“The usual.” Alessandra shrugged. “Work, work, work.” She was holding a pair of purple shorts that read ‘Princess.’
“Nice shorts.”
Alessandra looked at what she was absent-mindedly holding and shrugged again. “Not my style.”
Dharma laughed. “No, I guess it’s not.”
“What are you guys doing here?”
“Is your mom around?” asked Vinnie.
“Sure, she’s in the back by the register.”
“Thanks.”
“Where’s your cute brother?” asked Dharma, her tone conspiratorial.
“He’s out to lunch. I’ll tell him you asked for him and said he was cute.” She shot a nervous glance at Vinnie.
Dharma gave Vinnie a light shove. “Ah, don’t worry about him. I have to keep him on his toes. A girl’s gotta have options.”
Vinnie shook his head and proceeded to the back. Dharma gave Alessandra a hug as she passed. Ever since Vinnie and Dharma watched over them during the attack, Marie’s children had a special bond with them, and Marie was eternally grateful. Vinnie hoped to cash in on some of that good will to help Tyrell out.
They saw Tyrell unpacking boxes. He saw them and looked like he wanted to crawl in a hole and die somewhere. He knew why they were here. His guilty expression revealed all.
Vinnie and Dharma waved as they passed. Vinnie threw him a nod that Tyrell quickly returned, and then he went back to unpacking boxes.
“Hey, Vinnie and Dharma,” called Marie from behind the register. “I’m back here.”
They made their way to the back as Marie was finishing ringing a customer up. Marie placed the receipt in the bag, and the customer grabbed the bag and left.
“So, what brings you guys by?”
Vinnie looked down nervously at his shoe and then met Marie’s gaze. “Can we talk in private for a sec?”
Marie looked a little taken off guard. “Sure.” She called out to Tyrell and Alessandra, “Why don’t you two go for a walk?”
Alessandra and Tyrell looked at each other and nodded. Tyrell kept his head down as he joined Alessandra, and they both left the store.
That’s it. They were alone with Marie. Vinnie was glad he had Dharma with him. Marie was a friend, but she was intimidating. Ever since the attack, she had come out of her shell. She was brash and outspoken. She took shit from no one and wasn’t afraid to dish it out.
Vinnie guessed that was what killing your zombie husband and mother-in-law with your bare hands did to a person. Marie was free from her overlords, and she wasn’t going to bite her tongue ever again.
“What’s up, guys?” Marie asked.
“Well,” began Vinnie, “I had a visit from Tyrell today.”
Marie was arranging the impulse buys on the counter as she listened. “Yeah, he really like’s your pizza.”
Vinnie laughed. “Yes, but that’s not why he came today.”
“Oh?”
“He told me you’ve been pushing him pretty hard on he and his mom learning to shoot.”
This got Marie’s attention. “I see.” There was an edge to her tone. “What business is that of yours?”
Vinnie blushed and stammered, unsure of how to respond. Although he was now a college student, Marie had always been Mrs. Russo to him.
Dharma stepped in. “Tyrell’s in a bit of a tough spot. He wants to keep his mom happy, yet he doesn’t want to disappoint you. He looks up to the both of you.”
Marie leaned on the counter with both hands. “Well, if he doesn’t want to disappoint me, he should try it. It’s for his own good.”
“Listen,” said Vinnie, “he knows you mean well, but don’t you think that’s up to his mother?”
Marie’s eyes looked fierce. She looked as if she wanted to argue her point, but then she let out a long sigh. “Listen, Vinnie. She’s a shrink. She’s not into guns. She’s one of them liberals.”
“If you’re insinuating that she’s a bleeding heart, she kicked some ass of her own during the attack,” said Dharma. “She’s no slouch in the zombie-slaying department.”
Marie snickered. “Yeah, well she could kill a lot more of them with a shotgun than she could a broomstick or a toy sword.”
“She killed her own husband, just like you did,” pressed Dharma. “You two have more in common than you think. Both of you will do whatever it takes to protect your kids.”
“It’s not a competition, Marie,” said Vinnie. “You’re looking after your kids.”
“Damned right.”
“And you wouldn’t want anyone telling you otherwise?” added Vinnie.
“Heck no.”
“Then why don’t you let Tara look after her kid?”
Marie shook her head. “She doesn’t know any better. Learning to shoot could save his life. Maybe even hers.”
“He’s just a kid,” said Vinnie.
“My kids are learning. Alessandra’s a better shot than her brother.”
“They’re older than Tyrell,” said Dharma.
Marie looked as if she wanted to say something, but she cut it off. “Is he really that upset about this?”
Vinnie nodded. “He doesn’t know what to do. He respects both you and his mom.”
Marie waved a hand out in front of her. “Oh, all right. I’ll drop it. But, Tara’s gonna be sorry when they come back.”
Dharma laughed. “What, the zombies? What makes you think they’ll come back?”
“We didn’t get them all,” said Marie. “Lots of them got washed out to sea during the storm.”
“It’s been two years,” said Vinnie, trying to be convincing in taking Dharma’s side, when in truth he actually agreed with Marie.
“That’s right,” said Marie. “I’d say we’re overdue. What, do you think they drowned out there? They’re dead. Dead. They don’t die. They’re probably walking around on the ocean floor.”
“Marie!” said Dharma, appalled. “Stop it.”
“That’s right,” Marie continued, her eyes intense. “They’ll be back, and I’m prepared. They ain’t gonna get me.”
“Please don’t take this out on Tyrell,” pleaded Dharma. “He just wants to help you at the store and have a good summer.”
Marie smiled, her indignation fading fast. “I won’t. He’s a good kid. I care about him, just like I care about you two.”
“We know,” said Vinnie, pretending not to be daunted by her.
In that moment, there was an unspoken understanding that passed between the three survivors. Like many of the survivors in the Bay, they all looked out for each other. That was how they recovered.
Vinnie was eager to get while the gettin’ was good. “Well, thanks for understanding, Marie.”
“Don’t mention it. You two, say hi to your parents.”
“Will do,” said Dharma.
Vinnie and Dharma walked back through the store and out onto the boardwalk as a couple of teenage girls passed them to look at the shorts display.
Vinnie exhaled deeply. “That went well.”
Dharma laughed at him. “You were terrified of her!”
“Were?”
“Oh, come on. She’s not that bad.”
“She’s terrifying,” joked Vinnie. “I thought she was going to blow my head off right there.”
They bumped into Tyrell and Alessandra.
“That was quick,” said Tyrell, looking dubious. “How’d it go?”
Vinnie smiled. “You’re off the hook, buddy.”
Tyrell looked relieved. Alessandra put her arm around him.
“She just cares about you, that’s all,” said Dharma.
“I know,” said Tyrell. He placed his fist out, and Vinnie and Dharma each bumped it with theirs. “Good looking out.”
“Anytime,” said Vinnie smiling.
“You two better get back,” added Dharma. “Break’s over.”
Tyrell and Alessandra walked off back towards the store.
Dharma elbowed Vinnie. “Le
t’s eat. I’m starving.”
Vinnie smiled. “Me, too. Mexican?”
“Si, senor. Tengo mucha hombre.”
* * *
Mike Brunello was waiting for Holbrook by the Whip ride. Children screeched in delight as their little rolling car was yanked around the sharp turn. However, Mike wasn’t smiling. Lt. Becky Michaels was standing next to him.
Holbrook strode up to where they were standing. He tipped his cap in greeting. “Mike.”
Mike nodded. “Chief.”
“Tell him about the bites, Mike,” prompted Becky.
Holbrook crossed his arms in preparation. “Yes, tell me about the bites.”
“It was the damnedest thing,” said Mike. “It started with one little girl screaming. It wasn’t like the screaming you hear on rides. I saw the girl clutching her arm and her parents looking angry. When I asked them what happened, they said a little girl bit their daughter.”
“Did they say what she looked like? How old?”
“The mother said a young girl. Maybe five or six years old. Mangy looking.”
“Where are these people now?” pressed Holbrook, looking urgent.
Becky put up her hand. “Wait, Chief. There’s more.”
Holbrook sighed. “Great. What else?”
Becky gestured across the pier. “Well, this mangy little girl cut a path across the pier, because there was a trail of crying children and disgruntled parents.”
Holbrook looked around, his expression barely contained panic. “Jesus, Becky, do we know where any of these folks are?”
“What’s wrong?” asked Mike. “I don’t like the expression on your face.”
Holbrook ignored the remark. “Mike, how long ago would you say this all happened?”
Mike looked up into the air, thinking. “I dunno, maybe fifteen, twenty minutes ago.”
Becky understood what Holbrook was driving at. “She can’t be too far.”
“I’m sure she’s just lost and scared,” said Mike, the meaning of their conversation lost on him.
Holbrook nodded to Becky. “Right. I want a sweep of the boardwalk from Harriman Street to Atlantic.”
Becky nodded “Right.” She dashed off, issuing instructions into her radio.
“What’s this all about?” asked Mike. “She’s just a lost little girl.”
Holbrook called over three officers walking by. “Mike, I need you to identify whoever got bit. Can you do that for me now?”
Mike looked perplexed, but his confusion turned to horror as he read between the lines. “No,” he said, stepping backwards and shaking his head. “You don’t think…”
Holbrook placed his hands on Mike’s shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Mike, I don’t have time to explain right now, but I need you to help these officers find whoever got bit, and I need you to do it right now.”
Mike kept shaking his head, unwilling to accept the notion Holbrook was floating. “No, not again. It’s been two years.”
Holbrook’s tone was firm. “Mike, the last thing we need right now is panic. I need your help, and we don’t have time to waste.”
Mike swallowed the reality of the situation, and he nodded, his face now drained of color. “Right, Chief.” He looked to the other officers, who were standing at the ready. “Follow me.”
As they walked off, Mike scanning the crowd for the attacked families and the officers scanning for April Traub, Holbrook parted with Becky and began to walk the pier himself, glancing down at the pic of April from time to time. He was looking for the pink shirt and the white shorts. Becky did the same.
He scanned what was left of the pier, the crane looming behind the Tsunami ride, the back, left corner filled with workers laying down support beams across the newly installed pilings. As it was only late June, the pier was barely crowded, mostly townies, as the tourists hadn’t arrived en masse yet.
Children rode pretend motorcycles, slamming the buzzers, while others sat in boats, ringing bells to get their parents’ attention. There were cries of glee as the Bog Hopper bounced children up and down in sudden bursts.
“April!”
Holbrook heard that cry above all the others.
“April! Get over here!”
He turned in time to see Marney Traub dashing over to April, just standing there, in a daze. Jesus, he had just looked over there. How had he missed her?
Her clothes were filthy and torn, her hair clumped and matted. Then he saw her eyes. They were alert and filled with rage.
“Marney!” he called out, as he ran over to intercept them, but Marney had a head start. “Marney, no!”
Marney had already taken a knee and thrown her arms around April.
“Back away!” he shouted as he ran, hand on his gun.
April was limp in Marney’s arms as her mother squeezed her, chastising her as relieved parents do to lost and found children. Marney heard the chief’s voice and released her daughter.
Holbrook saw the whole thing as if it was happening in slow motion. Marney turned to see him running towards her. She scowled as she saw his one hand on his gun and the other gesturing wildly for her to get out of the way.
That was all the time April needed.
She lunged forward and sunk her teeth into her mother’s neck with such force that Marney was almost knocked sideways off her knee. Her scowl turned to horror as the pain of the bite registered, and she reached up and pushed April’s head away.
April’s mouth pulled away from her mother’s neck with a chunk of her mother’s flesh between her teeth in a ghastly grin. Marney cried out and clutched her wound as blood spurt from between her fingers. Blood dripped down April’s chin and stained her pink shirt.
Holbrook drew his firearm and took aim, but Marney, now angry, knelt in front of her daughter, obstructing his shot.
“Marney, out of the way!”
“What are you doing?” she cried out, not registering what was actually happening. But, why would she? She didn’t live in the Bay. She was a visitor. An outsider. She didn’t know what one of these monsters looked like up close and in the flesh.
Holbrook was just about there. “Get out of the way!”
April let out a blood-curdling shriek, and she ran back to the Creeping Dead haunted house ride.
Holbrook side-stepped Marney, still kneeling on the boardwalk with her hand on her neck, and took aim. However, there were too many by-standers behind April. If he missed, someone would get hurt or killed.
April growled like a bobcat, shoved her way past outraged children and parents in line, and tore past the attendant.
“Hey!” shouted the young girl manning the ride.
April leapt past a car filled with three children, pushed open the airbrushed faux castle doors, and disappeared into the ride.
“Goddammit!” Holbrook waved over two officers as he darted over to where Marney was crouched in tears and muttering to herself. Officer Becky arrived from the other direction.
“Keep an eye on her,” Holbrook ordered the two officers. “She needs to be quarantined, Protocol Z.”
“What happened?” Officer Becky was panting.
“I found April. She’s turned. She ran into the haunted house.”
Becky strode over to the attendant, who was trying to get her attention. “I need you to shut down the ride!”
“I can’t,” said the girl. “There are people in there.”
Holbrook grabbed an officer and spoke in hushed tones so as not to cause a panic. “Quickly and quietly have the pier evacuated, and create a perimeter where it meets the boardwalk, by Palazzo’s sausage stand and the Frog Bog. There are two other officers rounding up those who were bitten.”
The officer nodded.
Holbrook joined Becky.
“She said she can’t stop the ride with people in there,” explained Becky.
Holbrook pointed an officious finger. “This is an emergency. Stop this ride now. Put on the emergency lights.”
The attendant
watched police officers in the background rounding up patrons and escorting them off the pier. “Okay,” she said. She was about to press a red button with the palm of her hand, stopping the ride.
“Wait a minute,” said Becky, grabbing the girl’s hand before she could stop the ride.
“What’s wrong?” asked Holbrook.
Becky turned to the ride attendant. “How many people are on the ride?”
“Only two cars. They’re almost through.”
“Let them finish,” suggested Becky. “Then we’ll shut down the ride.”
“Right,” said Holbrook. “If we stop the ride now, April might capitalize on their confusion.” Then to the attendant, “As soon as the last riders are off, shut down the ride and turn up the lights.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Becky.
“I’m going in after her.”
“Not alone, you are.”
Holbrook clamped a hand on her shoulder. “It’s too tight in there for the two of us. Watch the exit. Make sure the last of the riders come out, and make sure she doesn’t escape.”
“What do I do if I see her?”
“Protocol Z, neutralize.”
“You want me to shoot her? She’s just a kid.”
“Not anymore. Head shot. Double tap. Got it?”
Becky nodded dubiously. She had been in Atlantic City during the attack two years ago. She had transferred to the Bay to get away from the hookers, pimps, and drug dealers. “Got it.”
The attendant tried to slip out of the way, but Becky grabbed her by the arm. “Wait, I need you in case we need to operate the ride.”
“I don’t want to stay here,” said the girl.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be safe with me.” Becky drew her firearm as riders began to push their way out of the exit. “Go ahead, Chief. I’ve got this.”
Holbrook nodded and hopped the small metal fence delineating the waiting line. He navigated a few cars and hopped into the backseat of a car just before it pushed open the faux castle doors. He pulled out his flashlight, holding it under his gun, and flipped it on. He took a deep breath and disappeared into the haunted house.
* * *
Vinnie and Dharma were on their way to Caliente’s when they saw a crowd blocking the boardwalk, gathered around the entrance to Blackbeard’s Pier.
The Creeping Dead: Book 2 Page 7