Zombie Games (Uncut) Boxed Set Read online

  Austin’s blond hair was sticking up all crazy, his face was ashen, and his pupils were dilated. The handsome cowboy I remembered looked like he’d been dragged around by a raging bull. He was really messed up. But then, so was I.

  “Austin, you really don’t look so well.”

  His lips tightened into a thin line. “I’m fine.”

  “Listen, my dad is going to freak out. You have got to take me home.”

  He shook his head. “No, you’re safer with me. I promised your mom I’d protect you from harm. That’s all I want to do.”

  “No, this isn’t what she meant! She’d never want you to take me away from my father.”

  He smiled. “See, this is why you need my protection. You’re too naïve to be wandering around by yourself or making decisions about your safety.”

  “That’s ridiculous! You have to take me home! Everyone’s going to wonder where in the heck I am.”

  “Don’t worry,” he said. “I grabbed your phone. When your mom calls, I’ll let her know you’re safe. She can relay that message back to everyone else.”

  “That’s crap, Austin!” I yelled, losing my temper completely. I was so furious I wanted to kick his ass. Screw using martial arts only for “self-defense.”

  “You don’t have to get so hostile, Cassie,” he said, trying to touch my cheek. “I’m only trying to protect you. Someday, you’ll understand.”

  I stiffened at his touch. “I don’t need your protection! Jesus, I could probably take …” Then it hit me; he wasn’t even aware of my martial arts skills. At least I didn’t think my mother had mentioned it.

  “Rest now,” he said, standing up. He was swaying and the thought of him driving scared the crap out of me. “We have a long drive ahead of us.”

  “Where are you taking me?” I asked.

  The smile he gave me made my skin crawl. He licked his lips. “Somewhere safe; where we can finally be alone.”

  ***

  I’d fallen back asleep, which was probably for the best because my head felt much better the next time I opened my eyes.

  “Austin!” I yelled.

  Just like last time, he ignored me until I began to kick the walls of the truck.

  “Austin!” I screamed louder. My bladder was aching for release and I just knew I’d pee in my shorts after a few more bumps.

  Finally, the truck stopped and Austin came back around.

  “What?” he asked. He looked weary, his face even chalkier than before.

  I smiled sheepishly. “I have to pee.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You’re not trying to escape, are you?”

  I shook my head. “No, I really have to go. It’s been quite a while since I’ve gone.”

  He sighed. “Okay, but just so you know, there aren’t any bathrooms nearby. You’ll have to squat next to the road.”

  “Whatever,” I said. “I really can’t wait any longer.”

  He helped me down from the truck and I thought about kicking him hard and running, but my hands were still tied. I was more afraid of being attacked by a zombie than Austin, who looked pretty fragile at the moment.

  The sun was shining as I took in the surroundings and my eyes began to water. I’d been locked inside of the truck for who knows how many hours and now everything seemed too bright. From what I could determine, we were somewhere on Interstate Thirty-Five. The roads were deserted and the only thing visible for miles was farmland.

  “Turn around, please,” I said as he followed me to the side of the road. He was staring at me with such intensity, that it was creeping me out.

  Austin shook his head. “Right, so you can just run off?”

  I smiled. “Oh, Austin… I already thought of that, but I’m not stupid. If I were to run into any zombies, I’d be totally defenseless with my hands tied.”

  His shrill laughter made me wonder if he was losing his mind. “You’d definitely be an easy meal,” he replied.

  “Tell you what,” I said. “I’ll go behind that tree over there.” I motioned to a thick oak tree. “And come right back.”

  Austin pulled the gun out from behind his back. “Okay, fair enough. You don’t mind if I point a gun toward you, just in case a zombie comes up behind you?”

  I smiled, only to protect me? Yeah right. “Oh, no, not at all, Austin.”

  His face suddenly went slack and it really freaked me out. He stood motionless with the gun at his side, just staring off into space.

  “Austin!” I yelled, trying to get his attention. His behavior was unnerving. Although I knew he hadn’t been bitten by any zombies, he was sure beginning to act like one.

  His face came back to life and he looked at me. “What?”

  I raised my hands. “Um, how am I going to remove my shorts with my hands tied?”

  The emotions on his face were mixed. He licked his lips. “I… I can take them off, for you.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. “Do you really think my mother would be happy to hear how you removed my shorts?”

  He smiled sardonically. “It could be our secret?”

  The idea that he’d kidnapped me and was now flirting made me ill. I forced a smile to hide my disgust. “Now, Austin, I’m still a minor, you know.”

  He snorted. “You weren’t acting like a child with Bryce earlier. In fact, you looked like you knew exactly what you were doing.”

  Thoughts of Bryce made my chest tighten. There was a big possibility that I’d never see him again and it terrified me. I sighed. “Seriously, I really have to pee.”

  He walked me over to the tree and pulled me closer to him. Looking into my eyes, he unzipped my shorts and pulled them down, never once looking below my face, even when he had to bend.

  I cleared my throat. “Thanks.”

  Smiling, he stepped away from me and turned around to give me privacy. “I’ll get you something to drink when we get back to the truck.”

  “Thanks,” I said, trying to pee as quietly as I could with a grown man standing less than a few feet away. I was embarrassed and tried to hurry. When I finished, I actually managed to pull my shorts back up.

  He turned around and eyed my shorts. “Do you need help buttoning those?”

  Crap.

  I nodded.

  As he stepped closer, the look in his eyes and the way he was breathing sent chills up my spine. Instead of buttoning my shorts, he grabbed the back of my head and crushed his lips against mine.

  “Austin!” I yelled, trying frantically to pull away from his hold. “What… what are you doing?”

  His breath was ragged and he stared at me with such longing, it was frightening. “I’m sorry… I just…I couldn’t help myself.”

  It was then that I had a light bulb moment. Trying to smile as provocatively as I could, I said, “What I mean is… why is it that you’re allowed to kiss me, when I can’t even touch you? It doesn’t seem quite fair.”

  He eyed me skeptically. “Are you saying you want to touch me?”

  I smiled and ran my tongue slowly over my lips. “Oh yes, definitely. If you’re going to kiss me like that, I just have to touch you, Austin,” I replied breathlessly.

  He stared at me with naked hunger as he grabbed a knife from his pocket, which I hadn’t even noticed before. When he cut the ropes I felt a twinge of guilt for what I was about to do.

  “Austin,” I murmured as the ropes fell to the ground and he tossed the knife aside.

  He looked into my eyes and smiled eagerly. “Yes, Cassie?”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  Before he could respond, my foot came up and I kicked him hard in the jaw. He fell to the ground and I took off running toward the truck.

  9

  “Crap!” I hollered when I got into the army vehicle. The keys were gone and it was indeed a manual transmission. Even if I had the keys, I didn’t know if I’d be able to drive it.

  A loud growl interrupted my thoughts and I screamed in horror as a zombie leaned into the truc
k and grabbed my arm.

  “No!” I yelled as her broken mouth opened and she tried to bite into my flesh. I kicked her in the head and she fell backwards onto the ground.

  I slammed the door and locked it as the zombie tried coming after me again. Her face was so rotted that her skin looked like string cheese and there was no flesh left on her eyelids.

  Looking around frantically, I located my war hammer under the seat of the truck. I picked it up and decided it would be wise to leave on foot before Austin came back or more zombies arrived. Plus, I didn’t have the keys and it was pointless to remain in the truck, a sitting duck.

  Scrambling to the passenger seat, I opened the door and jumped out. From there, my situation became worse.

  “Going somewhere?” snarled Austin, stumbling toward me with a crazed look, emphasized even more so by the dark shadows under his eyes. A loud howling from the female zombie broke his concentration, and as Austin raised the gun to shoot it, I took off running toward a field of corn.

  “So that’s how it’s going to be!” he hollered after his gun went off. “You’re going to be a bitch after everything I’ve sacrificed for you?”

  The cornstalks weren’t quite as tall as I would have liked and I had to run hunched over. I glanced back and noticed that Austin was having a hard time moving with his injuries. As long as I stayed hidden, he probably wouldn’t even catch me.

  With a new burst of confidence, I turned my head forward, ready to leave him in the dust. Instead, I tripped over something on the ground and fell, landing flat on my face.

  “There’s… nowhere… to go!” huffed Austin from somewhere in the distance. “Quit… wasting time!”

  I stood back up and moaned in pain, I’d twisted my ankle and it was now on fire.

  “Shit,” I gasped, trying desperately to trudge forward through the stalks. All I could do was limp and pray that he’d pass out or zone out before he had the chance to catch me.

  “Cassie!” he yelled, closing the gap between us, with every step he took to my two. “Stop moving. I’m not… going… to hurt you!”

  Then, just like in one of the many horror flicks I’d stayed up late watching, a rickety old farmhouse came into view. It had to be well over a hundred years old, conveniently available, and more than likely, a deathtrap.

  I pushed myself forward, my ankle screaming in pain the entire way. Just as I made it to the porch, Austin broke through the cornstalks, grinning madly.

  “Well,” he said, bending over, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “If you… wait for me, I’ll carry you over… the threshold… darlin’.”

  I moved as quickly as I could to the door and breathed a sigh of relief to find it unlocked. I went inside of the house quickly, then slammed and locked the door. As I backed away, staring at the only thing keeping Austin from me, my heart stopped. I inhaled something that was now too familiar; the undeniable stench of rotting flesh.

  I whipped my body around and stood facing two obvious residents of the farm; a giant zombie in torn overalls and his horrifying bean-pole wife. They stared at me with cannibalistic glee.

  “I’m sorry,” I said in a strained voice. “I should have knocked.”

  I raised the war hammer just as the male staggered toward me, and caught him squarely in the skull. As I tried to dislodge my weapon, two things happened at once; the front door burst open and the female flew at me.

  “Zombies!” I screamed at Austin while I attempted to kick the festering female with my tender ankle, which was more painful than anything I could have possibly imagined.

  Austin snickered and fired a bullet into the zombie’s skull. “See,” he said. “That’s why you need protection. You really don’t make the wisest decisions.”

  My war hammer was now free from the zombie’s skull and I held it firmly in front of me. “Austin, just leave me alone. Please.”

  He looked hurt. “You’re not thinking of using that on me now, are you, darlin’? I thought we were friends.”

  It was then that I noticed how infected his hand was. “What’s wrong with your hand?” I asked him.

  He looked at it and shrugged. “That little zombie freak, Brooke, she scratched my hand back at the park, remember?”

  “Let me see it,” I said, moving closer.

  He glared at me and raised the gun. “Right, like I’m going to fall for that again.”

  I released a deep sigh. “Look, I’m sorry, but you’re the one who kidnapped me and put us in this situation. You can’t expect me to be passive about it.”

  Austin stared at me for a few seconds then his eyes softened. He offered me his hand and I examined the wound.

  “This looks really infected,” I said. There was a lot of puss and a redness that was beginning to extend up his arm. “Does it hurt?”

  He nodded. “It hurts more than my shoulder now. That reminds me, we need to get back to the truck so I can take some more Vicodin. Please, hand over your weapon before one of us gets hurt.”

  I raised my chin defiantly. “I’m not letting you hold me prisoner, Austin.”

  His mouth curled up into an angry scowl and he took a step closer to me. “You’re mine and I’m not letting you go,” he growled.

  I knew he was crushing on me a little heavily, but the way he said that was enough to send anyone over the edge. I took a step back. “Austin…”

  Before I could finish my sentence, his face went slack and he toppled to the ground, unconscious.

  10

  I hesitated about getting any closer to Austin, even though he appeared to be passed out, but I really wanted his gun. As I leaned over him to pick it up, he grabbed me and pulled me to the ground.

  “Looking for something?” he sneered, taking the war hammer from my grasp and tossing it aside.

  “Let me go!” I demanded as I struggled to free myself. He was incredibly strong, even with his injuries. Before I knew it, he was on top of me, pinning me firmly to the ground.

  He smiled nastily. “Now, let's see how Wild you really are.”

  As he tried to capture my lips with his, I turned my face away and attempted to knee him between the legs, but his heavy weight made it difficult. “Please, Austin, don't do this!” I pleaded, my heart pounding madly in my chest.

  “Not so courageous now, are you?” he whispered. His eyes burned into mine, shocking me into silence. Ruptured red capillaries lined the whites of his eyes and the skin on his forehead was beginning to get that same mottled look I'd seen on the zombies.

  Either he’s turning into a zombie or one of us is completely losing their mind, I thought. Tears of frustration burned my eyes as I struggled to get away from him.

  “You're all mine now,” he growled. Then his mouth found my neck and he kissed me roughly, even grazing the tender skin with his teeth. When something warm began sliding down my neck and he moaned with pleasure, I shuddered in horror as I realized he was reveling in the taste of my blood.

  Then, miraculously, he rolled off of me.

  I sat up and watched, paralyzed in horror as Austin had some type of major seizure.

  “Help me,” he gurgled as his head thrashed around and white foam bubbled out of his cracked lips.

  His entire body shook and I was stunned into silence. As my shock wore off, I scrambled to my feet, grabbing both the gun and war hammer. I backed away from him, not knowing exactly what to do. My feelings were so jumbled, part of me wanted to help, but the other wanted to get as far away from him as I could. When he finally stopped convulsing on the floor, he turned to me and my pulse roared in my ears. The look in his bloodshot eyes was of a predator ready to pounce. I knew instinctively that he wanted to devour me in a totally different sense than before. As I raised the war hammer to end it before he went all zombie on me, he snapped out of it and looked at me in horror.

  “What the hell are you doing, Wild?” he asked, sharply.

  I backed away from him, holding my weapon up. “You're... changing, Aust
in,” I said. “A moment ago you were ready to kill me. I saw it in your eyes.”

  He looked at me like I was crazy and shook his head. “Jesus, I'd never kill you, Cassie. I admit that I blacked out a second ago, but that doesn't make me a killer.”

  I let out a shaky breath and then motioned toward the door. “Austin, I'm leaving now; alone. Don't come after me or you'll give me no choice; I’ll…hurt you.”

  He sighed. “Look, I'm sorry I lost control earlier. It was completely uncalled for and I promise it won't happen again.”

  I snorted. “Lost control? That's putting it mildly.”

  He nodded and rubbed his forehead. “I know... it was pretty bad. I don't know what came over me.”

  “It doesn't matter, I'm not going anywhere with you,” I said, raising the gun. “Now, move out of the way.”

  He stared at me for a minute then stepped away from the door. “So, you're just going to leave me in the middle of nowhere without a vehicle or a weapon to protect myself?”

  “Check the garage outside, there's probably a tractor and an old shovel.”

  He smirked. “Very funny, Wild, but I reckon you're not going to get far without these,” he said, holding up the truck keys.

  Damn, I'd forgotten about the keys.

  “Give them to me,” I demanded.

  He chuckled. “I... I don't think so,”

  I held out my hand. “Cut the crap, Austin, give me the damn keys!”

  He sighed then held them out toward me without moving any closer.

  As I stepped cautiously forward to take them, my cell phone began to ring; the one in his pocket.

  “Aw, shucks, what do you know? Let me get that,” he said with a smug smile. He took out the cell phone and from the look on his face, it wasn't my mom.

  “Give the phone to me, Austin,” I commanded.

  He ignored me. “Howdy, Bryce! No, asshole, she's fine,” he said then grinned wickedly. “She tastes pretty fine, too.”

  I raised the gun and pointed it at his skull. “Give me the phone, now, or I will pull the trigger.”