"Now then, your reward. I can equip you with a decade worth of gasoline, bullets, a vehicle, five vehicles." She trailed off.
"Yeah, we'll take all that," Addy said.
"Take them where do you think?" La Reina asked.
"Somewhere without zombies," Warren said.
"And where's that?" She asked.
"You have zombies here," Warren said.
"Sure, we do. But thanks to you, not for long. You see the potential here, yes? Well, I see potential in you. So I could send you back into the apocalypse or I can offer you a place here." She said.
"As a part of your drug cartel?" Addy asked.
"As part of a new society. The beginning of the first post-zombie society. The cartel, the organization is only a means to that end." La Reina offered.
"Seems too good to be true," Warren said.
"It isn't. It's a small price to pay to begin again. Sacrifices are often made for the greater good. But the choice is entirely up to you." La Reina took a couple of steps away from us slowly.
"Take the offer," Vasquez whispered in her ear.
"What? Why?" Warren whispered back.
"Zeros don't give options. If you take the bounty, you'll never live to see it." Vasquez whispered.
"You are... more generous than I could have hoped for. We'll stay." Warren said.
"Good. I am very pleased. Now there's just the little formality of an examination." She said.
"Like a personality test?" I asked.
"Not exactly." La Reina smirked.
Bags were thrown over our heads and our hands were bound. We were brought into another room and the bags were taken off and our hands untied.
"A hora" now. Hector's voice rang out over us. "Como somos" As we were. Hector said.
"What kind of test is this?" Warren asked.
"It's called kill the zombies. Last man or woman standing gets to join the ranks of our loyal order of La Reina De Los Muertos." he explained.
"What if we don't want to play?" Warren asked.
"Then we shoot you." He said flatly. Warren walked up to the table with weapons. She picked up brass knuckles and a knife.
"Game on," Warren said. Chatter broke out among the people. We each grabbed weapons. I went for two medium-sized blades.
"What are they doing?" Doc asked.
"Betting against us." Vasquez and I said at the same time.
"Round one." Hector said.
"Round one? How many rounds?" Doc asked. The buzzing of the door being unlocked drew our attention away from Doc's question. I was the closest to the door, 10k being next.
"I got this." Addy said as she took the first zombie no sweat. The men behind Escorpion began to chat again and it looked like some people betted against her.
"This will be the final round." He said. The door buzzed again. Nine zombies were at the door. I took a step back. Nine zombies, six of us. Okay.
"I'm gonna do you a favor," Hector announced. "To speed things up, why don't we kill the lights?" Shit. "Las luces." Lights.
"Alright people, Let's win," Warren yelled. We attacked. I couldn't see the others but I heard them. A zombie grabbed onto my arm and I piked it with a blade. I was pulled onto the ground by two other zombies but my blades gave them mercy. I stood up and listened for another's movement. I heard a chain being used and went into that direction piking the zombie.
The lights were cut back on and I was in front of 10k. We all had blood on us.
"Damn. Blood looks good on you" I said quietly. He blushed and gave me a small smile. We all turned to La Reina who was now joined by Escorpion's side.
"Wow. No wonder you survived so long. We could really use some Zeros like you." She said.
"We get to join your club now?" Warren asked. They took us to the showers and then treated us nicely. Warm showers, new clothes, spa days. We were living the good life.
Doc, Addy, and Vasquez were in the room when I walked in. Addy's outfit was similar to mine. She had a red leather jacket, black skirt, skeleton leggings, whereas I had a Black leather jacket, black skirt, and skeleton gloves. Her hair was curled and pinned up neatly. Mine was freshly showered and naturally curly. Doc was dressed in a fancy suit and his beard was curled, along with his hair. Vasquez wore a black velvet jacket and a black tee shirt.
"Damn," Doc exclaimed when Warren walked in wearing her leather jacket and pants. She even had a black corset on.
"Right? We look so shiny." Addy commented.
"I feel weird," 10k said walking in. He was wearing all black as well. The jacket, his shirt, pants, even the flannel under his jacket was black. They exchanged his red banana to a black one and gave him biker gloves.
"Yeah, I do too," Warren said. The door opened and Hector cleared his throat.
"Come with me." He said. one of his minions brought out a bag and shook it. The bags were put over our heads and we were brought to another area. We were unmasked and applause erupted. Looking down off the balcony where we stood, people were dressed up and wearing Dia De Los Muertos clothing.
"Zeros! Our queen, La Reina De La Muerte, demands your attention!" Escorpion said. She lifted her red lace vail and looked out at her people.
"My people. We have suffered for a very long time. The lives that we once knew have been torn apart. Most of the world has fallen into darkness. But not our world. Under the protection and the guidance of Santa Muerte, a miracle. El Murfi has been delivered to our doorstep." She announced gesturing to the floor below. People began to cheer.
"Thanks to the valiant effort of Lieutenant Roberta Warren and her courageous crew. And so tonight, we will give them the greatest honor that we know. We will make them one of us." She said. Our weapons were brought back out to us, fully loaded and cleaned.
"And now, we celebrate. For my beautiful daughter, Nikkole Alverez. Has been returned to us." She said and turned away. My mouth dropped and I let out a shaky breath. The knife slipped out of my hand and fell to the floor.
"What," I said barely above a whisper.