Nick looked over to where two officers had their guns drawn. His jaw went slack as he saw what they were focused on.
It wasn’t Madaug.
It was more zombies.
Nick cursed.
The police didn’t fire until the first zombie reached a cop and sank its rotted teeth into the officer’s head.
Nick couldn’t breathe as he saw more of them coming. “Oh my God …”
It was an army of the undead and they were moving straight at them like a pack of ugly hyenas. Why didn’t they stumble like in a Romero flick?
No, they had to be attacked by super zombies. Leave it to me.
“There goes the neighborhood,” Caleb said.
Nick shoved at him.
“Mark!” Bubba started for the house, but it was too late.
More zombies were coming in from the back and they’d already gone inside where the others were. The house was now completely occupied by their enemies while civilians ran screaming only to get overtaken by the zombies.
Nick grabbed Bubba’s arm to stop him from going in after Mark. “We have to go.”
Bubba’s features turned to stone. “Don’t worry. I’ve seen that movie too. You go in to help your friend and they eat you instead. Mark’s smart. He can escape. I believe that.” Simi got out of the SUV. “The Simi wil go gets him. You get to safety and I’l take care of them old nasty zombies.” She pul ed a bottle of barbecue sauce out of her coffin-shaped purse.
Nick wasn’t sure about that either. “Simi—” But she was already halfway across the yard, sauce in hand and whooping with eager delight.
Bubba shoved Nick into the car by his face.
“Arm! Watch the arm!” Nick shouted as Bubba’s grip sent pain al the way through him.
Caleb climbed in beside him as Bubba got in, turned the truck on, and slung it sideways into the street. He didn’t even slow down as he plowed through as many zombies as he could hit.
They growled and hissed as they tried to grab and hold on to the truck to get to them. But Bubba’s swerving sent them flying.
Nick cringed as one took a header into a tree and splotted like a multicolored bug on a windshield. “I’m so glad my mom’s not awake for this. She’d skin al of us.”
“Dang,” Caleb breathed as he crawled over the seat into the front. “How many zombies are there?” Bubba swerved to hit another one—at least Nick hoped that one was a zombie and not some poor innocent pedestrian.
“You gotta figure there’s three hundred years of dead in New Orleans. While Mark and me have taken out a few dozen over the years … that makes for a lot of zombies.” Nick scowled. “But how could one bokor raise that many?
Doesn’t it suck juice out of them or something?” Bubba shook his head. “Yes, and blood, unless they’ve made a pact with someone a lot more powerful.”
“Someone like a god?” Caleb asked.
Bubba nodded at Caleb. “Yeah. Someone like a god.” Nick hissed as a pain shot through his skul . It was so intense it made his nose start to bleed.
Bubba snatched his head around. “You okay?” Nick had no idea as he pinched his nose closed. “I feel sick. Real sick.”
“You throw up in that backseat, boy, and I’l make you lick it up. I swear it. I’m stil making payments on this thing and it’s hard to get the smel of vomit out of the upholstery.” But it wasn’t that kind of sick. Nick’s head was spinning with images he couldn’t understand. He saw fire and felt an unbelievable anger swel ing.
It was his, yet not his.
Bubba looked over at Caleb. “He ain’t turning into a zombie, is he?”
“No,” Caleb said, scowling. “But he is turning kind of green.
You got a bag or something in case he hurls?” Nick ignored them. “We have to drop off my mom and find Madaug.”
“What?” they asked simultaneously.
Nick caught Bubba’s gaze in the rearview mirror as Bubba looked back at him. “Something bad’s about to happen.”
“Boy, in case it has slipped your oh so astute attention, something bad has been happening al day.” Caleb turned around in the seat. “Maybe we should go on then and find Madaug first.”
“No.” Nick looked at his mom, who was already going to be hotter than a nest of hornets flung against a house. “We take care of my mom first—she’s my number one priority. I have to make sure she’s safe.”
“And then what?” Caleb asked.
“Then we break major zombie aaa … sss.”
CHAPTER 16
Nick had his head against the glass, watching the road pass by as he struggled to keep from being il . What was wrong with him?
“You’re fighting me. Stop and you won’t be sick.” He looked around the car to see if anyone else heard the voice in his head. His mom was stil unconscious. Bubba was listening to the radio while Caleb sang along to Iron Man under his breath.