Val: Prequel to The Zombie Chronicles

by Peebles, Chrissy

  I thought about my friends again, and a tear slipped down my face as emotion overcame me.

  “Aw, Val, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to depress you again,” she said. “I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do, how I’m supposed to feel.”

  “It’s not your fault. I just…can’t forget. I don’t know the right words to say. I’m just as numb as you are. I’m just—”

  “How much gas do we have left?” she asked, her turn to change the subject.

  “Not much. We’d better get off the next exit and start hunting.”

  We drove around to different neighborhoods and houses, looking for gas, with no success.

  “We should’ve made sure we had gas for this trip,” Sammy said softly.

  “This whole thing was sprung on me. I wish I had a week to prepare for it. I could’ve hunted for lots of gas but I had no idea I was leaving Philly.”

  “You had a stash,” she said. “For emergencies. What happened to it?”

  “I let Jack borrow it to get us some much needed supplies last week.”

  “You should’ve told him no.”

  “I didn’t know we’d be literally running for our lives.”

  She let out a long sigh. “Maybe we should’ve stayed barricaded in your house.”

  “For the next year?”

  “You’re right. And I don’t like being trapped like that. What if they got in? We’d have nowhere to run.”

  “We couldn’t stay,” I said. “And I’m sorry we had to leave on such short notice. Life slapped us in the face and it sure stung. We weren’t prepared. But we’ll find gas. There has to be a car with gas we can siphon.”

  “Let’s keep hunting.”

  Before we knew it, we were driving down a very deserted, very ominous-looking dirt road.

  “We gotta turn around,” I said.

  “How about here?” she said, pointing at a wide space on the berm of the road.

  The car spluttered and then died.

  I hit the steering wheel in frustration. “Why now?”

  “We’re really out of gas? No way!” Sammy said. “Why is it so hard to find any gas?”

  “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we’re right in the middle of one of the biggest catastrophes this planet’s ever known.”

  “Ha! Very funny.” She stepped out and glanced around. It was bright out, so she reached in her purse and pulled out a pair of black sunglasses. “I wonder where we are.”

  “Let me look at the map again.” I looked around at all the dead animals and zombies and pulled my gun, just in case.

  “What’s with all this road kill?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe somebody went on a shooting spree,” I said.

  “But why the animals? I mean, it’d be weird for someone to leave all this meat behind.”

  “Katniss would hate that the squirrel meat was wasted,” I said. I studied the map and saw that we weren’t too far from a town. “We’ve just gotta get off this dirt road and back on a regular one,” I said. The sun beat down on my face as I glanced around some more, trying to make sense of the scene. I opened the trunk and pulled out a red gas can. “Hopefully, we won’t have to walk far to find some gas,” I said. I knew the real risks of leaving Philadelphia without a full tank of gas, but we’d had little choice. Sammy grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder.

  Big, black birds circled unnervingly overhead as we walked. After a while, we came upon a damaged, abandoned vehicle. Zombie limbs were strewn everywhere, and I cautiously walked over a rotting foot and a decomposing arm.

  A zombie with pointy ears and short, black hair with bangs strolled toward us in a clumsy manner.

  I lifted my rifle and aimed at the rotting corpse.

  “Blaaaeeeeeergh!” It let out a long moan, followed by another.

  Sammy shot me a look. “I think Spock’s having gas pains,” she joked. “Sorry, buddy, but your primary food source thinks you need to put a little lead in your diet,” she said.

  “Just shoot him, and let’s go.”

  She lifted her rifle and put the zombie out of its misery.

  As I stared at the ground, I noticed odd features and patterns. The plants were wilted and seemed to be made up of strange colors. I was no botanist and wouldn’t have normally noticed the weird foliage, but with the dead animals, the crashed car, and the mounds of dirt scattered all about, it seemed to be a mystery that needed to be solved.

  A second later, I had my answer, and I dared not take another step, unable to believe my eyes.

  Chapter 10

  I looked down at the underground explosives, aghast. Clearly, the townspeople had strategically placed the landmines to defend their city without the need for constant security. “Freeze, Sammy!” I yelled. “Don’t take another step!”

  “What? Why?”

  “Don’t panic,” I said, “but I think we’re, uh…in a minefield.”

  “What? This isn’t Iraq. And I thought I was going insane.”

  “I think they put them here as a defense against zombies or maybe just to keep strangers out.”

  “So we walked into a zombie trap?”

  “I guess you could say that. They’re obviously just defending their turf.”

  “Am I standing on one?” she asked and suddenly jumped back.

  “I said not to move! That could’ve killed you, Sammy.”

  “Wait…you’re serious?”

  “As a heart attack. Every step has to be slow and careful. One wrong move, and we’re both mincemeat. You’ll be being blown to tiny bits in seconds.”

  “So if I trigger one, we’re both goners?”

  “Yep.”

  “There are no tricks to disarm them, like in the movies?”

  “Those tricks are about as possible as trying to catch a bullet with your teeth.”

  Terror spread across her face. “Then what do we do now?”

  “We’ll backtrack out.”

  “And then what?” she asked. “We’re out of gas.”

  “We’ll head to the town we just passed.”

  From behind us, a low gargle echoed.

  Sammy pulled the binoculars up to her eyes and peered in that direction, then gasped.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  She handed me the binoculars. “Loads of them. We can’t backtrack. Where are they all coming from?”

  “I don’t know, but we can’t stick around,” I said. “There are too many of them to fight off.”

  “We can’t even get back to the car, and even if we could, being boxed in won’t help us one tiny bit.”

  “Then all we can do is move forward,” I said.

  She let out a trembling breath. “Okay. In that case, let’s go.”

  I carefully probed the ground for mines, using my feet and hands. I reached down and grabbed my knife from my leg holster, then crawled slowly forward on my belly, inch by inch, checking the ground thoroughly.

  “Val…” Sammy said. “The Army crawl’s a little dramatic, isn’t it?”

  My lips pressed into a grim line. “It’s life or death.”

  “Yeah, well, so are those zombies, and they’re coming fast.” She bit her lip hard. “We’ve gotta make a run for it.”

  “Do you want to be blown to smithereens? That’s not a gamble I’m willing to take.”

  Her eyebrows arched. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “Be my lookout.”

  “Got it. Don’t worry. I got your back.”

  I inched along, crawling, sliding, and squirming on my stomach like some kind of paranoid caterpillar, using my elbows and feet to push me along. As we moved along at a snail’s pace, I spotted an explosive. I saw my own fear mirrored in Sammy’s face as we zigzagged around the dangerous bomb. The whole thing took nerve-racking to a whole new level.

  “I knew there was a reason I didn’t sign up for the bomb squad,” I mumbled. Still shaking, I leaned on my elbows and tried to
control my labored breathing. When a twig snapped, I glanced into the vegetation in horror. My heart leapt at the unexpected noise.

  A look of terror lingered in Sammy’s eyes. “Please tell me that was something cuddly and cute, like a bunny.”

  I swallowed and forced a smile. “We can only hope.”

  “Any way you can move a little faster?” she asked. “Please! My nerves are frazzled.”

  Using the knife, I kept probing for landmines, wiping the sweat off my forehead and out of my eyes ever so often. It was a slow, tedious process, but I was ready to do whatever it took to save our lives.

  Sammy looked over her shoulder and gasped. “Val!” she said, her voice piercing the air.

  “What?” I asked, fearing the answer.

  “Something’s shuffling over there, and it’s not some silly wabbit either. It’s, uh…walking upright.”

  To my horror, the green bushes began to rustle, and zombies emerged. An ear-shattering blast echoed in my ears when one tripped a wire or landmine. Instinctively, I covered my face as they were blown into bits, and torn, burnt flesh and bony, bloody shrapnel flew everywhere.

  “That’s it! We’ve gotta get outta here!” Sammy screamed.

  I swallowed, my pulse drumming in my ears. “The mines…they’re all over the place.”

  “Yeah, and I bet that explosion is gonna get others’ attention.”

  “I know.”

  She placed a shaking hand over her heart. “Look, Val, we’re either gonna be eaten bit by bit or blown to bits. Given the choice, I’d rather be blown up. At least I’ll die instantly, without one of those things biting into me. I say we’ve gotta take the gamble and run.”

  Shivers ran down my spine, and we exchanged worried, terrified glances. Neither sounded like a good option. My eyes widened as I contemplated what to do, my pulse racing out of control.

  Sammy’s gaze grew intense. “They’re coming, Val! What do we do?”

  I stood, grabbed my gun, and aimed. A one-eyed zombie with half its face falling off was getting too close for comfort. I pulled the trigger, sending the sickening Cyclops crashing backward. Sammy shot a few to the left, and I took out two more that came toward us from the right. I aimed at one that was missing its upper lip, exposing black gums and green teeth that would have kept the average dentist in business for a long, long time. I fired, and the orthodontist’s nightmare fell in the grass. The next one had major wrinkles and a huge, gaping wound on its chin. I squeezed the trigger to get rid of it, then went after the one coming from behind. Its face was already littered with bullet holes, but none of the marksman who’d fired on it before had managed to embed their ammo deep enough into its cranium. I, on the other hand, delivered a well-placed shot right into its rotting brain.

  I knew more would be coming soon, and I was worried about them triggering another landmine. While the explosives far away from us would be a deterrent to our enemies, if any went off within 100 feet of us, we’d be hit by the projectiles, which flew at thousands of feet per second. We were in danger of being slaughtered by zombies, killed by a landmine, or killed by a zombie setting off a landmine. Sammy’s idea to make a run for it was a dangerous move that might get us killed. My breath caught in my throat, and my mind raced as I considered the game of Russian roulette we were now forced to play.

  Dozens and dozens of zombies approached, their number increasing by the second. The horror of moaning zombies jerking and shuffling toward us washed over me. I hoped they wouldn’t trigger any more explosions, but I wasn’t so lucky. From behind us, one suddenly erupted, about 300 feet away. The stench of death filled the air as the remnants of the rotter rained down, and terror gripped me.

  “We can’t fight all of them,” Sammy said.

  “Just stay on the edge of the road, okay? I haven’t seen any landmines there,” I said.

  She nodded. “If I don’t make it,” she said, her voice trembling. “I love you, Val….like a sister.”

  “I love you too.”

  Droplets of sweat rolled down her face. “Ready?”

  “Run!” I shouted.

  Chapter 11

  Careful to keep my feet on the edge of the road, I ran in front of Sammy, moving hard and fast but always keeping an eye out for any straggling zombies who might decide to jump out in front of us. A quick glance over my shoulder let me know that there were plenty of undead hot on our tail. When I heard a loud boom in the distance, I kept moving, hoping the landmine took out a whole slew of them. Three more nasties lumbered out of the woods, but we were too fast for them.

  “Val, turn that rotter into hamburger!” Sammy said when one staggered toward us.

  “You want fries with that?” I asked before I took a deep breath, aimed, and fired, easily blowing its head into ground meat with a point-blank blast to the face.

  “Ew, Val. That’s just…horrible,” Sammy said, wiping her face.

  “Nothing gives me greater pleasure than sending them back to Hell.”

  “Agreed, but I don’t think Mary Kay would recommend zombie guts as a facial.”

  I just looked at her and kept moving. As I ran, I glanced intently at the ground, watching for any sign of landmines.

  “Wow. Not even a laugh, huh?” she said.

  “Sorry, chica. We might be blown up or eaten any second, so I guess it’s hard to find humor in anything right now.”

  When we got to the edge of the city, I was elated. They were well prepared for the zombie invasion, with trenches, watchtowers, and low-lying, razor-wire entanglements. I stepped past the jagged wires and waved at the man in the watchtower.

  He waved back.

  Within minutes, a Jeep pulled up, and three men ushered us inside.

  We quickly explained our predicament.

  “So you just ran through our minefield?” said a man with a short beard and dark hair.

  “Didn’t you hear a word she said?” Sammy asked. “Zombies were coming, a huge horde of them. We had no choice.”

  “I wouldn’t suggest it,” I said, “but Sammy’s right. Your mines took out some of the zombies, but not all of them. If we had stayed there, we would have died—one way or another.”

  “Well, I’d say you ladies are pretty darn lucky,” he said.

  “So…are you sisters?” another man asked.

  Sammy smiled at me and shook her head.

  “Just…best friends?” the man asked.

  “No. My best friends are my gun and crowbar these days,” I said with a smile.

  He grinned. “Then I’d say we’ve got a lot in common. Mine’s a bat, because it never runs outta bullets.”

  “Hmm. I think I know your best friend. Matter fact, we go way back,” I joked.

  He chuckled.

  The other gunman walked up to us. “Speakin’ of weapons, you girls got the proper permits for those guns?”

  “Excuse me?” I asked. “I thought zombie-hunting season was open year round.”

  The man who’d just been exchanging banter with me gave his friend stern look. “Lay off, okay?” he said.

  “Why? There are rules, and if they don’t have the proper permits, I’m within my rights to arrest them. Heck, ya ask me, I wouldn’t mind slappin’ some cuffs on this one,” he said, glaring at me as hungrily as the zombies did.

  “You aren’t arresting them because I said so,” he said.

  I figured their whole good-cop, bad-cop routine was just some kind of ploy they pulled on strangers to relieve them of their guns, food, supplies, and transportation, but I decided it was best to just keep my mouth shut. I hoped they’d let us go, but I wasn’t sure it was going to be that easy. I could use lethal force and disarm them. They wouldn’t be expecting it and I could take full advantage. But I decided to see how this was going to play out before I put that plan into action. They might just help us get our hands on some gas.

  “Are you cousins or somethin’?” the rude guy asked.

  Sammy playfully slugged me, then met his gaze. �
�What we are really isn’t any of your business,” she snapped, going into defensive mode.

  I looked at her, wide-eyed, trying to silently warn her to calm down. “Uh…would you happen to have some gas? If you do, we’ll be outta your hair and—”

  “That depends. What are you willin’ to pay for it?” he retorted.

  “We have food and water in the car,” I said. “You fill our tank, and it’s yours.”

  “Give ya a fill-up, eh?” he said, then laughed sickeningly, looking me over again from head to toe. He blew out a long breath. “Temptin’ as that sounds, missy, we can’t just go around divvying up our precious commodities to all the survivors who come this way. Sure, you’re lookers and all, but that don’t mean we’re just gonna give ya whatever you ask for. Ain’t gonna do ya no good to bat your eyelashes around here.”

  “No, I wouldn’t expect that,” I said.

  The nicer guy chimed in, “We can give you a ride to the next town if you’d like. This town is closed to outsiders. I’m sorry…and I’m Mark, by the way.”

  “Val and Sammy,” I introduced nonchalantly.

  “Well, since Mark, here’s, obviously taken a liking to you, I guess we can give you a lift this one time,” the rude man said, “but don’t get used to it.”

  I didn’t like his answer or his tone, but we had little choice other than to work with them. “We’d love to take you up on your offer,” I said.

  Mark smiled. “Great.”

  The men talked amongst themselves for a moment, then gestured for us to get in one of their vehicles. Mark quickly drove us to the next town. Sammy didn’t seem too keen on sitting between two sweaty, flannel-clad strangers; one seemed to have some fascination with staring at her cleavage, and the other interrogated her about her “blueberry hair” all the way there. Still, much to my surprise and relief, we didn’t run into any zombified roadblocks on the way, and the trip went pretty smoothly.

  When Mark stopped, I got out.

  The meanie who’d never bothered to officially introduce himself looked at me. “Look…if you find a guy named Rich, he’ll help you get back to your car, and he’ll give y’all some gas. He knows about the landmines and how to get through ‘em, but he’ll put you to work for a day. I heard he’s digging trenches, so if you’re up for a little hard work, he’s your go-to man. Just don’t come back to my city.” He then explained how to get to Rich’s place and said, “Just tell good ol’ Rich that Sal sent ya.”