Deja Vu Part III

They were almost out of the alleys and into people's yards when they came upon what looked like a bum, leaning against a wall.

"Excuse me, sir," Carrie said, stepping towards him. "We're in a dangerous situation here. I suggest you come with us, or at least take shelter in a secure building." There was no answer, except for the man slump over to lie on his side. Carrie looked up when there was a clang behind her, from a trash can falling over. She had a jolt of fear when she saw four zombies coming towards her. She felt a tug on her pant leg and looked down to see the homeless man trying to pull her leg towards his mouth. She realized that he was one of them. He could almost have passed for a human, being only mildly decayed, but his blank eyes gave it away. She stomped on his head a few times, causing it to burst like a rotten pumpkin on the fourth stomp, and then turned back towards the four zombies to see that they were almost on top of her now. Several of the restaurant customers shrieked in panic, a few of them running away.

David, Alyssa, and Kevin stepped forward to help Carrie. David pulled the zombie's death grip off of her leg, while Alyssa and Kevin quickly killed the remaining four zombies with head shots.

"Wow, you guys are good. Thanks," Carrie said. She wondered if these three could be regular citizens if they could pull of head shots on the first try, but she put that thought aside.

"Hey! Come back here! You're gonna die!" Kevin shouted at the people who were running. The three idiots ignored him and pulled open a mesh gate in a fence, going into someone's back yard. The gate swung back into place, but didn't shut all the way. A moment later, screams of fear and pain were heard, along with growls and sounds of flesh being torn apart.

"I got a bad feeling about this...," Jim commented. He pulled a gun out of his jacket. The survivors stood still, listening uneasily as the screams stopped, while the other sounds continued. Those with weapons held them at the ready. Suddenly, there was silence. A few seconds later, there was a creaking noise as the metal gate slowly opened. Three dogs, two rottweilers and a lhasa apso ran out of the backyard, all of them zombified.

The little one leapt at Tori. She screamed and took a step back, raising her arms, readying herself for the bite. But she heard a gunshot and a thump at her feet. She lowered her arms to see the FBI agent with his gun raised.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly.

"Just paying you back for the drink," Jim replied with a sneer, and then he turned away.

One of the rottweilers was headed for the lawyer, who lifted a handgun and shot it in the head. Jim saw the cold, calm look on his face, as if he was completely prepared for this. When the lawyer noticed him looking, he turned his head to stare back.

"I found a gun in the restaurant," the man explained, putting his gun away.

Alyssa got the third dog. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, safe for the moment. But the eight survivors knew from experience that you were never safe for long during one of these nightmares.

The group, who had now lost three of their number, continued on their way to the barricade. When they reached the turn from Main Street onto Victor Road, they saw flashlight beams ahead. As they got closer, they could see that three cops were coming their way. One was a woman with short black hair, who Carrie waved to.

"Charlene!" Carrie shouted, immensely relieved to see that her closest friend and fellow cop was still alive in all this mess. They had graduated from the police academy together.

"You know you're supposed to call me Officer Bennet," Charlene answered. But she smiled. "I'm glad to see you're alive. Anyway, Officer Maddox and Officer Jones will escort you all to the barricade, along with me. From there, we'll all go to the hospital."

Carrie nodded. The three cops led the way to the barricade where two black vans and three squad cars awaited them, along with three more cops. They all got into the vehicles, with a cop driving each, and then they headed for the hospital.

&&&&&

Tori looked out the window in the back of the police car, feeling confused and afraid. She had almost died back there, and for what? She didn't even know what was going on. Why had this happened? How would she survive? She made one decision right there - she was sticking with the FBI agent. He knew how to handle those things wandering around the city.

&&&&&

"Looks like I won't be coming over to your house after all," Hernan said dully. He was sitting next to Tara in another cop car.

"Yeah. I hope my family's okay," she said.

"Mine, too. I can't believe this is really happening."

Tara nodded. "I know how you feel. One minute, you're washing dishes, complaining about being underpaid. The next, you're running for your life from the undead. It's crazy. I picked a shitty time to try to quit smoking."

"You were smoking in the alley," Hernan pointed out.

"I said 'try'," Tara replied, lighting a cigarette and rolling down the window. There was a silence as she blew some smoke out the window. Hernan considered taking this chance to express his feelings, in case they died before they ever got out.

"You know... I really wanted to tell you something...," he began. Tara turned her attention to him. "...and now this shit happened. I realize now that I'm not gonna have forever to get up the nerve to say it. So... here it is. I really like you. You were the biggest reason I had to keep working at the restaurant, not my car. I wanted to ask you out, but what can I say? I'm a chickenshit."

"I guess I am, too. I had feelings for you, but I didn't want to start a relationship, because if I brought a Latino home... Well, if you knew my parents, you'd understand. They'd never speak to me again. Of course, they may never speak to me again anyway...," Tara trailed off.

"But, you invited me over tonight," Hernan said.

"I wasn't even sure I'd go through with it," she replied, looking out the window and taking another drag.

"Where does this leave us?" Hernan asked.

"We can figure it out when and if we make it out alive."

&&&&&

Yoko woke up from her nap to find that had her head on David's lap. The alcohol was wearing off, but she had a headache now. She looked up at David.

"Good, you're awake. How do you feel?" he asked, a note of gentleness in his voice. She sat up, wondering how her head had ended up on his lap. Had he decided to serve as her pillow, or had she been drawn to him, even unconscious?

"I feel more alert now, but my head hurts," she answered. She put her forehead against the window, liking the feel of the cool glass on her skin. It seemed to help her headache a little.

David was glad that she was feeling better. But, he still wanted to protect her, and he wasn't sure why. She should be able to protect herself now.

Well, she's a woman. She has less muscle than me, and she might need my help. That's all, he told himself.

Sure..., another voice said sarcastically. There must be a logical explanation. It couldn't just be that you've got feelings for the girl...

David groaned internally. Great! Now I'm getting a headache.


&&&&&End of Chapter&&&&&

SPOILER ALERT! DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN CHAPTER 3! ALTHOUGH IT'S A SMALL AND INSIGNIFICANT DETAIL!

SSW and SB are standing in the waiting room of a vet's office. Behind a steel door, yelps of misery and pain can be heard. The two writers take no notice as they discuss the next chapter.

SSW: Good Lord! I hate those useless OC's (other characters for those who don't know. I didn't.); they're just dead weight. And we'll have to think up names for them.

SB: You mean I'll have to think up names for them, don't you? You just keep telling me to kill them off before I get emotionally attached!

SSW: Well, that's what you need to do, dammit! We don't need fifteen extra people trailing behind the Magic 8! It'll be a pain in the ass. Now, we need a way for them to all just die... How about a car crash?

SB: Yeah! YEAH! CRASH THE DAMN VAN! A HEAD-ON COLLISION WITH A TOUR BUS FULL OF MARY SUES! NO SURVIVORS! HAHAHAHAHA! (God I need help)

SSW: (chuckling nervously) Heh, yeah. You and your insane hatred of Mary Sues... That's a good idea for another story, but for this one, a simple car crash will do nicely.

(The steel door behind the two opens and a doberman comes limping out with a huge bandage around its entire rear area. The dog looks up and whines pitifully at SSW.)

SSW: That's what you get for disobeying my orders, bitch. (Looks at SB) Now let's go get some coffee.

The vet comes out and says: Okay, where's your other dog?

SSW: What?

Vet: Your other dog? It's two castrations for the price of one.

SSW: (Looks at SB) Well, I never do turn down a bargain...

SB: (Gulp)