Raven Moon by Eva Gordon Page B

turned. Other primates like Rhesus monkeys and baboons never became infected. Something about chimpanzee DNA being so close to humans.”
    Rave wiped a spot of perspiration from her forehead. “Good to know.”
    He stared at his feet and shrugged. “At least you can show the video to others and they can hunt down the rest.”
    Rave raised a brow. “Hmm. I don’t think it’ll be much of a problem shooting the chimpanzombies.”
    He sighed in pure defeat. “When I die, I too will be just as fast and strong, plus with a fierce pair of canines. The good news is once they get a hold of a human, there is never enough left to rise as a zombie. The danger is if they bite and their victim escapes, like me. For humanity’s sake arrange shooters to eradicate them before it’s too late.”
    She patted him on his shoulder. “We’re on it.”
    “Trust me you’ll wish for the good old days of slow shambling zombies.”
    Rave scoffed. “I long for the good old days of no zombies except those only seen on B movies.” She narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure bitten humans acquire ape strength?”
    “The man who bit me was more ape than human. Big and fast enough to chase cars and jump on trees like the jungle was his natural habitat.” He handed her the camcorder. “It’s all on tape.”
    Rave took it. Dora would find this useful and it might be a good idea to bring a team to kill the chimp infected ones before their world turned into Planet of the Zombie Apes. “Fortunately for shifters, we are immune to the Z-phage.” The chimpanzombies would never reach a bird in flight and no way could they defeat werewolves, at least the alphas.
    Gary scoffed. “Immune? Now I know I’m hallucinating.”
    “Have you seen them eat other animals?”
    “No, but then again we destroyed all of our animals a while back. They were sure fond of both human and chimpanzee flesh.”
    Beccan stiffened. “We’ve got company.”
    A large swarm of zombies, the George Romero version of slow zombies shambled toward them.
    “Can you walk?”
    Gary winced as he hobbled. “I’ll try.”
    “Beccan, find a car and bring him. Cashel and I will meet you at the hotel.”
    “Yes, Princess.”
    Gary gave her a double take. “Princess?”
    Rave rolled her eyes. “It’s an inside joke.”
    Cashel took her aside. “Taking him is not a good idea. He may turn any day.”
    “We’ll secure him on another floor. If what he says is true, we need to get every detail and eradicate this new threat.”
    Once at the hotel, they locked him in the hotel’s gated underground parking lot. Her men immediately went to work to bring him bedding.
    Rave turned to Gary. “Where do you want the mattress?”
    “By the elevator.” Zombies were not bright enough to push buttons.
    Beccan and Cashel set the twin mattress down and then she padded it with borrowed comforters. “We’ll get you food and water from the kitchen, mostly canned food I’m sure, but I don’t think you’re too picky.” She bit her lower lip. He seemed like such a nice guy with a once promising career. “I wish we could do more for you.”
    “Thanks.” He patted his gun. “If I think I’m turning, I’m ready.”
    Rave braved a smile. “If you don’t have a chance, we will.”
    He sighed dejectedly. “I’ll hold you to that promise.”
    After they returned to their room, Rave took out the camcorder, sat on the luxurious couch, and plopped her boots up on the footrest. She pressed play. Enraged apes ran amok. They consumed a handler to molecular bits. She violently drew back and almost dropped the camera. “Oh shit, this was taken from the 28 Days Later moviescript.”
    Cashel leaned. “Never heard of it.”
    Rave shot him a long-suffering look. “What kind of movies did you watch before the Bane?” Actually, the older man spent his down time reading and never went out, not even on a date. Had he devoted his life to her family to the point of sucking out any chance of finding