Deadies: Book 1, 2 & 3

by Krystell Lake

  I wasn’t going to argue with him but I had something more to say. “I think you should wash that blood off the ground and the door. It might attract more of them.”

  “Damn Vicki, you are living proof that all models aren’t stupid.” Joe shook his head at what he thought was some profound declaration.

  “I’ll bring you a bucket of water.”

  I helped Tailyn to the women’s restroom inside the Sear’s. She had all her personal toiletries set up in there like it was her personal bathroom. I guess it is. She’s was the only one in this mall before we invaded her territory.

  It was easy to found a bucket. There was a large mop bucket in a storage closet near the restrooms. I filled the mop bucket up with clean water and I wheeled it out to where Joe was waiting. He had already removed the bloody glass from the floor and the door frame. I rushed back to Tailyn. She was washing her own wounds with a bath towel. I helped her remove her shirt. There were quite a few scraps on her back from her fall through the glass.

  By the time we returned to Joe he had the entire hole boarded up. He had a drill in his hands and I couldn’t figure out where he got the board or the nails. The drill came from the appliances section and I guess he removed the nails from a piece of furniture. The floor was clean, so clean you could eat off of it.

  Joe turned to us. “So Tai I guess you’re coming back to the camp with us.”

  She didn’t protest and I wasn’t sure why she hadn’t joined out camp sooner. It was apparent she had some kind of fondness for Marine Joe.

  We walked in silence as Tailyn limped back to our camp area with us. When we got close to Macy’s Nick and Malik were sitting on the bench in front of Aldo smoking marijuana. When Nick noticed me he passed the weed to Malik. When did he start getting high? Nick stood and approached me.

  “Where have you been?” Nick asked.

  “With Joe, there were some deadies outside the Sear’s.”

  “What happened?”

  “Joe killed them.” I said as Nick and Malik focused on Tailyn’s injuries, mainly her bandaged leg.

  Joe stopped to address them. “She wasn’t bitten. She fell through some glass.”

  “Hey we still doing this group dinner thing?” Nick asked.

  “Yeah nothing’s changed.”

  Malik stood. “Who is this?” He had his eyes rested on Tailyn. From the momentary exchange I saw earlier I think she’s already taken.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Joe grabbed Tailyn’s arm and pulled her toward his home base, Panera Bread.

  There was an odd silence between Nick, Malik and me until I decided to say something. “So what I miss?”

  Malik smiled through half closed eyes.

  “Not a god damn thing.” Nick half smiled and reached his hand out for me. I took it and let him lead me into our sanctuary, the shoe store.

  ***

  Dinner time was at five. Nick lifted the gate and we were the last ones to join the group in the lounge area. Someone had placed tables together. Where the tables came from was a mystery to me. We all were going to eat together as a family. I hadn’t seen Brandon, Doctor Mark, Michelle and Naveen for over a week. All eyes were glued on me as I took my seat next to Kait at one of the tables. The food was sprawled in the center of the tables. This meal would be better than the constant diet of cereal, pop tarts and the canned cold ravioli I was used to. Maybe now Nick will go to the Sears and get us a microwave. There was no way I was going back into Sears.

  I wonder who prepared this massive feast. I have been out of the loop for quite some time now. I was actually nervous. I thought I was a dead woman just a few days ago and now I’m carrying on like nothing ever happened. I started tugging at the bottom of my dress. Nick must have sensed my apprehension because he reached under the table and rubbed my hand, the one closest to him.

  I looked to my left and was immediately greeted with the smiling face of Kait. “Hey girl.” She said and I wondered how I could get that happy.

  “Hey.” I tried to return her heartfelt greeting. Apparently I had faked it well; Kait’s smile grew even wider. She was happy to see me. Wonder why that surprised me.

  “I helped make the food. I hope you like it.” She patted herself on the back.

  “I’m sure I will.”

  Kait leaned over and whispered in my ear. “B.T.W you look super-cute in that dress.”

  “Thanks, guess who picked it out.”

  Kait giggled and it helped calm my nervous stomach. I agree. I did look super-cute.

  I was tense but not too tense to notice the extra person seated at our table. The blonde, Bunny, she was at the far end of the table but I had a direct view of her and she had her eyes on me. This is awkward. She recognizes me and of course I recognize her but who will be the one to make this known to the others.

  Bunny was seated in between Joe and Naveen. She looked a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw her. I wondered if she outed me to anyone. I soon will see. Tailyn was the only one missing.

  “What are we waiting for? I’m starved.” Naveen’s voice brought me back to the reason we all were seated at the table.

  “Please say grace Father Nicholas.” Joe shouted from the other side of the table in what I think was supposed to be an Irish accent. Malik barked like a dog, everyone else let out a chuckle, even Michelle.

  Nick stood, grinning like an altar boy. “That’s Archbishop Saint Nicholas Norris of the Fox Valley Mall parish, thank you.” Nick made the sign of the cross with his right hand.” There was more laughter and a few claps. “Bless this food we are about to partake in and all non-religious folks just eat, no no no. Atheists, Agonistics, Scientologists, I will convert you. Let’s eat people. The power of Christ compels you.” Nick smiled and his teeth spilled out and warmed my insides. He was back and I was so happy to still be alive to witness it. I was just happy to be next to him.

  Everyone reached for something off the table. Nick sat down and he leaned over and whispered in my ear. “I love you.” He turned away and reached for the corn on the cob before I could respond.

  Dinner was really good. Joe was silent the entire time. I never heard what happened with Tailyn. I wasn’t sure why she hadn’t graced us with her presence. I spent most of dinner chatting it up with Kait. I think she missed me and I recognized I kind of missed her. It was a fairly peaceful joyous sit down but there was the constant scrutiny I was under. Bunny, who I have to remember to call Courtney, had locked me in her ocular jail cell. No one noticed but me, I’m sure her telephone pole ordeal made everyone think she was strange.

  I was going to have to get Bunny, I mean Courtney alone so we could have that much dreaded heart to heart. I wanted to block out my time with my former landlord the psychopathic Bolt.

  Once we finished dinner, the men vanished like there was a football game on. There were no more football games. I wonder if sports loving men miss that. Although modeling was a job I can honestly admit I miss it, the runway, the clothes, the white sanded beaches, the parties and the fabulous people.

  The ladies got stuck with clearing the table, all the ladies but Michelle of course. I guess redhead witches are exempt. We hauled all the leftover food and dishes to the kitchen of Panera Bread. Naveen took it upon himself to be the dishwasher. I did not take it upon myself to help him.

  Courtney cornered me at the empty dinner table. We just stared at each other for a while. I tried to act like she didn’t creep me out.

  “Let’s walk.” I invited her. She followed me as I walked her away from the camp a few feet away from the Sprint store. She sat down on the bench. I took the vacant seat next to her. “Hey.” I couldn’t come up with a better greeting.

  “Hey.” Her brown eyes rested on me and I could see in them that she was permanently traumatized from the time she spent with psycho Bolt and his perverted gang of misfits.

  “You’re feeling better.”

  “Yeah, I thought I was dead meat out there.” She was silent for a moment. I
think she was carefully figuring what words to use next. “I heard that you escaped Bolt. I didn’t believe it but now I know it’s true. That had never happened before. No one knows how you did it. The only way out is death. I thought for sure he killed you.”

  I didn’t want to tell her how I escaped. “They forgot to lock me up.” I was lying and I think she knew it but I didn’t care. I had a secret and I didn’t want to share.

  “I just knew I was going to die out there on that pole. It’s weird to be free.”

  “I understand that feeling.”

  “No you don’t. I mean I was a slave. They had us chained up in that basement for so long. We didn’t get to even see daylight. I don’t even remember how long I was down there. You have no idea the things they did to us.”

  Maybe not but I could imagine it was ten times worst then the things Bolt said he would do to me. “No, I don’t, but you’re free now.”

  “Yeah I am. I don’t really know what to do with myself. I hate to sleep. I just want the nightmares to go away.”

  I felt the same way. Courtney’s arrival into our camp had stirred up my past experience with Bolt and his crew and I wish I could block it out.

  “Why did he put you out --?” I stopped myself. Bolt didn’t have to have a reason to torture you. He was just crazy, mean and he took immense pleasure out of causing pain.

  “He told me, I was one too many. He got a new girl. He found her finding in a church and he said he had to get rid of one of us and my time was up. He said I was a liability because I tried to kill myself. He said he couldn’t fuck a dead body.” The thought sent a sharp shiver up my spine. Courtney was broken. Her voice trembled and then the tears came. “He said he tried it before but it was too stiff. Why he picked me I don’t know. I wasn’t the only one that tried to kill myself. You didn’t tell these people about Bolt.”

  “No.” I snapped.

  “Why?”

  “Why would I?” I had enough. I stood up to walk away. As soon as I turned on my heels she reached out for my arm but my reflexes were ninja sharp. I jerked away before she could even touch me.

  “Don’t worry, I like it here. I’m not going to say anything.”

  We exchanged a mournful look and I continued off, back to Aldo. I left her standing there looking bewildered, looking like Bunny and not at all like Courtney.

  CHAPTER 20

  The next day I was in good spirits. I was still human and that was something that pleased me. Last night after many tequila shots I made a date to go shopping with Kait. She wanted me to accompany her instead of her regular escort Joe. I hadn’t been anywhere in the mall but Sears department store. I didn’t really feel like going but I said I would. So I guess that I am.

  I stepped from under my store gate and Kait was standing there with Courtney. I didn’t invite her. My best guess is that Kait invited her to tag along. There was something weird about Courtney. She made me feel uneasy. If I’m completely honest with myself, there’s nothing wrong with Courtney. It’s just that she reminds me of Bolt. I forced a smidgen of a smile and joined them in the mall.

  We walked to the other end of the mall and ended up at Abercrombie & Fitch. We all had piles of clothes stacked in our arms. Kait had piled most of the clothes in my arms. After at least an hour of browsing, our trio stumbled into the wood panel dressing rooms. I tossed my messy stack of Fitch gear on the floor. We didn’t bother to close the fitting room doors. There was no need to be bashful. We had seen things worse or more risqué than nudity in the last months. All alone in my fitting room, I took a seat and just stared into the dusty mirror.

  My reflection had changed drastically along with my life. I was no longer a supermodel. My career had changed and now I was a zombie apocalypse survivor and a zombie killer. My life was deadies. There was nothing pretty or glamorous about it but it was my life.

  “Hey Jesse, what are you trying on first?” Kait called out from the fitting room next to mine.

  “The black dress!” I only said because it was on the top of my pile.

  Minutes had passed and I could hear Kait talking to Courtney. Every now and then I would chime in just to let them know I was still alive.

  I had redone my ponytail about three times. I picked food out of my teeth and dirt out of my fingernails. I started examining the hair in my nostrils. There was a forest growing on my vagina and as soon as we leave here I need to track down some shaving cream and razors. A lingerie model with pubic hair is like a vegan biting into a Big Mac.

  “Jesse come look at this one.” Kait had beckoned me. I leapt over my untouched pile of clothes and went into her open fitting room stall. “What do you think?” Kait twirled around in her dress like a pageant model, definitely not a runway model.

  “I like it.” I did but I couldn’t really muster up any additional words about a dress.

  “I think it’s a little big on me.” Kait concluded and she was right. Courtney peeked out of her fitting room. She watched as Kait did a few pirouettes. She wasn’t half bad but she was no Black Swan.

  “I’ll go get you a smaller size.” I volunteered.

  “You don’t even know what size this one is.” Kait offered.

  “I don’t need to know. Franjessca knows clothes. I’m an expert.” I turned to look at Courtney and she was already gawking at me. “That color looks really good on you.” I genuinely commented to Courtney.

  Courtney smiled. I had never seen her smile before. “Thanks.” She said as she walked back into her fitting room.

  I went on a mission to find Kait’s dress. I aimlessly wandered about the store. It was always so dimly lit in Abercrombie & Fitch. I never understood why? I trotted around and searched for the dress. I spotted a smaller size. I grabbed the outfit and turned to go back to the fitting room when I thought I noticed something out the corner of my eye, movement near the front of the store on the men’s side. I paused, my face produced a scowl and I crouched down. For some reason I didn’t think it was Joe or Nick. I don’t know why I had my doubts but it was like I had some strange intuition. The feeling was uneasy and it didn’t wash away immediately. I tried to look through the darkness at the shoes as they slowly approached me. I felt kind of stupid being on the floor but I was already down here. Whoever was in here with me hadn’t noticed me. I hope it’s not another deadie. Then again I hope it’s not a living person that has broken into the mall.

  I moved from crouching tiger to a position that was more like crouching kitten. I was on all fours and I gently placed Kait’s dress on the floor beside me.

  As the shoes got closer and closer I realized they weren’t shoes at all. They were actually boots, cowboy boots.

  I could hear the uniform tap dance of red and black cowboy boots. Boots I recognized and feared. These were human steps not the deadies dead man’s shuffle. I cannot catch a break. They’re here. I looked for other shoes roaming around the wood floors of Abercrombie & Fitch. I couldn’t spot any others. Maybe Wayne was alone? Why would he be alone? Even if alone in this store, wherever Wayne existed, Bolt was never far behind.

  There was no way Wayne is aware of our presence. We would have already been captured. I desperately thought of removing my gun from my pocket but I didn’t want to make any noise. With my luck I would drop my Colt on the wood floors. This time I wish the intruder was a deadie. I could put a bullet in a deadie no problem. A different more deadly danger has slithered into our safe haven.

  Walk or crawl? The goal was to get back to the fitting room to warn Kait and Courtney. Walk or crawl? I decided to crawl backwards slowly. My heart was beating out of my chest. I escaped Bolt and his band of terrorist once. What are the odds I would escape again?

  My knees barely scraped the floor as I slide backwards. Once I turned the corner where the fitting rooms lay, I rose to my feet and tiptoed into Kait’s fitting room with my index finger firmly pressed over my lips.

  I knew my eyes were bulging. I knew I looked spooked but silence was paramount to our
survival. I reached for Kait’s shoulders and I pulled her into an embrace. My lips brushed the lobe of her ear.

  I whispered. “A stranger is in here with a gun.” I didn’t see Wayne’s gun but I knew he carried one and I had to improvise under extreme conditions.

  My fingernails dug into her skin unknowingly. “Don’t move.” I let go of her and she didn’t move as I tiptoed out of her fitting room and into Courtney’s dressing domicile.

  Courtney was looking in the mirror when I appeared behind her. We were both faced toward the mirror. She paused when she saw me and watched my eyes through the mirrors reflection. Danger, fear, she saw it as it radiated from my pours. I stopped when I couldn’t get any closer to her. Her eyes watched my silent movements in the looking glass. “Wayne is here.”

  Shaking, tremors, Courtney’s entire body quivered at the mention of his name. I grabbed her by the shoulders. “Slowly, follow me.” I removed my gun. Courtney shadowed me into Kait’s fitting room.

  “What are we going to do?” Kait whispered to me and I didn’t even have an answer. I didn’t have a clue where the back door to the store was and there was a possibility that there was an alarm on it. We would have to leave the way we came.

  “Crawl, out, quietly.” I omitted a few useless words.

  Kait and Courtney shook their heads in agreement. I walked them to the fitting rooms opening. I went down on all fours and looked back to see that they had did the same.

  Since Wayne had no reason to be in the women’s section I crawled to that side of the store and stayed at the furthest right wall. Kait was on my ass and I assumed Courtney was on hers. I hoped Kait wouldn’t bump into me.

  It only took a short while for us to reach the front of the store. What if one of Bolt’s henchmen was outside? I couldn’t worry about everything so when I thought the coast was clear I crawled out the closed front door. Was Wayne going to hear it or worse see it? I didn’t have a choice so I pushed it open with the palms of my hands and walked on my knees.