by Gayle Katz
“Well, chances are you will, but let me fill you in first.” They followed the teens out through the electrical box and into the sunlight.
Chapter 15
________________________________________
“So Dr. Arora has scrammed, and unfortunately, she grabbed that one remaining box of vaccines,” said Sergeant Bourne to his zombie-fighting team. “But the rest of her supplies have been torched. We even trashed her microscopes and centrifuge.”
“Aww,” said Zan. “You could have given those to me.”
Sergeant Bourne frowned at her. “I thought you were done with medical experiments after your mother died?”
She frowned back. “Maybe. I don’t know what I want to do at this point.”
Owen joined the conversation. “Yeah, Zan, perhaps you should take a break. It’s not like you know enough to make any big discoveries anyway.”
She glared at him.
“Well, school is back in session, so I’m sure we’ll all be focusing more on our studies, right?” asked Charlie.
“OK. I’m heading back to school,” said Stewart. “It’s a good thing you folks had a free first period. I suggest you do the same.”
The teens reluctantly followed Stewart to where they had parked their cars.
zzz
Sergeant Bourne headed back into the station. He was barely back at his desk when a rookie ran up to him.
“We’ve found a dead body behind a coffee shop,” he said. “It’s Frank Delaney. Thought you might like to know.”
“Frank Delaney?” said Bourne, thinking. “He went missing a few months back.”
“Yep. But get this. His skin was gray and his eyes were faintly glowing green for a few minutes, then it stopped.”
“Hmm. So he was a zombie then?”
“It appears to be so.”
“How did he die?”
“Someone had stabbed him through the eye socket,” he said.
Bourne sat down at his desk. “So I’m guessing that Dr. Arora did it then. Let me know if any more dead zombies show up.”
“Yep.”
Sergeant Bourne rifled through the papers on his desk, zombie crime after zombie crime. Some days he missed the good old gangs in Portland.
zzz
The news of the latest zombie threat had gotten into the media. Now there were several protestors hanging around outside the police station.
Sergeant Bourne peered out the window. “Here we go again.”
“Good thing the kids are all in school now,” said the station commander.
“Yeah, time to leave the zombie fighting to us,” said Bourne.
“Maybe when the new laws are created, we can add that it’s a criminal offense for anyone to fight zombies besides us?”
Sergeant Bourne stared at his superior officer. Then they both started laughing.
“Seriously, we need our zombie fighting teens. They can move faster and are more flexible than we are, and quieter too. Can you imagine how much our hands would hurt after even stabbing the first couple undead?” asked Bourne.
“I know, but it’s just a thought. Those guys out there, they’d want to put a stop to any and all zombie killing.”
Bourne took another look out the window. “I guess they didn’t learn their lesson the last time around.”
zzz
Sergeant Bourne was about to sign off after his shift. The protestors had finally gotten tired and left for home. Frank’s family had been notified, and his body had been released to their choice of funeral home. Then the station phone rang. The dispatcher was currently away from her desk so he went to grab it.
“Hello? Portland Police Department. How may I assist you?”
He waited for a moment, listening. “Someone tried to grab you off the street? All right, I’ll be right there.”
As he was leaving, the dispatcher came back. “What’s up?” she asked.
“Some zombies tried to grab a group of people off the street,” explained Bourne. “I’m going to see what’s up.”
“That’s a new one.”
“Tell me about it,” said Bourne, fetching his gun from the locked cabinet. He put his holster on, and then headed out the door.
zzz
“OK. What happened?” asked Sergeant Bourne. The three men sat on the concrete parking lot divider with blankets wrapped around them.
The first guy spoke. “Some zombie in a van drove past us, catcalling us.”
“No, man, it was zombie-calling us.”
“Fine, Robert, zombie-calling us, saying we looked good enough to eat. Then the van stopped. We thought it was all a big joke and had a good laugh. We thought it was some guy dressed up for a fancy costume party. After all, zombies can’t drive, right?” He paused, waiting for the cop to respond.
“Well, they can drive if they’re in the early stages of the disease. But some zombies take months to decompose. It’s entirely possible he’s been a zombie for some time and can still drive.”
“Yeah, if you call it driving,” said the other guy in the group. “It looked more like drunk driving.”
“So what happened when you walked up to the van?” asked Sergeant Bourne.
“We were walking past the van when the big sliding door crashed open. I think we all jumped,” the other guy continued.
“Yeah,” said Robert. “Then three zombies jumped out and tried to grab us!”
“That’s disturbing,” said Sergeant Bourne. “Can you tell me anything about this van?”
The first guy shook his head. “It was like one of those white cargo service vans but no company sign.”
“Oh, yeah. And when I looked back, it had blood marks on it.”
“Yeah, what Robert said.”
“So what happened after the zombies attacked?”
“Well, we fought them off, naturally,” the first guy answered. “I punched one in the head. Fred here stabbed one in the eye with his pocket knife, and Robert kicked his where it really, really hurts.”
“So, we know they failed. What happened after you fought them off?” asked Sergeant Bourne.
“The three zombies gave up and jumped back in the van. It took off with the door still open.” The first guy motioned down the street.
“Do you have the license plate number?”
His eyes lit up. “Yeah, Fred does.”
Sergeant Bourne wrote down the details. He sent an APB message off to all of the stations in Portland to be on the lookout for the vehicle. As he was getting back into his car, a message came back to him. “We found the plate in our database. It belongs to a man who says his van was stolen last week. If we find it, we’ll dust it for fingerprints, but we’re not certain it’s going to bring anything up.”
“OK, thanks,” said Bourne. “Keep me posted.” Finally, he could head home and have a rest.
zzz
“How’s school?” Stewart asked Charlie over the telephone.
“Boring,” she said. “If I’d had time to do my schoolwork last year, I wouldn’t have failed history class. It’s just as dull and boring as last year, but I’m learning to pay attention. Any activity?”
“Yes, some. There have been reports of zombies trying to kidnap people.”
“Wow. That’s scary,” she said. “Is it to eat them or to recruit them?”
“Maybe both,” Stewart replied.
“Well, let me know if there are any more sightings,” she said.
“Will do.” He hung up. He was actually relieved that it was quiet. Most of the printed news, online news, and TV news shows talked about zombie rights. Stewart wasn’t interested in hearing about that so he just moved onto the next source.
zzz
Jay Bourne was having a good solid sleep, probably the first in a month, when his phone rang. “Damn! I should have turned it off.” He tapped the answer button. “Yeah? Really? Yawn! OK. I’ll be there.” He hung up, and then dialed Stewart.
“Hey, Stew. Guess what? Dr. Arora has turned hersel
f in. Yep. Come on down! What do you mean, what drugs am I doing? I just woke up!” He told Stewart to meet him there. He begrudgingly got out of bed and got dressed.
zzz
“What? Are you serious? So why are we needed?” asked Charlie over the telephone. “It’s 6 am and I have school today. OK, great.”
The other teens were called. In half an hour, everyone had arrived at the police station. Out front were a few protestors, just getting started. They must have heard about Dr. Arora, so several of the signs had changed. SAVE DR. ARORA some of them now said.
Soon the three teens were gathered in front of the station. Stewart came up. “Hi! Sorry for getting you out of bed so early.”
“Now what?” asked Charlie. “Why did you need us out here so early?”
“Mainly for advice on what to do,” he explained. “As you know, it’s an automatic death penalty when you’re a zombie. A medical team is testing her blood, but we all know what the answer is going to be.”
“Why would she turn herself in?” asked Zan.
Stewart laughed. “Because it’s a trap.”
“A trap?” asked Owen.
“To get us all here. With that being said, I have to grade some papers before school starts. Bye.” He started walking away.
“What the?” said Charlie. “What do we do?”
“I suggest that you burn her alive,” said Stewart. “That’s the only way to kill her.” He headed for his car.
“Well, isn’t that just great,” said Zan. “Why do we always have to do all the dirty work?”
“Well, if you want to go back to sleep, I think that Charlie and I have things under control. Right, Charlie?” said Owen.
“Yes, we do. Thank you very much.”
But Zan didn’t leave.
“OK, so let’s find out where they’re keeping her first,” said Charlie, heading for the main doors of the police station. Her two friends followed after her.
“Great,” said Owen.
Charlie opened the doors and headed inside. “Hmm. It’s not too often I get to go through the front door.” She walked up to the main reception desk. “Hi! We want to speak to Dr. Arora, please.”
“Are you related?” asked the reception clerk.
“Well, no,” said Charlie.
“Well then, you can’t see her.” The clerk turned away and ignored her.
“But I can,” said Nadine. “I’m her daughter.” The woman had snuck up behind Charlie and overhead the conversation.
“Fine,” said the clerk. “But no more than five at once.”
Nadine beckoned the three teens to join her. They followed the clerk down the stairs and into the basement cells.
“Wow. This looks familiar,” said Zan.
“I know, right?” said Charlie.
“Stewart is going to feel left out,” joked Owen.
Nadine found the cell with her mother. “You should be dead.”
“Hi, dear. Good to see you. No offense taken,” Dr. Arora said.
“Why’d you turn yourself in?” asked Charlie.
“So I could get you all together in one room,” she said.
Suddenly, the room filled with a bright blue light.
Owen ducked quickly to the left, while Zan leapt to the right. Charlie just relaxed.
zzz
“That damn Dr. Arora,” said Charlie. “I thought you needed candles and incense and stuff to send people to another realm?”
“Am I here?” asked Zan.
“Me too,” said Owen.
“Is her daughter here? No?” asked Charlie.
“Nah, why would she send her daughter here?” asked Owen.
“OK. Don’t panic,” said Charlie. “I know a way out of this, remember? And whatever you do, don’t wander off!”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Owen, sticking close.
“On the count of three, we imagine ourselves back at the police station. OK?” Charlie explained.
“Sure,” said Owen.
“Why?” asked Zan.
“One. Two. Three!” said Charlie, imaging the damp and depressing police station basement.
“Ta-da!” Charlie popped back into the aisle of the jail cells.
Nadine was startled, first seeing the three teens disappear, and then reappear.
“Wow! That was fun!” said Owen.
Owen and Charlie looked around them.
“Oh shit,” said Charlie. “Where is Zan?”
“Damn!” said Owen. “Oh my god! She’s chosen to stay there!”
“What the? Why?! Noooo!” cried Charlie. She ran up and down the aisle and peered into the jail cells. She stopped in front of Dr. Arora’s cell.
“I give up,” said Dr. Arora. “You kids are too powerful for me. But don’t worry, I’ll be out of here soon.”
“I don’t care where the eff you go,” said Charlie. “You have to send me back to the ether to get my friend!”
Chapter 16
________________________________________
Owen and Nadine looked on anxiously as Dr. Arora stared at Charlie in awe.
“You want me to what?” Usually nothing fazed the zombie-crazed doctor, but this was new. Perhaps she had underestimated these teens.
“You want me to send you back to the ether?” She cackled.
“Well, you just did it!” said Charlie. “What kind of zleader are you anyway?”
Owen shivered. He didn’t know where this was going. Nadine watched the scene, not quite believing that this woman was still her mother.
Dr. Arora stopped cackling. “Zleader? I’m a zleader? Wow! That’s quite the honor,” she said, extremely impressed.
“OK, stop getting off track. I know you have a zombie brain. You heard me. Let me go back, so I can grab my friend.”
Dr. Arora came up close to the bars. She gave off a rotten stench, but Charlie didn’t back up. Her nose was used to zombie smells by now.
“Can you get her out of here? My daughter? She doesn’t need to see this. And I bear no grudge against her.”
Owen grabbed Nadine’s arm and pulled her away from the cell.
“Wait! That’s my mother!” she yelled.
“Relax. You can come back and visit another time,” said Owen, helping her up the stairs.
Charlie waited until they were gone. “Look. Send me back to get Zan.”
“Why isn’t she back on her own? Surely you told her the secret?” Dr. Arora asked in her deep ghostly voice.
“Because she’s screwed up, that’s why. You were one of the people responsible for the death of her mother.”
“Ha-ha! Too funny! Anyway, even if I wanted to send you back to the ether, what makes you think that I can do it again?”
Charlie looked around the cell. “Because you did it the first time.”
“Yes, but look, my supplies are gone.” She turned and pointed to the small pentagram on the floor, along with a torn page from a book, and the burnt remains of herbs.
“Where did you get your supplies?” asked Charlie. “I’m guessing they didn’t allow you to bring them in here?”
Dr. Arora shook her head. “Nah, they didn’t. But my minions brought them to me.” Her head jerked in the direction of the small window up above. “They probably didn’t realize that it’s just glass in these dungeon windows.”
“Well, can they bring more supplies?” asked Charlie.
“Nah, I don’t have my cell phone on me.” She shrugged.
Charlie thought for a bit. “No problem. You can borrow my cell phone or I can bring in supplies for you.”
“What makes you think I’ll help you?” she asked, going to the back of the cell and sitting on the cold hard surface of the bench.
“Well, for one, if you send me back, chances are I may never return,” said Charlie in a smug voice. “Don’t you want to have that chance?”
Dr. Arora laughed. “Oh, you’re the cute one, I see.”
Charlie thought harder. “OK, if you help me, I’ll help y
ou get out of here.”
Dr. Arora’s glowing green eyes looked up at her. “And my dear child, why would you do that? And how would you? They’re not going to hand over the keys.”
Charlie had a big smile on her face. “Because I know how to pick locks.”
“I see,” said Dr. Arora gleefully. What to do? She wanted to get rid of the zlayers, but on the other hand, it was going to be mighty tricky getting out of this cell. Even though she’d developed a special vaccine to help resurrect her dead body, her body was still slowly decaying. If she did hand-to-hand combat with the cops, chances were that she’d lose a limb or two.
“OK, sweetie,” she said. “We can fight another day. Let me borrow your phone and get some more candles and herbs here. I’ll also need a strand of your hair, as the one I had was burned.”
Charlie frowned. “How did you get a strand of my hair before?”
“From the floor, where else?”
“You can sort through hairs to find the right one?” She looked astonished.
“Yep. So next time, keep your hair on your head, your eyelashes on your eyes, and your dead skin cells on your body. Trust me, you don’t want any witches getting ahold of your things.” She took the phone and started typing in a text message, then sent it. “There. They should have the goodies back in about ten minutes. I have my minions all over the place, watching.”
“Perfect,” said Charlie. “Here’s the deal. We do this. You send me back. I grab Zan. We come back here. Then, and only then, I’ll unlock the door for you.”
Dr. Arora looked annoyed. “Why can’t you unlock the door now, while we wait?”
Charlie smirked and rotated her head back and forth. She sat down on the floor, waiting.