Jane Zombie Chronicles Box Set Books 4-6: Crisis Cell, Ominous Ordeal, Running Rampant (Jane Zombie Box Set Book 2)

by Gayle Katz

  I inhale deeply, muster up my strength, and go to the door, leaving zombie Tahir behind. Grasping the bars firmly in my hand and pushing the door open as fast and as hard as possible, I knock some of the zombies down, hopeful I caught them off guard. As they collect themselves and get back on their feet, it gives me enough time to run back to the security of my cage. If I’m getting out of here, I need to take all of the Professor’s paperwork with me. I’m not leaving without it.

  Once inside, I gather up all of the remaining papers, quickly close the folder, and wrap it up in the rubberband Damar originally had around it. Maybe with all this documentation we’ll find out exactly how this epidemic started and hold Scrycor’s feet to fire to solve the zombie problem. Immediately, I walk back to the cage door, push it open, and run to the main holding cell door. I grab the doorknob, ready to escape. Crap! It’s locked. I try twisting the knob again. No luck. I try ramming the door with my shoulder, but only serve to injure myself. Who am I kidding? Where is my stunt double?

  Chapter 16

  ________________________________________

  I turn around to consider other getaway options. Deep in thought, I see that the rest of the zombies are out of their cages, too. They escaped? How did they get out of their cages? Someone let them out. No. No. No. This can’t be happening. Before I can move, they’re all around me. Their stench is vomit-worthy and they’re getting closer. I take a step back and kick one of them in the face. He falls back and knocks down a couple of others as he hits the floor. I step over them, trying to stomp on their skulls so they don’t become a problem again.

  Being cornered won’t help. I need to make it to higher ground. With some of the zombies down, this is my chance. Gathering my strength, I start to run and gain a little momentum. It helps me to climb up the bars of one of the cages so I can get to safety at the top. I’m about halfway up when a gruesome-looking zombie starts pulling on my leg. I kick him in the face three times and try to keep scaling the cage, but he’s holding on tight.

  “Get off of me!”

  He bites my leg and his teeth sink deep into my flesh.

  “AHHH!” I try to knock him off of me, but I can’t. His teeth are like a thousand little daggers plunging into me. The pain is intense, but I focus and hold on for as long as I can. Unfortunately, the pain is too much and I can’t keep scaling the cage. I fall to the floor, landing on the same shoulder I injured against the door. Peering down at me, the zombies crowd around. The light in the room is fading as they surround me and block it out. This isn’t going to end well. But I can’t give up. I have to fight, no matter what. I’m already infected so I don’t need to worry about that – at least not right now.

  I round up every last bit of my strength. Getting my second wind, I punch and kick enough of the zombies to get out from underneath them. I’m not going to die as a bloodstain on the floor. No way! I’m NOT. I can’t. I make a break for it and decide to try to break down the door again, this time with my feet. Using a front kick with as much momentum as I can get, I drive the heel of my right foot into the door right below the doorknob where the keyhole is located. I hear the door splinter! It’s music to my ears! One of the zombies is back on his feet and attacks me. He bites me right in the neck just above my shoulder. I turn around, pummel him with my fists, and kick him in the chest.

  “Get off me, jerk!” He falls to the floor, giving me some time to make another run at the door. After the third kick, it finally gives way.

  The door crashes open and hits the opposite wall in the hallway, and falls to the floor. I exit the room, step over the broken door, and look somewhere, anywhere for safety. I see light and I run to it. Even if I die, I can’t be their guinea pig anymore. I hear a commotion behind me, so I look back and see the zombies tripping over themselves to follow me. I turn the corner in this maze of a building and run to the next illuminated exit sign. Everything is happening so fast! I look back again to make sure that the zombies are still far enough behind me, but I run right into what seems like a solid wall. It knocks the wind out of me.

  I bounce off of it and fall backwards onto the floor. Momentarily stunned from the encounter, I look up and see disgusting red goo dripping onto the floor and being reabsorbed. It looks like the same red slime that Jack and I saw all the way back at the start of this nightmare in Scarlet Peak. I follow the drip, drip, drip of red goo up to its origination point and see something or someone tall towering over me. With the bright light behind this massive obstacle, I can only see a shadow. It steps closer.

  “Going somewhere?” the voice asks.

  That voice sounds so familiar. At first, I can’t place it, but then I recognize it.

  “Oh no,” I whisper.

  “Hello, Jane. It’s been a while.”

  I’m frozen. Speechless.

  “You recognize me?”

  “Y-Yes. I do.”

  “Who am I?”

  I inhale deeply to keep my composure. “Professor?”

  “Yes. Hmmm. I see you’ve brought some company with you. Let me help you with that,” he says, as he raises both of his hands to the incoming zombie horde hunting me.

  Still on the floor, I look behind and see them all stop in their tracks. They’re no longer a threat. It’s like he’s hypnotizing them and they’re under his spell. I don’t know what kind of mind control he has over them, but they stop their pursuit, at least for the moment.

  He looks down at me. “You’re safe now.”

  At this angle, he’s tall, taller than I remember. Frightened, this all feels very surreal. I don’t believe it. How can I be safe when my former deceased professor has been reanimated before my very eyes? He turned into a monster. And he’s still a monster. He tried to kill me. I saw Jack shoot him in the head and his brains splattered all over. We left his carcass behind when they firebombed campus. And now he’s standing right in front of me? That’s impossible. I must be having another nightmare. Or, maybe this is a hallucination from the medication they’re pumping into my system? Are my repressed memories finally forcing themselves to the surface? I can’t explain any of this. There must be a way to wake myself up from this horror.

  “No, you’re not dreaming, Jane.”

  How does he know what I’m thinking? Staring at him, I have no idea what to say.

  He stoops down, outstretches his arm, and offers his hand. “I don’t know how I’m reading your mind, but I don’t need that power to know that I’m scaring you. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Not anymore. Go ahead,” he says. “Take my hand.”

  I’m surrounded by zombies that can rally at any moment, completely blocking one exit. Glancing over at Brie, I do a doubletake. Are my eyes deceiving me? There are now two Bries standing in front of the paramilitary thugs, closing off the other escape route. One of them looks like the Brie I know and the other looks a little like me.

  Out of options and against my better judgment, I reach up and take Professor Carter’s hand.

  Chapter 1

  ________________________________________

  “Make them stop!” I shout.

  “I’ve got this, Brie,” Professor Carter says. “No need to swarm her with your zombies. Take them away.”

  His hand is cold to the touch. Afraid he’s going to hurt me like he did before, I quickly change my mind and pull my hand away, breaking our connection. Turning around to get a better sense of my surroundings, I see a large horde of snarling zombies in close proximity. As I take in the scene, it feels so surreal and unbelievable. For a time, life slows down to a crawl, not unlike those slo-mo scenes from action movies on the big screen.

  With zombies in the room, I can’t take my eyes off of them. You never know when they’re going to attack so it’s best to never let your guard down. They are relentless. They never stop unless you’re dead or one of them.

  Here’s what I know: while their bodies decay, their sense of smell somehow becomes stronger, more powerful. And they can seek out live human flesh wherever
it may be hiding. They’re known for it. If they’re hungry, watch out. But they’re also compelled to bite to spread their infectious plague. This isn’t zombie lore anymore. This is real life I’m talking about. These are zombie facts. Hard facts I know are true from personal experience.

  That begs the question: so, how are these zombies frozen in place, like grotesque lifelike statues? Mind blown, I’ve never seen zombies in limbo like they are right now. However, these zombies, while as putrid as any others I’ve seen, with gray skin peeling away in chunks from their faces, sunken eyes staring forward blankly, and crusty old blood splatter wounds, probably from other humans they’ve attacked in the past, seem docile right now, even harmless. Just in case my eyes are deceiving me, I will not let myself fall prey to that illusion. They’re still dangerous and deadly creatures.

  These zombies are a strange bunch, though. Not unlike the family dog, they are animals. In this case, waiting for their master to give them the go ahead to devour the tasty treats dangling in front of them. Stopped in their tracks for the moment, seemingly under a spell, they’re not a threat.

  I can’t help but stare at them as they barely move around in what seems like an invisible cage. How is that even possible? But while their movements seem restricted to a certain area, their rotten odors still travel the distance, enter my nostrils, and cause me to gag.

  Even worse than their stench is their incessant shrieking, which also doesn’t stop as their bodies do. Their high-pitched squeals prompt me to hunch over and cover my ears.

  “Brie!” he shouts.

  At the same time, my attention turns to my once dead professor. Perplexed and looking back and forth at all of these people surrounding me, my brain barely has time to process all of this craziness. Benjamin Carter, my dead professor who’s now alive? Two somewhat similar-looking Bries standing side by side? A horde of zombies not advancing on live prey? Nothing makes sense. “Uhhhh. Which one of them are you talking to? There seems to be two of them now,” I say, pointing in their direction. “And h-how-” No one hears me.

  “But…” one of the Bries says in protest, responding to Ben.

  “I’m telling you to call them off, all right? Get them out of here. Everything is in hand. She’s not going anywhere.”

  The Brie with two arms looks over at the Brie with one arm, who gives a nod. She raises her one arm high in the air to rally her human paramilitary troops. “Round ‘em up. Back in their cages,” she yells. Brie grabs a riot shield to help fight the zombies, push them back, and secure them as quickly as possible in their designated area. These zombie-fighting guys and gals aren’t taking any chances. They’re covered in thick, black body armor, dressed in riot gear complete with helmets and face guards, at least that’s what it looks like to me.

  In the process of pushing them back so the zombie contingent can’t advance or hurt anyone, one rogue zombie breaks from the pack and rushes one of the military-esque ruffians standing alone. Blindsided, the officer loses his balance when the zombie head-butts him hard in the stomach.

  Out of instinct and in the moment, I take a step forward to help, but a hand on my shoulder holds me back. “What are you doing?" I ask. "We have to help him."

  “Be patient. They can handle it. That’s what they’re trained to do,” Professor Carter says.

  As we watch the scene unfold, despite the body armor protection, the zombie successfully knocks him over, and jumps on top of him. Revealing sharp, rotting teeth, the zombie tries to bite through the armor, ripping out part of its jaw in the process. The officer then shoves his assault rifle into the zombie’s mouth lengthwise to push it off of him, knocking the zombie’s remaining teeth out at the same time. Once back on his feet, the soldier tries to guide the zombie back to the rest of the swarm, but it doesn’t seem to be working. The wiring in this zombie must be different than the rest. That’s when he points his weapon at the zombie’s head and fires. Bang! I jump at the sound of the gunshot and see the resulting splatter of brains in a beautiful, haphazard pattern dirtying the floor.

  Watching as their small militia continues to clear the corridor, another zombie breaks from the others and starts to frantically run straight toward us. At the same time, the Professor takes his hand off of my shoulder and I see him look in the direction of the second zombie. Somehow it stops, turns around, and heads back to the group. What’s happening? When did the Professor acquire this talent?

  Despite being under the Professor’s mind control powers, or whatever you want to call them, they still exhibit strong zombie traits. I quickly cover my ears again when I hear those zombie retching and screeching sounds get louder. If I never hear zombies making their horrible noises again, that’s perfectly fine with me. And, if I’m being honest, their gangly movements, their ear-piercing screeches, and their putrid odors are burned into my brain. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get them out of there.

  Smoothing back my hair and trying my best to compose myself, I look back at the Professor. I feared him before when I was a student at Scarlet Peak University. Those same feelings flood my system again. Chills rush up my spine as I stare at him, taking in his stature. He’s the reason all of this is happening. He’s the reason why zombies are threatening humanity. It would make sense that he’s probably also the reason I’m in this mess. I want to know how he’s alive and standing in front of me, but my voice fails me when I try to confront him. “H-H-“

  “I can imagine seeing me here might come as a shock,” he says as he takes a step toward me. “If it makes you feel any better, it was a shock to me when I opened my eyes and saw myself, too.”

  I step back, not sure what’s happening, how I should act, or what I should do. “S-Stay away from me!”

  “And I know I must trigger a lot of strong feelings about the past. How can I not? I haven’t forgotten what happened either.” He pauses, presumably to give me the opportunity to speak, but I don’t know what to say, so he continues talking. “If I’m right and you’re overwhelmed by everything that’s happening here and coming to the surface right about now, I invite you to ask your questions and voice your concerns. Nothing is off limits. Nothing. And I give you my word, I’m not going to harm you.”

  “Your word? That’s grand. Your word means nothing to me.”

  “I understand why you feel that way, and I’m sorry about that. However, I’m not here to do bad things to you or anyone else for that matter.”

  “Are you sure? Isn’t that your thing? Doing bad things? You’ve already done so much to screw up my life and everyone else’s. Why stop now?”

  “I know this is going to be difficult, but I’m going to talk and I need you to listen carefully. If I was on a mission of destruction and I meant to hurt you, you’d be gone by now. You have no backup, no help, no nothing. Those zombies could have torn you to shreds. The force we assembled could have shot you dead. That hasn’t happened. Clearly, that’s not why I’m here.”

  “OK, then, can you tell me why you’re really here?”

  “That’s a long story, but I’d be happy to share it with you,” he says, reaching out to take my hand.

  I back up again so he can’t touch me.

  “And I promise I’m not here to hurt you.”

  “That’s gonna take some time. I still don’t believe you. And there are other ways to hurt me besides shooting me or letting zombies eat me alive.”

  He sighs. “Fair enough. I remember how I treated you before. That makes it easy for me to understand why you’re reacting to me in this way and, for that, I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry? Is that all you can say?”

  “What else can I possibly do or say? I know what I… er… Professor Carter did to you, and I’m not sure there are any words that can make up for his… my actions.”

  I stare at him, perplexed. He’s right. There is nothing he can say. There’s nothing he can do. He also doesn’t seem solid on who he is, referring to himself with both first person and third person pronouns. “You’re right a
bout that.” It pains me to admit he’s right about anything.

  “At least we can agree on one thing. That’s progress.”

  His levity allows me to relax enough to formulate a question. “Professor, what did you do to those zombies back there? How did you control them?”

  “First, why don’t you start calling me Ben. I’m not your professor anymore. Hell, I’m not anyone’s professor anymore. And to answer your question about the zombies, in a way, yes. I have a connection with them. In some cases, I’m able to talk and communicate with them. Other times, all I can do is make mental suggestions or command them. It depends on the zombie, and how much their brain function has decayed. Sometimes, I’m powerless and can’t do anything, but normally that only happens when the zombie is simply a shell and there’s nothing left inside.”

  “And this connection, this power you have, it doesn’t work on humans, does it?”

  “Hmmm. I don’t think so. I’ve actually never tried or given it any thought.”

  “So… H-How? How are you even here? Where did you come from? How are you alive? I don’t understand.”

  “It’s quite a story,” he says, walking around in a circle in front of me.

  “I bet it is. You do know you’re supposed to be dead, right? Jack shot you in the head. I saw him do it. I saw him with my own two eyes.” I thought bringing up the past would make him angry, but he remained calm and collected.

  “Sometimes, I can’t believe it myself. Come. Walk with me, OK? I’ll explain what I know and answer your questions to the best of my ability.”

  “No way. Answer them now.”

  “Like I said before, I have absolutely no interest in hurting you. If anything, I’d like to try and make up for some of the bad things I did before, if that’s even possible. I want to tell you the whole truth and, in order to do that, I need to show you something.”

  “Show me what?”