I kicked out, hitting it in the stomach. My foot squished in, not finding much substance in its decayed mid-section. But at least it shot back a few yards.
“They’re reanimated dead, Aribella. You must cut off the head.” His voice boomed around.
A quick glance revealed that most of us were in combat with the ‘reanimated dead’, as Josian called them.
“Alright, dead biatch, let’s see what you got.” I grinned as it came at me again.
Although, I had no idea how I was supposed to take off its head without a sword.
I kicked out again. This time my boots connected solidly with the rotted face. Chunks of flesh flew, including a few bits that stuck to my shoe. Damn, I liked those boots, but they were going straight in the bin now. And the worst part was that its head didn’t even fly off. It got to its feet, only to be joined by another two of its dead friends. They spread out to come at me from all directions.
My energy rolled inside me, demanding to be released. I skimmed from the turbulence at my centre and formed an energy ball, but instead of leaving it round, I forced its edges flatter to create a disc shape. When the original zombie came at me, I shot out my energy, aiming for the neck. It sliced through like a hot laser, the body collapsing the moment the head was separated.
I could feel another one coming toward my back. I spun quickly, gathering energy again and relieving the second of its head. I was just congratulating myself when a heavy weight landed on my back. Before I had a chance to spin around it clamped down on my neck and bit deep. I screamed out as pain and panic flooded through me. The creature clenched its jaw, digging even deeper. I fell to my knees, zombie stories flying through my head. I knew what this bite meant and now it was too late.
Chapter 11
“Abby!”
I registered that someone was calling my name. But I think I was in shock or something. I sat there, one hand clamped over the holes in my neck, the other shooting energy discs at the zombies coming closer. I was moving on instinct. I had no idea how long it would take until I turned, and I had to take out as many of these rotting a-holes as I could. I hoped when I joined the undead Josian wouldn’t hesitate to remove my head.
“Abigail Swish, get that damn look off your face. You’re not dying. You’re a friggen Walker.” Lucy got her face close to mine.
“You’re unconscious,” I muttered, shooting a zombie over her shoulder.
“Don’t make me slap some sense into you.” She leaned back, hands on her hips.
Her eyes flashed at me. What was she so annoyed about? I was the one turning into a zombie.
I pulled my hand free, surprised to notice there was no fresh blood. I reached for my neck again.
“Where have the bites gone?” I muttered.
A crack rang out, and I realized Lucy had followed through on her threat. She’d just slapped my right cheek. The sting brought with it a sense of clarity.
“Lucy. What. The. Eff?” I lurched to my feet. “Did you just slap me?”
“You back with us, Abbs? Because we really need your help.” Her cheeks were streaked with dirt and blood, blond curls matted around her face.
I still felt confused, but clearly I wasn’t about to turn into a zombie. A blush stole over my cheeks. It might have been stupid to have that little breakdown. Walkers probably couldn’t become any other supernatural creature. I could only blame it on too many undead books growing up.
“What do you need?” I pulled myself together.
“The reanimated dead are overwhelming us. You need to gather your powers and start blasting these suckers.” Lucy dragged me into the midst of the fight.
It took hours, and an endless supply of energy discs, but the mass of zombies eventually dwindled. We were surrounded by piles of corpses, and now that they were no longer animated the rotting smell had increased. I’d had numerous bites, but they had all healed quickly enough. Lucy wasn’t quite so lucky, but Josian helped her with a little of his energy. The Walkers then used their brute strength and powers to gather the bodies into a large pile.
Fury stepped up. With the blue flames encasing her, she sent fire balls into them.
“They were all First Worlders, ones who have gone missing over the last few years.” Lallielle had tears streaming down her face.
I’d noticed during the fight that she’d been both crying and savagely wielding a large sword.
“It was as if I was killing people I knew ... friends ... even if they were already dead.” She choked on a few sobs.
Josian gathered her close, his large hands running up and down her back.
“Where have they been? Where did they come from now?” Talina was breathing deeply.