by Garth Ono
Even though they were both cold to the touch, with no heartbeat or pain nerves, sex was still amazing. She hadn't even had an orgasm until Alexander bit her and made her his minion. She thought sex as a minion was great. Dying made it even better.
Daphne kissed her new lord and master, Simon Williams. She then rolled off to her side of the bed and rose up onto one elbow. Picking up her phone, she finally checked her messages and voice mail. Her phone had rang and binged with messages while she was making love to Simon.
"Oh wow," she said. "It's Kate. She's in St. Louis now."
Simon sat up and grinned. She bit her lip, with a big smile. He was so handsome when he smiled. Daphne wanted to do anything and everything for him, just to see that smile. It was a stroke of luck when she ran into him shortly after arriving in St. Louis. They had history back in Tennyson. The same drac bit them both, putting them on that undead path.
"Honestly, I didn't think she'd come," Simon said.
His face turned ugly. Daphne stiffened. He hated Kate with a passion. She didn't really understand why he was so vengeful. Holding grudges was such a waste of time and energy.
"I paid hell catching that bitch for Alexander," Simon whispered, eyes glazed over. "And then she killed me. Gunned me down like a dog."
"Well, you were trying to catch and turn her over to a drac," Daphne said. "You have to admit she had every right to defend herself."
"So you're taking her side?"
The afterglow was starting to fade. Daphne started rethinking her part in his schemes. His desire to become top dog was scary. There were several other bigger, stronger, and scarier vampires in St. Louis, and all had more minions than Simon. They all wanted the exact same thing as her master, too.
"I don't understand this obsession with being Master of the City," she said. "Life is pretty good as it is. We could even go claim one of those abandoned mansions in the suburbs."
She was actually living in a very nice place with electricity and everything when Simon found her. It was a lot safer outside the city for dracs. Zombies ignored vampires, while living people did not.
"I will rule this city," Simon said. He grabbed a fistful of her now fluorescent pink hair, "And you will help me achieve my goal by bringing Kate to me."
"I can't guarantee she'll help you."
"Leave that to me."
Though he never would admit it, she knew Simon wanted Kate as a minion. She'd be his to command. The beautiful English woman would do anything for him. Anything at all. The thought of Simon with Kate stoked her jealousy. Daphne was afraid her childhood best friend would replace her in her master's bed.
"We were both Alexander's minions," Daphne said. "You remember we both still had some free will. If you bite her, Kate will still fight you. Her usefulness fighting the others might be diminished."
His faced clouded for a moment. "Maybe. I'll give her a chance to help, but if she refuses…"
Daphne smiled. She would obey and bring Kate to him, but she'd kill her friend before allowing Simon to take her as a minion. No one would be allowed to replace her.
Chapter 5
Kate returned to the hotel just after midnight. A big pickup on lifts and with giant tires followed her in. She headed for the Police Tactical Operations van and refrigerator truck in the back corner. She had to turn in her heads there. The hotel didn't want any dead body parts inside. To her chagrin, the pickup followed and parked next to her. As she expected, two young men got out.
"Hi, beautiful," the driver said with a thick Philly accent. He was six feet, broad shouldered, and looked bloody and battered. She noticed his left pinky finger was missing. His friend was a few inches taller, with long blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. Both wore button down shirts with the sleeves cut off to reveal full sleeves of tattoos. The shaven-headed driver had quite a few facial piercings, as well. "What's your name? I'm Rocco Barone, and that ugly bastard is Axl Kirk."
"It's a pleasure, miss," Axl said, revealing his deep southern accent.
"Hi guys," she said. "I'm Kate."
She wanted to leave it at that, but they came over to stand way too close.
"You're a head hunter?" Rocco asked.
A person who roamed the Zombie Lands hunting zombies was called a head hunter. In the rest of the country they were called slayers or bounty hunters. She opened the back of her Land Rover and forced them to step back a few.
"In a manner," she said. "I'm a slayer."
"You slayed me at first glance," Axl said with that incredible accent. "Are you Australian? I love Aussie chicks."
A pair of St. Louis cops headed their way from the Police TOC. They were pushing one of those big grey plastic trash carts. She could see the black flies swarming around it in the bright overhead lights.
"Yeah. I'm English actually," she said. Kate placed a hand on his chest, and pushed him back a few more steps. "So sorry. Better luck next time. I'd love to chat, but I have a dozen heads to turn in."
"That's good for a chick," Rocco said. "Maybe you should team up with us."
Not likely. Both men were alternating between staring at her boobs and staring at her butt. She could well imagine the kind of "team action" they were contemplating.
"I work alone. Now if you'll excuse me."
To their credit, they backed away without hurling insults at her. Kind of surprised her. Instead, they returned to their truck and dropped the tailgate. The cops approached her first. She had to give them her new ID card, and then they accepted her heads. One cop attached tags to each head, to an ear, and then the other cop scanned the tag and then her card. Kate was given a receipt for twelve heads that had to be cashed in at the office inside.
She moved the Defender closer to the front door, gathered up her weapons, three plastic grocery bags with food she picked up, and headed inside. Axl and Rocco pulled into the parking place next to hers before she was halfway to the hotel's entrance.
"Just lovely," she muttered.
There were some rough looking people smoking and drinking beer outside the main entrance. Every one of them looked like an outlaw biker. She counted seven men and two women. The intense way they stared at her as she passed through the middle of them creeped her out. Just like her, they were all armed to the teeth. One of them opened the door for her.
Rocco and Axl followed her in from the parking lot. They ran to catch up.
The police worked out of the hotel's guest business center. They also took over every meeting room. Kate went to the business center office. Her twelve heads paid out $1200, or twice what she'd get back in Tennyson. The clerk asked if she wanted any of her bounty in cash.
"Yes. Twenty," she said.
Kate received a twenty dollar bill, and the other $1180 was direct deposited in her bank back in Tennyson. With so many unsavory characters around, she appreciated the direct deposit option. Better yet, on her first night in St. Louis she earned well over a week's pay. And that was before she added in what she earned in retainers.
Rocco and Axl cut her off before she could head up to her room.
"Listen, about working together," Rocco said. "Hear us out."
"Teams of slayers take more heads than individuals," Axl said. "And there's less danger. We have each other's backs. So me and Rocco are trying to organize a five or six man team, and we want you."
Even if she was of a mind to work with a team, the fact that neither one of them could look her in the eye for more than three seconds proved they were too immature. Like most men Kate met, they stared at her chest, so would be distracted partners at the very least. She needed a partner who could focus on the job. If Morgan wasn't so girlie, and was interested, she might consider teaching her.
"I told you I work alone," she said. "Besides, even if your team takes more heads, you have to split the proceeds evenly, right?" They nodded. "Exactly. I like getting paid for what I kill. Besides, I have other business in St. Louis, so can't do this full time every day. So, that's a firm no."
They looked a little crestfallen. It lasted all of ten seconds, before they perked up and Rocco stared at her chest and Axl at her lips. Both looked very hungry.
"You want to join us for a beer?" Rocco asked. "The city set up a beer garden for us. Beer is only a dollar."
She thought about the men outside the entrance. Rocco and Axl would fit right in with them. Kate, not so much. Though, she'd gotten along splendidly with her sister's biker friends. Still, those were some scary looking men out front. She couldn't image the men in the beer garden would be any less scary.
"Sorry, boys, but I'm underage at eighteen," she said. "It'll be a few more years before I'm allowed to drink."
"Drinking age is eighteen in the Zombie Lands," Axl said.
That surprised her. Kate didn't remember hearing about them changing the law. That didn't change the fact that she was more worried about being roofied than breaking the drinking age laws.
"Maybe another time. I'm going to bed," she said. They perked up. "Alone."
They took it well, but followed her to the elevator. Kate put her hand on her pistol. They swore they were just going to their rooms.
"Let me see your keys," she demanded. Rocco, and then Axl, pulled out their key cards. To her astonishment their rooms were on the same floor. Worse, they were across the hall from her room. "That's just wonderful."
Up on their floor, Kate made them walk ahead of her. And then she got into her room before they could hit on her again. They tried.
"Men," she sighed.
Kate put her groceries up first. Mostly it was bread and sandwich stuff. Peanut butter, jelly, mayo, and sliced ham. She also bought a six-pack of store brand colas and a quart of milk for the cereal she forgot to buy. Didn't matter since the hotel provided a continental breakfast, and the cops kept a sandwich buffet up from lunch to 3 AM.
After disarming, Kate took a quick shower. Taking her phone to the bed, she sat cross-legged in the middle and called Morgan. Her friend answered on the first ring.
"About time you called," Morgan said.
"Hello," Kate replied, shaking her head with a smile. "Stop worrying. How's your zombie search going?"
"I got some stuff for you. You want me to e-mail to your phone address or business address?" Morgan asked. "Did you take your laptop?"
"Is it on my desk?"
"No."
"Then yes. Yes I did," Kate said. "Send it to either. I can access it on either device no matter where you send it."
While Kate waited for the e-mail, Morgan ran over the highlights. It was worse than Kate thought. The estimated number of zombies in the city had reached up to five thousand at one point. Someone was opening holes in the perimeter fences almost nightly. Most people suspected the city's vampires, who were ruling over a large Goth subculture. Apparently, hordes of Goths moved to cities within the Zombie Lands after the apocalypse.
"Why would the vampires let zombies in and not control them?" Kate asked. "Seems like it would cause more trouble than help them."
"The thought is the vampires want to drive out all regular citizens, government, and police, so they can rule the city unchallenged," Morgan said. "They want to create a vampire kingdom."
"Let's hope that doesn't happen," Kate said. "Thanks, Morgan. You're the best. I have to crash now. Talk to you in the morning. Love you, bye."
Kate went to bed, but lay awake a long time. Did she make a mistake coming there? Was it even possible to save the city from the undead? If vampires were really trying to chase everyone else out, Kate wasn't sure they could stop them.
Chapter 6
A cold front came through overnight. It was cold and rainy, and wasn't expected to get over 60 degrees. Kate wore warm clothes in layers: t-shirt under a sweat shirt, under a fleece hoodie. Fingerless driving gloves protected her hands. And she had a rain coat just in case.
Kate was up well before sunrise. Zombies don't sleep at all. There was a 6 AM police briefing every morning for the slayers. She ate her free Continental Breakfast while sitting in the lobby for the briefing, learning such things as how many heads were turned in during the previous twenty-four hours. They also reported where most of the kills were made, and where the police helicopters were currently seeing the greatest zombie concentrations.
It was well-attended by the other slayers.
The most surprising thing she learned was the location of the overnight breaches in the city's perimeter defenses. It was an almost nightly occurrence. And despite that no one had put up cameras around the perimeter. That was in the works. It took time, since it was a government project. They had a process to go by, yet in the meantime more zombies were getting in than they could kill.
Kate sat behind Axl and Rocco, so when she overheard they were heading to the north side of town, she went south. And by 9 AM she bought a breakfast burrito and was heading back to the hotel's collection spot to turn in ten heads.
Her phone rang with Got Zombies? and her business number on the screen. That number also had a distinct ringtone.
"Good morning, Morgan," she answered.
"How's it going?" she asked. "Have you gotten in contact with Daphne yet?"
"She sent me an e-mail overnight," Kate said, frowning. "She said she couldn't talk yet, but would be in contact."
"How rude," Morgan said. "Becoming a drac must've messed her head up."
There weren't many studies done yet, since it was hard to get a vampire to hang out with scientists without at least trying to eat them. But it was thought different people reacted differently to being changed into a vampire. Duh. Sometimes Kate couldn't believe the results of studies, as if they needed to pay ten million dollars to determine everyone responded differently to everything.
"She's having issues," Kate said. "I'll try to help her, but she has to want my help. In the meantime, I'm cashing in big time. I've scored twenty-two heads so far."
"Holy crap, that's like half a month worth of rotters in Tennyson, but they are paying you double," Morgan replied. "Oh my god, my bonus might be enough to buy a cute outfit and the shoes."
"You are almost as bad as Daphne when it comes to clothes."
"Hey, don't hate me because I'm fashion conscious," she replied. "And cute clothes aren't just for Saturday night."
She stopped at a red light. There were more cars on the road than Kate would've believed before arriving. The people of the Zombie Lands, and St. Louis in particular, were more resilient than she thought. They'd figured out ways to deal with zombies and continue their lives. It involved lots of sturdy doors, iron bars, and security personnel. Also, most vehicles were a little battered from zombies pounding on them at intersections.
Movement to her right pulled Kate's eyes over. At first she thought a horde of zombies was chasing a living couple. Then she realized it was a living mob. She hesitated.
"I'm not a cop," she muttered.
"I know. What does that mean?" Morgan asked.
"Nothing. I was thinking out loud. I have to go. Bye."
Kate ended the call before she responded. She didn't have time for pleasantries, and the woman half of the couple just tripped and was struggling to rise. The mob had blood in its eyes. The slayer was never one to just sit around and watch tragedy. It was a problem she was working on.
Hitting the gas, she sped the two blocks and inserted herself between them. The angry mob pounded on her truck like a bunch of crazed zombies. Kate pulled her pistol and pointed it at them. The mob moved back.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Kate demanded after getting out. She holstered the pistol and brandished the sawed off double-barrel. Lupara was more intimidating. "It's bad enough rotters are killing us, now you want to murder people, too?"
"They're Goths!" someone in the mob shouted.
Kate cocked her head, looked at the wide-eyed couple, and frowned. The pursued couple did look like Goths, wearing a lot of black and purple and blue. The woman wore pale foundation, with dark, dark smoky eyes, and blood red lips. The man looked
like he might be wearing pale foundation, too, and definitely lots of guyliner.
"Wow, you guys take your fashion way too seriously in St. Louis," Kate said. "I'm pretty sure that it's still against the law to kill someone over fashion and lifestyle choices even in the Zombie Lands."
"They are followers, minions, of Mordred," another said.
"Mordred?"
"The Master of the City."
The male Goth shouted, "Mordred is not a drac! And we would never let zombies into the city. We hate zombies as much as you."
Shouts of "lies" and "necrophiliacs" filled the air. Traitors to humanity was tossed around a few times, too. The mob accused the Master of the City of Calling the zombies.
"Why would he do that?" the female Goth asked.
"To run all good Christians out of St. Louis so the devil can claim the city as his own!"
Kate sighed. Sooner or later, someone threw religion into the zombie issues. Of course, the curse came from either heaven or hell. Where else? Scientists refused to accept that the zombie and vampire curses were in fact curses. Apparently they thought there was a rational reason for the dead to rise again and attack the living. They were still busy looking for a logical, scientific reason after a year.
"Listen to me," Kate shouted to be heard. "If you have a problem with the Goths, talk to the police. You don't have a right to vigilante justice."
"Who do you think you are?" a short, stout man said, looking her over with distaste. "Look at you, dressed all in black. I bet you're a drac loving Goth too."
"There's one thing for sure," Kate said. "I'm the one with a gun."
She lifted her weapon a little higher, so everyone could see, and then pulled the trigger. Boom!
Everyone flinched, but didn't panic since she fired into the air.
"If I shoot you, then you will become a zombie," Kate said, and lowered the barrel at the offensive man. "Are you ready to be an unholy rotter?"
The mob fell silent. Kate almost smiled. They could turn in a heartbeat, but calming them down was half the battle.