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 25

Kaylee's phone appeared to be intact, her contacts were still there, her phone history had been erased, as had her incoming calls. Shrugging mentally she opened the text message and then followed the instructions on how to open the file on her phone's internal memory, she hadn't even known she could store data files on her phone, let alone open them. The file was easy enough to open, just select it and hit 'go'. Soon she was reading a bunch of text left for her by Walt and Flo.

“Kaylee,

We're writing this letter right before we come to visit you.

Brian is okay. He suffered a variety of injuries, broken bones and cuts, the worst was a collapsed lung. The medical information we could get from our contacts was that he was doing fine, better than fine, actually, his body was healing faster than what is normally associated with human beings. Flo and I have been investigating other cases where people have killed 'super' zombies, and there are damn few of them, and this seems to be a pattern: The people get stuck in a round of tests and then, kind of disappear. We think the government has a program set up for the ones nearby when a super zombie dies, it is like they gain some sort of energy from the death. The current theories on the net, are that supers become super by killing and devouring the life force of their victims, and normal humans gain some of that energy when the super dies. We'll know when we see you this afternoon if this is true, Flo saw you the night of the attack and you had a huge shiner, not to mention other cuts and bruises. She says she was far away from you, couldn't get within twenty feet or so, but that your black eye stood out, even in the dark. If you don't have one when we show up, we'll you know you siphoned off some of the energy. Most of the forum posts indicate that rapid healing is one of the first signs of such an event too.

If you are held over without knowing why, you might have to talk to some guys in the government. Regardless of what happens, so long as you are not infected, Flo and I will keep working to get you and Brian free. It should be easier for Brian, his is already a part of the military, albeit the civilian police is pretty low on the 'in the military' scale of things.

Good luck and know that we are pulling for you and Brian! You can call us if you think you won't be overheard, obviously we won't be calling you; cell phones are forbidden while you are in quarantine.

Flo wants to type a few words, thinks I missed a few things or something.

Kaylee, don't you worry about a thing. You and Brian were mentioned in the paper as you will see, we are getting copies of it for the last few days to bring to you. This means people know who you are and the government won't be able to cover it up at all. You'll be out in a few days, a week at most, and Walt and I will keep visiting until you are released. I would add not to call anyone but Walt and I right now, if others found out you had a phone, well, I can't see that being good for anyone right now. Plus don't worry about being disappeared, as Walt calls it by the government. Things have changed, the government isn't that big, isn't that bad anymore they have too much to do just fighting off the hordes to bother with secret programs and all that cloak and dagger stuff anymore.

We WILL see you soon.

Walt and Flo“

Putting the phone down Kaylee felt a mixture of relief, with a tad of anxiety. Things were not any better or worse than they were before she read the message, but somehow she felt comforted that Walt and Flo were trying to cover her and Brian's backs. She hadn't recalled reading about herself in the newspaper, and she had read the oldest paper first. After thinking a moment she called Flo's house.

“Hello?”, Flo answered the phone.

“Flo?”, Kaylee asked in a quiet whisper.

“Kaylee! Walt, get on the other line, its Kaylee! How you honey?”

“I am fine...”

“Hello?”, Walt broke into the conversation.

“Hi Walt! I am fine, bored out of my mind mostly, they are not treating us bad or anything. Did you see Brian?”

“No.”, Walt and Flo answered simultaneously, then Flo continued, “No, we couldn't he was in a restricted sector, a doctor came out and told us not to worry, that he would be fine, he was about ninety eight percent sure Brian was not infected, said the laws needed revising, but that he couldn't give me any other information. I know a nurse on the staff though, my ex sister in law. My brother got himself killed during the z-day riots, but before that he had divorced the woman. Still we had always gotten on good and she told me that Brian was fine, got me a list of his injuries and told me the scuttlebutt on his recovery. Three days and he is fit for running a marathon.”, Flo let that sink in.

Tentatively, Kaylee asked, “Even his knee?”

“Yeah, dear, even his knee. He isn't at one hundred percent, but he is better than before he went in and that includes his knee injury from his first fight. What happened Kaylee? Who killed the zombie?”

Kaylee quietly filled them in on the events at the Necrolagnia.

Walt let out a low whistle when she was done. “It makes you wonder, huh Kaylee?”

“Wonder what Walt?”

“Well if Brian siphoned enough energy off to heal up like he did, well, what did all that energy do to the person who didn't have anything but a few bumps and bruised to heal up?”

“Shush Walt, don't get her worrying.”

“No really, I mean we read all sorts of stuff online, reports of people levitating, going invisible, using mental powers on people, super hero stuff really. You gain any other powers?”

“Walt!”, Flo reprimanded him, “Leave her be! You know you shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet, especially in forums! Don't worry Kaylee if you start flying around you can still hang out with us, okay?”

Kaylee smiled at the weak joke, but still Walt's statement held quite a bit of food for thought, “Well no flying yet, I'll work on that tomorrow. How long do my new powers last? I imagine they have to wear out after awhile right? So I better figure out how to take advantage of them soon.” She had meant the retort as an additional joke, and was unprepared by the silence that greeted her.

“Hello? I was joking, you know.”

“Kaylee...”, Walt began, “Kaylee, they don't. I mean at least everyone who wrote about it, if you can believe them, said the powers don't fade, they just get greater as you kill more zombies.”

“If you can believe the internet.”, put in Flo, “Then again if you believe that then you know England is still zombie free along with Australia and most of Africa. And that our government is held up in area fifty one waiting for this plague to work itself out before they come out and take charge again. Just take it with a grain of salt dear.”

“Oh, okay. Maybe I can move to Australia then, maybe I'll fly there when I get out of here.”

“Okay that's better, lets just play this by ear, but don't go showing off for any government guys who come to talk to you, okay?”, recommended Flo.

“Me? No, never!”, Kaylee answered honestly.

Saying their goodnights, Kaylee promised to call again about the same time the next night. Flo reminded her that she should be getting a paper with her morning meal. Which jogged Kaylee's memory enough for her to ask about the article about the club burning down with her and Brian in it.

“They wouldn't let us bring that one in.”, Walt replied sourly, “They didn't want to get everyone riled up, especially if you were contaminated and caused the others to be stuck in there another five days.”

Hanging up the phone Kaylee tucked it under her pillow and went to sleep, she dreampt of having super powers and killing zombies like on the television shows. She also had a darker nightmare that woke her early in the morning about a shadow calling out to her across a thousand miles, urging her to....Kaylee couldn't remember what, but it was persistent and insistent that she do something.

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