The Z Word

by Bella Street

  “Those make-believe monsters will soon be eating your brain, so shut up!”

  “Ladies!” Gareth said, exasperated. Sweat ran down his forehead and he swiped it away. “Let's just try to survive this, okay?”

  The sound of cracking wood made them all spin around. A bloodied hand snaked through the slat they'd used for observation and clawed in the air.

  Seffy stared at the hand. There had to be a reasonable explanation for its presence.

  “Sef, you dropped your stick! Grab it!”

  She looked at her empty fingers. “I don't need it.” Walking toward the grasping fingers, she took a deep breath. “You just need shelter like us, right? Hold on, we'll let you in.”

  “Seffy, are you out of your mind?” Addy yelled. “Get away from there!”

  The hand got a hold of Seffy's hair. A loud groan resounded, echoed by several others, as the pounding and clawing on the shack increased. She tried to retreat back, but whoever had her hair yanked hard. She gave a yelp as her head smacked against the wall.

  Gareth appeared at her side and pulled her hair from the gray hand, then dragged her back to the middle of the room. He took her chin in his hand. “Look at me, Sef! Take this wood, hold it tight, and hit the zombies if they get in.”

  She went very still. “There's no such thing as zombies.”

  He smoothed back the hair from her face, his expression grim. “There is today.”

  “I didn't mean for this to happen,” wailed Lani.

  Gareth glanced at her. “C'mon, Lani, we all need to focus.”

  A tremendous crash thundered around them as three figures pushed their way past the barrier. Gareth took a swipe at one and creased its head, but it continued to advance. Addy backed up just as the opposite wall gave way and two more forced their way in.

  “We're surrounded!” she shrieked.

  Five poorly dressed ghouls grasped at them with arched fingers and gnashing teeth. Seffy heard a scream, and realized it came from her own throat.

  Something grabbed her foot and she jerked it away, but the the grip tightened. When she looked down, another scream died on her lips. A man stared up at her from a hole in the floor, as dust and debris rained down upon his head.

  “Down here!”

  Seffy realized there was a trap door in the floor. And the man's eyes were clear instead of blank. Seffy grabbed Addy's arm. “Look!”

  Addy looked over after hitting a guy in the shoulder with her stick. “What now?”

  “A way out! There's a ladder!”

  Addy summed up the situation and was soon heading down the ladder, aided by the man.

  “Gareth, Lani, c'mon!”

  Gareth looked over and saw the advantage. Clutching Lani, they scrambled down the ladder after Seffy, pulling the trap door closed behind him with a thud. The moans became muted as they stood in a cramped, black space. Their ragged breaths mingled, terror palpable in the darkness.

  “Where are we?” Addison asked in a shaky voice.

  A light suddenly bathed the area, illuminating their rescuer who held a flashlight. The beam highlighted his bald head and sent upside down shadows over his face, making his chiseled features, dark eyebrows and stubble seem sinister.

  Despite his rough appearance, Seffy guessed him to be thirtyish. A grin lit up the man's face and heavily-lashed green eyes, making him sexy in a eastern European henchman kind of way. And scary. Mostly scary.

  “My name is Malone,” he said in a voice like gravel. “And besides being BCIs, just who might you be?”

  Momentarily diverted, Seffy asked, “What's a BCI?”

  “Bait Class Individual,” Malone and Gareth said at the same time.

  Her gaze swiveled between the two men. “Omigod, this just got way weirder.”

  Chapter Four

  Gareth, sweating, his respiration high, pointed to each in turn. “I'm Gareth and this is Lani, Addison, and Seffy. And uh, we appreciate your help getting out of there.”

  Seffy wondered if it was a good idea to identify themselves to this stranger. Emphasis on strange.

  Addison pulled in a breath to ask a question, but Gareth darted a warning look in her direction.

  “So, Mr. Malone,” he said, his smile stiff, “do you know the cause of the explosion? We're not sure what happened.”

  Malone ignored Gareth. Even in the low light, Seffy sensed his lingering assessment was doing a bit more than matching names to a faces. She stifled an urge to shudder.

  After his uncomfortable perusal, he said, “there's only one way out, so you need to follow me.”

  “The one way being up there?” Lani said, motioning to the ceiling.

  “Yep.”

  She licked her lips. “So, we're trapped down here?”

  His grin faded. “Only if you prefer here to being eaten alive.”

  Gareth touched her shoulder. “We'll wait until they leave, then we can go back up.”

  The man's brows bristled. “Well, are you coming with me or what?”

  Lani nodded, her face wan.

  He gave them all another once over. “Any blood puppets?”

  The girls looked at each other in confusion. Gareth cleared his throat. “He, ah, means has anyone been bitten?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “Good. Follow me.”

  “Said the spider to the flies,” Addison whispered. Seffy silently agreed.

  “Are you sure that trap door is strong enough to keep those things out?” Gareth asked.

  The moans, now frustrated and frantic, continued to sound above them.

  “If you'll follow me, I'll be shutting a metal door behind us and then we'll be completely safe.”

  “Oh, I feel so much better now.”

  Gareth hushed Addy as Malone opened a door, which obviously had never been oiled. Seffy cringed at the noise and followed him. Even in the darkness she knew they were trading a cramped area for one more spacious. Stale air of a different flavor wafted over them. Once they were all inside, he slammed the door shut and they heard the distinct sound of a lock being engaged. Her gut clenched at the sound and she hoped they weren't trading the frying pan for the fire.

  Dull fluorescent lighting flickered on overhead, illuminating a room about the size of a studio apartment. The walls appeared to be made of rusted metal and were hung with several tattered retro movie posters. A dismal little couch hunched in one corner, covered in puce green upholstery. A pillow and an old Mexican blanket shoved to one side showed it doubled as the man's bed. The rest of the central area consisted of a scarred coffee table and a couple of rickety cane-backed chairs. The far wall held some cabinets above a counter covered in cracked Formica next to a small dented range and ancient refrigerator. A smaller door was closed. Seffy wondered what it led to. Either a closet full of corpses or a bathroom. Please God, let it be a bathroom.

  “Welcome to my humble abode,” Malone said. “Well, one of them. You're lucky I was here or you woulda been meat snacks upstairs.”

  “Is that really necessary?” Addison said, her eyes shooting sparks.

  “What?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

  “I just don't see how you can make jokes about those things.”

  “Who said I was joking?”

  “Who were they?” Seffy asked, rubbing her arms, less from cold and more from trying to keep herself cemented in reality. If this was reality. The lines were becoming more blurred by the minute.

  Malone put his hands on his coveralls. “They have what's called the wandering sickness.” At her confused expression, he said, “Zombies.”

  She shot a look at Gareth. “But...zombies aren't real.”

  He grimaced. “Okay, lady.”

  “So what is this place?” Lani asked him, wrinkling her nose. “It's not at all feng shui. All the furniture is, like, facing evil.”

  “As I said, it's one of my...residences.”

  “Reminds me of one of those hatches on Lost,” Gareth whispered behind her.


  Seffy twisted around and angled a look up at him, wondering how he could joke at a time like this. “Lost? We do not watch Lost, we watch The Hills.”

  He rolled his eyes and echoed their rescuer. “Okay, lady.”

  Seffy would've elbowed him if she had any energy left. All she wanted now was to pee and collapse on that couch—at least before the stranger murdered them all. “Um, Mr. Malone?”

  The man turned his attention to her from Lani. His mouth spread into a slow grin. “Yeah, gorgeous?”

  She forced her lips into a semblance of a smile. “Thank you for rescuing us. Really, it couldn't have been more well-timed.”

  He nodded. “I heard you up there for a while. Wasn't sure I wanted to help at first, then figured I didn't need any more zombies around.”

  Addison snorted.

  “Wow...that's great. Really.” This guy must've graduated at the top of his charm school class. “Um, you wouldn't by chance have a restroom?”

  “Oh, sure,” he said, pointing to the smaller door. “The toilet even flushes.”

  “That's helpful.” She let out a semi-hysterical laugh, then pressed her fist over her mouth.

  Malone walked over, opened the door and ushered her in. With a glance at her friends, she approached the door and peeked inside.

  Well, it's cleaner than the usual gas station bathroom. It had white porcelain fixtures with rusty water stains, a cracked mirror that had lost most of its silver, and a beat up cabinet—all of which were adequate for her immediate, very pressing needs.

  Seffy breathed a sigh of relief when she found the door could be locked. And a few moments later, her spirits lifted even further when the toilet indeed flushed. She turned the old-fashioned hot and cold knobs and was delighted when a thin stream of water came from the faucet. She scrubbed her hands and face with a chipped bar of soap, then slurped several handfuls of water to ease her thirst.

  When she looked for a towel and spotted the soiled one hanging from a nail hammered in the wall, Seffy bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. The idea of touching that towel was unbearable. She eased open the cabinet with the heel of her hand and found a thin, but clean bath towel. After pressing it to her face, she released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

  Seffy tried to get a look at herself in the mirror but only saw pieces of herself distorted by the cracks. She closed her eyes for a moment and enjoyed the notion that she was no longer in danger—at least of the immediate variety. Then her skin began to feel hot and itchy under her tracksuit. What I wouldn't give for a shower. She eyed the ratty plastic curtain concealing a stall. Peeking past it revealed knobs and a shower head. Seffy unlocked the door and went back into the main room.

  “Thank you,” she said to Malone.

  “I'm next,” Addy said and disappeared behind the door.

  Gareth stood in the middle of the room, his arm around Lani. “So is this the basement of the original structure?”

  Malone scratched his chin. “You could say that.”

  “Any idea of ZH0H?”

  Seffy stared at Gareth. “What is this code you two are talking?”

  Malone glanced at the clunky silver watch attached to his wrist. “About forty-eight hours ago.”

  Gareth frowned. “That's right about when we arrived...in town.”

  Malone's icy green eyes slitted. “Huh. That's real inter—”

  “Uh, Mr. Malone,” Seffy said, “I don't suppose there's any chance we could all get showers and maybe our clothes washed while we're here? And some saline solution would be great.” She smiled. “I know that's asking a lot after you have already helped so much, but we're just filthy and—”

  “What's saline solution?”

  “You know, for contact lenses.” She lowered her gaze, not liking to remind Gareth of her...forgery.

  “Oh, no. Ain't got that.”

  “What about showers?”

  His smile struck her as villainous. “You'll have to take militaries though since there's not much water pressure.”

  “Militaries?”

  “It means you get wet, turn off the water, soap up and scrub,” Gareth said. “Then only turn the water back on when you're ready to rinse off.”

  “And you know this how?” she asked in wonderment.

  “From watching The Hills.”

  “Very funny.”

  “He's right,” Malone said. “There's some brand new toothbrushes in there, too. Anything you need, just help yourself.”

  “That's wonderful, Mr. Malone. Um, do you have a washer and dryer?”

  “Nope. Your clothes will have to be washed in a pot on the stove and dried in front of that heater.” And you can sit in the living room naked, his eyes seemed to say.

  Seffy mentally stumbled at the idea of stove top laundry, but a shower and clean clothes trumped any challenge. She scrutinized their host's greasy khaki coveralls and hoped they'd be able to get their stuff clean.

  After Addy came out of the bathroom, Lani went in. Gareth was last.

  “I've got some spare clothes for you to use while you're waiting for your own to dry,” Malone said, his tone sounding almost disappointed. He walked over and pulled a box out from behind the couch. “These aren't mine, but maybe you'll find something that will fit.”

  Seffy and Lani exchanged glances while Addy went to the box. She pulled out several polyester blouses and pairs of bell bottom jeans. Seffy could tell Addy's brain was racing in the same direction as her own. Where did he get all these women's clothes? They appeared to be in their general size range. Digging deeper, Addy found a pair of faded Levi 501s and a generic baseball shirt for Gareth.

  “Any underwear?” Lani asked her in a hushed voice.

  Addy shook her head.

  Seffy grimaced. Don't think I'd want to wear someone else's anyway.

  Addy stood up. “These will be great. Thank you.”

  Malone leered. “Always happy to be at the service of pretty ladies.”

  Gareth returned, looking relieved that they hadn't been murdered by Basement Malone. “Lani, why don't you shower first?”

  She seemed happy to acquiesce. Snatching up a folksy blouse and the smallest pair of jeans, she disappeared into the bathroom.

  Seffy looked at Malone and caught him watching her. He winked. She forced a smile. After all, he'd protected them from one kind of evil. Hopefully, he didn't have his own personal brand on tap. Before she could think of something to say to break the awkward silence, he rubbed his hands together. “I'll just be getting that pot for you to wash your clothes in. I even have a bit of detergent on hand.”

  He bustled about in the kitchen area, going through a stack of pots. Seffy and Addy perched on the edge of the couch while Gareth went to help. They heard him asking more about the building—or what was left of it—that they were in.

  “So what do you think about all this?” Addy asked in a low voice.

  Seffy gave a small shrug. “It's a definite improvement over our previous scenario.”

  “I guess you're right there, but still, this guy wigs me out.”

  “Maybe he's just eccentric because he's alone.”

  “Or maybe he likes to be alone, and after he offs his victims, he keeps boxes of their clothes as mementos.” The fear in her eyes belied her sarcasm.

  “That's very comforting.”

  “I'm just saying. Besides, you're the one who's in denial about, like, everything.”

  “Am not.”

  “See?” she said, her tone saccharine.

  Seffy glowered and watched the men.

  A few minutes later, Lani emerged from the bathroom shiny and clean, her wet hair hanging down her back. The clothes were a bit baggy, but since boho was in style again, she didn't look half bad.

  Lani sent a shy smile to Malone. “Thank you. That was wonderful!”

  “I'm next.” Addy jumped up, took the remaining least offensive outfit and hustled from the room.

  “Great,” Seffy muttere
d, looking at the mustard cowl necked sweater and green polyester pants that remained. They get folk-chic, I get grandma's hand-me-downs. She got up and went to the kitchen area to help. Together they filled a huge pot and hoisted it onto the narrow propane stove top. Once the water was on the way to getting hot, Malone sprinkled in some detergent from an old box with faded lettering.

  Finally it was Seffy's turn in the shower. She gloried in the pitiful stream of tepid water trickling onto her head. She remembered the military maxim and scrubbed herself until every pore was clean before turning the water back on to rinse. Putting on the hideous outfit didn't dent her mood at all. When she emerged, she found Malone rummaging in his meager cupboard for canned goods.

  He turned his head toward them, a speculative gleam in his eyes. “How long did you say you've you been out in the bush?”

  “Two days,” Gareth said.

  A surprised expression replaced his suspicion one. “You kids look half-starved, like it's been weeks.”

  “Thank you!” Seffy said, smoothing her hair. Maybe she was losing some weight after all.

  “I am very hungry,” Lani said with a melting smile.

  He grinned back at her and plopped the cans on the counter. “Sweetie, why don't you come over here and help me open these up.”

  Lani hopped up without a qualm.

  “And Red, why don't you give these clothes a stir?”

  Addison rolled her eyes at the nickname but got up to help. As Lani and Malone cooked, Addy finished washing the clothes. Seffy helped her rinse them in the shower stall and soon everything was drying near an ancient space heater, their underwear hidden from view. At least the activity kept them from questions, abject terror, and more ill-advised stumbles down memory lane.

  When they were done, Malone handed Gareth a paper bag. “That's jerky. Homemade.”

  Seffy's mouth watered. Lucky for her, the cowl would hold any overflow of saliva. Gareth handed her a strip of the dark red meat. She raised it to her mouth...then stopped. She noticed Gareth hadn't taken a bite either. Addy's expression reflected their shared fear. Lani and Malone seemed too preoccupied to notice.