For one, the man did not look like a zombie. Other than his bulged-out eyes that seemed more white than normal. Other than his walk that resembled a drunken guy being electrocuted.

But as they watched him make a few steps and turn to approach them, and then saw his bloodied mouth, they both twitched, and Tala uttered, “Shit!”

“We need to go, we need to go,” Chitto urged her, pulling her backward now, and they slowly ran back toward the entrance of the airport.

Meanwhile, the van driver was screaming at the zombied man, “Erick, what the fuck is wrong with you?!?”

So, the zombie-like Erick stopped and looked toward the driver, moving around to face him.

“Fuck me!" the driver cursed. "Why the fuck did you bite me like that?!"

"I’ll go to fire station here. See if someone can bandage my hand there. And you,” the driver added, noting how Erick was not much of Erick anymore, swiftly bending and reaching to close the passenger door so Erick could not get in again. “You stay here! Don’t fucken go anywhere, Just stay there!”

The driver then locked all his doors, made a 180-degree turn, and speeded out of there, Erick scurrying after him, then breaking into a run.

"We need to get in, we need to get..." Chitto screamed, but the electrical door would not open no matter what they did.

“Hide! Hide! Hide Now!” Chitto urged, seeing Erick slowly stopping as he realized he could not catch up to the van. "This is our chance! Anywhere!"

So they jumped to hide behind a tall marble-covered column that held the roofing over the entrance.

As they stood there with their hearts going wild, they heard Erick, his loud murmuring and talking to himself incohesively.

“Freakin’ zombie,” Chitto whispered through his teeth. "I told you!"

“Shit,” Tala cursed. "I don't need this! I almost... would prefer those men in black."

Chitto took a peak and saw the zombie wonder around. “Maybe he’ll go elsewhere,” he hoped.

Tala snorted, “You want to bet your life on it?”

Instantly they both looked at their backpack and franticly ransacked it, looking for anything they could use as a weapon. Tala could only find a can of orange soda and pulled it out of the bag,

“Chitto, really? That’s what you packed for the US of A?”

“Howey said to take all we wanted.”

“Shit, and what are we going to do with it, throw it at him?”

“You’re an alien. You should have known!” Chitto defended himself, raising his voice and staring her down.

But there was no time for arguing as Erick was getting so close they did not even dare to sneak a peek behind the column again.

Then, as the step and rumbling of Erick were getting so close making them stop breathing they heard the noise of a car’s engine coming and dared to sneak their heads out just a bit, but enough to see a big fancy SUV stopping on the curve, right in front of them.

“That must be our ride,” Chitto said.

A heavy-set tall black guy came out wearing a white office shirt and a light-blue suit.

“Hey, dude, how are you?” he said, looking at Erick who had turned toward him and had made a step in his direction. “Early morning, huh? And I thought I was going to be late.” Tala and Chitto heard him talk.

“Hey, say you, what happened to your eyes? And your mouth?” the driver suddenly asked with urgency, seeing Erick getting closer to him. “Hey… What are you doing?”

Tala watched as the driver suddenly raised his hands and tried to hold Erick who was advancing on him, his mouth open wide.

“Get off me, you freak!!” the driver said but Erick did not seem to listen as he pushed against the black guy.

“Shit, he did not watch enough zombie movies,” Chitto said, watching the driver tussle with Erick.

“Or series,” Tala added.

“If only he liked Asian cinema.”

Tala gently slapped Chitto on the back of his head and sniffed. “Dumbass. The zombies were invented here. Do I need to name a few shows that started it all?” she said as they stood watching the black guy grab Erick by the collar of his work jacket and shake him to the left and right as if he were a giant playtoy, keeping him away from him.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Chitto’s eyes brightened suddenly as the idea just occurred to him. “Maybe that’s what it is… maybe it’s all just an act. Could it be? Hollywood? How close we are to Studios? Maybe they are filming right now?”

He looked so convinced that even Tala turned around herself and scanned the whole space again. But no TV cameras were there, not even a droid in a clear blue sky.

She was ready to smack him again when he said. “Or… this is just staged… Like… a play, you know.”

“Really? That's what you think, Chitto?"

"Could be. Like..."

“They just staged that… for us?”

"Well..."

“Yeah, really Chitto? For us?”

“I mean…”

They stared as the big black man who was supposed to be their driver pushed Erick away and then hit him in the stomach with his leg, sending him down, and then as if that was not enough, he jumped next to him and with a powerful fist blow to his temple, struck him so hard that Erick's hole body went loose as he spread it over the pavement.

“Shit! That was awesome! Did you see that? He nailed the zombie! Oh, driver! Let’s call him a SuperHero Driver, the Zombie Annihilator. Iron Fist Man!”

Tala jumped out from behind the pillar and called the driver’s attention, “Mister, I think you came here to pick us up, right?”

“Oh, yeah… I’m sorry. I do not know what got into that guy.”

“It does not matter. We are in a hurry anyway. Let him just sleep there.”

“But… I better call security. There has to be someone around.”

“Yeah… we are in a rush. It’s very, very important that we leave right now. Maybe he had too much to drink.”

“Well, I normally would need to talk to someone here…”

“We really have no time. And you can talk to them later. We really need to go. Please, don’t make us late.”

“Oh, I know, I was a bit late this morning, but it was because they called me back. I’m sorry about that. Well, anyway, my name is Willie, and I’ll be glad to take you to your hotel. It's one of the most private hotels you've ever been, Hotel Seven. You'll just be amazed.”

“Yeah, let’s just go, and… if you need someone later to tell them what happened, we can vouch for you,” Tala said as she opened the back of the car herself and pushed Chitto inside.

“Okay, I guess, I’ll have to deal with this later,” the driver said, looking around to see if there might be someone who he could talk to.

“What the hell was wrong with that guy?” the guy asked Chitto and Tala again as they pulled away, still unable to process what had just happened.

“That dude probably had a great last night. Either drugged out of his mind still. Shit. And that’s how he came to work? People have no respect for their jobs, you know. I mean, I understand, you want to party and you want to get high, but, shit, man. Get your shit together and when it’s time to work, just be a little bit professional, you know. What the hell was wrong with him??” he asked again.

But neither Chitto nor Tala were ready to offer an answer.

Then Chitto suddenly said, “Love You as the World Ends,” and was ready to offer some other series titles, but Tala just bumped his knee and showed him to be quiet.

“What?” the driver asked, obviously not sure if he heard it right.

“Never mind my brother,” Tala said and smiled at the driver. “It was a long flight, you know.”

“Okay…” Willie said and suddenly decided to watch and study them a bit more in the car’s back mirror.

“You guys, you won’t say anything about me hitting that guy, are you?”

“Well, he had it coming. I hope you knocked his lights out.”

“Well, if he presses charges against me, I’m-”

“He won’t. Besides, we really did not see you hitting him, right Chitto?

“Right," Chitto agreed.

“What are you doing?” Tala asked her brother who was nervously looking around.

“Looking for a weapon, what else? He got bit, don’t you see his hand?” he said in Japanese and pointed with his head toward the driver's head that had a nasty scratch on it.

“Yeah, but, Chitto, don’t be silly. You know he needs to die to convert," Tala answered in Japanese as well.

“You want to bet your life on it?”

“Yeah, true,” Tala said, not ready to discuss this any longer.

[New Mission Available]

Tala ignored it, not ready to explain anything to Chito why she was talking to herself.

*Ding, Ding, Ding

[New Urgent Mission Available]

“What is it?” she asked, and as Chitto looked at her, she raised her hand to point to the place where a lot of people had gathered around.

“Oh, that’s Mama Mita food truck. Really good one, actually. Has the best burritos. Kind of early for it. But, if you never tried one, I’d be very glad to turn the car around."

[Mission: Prevent anyone from biting you.

Class: 1

Duration: Upon entering your room at Hotel Seven

Bonuses will be tripled]

“I accept,” Tala said to Chitto’s surprise, but as the driver got off the gas and slowly started to slow down the car to turn it around, she swiftly added. “I’ll accept your offer at some other time. But I think we are tired now. You know... a long trip."

“Oh, yeah, that’s good. You can call me anytime. I’ll drive you there for free. Really. The best burritos in town. Mama Mita knows her shit.”

[Mission accepted

25 miles to go to your destination]

For the whole trip, Tala engaged the driver, making sure he constantly talked, and Chitto was suspecting that it was a way to know that the guy was still fine, and would not flip and go zombie on them while they were still inside.

“How soon till we get to the hotel?”

“It’s about ten minutes away. Depending on the traffic.”

Finally, they pulled up to a tall building with a granite stone entrance and a lot of glass. “Just go to the security guards and they’ll take you from there,” the driver said as he opened the door for them.

“Okay, well, you have a good day, sir,” Tala said.

“Yeah, you too. And sorry about this morning.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Shit… happens,” Tala said, and smiled.

“Oh, I almost forgot, the man sent this envelope to give it to you. That’s actually why I was late. Had to go back and then wait for it to be delivered to me. Here, take it,” he said and offered a big, yellow envelope he picked from the shotgun seat.

“I hope you have a good day,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah, you may want to have someone look over that…” Chitto said, pointing to his

“I know. Freaken’ crazy, isn’t it? Well, you kids have a good day.”

Chitto looked at Willie as he jumped in the car and drove off, and only then asked his sister, a bit sadness in his voice. “Nice guy, Iron Fist Zombie Annihilator. You think he'll… make it?”

“No,” Tala said shaking her head, her eyes on the inside of the envelope that was given to her as she said, “He’s gone.”