The Zombie Chronicles - Book 2 (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Page 9

  The nurses wished us well, and we hurried to the truck, with our stamped orange cards in hand.

  “Looky what I’ve got,” Lucas said, pulling out a brown glass vial.

  “You snagged it from the clinic?” I asked.

  “Yep,” he said.

  “What is it?”

  “Chloroform.”

  Claire jumped into the back of the pick-up truck. “How did you pull that off?”

  Lucas chuckled. “That nurse shoulda known better than to leave me alone. I sneaked across the hall and invaded the medicine cabinet. I knew they’d have something to send Val to Dreamland for a little while.”

  “You’re lucky you didn’t get busted,” I said.

  “Me? Busted?” He grinned. “Never.”

  “Great work,” Nick said. “Now we can keep her calm and controlled until she’s cured.”

  “Wait…that stuff works on zombies?” Jackie asked.

  Lucas poured some of the liquid on a white cloth. “Only newly turned ones.” He clamped the chloroform-soaked rag over Val’s nose and mouth until her eyes fluttered shut and she fell limp.

  I hated doing that to her, and my heart ached. Lucas sat in the front seat and put Val on his lap. I covered her body with the blanket so they wouldn’t see the ropes. “Snuggle her face into your chest. From the back, she’ll pass as human.” I shifted the gear and drove slowly over the gravel to the guard station. Rolling down my window, I handed him the six orange papers that granted us permission to stay for two days.

  “Oh, babe, I love you too,” Lucas said, pretending to flirt with Val. “No, I can’t kiss you in front of military soldiers. They might arrest us for public display of affection.”

  The military officer rolled his eyes. “You two need to get a room.”

  “We plan on it, sir,” Lucas said smartly.

  The soldier rolled his eyes again and handed a document to him. “Don’t lose this. You’ll need it to stay at Hotel Breakers. The address is located on the bottom. Best of luck to you. You’re gonna need it.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Jackie asked.

  The soldier elbowed another one, coughed, then cleared his throat. “This is the most boring place on Earth for a bunch of young people, that’s all.”

  Nick glanced up. “After all we’ve been through, boring is perfect.”

  “Welcome to Kingsville,” the soldier said.

  I couldn’t help but notice the fake smile plastered across his face. I nodded as soldiers opened up the towering, barbed-wire gates and motioned for us to pass. Following a paved road and signs, we found the center of town. We drove down the busy streets and passed restaurants, pubs, and shops. I was amazed at how normal the people tried to live, and it reminded me of home back on the island in Put-In-Bay. The place had a charm about it, and its rural atmosphere reminded me of towns I’d visited on vacations whiling growing up. It looked like the perfect place to live if one wanted to stay safe in the midst of that horrible epidemic the whole world was facing.

  “We can’t stay the night here,” Lucas said. “They flipping asked me if anybody knows I’m here.”

  “And what’d you tell them?” I asked, wondering if he’d answered the same stupid way I had.

  “I told them everybody knows.”

  “It was really weird for them to ask that,” I said.

  “Yeah, they asked me the same thing. Why would they even ask that?” Jackie said.

  “Remember the lady in there looking for her missing sister?” Claire asked. “Do you think that has something to do with it?”

  Lucas let out a long breath. “We don’t have any proof of anything. For all we know, the deal with that woman might be something totally unrelated. I say we stay on guard, find Tahoe, grab the vials, and get outta here as fast as we can.”

  “Agreed,” I said.

  Claire pointed to a red brick building with dozens of windows. “There’s our motel.”

  It wasn’t fancy, just a two-story structure with rooms that opened to the exterior of the building, the average motel. I gazed at the sign, then pulled into the parking lot. Nick and Claire went to check us in. When they came back with the keycard, we carried Val inside. Glancing around, I noted that we were in an oversized room furnished with a king-sized four-poster bed, two wingback chairs, a gate-leg table, antique desk and chair, bathroom, and large closet.

  I carried Val to the bed and wound the rope around her wrists, then secured her tightly to the bed frame. She was passed out cold, a chloroform-induced slumber, and looked so peaceful and serene. Blowing out a breath, I apologized to her, but I didn’t really have any other choice. I grabbed the Jeep keys and stared at the green flaps of skin peeling off her face. It made me nauseous. “I can’t stand seeing Val like this. Let’s go find Tahoe.”

  “The tracker’s acting up for some reason,” Lucas said. “Something’s scrambling and jamming the signal.”

  “So we have no signal whatsoever?” Nick asked.

  Lucas fumbled around with the buttons on the tracker. “I can pinpoint Tahoe to this general area.”

  “At least we know he’s here. Let’s split into teams,” I said.

  “Yeah, we’ll cover more ground that way,” Lucas said, “and Val should be out for a few hours. I’ll take Claire and Jackie.”

  “All right,” Nick said. “Dean and I will cover the south side, and you guys head north. We’ll meet up later and compare notes.”

  I nudged Jackie. “If you find the cure first, just give it to Val. Don’t wait for us, okay?”

  “We’ll give it to her right away,” Lucas assured me, nodding.

  My brother headed out the door. “Come on, Dean. He knows what to do.”

  I reached for Jackie’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Stay safe, okay?”

  Her gaze met mine. “You too.” She cupped my face. “We’re gonna find those cures. Don’t you worry.”

  “We’ll have Val back with us before dinner,” I said, touching her hand.

  “That’d be wonderful,” she said.

  I shot Val one last look. “I’m gonna make this right, Val. I promise.”

  Nick patted me on the back. “We’re gonna save her if it’s the last thing we ever do,” he said, and then he turned off the lights.

  Walking out the door, I put the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door handle. It was time to go find Tahoe, get my vials back, and personally kick his butt.

  Chapter 16

  Nick and I decided to look for clues. We knew Tahoe was in Kingsville, because Lucas’s tracker had led us there, but for some reason, the tracker couldn’t pinpoint the signal to his exact whereabouts. We could only assume he’d been offered sanctuary, which meant he had to be staying in that hotel. We looked for the Jeep Tahoe had taken, but we didn’t see it in the parking lot, so we decided to ask the receptionist, hoping she would help us. Pulling the door open to the motel office, we were greeted by a red-haired girl in her early thirties. Classical music blasted in the background.

  “Hello,” I said.

  She stared at us eerily but didn’t say a word. Suddenly, a sinister smile spread across her lips, and I wondered if I was checking into the Bates motel. It was just too creepy.

  Turning down the music, she leaned forward in her chair. “How’s everything?” she asked in a low, gruff voice. “Is there anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable?”

  I sat down and folded my hands across the desk. “I’m looking for a guy who saved my life. He shot a zombie right before it chomped down on my neck. His name is Tahoe. He probably arrived a little bit before we did.”

  She cleared her throat. “What’s his last name?”

  “I can’t remember,” Nick said.

  I scratched my head. “Me neither.”

  She met my gaze. “How could you not know the name of the man who saved your life?”

  “Uh…”

  She turned as if she was talking to some invisible entity. Glaring, she placed her ha
nds on her hips. Her voice was raspy, as though she’d suddenly been possessed by some demonic inhabitant. “He shoulda stuck by his side, right? It’s a cold, cruel world out there. We have to help one another. We help everybody except those who break the rules. Those kind of wicked people need to be judged and punished.”

  I tuned her out as she went off on her tirade. Looking at Nick, I whispered, “Who is she talking to?”

  He shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe we should ask her if Tahoe was punished.”

  I elbowed him, certain that we shouldn’t rile up the lunatic any worse than she already was. I cleared my throat, hoping to pull her attention back to us.

  “You’re absolutely right,” Nick said, “but we lost him during the night. Has anyone in their early twenties checked in? He’s five-nine and has a brown beard and brown hair.”

  Meeting Nick’s gaze, she asked, “Do you believe in justice?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “And you?” she said, pointing to me.

  “Totally.”

  Nick let out a sarcastic huff, and I shot him a look. I knew what he was thinking: Nick believed we should have left Tahoe back on the road to face his so-called justice for trying to kill our sister. Had we done what Nick had wanted, we wouldn’t have been chasing Tahoe in the first place. The idiot would’ve never run off with the cure. But who were we to play God?

  “I’m glad you both believe in justice,” she said. “Obey our laws, or you’ll be punished. The laws in Kingsville are a little stiff, but it’s how we keep the riffraff out.”

  “I completely understand. I promise I won’t even walk on the grass,” I said.

  She looked at her invisible friend. “He’s an idiot, right?”

  The room suddenly became quiet as she nodded, as if engaged in a conversation with the imaginary figure. I looked at Nick, and he just shrugged, not knowing what to make of the crazy woman.

  Her voice pierced the air again. “I know. You’re right. He’s mocking me. Should I throw them out?” A pause ensued, and then she pointed to the door. “Get out! Get out now.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, trying to smooth out the situation.

  Those horrible, bulging eyes were staring back at me, and I had to admit I was a little freaked out by it. I wondered if she was in transition; that was exactly how Val had acted.

  “Tahoe was hurt in an accident.” I wasn’t about to say he was stabbed by Earl. “Is there a hospital around here?” I knew he’d need antibiotics and clean bandages to prevent infection, and I was sure he’d want painkillers too.

  “Yeah, you were just there!” she said.

  “That’s the only place?” I asked. The clinic had looked dead, and I knew Tahoe couldn’t be there. Besides that, if he was there, the nurse had lied to me when I’d asked her about him.

  “Yeah. Now, I said to get out!” she yelled, throwing a handful of papers at us.

  Something about the tone of her voice sent shivers down my back. Nick nudged me and motioned for us to go. Letting out a sigh, I walked back outside.

  “What’s up with that chick?” I said. “Is she having a bad day or what?”

  “You sure have a way with women, Dean,” my brother said with a laugh.

  “Whatever.” I playfully slugged him. “But really, do you think she’s transitioning into a zombie or something? That’s exactly how Val acted. Remember?”

  “Yeah, but her eyes were normal, no hint of white. Usually, when the virus has kicked in like that, you’ll see white pupils.”

  “Yeah, but the virus is always changing,” I said.

  “True,” Nick agreed. “We’ll have to be careful. The search for Tahoe is going to be a dangerous mission here in Kingsville, especially if people are turning into zombies.”

  “But their security is so strict. Why haven’t they put that woman down yet?” I asked. “Why is she still working?”

  “We don’t know for sure if she has the virus,” Nick said.

  “I’m not sure what to think. What if she comes after us in the middle of the night? She has keys to our room, you know.”

  “You’re being totally paranoid,” Nick said.

  I let out a long sigh. “Maybe, but at least we know Tahoe didn’t check into the hotel.”

  Nick nodded. “Yeah, if she’s not lying.”

  “I don’t think she is,” I said. “I think Tahoe might have friends or family here in Kingsville.”

  Nick nodded. “That’s a very good possibility. I say we sneak into the office when she’s gone and check out the hotel records to see if he checked in earlier today, just so we can rule that out if he didn’t.”

  “That, or we stalk every single hotel room.” I chuckled. “Hey, think he’d go to the local bar for a drink?”

  “Pretty likely. He seemed the type, and he’s got to have at least some shred of a guilty conscious to numb away. We can start there,” he said. “But we’ve gotta come up with a better cover story. We can’t keep getting kicked out of places, or somebody’s gonna get suspicious.”

  I laughed. “Definitely.”

  * * *

  We walked around the main streets, looking for Tahoe. We stopped and questioned everyone we saw, but nobody had heard of him or seen him, at least based on the description we gave. We passed some shops that sold everything from Indian jewelry to antiques and dolls. All the shops had big “CLOSED” signs on the doors, and I wondered if they’d ever open back up again. A cool breeze stirred as I racked my mind, trying to figure out where the heck Tahoe would go.

  Nick pointed. “Look! Let’s check it out.”

  There was a bar to my right, with country music drifting out the open windows in all its twanging, cheating-man glory. If Tahoe was anywhere in Kingsville, that would have been his hangout.

  Coughing from the cigarette smoke, I walked into the one-room tavern and took a table in the back. Men played darts and roared with laughter. Nick got us some free peanuts in a red bowl and two complementary shots and beers.

  I couldn’t help but notice that the guy next to us was reaching for invisible things in the air.

  Nick noticed it too. “Boy, that dude’s wasted.”

  “This is a great place for shots, beer, and a game of pool,” a cute blonde in tight jeans and a midriff top said.

  I couldn’t help but notice the dark circles under her pretty blue eyes.

  “Name’s Lucy,” she said. “You guys new in town?”

  Nick laughed. “Is it that obvious?”

  She smiled. “Maybe.”

  Her name rang a bell instantly, and I had to ask. “Hey, when we went to get a medical exam, there was this woman with blonde hair, looking for her sister. She said her sister was here visiting a woman named Lucy. That you?”

  “She was passing out flyers and everything,” Nick added.

  She shrugged. “Nope. Not me, and I’m the only Lucy here,” she said nonchalantly. “So…how about it? Interested in a game of pool?”

  I stood. “Yeah, I’m interested.”

  “Me too,” Nick said, taking a long swig of his beer.

  “Game on then, boys,” she said.

  My gaze met hers as I wiped my hands on my jeans and headed to the closest pool table. I figured I’d approach her naturally, through small talk, over a friendly game of eight-ball. I didn’t want her to go off on us the way the hotel attendant had. “I’m Dean, and this is my brother, Nick.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she said, shaking our hands.

  “It’s very nice to meet you too,” I said.

  Nick drew back the cue, then released the shot, breaking the triangle and scattering the balls all over the green felt.

  “Good break,” she said. “You’re stripes. Go again.”

  Nick made another shot.

  “Where are you boys from?” Lucy asked.

  “South Carolina,” I said. “Just passing through.”

  “It’s really bad out there, huh?”

  I nodded. “Stay here. This is
a great place to be, and you’ve got fantastic security.”

  We made small talk and played for the next half-hour. At one point, she introduced us to the rest of the gang.

  I looked at Nick for affirmation, then figured I’d slip in Tahoe. “Hey, we should find Tahoe. He said he knows this town well. Maybe he can show us around.”

  Nick turned to Lucy and casually asked, “You ever heard of him? Tahoe?”

  “Nope,” she said and sank one in the side pocket like a pro.

  I bit my lip. “Hmm. Weird. I think he has family here.”

  She made another shot. “I’ve lived here all my life, and I can tell you there’s no Tahoe in this town. What’s this fella look like?”

  “He’s in his late twenties and has a really thick beard and mustache,” Nick said. “You can’t miss him.”

  “Well, I haven’t seen anybody like that lately.”

  I tossed down a few peanuts and sank the red five in a corner. “Anybody come into town within the last two days besides us?”

  “Just my husband, Sam. He dropped me off here to hang out with friends while he runs some stupid errand.”

  I hung my head, wondering where that weasel, Tahoe, could be.

  Nick made the winning shot, and his opponent seemed shocked.

  “I…lost?” she asked, her eyes wide.

  “It’s just a game,” I said, trying to make light of it.

  “Are you making fun of me?” she snapped.

  “No,” I tried to reassure her.

  “You cheated!” she said, her voice rising to a crescendo that attracted the attention of the other patrons.

  I knew I had to defuse the situation; she was obviously a sore loser. “I declare you the winner,” I said, smiling.

  “Pay for the beers!” she roared. “We don’t hand freebies out to cheaters.”

  I looked at Nick, and he shrugged. He obviously didn’t have a dime on him.

  “Uh, we’re gonna leave now,” I said. “It was nice to meet you.”

  A cold steel blade pressed against my throat. I contemplated elbowing the guy, but starting a fight wouldn’t have been wise, so I decided to keep my cool and see if I could talk my way out of a barroom brawl.