Zombies Ahead (Club Zombie, Book One) (2 page)

Beau was much more talkative. He filled Kai in on his family’s estate and where Kai would live. Not that Kai was all that familiar with North American geography, but they would be in what was referred to as the ‘Bible Belt’. Beau talked a little about the other men who worked there, but it sounded like he was talking more about family members rather than employees.

Beau and Lafayette were clearly in a relationship and flowed seamlessly together. There hadn’t been many openly gay people in Kai’s community. He knew several girls in his school had claimed to be ‘in love’. But he didn’t know any gay guys. Well, except his cousin, Ulrich. The kid hadn’t said anything but Kai just knew.

Lafayette seemed to dote on Beau. The pretty man tended to any and all of Lafayette’s needs. It reminded Kai of how his mother and father were together. It was nice to see even though it was so different from what he was used to seeing.

After landing in South Carolina, they got into a large car and drove through lots of fields. It looked almost like the open spaces around Ostringen though there were many more houses and some ritzy developments. There were lots of green fields, but he saw no vines. He wondered what the soil would be like in this climate.

He heard Lafayette growl as Beau pointed to a construction sign that was flashing a warning:
Zombies Ahead
. “I am going to kick Cassidy’s ass,” the man stated in a harsh tone that worried Kai.

Beau’s laughter startled him. He grabbed Lafayette’s non-steering hand and brought it to his mouth for a quick kiss. “Oh you are not. You are going to frown at him, then he will apologize and take it down.”

Lafayette frowned then looked quickly at Beau with a small smile. The big man brought Beau’s hand to his lips to kiss it in turn before setting it back down to grip the steering wheel with two hands.

Beau looked back to grin at Kai before adding, “The sign will come down for about two days.”

Kai didn’t know who this Cassidy was, but Kai knew better than to screw around with government property. Cassidy must be a troublemaker and decided he would stay away from him. Living with his uncle taught him not to stand out or create any waves.

Before they reached their destination, another sign must have been taken over by this Cassidy because it said
‘Zombies Suck’
in flashing lights.

“Isn’t that the truth.” Beau giggled, making Lafayette swear and grumble.

Once Beau’s laughter died down, he looked in his visor mirror to talk to Kai. “We’re almost there. So, our doctor will take a quick look at you, then he will give you something of…an orientation.”

“I’ll be working for him?” Kai asked after noticing Beau’s hesitation. He had no medical experience. He hoped like hell his uncle didn’t say that he did.

“No. No. He will just give you an overview.”

“Of my job?” Kai wanted some kind of clarification.

“Something along those lines.” Beau shut the mirror as if he were ending the conversation. “Oh look, we’re here.”

Kai looked out and saw a giant black gate open. The car drove down a long paved road with acres of rolling grass, trees, and hills on either side. It was something right out of the movies. Then he saw the house. Beau had used the right word when he said estate. It looked as if it came right out of the history books. It was huge, white and in front, there was a fountain with statues surrounding it. Toward the back on one side, there was a pond with ducks splashing in the water.

“
Todschick
!” Kai gasped out in German before catching himself. “I mean, amazing.”

“Thanks.” The pretty man seemed truly pleased at the compliment to their home. “It was built around eighteen-twenty-eight. Lafayette and I have renovated once or twice to add the modern conveniences.” The blond grinned at Lafayette with dreamy eyes, “We have to keep current, don’t we,
mon cher
?”

Lafayette nodded his agreement as he took Beau’s hand to kiss it softly before letting it go. Beau sighed in contentment for a moment before he seemed to remember Kai was even there. “Do you think you are up to seeing the doctor now or do you want to rest?”

In truth, he was exhausted, but he was too worried not to get the information the doctor could convey. “Doctor. I am completely fine.”

Beau turned around and looked at him as if he were trying to read the truth then said, “Okay. Doctor first.”

A short while later, Kai was sitting in the doctor’s office. A young male nurse had drawn his blood, and he was waiting with Beau to find out the results.

The doctor entered. He seemed surprisingly young to Kai, but what did he know? He nodded to Beau. “He’s definitely got the tags in his blood.” The doctor’s kind eyes turned to Kai. “How do you feel right now?” His warm hands moved over Kai’s neck and down his arms.

Kai shrugged. “Okay. Maybe a bit tired from the flight.” Exhaustion barely described his physical state, but he didn’t want them to know that, so he continued to play it off.

The doctor nodded but seemed more interested in taking in various characteristics of his eyes, mouth and skin. “It’s your birthday today isn’t it?”

Kai’d almost forgotten with all the excitement. He looked at the clock on the wall to do the time difference in his head. He grinned. “Yeah, if I was in Germany I would be nineteen in about two hours. But here it’s another eight hours.”

“Good timing.” The doctor nodded at Beau. He went to the small refrigerator to pull out a vial. “Here—you will want to drink this.” The man patted him on the back. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks,” he said as he took the tiny glass bottle from the doctor and studied it for a moment. Kai wanted to ask what it was, but he decided to trust the doctor. He pulled out the red stopper and sniffed it. It smelled delicious, so he tipped the contents into his mouth. The creamy substance exploded sweetly across his taste buds. It was by far the best thing he had ever had in his mouth. He couldn’t help the moan as he swallowed.

Beau chuckled. The doctor turned away to shuffle some papers in his file but not before he saw the doctor’s knowing smile.

“That’s the best medicine I have ever tasted.” Kai wished his tongue could fit in the vial because he would have licked it clean.

Laughing harder, Beau wiped tears from his eyes. “Oh, honey. You are priceless.”

“What?” Getting no help from Beau, Kai looked at the doctor hoping for an explanation. “I don’t understand.”

“How do you feel?” The doctor asked, ignoring his question.

Kai thought for a moment. “Good.” He felt great, like pure energy. “Like my head has cleared.”

The doctor nodded. “Good. It will keep getting better for the next twelve hours and then it will start to slowly wear off. Twenty-four hours from now there will be a dramatic drop, and you will feel dazed and confused until you have more.”

“More? Why do I need that medication? Am I dying?” That would be just his freaking luck. He was finally free from his life, and it was because he was going to die.

The doctor pushed his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose. “You are not dying. Quite the opposite.”

What did that mean?
He waited for the doctor to continue.

“You are transitioning. You are becoming more than what you are currently.”

That didn’t explain a whole hell of a lot.
“Please spell it out.”

The doctor frowned at Beau. “You and Lafayette didn’t explain it to him at all?”

Looking embarrassed, Beau shrugged. “You do a much better job than we ever do.”

Rolling his eyes, the doctor sat on his desk and then stared at Beau until the man looked ready to scream. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose until his eyes finally landed on Kai. “You are transitioning. You are becoming a zombie.” He didn’t even pause to take a breath. “Not like in the movies, though.”

Kai couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His English must be off. He looked over at Beau to ask, “
Scheusal
?”

On a deep inhale, Beau nodded his head. “Scheusal. Yes. Zombie.”

“Is this a joke?” He asked, immediately suspicious. It couldn’t be real. Maybe it was one of those silly American television shows Ulrich made him watch where they played tricks on people.

“No,” the doctor answered him regaining his attention. “The upside is your body can live forever. Beau and Lafayette found you, and now you can get the help you need.”

“And what… the downside is I eat brains?” His voice rose up as he started to feel a little hysterical. All the zombie movies he had ever seen depicted rotting corpses searching for brains to eat until the townspeople put them out of their misery, not a pleasant future.

“Zombies do not eat brains.” The doctor sighed as if he said that a thousand times a day.

The doctor pointed his glasses at Beau. “I told you in nineteen-thirty-six that the White Zombie movie was going to affect us for generations.” Sighing in frustration he added, “And each generation seems to come out with more distortions to the zombie lore. Why can’t they just stick to vampires and werewolves?” He looked back at Kai with what seemed to be sympathy. “It might help if you think of it as a protein deficiency.”

Protein deficiency?
Kai felt as if he’d stepped into a nightmare, but he was determined to stay calm and make the best of it. “Just tell me the truth.”

Putting his glasses back on, the doctor clasped his hands in front of him as he cleared his throat. “Beau and Lafayette and others gather those of us going through the transition and ease the way for as many as possible.”

“So you are a zombie too?” Kai leaned away from the doctor as he asked.

“Yes. See, I didn’t eat your brains. I wasn’t even tempted to.” He smiled at his joke that wasn’t funny to Kai. “Lafayette and Beau didn’t eat your brains.”

Kai took a deep breath trying to calm his spinning thoughts. “You know this sounds crazy.”

Both Beau and the doctor nodded.

“So why did you bring me here?” Kai asked Beau.

Beau looked at the doctor for a moment. “By bringing you here, we can make sure you get what you need.”

“That medicine?” Kai surmised.

The pretty man didn’t answer so Kai directed his attention back to the doctor. Sighing, the doctor looked at Beau in annoyance for a moment then answered. “Zombies need a protein essence that is found in what I gave you.”

“Okay. So what was it?” Based on the doctor’s tone, Kai was positive he was not going to like the answer he would be given.

“Semen.”

“What?” Kai couldn’t have heard right. He asked Beau. “
Sperma
?
Samon
?” He focused to find the English word. “As in sperm? As in spunk? As in jism…as in…” He ran out of English vernacular to continue his list.

The doctor broke in. “Yes, ejaculate. You will need it once within a twenty-four hour period, or you’ll become disoriented and eventually your body will cease to function.”

Kai shook his head in disbelief. “I have to whacked off and eat it?”

“No!” Beau exclaimed loudly. “Unless of course you want to… we don’t judge.” It was almost funny that Beau wanted him to know that any and all sexual perversions and fetishes would not be looked down on. Kai looked at the doctor who cracked a smile at Beau’s complete misread of the situation.

The doctor answered the unasked question. “What you produce won’t give you the protein you need.”

But it didn’t stop Beau from continuing. “That’s why we started Club Zombie. You can get what you need and hopefully find your mate.”

“My mate?” Kai asked the doctor because he seemed to understand how upsetting this was to him.

“We each have a mate, and when you bond with them you will only need each other.”

Kai stared at Beau. “So Lafayette is your mate?”

Beau smiled dreamily and sighed. “Lafayette is everything to me. The very air that I breathe.”

The doctor shook his head, and appeared to barely restrain his need to roll his eyes at the lovesick man. “You can take that as a ‘yes’. But those of us who haven’t found our mates survive on others’ essences.”

“Come. You drink come.” Kai was hoping if he said it enough someone would say that wasn’t the case.

“Well… yes.” The doctor clearly couldn’t think of a better way of putting it.

Beau grinned happily as if he saw no problem with this situation. “You will love Club Zombie. There’s all different and exciting ways to fulfill your need.”

Kai frowned. “I’m not gay.”

“Of course you are,” Beau stated as if he knew better than Kai.

“No, actually I am not.” Kai had never been with a guy. Whenever his mind went in that direction he just simply changed gears and thought about something else.

The doctor folded his arms looked like he went deep into thought while staring at the far wall filled with books.

“Is that possible?” Beau asked clearly shocked.

The doctor turned towards Beau for a moment and shrugged. “Everything is possible regardless of the implausibility of it.” He inspected Kai with eyes that seemed to see everything. “We might never have experienced this strand. I will do more research.”

“Do that. ‘Cause I’m not gay.” Kai restated so there was no misunderstanding. “What else?”

Beau shrugged and seemed very put out by the notion that Kai was straight. “Well, after the transition begins you need
medicine
to function as you normally would. Transition usually begins on the nineteenth birthday.”

“And after a zombie finds his mate?” He asked, hoping there was a way out.

But the doctor shut that door to hope. “You’ll still need
medicine
but only from your mate.”

Did the doctor think calling it ‘medicine’ would help him deal with the idea better? Kai just couldn’t understand why the stuff in the vial tasted so good.
“Anything else?” He wanted it all out on the table so he could deal with the crazy all at once.

Beau shrugged and looked at the doctor. “Without a mate, once the transition is complete zombies lose the ability to reach climax.”

“What? When?” Kai raised his voice.

“At age twenty-three. But our functioning returns when we find our mate.” Beau quickly turned to reassure him.