Chapter 7
X X X
"That's right, Sir. ...Yes, Sir. Each and every one of them."
Harry glanced up as Zeke and Julie walked into his office and took their seats in front of his desk. As Zeke removed and pocketed his glasses, Harry nodded and motioned for the teens to wait.
"Yes, Sir. Understood."
With that, he hung up the phone.
"Well, it looks like you've impressed Command enough for them to allow you to continue your service to the city." he said, "I trust you've had a good enough rest, to carry out one more mission today?"
"Yes, Sir, Uncle Harry." Julie replied, "Great dinner too."
"I'll say." Zeke added, "Man, those ribs..."
Harry smiled.
"Good." he said, "Then we have one more mission for you tonight. General Wilkins has ordered me to take full responsibility over you, so I'm going to brief you on your missions from this point on. Oh, and take this radio too."
Harry took a hand radio off the desk and handed it to Zeke.
"Your callsign will be 'Dallas' and I'll be using the callsign: 'Houston.' Be sure to keep me informed of your mission progress, and don't hesitate to let me know any time you need support."
Zeke nodded and replied, "Got it.", then thought to himself, 'Dallas? Houston? Is he kidding?'
"Now then, let's get down to business: Your next destination will be Walnut Street, where Julie's house is located. Our Intel says that that street has been one of the biggest sources of undead activity since this whole thing started today."
'Oh my God...' Julie thought, 'If I hadn't left home when I did...'
"Our recon pilots have also reported strange-looking silhouettes moving in the shadows, but we still haven't been able to discern just what they are. Naturally, your mission will be to search the street for survivors and bring as many of them back here as you can. But while you're at it, see if you can determine what those things in the shadows are."
"We're on it." Zeke replied with a salute.
He glanced over at Julie.
"Hey... you okay?" he asked.
"Hmm? Oh, uh... yeah." Julie responded, quickly saluting her uncle, "Bring the survivors here and find out what those... other things are. Got it."
"Before you two go though," Harry continued, "I have something for you."
He picked up a box from behind his desk, placed it on top, and opened it. Inside were, you guessed it, more holy water vials.
"Left for us by a suspicious-looking man in a trenchcoat, I take it?" Julie asked.
"Indeed. Along with this note."
Harry handed a folded piece of paper to Julie; who unfolded it and read aloud:
"You have done well so far. But as you may have noticed, there are several other monstrosities wreaking havoc on the city. Some of them, fortunately, are vulnerable to holy water. Others, however, are not so vulnerable. Thus, you may need to find some additional weapons to assist in your task. I apologize, but I don't think I can provide you any further assistance. If you need additional help though, speak to Father Vittorio at the local church. He is an old friend of mine and may have some supplies you can use. Just give him the message: 'The light of dawn has arrived', and he'll know who you are.
Your anonymous friend."
Julie put the note down on the desk and took a holy water vial that Zeke handed to her.
"So that's where he got those things from, huh?" she mused, as she opened the vial and started to reload her water gun with it.
"Makes sense." Zeke responded, refilling his own weapon, "I have to wonder though, why he chose us to do this, rather than fight the monsters himself."
"At this point, your guess is as good as mine." Harry replied, "Although if possible, you might see about finding some clues as to this stranger's identity. I suspect he knows more about this whole thing than he's willing to share. That'll be all. Good luck out there."
Harry saluted the teens; who returned the gesture. Then Zeke put on his 3D glasses as Julie took out her hand computer, set the coordinates, and activated the door. Harry watched the two teens pass through the door; which vanished behind them.
"We should hold on to that thing, once this whole ordeal is over." he muttered to himself, "Our boys could really use one of those."
X X X
"Over this way!" Zeke shouted to the survivors, "Come on!"
Zeke lead the survivors to the edge of the street; where Julie stood by, guarding the transport door.
"Head through that door!" she called, "pointing at it with her gun, "Quick!"
As the surviving neighbors ran through the door, Julie held her phone up to her ear and listened as the phone on the other line rang. After dispatching a few approaching zombies behind her, without even turning around, she finally heard her mother's voice.
"Please leave me a message and I'll get back to you. Thank you."
Julie sighed and hung up.
"She's still not picking up?" Zeke asked.
She shook her head in response and looked down as she brushed away a single tear.
"I'm worried, Zeke. I really hope she's not... one of the unlucky ones."
Zeke put a hand on her shoulder.
"I wouldn't worry too much." he reassured her, "If she really is the same rough and tough cop that you've always described her as, then I'm sure the monsters in this city'll be more scared of her than any of these people are of them."
Julie couldn't help but smile. Those words not only helped her to feel better, but further reinforced her second thoughts about breaking up with him. She looked up into his red and blue lens covered eyes.
"You know..." she said, looking to change the subject, "I'm still amazed how well you can see out here in those glasses. If I were wearing socks today, they'd be knocked off."
"Oh, you're really not wearing socks? I assumed you just had them rolled down below your heels, like some of my friends do."
"...Why would you even wear socks, if you're not going to cover the entire foot with them?"
"I... don't know."
Before Zeke could dwell on that subject any further, Harry's voice came on the radio.
"Dallas, this is Houston. Give me a SitRep."
"...A what, now?" Zeke asked Julie.
"SitRep." she told him, "It stands for Situation Report."
"Oh, right... uh, this is Dallas. We've secured most of the survivors here. Just a couple more houses to go. So far, no sign of any of those... shadow... things though."
"Roger that, Dallas. Keep searching, but do not engage the unidentified subjects unless necessary. Houston out."
Julie checked the hand computer's radar screen, as Zeke reclipped the radio back onto his belt.
"Hmm... looks like most of the remaining survivors are all gathered at the Millers' house." she said, "With just a few more of them scattered in the surrounding area."
"Well then, let's hurry and get 'em outta here, so we can get ourselves outta here."
The teens ran to the Millers' doorstep and Zeke tried the door.
"Damn. Locked." he uttered in disappointment.
Looking around, however, Zeke noticed another soldier's forgotten bazooka lying on the ground nearby.
"Say... that looks like our ticket in."
As he went to retrieve the weapon though, Julie glanced down and noticed a faint glint of metal underneath the welcome mat.
"Wait, stop!" she shouted at Zeke, "Better idea."
She lifted the welcome mat, to reveal a key; which she took and held up. Zeke groaned a bit.
"It's always gotta be the Dr. Spengler way with you, doesn't it?" he quipped, as Julie unlocked the door.
Just as she was about to open it, however, the teens started hearing voices coming from the backyard.
"Help!" the voices called, "Save me! Over here!"
"Crap..." Julie said, "Let's split up. You go inside and protect the Millers. I'll save those people outside and come back."
Zeke nodded.
"Alright, be careful out there. And good luck." he told her, as he opened the door.
As Julie ran to the backyard gate and opened it, the voices continued.
"It's okay, everyone!" she shouted, "No need to shout, I've got you on radar!"
"Huh?!"
"Say what?!"
"Just... bear with me, okay? I'll find you!"
Having distinctly overheard Julie's conversation with the survivors outside, Zeke thought to himself, 'Boy, would it suck if we didn't have that radar thing, and had to follow those people's shouts. I'd never get used to that.'
Zeke was soon snapped out of that thought, by another scream of terror in the nearby living room. With a light sigh, he called out, "Hang on!" and ran towards the direction of the scream. Upon approaching the living room, he observed a mother and her young son huddled in a corner of the room, as the father waved a broken bottle at two approaching zombies in a vain attempt to keep them away.
Putting his water gun behind his back, Zeke shouted, "Hey, deadheads! Wouldn't you like to start with an appetizer?"
The zombies turned to face Zeke. Then as if in agreement, they forgot about the Millers and made their way towards Zeke; who slowly and calmly backed away.
"That's right." he said, "Little bit closer. Oops, I'm so sorry..."
Now that the zombies had gotten a safe distance away from the Millers, Zeke whipped his gun out in front of him and blasted the zombies.
"but your dinner reservations have been revoked!"
"That was cool!" the boy cried, "Do it again!"
Zeke smirked as he lifted his 3D glasses.
"Sorry about the mess." he said, "You folks alright?"
"Who are you?" the father asked.
"Just a kid in the neighborhood. The name's Zeke. My girlfriend, Julie, and I have been sent by the Military to rescue you. As soon as Julie gets here, we'll take you-..."
"Look out!" the mother cried, pointing towards a window.
Zeke turned and saw a third zombie tumble through the open window. But before that zombie could get up to pursue his would-be buffet, Zeke's water gun reduced him to a pile of bloody bones. The boy giggled and clapped his hands in approval.
"You uh... might want to close that window too, by the way, to keep any more of them from crawling in. And the curtains, so they don't see us."
The father nodded and went to close the window, while the mother looked around.
"Hey, where's your sister?" she asked her son.
X X X
After using a nearby garden hose to wash some mud off her shoes, Julie turned it off and approached the trampolines, where a little girl was happily bouncing up and down on one of them.
"Hey!" she called, "Hey, kid!"
But the child paid no attention and continued bouncing. Seeing no other way to get her attention, Julie hopped onto the trampoline with her, her water gun still in hand.
"Hey there! Listen, uh... you might... want to... come down now."
"Why?" the girl asked.
"Because there's... monsters... out here... that want... to eat you!"
"What?"
Suddenly, the little girl noticed a zombie coming near the trampoline. Unlike Julie, however, the zombie got its shoes stuck in the mud puddle and was unable to escape. The girl stopped bouncing and stumbled backwards onto the ground, as she screamed at the zombie. Immediately, Julie jumped off the trampoline and blasted the zombie with a stream of holy water, before helping the child up.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
The little girl was crying, but only out of fear from the zombie that had approached her. Julie hugged her and patted her back, keeping an eye out for any more approaching zombies, until the child calmed down.
"Listen, my boyfriend is at your house with your family." she told the girl, after pulling away, "Go inside and he'll protect you."
The child nodded and ran to the back door of the house. After watching her go through the back door, Julie pulled out her hand computer and checked the radar screen. There were two survivors left, in the neighboring yard; which was now accessible via a fence that had been knocked down in the chaos. Julie ran to the other yard; where she could see two more cheerleaders, Lisa and Debby, backed up against the house wall and cowering in fear as a zombie came for them. Their fear turned to amazement, however, as they watched him explode before their very eyes, before noticing Julie standing nearby.
"Julie!" Lisa cried, "I thought that was your voice I heard out here."
"How did you do that?" Debby asked.
"Holy water." Julie replied, "Now just hold up a sec, and I'll get you somewhere safe."
Tucking her water gun under her arm, Julie activated the transport door.
"Go through that door. It'll take you to the Fort Wilhelm Military base. Tina and Jenny are already there."
Lisa and Debby stared at it the door in amazement, then looked at each other. Then Debby shrugged and walked through. Lisa started to follow, then stopped.
"So... did I hear you right out there?" she asked Julie, "Did you say your boyfriend is here? And is that boyfriend..."
"Zeke. Yes."
"Huh... so, you're still with him?"
"Yes. For now, anyway. And I'd go through that door now, if I were you."
Lisa nodded.
"Alright. Well, you know... I just kinda thought-..."
Julie cut her off, by shoving her through the door and quickly deactivating it. Then she pocketed the device and sighed with relief.
"I hope Zeke and the Millers are okay over there." she muttered, as she made her way back to the Millers' house.
Julie hadn't gone far, however, when she heard the sound of a wolf howl in the air. Soon afterwards, she began to hear what sounded like footsteps behind her. Instinctively, Julie turned around with her gun pointed towards... nothing. She nervously started to back up, then turned on her heel to run away, only to run smack dab into the biggest and hairiest beast she'd ever seen. After taking one look at the beast's wolf-like face, Julie screamed in terror and fell over backwards. She stared at the werewolf, as he slowly advanced on her, licking his chops. Finally, summoning all of her courage, Julie raised her weapon.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you to wash up, before you eat?" she said, as she pulled the trigger and launched a holy water stream into his face.
She then stared in shock as the werewolf simply brushed the water off his face and began to growl deeply.
"Okay... apparently, you're not vulnerable to holy water."
Julie slowly backed away, until she found herself backed up against the house and unable to back away any further. As the werewolf lunged at her, Julie quickly lifted her leg up and thrust her foot forward with a mighty kick. Unfortunately, her foot went right into the werewolf's open mouth; which just happened to close onto her shoe, right before it could make physical contact with him. Julie gasped in terror, but fortunately was unhurt. She struggled to pull her foot free as the werewolf began shaking it.
Finally, she said, "Alright, fine! You want it? You can have it!"
She then hastily untied the shoelace, causing the werewolf to pull her shoe right off and fall over backwards. Julie scampered for her life, as the werewolf picked himself up off the ground. After taking the shoe out of his mouth, the werewolf looked at it for a bit and sniffed it. Then he tossed it away in disgust and went to track down his prey. Julie's scent lead him to some trash cans, where he suddenly lost track of her. He stood there, sniffing the air for several minutes, before finally giving up and leaving in frustration. Julie slowly peeked out from behind the trash cans and sighed with relief.
"That was way too close! Now to go find Zeke and get out of here! ...After I get my shoe back."
As Julie went to look for her shoe, a zombie arm suddenly broke through the bottom of a nearby fence, right by her leg. Startled, she tripped and fell face down onto the grass, losing her grip on her water gun; which flew out of her hand and landed a few feet away from her. She crawled towards her gun to retrieve it, but was suddenly stopped in her tracks when the zombie arm reached out and grabbed the one shoe that she was still wearing. Once again, Julie struggled to free her foot, until she noticed three zombies approaching her from the front. As they came closer and closer to her fallen weapon, she soon realized that she'd be as good as dead if she didn't get to it first. So with a heavy sigh, Julie yanked her foot out of her other shoe and dove for her gun. Grabbing it, she got up on her feet and quickly dispatched the approaching zombies. After taking a quick breather, she looked down at her now-bare feet.
"Well, this isn't good." she muttered, wiggling her toes, "But I guess no sense worrying about it now."
Soon afterwards, Julie noticed the fence was being pounded on. Not wanting to be anywhere near it when it broke open, she started to high-tail it to the Millers' back door. Then she suddenly stopped, when she saw the mud puddle on the ground and remembered what a hassle it was to get through it with her shoes on. She frantically looked for a way around it, until she noticed the pair of trampolines and realized how conveniently spaced apart they were. Well, it was worth a shot. She climbed onto one of the trampolines and started to jump on it. Higher and higher she bounced, before making a momentous jump onto the other one. Spotting a lone zombie a short distance away, Julie made another leap off the second trampoline, as she dispatched him with her gun. After finally landing on the ground, she started to make her way to the back door of the house. Then all of a sudden, the gate to the backyard burst open and yet another mob of zombies appeared.
"Oh, COME ON!" Julie shouted.
This time, however, Julie didn't even need to raise her gun. Before she knew it, the zombies all started to explode right before her eyes, until they were all dead again. Then Julie noticed Zeke standing there, triumphantly brandishing his water gun in one hand and one of her shoes in the other.
"Thought I made it clear to you deadheads that NOBODY devours MY girlfriend!" he said.
"Zeke!"
She ran up and threw her arms around Zeke; who gently returned the hug.
"A bit hairier out here than you expected, huh?" he asked.
Thinking about her encounter with the werewolf, Julie nervously responded, "Yeah... you might say that."
After pulling away, Zeke looked down at Julie's feet.
"Yeah, I thought these shoes looked familiar." he said.
Glancing up, he then noticed another zombie stuck in the mud puddle; who was still holding Julie's other shoe.
"Be right back."
Julie blushed and curled her toes as she watched Zeke walk up to the immobilized zombie, with his water gun tucked under his arm, and snatch her shoe out of the zombie's hand. After walking a short distance away from him, Zeke pointed his gun at the zombie and blasted him. Then he approached Julie, knelt in front of her, and held her shoes up to her.
"Your shoes, madame."
With a smile, Julie gratefully took them from him.
"My thanks to you, good sir." she mused back, as she began to brush away the dirt and grass off one of her soles.
"By the way, I like your new pedicure." Zeke told Julie, "It's a nice shade of red, and even matches your fingers."
"Oh... thanks." she replied, putting her shoe back on and retying it, "Yeah, I just painted my toes this afternoon I and was in the middle of doing my fingers, when I got your call. That's why I couldn't answer."
"Aw, no problem. It happens. Now we better make ourselves- and the Millers- scarce, before any more zombies pop up out of nowhere. Which they seem to have a nasty habit of doing."
Julie nodded as she quickly brushed off her other sole and put her other shoe back on. Then the two of them went back into the house.
X X X
To be Continued