“Marcus is still in there?” said Donnie. “He was eyeing that blonde from yesterday and I warned him to keep his distance. Tony’s going to be pissed if Marcus puts his hands on any of these girls again. We need them in good form for the events.”
Events?
“Hmm… this one’s a looker, too,” said Rico, touching my cheek before I had time to react. “Maybe we should get Marcus out of there. He did time for rape, you know.”
Donnie nodded. “Yeah, but he’s Tony’s nephew. He’ll put up a big stink about it. He volunteered to watch the girls and he isn’t going to walk away from that. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll behave himself from now on.”
The guard nodded in agreement and opened the door. “Let’s just wait and see if there’s a problem before we try fixing it.”
They hustled me into the room and I noticed there were several other women being held captive. Most of them were just lying around on couches or sitting on the ground, staring into space and looking completely hopeless.
“What do we have here?” asked a short, muscular guy with a goatee. His eyes traveled up and down my body and it gave me the creeps.
“Another player for the game, Marcus,” said Donnie.
Why did fate always throw assholes my way?
Marcus walked up to me, ripped the tape from my mouth, and smirked while I squealed from the pain.
“Yo, Donnie,” called a tall blond guy who was sitting at a bar in the back of the room. Even from this distance I could see that he was reading a girly magazine and drinking a beer. He was a real hard worker.
“Hey, Johnny,” he answered. “Got you another one. This one’s young and feisty, so watch her.”
Johnny nodded and then went back to reading the magazine. Obviously he wasn’t too worried about me.
“I think we can handle her,” said Marcus, smiling at me lasciviously. “She looks like a little pussycat to me.”
My stomach rolled and I took a step back from him. He noticed this and smiled even wider.
“Listen, Marcus,” said Donnie, pointing a finger at him. “Just keep an eye on her, but don’t get too friendly, you know what I’m saying?”
Marcus folded his arms under his chest and looked a little pissed off. “No, as a matter of fact I don’t.”
“Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean,” said Donnie.
“Excuse me; can someone untie my hands?” I interrupted. “The rope really burns.”
Marcus took out a knife and stepped behind me. His hand brushed against my rear, not once but twice, as he cut the rope. I turned around and glared at him.
“Angry little pussycat,” he said with a knowing grin.
I looked at Donnie, who actually appeared almost apprehensive about leaving. “Don’t leave me with him,” I pleaded.
“Don’t worry, doll, you’ll be fine,” he answered and then turned back to Marcus. “Because nobody’s gonna bother you.”
Marcus snorted and then asked, “So, when’s the next game?”
Donnie started walking toward the door. “Soon. We’re rounding up more zombies. Not easy though, bastards are getting harder to control.”
Marcus cracked his knuckles. “That’ll just make it more entertaining.”
What in the hell were they talking about?
“Johnny,” called out Donnie. “I’m leaving. Watch the girls and make sure nothing goes down until we come to collect them.”
Johnny nodded but didn’t look up from his centerfold.
After Donnie left the room, Marcus pointed toward the other girls. “These are your roommates, but don’t get too friendly. You won’t be seeing them for very long. You need a friend, see me.”
Like that was going to happen.
He stared at me for a minute and I glared at him.
“Okay, then,” he said, nodding. “I’ll be over there, if you need me.”
Then he walked back toward Johnny and poured himself a drink.
I rubbed my sore wrists, and moved toward an attractive blond woman who appeared to be somewhere in her twenties. She was sitting in a club chair with her eyes closed and a hand at her forehead. When I sat down next to her, she opened her eyes and muttered, “Welcome to the jungle.”
“What are they doing with us?” I whispered.
She stared at me for a minute and then sighed. “Using us for entertainment, hon.”
Entertainment?
“What do you mean?”
She looked at our captors and then back to me. “I’ve heard a lot of talk going on between these guys, they love to hear themselves. Anyway, from what I understand, these guys used to be heavily invested in the drug trade business. After the zombie shit went down, well it hurt it, as you can imagine.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” I said.
“Anyway, these assholes are now using us to get drugs from some of their suppliers living in Colombia and other countries. Apparently flu shots weren’t on their ‘to do’ lists and many members of the cartel escaped zombie transformations. Now with money meaning shit in our world right now, these dickheads are putting on live entertainment and using us as the main attraction to work out deals with their suppliers.”
A shiver went down my spine. “How can they do that?”
“I guess they can still access the Internet somehow and broadcast over it.”
“Great,” I mumbled. “So, what exactly are we doing as the entertainment?”
“We’re being thrown to the zombies to see how long we can survive before they tear us apart. It’s like a wrestling cage match, only it’s us against the undead.”
22
I stared at her in horror. “That’s pretty sick. Have you seen them do it?”
She smiled grimly. “Oh yeah, and it’s far worse than anything you could possibly imagine. They’ve drained the indoor pool and that’s where the excitement takes place,” she said angrily. “A few girls against a group of zombies; it’s sadistic as all hell, and they make the rest of us watch the whole sordid thing.”
It definitely was horrifying, but to tell you the truth, it was better than what had originally crossed my mind. I thought for sure they were raping us or making some kind of snuff films. I had to admit that zombies didn’t scare me as much as desperate drug dealers.
“What happens if you beat the zombies?” I asked.
She snorted. “Hasn’t been done yet. Weapons aren’t allowed, and the only way to kill a zombie is…”
“Destroy the brain,” I finished.
She nodded.
I looked around the room at the other women. Most of them were in their twenties or thirties and looked pretty healthy. I imagined that if they had weapons, they’d be decent adversaries against the undead.
“How long have you been prisoner?” I asked.
“Couple days. I’ve only witnessed one of their shows and that was yesterday. The next one is going to be soon, and I’m sure my time is running out.”
I looked over at Johnny and Marcus again, who appeared to be snorting something. Marcus looked up and wiped his nose.
“Maybe they’ll get too high and we can escape,” I said. I really didn’t know that much about drugs.
“They’ll probably get more strung out,” she answered. “If we’re lucky, they’ll snort too much and have a seizure or heart attack.”
Just then, Marcus walked back over, and I could tell by the look in his eyes he had something on his mind that wasn’t at all in my best interest.
“What’s your name, pussycat?” he asked me, rubbing his nose.
I raised my chin. “Your worst nightmare.”
Marcus laughed out loud. “That’s cute. You must watch too many movies. Tell you what, if you’re a nice kitty, I might be able to extend your stay with us.”
I crossed my arms under my chest. “A nice kitty?”
“A nice ‘friendly’ kitty. I think you know what I mean,” he said, now totally undressing me with his eyes.
“Let me see if I have this rig
ht; if I let you put your hands on me, then you’ll let me live a little longer?”
“Or you can put your hands on me.”
I wanted to puke. “Both sound pretty disgusting to me.”
His face darkened and he took a step forward. “You’d better watch it, or you’ll end up like the last little bitch who gave me lip.”
“Leave her alone, Marcus,” said my new blond friend. “She’s just a young kid.”
“Mind your own business, Carly,” snapped Marcus. “Or you, me, and this little bitch here, will go into the next room and I’ll teach you both a lesson.”
“Everything okay over here?” sniffed Johnny as he strolled over to us. His pupils were dilated and he looked twitchy.
Marcus glared at me again and then turned back to his partner. “It’s fine, just a couple of insolent bitches trying to get a rise out of me. I think we should teach them a lesson and make sure both of them are in the next show.”
Johnny shrugged. “Your call.”
Marcus only gave us a satisfied grin and then walked away.
“So, what did happen to the last gal who gave him lip?” I asked under my breath.
Carly motioned toward the back corner of the room where a girl was sleeping underneath a blanket on the floor. “He practically beat her to death. She wouldn’t let him touch her, either, and told him off. He beat her up pretty bad and now she can barely move. Hate to say this, but she’s going to be easy prey for the zombies when they put her in the game.”
“That Marcus is a real prick. Nobody deserves getting beaten, except him. Is she okay now?”
“To be honest, I don’t know.”
“I’m going to check on her,” I said.
“Here,” said Carly, handing me a bottle of water. “See if she’s thirsty.”
“Thanks.”
I walked over to the girl who wasn’t making a sound. I kneeled down and touched her shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Cassie?” murmured the girl, turning over to look at me. Her left eye was black and blue and there was dried blood just above her bruised lips.
“Paige?” I whispered in horror.
23
“How did you get here?” she asked, trying to sit up. “Is my mom or Tiny here?”
I shook my head. “Just me. Are you okay?”
“I’ve been better. Where have you been?”
I gave her a rundown of what I’d been doing the last few days, including how I’d ran into Nora. “So, obviously, I haven’t seen anyone else in the group.”
“Nora, huh? I can’t believe she survived and was taken to the same facility where you were held. What are the chances of that?”
“I know, I still can’t believe it. You know,” I said, “this entire thing seems more and more like a bad dream.”
“Well, wake up then. This dream of yours hurts.”
I smiled, bitterly. “I wish it were that easy.”
She closed her eyes and nodded. I could tell from the expression on her face that she was in a lot of pain.
“What happened? How did you get here?” I asked.
Paige opened her eyes. “We were separated from your dad and Bryce a few days ago when someone opened fire on them. Tiny took off to save us, and when we returned to see how you guys were doing, nobody was around. I guess they must have survived since you’re here right now,” she smiled. “Thank God.”
“Well, how did you end up here?” I asked.
Paige cleared her throat. “We went to the CDC and parked outside. Mom and Tiny went into the building to search for everyone. I suddenly had to pee. I mean, I just couldn’t hold it anymore. Anyway, I crept behind an abandoned car and as I was coming back, someone grabbed me. They put a blindfold on me and brought me here.”
“You went outside to pee by yourself when there were zombies around?” I asked.
“Had my bat, but the asshole surprised me from behind.”
“What are you bitches talking about over there?” hollered Marcus from across the room.
Paige glared at him but neither of us answered.
“He’s a real piece of work,” I said under my breath.
She nodded. “He needs his ass kicked. I tell you what, if I still had my metal bat, I would have given him that home-run he wanted.”
I smiled. “I’m glad to see that he didn’t beat your spirit.”
She snorted. “If I’ve survived this far against the zombies, one pervert with short-man syndrome isn’t going to be my demise.”
“Don’t worry,” I said, gently touching her shoulder. “We’ll get out of here somehow.”
Her eyes widened. “So, you have a plan?”
I bit the side of my lip. “Actually, I’ve got nothing yet, but the good news is I’m feeling all right and nobody knows of my martial arts training. Not yet, anyway.”
She nodded. “Well that is something. Unfortunately, I can barely move and I’m next in the pool of horror. I don’t think I’ll do very well against the zombies.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll cover your ass,” I said, standing back up.
She stared at my dress and smiled. “You’re barely covered yourself. What’s up with the hooker outfit?”
I looked down and made a face. “I know but I had no other choice. It was either this or hospital gown with my rear sticking out. You should see Nora’s outfit, it’s even worse than mine.”
“That must have been quite the sight.”
I smiled. “Oh, yeah and she was less than thrilled.”
She closed her eyes again. “We have to get out of here.”
Before I could reply, the door opened and Donnie stepped through with another man who looked important in a mafia kind of way. He was dressed in some kind of expensive designer suit, had very dark hair, and a thick belly. It amazed me how these guys were strutting around in monkey suits with perfectly coifed hair in the middle of a zombie war. Plus, they all seemed to be eating fairly well.
“Nice group,” he said, cracking his knuckles. He, like most of the other thugs, had several rings on his fingers that I imagined may have broken a few noses along the years.
“That’s the head guy,” whispered Paige. “Tony.”
“Time to play a fun game, lovelies,” hollered Tony, now clapping his hands to get everyone’s attention. “I like to call this zombie game, ‘Survival’, you against a few brainless, undead pieces of shit. You win, I let you go, you lose… well, I think you understand.”
“What if we don’t want to play?” asked Carly.
He smiled sadistically. “Sorry, babe, but you have no choice.”
“Nothing fair about this game,” said Paige.
“So,” he continued. “We need five volunteers or we pick the players ourselves.”
I cleared my throat and stepped forward. “If we survive, will you let us go?”
Tony stepped closer to me and smiled. “Sure, why not? You can walk away and I’ll even give you a free meal to celebrate your victory; just because I’m a nice guy.”
“If that’s a real promise, I’ll play your game,” I said. “But I do have one request.”
Tony stared at me in amusement. “Okay, I’ll bite – what is your request, honey?”
I pointed to Paige, who was now standing but clearly in pain. “That you keep her out of the game, and she gets released if we win.”
“That bitch. If she ain’t playing, she certainly ain’t leaving,” interrupted Marcus.
Tony’s eyes narrowed and he turned to Donnie. “So is this the blond you were talking about? The one Marcus apparently smacked around?”
“She certainly didn’t arrive this way,” I interrupted.
Tony frowned. “Marcus, I told you to leave the players untouched.”
“She was getting lippy, Ton,” he said. “What? I should just ignore her mouth? She was disrespectful.”
“You inform me next time,” demanded Tony. “I need players that are healthy, and they’re getting pretty scarce these days. We hav
e no players, we have no game. Capiche?”
Marcus looked down and nodded.
“As far as your friend goes,” said Tony, looking at me. “If you volunteer for this next game, I can leave her out of it. She’s too banged up right now anyway. If you win, I’ll even let you both go, because, like I said before, I’m a nice guy.”
From the expression on his face, I could tell he didn’t think there was even a chance of me winning.
“Okay, then I volunteer,” I said.
He nodded. “Good girl. Anyone else?”
Nobody else volunteered so he picked four more girls, Carly being one of them.
“The game will begin in an hour. Rest up,” said Tony before he stepped out of the room with Donnie.
Marcus looked at me and shook his head. “Should’ve taken my offer earlier, pussycat, and been nice to me. I mean, I could’ve sheltered you from the game and we would have spent some quality time getting to know each other. Now you’re going to be torn apart and even volunteered for it. Not too bright.”
I just ignored him and walked back to Paige. “See, I told you we’re going to get out of here.”
“Hope you have a plan for when you’re in the pool,” she said, “because the zombies aren’t easy to kill when you have no weapons.”
“Oh, but I have two weapons,” I said.
She raised her eyebrows. “Where?”
I looked down at my high heels, which I was glad to be still wearing, and smiled. “Did you ever get a chance to watch that ‘Jerry Springer Show’?”
24
Donnie and a couple of his stooges arrived for us about an hour later. We were taken to the hotel’s large indoor pool in the garden atrium, which was actually pretty breathtaking. Lush flowers, waterfalls, and Greek statues surrounded the outer area of the atrium. It would have been a beautiful place to relax under normal circumstances.
“Sick bastards,” I said, looking around. “I’m surprised they didn’t have this event catered.”
“Oh, but they did,” said Carly. “We’re the food and the zombies are the honored guests.”
“Hope they choke on my big toe,” I replied.
Zombie Games (Uncut) Boxed Set Page 39