The Zombie Chronicles - Book 6 - Revelation (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Page 10

  “No, not anymore.”

  “Will you come and visit more often? I like you.”

  “I like you too. I’ll try to visit more.”

  “Hey, can you take me up to the roof like you did before?” he asked. “I like to bounce my ball up there.”

  “I’m sorry, buddy, but I can’t right now.”

  “But the roof is fun. This basement is creepy.”

  “Yeah, basements can be scary.”

  “I know, but this one is just…well, really, really scary,” he said, pointing. “Monsters live down there.”

  “I’m sure that’s just your imagination,” I said, trying to reassure him.

  His eyes grew wide. “Uh-uh! I’ve seen them. They’re scary and ugly, and they smell like rotten feet. I hate them, and I can’t sleep when they’re around.”

  I walked over to the desk and picked up a can of air freshener. “If you see monsters, just spray them with this. It’s…monster repellant.”

  He hugged me. “Thanks, Dean. You’re so brave and smart. I bet your mommy’s proud of you.”

  The thought of my mother brought a tear to my eye, but I quickly hid it from the boy.

  We ended up staying a few hours, waiting for preliminary results. The men who’d escorted us there were growing impatient, getting antsy and pretty fed up. After a while, we realized we’d have to chalk it up as a loss and come back; as Charlie had told us, the results could take days, maybe a whole week.

  We left the lab and jumped back in the Land Rover. Our driver took off with a jerk, heading back toward the apartment complex. We were making good time, speeding down the bumpy road, when suddenly the truck slowed down to a halt.

  “Did you see that?” the driver asked.

  I glanced around. “What?”

  “Over there, down the alley. It’s one of those rabid animals!” He backed the truck up and took a left.

  I anxiously scanned the deserted street, looking for what he was talking about.

  “There!” he said, turning to the right and turning on his high-beams.

  The German shepherd was limping, as if it was hurt.

  “We’ve got it trapped,” the man shouted.

  The dog turned its head and looked at us with milky, white eyes and snarling teeth. Clearly, it was infected with the zombie virus, and we needed to put it out of its misery.

  The driver whipped out his gun and shot it right between the eyes.

  The canine fell to the ground, and white foam began to gush out of its mouth like soap suds from an overfilled washing machine.

  “We need to pick it up,” Val said.

  “What!? Are you crazy, lady?” the driver argued. “I’m not touching that thing.”

  “The scientists need more specimens,” Val said. “This one is fresh. It might tell them more than the raccoon.”

  “Look, I’m not gonna go around picking up road-kill every time we shoot one of these things. Like I told you, this ain’t no hearse—animal or otherwise,” the driver said.

  “Naw, she’s right, man,” his buddy said. “The geeks need all the data they can get if they’re gonna figure out what’s goin’ on.”

  Val grabbed a blanket from under one of the seats, got out, and carefully wrapped the dog up. “This isn’t good,” she said. “We’ve gotta figure out how to stop it.”

  The driver laughed. “I just say we keep blowin’ ‘em all to smithereens.”

  “That’s just a Band-aid. We need to get to the root of the problem, the source,” Val said. “Otherwise, they’ll just keep coming. We also need to know if anybody else has run into these infected animals. We need to pinpoint when it started.”

  “Well, Agent Scully, feel free to head up the investigation, ‘cause I want no part of it,” the driver said.

  “Dean,” she said, ignoring the driver’s sarcasm this time, “We need to start talking to the locals. Maybe if we canvass the neighborhood, go door to door, we can figure out when it started.”

  “Good idea. If we split into teams, we’ll cover more ground,” I said.

  “Right. We also need to send teams out to check on the status of the herd,” Val added. “They should be moving on by now.”

  * * *

  When we finally got back, we reported our findings, scant as they were.

  Max went straight to work and ordered us to kill any infected animal we came across, in an attempt to keep the virus from spreading any more rapidly than it already was.

  Lucas and I were assigned to the east side of the city, which had been deemed safe for the time being, and we would be leaving first thing in the morning.

  I walked through the apartment door, glad to be home. I ate some kidney beans right out of the can, then sat in the recliner and put my feet up.

  A little bell rang from Sparkles’s collar as she ran in my direction. The playful miniature pincher hopped in my lap and began assaulting my face with licks from her little pink tongue, much to my chagrin.

  “She likes you,” Val said.

  “She just wants my beans.”

  “Highly unlikely.”

  Sparkles curled up on my lap and looked up at me with her big brown eyes, an irresistible silent plea for me to pet her head.

  Val chuckled and sat on the couch next to me. “I’ve got something for you,” she said.

  “Please tell me it’s a steak and a loaded mashed potato.”

  “You wish.”

  “Hey, a guy and a dog can dream, can’t we?”

  She chuckled again, and then her face grew serious. She reached for my hand and put a ring in it.

  When I examined it closer, I gasped. It was my class ring, the one I’d given to Jackie on the football field when I thought she was dead the first time. “But how…where did you get this?” I asked, completely stunned.

  “I found it in the stairwell at the lab, lodged in a crack in the wall.”

  “But Charlie said she was never taken inside the building, that as soon as she was shot, she was placed in a bodybag and carried to a pickup so they could transport her to the cemetery.”

  “You’re right!” Val said, as if everything just clicked. “Then how did the ring get in the lab? That’s just…odd.”

  “They’d have had no reason to bring her body inside,” I said. “You know how paranoid they are about contamination.”

  Val frowned. “Unless…”

  “An autopsy?” I shouted before she could finish her thought.

  “Maybe,” she said sadly, shaking her head.

  Desperate for the truth to be less disgusting, I tried to think of another logical explanation. “Maybe one of the women stole the ring from her body and dropped it by accident.”

  “That makes me sick,” Val said. “Grave-robbing is so…disrespectful”

  My stomach clenched. “Yeah. It’s sad to know that everyone’s stuff is up for grabs as soon as they die now.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  I shot Val a look. “I really want to put her in a better place, Val.”

  “We all do. She deserves it.”

  I sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Plus, I need to know if she’s there. I know it all sounds so morbid, digging her up and everything, but—”

  “No, what’s morbid are scientists experimenting on her without any sort of permission or authorization from the people who cared about her.” She shuddered. “I can hardly stand to even think of it. If they were going to do that to me, I’d want you to dig me up too.”

  “We have to get to her, the sooner the better. I want to put her where she can rest in peace, like she deserves—someplace where nobody will touch her or excavate her for an autopsy.”

  “Just give it a few more days,” she said. “The herd should move on by then. It isn’t smart to walk into a zombie-infested graveyard armed with shovels and flashlights. When you do go, though, I’ll go with you. I won’t let you go through that alone.”

  “You gotta promise not to tell Nick. You know he w
on’t be okay with it.”

  “I know. It’ll be our little secret.”

  Chapter 16

  When morning came, Claire was all in a tizzy, worried about Sparkles. The little dog liked all of us, but she had really bonded with Claire; she even slept with her and was constantly on her heels. “We can’t just let her roam around out there,” Claire said. “We have no idea how the animals are getting infected. For all we know, it could be airborne.”

  “You can’t just keep her locked up inside,” I said. “She needs fresh air sometimes. Besides, if you never let her go out to take a dump, we’re gonna need fresh air too. I have enough on my mind without having to deal with walking through a poop minefield half-awake on my way to the bathroom.”

  “What if she gets the virus and attacks us when we’re sleeping?” she asked.

  “She doesn’t sleep by me, so I’m safe.”

  “Funny, Dean.”

  “Listen, it’s not airborne. I’m pretty sure they have to be bitten. Just keep her on a leash and make sure she doesn’t run off, and she’ll be fine.”

  “I can’t believe Max gave you permission to go out on a mission while I’m stuck here. I’ve more than proved that I can handle myself out there. Sure, I’m grieving, but that only makes me fight harder.”

  “He just thinks you need a little bit more time, that’s all.”

  “He’s not my babysitter, and I’m a big girl. Will you talk to him for me? If I see him, I might feel the urge to pound him into next week, and I don’t wanna get us kicked out.”

  “All right. I’ll try, but I’ve heard how stubborn the man can be. Anyway, I gotta go. Lucas is downstairs waiting for me,” I said, slipping on my boots and coat.

  “Have a good time. Kill a few zombies for me, okay?”

  “We’re not hunting them this time. We’re just gonna question a few survivors about any possible animal attacks.”

  “Maybe the couple of animals we saw were just a fluke.”

  “Yeah, well, as far as flukes go, that’s what wiped out the dinosaurs, right?”

  “You have a point,” she said, petting Sparkles.

  “Anyway, I’ll see you later.”

  * * *

  Lucas and I went straight to work, talking to survivors in the city and investigating any strange occurrences they mentioned. Several people reported weird animal activity, and most of it seemed to have started within the last few days. Some of the local wildlife was going stark-raving mad—crazy cats, diabolical dogs, and rabid rabbits.

  A short man wearing a cap and red coat answered his door, then went on to tell us, “My friend said he was chased by a squirrel. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life. But then I saw it,” he said, his eyes suddenly widening. “I swear, the thing was a bushy-tailed nightmare, like something that crawled outta the depths of hell. We hunted it down and sent it back down there, this time for good.”

  “We’re getting lots of reports like this,” I said.

  “Well, I sure hope that lab can figure out what’s going on.”

  “Me too. We’ll give them all the data we’ve collected from you and your neighbors, and hopefully, it will help. They’re already running tests on some dead specimens.”

  Lucas wrote everything down in a notebook Max had given him, making sure not to omit even the tiniest details. We weren’t scientists, and we knew that even things that seemed insignificant to us might be of help to the scientists trying to deal with the unsolved mystery.

  “Just be careful headin’ back, fellas. The streets might not look dangerous, but looks can be deceiving, as I’m sure you now. If you’d rather, you’re welcome to stay with us for a few days.”

  “Thanks for the kind offer,” Lucas said, “but we have to get back.”

  Suddenly, an animal let out a primordial howl, and chills shot through me.

  The man smiled. “Told ya!”

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “A pack of wolves have been running the streets,” he said. “Heard they feasted on a survivor last night. The people who were there said his screams were just horrific.”

  My stomach clenched at the thought. “I can only imagine,” I said. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

  “Anytime.”

  I glanced at Lucas. “I think we’ve got more than enough information for today.”

  “Agreed. Let’s head back to the homestead and get some lunch—before we become it.”

  “Val’s making her famous Spam sandwiches,” I said.

  “Where did she get bread?” he asked.

  “She didn’t. She’s using stale crackers.”

  “Mmm. Delicious.”

  The man chuckled a bit. “Well, y’all enjoy your Spam,” he said, “and you’re welcome back here anytime.”

  We thanked him again for his time and cooperation, then went on our way. It was far too dangerous to continue with the interviews, so we’d have to come back with an armed team. We cautiously hurried down the deserted, empty street.

  Somewhere in the distance, I heard another primordial howl, and I spun to face Lucas. “Did you hear that?”

  He stopped and glanced around. “Yeah, but I don’t see anything.”

  “That’s even worse. I don’t like it,” I said, pulling out my gun.

  Lucas let out a long breath. “Let’s just hurry and get back to the truck.”

  I heard the howl again and gripped my gun tighter, my senses on full alert. We ran as fast as our legs would carry us, knowing we couldn’t get back to that truck fast enough.

  Out of nowhere, the single howl turned into a chorus of frightening, shrill death-cries, and I knew there was more than one nearby. My hands began to tremble, but I tried to hide my fear from Lucas and pretend like everything was fine. I’d fought plenty of reincarnated humans, but wild animals were a different story, and I wasn’t sure how I’d hold up against an army of wolves. “Maybe we should look for shelter,” I suggested, trying to sound brave.

  “No, it’s best to just keep going. C’mon!” Lucas insisted. “We’ll be fine once we’re in the truck.”

  Howls echoed in the deserted alley again, making me shudder. The animals were faster than the slow zombies we were used to dealing with, and they were animals, after all.

  “Look!” Lucas shouted.

  I saw animals coming down the alley, like something out of an old black and white horror film, a pack of wild wolves with mangy hair and saliva dripping from their fangs. Swallowing hard, I aimed and started to fire. When one was 100 feet away, its head snapped back, and its piercing howl morphed into a pained wail. The rest of the pack stopped, and I hoped the gunfire and the fall of their comrade had scared some sense into them. “There’s too many too shoot at the same time!” I said, stating the obvious.

  Lucas hastily pulled down a fire escape ladder that was mounted on the side of a building, and we hustled up the creaky metal stairs in a flash. Once we were both off the ladder, he pulled it up and tied it in place with his belt.

  Below us, the white-eyed, corpse-like canines circled, like sharks around a swimmer with a bloodied ankle. My heart raced as they snapped their jaws in the air, releasing loud, hungry, unforgiving snarls.

  “All right,” Lucas said, “fire at will. We can put a lot of ‘em down from here.”

  I aimed my gun and started to fire, taking out one zombiefied wolf after the other. I did feel some remorse as I watched the wolves fall, but at the same time, I knew we were doing the citizens a favor, saving their lives.

  When they quit twitching and we knew they were dead, Lucas unstrapped his belt and let the fire escape down. We climbed down the rickety ladder, and then he walked over to a dead wolf and cut off its leg and tail for the lab to analyze. He tied it securely in a sack he’d brought along, as if it was nothing to field-dress a wolf in an alley.

  As we walked down the road, my senses were on full alert. “The animals are turning,” I said, “and they’re dangerous. They’ve already killed people. We need to ro
und up a posse and hunt them down before they hunt us.”

  Lucas nodded. “I agree. We’ve gotta know if it’s just happening here or everywhere.”

  “Right, but even if it is only here, how can we possibly contain it?” I said.

  “We can’t, especially if it hits the rat population—or worse, the cockroaches. What if it gets in the Pacific? Can you imagine zombified great whites?”

  I bit my lip hard, unable to laugh at what he was trying to pawn off as a joke. “This might be even worse than the human zombie problem.”

  “Yeah. It’ll be like that old movie, The Birds, with crows dive-bombing to peck our eyes out.”

  I shuddered at the thought. “Max is right. We have to destroy any and all infected animals we see. I know it’s horrible, but it’s the only way.”

  When I peered ahead, I noticed that there was a building in our way up ahead. We were in an unfamiliar location, so on those streets, we were like mice caught in a labyrinth. “Shoot. Dead end,” I said, pointing.

  Lucas gripped his rifle tight. “We’ll just go back the way we came. Take the next street up.”

  A growl echoed from behind me, and again a chill shot up my spine.

  Great,” Lucas said. “I’m in no mood to do anymore dances with infected wolves.”

  When I turned around to take the wolf down, I got the shock of my life.

  “Bear!” Lucas shouted, then began firing away.

  Chapter 17

  It was larger than a black bear and had thick, brown fur and a concave face, with high, humpy shoulders, long, sharp teeth, and curved claws. I swallowed hard when I realized we were face to face with a grizzly, right there in town. Not only that, but the bear was infected, and that only made it ten times fiercer.

  The dangerous predator loomed over me, emitting deep, guttural huffing sounds. Its eyes were white and clouded over, and a river of sticky drool dripped from its mouth. I couldn’t stop staring at its fangs and huge claws, all equally sharp and menacing. It definitely wasn’t the kind of bear I’d snuggled up with as a small boy. This one was a monster, a killing machine with flaring nostrils, ready to rip me to shreds in milliseconds. I almost blacked out in terror as I imagined it ripping off my lips and scalp, then tearing apart my face. The bear stood at least twelve feet tall and easily qualified as one of the most terrifying things I’d ever been through; that was saying a lot, all things considered. Nevertheless, in spite of my fear, my survival instincts kicked in, and I aimed and squeezed the trigger.