LUPE Ponk Vonsydow ponkvonsydow@gmail.com CHAPTER 7 Marcos, Carlos and Enrique scored their speed and got their share which they snorted right in the narcotraficante's room. They were chipper-and-high when they arrived back at El Ninos Perditos hideout. Marcos woke the rest of the boys. "Most of you are too small to be any good trying to fight that zombie Lupe! You already saw what he did to a bigger boy than him when he killed Roberto, right? The bigger boys will be the ones who go with us zombie hunting." Carlos took over. "That's my guys, Vincente, Rico, Manuel and Hasta." Marcos called the names of the three of his boys close to his own age of ten years. Now there was a smaller gang of ten boys ready with their baseball bats going on the zombie hunt. Marcos gave each boy a little bump of speed to make sure all of them were fired up! By then the boys were shouting and raring to go! Marcos addressed the rest of the younger boys. "Stay put here you guys! It's safer in here than out there. Don't worry. There's enough of us to kill that zombie! The old curadero woman said I have to cut off Lupe's head! She wanted me to bring her Lupe's head after I do it, but first I'll bring his head back here to show you guys so you'll know he's dead before I take it to her!" Now the gang departed ready to scour the streets in El Uniqos territory where they figured Lupe was milling around somewhere. They stayed together visually scanning the area as they walked in silence keeping a keen ear out for Lupe as well. It was Vincente who noticed a man's legs sticking out from behind a dumpster in one of the alleys they walked past! "Look there you guys! See those legs sticking out? It could just be a drunk who's passed out, but we better have a look!" Marcos got in front with the hedge clipper wide open just in case. When the gang reached the dumpster and they walked behind it, they immediately panicked. There was Lupe who was right in the middle of devouring the poor man's face! When Lupe saw the gang approaching him, he moaned loudly and bared his bloody teeth that had bits of human flesh stuck between them! Marcos called out! "Quick you guys, make a circle around him and if he comes for you, bang him over the head with your bat!" The boys fanned out and formed a circle with Lupe standing in its center! Lupe seemed to get confused which person to try and attack first. He stood there taking a step one direction then doubling back to step forward in a different direction. Marcos called out again. "Okay you guys! Everyone come closer together and make the circle smaller so we can trap him!" The boys did as told and the circle tightened around Lupe. As he charged one or the other boys they struck him with their bats! Lupe seemed to be able to take a serious beating, but getting struck by a baseball bat evidently changed his mind about which boy to attack right then! Each time Lupe got hit with a bat, he backed away from that boy and picked out another boy to attack. Marcos decided to seize the moment and he got behind Lupe and attempted to get the opposite shears on either side of Lupe's neck. Occasionally Lupe lunged at a boy and he was out of Marcos' reach. Marco kept trying while making sure not to get caught in front of Lupe where the zombie could bite him! Then, in a lucky break, Marcos managed to get the hedge clipper around Lupe's neck! Marcos used all his strength to close the shears as the blades cut deeply into Lupe! Jet black blood spilled out of the zombie's neck splattering Marcos in the face! Marcos kept working the shears cutting through the meat and tendons of Lupe's neck as the zombie struggled while waving his arms and hands wildly, until suddenly Marcos cut all the way through and the little zombies head came all the way off, falling to the ground making a wet plopping sound on the dirt! Now the ten boys were cheering and clapping their hands! Marcos took off his shirt and placed Lupe's severed head inside it then he used the shirt tails to wrap up the zombies head! **** Marcos did as promised and paraded the severed head in front of the younger boys back at their hideout. Then he collected Carlos and Enrique for the long walk back to the shanty town to find the old curadero woman at her shack. She was still outside her shack smoking her pipe with another bottle of tequila she sipped, as the three boys walked up to her. The old woman cackled as usual. "Back so soon? I would have thought a little zombie like that Lupe could hide from boys like you! Well, what's that in your paper sack?" Marcos handed the sack to Isabella. The old woman smiled when she saw Lupe's head was inside it! "Well boys? Are any of you curious to learn how an old woman shrinks someone's head? It takes a few days actually. You boys can come back here the next few days to see how it's coming along if you want to." Marcos, Carlos and Enrique all shrugged. Marcos spoke for them since he was the leader and the oldest. "That's okay Isabella. You go ahead and shrink Lupe's head, but you can keep it! We don't want to be reminded about him ever again!" Isabella cackled. "Suit yourselves!" **** The new El Uniqos-El Ninos Perditos gang was glad the worst was over. The now larger gang resumed taking refuge in the much nicer old Don Poncho's theater. It was later the next year when the gang was taking their customary daily birdbaths in the old fountain when three narcotraficantes in fancy suits and hats arrived to collect Marcos, Carlos and Enrique. All three older boys were glad their time had come! Now they'd get to wear nice clothes, have a comfortable place to live, they'd have jobs to do and get paid for doing them and they'd still get all, the heroin they wanted they were addicted to by then! Marcos, Carlos and Enrique bid the rest of the gang farewell. "I guess the new leader is Vincente and that means Hasta, Rico and Manuel are his lieutenants! My boys are still a year younger than them." Vincente came forward to shake Marcos hand. "It's too bad Marcos! If I had been the leader of our gang at the time, I'd have kept Lupe's shrunken head! the end