Magic of the Wood House (The Elemental Phases Book 6) (33 page)

He
switched the channel.

“
…sick
of this.  If I hear one more caller telling me there are zombies wandering
around, I will play nothing but MJ’s
Thriller
for the rest of the…
”

He
switched it, again.

“
…no
immediate danger, although authorities
in these areas are asking
residents to stay indoors, due to the unusually high reports of gang activity…
”

Switched
it, again.

“…
the
top rated buffet on the strip and for the low price of just
…”

Fucking
hell.

Zeke
turned the radio off and ran a hand through his hair.  “There’s a Wal-Mart up
here.  Turn left.”

“Yesterday,
there was wall-to-wall coverage of Paris Hilton’s haircut on the radio and
they’re not reporting
this?
”  Scotlyn spun the wheel, sounding furious
at the entire news media.

“No
one will believe it until it’s too late.”  Zeke glanced back at the pink cloud,
again.  “Have I mentioned you should drive faster?”

“I’m
doing sixty.”

“Do
seventy, then.”

“This
is as fast as I can go without getting us into an accident.”  She grimly
swerved around stopped cars and frantic pedestrians.  “We’re going to need a plan,
you know.  Maybe we should go to the police station.”

“You
think the police have a bomb shelter with air filtration?”

She
flashed him a look.  “It suddenly seems like a real smart use of tax dollars,
but
no
.  I highly doubt that anyone even considered air filtration until
about ten minutes ago.”

“Well,
we need to get some place that’ll keep that pink stuff
out.
  Good enough
plan for you?”

“Yep.” 
Scotlyn jerked the wheel to avoid a zombie dressed in a waitress’ uniform,
taking them up onto the sidewalk and mowing down a row of parking meters in the
process.  There was a grinding sound of metal and Zeke figured he’d just lost
half the paint on the left side of the car.

Scotlyn
winced.  “Sorry.”

“Right
now, bodywork is the least of my worries. 
After
the zombie apocalypse,
I’m deducting it from your salary, though.”  Zeke reached up to brace a hand
against the roof as she got them back down to the street.  “I’m pretty sure
there’s a law that says you’re allowed to run over any monsters trying to eat you,
so let’s try not to waste time dodging them.”

“You
seriously want me to run people down?!”

“No,
I seriously want you to run
zombies
down.”

“This
can’t really be happening.”  She sounded like she was hanging on by a thread
and trying to come up with a non-insane explanation for what she was seeing
around her.  “They can’t be zombies.”

Zeke
couldn’t really blame her for the denial, but they didn’t have time for it. 
Macreadys were a pragmatic bunch.  They had to be.  Survival meant adjusting
rapidly and not questioning whether something was scientifically possible when
it was happening right in front of his eyes.  “They’re fucking zombies, Trix.”

“They
might be
zombies, but we don’t know for
sure
.  How can they
really be
zombies
, for Christ’s sake?  And even if they
are
,
maybe they can be cured.  Maybe I’d be running down people who are only
--like--
temporarily
zombies
.
”

“They’re
eating corpses!  How do you think they can recover from…
Look out!
”

Scotlyn
slammed on the brakes as a blue Toyota careened straight in front of them.  The
SUV fishtailed to a stop, narrowly missing the smaller car.  Inside the
Toyota’s interior Zeke could see two passengers attacking the driver.  Blood
was splattered all over the windshield like a grisly abstract painting.  The
car plowed straight through the front window of a bar, never slowing.  Half the
building fell down in a waterfall of glass and plaster.

…And
still he could see the beings in the cars feeding on the body of the driver.

From
every direction, more zombies came shuffling in to join the frenzy.  Several of
them began inching towards Zeke’s SUV, their hands scratching at the windows
trying to get in.  The whole car rocked.

Zeke
swore quietly.  “Alright.  Shit.  Alright.  Just,” he tried to think, “just get
us going again.”

Scotlyn
sat there frozen, her fingers clenched white around the wheel.

“Scottie,”
Zeke reached over to brush a hand over her hair and swore the warmth of the
strawberry blonde color heated his palm, “we’re alright.  I won’t let anything
happen to you.”  He meant that and he’d never cared about anyone else’s safety
before.  “We just have to get out of here.”

A
zombie climbed onto the hood and Scotlyn stared at it, her eyes glassy with
shock.  The creature pulled itself up the shiny black metal, its lips pulled
back in an inhuman snarl.  One of its eyes was missing and, judging from the
teeth marks on its forehead and cheek, it had been eaten right out of its
skull.  The other eye glared from its socket, the translucent white color like
the undercooked edges of a fried eye.

“Trix,
put the car back in gear.”  Zeke said quietly.

“They
really are zombies.”  She gave a jerky nod like she was finally convinced.  “I
mean, it’s one thing to
say
that they are…  But, they really
are
. 
These people are already dead… Only they’re not dying.”

“I
kinda picked up on that, too.  Put the car in gear.”

The
creature on the hood slammed a fist against the windshield trying to break
through.

“Fuck!” 
Zeke lifted the gun and prepared to shoot it.  “
Put the car in gear!
”

Scotlyn’s
jaw firmed.  “Buckle up.”  She reached around to fasten her seatbelt.  “I think
I can run them over now.”

“Good. 
Do it.
”

The
SUV roared forwards and the zombie went tumbling off with a shriek.  There was
a sickening crunch under the tires, but Scotlyn didn’t slow down.

Zeke
stifled a wince as two more creatures were flattened.  One of them she actually
swerved to hit.  “Take the second right.”

“I
know how to get to Wal-Mart.  I drive this way every day.”

“Fine,
so
drive
.  But try not to pop a tire, because I’m not getting out to
change a flat.”

She
gave a semi-hysterical laugh.  “Don’t worry.  We can call a mechanic.  My
ex-boyfriend bought me a AAA membership for Christmas last year.  Stupid
unromantic bastard.  I dumped him by New Year’s Eve.”

Gee,
Zeke was just
sooooo
sad to hear that.  “If it makes you feel any
better, he’s probably a zombie, now.”

“No,
it
doesn’t
make me feel better!”  Scotlyn snapped.  Then, she hesitated
for a beat.  “Maybe a
little
better.”

There
were zombies all over the road, feeding on the bodies of dead motorists… some
of whom were already stirring back to unlife.  Everywhere he looked there was
chaos and blood and monsters.  The pink stuff had been what infected some
zombies, but they were now biting humans and turning
more
zombies on
their own.  This plague was spreading like fire.  It would burn until there was
no one left to feed the flames.

The
SUV sailed through a zombie crowd, knocking bodies sideways and taking the
right turn on two wheels.

“You
crash and we’re going to be in even deeper shit.”

“Did
you tell me to go faster or not?”

Zeke
automatically checked the position of the pink cloud.  “Yes.  Fuck.  Go
faster.”  He set the sawed off aside and started reloading the revolver.

“Now
what are you doing?”

“When
we get to the freeway onramp, it’s going to be packed solid with cars.  Long
before we reach it, traffic will be stopped.”

“We’re
not getting on the freeway.”

“I
know, but we have to get through that backup.  The store is on the other side
of it and so is your apartment.  We leave the car and it’ll be one or two
blocks on foot.  There’s no other way fast enough.”

“I
don’t even want to go one or two
steps
on foot!”

“We’re
not going on the main road.  We stick to the side streets and move fast and
we’ll be okay.  We’re running just ahead of the worst of it, I think.”

He
hoped.

“I
was supposed to be off at ten.”  Scotlyn announced grimly.  “Did you know
that?  I bet you didn’t know that.  I’m supposed to be home searching the internet
for a better job, right now, but you were
napping
and I stayed on for
overtime.”

“Be
glad about that.  By the time I drove over to your apartment to get you and
then
went to the store, we’d both be choking on pink zombie fumes.  My nap saved our
lives.”

Her
eyebrows pulled together.  “You would’ve come to find me?”

Zeke
snorted.  “What to do you think?”

Scotlyn
shot him a quick look and then refocused on the road.  She was silent for a
long moment.  “Traffic is definitely getting heavier.”  She finally reported.

“I
see it.”

The
vehicles were like a solid mass, now.  Other cars were driving on sidewalks and
median strips, trying to pass each other.  Horns honking and people screaming
and the rapid fire of guns.  A pick-up sideswiped them, the driver not seeming
to even notice.  Scotlyn swore as she braked to avoid a BMW and a Hummer
slammed into her from behind.  That sent the SUV jolting forward into the BMW,
the BMW into a Saturn, and the Saturn into a Lexus.

The
driver of the Lexus got out, raised a pistol, and started wilding firing at the
other cars.

“Get
down!  Get down!”  Zeke grabbed Scotlyn and pulled her sideways.  A bullet
impacted the windshield, spider-webbing the glass.  Several other drivers burst
out of their cars to tackle the guy, beating him with their fists.  At this
point, the panicked humans were almost as dangerous as the zombies.  The whole
situation was unraveling at a faster pace than even he could’ve predicted and
Zeke wasn’t an optimistic guy.

They
had to get out
now
.

Zeke
reached over to turn off the SUV and then popped the lever to open the rear
hatch.  “Climb through the car and out the back.  We’re about to start
walking.”  Up ahead, more gunfire sounded.  “Scratch that.  We’re
running.
”