by Garth Ono
ZOMBIE SLAYER
A Kate Brokenshire Zombie Slayer Adventure, Book 0
By
Garth Ono
* * * * *
Copyright 2016 by Garth Ono
Cover by Jessica Allain
This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, and locations within either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All characters in this story are 18 years old or older.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
The End
About the author
Zombie Slayer
A Kate Brokenshire Zombie Slayer Adventure, Book 0
"Winter is coming early this year," Kate Brokenshire said.
It was the last week of September, but there was a decided nip in the air. Kate found it refreshing, but knew the bitter cold was coming. She adored how the leaves were already changing colors. Tennyson in autumn had to be the most beautiful place on earth.
"I know," Daphne Coleman said, face lighting up. "I can't wait. I got the cutest boots. I'm going to wear them all winter long."
"Or until your father sees those stiletto heels," Morgan said. "You'll be grounded until after Christmas."
Kate laughed. Daphne's obsession with fine feminine footwear was beyond comprehension. She followed thirty-seven fashion blogs. Kate loved cute shoes as much as the next girl, but Daphne treated it like a religion. Or a fanatical cult.
"Speaking of high fashion, have you guys decided on a Halloween costume yet?" Kate asked. "Looks like I'm going as a ragdoll."
Both of her friends gave her sharp looks. Kate averted her eyes as they continued down the sidewalk. They were halfway home from school, deep in what small town Tennyson, Illinois thought of as a residential neighborhood. Really, it was three streets of about four blocks with lower middleclass brick homes.
"I thought you were going as a sexy witch?"
"Yeah. I was, but my mum found my costume," she said with a sigh. "That turned out to be a lovely evening with my parents."
Daphne squealed with delight. "I told you!"
In hindsight, the skintight little black dress, with strategically placed rends, fishnet stockings, and sexy thigh boots probably wasn't the best choice. There was no way her parents would let their seventeen year old daughter out the door in that costume. And the school probably wouldn't have let her into the Halloween Dance, either.
"Is winter colder in the UK than here in Illinois?" Morgan Brown asked. Before Kate could answer, the blonde was onto another thought. "Do you celebrate Halloween the same way as we do here?"
Kate shrugged. She only spent every other year in England. Her father was English and her mother American. They were teachers, and worked out a deal with schools in both countries to allow them to alternate years like that. The reason was to expose Kate to both cultures. She had dual citizenship.
"Pretty much," she said. "The village I live in doesn't do it up as big as we do here, but last year there was a school carnival. Kids do the whole tricks or treating thing, too."
Morgan sighed dramatically. "You are so lucky."
The pretty blonde lived across the street from Daphne, who lived next door to Kate. The three of them were inseparable since before Kate could remember. Morgan was definitely the prettiest of the group. Kate hoped she was at least as pretty as Daphne.
Kate and Daphne were both brown-eyed brunettes. While Daphne chopped her hair off short, Kate let hers grow down to her waist. Just like Haley's hair. Kate loved everything about her older half-sister. If she could, Kate would be Haley, but she wasn't that wild, daring, or brave.
Haley was a biker chick, and had just recently started head hunting in the Zombie Lands on the other side of the Mississippi. Prior to that, she worked a short time as a stripper. She had tattoos and dressed scandalously sexy. Her parents were terrified Kate would follow in her footsteps.
So her mother made her a ragdoll costume.
"My father is making me tone down my…" Daphne's voice trailed away as she stopped in her tracks. She pointed to their right, between homes. "Who is that?"
Kate didn't recognize him. She thought she knew everyone in Tennyson. Of course, he was a pretty rough looking character. All slumped over when he walked. Was he dragging one leg? Was that blood all down the front of his shirt?
"Oh my god, it's a zombie," Morgan cried. She took off running. "Help! Zombie!"
Daphne took off in the other direction, screaming for help just as loud and frantically. Kate watched the undead monster hesitate, looking back and forth between the two teens. Kate remembered they were attracted to movement and sound, in that order. She stood perfectly still, mouth shut, and stared at him. He glanced her way, then turned toward Morgan. Daphne had already disappeared around a corner.
The only thing that frightened Kate more than the zombie attacking her was seeing it going after her friend. The high school senior racked her brain for all she knew about them. It wasn't that much. The Zombie Apocalypse just happened last year, and it only affected the states between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. Illinois was spared, though sometimes they swam across the river.
That was the first zombie Kate had seen in person.
Worrying her lip, she looked left and right. She knew the smart thing to do was run for her life. It was unlikely the zombie would catch Morgan. But there were others out and about. Other children walking home from school. Some were very young children.
"I don't think so, rotter," she muttered, eyes narrowing. "Haley told me how to handle the likes of you. Easy peasy."
Zombies were pretty hard to kill. The only two things that actually killed them were decapitation and fire. Kate didn't have fire, or a sharp weapon to take his head.
"Hey, zombie, zombie, zombie!" Kate shouted, jumping up and down. "Look at me, you stinking rotter."
The zombie stopped and turned toward her. It swayed a moment, and then started walking. Heading straight at her. She'd never looked into the face of pure evil before. All she saw was supernatural hate and rage.
"You're an ugly bugger, aren't you?"
Kate began backing away from him. He was about six feet tall, skin looking all dark with bruising. What wasn't blackened looked a sick yellow color. He wore a nice suit, but it was covered in blood. She wondered if he clawed his way out of the grave.
One street over was the forest. Her goal was to get him going in that direction. From all she'd heard they took the path of least resistance until spotting prey. He was unlikely to turn around once she put him on a path away. She had him almost to the cross street, where she'd lead him astray.
The joyful squeals of small children filled the air. Kate and the zombie both looked that way. Four little pre-school girls were chasing each other around a front yard five houses down. The zombie turned toward them.
"No, no, no," Kate cried, racing to put herself between it and them.
The zombie fixated on her again. Kate jogged backwards between two houses. The zombie was getting closer and closer. The closer he got, the faster he moved. Her heart started racing. She was getting a little winded, too. She had to let him get close enough so the playing children couldn't lure him away.
"That's right, my bloody, gory friend," Kate taunted. "Come and get me. I'm English. I hear that we are delicious."<
br />
The zombie wailed. That surprised her. She gasped, and then tripped. The second she hit the ground the zombie broke into a run. Kate scrambled to her feet and darted to the side. His recovery was rougher, but he was quickly back on her. The teenager was forced to cut back in the other direction. And discovered her way blocked.
She was between two brick homes. There was a six foot privacy fence between the houses. Kate frantically looked all around and spotted the open garage. Most people didn't lock the door between the garage and home.
Kate ducked under his reaching hands, running for all she was worth into the garage. The zombie was hot on her heels. She ran up to and slammed into the interior garage door.
"Locked! Who locks their garage door?"
The zombie slowed as he entered the garage. Kate grabbed the first thing closest thing to hand, a long-handled shovel. The zombie didn't even look at it.
"Stay away from me, you ugly rotter!"
His stench filled that garage. Kate's lunch tried to come up, but she pinched it. That wasn't easy. It was the first time she'd experienced what a rotting human corpse smelled like. She took shallower breaths, eyes watering, as she confronted him.
Kate jabbed him in the chest. He kept coming. The zombie didn't even try to bat the shovel aside. So she jabbed him in the throat, and then thrust the shovel in just below his Adam's apple with all of her strength. That pushed him back a step, but he was undead so didn't need to breathe. Crushing his throat wouldn't stop him, either. She knew that much.
What did Haley say? Kate thought. Beheading. The only way to kill them is to cut off their heads.
That wasn't helping her. The sharpest thing she could see was the shovel in her hand.
"Help! Help! Call 911! Someone call 911!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
The zombie forced her back against the interior door. She held him at bay for a moment, then he pushed the shovel to the side. Kate ducked as she rushed past him. The undead monster got a brief hold of her long hair, but she powered through and escaped.
"Aaaiiieee!" she screamed, charging back at him as she swung the shovel with all of her might.
The sharp edge of the shovel penetrated his neck and hit bone. Even that didn't faze the monster. So Kate swung again. Once again she struck bone, and that time it severed the spinal column. The zombie dropped like a rock.
"Halt!"
Kate slowly turned to find Sheriff Coleman holding a pistol on her.
"Kate?" he said, lowering his weapon. "What's going on here?"
She opened her mouth to speak, and lunch came gushing out. The teen girl dropped to all fours and proceeded to puke her guts out.
Chapter 2
"Uh oh," Morgan said under her breath.
Kate heard the bell over the door jingle. She turned to see five customers enter. Her shoulders dropped. They were the last people she wanted to see that Saturday morning.
She worked a part time waitressing job at the Downtown Diner on weekends. Morgan also worked there. The diner had fulltime waitresses the rest of the week. Most of the time her biggest concern was some elderly farmer pinching her butt.
"I'll wait on them," Morgan said.
"No. They're sitting in my area," she said. "I'm good."
There was nothing good about senior football players Tim Sanders and Harlan Jefferies accompanying cheerleaders Erin Foster, Jessica Plante, and Wendy Moore coming into her diner. They were the kings and queens of the Cool Kids. Erin was the Queen Mean Girl herself, and her boyfriend Tim was the school's star quarterback.
And none of them liked Kate.
"Watch out, the British are coming! The British are coming!" Harlan called as Kate approached.
"How lovely. You've all found your senses of humor after that crushing loss to Westmoreland High last night," Kate said. "Do you need ice packs or raw steaks?"
They fell silent, glowering at her. Kate struggled to remain calm on the outside. It occurred to her that the zombie she'd killed a week ago hadn't frightened her as much as those five kids.
"You're not funny, Zombie Girl," Tim snarled.
Kate turned cool brown eyes on the high school quarterback. He thought he was so smart, when the truth was it took three tutors to keep him at barely passing so he qualified to play. His favorite receiver, Harlan, wasn't much better. Both were tall, dark, and handsome so were popular among the students.
"How fortunate since my boss doesn't pay me to be funny. He pays me to serve food," Kate said. "What would you like?"
"I'd like you to kiss my ass," Harlan said to snickers.
"Bend over and drop your trousers."
Harlan sobered up. He looked around uncertainly. "What?"
None of them seemed to know what to say or do next. She shook her head woefully. They were bullies, and not very bright.
"If you want me to kiss your bum," Kate said, looking him dead in the eye. "You'll have to drop your trousers and bend over first."
Again, he hesitated. They all looked uncomfortable, unsure. She wasn't reacting the way they expected. Kate almost cracked a smile, but remained emotionless, stoic.
"You'd do it?" Harlan asked.
Kate leaned in with a vicious little smile. She held his eyes, refusing to show any fear.
"We'll find out, won't we?" she said, voice dropping an octave, eyes narrowing. When no one responded, she slapped her pad on the table top. "I said! What can I get you guys? Do you need to see a menu?"
"She's weird," Erin said. Then the hot blonde, blue-eyed cheerleader grinned cruelly. "Help! Help! Make her stop attacking me!"
Kate took a step back, cocked her head, and looked at Erin as if she was crazy. She knew exactly what Erin was trying to do. Get her fired. The other four were looking at her victoriously. The waitress wasn't sure they wouldn't win that round.
The owner and cook, Mr. Chambers, came rushing out into the dining room with a huge butcher knife. He immediately placed the knife on an empty table. The kids at her table started accusing her of attacking them. And for no reason, too. But Morgan, and then the other two patrons, both regulars, stepped up and told her boss the truth.
"Out! Get out of my diner," Mr. Chambers told the teenagers.
"How dare you! Do you know who my father is?" Erin said.
Kate knew he was wealthy, but didn't work in or around Tennyson. He worked out of his home doing consulting work or something. She'd actually never seen him or Erin's mother.
"I know he's not one of my customers," Mr. Chambers said. "So I don't care."
They weren't moving, but Kate didn't want it to get any uglier. So she tapped her boss's arm.
"Sir, you can call Sheriff Coleman. He's a good friend of my family," Kate said. "And when the school district learns of their misbehavior, there's a good chance they'd be suspended from school and even barred from extracurricular activities, like football and cheerleading."
All five kids stiffened. They looked back and forth at each other. So Kate pulled out her phone.
"I have the sheriff's number programmed on my phone," she said.
They immediately stood up. Kate gave them an innocent look as they glared daggers at her. Then the teenagers started for the door.
"We're not finished with you," Erin sneered at Kate.
Kate shook her head woefully as she watched them sullenly file out. In a small town like Tennyson, word of what they did would get around fast. By evening their parents would know what went down, too. Worse, Kate's parents would hear about it.
Nothing at school would change. Kate ran in her circles, and they had their sphere of influence. So the same people who liked Kate would still like her, and the others' opinion of her wouldn't change either.
"I don't think she likes you at all," Morgan said in a really bad English accent.
She rolled her eyes, and Morgan giggled. Why did everyone try to speak with an English accent around her? Most of them thought they were pretty good at it, when in reality their attempts were just sad.
> Of course family and friends back in England didn't think she had an English accent either. Her father said her accent was "mid-Atlantic." Which to him meant she spoke with American words and phrases, but did so with an English accent.
"Thank you," Kate said to those standing up for her. "I appre – "
Horrific screams cut her off. She looked out the window to see Harlan on the ground in the middle of the street, and with a very bloody looking zombie on top of him. Everyone froze. Kate was the first one to regain her senses. She grabbed the boss's butcher knife off the table and charged out into the street.
"Zombies! Zombies!" Kate screamed. "Get inside and lock your doors!"
The street was clear to her left. Kate could see one zombie on Harlan and another chasing Tim and the girls. She took the time to look around once more before moving, since they could be just a little sneaky. Once satisfied an undead wasn't going to sneak up on her from behind, Kate charged the closest one.
"Hey, zombie, zombie, zombie!" she cried.
The zombie paused to turn his head toward her. Harlan was hysterical under him. Kate's breath caught when the zombie looked at her. His face was horrific, with the nose gone and both lips hanging off in rubbery looking flaps. There was fresh blood smeared on his teeth and dribbling down his chin.
"He bit me! Oh god, he bit me!" the football player screamed.
Harlan had a pretty nasty bite on his left forearm. Not fatal, but it would leave a scar.
"Oh hush," Kate said. "Zombie bites don't change you."
Of course she was terrified of being bitten, too. Intellectually, she understood the worse that could happen from a zombie bite was an infection. It was no worse than being bitten by a wild animal or another person. The only way to become a zombie was to die in the Zombie Lands, or have your corpse taken there after death. Everyone who dies in the Zombie Lands rises very quickly as a zombie.
"Hold him still, Harlan," Kate shouted. "I'll cut his rotten head off."
Harlan wasn't listening. He screamed, kicked, and punched. The rotter had the star tight end on his back, so Harlan couldn't do much else. Fortunately, the teenager's hysterical fighting kept the zombie's full attention.