“I swear to the Animal Gods, if that dog gets herself killed and I get stuck with you, Ben-Ben, there will be hell to pay.”
“Hell?” Ben-Ben asked.
“Ultimate dog jail,” Patches said.
“Oooh, that sounds bad.” Ben-Ben cowered.
“You too?” Jess asked as Patches easily jumped up and grabbed the lip of the window pulling herself up and out.
Patches looked around quickly. She could hear Riley’s barking trailing off as she moved further away. She turned and pawed the glass.
“What?” Jess asked.
“You cannot be this thick,” Patches said to her.
“You want me to go out there?” Jess asked.
“See? I knew all humans weren’t dumb,” Patches said.
“How can they be?” Ben-Ben asked. “They know how to make bacon.”
“Fair point,” Patches replied. “Although I don’t love it quite like you do.”
Jess looked at Patches, confusion quickly becoming a dawning. “Riley is leading them away, so we can get out of here. How is this possible? I’m just not getting it.”
“Doesn’t matter what ‘you get’ get your ass out here!” Patches spat.
“Me next!” Ben-Ben yipped. “I really have to go.”
Jess looked down at him and then to the window. “As good an idea as any.” Jess picked up the small dog.
“Of course it is,” Patches purred, “I thought of it.”
Ben-Ben turned slightly just as Jess was pushing him through the window. “Goodbye, Mia. Goodbye, Jumper. Goodbye, Koala, may you always have a slice of bacon in your mouth.” And then he was out.
“Fine prayer,” Patches told him.
“Thank you,” Ben-Ben told her. He moved a few feet over to the side of the house and hunched over, arching his back placing his backend close to the ground.
“What are you doing?” Patches nearly screamed at him.
“I have to go,” Ben-Ben replied, clearly confused.
“Not here, you dumb dog! The zombies will smell it. You should have gone inside the house.”
Ben-Ben cocked his head to the side. “You’re kidding, right? Riley always yells at me for that…even when I tell her I couldn’t hold it anymore. And now I’m trying to do the right thing and you’re telling me I’m not. I don’t get it?”
“Just hold it some more,” Patches told the dog.
Ben-Ben grunted at her. “Where’s Riley?” he asked, looking around like he just realized his friend wasn’t around anymore.
“Where do you go?” Patches asked. “Did you miss the whole plan?”
“There was a plan?” he asked.
“Just keep an eye out for zombies.”
“Which eye?” Ben-Ben asked.
“If I didn’t think you’d start crying, I’d stick a claw in your nose.”
Ben-Ben moved away.
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve done today,” Patches said, returning her gaze back into the basement.
Jess had picked up Zach and walked over towards Mia. Patches heard her murmur a small prayer and then she came back towards the window. She hesitated as she moved to put the baby outside. “I’m sorry,” Jess told Zach as she pushed him through the window. He toppled a couple of inches to the ground. When he righted himself he had some leaves sticking to the side of his head.
“That was fun,” he gurgled.
Jess made sure all of the safeties were engaged on the pistols and shotgun before she pushed them through the window.
“Anti-gun activists would have a field day with this if they saw it,” Jess said as weapons surrounded her younger brother. Zach watched his sister put the guns down but made no move for them.
Jess grabbed the lip of the house and jumped up, the weight of her body coming down on the window. It shattered with a much louder crack than it should have. With no manmade sounds to speak of, the smashing of the glass pane traveled far. Jess paused for a moment and then began to hurriedly pull herself through the small enclosure as they heard footsteps coming their way.
RILEY
I’ve had better ideas, I thought as I ran from yard to yard.
I had a good number of zombies playing chase. Only some were the faster ones and they usually got stuck on fences, giving me enough time to catch my breath as I went through the openings in between. My throat was sore from all the panting I was doing, and I really wanted a huge bowl of water.
Only once so far had I had to fight my way out of a situation. I had run into a back yard and had been panting so heavily I had not heard the zombie exit the home from behind me. I’d been watching the zombies that had been following me. They were walking into the fence, which caught most of them high on their legs. Some would fall in or be pushed over and the pursuit would begin anew. Other times, the faster zombies would hit the fences so hard they would snap the dead trees, usually at the cost of their own broken bones that would snap louder than the wood.
It made no sense that they felt no pain and they seemingly never got tired. The closest thing I’d ever seen pursue food so relentlessly was Ben-Ben, and even he had his limitations. Maybe to the zombies I was one huge slab of bacon. That was the thought I had when I felt a foot stumble into me from behind. The zombie was bent over at the waist, her black mouth agape. Jagged teeth were gnawing ceaselessly as her outstretched hands tried to encircle my neck. I was glad the cat wasn’t there to see me as I yelped. I tucked my tail between my legs and leaped.
In my panic to get away I did not watch where I was heading. I had kept my line of sight on her as I ran. The back of the yard had the smooth planked dead trees that rose much higher than I could jump and with no openings, it was not an avenue of escape. I slid to a halt as I turned my body. Fangs bared, lips pulled back, fur bristled, I barked savagely as she advanced. Her hands were still outstretched as I ripped three of her fingers off in one foul bite. Her blood-soaked fingers on her left hand tried to seek purchase. The best she could manage was a mild pinch on that side. Her other hand gripped a large swath of fur and pulled me towards her. I sank my teeth deep into the meat of her arm. She was unconcerned as she brought her mouth down towards the side of my face, looking to pull pieces of me away and into her mouth.
Ben-Ben had a history of eating some of the most disgusting things the world had to offer – on more than one occasion that even involved animal droppings, and still his breath had never smelled quite as horrid as this thing that leaned down for me. If the Death-being Patches said she saw had a smell, this would be it. I let go of her arm and wrenched myself free from her grasp, whining a bit as she took a fistful of fur with her. Her teeth clamped down on air. Her eyes went from satisfied, to confused, to enraged that I had not sat quietly while she ate me. At least that’s what it looked like to me.
I latched on to the back of her thigh before she could spin and try to grab hold once again. I dug my front paws into the ground and violently whipped my head back and forth. The light fake furs yielded easily enough as did a substantial amount of her muscle. I ripped a wide red wet swath of it clean from her, leaving a gaping wound where she was once whole. The piece of meat was still rippling on the ground when she turned. I ran into the middle of the yard and she followed, dragging her damaged leg behind – her foot at a grotesque angle to the rest of her leg.
“How?” I barked.
The taste of her was sour in my mouth. This one zombie above all others bothered me to no end. Her pale, gray, moist eyes were locked on to me. She wore fake skins much like She-Alpha, and their size, build and looks were similar enough that they could be littermates. Maybe that was why I wished so hard that she’d stop chasing me. I needed this rest. Soon I was going to have to circle back around and try and find my pack and this zombie was not allowing it. I knew better than to posture an attack…I did it anyway. Tough to just ignore something that is instinctual. That was as much a part of me as looking out for my pack.
I ran at the zombie, coming close, and at the last moment I moved to the side and away from her outstretched hands. I quickly got in behind it. The zombie spun down as I’d hoped it would with its leg not working correctly. Dogs and even cats could get around pretty good with one damaged leg, two-leggers not so much. I had thought to crush her skull in my teeth, but the pain to my jaw would be immense and just the thought of tasting her mind did not sit well in my stomach. I went to the leg that was whole and ripped out a portion to match the other. She could come at me now, but it would be at a snail’s pace.
I moved a few paces away. I was breathing heavily and needed to slake this thirst. First things first though as I took a few ragged breathes. My head whipped up with the loud cracking of the fence that separated me from the zombies. The chase was on again, I was not sure how much longer I could keep this up.
JESS
Patches was caught midway between wanting to flee to preserve her life and staying to protect the pack. “Damn you, Riley, if you get me killed I’m going to be pissed. Stupid guilt,” she said softly, her tail the only thing moving.
Patches was peeking out from underneath the bushes. There were three zombies in the area; two seemed completely oblivious to anything going on and the third was sniffing the air. Patches could tell he had caught a scent of something, but as of yet had not located his prey.
Patches wished Jess would be quieter as she grunted her way through the window. The zombie would sniff, then stop and look around, take a step or two, then repeat the cycle.
He’s hunting, she thought as she watched. He turned and she slunk back further under the brush. She thought he had a good idea where they were. She noted that the other two had turned as well even though they were further away and as of yet had not shown any curiosity whatsoever for her location.
There’s some form of communication going on, Patches thought as she watched the feet of the other two begin to approach. “Hurry up, Jess,” she hissed an urgent message to the girl.
Jess had just pulled her last leg out of the window. She checked on Zach and then stuffed the two pistols into the front pouch of the sweatshirt hoodie she was wearing. She grabbed Zach and then the rifle. The lead zombie was pushing up against the bushes, trying to force his way through. He made it about half way when he stopped.
“Wheeler,” Ben-Ben said softly. Patches could tell there was a hint of excitement in his voice. “Two of them, we’re safe.”
Patches was not nearly as convinced. She knew there was no one out there looking for them or attempting to rescue them unless Riley had magically learned how to drive. “That’d be something,” she said. “I’d like to see that.”
Ben-Ben looked confused.
“Do not move, dog,” Patches said, her tail brushing the ground behind her. “We don’t know who is in those cars.” At least the sound of the engines had the added benefit of drawing the two furthest zombies away.
Jess had propped the shotgun up against her shoulder as she sat hunched down by the side of the house. The business end of it was pointed up into the bushes where the zombie would meet his maker if he came one foot further.
She would have to shoot if he did, and if that happened, the people in the cars would know where they were. Patches hoped it didn’t come to that. Zombies were dangerous to be sure but nothing in comparison to people. The zombie paused momentarily and then followed his brethren.
“Well, that’s my car,” a voice said. “Did you have to shoot it up?”
“Icely,” Jess whispered under her breath.
“I didn’t want them to use it to get away,” Dianna said.
“Ever hear of pulling the spark plug wires?” Icely asked with some heat.
“There were zombies here and people were shooting at us. Sedgwick had been hit,” Ned said.
“Yeah, yeah I get it, lot of shit going on,” he told them. “Mia!” he shouted. “You going to come out on your own, or are you going to make me come in there and get you? It’ll go worse for you if I have to do that! Well…scratch that, it’s going to go bad for you either way, but you could at least be courteous enough to save me the trouble!”
“Zombies,” Grumper said. “There’s always fucking zombies.”
Dianna lifted her machine gun, Icely pushed the barrel down. “You daft? You fire that thing and we’re going to have a zombie party in under five minutes.”
He reached into his car and pulled out a machete. He rubbed his thumbnail along the blade, satisfied with the sharpness. The tall man strode towards the nearest zombie. He pulled the arm wielding the large knife back, turning his hips like a professional baseball player as he swung. The blade met little resistance as it parted the zombie’s Adam’s apple, sliced through his esophagus, and then made short work of the delicate bones that supported the head. The zombie took two more steps before it realized it was now driving blind. The head fell with a sickening thud.
“That’s how you do it,” Icely said with a measure of satisfaction.
“I’ll stick to my gun.” Dianna turned away.
Grumper opened up the trunk to the car he had been in and pulled out a large tire iron. “Mind if I take one, boss?” he asked.
“Have at it.” Icely pulled his blade free from the skull of the second zombie. He had struck it on the top of the cranium, determined to split the head in two. He had driven the blade entirely down to the base of the nose before the momentum and human material had slowed and finally stopped the blade. The zombie’s head opened up like a butterfly.
“Well that’s the stuff of nightmares.” Icely laughed as he placed one foot against the zombie’s stomach. As he pushed it away, he wrenched his blade free. The body jerked a few times on the pavement, and then lay still.
Grumper brought the curved end of the tire iron into the forehead of the third zombie. Blood erupted as if it had been under extreme pressure and seeking a way to escape its captivity.
“Weak,” Icely said as the zombie kept coming forward.
“Thing’s skull must be an inch thick,” Grumper said.
“Or you’re getting decrepit in your old age.” Ned smirked at him.
Grumper reared back, his arms shivering as he planted another swing in the same spot, the bones cracking like an over boiled egg. Chunks of skull flew out from the impact; the zombie staggered but was still standing. Grumper walked a couple of steps away and picked up a piece of the skull. “Look at that fucking thing, it’s a freak of nature,” Grumper said turning the abnormally thick piece of bone around and around in his hand.
“Are you going to finish the damn thing off?” Icely asked, watching the swaying zombie.
“Sure, sure sorry.” Grumper dropped the piece of bone and wiped his hand on the side of his shirt. His third blow went halfway into the brain tissue, it was all Grumper could do to pull his iron free before the zombie fell to the ground.
“Okay, Mia, get your ass out here. I want to be done with this and go home. And, oh yeah, bring your little friend out with you. I plan on sharing her with the whole city. The men will be thrilled to have her in the whore stables,” Icely said.
Jess was shaking so violently she nearly dropped the rifle. Patches brushed up against her, hoping that some of her resolve would rub off on the girl.
“What about the man in there, Icely?” Dianna asked.
“What about him?”
“He killed my brother, I want to avenge his death.”
“Then do it. I have no quarrel with him unless he shoots at me.”
There were a few moments where nothing happened and all that could be heard was the idle of the two engines.
“Really, Mia? You’re going to make me come in there? Fine, Ned, get the grenades.”
Jess’ face blanched. Patches had only heard the word once before when Daniel played at war with his friends. He always made exaggerated explosion sounds and would say that everyone on the opposing side was dead, although that never happened. They would complain that they were sufficiently hidden so as to not be hit by the burst.
“I see movement in the house,” Grumper said.
“Looks like zombies…and a shitload of them,” Dianna said.
“Oh you don’t even know how pissed off I’m going to be if they’ve already been offed,” Icely said. “Well…clear some of the stupid bastards away so we can go in and see a half-eaten Mia.”
“The explosion is going to bring zombies,” Ned told him.
Icely grabbed his collar and jerked the man violently towards him. “Do I look stupid?” he spat into the other man’s face. “Just get it done.” Icely shoved him away.
Ned gave a quick look over to Dianna who clutched her weapon tight and then he quickly and cautiously moved towards the house.
“Zombies don’t shoot, dipwad. Hurry up,” Icely said.
“Fire in the hole!” Ned shouted as he pulled the pin on the grenade and lobbed it through one of the broken windows. He quickly ducked down underneath. Everyone took cover except for Icely.
Jess rocked as the house moved behind her. A blistering flame filled with detritus and furniture spewed forth from the window, raining debris down all over the front yard.
“Now that’s what I call exciting! Let’s go see if our friends are okay,” he said with mocking concern. “You first, Dianna, you seem to be all ready to start shooting that little toy of yours.”
She hesitated for a moment and watched him reach for the large magnum strapped to his hip before she did as she was ordered. “Good girl,” he said as she walked away.
She avoided her brother’s blood as she climbed the steps. She checked the lock and kicked once at the door. Pain rocketed up her leg from the unyielding oak and iron door. Icely laughed, a grating noise issuing forth from him.
“Hilarious,” she mumbled as she blistered the door lock with rounds.
The door swung open easily enough after the assault. She stumbled back from the smell of burnt decay. Zombie parts littered the entire room; it looked like a mad doctor’s laboratory that had been stockpiling parts to create some disfigured, liquefied being. She had to swallow down hard to keep the gorge at bay.
“Looks like that bitch of yours is having a hard time,” Icely said to Ned.
Ned came up behind his wife. His eyes began to water, his nose protesting against the odors that assailed it. Dianna walked in, her eyes rapidly scanning the room. She let loose a short staccato burst as zombies began to come out from different parts of the house.
“Shut the screen door,” Ned said, pressing close behind her. He flashed a grenade in front of her.
“Another one?” she asked.
“Why not? How often am I going to have a chance to use them?” Dianna moved out of the way just as the zombies were about to cross the room. Ned pulled the pin and opened the screen door enough to toss it in. “That was stupid,” he said as he grabbed his wife and jumped off the small porch.
The explosion ripped the screen door right from its hinges, sending it spiraling out to the roadway.
“Fire in the hole,” Ned said belatedly.
Jess had cried out from the second explosion. Luckily she wasn’t loud enough to overcome the blast.
Icely stopped the skidding door with his boot. “Maybe lay off the explosives, Ned. Remember me saying I wanted them alive?”
Jess pushed away from the house attempting to see around the corner. From this vantage point she could only see the flattened wheels of the vehicle they had come in. She stayed tight to the side of the house and inched herself closer to the front. She almost gasped when she saw Icely’s white snakeskin boots in the roadway. She pulled back quickly.
Zach was fidgeting a bit, but even he knew better than to say anything right then. Patches had stayed close to Jess as she moved. Her attention was pulled away as she caught a foul odor; she mistakenly thought another zombie was on the prowl. Not more than a foot away Ben-Ben had resumed his defecating position.
He smiled wanly as Patches glared at him. “I really have to go,” he told her sheepishly.
“Oh God,” Jess mumbled. “What is that?” She turned to see Ben-Ben finishing up. She looked relieved that it wasn’t a zombie, but somewhat terrified that Ben-Ben’s masterpiece, such as it was, was blocking her only available path for escape.
“Not cool,” Patches said, skirting a wide path around the scat. “Not cool at all.”
“I really had to go.” Ben-Ben pleaded his case. “Oooh…itchy butt,” he said as he dropped his rear end to the mulch-strewn earth. He dragged himself with his front paws towards Patches. She hissed and ran further away.
“Who does that?” Patches asked.
Ben-Ben was all smiles and tongue when he finished.
They all stopped as they heard the approach of heavy footfalls on the hard ground. Jess breathed a sigh of relief when she realized Icely was heading in to the house.
“You coming?” he asked the driver of his car. “Schools, post a man at the door. I want you to come in and tell me what happened.
“We’ve got to go,” Jess said. Patches thought it was completely unnecessary to voice the obvious.
They clearly heard a lighter snap a flame as the sentry lit a cigarette. That seemed to be the spark Jess needed to get moving. Her eyes grew wide as she did some unnatural body contortions to get past Ben-Ben’s offering. When they were back by the window they had escaped from, Jess forced herself through the bottom of the bush, looked around quickly, then pulled herself and Zach all the way through. She took off running across the backyard.
Dianna and Ned swept through the rooms, taking down four more resilient zombies before the top floor was clear.
“None of these are, Mia,” Icely said as he picked up heads and looked at them whether they were attached to a body or not.
Dianna was in the master bedroom. She had checked out the en-suite bathroom and when she determined the room was safe, she went over to the window to take a look out. She thought she caught movement a few houses down, but it was so fleeting she couldn’t be sure; and she wasn’t going to tell Icely that she may have seen something. Odds were he’d tell her to go check it out herself.
Jess never looked back as she ran. She crossed through two yards and darted into the side yard just as she sensed a psychic tickle that someone was looking her way. She leaned up against the house, breathing heavy. She waited to hear the sounds of alarm or pursuit. When she was convinced she must have imagined it, she began to take in her surroundings.
She turned to her side. Ben-Ben and Patches were sitting staring up at her. “Okay, I know I’m not a world-class sprinter, but how did both of you beat me here? And more importantly, how did you know I was going to stop here?” she asked, looking down at the two animals.
“Because at least one of us is as smart as you, if not more so,” Patches purred. “And you really aren’t very fast, especially carrying a baby and a rifle,” she added, rubbing up against Jess’s leg.
“I’m fast like the air!” Ben-Ben yipped.
“Do you mean like the wind?” Patches asked.
“That’s what I said…I think.”
“This is too close. Let me catch my breath and we’ll move further away,” Jess told them.
ICELY
Diana exited the bedroom just as Ned was opening the doorway to the basement. He stepped back quickly in alarm. Dianna rushed to his aid but he held his hand up. “It’s alright, there’s a stiff on the top landing. Brains blown out. Zombies must have got into the basement as well. Just wasn’t expecting to see that.”
“A little brain splatter making you lose your manhood?” Icely asked as he opened the door wider.
“That the dog killer?” Ned asked, looking at the slumped over form of Jumper.
“Are you fucking kidding?” Icely asked. “That damned thing is so old it couldn’t chew a doughnut. I fucking pay you?”
Schools moved Ned out of the way. “That’s not a zombie,” Schools said as he got down on his haunches.
“Who shot him?” Icely asked. “A little domestic dispute gone bad?” He laughed.
“Offed himself,” Schools said. “Took his shoe off so he could use his toe to pull the trigger. Must have stuck the barrel in his mouth because there’s no entry wound, but he sure took care of business. Twelve gauge if I’m not mistaken. He was bit…the back of his leg is almost stripped clean of meat…must have hurt like hell.”
“Same damn thing he killed my brother with,” Dianna said angrily from behind them.
“Most likely,” Schools said.
“Where’s the gun then, genius?” Ned said.
“Good question.” Schools said as he pulled his from his holster.
“Well, you’re the most useless one here, Ned. Why don’t you go down first?” Icely said. “Normally I’d send Dianna, but her tits are just too nice to have impaled with buckshot. Probably flood out the basement in silicon if that happened anyway. And no, you can’t toss any more fucking grenades.”
“Ned?” Dianna asked with concern.
“It’s okay,” he told her. “I’m coming down.” Ned said, “I don’t want to harm any of you.”
“But I do!” Icely laughed.
Dianna looked at the gun in her hands. It would be so easy. Icely, though--it was like he was psychic. He turned to look at her, a wicked smile plastered across his lips. “What are you looking at?” he asked her before turning back to watch Ned slowly descend the stairs. “Hurry the fuck up, I’m double parked out there,” Icely blared.
Ned moved quicker when his legs became exposed to anyone who was looking. He turned quickly from side to side, wishing that his eyes would adjust quicker to the murkiness in the room.
“Well?” Icely asked, nearly making Ned jump.
“No...nothing. I see blood, but no bodies.”
“They’re down there,” Icely said as if he’d seen them with his own eyes. “Move some boxes out of the way or some shit. They’ll come scurrying out like the rats that they are. And, oh yeah, look out for that fucking dog…it’ll tear your damn throat out.”
Ned swallowed hard, subconsciously hunching his shoulders and pulling his head down a bit to make less of a target for the nape-lusting mutt. As he shuffled further into the room, a spider web draped across his face, nearly making him loose a magazine of rounds. As his eyes finally adjusted, he followed the blood trail to the far corner of the cellar. A form was huddled there, still and unmoving.
“Got a body,” he said as he approached.
“You’re going to be next if you don’t hurry up,” Icely said.
He wanted to tell the man he was more than welcome to come down and look for himself if he was in such a fucking rush, but all that would get him would be a grenade for his efforts.
If there were more people down in the basement with him, they were masters in the art of camouflage because there just weren’t that many places to hide. He prodded the body with the end of his muzzle. If the blood loss was any indicator, this one had expired long ago. He hooked the barrel of his rifle on the shoulder of the body and rolled it over; a sliver of light illuminated the once pretty, now distorted face.
Whoever had shot her had put the barrel of the gun to the back of her head. The bullet had ricocheted throughout her skull breaking her delicate facial bones. Her face had caved in on itself, giving her the sunken look of a woman three times Mia’s age.
“It’s Mia!” Ned shouted.
“Oh happy days,” Icely said gleefully. “We’re going to have so much fun.”
“She’s dead,” Ned replied.
“What!?” Icely asked hotly. He came down the stairs fast, forgetting the potential for any imminent danger. “Where is the bitch?” he demanded as he came across the room. He nearly pushed Ned over in his haste to get to her. “Oh, Mia, what have you done?” he asked tenderly. “I loved you in my own way.” He sat down hard on the concrete. He placed his gun to the side and cradled her head, stroking her hair. “We had good times, me and you. Then you had to go and fuck it all up.” He pushed her head off his lap. “This is what I get for trusting I suppose. It’s a good lesson to learn. A hard one…but a necessary one.”
He bent and picked his gun back up. Just when it looked like he was going to turn and leave, he pulled his leg back and kicked her lifeless body. It was impossible to not hear the sound of snapping ribs as he repeatedly drove his boot into her. Schools and Dianna had come down and were watching the entire scene.
Icely turned and wiped his glistening forehead. “Well…not nearly as satisfying as I would have hoped, but it will have to do. So, mister detective man, what happened here and where are my other little treats?”
“You done?” Schools asked as he approached the broken and battered body.
“For now,” Icely told him.
Schools turned her back over so she was face up. She had been such a beautiful woman, reminded him of his own ex-wife a little. He despaired at seeing her so broken.
“Mercy killing,” Schools said as he stood up.
“So that I wouldn’t get to her?” Icely asked.
As good of an answer as any, Schools thought. “She was killed before she turned into a zombie. She was bit on the arm.”
“I wish she had turned. I would have kept her as a pet. I could have fed my enemies to her. Where’s the other girl? She’s not in here, and somebody had to do Mia in.”
“Maybe it was the guy upstairs?” Dianna asked.
“Did I ask you to say something?” Icely wheeled on her. “Why don’t you make yourself useful and go make us some sandwiches or some shit.”
“She could be right,” Schools said. “Not sure why he’d go back up the stairs to kill himself as well, especially since traversing those steps would have been near impossible with the wound he had.”
“No, this was the girl. That sweet little bitch and her baby brother, they did this, they took my Mia from me and now I have to exact my revenge,” Icely said icily.
Schools couldn’t help himself and it almost cost him his life. “Icely, it’s just two kids, let them go. If you’re away from town too long, anything’s bound to happen.”
Icely’s gun was pressed to School’s head before he could even come to the realization. Schools put his hands up. “Figured you’d see it my way,” he said, putting his pistol back. “This is about respect. What do you think those peasants in Vegas are going to think if I come home empty handed?”
Schools shook his head.
“I’ll tell you what they’ll think. They’ll think Icely is weak and that they can get away with whatever they want. No, that will never do. I’ve got to show a clear message to those who are thinking of crossing me. Ned, get your useless tit-carrier of a wife and grab a body bag from my trunk. Bag the bitch and then we’re leaving.” Icely headed back upstairs.
Ned looked over at Schools. “Don’t, Ned, don’t say it, don’t think it.” Schools followed his boss out of the house.
Icely was leaning against his car, smoking a cigarette when Dianna and Ned finally came out of the house wrestling Mia’s black vinyl-clad body. They were by the bumper of Icely’s car when Icely spoke.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked in between puffs.
“What you told me to do,” Ned said with an edge.
“Never once did I say put her dead ass in my car, that’s just fucking creepy. Put it in yours.”
“Now what?” Schools asked as Ned and Dianna duck-walked the body over towards their car.
“Grumper, pop the fucking trunk will you?” Ned asked. The back of the car rocked momentarily as they unceremoniously deposited Mia’s body into the trunk.
Ned quickly shut the lid.
“You tell me, detective man,” Icely said staring up at the sky.
“Well…she’s either real close, or she got a car and she’s miles from here,” Schools said.
“They used to pay you money to come up with this shit?” Icely asked, flicking the butt of his smoke away.
Schools shrugged his shoulders. “My guess is she’s still around. She probably can’t start a car without keys and that means going into homes to look for them. That’s dangerous all by itself. Any car she finds in the road with keys in it is most likely drained of gas which involves another stop for her.”
“Door-to-door it is then,” Icely said.
“You can’t be serious? That’s how Sedgwick got killed.”
“Oh, I’m serious. I’ll send Dianna up first, and then when she gets killed, I’ll send Ned.”
“And then?” Schools asked.
Icely merely smiled.
“I’ve got a better idea.”
Icely nodded his chin in an ‘I’m listening’ gesture.
“You are under the impression that the girl is set to go to Colorado.”
“I’m positive,” Icely reiterated.
“Then let her.”
“What are you talking about?” Icely asked.
“Odds that we find her in this town are slim. Odds that more of us get shot are probably pretty high. Let her get whatever she needs. She will still be heading to Colorado so all we’ll need to do is wait.”
Icely stared long and coolly at Schools. “That’s not fear speaking is it, Schools? I’d hate for my head of security to be afraid of something, especially a little girl and that big bad wolf of hers.”
I’m more afraid of you and what you’ll do, Schools thought. “The dog merits some fear,” Schools said. “And the girl has proved resourceful. This is the best course of action. There’s the chance she’s already escaped here and we’ll lose valuable time looking for her ghost.”
“Maybe you’re alright after all,” Icely said, wiping his hand along the side of Schools’ face.
“I saw a dog!” Grumper shouted. He was standing next to his car. “Brindle colored. And zombies,” he added.
“Already left? I doubt it. Get in the damn car,” Icely said.
Grumper and Icely’s driver, a dour-faced man named Rick, pulled around Mia and Jess’ disabled ride and sped down the road to where Grumper had seen the dog cross the roadway.
“Went that way,” Grumper said, sticking his hand out the window. He was pointing towards a small front yard that led into a back yard by way of a gated fence. The gate hung askew from the fence, the damage looked fairly recent.
“Well go get him!” Icely yelled.
“By myself?” Grumper asked.
“Bring the titted wonder and brow-beaten husband, you dipshit.”
All three doors opened almost as if on cue. Dianna checked her safety, Ned put on a heavy jacket. Grumper glared back at Icely as he got out of the car.
“Watch this,” Icely said to Schools, smacking him on the shoulder. “Gonna have a little fun,” he said privately, then he stuck his head out the window. “I want the dog alive, the zombies you can kill, unless one is the girl. Her I’ll keep.” He laughed.
Schools shook his head minutely. “Icely, I brought these people because they’re some of the best I have. I don’t consider them expendable.”
“Then that’s where we differ, isn’t it?” Icely was looking intently at Schools. “Relax, It’s one mangy dog against three adults. I think they’ll be fine.”
“This is bullshit,” Dianna said to Ned as she followed him through the broken gate. Grumper was bringing up the rear. “A couple of rounds into his car and we could be rid of him.”
“You forgetting about Maggie?” Ned asked. Maggie was their daughter; she was staying at Icely’s home while her parents were away on the hunt.
“If Icely were dead...” Dianna started.
“If we came back without him, there’s no telling what his guards would do,” Ned replied.
“They love him as much as everybody else.” Dianna stated.
“Meaning not at all.” Grumper chimed in.
“You willing to risk your...our daughter’s life on that?” Ned asked.
“Just find the damn dog,” Dianna said dejectedly.
“Not going to be that difficult.” Ned pointed with his rifle to the far side of the yard. The dog was moving back and forth in the corner of the yard not allowing the zombies to get a hold of her. She would occasionally glance up the entire length of the security fence that had her penned in.
“That dog is the man killer?” Grumper asked.
Riley froze for a moment when she heard the human speak. She turned and looked directly at him, the look of confusion on her face quickly dissolved as she bared all of her teeth.
“Oh fuck she’s scary looking, put a round in her, Ned,” Grumper said, changing his earlier stance on the dog.
“I put a round in that dog, Icely will put a round in me,” Ned said. “Come on let’s surround the thing.”
“And then what? Tell her to sit? I don’t think she’s going to listen,” Dianna said. “Maybe just say we got here too late and the zombies got her.
RILEY
I heard the loud explosion noises back by the house where I had left Jess. I desperately wanted to get back to them and make sure that they were alright. The noise was much louder than the time Ben-Ben had nosed open one of She-Alpha’s storing places in the food room. He had knocked over one of what she called ‘pans’ but which I thought of as ‘incredible heated aroma producer’. A stack of them had poured on to the hard ground in the food room.
Ben-Ben had stood frozen in fright as the pans clattered all around him. He had received a decent scolding for that. He had awakened the entire household, including Zach and myself. I had not known it at the time, and I’m sure the two-leggers would not have appreciated it, but he would get into the pan container every night and lick them, trying to eat traces of the food they had held earlier. The two-leggers had placed locks on the containers after that; even the cat would not have been able to get them open. I wondered for a moment if the sound had frozen the poor dog like it had the last time.
I had to keep running further away. I had two of the fast zombies chasing me and they would not stop. It would do no good to bring them back towards Jess. I could hear the wheelers moving, but I had to get across the hard ground, otherwise the zombies were going to catch me. I realized my mistake the moment I entered into the back yard, but by then it was too late to turn around. The zombies were not more than a couple of steps behind me. My hope right now was that the fence had a weak spot that I’d be able to get through. If not…it was time to fight.
The zombies were fast in foot speed but not reflexes. It took them time to ‘catch up’ when I moved from side to side. I was gauging just how long when I heard a two-legger speak from the other side of the yard. I stopped long enough to snarl at them. The closest zombie nearly caught my tail as I pranced to the side and then in an instant I got an idea the cat would be proud of; I mean, not that I cared or anything. I ran past the unfurled hands of the zombies and through their legs, heading directly for the two-leggers and the deadly fire-arms they were carrying.
The male in front was aiming his fire-arm at me. I slowed long enough that the zombie behind me almost stepped on my rear paw. Timing was going to be everything. His expression changed as he saw the zombie barreling down on him. The weapon in his hands moved up and fire poured from the end as the zombie behind me hit the ground.
I was close when I heard him yell ‘JAM!’ Sounded like something the young two-leggers used to make sandwiches with. The female was moving past the male with the sticky food, her gun up. She fired as well and I heard the second zombie fall. By that time I was weaving between their legs. There were too many of them and they had too many weapons for me to stand and fight.
All I heard was a bunch of talk as I tried to make distance.
“That was close.”
“Casing is stuck.”
“Get the fucking dog.”
And then I felt blistering pain as something struck across the side of my head. Day faded to night as I tumbled to a fall.
ICELY
“That, my friends, is how you catch a dog,” Icely said, wielding a bloodied gun stock. “Ugly little bitch, isn’t she?” The dog’s tongue was lolling out and its eyes were rolling up into its head. A trickle of blood leaked from its left ear. “Put it in your trunk,” he told the stunned trio.
“I don’t want to touch that thing,” Grumper said.
“Get her ass, I’ll get the business end,” Ned said.
“Poor thing,” Dianna said.
“This is a smart fucking dog,” Ned said as they deposited her in the trunk.
“What are you talking about? It’s just a stupid mutt.” Grumper closed the hatch.
“I don’t think so, man.” Ned stated. “Did you see her? It was like she knew to bring the zombies towards us, that we’d have to deal with them first. She would have gotten away if it wasn’t for Icely.”
“Bullshit,” Grumper said. “Just a stupid mutt.”
“Just a stupid mutt that killed at least three people,” Dianna said.
“Then if she is a furry Einsteinian mass-murderer, I’m not too glad she’s in this vehicle,” Grumper groused.
“In this we are in agreement,” Ned said.
“Yo, little bitch, we have your mutt!” Icely yelled a few times, making sure to stay quiet for a few moments each time that he did in order to listen for any sort of reaction. He had almost struck pay dirt on the first go-around.