“Penelope, are you feeling all right today?” he asked her.
She looked at him nervously. She wasn’t the type of woman who liked to keep secrets. They ate at her until she finally snapped and revealed them. She didn’t like keeping them. The one she was hiding from them was the worst one she ever tried to keep. She looked away from him as she spoke. “Everything is hunky dory. I mean…nobody has been killed or anything.” She realized what she had just said and hoped they hadn’t heard her. She looked at Mr. Franks who had a weird look on his face.
“Penelope, was someone killed and it wasn’t reported?”
“No, that wasn’t exactly what I meant. What I meant to say was everything is normal around here. Everybody is accounted for.”
He stood staring at her. He was trying to read her. He didn’t know a great deal about her and figured she was just nervous about opening day. He knew if someone really had been killed, she would have reported it. “Do we need to make an inspection of the zoo?”
Penelope looked around trying to shake off how nervous she felt. “Only if you want to. I’m sure nothing has changed since the last time you were here. Why? Is there a particular animal you want to see?”
“Not particularly. If there aren’t any problems to report, I’m sure an inspection won’t be needed. Actually, I’m going to steal Ted and Kurt from you. You can go back to whatever business you were attending to.”
“Thank you. Actually, I do have some last-minute things I need to accomplish.” She took one last look at them and made her way back inside the zoo. The three of them watched as she disappeared down the road. Mr. Franks looked at them.
“Did any of you have the feeling she was hiding something?”
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” said Kurt. “She just sounded nervous about today. I’m sure she feels the pressure like the rest of us. I’m sure if there were any problems, she would have told us about them.”
“You’re probably right. Something about her seemed off. I’ve talked to her many times, and she’s never acted like that.”
“Don’t go looking for problems, Shelton,” said Ted. “Nothing has been reported, so let’s not spend the day trying to find problems. Besides, I want to check on our main attraction. The last I heard from Chris, it’s been agitated lately.”
Kurt laughed. “You would be agitated, as well, if you were chained up like it is. It’s behaving the way we need it to behave. The more it acts up, the more the guests are going to love it.”
“Let’s go see Chris now. The success of the park is going to depend on our zombie exhibit,” said Mr. Franks. “As long as he keeps the area secure, we’ll be fine.”
They found Chris eating a chocolate bar in front of one of the enclosures.
“For goodness sake, Chris, what are you doing?” asked Mr. Franks. “Quit teasing them.”
Chris looked at him and put the last of his chocolate bar in his mouth. He pointed at the young zombie inside the enclosure. “There is something special about her.”
“How is our main attraction doing today?” asked Mr. Franks, ignoring his remark.
“Agitated as usual. I don’t think it likes being chained up. Every time I check on it, it’s trying to break the chains. If it were any stronger, I’m sure it would get free.”
“Those are the strongest chains money can buy. It’s never going to be able to break them,” said Mr. Franks. “Let’s go check on it.”
They stood in front of their main attraction as it fought against its chains. It was staring hungrily at them, biting at the air. Mr. Franks was satisfied the public was going to enjoy seeing it. It was the type of thing nightmares were made of. He continued to watch as it pulled on the chains, but to no avail. They were holding it securely in place. Mr. Franks looked at Chris.
“We’re leaving now, Chris. Make sure nothing happens to it. The success of the park depends on this zombie.”
Chris saluted them as they left.
Mr. Franks was satisfied everything was ready. He looked at his watch. It was nearly four, and he knew his guests would be arriving within the hour. He was going to let Kurt meet them at the beach and bring them to the special dining hall used for special occasions. He would meet them there for a gourmet meal and then let them loose in the park. He headed to the command center to check on Julie for any updates. He found her sitting with Owen and Brant. They were busy scanning the park to make sure nothing seemed out of place. The only problem they came across was an employee stealing ice cream from the ice cream cart at the entrance to the amusement park. Mr. Franks approached them as they focused on Chris doing a dance in front of one of the zombie enclosures.
“Now what is he doing?” he asked, standing behind Julie.
“He’s entertaining the zombies,” laughed Owen. “He does it quite often.”
“What else does he do?”
Owen looked at Mr. Franks. “Do you really want to know?”
Julie glared at Owen. “He doesn’t want to know what Chris does.” She looked at Mr. Franks. “Chris gets bored so he entertains himself or the zombies…it doesn’t matter what he does if he gets the job done.”
“What about the rest of the park?” he asked. “Is there anything else besides Chris I need to know about?”
“There isn’t anything I can’t deal with. As far as we can see, the park is operating normally. We can’t find any breaches of security, and all the zombies are in their enclosures.”
“So you’re saying I don’t have anything I should be concerned about. If that is the case, I’m heading back home to get cleaned up before our guests arrive.” He put his hand on Julie’s shoulder. “I hope you’re feeling better now.”
She smiled. “I feel much better, thank you.”
He nodded his head and left the room. Owen looked at Julie. “You didn’t say anything about the theft of the ice cream.”
“It’s not important. I will deal with it myself tomorrow.”
Mr. Franks stood in his bathroom staring at the image of himself in the mirror. Deep down he was nervous, but he was keeping that fact to himself. He didn’t want his employees to think he thought anything could go wrong. He was sure nothing was going to go wrong at the park. The thoughts of what had happened in Indiana plagued him, and it was why he anticipated anything that could go wrong inside the park. Everything was running smoothly. Nobody had reported any problems and security hadn’t reported any breaches, so in his mind, nothing should go wrong. The one thing he had learned about making movies was you couldn’t always count on the obvious. Something always seemed to rear its ugly head when you were least expecting it. He splashed cool water on his face, and then made his way into his bedroom. He wanted to change into fresh clothes and then make his way back to the park to check on dinner. He had spared no expense on it. He had hired the best chefs in the world and flew them in by helicopter. He told them all to make the best dishes in their arsenal. He didn’t care how much it would cost him. He made his way to the living room where he was met by Kurt. He was fixing his bow tie in the mirror hanging near the front door.
“You look fine, Kurt.”
Kurt smiled. “I will take that as a compliment. I’m looking forward to the lobster tonight. We haven’t had it in a long time.”
“That’s because we’ve been getting the park ready. I agree with you, though. I’m growing tired of hot dogs and hamburgers. I think I’ve put on some extra weight. Oh well, after tonight I’m planning on eating healthier. No more burgers, only salads and vegetables.”
“I’m surprised anybody is eating meat here. I think with zombies around I wouldn’t even think of eating it. I might become a vegetarian myself.”
Mr. Franks headed to the door. “I guess I should go check on dinner. I want everything to be perfect once our guests arrive. You need to get down to the beach and greet our VIPs.”
“I’m on my way.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Julio Rojas was making sure he had all the gear he needed fo
r the opening. He had been successful staying off of everybody’s radar and was positive nobody knew he was on the island. Tonight he was going to teach everybody a valuable lesson. Last night he secretly checked out the location of the zoo and the zombie enclosures. He located several cameras and was able to avoid being seen by them. His plan was to release the animals and then release the zombies on the other side of the park. If everything went according to his plan, the park would be at a full panic, and he knew the animals and the zombies would make sure they didn’t escape the island. Once that was accomplished, all he had to do was get back to his people, bring them back to the island, kill all the zombies, and then go back to producing his drugs. To him it was the perfect plan. It was getting late; he knew the guests would be arriving soon. He was going to wait until everybody was enjoying the park before he made his move. He took out his sidearm and attached a silencer to it. He knew he was going to have to shoot people, and he didn’t want his shots to be heard. He took one last look around before leaving his hiding place. It was now time to get into position and wait for the perfect time to put his plan into action.
Kurt had brought all the VIPs to the dining facility. It took several park buses to bring them from the beach. He was happy to report to Mr. Franks there hadn’t been any cancellations, and the park would be full tonight. They gathered inside as an orchestra played while dinner was being served. Mr. Franks looked around the room. Everybody was engaged in deep conversation. He sat next to Kurt and Ted who had joined him at the table.
“Is everything ready at the park?” Mr. Franks asked Ted. “Have there been any last minute problems?”
“Nothing has been reported. Everybody is accounted for and anxiously waiting for dinner to end.” He took a sip of wine and looked at Mr. Franks. “Chris might be a problem. He doesn’t think our main attraction is ready to meet the public. He wants us to keep it off display tonight.”
“Of course he does. I’ll tell you what I want you to do about him once you’ve finished eating. I want you to go buy him a box of chocolate and take it over to him. Tell him I said the show must go on so deal with it.”
Ted laughed. “I love that you’re going to try to buy him off with chocolate.”
“I’ll give him all the chocolate he wants if it will shut him up. If he persists, send him home and have one of his people take his spot. I don’t need him causing any trouble tonight.”
“It might come to that. Chris seems more agitated than the zombies do.”
Mr. Franks slammed his fist down on the table, and then looked around the room to see if anybody was watching him. He glared at Ted. “Chris is your responsibility tonight. Make sure he doesn’t cause any problems. Do you hear what I’m saying?”
“Loud and clear. Don’t worry. I will deal with him right after dinner.”
“Good. All I want to do right now is enjoy my lobster.”
After dinner, Ted left and headed for the zombie exhibits as the guests were preparing to enter the park for a night of fun and excitement. He stopped by the park’s snack shop and purchased a box of chocolate bars to give to Chris, hoping it would calm him down. He found him standing in front of the main attraction staring at it.
“Are you still insisting we close this exhibit down?” he asked, handing him the box of chocolate.
Chris accepted the box of chocolate and looked at Ted surprisingly. “Are you trying to bribe me?”
“Maybe…why, did it work?”
He looked at the chocolate, and then back at Ted. “It helps. I just have a bad feeling about all of this. Something feels off.”
“What do you mean, Chris? What feels off?”
He looked around as if he were looking for something. “I feel like somebody is watching us. It started about two hours ago. I don’t understand it, but I don’t think we’re safe.”
Ted didn’t look amused. “Come on, Chris. I think you’ve been hanging around the zombies too long. I assure you you’re being paranoid. I’m sure no one is watching us unless it’s one of the security cameras. Julie is in the command center tonight. Maybe she’s the one who’s watching you from there.”
“Maybe you’re right. I forgot about the cameras. I’ll have to ask her to quit watching me next time I see her.”
“Good. Now are we good here? If you’re not, I’m going to have to send you home.”
Chris took a bar of chocolate from the box and showed it to him. “Don’t worry; I’m good now.”
He looked at Chris as though he was crazy. “Make sure your area is ready. It won’t be long before you start having guests here.” He left and headed to the zoo to find Penelope. He wanted to make sure she was feeling all right. She had been acting as though something was wrong with her. He found her by the big cats. She was sitting on a bench watching a couple of tigers.
“They sure are majestic animals.”
Penelope looked startled by his sudden presence. “I didn’t hear you approaching.” She slid over so he could sit next to her. “And yes, they are majestic. They’re one of the reasons I took the job here. Yes, I’m well aware they’re zombies, but in my eyes, they’re still animals.”
“But these are more dangerous. Every single animal in this zoo is more dangerous. That’s why I don’t spend a great deal of time here. I don’t like being surrounded by all this.”
Penelope looked at him surprisingly. She figured since he was part of management, he would be ecstatic about them. “I didn’t realize zombies bothered you.”
“Not really. You know I helped create them. My parents were the ones who created the first ones. They’re the ones who were in the first zombie park.”
“I didn’t realize.”
“They made too many mistakes that eventually led to the downfall of America. I tried to warn them, but they dismissed me just like they did my entire life. They treated me as though I didn’t know what I was talking about.”
“It sounds like they don’t respect you.”
“Well, Penelope, they never did and now they never will. They’re both dead. They were killed by the same mistakes they created in their lab.”
She looked shocked. “But…haven’t you also created zombies like they did? Look around here…these are all your creations.”
Ted smirked. “The zombies here have been improved. I fixed all of my parent’s mistakes. I don’t fear these zombies like the ones my parents created.” He stood up. “These zombies are safe…as long as you don’t get inside the enclosures with them.” He looked at the tigers, and then walked away.
Penelope watched him as he slowly made his way down the street. She felt guilty about not telling him what had happened. She had the perfect opportunity to tell him everything, but she kept it bottled up inside her. She should have said something when he said the zombies were safe. They definitely weren’t safe and she knew it. Nobody had gotten inside an enclosure with one of them. The darn thing had escaped and killed people. Now she was keeping the whole deal a dark secret. She wondered who was worse…her or the zombies. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of music coming over the loud speakers. She knew the park was now officially open. It was now time for her to get ready to meet her guests.
Carl and Kylie decided they wanted to spend the night enjoying the rides while their aunt was working in the command center. They decided they wanted to ride the train first because it ran around the entire park. It was a long ride, and they figured it would give them the opportunity to relax for a bit. The only part of the ride Carl didn’t enjoy was when it went through the zoo. It went near several of the zombie animal enclosures. He stared as they passed the elephants, rhinos, hippos, and giraffes. He didn’t understand why they had to make animals into zombies, especially the bigger animals. If any of them ever got free from their enclosures, he knew it would be extremely dangerous for anybody who was visiting in the area. He kept his eyes closed for most of the ride through the zoo. The train then headed for a mock town that had been built with zombies chained to post
s and trees. He didn’t like the idea of getting that close to real zombies. He thought it was the dumbest ride anybody would be willing to ride. He had actually brought the subject up with Mr. Franks but he just laughed about it. Carl’s aunt said the ride was going to make the park a lot of money because people would be willing to put their lives at risk to enjoy the ride. He couldn’t wait until the train ride was over. He wanted to head back to the shooting gallery and shoot at some targets and forget about the zombies at the park. Kylie wanted to play some games and win some prizes. Neither of them wanted to be stuck within a large crowd.
While the park was at full swing, nobody noticed the suspicious man standing in front of the tigers inside the zoo. He was sitting on a park bench with a camouflage hat covering most of his face. He was wearing dark sunglasses and appeared to be waiting for something.
Mr. Rojas sat watching as several people moved past him while ignoring him. He didn’t know how many people were inside the park, but it didn’t matter. All he needed was one fatality to prove his point. He watched as a man dressed as a clown walked by him carrying several colored balloons. He despised clowns. He wondered what kind of man would cover his face with makeup and pass out balloons to children. No, he didn’t trust clowns, and if he had any children, he wouldn’t trust them around them. He watched him until he disappeared down the road before standing up and looking around. There were a few children watching the animals nearby. He smiled. It was now time to set his plan into motion. He made his way to where the giraffes were housed. They were the ones he wanted to release first. He didn’t know why, but he was enthralled by them. He had been watching the zoo for a few days and learned the routine of the employees and how to gain entrance into the displays. While nobody was watching, he even stole a set of keys from one of the buildings that unlocked the huge doors to each enclosure in the zoo. All he needed to do was unlock the enclosure, cause a commotion, and when the panic began, unlock more enclosures while nobody was watching. He went inside the building and saw an employee sitting behind a desk sipping coffee. She didn’t notice him slowly coming up behind her with a dagger clasped in his hand. He patiently waited until she brought the cup to her lips before reaching around and slicing her neck wide open. He looked around; nobody else was inside the building. He wiped the blade on the back of her shirt and put it back into its sheath. He pulled out the set of keys and made his way to the tall enclosure’s glass doors and unlocked them. He saw that he had unlocked the wrong doors. They weren’t the ones that would release the giraffes into the park. He looked farther across the enclosure and saw another set of tall doors directly outside of the building. He made his way outside and found the doors, unlocked them, and swung them open and then left in a hurry before the giraffes could react. Behind him he heard someone scream. He smiled and made his way to the hippo enclosure, unlocked it and went to the next one until all the African exhibits had been unlocked and opened. He knew he needed to get out of the zoo in a hurry. He had released giraffes, hippos, rhinos, apes, elephants, lions, chimps and crocodiles. He knew he didn’t need to release any other animals. The ones he had released would certainly do the job for him. He now focused on getting to a secret building he had watched a man in a lab coat frequent. When he inspected it, he saw it housed parrots and vultures. He wanted to release them next. He knew it would be hard for anybody to escape the island with creatures like them in the air. Once he had accomplished it, he knew where he needed to focus his attention. He needed to release the human zombies on the other side of the park. He knew he would have to go the long way around the park to get there because of all the animals that were now loose and attacking people. The air was saturated with the sound of screaming people.
Zombie World (The Z-Day Trilogy Book 4) Page 13