The Zombie Chronicles - Book 3 - Deadly City (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) (2 page)

“
Then shoot it!” another soldier barked back. “We can’t have it escaping into the city.”

Just like that, he fired three bullets into the zombie’s head, and it fell backward. I stared at the jagged hole in the material, but it was dark and I couldn’t see a thing. Zombie moans echoed through the air, and I shot Claire and Jackie a shocked look. The soldier then jumped back into the passenger seat, and the military truck sped off, dust flying in its wake.

“
Why are they bringing zombies into the city?” Claire whispered. “Especially when they have walls and fences to keep them out? It doesn’t make sense. It’s like…letting a great white inside your shark cage with you.”

“
Do you think there’s really a lab?” I asked. “That they really are doing some Dr. Frankenstein testing and experiments around here?”

“
You mean the lab Tahoe took the vials too?” Claire asked. “Maybe that’s why they’re collecting zombies—to see if the vials work.”

I nodded. “Maybe they’re experimenting on the townspeople too. I mean, these people are nuts. Maybe poisonous chemicals are leaking into the air or something. I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s definitely wrong.”

“
Yeah,” Claire said. “Something’s not right.”

Jackie’s lips pressed into a grim line. “Obviously, these people are taking live zombies somewhere. If they found Val, I bet they took her to the same place.”

I pondered the possibility. “Val coulda been subdued or gagged, then transported to wherever they’re storing the zombies. Maybe that’s why the townspeople didn’t see anything.”

“
Military personnel don’t just bring zombies in for nothing,” Jackie said. “I’m sure every city runs tests. Everyone is desperate to find a cure.”

Claire tucked a few pieces of hair behind her ear. “I wonder how long they keep their test subjects alive.”

“
You’ve got a point,” I agreed, suddenly even more worried about my sister-turned-zombie. “If there’s a lab here, we need to find it right away.”

HONK
!

Suddenly, from right behind us, a horn blared, and a blue car pulled up next to us. I cringed when I saw that the driver was the nutcase from the bar, the one who’d instigated the bar fight.

“
Hey, Dean,” Lucy said through the rolled-down window as she threw the car in park.

She was the last person I wanted to see, and I motioned to the girls we needed to walk away from the crazy chick as fast as we could, quickly giving them the rundown about what had happened in the pub.

While I was trying to explain, Lucy opened the door and jumped out, smiling at me like I was supposed to be her best friend after that stunt she’d pulled. “Hey! Don’t ignore me,” she said.

I rolled my eyes and walked off.
Why didn’t she just keep driving?
“Listen, Lucy…I don’t need any more trouble right now.”

She pulled my arm, forcing me to face her. “I’m sorry. I get…a little crazy sometimes.”

“
Don’t worry. You fit in perfectly here. Everyone in this place is insane,” I said.

Then, for seemingly no reason at all, Lucy grabbed her head and began moaning and whining.

I touched her shoulder. “Hey…are you okay?”

“
No! I’ve been having these severe headaches for a few months now.” Her eyes fluttered shut. “It feels like a chorus line of hippos is dancing on top of my head! I think I need to sit down.”

Claire led her to the front seat of her car. “Do you have any Tylenol or anything in your purse? Any painkillers?”

“
What? You ask me a question like that and you think
I’m
the crazy one?” Lucy spouted in an unwarranted rage. “What’s wrong with you? It’s not like I can just run up to the drugstore and stock up on Excedrin and Motrin and God knows what else, can I? The store’s out of it. Everyone’s having headaches.”

“
Sheesh! Calm down, lady!” Claire said.

“
Don’t you tell me to calm down, you little—”

Trying to defuse the situation before Claire took a whack at her, Jackie suggested, “Listen, I can drive you home.”

Then, in an instant, Lucy’s fake smile was plastered back on her face, the calm after a horrible storm, obviously. “No, no, hon’. It’s starting to go away now. But thanks. Guess I lucked out this time.”

“
Um…how?” I asked, confused by her choppy speech and suddenly giddy expression.

“
Sometimes they last for hours.”

“
Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better,” I said, then motioned toward the girls. “This is Claire and Jackie.”

Lucy shook their hands, and they exchanged greetings.

I motioned toward the gates. “Hey, I’ve got a big question for you, Lucy.”

“
Shoot.”

“
Why are military trucks bringing in zombies?”

At first, she looked floored, but then she tried to cover it up by cocking a brow, as if she didn’t know a thing. Still, I could see she was hiding something under that odd expression, a secret, like most of the townspeople seemed to be doing.

“
No use hiding it, Lucy. We saw everything.”

“
You know what?” she said. “You better get out of town while you still can. This place isn’t safe for outsiders—especially nosy ones.”

“
Yeah, yeah. So we’ve been told,” I said. “But before we go, why don’t you fill me in on the missing details?”

She opened her mouth, but no words came out, so she clamped it shut again.

Claire inched closer, her gaze imploring. “You
need
to tell us what’s going on.”

“
I-I can’t…I’m trying to warn you,” she snapped, droplets of sweat beginning to roll down her face. “It’s not safe here. Get out—the sooner, the better.”

“
Yeah,” I repeated. “You said that already.”

“
Lucy, you can trust us,” Jackie added.

“
This place has secrets…lots of secrets,” Lucy whispered, grabbing the collar of Jackie’s shirt. “We…er, they…uh, this town does things here.”

“
What kinds of things?” Jackie pried.

“
Ugly, awful things, things you wouldn’t think of in your most horrible nightmares.” She clung onto to Jackie for dear life. “See, I-I told my husband everything already. I think he believes me. He’s out investigating all my claims, to make sure I’m not just nuts. I’ll ask him to help you.”

Jackie glanced up at me. “If her husband is out there investigating, we’re not the only ones who know something’s wrong in this screwed-up little town.”

“
She did say earlier that her husband just got into town,” I said. “He’s probably not infected yet.”

“
Infected?”

“
Yeah, with whatever is turning these people into hallucinating psychos. He’s still normal, like us—just stumped and trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“
I think we should meet him,” Jackie said.

Claire nodded. “Yeah. Maybe he could help us.”

“
Lucy,” I said, “we’d love to meet your husband. Can you take us to him?”

“
Can’t. He won’t be back for hours.”

I bit my lip. It was a good lead, and I hoped the guy would be able to fill us in on at least some of what was going on. “We can wait. I know there’s more going on here than meets the eye,” I said.

“
Yep,” said Lucy, nodding exaggeratedly.

“
Well, there’s one question lingering in my mind. Can you help me answer it?”

She twisted the gold wedding band on her finger. “Um…sure.”

“
Are they doing secret testing somewhere? Maybe in a lab of some sort?”

She pressed her hands against her temples. “Ugh! Stop it! Stop dancing in there!”

“
Lucy? You all right?” Jackie asked.

“
Listen, I haven’t slept for weeks. Can’t you tell by the brown circles under my eyes? The guilt! It’s…it consumes me. The guilt and these blasted headaches!”

“
It helps to talk about it,” Jackie coaxed softly. “You can talk to us, Lucy…and trust us.”

She turned toward me. “Okay, fine. Dean, you were right. I am the Lucy that woman, passing out the flyers at the clinic, was looking for. She’s looking for her sister who happened to be a good friend of mine. But they killed her…and they’ll kill you too. You guys seem all right, so let me give you some advice that might just save your lives.”

“
What?” I asked.

Her face grew grim, and I could immediately sense something was wrong. “Get the heck out of town before it’s too late,” she spat. “I wish I’d given my friend the same advice.”

I rolled my eyes, tired of listening to the same old dumb crap. I already knew we should hightail it out of that insane asylum they called a town, but what I didn’t know was why. Besides, we weren’t going to go anywhere without Val.

All of the sudden, a female voice yelled. I spun around and saw a blonde on the other side of the barb-wired fence, the lady who’d been handing out flyers when we’d first arrived at the city, looking for Lucy. “Lucy!” she screamed. “I need to talk to you.”

Lucy met my gaze, her eyes as wide as pancakes. “I-I don’t have the heart to tell Kate her sister is dead.”

“
She has the right to know,” I said.

“
No!” Lucy gasped, slamming her car door shut.

“
Wait!” I said, pounding on the window. “I thought you wanted us to meet your husband, and—” But my words were cut off by her peeling out, and I jumped back as the car sped off, sending a torrent of pebbles everywhere.

“
What’s going on?” Claire asked.

“
I don’t know the whole story,” I said, “but it’s obvious this town’s killing innocent people.”

“
If they’re experimenting on travelers passing through, that’d make us prime candidates,” Jackie said. “And didn’t you say some whacko said you guys are perfect specimens?”

I shuddered at the thought. I didn’t enjoy being talked about like something in a Petri dish. “Yeah. That’s what they said.”

“
Clearly, we’re not safe here,” Claire said.

I walked over to the steel fence that loomed above us. Rows of razor-sharp wire were tangled and coiled at the very top. A climb over it would be beyond painful, if even possible. I wished I could jump that wired fence in a single bound, but for the time being, gravity was holding us all prisoner in a psyche ward on a zombie-infected planet.

“
Why did Lucy leave? What made her take off like that?” Kate yelled.

I was getting ready to tell the girl what I’d learned about her sister’s death when she cut me off.

“
Hey, why are they bringing zombies into the city?” she asked, echoing the question that had been bouncing around in my own head.

Jackie gripped the fence. “You saw it too?”

“
Yeah. What gives?”

“
We’ve been trying to figure that out ourselves,” I said. “We asked Lucy, but before she said anything, she just got all hot-headed about it and took off.”

“
I can tell you’re not from around here,” Kate said.

“
Is it that obvious?”

“
Absolutely,” Kate said with a smile, “but consider that a good thing. Anyway, let me fill you in on what I know. People have been disappearing in Kingsville for the last two months, and nobody seems to know why. If you ask anybody about it, they just clam right up—or else start talking to ghosts.”