Looking For Zombie Bites

Bambi twisted the shower controls to get the hot water flowing. She stripped off her bloody clothes, piling them on the bench next to her clean clothes. Just more fuel for the fire. She grabbed her towel and tossed it over the rack. The water was steaming so she entered the shower. She grabbed the shower head and let the hot water tattoo her muscular frame, water passing over her scars and tattoos. She then put the shower head back and just put her head under the hot water, enjoying the water flowing through her long blond hair.

She began to lather up, but she heard the click of the door closing and the lock being twisted. Her muscles tensed, but she smiled. Only one person would be crazy enough to interrupt my shower.

Moments later, the large frame of Cletus appeared in the shower door. “You know a physical exam is required after every field mission.” He looked her up and down, leering. “Not bad.” He smiled. “No zombie bites. Guess you’re clear.”

She leaned on him, putting her wet arms on his shoulders. “Guess I need to return the favor.”

His smile widened. “If you would please retract your arms, I shall prepare myself for your inspection. Ma’am.”

She smiled as she pulled back. “You had better, soldier.”

His smile returned as he stripped off his clothes and quickly returned. His hands were spread wide. “Inspect at your leisure.”

She walked over to him, circling him. “Not bad.” She returned to the shower. “You pass.”

He joined her in the shower. After a shower long enough that there was no more hot water, they dried, put their clothes on, and left the building holding hands. They tossed their dirty clothes into a bin for materials to be burned. They embraced. Bambi sighed as she saw Lieutenant Grover walking in a straight line toward them. The thin man with the thick glasses was never the bearer of good news.

Lieutenant Grover stopped just a pace away from them. “Guys, how’s it going?”

Cletus’ smile disappeared. “We’re fine. What’s up?”

He reached for a folder in his bag. “We have a problem.” He handed the file to Cletus.

Cletus’ eyes rolled as he accepted the file. He looked at the pictures. “Nothing but zombies.”

Lieutenant Grover’s eyebrows arched. “Look at who the zombies are.”

Bambi looked at the zombies. The color drained from her face. “Those girls have been missing since — — ”

Lieutenant Grover held up his hand. “I know. We’re sort of stretched thin.”

Bambi’s eyes rolled. “You guys need to work on it.”

Lieutenant Grover sighed. “We’re hoping our best two hunters will finish it.”

Cletus glared at the young man. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”

Lieutenant Grover sighed. “You are going to really hate this.”

* * * * *

Cletus, Bambi, and Sergeant Griffin Hawke dismounted the vehicle. The driver shouted at them, “We’ve got two other groups we’re playing taxi for; should be back just after dinner.” Sergeant Hawke gave a thumbs up and the driver took off. Cletus and Bambi slung their rifles. Cletus started looking for tracks. Sergeant Hawke smiled. “So nice to be on another field mission with you two. It’s been a while.”

Bambi watched her lover. “Yeah, I just wish the mission were more fun. This won’t be any walk to the bar, Griff.” When Cletus motioned her over, she motioned for Sergeant Hawke to follow her.

When they had joined him. Cletus stood straight up and pointed to a grove in the distance. “It looks like the pack has been here recently. It looks like they’re following a boar, and that copse is the most obvious place for it to run to.”

Bambi nodded as Sergeant Hawke looked at the grove. “Figures. Only thing those razorbacks are scared of.” He smiled. “Don’t like the taste of them either.”

Cletus looked for the best trail to follow, then started walking towards the grove. “Guess we’d better start walking. The sooner the pack is down, the sooner we’re backing looking for zombie bites.” Bambi followed him.

They had to pass the corpse of a large gutted wild boar that the pack had been chasing; it was a testament to the hunger of the pack. After a few hundred feet, they were within shooting distance of the grove. Cletus flashed Bambi a thumbs up; she flashed him a smile. He pointed to the grove with his rifle. “Okay, the pack is in the grove. They’re quiet now, now doubt do them eating, but that won’t last.” The other two nodded.

Cletus pulled out a small telescope. “They’ll be out soon enough.” He handed the telescope to Sergeant Hawke. “Even fed, they’re still moving, so we won’t get a clean shot, but we can still identify them for the families.”

Sergeant Hawke accepted the telescope. “Guess I can do that since I know the people in town better than you two.” He put the telescope to his eye. He soon put the telescope down and rubbed his eye. “This can’t be right.” He looked through the device again. He took a good, long look, then took the telescope away from his eye. He turned to Cletus, and saw that he and Bambi had their pistols drawn and pointed at him. He spat out the words, “Lieutenant Grover set this mission up, didn’t he?”

Bambi virtually sneered. “Yep. We’ve read the file: Some of the women looking for sanctuary in town ended up dating you. Don’t know what happened, but the women tended to disappear soon after. Just a week or so ago, this pack of zombies shows up on the radar. Someone recognized some of them as the missing women, so they were steered away from town until their identities could be confirmed. One quick investigation later, and you were the only common link.” She sighed. “You know I’m obligated to give you a chance to deny it, right?”

Sergeant Hawke frowned. “I knew those whores would be the end of me. I just figured they wanted to marry a townie, so I thought I’d string them along, have some fun, and give them to someone else. But they got too clingy, so I would take them out and throw them into a pack.” He smiled. “Simple solution: No one would miss them, they wouldn’t be a drain on society, and there was no dead body.” He shrugged. “Well, not until someone killed them.”

Cletus glared at him. “Well, Bambi, I’m guessing that he’s not going to deny it.”

Bambi looked at him. “Guess not.”

Sergeant Hawke smiled at both of them. “So, let’s finish this. Who gets to kill me?”

They looked at each other, then back to the sergeant. Cletus simply said, “They do.” The sergeant looked at them, puzzled.

The two smiled, then whistled as loudly as they could. The pack froze. The pair turned to each other and shrugged. They turned back to the pack, whistling louder this time. The pack began to shamble in their direction. The sergeant began to back up, turned, then started sprinting.

Cletus handed her her rifle. “We just need to outrun him.” He smiled.

She returned the smile, but the smile faded as she pulled the rifle into line. He dove behind the corpse of the boar; she pulled up her rifle. She motioned for Cletus to flank the boar. He ran to get into position. Sergeant Hawke sat up behind the boar, his pistol aimed at her. She hit the ground instinctively. The shots rang above her head. Cletus finally reached his position, giving him a full view of the sergeant. He waved. “Hey, Griff.”

Sergeant Hawke said something under his breath and jumped to his feet. He started running for a tree just behind him. By now Bambi had gotten to her feet. She took aim at the running man and fired. BLAM. The sergeant fell as the bullet passed through his right femur, breaking it. She slung her rifle and the two jogged past the fallen sergeant. He screamed, “Don’t leave me behind!”

The pack of zombified girls soon caught up to the sergeant, who even then was trying to pull his body, hoping to drag his body faster than the zombies stumbled. away from them. The pair turned around, bearing witness as the girls tore into his flesh. They tried to ignore the sound of every bit of flesh as it was torn off, every single bite as flesh disappeared into their gullet. They did so out of obligation to be witnesses to the girls’ act of revenge.

Just as the sergeant had torn into their futures, they tore into his flesh.

When things were finally quiet they turned and unslung their rifles. Most fell easily. Some tried to reach the two mercenaries but they were too far away and their aim was too good.

None of the pack of zombies survived their onslaught.

When they reached the camp, they handed off the dead sergeant’s rifle to Lieutenant Grover, along with a briefing. They were given their money, and they headed to the showers. Bambi stopped Cletus. “We need to start a police force of some sort; Lieutenant Grover and his military can protect us from the outside, but not the threats from the inside. I don’t want monsters like Griff to feel like they can do anything they want to.”

He smiled at her. “I can get behind that. We’ll talk to Lieutenant Grover about it. Later.” He winked at her. “Before we can join the normal people, we had better get washed.”

She smirked. “But first we have to search for zombie bites.” She turned and walked off.

His smile became wolf-like. “Darn those regulations.”

They separated long enough to grab some clean clothes before meeting just outside the shower building. They embraced before heading into the shower where they inspected each other very thoroughly.