Zombie Games Book Five (End Zone) (19 page)

“Cassie! You back here?” A voice hollered when I was searching the back bathroom...

Nora!

I stuck my head out and smiled. “Hey. Are they gone yet?”

She smiled.
“Pretty much. Bryce told me to come and get you. We’re leaving soon.”

“Thank God.”

“I know, right? I’m so sick of this place.”

“
Me too. Before we leave, I need to get my sister from Nordstrom’s.”

“I
’ll go with you after we find Bryce,” she replied.

“Where is he?”

“I think he’s still back by the hole.”

“Is Paige, okay? We thought we heard her screaming.”

“
I think so,” she replied, stepping over a pile of shoe boxes. “But I don’t know for sure.”

We walked out of the stock room. “God, I hope one of those bat-things didn’t get her.”

“Me too.”

We walke
d out of the store and through the corridor. When we made it back to the center of the mall, I noticed three dead flying creatures, two with gunshot wounds and one with its head bashed in.

“These things are
so… creepy,” I said, wrinkling my nose. “I wonder how many of them came out of the ground.”

“
Oh… about a dozen,” she replied, stepping over another one.

My eyes widened. “You
stuck around and counted?”

She
chuckled. “Not really, I hid under a bench. You should have seen it though. It was kind of funny… everyone was screaming and you all took off in different directions.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said dryly. “Really funny.”

“Well, I thought it was kind of comical. Then, a few minutes later, the flying things pretty much disappeared and Bryce came back. When he noticed that they were gone, he told me to come and find you. I bet he went to go search for the others.”

“
Yeah. Uh, do you know where’s Kristie and Paige are?”

She
shrugged. “Guess I’m not really sure.”

I glanced
over at the hole. “Jeeze. I hope nothing else comes out of that thing. It’s already freaking the hell out of me.”

She walked over to the hole
and stared down. “Oh… I suspect that
something
will be coming out of it. Obviously, it’s here for a reason.”

I shuddered. “Okay, then let me rephrase that – I hope that
we’re out of here before anything else makes an appearance.”

She smirked. “Scared, huh?”

My eyebrows shot up. “Yeah, aren’t you?”

“Not really.”

“Well, you should be,” I answered
. 

Her eyes glittered. “Tell me, where does your faith lie?”

I bit back a smile.
A religious conversation with Nora, who was more than likely an atheist, was bound to be interesting. “I’m a Christian. What about you?”

She shrugged.

“Hey, I’m sorry about Billie,” I said, studying her face. On the outside she appeared to be holding it together, but that was Nora. She didn’t like to show many emotions.

“Me too. I really needed him.
”

“He really cared about you.
”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

I sighed and looked around. “Well, I’m not sure what’s taking them so long, but I need to get my sister before she leaves Nordstrom’s. Could you wait here and tell Bryce where I went?”

“Wow, come here for a second,” she said, lowering to one knee.

“What?” I asked, walking towards her.

“Something is definitely
happening.” She squealed in delight. “Check it out!”

I looked into the hole and saw a flash of light.
A chill went down my spine. “What in the heck is happening now?”

“
It’s time to get this show on the road,” she said, standing up.

I tore my eyes away from the activity in the pit
. “What do you mean?”

Her hand snaked out and grabbed
the back of my hair, wrapping it around her fist. “Just like I said,” she hissed, pulling out a knife. She held it up to my neck.

“What are you doing?” I gasped.

“It has to be you,” she said, her
eyes beginning to glow. “You
are
the ‘Chosen One’.”

“Are you freaken crazy?”

“
Shut up, bitch.”

I stared at her face in horror.
Her eyes were glowing, just like Billie’s had. “Oh my God!”

She smirked. “Oh, you’ve finally figured it out? Took you long enough.
”

“
Travis?” I replied hoarsely.

“Bingo.”

“Wild. What’s going on?” hollered Henry, coming towards us. “Nora, what in the hell are you doing?”

“
It’s Travis!” I choked, wondering if I should try and get her knife. We were dangerously close to the hole. Too close.

“
Hey, don’t even think about it,” she growled, pulling my hair cruelly.

“What have you done to Nora
?” I asked.

She grinned evilly. “Oh, she’s here and hating every minute of this. Unfortunately for you, she can’t help you
at the moment.”

“Nora, fight him,” I said, staring into her eyes. “Please fight him.”

“Leave her go!” yelled Henry, now shuffling towards us.

“No!”
she snarled, holding the knife to my throat. “I need her. She’s the ‘Chosen One’. She even admitted it earlier.”

Henry stopped and raised the gun. “If you don’t let her go, I’ll pull the trigger.”

“Then you’ll kill all three of us,” she replied. “Which right now, I’m actually okay with.”

Henry’s face fell. “Please,” he begged, lowering the gun. “Don’t do this.”

She glanced over her shoulder, towards the dark pit and smiled. “The light… it’s getting brighter. The bridge is opening all the way.”

“The bridge to Heaven?” asked Henry.

She burst out laughing. “Hell no, old man. Are you really that naive?”

“Stop!”

We all turned to see a small boy walking towards us.

My eyes widened in shock when I recognized
who it was. “Oh my God… Bobby?!” I gasped as our eyes met.

Cassie

“That’s enough,” said Bobby.

“
Son, come on now. Don’t go near them,” warned Henry, grabbing Bobby’s arm. “You’ll get yourself hurt.”

Bobby looked up at him. “It’s okay, Henry. I’ve got this.”

Henry stared into the boy’s blue eyes, surprised at the level of understanding reflected there. “How in the world did you get here, boy?”

“Cassie’s grandparents,” he replied.

My grandparents!?

“Who’s this
boy?” snarled Nora.

Ignoring her question,
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Where are they?”

“
They’re in Nordstrom’s, getting Allie,” he replied and then smiled. “I’m supposed to be waiting in the car, with Belinda. She fell asleep.”

The light from the
hole intensified and Nora tightened her grip on my hair. “Enough of the chit-chat. Let’s finish this.”

“
Please, just let me go,” I said, my teeth clenched. “I’m not the ‘Chosen One’. Seriously, I just made that up.”

“Oh, I’m about to let you go,” she replied, smiling darkly.
 

“Wait,” said Bobby
, raising his hand. “Cassie is not the one you want.”

Nora’s
eyebrows furrowed.

“Bobby!” hollered Bryce,
now running towards us. He slowed down and stared at me in horror when he noticed what was happening. “Nora! What in the hell are you doing?”

“Who is this
boy?” snapped Nora, holding the knife closer to my throat. “Tell me now or I’ll slice your throat open.”

“Let her go,” demanded Bobby, in a firm voice. “She doesn’t know.”

My mind was reeling a mile a minute. Bobby was so young and had Down’s syndrome. He certainly wasn’t acting like himself.

Kristie and the girls all gasped in horror when they rounded the corner and saw what was happening.

“
Tiny!” hollered Kristie, her face turning white.

Tiny
walked around the corner, carrying a box of diapers and froze in place. “Oh shit, I forgot to warn them.”

“You forgot? How could you?” hissed Paige.

Tiny dropped what he was carrying and slowly walked over. “Okay,” he said, raising his hand. “Everyone needs to calm down. Nora, you’re dangerously close to that hole. You need to let Cassie go.”

“No, this is close,” she said as t
he tip of the knife pierced my skin. 

“Let me go,” I begged, feeling the blood trickle down my neck.
“Please don’t do this.”

“Oh dear God,” cried Kristie. “Nora,
honey, let her go!”

My eyes met Bryce’s a
nd for the first time since everything began, he looked frightened. “Wait,” he said, holding up both hands. “Don’t do this. Don’t hurt her.”

“
Oh, how sweet,” said Nora. “You can join her if you’d like.”

Bobby
’s eyes glittered as he took another step towards us. “It’s me that you seek, demon. Let her go.”

Nora’s eyed him curiously.

“No Bobby!” I begged. “Please, just get away from us.”

A white light began emanating from his body.

“Bobby?” I whispered in awe.

“
What do you know,” said Nora, her voice getting deeper. She pointed the knife at him. “It really is you.”

“
Let her go and you can have me,” said Bobby, as the light became brighter.

“Bobby, no!” hollered Bryce, moving towards his brother.

“Stay back!” ordered Nora, pressing the tip of the knife into my neck again. I gasped in horror as more blood trickled down my shirt.

“Let her go,” demanded Bobby.
“And you’ll get what you want.”

Her eyes narrowed.
“Why would
you
offer yourself so easily for this… girl?”

“Because I love her,” he said
. “I love all of them.”

My heart swelled. “I
love you too, Bobby.”

He smiled.
“I know.”

Nora snorted. “Oh how pathetic you all are.”

“It’s him!” hollered Father Brambati, from out of nowhere. He raced towards us. “Can’t you feel it?”

“Of course I do, imbecile,” snapped Nora. “
Nice of you to join the party.”

The priest stepped forward and
stopped, staring at Bobby in fear.

Bobby shook his head sadly. “You chose the wrong path, but you can still be forgiven. All is not lost.”

“Don’t listen to him,” said Nora. “

The priest looked uncertain.

“Would you just grab him already?” demanded Nora.

Father Brambati
took a hesitant step towards Bobby.

“Touch him and I’ll kick your ass,”
hollered Bryce, taking a step towards the priest.

Just then, a brigh
t reddish orange light rose out of the hole, blinding everyone momentarily. It was quickly followed by darkness and then a smell so foul, it made me gag.

“What is that horrible smell?” ga
sped Paige.

“
Don’t look at me,” said Henry.

“The gate is open!” hollered Nora, triumphantly.
“He waits for the offering!”

A chorus of screeches echoed from inside of the hole and then rose to the top.

“Hey… watch out!” shouted Kristie, stepping backwards. “Here come those flying things again!”

Chaos erupted in the room as hundreds of winged
creatures burst out of the pit, their screeches so loud that if felt like my ears were actually bleeding.

“Cassie!” shouted Bryce,
moving towards us.

Seeing this,
John got up and launched at Bryce. They tumbled to the ground with fists flying.

“
Nora,” I pleaded as the flying beasts lunged after my friends. “Let me go. Resist Travis.”

“
Good idea,” said Nora, releasing me. She reached out and grabbed Bobby, pulling him towards her. The warm light around him disappeared and she smiled.

“No!” I shouted, reaching for
his other hand.