Deja Vu Part II
"Sarah, I'm tired of playing tag. It's boring with only two people, anyway," Colin whined, coming to a stop.
His sister turned around and glared at him. "Then what are we supposed to do?"
Colin looked around and the window caught his eye. There was condensation on it from the cold night air outside. He said, "Let's draw on that."
Sarah sighed dramatically. "Fine. We'll play tic-tac-toe," the seven-year-old told her sibling, who was one year younger than her.
"Okay," Colin said, smiling happily. They went over to the window. Sarah was winning the game when their aunt came over from a nearby table.
"Colin! Sarah! You should know better than to dirty up their windows!" she scolded.
"Sorry, auntie," Sarah said sheepishly.
Her aunt walked over to the table and picked up a napkin. She came back and started wiping the window with it.
"Honestly, what's my sister thinking, leaving her kids with Martin and I?" she grumbled to herself. She pulled the napkin back to see if the window was clean, and screamed. A rotting face was peering through the window at her, gnashing its teeth. The woman fell back on her ass and sat there, staring, while the children shrieked and scampered off. Decaying fists pounded on the windows, which cracked and then shattered after a few seconds. The infected human fell through, on top of the panicked woman. It immediately started biting her face. The woman screamed again and tried to push the zombie off, to no avail.
"Agatha!" her husband cried. He jumped up from his table and rushed over, but his wife told him to stop.
"Go...take care.. of... children.. keep them... safe!" she rasped as clearly as she possibly could, considering a section of her bottom lip had been bitten off. Half of her face had been eaten, and now the zombie was biting into her neck.
Martin stood undecided for a second. He knew that there was no hope for his wife, but he didn't want to leave her to die this way.
"You bastard," he said through gritted teeth. He decided to find any weapon he could and try to kill the zombie in vengeance, however immature for a man of his age. He ran towards the back of the restaurant and grabbed the first thing he saw - a broom. From the second he turned around with the broom in hands to the second the first blow connected with his undead victim's decaying skull, all Martin could think of was how much he loved his wife, and how he'd never be able to tell her that again.
"Die, you son of a bitch!" he yelled, beating the zombie with the cleaning tool. After a few whacks, the zombie decided that enough was enough and stood up, staggering towards the old man. But, it tripped over Agatha's body and fell. Martin got in a few more hits before the broom snapped. At that point, he stabbed the splintered, jagged end through the zombie's head, killing it instantly.
&&&&&
Yoko jerked awake at the sound of a woman's scream. A man who looked to be past his prime jogged by their table a few moments later.
"What's going on?" she asked David quietly.
"I guess it's what we've been waiting for," he answered. He was frowning, and she could feel that his body was tensed. Yoko sat up and rubbed her eyes, seeing the old man run by again, wielding a broom, now going in the direction that he'd come from.
This was exactly what he'd been afraid of once he'd seen that Yoko was getting drunk. He could see that she was still drowsy, and would stay that way, for a little while at least. And this was the worst possible time.
Dammit, I should have thought of this earlier. I shouldn't have let her drink any alcohol in the first place, David chided himself. Well, now he was responsible for her. He had to protect her.
&&&&&
The woman at the next table, the one with a gun, stood up at the screams. Kevin followed her as she walked to the source of commotion. Alyssa stood to come, too, but he signaled for her to stay. Then he walked behind the woman again.
When she took in the scene - the lifeless woman, the old man, and the dead zombie - she pulled out her gun. Kevin stood behind her, still unnoticed, and took out his .45, ready to react if she was a danger.
"Freeze! DPD!" Carrie warned. She pointed her pistol at the old man. He was sitting on the floor, cradling the dead woman's head in his lap.
Kevin felt a moment of relief. She was a cop, not a killer; he wouldn't have to take her down after all.
"What, you think I did this? She's my wife," the man replied quietly. The sorrow in his voice couldn't be faked, and self-doubt showed on Carrie's face.
"There are two bodies, and you're..." the cop began, but stopped mid-sentence. She recalled the cannibal murders, now noticing the bite marks all over the woman's head and neck.
"This man attacked my wife, and I killed him," the man on the floor said.
Carrie didn't lower her gun. Although her gut told her that he was telling the truth, she couldn't be sure just yet. She was about to start questioning him when someone climbed in through the broken window.
"Sir, what are you doing? They have a door, you know," she said to the newcomer. But the man apparently wasn't listening. Once he got through, he stood for a second, his head down, and his body swaying slowly back and forth. Then he raised his arms and started towards the man on the floor. Carrie gasped, seeing that his eyes were milky white and there were flaps of skin hanging off his face.
"Another one!" Martin shouted. He closed his eyes, readying himself for the attack. The zombie was inches away from him when a shot rang out and the zombie fell back, dead.
Carrie turned around to find the source of the bullet, and saw the man from earlier - the guy who had been arguing with his wife.
Kevin smiled and lowered his pistol.
"Do you have a license to carry a concealed weapon?" she asked suspiciously. She saw that they had collected a bit of a crowd.
"Um, well, I--" the man stuttered, his smile faltering. One of the people nearby, a fat, black man, spoke up.
"He's with us," he said, flashing a badge and an ID card. "Michael Ryder, FBI. We're authorized to carry concealed weapons, ma'am."
Kevin and Jim gave him a look that said, "Wha-?", but they decided it was best to play along.
Carrie frowned. When the FBI showed up, it usually meant something big was going down. And they always took the control, and the credit, away from the local police.
"And why are you here?" she asked.
"We're from the missing persons division. We're looking for a child," Mark explained.
Carrie internally sighed in relief. They were just looking for a missing kid, not meddling in DPD affairs. "Alright, then. What are we--"
She was interrupted by bangs on the windows. There were several more zombies outside, and a few coming in through the window. The people at the nearby tables screamed.
"We don't have time for talk. We have to get outta here," Kevin said urgently. He turned around to face everybody else in the restaurant. "Everyone, listen; as you can see, we're under attack by zombies. It'll do you no good to say that zombies can't and don't exist; they're right here for all to see. We need to escape quickly, or else we'll be killed, or turned into them. Grab whatever weapons you can - steak knives, brooms, whatever."
"This is bullshit. I'm not taking orders from that clown; I'm getting out of here," a man at a nearby table said. He stood up and strode through the front doors. He was promptly grabbed by the closest zombies and eaten. Once his screams died down, Kevin spoke again:
"Alright, nobody copies that guy. Have you all learned your lesson? Good. Now, we need to move towards the back and find an exit."
&&&&& David followed everyone else towards the back, pulling Yoko along by the arm. She was a little off-balance. They passed a couple - a man with a pregnant woman.
What could slow you down more than a semi-drunk woman? I'll tell you - a pregnant lady, David thought to himself darkly. I'd better get Cindy to watch that one. But, he thought that she might not slow them down too much - there was a sort of determination mixed with the fear in her eyes. She had one hand on her stomach, and was clutching a steak knife in the other. She looked like she'd fight fiercely to protect her unborn child.
&&&&&
What the hell is all that screaming about? Vanessa wondered. Being in the back of the building, and the restaurant being a large one, she couldn't make out what was going on in the front over that distance. She saw people running around, a look of fear on their faces. Many of them were carrying the legs off of chairs or steak knives. One man headed for her, climbed on the stage, and tried to take her bracelet, apparently trying to make a little profit from the chaos.
"Oh, hell no!" she yelled. She wrestled with him, doing a pretty good job at keeping him off of her, until he pulled out a knife.
"Whoa, easy, they're fake, buddy," she said, feeling some fear now. He didn't seem to hear her, putting the knife to her throat and telling her to take off her bracelet. She was just doing so when a woman with a blond ponytail, and a gun in her hand, jogged by.
"Hey! What're you doing!" the woman yelled, pointing her gun at the robber. "This isn't the time for that, you idiot! All our lives are in danger! C'mon, think about it - where are you gonna run? Out there, to get eaten like that other guy? No, you have to stay with us anyway, with your victim and a cop. But if you stop this now and back off, I'll let it go."
He seemed to consider it a moment, and realize that she was right. He wouldn't really get anywhere robbing someone under these circumstances. He stepped away from Vanessa and lowered his knife.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"You bet your ass you are!" Vanessa snapped, and slapped him across the face. He looked pissed for a second, but didn't lose his temper. Vanessa walked down the steps of the stage and talked to the cop.
"Thanks for your help. I really like this bracelet. Anyway, what's going on here, officer?" she asked.
Carrie sighed. "You won't believe me... I'm not sure I'd believe me."
"Well, I need an explanation as to why these people are running and screaming," Vanessa replied.
"We're under attack by the living dead. Does that help?"
Vanessa stared at her, then burst into wild laughter. "Wow that does sound ridiculous."
Carrie took her by the hand and walked her to the front of the restaurant. Many zombies had already gotten in and were shuffling around aimlessly or feeding on the people who hadn't managed to escape. Vanessa's eyes widened.
"This could be some very elaborate prank," she said half-heartedly.
"If they went to this much trouble, you could at least humor them," Carrie replied dryly. Vanessa nodded, a little in shock. Carrie led her back past the piano and into the kitchens.
&&&&&
"La negra tiene tumbao cuando camina de lado,
por la calle ocho sin miedo, we be wallin' now
Switchin' lanes on the freeway.
Corriendo conmile--"
Hernan was sitting at a table in the break room that was attached to the kitchen, listening to Daddy Yankee on his CD player, when the door to the front burst open.
"Shit!" he yelped, quickly pulling off his headphones. Only one person practically broke down the door when he came through, and that was his boss. And Hernan wasn't supposed to be having a break right now...
He jumped up out of his chair and ran to the sink, where he tried to look busy. He was both relieved and confused when a bunch of customers came into the kitchen.
"You're not allowed back here," he told them.
"This is an emergency, kid," Kevin replied. "Is there an exit back here?"
"Yeah. What's going on?" Hernan asked.
"There's a mob of zombies out front looking for some fresh meat. Now where's that exit?" Kevin said.
"Look, man, I dunno if this is some kind of joke, but it isn't funny, and I'm not falling for it," Hernan said, frowning.
Kevin sighed. They didn't have time to try to convince people, but they couldn't just leave the kid, either.
"What's your name?" Carrie asked the boy.
"Hernan Andres Calderon," he replied.
"Well, I'm Carrie Harmond, and I'm a cop," she said, flashing her badge. "This is an emergency, and I must insist that you come with us. If you stay here, you'll most likely die."
"Look, I told you, I don't believe--"
"I don't give a damn what you believe or don't believe! I'm telling you, as an officer of the law, that you will come with us!" Carrie shouted.
"Fine! Lemme get my jacket," Hernan replied.
Carrie sighed, sounding very frustrated, not really caring at this point whether the little punk got eaten or not,. "You know what! Fine! Go ahead!" She rubbed her temples.
Hernan headed for the door that led to the front and opened it. He took a few steps, then registered what he was seeing. - the place was swarming with zombies. One of them was about thirty feet away when it noticed him and started stumbling towards him. Hernan swore and went back into the kitchen, quickly shutting the door.
"Mierda!" he breathed, leaning against the door.
Carrie smiled. It wasn't a very pleasant smile. "Now do you believe me?"
"Yeah. I've got a gun in my locker; lemme go get that. I think there's a shotgun in the manager's office, too. The boss was cleaning it once when I went in for a lecture. I think the pendejo's got mafia connections," Hernan said. He headed for another door, next to the one that led to the break room. He came back with a handgun.
"The manager's office is in there," he said, pointing. Kevin and Alyssa went in to look around. They found a shotgun in the closet, along with a handgun in the desk drawer. They came back out, Alyssa keeping the shotgun while the handgun was given to George. David already had a table leg, and Yoko grabbed a big kitchen knife. Cindy picked up a frying pan.
"Alright, let's go," Kevin said.
"Wait," Hernan said, a look of worry on his face. "Where's Tara?"
"Who's Tara," Kevin asked wearily.
"The girl I work with. She said she was going out, but I don't know what she meant by that."
"We won't find her by staying here, Hernan. Let's go outside and see if we run into her," Carrie said. Hernan reluctantly agreed. They went out a back door into an alley to find Tara, leaning against the wall and smoking.
"Tara! I'm so glad you're okay!" Hernan said, looking immensely relieved.
"I just went out for a smoke," she said, giving him a strange look.
"There's an emergency. You'll need to come with us," Carrie said, showing her badge again.
Tara looked ready to refuse, but Hernan told her, "Just listen to her. Some bad shit is goin' down, and we need to leave." She seemed to trust him. Carrie led the way down the alley.
"In a situation like this- well, not exactly like this, but you know what I mean- the police set up barricades. There's one near here, on Victor Road, so we'll head there. There should be some cops guarding the barricade, and they could help us," she said. They went down the alleyway, seeing that the street in front of The Palace was overrun by zombies. There were about fifteen people from the restaurant, along with the eight that we know and love. The pregnant woman and her fiancée, the singer, the old uncle, his niece and nephew, the two dishwashers, and lawyer were among them. All had the same goal...survival.
End of Deja Vu Part II
