The
Zombie
Chronicles

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Finished works:
   Billions
    ---
   Outbreak
    ---
   Undead
     Advantage
    ---
   Found
    ---
   About a Woman
    ---
   Short Stories

Works in Progress:
   TZC2: Discovery

Works on hold:
   Zombie Nation
    ---
   Zombieboy

Found

Chapter 18

About halfway to the club Brian stopped in a little dive called “The Cave”, which was more of a sports bar converted to a heavy drinking establishment. The drinks were as cheap as the government allowed and the barmaids heavy bosom was all but bursting out of a brassier that seemed to function more as a platform for displaying her goods than something designed to restrain her breasts in any way. Brian took one look at the room and was amazed to see it was almost all of the dozen or so patrons were men. Two televisions were on, one displaying a football game from two years ago, the other was on the local channel, showing an after news talk show.

Bellying up to the bar the woman approach him in a walk designed to draw his eyes to her chest. One breast was displaying a prominent nipple as she leaned over towards him, “What can I get you?”

“Beer?”, Brian asked hopefully, not expecting this place to serve more than corn grain alcohol.

“Your lucky day, got a keg from a raider, Coors too.”, she named a priced that made Brian wince, but he nodded and she said, “Cash first buddy.”

Brian pulled out his debit card and she ran it, halfway through the transaction she realized her blouse was revealing most of her right breast and unabashedly pulled her shirt until it was a hair above her aureole, shrugging at him she put the large pint down in front of him.

After taking a deep drink of it Brian noticed the woman was staring at him, as if for confirmation that the beer was worth the price he had just paid. Brian nodded appreciatively, “Very, very good. Well worth it.”

The woman actually blushed, a color that flowed down her face and neck, “Good. Hey I don't wanna pry, but ain't you that cop?”

Brian nodded, “Probably, what cop?”

“The one looking after the murder down here, you know, the girl and her friend on New Year's eve?”

“Yeah, that's me. You don't get many women in here do you?”

“No”, she grimaced, “don't like the competition, plus these guys are regulars.” She waved her arm around to encompass the light crowd, “They like the old days, games on tv, beer in their bellies. We get a few cops in here too. This is a place men can come to relax, not worry about a meat market. Mostly we don't get the young men in here, just the old codgers or the more mature guys, or even the homos.”

“Yeah?”

“Used to be more.”, she shrugged, “Used to be more of everything.”

“Yeah I hear ya. Listen”, Brian looked at the faded badge on her shirt, “Lavern, do you know much about tat place down the street? Necrolagnia?”

“Nah, nah I don't know much. Younger crowd, darker, gothic I guess, they don't blunder in her too much, once in awhile, only thing I notice is they have regulars too, I seen the same people going in and outta there all the time.”

“Really?”, Brian searched around for the picture of Teddy he still carried with him, unfolding the paper copy he showed it to Lavern and asked, “You ever see this guy?”

She shook her head, “Only on the tv man. Say what is your name, Barry something isn't it?”

“Brian.”

“Yeah, yeah that is it, you were on the news when they busted Necrolagnia a few weeks ago, right?”

“I think so, I get caught on camera once in awhile, sometimes the cameras live through the experience.”

It took Lavern a moment to get the joke and when she did she laughed, exposing the top of her fatty nipple once again, she pulled up her shirt immediately and wiped her face with a dirty rag. “That's pretty good, you ain't that ugly, nothing like me and my crew Brian. I must have seen you on the news that night.” She pointed to the television showing local programming. Brian folded up Teddy's photo and put it away. Grabbing his beer he took another long pull.

“So you the original owner here?”

“No, this place wasn't even here before z-day. I bought the name from some guy down in Indianola and moved up here when my husband got bit up and was in the hospital.” She held up one hand, “He didn't make it, but he fought hard, for a couple of months, this was before we knew it was a viral infection. Damn hard to fight a virus, even with modern medicine.”

“Sorry to hear that about your husband.”

“Don't be, he wasn't that great, I didn't know it at the time, but I caught another woman coming out of his room one day at the hospital. Turns out he had another family down in Kansas City, she and their kids, came up to tell him goodbye. It got ugly. Bastard never wanted to have kids with me, and he got up this woman with three. Three! And the youngest of em was only a year old. I ain't seen her since. Well he left me the bar's name.”, Lavern shrugged. “He wasn't all bad, just bad for me.”

Brian smiled, “Well you aren't taking it too hard, still I wish you had had a better man. We aren't all bad you know.”

“Brian is that a proposition?”, she laughed and Brian could see in her face why a man would fall in love with her. She was jovial and probably had been a little overweight when things started going downhill two years ago. Now she had thinned down and was probably still trying to fit into her pre-z-day clothing. Brian shook his head, “Nah, Lavern you'd just eat a poor cop like me up, I can see that and it doesn't take detective training either.”

She smiled devilishly, “Maybe I would detective, maybe I would. Why you out here tonight?”

“Looking for a weasel. A weasel and the woman who drove him downtown. No not in here, I am hobbling over to Necrolagnia, parked down the way is all, your place looked warm and I have hardly ever been in here. Maybe just once a couple of months ago. I didn't see you in here then, I would have remembered.”

“Oh I caught the flu awhile back had me laid up pretty good, I had Tom”, she pointed at an older fellow sitting at a table in the corner nursing a tall pint glass still half full of beer, “working the place for me, was out maybe five days? You probably missed me. I think I would remember you too.”

Brian looked as his glass, with despair he noticed he had drank almost all of it in the short time he had been chatting with Lavern. “Well I don't think I should do a second one, I still have to use my brain a bit more tonight, or I might have to.”

“Alright, in the old days I coulda afforded to top you off”, she grabbed his glass and filled it up again from the tap, “Here's to the old days Brian.” Lavern walked away towards another customer who was trying to get her attention.

Dumbfounded Brian watched her go. I am going to have to come in here more often, it is a nicer place to relax, plus who would ever find me here? He nursed his freshly topped off beer and never quite managed to get Lavern into another conversation before he realized his leg wasn't throbbing that bad and he felt that he needed to get moving again. I am not going to get to see Kaylee tonight if I don't get moving. Checking his watch he was aghast to see it was almost midnight. He realized he need to call dispatch and did so before leaving the Cave and heading down the street the rest of the way to Necrolagnia.

Dreaming of a hot soak in his old tub at home Brian opened the outer doors to Club Necrolagnia and went in. The music pounding from the back drowned out any possible noise the crowd could have made. There was a crowd too. Brian had been here on a Friday night before and knew how popular the club was, however tonight they had crowded even more people in. Probably a fire violation, Brian thought as he stepped through the inner doors. He was accosted by a rough looking, muscular doorman who shook his head sideways and pointed towards the street, indicating Brian didn't meet the dress code. In response Brian pulled out a twenty and handed it to the man, who took a quick look over his shoulder and raised his thumb to let Brian pass.

On the one hand Brian was surprised the doorman didn't recognize him, on the other the doorman was new. Looking around Brian couldn't see any of the staff he recognized. Calling the bartender over Brian yelled for an 'apple fizz', an apply concoction with a heavy shot of grain alcohol for kick. He was waiting for his order when a pair of hands descended over his eyes and a voice yelled in his ear, “Guess who?!”

Turning he looked into Kaylee's face. She was stunning, dressed in a black blouse with narrow shoulder straps and a very low cleavage. She had a slight sheen of sweat on her face and the flushed look of someone who had been exercising when they are not quite in shape. It was a healthy look for her and Brian wanted to see what the bottom half of her outfit looked like, however the press of the crowd didn't allow him to hold her at even arm's length.

“Wha-what are you doing here?”, Brian asked loudly.

“I knew you would come here, there is only one place you 'investigate' downtown anymore.”, she yelled back.

“Yeah, but you, you shouldn't be here Kaylee, it could be dangerous!”

The thumping of the music drowned her reply, but Brian caught something like “Where is your backup?” Then she laughed and pointed to the bar behind him. He turned, paid for the drink the bartender had sitting there and turned back to Kaylee. Only she was gone. He spotted her working her way back towards the dance floor, which was filled mostly with women and a few men, who were enjoying the attention they were getting. As far as dancing went most of the crowd was already past intoxicated, Kaylee appeared less so than most of the others and managed to avoid the groping lechery of the men who tried to get close to her. Even with her slight tight movements from her injuries she was still the best dancer on the floor. Whether that was due to her own natural skill or the drunken behavior of the others Brian couldn't tell.

“You wanna dance?”, a young woman yelled in his ear.

Brian pointed at his leg, leaned in close and yelled, “Bum leg. Sorry.” The woman had already started moving when he pointed downward, moving her hand with drunken certainty onto Brian's groin. She felt his arousal and mistook it for a positive gesture of assent and started to massage him right next to the bar. Brian could not back off, he was pressed in and she continued massaging him as she got close to his ear and yelled, “Feels okay to me!”

Putting his hand down on hers he pulled it up to his waist as the woman started to kiss his ear, licking his earlobe and running her tongue inside of it and then up to the top of his ear. She whispered something that was lost in the techno music and moved Brian's hand to the bottom of her unseen dress, pushing his hand up between her thighs she moaned loudly and started grinding. “Lets blow this place, just for a few minutes huh?!” She yelled. Brian was taken back, he could see the allure that so many men had of the clubs downtown, yet this sort of open invitation with a girl whose name he didn't even know was disturbing him. Unfortunately his body didn't agree, the woman's hand was back at his crotch and with her other hand she jerked her underwear aside to provide access for Brian's hand to her genitalia.

“I just want it. I want you. Please!”, she yelled. “Its been so long!”

Brian tried to pull his hand away, tried to move his crotch away and found he couldn't the least he could to was watch Kaylee dancing unaware of what was going on a mere thirty feet away. He looked around at the bartender, possibly the only one who could salvage the situation, the man met Brian's eye for a second then pointedly looked away, a slight smile on his face.

Fuck, thought Brian, I don't want this.

The woman, probably twenty years old, didn't seem content to wait for them to leave she started unzipping Brian's pants and turned her back towards him, pulling his hand out of her and she ground into him from behind. Brian grabbed her and yelled in her ear, “I can't, I am here with someone.”

The woman's hand went in through his unzipped pants and started pulling on his prick, she had it half out of his pants when Brian more forcefully pulled her hand back. “No I am here with someone!” he shouted, as he zipped up his pants.

The woman turned towards him again and pulled his hand up under her dress, “She ain't here now!”, she yelled. Brian found his hand of its own accord massaging her. That was all it took, a moment later she squeezed his dick and blushed, coming on his hand. “God that was good, not as good as you fucking me right here next to the bar would have been! Still it was good! Thanks!”

Brian looked towards Kaylee again, and wryly noticed he hadn't even set his drink down during the entire three minute episode. On one level he felt mildly violated, on the other he was just amused in a sick sort of way. So this is that 'younger crowd' Lavern was talking about.

After the next song was over Kaylee came over to him again, she pressed herself close and yelled, “You find what you were looking for yet? Can we have fun now?”

He stared at her for a second before laughing and said, “I got distracted!”

A puzzled look crossed her face and she asked, “What?”

“I got hit on real good by some woman. Where were you to defend my honor. She didn't even care that I was here with you.”

“What? You are here with me? I thought I was here along and you were working a case?”

Brian made a 'whatever' shrug of his shoulders and teased, “Okay if that is how you wanna play it, next time I will interrogate her more rigorously.”

“Better not! I'm the jealous type. What woman was it?”

Brian looked around and spotted the woman making her way back to a table where some of her friends obviously sat waiting for her, then looked at Kaylee, “In this mess? I couldn't tell you where she went. I only have eyes for you tonight; you are ruining my investigation.”

Turning her head slightly she tilted her chin and somehow over the noise managed to purr out, “You say the nicest things!”

Brian turned back to the bar and somehow managed to flag the bartender down to order a drink for Kaylee, she wanted a Ca-cola, a drink slightly reminiscent of a cola with corn alcohol in it. As far as Brian knew it was made by straining dirt through a sieve and then mixing the resulting mud with sweetener and adding alcohol. He was pretty sure it was claimed to be made using dandelion roots, overall he couldn't stomach the drink, however if people wanted to drink alcohol laden dirt water Brian was not going to stop them. As he waited for the drink he glanced up at the camera mounted behind the bar. It was on, however Brian knew from when he led the bust on the place that they club had not had any film for the cameras for almost a year. Someone could be in the back room watching, but there would be no lasting recordings.

“So detective, when do you get off?”, Kaylee shouted, trying to put an innocent look on her face.

“Kaylee! Anytime I suppose I am looking for Teddy's friend, that Matt guy I mentioned to you. He shook off his watchdog tonight, so I thought I would check here, see if I can spot him. How long have you been here?”

“I got here about ten minutes before you did. Caught the bus after getting off the phone with you. I knew you would show up. So I thought, 'why not?' I want you to come over after work. I want you to spend the night.” Brian nodded as a particularly loud piece of techno music came on over the speakers. He leaned forward towards Kaylee's smiling face and planted a somewhat chaste kiss on her lips. She responded hungrily and in a more adult like fashion, their make out session was interrupted by the bartender tapping Brian on the back to get him to pay for the drink he had finished.

Great, Brian thought irritably, When I am being assaulted by a woman I don't want anything to do with he stands by and smiles and when I am frenching the one I want he interrupts me.

Brian paid for the drink and Kaylee took it up and tried to get him out to the dance floor with her. He protested his leg would never allow for it and she reluctantly went off by herself, making him promise to keep his hand 'and other things' to himself and watch her dance. Brian moved around the outside of the club eventually ending up on a small stage that had been set with cocktail tables in lieu of a live band. This location had three advantages for him, first it was a foot above the main floor, second it was across from the club entrance and third it was close to both the bathroom and the kitchen entrances, meaning Brian could cover all the possible entrances and exits from where he stood. In addition to the visual advantage, only the front edge of the stage was crowded, with everyone watching the dance floor. Near the back wall where Brian stood next to a tall table, he had plenty of room, which he could use to maneuver and change position when people in front of him obstructed his view.

For the most part Brian kept his eyes on Kaylee, as she had requested. He was aware in his peripheral vision of people coming and going into restrooms and the kitchen area, so he was not completely surprised when a tall man came out of the kitchen. The man's head was almost even with Brian's despite the height of the stage. The instant Brian looked at him he knew on a gut level the thing he was looking at was a super zombie. He couldn't say why he was so sure, however instinctively he KNEW. Before he was even quite sure of his actions Brian's pistol was out and he had fired a shot off into the beast that walked like a man. As fast as he was the zombie was faster, stepping forward it pressed it's belly into Brian's pistol and took the shot, muffling it and drowning the sound in the loud techno music, no one even noticed that a shot had been fired. The bullet went right through the zombie, splattering the wall behind where it stood with ichor as it embedded itself into the paneling. The things arms grabbed Brian's and twisted the gun from one hand and fended off a punch from his other one. His gun dropped to the floor and slide next to the wall as the super dragged him into the club's kitchen. Brian, surging with adrenaline pushed forward with is feet and head butted the taller man. He felt a satisfying crunch as the thing's nose gave away. The zombie, however didn't even reacted, it just pulled Brian into the doorway and down the stairs to the club's basement. Brian knew what was down there, after all he had been in on the bust two and a half weeks ago, and he didn't want to go down the stairs into the storage room. He couldn't gain any purchase with his feet and his kicking was ineffectual as the thing merely lifted him up and out of each of the floor, Brian felt his left wrist snap as the zombie pulled him higher into the air, he let out a scream that didn't stop as he dangled from one whole arm and broken arm.

The zombie hissed at him with a dry, cold voice, “Scream all you want Detective Nelson, no one will hear you.” upon reaching the basement floor the zombie threw Brian bodily across the room into a stack of full kegs, Brian's body crumpled over them and slid down the other side out of sight.

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