“Follow me, ma’am,” said the soldier left behind to take them to the beach. We have a lot of ground to cover, so stay close to my six.”
The group stepped over the fallen giraffe’s neck and headed west. In the distance they heard more screaming and gunfire. Julie didn’t know how many people were being killed, and she didn’t want to know. She held Carl and Kylie close to her. She knew if her sister was still alive, she would be furious at her for putting her children in harm’s way. She had to make sure they reached the beach alive. They followed the soldier across the park, avoiding the panicked crowds as they pushed past them. Julie’s stomach ached from fear. Too much was happening around them. She was appreciative the soldier was helping them. She didn’t think she could get the children to safety on her own and unarmed. They quickly moved past a young girl being squeezed to death by an anaconda. Kylie screamed, but there wasn’t anything she could do to comfort her. They were surrounded by vicious zombiefied animals, and if they made one mistake, they could end up like the rest of the guests at the park. The soldier was leading them toward a jeep parked several feet away.
“Keep up,” he ordered, as they drew nearer to it. “That jeep is our ticket to the beach.”
They made it to the jeep and piled in. They were about to leave when something caught the soldiers attention. Charging the jeep was one of the largest elephants Julie had ever seen. She couldn’t take her eyes off of it. She watched as the soldier leaped from the jeep and fired several rounds toward it, but the bullets didn’t slow its progress. He turned to look at Julie.
“Get out of here now! Cut through the forest and get to the beach. Stay low and out of sight.” He turned to fire at the large creature once again.
Julie wasted little time jumping from the jeep and helping Kylie and Carl. She was now being left to protect them herself. She led them into the tree line as she heard several more shots being fired and then silence. She heard the elephant roar in victory and then heard the ripping of flesh. She wanted to burst into tears, but she didn’t have time to lose control now. She had to get Kylie and Carl to the beach before another animal managed to find them.
“Are we going to die?” asked Kylie, as she was being pulled by the arm.
“Not if we keep going,” replied Julie. “We have to try to forget about the animals and keep running. I know it’s hard, but if we stop for just one moment, we can be in trouble.”
“I don’t think anything is following us,” said Carl, glancing back over his shoulder. “I don’t see anything.”
Before Julie had a chance to comment, they heard something from overhead. It sounded like something jumping from tree to tree. Julie peered upward and saw several chimpanzees in the trees. She didn’t know if they saw them on the ground, but she didn’t want to stop to find out. Frightened beyond measure, she kept running. Her legs were growing heavy and she knew the children’s legs were probably hurting too, but they couldn’t stop. She knew the minute they did, the chimpanzees would be on top of them.
Chris was oblivious to the shadow standing near him as he stuck another piece of chocolate into his mouth. He was oblivious to the fact that the shadowy figure had snatched a set of keys from his desk and had just opened several enclosures with the zombies locked inside. Mr. Rojas smiled as he focused his attention on the large zombie in chains in the front of the enclosures. This was the zombie he wanted to release. Once it was released, he knew nobody would survive the night on the island. He stood in front of the creature staring at it with a sinister look on his face. He thumbed through the keys and found the one he needed to open the lock and set the creature free. “I hope you realize I just freed you. I want you to know I’m on your side. No creature should be treated the way they’re treating you. I’m now releasing you so you can get your revenge on those who have wronged you.” He tossed the lock aside and watched as the zombie pulled free from the chains. It stood staring at Mr. Rojas as if he understood what he had said to him. Mr. Rojas nodded to it and moved out of the way as the creature moved past him and out of the enclosure.
“Go get your revenge! Don’t leave anybody alive!”
Chris went back to his office and thought he heard something. He stood frozen in place, listening to something that sounded like shambling feet. He knew something was wrong. He opened the drawer to his desk and snatched a handgun. He stood frozen in place and listened. He couldn’t make out the sound. It sounded like a horde of zombies moving across the front of the enclosures. His heart sank. Am I hearing things or am I going mad? He made his way toward the enclosures and stopped. The doors to the enclosures were wide opened. He turned around to run back to his office but was abruptly stopped. Standing directly in front of him was the little zombie girl. She stood with her mouth open and growling. He held his hands up and kept his gaze on her as he slowly made his way toward his desk. She took a step toward him.
“Stay away from me!”
She growled loudly and took a step toward him. He stood his ground not wanting to agitate her.
Owen and Brant sat at the command center watching the chaos. They were watching Chris with the zombie girl. Owen peered over at Brant.
“What is he doing? He’s going to get himself killed. Come on, Chris, get out of there.” He switched camera angles to see in front of the displays. All the enclosures were empty and the zombies were shambling toward the restaurants. Behind them he saw their main attraction heading in Chris’ direction. “Crap, Chris doesn’t know what’s heading in his direction.”
Brant sat there with his mouth open aghast. He knew there wasn’t any way to warn Chris about the large zombie coming toward him. They watched as Chris pushed a zombie out of the way and ran out of the area, heading toward the large zombie. They painfully watched as he ran into the grasp of the large zombie and was lifted off of his feet and tossed aside like a rag doll. Chris lay motionless on the ground as the large zombie took his foot and crushed his spinal cord. Owen shook his head in disbelief as he watched the computer screen. The large zombie left Chris lying on the floor and moved out of the area. A few seconds later the zombie girl came into the area with the chocolate bar in her hands. She tossed it aside when she saw him lying motionless on the floor. She went straight for him and kneeled beside him, staring hungrily at him.
“She’s not going to eat him, is she?” asked Brant in a shaky voice.
“I think he’s already dead,” commented Owen. “At least I hope he’s already dead.”
They continued to watch as she lifted one of Chris’s arms and let it fall to the ground. Owen thought she was going to tear it off his body, but her attention was diverted momentarily. They moved the camera to see what she was focused on. Two crocodiles were fighting over a man’s body dressed in a blue business suit. They then turned the camera back toward the girl. While they were watching the crocodiles, she had ripped Chris’s arm from his torso and shoved it into her mouth. Blood was flowing freely down her face as she bit down on it.
“I don’t want to watch this anymore,” said Brant. “I don’t want to be here, either. We need to get off the island.”
“The zombies haven’t reached here yet,” commented Owen. “We can take the dirt bikes to the beach. I’m sure security will have a way for us to get off the island.”
They looked back at the computer screen. The girl zombie had vanished. Owen and Brant looked at each other wondering where she had gone. It didn’t matter where she had gone. What mattered now was getting safely off of the island. They looked around the command center. They were the only ones who hadn’t left when the animals first got free from their enclosures. They thought they could help by staying behind, but they were wrong. There wasn’t anything they could do from there. Owen switched off the screen.
“I don’t want to watch people die. We have to think about our lives now. I don’t want to become one of the people being eaten out there. If we can make it to the beach, we’ll be all right.”
“You don’t know that for sure. Wh
at happens if the animals are faster than us?”
“Do you have any other suggestions, Brant? If you do, I want to hear them. If we stay here any longer, we won’t have the chance to escape. It’s now or never. What do you want to do?”
Brant looked around trying to think of something that could help them. He knew Owen was right about getting to the beach, but he was deeply afraid. After seeing Chris being killed, he didn’t want to be outside anywhere near any of the creatures. He stared at Owen. “I don’t have any suggestions.”
“Then let’s get to the bikes before the zombies reach us. We need to get a head start on them.”
They ran out of the command center to a deserted hallway. They ran outside of the building and over to where they had parked their dirt bikes, but both of them had vanished.
“Now what!” screamed Brant.
Owen looked around hoping to see a vehicle they could use. At first he didn’t see one, but then he saw a park jeep parked down the street. He turned to look at Brant. “Let’s pray the keys are still inside the jeep. Hurry, we don’t have much time to reach it.”
He followed Owen as he ran toward the jeep. Behind them, Brant could hear screaming and loud growling. Sweat was dripping down his face, and he felt sick to his stomach. He never in his life felt so scared before and was worried he would pass out before they reached the jeep. He stole a glance over his shoulder and saw several vultures ripping the hair off of a woman’s scalp. Then two of them snatched her off the ground and tried to fly away. He didn’t want to continue watching. He turned his attention back toward the jeep. They were getting close. He felt his heart racing in his chest as he glanced back over his shoulder. Nothing was following them which made him feel better about his chances of getting to the jeep and driving out of the area. He jumped into the jeep behind Owen and looked around. Farther down the road he saw a hippo swallowing a bloodied guest. He tapped Owen’s shoulder.
“Come on! Come on! We have to get out of here!”
“Give me a minute, Brant! I’m looking for the keys! Check the glove box!”
Brant checked it and found a set of keys. He snatched them and tossed them to Owen who missed them. The keys fell on the ground. He looked at Brant disgustingly and grabbed the keys from the ground and fumbled through them until he found the right one. As he put the key in the ignition, he peered into the rearview mirror. The image of the hippo charging toward him startled him. He quickly put the jeep into gear and hit the gas, just barely escaping as the hippo caught up to them. He looked over at Brant breathing heavily.
“If this was a thrill ride, this would be the only time I would ride it.”
Brant looked behind them. The hippo had given up the chase and turned its focus on another employee who had unfortunately caught its attention. He didn’t say anything as he turned away. He didn’t want to see what was going to happen next.
“I knew getting a job here was going to be a big mistake,” said Owen. “I should have taken the job at the zoo in Stuttgart, West Germany. At least there I know the animals wouldn’t all be trying to eat me.”
“I gave up a job in London, England for this. I thought working on an island would be the best job in the world.”
“I guess that makes us both stupid,” said Owen. “If we get off this island, I’m heading back to Germany. I have enough money in my account to live comfortable for now. Maybe I can still get a job at the zoo.”
They took a right at the next intersection that led down to the beach. Owen glanced in the rearview mirror again. This time he didn’t see any sign of animals following them. But he knew he couldn’t let his guard down. Until they reached the beach, he couldn’t count on anything. He looked at the gas gauge. They still had over a quarter of a tank of gas. At least, he knew they weren’t going to run out of gas. He breathed a sigh of relief and hit the gas harder. The sooner he was able to reach the beach, the sooner they would be able to escape from the island. He just wanted to leave the park behind and forget he ever stepped foot on it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Cheng awoke and found himself lying on the floor near several opened bird cages. He sat up rubbing the back of his head. The last thing he remembered was locking his zombiefied ravens inside the cages directly in front of him. Somebody or something had hit him hard against the back of his head. He slowly made it back to his feet and steadied himself. He looked at the enclosure where the vultures were being housed. It was empty, as well. He made his way over to the main doors to the building, and to his dismay, they were wide open. His creatures had escaped and were now free inside the park. He knew everybody inside the park was in danger, and he knew there wasn’t anything he could do about it. If anybody found out he was responsible for the birds, his whole future would be in jeopardy. He went back inside the building to gather his things. There wasn’t any reason for him to hang around the island anymore. He had a boat hidden on this side of the island near the beach. All he needed to do was get all his research to the boat, and he could leave the island and meet with General Milkwood. After gathering everything he needed, he left the building and disappeared into the forest. He didn’t care what happened to the people on the island. None of them were his problem. He only hoped Mr. Franks and Ted met his flying zombies. It would save him a lot of time if his vultures could get them out of the picture for him. He stopped to look up at the sky to make sure none of his birds were soaring in the sky above him. He didn’t see any sign of them. He knew they all most likely would be at the park checking out the loud noises. He knew ordinary birds would be skittish around the loud noises, but zombie versions of them would be attracted to them. He was counting on that fact so he could safely make it to his boat. He continued through the trees until he came to a bloodied hunk of meat lying on the ground directly in front of him. He stopped to look around, but he was sure he was all alone. He didn’t know what it was, but his curiosity drew him nearer to it. As he approached it, he suddenly stopped. He didn’t have to get any closer. He recognized the uniform it was wearing. It was the remnants of one of the security soldiers on the island. He moved closer to it. His chest cavity had been ripped forcibly apart and the viscera were completely devoured. He looked at his face. Most of it was missing and his skull was crushed. He knew this had to be done by something large. He felt nervous and looked around at his surroundings. Still, he didn’t see anything. He had an eerie feeling something was out there, but he just couldn’t locate anything. He knew he needed to keep moving. He moved past the soldier and continued farther into the forest. He knew if he kept on his current course, he would eventually reach the area where the boat was hidden. He suddenly heard a noise and abruptly stopped to listen. All remained still. He didn’t trust his senses. Something was out there and he knew it. Something had to have killed the soldier, and now he was out there alone with nothing to protect himself with. He continued to scan the area, but as before, he didn’t see anything. He was about to move again when he heard the noise once again. Now it was becoming a nuisance. He didn’t have time to keep stopping to listen for noises. This time he didn’t bother looking around; he had to get to the boat. If something was out there, it was going to have to wait. He decided he would deal with whatever it was once he got there. He hoped by then it would lose interest and leave on its own. He wasn’t sure how long it would take to get there, and it didn’t matter. He continued until he saw something. large and covered in fur. He stopped and watched. He could barely make out what it was, but it looked something like a gorilla. He now knew what could have killed the soldier. A gorilla was quite capable of inflicting the damage he had witnessed. He stopped and scoured the area for somewhere to hide, but he couldn’t find anywhere that could conceal him from the creature. He decided to duck down behind one of the larger trees and hope it would leave the area, but it didn’t. It sniffed at the air and turned in his direction. Cheng knew it was picking up on his scent. He didn’t know much about gorillas, but he knew they weren’t native to the island. It cou
ld only mean one thing. It had to be one of the gorillas that had been turned into zombies, and he knew their zombies could pick up on people’s scents. It was one of the effects of the serum used to create them. Whoever had set his birds free had also set the animals free. He had the sudden realization his life was now in jeopardy. There wasn’t going to be any way he could avoid detection. The only thing he could do was climb the tree he was hiding behind and secure his bag to one of the limbs and hope somebody located it. If he didn’t meet General Milkwood once he arrived, he was sure he would come looking for him, whether the zombies were loose or not. There was a chance the general would find his bag in the tree. It was the only thing he could do in case he didn’t make it. He struggled to climb the tree; he hadn’t climbed one since he was a child, but he managed to get up far enough to get out of the gorilla’s sense of smell. He sat there on a thick branch securing the bag to it as the gorilla appeared and stood at the base of the tree.
It stood sniffing at the air. It knew something was close, but it couldn’t find whatever had driven it to the tree. It bent over and sniffed the ground and pounded its fists across its chest. It was furious it couldn’t locate the source of the scent. It stood back up and looked around. It continued to sniff at the air until it focused on the base of the tree. It was covered in the scent.
Cheng’s heart sank as he saw the gorilla look up the tree directly at him. He knew gorillas could climb trees. He heard something overhead. He looked up and saw one of his vultures circling overhead. He was now trapped between the two. He glanced down the tree as the gorilla climbed up the tree. He said a silent prayer as he waited for death. He knew there was only one way he was going to avoid being torn apart or eaten by either of the creatures. If he was going to die today, he wanted to do it on his own terms. He looked toward the ground past the gorilla and let himself fall headfirst to the ground. His body burst on impact, splattering the ground hot red. His eyes stared upward in horror as the last of his life left his body.
Zombie World (The Z-Day Trilogy Book 4) Page 15