“We have to get to Brian, shock him, and see,” Madaug said. “It’s the only way to know for sure since he’s the only one I know for a fact was turned into a zombie after playing my game.”
Not to be one to ever interject logic into anything, Nick laughed nervously. “You do know he’s in jail, right? And that the police tend to get a little perturbed at people who show up there with cattle prods and stun guns. I’m just saying.” Simi jumped up and down. “We could get the police to shoot him for us!”
Mark scoffed. “Our luck, they’d shoot him with a real gun and kil him. Then we’d learn nothing.” Like that was the worst fear they had at the moment. …
Yeah.
Madaug didn’t relent. “We’ve got to either get him out or we get in to see him and stun him. Otherwise we don’t real y know if this is going to work. It could be temporary and they could turn right back into zombies. Think about it.” Nick was thinking about it. He was thinking of spending the rest of his life in jail, provided his mother didn’t kil him first. “I don’t guess any of you former zombies would like to go into the holding cel until we sort this out?” Brett seized him by the shirt. “I don’t know what game you and geek boy are playing, Gautier. But you get in my way as I leave and I’l wipe my boots on your bal s.” Nick cringed involuntarily at a threat that went down his spine like a shredder.
Before he realized what was happening, Simi had taken Brett’s hand and squeezed it so hard Nick heard the bones break.
Brett cried out.
Simi held his hand in hers without letting up. “Nick is a friend of the Simi’s. You threaten him and you make the Simi real y unhappy and want to eat your head. Trust me, not something you want me to think about. Now go away mean person or the Simi wil tel akri she don’t know what happened to you and your masticated form. Not that I like to lie, but there are deceptions to every rule. And you’re about to become one.” She shoved him back toward the room. “Now get in there and be quiet.”
By their faces, it was obvious none of them wanted to obey.
But none of them had the backbone to stand up to Simi.
Bubba grinned. “I like your friend, Nick. She doesn’t mince words, does she?”
“Not real y.” But then some of the words she didn’t mince real y didn’t make sense, and who the heck was this akri she kept mentioning? He must be some serious badass to corral her.
Mark locked the hidden door and shut the wal so that no one entering the store could see their new prisoners.
Caleb frowned. “What if they start cal ing for help?”
“Won’t do them any good,” Bubba said. “It’s soundproof and made with enough metal that no cel phones wil go through neither. They’re there until we let them out.” Mark let out a nervous laugh. “Then let’s not get kil ed and starve them to death.”
Nick stared at him. “Mark, there are many, many reasons I don’t want to get kil ed doing this other than just starving the ex-zombie hostages.” He looked over to Madaug. “Or go to jail. I cannot stress enough how badly I do not want to go to jail and how badly I do not want to die.”
But he had a bad feeling that they were al about to head to one of those places or the other.
CHAPTER 13
Nick?” Mark cal ed through the door as Nick was coming out of the shower. “It’s your mom on the phone and she’s hotter than Angelina Jolie lying in a bikini on the equator, covered in mud. … Not that I’m saying your mom is good-looking, not that she isn’t, but I don’t ever fantasize about your mom ’cause that would just be wrong to do to a guy—not that your mom isn’t fantasy worthy … but— Ah, hel , al that sounded better in my head. My point is, she’s angry. Just take the phone before she scalds my ears some more.”
Nick paused. That was an interesting tirade and made him wonder about Mark’s daydreams—Wait, never mind. Knowing Mark, those had to be terrifying. Heck, he was lucky Mark’s dream girl wasn’t zombified.
He opened the door only enough to reach through it to get the phone from Mark before he put it up to his ear and braced himself for her anger. “Hey, Mom.”
“What are you doing?” Yeah, she was total y upset at him.
That hot tone could melt polar ice caps. She was yel ing so loud, he pul ed the phone about three inches from his ear and stil heard her perfectly. “Boy, where are you? Do you have any idea what time it is? You are so grounded when I see you, which, for your information, had better be soon, as in right now. If you’re not walking through the door, which you’re not, you’re busted. You understand? Nick? Are you listening to me? What do you have to say for yourself? Huh, young man?” He honestly didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t make her twice as mad, which was not his goal right now. The name of the game … survival.
I value my freedom, but I see severe restriction ahead.
Too bad there weren’t lawyers out there wil ing to represent kids with their parents. “Which question do you want me to answer first?”