Gen Z Boxed Set Read online

  Baileigh Higgins

  Gen Z - Boxed Set

  The Undead Adventures of Chas

  Copyright © 2019 by Baileigh Higgins

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  Baileigh Higgins asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  Baileigh Higgins has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

  Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.

  First edition

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  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Dedication

  Gen Z

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  Gen Y

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Gen X

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  Next Gen

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2 - Julia

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6 - Julia

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12 - Julia

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16 - Julia

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19 - Julia

  Epilogue

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  Author Bio

  Acknowledgments

  Many thanks to my family and friends for their tireless support and dedication to me during good times and bad. Also, a shout-out to Skye of Peryton Press for the lovely book cover she designed for this story, and Graham Rintoul for his valuable input.

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to a very special girl, one that is close to my heart. Chasity Martin. Not only is this book dedicated to her, but it’s also written especially for her.

  This is for you Chas, my favorite fan! I hope you love the story as much as I loved writing it. Never forget that you’re special and can achieve anything you want in life, no matter how hard it seems.

  Love,

  Baileigh Higgins

  (Please note, this is a work of fiction, though, and all similarities to real-life people are accidental, not intended.)

  Gen Z

  Chapter 1

  Chas stared out of the window of the moving car, looking but not seeing, her mind lost in the clouds that drifted overhead in a sea of blue. The scenery passed by in a blur of familiar shapes. Houses painted in hues of white and beige, green lawns, jaunty post-boxes, trimmed hedges, parked sedans, and the odd jogger or dog walker.

  It was a late Friday afternoon, mid-summer, and even now, the heat was unbearable. She shifted in her seat, uncomfortably aware of the damp patch on her back caused by the lack of air-conditioning in the old vehicle and the cracked leather seat. July’s were the worst, but at least the tornado season was over.

  “Are you looking forward to tonight, hun?” her grandma asked, and Chas tore her attention away from the outside with an effort.

  “Oh, yes, Lala, very much,” she said with a grin, unable to hide her excitement. This was the first time she was being allowed to go to the fair without adult supervision. Just her and her two best friends. “I can’t believe Mom agreed to this.”

  “Well, I might have had something to do with that,” Grandma replied with a secretive smile.

  Chas giggled. “I knew it. If anyone could convince my mom, it’s you, Lala.”

  “It’s your birthday, honey. I had to back you. Just don’t screw it up, okay? If you do, she’ll never let you out of her sight again. You know your mother,” Grandma replied.

  Chas nodded. She did know. While her grandmother was the independent kind, willing to let Chas try new things, her mother was strict and rigid, reluctant to let go of her little girl. But I’m not a little girl anymore. Today, I’m fourteen. Practically, a grown-up!

  “Thanks, Lala.”

  “Don’t mention it. Just wait at the gates at eight sharp, or there will be trouble,” Grandma said.

  “I promise,” Chas said.

  “And don’t let Vanessa have her way either. That girl is a rebel. I like her, but she’s a bad influence sometimes.” Grandma shot Chas a warning look. “Rather listen to Emily. She’s got her head screwed on right.”

  Chas mumbled a yes, but already her thoughts were winging ahead to the fair. It only came to Red Rock once a year, and she couldn’t wait to get started on the rides. It’s gonna be so much fun.

  She turned her head to stare out the window again. They’d left the suburbs behind and were now traveling through the city center headed for the fairgrounds. Rows of little shops flashed past, their windows advertising all sorts of delights with bright signs. Her favorite was the bakery with its rows of multi-colored frosted cupcakes decorated with glitter and candy. It sang with all the comforts of home until her eyes caught a strange sight. A man eating out of the dumpsters in an alley beside a bistro.

  While Chas had seen homeless people before, she’d never seen one mashing hand
fuls of raw burger meat into his mouth like he was a ravening wolf. As they drove past, he lifted his head and stared at her with a blank look. Pieces of bloody flesh dripped from his lips, and she shuddered, wondering if the man was a nutcase.

  “Lala, did you see that?”

  “See what, Chasity?”

  “That man over there…” Chas pointed but they were already turning a corner, and the moment was lost. Before she could say anything further, a squad of police cars raced past, their sirens blaring in her ears. She twisted in her seat, watching them fly down the street. I wonder what happened.

  An accident? A robbery? Red Rock was a quiet little town, and crime was unheard of inside its sleepy little borders.

  “Please be careful tonight, honey. Don’t talk to any strangers, and if anything happens, call your grandpa or me straight away.”

  “Uh huh,” Chas mumbled, still staring after the police squad.

  “Are you even listening?” Grandma asked, forcing Chas to turn around and focus on her grandmother’s face.

  “Of course, I am, Lala. I’ll be careful, I promise. No strangers.”

  Grandma nodded, mollified. “Good. Now, I’m busy tonight, and your mom is working night-shift at the hospital, but your Grandpa will fetch you, okay?”

  “I know. Grumps already told me,” Chas said, before jumping up and down in her seat. “There it is!”

  She pointed at the entrance to the fairgrounds, a set of iron gates in a chain link fence stretching around an open plot of land. The parking lot was already full, people milling about and heading for the ticket booths.

  The bright lights of the rides flashed in the distance, and the air hummed with excitement as laughing kids raced past, followed by smiling adults who looked forward to a night less ordinary.

  As her grandmother pulled up to the entrance, Chas spotted Vanessa and Emily waiting for her to the side. “There they are. You can let me out now, Lala.”

  “Do you have everything?” Grandma asked. “Your money, your watch, and your phone?”

  “Yup. Love you, Lala. Bye,” Chas cried before tumbling out of the car.

  “Have fun,” Grandma called after her, but Chas hardly heard, so excited was she to see her friends.

  “Vanessa, Emily, over here,” she called, waving her arms.

  Their faces lit up at the sight of her, and they rushed over. “Happy birthday, Chasity.”

  After exchanging hugs and smiles, Chas turned to give her grandmother a final wave before looking at the ticket booth. “You guys ready for this?”

  “Oh, yes,” Emily replied, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. They were always sliding off, and she was always pushing them back. A signature move. Especially when she was reading, which was all the time.

  “I’m ready. I hope you are,” Vanessa said in challenging tones, tucking her hands into the pockets of her black jeans. A would-be goth, she was always wearing black, but it matched her hair, cut into a straight bob that brushed her shoulders. “This is going to be epic!”

  Chas smiled, tucking a stray strand of her blonde hair behind her ears. It was always getting in her way, even now when it was tied into a ponytail. “Then what are we waiting for?”

  Taking the lead, she joined the queue at the ticket booth, buying entrance for all three of them since it was her party. It didn’t take long before they were inside, eyeing the colorful rides underneath the clear skies. Puffs of dust rose from the ground as she walked, the grass trampled beneath the feet of hundreds of fairgoers.

  Long rows of stalls advertised all kinds of junk foods, while others featured games or sold cheap trinkets made of plastic. The scent of fried corn dogs filled her nostrils, reminding her of her empty tummy, but Chas ignored it. She did not relish the idea of going on the rides with a full stomach. What if she got sick and hurled? That would be the worst ever. We can get something to eat later. After we’re done with the rides.

  “Let’s go on the teacups first,” Emily suggested.

  Vanessa groaned. “The teacups? Really? That’s so boring.”

  “Is not!” Emily protested, her freckled cheeks reddening beneath Vanessa’s scornful gaze.

  Chas sighed. As the unspoken leader of the group, it always fell on her to keep the peace. “We will ride on the teacups, Emily, but maybe we should try something new first.”

  Vanessa pointed at the nearest ride. “What about that one? The cosmic dancer?”

  Chas eyed it, noting the way the seats twisted and rolled in groups of three while the whole thing rose up into the air on giant metal arms. Just what she wanted. Something exciting. “Looks like fun. Let’s go.”

  Giggling, the three girls joined the queue, ready to kick off their night in style. While waiting, Chas noticed a boy three people ahead of them with short blonde hair and a red hoodie. He was cute, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. Rather, it was his pale and sweaty complexion.

  “Who are you staring at?” Vanessa asked a tad too loudly. “A boy?”

  “Sh, Vanessa,” Chas whispered, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. “I’m not looking at a boy, okay?”

  Vanessa shrugged, chewing on a nail covered in chipped purple nail polish. “Whatever.”

  At fifteen, she was a year older than either Chas or Emily. An orphan, she lived in a foster home and flunked her grade the previous year. Rebellious and wild, she could be a handful, but Chas liked her for her sass and bravery. They’d met in the schoolyard when Vanessa punched a boy for bullying a younger kid, an act Chas approved of. They’d been friends ever since.

  “He looks sick, that’s all,” Chas said, nodding toward the teen boy.

  “He does look kinda ill,” Vanessa admitted once she’d scrutinized him. “I hope he doesn’t chuck on the ride. That’d be gross.”

  Emily shuddered, her nose wrinkling beneath the plastic frames of her glasses. “Me neither.”

  It was only when they reached the front of the line that Chas noticed more sick people, either waiting in line or walking past, their faces pale and sweaty with red-rimmed eyes. I hope there isn’t some sort of flu going around.

  She thought back to a news report she’d caught on TV the night before. Something about infected meat products making people ill. She noticed one of the sick people clutching the remnants of a corn dog. Maybe we should stay away from the corn dogs tonight.

  All such thoughts were forgotten once they got on the ride, though. Chas gripped the bars across her chest with a sense of anticipation, butterflies whirling through her stomach at the thought of what was to come. With a loud buzz, the ride started, and she squeezed her eyes shut before opening them wide to look at her friends. “Here goes!”

  As her seat started spinning faster and faster, Chas lifted her arms in the air and squealed with delight. The wind whipped through her hair, and her body swayed from side to side. As the ride lifted up, the fairgrounds came into sharp focus, the people on the ground looking like ants scurrying around.

  Vanessa and Emily laughed out loud with her, and Chas reflected that as birthdays went, this was the best one ever, and it was only just the beginning.

  Chapter 2

  After the cosmic dancer, the girls went on the teacups, more to please Emily than anything else. It was still fun, though, and afterward, they got in line at the cotton candy stand. Music blared from strategically placed speakers, while girls walked past wearing glowing devil horns or angel halos on their heads. Others carried glow sticks or had their arms covered with fake tattoos.

  “I want one of those,” Vanessa said.

  “Yeah, I bet,” Emily said, quirking an eyebrow at Vanessa’s worn biker boots.

  While waiting, Chas couldn’t help but notice how many more people were getting sick. Even as she watched, a woman stumbled past clutching her mouth, her eyes bloodshot and scary looking.

  “What is going on?” Chas mumbled, alarm bells going off in her head.

  “Huh? What do you mean?” Vanessa asked.


  “Haven’t you noticed all the sick people? I mean, look,” Chas said, pointing out at least five people in the crowd surrounding them.

  “Now that you mention it, wasn’t it on the news yesterday?” Emily asked, her expression serious.

  “What news?” Vanessa asked.

  “There’s a shipment of contaminated meat making people ill. I’ve heard that some of them even become violent and attack others,” Emily said.

  “You’re joking,” Vanessa said, but she frowned as she looked around.

  “I’m not. I watched it with my mom and dad,” Emily replied.

  “I saw it too,” Chas said. Suddenly, a heavy blow from behind sent her reeling. She fell forward onto Vanessa who grabbed her by the shoulders.

  “What the hell?” a furious Vanessa cried, glaring at somebody over Chas’ shoulder.

  Chas turned around, ready to let rip with an angry comment, but her words dried up in her mouth at the sight of the man confronting her. His eyes were so red they almost glowed, his face contorted in an angry snarl. Sweat ran in runnels down his cheeks, and his face had a sickly almost green hue to it.

  “Get out of my way,” he growled, shoving the three girls aside without ceremony. “Hungry. I’m hungry.”

  Chas stared in amazement as he stormed the cotton candy stand, bulldozing through the queue of protesting customers without a backward glance. He grabbed handfuls of the pink fluff, stuffing it into his mouth despite the objections of the stand’s owner.

  “Hey, you can’t do that, Sir!” the owner cried.

  The crazy man swiped at him with both hands before shoveling in more of the cotton candy, his cheeks bulging with the stuff. “Need to eat!”

  Emily had both hands pressed to her mouth, her freckles prominent against her suddenly pale skin. Vanessa simply gaped, her hands clenched into fists, while Chas had the horrid feeling that something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

  She grabbed her friends. “Come on, guys. Let’s get out of here. He’s as crazy as a Bessie bug.”

  They backed away, and Chas drew them into a secluded corner where they watched as two security guards stormed in and removed the troublemaker. He kicked and punched, roaring that he was hungry the entire time.