its brain, sending it down for the count.

  More zombies attacked, and we all fought hard, gunfire ringing out all around us. One creeper fell down the stairs, ramming me in the back and knocking me over. Another foul fiend took full advantage of my tumble and hovered over me, chomping at my face with its clattering teeth. Black blood oozed down on me from the gaping bullet holes in its face, and its sharp nails snagged my vest. Staring into the face of death, I stuck my gun in its mouth and fired upward. “Eat that!” I wailed. The bullet did the trick, and as the thing slumped over, I hurriedly jumped to my feet. I rushed up the stairs and opened the door.

  Sunshine flooded my eyes.

  “All clear!” I shouted behind me, unable to believe it myself.

  Everyone piled through behind me, and the blonde slammed the door shut to keep the undead away.

  My breathing came in short, loud gasps, but we’d made it to the roof. Now we just have to find a way down, I thought.

  Sammy glanced around at everyone. “You know what we are?”

  “What?” Tony asked.

  “A kick-butt, zombie-killing posse!”

  He gave her a fist-bump. “Yeah, we are.”

  I walked to the edge of the roof. Staring down, I looked at the bodies lying on the street in pools of blood. Gut-eating freaks surrounded them like sharks on a feeding frenzy, slurping and gnawing on their flesh. We were all absolutely horrified and visibly shaken.

  Another zombie in a bloody white dress shuffled away, barefoot. It was eating an apple-shaped, bloody lump, likely someone’s still-warm heart, leaving behind a trail of bloody footsteps on the white concrete.

  Anger flooded through me at the sight. I couldn’t stand the thought of zombies winning, even if they were munching on my enemies. They were people, too, survivors being led around by a jerk. Taking careful aim, I peered through my scope. I fired, and a boom shot through the air, felling the zombie face first. Next, I shot the monstrosity that was tearing intestines out of a girl who looked way too young to die; since the girl was screaming and obviously fatally wounded, I shot her as well, knowing it would be a more hellish fate for her to reanimate as one of those things. “Gosh, I’m so sorry,” I whispered to the girl, even though she couldn’t hear me.

  Sammy and the others joined in me in my sniping efforts, and in no time, we’d taken down the whole nasty lot of wretched creatures.

  Tony called me over to the fire escape, and the others went with me. The stairs jiggled frighteningly as we stomped our way down to the bottom. When the last person jumped down to the pavement, I was ready for us all to go our separate ways. My fingers rested on my trigger, because I had no idea if the idiots would turn on me. It was something I wouldn’t have had to worry about if I hadn’t saved them, but it wasn’t in my nature to watch any human die a horrible death when I could do something to stop it. I just didn’t have it in me. Maybe that was why I’d made such a great cop before the world fell apart.

  Rita ran over to a dark-haired girl who was lying on the ground. She began to weep, clutching the dead one’s bloody body. She took off the brunette’s cross and gripped it tightly in her hand, then began rocking the girl back and forth.

  Sammy clutched her heart in horror, and tears welled up in my eyes.

  Ralph crossed his arms and looked at me. “You saved our lives in there. Because of that, I’m gonna let you go.”

  “Wow. You’re letting us go?” I said, a bit sarcastically. “Gee, thanks.”

  “You earned it…but I want some kinda payment first.”

  I raised a brow. “Excuse me?”

  “That vest. I want it. It can hold my gun and all my ammo.”

  “Sorry, buddy, but no one takes my tactical vest!”

  “Right. Not happening,” Sammy chimed in.

  “Shut up, Smurfette!”

  She inched closer. “Hey, I’d rather have blue hair than no personality. Just because you’ve got no inner freak to embrace, that doesn’t mean you need to insult me.”

  Ignoring Sammy, he stepped toward me. “I deserve that vest. They all wanted to dump you in there, but I stopped ‘em.”

  “What!? None of that would have happened to us if you hadn’t chased us in there in the first place…and you already said we saved your butts! I don’t owe you anything, and neither does Sammy.”

  “I didn’t tell you to hide in a building full of ghouls, okay?”

  “You left us no other choice,” I said. “We did what we had to do to survive.”

  “I’m about to take back my offer to let you go. A lotta my friends died back there, and I’ve got a good mind to put a bullet in your pretty little head!”

  “They’re dead because of you,” I roared. “Their blood is on your hands, not mine.”

  “Just gimme the vest,” he shouted.

  “Leave her alone,” Tony said.

  “We could’ve left you, but we didn’t,” I said. “That’s not the kind of person I am. I risked my life to get your people out of there, even though you were trying to kill us in the first place.”

  Ralph smirked. “Just hand over what’s rightfully mine!”

  “I’ve got no problem with that,” I said, then cold-cocked him in the face.

  As he dropped to the ground, his friends pulled out their guns and pointed them at Sammy and me.

  I whipped out my gun in a hurry, and—just like that—we appeared to have an old-fashioned standoff going on.

  “Val,” Sammy said, “you think that’s such a good idea? I mean, we’re a little outgunned and outmanned here.”

  “That guy deserved it, and these people know it.”

  Sammy looked at the gang. “Listen, I gotta warn you people. I’ve known this chick a long time, and she’s got a real bad temper that I know she didn’t get from her sweet parents.”

  “She’s right,” I said. “Idiots piss me off, and you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

  Louis gave me a crooked look and said, “Let’s talk about this calmly.”

  “I’m sick of all this…violence!” Tammy screamed. “Just let the girls go on their merry way, and let’s get back. They didn’t ask to be chased. They knocked out two of our men who were holding Sammy hostage, and beat up some of the others by the building. So what? I would’ve done the same thing in their shoes. We’re lucky they didn’t shoot them. We should’ve just let it go. If we had, more of our crew would be alive. This is our fault. And it’s all on us. And it needs to stop now. So please let them go.”

  “Wow,” Sammy said. “Seems somebody in your little gang has some sense after all. Maybe you oughtta listen to her.”

  “This ends now,” I said, meeting Justin’s gaze straight on.

  He stared at me hard, and his gun began to waver in his hands.

  I eyed him up and down. I knew I was quicker and faster and that I could easily disarm him in a few moves, but it might also rile up the others and make them trigger happy. Worried that Sammy might get hurt in the crossfire, I opted to give him a way out with a threat I knew I could make good on: “I can shoot you before you even know what hit you.” I knew I could wound him, but I wouldn’t take his life unless I absolutely had to. We’d seen enough death, and that would only be a last resort.

  Justin stared at me as if was contemplating what to do.

  “Just let them leave,” Rit
a said. “There’s been enough bloodshed today.”

  “You saved my sister’s life,” Justin said. “I couldn’t get to her, but you shot that zombie that almost bit her neck. I guess this makes us even.”

  I nodded, relieved that he’d come to his senses without me having to show him any tough love.

  A bead of sweat rolled down his face as he lowered his weapon. The others followed suit. Justin picked up his unconscious friend and slung him over his shoulder.

  Tony waved goodbye, and the remaining members followed him as he started to walk down the street. Tony then glanced over his shoulder and shouted, “Thank you! Just thought you needed to hear that.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said.

  “The car’s only a block away,” Sammy said. “Let’s go.”

  “You did good back there,” I told her as we briskly walked away.

  “You mean shooting all those zombies? Just a day in the life of Sammy Evans. They should make a movie about this. You know any good blue-haired actresses?”

  “Uh…can’t say I do, but there’s always hair dye. You, of all people, should know that.”

  She chuckled.

  As we hurried down the street to find our transportation out of the zombie-infested city, three of them came at us from the left. One was hobbling on a foot that was contorted in a most unnatural angle. The other had a gaping hole in its chest, and black liquid oozed out like dirty Pennzoil. The third had stringy, white hair and a long, horizontal wound running across its face.

  “Fire at will,” I said.

  Sammy took down Gimpy, while I took out Mr. Motor Oil and Scarface.

  When I heard the familiar moans of more zombies, I turned around and gasped at what I saw: thirty or forty of the things, shuffling in our direction, hungry for our flesh. “Shoot! I guess we accidentally rang the dinner bell!” I said with a shudder. “Run!”

  My heart raced as Sammy led me down another street, then pointed. “There!” she shouted.

  With all those zombies hot on our tail, I didn’t have any problems doing a twenty-five-meter dash at top speed. I sucked in plenty of air and sprinted, my heart pounding away. As soon as we reached the red Toyota, I hopped into the driver’s seat. The zombies were so loud that it sounded like their piercing cries were coming from right outside the car.

  “They’re coming!” Sammy said. “Hurry!”

  Just as my fingers finally found the keys under the seat, slimy, red smears marked the window, a zombie trying to get in. I tuned it out and frantically started the engine.

  “Go!” Sammy yelled in a terrified voice.

  While I pulled out, three zombies in dirty, bloody clothes jumped on the hood. One with wrinkled, green skin and slimy, white hair head-butted the windshield that blood began squirting out of its gashed head like tar. Sammy screamed, and I hit the brakes, nearly giving us whiplash but causing the other two zombies to fly off . I couldn’t see with all the black goop on the windshield, so I turned on the wipers and sprayed some wiper fluid. I then floored it, and the little Toyota sped down the street. “Boy, that was a close one,” I said.

  “Yeah, you’re tellin’ me,” Sammy answered, rubbing her sore neck.

  I suddenly understood, even more clearly, why Jack hadn’t wanted to come with me into the city. It was hard to be mad at him for it. He had a family to take care of, and he just wanted to live another day, like all of us. “We need to stop and tell Jack we’re okay,” I said, gripping the steering wheel tightly as we pulled out of the city limits.

  “You’re kidding, right?” she said. “After he left you?”

  “He had to, Sammy. He’s gonna be a father.”

  “And that gives him a get-out-of-Hell-free card? It’s a dangerous world for everybody.”

  “Look, I get what you’re saying, but we’ve gotta stop and let the others know you’re okay. Believe it or not, they’ve been pretty worried about you.”

  She cocked her head. “Hmm. That’s funny,” she said, looking around in the back seat. “I don’t see anyone else. Looks to me like you’re the only one who came after me.”

  “They wouldn’t venture into this city for anybody, Sammy. You know that. I’ve been telling you to move out of that danger zone for how long now? Besides, I wanna find out more about their evacuation plan.”

  “Are you gonna go with ‘em?”

  “I-I don’t know. I need to hear their plan first.”

  “I know I shoulda left the city sooner,” she said, her hands trembling, “but I grew up in that apartment, basically, and I didn’t wanna leave—just like you don’t want to leave your house. It was all I had left of my old life. My mom wasn’t the best, but I loved her. I just wish I woulda told her so before…well, you know.”

  “Your mom knew how much you loved her, Sammy.”

  “You really think so?”

  “I know so. She made some bad choices and mistakes, but she loved you more than anything. She told me so herself.”

  Tears welled up in Sammy’s eyes. “Thanks, Val. I needed to hear that.”

  We pulled into the driveway of the huge house where my friends lived. When we knocked on the door, no one answered.

  “Jack, it’s Val! Open up.”

  “Ya think he’s mad at you for running off and leaving him?” Sammy asked.

  “Worse. I think they might have gone out to look for us.”

  Sammy knocked again. “Yo, guys! Open up!”

  “Anyone there?” I asked, banging even more loudly on the door. “It’s just us, Val and Sammy.”

  “I heard you’re leaving town,” Sammy said. “Trying to ditch me? Trying to live the apocalyptic fantasy without me?”

  When I heard a crash, I bit my lip hard. I backed up and stepped off the porch, took a deep breath, and peered in through a gap in the boarded-up windows. Taking a deep breath as emotion consumed me, I looked again. I recognized their clothes and knew instantly that all of them were infected. My heart leapt in my throat.

  When Sammy looked in, she gasped as well. Clutching her chest, she fell to her knees. “No! Not them too!”

  I stood there, frozen in shock, not wanting to believe my own eyes.

  “I told you!” Sammy said. “My friends don’t last. The zombies always win, no matter what!”

  Chapter 7

  Emotion erupted in me as I looked up at the sky and screamed, cursing the universe, and anything or anyone else who would listen. I’d lost everything, and now my few remaining friends had been ripped from me too. It was excruciating, just too much to bear. Emotional pain ripped through my soul, hitting me like a Mack truck in every corner of my psyche. Was I meant to outlive everyone I knew? Am I cursed to shed all of my tears, until I have none left to cry? I fell to my knees, defeated by intense grief. The feeling of loss was unbearably intense. I was already carrying the huge emotional burden of losing my parents and family, and being hammered with the blow of losing my friends in the same way was a cruel twist of fate. I sobbed and screamed, making no sense in my raging fury.

  “Val…” Sammy said, tears spilling down her cheeks.

  I tried to regain my composure, knowing I had to be strong for Sammy; she deserved that much from me. “I-I’m okay.”

  “Don’t pretend like you’re fine with this,” she said.

  “I’m not.”

  “It’s all right to let it out. I’m pissed too. Why do we have to live like this? Every day, it’s a fight for survival. Our family and friends are dying left and right. The world is screwed up, and I wanna scream and pull my hair out too.”

  I hugged her for a long moment, then held her at arm’s length.

  “Life isn’t fair,” Sammy said.

  “Well, it certainly isn’t a fairytale anymore, if it ever was. I’m not so sure any of us will live happily ever after.”

  “Yeah, I know. This is more like…a horror story, filled with flesh-eating bogeymen who want to devour us with their ugly, pointed teeth. When did our fairytale turn into a full-fle
dged nightmare?”

  “The day the zombie virus reared its ugly head.”

  Emotional agony tore through me, but I tried to keep it together. My life had been forever changed the day the virus hit our city in full swing. It came, it saw, and it conquered. We desperately fought what we couldn’t see, those microscopic monsters invading people’s bodies, but we really didn’t stand a chance. Ultimately, while we’d won a few battles, we hadn’t won the war, and I was no longer sure we could.

  “I wish I could kill that virus as easily as I can chop off a rotting head,” I said.

  “Me too,” my young companion said. “What gives us the will to survive anyway? I mean, after seeing all this, why would we want to? It really doesn’t feel like we’ve got much left to live for.”

  “Humans are wired to survive, Sammy. It’s a force within all of us, and we fight when our lives are threatened. We just…have to, until our last breath.”

  She sobbed against my chest, and I stroked her blue locks, just as sad as she was.

  Why were all those people ripped out of my life so abruptly, so unexpectedly? I questioned. I knew what it was like to lose everything, to see my life utterly overturned in one pivotal moment. I’d been there, experienced it. One minute, life was great, and I was showing off my diamond engagement ring to my mother over lunch. The next, she was dead, and I was burying my fiancé. While life had taken everything from me, though, I still refused to die. All that loss only made me want to fight harder. I had, after all, stood over Travis’s gravesite and promised him that I would face my fear, make it through, be brave, and stay strong—and that was a promise I intended to keep.

  Wiping a tear from my face, I softly touched Sammy’s shoulder. “Hey, I want you to wait for me down the street. I’ll be there in a few minutes. If you need me, just yell, and I’ll be right there.”