“If I was a drinker, which I don’t think I am, I’d be in Heaven right now,” he said, looking through several full bottles of rum and vodka.
Luke bent down behind the bar where he found a cooler that was now warm. “Found some bottled water and Red Bull. I love those things.”
He turned around and stared at Luke. “Stick with the water, Red Bull has too much caffeine for a young kid like you.”
Luke smirked. “I’m almost fifteen. I’ve had lots of energy drinks in the past, and even some beer.”
He lifted a bottle of booze. “Really? Well, shit, let’s break open this bottle of Cold Turkey, then!”
Luke’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
He shook his head. “Hell no. You’re definitely too young for booze. Energy drinks are one thing, this stuff…” he shuddered. “Frankly, I don’t think anyone is mature enough for this shit.”
“Crap!” hollered Luke, jumping backwards.
“What?”
His face was white. “Something ran over my foot.”
He shined the flashlight toward the floor and found a small rat. He kicked the rodent and it went flying across the floor.
“You didn’t have to hurt it,” said Luke.
He snorted. “They carry all kinds of diseases. If that thing would have bitten you, you know we can’t just rush to the local clinic for a rabies shot.”
Luke looked around nervously. “I hope he was alone.”
“Don’t sweat it. Just kick ‘em or kill ‘em if they come around,” he replied.
Luke’s stomach growled loudly in the darkness.
“Guess you’re hungry. I noticed a kitchen in the back, let’s go and see if there’s any food packed away.”
They found a pantry in the kitchen that was well stocked with plenty of nonperishable foods.
He rubbed his chin. “Someone was prepared for this shit. I wonder where they are now?”
Luke started digging through the food. “Maybe they were killed. Wow, would you look at all this stuff! Cereal, nuts, granola bars, crackers… we scored big time!”
He smiled. “Listen, I’m going back downstairs to board up that window. Stay put and scream your lungs out if you need me.”
Luke nodded and began stuffing his face with tortilla chips. “Holy cow, there’s a can of nacho cheese sauce! There is a God!”
His own stomach began to growl as he went back to the basement. They were lucky to have found all the food, but something told him the owner might be back and probably wouldn’t be happy to find it raided. They’d have to stay alert most of the night.
After searching through several drawers, he found a hammer and some nails, along with several candles. Fortunately, he’d kept a couple of cigarette lighters he’d found earlier.
“Damn rats,” he muttered, kicking another one across the room. He hoped the place wasn’t infested.
Another zombie walked by the window he’d broken through and he decided it was time to board it back up. Taking his ax, he broke off a couple of wooden cabinet doors and used them to cover the broken glass.
“Hey, Hooters!” hollered Luke from the top of the stairs.
Hooters?
He walked over to the foot of the stairway and looked up. “What’s wrong, Luke?”
He smiled sheepishly. “Nothing, I’m just starting to get the creeps all alone up here.”
He grabbed the ax and candles then walked up the steps. “So… Hooters?”
Luke chuckled. “I thought you needed a name, since you can’t remember your own.”
He looked down at his T-shirt and smiled. “Yeah, but I feel so… dirty when you call me that.”
Luke laughed. “You come up with your name and I’ll quit looking at your chest.”
A loud crash from outside startled them both. He ran upstairs and looked through a gap in one of the boarded windows. “Shit,” he said, turning to Luke. “Looks like we have company, and this time, they’re not dead.”
8
Paige
Kristie was inconsolable when she found out that Paige had been kidnapped. Tiny held her as she sobbed into his shoulder.
“What did the guy look like? Did you see him, Henry?” asked Tiny over Kristie’s head.
Henry’s face was somber and there were tears in his eyes. “No, dear God, and I’m so sorry. I’d just meant to rest my eyes, is all. I just… I fell asleep and woke up to Kylie screaming bloody murder. By the time I looked outside, they were gone.”
Kristie released a ragged sigh and then moved away from Tiny. She grabbed Kylie’s hand and squeezed it gently. “Kylie, honey, tell us again, what exactly did you see?”
Kylie’s face was streaked with her own tears. “Um, I saw this big man with dark hair come up behind her and grab her. I tried to warn Paige, but it happened so fast. I’m so sorry, mom!”
Kristie wrapped her arms around Kylie and drew her in close. “It’s not your fault, baby. Just remember that. It’s… it’s my fault.”
“Whoa… it’s not your fault, Kristie,” stated Tiny. “Don’t ever blame yourself for that.”
“But, I shouldn’t have left my girls,” she choked, fresh tears rolling down her face. “Good Lord, what in the hell was I thinking?”
“No, if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine,” said Tiny. “I should have gone by myself into that building, which, hell, ended up being a total waste of time, anyway.”
It had been a waste of time. There hadn’t been anyone in the main building. When they began walking toward the smaller facility, Henry and Kylie had intercepted them with the horrific news.
“Listen,” said Henry, raising his hands. “It’s not anyone’s fault but the bastard who took her. Now, we have to quit blaming ourselves and start looking for Paige.”
Kristie’s eyes burned angrily. “When I find the asshole who took her, I’m going to make him wish he’d have turned into a zombie. I swear to God, there’s going to be a lot of pain involved.”
Tiny put his hands on her shoulders. “I’ll do everything in my power to help. Let’s go find your daughter, babe. You have my word that we won’t stop looking until we get her back.
Kristie’s brushed away the last of her tears and nodded. “Thank you.”
***
Paige woke up in what appeared to be some kind of large banquet room. Several tables were pushed against the wall and women of different ages were lying around on the floor, either crying or staring miserably into space.
She blinked her eyes several times, willing it to be a dream. Unfortunately, it wasn’t even a nightmare. It was all real, and she was confused as all hell.
“You’re up,” said a disheveled woman sitting on the ground nearby. “If I were you, I’d go back to sleep. You don’t want to be awake in this nightmare.”
Paige cleared her throat. “What’s happening?”
Footsteps echoed behind her and she turned to stare at a man dressed in gray slacks and a dark blue silk shirt. He knelt down next to her and the smell of spicy cologne engulfed her.
“Well I see that Bright Eyes is finally awake,” he said, rubbing a finger along his goatee. “Nice of you to finally join us, sweetheart.”
Paige stood up and backed away from him. “Where am I? Where’s my mom?”
He stood up and took a step toward her. “Don’t worry about that right now. In fact, you’re safe with me.”
Although he was a couple inches shorter than her, he looked dangerous, especially with the holstered gun on his side.
“I’m not supposed to be here,” she snapped, getting angry. Who were these people?
He ignored her comment and stared at her mouth. “So, are you thirsty? Would you like something to drink? Your lips look dry and cracked.”
Paige licked them and nodded. She was parched. “Um, sure, I guess.”
He smiled. “Stay here, I’ll be right back,” he said, walking away. Her eyes followed him as he stopped next to a bar in the back of the room where another guy was sitting,
watching them.
“Don’t trust that asshole,” whispered the woman near her. “He’ll try and put his hands on you after he gets you liquored up. He did that to Celia; practically raped her.”
Paige’s felt nauseated. “Who are these men and why are we here?”
“Oh, we’re here to play a game,” said the woman with a bitter smile.
She frowned. “I don’t get it. They kidnapped us to play a game?”
She nodded. “That they did.”
“Seriously?”
“Dead serious,” replied the woman.
“Well what kind of game? Monopoly, Yahtzee? Don’t Spill The Beans?”
“Nice try, but it’s a game I guarantee you’ve never heard of.”
This woman was beginning to irritate her, too. “Well, will they let us go, if we win?”
“Kid, I don’t know exactly how the game is played but I can tell you this – you lose, you’ll die, and that’s for real. You win,” she shrugged. “Well… you’ll still lose.”
Paige looked confused. “I’m sorry, what do you mean?”
She let out a ragged breath. “We’re the pawns in a really fucked up game, honey. A game that has no winners ‘cept the men who’ve created it. The fact is that no matter what happens, you’ll never come out ahead.”
Paige’s eyes hardened. She wasn’t about to give up. If she was forced to play a game, she’d do whatever she had to survive. “A game, huh? I guess I’ll just have to figure out a way to win.”
The woman lowered her voice. “Even if you could possibly win this game of theirs, honey, you’re probably better off dead.”
9
Kris
The sun was starting to go down while the zombies appeared to be waking up all over town. A feeling of dread gnawed in Kris’s stomach as she watched their shadows creep by.
“Wow, look at all of those hideous creatures. I doubt we would have made it without this rig,” stated Carly, gripping the steering wheel. They’d had to slow down and it was nerve-wracking to see such horror up close. Dozens of zombies staggered aimlessly down the road with no particular destination.
Kris watched as two undead preyed upon some kind of dead animal, possibly a raccoon. It was certainly a gruesome sight to behold, their bloody, rotting, faces gorging themselves with food. She shuddered and looked away.
“Not many survivors, I guess,” said Carly.
Kris shook her head and sighed. “Doesn’t look like it.”
They drove for a few more blocks, swerving to miss zombies and hitting some that walked right into their path. The crunch of bones and screams from the walkers was enough to make Kris’s skin crawl. It was hard to believe that a week ago, these same creatures were living normal lives. She could only pray that her husband and oldest daughter were still alive and not among them.
“There it is,” said Kris, pointing to the CDC building.
Carly nodded. “I’ve seen pictures in the past of this place. Doesn’t quite look so impressive now,” she said, pulling into the parking lot.
“I’m going to check on Allie,” said Kris, moving toward the back of the ambulance where her daughter was curled up in a cot, sleeping. She touched her forehead with the back of her hand and sighed with relief to find it still felt cool to the touch. For days, Allie had been burning up while her body struggled against the virus that had invaded her body. It wasn’t until she’d slipped into a coma that she’d started getting better.
“Hi, mom,” whispered Allie, her blue eyes fluttering open. “I thought I was dreaming that you’d found me. But you really did…”
“Yes, sweetie,” she said, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I’m really here. How are you feeling?”
Allie sat up. “I’m okay, maybe a little hungry.”
“We’ll scout around for some food real soon. I’m getting hungry myself.”
“Okay. Um… where are dad and Cassie?”
She smiled sadly. “Tell you the truth, I’m not really sure. We’re trying to find them.”
“You know, I had these strange dreams about Cassie. She was sick but we were together and she made me feel so safe. I hope she is safe like me right now.”
Kris blinked back tears. “Me too, honey.”
“Hey, you’d better come up here,” hollered Carly.
She rushed to the front of the vehicle and gasped at the scene across the street. A man was being dragged toward an army truck by two military soldiers. His face was battered and his dark hair was messed up, but she’d have recognized him anywhere. As the soldiers drew closer to the truck, the prisoner came to life and made a last-ditch effort to escape. Unfortunately, they stopped him and then began hitting him violently with their fists.
“What in the hell is wrong with those men?” gasped Carly. ‘Nobody deserves to get treated like that!”
“Oh, my God,” choked Kris, grabbing on to the door handle. “We have to do something before they kill him!”
Then, something happened that neither of them had expected; the rescue team arrived. Only this rescue team would have preferred to kill all three men and snack on their brains in between.
Carly and Kris watched in horror as a crowd of zombies stumbled toward the unsuspecting soldiers, who were still too busy beating their prisoner senseless to notice their arrival. The sickening smiles on the soldiers matched those of the zombies, until they became victims. As the soldiers started fighting back, the prisoner stood up and miraculously, began running.
“Follow him!” yelled Kris.
10
John Doe?
“Good thing your brother Walt boarded up this shithole, Belinda,” said a tall guy with muscles the size of cantaloupes, which were protruding from his Harley Davidson tank.
“Yeah, and good thing the dumb fuck’s wife got her flu shot,” chuckled a raspy bleached blond woman. She wore a Metallica tank top, a miniscule leather skirt, and tall black boots. She looked like a heavy metal groupie from the eighties; one that hadn’t aged well. “Otherwise,” she said, “I’d have had to kick his ass out of here myself.”
“I’m sorry you missed out on that,” said the big guy as he came up behind the woman and put an arm around her waist. “But I’m sure his zombie wife did him in just fine.”
She nodded. “She did many guys fine, I’ve heard.”
“Wow,” snorted a short, greasy-haired guy who was swigging out of a bottle of vodka like it was water. “You must have really hated your bro and his wife.”
“Walter? Yeah but only after he stopped looking out for his little sister. You never turn your back on family. Never,” she muttered, stepping away from Charlie. She lit up cigarette and inhaled.
Charlie crossed his arms across his chest. “Hon, I thought you said you were older than Walt?”
“Well, you were wrong,” snapped Belinda through a cloud of smoke. “He was forty-five and I’m only… twenty-nine.”
Even Charlie was smart enough not to crack a smile at that one. The truth of the matter was the skinny woman looked like she was closer to fifty, with the many scowl lines permanently etched on her face. Her skinny, drawn-on eyebrows, hot pink lips, and dark roots didn’t help her looks, either.
Struggling not to laugh himself, he watched from his hiding spot, which was under a booth in the back corner of the bar. Because the lighting was so poor, he could see them but they couldn’t see him. There were four of them who’d arrived at the casino, three men and the blond woman. Before they’d actually broken the boards to get in, he’d taken Luke downstairs, hiding him in a cabinet. Thankfully, the kid was a beanpole and was able to twist his body to fit inside.
“Wonder whose Jeep that is in the parking lot?” muttered Charlie as he rubbed his goatee.
“I’m sure it was abandoned some time ago. Listen,” said Belinda in her low, scratchy voice. “Why don’t you try and find some food? I’m going upstairs to take a nap.”
“Here,” said Charlie, handing her a bottle of whiskey. “This will hel
p you relax. I’ll be up later.”
“You dirty boy,” cackled Belinda. “Trying to get me liquored up so you can get a piece, huh?”
Charlie laughed. “I wasn’t thinking about that, but now that you mention it,” he said, slapping her bony rear. “I’ll be up sooner than later.”
She reached into her shirt and scratched her armpit. “You’d better be quick, I need my beauty sleep,” she said.
She left and he thought it would take more than one night to fix that mess.
“So,” said the third guy with a long, white scar on his face. “We gonna hit up some more stores before everyone else cleans them out? Shit, I don’t know about you, but if Belinda runs out of her Marlboros, I don’t want to be among the living.”
“Screw that shit,” said Charlie. “I’m done driving all over town just to find gas stations that have already been looted. I’ve got something easier and better in mind. Belinda’s cousin, Tony, is staying at some swanky hotel with his posse and they’ve got something big cooking. I want in.”
“The mobster? What’s the deal?” asked the scarred guy.
“All I know is that if we can round up some bitches for them, we’ll have more dope than we know what to do with. It’s coming straight from Colombia, too,” said Charlie.
“You’re shitting me,” laughed Bones. “I never thought I’d get my hands on premium shit again.”
“No kidding,” answered Charlie. ‘You can’t find blow on the streets anymore, only fucking zombies.”
“So where are we supposed to find these broads?” asked Bones.
“Well, that’s why they need us. These women need to be alive and fairly good-looking which is, as you know, VERY hard to come by.”
“What are they doing with them? Trading for drugs?” asked Bones.
Charlie shrugged. “Maybe. Anyway, you got to figure that eventually this zombie shit will be over and life will go on. Drugs will be in demand again and Tony probably wants to be on top of his game.”
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