The Elect 10, part 2 of 4: Afternoon to Kill

January 19, 2016January 9, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Thursday, mid afternoon, Emily and Jessica took Maria for a latte. Amina, already there, held the table. The problem was Maria found her new roommate impossible to live with. The only sleep she had gotten lately was on the floor in Emily’s and Jessica’s room. Emily and Jessica were fine with helping their friend, but it was becoming a strain on them all since the rooms were hardly big enough for two.

“You don’t understand. All Melissa does all night long is burn incense and chant praises to glorious Abby. I mean, who is this girl?” Emily had an idea in the back of her mind but she did not say anything because the word witch sounded so insane. Fortunately, she did not have to say it.

“She is a power,” Amina spoke up even as she looked down at the table. “She is a witch of great power and I see no good in her.” No one questioned what Amina saw. She rarely spoke that way, but when she did, the others had learned to listen.

Jessica broke the spell when she spoke. “Maybe Emily could knock Melissa unconscious every night so you could sleep.”

“Ha, ha.” Emily did not laugh. She rubbed her stiff shoulder, instead. “I just had the first real workout in my life. That old man is strong.” The others said nothing. “Stronger than I am, and quicker, but he says strength and speed are not the keys. He says after he finishes his task he will go back to being normal so I will have to take it easy on him. I don’t know, though. The man’s skill with weapons is amazing.” She probably should not have said that much, but she was not in the habit of keeping secrets from her friends.

“Hey, Emily.” Someone called from across the room. It was Connie, and Mindy came with her and several Daughters of the Amazon.

“Hey,” Emily was not unfriendly, but she had her sword up on the table and felt sorry it was too late to hide it.

“We have missed you at the meetings,” Connie started right in. “And you,” she turned to Amina and paused.

“Amina.” She gave her name.

“Right, anyway—“

“Is that real?” Mindy interrupted.

“Of course it is,” Amina responded. “And the reason Emily has not been to the meetings is because she is not a Daughter of the Amazon. She is the real deal.”

Emily turned an eye on Amina, but Amina was serious and did not imagine she said anything wrong.

“Riii-ght,” Connie drew out the word with sarcasm in her voice. “Anyway, it will be good to see you at the next meeting.” She turned and her followers turned with her, except Mindy who hesitated and looked at Amina.

“I believe you. I have learned about such things. The queen is always one of the elect.” Mindy whispered, and Emily frowned again at Amina, but Amina just smiled in return and stood up to the frown.

“It is true,” Mindy said and said no more, as Connie came back to drag off Mindy. Mindy’s eyes pleaded with the girls, but that was one can of worms where they were not yet willing to open.

“No word on any attacks?” Maria thought to change the subject.

Emily checked her phone and her beeper and shook her head. All of the sisters were given beepers so they could all be notified, simultaneously. They could call in and be told where they were needed. Presently, ten of the younger and hardier souls were camped out around Latasha’s house. When the call came, they had plans to drop Latasha’s family at a motel for the night, all prepaid.

“ROTC has been put on alert, sophomores as well as the upper class. There is not much they will be able to do, though,” Emily said. “I don’t suppose they will even be able to gather fast enough before it is all over.”

“I don’t know,” Jessica thought aloud. “They are mostly big, strong, well conditioned young men.”

“Does Tom know you noticed?” Maria teased.

“Yes, they are,” Amina whispered at the same time, and several eyes went to her.

“What would your family say?” Emily teased, but felt bad about it the minute she said it. Amina’s face reddened and Emily felt obliged to give the girl a hug of reassurance.

Jessica ignored them. “I was saying they ought to be worth something in a fight.”

Emily nodded. “I am sure they would do well. Trust me, if it was just me in this thing, I would be depending on them, big time. The thing is with so many sisters here it is just as well they only act as back-up. We have lost the freshman class already.”

The library was the next stop in the itinerary. They all had to study for finals, which New Jersey State got in before Christmas break. Even Jessica studied, but as the sun set, she was also the one who reminded them they needed to get to the dining hall before it closed.

“That library is a madhouse,” Jessica added as they walked.

“What would you expect?” Maria said. “Everyone has papers and projects to finish and some of those back areas and side rooms are still the best for study groups. Dorm lounges are too tempting to not get serious.”

“Or to sneak off to your room for a nap,” Emily added though Maria rolled her eyes as if to say, if only she could.

“So of course the library is a madhouse,” Amina concluded.

“Isn’t that what I said?” Jessica finished that conversation.

They headed back to the dorm after they ate and saw Melissa outside the dorm with three other women. She was sitting on one of the outside chairs under a spotlight, talking, and the others were at her feet, shivering.

Emily’s beeper went off.

“Did I mention she now has some glorious Abby disciples?” Maria said, but Jessica put her hand to Maria’s arm to quiet her as Emily got on her phone.

“They’re in the library.” Emily began to run. The others kept up as well as they could. By the time they arrived, people were screaming and streaming out. Emily raced through the main room, not terribly worried about the people there. They would get out well enough. It was the ones in the side rooms and in the stacks among the books that might be caught.

At the third side room, she saw a group of students inside. Two boys held the doorknob so the zombie could not yank the door open. A second zombie arrived just before Emily and cracked the window that looked out into the stacks. The students all screamed.

Emily pulled her sword and sliced off the head of the one at the door. In a perfect execution of the move she practiced for two hours after lunch, she followed her stroke with a stab to the heart. The handle of her sword was strongly insulated now, so she did not feel the shock. One was down, but the other was on her. Her left hand shoved her knife into that heart and the zombie stopped and looked at its chest for a second with the same bewildered look Libby had seen. That was enough time for Emily to leap back and two hand her sword through the neck. The head rolled away. Emily had to force open the door and sent both boys sprawling in the process.

“Get out!” she yelled once and ran on.

A moment later, she heard the fire alarm go off. Someone was thinking. Then she heard a male voice in the muffled area among the books.

“Dude, Halloween is long over.”

Emily heard the crack as she rounded the corner. The zombie had grabbed the boy and snapped his neck. She stopped that zombie from killing again, but there was already one death she was unable to prevent.

One more corner and she saw seven zombies inside, and more streaming in the back door. She was not going to get to check upstairs. She turned and ran toward the front, hoping that she was not already cut off. There were a dozen zombies in the otherwise empty main room when she arrived. She got up on the tables, ran and leaped from table to table to get out the door.

Maria and Amina were on the front steps. “I didn’t get to check the upstairs,” Emily shouted through the sound of the fire alarm. Amina and Maria did not care about that. They grabbed Emily by the arms and dragged her to where Jessica was standing back, safe, watching. Lisa ran up the walk as they stopped.

“They are attacking Latasha’s house,” she shouted before she came to a stop as well. “There are twelve who won’t be here.”

“Twelve?” Jessica asked.

“The ten we sent plus Latasha and Libby Carter.”

“That leaves how many?” Maria asked.

“Fifteen, if they all get here.” She looked all around and then ran to speak to Rob Parker and the police sergeant when they arrived. Ashish came huffing and puffing along a moment later.

The Elect 10, Zombies Overdue: part 1 of 4

January 18, 2016January 9, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Heinrich walked the campus to get acclimated. He wanted a good feel for the environment before he set down roots. He knew his presence made the elect nervous, but he had felt out the three and found Lisa, young Emily and even Latasha, young as she was, were serious about the work. He had no qualms there and thought he might even help them now and then. True, the influx of so many elect disturbed him. Some felt off color, but not terribly so, and he knew this was just a temporary thing. He hoped being around so many good sisters, as they called themselves, it might encourage the off color ones to straighten up.

Heinrich laughed to think of these women all running around like headless chickens, brandishing their weapons, waiting nervously for the main event. Centuries of experience had taught him to relax and wait, and not to worry so much about weapons. Weapons could be found. When the time came, he was his own best weapon, even if he had nothing in his hands.

Heinrich stopped. He heard a noise by the old gymnasium that stood beside the parade ground. There were soldiers gathering there—no, young men. Emily’s ROTC men, and they were getting into the back of a truck. He lifted his nose and took a big whiff of air. He decided he must be getting old. He ran faster than any ordinary man toward the library.

************************

There are in fact three elect in Trenton, NJ. Emily is a freshman at the university, Latasha is a high school freshman, and Detective Lisa and the Trenton police are having to deal with things at the university that are, to say the least, not normal. Now, Heinrich, a member of the mysterious council has shown up, along with twenty-six more elect gathered from all over North America. The zombies have already gone after Latasha’s house (chapter 9). It is only a matter of time before they are let loose on the university campus.

The Elect, Freshman Year began in November of 2015. You can begin the story by clicking on the archives button and selecting November of 2015, or just enjoy it from this point… Every chapter (episode, like a television show) is posted in 4 easily digestible parts over a single week. So after today, you will find parts 2, 3, and 4 of chapter 10 on T, W, and Th of this week. Enjoy. It is free, and Happy Reading.

The Elect 9, part 4 of 4: A Controlled Experiment

January 14, 2016January 5, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“I don’t think we can wait any longer,” Latasha said suddenly, and she grabbed Miriam’s hand and dragged her to the upstairs front window. They turned off the upstairs hall light and she had the woman climb out on the porch roof with the intention of peeking over the side. She thought they might count the zombies out front and maybe send a group of women off the porch roof to attack them from behind. If they could eliminate the ones out front, the zombies out back would be all that remained.

Miriam grabbed Latasha before she stuck her head into the light. The rooftop was in the dark and Miriam thought they might not have been seen, yet. She pointed at the van across the street as Anna and another woman appeared at the upper window. Miriam quickly got Anna’s attention. She pointed again at the van across the street, then to herself and to Anna and to the side of the porch roof. Anna nodded and sent the other woman back downstairs with some sort of instructions before she climbed out on to the roof to join them, the two pieces of her spear in her hands.

“I’m going,” Latasha whispered. “So don’t say stay here or I’ll scream.”

Miriam smiled and pointed to Anna, Latasha and herself saying only “rear door, passenger side door and driver’s side door.” It was going to take all three. Latasha drew up her chin and whispered.

“Okay.”

They inched to the far edge of the porch roof, jumped as far from the light as they could and rushed back into the dark as soon as they landed. They got to the street, but stayed behind the bushes as Anna said, “Wait.”

It was a minute before three women jumped off the front of the roof to land behind the zombies. They quickly killed two, but that caused the others to turn in their direction. “Now,” they shouted, and the front door flew open. Four women, including Libby came barreling out and shoved the zombies off the porch and to the ground. It did not seriously hurt the monsters, but it gave the women some fighting room.

“Just hold it!” The woman with the broken arm shouted behind her. She and the one that had been so badly scratched held the front doorway to be sure none of the zombies got inside. The china closet was being pushed against the back door by Latasha’s three big brothers, but they were complaining that they could not hold it where the women had taken turns one at a time holding it.

“Yes you can,” the woman with the broken arm encouraged them, and they did hold it, but barely.

As soon as the ruckus outside started, Anna said, “Now.” The three from the shadows moved quickly as Miriam had pointed out that they might have sensors outside the van.

Anna tore open the back door. One man turned with a gun in his hand, but Anna threw her spear blade. It cut the man’s arm off. The arm and gun fell to the floor before he did. She took her stick end and bludgeoned the man at the console until he was unconscious. Then she shut everything down, and the zombies, without a constant stream of instructions, began to wander aimlessly.

At the same time, Latasha and Miriam yanked open their doors which had no doubt been locked. Miriam pulled out the driver and knocked him hard to the ground. Latasha found no one in the passenger seat.

“Damn!” She shouted and assumed Miriam guessed there might not be anyone there. She slammed her ax into the seat, effectively carving it up before she turned and ran back to join the fight at the house. She killed a zombie out front, and when the women split and ran down both sides to the back to finish the job, she killed one out back, too. Then she felt better about herself, even though killing the zombies was not so hard once their instructions were cut off.

“Open up,” she yelled at her brothers through the back door when it was over.

“No way,” her brothers were too frightened to back off, so Latasha shoved and all three boys fell back. Unfortunately, the china closet also fell and it made a terrible mess. Latasha did not care about that just then. She stepped in, her axe over her shoulder and looked down on her three bewildered, big older brothers. She spoke to them in a calm and quiet voice. “I said, open up.”

***********************

Monday, chapter 10, Latasha’s house is just a distraction…the real attack is at the university library, not to say zombies are big on reading…

You can be big on reading…

The Elect 9, part 3 of 4: Zombie Attack

January 13, 2016January 5, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Thursday night, something stirred at Latasha’s house.

“I swear there is something in the bushes.” One of the women was spooked, but she was the excitable type so the others paid scant attention. Latasha’s house was in a neighborhood where the houses ran close together. There were no side yards to speak of and little out front to the street. The back yard, though small, backed up to a wilderness area. It was not big enough to build a house, but nearly so. In the days before planned neighborhoods, it was simply a wasted area.

“I mean it,” the woman spoke again. “Listen.”

Miriam, the woman from the FBI picked up her sword and Anna, the one from Chinatown, New York City grabbed her long spear with the curved blade. “Arm up.” Miriam ordered the others.

“I don’t hear anything,” one said.

“Hush.” They sat in the stillness of the night and listened to the wind.

Out front, a van pulled up and the women there jumped to their feet. A dozen zombies came together over the rise, walked right around the van and headed toward the house. One woman ran along the side of the house and shouted. “Here they come.” She ran back to the front, thinking the ones out back might follow, but Miriam had another order and Anna echoed it.

“Stay where you are.”

Even as the ones out front began to fight and back up toward the front door, some thirty zombies came out of the back woods. Axes, swords and knives flew through the night air.

Latasha wanted to go out and help, but her three big brothers hovered around her and held her to the couch. Her mother ran upstairs, grabbed the little ones and locked the three of them in the bathroom. It was not much of a plan, but they hoped if the zombies succeeded and broke in, they might not go upstairs if they found what they wanted downstairs.

The women out front backed up to the stairs and porch. Most of the zombies were down, but there was a second wave of a dozen more coming and several of the women were scratched, one badly.

Out back, there was no second wave, but thirty on five was hardly fair odds. The women stopped ten of them. Anna stopping three by herself with her marvelous spear. But when they bunched up by the back door, that long spear was a hindrance. Anna took it apart to use the stick end in her left hand like a club and the sharp end in her right hand like an ax. The others formed a semi-circle until there seemed a momentary break as several of the zombies became entangled with each other. Miriam yelled, “Inside.”

All ten women made it in from the front and back, but all of them were injured. One had a broken arm. They had the doors barricaded with furniture and the windows covered well enough to be safe for the moment.

“We may have to wait out the night here,” Libby said as she came out from the kitchen with a dish of water. She began to clean their wounds. “We were attacked yesterday in daylight, but the sunlight did seem to confuse them some and slow them down, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Latasha said and she pushed her brother’s hands away. “Get up and help.” She yelled at her brothers and broke free to do so herself. Two of the brothers conceded the issue and went for the kitchen and the closet to fetch fresh water and to find bandages. One eventually tore up a bed sheet. Darren just plopped on the couch and patted his jacket.

“I’m not worried. I got things covered,” he said.

Several of the women looked at him and wondered what he was talking about, but Libby got it right away and smirked. “Guns don’t work on dead people,” she said. “You can empty your whole weapon and they will still keep coming.” That was not strictly true. Two lucky shots to both heart and head would stop one of these Frankenstein monsters, but the odds of that happening were astronomical.

Latasha came out with her ax. The zombies were pounding on the front door and the back, but Latasha was thinking. They were all thinking.

“No,” one woman answered the other’s whisper. “Zombies have an instinctive fear of fire. I thought of that too.” She looked up and finished the thought for everyone. “That they might try to set fire to the house.”

“We could try to set fire to some of them, like use it as a weapon against them” one of the brothers suggested.

“Not unless you plan to burn your own house down,” several women spoke.

One at a time, the women held the front and back doors to keep them closed while everyone tried to think of what to do next.

The Elect 9, part 2 of 4: Waiting

January 12, 2016January 4, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Katie Lockhart sat off to the side in the police room where she would not be in the way. She placed a gentle hand on her baby belly and smiled. Anna from New York and Miriam from the FBI came from opposite directions.

“You need to come with us,” Miriam said in her best FBI voice

“Come on,” Anna smiled and helped Katie to her feet.

“Over here,” Ellen Martin waved. “You have to see this.”

“See something?” Katie asked.

“Surprise!” The dirty old interview room was set up with chairs and the decorations said boy or girl? Lisa was there, with Emily, Latasha, Miss Libby, and all of the others. And there were presents and punch and plenty of treats with an over abundance of donuts.

###

Miss Libby Carter was from Arkadelphia, Arkansas. She was eighty-eight and a ball of fire as well as laughs. She took Latasha under her wing from the start and met with her every day when Latasha came home from school. They told Latasha’s mother she was tutoring Latasha in history, and her mother bought the story. Latasha did learn a lot of history, too, but mostly it came in the form of stories about growing up in the south and living through the depression, the World War and the booms and recessions since.

“Good times and bad,” Libby said. “And don’t swing that thing quite so far on your back swing. Follow through is important, but you might hit something unintended behind you if you are not careful.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Latasha called her ma’am.

“And it is Libby. I am your sister, not your ma’am,” Libby always responded.

“Yes, ma’am, Libby.”

They were out front on Wednesday, practicing as well as they could without arousing suspicion, when Libby shook her head sadly. “We need practice dummies,” she said.

“I have three older brothers,” Latasha suggested with a very broad grin.

“Your mother might not appreciate that,” Libby responded with a look at the house.

A van chose that afternoon to pull up across the street. It caught their attention. The back door opened and two zombies came out of the back.

“In daylight?” Libby reacted. The late afternoon sun was still up. “Hold still,” she told Latasha and stuck her hand out to be sure the youngster did not rush out to attack. “Do not waste your energy going to them. They will be here soon enough.” The van roared off, but it might have been just to the corner to watch or maybe to turn around.

“Pick your target and your time,” Libby instructed. The zombies came on to the front property, and Libby said, ‘Now.” A small knife flew from beneath the shawl the old woman wore against the cold. She had on about five layers of clothing. She was from Arkansas, what did she know about New Jersey in December? The small knife struck perfectly in one zombie’s heart. The zombie stopped moving and looked down as if somehow trying to judge what just happened. Libby moved, and Latasha moved at last.

Libby pulled her very long knife from somewhere in all those layers. Her stroke took the zombie’s head off without her getting a scratch. Latasha’s ax was more forcefully driven. It easily separated the head from the body, but sent it six feet in the air to bounce into the bushes. Then she got a small scratch on her upper arm as she fumbled at the button for the spike. She got it and quickly finished the job, but by then her mother came to the door.

“Latasha, what are you doing out there?” She sounded confused, upset, concerned, and like she did not believe what she just saw. Libby intercepted her.

“Just some practice dummies. We were talking the World War, you know bayonets and such. Hands on learning is always the best.” Libby caught Latasha’s mother by the elbow and gently directed her back toward the house. “Tasha tells me you were born in Shreveport.”

“Yes.” Tasha’s mother let the old lady lead her to the steps but her head remained turned and her eyes stayed on her baby and what certainly looked like two dead bodies.

“My connection to Shreveport was the race track. My husband used to love going to the Louisiana Downs.”

Latasha’s mother turned her head to the old woman. “My father used to work the stables every season. I grew up around those horses.”

“Of course, Shreveport was where we had to go for our liquor, ours being a dry county.”

“Why Ms Carter, I never would have guessed.” They went up the stairs to the porch and back inside.

“I have a great recipe and all you need is some cherry vanilla ice cream and some brandy.”

“Why Ms Carter!” The door closed.

Latasha cleaned her weapon and saw that Ms Carter’s long knife and little knife were already gone. Cleaned and returned to their place, she thought. She was going to have to work on her speed. Once her ax was clean and her spike clean, she returned the spike to its place inside the handle. She got out her cell, but she could not call right away. Her big brother Darren, the brother that was into so many of those drugs stepped out from the bushes, the severed head gripped by the hair.

“You dropped this,” he said and let it thump to the ground.

“Thanks,” she responded, but she did not have time for more. She hit the contacts button.

“Does Mama know you are killing people?”

“These were already dead,” Latasha held her phone tight.

“I can see that. Wonder how they managed that.” Darren gave her his best stare. It was the one that said she best not try to lie. “Nice ax. I think you better explain.”

“No.” Latasha got mad. Darren was not asking because he cared or was concerned about her. All he was thinking was how could he use this to his advantage and maybe squeeze money out of someone.

“I could beat it out of you,” he suggested.

“You would lose,” she responded and he rushed her. She put a stiff arm right in his chest and knocked him back on his butt, hard. Then she ignored him and made her call. Darren looked bewildered, especially when he heard what his sister said. “They know where I live.”

The Elect 9, Zombies at Home: part 1 of 4

January 11, 2016January 4, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Heinrich and Emily met most of the women at the gathering, though a few avoided him. They even had a pleasant conversation with Lisa, to Emily’s surprise. All Lisa said later was she was willing to trust Emily’s instincts. Latasha tagged along behind and police officer Rob Parker stayed right with them. When Emily finally got a plate and fixed herself something to eat, Heinrich said he ought to be going.

“I don’t want to be blamed for giving anyone indigestion,” he said.

“Henry?” Rob made the man pause.

“Heinrich actually. I have been Henry for a hundred years. I think it is time to go back to my given name.”

“Heinrich.” Rob tried the name.

“But tell me,” Heinrich was curious. “As a policeman, doesn’t a room full of women with deadly weapons bother you?”

“Yes, very much,” Rob admitted. “But I have been privy to a number of things Detectives Schromer and Mousad have been involved in and I have learned to trust them.”

“Yes,” Heinrich smiled again. “Faith, hope and love are the most important, but trust ranks right up there as well. I remember Father Martin saying that more than once.”

“But wait.” This time Emily stopped him. “You haven’t said anything about teaching me how to use this sword.”

“Mostly instinctive for you,” he said. “But I talked to your Captain Driver and he suggested Monday morning and Thursday after lunch in place of your freshman class would be acceptable. We can meet in the gymnasium and he asked if perhaps some of his other students might observe from time to time.”

Emily paused. “I was with you until the observed part.”

“Not interested in putting on a show?”

Emily shook her head. “I get stage fright.”

“Me, too.” Heinrich admitted.

“Me, too.” Latasha agreed.

************************

The Elect, Freshman Year is a serialized novel, much like a television show with weekly chapters being like weekly episodes. Chapter 9, like all chapters, will post in 4 short posts, Today, T, W, and Th. This all began in November 2015. You are welcome to click on the archives button (on the right side of the blog) and begin at the beginning with the 8 part “Pilot” and chapters 1-8 following through December and to the present. The reading is easy, hopefully enjoyable, and free.

Emily, a freshman at New Jersey State University in Trenton has learned that she is a one in a million warrior woman, first designed by the ancient goddesses to protect and defend the home and community when the men went off to hunt or to war. In Trenton, Emily learns there are two other elect in town, Detective Lisa Schromer, and Latasha, a high school freshman. Together, they form a team needed to take on the strange events happening on the university campus. Students are turning up murdered, and there is a contest going on to create super soldiers…and those soldiers are being tested on the hapless population…

Happy reading…

The Elect 8, part 4 of 4: Sisters

January 7, 2016December 3, 2015M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Sisters. Sisters, please pay attention.” The gray haired, somewhat plump woman at the podium had to be well beyond retirement age. “Ladies.” She pulled out a long, stiletto knife and banged the pommel on the podium. “I hate public speaking, but since I am the eldest, I got elected, again. That was a joke.” The room quieted slowly and the woman returned the knife and pulled out a flask. She sipped before she put it away. A few of the sisters giggled. “Truth is, I don’t get much practice public speaking in the nursing home.” That got the room dead quiet. “But that don’t make no never mind. My name is Libby Carter. You got nametags by the door?” Several women nodded.

There were in fact twenty-four visitors in the room, and with Lisa, Latasha and Emily, that made twenty-seven elect in one place at one time. Libby took note. “There have never been so many sisters gathered together before. I have met a few of you. Yes, hello Mildred.” The two old ladies waved to each other. “But there will be time for meet and greet after the meeting. The motel has catered lunch, sweets and coffee set up in the next room.”

“Decaf?”

“If you go that way, and hot water for tea if you have a mind.” Libby did not sound sure. She glanced at Lisa who simply nodded. “Yes, I see some of you have already found the coffee. Very good. But now we need to turn to what we are all doing here. Please pay attention.” Libby coughed, but only once. “First, let me ask how many of you have ever worked with a sister before?” Only four of the hands in the room went up. “Yes, hands up please.” A couple more hands went up. “All right. Hands down. Now the important question. How many of you have fought the undead before?”

“Undead?”

“Like zombies, vampires, Frankenstein type monsters.” Emily was surprised to see almost half of the hands go up. “Good, good. So we have some experience here. Now, I believe what we are dealing with is more the Frankenstein type. They have been revived?” It was a question directed at Lisa who stood. The old woman nodded and turned again to the group. “It would be best if Detective Schromer explained. Most of you have been in touch with Lisa over the past few years. I understand some of you are friends of friends, but here.” The old woman stepped aside, walked carefully down the two steps as if afraid she might break some bone on the way. She sat in the front row where a seat had been saved for her.

Lisa took the podium and glanced once at Emily and Latasha. They were seated, but on the platform where they could see all the faces in that room, and be seen. Latasha was still and quiet, sitting on her hands. She was not wiggling at all and that was very unusual. Emily was slouching a bit, fingering the sword in her lap.

“Thank you Libby. It is good to meet you all at last,” Lisa began. “I have corresponded with so many of you over the years. In many cases, one of you leading to another sister. I feel I know some of you well already.” She smiled and most of her audience returned the smile. A few looked like they were still considering the word, “undead” and did not like the sound of it. “Yes Libby,” Lisa nodded to the old woman now that she was seated. “This is the Frankenstein type, with a fluid reviving their system, an artificial heart pump and electrodes in the brain to stimulate certain synaptic pathways.”

“That sounds pretty sophisticated,” One woman spoke up. Another stood up.

“Ellen Martin, physics department, University of Toronto.” She introduced herself and waved the little sheet of information that had been provided. “I have seen no academic papers or anything else concerning anyone working on any such neural implants. Are we sure this technology is of earthly origin?”

“Katie?” Lisa looked to the back of the room.

“Katherine Lockhart, Washington. No indication yet that it is not.” The word came from a woman who was about thirty. Emily saw something military in the woman’s bearing despite the civilian clothes. It also appeared as if the woman might be pregnant.

A hand went up near the front, but the woman did not wait to speak. “Miriam, FBI,” That was her whole introduction. “Homeland Security is investigating certain national and international businesses that may be working on related projects, but you know how closed mouthed some business people are. Also certain governments.”

“Sisters.” Lisa spoke up so the room stilled. She then related their encounters thus far with the zombies, and she put some pictures from her laptop up on the screen. She praised Emily several times in the process, much to Emily’s embarrassment. She was very clear about the suspected military involvement, and she paused for a minute so their representative from the pentagon could update with, “No definitive evidence, yet.” By the time Lisa finished, a number of the women were looking at Emily and Latasha. Ashish appeared at the door but Lisa waved him off twice to get through her information. “The semester will be finished for Christmas in ten days. If an attack is going to happen, and given all we know we expect a major attack of some kind, it will likely be within the week.”

One mumbled she only had a week’s vacation. Lisa waved to Ashish, and spoke over the group, “Yes, detective?”

Ashish stuck his head in and smiled for the group. “Sorry to interrupt. You told me to tell you when that gentleman showed up. He is here.” Ashish left.

Lisa gripped the podium hard enough to break off two chunks of wood. Then she had to explain about the council. Most had never heard of such a thing. She had to tell them what Heinrich Schultz represented. Some looked nervous, but Emily stood and spoke for the first time. She had been thinking about it a lot over the past day.

“He is a nice man. As long as we are doing our job, he won’t interfere, and he may even help us.” That quieted the crowd, but then one woman had to stand up, as if something had been bothering her for some time. She spoke first to Emily who was still on her feet.

“I accept the good work you have reportedly done. I imagine your military training has helped a great deal. My concern is for the one beside you. How old are you, dear?”

“Sixteen.” That was not quite true. Latasha’s birthday was not until January. Latasha stood beside Emily and was actually an inch taller but looked terribly skinny and mostly like legs at the moment.

The woman turned to Lisa. “She is too young and should not be allowed to participate.”

“I can take care of myself,” Latasha shouted and made little fists.

The woman looked again at Latasha. “I am sure you can, but that isn’t the point, little firebrand.”

A rather small Asian woman in her forties stood and countered. “Anna, from New York. I say she needs to make her own decision. The sisters have never gathered like this before. In the old days it might have been her on her own facing this crisis alone.”

By the time Anna finished, Libby had stood and people got respectfully quiet. “Some of us could use a little firebrand,” she said with a broad smile for Latasha.

A woman in the middle who had her hand up the whole time finally spoke. “Do we need to talk to her parents and get a permission slip signed or something?”

“No,” Lisa shook her head in disbelief, but before she could say more, the first woman spoke again.

“Can we vote?” Lisa could hardly say no to that. To be fair, six of the women agreed that Latasha was too young, but the rest all decided that Latasha needed to make her own decision. Then there was the sound of cracking wood and the creak of nails pulled up as Lisa ripped the lid off the crate that had sat on the stage the whole time. When she pulled out a fire-red ax with a long curved blade, the room fell silent again.

“I see many of you brought your own weapons, but some arrived without for unavoidable airline reasons. We have ten of these. I understand Gertrude Pennyfeather of Boston has more money than she knows what to do with. She could not be here today, but she had these made some years ago when she was facing her own situation. She over-nighted them to us a week ago. Fortunately, her situation was resolved in another way, and these sat unused for all that time.” Lisa paused and touched a button on the inside of the handle. A spike sprang out of the bottom of the axe and it had a long, sharp wooden end. She pushed the button again and the spike withdrew. “Please pass this around and take one when we are done if you need it, but pay attention. Everyone needs to have her weapons at hand at all times from now on. You need to eat with it, sleep with it, and always have it on your person. We do not know when or where the attack may come even if we strongly assume somewhere on the university campus. The call will be short notice, and there is this. Some of you have not had to act in years, even decades. You are all elect, but even you can get rusty. I recommend you work out and hone your skills as much as you can before the time comes.”

That was all she could say apart from “Meeting dismissed.” Some of the women had already gotten up to examine the axes. Others had devolved into small group discussions. A few headed straight for the luncheon, or the women’s room. Latasha got an axe and cradled it like a baby.

“Come on,” Emily encouraged her and jumped off the platform to get to the door. Once in the main room where the motel had their luncheon laid out, buffet style, she went straight for Henry Schultz.

He saw her and smiled, and poked his finger toward Officer Rob Parker who stood beside him. “My guard,” he said when she got near. “To make sure I don’t cause any trouble.”

“You? Trouble?” She returned his smile.

Officer Parker was giggling about something. “Emily.” He acknowledged her, and it was not as Miss Hudson. “Henry, tell her the one about Napoleon.” He giggled again.

“Not for such company,” he started to shake his head before he changed his mind. “Well, the times.” He got no more out as Rob started to tell the story.

“He had to go all day in the middle of a battle. When he finally found an outhouse, the person who just left threw a bomb with a long fuse down the hole. I can just picture that.” Rob started to laugh quietly again.

“The muck probably saved his life.” Henry got another word in.

“He got his butt burned and his whole general staff was covered with the shit.” Rob pulled himself together. Emily smiled at the thought, because she knew something Rob Parker did not know—and Heinrich confirmed it.

“You had to be there.” Then he changed the subject. “Latasha. That is a fine looking weapon.” He held out his hand. Latasha was keeping one-step back behind Emily. She felt reluctant to give up the ax, but did so on Emily’s urging. He simply looked at it, touched his finger to the blade, found the spring-loaded spike right away and handed it back as he received it. “A bit too much machine work for my tastes, but it should serve you well if you take care of it.”

Latasha cradled it again, and smiled at the man for the first time.

Meanwhile, Emily spent the time attaching her sword to her belt so it could hang at her side. She found she had to move it a bit to the front because her hip made it stick out a little. When she finished, she surprised everyone. She stepped up and took Heinrich by the arm the way a granddaughter might take her grandfather by the arm. His smile broadened a bit, and it looked genuine. Lisa still felt very wary and concerned about the man as witnessed by the two blocks of wood ripped off the podium. Maybe Emily was ignorant, but she had decided she liked him and that his only intention was good.

The Elect 8, part 3 of 4: Strangers

January 6, 2016November 25, 2015M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Emily was called to come to the police station only a few days later. She wondered if they had discovered Swenson’s secret lab location but was told, “No,” and then she was told to bring her friends. While Emily and Maria waited outside the dorm for Jessica and Amina, Maria got to introduce her new roommate who was already moving things in. Apparently, Melissa’s Lisa trashed their old room and left early.

“Melissa got special permission to move in before the semester’s end,” Maria said.

“Tough luck,” Emily responded, but she smiled and said welcome when Melissa arrived. Melissa had her arms full of flowers, incense burners and such things. “What is with all this stuff?” Emily did not mean to be rude, but she was curious. They were not supposed to burn anything in their rooms.

“It is for my Abby,” Melissa said with a happy little face.

“Your Abby?” Emily felt confused. Was this some new college fad she missed out on?

“Her first roommate,” Maria explained.

“The one that threw her—that threw you out after only a week?”

Maria nodded. “I think she is building a shrine.”

Melissa dropped her little smile. “Abby did not throw me out. She wanted a single room and I volunteered to leave.”

“Didn’t get along?” Emily wondered.

“No. She is magnificent and perfect. Abby is a holy goddess. No one expects her to have to live with a plain mortal like me.” Melissa’s facial expression implied that Emily was just being stupid.

“The one that threw you out?” Emily felt really confused.

“Oh!” Melissa shook her head and turned to walk off. “You will learn. Abby is holy and perfect in every way. All praise to magnificent Abby.”

“That was weird.” Emily turned back to Maria as Jessica walked up. Maria simply shrugged and straightened her glasses.

“It seems I have a talent for picking weird roommates.”

“Are we ready?” Jessica asked when she came up with Amina following.

They walked, and neither Amina, Maria nor Emily spoke, but that was fine since Jessica was perfectly willing to do all the talking.

When they arrived, Amina, Jessica and Maria were hustled off to a room where there were several phones being manned by the police. Latasha and two friends Latasha introduced as Keisha and Janet were in there also talking over the phone. They had been given scripts. Ashish grabbed Emily and pulled her aside.

“It is probably coming down soon,” he said. “We got word that bodies have not been getting into the graves, of late. One of the local funeral directors brought in a medical donation form that looked suspicious. The man who delivered it stressed that the director was to instruct his staff to be sure they did not mention the donation of the body at the burial service. They were to go ahead and bury the empty casket as if it was the person, but he would actually be taking the donated body to Philadelphia. Not mentioning it was to avoid friction with some of the relatives who would not be pleased.”

“So they are calling around to see if the same thing is happening elsewhere?”

Ashish nodded. “We are getting confirmations from as far as Philadelphia and Camden both, and in between, and all in the last week.” Ashish opened the door. Lisa was on the phone.

“Well, I’m sorry you can’t make it…I understand…see you another time, goodbye.” She hung up and asked Ashish to bring Latasha in. He did, and then Lisa started to tell them what to expect.

At the same time, a man walked into the police station and up to the front desk. He had cut his hair and trimmed his beard to an acceptable level, and he dressed in a suit. No one would know him for the wild haired old geezer that ran the knife and T-shirt kiosk at the mall, though he was still old, and he carried a cane besides.

“Can I help you?” The officer at the desk was polite.

“Yes, Mitzy.” The man read the police officer’s nametag. “I am here to see Detective Lisa Schromer.”

“Let me see.” Mitzy picked up the phone. “Do you have an appointment?”

“No, that’s alright. Just tell her Henry Schultz is here to see her,” the man paused and scratched his beard before his face lit up. “Never mind. I know where she is.” He started to walk into the back room. Mitzy jumped in front of him to block his way but Henry spoke again, softly.

“I am an old man with a cane. What can I do? Please, dear Mitzy. Just tell her I am here and on my way back. Hmm?”

Mitzy looked into the man’s eyes and let him through. She got Detective Schromer on the phone, told her, and then paused to scold herself. Why did she let that man back there? That went against all police protocol.

“Am I interrupting?” Henry stuck his head in the door even as Lisa hung up her phone. She stood and stepped back with enough force to knock over her chair. Latasha felt the sudden urge to fight or run away, and since she did not know which was best, she just froze where she was. Emily took a second to recognize the man, but when she did, she felt more like reacting the way Lisa reacted. She stayed where she was, but became very wary.

“What is a member of the council doing here?” Lisa asked.

“Ah, good. So that much is taken care of.” The man entered the room and set his cane by the door.

“What’s a council?” Latasha asked through gritted teeth.

“Who are you?” Emily asked over top.

“Heinrich Schultz, born in the year of our Lord, 1640 in the midst of a war. Mind if I sit down?” There were four chairs in the room. Detective Lisa pointed to the empty chair, picked up her own and let Latasha and Emily scoot around a bit so they could all face the man.

A police officer stuck his head in. Lisa yelled, “Get out,” and the head vanished.

“The council is a very small collection of men that meet once every fifty years, gathering from all over the world. On average, we live to be about five hundred if we are not killed. Mostly we are killed. I was almost killed a dozen times or more before the Hundred Years War was over. You see, unlike the elect, we are strictly mortal and human without any extraordinary power unless we are activated.”

“You have been activated.” Emily said, but it was a question.

The man nodded. “Often it is because one of the elect has gone rogue. You see, when the goddesses made you lot, the gods thought that was a good thing, but they wanted to be sure there was a safety valve, just in case. Then a few other things were added to our charge that the goddesses did not think of.”

“Man, you are old,” Latasha finally unclenched her teeth.

“Yes, and not saddled with a wife and children. None of us are. We need to remain free agents just in case. I have lived my whole life just in case.”

“But why are you here?” Lisa did not let go of her original question, but again Emily spoke over top.

“Rogue elect?”

Heinrich shrugged. “It happens. The temptations in this world are beyond counting, Father Martin used to say. Only one was born pure and managed an entire lifetime without sin. Of course, it might also be because of a witch or some such thing and not one of you elect at all.”

“What?” Emily and Latasha both asked.

Again, Heinrich nodded. “That was one of the things your ladies forgot. When active, we are far more resistant to all forms of magic than you lot.”

“But why are you here?” Lisa asked a third time.

Heinrich ran his fingers across the table before he spoke. “The truth is, we are not omniscient. All I can say is no member of the council has ever been activated without good cause. That reason will present itself in due time. Meanwhile, I have caught wind of what you are planning. That alone may be the reason. It has never been done before on the scale you are contemplating, not in the history of the world.” He sighed and looked around the room. “It is this age. Everything has to move. Nothing stands still anymore.”

“What are you talking about?” Latasha was curious now.

Lisa was going to answer, but Heinrich held up his hand and spoke to reassure Lisa that he indeed knew what she had planned. “There are three of you in this one small city, the odds of which are beyond calculating. There were three in London at the height of the British Empire, you know, Queen Victoria, Jack the Ripper and all that. Three was rare, but at the time, London was one of the biggest cities in the world and while they knew each other, they lived so far apart and traveled in such different circles they rarely interacted. The three of you here in this small and rather insignificant city defies reason.”

“I’m not native to Trenton,” Emily said.

“None of us are. Hush,” Lisa quieted her to listen.

Heinrich continued. “There were three elect who met in Saint Louis in 1890. There were three who met in Boston at the end of the first World War. There were four who met in Baltimore just before Pearl Harbor. But here you have invited how many?”

“Twenty confirmed,” Lisa said.

The man stood suddenly, but his demeanor remained calm and kindly. “That makes twenty three at a minimum. Such has never happened in all of history. It may be that I am simply a precaution.” He shrugged and turned to leave.

“Thank you for the sword,” Emily said, not wanting to appear ungrateful for such a fine weapon.

“I made it myself by hand as all of the best swords are made. May it give you good service.” The man smiled for her.

“Could you teach me how to use it?”

The man paused before he smiled again. “It would be my pleasure.” He picked up his cane and said one last thing to the three. “See you around.” When he stepped out there were two officers there to escort him all the way out. “Thank you for your kindness to this old man,” they heard him say.

“Teach you the sword?” Latasha spoke almost before it was safe. “I mean he seems nice, but kind of creepy. Didn’t you feel that way?”

Emily explained. “He is going to be watching us. We might as well keep him in a place where we can also watch him.”

“No, I got that part,” Lisa said. “Good thinking. But whenever a member of the council shows up, most of the time it means something bad for us or one of us. All I can say is I guess the three of us passed his tests or standards or whatever. Otherwise I don’t think he would have been so up front and honest with us.”

“So, twenty three?” Emily was already on a different subject.

“Tomorrow night. Bring your handmade sword.”

The Elect 8, part 2 of 4: The Science Building

January 5, 2016November 25, 2015M G Kizzia Leave a comment

It was the end of the week, Friday after supper when Emily and Pierce sat quietly in the student center with their lattes. They were laughing and content to let the evening time drift by as they enjoyed each other’s company. Naturally, a young man, a total stranger chose that moment to burst into the room. He came right to their table and looked squarely at Emily as he spoke.

“There is trouble at the science building. Help.”

Pierce tenderly touched Emily’s arm. “Where else?” Emily shrugged. The science building did seem to be the center of things. She got up and Pierce followed. When they got close, they both realized that it was more than just trouble.

“Zombies in the building,” Emily shouted and ran. She did not have her sword with her because thus far, she had refused to carry it around the campus, but she did have her knife. Pierce was right on her heels as they burst into the building.

The lab room Emily had blown up was empty, but there was a zombie in the downstairs hall and a body on the floor in the distance. Emily started down that hall.

“Zimmer and Swenson.” Pierce pointed to the stairs.

Damn! Emily joined him in taking two stairs at a time. There was not anything she could do for the dead student in the downstairs hall, but if Swenson and Zimmer were working late and under attack, she had to know and help if she could.

There were two zombies in the upper hall, one outside Zimmer’s office and one banging on Swenson’s door. Emily went for the closer one outside Swenson’s door first. Even as she kicked the zombie to the ground, Zimmer came bounding out of his office with a fire extinguisher. Emily paused to watch. The zombie backed away from the cold. But even sprayed directly, it did not stop the monster. The spray only slowed it.

Pierce was right there with that long knife of his. He went for the heart first, and then cut the head off rather sloppily.

Emily felt one hand creep over her shoulder while the other reached around for her chin. One swift pull and she had no doubt her neck would snap. She caught the hand just in time and all but tore that arm out of its socket to break free. Then her knife cut the head while the zombie’s free hand continued to claw at her. The zombie did not stop completely until she pierced the heart.

Emily pulled out her knife and cleaned it on the zombie’s burial clothes. She had scratches on her arm and shoulder. Once again, Pierce did not have a mark on him. He turned to her.

“I’ve got the back stairs.”

“Up to the third floor first,” Emily shot back before she raced up the front stairs. She paused at the door that gave access to the big, flat roof, but it was locked and looked undisturbed. She started down the upper hall then, but that hall appeared zombie free. She and Pierce split again and raced back down to the ground floor. They were gone. Pierce thought he saw one in the distance still shuffling off. Emily, not so sure, held on to him.

“We need to check for damage.”

“Basement,” Pierce said, and they ran. Emily let him go down first. She was not a fan of dark holes in the ground.

“I don’t see any sign of them,” Pierce reported when he got to the floor. “I don’t know if they came down here.”

“Good, let’s go up,” Emily suggested.

“Wait a minute.” Pierce began to open doors and Emily got treated to views of the furnace, the piping, HVAC ducts and electrical boards. She saw a mop closet as well, and Emily called that a real treat, since the mop head looked like it had not been changed since the school was built, whenever that was.

“Can we go now?”

“Wait. There is supposed to be an office room down here with, you know, posted cleaning schedules and stuff.” Emily stayed on his heels and Pierce grinned. “You know, they say there is another basement below this one, built as a bomb shelter during the cold war. There are also sub-basements below the library and the main classroom building, Gorgon Hall, and they say there are underground tunnels connecting them all.”

Emily slapped his shoulder. “Stop it. You’re spooking me out.”

Pierce laughed. He knew what he was doing. He opened the office door and they both found the night janitor in his chair, his neck neatly broken. As if on cue, they heard a low moan that slowly rose in pitch to a shrill scream. It sounded to Emily that it was indeed coming from beneath her feet, but Pierce just laughed.

“I have heard that. It is just the steam heat in Gorgon Hall, which was what prompted me to ask about the tunnels. Do not worry, they are all sealed off with great big slabs of concrete. The zombies could not travel that way, if that is what you’re thinking.”

Emily nodded. All she was honestly thinking at the moment was how fast she could get out of there.

Counting the janitor, there were three dead in the building. Zimmer was the only survivor until Emily had a thought and rushed back up to the second floor. Zimmer sat quietly at his desk, back at work, and he yelled at them for the interruption. Emily closed the man’s door with apologies and stepped over to kick open Swenson’s door.

Professor Swenson’s office was a wreck. Papers were everywhere and her furniture and desk were turned over. Her computer had been smashed, but the internals of the desktop had been ripped out. No one could guess where they went.

“I don’t understand,” Emily admitted. “We stopped the zombie before it got into Professor Swenson’s room. Who did this?” Before she could think of an answer, she heard a knock on the other side of the wall. “Hilde’s office.”

Morgan Granger was in there curled up in a ball in the corner. “It’s safe now,” Emily told the woman, but it did not seem that Ms Granger could focus. She imagined at least that Granger’s name could come off the suspect list as she stood and took a step back to give Pierce some room.

Pierce bent down to Ms Granger and was very gentle. “We can go out now. It is safe,” he whispered, and she may have recognized him. When he held out his hand, she was willing to take it. They rose slowly and Pierce slipped his arm around the woman. “We will be fine,” he said aloud, and Emily nodded in agreement. “Everything will be just fine now,” Pierce said, as he escorted the woman to the stairs.

Emily thought, yeah, be nice to the biology witch but spook me out in the basement.

By the time Lisa arrived, the ambulances were on their second trip, picking up the dead and re-dead. The police were down to two out front and two out back with the building cleared, except perhaps for Doctor Zimmer. Maria came up with Julie Tam as Emily explained.

“But the zombie never got into Swenson’s room, so someone must have smashed everything up earlier and hoped the zombie attack might cover their tracks.”

Lisa nodded as Julie said one word. “Confirmed.”

Lisa explained in return. “We have not even come close to analyzing that complex green goop that is being pumped through these zombie’s bodies.”

“That is what is bringing them to life,” Julie interrupted before Lisa went on.

“But we have identified a few of the ingredients and two are rare and hard to get, including a controlled substance. Julie did most of the detective work on this one, and I called our sister at the Pentagon. She is still working, but she found several memos and now Julie has confirmed from her sources that these chemicals were recently shipped here.”

“To Professor Swenson,” Maria guessed and Lisa nodded her assent.

“So I was right,” Emily mused. “She trashed her own office, ripped out her vital notes and computer files and then sent the zombies to make it look like they did it. She must have known you were getting close.”

“Very good, Sherlock,” Lisa said. “Now if we could just find where her Frankenstein laboratory is, we could end this.”

“What do you want us to do?” Maria volunteered.

“Just eyes and ears,” Lisa said. “But I think it is time to gather the troops.”

The Elect 8, The Gathering: part 1 of 4

January 4, 2016November 24, 2015M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The house could only be called a mansion. The beautiful lawn and sculpted gardens with several fountains took up the hillside and were interrupted only by the long driveway. Inside, one room had three walls covered with books. The fourth wall had a large opening that led to a glassed in porch with a view of the equally impressive back yard. A small and frail looking old woman sat at the oversized mahogany desk that dominated the center of the room. She had an old landline phone in her hand.

“Yes, dear. But you must remind the sisters that we are not invulnerable. Yes, dear. Very good dear. Yes, they are just bringing them in now.” Two men in overalls carried a big wooden box into the room and set it in the center of the floor. One man struggled with a crowbar to open the lid.

“No. I don’t mind at all. I will be happy to send them.” The old woman waved to the middle aged woman who stood by the door. The middle aged woman got the idea, stepped up and pulled something out of the box to bring to the old woman who continued to talk on the phone. “No dear, I have no need for them. They are just collecting dust in the attic.”

The middle aged woman held up the item and twirled it so the older one could get a good look. The old woman nodded, but only spoke into the phone. “Yes, they appear to be in like-new condition.” The old woman reached for the item. “Yes, good-bye.” She hung up

With the item in old woman’s lap, the middle aged woman stepped up and pulled the old woman’s wheel chair from behind the desk. The old woman held a fire-red axe with a large, curved, and very sharp looking blade. She heaved it and the workmen went slack-jawed when the axe sank a full inch into the solid plaster and wood covered wall.