Zoe, Undead

by J. R. Knoll

  "But what if they're there?" the girl whined.

  "They won't hurt you," Rachel assured. "To them, you're just another zombie."

  "Is that why I'm all gray?" Zoe asked as a little girl would.

  "Yes," the Doctor answered straightly. Folding her hands on the table, she leaned toward her and said, "Look, Zoe. You could really help us, a lot more than you realize. You're the most important thing to happen to our operation since this whole thing started."

  "I am?" the girl asked in a meek voice.

  Sergeant Morris confirmed, "Sure you are! We've been looking for someone the zombies don't want to bother with, and then you came along. Think you can help us out?"

  Her eyes slid to him and that tight smile took her mouth again. Shrugging her shoulders up, she bowed her head slightly and assured, "Okay."

  "That's what we're looking for," the Colonel barked. "Okay, Princess. We're sending you in with Sergeant Morris' team this morning. We think there may be survivors in the mall about a mile from here and you're going in to check it out. If you find zombies then we'll want to know where they are and how many. Morris will tell you everything else you need to know on the way there. Now, do you know how to use a rifle?"

  She shook her head and answered, "No Sir."

  "Have you ever fired a pistol?"

  Zoe shook her head.

  The Colonel raised his bushy eyebrows. "Combat knife? Slingshot? Can you at least hurl insults?"

  The girl just shrugged.

  He huffed a deep breath and looked to the Sergeant, shaking his head, then he looked to the girl again and asked, "How about a radio? Can you use a walkie talkie?" When she nodded this time, he leaned back in his chair and grumbled, "Well, I guess that's all you'll need." He looked to Sergeant Morris and informed, "A-Company has already left for the armory to get us more weapons and ammo. I need that mall reconned thoroughly and cleared of any moaners you find, and secure any survivors."

  "Yes, Sir," the Sergeant confirmed with a slight nod.

  She glanced at the Colonel and meekly said, "I haven't had breakfast or my pill yet."

  He growled a sigh and looked to Doctor Caswell. "Doctor, get her something she can eat on the Stryker and get her whatever pill she takes." Turning his attention to the Sergeant, he stood and barked, "I want you rolling in thirty. Dismissed."

  **

  Zoe found herself strapped into the back of a Stryker again, but this time with a certain sense of importance. She was in the machine in the lead and would be the first one inside the mall. Still in her shorts and pink tee shirt, she was sure to stand out inside the mall, and her attire was not lost on the other soldiers, who did not seem to trust her at all and their frequent, disapproving looks only reinforced this. She barely noticed. Her attention was fixed on Sergeant Morris, who sat beside her, as he told her what she would need to know.

  "Just don't take any unnecessary risks," he ordered. "If it looks like they are going to come after you then you get your butt back to the Stryker and we'll take care of them from there, got it?"

  She nodded and assured, "Yes, Sir."

  The machine turned hard and stopped, then it backed up for some unknown distance and everyone readied their weapons.

  Zoe felt that uneasy crawl in her stomach and looked to the Sergeant for reassurance, which she got with a nod.

  The lower hatch opened and she slowly padded out of the machine, finding herself looking at the front doors of a mall she had been to many times. Looking back at the soldiers who watched her leave, she felt herself becoming anxious as the ramp closed and she found herself alone out there. She drew a deep breath and looked down to the radio she held tightly in her hand, and she raised it to her mouth and pushed the button as instructed, calling, "Hello? Sergeant Tex?"

  "Go ahead," the radio answered in his voice.

  "Hi," she greeted. "It's Zoe. I'm going to go inside now, okay?"

  "Roger that," he replied.

  She blinked, lowering her brow, then she keyed the radio up again and corrected, "No sir, it's Zoe. I'm going into the mall now."

  There were a few long seconds of silence, and when he came onto the radio again there was laughing in the background and he was trying to compose himself as he said, "Okay, Zoe. Stay in contact."

  She hooked the radio on her pocket and walked hesitantly to the front doors of the mall.

  The doors were still unlocked and she pushed on the handle of one and strode inside. Walking slowly, she looked around her, seeing that many of the shop doors were still open, that the cages that were supposed to secure them after closing were still up. Only a few were down. The place was a mess and she did not know to guess why. Merchandise was strewn about it in places, there was broken glass from windows here and there, but nothing really going on otherwise.

  Reaching the main pavilion where the two primary aisles crossed each other, she pulled the radio from her belt and keyed it up, calling, "Tex? It's Zoe."

  "Go ahead, Zoe," he replied.

  "I'm in the middle," she reported, "and the place is kind of messy, but I don't see anybody."

  "Any sign of zombies?" he asked.

  She shook her head and scanned the area with a slow sweep of her eyes.

  "Zoe?" he summoned.

  "Yes?" she replied.

  "Do you see any zombies?" he asked again.

  She shook her head again, feeling a little afraid being in the open like this.

  "Talk to me, Princess," he ordered.

  "I'm here," she assured.

  "Key up the radio," he said with a little stress in his voice.

  "Oh," she mumbled. Pushing the talk button, she assured, "I'm here, Sergeant Tex."

  "What do you see, Kiddo?"

  "I don't see anybody," she replied into the radio.

  "I need you to talk into the radio every time you answer, okay Princess?"

  "Okay," she complied. "What should I do now?"

  "Just make a sweep of the mall," he ordered. "Give us a picture of what's going on in there and if you see anything out of the ordinary I want you to report in."

  "Yes, Sir," she assured. Hooking the radio back on her pocket, she trekked on, carefully looking around her.

  About fifteen minutes later, something caught her eye and she paused. Her favorite store was hanging wide open and she hesitantly started into it. She poked around for a while longer and eventually found herself filing through some hanging shirts on a circular rack. Not finding anything she liked, she wandered on, eventually ending up near the shoe section where she looked over some of the running shoes in the women's aisle. Looking down to her bare feet, she looked to a shoe she liked and searched for a box in her size, and in a moment she found one.

  She sat on the bench in the middle of the aisle and laced them both, then looked around her for socks.

  A few minutes later, as she stood in front of a mirror to admire the pink running shoes she had found, she flinched as the radio sounded off again.

  "Come in, Zoe," Sergeant Morris called.

  Still looking into the mirror, she took the radio from her pocket and held it to her mouth, answering, "Yes?"

  "Have you found anything?" he asked.

  "Found some really great shoes!" she reported with a tone of girlish enthusiasm.

  "We're looking for zombies, Kiddo," he reminded patiently.

  "I haven't found any of those yet," she informed. "I'll keep looking."

  Wandering the mall again, she felt a little better with her new shoes on and was even a little more confident as she looked around her and studied what she saw.

  Having finished the lower level, she found herself at the bottom of the stairs to the upper level and reached for her radio again, calling, "Sergeant Tex?"

  "Go ahead, Princess," he replied.

  "I'm done downstairs and I didn't see any zombies so I'm going to go upstairs and see what's up there. I'll call you from the food court, okay?"

  "Okay, Kiddo. Stay in contact."

  "Yes
, Sir," she complied.

  Zoe crept upstairs, pausing often to look around her, and finally made it to the top. She had been to this mall many times and as she turned left to go to the food court, she froze as she saw all of the cages down. Considering how many store fronts were still open she found this odd and approached slowly, her eyes darting about as she slowly made progress. A shuffling sound to the left drew her attention and she turned that way and froze.

  Someone was standing behind one of the cages, but with the lights out over there she could only make out a tall, shadowy form. Remembering what had been talked about in the meeting, she turned that way and slowly approached, her eyes fixed on the form behind the cage as she neared. A familiar scent caught her nose, something that smelled much like a dead animal on the highway. She did not like that smell, but something inside her drew her to it, almost as if she craved company from it.

  About ten feet away she could see that it was a man, or had been. Gray skin was ruptured at his cheek and a flap of it hung away to reveal blackened, dead flesh beneath. The face was even more drawn and hollow than others she had encountered and she found herself staring into blank, whitened eyes both fearfully and with a certain familiarity.

  Aside from staring back, the zombie did not respond to her.

  Other shadows approached from behind it, their feet shuffling on the floor as a mix of people slowly made their way to the cage, right up to it, and stopped.

  Zoe backed away a couple of steps, and knew to count what she saw in front of her. As she reached for her radio, she noticed the attention of the zombies behind the cage shift to her side and behind her and something cold swept through her. Spinning around, she saw a man in his twenties in blue jeans, a black tee shirt and brandishing a baseball bat charging at her with his weapon poised to swing at her. She barked a yelp and backed away as he swung, his weapon barely missing her. She continued to retreat as he pressed his attack and finally when he swung hard and stumbled, she darted wide around him toward the stairs. Her shaking hand found the radio and she held it to her mouth, screaming, "Sergeant Tex!"

  Someone else who was brandishing a golf club came out of an open shop ahead of her, this time an attractive woman in white pants and a thin yellow tank top, and charged, swinging the club at her head.

  Zoe stopped and backed away, looking over her shoulder to see the man with the baseball bat coming at her as well. The rail of the balcony overlooking the first level was to her right and the food court was to her left, and that was the direction she fled. Raising the radio to her mouth again, she shouted into it, "Sergeant Tex! Please! They're chasing me!"

  One of the cages in the food court lifted with a loud, mechanical sound and she stopped and looked that way, seeing yet another man who was dressed in white chef's trousers and a white tee shirt leap over the bar with a meat cleaver in his hand, and his eyes fixed on her!

  Finding a clear direction she darted that way, but someone else, another woman who looked very young and appeared to have been a patron at the mall at one time blocked her path. She had a kitchen knife in her hand, a butcher knife, and her eyes were wild with rage, some kind of bloodlust as she squared off with the girl in front of her.

  With a frightened whimper, Zoe spun around to see the man with the cleaver stalking up on her, the man with the baseball bat closing quickly, and the woman with the golf club taking aim with her weapon as she approached. She turned to face one, then another, and another as they all closed in on her, and she backed into one of the tables and stopped.

  The man with the bat yelled as he charged and she dove to the floor, scrambling away through the tables that were set up before she got back to her feet and tried to sprint away. Another yell, this one from the young woman with the knives came from her left and she looked, then dodged away as the butcher knife slashed by, and she felt it cut into her arm, though it did not seem to hurt. Turning to face her assailants, she backpedaled away, running into a caged entrance, and that familiar smell of death reached her right as someone from within grabbed onto her shoulder. She screamed again and spun away, darting aside as the man with the bat swung it hard and barely missed her. Backing away quicker, she raised the radio to her mouth as he swung again, and this time the bat connected with her hand and knocked the radio from her grip, and she watched it fly the short distance to the wall where it struck the stone tiles there and exploded into many pieces. Breaths entered her in shrieks now as she looked with wide eyes to the man with the bat, and as he swung again she turned and ran, pushing past the woman with the knives and feeling one of the blades cut into her neck, though again she could not discern pain from the wound.

  Her thoughts swirled around getting back to the Stryker where she knew she would be safe and as she ran toward the center pavilion where she knew she would find a wide staircase, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye ahead of her and stopped as she saw another man, this one in a button up shirt that was half open and blue dress trousers, charge out of one of the stores to her right and swing what appeared to be a metal baseball bat at her, and she spun around at a full run to avoid it, this time stumbling. She crashed to the floor and quickly scrambled back up. There was a bright flash as she felt something strike the back of her head and she yelled as she went back down, hitting rather hard this time. Her wits returned slowly as she lay there and she was aware of approaching footsteps. Rolling to her back, she found her assailants standing over her with their weapons ready. There was nowhere else to go, and as the first man with the bat seemed to raise his weapon, she balled herself up and covered her head with her arms.

  "Hold it!" Sergeant Morris shouted from behind them.

  They all spun around and Zoe sat up and looked to see six of the soldiers approaching, and all of them had their weapons trained on the people who had attacked her. Hearing more footsteps behind her, she turned at the waist and looked that way, seeing four more approaching from that side.

  Tex motioned with his weapon to the wall and ordered, "Step away from the zombie. Drop the hardware and move over there."

  All complied, and the man in the black tee shirt turned to face him and barked, "Oh, sure. The military finally shows up and they're here to look after the zombies."

  Another of the soldiers barked, "Shut your pie hole and get against the wall!"

  Rachel knelt down beside Zoe and took her shoulder, gently asking, "Are you okay?"

  The girl raised a hand to the back of her head and looked to the Doctor, and she just nodded. Looking to Tex as he knelt down in front of her, she pointed to the closed cage and reported, "I found zombies."

  He looked that way and nodded as he looked back to her, commending, "Good job, Princess. Are you hurt?"

  Zoe looked down to her arm, cringing as blackened blood slowly oozed from the cuts there, then she turned horrified eyes up to the Sergeant.

  "You'll heal up pretty quick," he assured. "Probably in an hour you won't ever know you were cut." He looked over his shoulder and barked, "Medic! Get her patched up."

  "I'm right here," Rachel snarled as she reached behind her for her medical kit. "We're just going to bandage these real quick so you don't leak everywhere, okay?" When the girl looked at her, she smiled and winked.

  "So what the hell's going on?" one of Zoe's assailants shouted. "I thought you were supposed to be killing those things!"

  One of the solders, holding his weapon on the group, shouted back, "You'll be told what you need to be told when it's time for you to know."

  Tex stood and kept his weapon at his side as he strode toward the group and through the line of soldiers who kept them at bay, and he ordered, "Lower your weapons, boys. Corporal, take them to the Stryker and get ready to go on my orders." He looked to the man in the suit shirt and asked, "Are there any other survivors in the mall?"

  He motioned to the left with his head as the others were led away by the soldiers. "That way, the mall offices."

  "How many?" the Sergeant pressed.

  "Eight
more," the man answered, "Six kids and a couple of women. We've been trying to fight these things off for a week. Where have you guys been?"

  "We'll tell you everything when we have a better opportunity to talk," was Tex's answer. Looking over his shoulder, he barked, "First squad with me."

  All of the survivors turned their eyes to the zombie girl as she approached.

  Tugging on Sergeant Morris' sleeve, Zoe looked up at him and asked, "Which squad am I on?"

  He looked down to her and ordered, "Just stay with me, Princess."

  The man's eyes narrowed slightly and he asked, "Isn't she a zombie?"

  "She's with us," Tex informed with harsh words. He looked to the food court, to the zombies that watched the activity from behind the cage, and raised his chin to them. "Can they get out of there?"

  The man also looked, and shook his head. "We locked them in there four days ago and they haven't gotten out yet. I think we should just leave them." He looked to the Sergeant and warned, "We discovered that a whole lot of noise, like yelling, will bring more. We probably shouldn't stay in the open like this and I'd advise us to leave as soon as we can."

  "Way ahead of you," Sergeant Morris assured. "Get us to these survivors."

  **

  Outside, at the front entrance where the Strykers waited, the last of the mall's survivors were loaded in. This did not leave enough room for all of the soldiers so Sergeant Morris and his squad plus three others remained behind to make another sweep of the mall, and he ordered before the ramp closed, "Get unloaded and get back here. If that guy's right then we can expect a whole lot of company in a hurry."

  The Corporal smiled slightly and nodded. "Sounds like the makings of a T.R.E., Sarge. Just watch your ass in there and stay in contact."

  "I'll let you know if we see anything coming," Tex assured. Turning toward the mall, he motioned with a sweep of his hand and ordered, "First Squad, let's go." As he entered, he looked down to the girl in pink who trotted to his side, asking, "You sure you wouldn't rather go back?"

  Zoe shrugged and smiled at him. "I want to stay with you."