The Zombie Chronicles - Book 3 - Deadly City (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Read online

  The Zombie Chronicles - Book 3 (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series)

  Title Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  The Zombie Chronicles

  Book 3

  Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series

  by

  Chrissy Peebles

  Copyright © 2012 by Chrissy Peebles

  http://www.chrissypeebles.blogspot.com

  Cover design by: Patrick Griffith

  The Zombie Chronicles Book Trailer for book 1: http://youtu.be/ociUHiL1g70

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

  Dedications:

  To: Alex, Faith, and Matthew

  To: My editor, Autumn Conley

  To: My cover artist who makes me the coolest covers.

  A big thanks to Carol. You rock!

  Chapter 1

  I glanced around the hotel room, then stared at the strewn covers and broken ropes on the bed. Val was nowhere to be seen. My heart lurched. Where is she? My sister was my responsibility. She was a zombie now and had no idea what she was doing. I was supposed to protect her and keep her safe. If she’s out there somewhere, killing people… I couldn’t dare finish the thought.

  Claire examined the ropes. “They weren’t cut. They’re frayed. Looks like she gnawed her way through.”

  “But the door was locked when we left,” said Jackie. “Who would’ve opened it?”

  “Dean!” my brother called from the other side of the room.

  “What?” I asked.

  “We got a big problem,” Lucas’s voice echoed from inside the bathroom. “We know who let Val out.”

  “Who?”

  “The housekeeper,” Nick said.

  Racing to the bathroom, I held my breath. I didn’t even want to look. The thought of Val tearing through the poor housekeeper’s flesh was enough to make me gag. I stepped through the doorway and let out a sigh of relief when I saw that the girl was alive, huddled up in the corner, still clutching her feather duster for dear life. She was dressed in a typical maid’s outfit, a long-sleeved blue dress with a white apron, and I guessed her to be about nineteen.

  “Are you okay?” Jackie said, rushing over to the frightened young woman.

  “Is it…gone?” she asked, her lips trembling.

  “You’re safe now,” Lucas said.

  The housekeeper’s eyes widened and her face remained white as a ghost. “That thing came at me from nowhere, so I ran in the bathroom and shut the door. It didn’t seem to know how to open the door, thank God, so I just waited it out. I hoped it would leave if I stayed quiet, and I guess it did.”

  “But we left a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door,” Claire said. “Isn’t it hotel policy to respect our wishes?”

  The girl nodded. “Yes, but I heard growling and thought you had a dog. It’s against the rules to have animals here, so I knocked on the door to let you know, but no one answered. I could lose my job if I didn’t say something to you about it, so I figured I’d try the door to see if there really was a dog in here, and when I did…” Her eyes glared. “I’m so going to report you for this! Not only am I gonna tell the hotel manager, but the mayor too! You almost got me killed. When they’re done with you, you’ll regret you ever stepped foot in Kingsville.”

  Lucas held out a hand and helped the girl up. “I’m so sorry. When did this happen?”

  “About five minutes ago.” Her gaze narrowed. “You keep a pet zombie as a watchdog? You guys are just…sick.”

  I shook my head in disbelief, unable to believe what was happening.

  “We need to catch Val while her trail is still hot,” Lucas said.

  Knowing that Val was out there made me shudder. For one thing, they’d kill her on sight. For another thing, she’d do the same if she caught up to anyone. “Let’s split into teams. I’ll take Jackie and Claire, and you go with Nick,” I said. “We’ll cover more ground that way.”

  “What about the housekeeper?” Claire asked. “She’s gonna spill everything to the authorities the second we let her go, and then they’ll be hot on our trail.”

  Nick grabbed the ropes we’d used to bind Val. “I’m sure she’s worn out from all the hard work she does. I think a nap would do her wonders, right?”

  “You mean…chloroform?” Jackie said.

  Nick pulled out the brown bottle. “It’s no biggie. It’ll just put her out for just a few hours. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.”

  The housekeeper tried to wriggle herself free from Nick’s grasp.

  “But we can’t…we’re not kidnappers,” Claire replied.

  “Wait! I won’t say anything. I promise,” the girl begged, a tear running down her face.

  I swallowed hard. Now we’re tying people up and drugging them? When did I become this horrible villain? I tried to calm the girl down some. “Look, lady, we’re really not monsters.”

  “So you say, but you’re willing to knock me out and tie me up to protect one!” She spat in my face and shoved me hard.

  Wiping my face with my sleeve, I bit my lip hard. “We’re not gonna hurt you. I swear. We just need you to keep quiet until we get out of town.”

  My brother shot me a look as he held on to the girl who was flailing violently in his arms. “Dean, we got this. Go on and get outta here. Go find our sister before they do.”

  “I can’t, Nick. This…it just doesn’t feel right,” I said. “We do this, and we’re no better than that scoundrel Tahoe.”

  “The girl’s an unexpected complication, an incidental,” he said, “but we won’t let anything happen to her. I promise you that.”

  “We’ll let her leave unharmed as soon as we can,” Lucas added. “I don’t like it one bit either, but what other choice do we have? We can’t let her report that she saw a zombie in here, at least not till we’re long gone—all six of us.”

  “Why not?” I said. “We don’t need drugs and ropes. All we’ve gotta do is pretend like the housekeeper is crazy and we have no idea what she’s talking
about. Crazy seems to be the in thing around here, so I’m sure somebody will believe it.”

  Nick met my gaze head on. “That story won’t work for one second if Val’s out there killing people. They’ll throw our butts straight in jail—or worse.”

  “Okay,” I said. “You make a good point. We’ll go on foot. You guys take the truck.”

  Nick nodded. “Good thinking, little brother. Now hurry!”

  Chapter 2

  Claire, Jackie, and I raced outside and began scouring the streets, frantically looking for Val. Sweat ran down my face as my steps quickened, my speed increasing at every turn down a tangle of narrow streets. I have to find her. I just have to! I thought, cursing myself for having to lean over and rest my hands on my knees to catch my breath.

  Jackie put a hand on my back. “C’mon. We have to keep going.”

  “We’ll find her,” Claire reassured me.

  It wasn’t like finding a lost child roaming the city. Val had a bull’s-eye on her back. If we didn’t find her quick, she’d be dead—and we’d be punished severely for having brought her there. For the next hour, we searched every nook and cranny of that town, and I couldn’t imagine where she could have possibly gone.

  “Hey, did you guys notice the pedestrians?” Jackie asked.

  “What about them?” I queried.

  “Well, not one we ran into seemed the least bit alarmed. Maybe that’s good news. If they’d seen a zombie running loose, I don’t think they’d be so calm.”

  I nodded. “You’re right.”

  We ended up by the front gate, where we’d first arrived in Crazyville. A military truck grinded to a halt as the driver stopped by a brown building to talk to another soldier.

  Moaning echoed from inside the truck, piquing my attention. Straining my eyes, I couldn’t see anything inside the vehicle. “Quick! Hide.” I grabbed Jackie’s arm and pulled her into the overgrown vegetation, and she, in turn, grabbed Claire. I had no idea what would happen if those soldiers caught us there, spying, and I didn’t want to find out. They hadn’t exactly been the kindest welcoming committee in the first place.

  “What the heck?” whispered Claire, staring ahead. “What’s going on?”

  “I dunno,” I said, peering through the branches from a safe distance.

  Suddenly, sharp, yellowed nails sliced through the thin curtain covering the back opening, and then a head popped out—an unforgettable skeletal face with green, putrid skin and haunting white eyes.

  They’ve got zombies! “No flippin’ way!” I said, squeezing Jackie’s hand, my heart pounding.

  Jackie let out a gasp. “I-I don’t believe it.”

  “One got loose!” yelled a soldier from the back of the truck. “I sure as heck ain’t goin’ back in to secure it.”

  “Then shoot it!” another soldier barked back. “We can’t have it escaping into the city.”

  Just like that, he fired three bullets into the zombie’s head, and it fell backward. I stared at the jagged hole in the material, but it was dark and I couldn’t see a thing. Zombie moans echoed through the air, and I shot Claire and Jackie a shocked look. The soldier then jumped back into the passenger seat, and the military truck sped off, dust flying in its wake.

  “Why are they bringing zombies into the city?” Claire whispered. “Especially when they have walls and fences to keep them out? It doesn’t make sense. It’s like…letting a great white inside your shark cage with you.”

  “Do you think there’s really a lab?” I asked. “That they really are doing some Dr. Frankenstein testing and experiments around here?”

  “You mean the lab Tahoe took the vials too?” Claire asked. “Maybe that’s why they’re collecting zombies—to see if the vials work.”

  I nodded. “Maybe they’re experimenting on the townspeople too. I mean, these people are nuts. Maybe poisonous chemicals are leaking into the air or something. I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s definitely wrong.”

  “Yeah,” Claire said. “Something’s not right.”

  Jackie’s lips pressed into a grim line. “Obviously, these people are taking live zombies somewhere. If they found Val, I bet they took her to the same place.”

  I pondered the possibility. “Val coulda been subdued or gagged, then transported to wherever they’re storing the zombies. Maybe that’s why the townspeople didn’t see anything.”

  “Military personnel don’t just bring zombies in for nothing,” Jackie said. “I’m sure every city runs tests. Everyone is desperate to find a cure.”

  Claire tucked a few pieces of hair behind her ear. “I wonder how long they keep their test subjects alive.”

  “You’ve got a point,” I agreed, suddenly even more worried about my sister-turned-zombie. “If there’s a lab here, we need to find it right away.”

  HONK!

  Suddenly, from right behind us, a horn blared, and a blue car pulled up next to us. I cringed when I saw that the driver was the nutcase from the bar, the one who’d instigated the bar fight.

  “Hey, Dean,” Lucy said through the rolled-down window as she threw the car in park.

  She was the last person I wanted to see, and I motioned to the girls we needed to walk away from the crazy chick as fast as we could, quickly giving them the rundown about what had happened in the pub.

  While I was trying to explain, Lucy opened the door and jumped out, smiling at me like I was supposed to be her best friend after that stunt she’d pulled. “Hey! Don’t ignore me,” she said.

  I rolled my eyes and walked off. Why didn’t she just keep driving? “Listen, Lucy…I don’t need any more trouble right now.”

  She pulled my arm, forcing me to face her. “I’m sorry. I get…a little crazy sometimes.”

  “Don’t worry. You fit in perfectly here. Everyone in this place is insane,” I said.

  Then, for seemingly no reason at all, Lucy grabbed her head and began moaning and whining.

  I touched her shoulder. “Hey…are you okay?”

  “No! I’ve been having these severe headaches for a few months now.” Her eyes fluttered shut. “It feels like a chorus line of hippos is dancing on top of my head! I think I need to sit down.”

  Claire led her to the front seat of her car. “Do you have any Tylenol or anything in your purse? Any painkillers?”

  “What? You ask me a question like that and you think I’m the crazy one?” Lucy spouted in an unwarranted rage. “What’s wrong with you? It’s not like I can just run up to the drugstore and stock up on Excedrin and Motrin and God knows what else, can I? The store’s out of it. Everyone’s having headaches.”

  “Sheesh! Calm down, lady!” Claire said.

  “Don’t you tell me to calm down, you little—”

  Trying to defuse the situation before Claire took a whack at her, Jackie suggested, “Listen, I can drive you home.”

  Then, in an instant, Lucy’s fake smile was plastered back on her face, the calm after a horrible storm, obviously. “No, no, hon’. It’s starting to go away now. But thanks. Guess I lucked out this time.”

  “Um…how?” I asked, confused by her choppy speech and suddenly giddy expression.

  “Sometimes they last for hours.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better,” I said, then motioned toward the girls. “This is Claire and Jackie.”

  Lucy shook their hands, and they exchanged greetings.

  I motioned toward the gates. “Hey, I’ve got a big question for you, Lucy.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Why are military trucks bringing in zombies?”

  At first, she looked floored, but then she tried to cover it up by cocking a brow, as if she didn’t know a thing. Still, I could see she was hiding something under that odd expression, a secret, like most of the townspeople seemed to be doing.

  “No use hiding it, Lucy. We saw everything.”

  “You know what?” she said. “You better get out of town while you still can. This place isn’t safe
for outsiders—especially nosy ones.”

  “Yeah, yeah. So we’ve been told,” I said. “But before we go, why don’t you fill me in on the missing details?”

  She opened her mouth, but no words came out, so she clamped it shut again.

  Claire inched closer, her gaze imploring. “You need to tell us what’s going on.”

  “I-I can’t…I’m trying to warn you,” she snapped, droplets of sweat beginning to roll down her face. “It’s not safe here. Get out—the sooner, the better.”

  “Yeah,” I repeated. “You said that already.”

  “Lucy, you can trust us,” Jackie added.

  “This place has secrets…lots of secrets,” Lucy whispered, grabbing the collar of Jackie’s shirt. “We…er, they…uh, this town does things here.”

  “What kinds of things?” Jackie pried.

  “Ugly, awful things, things you wouldn’t think of in your most horrible nightmares.” She clung onto to Jackie for dear life. “See, I-I told my husband everything already. I think he believes me. He’s out investigating all my claims, to make sure I’m not just nuts. I’ll ask him to help you.”

  Jackie glanced up at me. “If her husband is out there investigating, we’re not the only ones who know something’s wrong in this screwed-up little town.”

  “She did say earlier that her husband just got into town,” I said. “He’s probably not infected yet.”

  “Infected?”

  “Yeah, with whatever is turning these people into hallucinating psychos. He’s still normal, like us—just stumped and trying to figure out what’s going on.”

  “I think we should meet him,” Jackie said.

  Claire nodded. “Yeah. Maybe he could help us.”

  “Lucy,” I said, “we’d love to meet your husband. Can you take us to him?”

  “Can’t. He won’t be back for hours.”

  I bit my lip. It was a good lead, and I hoped the guy would be able to fill us in on at least some of what was going on. “We can wait. I know there’s more going on here than meets the eye,” I said.