Chapter 5

  Ray

  Wake Park has been in an uproar since the attack last week. All the officials are on high alert, while everyone in Moss Town, miles away, rests peacefully. Uncle Elijah and some members of ZAS realized the gashadokuro was just a decoy. While Red Dawn was kidnapping people, making a scene, Junior and his associates kidnapped many people in the background. Most of them had no connection, no family, no friends…except for Naomi. But most importantly, how can she use zombie abilities if she’s living? That’s not supposed to be possible.

  While everyone’s fast asleep in the housing complex, I sneak out, carrying a huge duffle bag and making sure no one saw me leave. I have supplies; food, water, my game pad if I get bored, and most importantly, salt. It’ll keep the bad zombies away. Junior’s last words were, “the Casket is in Zombie World.” It’s a big place, three times the landmass of the Living World, but it has to be here somewhere.

  The nerves in my back are pinched by the weight of the bag; it feels like a ton of bricks. As I put the bag down, a low hum catches my attention. I turn around.

  It’s John, leaning on the side of the building with his arms crossed. “Kid, just accept it. It’ll make your life a lot easier. Trust me,” he says.

  I ignore him, take the bag, and continue moving forward with determination in my eyes. The weight of the bag makes me fall forward. Great. Now, I’m stuck under this thing.

  I try wiggling my body, hoping I can slip from underneath it, but it’s difficult to move as the dense weight has me pinned to the ground. I knew I should’ve packed light.

  John laughs. “Not even outside Moss Town and you’re already in trouble.”

  He picks the bag up like it’s nothing and pulls me to my feet. “Sure, you don’t need help?” he chuckles.

  “No. I can do it myself, Mr. Doubter,” I reply.

  “Of course, you’ll need an experienced zombie to get around,” he says, tipping his hat with a grin. “And there’s a boat nearby.”

  He’s right, but we need permission to use it. Anything outside ZAS’s district is free game. And by that, I mean a lot of dangerous undead folks could be lurking around, or even living people for that matter. But in terms of districts, others aren’t as strict as Moss Town, and I heard there are many cities in Zombie World without their influence. And the Casket is somewhere out there.

  John and I take an hour to think about how to get on the boat while we snack on some delicious peanut butter cookies.

  “I have it!” I say. I whisper in John’s ear.

  He gives me a worried look. “You’re the worst thing to come to Moss Town. You know that, right?” he says.

  John and I take a three-hour drive to Wake Park. The security personnel is on high alert, looking for the smallest disturbance, no thanks to Junior wrecking the place a week ago.

  They stop us, asking for ID. “It’s not safe here. Please return to the housing project for your safety,” they tell us.

  Val sees us. He says it’s okay and happily brings us to the office. “Nice to you see, Ray. And my buddy, John,” he says, copying new death certificates.

  When you die, you need these for identification, as well as your Social Security number, birth certificate, and proof of residency for all ZAS associated towns.

  Me and John look around, noticing the place is empty. Val really wants our company. I slide inside his cubicle without making a sound. In the corner of my eye, there’s a twinkle of gold. It’s Val’s treasure. An hour passes as Val talks our ears off complaining about all the paperwork he has to do since the incident with Junior. I think he needs that Till’ Death Do Us Part app for singles. Amy’s on there, too. It’s a dating app for zombies. Every zombie looking for love has it on their phone these days.

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  Val looks out a nearby window with a shocked expression. “Hey! You can’t take that without permission from the regulatory committee! Bring that back!” he yells, darting outside.

  You gotta be kidding me. Someone’s stealing our ride out of this place! Val races for the shore, but stops short with a look of disbelief. His treasure chest is on the ship. His eyes glow bright red, while the dark clouds become pitch black and thunder cracks in the heavens. “Who stole my treasure?”

  He catches himself and calms down, using deep breathing exercises. I follow Val outside.

  “I’m sorry, Val,” I say, frustrated and upset. “I tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen.”

  “They who?” he shouts. “You mean whoever took my stuff?”

  “Yeah, they ran off with it.”

  “They don’t know who I am!” he shouts feverishly. “I use to own this entire eastern region back in my day!”

  I can’t stop laughing, as Val gets so angry his size increases until he towers to the sky. The sky gets even darker as lightning bursts from the clouds. “No one steals from Val Roddman, The God of Rock n’ Roll.”

  “Hold up, buddy,” I say. “You can’t just blow them out of the water. That’s against policy.”

  He counts backwards, regaining some of his composure. He returns to his normal size. This is working out better than I thought. He kneels down, holding my shoulder. “Ray, I’m trusting you with the most important decision of your life. I was brought back to protect the gold for a friend who owed a bookie some money, a lot of it.”

  “I thought you said it was alimony for your ex,” I say.

  He keeps changing his story every time he brings it up. Last time he told me that gold was his mother’s and that she brought him back to protect it from any relatives who wanted to “take her out the picture.”

  “Never mind that. Can you get it back?” he asks.

  “Yeah, but I can’t go alone!” I exclaim. “I’m just a kid!”

  He nods and calls John to help.

  John appears from the back of the building. I tell him what happened. He’s holding in the laughter.

  “Use the Party Yacht,” Val says, pointing to the giant yacht. Wake Park execs use the yacht for their lavish vacations. They tried to invite my uncle last year, but he turned them down to spend time with me. And by that, I mean, putting me through rigorous training to learn how to use Cleansing Mist.

  Val tugs us along, pushing us onto the yacht. “Go, go, go. Get my gold. Post haste.”

  The yacht has so many fancy things, like a fountain that sprays fruit juice. I drink from it while John pulls the dense anchor with his bare hands without a struggle. We exchange a high-five.

  “It worked. I can’t believe he fell for that” I say.

  “I’m surprised he didn’t blast the ship to pieces. But I think we should tell him the truth when we come back,” John says.

  We look at the shore where Val is scorching the place with lightning bolts. John and I look at the other, shocked.

  “No,” we say together. If Val found out what we did, we’d be deader than dead. But the boat shouldn’t go that far. He’ll get his treasure back eventually.

  The yacht drifts through the sea. Wake Park grows smaller and smaller as it disappears behind a cloud of mist. A nearby barrel on the deck tumbles over. No one should be on this boat except us. We turn around and notice Naomi emerging from it! She goes inside, pretending we didn’t see her. We’re stunned.

  “Who’s the girl!?” John asks.

  I tell him everything about Naomi, especially about how she was a jerk to me when I was alive.

  “This is the girl?” John says. “I thought they took her back days ago. She has to go.”

  “We could kick her off the ship,” I say. “I’m sure there’s a portal around here, I think.”

  John gives me a wary scowl. He’s not a fan of the idea.

  “I can hear you,” Naomi says, standing between us.

  I turn around with my arms folded. “Hmmm. You’ll probably just make fun of my clothes or my parents.”

  She squeezes my shoulder. “I want to make it up to you,” she says. “I’ll help you be alive again.”

  I’m speechless. I don’t know how to answer that. It’s the nicest thing she’s ever said to me. It wouldn’t hurt to have a living person who can use necro energy. She can probably sense dead people, cover her body in bones, even break things down, and other amazing things too.

  “Ok, ok…you can come,” I sigh.

  She hugs me, jumping with joy. It’s so tight, she squeezes my arm off. She chuckles nervously, giving it back. I sew it back on; good as new. The special threads dissolve into my skin. When a zombie reattaches a limb, it restores the cells and enzymes to homeostatic function, almost like a brand-new arm.

  “Now we’re heading to… wherever that Casket thing is,” she says enthusiastically.

  My jaw drops. I don’t know where we’re going. I was so focused on Junior’s last words that I didn’t look for any further clues. Well, someone has to know something about it.

  “Oh, yeah. Why were they trying to take you?” I ask.

  “Because I’m an Abiotic user,” Naomi says. “But Junior said a name. ‘Trake’ or ‘Cheonguk’, I think? I don’t know who that is.”

  Junior’s name and this Trake guy gives John pause. “Missy, I think you’re in more trouble than you think,” he says.