Zombie Games (Book 4): Road Kill (5 page)

“We have about two hours,” said Tiny.

She rubbed the sweat from her forehead. “Well then in two hours I want a drink in one hand, a smoke in the other, and everyone that’s missing, accounted for.”

“
Right, I think that’s asking for nothing short than a miracle,” said Paige.

“Don’t discount anything,” said Kristie. “You ever hear about the power of
attraction? Positive energy attracts positive things?”

“I’ve heard of it,” said Paige.
“Sounds like a crock of crap to me.”

“Well, they say it
really works,” said Kristie.

Paige snorted. “Well, if it really works, why didn’t ‘they’ practice i
t a little better before all of these zombies made an appearance?”

“Maybe
nobody was practicing anything positive when the zombie virus spread,” said Tiny, softly. “In fact, maybe everything that’s happened is the cause of something much more intense than just a bad batch of flu vaccine.”

“What are you trying to say?” asked Paige. “That this zombie apocalypse happened because of negative energy?”

Billie sighed. “I see where you’re going - the world had already started going to pot before any of this and maybe this is some kind of retribution we brought upon ourselves?”

“Maybe.”

“Well then who’s punishing us?” asked Paige. “Aliens?”

“
You ever heard of  ‘The End of Days’?” asked Billie.

Kristie sighed. “Yes, of course. B
ut come one, zombies aren’t a sign of the end of the world. I highly doubt they were mentioned in the Bible.”

“What are you
people talking about?” asked Paige.

“Nothing,” said Kristie. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Just like I saw this special about it on the history channel -we will be struck by deadly plagues,” said Billie, his tone grave, “and famines and earthquakes. The sky will turn dark and oceans will turn to blood. And finally, the Antichrist will emerge to fight the final battle between good and evil.”

“That
Antichrist?”cried Paige, her voice shrill. “You mean, like, Satan?”

“Paige,” said Kristie. “Just settle down. It’s not the end of the world and nobody knows for sure that Satan is even real.”

“Well, if he is, right now would be the perfect time for him to show up,” said Billie.

“Oh my God,” moaned Paige. “The deadly plagues could be the flu that infected everyone, the famine could be happening now because food is so scarce. And what about the tremors we felt earlier- what in the hell was that about?”

“Just chill out you guys,” said Kristie. “You’re all making mountains out of molehills.”

“And… the skies are definitely gray,” said Paige, staring up into the gray clouds.

“It’s summer in Minnesota,” said Kristie. “Now everyone stop it! Unless the sky starts raining down
scorpions, locusts, or frogs, I don’t want to hear anymore crap about the end of the world!”

Just then a loud clap of
thunder made them all jump and they watched in silence as the rain began to pour.

Cassie

“Wow,” said Nora
, staring around in amazement.

The nuns had taken us to
their church, an old cathedral on the other side of town. Candles lit the interior and through the dim light, we were met with dozens of fearful but curious eyes.

“Lord above,” said Henry, staring at the group of children
who watched us warily. There had to be fifty of them, ranging from three to slightly younger than me. “Where did all of these children come from?”

“Most of them are
from the orphanage,” said Sister Francine, the red-haired nun. “We brought them over as soon as we saw the signs. I knew they needed our protection.”

The hair stood up on the back of my neck as her face took on a serene almost angelic look. All three nuns believed without a doubt that the zombies were
a significant part of the ‘End of Days’. I, myself, didn’t know what to think. It was certainly the end of something. Civilization as we’d known it.

“You really think that the world is coming to an end?”
asked Nora, in disbelief. “God’s wrath?”

Sister F
rancine nodded slowly. “Know this, in the last days perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Does that not sound familiar?”

“Timothy,” said Henry.
“Paul’s letter to Timothy. I know that verse well.”

A chill went down my spine
. I cleared my throat. “So, this is it? You really think this is the end for all of us?”

Sister Francine smiled and shook her head.
“No, not the end, a new beginning.”

The door to the church swung open and two nuns rushed inside
, looking upset.

“
Two men are here,” said one of the nuns. “Big men. They are demanding that we let them in.”

“Do they have guns?” asked Henry.

“I don’t know,” said the other nun, who appeared to be my age.

“
Are there any zombies outside of the gate?” asked Nora.

“No,” said the young nun. “Not yet, anyway.”

“I’ll go check this out,” said Henry, raising his gun. “Let them know we’re armed. You have to be careful of who you can trust, you know.”

“
Regardless, we will not turn anyone away,” said Sister Francine.

Henry’s eyes narrow
ed. “Are you willing to risk the lives of these innocent little children, Sister? There are some nasty characters running around. We’ve lost quite a few of our friends from murderers and vagabonds roaming outside of these gates.”

“
God has protected us this far,” she said, smiling. “I have faith that he will keep us safe.”

“Well, I stopped relying on faith the moment my parents were killed,” I said,
my eyes growing misty. “They were good people, too. They didn’t deserve to die. Neither did most of the people we’ve lost.”

She turned to me and smiled sadly. “God has a plan
for everyone, child. It’s hard to understand, but you must accept it and know that all will be revealed, someday. It is his will.”

“Yes,” said Sister Theresa. “Each of us will be cal
led to Heaven when it’s our time. Some of us much earlier than others.”

Henry
’s lips curled under as he removed the safety on his gun. He turned towards the door and started walking. “That may be so,” he muttered. “But I tell you what- today is certainly not going to be
my
time, Sister.”

“Wait Henry,” I said, hurrying to catch up to him.
“I’ll come with you.”

“You just stay back and
help protect everyone else, Wild,” said Henry. “I can handle this.”

“I really think I should back you up.
”

H
e stopped and turned to me. “Listen, if something happens to me, they’re going to need you. Now, keep your gun close and don’t let anyone in unless I give you the okay.”

“Fine,” I huffed. “But if you’re not back in thirty seconds, I’m coming out there.”

He shook his head. “Jesus Christ, quite being so goddamn stubborn, girl. You’ve done your share, now let the rest of us take our turns.”

My eyebrows shot up. “Henry, you’re in a church.”

He looked up and nodded. “Well, the ‘Big Guy’ is going to have a chance to rip me a new one when I stand before him sometime soon, Wild. But for now, do what I say and you might save me from having to do a few more Hail Mary’s.”

I nodded
, reluctantly, and then watched him walk out the door.

“
Hey,” said Nora, walking over to me. “If I were you, I’d forget what that stubborn old man said and go watch him. You know his vision is going and his reaction time sucks. I’ll stay back here and keep an eye on things.”

“
That’s what I was kind of thinking,” I said. Plus, my stomach was in knots, the feeling of dread overwhelming. I removed my gun from the holster and raced outside, where Henry stood talking to a couple of men through the thick metal gate. The tension in the air was thick as I stopped beside him.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, sweetheart,” smiled a greasy looking guy with long
, dark hair, powerful looking arms, and a teardrop tattoo under his left eye. “Haven’t seen a real living woman in days.”

“She’s a young girl, not a woman,” said Henry
, spitting out a wad of chew. “Mind me, Wild, and go back into the church.”

“No,”
said the other fellow, who was shorter, with red-hair and an easy smile. “I think we should ask her the same thing we asked you, see if she agrees.”

“No need to ask her,” s
aid Henry. “She doesn’t make the decisions.”

“Why is she packing then?” asked the dark haired guy. “A girl who can’t make decisions shouldn’t be carrying a gun. What’s the logic in that?”

“What’s your question?” I asked. I loved Henry but I was eighteen now and didn’t need anyone making decisions for me. Heck, not even Bryce for that matter.

Henry shot me a look of anger and I knew the words in his head were going to get him plenty of “Hail Mary’s”.

“We need food and shelter,” said the red-haired guy. “Haven’t eaten in days and our truck is out of gas. We saw this church and figured anyone here would do right by us.”

“Do you have any weapons?” I asked.

Red nodded down towards the bat he was holding. “Got me a bat, don’t need anything more.”

“What about your friend?” asked
Henry.

The dark haired guy reached behind his back and pulled out a revolver.

“Put that on the ground, nice and easy,” warned Henry, raising his gun. “We don’t want any trouble.”

“Nor do we,” he answered, r
emoving the bullets. “Look, I’ll let you keep this for me until we leave.”

“Let them in,” said Sister Francine, stepping around me. “The Lord wouldn’t want us turning anyone away.”

“Thank you, Sister,” said the dark-haired man. “Much obliged.”

Henry’s lips curled under. “Fine, then. T
oss your gun to the ground and kick it under the gate. No funny business.”

“You all are a little paranoid,” he said, kicking his gun towards Henry. “But I guess I can appreciate that. The world is upside down right now and trust needs to be earned. Don’t worry though. You have nothing to fear from us.”
Then he glanced at me and I shivered. Although he was smiling, it didn’t quite reach his cold, dark eyes.

“You can probably keep your bat,” said Henry, stepping away from the gate. “Case any zombies make it through.”

Sister Francine pulled out a set of keys and slid one of them into the gate. “Haven’t had any zombies make it through, Henry. God’s made sure of that.”

“So has that heavy-duty steel
lock,” pointed Henry.

“It certainly helps,” she said
, with a small smile.

Henry
grabbed my arm and pulled me aside as the nun opened the gate. “Listen,” he whispered, staring warily at the men. “You and Nora keep a good distance from those two.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I mean it. See those tattoos under their eyes?”

I nodded

“You get those teardrops in prison- when you’ve killed someone.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Oh, crap.”

“Oh crap is right. You stay close to Nora and the children. I’ll keep my eyes on these two. As you can see, they both have trouble written all over their faces.”

“Okay
.”

“What’s your name
, Sister?” asked the red-haired guy, as they stepped through the gate.

She smiled.
“I’m Sister Francine. What are your names?”

“I’m Travis
,” said Red. “And that’s Dwayne. Thank you for opening up your home to us, Sister Francine. Looks like someone has been answering our prayers.”

“Right, like they’ve been praying,” whispered Henry as we followed them into the church.

“I guess we’re not leaving yet,” I said, whispered back. “Not while they’re here.”

He scratched his whiskers. “Something tells me the nuns were right about God having a plan,” he said. “
And I believe that we may have just found out where he wants us right now.”