It's Complicated: A Zombie Romance Novel

Names and Numbers

Miracles only happen when you need them most. As I looked out the door to see if it was clear I heard a familiar voice.

"Testing, ONE TWO THREE. Testing, Mae are you there?" It was Michael. It had worked after all. I just needed to wait a minute.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Just trying to figure out who the voice is," I said.

"Who?"

"The other person in the headset," I repeated.

The voice could have been anyone here. But who talked like that? I had to think. How did he know what I was afraid of? Spiders, dolls, cats. It's like he was in my head.

More importantly he was stuck up. This whole game was his masterpiece. A show designed and played out to showcase his talents. Who better than the one guy whose work was in full display down stairs?

My mind was made up. It had to be Derrick. The voice was his, the makeup was his handy work, what other reason would he have for being here? That lame excuse he'd given me earlier about being trapped by his talent was purely ego. He had just been trying to trick me into being sorry for him. So I wouldn't see him for what he really was.

"He's a liar and an egomaniac that puts on dangerous parties to showcase his ability to turn people in to living works of art. Ok, more like undead works of art, but you get the picture," I told Michael now that I had him patched in.

"I bet he's going to use all those pictures he takes when he's done and use them to get a part on a big movie or something," I said.

My mind flashed with the memory of that room. There was the bright lights, the make-up chair, the severed limbs just lying around for people to trip on. What was I missing?

"I can't believe it," I stammered.

"What can't you believe?" Michael asked.

I looked back at the blueprints I'd stored in my bra. Michael had acquired them apparently at greater risk than I'd first imagined. I really should thank him. But not right this minute.

A rusted metal chair like the kinds they use to have in school made a high pitched screeching sound. I covered my ears. The sound was pure pain. They were here.

"I have to get out of here," I said into the headset.

"The hallway to your left is free. I can open the door for you."

"You don't know how grateful I am that I don't ever have to look for one of those stupid keys again."

"Is that what took you so long?"

"That and the pool, and the zombies."

"Fine, go, now." I stepped out into the hallway. It was empty.

"Hurry to the second door on the left. You'll be safe enough there for us to talk."

"What about the door?"

"Just run! I'll lock it behind you." I ran.

"What did you find on the map?" he asked.

"There is a box off on the main line attached to the back of one of the rooms. It's on every page. I think it's the second elevator."

I looked out the door into the hall. There was no way I could go back that way, too many roaming dead out there. I was lucky they didn't see me peek. I would be caught for sure.

"I need help," I said.

"Duh, that's why you have me."

"No, I mean I need help getting out of the game."

"I can give you a window, maybe. Let me check." The line went dead for a while. The answer was outside the game. But the question was where exactly.

"You're running out of time, Mae," Michael said into my ear. "When the window opens you'll have less than a minute." I had to figure out which room this box was attached to.

The noises in this house weren't all that they seemed. Maybe that sound from Derrick's room hadn't been a generator at all. Maybe it was the secret elevator I've been searching for. I moved to the center of the room with care. Every floor tile looked like it was going to give way under my weight.

"What room did you stick me in, anyway?"

"Let's just say even the dead know to stay away from this room. But since you're in here they won't be far behind." Great, just great.

I had one shot to make it to the other side of this floor to the door he said I needed for this 'window' of his. I'd have to do it at a dead run. If Michael was right the best time would be when they were right behind me.

With luck Brian would still be in front of that computer screen. I didn't think too hard on that statement. If he wasn't there I'd lost. As it was, everything was turning into a bigger gamble than I'd originally anticipated.

I couldn't get this wrong. There were too many traps in these rooms, each one set to spring when I entered. Pick too many wrong doors and I wouldn't be able to escape. But there was something still nagging at me.

The more I thought about it the more it made sense. What better place to hide the key to this whole thing than in plain sight. No one would suspect its existence that way. And even if they did, few this far into the game would be able to get back to that room.

I had to find a way. This was my only chance of getting to Brian outside of climbing the walls. And the game master had just handed it to me. If I'd been smarter, maybe that thought would have resonated longer in my brain, but I wasn't the geek. My brother was.

"Run now." The ground gave way under my feet as I ran, opening up to the room below. The zombies that had fallen through the door stopped short of falling through the disintegrating floor. The first one wasn't so lucky, though. He fell. The rest stood there growling at me as I slipped out of the room.

Once in the next room I saw the treasure chest. That meant I had a little bit of time here. Whoever was running this show was setting up for the next phase while I got my reward. Only I was after a different treasure. Now that I had Michael online nothing was going to stop me from finding Brian, Zombie or Game alike.