TURNABOUT

Natalia called Max and Harley, who were at Monti’s workshop. They tried to reach Ernie, but he wasn’t answering his communicator. The boys promised to meet the girls down at the pier in Bludgeon Town.

With lungs burning and legs aching, Natalia and Raven splashed through puddles and skirted around beggars, hoping to avoid trouble as they raced through the underbelly of the city. It wasn’t long before they could hear waves crashing against the rocky shoreline.

“We’re getting close,” Natalia said between pants. They had stopped to catch their breaths beneath the awning of a barbershop. Across the street, a long pier stretched toward the horizon. It was lighted with gas lamps hanging on wire poles, but they couldn’t see much of anything else through the haze.

A dog started yapping, and its cries set off a chain reaction until the streets echoed with the sounds of upset canines. Then a horse tried to break free from its tether. It yanked its head and kicked with its hooves, but it didn’t have any luck.

“The way those animals are spooked, I bet the zombies are close,” Natalia said as she started to cross the street.

As Natalia made her way down the pier, she imagined undead sailors with worms slithering in their eye sockets, but she pushed those thoughts away and kept going. “Ernie?” she said, whispering loudly. “Are you out here?”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Raven said. “If those things show up, we’re going to be trapped.”

Fishing boats were moored to the pier, all of them empty as they swayed with the current. The wood beams creaked, and on one of the ships, the door to the tiny cabin kept opening and closing in the wind.

A wooden frigate stood twenty feet above the water. Its red sails billowed against the rolling banks of fog as seagulls glided around the masts, but by the time the girls reached the end of the dock, they hadn’t seen a single soul.

That’s when they heard footfalls on the planks. A moment later, two silhouettes appeared. They were walking through the fog toward them. Next came the agonizing moans that carried over the water. Natalia grabbed Raven’s arm.

“Wait,” Raven said, her eyes narrowing as she craned her neck. “Those aren’t zombies.”

“No kidding,” Harley said as he walked out of the fog.

Natalia let go of Raven before running over to give Harley a hug.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said before embracing Max. “I guess I’m glad neither of you are… well, zombies. Did you call Logan?”

“Not yet,” Max said. “I think we need to do this one on our own.”

“He’s trying to show Ernie that we’re there for him,” Harley said. “All I know is that whatever we do, we need to hurry. The zombies are only a couple of blocks away, and there are more than we could count.”

A pelican landed on the dock nearby, startling Natalia. Then it morphed into Sprig, who started licking her front paw.

“Have you seen Ernie?” Max asked.

“We haven’t seen anybody,” Natalia said.

“Here,” Harley said, handing Natalia a small pistol.

“What is it?”

“A freeze ray. It’s supposed to stop zombies.”

“What about me?” Raven asked.

“It’s just a prototype, so we only have one,” Harley said before handing her a crowbar. “The rest of us get these.”

“Gee, thanks,” Raven said, letting it hang at her side.

“You aren’t going to use those, are you?” Natalia asked.

Harley looked at her sideways. “How else are you supposed to kill a zombie?”

“I don’t think they’re zombies,” Natalia said. “Someone is controlling them, kind of like puppets.”

“Either way, they’re still dead, so they won’t feel a thing,” Harley said.

“I still don’t think we should hurt them,” Natalia said, unwilling to let it go. “They used to be people’s parents or grandparents…. I even saw kids. It’s just… I don’t know. It’s wrong, that’s all.”

“What about Smoke?” Max asked.

“What about me?” Smoke said as he flashed into view, blocking their path back to the shore.

Harley raised his crowbar as Sprig morphed into a white tiger and stood protectively in front of Max.

“I’d be careful if I were you,” Smoke said. He disappeared before popping up in front of Harley. Then he wrapped his hand around the crowbar before vanishing again. He reappeared back where he started and dropped the crowbar into the water.

Sprig roared.

“Before this is over, Von Strife is going to turn on you,” Natalia said. “He’s going to rip your soul out and stuff it into a machine, just like he did with Robert.”

“Von Strife doesn’t want to kill anybody,” Smoke said. “He’s saving us. Don’t you get it?”

“He is a liar,” Sprig said.

Smoke sneered at the faerie. “What would you know? You’re nothing more than a wild animal that can do a few parlor tricks.”

“Tell that to Robert,” Raven said as Sprig revealed her fangs.

Smoke closed his eyes and took two deep breaths. Then he looked straight at Raven. “Look, I’m here to help.”

“Sure you are.”

“The day is going to come when that faerie essence takes over your body,” Smoke said. “You won’t remember your name… where you live…. You won’t even recognize your own parents. Is that what you want?”

Raven only glared.

There was a chorus of groaning as a mass of bodies stumbled down the pier.

“The only person who can help us is Von Strife,” Smoke said.

“No, thanks,” Raven said. “I’d rather get my brains eaten.”

“Don’t say I didn’t offer.” With that, Smoke was gone.

“Get behind me,” Max said as the first zombie broke out of the fog. He reached down and twisted the iron ring on his finger. It shimmered before turning into the gauntlet.

“There’re too many,” Natalia said. She thought about jumping over the side of the dock, but when she looked down, all she saw was angry water swirling against the rocks.

“Don’t give up on me,” Max said. Blue flames ignited around his gauntlet. The zombies stopped, confused by the strange fire, but their confusion didn’t last.

The first zombies slouched as they ambled with arms raised. Rotting skin clung to their bodies, and some were missing ears, lips, and even eyelids. With each step they took, the world seemed to grow darker, more hopeless.

Natalia swallowed hard before raising the ray gun.

“Shoot them!” Harley shouted.

The zombie closest to her was enormous. The hair from his balding head had fallen away, revealing pieces of his scalp. He was missing one eye, and a black liquid dripped down his face and onto his white shirt. His arms flailed as he dragged his back foot toward her.

Natalia could smell the rot of death. She screamed, and then she fired.

Liquid ice sprang from the barrel of the pistol before hitting the dead man. Ice crystals spread across his chest, encasing his entire body. He howled as he tried to break free, but he couldn’t. Then he fell off the dock and into the raging water.

Natalia took aim and hit a second zombie. Then she shot at an old woman in a flowered dress who was missing most of her teeth, along with her left arm.

Max unleashed a stream of blue fire from his gauntlet, creating a wall in front of the zombies. The mass of the undead groaned louder, fearful of the flames that crackled in front of them. Sprig pawed at the air in warning, showing the undead her massive claws.

There was shouting coming from the end of the pier. The fog was too thick for any of them to see much of anything, but something was upsetting the zombies. As one, they turned before dragging themselves back to shore.

“Where are they going?” Natalia asked. The ray gun was shaking in her hands.

“I don’t know, but this is our chance,” Max said. He grabbed Natalia by the sleeve before stepping over the dying flames. Then he ran to shore.

The streets were filled with pandemonium as six costumed changelings drew the zombies away from the pier. A dozen of the undead lay frozen on the ground, victims of Nadya, the changeling who could turn moisture into ice. Yi was there as well. His body was shrouded in flames as he pushed the zombies toward a cliff that overlooked the water.

There was a blur of motion, and suddenly Ernie was standing in front of them. “What are you guys doing here?” He sounded upset.

“We came to help you fight zombies,” Natalia said.

The blare of sirens cut through the night. Ernie looked over his shoulder to see the first of the flashing lights. “You better go before the constables show up.”

“What about you?” Natalia asked.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Come with us.”

Ernie bit his lower lip. “I can’t,” he said. “I’m not going to leave anyone behind.”

“But—”

“We’ll be fine.”

“Natalia thinks a changeling is controlling the zombies,” Max said. “If you take him out, that should stop them.”

Ernie paused. Then he nodded. “Thanks.”

“Smoke’s here, too.”

“We’re ready for him,” Ernie said before taking off in a blur.

“Let’s go,” Max said as his gauntlet turned back into a ring.

“Yes,” Sprig agreed. “We should leave this place.”

“We’re not going to abandon them, are we?” Natalia asked. “We can help.”

“You heard him,” Max said. “They don’t need us.”

“Max!” Natalia shouted.

Max spun around as one of the zombies reached for him. The man’s hair and beard were wild, and patches of his skin were torn away, revealing yellowed bone. Max ducked out of the way, infuriating the dead man.

Something grabbed Max’s ankle. He tried to kick free and heard the crunch of bone as his heel connected with something, but he couldn’t see who or what it was. More hands grabbed at him. Max looked up to see the remains of an elderly woman whose arm was swinging like a pendulum while her other arm reached toward Natalia.

Sprig swatted at a zombie as it lurched for Max, knocking it to the ground. Natalia screamed. Before the undead woman could grab her, Harley tackled the corpse. Then the remains of a young girl in a white dress smeared with mud approached. Her lips were pulled back in a snarl as she dragged one leg, relying on the other for her momentum.

“Get away from me!” Natalia shouted as she flailed with her arms. The girl’s corpse tried to bite her but missed.

A rotting hand grabbed Max around the throat. The dead flesh felt like ice. Another hand grabbed his wrist. Max didn’t want to give way to panic, but the walking dead were more horrific than monsters and faerie creatures combined. The nature of their movement was disturbing, and the stench of their flesh was vile.

Sprig pounced, biting into one of the zombies before throwing it to the side. She roared. The sound had the effect of a bucket of cold water as Max woke from his daydream. Before scrambling to his feet, he pulled away from the zombie that held his arm.

Max watched as one of the undead slipped an arm around Harley’s neck. Another wrapped around Harley’s waist. Then there were more, and Harley fought to stay standing.

All of a sudden, the zombies fell lifeless to the ground.

“What was that?” Harley asked as he kicked free from the fallen corpses.

“I think he did it,” Natalia said. “Ernie stopped the zombies!”

Max was breathing heavily. Then he smiled, but only for a moment. Corpses littered the streets and sidewalks, and the stench of death reeked in his nostrils. He felt sorry for whoever had to clean up the disgusting mess.

“We better get going before Oxley brings me in for another round of questioning,” Max said as Sprig nuzzled against him.