Zombie Games (Book 4): Road Kill Read online

  “My gun and I still have the machete,” he said, pointing towards the bed of the truck which was now completely filled with zombies. “I just have to get to it.”

  “How are you going to get out of the truck?” asked Allie, staring at the group of zombies pawing at the windows. “There’s, like, over twenty zombies out there.”

  He pulled out his revolver and unlocked the door. “Like this,” he said, slamming the door into the Gollum-zombie, knocking him backwards. “The roof!” he yelled, clamoring out of the trunk and slamming the door.

  The girls watched as Justice shot Gollum-zombie and then two more.

  “Look out!” shrieked Kylie, as more zombies advanced towards him.

  Raising the machete, he began swinging and moving away from the vehicle while the zombies followed.

  “Okay,” said Allie, when the zombies had all seemed to have forgotten about them. “We should go.”

  Kylie unlocked the passenger-side door and they both slipped out of the truck.

  “Oh my God,” whispered Kylie, as they crouched down. “More zombies.”

  Three zombies had entered the parking lot with their noses in the air, sniffing. It didn’t take them long before they noticed the commotion on the other side of the parking lot, where Justice was still swinging away, and moved in that direction.

  “Come on,” said Allie, grabbing Kylie’s hand.

  The girls ran towards the next level of the ramp and ducked behind a van, when they noticed another zombie wandering down from the second level.

  “Keep going, keep going,” pleaded Allie as he shuffled closer to the van. When it stopped and began sniffing the air, both girls looked at each other in horror.

  “Oh no, he must smell us,” whispered Kylie.

  A loud growl of excitement confirmed their suspicions and seconds later, the girls found themselves facing a hungry and very scary giant.

  “Back off,” said Allie, raising the bat. “Shoo!”

  The lips on the dark-skinned zombie, who stood close to seven feet, turned up in a gruesome smile. He lurched towards the girls.

  “Oh my God!” screamed Kylie.

  Allie swung the bat as hard as she could and hit the zombie in the waist. The zombie swayed slightly backwards but then steadied itself, growling angrily.

  “Hit him again!” yelled Kylie.

  This time she raised the bat over her head and hit the zombie in the chest, knocking him to the ground. “Let’s go!” she cried.

  The girls ran past the zombie and continued their way to the next level, pausing only to gauge the safety of their path. When it looked clear, they ran to the next two levels until Allie stopped.

  “I’m tired,” she gasped, out of breath. “Let’s walk the rest of the way.”

  “I hope nobody shows up and takes our food and water from the truck,” said Kylie, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “I’m dying of thirst.”

  “Me too. I’m sure Justice will drive us back to the truck once we find another vehicle with gas.”

  “If he makes it,” said Allie, her eyes big.

  “Don’t say that. He will.”

  “Did you see the zombies entering the lot when we left? There were so many…”

  “Justice will make it. He promised.”

  “We’ll see.”

  They walked the rest of the way in silence, reaching the roof of the parking ramp. Both girls hesitated to step into the rain as they watched it come down in heavy sheets.

  “At least, there aren’t any zombies to greet us,” said Allie.

  “Maybe they just don’t like the rain.”

  “Maybe.”

  A growl from behind startled the girls. When they turned around, they found two gruesome half-naked zombies heading in their direction.

  “Great,” said Allie, gripping the bat tighter. “At least these two are a little smaller than that last dude.”

  The zombies appeared to be women, one much older than the other, but from the neck down they were both so chewed up and rotted, they no longer resembled females.

  “I can’t do it,” said Kylie, her hand shaking as she pointed the knife towards the zombies. “I just can’t.”

  “Fine, let’s just run,” said Allie, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her into the storm. The girl’s feet splashed through the rain puddles until they reached the stairwell. When they glanced back, they noticed the two zombies hadn’t given up on them that easily.

  “Let’s hide in here!” yelled Allie, grasping the door-handle. Unfortunately, it was locked. “No…no…no…,” she cried. “This is not happening.”

  “What’s wrong? Open the door!”

  “It’s locked!”

  “Oh no!”

  Allie stared at her friend, whose wet, dark hair was plastered against her face. “We’re going to have to kill them ourselves.”

  Kylie’s eyes widened in horror. “I-,”

  “You have too!”

  “Oh no. Oh my God!”

  The younger zombie reached the girls first and Allie stepped forward, her bat held high. “Leave us alone!”

  The zombie ignored her and lurched forward with arms open wide.

  Allie swung the bat and bashed the zombie in the head. What was left of the zombie’s skull caved and it dropped to the ground, no longer moving.

  The other zombie arrived and went right for Kylie who screeched in horror as she jabbed at its chest with the knife.

  “In the head, remember!” yelled Allie, pulling the zombie back by its stringy wet hair.

  As it turned towards her, she raised the bat to swing, but as luck would have it, the zombie somehow, stepped out of the way.

  “Crap,” she muttered.

  The zombie turned back towards Allie and lunged for her again.

  “Kill it!” hollered Allie.

  Crying, Kylie raised the knife and plunged it into its horrifying face, then backed away as it fell forward and hit the ground.

  “Are you alright?” asked Allie, both of them trembling.

  “I think so,” she said, weeping. “I can’t believe I had to do that.”

  “It would have killed you,” said Allie as the girls hugged in the rain. “You had no choice.”

  “You two okay?”

  The girls turned to find Justice limping towards them. They rushed over and both threw their arms around him, crying.

  “Oh my God!” sobbed Kylie. “We were so scared!”

  “It’s okay,” he said, patting her softly on the back. “I’m here, now.”

  “Are you okay?” asked Allie as they released him.

  He gave her a lopsided grin. “Well, I almost broke my neck falling over a raised slab of cement but other than that, I’m fine.”

  Allie smiled proudly. “We killed us some zombies.”

  He looked down at the dead corpses. “I see that. Good job.”

  “It was horrible,” said Kylie. “I hope I never have to do it again.”

  He walked over and put his hands on her shoulder. “I agree, kid, it’s horrible, but you do what you have to, to stay alive. Don’t ever hesitate if one of those things come after you, again. They won’t change their mind about killing you and neither should you.”

  She sighed and nodded.

  “What now?” asked Allie.

  Justice scanned the lot, which held only three vehicles. He pointed to an old Ford pickup. “I think I can hotwire that one. Hopefully it has enough gas to get us out of this town.”

  “What about that car with the sunroof?” asked Allie, pointing to a newer Buick Regal.

  He shook his head. “I feel a little safer in the taller truck with the crowd of zombies down there, trying to get to us. Plus, I know I can hotwire the Ford, it’s older. I’m not sure about the Regal.”

  “Oh.”

  They followed Justice to the old truck and found it unlocked.

  “That was lucky,” said Kylie.

  “Why would it be locked?” said Allie. “If someone wa
s going to steal a vehicle, they probably wouldn’t go for an old truck like this.” It was at least twenty years old and reminded her of Cassie’s old one.

  “Easy as pie,” said Justice a couple of minutes later when the engine roared to life.

  “What’s that noise?” muttered Kylie, as they backed up.

  “It sounds like it needs a new muffler,” he said, frowning. “This thing is going to draw a lot of attention.”

  “Great, the zombies are going to hear us coming from the next town,” said Allie.

  “We’ll trade it in as soon as we can. Right now, we really don’t have a choice,” said Justice.

  “At least the tank is half full,” said Kylie.

  He nodded. “It’ll get us out of the city. There will be plenty of vehicles in the next fifty miles or so. Lots of homes with trucks.” He looked into the rearview mirror. “In fact, we’d better leave now. The noise has drawn more zombies.”

  Four of them were headed in their direction, but they zigzagged around them and left the upper level of the ramp.

  “See,” said Justice, when he was forced to hit a zombie on the next level down. “Hitting one of those things with a car wouldn’t be as effective. An old truck like this is much more practical.”

  “Ew… now there’s zombie blood on the hood,” cringed Allie.

  “The rain will wash it off when we get back outside,” he said, turning another corner.

  “What about our supplies?” asked Kylie, who was sitting in the middle. “Are we going back to the other truck for them?”

  He sighed. “No. It’s just not worth the risk and my back hurts, so now I’m at a disadvantage. Besides, when I left that area of the ramp, there were more zombies entering the lot.”

  “Well, I’m so thirsty,” said Kylie. “I’m going to get nauseous if we don’t find something to drink, soon.”

  “We’ll find something,” he said. “Just hold tight.”

  “Okay.”

  When they exited the building, there were still dozens of zombies stumbling through the streets.

  “Is this what it’s going to be like for now one?” sighed Allie, laying her head against the passenger window. “Just those things and us, trying to avoid them?”

  “Eventually they’ll die out if they can’t eat,” he said.

  She turned to him. “How do you know? I mean aren’t they already dead?”

  “Good point.”

  “It’s not going to be like this forever,” said Kylie. “God has a plan.”

  Allie raised her eyebrows. “God has a plan? And how do you know?”

  “You’d know if you’d watched the History Channel more often,” she said.

  “I love the History Channel,” said Justice. “But I may have missed the program pertaining to zombies and God.”

  “Well, it didn’t really specify zombies,” said Kylie. “But it did mention deadly plagues, which did help create the zombies.”

  Allie sighed. “I give up, what has God got to do with the zombies and the world changing?”

  “It’s the End of Days. Just like one of the historians on the show said.”

  “What exactly did they say?” asked Allie.

  “They said that we’d be struck by disease, hunger and earthquakes. The sky will turn dark like night, and the oceans will turn to blood and Satan will emerge to fight in the final battle, between good and evil.”

  Allie’s jaw dropped. “Shut up. Seriously? That’s what they said?”

  Kylie nodded. “Yep.”

  “That’s kind of blowing things way out of proportion, isn’t it?” asked Justice. “I mean you shouldn’t jump to that conclusion just because a vaccine caused some pretty horrifying side-effects.”

  “Yeah,” said Allie. “Don’t go there, Kylie. Unless we get slammed with more earthquakes and the water turns to blood, I don’t want to hear any more about predictions that you’ve learned about on the History Channel. It’s scary enough out there as it is.”

  “Exactly. Besides, if the Devil or Antichrist is here on earth, I’m sure we’d know by now,” said Justice.

  “Not necessarily,” said Kylie. “He may have already been around for a number of years and we may not have known. Like a snake, waiting for the right moment to strike. Who knows, maybe he tampered with the vaccine that created the zombies.”

  Allie felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck. “Okay, you’re really freaking me out. Let’s just not talk about this anymore.”

  “Fine, but-.”

  Allie closed her eyes. “Seriously. Stop.”

  Kylie didn’t say anything more. Not even when they passed by a pink-tinged lake where two entranced zombies appeared to be heading.

  Chapter Nine

  Cassie

  “Just keep your mouth shut and I won’t hurt you,” whispered Dwayne, covering my mouth with his calloused hand as he pulled me into the darkness.

  Although I’d lost my gun during our scuffle, he had no idea what he’d started. Weapon or not, there was no way I’d go down without a struggle. In fact, I’d purposely allowed him take me outside and away from the church, as I figured kicking someone's ass in a holy place had to be sacrilegious.

  I nodded, trying to appear scared and as unthreatening as possible. The truth was, after everything I’d been through, I figured this would be cake. Plus, I needed a little sparring practice.

  He dragged me around the church and that's when he made his first mistake.

  He released me.

  I turned to face him. “What do you want?”

  “Just to talk,” he said, but the look in his eyes said otherwise.

  I snorted. “Oh, that’s how you get a girl to talk? You must have been quite the catch back in your hometown.”

  “I was,” he said, moving closer. “Gals lined up to be with me.”

  I smirked. “Lined up, huh? You must be referring to the showers at that prison you were incarcerated at.”

  His face darkened and he grabbed me by the throat.

  Crap.

  “That’s not funny. Don’t joke about things like that,” he spat, his eyes bulging. “You have no idea what a man has to do to survive in a place like that. What he has to give up. No clue.”

  My eyes were watering. I tried digging my fingernails into his hands but unfortunately, I’d bitten them down to the skin. I then tried to position myself so that I could ‘knee’ him between the legs, when he suddenly released me and took a step back.

  I bent over to catch my breath. “Sorry,” I rasped.

  “That's better. Apology accepted.”

  “No,” I said straightening up. “Sorry that I underestimated you.”

  Then, before he had a chance to respond, I spun my leg around and delivered a roundhouse kick to his chin, using as much force as I could. He fell backwards with a grunt and I smiled in satisfaction.

  Good thing I hadn’t taken off my mountain boots.

  “You bitch,” he growled, scrambling back up.

  “Is that what they called you in prison?” I taunted as he launched at me. I ducked his attack, then turned and kicked him in the back of the leg, sending him into a prickly Evergreen bush.

  “What’s going on out here?” hollered Henry, who stepped out of the darkness with his shotgun raised.

  “He, um, started it,” I said, smiling sheepishly.

  Dwayne stood up slowly, a grimace on his face. “Just wanted to talk is all. Had no idea she was such a crazy broad.”

  “If you knew what was good for you,” muttered Henry. “You wouldn’t call Wild a broad and you’d stay away from her.”

  I frowned. “Hey, I’m also not crazy.”

  Henry ignored me. “Looks like you’ve overstayed your welcome, Dwayne. Now, you need to get your friend and high-tail it on out of here.”

  He scowled. “I don’t think that’s your decision. Besides, this is a church. A place of God. He doesn’t turn anyone away.”

  “Once you turn him away,” said Sis
ter Theresa, stepping around the corner of the building. “There is only darkness.”

  “And an exit door with your name on it,” said Henry.

  I just couldn’t resist. “That' shouldn't be too difficult for him to find. Dwayne is no stranger to the 'exit door'.”

  He shot me a scathing look and I was relieved that Henry was the one holding the shotgun.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on out here,” said Sister Theresa, her face solemn. “But this is a sacred church and we don’t condone any immoral behavior. Now, for the protection of the children and our other guests, I suggest that you, and your friend Travis, leave without giving us anymore trouble.”

  “You people are all nuts,” said Dwayne, shaking his head. “I haven’t done anything but receive a few lucky kicks from this crazy chick.”

  “They were deliberate, not lucky,” I snapped, putting my hands on my hips. “And you were lucky that Henry saved your ass or I would have handed it back to you on a platter.”

  “Right,” snorted Dwayne.

  “Here’s the other one,” hollered Nora, clutching an ax as she followed Travis, who clearly did not look happy. “Kallie told us what happened and so I woke this one, too.”

  “What did you do?” snarled Travis, getting into Dwayne’s face.

  Dwayne’s face paled. “Nothing.”

  “He was trying to have his way with young Wild, here,” said Henry. “I’d say that was something.”

  “I told you to behave here,” snapped Travis, grabbing the larger man by the front of the shirt. “To keep your shit in check.”

  “Please. I wasn’t going to do anything,” replied Dwayne, with real terror in his eyes.

  Henry and I glanced at each other in surprise. Although Dwayne was much bigger than Travis, it was obvious as to who was in charge.

  Travis’s shoulders relaxed. He released Dwayne and then turned to me. “I’m sorry, kid. If I would have known he was pulling that shit, I would have kept a better eye on him. We’ll be on our way.”

  I didn’t say anything. Although Travis appeared sincere, something in his eyes told me that he was much more dangerous than Dwayne.

  “We’d appreciate that,” said Henry.

  Travis nodded and then smiled at me. “You’re a brave girl,” he said, his eyes so black, they were unsettling. “I’m sure your parents would have been proud of you. If they would have survived.”