Zombie Games (Uncut) Boxed Set

by Kristen Middleton

  “I’ll take him,” said Paige. “You should rest your ankle.”

  “No, I’ll come with,” I answered, grabbing the Ruger. “You never know, there really might be zombies in the area.”

  Paige grabbed her bat and I took Bobby’s hand.

  “What are you guys doing?” asked Kristie, coming around the corner.

  “Bobby has to use the bathroom,” answered Paige.

  “Did you find Eva?” I asked.

  “Not yet,” said Kristie, walking away again toward the woods. “We think she’s fooling around. Your dad is ready to leave her behind, he’s so pissed.”

  I knew my dad wouldn’t do that, but he had to be reaching his boiling point.

  When Bobby was finished, we started walking back toward the truck. I buckled Bobby in and closed the door. As I was about to get in, I saw Eva and she was watching me through the trees. She ducked out of view as soon as our eyes met.

  What in the hell is that psycho bitch doing now? I wondered.

  “What is it?” asked Paige.

  “It’s Eva,” I said. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to drag her back kicking and screaming if I have to.”

  “Sounds like fun. Let me do it,” said Paige. “You’re hurt.”

  “I’m not that hurt,” I said. “Just go and stay with your sister in the van. She’s probably worried as all hell.”

  I walked toward the spot I’d noticed her staring at me and wondered if she was cracking up. She’d always been self-centered and a little flighty, but this was highly bizarre behavior, even for her. Then I thought about Austin and the way he’d changed. Brooke’s scratches somehow infected him with the zombie virus. Eventually, he’d lost his mind and then turned into a zombie after we killed him.

  And Eva did get some of his blood into her saliva, I thought.

  Was it possible that she was slowly going insane because she now had the zombie virus in her system?

  “Over here,” called Eva. “I need help. I twisted my ankle.”

  I sighed and followed the sound of her voice through the trees. Of course she was no longer in the same spot when I arrived; still playing games.

  “What the hell, Eva?” I yelled. “We don’t have time for this. We have to get to Atlanta! Don’t you care about your mom?”

  “Shut up about my mom!” she spat, stepping around a tree. “This isn’t about her, it’s about you.”

  Eva looked like an insane nutcase. Her red hair was in total disarray, her eyes were bugging out of her head, and her skin was a dull, grayish-white.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, incredulously.

  “I’m fine,” she mumbled. “But you won’t be if you don’t leave my boyfriend alone.”

  “Eva, just come back to the van, okay? We have to go.”

  She shook her head. “No, not until you promise to keep your hands off of Bryce.”

  “Okay, I’ve had enough,” I snapped, stepping toward her. Enough was enough. Her ass was coming if I had to drag her by the hair.

  “Stay away from me!” she screamed, backing away.

  I sighed and raised my hands in the air. “Okay, fine, Eva. I will do whatever you want. Just, please… we have to go. Time is running out.”

  She backed away from me. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

  Before I could respond, she fell backwards over a large rock and began tumbling away from me. Apparently, we were on an incline and I hadn’t even noticed because she’d pissed me off so much.

  “Eva!” I yelled, carefully limping after her. The last thing I needed was to fall and twist the other ankle. The slope became steeper and I had to hold on to several trees to keep from falling down myself. “Hold on, Eva!” I called. “I’m coming!”

  She’d stopped tumbling and I could see her lying still about two hundred feet away from me at the bottom of the hill. As I edged closer I noticed the blood.

  “Oh, my God!” I cried as I reached her.

  Blood was seeping from the back of her head. I set my gun down and carefully lifted her head.

  Shit.

  It wasn’t good, I almost threw up when I saw all the blood oozing from the deep cut. “Eva,” I said, trying to gently shake her. “Wake up, please!”

  She wasn’t moving. I felt for a pulse and found it very faint. She was still alive, but barely hanging on.

  “Help!” I screamed. “Help!”

  I heard shouts from somewhere above us and breathed a sigh of relief. They knew where we were.

  “Don’t worry,” I said, squeezing her hand. “Help is coming.”

  Eva’s body began to shake and I moved away from her. When she began to foam at the mouth, I knew that she was definitely having some kind of seizure. Just like Austin’s.

  “Hold on, Eva,” I said.

  A growl from behind me turned my blood to ice. I quickly whipped my body around and found two giant zombies less than ten feet away, both ready to tear me apart. They looked like a couple of football players in denim bibs with hands so huge, they could easily snap my neck in two.

  “Shit,” I said, remembering I’d left my gun on the ground next to Eva.

  Baby Huey and Baby Dewey both attacked at once, stumbling toward me as I leaped toward the Ruger. I landed on my stomach and twisted my body around, firing it. I shot the nearest zombie between the eyes but watched in horror as the second zombie leaped on Eva before I could get another shot off.

  “Eva!” I screamed, firing the gun into the zombie’s head. He stopped moving and I shuddered in horror as his brains sprayed all over her face.

  I crawled over and pushed the zombie off of her.

  “Cassie!” hollered my father from the top of the hill. “We’re coming!”

  Bryce, Tiny, and my dad began descending the hill and I released a huge sigh of relief. I didn’t have enough energy to drag Eva back up the hill.

  I grabbed her wrist to check for a pulse when her eyes slowly opened.

  “Eva,” I said. “Just stay still. My dad and Bryce are both coming for you.”

  It was then that I noticed she didn’t even have a pulse. She growled at me, her eyes now red with broken blood vessels.

  I shuddered and then raised the gun to fire it, but found I was out of bullets.

  “Shit!” I hollered, now scrambling to get away from her.

  She let out an unholy screech and then grabbed my leg, sinking her teeth deep into my calf.

  I screamed in pain and kicked her hard in the face with my boot several times until she finally let go.

  “You bitch,” I cried, watching the blood bubble from the wound she’d caused.

  She snarled and then her face twisted into an evil smile that left me cold. It was as if she’d known exactly what she was doing when she attacked me.

  Bryce reached us first and saw the blood on the back of my leg. He quickly raised the gun and shot her in the head.

  “Bryce,” I sobbed as he knelt down and took me into his arms.

  “Is she okay?” asked my dad hoarsely.

  Bryce let out a ragged breath. “She’s been bit.”

  My dad looked at my calf and swore, then began to pace, he was so freaked out.

  “I’m okay,” I mumbled, although the area around my wound was beginning to heat up.

  My dad came back and kneeled next to me on the ground. “Yes,” he said, trying to smile, although I could see his lips were trembling. He wiped the perspiration from my forehead. “You’re fine, honey. Let’s get you back to the SUV.”

  “Please, let me do it,” said Bryce, lifting me into his arms.

  My leg felt like it was on fire as he carried me up the hill.

  “You okay?” he asked as his eyes filled with tears.

  I nodded and stared at his face, trying to memorize every last detail. My eyelids were getting heavy and I knew I was about to lose consciousness.

  Was this it?

  “Hey,” I said, touching his cheek. “I love you, Bryce.”

  “I love you, too,�
�� he choked.

  I looked into his deep blue eyes and smiled. “Don’t worry,” I whispered as the darkness began to surround me. “I’ll make it.”

  ***

  End of Book Two

  Book Three Now Available!

  *Also included in this book *

  Hope For A Happy Ending

  A Zombie Games

  Short

  ***

  “Henry, open the door!” yelled Mary, one of the attendants at the Pine Valley Nursing Home.

  “Hold on to your britches!” he answered and then lowered his voice. “Ginny, Barbara Jean, I’m sorry but we’re going to have to finish this game later. I think we’ve been ousted.”

  Ginny threw her cards down on the table. “Oh, phooey. I think I may have gotten a royal flush this time, too. All I needed were two more cards.”

  Barbara Jean snorted. “You’ve been saying that all day. The only thing you’ve gotten is down to your brassiere and panties.”

  “Ain’t nothing wrong with that,” cackled Henry, as he pushed himself away from the table. “You’re still in mighty fine shape for a woman in her sixties.”

  Ginny waved her hand, blushing. “Henry, you know I’m eighty-four, you sweet talkin’ devil, you.”

  “Yeah, but you’ve got the figure of a fifty-year old, and these days, fifty is the new forty,” he said, picking up her robe from the floor. As he stood back up, he winced. “Oh, I only wish I could say the same thing about me. This back of mine is giving me a lot of trouble lately. I may have to ask one of you to give me a massage once I get rid of Mary.”

  “Certainly,” said Ginny, smiling up at Henry, who was still a very handsome man at eighty-nine. He kind of reminded her of Clint Eastwood, always wearing a Stetson and a pair of cowboy boots. Of course, with his tall, lanky body, and full set of teeth, he was definitely the best catch at the nursing home.

  Barbara Jean smirked. “I’ve heard about you and those massages, Henry. Nancy James told me all about that ‘happy ending’ you were trying to talk her into the last time your back ‘went out’.”

  His watery blue eyes sparkled mischievously. “I don’t rightly recall the ending being happy or what that particularly means, Barbara Jean. Maybe you could explain it later when the two of you return to my room and work out some kinks.”

  Barbara Jean rolled her eyes. “Oh, you’re kinky alright.”

  “Henry!” hollered Mary, pounding on the door, much more loudly this time. “Open the damn door. This is serious!”

  He sighed. “Oh, hell. Well, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Ginny, you’d better put some clothes on before Mary somehow pushes that chest away from the door and starts going ninja on us. When she gets riled up, she’s a handful, by golly.”

  Barbara Jean, who hadn’t yet lost a hand of poker or an article of clothing, stood up and reached for her cane. “Well, I guess this party is definitely over. Perfect timing, I suppose,” she said, looking at her watch. “I think they’re running some old reruns of Matlock on cable later.”

  “Oh, I’ll bring the popcorn to your room and we’ll watch it together,” grinned Ginny, zipping up her housecoat.

  “You’re on.”

  “You girls want to help me move that chest out of the way first?” he asked, walking over to the door. “Before you trade me in for Andy Griffith?”

  “Oh, Henry. Andy could never replace you,” said Ginny, eyeing him appraisingly. The man still looked good in Levis. She only wished she would have known him back in the day, when he was still in the rodeo, riding those bulls.

  “Speak for yourself,” said Barbara Jean. “Back in the day, nothing beat a bottle of Chardonnay, a Matlock marathon, and my B.O.B.” She sighed. “Boy do I miss those days.”

  “What’s that, you say?” asked Henry. “B.O.B?”

  Ginny giggled. “She means her battery operated boyfriend.”

  His eyebrows shot up.

  “Henry! Please!” yelled Mary, her voice frantic.

  “Hold tight,” said Henry as he and Ginny began pushing the chest away from the doorway. Unfortunately, the staff had removed the lock on his door after he’d gotten his hand slapped for a few minor escapades, like the naked pillow party he’d inspired the week before, after his grandson’s visit. Tiny had slipped him a bottle of his favorite bourbon. After sharing it with a couple of his friends, both female, they’d all gotten giggly and a little frisky, tossing more than just pillows. Now, the staff made it a habit to check up on him throughout the day. It didn’t stop Henry from doing what he wanted, however. Nothing was going to keep him from enjoying his last days above ground.

  Mary burst through the door with a frightened look on her face. She slammed it shut and then motioned toward the oak chest. “Henry, hurry up,” she said. “We’ve got to block this door.”

  Henry smiled. “Oh, why didn’t you just say you wanted to join in the fun? Hell, Ginny, take off your robe again. We’ve got us some more hands to play.”

  Mary, who was the spitting image of Paula Deen, before she stopped eating fried foods, shook her head vehemently. “This isn’t a time for jokes, Henry. Something is happening. Something horrible!”

  “Calm down,” he said, raising his hands in the air. “Or you’re going to hyperventilate, Mary.”

  A loud thud on the outside of the door made her cry out. “Oh, my God!” she shrieked. “They’ve gotten to this floor already! Help me hold them off!”

  “What in tarnation is going on? Who has gotten in?” he asked as she put her weight against the door.

  “Dead people!” she cried.

  “It’s a nursing home,” said Henry. “Obviously, some of us are close to death, but that’s what old age does, Mary. It drains us of our youth and leaves us shells of what we used to be. It’s part of life. Now, you of all people should know that. You’ve been working here long enough.”

  “No! I mean zombies. Dead people that shouldn’t be walking!”

  Ginny’s face turned white. “What?” she asked, covering her mouth. “What are you talking about?”

  Another loud thud made them all jump.

  “Help me!” pleaded Mary, as the door handle began to jiggle.

  Henry rushed over to help as the door shuddered against Mary’s weight. Leaning against it they stared at each other in stunned silence until a low, guttural moan broke it.

  “Did… did you hear that?” whispered Barbara Jean.

  “What?” asked Ginny.

  “Turn up your hearing-aid,” hollered Henry.

  Something began snarling loudly outside the door.

  “Good going,” said Mary. “They can hear you. They can probably smell you, too.”

  Barbara Jean smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I think I may have peed a little. That last growl caught me off guard. Scared the hell out of me.”

  “It’s okay, Barbara Jean,” said Henry. “It happens to the best of us.”

  “What are we going to do?” asked Ginny, ringing her hands.

  “I know one thing – we can’t let them trap us in this little room. Whoever these people are, they’ll get through eventually. We’ve got to make a run for it.”

  “Are there a lot of them?” asked Barbara Jean.

  “Yes,” said Mary.

  “How did this happen?” asked Henry. “Do you know where they came from?”

  Mary shook her head. “No. Some soldiers came to the nursing home earlier and said to keep everyone inside. Said there were some riots going on downtown. That’s the last I heard until a group of crazed, dead people wandered into the entrance and began attacking everyone in sight. Biting, scratching… God, it was horrible.”

  “You’re sure they’re dead people?” asked Barbara Jean.

  “Sure as we’re still alive.”

  “Well, what’s happened to the others? Maggie, Jeff, Betty? All of the other residents?” asked Henry.

  “Most of them have been sick with the flu,” she said, blinking back tears. “Oh, Henry… I’m
not exactly sure what’s happening. I just ran to your room. To make sure you were okay.”

  “Thanks, Mary,” said Henry, squeezing her shoulder. “You’re a mighty good woman.”

  The zombie, or whatever it was on the other side of the door, made a crazed screeching noise and began scratching and clawing at the door. This was followed by a growling from a new creature that was apparently now joining in the fun.

  “Give me your cane, Barbara Jean,” said Henry.

  “Why?”

  “Because, as soon as we open this door, I’m going to kill me some zombies,” he said grimly. “Just be prepared.”

  She snorted. “Right. You’re going to kill someone.”

  “I’m serious. We’ve got to get out of here and it’s the only way. Now, give me your cane.”

  Barbara Jean sighed and handed it to him. “Fine. Just don’t break it. It’s my favorite.”

  “If I break it, I’ll buy you a new one.”

  “You break it, you get me your grandson’s autograph,” she smiled. “Love me a picture of Tiny in his speedos.”

  “The wrestler?” asked Ginny.

  “The one and only,” she replied.

  “I think the zombies are gone,” whispered Mary, listening against the door. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “Only one way to find out,” replied Henry. “Open the door.”

  Mary’s eyes widened. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  “We have to make our escape. There’s no other way.”

  She bit her lower lip. “Okay. I’ll go first.”

  Henry stared at her in surprise. “You?”

  “Obviously. I’m the youngest and the most agile.”

  His lips tightened. “I may look older than dirt, but there is no way in hell I’m letting you go first. Just ‘cause I’m living in this place doesn’t mean I’m no longer capable of being man. Now, you open that door so I can get you ladies to safety.”

  After a long pause, she relented. “Fine.”

  Henry opened the door.

  “Oh, my God,” gasped Ginny as they stared in terror at the horrifying scene in front of them. Two mottled, disfigured men were lying on top of another resident, chewing on pieces of what was surely the man’s intestines.