Floyd & Mikki (Book 2): Zombie Slayers (Dawn of the Living) Read online

  Floyd & Mikki 2: Zombie Slayers

  Dawn of the Living

  by Joseph Tatner

  Copyright 2014 by Joseph Tatner

  www.fmzombies.com

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy.

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  ~~~~~

  Don’t miss the first book in the series:

  Floyd & Mikki: Zombie Hunters

  Love should be explosive!

  Stay tuned for Book 3:

  Floyd & Mikki 3: Zombie Destroyers

  Zombie Trek

  ~~~~~

  AMAZON REVIEWS OF BOOK 1:

  “Floyd and Mikki: Zombie Hunters is an amazingly funny book, a zombie book that is so totally different from every other one on the market. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at their antics. Joseph Tatner has a brilliant turn of phrase, a fantastic aptitude for telling a story and is very funny with it. Amazing story, great characters and a really good plot all combine to make this an explosive and hilarious novel. Despite all of the zombie movies out there, this is one I would love to see on the big screen.”

  ~

  “What a great read! Floyd and Mikki is by far the best zombie book I have ever read. The unlikely couple that pair up and bring us laughs with lots of hand grenades and humor.”

  ~

  “It's action-packed and filled with humor. I love a strong female character and Mikki fit the bill. This was a fun read that kept me entertained and turning the pages. I was so happy to read that there will be additional books.”

  ~

  “The only reason I downloaded was because my dog's name is Floyd and it sounded like a fun read. I was surprised how much I loved it! Great story, suspense, humor, love and zombies! Can't wait for the next book!”

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  P.O. Box 3115

  Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814

  www.mkpubs.com

  First edition, September 2014

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without written permission.

  ~~~~~

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s own warped imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons (whether living, dead, or undead) is purely coincidental. Nothing in this book is intended to disrespect or disparage any person, place or thing. Knowledge of military hardware and development is based on open source material and this book reveals no known state secrets. Any similarity of the events in this book to an actual zombie apocalypse, present or future, would really suck.

  ~~~~~

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Start

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Join the Floyd & Mikki Army!

  F&M Update

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Floyd and Mikki walked slowly away from New California Haven. They were in no hurry. Their social calendar was empty.

  They had no place to go, no place to stay, and no idea of what lie ahead. They were low on ammo with no transportation, no maps, and no plan. They had little food and water and were lost in a city that neither one had ever seen before. And yet, they were perfectly happy. They were perfectly calm. Neither one had even the slightest hint of concern. They had stared Death in the face, and kicked his bony ass.

  Each of them had started out the same way two years ago: lost in a world gone mad with nothing but their wits to survive. No friends to turn to. No one to trust. Hell, no one left alive! Zombies lurked around every corner, determined to enlist them into the ranks of the Undead. Humans gone insane or driven by power and greed would murder you for your boots. Yet they had survived. Each one…alone.

  They had just lost nearly everything they had built over the previous two years, but they had two distinct advantages this time out. First, they had the kind of wisdom that only comes from experience. Reality is a harsh teacher. Second (and more importantly) they had each other, and they had proven to be quite a formidable team.

  Downtown Long Beach wasn’t as populated as Los Angeles. The buildings weren’t as tall and or as closely crammed together, but there were still thousands of places to hide and thousands of creepers to hide in them.

  Floyd and Mikki came to Ocean Boulevard and made their way through a little park to a long strip of sidewalk on the beach. The two followed the cement path as it stretched to the East as far as they could see. The sound of waves beating up the sand on their right assured them that any threat was far away. Zombies weren’t big on laying out at the beach to get a suntan.

  “Hey, Floyd. You think they’s still watchin’ us on them satellites?”

  “I reckon. We’re their number one Reality TV stars, remember?”

  “Good. That’s what I thought.” Mikki raised her hand and gave her middle finger to the sky.

  Floyd laughed. “You really are somethin’ else. You know that?” Then he gave a little wave to the sky (using all five fingers).

  “Yeah, I know.”

  They continued along slowly, inside hands holding on to each other and outside hands clutching their shotguns, Bonnie and Clyde. The only truly safe haven they were ever likely to find slowly receded into the distance as they walked farther and farther away. The two Zombie
Hunters had traded security for an unknown future. They had abandoned all hope of a normal life for a zombie-filled, death-around-every-corner, God-knows-what-we’ll-run-into-next, insane, upside-down world. Somehow, it all seemed just right.

  “I reckon it’s just you, me, and about a 10 million zombies now, Floyd.”

  “I reckon so, Mikki.”

  “I told you, you can call me Michelle.”

  “I know, and I will. When the time is right. But you’ll always be Mikki to me.”

  “Suit yerself. Hey, Floyd?”

  “Yeah, Mikki?”

  “How come you never screamed at me for blowin’ up yer truck?

  “Come on, Mikki. We both knew it wasn’t goin’ nowhere once that transmission snapped. Besides, it didn’t seem like we were gonna live long enough for it to matter.”

  “Yeah, things looked pretty bad, didn’t they?”

  “No shit, Sherlock.” Floyd laughed.

  “Hey! No stealin’ my line! But we made it anyways, didn’t we? Guess we really shoulda thanked them NCH guys before we left, huh?”

  “Oh, I’m sure we’ll see them again. I don’t know where, and I don’t know when, but they ain’t gonna forget about us. Besides, I’m thinkin’ we should head back to Emerald Valley Campground. Them folks will need help gettin’ here.”

  “Hell, Floyd, we don’t even know how we got here. We almost didn’t.”

  “Yeah, but however we get there from here is how we’ll get them back here from there.”

  “I don’t know what the hell you just said, but whatever.”

  As the city started closing in on their left, the two kept to whatever open areas they could find, avoiding any close buildings or dark areas where brain-eaters might lurk. It was still pretty early in the morning. They had seen a few shamblers hiding out in buildings, but the two walked quietly to avoid attracting attention. Of course, that wouldn’t help at all once the sun went down and the neighbors came out to party.

  They had no truck, no place to stay, and no idea how they’d get back on the road. Floyd had lost all of his precious maps in Freedom’s explosive demise. All they knew was to head east.

  “Hey, Floyd! Lifeguard tower!”

  “Good call, Mikki.”

  The two made their way across a patch of sand to a rather large tower built on stilts. A raked roof topped walls made of glass, no doubt offering a great view of the area in all directions. It looked like it could have held a dozen people easily. Climbing the steep stairs slowly and quietly, shotguns pointed ahead, Floyd and Mikki were ready for anything. Theoretically, zombies couldn’t climb ladders, but who knew if someone waiting above had turned zombie long ago?

  Arriving at the top floor, they looked through the windows and saw no one and no thing inside. Even so, they opened the door carefully, stepped through, and checked every possible place to hide. Nothing. Mikki was actually disappointed. The two removed their helmets and relaxed a little.

  “Here you go, Mikki. Now you got your own binoculars.” Floyd picked the set of lenses off a table and handed them to her. He carefully examined a large map of the surrounding area that was laid out on another table while Mikki tried them out.

  “Thanks, Floyd! These are great! Not too big but pretty powerful. Don’t suppose they got any grenades up here, do ya?”

  Floyd laughed. “I doubt it. Besides, you still got a few left hangin’ on you.”

  “Yeah, but you know those won’t last me long. Hey, look! You can see the Queen Mary from here! I mighta stayed back at NCH if they let us live there. Always wanted to take me a cruise.”

  “Yeah, she’s a beautiful ship alright,” Floyd agreed, looking through his binoculars at the majestic old lady. The grande dame of British ships. “That ship ain’t goin’ nowhere though. They gutted it when they made it a tourist attraction.”

  “Well, I prob’ly wouldn’t like it there anyway. That Colonel said it was full o’ politicians. Hey, Floyd, a radio! You still got that piece o’ paper in yer pocket with the frequency for the campground? Maybe we can reach somebody and let ‘em know we’re comin’ for ‘em.”

  “If it works. Let’s hope we’re close enough to the NCH grid that we got power. That must be why that hospital we was danglin’ from had live electric cables.”

  “Oh, they got power alright, Floyd. Look! Little fridge.” Mikki removed a glove and laid her hand against the outside of the door. “Feels cold, too.”

  Floyd flipped the power switch and the radio lit right up. He fiddled with the dials until he found the right frequency. He was about to try the mic when Mikki interrupted him.

  “Floyd, you ain’t gonna believe this.”

  “What?”

  “There is a God, and he likes you.” She just stood there with an impish grin on her face.

  “What? What are you babblin’ about?”

  “Remember when we was playing Zombie Shootin’ Gallery in that supermarket in Groverstown?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Remember what we talked about?”

  “Oh, for God’s sake, Mikki, we talked about a lotta things. What are you gettin’ at?”

  Mikki held up a bottle. A brown bottle. There was no mistaking what it was, but she told him, anyway.

  “Cold beer!”

  Chapter Two

  Mikki grabbed a chair and snuggled up close to Floyd as he savored his beer. She had taken off her jacket and laid her head on his shoulder. The little stuffed Oh Hell Kitty doll she had carried in her jacket sat on the table, watching them. Floyd had a direct line of sight down into Mikki’s cleavage and was admiring the view. She noticed where he was looking and smiled.

  “Why don’t we just stay here, Floyd? The sun’ll keep the creepers away during the day and we’re too far away to get their attention at night. And they can’t make it across the street with that cement side barrier or they woulda been out here when we arrived. We got power, a toilet, a shower and even a fridge!”

  “Live like a couple a beach bums, huh?”

  “Sure! Why not?”

  “You know why not. We’re low on ammo and almost outta food. And somehow we gotta get back to that campground like we promised. At least there’s some water in the fridge. I never got around to fillin’ our water flasks when we was at NCH. Didn’t think we’d be needin’ ‘em any time soon.”

  “Yeah, I know, but a girl can dream, cain’t she? For just one minute, I’d just like to pretend like we’re married, livin’ on the beach in one o’ them nice houses we can see out there. White picket fence and a dog named Dave.”

  “Dave?” Floyd burst out laughing.

  “Sure, why not?” Mikki smiled, grinning ear to ear. “Good dog name. Besides, we both know that in about eight hours it’s gonna get dark and everything’s gonna fall to shit again.”

  Floyd watched the smile fade from Mikki’s face and felt sad. Ever since he had told her he loved her, she had changed somehow. She wasn’t exactly clingy, but she seemed a little less…independent. She was more touchy-feely. She was more giggly and girly. She certainly smiled more. He liked seeing her happy and wished he could find some way to keep her smiling. But that wasn’t likely unless he found another truckload of hand grenades.

  On the other hand, he was starting to worry that she might be losing her edge. That could get them both killed. He finished the beer and pondered these thoughts silently while staring through the empty bottle, watching how the light reflected through it. The world looked different through the brown glass. Not any better or worse…just different. Finally, he set the bottle down and reached for the radio microphone.

  Floyd didn’t think lifeguards were supposed to drink on duty and presumed that beer in the tower was probably taboo. Whoever had brought it undoubtedly was beyond worrying about being disciplined about it now, one way or the other. His or her supervisors might not have approved, but to Floyd, that lifeguard was a hero.

  “Time to see if I can reach the campground,” Floyd said aloud.

&nbs
p; Mikki stopped him, taking his hand as he reached for the mic. That crazy smile was back on her face that told Floyd she was up to something, but he was never able to predict what. When her lips pressed into his neck in a passionate kiss, he nearly jumped out of his chair. What she did next surprised him even more. As well as he has learned to expect anything and everything from Mikki, she was still able to shock the hell out of him at times. This was one of those times

  Giggling like she had gone insane, she stood up and pulled of her shirt. Then she pulled off her bra, scattering Saint Margaret’s holy cards all over the place.

  “Oops!” she said, pausing for only a moment. “Sorry!” she called up to heaven, before resuming her original activity.

  Before Floyd’s mind could grasp what was happening, she had unzipped and thrown off her boots, stripped off her pants, dropped her panties and stood provocatively before him in the nude. Just as Floyd thought he had finally figured out her plan, she blew his mind even further by blowing him a kiss and running out of the tower, totally stark, butt-ass naked!

  “Catch me if you can!” she squealed.

  Floyd ran after her, thinking she had finally, completely, utterly lost her mind. He was genuinely terrified. She ran down to the edge of the beach and straight into the water. She screeched as the water chilled her flesh, but plunged in anyway. After a moment, her head popped up again and she bobbed around waist-deep in the ocean.

  “Damn, it’s cold! But it feels great!”

  Floyd could tell the water was cold from the way Mikki’s nipples pointed at him and screamed hello. “What the hell are you doin’?” he asked.

  “Swimming, dumbass! Cain’t you swim?”

  “I can swim. But we got things to do!”

  “Seriously? Like what, Floyd? What things do we gotta do? Did you mean what you said back in the hospital? About not dyin’? Well, it’s time to live, baby! Come join me and let’s live!”

  Floyd looked around and the beach was completely empty, but he couldn’t wrap his mind around what Mikki was saying. “No! Hell no! I ain’t getting’ in there!”

  “Oh, Flooooyd!” she called out coquettishly. “I’ll make it worth yer whiiiiile! Don’t you want these, baby?” She held up her breasts in her hands and laughed at him. Then, she tried mocking him. “Big tough man afraid of a little water?”