Zombified (Episode 1): Wooneyville by Matt Di Spirito

kind of mutated bacteria.  Something that existed in the body naturally."
    "Then it might not have been something spread, like a germ, but something that changed things inside of us?  What, like, radiation?" 
    "Mmm-hmmm."  Dana was fading, barely able to keep her head from flopping around on the headrest. 
    "Come on, baby!"  Joey shook her.  "What could have caused a mutation of something in the human body?"
    "I dunno, Joey.  Kelly didn't have a chance to figure it out.  They got her while she was trying to get out of the lab."  Dana sipped the water, choking and coughing. 
    "Go slow, baby." Joey rubbed her back.  "What do you think?"
    "It could be radiation, but I dunno from what.  Or maybe something in the food or water, some other pathogen that chan… mutat… uhhhhh …" Dana collapsed on Joey's lap.  Her skin was cold and clammy.
    "Baby, no!"  Joey slammed the brakes.  Bad Betty ground to a halt, ripping a swath of grass from someone's front lawn. 
    Joey lifted Dana to a sitting position, cupping her face in his hands.  "Come on, Dana.  Stay with me, baby!"  He patted her cheeks and gently shook her.  Her eyes rolled under the lids and opened briefly--they were bloodshot.
    "I can't feel my arms," she murmured.  Her breathing was erratic, coming in short gasps and long, pause-filled exhales.  Dana's lips had traces of blue-black lines at the edges. 
    Joey unbuckled her, shifting her against his hip and holding her tight against his chest and shoulder.  He kissed the top of her head, letting tears splash into her dirty blonde hair. 
    "Don't you die on me," he said.  Joey squeezed her tight in darkness of the cabin.  Bad Betty chortled and purred, but it wasn't the only noise Joey heard.
    UHHHHH… GUHHHH…
    The neighborhood vomited zombies from the close-built houses; some fell out of windows with a crash of glass.  One of them clawed its way into the bed of Bad Betty.  It started beating on the rear window of the cab; more were palm slapping and head-butting the doors. 
    Joey blocked it out, savoring a few precious moments with Dana--while she was still Dana.  He kissed her head again and, keeping her held close, put Bad Betty into gear. 
    The truck bolted backwards, sending the zombie in the bed flying through the night.  Joey slapped it into drive and rammed through the milling groups; the truck plopped over the curb and onto the street.
    Joey tore through yards, crushing garden gnomes and splattering zombies, on his hell-bent drive out of downtown Wooneyville.
     
     

CHAPTER 10
     
     
    Bad Betty tore up the driveway, taking the S-curve at a reckless speed, and ground to a halt inches from a closed garage door.  Joey flung open the door, sliding Dana over his shoulder, and hopped out of the truck.
    "Ma!"  Joey kicked at the front door.  "It's Joey!  Open up!"
    The door finally opened.  A short, wiry-haired lady with thick spectacles stood in the backlit door.  She had a double barrel leveled at Joey's chest.
    "Put the fuckin' gun away, Ma--it's me!"
    "Joey!  You're alive!"  The shock on her face turned into joy.  Then she spotted Dana hanging lifeless in Joey's arms.  "Dana!  What the hell happened?"
    "Long story, Ma."  Joey shoved his way inside, passed through a sliding glass door, and laid Dana on the sofa.  Candles were strewn around on tables, windowsills, and shelves.  "She's sick, Ma.  She got attacked and bit.  I don't know… She's not doing good."
    Joey stood up and his mom hugged him fiercely.  She started hacking and sputtering on his shoulder, pulling away to grab the doorframe as the fit ran its course. 
    "You chain smokin' again, Gigi?"  That was the family pet name for Joey's Ma, an affectionate reference to her full name: Gisele Giovanna. 
    "With all the shit that's going on out there!  Hell yes I'm chain smoking!"  She pulled a smoke from her apron pocket and lit up.  "Good thing I have a stockpile in the garage."  She took a deep pull and