Zombie Mountain(16)

“Carla...” Mike began.

She cut Mike a sharp look. Her every instinct told her there was something just plain wrong about this woman. Hell, even her acting seemed bad.

“Two of us could go,” Joe offered, ignoring Carla’s misgivings. Maybe he figured the woman was making such a ruckus that it could inspire a zombie attack.

Carla hated it, but Joe wasn’t listening. He was going to help this woman whether the female cop wanted to or not.

He stepped over to the door. “Hold on, ma’am. Calm down.... You don’t want to make too much noise.” He looked back at the small group. “Two of us could go, and the other should stay here to guard Anna, and wait for Jack and Jared.”

Carla wasn’t convinced. Her cop instincts were twisting her gut into a knot. She said as much, not caring if the woman overheard her.

“What was it Jack said?” Mike replied. “Democracy. I say let’s vote on it.”

“Not everyone is here,” Carla countered.

“We don’t have time. I see three zombies coming,” Joe answered. Sure enough, a trio of the infected could be seen at the far end of the grass. “Raise your hand if you want to help this woman, or would you rather watch her die?”

Carla folded her arms and frowned as they both raised their hands. “Oh, for crying out loud,” she conceded, angry at being forced to compromise. “All right. But since I’m the one uneasy about this, I’m going. Joe, you stay with Anna.”

Mike ran to get more bullets while Joe unlocked the door. He aimed his rifle and blew the brains out of the oncoming zombies.

Once outside, in the open, Carla’s anxiety increased as she heard Joe lock the door behind them. This is definitely a mistake....

Meanwhile, the woman, Julie, hugged her. Tightly “Oh, thank you so very much! Come on! We have to hurry!”

Without waiting for them, she took off down the steps.





Chapter Ten



The Los Angeles Zoo was eerie, even in the daylight.

Jack and Jared decided to walk the outer path surrounding the premises from north to south, passing Jack’s small living quarters on the premises, where he and Anna often stayed.

The zoo was quiet, but not entirely empty. Here and there were the dead. Some were animals, but most were people. Humans and zombies alike. Many of the bodies had been consumed.

Jesus.

The most dangerous animals—the lions, tigers, and rhinoceros—were still contained in their respective cages and areas. Jack breathed a sigh of relief once he realized none of them were on the loose. Even better, they looked fed and had water from the gravity-feed troughs.

But nearly all of the other animals were gone; most of their cages stood open and the gates left open.

“Where do you think they went?” asked Jared.

Jack scanned the area for any sign of life. “I don’t know, probably into the hills.”

“But most of them don’t know how to hunt,” Jared protested. As if he could do anything about it. “They’ll starve.”

“Maybe not,” said Jack, glancing at a half-eaten zombie corpse nearby. A comic mental image of giraffes wandering around the Los Feliz district chasing the undead down vacant streets popped into his head. “Most are friendly. Or, at least, not carnivores. Although, I can’t say a zebra would be trustworthy in a confined space.”

As they made their way back to Jack’s little home away from home, he found it harder to remain nonchalant. Walking over the dead has that effect on a person.

“It will be interesting to see how all of this shakes out,” he said, looking to find a distraction from the carnage. “Maybe this whole thing is, in fact, part of the process. Part of evolution. Maybe Nature needed to do some housecleaning.”

“What, because there’s too many of us?”

“Maybe.”

The pair stepped around several dead zombies piled on top of one another. Jack noticed the one on top had been shot through the head, and not too long ago from the looks of the wound.

Warily, they scanned our surroundings as they continued their silent inspection of the deserted zoo. Seeing the flamingos eating their special diet clued the pair that someone was indeed feeding animals still.

When they reached Jack’s residence, they cautiously climbed the steps to the door facing the hillside. It was slightly ajar.

Jack and Jared readied their guns while Jack motioned for Jared to get behind him as he pushed the door open.

For the most part, the place was as he remembered leaving it. A couple of blankets were strewn over the couch, though, and the place smelled of coffee.

“Someone’s been here today,” said Jack.

“And they were sane enough to brew coffee,” added Jared, smiling weakly.