“How did you know how to find me?” Maxwell asked Ethan.
“I know about your old haunts…I know what this place means to you…what your father did here.”
“Your father turned into a zombie,” Orlando said. He kept his hands at his sides, waiting for Maxwell to play his cards. “You’ve been turning hunters into zombies.”
“My father was a scientist. He was a pioneer. He started with an idea and I took his ideas and made them greater.”
“The shooting lights in the streets were your ideas?” Orlando asked.
“The lights are one of my creations.” He moved further into the room. “There is much that I wanted to show you, Orlando. You and Ruben were going to help me achieve so much more.”
Orlando noticed that Elodie had moved and that she now stood to Maxwell’s side. She was moving in.
He had to keep Maxwell distracted from her.
“How could you involve my grandson?” Ethan charged at Maxwell grabbing him by the shoulders.
Maxwell revealed what he had kept hidden in his right hand. It was a syringe which he stabbed into Ethan’s chest and injected the fluids into his body.
Ethan fell to the ground and began to convulse. Orlando dropped down beside him and Elodie jumped onto Maxwell’s back.
Maxwell tried to toss her off, but she clung on. There was a flash of light that created orange smoke. As it cleared, Orlando could see that both Maxwell and Elodie were gone.
Orlando could hear footsteps from the outer chamber. Ruben and Fernie rushed into the room. Orlando rose with his fist clenched. Looking at Fernie he said, “I think my grandfather was injected with zombie blood.”
Fernie knelt down to check him. “You’re right. He has been.”
“How did he get here? Was he working with Maxwell?” Ruben asked furiously.
“Elodie brought him.”
“Elodie?” A look of fear in his eyes as he asked, “Where is she then?”
“Maxwell took her.”
Chapter Thirteen - Smoke
Ruben silently stared at Orlando who, after revealing what had happened with Elodie, knelt back down at his grandfather’s side to check on him. His grandfather had been injected with zombie blood. It meant that it was only a matter of time before his grandfather died.
“Is he going to be okay? What can we do for him?” Orlando asked Fernie.
Looking directly at Orlando, Fernie said, “There is nothing I can do for him.”
Orlando did not want to hear it. He would not take that as the final word. “Maybe if we get a hold on Maxwell, we can make him give us a cure. He must have one.”
“Dude, I don’t care about your grandfather. My sister is gone! We should be focusing on getting her back. Who knows what Maxwell will do to her?”
Orlando rose to his feet, “My grandfather is dying.”
Fernie’s gaze traveled between Orlando and Ruben. “How did Maxwell take her out of this room? We did not see them on our way in.”
“There was orange smoke, and then they were gone.” Orlando eyed Ruben cautiously, watching for a reaction. “I thought Maxwell wasn’t a wizard. Ruben, did you know he could move with the smoke?”
Fernie stepped forward. “It’s not Maxwell. He is unable to perform such magick. It was Elodie.”
“Elodie?” Orlando was surprised by this.
Ruben was quiet. His eyes moved back and forth between Fernie and Orlando. He did not speak.
“Why didn’t you say anything? Why keep it a secret?” Orlando asked.
Fernie had his own question. “Where would Elodie take Maxwell?”
“I’m not sure.”
That was not what Orlando wanted to hear either, “We need to find Maxwell. We need to make him give us a cure.”
“I’m not sure where she would take him.”
“You must have a way of contacting each other, so call her.” Orlando took a few aggressive steps forward.
“Orlando,” his grandfather called up to him. He tried to sit up but found that he was too weak.
Orlando quickly went to his grandfather’s side and helped him to sit up.
“I came over with Elodie,” his grandfather said very quietly.
“What was that grandpa?” Orlando did not quite hear.
“I came over with Elodie. She brought me here with the smoke. She told me that she comes over often, that she has friends here.”
“She told you this?” Orlando questioned. He did not see the guarded look that crossed Ruben’s face.
“Yes.”
Ruben ran from the room. Orlando hurried after him, his sword in his hand, calling back over his shoulder to Fernie, “Stay here with my grandpa!”
“Go with him,” his grandfather said to Fernie.
Orlando caught up with Ruben, who had suddenly come to a halt.
Maxwell stood before him, Elodie at his side. She had a collar around her neck, the type that was used on the zombies to keep them under control.
“Elodie,” Ruben called out as he watched her fall to her knees, her hands clasping at the collar around her neck.
Maxwell’s voice revealed his excitement as he spoke. “Things have a way of changing in my favor.” He took a step back from Ruben and Orlando. “I didn’t know, Ruben, that your own sister is a wizard.”
“Give me the cure for my grandfather,” Orlando demanded.
“He is full of surprises, Ruben,” Elodie said. Her voice cracked.
“That’s not all he’s full of,” Ruben said quietly.
Orlando raised his sword, “Let Elodie go and give me the cure for my grandfather.”
“What makes you think there is a cure?”
Orlando wasn’t listening. “There is always a cure!” he shouted in frustration.
“I finally have myself a wizard. It took me some time, but it finally happened.” Maxwell was very pleased with himself. He seemed to be looking at something over Orlando’s shoulder.
Orlando heard a movement. He did not turn to look; he didn’t want to turn his gaze from Maxwell.
There was a grunt that came from behind Orlando, followed by moaning. He looked over his shoulder, “Fernie, what’s wrong?”
Maxwell answered for him, “The zombie blood that he has been fighting for so long has finally taken hold of his system. He is beginning to turn. This is wonderful, A zombie wizard, and you Orlando, will have the first shot at him. As for you Ruben, you can either continue as you have, and by that I mean continue hunting down zombies, or I will have Elodie fight you.”
“I will not fight her, and I will not hunt for you.” Ruben said.
“You will not have a choice. As you can see, she wears a collar. There is nothing that I cannot make her do.”
“Why are you creating zombies?” Orlando did not understand Maxwell’s true intentions. What was his endgame?
“I am not the only one creating zombies. There are networks that you do not even know about. We are all competing with one another. If you live past tonight, I just might tell you.”
Elodie watched unable to move as Fernie began the change. He was changing into a zombie. She desperately tried to make eye contact with Orlando. After a moment of willing him to look in her direction, their eyes locked. Taking a hair pin from the folds of her hair, she used the distraction to unlock the collar around her neck. She did not remove it, she instead left it on to create the illusion that she was still under Maxwell’s hold.
Orlando didn’t know what to do about Fernie. He could see that Fernie was fighting the change. There had to be something that he could do to help him. He felt compelled to look in Elodie’s direction. He watched as she undid the lock on the collar. He hoped she had a plan, for he certainly didn’t.
“Maxwell,” she called out to him so that she could be heard over Fernie’s agonized shouts. “You’ve lost your mind.”
Maxwell turned to look down at her, a sly smile upon his lips. As he did so, Elodie flung the hair pin up in
to his eyes. Its glow, a bright gold, blinded him. She flicked the collar off of her neck and had it wrapped around his scrawny neck in the blink of an eye.
Maxwell was unable to remove the collar. It was clamped on too tightly. He shouted at all of them in a rage.
A zombie burst out of a small building. He had a long steel bar clutched in his hand. As the zombie approached, he let out a horrific scream before running into their circle.
Orlando, who already had his sword charged for the zombie, swung it against the steel bar. As adversaries they were evenly matched. The zombie, in one fluid motion, threw his shoulder into Orlando, knocking him off his feet.
As Orlando began to fall, he held up a hand to force the zombie back and away. The center of his chest tightened and the feeling coursed down his arm and out of his fingertips. A purple haze then erupted from the tips of his fingers, which surprised Orlando. He had no idea what was taking place. He felt himself being pulled back into a standing position. As he regained his feet, he took a swing at the zombie with his sword, removing its head from its shoulders.
Orlando turned back to where Fernie and the others were. Elodie knelt above Fernie. An orange glow radiated from her hands as she held them above his chest. Fernie seemed to be calmer. He was no longer shouting in pain.
Maxwell was hunched down in a corner. He was still working on trying to remove the collar from his neck.
“Give us what we need to cure him!” Ruben shouted down at Maxwell.
“What for? You ruined everything. I had buyers for the ‘fix’ I had created coming tonight, but all this racket more than likely scared them off.”
“Do you want to die?” Ruben asked a crack in his voice.
“Maybe,” he replied, untouched by the question.
Ruben raised his sword. Orlando called out for him to stop. “He’s playing you, Ruben.”
Ruben did not turn, but he looked over his shoulder. “He is not cooperating!” he said with an edge in his voice.
“He will.” Orlando’s eyes conveyed to Ruben a subtle message to leave Maxwell alone for now. He next bent down by Elodie. “How is he?” he questioned, asking about Fernie.
Elodie was about to speak, but Fernie answered for her instead. “I am dying. There is nothing that can be done. I have known for a long time that this was going to happen.”
“I’m sure we can make Maxwell give us a cure.” There had to be a cure. Surely his own grandfather, who had also been injected with zombie blood, was not going to meet his end this way as well, was he?
Fernie seemed to read Orlando’s mind because he said, “There is one thing that can be done for your grandfather.”
“What is it?”
Fernie struggled to sit up. “I will show you. Help me get up.” Both Elodie and Orlando helped Fernie stand. Once he was standing, he asked Orlando for his sword. Orlando gave it to him with no question. “There are more zombies coming.”
Fernie was right. There were three more that were quickly closing in on them. Somehow Fernie found the courage to push away from Elodie and Orlando in order to run out into the pack of zombies. Ruben followed him in.
“No, no, no,” Maxwell began to mumble. “Get me out of here!”
“Why? You said you were ready to die,” Orlando reminded him.
“Those are not mindless zombies!” he shouted, quickly standing. “They are pumped up on a ‘fix’, yet they are aware of everything they are doing. They can think on their own!”
Elodie moved and got directly into Maxwell’s face. “Then hand over the cure. Do it now before they get any closer.”
“Inside my office,” he said, “Second refrigerator on the right.”
“Go get it, Elodie. Try it on my grandfather.” Elodie rushed inside. Orlando pushed Maxwell up against the wall. “If it’s not what you say it is, then I will throw you to the zombies.”
“It is. It is,” he assured him.
Orlando could do nothing but watch as Ruben and Fernie battled the zombies. He could not leave Maxwell in case he ran off. Elodie ran back outside.
“It’s doing something. Your grandfather is awake.” She held another vial in her hand. “For Fernie,” she said.
There was a rumble. The ground began to shake and break apart. Orlando could hear Fernie’s voice. As the rumbling began to settle, he could not make out the words, but he clearly heard one of the zombies talking.
“Give us Maxwell, and we will leave.”
“No,” Orlando stepped forward. “Maxwell gave us the cure. Fernie, I told him that if he helped us we would keep him safe from the zombies.”
“Fine, I’ll give him to them then. I didn’t promise anything,” Ruben quickly said. “He turned hunters into zombies. Let’s hand him over.”
“What do they want him for?” Orlando questioned. “To make something worse, look at them!” He pointed to the zombies. “They have evolved!”
“Just makes them harder to kill.”
Orlando could see that Ruben didn’t care. That he wanted vengeance for the deaths of his friends.
They didn’t have any more time to argue about it. One of the zombies took his sword and ran it through Fernie, who stood the closest to them. Seeing Fernie fall, Orlando reached out for him. Fernie solemnly placed his sword into Orlando’s hand.
Ruben swung at the zombie who had attacked Fernie. The other two zombies ran past him to Maxwell. Elodie used her orange light to ward them off. The glare worked for a moment. Maxwell, who suddenly decided that he didn’t want to die there, tried to flee from the orange surroundings. That was his mistake. As one of the pumped up zombies picked him up with on hand and tossed him to the other one, who caught him and put him over his shoulder. They both ran off.
It took the efforts of both Ruben and Orlando to kill the remaining zombie. When he was dead, they tried to help Fernie, but it was too late for the old man. His time had ended.
“What just happened?” Elodie asked.
Orlando looked away from Fernie’s body to look up at her. “Evolved zombies?” he said, not quite sure himself.
Chapter Fourteen – Changing Tides
“What’s the game plan now?” Elodie asked crossing her arms as she looked back and forth between the two of them.
Ruben was quick to step into the role of authority, “We bury Fernie, and then we head back home.”
“I won’t be able to transport all of us at the same time. I’m not strong enough yet.” Elodie uncrossed her arms and stuck her hands in her pockets.
“Just take my grandfather back with you, we will find our own way back.”
Both Orlando’s and Ruben’s motorcycles were parked outside of the Horton Hotel in San Diego, California.
“How will you cross the boarder?” Elodie asked.
“Let’s get Fernie taken care of first.” Ruben placed his hand on Elodies shoulder, “Get Orlando’s grandfather and take him home.”
She nodded her head in compliance. She perked up quickly, “I know where we can take Fernie. I have friends here who can help. They have a ranch that they use; I crash there when I’m in town.”
Using her orange smoke she lifted Fernie’s body, Elodie again looked back and forth between her brother and Orlando as she gave them the directions to the ranch before going on her way.
The ranch was small, it looked run down, and the yard was full of various debris and junk. Ruben kicked an orange bucket out of his path. Orlando’s grandfather gave a good laugh, “I’ve stayed in worse places in my time.”
“Elodie,” Ruben shouted, giving the old man a sharp glare to let him know that he was not in the mood for ancient stories.
The front door swung open striking the rickety wall so hard that the roof shook, unsettling loose rocks and dirt. Elodie went running out of the small shack. “Come around back with me, the boys were digging a place for him.” A young woman stood at the door to the shack. Her face was long and weary. She turned her head over her shoulder an
d spoke in Spanish.
Elodie led them to an area clear of debris and cast off junk where two young guys had climb out of a six foot hole wide enough for a man.
“Louis and Michael this is my brother Ruben and his friend Orlando, oh and Orlando’s grandpa.”
The one called Michael stabbed the ground with the shovel as he eyed the new arrivals. “Hello.” He said casually.
Louis jumped forward holding out his hand, he shook each of their hands in turn, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” Orlando replied. “He was a good friend.”
“They always are,” Michael said as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “We should finish before the sun comes up.” He sounded irritated.
Fernie had been covered in a cloth which wrapped his body completely. Elodie used her orange smoke to gently lower Fernie into the ground. The young woman from the shack appeared along with a young girl who held flowers clenched tightly in her hands. Orlando and Ruben took turns filling in the soil. Elodie stepped forward and used her orange smoke to fill in the remainder. The young girl laid the flowers on the mound.
They stood around the mound in silence, one by one they walked away until only Orlando remained; his eyes fixed on the place where Fernie now laid.
After a moment, he said, “Thank you, Fernie.” He knelt down lowered his head and said again, “I’m sorry this happened to you.”
Orlando was in deep thought as he entered the shack to rejoin Ruben and Elodie. His grandfather was sitting with the others, he was laughing with them as a bottle of who knows what was passed between them in the circle they made.
“Are you hungry?” Elodie asked. “There are tacos, Raquel makes really good salsa.”
Orlando shook his head as he pulled up a seat next to her, “We need to get out of here.”
“Ruben is ahead of you on that one. He is making arrangements for the two of you. Like I said, I’m not strong enough to take us all back at once. I told Ruben that I can come back for you guys but he thinks it would be too dangerous.” She rolled her eyes as she finished.
“My grandfather needs to get out of here. He has been through a lot already.” He knew his parents were at home worried that both he and his grandfather were missing.
“He looks like he’s doing all right with everything. You shouldn’t doubt him just because he’s ‘old’ he could surprise you.”