Jesse Petersen - Flip this Zombie (Living with the Dead)

I stared at the cornucopia of choices stacked and hung in the back of the van.

Well, the scythe is always fun, I mused. But unwieldy in tight places like Jimmy always calls us to. Same thing with the chainsaw, and it stalled the last time I used it in Mesa Verde, which was almost very bad.

David flinched at the memory. True. How about an axe?

I tilted my head as I examined the gleaming blade of my favorite axe. No, not today. Just not in the mood for that, or the sword.

Daves eyes lit up. Wait. I know what you want.

I gave him a look as he took off around to the drivers side back door of the van. In a second, he was back and he was brandishing the most beautiful thing Ive ever seen in my life.

I call it the home-run-you-through, he said as he held out a heavy wooden baseball bat that had a long, wicked sharp spearhead firmly attached to the end by some kind of metal twine. And Im copyrighting that as soon as we find a patent office, so no trying to rip me off.

I grinned as I reached out to take the bat. It was balanced perfectly and would do the job of both smashing and stabbing zombie heads nicely.

You do know what to get a girl for Christmas, I murmured as I put my handgun back in my waistband and stepped back to perform a few practice swings and stabs in the air.

For Michael

W hen the zombie plague struck, I was just an office schlub. You know the type. I was a coffee-fetching, doing-the-work-and-getting-no-credit, screamed-at-by-suits kind of girl who hated every damn second of her dead-end job. Well, I still have a dead-end job undead end, I guess is more accurate. But instead of working for the man, I work for myself. So I guess the lesson is that if you find work thats meaningful, that you love, you can start your own business and make it successful.

So whats my job?

Zombiebusters Extermination, Inc at your service.

My husband David suggested we add the Inc to make it seem more professional. I guess in the old days we would have had a website and all that, too, but now none of that exists anymore, at least not in the badlands where the zombies still roam free.

I have to say, I liked being in business for myself and I liked working with my husband as my partner. The zombie apocalypse had been surprisingly good for our marriage (sounds weird, I know, but its true) and since we escaped Seattle a few months before, wed been doing great.

But that isnt to say the whole not working for the man thing didnt have its disadvantages. Which is something we were discussing as we drove down a lonely stretch of dusty highway in Arizona. Why Arizona? Well, it was November and fucking freezing anywhere else. So we did what old people had been doing for generations and snowbirded our asses down South. I figured when the weather got better up North, wed decide what to do next.

Why did we take another job from Jimmy? Dave asked with annoyance lacing his voice.

I looked up from the business book I was reading. Wed looted it and about twenty more from a bookstore a few weeks back. I was all about making this work, you see. Someday, I would be the Donald Trump or Bill Gates of zombie killing. Only with better hair, obviously.

Um, we took a job from Jimmy because he pays, I said.

Dave shot me a side glance that was filled with incredulity. Not well. Last time I think he gave us a six-pack and we killed three zombies for his chicken-ass.

I laughed. Hey, thats two brews per zombie. Anyway, he trades with everyone and brings us new business at least once a week. He may not pay us as well as well anyone else, but think of it as brand building.

My ass. Dave didnt even smile. He has a lot of shit stockpiled in his basement, I know he does. This time before we start, we should tell that asshole we want payment up front. Medical supplies and some canned goods.

I tossed my book in the back of the van.

Oh, didnt I mention it? We drive a van. Dave likes to call it the Mystery Machine because its totally circa 1975, but it runs like a gem and is heavy enough to do some push work when needed. Plus, I had way too much fun painting Zombiebusters Exterminators, Inc on the side and Who Ya Gonna Call? on the back.

That one always gets a chuckle since theres no way to call anyone anymore. If people want us, they have to post notes in the survivor camps and we go looking for them. Trust me, sometimes by the time weve gotten to a job, there hasnt been anyone left to pay us. I always feel kind of badly about that, but seriously, if you havent figured out how to protect yourself after three months of zombie hell well, you sort of deserve what you get.

Look, youre the muscle in this operation, I said as I settled back in my seat and slung my booted feet onto the dash. As I flicked a little piece of brains left over after our last job from the toe, I continued, If you want to strong-arm the guy up front, be my guest.

We were approaching our destination now and Dave slowly maneuvered the vehicle off the highway into the area of what was once southern Phoenix. There were signs of zombie activity everywhere here, both from the initial outbreak in the city and more recently. Black sludge pooled in the gutters and blood streaked the walls of buildings. It was all so commonplace to us, we didnt really see it anymore. Nor did we flinch when a single zombie stepped into a crosswalk ahead of us.

He lurched forward, his right hand missing and his arm on the same side waving in a disconnected way as he moved. He had fresh blood on his chin and he grunted and groaned loudly enough that we could hear him even with the windows partly up.

We watched him make his slow cross for a bit, both of us staring with bored disinterest. Then Dave gunned the engine.

The sound made the zombie turn and he stared at us with his blank, dead, red eyes that never quite focused. Still, he seemed to recognize the potential for food on some primal level and he let out a roar.

Dave floored the van at the same time the zombie started a half-assed jog toward us. We collided mid-intersection and the zombie, gooey and rotting, took the brunt of the impact. His skin split, sending gore and guts flying from the seams of his torn clothing to splatter on our hood and the ground around the van. He lay half-wrapped around our bumper, staring up at us as he squealed and clawed along the metal of the hood like he could somehow hoist himself up and get to us, even though his lower body was probably gone.

Want me to take care of that? I asked as I reached in the back for an axe.

No way, Dave said. And let you get ahead on Death Count?

I laughed as he changed gears and rolled back in reverse. The zombie fell backward and disappeared from view until my husband got far enough away. Sure enough, his lower half was gone, split off from the initial impact of the accident.

Dave lined up the wheel of the van and rolled forward again. He didnt stop until we felt the satisfying rock of hitting the zombie skull and popping it like a melon.

Once that was done, Dave put the van in neutral. He pulled his knife from his waistband and carefully etched a new hash mark on the steering wheel, which was already covered in crevices and digs from previous kills. Pretty soon we were going to have to move on to the door.

Thats another one for the Mystery Machine. When I laughed, he looked at me. So if Im the muscle of the operation, he said, returning to our earlier conversation, what does that make you?