by Gayle Katz
Zombie Slayer Series
Books 4 - 7
Gayle Katz
In Your Face Publishers
Blue Bell, PA
Copyright © 2019 Gayle Katz
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission from the author. For permissions contact:
[email protected]
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead, or undead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Visit the author’s website at GayleKatz.com
Table of Contents
________________________________________
Conzpiracy (Book 4)
Spell to Hell (Book 5)
Good Zombie (Book 6)
Exorcizm (Book 7)
About the Author
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Prologue
________________________________________
There were several people seated around the crates, each trying to stay as cool as possible, while covering their faces with hoodies or handkerchiefs. Several held papers or other objects in their hands to fan their faces.
“All right,” said a raspy female voice at the front of the room. “We’re here for our monthly meeting. Thank you all for jo jo jo,” she said, her voice stuttering. “Sorry, joining us today. I know it’s a hot summer day, so let’s get this done.”
“What are we going to do about the zlayers?” called out a voice in the back.
She chuckled. “Don’t you worry about them. I know where they are and where they’ve be, I mean been.” She stopped to have a coughing fit. “Sorry, next time please bring something good to drink.”
The voice called out again. “They’re interfering. Look at how many zombies they’ve killed. No sooner is a new zombie created, then the next one gets killed.” By now, the man had stood up and was coming around the table.
“Please remain seated,” she said. “Did you know that if we kill the zlayers that even more will appear?”
The room suddenly filled with agitated questions and comments.
“Settle down please. But it’s true. And I’d prefer to know who I’m dealing with, rather than trying to hunt down some new zlayer.”
The man returned to his seat, but he wasn’t done yet. “I still say we kill them all. We may not be able to bite and turn them, but we can eat them.” He pounded the table.
“Hear, hear!” everyone in the room called out.
She banged on the table. “Order!” she yelled. Soon everyone settled down. “OK, team. Let’s get this strict, I mean straight. I’m the zleader here, and you do what I say. When I say don’t kill the zlayers, I mean it!”
Everyone looked away in submission.
“But there will come a time when I say to kill all the zlayers, truthsayers, and mentors included! And that time shall come!”
The room broke out in noise. She decided to run with it, as she wouldn’t be able to restore order after this announcement.
zzz
Owen abruptly woke up. He almost knocked his lamp over trying to find the switch. Once light flooded the room, he flung off his covers and sat up. It took a moment for him to realize that he was safely at home. “What was that mess I just dreamt?”
Chapter 1
________________________________________
Owen and Charlie were seated in Stewart’s apartment. It was still sparsely furnished, despite Stewart having lived there for almost one year now. Charlie had a look around. She guessed that the furniture came with the rental. She shrugged. It was just stuff anyway. She believed it was far more important to spend time with friends and family, and not get too attached to objects.
“Hello? Earth to Charlie,” called out Owen. “We’re going to have a chat about things.”
Charlie sat down on the couch with Owen. Stewart, their mentor, sat directly opposite them on a worn out, club-style chair.
Owen yawned.
“Sorry for keeping you up,” said Charlie in a mocking manner.
“Oops, sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night. Nightmares.”
Stewart ignored the exchange. “Thanks for coming. You may notice that Zan isn’t here.”
Charlie frowned. “That’s understandable. She must still be grieving the loss of her mother.”
“I heard her dad is out of the hospital and recuperating at home,” added Owen.
“Yes, that was very sad. I don’t think that Mrs. Goldberg had an agenda in the past, but unfortunately, someone at the hospital must have drawn her into the zombie conspiracy,” said Stewart.
Charlie laughed. “It’s conzpiracy.”
Owen chuckled too. “Anyway, didn’t we guess that it was Dr. Arora?” asked Owen.
“Yes, most likely, but she has others working for her too,” said Stewart. “Anyway, something is up at the hospital. But for now, I’d like you both to stay away. This plot seems to be going much deeper. This isn’t your average zombie outbreak.” Stewart looked into Charlie’s eyes, hoping she’d understand.
“Wow,” said Charlie. “I never thought I’d see the day that there would be something like a normal zombie outbreak.” She took a sip of her soda, and then frowned as she read the label. “I should be drinking diet soda, not this sugary stuff.”
“Well, with this second, human-created zombie outbreak, it’s been more about eradicating the cause. The zombies themselves aren’t the issue. The issue is that there is a gang that has been actively running here since at least last spring.”
Charlie put her unfinished soda back on the table. Owen had already finished his, so he pointed at hers. She nodded. He gratefully grabbed it and took a sip.
“So, where do we start then?” asked Charlie.
Stewart shrugged. “For now, we monitor the situation. See if anything weird happens.”
“Because nothing weird ever happens in Portland,” said Owen. He laughed, and the others laughed with him.
zzz
“So, what are you doing now?” asked Owen. “We could grab a bite to eat.” They both walked back to their cars.
She shook her head. “Nope, I actually have a date.”
Owen stopped walking. “No way! I thought you weren’t going to date until you were 30-something.” He tried not to laugh.
“Funny. I met this guy at this soap shop on 4th. We had an interesting conversation about zombie films. Then he asked if I’d like to grab a coffee sometime, so I said yes.” She turned and headed back to her car.
“That’s cool,” said Owen. “But you know I have to check him out.”
Charlie smiled. “Well, you can, but I think he likes girls, not boys.” She laughed.
“Funny. OK, but let me know. My truthsaying abilities will spot a dud from a mile away.” He opened the door of his car.
“Yeah, thanks,” she said, trying not to get annoyed. She could look after herself after all.
“Say, what are you going to tell him about your job?” Owen called out.
“Um, I’ll just say I do student tutoring.” She opened the door of her car and hopped in. She didn’t hear Owen chuckling after that.
zzz
“Thanks for joining me for coffee,” said Paul
o. “Since I’ve moved to the United States, it’s been hard meeting people.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but there are some great people in Portland. Hey, it’s even difficult for me to make friends.”
He smiled at her. “I find that hard to believe.”
She smiled back. “Yep. I’m a martial arts expert. I train my best friends, Zan and Owen. Zan doesn’t need much help, or so she says, and Owen needs to learn how to have greater confidence. Anyway, if anyone messes with you at school, just let me know.” She winked at him.
He laughed. “It’s OK. My family went through a lot to get here. I think I can handle a few mean people.”
Charlie stopped smiling. She didn’t know what to say. “Sorry, but I’m glad you’re here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be depressing,” he frowned.
“Your English is perfect,” she said.
“That’s because I studied it in school as a second language,” he explained.
Charlie threw her hands in the air. “Sorry, of course. You must have to deal with tons of stupid comments here.”
“Oh no, if people are truly curious, then that’s fine. I want people to learn. I’m also excited to hear that you’re coaching people.”
She nodded. There was some truth to that at least. “Yes, well, perhaps I’ll host a class and you can come to it.”
He smiled. “That would be great. What are your plans for after graduation?”
“Oh, I’ll join the police academy,” she said nonchalantly.
“A police officer? Cool! Maybe you can become the chief!”
She nodded. “That would be good for when I’m older. Though detective would be interesting too. So what about you? What will you do after graduation?”
“Oh? Me? I want to become a teacher. I like to get my hands dirty. I’m thinking I’ll teach auto mechanics or carpentry, or both.”
“That’s great,” said Charlie. “I know nothing about those things. The closest is probably lock picking.” Then she frowned. Perhaps she shouldn’t have told him that.
“Wow! Where do you learn something like that?” he asked.
“Oh, when I lived in Texas, I had a summer job at a locksmithing business. I learned all sorts of stuff.”
He smiled. Charlie started to smile back but stopped when she recognized a couple entering the coffee shop.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, peering around.
“Oh, it’s some friends.” She shrugged.
“Should we go say ‘hi’?”
“Oh no,” she answered. “It appears they’re on a date. We shouldn’t disturb them.”
Charlie had a pleasant hour with Paulo. She felt a bit bad, as she was dividing her attention between him and the couple seated in the back. Mayor Jane Cote and Sergeant Jay Bourne had come in together. And it appeared that they were getting a bit too cozy.
She didn’t know what he was doing with her. The mayor had some loose ethics. She was on their side in terms of fighting zombies, but some cash had mysteriously disappeared from the city’s coffers. Jane had claimed it had been allocated to a zombie-fighting fund, but Charlie was no accountant, so she had no idea if it were true or not.
She was too far away to hear their conversation.
“Oh yes, thank you for spending some time with me,” she said to Paulo. “I’ll see you again soon.”
They shook hands and he walked her to the door. Jay and Jane didn’t even look up as she walked past them.
“Hi, guys!” she called out at the last minute.
Jay looked up, surprised, and then waved. The mayor looked annoyed.
Charlie headed out the door with Paulo following.
“Hey, cool! You know the mayor?” he asked.
“Yeah, but we’re not good friends,” she answered.
They stopped in front of her car.
“Is that guy her husband?” he asked, waiting to see her safely away.
She shook her head. “Nah, that’s my friend, Jay. He’s a cop.”
“Wow, so you know a cop and how to pick locks. Sounds like you have an interesting life.”
She laughed. “Nah, I know him through another friend of mine.”
“OK, see you soon,” he called out. “Give me a call.” He waved his cell phone in the air.
She waved, and then got into her car. As she drove away, she wondered what Jay was up to. Surely he wouldn’t compromise his career. If his superiors knew he was involved with the mayor, or her shady activities, he could lose his job. So that meant he was going undercover. If it could be called undercover, because the mayor was fully aware of what he did for a living.
Charlie headed for home. She looked forward to watching TV with Gran tonight. Perhaps it would be the latest zombie show on whatever streaming service she had.
Chapter 2
________________________________________
Gran paced back and forth. “I can’t think what must have happened.” She held a letter in her hand.
“Gran, take it easy. I’ll just take the summer class and be good to go for 12th grade in September.”
She read the letter again. “I thought you had this settled between you and Stewart. And that Principal Allan guy.”
Charlie sat down. “Principal Allan is dead. I haven’t even talked to the woman who took his place. I really didn’t know I had flunked two classes.”
Gran sat down beside her. Rose Warner was Charlie Warner’s legal guardian, as both of Charlie’s parents had died when she was younger. Mica, Charlie’s mother, had also been a zombie slayer.
“We have to tell Stewart.”
“No, Gran. It’s too late. If Stewart approaches the new principal, she’s going to want an explanation of why two of my failing grades need to be switched to passing grades.”
“So, you have time for this make-up class then?”
Charlie shrugged. “Well, I do now. It’s best for me to do it now, before the zombies come crawling out of the woodwork again.”
Gran tossed the letter on the table.
“Anyway, what did I fail?”
Gran sighed. “It was history and chemistry. The letter says two fails is unacceptable for continuing into 12th grade. One fail is allowable.”
“So, I’ll take a history make-up course then. Chemistry is stupid. I’ll leave that to Zan. Say, why am I finding out now?” She grabbed the letter. “OK, so this new principal said she found grading errors in some of the projects and exams I did. Must have been an audit of the grading system or something.”
“Well, we’ll get you into the history class. It’s only twice a week for four weeks. I’ll call first thing tomorrow to get you in.”
Charlie shredded the letter. “Thanks, Gran. I appreciate it.”
zzz
“Just what are you doing?” asked Stewart over the telephone. “Charlie told me she’d seen you on a date with the mayor. You even kissed her cheek!”
Sergeant Bourne’s voice was loud on the other end. “What’s it to you? I thought you weren’t interested in police business, just zombie business.”
There was a pause.
“Yes, well, I’m not entirely convinced that the mayor has disclosed everything she knows about the zombies,” said Stewart.
“I thought that you trusted her, since she’d been working on our side during the Ray Orzola factory fiasco?” asked Jay.
“Well, let’s just say I trust her more, but that’s about it,” responded Stewart. “Anyway, let me know if you learn anything,” he added.
“Oh, I have,” said Jay mischievously, “The mayor is very cuddly.” He laughed.
“Oh please, stop,” said Stewart, hanging up.
zzz
“Hi, Dad! How’s it going?” asked Owen, coming through the door.
“Fine, except for the attempted break-in,” said Dad, sweeping the glass into the dustpan.
Owen looked frantically around. “Where is Mom?”
“We’re fine,” explained Dad. “Doe
sn’t look like they took anything.”
“Did you call the cops?” asked Owen.
“A Sergeant Bourne dropped by, said he knew you. I don’t even think I want to know why.”
Owen laughed. “He’s cool.”
“Anyway, be sure to keep the doors and windows closed and locked for a while. I should buy a security system. I’ll get things sorted first thing tomorrow.”
Owen put it from his mind. His home had special protections surrounding it. Obviously they wouldn’t work against your common thief, but they did against zombies, zleaders, and other criminals out to intentionally harm his family due to his involvement with the zlayers.
zzz
Charlie entered the history summer class. She recognized a few teens from other classes and waved. Then she glanced at the guy near the back and was stunned.
After a brief pause, she walked down the aisle and sat at the desk beside him.
“So, come here often?” she asked.
“Hey, Charlie! What are you doing here?”
She grimaced. “Same reason as you, Owen. I flunked two classes and have to make it up.”
Owen leaned in close to her and whispered, “We should have had passing grades. I don’t know what happened.”
Charlie shrugged. “It’s done. We can’t change it now. Let’s just get the class done with and we’ll be on our way.”
Owen smiled. “Good thing it’s quiet out there.”