Trepidation

by Chrissy Peebles

  The youngest was frozen in place, too terrified to move, so I picked him up and handed him to the others, then jumped on top of the car like some kind of Rambo. I aimed and fired, mowing down one zombie after the other. Gunfire rang out from everywhere, and I could hear people firing from the back of the building and by the hill.

  A zombie grabbed my ankle and wouldn’t let go. I tried to blow its brains out, only to realize I was entirely out of ammo. Three more pulled on my leg, as if they were in some kind of tug-o-war. I began whacking their skulls with my rifle. A few seconds later, a series of gunshots rang out, and they all dropped to the ground. I glanced up at Grandma, who was grinning and holding her rifle.

  “Don’t just stand there with your mouth hanging open,” she said. “Get those kids to safety.”

  Without hesitation, I opened the driver’s-side door. Grandma covered us as we zigzagged and jumped over dead bodies, breathing in air that reeked of death and blood. Once we reached the building, I quickly opened the door and ushered all the little ones inside. They were all hysterical, and I tried to calm them down the best I could.

  One of the boys hugged me. “Dean, don’t leave us.”

  I wanted to stay with them, but I knew that wasn’t an option. I needed to be out there fighting. I knelt down. “Listen, it’s gonna be okay. Just hurry up the ladder and look after the others. I can’t leave Grandma out there by herself.”

  “Okay, Dean,” he said.

  Grandma came in and shook my arm. “Let’s get our butts back out there!”

  “I need ammo,” I said.

  She slung a beaded purse over my shoulder. “There ya go! Now c’mon.”

  I reloaded, then opened the door and peered around me. The front was clear. I knew Grandma was going to go out there with or without me, so I walked slow so she could keep up, ever watching for any sign of danger. Loud popping sounds rang in my ears, and the smell of gunfire filled the air.

  When we made it to the top of the hill, Nick grabbed my arm. “The rest are coming from down there,” he said. “We need to take them out.”

  “Don’t worry,” one of the men said. “You just shoot. We got your back. Nothin’s gonna sneak up on you.”

  I nodded, then assumed a position on top of a ledge with the other guys, a much better vantage point. Peering through my gun scope, I calculated my first target and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew and hit a blonde, heavyset zombie straight in the chest. When it fell over, I moved to my next target. I gasped when I recognized a woman I’d talked to once about the infected animals. She’d only lived a block over from us. My heart went out to her as she suddenly fell sideways, with a bullet hole in her forehead; I was just glad I didn’t have to be the one to take her out. I disconnected from my emotions and kept shooting. My neighbors were coming to tear into our flesh, and we had to fight. With my adrenaline pumping, I stalked my prey from above and watched them fall, one by one, to their demise.

  I glanced over at Grandma to make sure she was okay. There she was in all that jewelry, a floral dress, and a housecoat, shooting like Lara Croft, with surprisingly good aim. I’d always thought powerful strength and lightning speed were the only way to survive, but Grandma proved me wrong. Age didn’t matter, as long as we all worked as a team to destroy the deadly threat.

  Through the scope of my gun, I saw others ambushing zombies, and I had to be careful not to shoot them. I wondered if they should’ve gone down there like that, in all that gunfire raining down. The thick aroma of cordite burned my throat, and I was sure it was worse down below.

  I put my gun down and took a deep breath. We’d cleaned house and put all of them down. Truthfully, the zombies didn’t stand a chance against us. Max had so much firepower at his disposal that we could’ve taken down hundreds of them, and now zombies were strewn up and down the hill.

  “How’d they breach the border?” somebody finally asked, the question we’d all been dying to hear the answer to.

  “Aren’t we safe here anymore?” a woman asked.

  “Maybe they’re not repelled anymore,” a man said. “We knew it couldn’t last forever.”

  “We’re so screwed!” somebody yelled. “Royally screwed.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I thought that at first, but I noticed something.”

  “What, Dean?” my comrade next to me asked.

  “Because I noticed they were wearing clean clothes, and there was dried red blood on them. Also, they weren’t terribly deteriorated like most of the ones I’ve fought, so they couldn’t have been killed too long ago. And another thing...I noticed one had glasses, and another had a hat. If they’d been zombies for long, they woulda already lost those. Zombified people aren’t exactly fashionistas.”

  “He’s right,” a woman said. “They were newly turned.”

  “But...how did so many die in our city at one time?” Sammy asked, his eyes wide.

  “Maybe the virus,” the woman said, “but if that’s the case, we’re all vulnerable now.”

  “We need to burn the bodies,” I said, “as fast as possible.”

  Sammy left to go get gasoline and a lighter, and I headed down the hill with the others to start piling zombie bodies up for proper disposal. Cremation was the best way to prevent the germs and bacteria from spreading.

  When I glanced down, I noticed a white piece of paper fastened onto a dead zombie with a safety pin. In black marker was the letter “Z” scribbled across it. A shiver shot down my spine. “This wasn’t the virus, folks,” I announced grimly. “This was...Z.”

  Chapter 18

  The man next to me looked at me, stunned. “What?”

  “Looks like he left his calling card,” I said, pointing to the paper.

  When we checked the other zombies, several had similar notes pinned to them. When we more closely examined them for cause of death, we realized they’d all been shot, execution style, right through the head.

  I was mortified. Did Z break in here during the night and murder all these innocent people just to get to Max? To scare him? I knew scare tactics and terror were Z’s M.O., and when I saw our fearless leader, I called him over to tell him about it. “Max,” I said, “these people...they were all murdered, compliments of our greatest enemy, Z. They were all shot in the head.”

  He examined body after body and gasped when he realized I was right. “I’m gonna make him pay for this! He will suffer!” he roared.

  We launched our own investigation and learned that Z had, in fact, killed everyone who lived down the hill from our apartment building. When we checked the houses, the coppery smell of a bloodbath assaulted my nostrils, and I almost threw up right on my shoes. It was heart-wrenching that survivors—not zombies—had been killed. Blood was splattered everywhere, from the ceilings and furniture to the floors and doorways.

  “How could they do this?” I asked.

  “Z is crazy,” Lucas said. “He’s a psychopath, even worse than that Rita, and he needs to be stopped.”

  I swallowed hard. “How could they follow him, knowing he slaughters innocent people?”

  “That’s part of his motive. He’s a pathetic terrorist, trying to instill fear into every living person in this city. He has no morals and doesn’t care, and that’s what makes him so dangerous. We need to eliminate him right now.”

  When Nick came in, his lips were pressed into a grim line. “They’re all this way,” he said, leading me out.

  “We need to take Z out,” Lucas said, “right now, when he won’t expect it.”

  “He wants to scare us, so he’s gonna be surprised when we turn around and take him on, full force, rather than running away with our collective tail between our legs.”

  I gave him a fist-bump. “I like it.”

  “And so does Max. Gather your weapons, and let’s go fight.”

  It felt good to hear Nick finally including me, to be considered a real, integral, contributing part of the gang. I wanted nothing more than to take Z down, and I m
entally prepared for the battle as I gathered my bullets and guns.

  We divided into teams. Asia and Kate went with Max, and the rest of us hopped in another Land Rover, all of us fuming with rage, bent on destroying Z.

  ***

  We didn’t get very far when Max came to a decision not to go attack the city in rage. We weren’t prepared and everyone needed a solid game plan. We were livid about what Z had done to all those people, but before we could launch a successful attack, we needed to do some recon. There were rumors that Z had called in more reinforcements, and we knew it would be stupid to march into his territory without knowing what we were up against; for all we knew, he had double the people we did, and we could get slaughtered in a matter of minutes. We all wanted to get our hands on him, but we had to be smart about it.

  I was on guard duty and the two us took the south trail. My shift was almost over and I couldn’t wait to get back to the apartment and get a workout in. When I burst through the bushes, I scanned the area in front of me, slowly from left to right.

  “It’s clear,” I said.

  No answer.

  “Mikey?” I called out.

  No reply. I turned around and glanced through the towering weeds. I called his name a few more times but there was no answer. I heard a gun cock behind me, then felt cold steel against my neck.

  “Ready to die like your friend?” a deep voice asked.

  Instinctively, I turned around. I rolled my arm to the inside of the man’s shooting arm and brought my arm up and over the guy’s arm. He fought me but I continued wrapping my arm underneath his. His forearm was locked into my armpit and I drove his elbow joint upward until he screamed in agony. If I pulled any harder, I’d dislodge his shoulder joint. With my other hand, I initiated a throat strike and kicked his knee out. He dropped his weapon and fell into the snow. My heart pounded and I recognized him as one of Z’s men. I knocked him out with the butt of my gun and his eyes fluttered closed.

  Two shots fired behind me and I swung around. A zombie...a hybrid was holding a gun pointed directly at me. My stomach dropped. I thought we had blown them all up. Either Charlie had snuck some out before the lab blew up or he was creating more hybrids with our serum. The thought terrified me. The hybrid wore a long, black trench coat, a hat, gloves, and black pants with boots. Its frizzy, brown hair blew in the wind over its tattered and torn skin. Two more of Z’s men lay on the ground dead. I froze, staring at its withered, rotting face. I could barely breathe. My mind raced. Every second was a blur. We were at a standoff. I wondered if I could lift my gun faster than it could shoot me.

  “They were going to kill you,” it said in a deep, raspy voice. “Just like they killed your friend. So I helped you out. You didn’t even know they had their guns on you.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Why are you helping me?” I asked.

  The hybrid stared at me, then walked off into the brush. I didn’t have the heart to shoot it after it saved my life. I just watched it walk off as twigs crunched under its steps. Other men who heard the shots fired came running. Mikey had been shot dead. I told the others what happened. Half of them went to look for the hybrid and the other half went to look for anymore of Z’s men lurking around. I ran to Max and told him everything. He immediately dispatched more men. I hurried inside the apartment and called everyone. But the only person there was Val.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “I was attacked by one of Z’s men while on guard duty,” I said.

  “What?” she asked.

  “And it gets weirder... A hybrid saved my life.”

  “No, those things don’t save lives. They rip and tear skin as they feast.”

  “It saved me from my attackers. When it pointed a gun at me, I thought I was dead. But it lowered the gun and walked away.”

  “It doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Why would it help you and not kill you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You know that meeting we’re supposed to have with Max later today?”

  “Yeah?”

  She swallowed hard. “It’s about that. People have been reporting hybrid sightings. They’re prowling around Z’s gang and Max’s territory. Max wanted to warn everyone so they’re aware and extra cautious.”

  “Charlie has hybrids,” I said. “And you know they have to be created from our serum.”

  “How can I sleep at night knowing that?” she asked.

  “I wonder how many he made,” I said.

  “I have no idea, but we gotta find those hybrids and take care of business.”

  “I can’t believe you knew about this and didn’t tell me,” I said

  “Max just told me. That’s what the meeting is all about.”

  “But still, he came to you first with confidential info. Why?”

  “I just happened to be in his office when he received the reports.”

  I blinked in disbelief as realization overwhelmed me. “Charlie’s creating an army. I thought we blew up that army when we blew up that lab.”

  Val sat down. “Looks like he’s starting a new army.”

  A shiver crept down my spine. “It’s unbelievable.”

  “It’s hard to fathom.”

  “What did we unintentionally unleash on earth?” I asked, guilt-ridden. “This is our fault. If we hadn’t given him the serum, the hybrids wouldn’t exist.”

  “We’ll stop this,” she said.

  “I hope so.” I did not want those hybrids hurting anybody in this city...or anywhere for that matter. I knew how dangerous they were and I knew they needed to be contained somehow.

  “Can he control them?” she asked.

  “He must or else we’d have dead bodies piling up all over the place.”

  Val nodded. “True. So how’s he controlling them?”

  “Jonathon talked about a chip but he wasn’t sure.”

  “I can’t buy that,” she said. “He’s has to be doing it another way.”

  “How can he keep them from murdering people?” I asked. “It’s bred in their zombified genes. I saw those ravenous hybrids in his lab. I saw what evil they’re capable of up-close and personal. I still have nightmares about what they did to those people.”

  Val tapped her chin. “You think it would’ve fed on the gang members it shot.”

  “I was waiting for it to pounce and jump on him, but the hybrid simply walked away.”

  “Max said the other ones aren’t attacking either,” she said. “They’re just prowling around.”

  “Gathering intel?”

  Val shook her head. “For Charlie? Like good, little hybrids? That’s not good at all.”

  “Charlie can’t shoot a gun for crap but he has an army of the living dead at his beck and call.”

  “That’s beyond dangerous,” she said.

  I let out a long breath. “At this point, Charlie’s just as dangerous as Z. I don’t know which one is crazier.”

  “It’s a tough call.”

  “We’ve got two lunatics we desperately need to kick out of town.”

  “We need to find where Charlie’s keeping the hybrids stashed,” Val said. “I’m going to have Max send out teams to scour the city for their lair. We need to destroy them before they destroy us.”

  “When the others hear about this, I’m sure they’ll be ready to tear apart the city looking for them.”

  Val blinked. “I wonder what Charlie’s doing with all these hybrids.”

  “Jonathon told me that he created the hybrids the first time to destroy Z’s gang,” I said. “You said he’s watching Z’s gang and now us. He’s looking for a weak link. I bet he plans to take out both sides.”

  “And if that’s the case, that leads me to one conclusion, Charlie wants control of Fairport. But he has to fight a dangerous warlord, not to mention Max, to claim his stake.”

  I propped my feet up on the coffee table. “Maybe he’ll let Max and Z battle it out. That way he only has to take on one
group and not both.”

  Her lips pressed into a grim line. “If he has hybrids on his side, he can easily take both sides out.”

  “We’ll take out Charlie before that ever happens,” I said. “We just have to find his hide out and take lots of backup and ammo. We’ll blast them all back to hell.”

  “And hopefully that’s where they’ll stay.”

  ***

  We scoured the city for Charlie’s hybrids but couldn’t find them. We’d even checked the hospital lab like we suspected. It looked like Charlie had been there, but there was no sign of zombies. We had no idea where Charlie and the hybrids could’ve went. It was a complete mystery. Even some of the scientists disappeared with him. I knew he had a little tight group of men and women who were dedicated to him. Obviously, those people were clueless to what a nut he was.

  The hybrid problem continued because we kept getting eye witness reports day after day. I wondered what they were feeding on because nobody in Fairport was showing up dead from zombie attacks. And so far, they hadn’t hurt anybody...they just watched from a distance. And that creeped me out more than anything.

  Max assigned recon missions to each of us, and Asia and I would be working together to scale a tall building near Z’s warehouse. Our mission was to try to gauge just how badly we were outnumbered and pick up any intel that might help us. We did this on a daily basis because Z had new people joining his group every day. Max sent us in alone, thinking we’d be a lot less noticeable than a larger group, and he expected us to move like the shadows.

  As we walked along the road to our destination, I looked at Asia. “Nice binoculars. Where’d you get ‘em? I haven’t seen a sports store around here lately.”

  “On a supply run yesterday,” she said. “Max gave them to Val, and she let me borrow them.”

  It wasn’t the first gift Max had given to my sister. In fact, he’d been giving her plenty, and I was really starting to get suspicious that he might have a crush on her. “Well, they look like top of the line.”

  “They are. We’ll be able to see everything.” She half-smiled, then winced suddenly and touched her forehead.