Zombie Attack! Rise of the Horde (23 page)

“Unity Gang,” I mumbled.

“What?” Felicity asked. “Who the hell is the Unity Gang?”

“It's a coalition of bikers and gang bangers from all over
the State working together to rob, rape, murder, and extort survivors. This is
bad.”

“What are we going to do?” Benji asked, looking terrified
again.

“I don't know.”

“Turn around,” Felicity shouted.

“I can't,” I said.

“Then stop the car and just back up,” she yelled.

“You don't understand,” I said. “They can easily run us down
with those bikes. I don't think it's a good idea to agitate them.”

“So we're just going to surrender to them and let them have
their way with us?”

I realized that Felicity had a lot more to lose than we did
because she was a girl. While we might escape with just being target practice,
there was no way they would let her go. She looked like she was on the verge of
a nervous breakdown. Obviously the pills had worn off.

“We're going to play it cool,” I said, trying to be calm.
“When the time comes we will fight, but not until I give you the signal. We'll
bust through those cars if we have to push them all out of the way and haul ass
to Ventura. We're not leaving anyone behind. I promise.”

I put my hand on her arm and looked her in the eyes.

“Do you trust me?” I asked. Her lip trembled but she nodded.

“What's the signal?” Benji asked.

“Me pulling out my sword,” I said. “Don't make a move until
I do. If I have to get out of this car, I'm leaving a trail of bodies for zom
food in my path.”

Two motorcycles loudly roared next to us as they pulled up
alongside the Lexus to escort us into position. I pulled toward the front of
the blockade and let the car idle as I put it in park. The good news was that
the hybrid was so quiet it might have sounded like I turned off the ignition, especially
with all the ruckus from the bikes.

A greasy looking biker in a leather vest with long black
hair walked over to us and tapped on my window. I rolled it down. His name was
sewn on his cut. RABBIT.
That's an odd name for a tough biker
, I
thought.

“Where are you coming from?” He asked. I could feel Benji's
eyes burning a hole through the back of my head from his seat. We couldn't tell
him that we were in New Lompoc. For all we knew, John might be looking for us.
I wouldn't put it past him to put a bounty on our heads for what happened to
Tank.

“Are you retarded?” he asked when I didn't answer.

“Sorry,” I said. “We are coming from Santa Barbara, up on
the Mesa.”

“How long you been there?”

Why did he want to know? And how was any of this his
business? I could feel Felicity starting to squirm in her seat.

“Since the outbreak started,” I said.

“So why did you leave?”

Who does this guy think he is? Mister twenty questions?

“A tanker washed up full of zombies,” I said. “They came
ashore and started taking over the neighborhood. I thought we might be safer in
Malibu.”

“You're not gonna have much luck down there,” Rabbit said,
sounding more like an overly helpful gas station attendant than a thug. “Whole
place is overrun with the walking dead.”

“We still gotta try,” I said.

“Suit yourself,” he snapped. The words left me feeling kind
of relieved. It sounded like they planned on letting us pass. Then I noticed
that Rabbit hadn't taken his hand off the car. He leaned in and looked around
past me.

“Whatcha carrying,” he asked, looking back over to Felicity
and winking, “aside from this pretty girl?”

Felicity pulled her skirt down and put her legs together.
Man
,
I thought,
it must be scary as hell sometimes to be a girl
.

“Just some food rations and water,” I lied. If they found
out about the gas they'd want it for sure. For a biker, fuel was maybe even
more important than air. It was how they maintained control over the area.
Without it they were just a scary tribe of guys on foot.

“We're going to need to take a look,” he said.

“We're kind of in a hurry,” I explained. “And we don't have
much to spare.”

Rabbit chuckled.

“You don't get it do you, sport?” He spat on the ground.
“I'm not asking.”

“We're not looking for any trouble,” I said, holding my
hands up. For a moment I considered flooring it and trying to fight our way out
right then and there while we still had the element of surprise on our side.

“Well I guess this is our lucky day then, isn't it?” He
scoffed at us. I could feel Felicity trying to make herself smaller in her
seat.

“Now this is what's going to happen,” Rabbit said. “You're
going to step out of the vehicle and we are going to search it for things we
might find useful to our cause.”

“So basically you're just going to steal all our stuff.”

“We've claimed this road,” he said, undisturbed by my
outburst. “The toll for driving on it is generally half of whatever you are
carrying, depending on how valuable we determine your cargo to be. We're not
monsters like them Unity Gang. We're Sons of the New Dawn. We use what we take
to fight them off, keep them from taking over all of Southern California. You
might not think it's noble, but then again who cares what the hell you think?”

I began to fidget with the blade. I saw Felicity cast me a
wary glance. The last thing she wanted was a fight. I was fairly certain that,
noble or not, it was going to come down to that. There was no way I was letting
a gang of deluded bikers steal all our stuff and kidnap Felicity.

“Now get out of the car,” he said coldly, adding with a
smile, “pretty damn please.”

“No,” I said casually, wrapping my hand around the base of
my blade. I figured I could yank the door open and knock him over, then hop out
and begin carving up anyone who got in my way. It wasn't the best plan I had
ever come up with, but I was starting to get really angry. I'd been through too
much to let them take my chance of getting back to my brother away from me. I
was sick and tired of other people derailing my plans with their nonsense.

“Excuse me?” he said, looking genuinely shocked. “I don't
think I heard you correctly, little man.”

“You heard me,” I said in a low growl.

He shook his head in disbelief and laughed.

“All right then, you little idiot,” he said, reaching in and
grabbing me by the shirt. “We're going to have to do this the hard way.” I
smiled at him. My right hand was crossed over my lap with my fingers on the
door handle. My left hand was now wrapped around my blade.

“What are you smiling about?”

I didn't answer.
I'm smiling
, I thought,
because
in just a few moments the same fingers that are pulling on my shirt are going
to be laying on the hot asphalt permanently detached from your body, you punk
biker scum.

Just as I was getting ready to make my big move a loud
booming voice came from behind Rabbit.

“Rabbit! What's taking so long?”

His expression changed and he let go of my shirt, backing
out of the window. He turned and I could see his buddy, a much larger version
of himself with the name SCAR stitched on his jacket.

“Nothing,” Rabbit said. “They are just getting out of the
car now.”

Scar walked over to the window and looked in. His expression
changed dramatically when he saw Felicity.

“Holy Jesus,” he said, sounding almost like a convert. “Do
you know who that is? That's Felicity Jane!”

Rabbit looked confused. Felicity came back to life. The guy
was obviously a fan.

“Who the hell is Felicity Jane?” Rabbit asked.

“Only one of the hottest and most talented actresses of her
generation,” Scar said. Felicity blushed and pulled down the visor on her side
to check her makeup. I rolled my eyes.

This isn't happening
, I thought.
A second ago we
were ready to battle for our lives with hardened biker scum and now we're being
accosted by a die-hard fan. Unbelievable!

Scar leaned in the window to get closer.

“You probably don't remember me,” he said, the heat of his
breath practically in my face. “I met you at Comic Con last year. I stood in
line for over an hour to get a picture with you.”

“You were at Comic Con?” I asked, laughing dismissively.
“What for?”

Scar turned and gave me a nasty glare.

“You see what I've been dealing with?” Rabbit protested.

“I was in
Starfire Galaxy
,” she said. “I played the
child queen of the warrior Amazonians.”

“Ursa,” Benji said from the backseat. “They made that poster
from the movie stills of her in the fur bikini. It sold like a million copies.”

I suddenly remembered the poster on the ceiling in New
Lompoc.

“What are you doing here?” Scar asked.

“My friends and I are heading to see my mom in Ojai,” she
said. “I haven't seen her since the outbreak and I am worried about her. We
were taking her and my stepfather food and water. He's diabetic so I am really
concerned, you know?”

“Right,” Rabbit scoffed. “A minute ago they said they were
going to Malibu.”

“I'm sorry,” Scar said in a soft voice. “We gotta take half
your supplies. It's our policy.”

“You can't make an exception for me,” she said, leaning over
and giving him the sad eyes.

“I wish I could, but the rest of the guys wouldn't
understand,” he said. “I promise you we won't take the car though. We will need
some of the gas, but that's it. You really have no idea how huge a fan I am.”

“If you're really a fan then you won't rob me,” she pouted,
turning on all her charm. “I need this stuff for my mom. Please?”

“I can't do it,” he said, sounding really torn.

“I do remember you,” she said. “You were so sweet after
waiting all that time. You brought me a teddy bear and I gave you a signed DVD
for being so nice.”

“That's right,” he said, sounding shocked and pleased. “Do
you still have the teddy?”

“I named him Rasputin,” she said. “He's at my mom's house.”

“That's amazing,” he said. “Rasputin . . . I like that.”

“I have an idea,” I said. Scar and Rabbit glared at me for
interrupting but I pressed on. “We have a spare can of gas in the back next to
the water. That's got to be pretty valuable right? Why don't you take that and
let us get on our way?”

Scar stopped to think it over, running his dirty fingers
through his salt and pepper beard in the process.

“Yeah,” he said. “That might work. Go ahead and pop the
hatch.”

I did, and he walked back and took both gas cans instead of
the single one I offered. I was glad that we were driving a hybrid. There was
no telling when or how we'd be getting gas again. The last thing I needed was
to run out of gas ten miles from the base and have to fight my way across an
urban jungle filled with zombies and bad guys.

“You know you're lucky,” Rabbit said with a nasty grin.
“Usually when someone mouths off we just take the whole car and make them walk
to Ventura on foot.” I didn't say anything for fear of upsetting him further.

“You're very kind,” Felicity said. “I hope our contribution
helps your cause.”

“I remember you now,” he laughed. “You're that broad from
Star
Dancers
whose partner got chomped on live air. Yeah. I saw that on the
internet. Funny as hell.”

Felicity blanched and went silent. She sat back down and
pulled on a pair of sunglasses, looking ill.

Scar slapped the side of the Lexus with his big, meaty hand.

“You are clear to go,” he said. “Good luck Miss Felicity
Jane. Say hello to your mother for me.”

The bikers moved the cars blocking our path and waved us
through. We drove along the deserted highway in silence for a while.

“That was close,” I said.

“Yeah,” Benji said. “I thought for sure you were going to
freak out and get us all killed.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, bro,” I said
flabbergasted.

“Just saying,” he shrugged.

“You're awfully quiet,” I turned to Felicity. “It's okay
now. We made it out, thanks to you.”

“Yeah thanks,” Benji said. “I guess being a celebrity still
has its advantages.”

“You okay?” I asked. “You look like you're going to be sick.
Do you need me to pull over? It's okay if you do. It happens to the best of
us.”

“I was just thinking about what Ewan did to Mario,” she
said.

“Oh,” I replied awkwardly. “That must have been rough.” I
wasn't really in the mood to get all negative again. We just escaped some
serious trouble. We should have been celebrating, not grieving. I thought about
Jackson. It had already been a long day and it wasn't even noon!

“The show was sponsored by Snax Max,” Felicity said. “They
are a corporate food conglomerate that owns a bunch of fast food restaurants.
Ewan was eating a Beefy Max Burrito supreme when he snapped.”

“That's not what made him sick though,” I said sensibly.

“How do you know?” She turned to look at me. “No one knows
what's causing people to kill and eat each other. How do we know it wasn't
contracted through bad food?”

“Man I hope not,” I said. “I'd do just about anything right
now for a Wetzel's Pretzel.”

“Have you ever tried the pepperoni twist?” Benji sat up from
the backseat. “They are amazing!”

“Almost worth risking a run through a mall for,” I agreed.

“Not me,” Felicity said. “I can't get the image of Ewan
biting him out of my head. One minute he was chowing down on that stuff and
sipping a gallon of soda. The next he was on stage biting Mario's jugular.”

“That's understandable,” I said. “I'd probably feel the same
way if that had happened to me.”

“Turn off up here,” she said as we passed the sign
announcing Ojai.

“We're not going to Ojai,” I said, firmly shaking my head
from side to side. “We talked about this. Especially now that we've given away
most of our gas. We barely have enough to get to Hueneme.”