Eddy heard a man outside yelling, and he stood up quickly and tried to listen by putting his ear to the wall while Marcus stood behind him. Everyone began to wake up, but Eddy didn’t pay them any attention.
“Eddy, what’s wrong?” Jess asked.
“There’s something going on outside. I don’t know what it is.”
A siren alarmed the community which alerted everyone within the community. Eddy’s heart began to beat faster by the second, but a gunshot was heard which caused Eddy to move away from the window, “What the fuck is going on?”
─
Lisa walked along the wall and looked for any new openings, but the walls were too tall and properly structed. She sighed and thought about Steven’s plan, wondering what could be done now. She trusted him, but she felt something was wrong with the situation. She continued to search around the building and still found nothing to help over the gate. She sighed and sat down on the ground. She thought heavily about what to do, but she couldn’t think of anything. Suddenly, she opened the bag and started searching through it until she came across something that could really benefit them. She picked it up and grinned.
─
Sam, Manny, and Christine all stare away at nothing while the quietness hummed a constant ring in their ears. Sam shook his head and stood up, but none of them cared to glance at him. As he paced back and forth, Christine stood up with him and walked in front of him,
“Sam, they’re going to be okay.”
“I have to get out of here! Why are they here? How did they get here? Do they know I’m even alive?”
“I don’t know Sam, but we have to stay calm.”
Sam stopped pacing and looked at her, “Stay calm? Christine, I can’t stay calm! I went to the community and found it all destroyed! I had a feeling they were dead! Now I find out that they are here? I have to find them.”
“How? We can’t even get out if we wanted to. We’ve been here for who knows how long.” Manny replied.
“I don’t know. Eve wants me here because of Jason. When they come get me, that’s when I’ll be able to get out. That’s if I can’t figure something out until then. Hopefully they don’t get themselves killed.”
“Sam, really think about this. You don’t have a plan. You can’t do this. If you really want to find them, you can’t risk your life. Right now, you’re anxious and I understand, but you have to think this through.”
“He’s right. I’m here with you Sam.” Christine agreed.
“You’ve helped quite enough.”
“Sam, whatever you feel about her right now has to wait. We’re the only three that can help each other right now. We’re all we’ve got.”
“It’s just my family, you know. They are here. Of all places they could be, they’re here. I cannot let anything happen to them.”
─
One of the guards in the community noticed the gate was open and looked around for the other guard that was on duty. He stared horrifically at the empty post and ran to the alarm. He flipped the switch which made a loud sound that spread all throughout the community.
“Evan’s missing! Search the area!”
Steven heard the alarm and thought quickly to pull out his gun. The man ran outside the gate and looked around, but Steven tried to stay as still as possible. That is until the man noticed the streak Steven left while dragging Evan.
“Shit.”
The man pointed his gun towards the bush, but Steven took no time and shot the man in the head. As he fell to the ground, Steven ran away and headed to Lisa, but an explosion on the side gate stopped him as he stared in shock.
Lisa grunted in anger when she noticed the wall didn’t fall, but it was enough to cause a distraction. Lisa grabbed her bags and ran back to Steven while everyone in the community focused on the wall. Steven knew it had to be Lisa, and he was even more sure when he saw her running towards him.
“Was that you?”
“Of course! We have to get inside! I hope that was a good distraction for them!”
“Come on!”
“No, I’ll stay out here! I’ll keep up the distractions while you go find them!” she whispered.
“Okay! Be careful!”
“Always.”
Steven grabbed her hand and kissed it as he quickly approached the front gate, but he held back as he peeked around to see if it was clear. There was commotion inside, but no one paid attention to him. He quickly ran inside towards one of the buildings while Lisa grabbed another grenade out of the bag. She tossed it towards the same side of the earlier explosion and waited for it to explode. Before the grenade ignited, one of the men that went out earlier grabbed Lisa from behind and picked her up. She screamed to let her go, but he wrapped his arms around her chest and walked towards the gate. Lisa reached in her pocket for her knife and pulled it out. She stabbed the man in his leg, causing him to drop her and fell to his knees. Lisa quickly stood up and pointed the knife at him, but the other man pointed his gun towards her. She started shaking, but she kept her knife pointed.
“Put the knife down!” he demanded.
Lisa knew there was no getting out of this situation. What scared her most was what they could do to her. She slowly placed her knife on the ground as the other man stood up, bleeding heavily.
“I think she hit an artery.”
“You bitch!”
The man slapped her to the ground and pointed the gun to her head, “I should kill you right now!”
“Save her for Eve! She’ll make appropriate use of her!”
─
Jess and the others inside were on full alert. They had no idea what was happening, but they knew to be prepared for anything.
“Do you think that’s Lisa and Steven?” Faith asked.
“Hard to tell, whoever it is clearly isn’t one of them. It could be anyone.” Jess responded.
“Whoever it is, I certainly hope they’re winning.” James said.
“Yeah, but if they win, we don’t know what they could do to us. Who’s to say they’re good guys?” Denny asked.
“That’s why we don’t trust anyone outside this room.” Jess answered.
“What about Christine?”
“She can be trusted, but I wouldn’t depend on her right now.”
─
Sam stared at the door for anyone to walk in and make a move. Manny and Christine also stood by his side and waited for anything to happen.
“I don’t know who this is this time, but I’m almost certain it has something to do with my family.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I just have a gut feeling.”
“Do you really think we will succeed this time?”
“Yes.”
─
Steven kept creeping along the sides of buildings as he looked around for any sign of where they could be. The community was massive. Ahead were the dorm halls, but there were empty fields everywhere in between. He noticed a hole in one of the buildings, but the windows were all covered. He had no clue where to look at first. One of the men cowardly ran away from the commotion and stood by while everyone else reported to the explosions. Steven saw this as an opportunity and began to sneak up to him. He stood at the edge of the building, but luckily for Steven, the man was scrawny and short, which he knew he could handle. Steven pulled out his knife and grabbed the man, forcing the knife against his throat.
“Don’t move or I’ll slit your fucking throat.”
The man put his hands up and started breathing heavy, “Please don’t do this man.”
“Where are the hostages?”
“What?”
Steven pushed the knife closer, “Stop bullshitting me! Where do you put the hostages?”
“They’re in the dorms ahead. I swear I’m telling you the truth.”
“What about the new ones? Where did you put them?”
“All I know is that the new ones went to building two in room ‘2112’. That’s all I know! I swear.”
Steven slit his throat and dragged him away to make sure no one sees him. He wiped his knife on the dead man’s body and went ahead to find them. The alarm turned off and made things even more quiet.
“The dead are coming!” one of the men yelled.
─
Steven ran behind the second building and found no one around patrolling. He crept in the hallways and saw complete emptiness. He was just about to start searching until he saw the men walking Lisa inside the community. He froze for a second because he didn’t know what to think. He looked down the hall and back at Lisa, but he thought about what the best choice would be. He began to watch them and see what they were doing with her, but they stopped, and Eve approached her. Steven was nervous because he didn’t know what to do or what they were going to do with her. He couldn’t make out what Eve was saying, but suddenly the men around her cheered as they took Lisa away. Eve turned around smiling a crooked smile and Steven made a mental note of her appearance. Everyone walked away as an unknown voice shouts, “Battle to the death!”
“What the hell does that mean?” Steven wondered.
─
“I really want to know what’s going on!” Eddy exclaimed.
“We all do, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We just have to stay put.” Jess assured them.
“And wait for someone to kill us? No…” James replied.
“Well, what’s your plan?” Faith asked.
“We don’t need a plan!”
“We also don’t need recklessness! Which is what you’re suggesting!”
A big thud came from outside the door and everyone looked. They all had their guard up while James, Eddy, and Marcus stood in front of everyone, but the room went silent for a second. The doorknob suddenly begins to raddle, but before they could even throw a punch, Steven opened the door and instantly smiled.
“Oh my God, Steven!” Faith said as she ran up and hugged him.
“I can’t believe I found you guys!”
Everyone hugged him, but Faith didn’t stay happy too long, “Where’s Lisa?”
“I was just about to tell you guys. She was the one who caused the explosions, but they caught her. They said something about ‘battle to the death’. I don’t know what that means.”
“Oh my God!” Faith suddenly got weak and backed away in fear.
Jess looked at Faith, but while they tended to her, she talked to Steven, “How long ago was this?”
“It just happened.”
“Okay, so we can still find a way to help her.”
“How?” Meredith asked.
“Well, we can go by each of these rooms and start freeing people. This is our chance. If we want to get out of here, we’re going to need the help.”
“Well then, let’s go!” Steven said.
“Wait, we need a plan.” Jess suggested.
“What do you mean?” Steven asked.
“Well, we have to get Lisa, but we can’t risk all of us getting killed. Some of us should go for Lisa while others go clear a way at the front.”
“Okay, well you, Penny, Meredith, and Faith should be the ones to get Lisa. The rest of us will clear a way for you guys.”
Steven went to search the dead bodies and grabbed the radios from them and handed one to Jess, “Here, turn your radio to channel 2. We’ll be off theirs and we can communicate from there.”
“Okay. Be careful guys.”
Steven and the rest stayed behind while Jess led the rest out of the room.
“You sure we can do this?” Eddy asked.
“We don’t really have a choice.”
─
Sam kept listening outside the door to figure out if anyone was there, but every time it seemed he had a chance, he saw a shadow move across the light underneath the door. He frowned and threw himself away from the door, but Manny was just sitting and looking down.
“Sam, just give it up.” Manny said.
“I know Manny. I know.” Sam sighed as he sat down next to Manny.
“It’ll be okay. I really believe we’re going to get out of here.” Christine said.
“Finding them is my main priority right now. That’s all I care about.”
The man on the other side of the door was heard walking away. Sam heard him open the door and greet someone, but suddenly he heard little commotion and a thud. Sam laid on the ground to peek under the door, but he could barely get a good visual to what was going on. He saw multiple shadows lingering around and whispering. Someone began walking towards the door, so Sam stood up quickly and prepared to fight. As soon as the door opened, Sam punched the man and snatched the knife out of his hand, but as he looked at them, he noticed they weren’t one of them.
“What the hell?” the man on the ground said as he covered his bleeding nose.
“What is this?” Sam asked.
“We’re getting people out. Everyone is being let out.”
Gunshots interrupted their conversation and sudden screams rattled the community. Sam helped the man up and handed him his knife back as they all headed out of the dorm. Sam’s first idea was to find Jess and the others. Even if they were dead, he wanted to know. Eve’s men came around the corner, but the prisoners shot them before they could. Sam ran down the stairs and to the back of the building. He noticed the auditorium was lit all around, alerting him to what was happening.
“Oh no.” Sam whispered.
─
Lisa was thrown into the center of the pit. She slowly looked around and noticed the men all around her shouting and banging on the cages. It all shocked her. In the middle of the apocalypse, there are people that resort to this kind of behavior. It didn’t seem like something she thought anyone would do. She noticed weapons hanging on the cage and spared no time before she ran over to grab one. A katana caught her eye quickly and she didn’t hesitate. It surprised her by how heavy it was, but she refused to scrunch up her face and show them she was weak. She suddenly saw Eve approaching among everyone. As soon as she was present, the entire space filled with silence. Lisa couldn’t help but to stare directly at her then.
“What you did was impressive. However, I am not one to tolerate that sort of behavior. The punishment must fit the crime.”
A large man came into the pit with Lisa, but she didn’t know what to think. It was an unfair match, but that’s what Eve wanted. The man instantly charged after Lisa, but she panicked and threw the sword at him. The sword cut a deep wound in his arm, causing him to scream and drop his weapon. Lisa turned around, grabbed a hammer, and ran up to him; forcing the sharp in into his hand as he tried to block her swing. He screamed even louder as Lisa shook with fear. He stood up and threw her to the ground. She quickly got back up as he snatched the hammer out of his hand and held it weakly. She didn’t know what to do. She felt hopeless and knew there was no one to save her. The closer he got, the more terrified she got. She looked down and noticed there was dirt filling the pit. She quickly ducked, grabbed a handful of dirt, and threw it in his face. He threw himself back and tried to wipe the dirt away from his eyes, but not quick enough before Lisa grabbed the hammer from his hand and swung it over his head. The entire audience went silent as the man’s body dropped to the ground. Lisa stood over his body and began bashing his head in; each hit spewing more blood everywhere. Eve frowned as she watched the man’s body twitch as Lisa stood tall and staring directly at her, but she noticed the hammer shaking in her hand. Eve scoffed, but she abruptly heard commotion coming from the other side of the auditorium. The entrance opened and gunshots were heard. Lisa ran to the edge of the gate while Eve yelled for her men to check it out. Lisa assumed Steven had done something right, but she also knew it couldn’t be him doing all of this himself. As men fleeted from the building, Lisa ran to the gate and tried opening it, but it was locked from the other side.
“Lisa!”
Lisa tried looking around for the voice, but the clearer the voice got, she still couldn’t
figure out where it was coming from. Then, someone grabbed her from behind and turned her around.
“James?”
“Hey, I know where everyone is, but we have to go now!”
“Okay.”
With all the commotion going on, James and Lisa managed to bypass most of Eve’s men, but Lisa remain focused on her surroundings. James had her trailing behind him, extending his hand in front of her when men ran in front of them. He stared at them wishing for them to keep running, but one of them turned around, forcing him to shoot them both. With the gunshots firing everywhere, no one paid any attention to them.
Z Island Series | Book 3 | Survivors of Z Island [Retribution Part 1] Page 10
