Z Island Series | Book 3 | Survivors of Z Island [Retribution Part 1]

by Osborne Jr. , Terrence

  “Dammit! Where are they?”

  ─

  Jess, Meredith, Penny, and Faith ran into the auditorium where Lisa was, but it was empty. Jess had blood scattered around her body, but she hated they couldn’t get here in time.

  “Where is she? Do you think they killed her?” Faith panicked.

  “I really hope not. This man is dead. I’m sure she’s not. Maybe she made it out somewhere.”

  “Yeah, maybe. All I know is Eddy and the rest of the group are supposed to be clearing out an exit point for all of us. We can head there now and go from there. Grab something from here.”

  “Jess!”

  They all looked near the entrance of the auditorium to see Christine waving happily to see them. Jess smiled and began heading her way, but that was before a zombie ran by and tackled Christine to the ground, out of sight.

  “Christine!”

  Jess quickly grabbed a crowbar and ran out of the building to see her being clawed open by the zombie. It turned around and screeched at them, but Jess hit it across the head and Faith stabbed it. Meredith just watched as Jess and Faith kneeled over Christine’s dying body. She kept gurgling blood, but she kept staring at Jess.

  “Christine…I’m so sorry.” Jess sniffled.

  Christine kept grabbing Jess’s arm, as if she were trying to say something. Jess leaned closer to her and looked into her bloodshot eyes! She knew Christine was trying to tell her something, but she didn’t know what. Suddenly, her pupils dilated, and her hand dropped to the ground. Jess let her head down and stood up.

  “We have to meet up with the others. They’re probably waiting for us.” Faith mentioned.

  A woman’s scream was heard echoing throughout the area. They turned around and noticed how scattered everyone was. Eve’s men were barely around, and the community was foggy. Ashes from the fires and the smell of burned skin and dead bodies overfilled their noses.

  “Where is everyone?” Jess asked.

  A group of walkers appeared from the smoke and saw them standing there. Jess took no time and ran out of sight of the zombies!

  “Jess!”

  Jess looked to see Denny waving his hands to get her attention. As confused as she was to see him, she, Faith, and Penny ran for the building. All around them, Runners were eating Eve’s men alive while some prisoners were scurrying their way around the dead. Denny rushed them inside and slammed the door. As he put a chair in between the door bars, Faith looked around for a miracle to see Lisa, but all she saw was Steven with blood all over him.

  “Steven? Why do you have so much blood on you? Is it Lisa?”

  “No, just walkers. I’m fine. You didn’t find Lisa?”

  “No, we hoped you had her!”

  “We were clearing out the way, but me and Denny got separated from the rest of them. I have no idea where anyone is. There’s a lot of them out there.”

  “Oh my God! Where could she be?”

  “Hey, we have to stay hopeful.” Steven reassured her.

  “Steven, we can’t lose her.”

  “She’s strong. You taught her that. I have no doubt she’s completely fine. We’ll find her.”

  “I know.”

  “Hey Jess, do you have your radio?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I gave my radio to Eddy. Maybe we can contact them. see where they are.”

  Jess grabbed the radio and handed it Steven, “Do you think they’ll respond?”

  “Only one way to find out.”

  Steven walked closer to the door, “Eddy, this is Steven. We found Jess and the rest of them. We’re in the library. Did you guys make it safely?”

  They all waited for a reply, but it was silent, “Eddy? Please tell me you can hear this?”

  No, but I can.

  Everyone stared at the radio, but Jess knew who it was and grabbed the radio from Steven, “Where’s Eddy?”

  Wish I could say, but I think I have a promising idea as to where you are. Library, right?

  Jess lowered the radio and looked at the door, “Guys, get away from the door. Get back.”

  Everyone began walking to the center of the library, but an explosion sent a shockwave that knocked all of them down. Rubble from the ceiling raced everywhere as Jess covered her ringing ears.

  “What the fuck was that?” Penny cried.

  “I don’t know. We have to get out of here-”

  Another explosion opened the front of the library, letting walkers and runners inside. Jess helped Denny up as they both tried to find the others. Steven kicked on walker down and stabbed it in the head, but Faith killed another one behind him. The roof began to collapse as Jess and the others tried to get out of the way.

  ─

  Eve stood from a distance with a crooked smile as one of the men put down the RPG. She stood on top of a building that distanced itself from the rest of her community. She watched her life’s work be destroyed within a matter of minutes.

  “Go make sure no one survived and kill any that did.”

  “Yes ma’am.”

  ─

  Blood dripped from Jess’s head as she woke up to horror. The ringing in her ear from the silence made her think about what happened. Her entire body was covered in blood and dead zombies surrounded her. A large part of heavy debris had fallen on her leg that prevented her from moving. The room she sat in was destroyed, but when she looked out of the door to her right, she noticed the debris from the building was still collapsing. Smoke filled the halls that traveled in the room and no one was heard wandering around. Her breathing began to get heavy as she saw Denny’s body across the room. The debris had smashed his head flat, making him unrecognizable, but Jess knew it was him. She tried moving the debris from her leg, but the weight was too much for her weak body. She kept trying, but it wouldn’t budge at all. A zombie emerged around the corner and scared Jess. She was able to stop making noise, but she noticed the zombie looking at her, but not moving. Its body was different from other zombies. It stood tall and skinny, but its face was unbearable to look at. It looked swollen, but it had pores surrounding its face. It made a horrible screeching sound and walked into the room with Jess sitting hopelessly against the wall. She wanted to cry, but she covered her mouth and watched the zombie walk in front of her. Every second got harder; the pain had gotten worse and one sound could lead the zombie to her. It slowly stranded around the debris and suddenly it heard a noise coming from another room. It screeched loudly and ran out of the room where the noise came from. Tears drew over the blood that scattered across her face as she looks down and grabbed the radio off her.

  “Guys,” she whispered, “I’m stuck. I’m still in the building, but there’s a zombie inside, and it’s attracted to noise.”

  She grunted and exhaled painfully as she held her leg and tried to control her pain, “Denny’s dead guys. I’m pinned, and I can’t move. Please, somebody answer me.”

  And here I was thinking no one survived that.

  “Eve, I promise I will kill you!”

  Yeah, I don’t think that’s happening. When my men come to finish you off, know I’ll be smiling you’ll be gone.

  “Jess.” Steven whispered.

  Jess was happy to hear his voice, but she was also afraid the zombie could hear him too. Steven appeared in front of her and rushed to her aid. Before he could help her, he noticed Denny’s body and stared at him.

  “Steven, there’s a zombie in here that can’t see. It relies on sound.”

  “I know. I managed to get away from it. Faith and the others are looking for Penny and I came looking for you.”

  “Thank you!”

  A scream echoed across the building as the zombie screeched. The scream went away, but the zombie was still heard growling, which made them assume someone had died.

  “Okay, let’s hurry up and get this off you!”

  Steven gripped the rubble and lifted as much as he could while Jess tried to pull her leg from under it. As they were trying to get
Jess free, beams of flashlights were seen traveling around the library. Eve’s men were searching for them, but they made constant noise that made the zombie screech. Steven watched as the zombie ran towards the lights and the men screaming. Gunshots were firing while Jess finally managed to get her leg free. One of the men ran towards Jess and Steven but tripped on rubble. The zombie leaped on top of him and slit his stomach open, shoving its face in his stomach and eating his insides. The man tried crawling away, but the life in his body slowly went away as he fell dead. Steven noticed the gun the man had, but it was closer to the zombie. As he looked at it, Jess stood quiet, but say what Steven was staring at. She knew there wasn’t much to do to stop him. All she could do was watch him slowly creep towards the gun. Each footprint was carefully placed in an area with few debris. His heart raced as the zombie continued to feast on the man, but Steven was paying too much attention to the zombie and tripped over a piece of rubble. The zombie faced Steven and screeched loudly, but before it could do anything, a gunshot came from behind and pierced the zombie in its head. It turned around and began running towards the gunfire, but Steven quickly ran towards the gun and picked it up, firing at the zombie’s head. The joint gunshots sent it sliding on the ground dead.

  Steven lowered the gun while breathing heavily. Jess limped her way to Steven as he helped her walk. Faith ran towards them and smiled, “You guys made it!”

  “Denny didn’t. Thanks for the assist with that zombie. Did you find Penny?”

  “She didn’t make it. The zombie got to her before we could.”

  “Oh man. Okay, we have to go. The zombies are still here, but most of them have died.”

  Faith led them out of the back of the library while they all watched for anymore zombies or Eve’s men. As they exited the building, they noticed the gap in the gate Lisa caused with the explosion and headed towards it. Zombies appeared in front of them, but Faith and Meredith killed them quickly. As soon as they got outside the gate, they headed towards the front.

  “Me and Eddy discussed another location in case things went south. It’s where we are all supposed to meet. I believe I know where he is.” Steven suggested.

  “Yeah, let’s go. Jess, how’s your leg?”

  “It’s sore, but I’ll be fine.”

  They headed towards the meeting spot Steven knew, but Jess started to become tired. Faith had Jess’s arm around her, but she could feel Jess getting tired.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to stop?”

  “No, I’m good.”

  “We’re almost there. It’s the store right ahead.”

  The closer they got to the store, the more hopefully they all became. Jess was hoping everyone else survived while Steven and Faith hoped to see Lisa.

  ─

  Eddy sat at the front of the store, focusing heavily on the ground. He saw a small spec of grass poke out of the cement ground. His eyes were red as his tears dried on his cheeks. All he could do was smile and shake his head. He saw movement in his peripheral vision and noticed Steven leading the group. He smiled and jumped up and down waving.

  “Guys! They’re here!” He shouted.

  Steven and the others smiled as Lisa ran out of the store and started crying when she saw Steven and Faith. She ran towards them and right into Steven’s arms! Faith and Jess caught up as Eddy and all hugged one another. Everyone else came out of the store, but Jess stopped smiling and stared ahead, tears instantly poured from her eyes. Sam couldn’t believe he finally came back to Jess. Her nor Faith were prepared to see him. Jess tried her hardest to get to Sam, but she kept losing her balance. Sam rushed to her and they shared a hug that made everyone smile with joy. He looked at her and brushed her cheek with his thumb.

  “I never thought I’d see you again.” Sam cried.

  Jess couldn’t speak. She just kept crying and hugging him tightly. Both were too ecstatic to do anything else. A memory they never thought they would get again. Jess let him go and waved for Faith to come and hug him.

  “I miss you!” Faith cried.

  “I miss you too! I miss all of you!”

  Steven walked towards Sam and hugged him, “How are you alive?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  Adam walked up to Meredith and sniffled, “Where’s Denny?”

  Meredith looked at his worrying eyes and stuttered, “He didn’t make it out Adam. I’m so sorry.”

  Adam dropped to his knees and stare ahead. Meredith also got on her knees and hugged him, but all he did was sit there and sob quietly while everyone gathered around to comfort him. The reunion was a surprise for everyone. One filled with happiness and heartbreak.

  ─

  Sam wrapped cloth around Jess’s leg as she stared at him, still in shock. He felt her stare and simply smiled as he finished. He glanced up at her beautiful eyes and got lost in the moment. It was a moment none of them though they’d get, but by some miracle it happened.

  “How did you make it? I heard you scream?”

  Sam sighed, “I was taken by a group that was passing by. Don’t know how they managed to get me, but they did. Christine was with that group.”

  “Yeah, I saw her. She didn’t make it.” Jess responded.

  Sam held his head down and exhaled, “She had good intentions, but she didn’t come back for us. This group she was with didn’t want to let me go. I had to do them a favor for them saving me.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Nothing. I went out with two of their guys and I killed them. It was the only way to get to you, but when I got there, the entire community was gone. I assumed Jason had killed you all.”

  “You were there?” Jess teared up and covered her face.

  “Hey, I’m here now. I found you. All of you.”

  “Sam, I thought you were dead. I made a grave. I…” Jess began crying but tried his hardest to contain himself.

  He just hugged her and held her close while she cried in his arms. Eddy looked over and smiled. Although it was an emotional moment for them, he understood it was out of contentment. He noticed Manny standing to himself near the door. As he walked over, he smiled and extended his hand.

  “Do you have anyone out there you need to get to?”

  “No, I have no one. My son died because of Eve.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s part of our life now. Nothing to be sorry about.”

  “Well, we’re all here if you want to stick around. Surely if-”

  “Thanks for the gesture, but I’m not staying. I’m not a group person. I prefer to do this alone.”

  “Well, at least stay here tonight. You can leave tomorrow, but just make sure you’re safe and stay here.”

  Manny sighs and looks at him, “Are you always this pressured on people?”

  Eddy smiles, “Only on my good days.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  Eddy walked over to Sam and watched Jess sit up from hugging Sam, wiping her tears away and smiling joyfully. He couldn’t stop staring at Sam. The feeling in his gut made him so eager to shout with excitement yet again, but he just simply hugged Sam from behind.

  “I miss you too Eddy.” Sam laughed as he patted his arm.

  “You just don’t know how much we’ve missed you. Sam, we’ve lost so many people. It was almost unbearding.”

  “I know. I tried my hardest. I’m just glad to be here now. I can’t say it enough.”

  “Well, we got you, but we lost Denny. It seems we’re always losing someone.”

  “I know that, but I’m glad you kept fighting. Adam, I’m so sorry.”

  Adam sighed, “I’ll be okay. It’s no one’s fault but Eve’s.”

  “She may come after us now. You know that, right?” Manny said.

  “I know. There’s no point in trying to run now. She’s most likely recovering from today, so we’ll have to save our energy for tomorrow. I feel it’s going to be a long day.” Sam suggested.

  “Sam, there�
��s something we have to tell you.” Faith said.

  “What’s that?”

  “We’re heading to North Carolina. There’s a doctor from Houston that says he found a cure.”

  Sam’s eyes widened with disbelief, “Bullshit.”

  “No, it’s true. Eddy and Steven heard it and told us right after.”