Part X

            They traveled down the 5 FWY, it was late Orlando wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing. Nothing seemed to be right any more. The last few days were one surprise after the next. No one was who they claimed to be. Orlando was not even sure if he could trust Ruben. He had just met the guy. He said he got those bruises from a Zombie but he could be lying to him about it. Ruben was working for Maxwell.

          Orlando was not going to worry about it. He would see how things played out once they reached Tijuana. But first he had to make a quick stop. He had to meet Fernie in San Diego; the map that had appeared on the back of Orlando’s bedroom door had an address in the Gaslamp Quarter.

          They rode up to a hotel, the Horton Grand Hotel.

          Ruben looked up at the old building, “Why are we stopping here?”

          Orlando simply said, “We are meeting a friend of mine.”

          “I thought you were in a hurry to get to Tijuana.” Ruben watched as Orlando headed inside the building.

          The lobby had vaulted ceilings, decorated mostly in white with columns along side the lobby’s walls.

          Orlando stopped at the entrance; he spotted Fernie seated in a white wicker chair. Fernie eyes had settled on them, the look in them were unreadable. Fernie rose from his chair and carefully walked over to Orlando and Ruben.

          “You’re one of Maxwell’s hunters,” he held out his hand for him.

          Without hesitation Ruben took his hand to shake, instantly he felt the sensation of sharp pins injected into his hand. He cried out in pain, his knees buckled nearly falling to the floor.

          Fernie ended the connection by pulling his hand away. “Can’t trust just anybody, had to make sure you were clean.”

          “What did you do to him?” Orlando asked mystified.

          Ruben clutched his hand, the sensations were slowly ebbing. “You’re a wizard.” He said accusingly.

          Fernie chose not to answer the question instead he said, “You know,” looking around the place, “Wyatt Earp lived here.”

          Ruben was not ready to let the attack on him go, “What the Hell! I can’t even make a fist!”

          “What did you do?” Orlando asked again.

          “It was a test. He passed.”

          With his other hand Ruben formed a fist and took a swing at Fernie who ducked. Not happy with that Ruben lunged at him taking him to the ground. Orlando stood there deciding not to interfere; he folded his arms in front of his chest.

          He watched as Fernie deflected most of Rubens assaults, yet he did manage to land one near his kidneys.

          With a gust of wind Fernie pushed Ruben away. He landed on his back with a groan.

          “We should get going,” Orlando had enough of this. He wanted to reach Tijuana and face Maxwell. He had a lot to say to him.

          “Yeah, I’m done here.” Ruben rose and headed for the doors.

          Before he made it to the door the three of them were surrounded by blue light. Orlando knew what this light was. Fernie was a wizard, he traveled in the light. He was taking them to where they needed to be. Tijuana, Mexico.

          Opening his eyes Orlando found that they were on a busy street. There was shouting, the smell of fear in the air. Without giving it another thought Orlando ran towards the sounds.

          There were strange colored lights shooting up from the ground the people that the light struck were crying out in pain. Orlando watched as they transformed into Zombies.

          “Don’t let the light hit you!” he shouted at Ruben and Fernie as they reached him.

          The newly transformed Zombies began attacking what was left of the crowd.

          “Use your light!” Orlando shouted at Fernie. “Get the survivors out of here!”

          Fernie did what he could but the numbers of survivors were dwindling down as the numbers of Zombies were rising.

          Ruben drew his sword and ran into the thick of Zombies shouting his battle cry. Orlando ran in after him and took a swing with his fist at the first Zombie he came into contact with. He had left his sword with his Sportster.

          He gave a kick to another one, it was a good thing he wore his Harley boots. A hand clamped down onto his head pulling him backwards. He fell flat on the ground. As he looked up he saw his sword shooting down from the sky straight for him. It was not a sight he was comfortable with. Dodging the fall of the sword he sat up grabbed the hilt as it pierced the ground and with it in his hand he swung at the Zombie. The head sliced right off.

          He had to be careful that the lights that were still shooting out of the ground did not come into contact with him. He sidestepped a light as it shot through the ground. Orlando used his sword as if it were a baseball bat and swung at the light. He hit it dead on. With its new direction the light shot at a Zombie hitting it in the chest. As the light made connect the Zombie began to shake violently. Amazingly it returned to its human form, it sank to the floor knocked out.

          Orlando shouted at Ruben telling him what to do with the shooting lights. A few of the Zombies ran off in search of prey elsewhere.

          Fernie was knelling down beside a victim of a Zombie attack. He was trying to help the wounded. His blue light surrounded all of the injured in a healing fashion. They next were absorbed into the light.

          “What happened? Where did they all go?” Orlando asked.

          Ruben interrupted with his own question, “Dude, what was with the light show?”