Zombie Pink (29 page)

The group reached Heathcliff Avenue and took
a right.
They all had a difficult
time keeping up with Roger’s pace.
Andrea felt more than a little out of breath, although she tried to hide it
.

Andrea made a point to stay at Roger's
side. Luckily, Lisa
was ahead of them, intent on grabbing
Nick’s attention and making Gina jealous. Drew
was
walking on the other side of Roger.

Andrea felt safe with Roger next to
her, and it wasn't just because he had a gun, either. Although that certainly did help
.

"Do you really think going out to the highway's a good idea?" Andrea asked him
.

"It's our only bet," he replied, glancing down at Andrea
briefly.

Andrea hadn't given a thought to how she looked until that very moment
.
Her hair was
probably a mess. Roger, however, look
ed
hotter than ever.

Andrea
was right. He d
id
look better up close. And taller, too.

So tall...

"This neighborhood, as they say, is infected."

"What? Oh
!” Andrea said
. “Where the hell are the cops?”

The complete lack of a police presence was baffling.

"That's the million dollar question," Roger replied, glancing down at her again. "Makes no damn sense."

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Shady Oaks had
been reduced to a scene from a bad horror movie. Everywhere
Andrea looked, she saw
shadowy figures shuffling about. Doors in houses
were left ajar as people ran or limped or shuffled in and out, snarling, screaming, and
swearing.

Andrea heard blood curdling screams coming from inside of houses and from backyards and streets in the distance...screams that sent chills down her
spine. Screams of real fear and terror. Screams of men, women and children all blending together.

The sound of men screaming always seemed weird to Andrea since it wasn't a common sound
. Except for Mark Fishman when he went on a roller-coaster. That guy screamed like a little girl.

Andrea bet that Roger would never
scream on a roller-coaster.

Suddenly, a woman in a nightgown with two young boys in tow rode by
on bicycles shouting, "GET OUT OF HERE! RUN! GET THE HELL OUT! DON'T LET THEM GET YOU!"

Someone was being attacked on the Nelson's front lawn...

Oh God,
Andrea thought. I
t looks like Mrs. Nelson in her polk-a-dot house dress
!

The Nelson’s nasty Rottweiler had entered into the fray, growling and snarling and biting the.....

Can I say the word zombie in my head, even if I can’t say it out loud
?
Andrea asked herself.

"Shouldn't you shoot...that person?" Andrea asked Roger, referring to the sick looking man with the mottled pink skin who was aggressively chewing on Mrs. Nelson's flabby upper arm.

The tableau was so nauseating, Andrea had to look away.

“Cool!” Nick declared, with a big smile on his face.

“You’re an asshole, Nicky!” Lisa chided in a flirty voice.

"I can’t just shoot indiscriminately at this point," Roger told Andrea
. "I don't know who's involved and who isn't. If somebody directly threatens us, that’s a different story."

"Well I'm sure Mrs. Nelson's not involved," Drew chimed
in. "She's like
eighty years old, and she runs the Senior Bingo at the clubhouse."

"That's no proof!" Roger snapped. “NOW STOP GAWKING AND KEEP MOVING, PEOPLE!”

"So they're not real zombies?" Andrea ventured to ask, once they were past the grisly scene.

For once, she hadn’t been afraid of the Nelson's Rottweiler, since the dog
was previously occupied.

"Do you believe in zombies?" Roger asked, still sounding pissed.

"I mean, I never did before..." Andrea replied.

But did she now
?
If all these people are just pretending to be zombies, why are old people be involved?
Old people don’t usually join in with these sorts of fads, do they
?

Right on cue, Andrea spotted an elderly woman shuffling down her front yard sporting the same bright magenta rash that had swallowed up Mimi's skin... along with the same weird cottage cheese eyes...

"Rrrrrr..." the old woman moaned, wearing a twisted smirk on her wrinkly mottled face.

"Granny zombie at three o'clock!" Drew reported, referring to the old woman.

Andrea stole a glance at Roger as they quickly walked
past the "granny zombie." He d
idn't even look worried.

"Are we going to have to use that gun?" Lisa asked, inserting herself between Andrea
and Roger.

"Already did," Roger replied
. "Don't worry. I didn't kill any
one
. Just scared them away. Like I was just telling your friend here, if I have to kill someone in self-defense, I will."

"Yea, but do you have to shoot them in the brain like on Dead Heads?" Andrea asked
.

Immediately, she winced.

That was probably a really dumb question
!
she chastised herself.

"No, I don't have to shoot them in the brain," Roger answered in a patronizing tone
. "For the last time,
these are not real zombies
!"

Andrea was mad at herself for
sounding so stupid.
She would have to choose her words more carefully from now on, so Roger wouldn't think she was an idiot.

As the group made their way up Heathcliff Avenue, the normally busy road was
eerily deserted.
She couldn't help but wonder if everyone else’s tires were
slashed.

Andrea realized that the road might always be deserted at this hour, but there was
a different feeling in the air.

A feeling of doom.

Suddenly, she thought of her
parents.
She hoped they were
okay.
She would have to read that text her mom sent when they got somewhere safe.....

She hoped her parents were safe....

The group marched
past the little guard tower and gate. No one
was inside the small guard tower that operated
the gate. That mean
t there was
no one present to call in visitors.

Tonight, Shady Oaks was
no longer a gated community.

"See? That's why the neighborhood is all fucked up!" Nick comment
ed
. "No one's manning the gate."

"Maybe the guard person turned into a zombie," Gina suggested.

"Or just got scared and left!" Roger cut
in. "Stop believing this shit is real!"

“LOOK!” Lisa suddenly shouted.

She was pointing across the highway towards the wooded area on the other side of route seventy-six.

They all looked across the street. Hovering in front of the trees was a woman with long dark tangled hair, huge glasses, and a haunted look o
n her face. She
was just standing there, like some a phantom that had materialized from out of nowhere.

"IT'S THAT CREEPY HOMELESS WOMAN!" Lisa shouted
. "The one I saw by the Maybelline’s parking lot
.
I swear, it's her!"

"You know her?" Nick asked, squinting his eyes while regarding the strange woman standing in front of the trees
staring at them. “Oh man, I've seen that skank before!"

"Unfortunately, so have I," Roger added. “She’s the one who attacked my wife.”

"Hey! That's that same one we saw in the Mathewson's back yard!" Gina suddenly exclaim
ed. "I thought you said you bashed her skull in!"

"I did!" Nick lied
. "I guess she came back to life."

Even from a distance in the dark, the group could tell that the woman's bloody face was a garish pink color and her eyes were eerily glowing in the dark.

“Shit, that’s creepy,” Andrea said.

“You’re telling me!” Drew agreed.
"That's no cosplay, that's for sure!"

“I think I’m gonna wet my pants!” Gina whined.

“It’s fake,” Roger stated calmly
. “Just remember. It’s all fake.”

“Yea, but how do you know for sure?” Drew asked him, which was exactly what Andrea was wondering.

“C’mon. Use your head,”
was all Roger said.

He sounded like he was disappointed with this unenlightened rag-tag group he'd been saddled with.

Andrea stared at the woman across the street.

Who was she
?

Or rather
,
who was she before this happened
?

Or... before she did this to herself
?

Did she have a husband
?
Children
?
A beloved pet
?

Are they wondering what happened to her
?

"Will they ever know
?

“Keep moving!” Roger barked, interrupting Andrea's musings.

Andrea could feel the woman's eerie glowing eyes tracking them as they headed up Route seventy-six.

She could swear she heard the woman growling.

How does a human being even make a sound like that
?
she wondered.

The noise made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck.

"Hurry up, you guys! She's coming!" Gina warn
ed.

"OH SHIT!" Lisa screeched.

"Never fear, girls! Nicky's here!" Nick proclaimed.

"Stay together!" Roger ordered, like he was The Dad and they were The Unruly Children
. "Step up the speed! She's moving slowly, so we can stay ahead of her
."

Despite Roger’s logic, all of the girls started running....until Roger ordered them to stop.

"You have to conserve your energy!" he warned
. "Besides, we can't risk any of you falling down and hurting yourself. The most important thing is to stay alert at all times. Never let your guard down. Remember. I have a gun and I'll use it if I have to."

“Who does he think he is, Steve from Dead Heads?” Nick muttered.

The girls stopped running, but continued
to walk at a much faster pace than before.

Andrea glanced behind her
. The woman
was pretty far back, even though she had crossed over to their side of the highway.

She was sure glad Roger had
that gun!

Unlike Nick, Andrea didn't
mind Roger taking control. It seem
ed
sort of manly.
She
couldn’t imagine someone like Mark Fishman acting so in charge.
Mark Fishman would probably run around in circles screaming and crying and throwing up.

"Anyone want a protein bar?" Nick suddenly asked.

"God! How can you eat at a time like this?" Drew ask
ed him.

"Gotta keep your energy up, babe!" he replied, flashing Drew his smokiest look.

"Hey!" Gina whined, sounding jealous again.

Just then,
Andrea looked up at Roger and he looked back. They both rolled their eyes at each other, symbolizing their
agreement that Nick and Gina were absolute idiots.

And that’s when Andrea felt it
.

The connection...just like in her fantasies
! E
ven though this wasn't what she would deem a
sexual
situation.

Nonetheless, she felt like she'd been zapped with electricity.

"You're not exactly dressed for the apocalypse," Roger observed
.

“Yea...” Andrea agreed, blushing.

She thought that Roger sounded
concerned. Not
pervy
. For instance, if Nick
had said those exact same words, they would have had a completely different meaning.

“Let’s see if she is!” Nick suddenly roared.

And then, suddenly, Andrea felt the back of her dress being lifted up!

“HEY, CUT IT OUT, CREEP!” she shouted, twisting around to face him.

Nick just laughed.

“Little white cotton panties,” he reported
. “She’s ready.”

“Nick, stop that!” Gina whined.
"I have no panties, ya know!"

"Oh, girl!" Nick crowed, sneaking his beefy hand up her shorts, encountering the girl's silky smooth butt cheek.

“Hey!” Roger commanded, coming to a complete stop which caused the rest of the group to all practically trip over their own feet.