Love in the Time of Zombies (14 page)

“You’re
still here.”  Zeke pointed out.

“Yeah,
well, I’m not as smart as I look.”

“She
was waiting for you two to show up.”  Scotlyn translated for Zeke. “Just like
Caleb said.”  The three of them seemed incapable to admitting they cared about
each other.

Darcy
made a face.  “Well, I knew they’d be around sooner or later.  Besides, the sun’s
a little hot for me to start trekking across the Mohave.  I don’t think SPF
numbers go that high.  I’ll meet up with you later.”

Neither
brother seemed willing to go with that option.

“Why
would Joseff kidnap the pack?”  Zeke asked.  “Especially
today
?”

Darcy
sighed.  “He’s pissed.  He thinks the shifters released that pink shit to kill
the humans as a way to get to us.  You take out the main vampire food source,
you take out the vampires.”

Caleb
glared at her.  “The pack had nothing to do with…”

Darcy
cut him off.  “I know that!  None of you are smart enough to make zombies out
of thin air.  I’d be happy to tell Joseff that if I thought he would listen to
me.”

“You’re
the only one he
will
listen to.”  Caleb retorted.

Darcy
lifted a shoulder, not bothering to deny that.

“She
and this Joseff guy are dating?”  Scotlyn guessed.

“Joseff
certainly thinks so.”  Zeke arched a brow at Darcy.  “You need to talk to your
stalker.”

“I’ve
been a little busy.  I was trapped in a damn Ferrari for thirty-some hours in
front of the Hard Rock, waiting for a two second window of no zombies and no
daylight to make a run for it.”  She made a face.  “Side note: As much as I
like taking apart a nice Italian engine, their cars leave
a lot
to be
desired when it comes to roomy interiors.  I swear, my legs are
still
asleep.”

“The
sirens were luring all the zombies to the Strip.”  Scotlyn interjected. 
“They’ve stopped now.”

“I
noticed, but –like I said—it’s a
little bit
sunny out.”  Darcy shook her
head.  “I barely made it here.  I have to wait until dark to reach Joseff.”

“And
then you’ll make him release the pack?”  Caleb persisted.

“I
can’t
make
him do anything.”

“Yes,
you can.  Because, he’s obsessed with you.  Because you
like
him being
obsessed with you.  Because you’re a cock tease.”

Her
mouth twitched.  “Well, every girl needs a hobby.  Still, you know he can be a
pain-in-the-ass.  It’ll take some time for me to convince him to let them go.”

Zeke
sighed.  “Leave it to the vampires to somehow make the zombageddon even
worse
.”

“Zombageddon?” 
Darcy mulled that over.  “I’ve been calling it ‘zompocalypse.’”

“That
was our second choice.”  Caleb assured her.

“The
vampires have taken over Fremont Street.”  Scotlyn volunteered.  That was a
sentence she’d never imagined herself saying.  “If Joseff has your pack, they
must be there.”

Darcy
glanced at her.  “Yeah, Joseff’s at Liberty Hall.”

Zeke
rolled his eyes.  “Jesus, that’s the lamest casino in town!  Everybody dresses
like its 1776 and ‘ale’ is just Miller Light and water.  And don’t get me
started on the tavern wenches…”

Scotlyn
slanted him a glare.

“We
need to go there and rescue the pack, then.”  Caleb insisted.

“There’s
a plan.”  Darcy snorted.  “Go storming Fremont like Mel Gibson in
The
Patriot
and stage a jailbreak.  Jesus, it’s a good thing you guys are
pretty, ‘cause you sure wouldn’t survive by your wits alone.  Joseff won’t hurt
them.”

“Well,
we have to do something.”  Caleb snapped.  “You think so, too, or you wouldn’t
still be in town.”

“I’m
only here because I can’t leave without gathering all my belongings.  And one
of them is a pain-in-the-ass to pack.”  Darcy picked her glass up, again.  “Now,
since I’m probably going to be starving to death in the near future, I’d kinda
like to enjoy my breakfast while I can.”  She focused on Scotlyn.  “Speaking of
which, what are you?  O pos?”

“Darcy…” 
Zeke’s complaint was cut off by a crash at the front of the club.

Scotlyn
turned, her eyes frantically scanning.  She didn’t have to see them to know
that the zombies were inside Prowl.  Someone let out a scream and there was a
sudden push of panicked people surging in every direction.  Scotlyn was knocked
to the ground in the mad dash.  She hit the dirty floor coming face-to-face
with Pucci who was peering out of her carrier with feline apathy.

“Fuck!” 
Zeke grabbed for her, shoving people out of the way.  “Scottie!”

Scotlyn
barely had time to seize Pucci’s carrier before Zeke was hefting her up like
she weighed nothing at all.  He all but tossed her over the bar, away from the
mob.  She landed on the opposite side of it, vaguely processing a stampede
erupting in the club.  Tables and chairs scattered as everyone fled.  Karl had
been right.  Supernatural creatures were just as terrified of the zombies as
the humans had been.

Zeke
vaulted over the bar and turned back for his brother.  “Move it!”

Caleb
climbed up onto the bar top, his (really lovely) Italian loafers knocking over
glasses of blood and alcohol.

“I
just paid a hundred bucks for that drink.”  Darcy complained.

Caleb
reached back to snag Darcy’s arm and lifted her up beside him.  “It’s all just
toilet paper remember?”  He jumped down next to Zeke, dragging Darcy along with
him.

Zeke’s
eyes fell on Jacqueline the bartender.  “Is there another way out of this
place?”

Jacqueline
pointed towards the back, huddling under the sink.

Zeke
didn’t need to be told twice.  He hustled Scotlyn towards the rear of the club,
slamming his elbow into a blue man in a cowboy hat to clear the way.  “Cale,
we’re going through the kitchen!”

“I
see it.”  Caleb kept one hand locked around Darcy’s arm.  He physically tossed
two more guys aside with his other hand, his gaze sighted on the swinging door
that read “employees only.”

“I
can’t go outside.”  Darcy protested.  “The sun is too high!”

Zeke
dragged Scotlyn into the kitchen.  The whole place was filthy.  Thank God she
hadn’t ordered the Siamese.  “What happens if vampires go into the sun?”  She
demanded.

“Don’t
you watch movies?  It kills us.”  Darcy kept her eyes on Caleb.  “I’ll die I go
out there.  You know that.”

Caleb
stared down at her, breathing hard.  “You’ll die if you stay here.  I know
that, too.  We can’t leave you behind.”

“I’m
a
vampire
, asshole.  It takes more than dead humans to beat me.”

Scotlyn
highly doubted that.  She looked back through the pass into the dining room and
saw the zombies dragging bar patrons to the ground.  There were just too many creatures
for the club goers to fight.

Glasses
broke and people yelled and the juke box switched to a-Ha’s
Take on Me
. 
It was a massacre, with zombies appearing, one after the other, and attacking
in relentless waves of carnage.  No matter how many were struck down, more
pushed forward.  They didn’t care about the other zombies they walked on in
their advance, or the pleas of the victims, or the physical damage they
sustained.  All they cared about was feeding.

Not
even the supernaturally powered beings at Prowl could withstand an army like
that.

A
guy with leopard spots on his skin raced into kitchen behind Caleb and barreled
straight into a stove.  Pots flew everywhere, boiling water dumping all over
him.  The guy didn’t seem to even notice.  He kept going, dashing into the
alley behind the building, without slowing down.  Several more people dashed
after him, but then the zombies reached the kitchen.

A
woman in a sequined top and Hello Kitty pajama bottoms was torn back from the
kitchen doorway by a dozen grasping hands.  She let out a high-pitched, inhuman
shriek that blew out the glass in the windows as they dragged her towards the
bar.  Blood gushed from her neck as they ripped into her.

Scotlyn
turned away in horror.

“Fuck!” 
Caleb shot four zombies with a spray of bullets, driving them back from the
kitchen.  He shut the swinging door, leaning against it to try and keep it
closed.  There didn’t seem to be a way to lock it.  The zombies didn’t
understand that they could pull the door
out
.  They seemed to be trying
to shove their way
in.

Caleb’s
loafers slid across the linoleum as he struggled to stop them.  “Zeke!”

Darcy
slammed her body against the door, adding her weight to Caleb’s.  “Get the
refrigerator!”

Zeke
was already on it.  He wrenched the ancient Frigidaire away from the wall with
brute strength and shoved it towards the kitchen door.  “Cale, count of there. 
One.”  He pushed it into position.  “Two.”  He flattened his palms on the
avocado green side.  “Three!”  Caleb and Darcy scrambled out of the way as Zeke
toppled the refrigerator sideways in front of the door.  The freezer popped
open and Ziploc bags full of dead kittens spilled out.

Scotlyn
gasped at their little frozen faces.

“
That
you’re upset over?”  Zeke demanded.

“They’re
just babies, you insensitive ass!”

“It’s
not going to hold.”  Caleb looked down at Darcy.  “We can’t stay here.”

The
door slammed inward, over and over, the refrigerator inching forward.  At the
pass, zombies were trying to crawl over the warming racks and get into the
kitchen.  Caleb was right. The zombies were coming and nothing could stop them.

Zeke
reached the back entrance and quickly checked the alley.  “It looks clear.”

“What
about Darcy?”  Scotlyn asked.

Zeke’s
eyes narrowed in frantic thought.

“Leave
me.”  Darcy ordered.  “You have to get the human out of here.  She’s too
important.”  Her eyes stayed on the dining room door.  Hands were wedged
through the small opening, fingers grasping.  “Just get to Joseff.  Tell him what
happened to me, so he doesn’t search.”

“Important?” 
Scotlyn echoed.  “Why am I important?”

They
ignored her.

Caleb
ran a hand through his hair, looking hunted.  “I’m not leaving you, Darcy.”

“You
always have to be the goddamn White Hat, don’t you?  You leave behind anyone
who can’t keep up!  Those are the pack rules.”

Caleb
shook his head, with suicidal resolve.  “You’re my sister.  I won’t leave you. 
Zeke and Scotlyn can go, and you and I will try to hold the zombies back.”

Darcy
looked over at Zeke.  “If I knock him out, can you carry him?”  The question
was deadly serious.

Caleb’s
expression darkened.  “I will kill you two before…”

“You’re
both coming with us!”  Zeke roared at the same time.  “What the hell are
thinking
…?

“All
of you shut-up!”  Scotlyn shouted as they continued to bicker over who got to
die.

Caleb
and Darcy turned to blink at her.

Zeke
waved an expansive hand.  “Finally!  Scotlyn, make them see sense.  Use that
mean voice you use when the phone company wants to get paid.”

Scotlyn
disregarded that.  “We’re a team.  All of you start acting like one or none of
us will survive.”  She jabbed a finger at Cale.  “Zeke’s not going to leave his
brother and I’m not leaving him.  Deal with it.”

Caleb’s
head tilted, looking bemused.

“And
Darcy,” Scotlyn turned to her, “ignore these two dimwits and concentrate on
bending the vampire rules.”  She pointed out to the bright desert daylight.  “Now,
does the sun have to actually
touch
vampires to do damage?”

“Yes.” 
Darcy still seemed sold on her plan to beat Caleb unconscious, but she focused
on Scotlyn.  The phone company voice had that effect on people.

“So
if we had a blanket to put over you…”

“It
wouldn’t work.  Light goes through fabric.”

Scotlyn
looked around.  There had to be
something
in the kitchen they could use
as a sunshield.  Maybe they could rip the door off its hinges and use it like
awning.

Before
she could try it, though, the sounds of automatic gunfire came from the dining
area.  It sounded like the police attack on the Wal-Mart, a ceaseless wail of
high powered ammunition hitting bone and flesh and anything else in its path.

Caleb
and Darcy ducked behind the sideways refrigerator.  Scotlyn hit the ground,
Zeke on top of her.  The clangs and pings of metal striking metal were added to
the cacophony, as the bullets passed through the wall and into the kitchen. 
The screaming and gunfire and breaking objects all blended together in her head
until Scotlyn thought it would never end.  Until she didn’t remember what the
world sounded like without them.