Page 31 of Belladonna’s Nightmare

“Christ!” Hayden shouted, pushing him hard. There was a squelching noise. Hayden held his hand out and stared in disgust. “Okay, there’s paying a bit too much attention to detail.”

I raised my gun and shot at him. The bullet took the attacker in the shoulder.

“No!” Hatton roared and shoved me aside forcefully. Hayden caught me as the asshole in front of me went down.

“He’s a zombie,” I said stupidly.

“That was uncalled for, Sapphire!” Hatton yelled as he knelt by the dead guy.

“He attacked me!” I shouted. “He’s dead and walking about, and a fuckin’ zombie.”

“It’s a costume,” Hatton roared.

“That’s a real zombie!” I shrieked. The guy sat up and lunged at Hatton. His jaws snapped at Hatton’s face as he tried to eat him. I didn’t pause and shot him in the head.

“That was murder! Sapphire! Christ,” Hatton cried as the body collapsed on top of him.

Hayden shoved me behind him. “There’re extenuating circumstances…”

“Yeah. He’s a fuckin’ zombie,” I repeated.

“It’s a guy in a costume,” Hatton shouted as he gagged at the stench and shoved the corpse off him. He checked for a pulse, his eyes wide.

“That’s a damn zombie!” I yelled hysterically. Hayden eyed me with worry.

“Babe, he’s wearing a mask,” he said.

“Pull it off then, I dare you!” I cried.

Hatton bent over, his fingers searching for a seam. There was nothing. Dagger stepped up, couched and ripped his face right off. She slung it at Hatton’s feet, who looked at it in sheer horror.

“If my fuckin’ Prez says it’s a zombie, it’s a fuckin’ zombie!” Dagger snarled.

“Did she just rip his face off?” Teddy sounded sick.

“Tell me that’s a living person,” Dagger yelled.

Hatton stared in shock and disbelief. “Zombies don’t exist!”