Zombie Fever: Outbreak by B.M. Hodges Page B

competition. He had to shut her down now.
    Sheldon slammed his hand down on the table and everyone snapped to attention, “Do you want to be disqualified?” Is that what you want?” Sheldon’s voice rose so that everyone could hear. All eyes were on him, “Read your contract, Lydia, we can disqualify participants for any reason. Even for complaining too much. Back off!”
    There was a momentary silence as we watched Lydia’s reaction to being told off. She got this sour look on her face, turned away and slinked back to Derrik, lighting a cigarette and dabbing a moist towel on the scrapes blazing trails across his right knee.
    Unconcerned about the argument, Norris guffawed in the corner as Quaid whispered and motioned towards me and Jamie, making some crude gestures that no doubt carried a sexual connotation. The cameramen went back to their conversations in Malay, comparing their assignments and arguing, which one was working with the best team, with Felix the focus of envy for getting to travel with the two young beauties.
    We finished our noodles and waited for Sheldon to start the next` event.
    Like before, the teams gathered in front of the rally cars and were handed envelopes for the next race. I was going to drive the next leg, so I got to read the instructions from the large cardboard card into the lens of the camera, “You will now proceed to the Gunang Ledang Rendezvous Retreat and take part in a series of physically strenuous competitions. You’d better hurry, though. The last team to finish the events will be eliminated. For now, practice the art of patience and wait for your departure time to be called.”
    Jamie gazed at me lovingly for the imaginary audience and gave me a big camera hug.
    “You drive,” She kissed my cheek, “I’ve been to Gunang Ledang Rendezvous Retreat before. My family used to holiday there when I was in primary school. Don’t you worry, I’ll plot a course. You just put that pedal to the metal.”
    Felix gave us the cut signal.
    Now there was nothing to do but wait for our turn.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Tucker and Yvonne kissing intimately for the benefit of their cameraman’s camcorder with slow caresses and loving stares into each other’s eyes. I nudged Jamie and she stuck her finger in her mouth and made gagging sounds.
    Derrik had about twenty little plasters stuck to the scrapes on his legs. What a wimp, I thought. Lydia was beside him, now smoking an extra long menthol cigarette, puffs of smoke drifting out of her obnoxious mouth over the hoods of the remaining five cars awaiting their turn as the Ang Moh’s sped away.
    “Look!” Ahmed gasped and pointed to departing Rally Car 4, “They’re going the wrong way!”
    Ted chuckled, hacked up a wad of phlegm and spat on the ground, “Stupid Ang Mohs. They know nothing.”
    On the contrary, the Ang Mohs knew exactly where they were going.
    Norris had purchased literally dozens of maps of Malaysia the day before the race and had been studying the roadways of the Johor state late into the previous night. In fact, all day he’d taken advantage of every opportunity to sneak away to study various routes and roadways. Even when he went to the toilet, he’d slip in a few minutes of road revision within the confines of a bathroom stall. Norris’s plan was to anticipate each day’s events beforehand and study potential areas in a radius around where they’d possibly drive on the next event. It was a solid plan considering the other teams had no plan at all. Quaid and Norris hid their maps well, deciding the night before that their best strategy would be to pretend they didn’t really care about the competition, and open and friendly with the other competitors but in reality take every advantage they came across. After all, it was a million dollars.
    As for driving in the wrong direction, Quaid was actually driving to a newly constructed strip mall that wasn’t on any map except for a recently published