“Thank goodness, you showed up,” said the red-haired nun. “I don’t know about Sister Theresa or Sister Elizabeth, but I’m not sure if I could have really attacked one of them.” She held up her large butcher knife. “The thought just sickens me.”
“Well, you have to destroy them,” said Nora, kicking at one of the zombies on the ground as it made one last feeble attempt to reach for her, “if you want to survive.”
Henry, who’d gotten out of the truck, took off his Stetson and nodded. “She’s right. Don’t you burden yourself with the guilt of saving your own life; I’m sure God would understand.”
The nun looked at the bloody carnage we’d created and shook her head. “Well, I’m not so sure about that.”
“Why?” I asked, curious to know the nun’s take on the zombies and all of the bloodshed. “What do you mean?”
The nun turned to me and smiled grimly. “Because these are the ‘End of Days’, honey. These walking corpses are all part of God’s plan to eliminate the evil and corrupt, to cleanse the earth, so that we can start fresh.”
Henry’s eyes widened. “Uh, excuse me? You mean…”
“Yes,” said the other nun. “This is just the preliminary to what’s going to happen next.”
“You mean you seriously think it’s going to get worse than this?” I asked, not knowing what to believe.
“Yes, child, much worse,” she replied, laying a hand on my shoulder.
2
Allie and Kylie
“Wake up, Allie,” whispered Kylie, shaking her shoulder.
“What?” she mumbled, opening her eyes. “More tremors?”
“No, if there’d have been another quake, you’d have woken up with me screaming my butt off. It’s just…” she sighed. “Luke’s not back yet.”
Allie pushed herself up. “How long has it been?”
“Well, you’ve been asleep for at least two hours.”
She groaned. That meant he’d been gone for four or five hours, maybe longer.
“Do you think they got him?” whispered Kylie, biting her lower lip.
“I don’t know,” said Allie, pulling out pieces of straw from her blonde hair. “Probably not. He’s pretty smart, so I don’t think he would have let that happen.”
“Yeah, but if he was outnumbered...”
“Don’t say that, I’m sure he’s fine.” Allie wrinkled her nose. “Oh man, it stinks in here. Like a mixture of horse manure and…”
“Death,” replied Kylie.
They were hiding up in the loft of an old barn in the middle of nowhere, while a dozen or so zombies wandered aimlessly below, sniffing the air, searching for the source of the succulent smell of living flesh floating somewhere in the air.
“We should have stayed in the van,” said Kylie, playing with a piece of straw. She twirled it between her fingers and then flicked it away. “How are we ever going to get out of here?”
“Don’t worry. Luke will be back and he’ll know what to do.”
“Let’s hope,” sighed Kylie.
They’d run out of gas less than twenty-four hours after leaving Atlanta, and had been forced to abandon the van on the side of the road. After walking a couple of miles, they’d chanced upon an old farmhouse, inhabited by the stench of rotten food and even rottener… zombies. Tired and hungry, they’d dashed to the barn to hide up in the loft while Luke went in search of another vehicle for the three of them.
“I don’t know, I still don’t think he should have left us,” said Kylie. “It’s too dangerous to be alone out there. We could have helped him.”
“Or we could have been eaten,” said Allie. “Look, it’ll be easier for him if he doesn’t have to worry about us.”
“Yeah, I suppose,” she said.
Allie crawled over to the edge of the loft and looked down into the lower part of the barn. “None of them have tried using the ladder?”
Kylie moved along next to her. “They couldn’t figure it out,” she said as they watched the zombies shuffle around, moaning and slightly agitated. “One of them stood at the bottom, looking up, and I thought for sure, he was going to crawl up here, but fortunately for us, he was just too dense to figure out how to do it.”
“Thank God.”
One of the zombies, a woman with long stringy hair and a chewed-up nose, must have heard something, because she looked up at them and began growling. Then, two other zombies joined in, and soon the entire barn sounded like a bunch of cats in heat.
The girls backed away from the edge.
“God, I wish they’d just stop,” groaned Allie, holding her hands over her ears.
Kylie closed her eyes and began praying.
“What are you doing?” asked Allie.
Kylie opened her eyes. “Praying that someone will come and save us.”
Allie closed her eyes and began praying, too. Anything was worth trying at this point.
After several minutes of praying, both girls noticed the zombies had quieted down and they opened their eyes.
“No way,” whispered Allie, peeking over the edge of the loft again.
Not only had the zombies quieted down, but they’d actually left the barn.
“Don’t get too excited,” said Kylie, walking over to the open window. She leaned down and pointed. “Look.”
Allie stared in horror at the scene outside. Luke had returned and was holding some kind of makeshift torch, trying to get back into the barn, while a crowd of about fifteen zombies were moving toward him.
“He needs our help!” cried Allie, rushing toward the ladder.
“Are you kidding me? There’s too many!” hollered Kylie, grabbing her arm. “It’s suicide to go down there. We lost our weapons and there’s no way we can kill those things with our bare hands.”
The sound of gunfire startled both of them and they dashed back over to the window. A big red pickup was now parked outside of the barn, its owner firing his gun at the zombies surrounding Luke.
“Holy cow,” whispered Allie, staring at the tall, muscular guy. “That guy is fine.”
“Seriously, he’s like, old,” said Kylie. “He has to be in his twenties.”
Noticing the two girls looking down from the window, Luke ran into the barn and yelled for them to climb down the ladder. When they reached the bottom, they both hugged him and his face turned crimson.
“Oh, my God, are you okay?” cried Allie, noticing the way he winced when she released him.
“Yeah, I’m okay. I had a close call with a zombie earlier. Thankfully, the lower part of his face was missing and he couldn’t bite me.” He shuddered. “I don’t think I’ve ever smelled anything that bad in my life.”
“You weren’t trapped in the barn with us and a group of those things, these last few hours. Even the cow dung couldn’t mask the smell,” said Kylie.
The gunfire ceased suddenly, and the three of them stepped outside of the barn to see what was happening.
“Do you know that guy?” whispered Kylie as the stranger walked toward them.
“No,” he said, stomping out the flames on the torch. “I never did find help. At least, not before this guy showed up.”
“Hopefully he is help,” whispered Allie. “Or at the very least, friendly.”
The guy didn’t appear very friendly; in fact, as he stepped closer, he looked more ominous than anything.
“Stay close to me,” said Luke.
“He looks like some kind of a biker dude,” whispered Allie. She smiled. “That’s kind of hot.”
“Oh, my God,” snorted Kylie.
“Hey,” called the man, stopping a few yards away. He had a flattened blonde Mohawk, a couple piercings on his stubbly face, and some kind of tribal tattoo on his left arm. “So, are you kids okay?”
“Yes,” said Luke, stepping in front of the girls. “Um, thanks for helping with those things.”
He stared at Luke for a minute and then shook his head. “You’d have been a real goner if I wouldn’t hav
e seen you. Don’t you have any kind of weapons?”
“Yeah, had a gun, but I ran out of bullets,” said Luke. “Have a knife, too, but I thought that maybe the fire would keep them at bay.”
“They’re not animals. And they’re obviously not afraid of fire.”
“I guess not,” said Luke.
The man stepped closer, slipping his revolver into the back waistband of his faded jeans. “You girls okay?”
Allie moved around Luke, to get a better look at him and noticed he was even younger than she’d originally thought. “We’re fine. What’s your name?” she asked.
He stared at her for a minute and then answered, “Justice.”
Kylie raised her eyebrows. “Justice?”
He looked away. “My mom, she was into old westerns.”
Allie smiled. “How old are you?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”
Her cheeks turned pink. “Just wondering.”
“Twenty,” said Justice. “So, you three out here alone?”
Luke stepped around Allie, pushing her back behind him. “There are more of us. We’ve just been separated temporarily.”
“Good,” said Justice. “Try to un-separate, as soon as you can. It’s too dangerous to be out here on your own. Especially for you kids.” He then turned around and began walking away.
“Wait!” hollered Kylie, catching up to him. “So, um, where are you going?”
He shrugged. “Was going to check the house for food or other supplies. You guys get a chance to do that yet?”
“Not really,” said Kylie. “There were zombies in there when we showed up. Probably still is.”
“Well, at this point, I’m hungrier than they are,” he said, walking toward his truck. He reached into the back and pulled out a machete. “So, they’d better stay out of my way in the kitchen. Here,” he said, reaching into the truck a second time. He picked up an old wooden baseball bat and held it out to Luke. “Use this if you have to.”
“Thanks,” he replied.
Justice nodded and started walking toward the house, machete raised. “Stay outside,” he ordered, “until I give you the okay to come in.”
“You want any help?” asked Luke.
“I got this,” he replied, raising his hand in the air. “Just stay out of the way.”
They watched as Justice climbed the stairs to the porch, opened the screen door, and disappeared inside.
“Think he’ll be okay in there?” asked Kylie.
“Did you see him? It’s obvious he knows what he’s doing,” replied Allie.
A few minutes later, Kylie’s question was answered. Justice stepped back outside, the blade of his machete covered in red and black slime.
He held the door open and waved. “Well, come on in, then, if you’re hungry. Lucky for us, I found some food in the pantry, still edible.”
“Are they all dead?” asked Kylie.
“Yeah, there were only four left in the house. Watch where you step, though, it’s a little messy inside.”
They walked past him and into the farmhouse, stopping abruptly as they encountered two headless zombies sprawled out on the wooden floor.
“Oh,” croaked Allie. “It smells rancid in here.”
“It helps if you breathe through your mouth,” said Justice, moving around her.
“No, it doesn’t help,” she said, following him into the kitchen. “Not when it’s this bad.”
“Um, you know, I’m not really hungry anymore,” mumbled Kylie as she stepped over a wet, mangled eyeball.
“Yes, you are. Come on, you have to eat something,” said Luke. “We all do.”
Fortunately, the kitchen was free of zombies and didn’t smell quite as bad as the rest of the house.
“Here’s the pantry,” said Justice, opening up a door on the other side of the kitchen. “Check all this out.”
“Oh, my God!” squealed Allie, picking up a box of Cocoa Pops. She turned to Kylie. “Didn’t this used to be your favorite cereal?”
“Yeah. I guess this farm didn’t care about added sugar and artificial flavoring,” joked Kylie. “Looks like they’ve got Pop-Tarts, too.”
“Oh, I love those,” moaned Allie, grabbing the box from her.
“And that’s not all,” said Justice, lifting up a jug of apple juice. “Don’t know about you guys, but this is the closest I’ve come to real fruit in a long time.”
“Nice,” said Allie, biting into a Pop-Tart. “Mm… this is so good.”
“Wow, look at all of this stuff… cans of tuna and chicken,” said Luke, pulling them off of the shelf. “Peanuts and pretzels. We hit the mother-load.”
“Fortunately for us, this house must be one of the few places around here that hasn’t been looted yet. Let’s put everything on the counter,” said Justice. “Then we’ll sort it all out and go from there.”
They cleaned out the pantry, pulling out boxes of graham crackers, canned veggies and soup, and more boxes of cereal.
“Here’s a can opener,” said Luke, pulling it out of a drawer. “I call dibs on the Spaghetti-O’s.”
“Eat sparingly,” said Justice. “All of you. Obviously, you’re going to need to save some for later. Plus, if it’s been a while since you’ve eaten, you might not feel all that well if you gorge yourself.”
Although they were all hungry, and it had been a while since they’d eaten anything besides chips, they all agreed that the food needed to be rationed.
“It’s hard to find food now,” said Justice, filling a small glass of apple juice. “Other survivors are raiding homes and stores, hoarding everything. I haven’t eaten anything in two days.”
“So, are you all alone?” asked Allie.
“Yep,” he said, raising the glass to his lips.
“Where are you heading?” asked Luke.
He shrugged. “Nowhere in particular. Just trying to survive, man.”
“You can come with us,” said Allie, her eyes lighting up. “We’re going to Minnesota, to find my sister.”
“Oh yeah? You sure she’s even alive?”
She nodded. “My sister and Nora are bad-asses. They’re both alive.”
Justice leaned against the counter and smiled. “Oh, is that right?”
Allie nodded solemnly. “Cassie has a Black Belt in karate and has killed hundreds of zombies already. If anyone is still alive, it’s her.”
“A badass-martial–arts zombie killer, huh? Well, although I wouldn’t mind meeting your sister or her friend, gas is getting harder to come by these days,” said Justice. “Going to have to pass.”
“Dude, you can always siphon gas or just hotwire another vehicle,” said Luke.
He shrugged. “Yeah, I could, but it’s a pain in the ass.”
“So, what, you’re just going to hang out in this town?” asked Allie.
“No. Actually, I’m heading to Atlanta,” he said. “See if they’ve found a cure yet.”
“Don’t waste your time,” said Luke. “We were just there.”
Justice frowned. “They haven’t figured this shit out yet?”
“Not yet. The CDC has shut down and relocated,” said Allie. “My sister said that most of the scientists are zombies now, and the few that are working on a cure aren’t having much luck.”
“Dammit,” replied Justice, rubbing a hand over his face. “What the hell are we supposed to do now?”
“Hey, I’m sure they’ll find a cure eventually,” said Luke. “They just need more time.”
Justice stood up and began to pace. “Well, I don’t have time,” he said.
“What, you have an appointment somewhere?” joked Luke. “Seems like all we have is time these days.”
“No. I don’t have any time to wait. Shit!” he growled, kicking one of the lower cupboards with his boot.
“Simmer down, man,” said Luke.
“What do you mean? You don’t have time for what?” asked Allie.
He stared at the counter angrily,
tapping his fingers and then sighed. “I don’t have time because,” he raised his black T-shirt, exposing his lower stomach, and what appeared to be human teeth marks, “one of those bitches got a little too close to me in the last town.”
“Oh, my God, you were bitten by a zombie?” gasped Kyle, taking a step back.
Justice dropped his shirt back down. “It certainly isn’t a hickey,” he answered with a cold smile.
“Seriously, though, it’s not that bad,” said Luke, amazed to have seen the individual teeth marks embedded on his bruised skin. “Did the zombie even draw blood?”
“Yeah, just a little. Enough to taint my blood, I’m sure.”
“So, when did it happen?” asked Allie.
“Last night.”
Allie bit her lower lip. “Do you feel any different – feverish or dizzy?”
He shrugged. “Had a temperature this morning. Luckily, I found some aspirin.”
“If you’re up and walking, you’re doing pretty good, I’d say. My sister and I were both bitten and lived.”
His eyes widened. “Really?”
“Seriously,” she said. “We even went into comas and came out of it. Seems to me that if you’re still running around and killing zombies, you’re going to be just fine.”
Justice sighed. “I hope you’re right.”
“See, you could join us now,” smiled Allie. “If you really wanted to.”
He rubbed his chin. “You say you’re heading to Minnesota?”
“Yeah, then back to Atlanta to our new home, the Ritz Carlton. You join us and we’ll make sure you get a suite with a view,” said Luke.
“The Ritz, huh?”
Luke nodded. “Yeah. That’s where the rest of our group is. We have a stockpile of food, weapons, and… the beds, man I miss those pillow-tops.”
“Plus, we could always use extra help against the zombies and thieves trolling the streets,” said Allie. “I’m sure Tiny and Bryce would gladly let you in, especially if you help us get back there.”
“Tiny?” asked Justice.
“Yeah,” said Kylie. “He’s a famous wrestler. Have you ever heard of him?”
He nodded. “Yeah, that big guy with the small voice?”
Zombie Games (Uncut) Boxed Set Page 49