Zpoc Exception Series (Book 1): Re-Civilize (Chad)

by Rebecca Besser

  Or I could become a part of the elite team and move around in the world, have some control over my life, and maybe make a few of my own decisions. Who knew…if things went well, maybe I could have control of my own community one day. I could lead people and have a life and adventure. But I would be in the system. I would be controlled by the system. I would have to take orders…

  My brain hurt and I was becoming more and more depressed the more I weighed my options.

  I couldn’t imagine my life without Elaine. I wanted to be close to her and see if she felt the same way about me as I felt about her. I wanted to see how Tob did when he woke up. I wasn’t ready to let them go.

  I wasn’t ready to let go of myself either.

  <+>

  It was dusk when I went back to the barracks. Elaine wasn’t there. I found my cot, laid down, and closed my eyes. I had a headache from thinking and stress. I didn’t want to deal with anything or anyone. I felt like I used to when I would come home from school, after a day of being bombarded by the demands of social pressures and school assignments and responsibilities.

  No matter how I looked at things, there was only one choice that would make me even remotely happy. One that wouldn’t make me want to kill myself.

  I just hoped I had the courage to do it…

  <+>

  When I woke up again it was morning. Elaine was asleep in the cot to my left and someone I’d never seen before was snoring on the cot to my right.

  I had to pee, so I climbed out of bed quietly and headed to the bathroom.

  When I arrived back at the barracks the bell rang and everyone started to rise from their cots. Elaine and Liam were already talking to each other when I reached our bunks.

  “Another day in the neighborhood,” I joked.

  They both smiled at the pun.

  “Have you made your decision?” Elaine asked.

  “Yup,” I said. “You two ready for breakfast?”

  Elaine opened her mouth to speak again, but I turned and headed toward the exit closest to the cafeteria. I didn’t want to answer any more questions. I wasn’t ready to say what my decision was going to be. I wasn’t ready to sentence myself to the life I would have to live.

  Those of us who had our “talk” in building B the day before were told to report there with our answer after breakfast. I knew the cafeteria would be too loud to have a conversation, so I knew once I made it there I would be safe from conversation until after I reported to building B.

  From my understanding of the process, we would stand in a line and be taken one by one into small interview rooms to discuss and make our decisions. Then we’d all gather in the room we’d been in yesterday morning to get our assignments and go from there. It was all hush-hush and then collective. I didn’t understand the thinking behind the process, but I supposed it would make people feel more comfortable to have a one-on-one conversation about their decisions, and then people would feel more comfortable bonding over the decision they’d made when it was revealed in a group setting. That was all I could come up with.

  I was nervous and only ate half of my breakfast.

  I couldn’t help but think I was making the wrong choice.

  I hated not having anyone I could go to and talk things out. I really missed Mom.

  I still wasn’t talkative when me, Elaine, and Liam headed to building B after breakfast, but I couldn’t help being jealous of Liam chatting up Elaine the entire way there. I noticed she was only half as friendly as normal and that she kept glancing sideways at me. I didn’t know if she was concerned or if she was struggling with her own choice to stay and be an elite exception.

  The three of us went through the process and ended up in the same room with each other. None of us spoke while we waited for the rest of the fifteen to appear.

  When Commander Reese entered a few minutes after we were all together, we sat at attention to see what would happen next.

  She had a clipboard with papers attached to it.

  “Today has been a big day for all of you, I’m sure,” she began. “I’m pleased that twelve of you have decided to join the elite team – you will go from here to your training. Two of you have opted to leave and take your chances out in the world – there will be a unit outside that will take you two miles away and drop you off. And, it looks like one of you has chosen to become a citizen – you will go to the cafeteria when we’re done here.” She paused and looked the group over. “Does anyone have any questions?”

  No one raised their hand or spoke up.

  “The names that follow will be the new elite cadets,” she said, and spoke all the names on the list aloud.

  I watched Elaine as my name was the last one called. At first she looked shocked and then she looked really happy. When she turned to look at me there were tears in her eyes.

  I smiled. I couldn’t leave my new family behind. I’d decided I would rather stay and protect them than leave and be on my own.

  I just hoped I’d made the right decision.

  To be continued…Summer 2017

  Zpoc Exception Series

  Re-Civilize

  Book 2 – Elaine

  By Rebecca Besser

  Author Rebecca Besser

  Rebecca Besser resides in Ohio with her wonderful husband and amazing son. They've come to accept her quirks as normal while she writes anything and everything that makes her inner demons squeal with delight. She's best known for her work in adult horror, but has been published in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for a variety of age groups and genres. She's entirely too cute to be scary in person, so she turns to the page to instill fear into the hearts of the masses.

  Rebecca’s Website: http://www.rebeccabesser.com

  Rebecca’s Blog: http://rebeccabesser.wordpress.com

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  UNDEAD DRIVE-THRU

  By Rebecca Besser

  PROLOGUE - TWO YEARS AGO . . .

  Betty Jones was setting the table for supper when her husband, Sam, stumbled through their apartment’s door. His clothes were torn and duct tape was hanging from his wrists, knees, and ankles. After only five steps through the doorway, he fell hard onto the floor with a grunt.

  “Sam!” Betty screamed and ran down the hall, dropping to her knees beside him. She lifted his head and cradled it in her left arm, stroking his cheek tenderly with her right hand. “What happened?”

  His eyes fluttered open and he looked up at his wife with pain etched across his face. “Betty . . .” he breathed and then passed out, his head lulling to the side.

  Betty shook him and yelled, “Sam! Wake up!”

  He didn’t respond. As she moved to lay his head gently on the floor so she could call 9-1-1, she noticed two things: 1) The tape that had apparently been used to bind him, had been cut and not ripped; and 2) There was a small red circle on the side of his neck. On closer inspection, she noted that there was a tiny hole in the center, reminding her of an injection site.

  Without thinking on these discoveries for any longer than a split second, she pulled herself to her feet with the help of a small table set in the hallway and rushed to the phone to call for emergency assistance. She’d just gotten through to an operator when Sam suddenly woke up with a loud, startling moan.

  Betty dropped the phone into its cradle and darted back into the hall to help Sam to his feet, because his movements were slow and awkward.

  She gasped when he was finally standing and she could look up into his face. His eyes were glazed and cloudy – almost completely white – and slobber was running dow
n his chin, dripping onto his shirt.

  “Sam, what happened to you?” she asked on a gasping sob. “Please, tell me!”

  He leaned closer to her and sniffed loudly before a crooked grin spread across his face, the drool increasing in volume. Without warning he lunged forward and tried to pin her to the wall as his jaws snapped open and shut, seeking flesh.

  She spun slightly when he tried to attack her and broke free of his strong grasp, falling to the floor between the hall and the bathroom. The strength of his forward advance flung him headfirst into the bathroom, leaving him sprawled on the tile floor. Quickly, Betty rose up on her knees and gripped the doorknob, yanking the door shut as the phone began to ring, trapping him.

  She was sobbing uncontrollably and leaned back against the door for support; she was shaking too badly to hold herself up on her own. She screamed every time he slammed against the solid wood with the entire weight of his body, hissing and moaning.

  Slowly, she crawled over to the phone and answered it; the emergency dispatcher was on the line. Betty fought for composer and forced her mind to work. She knew if she told them about Sam, they would come and take him away. After all, she’d seen enough zombie movies to know what he’d become. They would either use him as an experiment – which she thought someone already had because of the tape and the wound on his neck – or they would simply kill him.

  In the most controlled, assured voice she could manage, she told the operator that she’d accidentally dialed the wrong number and apologized.

  After hanging up the phone, Betty let the sobs she was holding back break forth again.

  Once she again regained some composure, she stood and walked shakily back to the bathroom door where the banging continued. She placed her palms flat on the smooth, white, painted surface of the wood and rested her forehead between them.

  “Sam,” she called out, “I don’t know what has happened to you, but I’ll be here for you forever. I love you . . .” She paused as her voice caught on a sob. “. . . so much. I’ll take care of you as long as I live, and won’t let anything or anyone hurt you. I promise!”

  On the other side of the door, the hungry zombie who’d once been her husband continued to try to get the food he knew was just out of reach; pounding, moaning, clawing, hissing, wanting . . .

  CHAPTER 1 - HIRED

  “This can’t be the place. It looks too . . . creepy,” Kyndra said as she looked through the windshield of the car at the half-wasted away diner sitting in front of them.

  The building was definitely an old burger joint/milkshake stand, but it had seen better days. The white paint was now a sandy beige color and the once bright green roof looked like a swirling puddle of faded vomit; the dark brown, splintered boards that made up the roof peeked through where the paint had chipped off and added to the effect.

  “It’s the address in the ad,” Colleen said, parking in the gravel parking lot, directly in front of the small building.

  “Yeah, I know, but who would want to eat here?” Kyndra asked with her nose wrinkled in disgust. She looked down at the newspaper ad she held in her hand. At the top it said: HELP WANTED. The girls had come to be interviewed, as they needed summer jobs. “I just don’t see a bunch of people coming here, is all.”

  “Well, apparently they do or otherwise they wouldn’t be looking for help,” Colleen said, killing the engine and opening the driver’s door, while pointing at a square window to the right of the diner’s door as she got out. “Look, there’s a help wanted sign, so it has to be the right place.”

  Kyndra frowned, sighed, and then shrugged, shoving the ad into her pocket as she opened the door on the passenger’s side and climbed out, too. “It’s faded and looks like it’s been there for years. Are you sure you didn’t find the ad in an old newspaper?”

  “No,” Colleen said, rolling her eyes. “It was in the Sunday paper. You were there when I cut it out, remember?”

  Kyndra didn’t answer, but slowly walked up to the building and cupped her hands around her face, pressing them close to the window to peer inside.

  “Stop that!” Colleen scolded, rushing forward and slapping her friend on her bare arm. “You look like a peeper. We want them to give us jobs, not think we’re freaks!”

  Kyndra pulled back and shrugged, looking at her tall, slender friend. Colleen’s color was high from embarrassment and the heat; her face was flushed bright red. Her shoulder length blonde hair was limp from the humidity and it stuck to the sides of her face and neck where she was sweating. But what caused Kyndra to pause and think, as she was about to come back with a smart-ass comment, was the worry in her friend’s light blue eyes. Colleen had always been the shy one, and with all of the other jobs in town already taken, they really needed to make a good impression here.

  With a heavy sigh, she stepped back from the window and fidgeted with her clothes.

  “Sorry . . . Do I look okay?” Kyndra asked as she tucked her long, dark, curly hair behind her ear and bit her bottom lip; despite her brash manner, there was concern in her dark eyes as well. If they didn’t find jobs soon, they wouldn’t be able to make the money they needed for the move to New York and the apartment they planned to share. They’d both recently turned eighteen and were eager to be out on their own, but they needed money to do so. Living in a small town, jobs were scarce, but having to drive a long distance would cut into their earnings and they didn’t want to do it unless they had to. This was their last chance before they would have to look for out of town work.

  “You’re fine,” Colleen said, smiling, “stop worrying. Besides, from the appearance of this place, I don’t think it’ll matter what we look like.”

  Kyndra laughed. “True.” She pulled the diner door open and bowed with a flourish, beckoning her friend to enter. “After you.”

  Colleen laughed and some of the tension eased from her shoulders as she walked through the door, stepping out of the sun and into the dimly lit interior of the building. Kyndra followed. They both stopped instantly and covered their noses with their hands, blinking rapidly while their eyes adjusted. What they saw around them when their vision cleared shocked them both.

  The interior of the diner was in even worse shape than the outside. The teal-colored vinyl on the booth seats was ripped, melted, and discolored, as was the same vinyl on the swiveling bar stools. The black and white checkered tile on the floor was cracked, broken, and in some places, missing completely. Cobwebs and dust coated everything and the smell was the worst part of all; the air reeked as if something large had died and decayed inside the building.

  Kyndra looked over at Colleen and shook her head. “Do you still think we came to the right place?” she mumbled behind her hand, keeping her voice low and discreet in case anyone was close that they couldn’t see.

  Colleen was about to answer when they heard voices coming from beyond the wall that stood behind the counter. A middle-aged woman and a young man – having a somewhat heated conversation – appeared in a window-sized hole in the wall with a metal topped counter between it and the filthy service area. Before either of them could decide what to do, they were spotted as well.

  “Hello,” the woman said in a friendly, welcoming voice. “You must be the girls who called about interviews! I’ll be right with you.”

  “I hope we go outside for the interview,” Kyndra mumbled.

  “Shh!” Colleen hissed, and elbowed her friend in the stomach. “She’ll hear you!”

  The woman came bustling out of a red swinging door with a small round window at face level, or at least the face level of a somewhat average height person – the woman was not average though, she was short and plump. Her hair was shoulder length and a salt and pepper mixture of black and gray. Her eyes were hazel and held energy and intelligence. But it was her smile that really drew the girls’ attention, because it was broad and genuine.

  “Hi, I’m Betty,” the woman said, extending her hand out to shake theirs. “But you can call me Aunt-B.” The gi
rls dropped their hands from their noses and shook the woman’s hand, trying to pretend that the noxious smell didn’t exist. “How about we go outside to talk? It’s stifling in here!”

  The girls grinned, nodded, and relaxed a bit; the woman seemed down to earth and friendly, despite the argument she’d just been having.

  As they were stepping out the door, Aunt-B turned back and hollered to the young man she’d left behind. “I’ll be outside if you need me, John!”

  “Okay!” was hollered back in a somewhat agitated voice, followed by strange grunts and moans.

  The girls assumed John – whoever he was – was doing some heavy lifting or other manual labor and that accounted for the sounds, so they thought nothing of it and continued outside.

  When all three of them were standing on the crumbling cement sidewalk that ran across the full length of the front of the building, they took deep breaths of the humid, but clean-smelling, air and enjoyed the slight breeze that was blowing, giving them some relief from the heat.

  “I’ll interview you both at once, if that’s okay,” Aunt-B said. “We’re kinda busy today with figuring out what we’ll need for the renovations. Thank God my nephew John came to visit for the summer or I’d be lost.”

  The girls smiled politely and nodded.

  “What I need are a couple of waitresses,” Aunt-B continued. “John is going to cook, but we’ll need help out front. I’d also like you to start before we officially open. There’s a lot of cleaning and painting that will need to be done and the sooner we get it done, the better.”

  Aunt-B went on to explain her plans and how she hoped to turn the old diner into a rest stop/drive-thru for truckers and locals, since it was situated between town and the highway. She explained their pay and everything else they needed to know, and as of that moment, they had jobs.

  The girls left happy and excited about starting work. Aunt-B had written down a schedule for cleaning and repairs so they could start before the diner opened. On the way back to town, the girls cheerfully discussed what they would do with their new income and about the apartment they planned to share. They finally had the hope that their dreams and plans would become realities.