Rich Kids and Zombies [On Hold]

Chapter Eight: A Two Hundred Thousand Dollar Deal

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T Y L E R

The streets were oddly quiet.

Tyler furrowed his brow. The Beatles' Helter Skelter blared loudly on his speakers as he drove slowly along the road, glancing around for any sign of life. The winds rustled the leaves on the trees as the car's tires splashed through puddles of rain.

But besides that, Tyler saw nothing, heard nothing. He was usually not the type to lose his cool, but he couldn't help but feel unnerved. Not fear, obviously, but slight uneasiness. The type of feeling that made the hair on the back of your neck prickle. The type of feeling that caused you to glance over the shoulder, looking for something that felt out of place. Just...a gut feeling.

Chewing his lip thoughtfully, Tyler closed his window, and readjusted his seat inside his Tesla. Pressing down on the accelerator, he continued speeding towards the airport, where his personal jet awaited him.

In a way, he was glad that the mysterious viral outbreak had occurred. Summer school sucked. He was all for education and learning, but did he really have to go all the way to America for the summer? He had pleaded with his mother to let him stay in England, where the weather wasn't blisteringly hot and people didn't drive on the opposite side of the road, but Rose O'Connor could not be moved.

"America is the future, Tyler. You have to have something on your resumé showing you appreciate other countries. Universities like someone with an international mindset." 

Look how far an 'international mindset' has got me. Tyler rolled his eyes as he drove. He'd been in the US scarcely a week when his mother was calling him back because of the outbreak.

At first he'd sighed at how overdramatic his mother was. The new virus - some strange hybrid of the avian and swine flu - didn't sound too bad on the news. The last he heard, they had it contained in Washington State, but his attempts to calm his mother down was futile. Rose O'Connor was a stubborn woman, and if she wanted her son back in London immediately, then so it was.

Usually, Rose's strong-will created more problems than solved them, but this time, Tyler couldn't help but feel grateful for her decision. As Helter Skelter switched to I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Tyler began to grow increasingly nervous. The roads were never this quiet, especially near an airport. He was still a fair distance away, but it was the middle of the day - the roads should have at least a few other cars on them.

He turned his eyes back to the road, then slammed on the brakes with all the force he could muster.

Because a girl with blonde hair had leapt out in front of him.

She was wearing a ratty fur coat and holding a broken iPhone. Her golden locks were a mess - damp and tangled. And she looked pale, almost unnaturally so. As Tyler stepped out of the car, he noticed she was shaking.

"Christ!" He opened the door, cautious. "What are you-"

She shoved past him and practically leapt into the car. Tyler whirred around, grabbing her arm. His heart was pounding. He didn't learn this in summer school. "Hey! You!" His forced his voice to be strong and commanding. Sort of like his father's. "Get out!"

"Please." The girl had already settled in the passenger seat, seatbelt and all. Her blue eyes were wide, afraid. "You need to drive me up the road a little. I left my friend there to find someone." Her voice choked. "She needs help."

"Why would I do that?" Tyler remained outside the car. He suddenly noticed that the key was still stuck in the ignition. Shit. Please, please, don't steal my Tesla. 

"Something's wrong. The virus. It causes people to become monsters, to bite others. I was stuck..." she suddenly let out a wracking cough, before continuing. "Inside a supermarket. Me and this girl, we barely got out. She's hurt, bad. I think she broke her ankle."

Tyler's mind was whirling. The virus? Monsters? Supermarkets? Before he knew it, he was already shaking his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his key, dangling from the ignition. I need this psycho out. 

He cleared his voice. "You're trespassing." Be strong, firm, and commanding. C'mon. "This is my car."

"Please!" The girl's voice was shrill, and it was here when Tyler began to panic. As in really, truly, panic.

"No!" He roared, and before he knew it he was grabbing the girl's hand and desperately trying to pull her out. She shrieked, one hand wrapped around the grey straps of the seatbelt, the other desperately trying to wriggle out of Tyler's grasp. Tyler balled his free hand into a fist, heart pounding, and raised it into the air.

"I'll give you two hundred thousand to drive us." 

The voice was soft, weak, but it was enough to snap Tyler out of his rage-driven stupor. Both he and the girl stopped moving and looked behind them, towards a cluster of trees. There, leaning against the bark, was another blonde. She was taller than the other, and still shone with beauty despite her face full of smeared makeup. Tyler noticed that she was barefoot, and one ankle looked purple and swollen.

The blonde stopped struggling. "Veronica, I thought I told you to stay -"

"Screw that, Trinity. You think I'm being left behind again?" Despite addressing the other girl, Veronica looked straight at Tyler. Her icy blue irises seemed to bore directly into his soul. "Two hundred thousand for a ride. I swear it."

"She can afford it," the girl, Trinity, quipped.

Veronica smirked. "Hell yeah I can."

Tyler paused, heart pounding. Two hundred thousand dollars? Despite how wealthy the O'Connors were, his mother was more of a saver than a spender, and Tyler had always dreamed of going his own way. His Tesla could be upgraded to a Lamborghini. When he finished school, he could do his own thing. 

He looked Veronica in the eye, doing his best to stare her down. "When we get out of here, you're signing a contract with my lawyer."

Veronica rolled her eyes, then winced. Tyler was no medical professional, but even he could tell her ankle didn't look good. Opening the passenger door, he motioned for Veronica to get in.

"Seatbelts on?" This isn't a good idea, this isn't a good idea, this isn't a good idea. Yet, despite his conscience screaming at him to kick the girls out and to speed off towards the airport on his own, he couldn't. Something stopped him. Was it the two thousand dollars? Or was it...something else?

Tyler shook his head, scattering his thoughts. As Trinity breathed a sigh of relief from beside him, he stepped on the accelerator, and the car launched to life. "How far away is the airport?" He asked, trying to keep his nerves under control.

At his question, both girls snapped to life. Protests of "What!" and "No!" and "You can't go to the airport!" assaulted his ears and Tyler hit the breaks, sending the car screeching to a halt.

"Shut up!" He shouted, feeling rage burn in his veins. Be strong, firm, and commanding. You can do this. "This is my car and I'm going wherever I damn well please."

"You don't get it!" Veronica's voice was as harsh as his. "The airport's on fire. It's burning. You can't go there."

Tyler felt his heart drop down into the pits of his stomach. "The airport? Or the airfield?" 

"What?" Trinity furrowed her brow. "Isn't that the same thing?"

"No!" I knew that this was a bad idea. "The airfield are where the planes are. The tarmac. I have a private plane there."

Trinity and Veronica glanced at each other. They don't know. Swallowing his nerves, Tyler stepped down on the accelerator once again before either of the two girls could protest. 

"We're going." He stated, staring straight at the road, as Hey Jude started playing. Be strong, firm, and commanding. "And that's that."