Z.E.D.S. Series (Book 2): Z.E.D.S. Wayward Son

by Botts, Bradley

  “Daddy,” Kiere yelled while swinging her arms and legs as they threw her in the truck.

  I attempted to rise, but the impact of an intense steel toe boot forced me back to the road. I could hear a deep raspy voice of the man that carried Kiere to the truck.

  “Prophet Cross said he wanted him alive. But I say he put up too much of a fight to allow us to let him survive. Throw his body back in the store with the zombies after you guys are done,” the man stated as he stood above me.

  One of the five men surrounding replied, “You got it boss.”

  I could hear Kiere yelling from inside the cab of the truck. Then I could hear the raspy voice of the man that was called boss. “Shut up bitch!”

  “Kiere,” I yelled as I tried to regain my composure.

  My vision began transforming back to normal and I could see the pink hippo she once had in her hands lying on the asphalt. The truck began to leave, and the men surrounded me in a tighter circle. “Get up you piece of shit.”

  I staggered to my feet and found my balance. I surveyed each person that was surrounding me while wiping blood from my nose. “I know why you guys are here. I know what you want, but I’m telling you now to walk away. This will be your only warning.”

  They all began to laugh as the truck pulled away. I could see Kiere banging on the back glass screaming for me.

  “You are outnumbered boy. We are going to beat you down and feed you to the cannibals. Then when we get back to camp, that little girl of yours will become my bitch. I’m going to make her clean my bunk, wash my dishes and once I have my pleasure with her, I’m going to let my friends have a turn,” the man said as he looked around at all of his friends.

  My fists clinched tight and I felt my fingernails embed into my palms. Something dark came to the light as I looked around at each person standing and waiting. The scream that came from my mouth was bone chilling, even to me. A shade of black darkened my vision and I felt numb. I could hear the screams but could not see the faces they were coming from. I felt bones break with my fists as gun fire echoed through my ears, but I felt no pain.

  “Oh my God! Wait, please. I’m sorry,” were vague echoes.

  My vision began to clear as I noticed a man was being held by my hand to the asphalt. His bloody throat was secured in my palm as my fingers were embedded in his skin. He gasped for air moments before he expired. I looked around me with sweat dripping from my forehead and saw the other four lying on the ground surrounded by blood. Necks were broken, jaws were snapped, and insides were shown to the world with intestines flowing. I stood in the middle of the bodies regaining my composure while I realized which way the truck drove off to.

  In that town and in the direction the truck went there was only one way to go. I ran past one of the bodies while obtaining a gun attached to him. I ran in between buildings and jumped over chain linked fences. I encountered some zombies along the way, but one shot to the head cleared my path. I could hear the truck gaining distance as I passed a grassy noel and passed a cemetery bordered with black metal links.

  In the short clearing I could see the road in which they would have to turn. The middle of the road had a faded yellow double strip and a freshly devoured puddle of blood. I stood staring down the road waiting for the truck to appear. I could hear its engine becoming closer and my palms began to sweat the blood off them. The gun was aimed in their direction as I saw it appear at the top of the hill. My heart was pounding, and my breathing was unsettling. My shoulders moved with my chest with every quick breath I took, but my eyes did not leave the trucks appearance.

  From the louder sound of the truck I could tell the acceleration was being pressed harder. Their attention was to run me over, but I had other plans. I began shooting the grill of the truck trying to hit the engine. A metal plate ricocheted the bullets away from the engine. As the truck became to close, I felt an impact to my side and another impact from the asphalt. The truck continued to drive as I saw Kiere still trying to break the back window.

  “Kiere!”

  She disappeared over the hill. I screamed through the pain as I fired my weapon and emptied the clip into the air. I turned to look beside me and noticed someone else was lying with me near the edge of the road.

  “What the Hell are you doing here Damian,” I yelled.

  As Damian caught his breath he said, “Saving your life you dumbass. What were you thinking?”

  “I was going to clip the driver once I could see his face,” I replied.

  “If you would have been able to see his face, then that truck would have run you over regardless if you would have killed him or not,” Damian stated behind his anger.

  “They have Kiere, Damian! You should have let me kill the driver! It would have stopped the truck,” I yelled as I rose from the asphalt and placed another clip into my gun.

  “I’m sorry they have Kiere, but you wouldn’t have done her any good with being dead,” Damian replied before I shoved him away from me. “Don’t worry. We will find Kiere and get her back.”

  I paced around the road thinking of what could happen to Kiere as Damian stood away from me. I pointed my gun in the direction the truck disappeared and began firing shots while screaming Kiere’s name. Tears began streaming from my eyes as I fell to my knees.

  Damian walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry Atlas.”

  I kept my knees to the ground as I saw my tears hit the asphalt. My pistol fell to the pavement and I placed my hands to my forehead. All I could keep telling myself is how I failed Kiere. Not moments ago, I told her I would never fail her and yet I just broke that promise. I couldn’t protect her. I couldn’t save her. Her screams for me to help her pierced my mind. The look in her eyes when I couldn’t get near her flashed over and over again. It seemed to happen so fast, but yet my mind replayed it in slow motion. She was terrified, but I was terrified more. All I could do is sit in the road, cry every tear I had in me.

  The sun was beaming down on my neck as I stood from the pavement. At that moment once the sadness dissipated and the anger settled in, I looked to Damian. “I’m going to find her. Once I do no one will be left alive. I’m going to walk up to Warren and cut off his head and carry it with me. He fucked with the wrong father.”

  Chapter 12

  The time before Kiere was not in my life doesn’t exist anymore. From the first time I seen that scared girl till now has been my life. I didn’t know what to tell Aurora. How was I going to face her after not being able to keep Kiere safe? I wasn’t going to be surprised if Aurora never looked at me again. In those moments in which I was stunned to the ground, and hearing Kiere scream my name, I knew I had failed. I was always told forgiving yourself would make life a lot easier for the trials you face. There was no forgiving myself for this. It was my burden to carry and Kiere was mine to protect.

  Damian was driving us back to the safe house because the cross facers created a blaze to my truck. It was left in the same spot as I parked burning to ashes. I knew once we arrived back at our home, the current reign of Chase would in fact cause my inner ability to be civil disappear. That was the least of my worries even though it wouldn’t have helped with anything. Aurora has become more protective of Kiere than anyone. She warned me about taking Kiere to the old toy store without her because she was afraid something would happen to us and she wouldn’t be there to help. I wasn’t able to handle the disappointment in her eyes.

  “Damian, stop the truck.” Damian’s gaze turned from the road to me. “Seriously Damian, stop the truck.”

  Damian pulled to the side of the road and placed the truck in park. I reached in the backseat gripping some of his arsenal he had stashed away.

  “What are you doing Atlas,” Damian asked.

  As I was surveying the ammo with the guns, I explained. “I’m not going back without Kiere.” Damian grabbed my arm. “I can’t return to Aurora without our daughter.” I loaded the last shell into the AR16 and placed a Beretta in my holster
after pulling my arm away. “I’m going to get my daughter back.”

  I opened the door and as my boots hit the asphalt, I looked around the abandoned field, searching for the right way to go. I placed the shoulder strap of the AR16 around my right shoulder and a Winchester hunting knife in the holster attached to my leg. Damian ran around the truck and attempted to block my path.

  “Atlas listen to me. Kiere’s kidnapping was not your fault. You didn’t know that was going to happen.” I kept my eyes averted away from Damian because no matter what he said I felt differently. “You don’t know how many of them are out there. How are you even going to find her when you don’t know where they took her?”

  After situating my equipment, I began to bypass Damian while his words floated into the distance. Damian ran to the front of me and placed his hand into my chest to further stall my leave. “I know you’re angry Atlas.”

  My eyes didn’t stay averted anymore as I stared into his eyes. “Get out of my way Damian.”

  Damian kept me to a halt for a couple of more moments. “Atlas, you are not thinking clearly. If you do find where they are, what makes you think that you can do this alone? If Warren has an army of thousands of people, you can’t take on an entire army. This would be a suicide mission and you know it. You would be killing yourself and killing Kiere.”

  I swatted his hand off of my chest and began walking down the road.

  “I guess Chase was right about you! You are a selfish son of a bitch,” Damian yelled.

  As I kept walking down the road, I heard Damian yell one more thing to me, “What am I supposed to tell Aurora?!”

  I answered his question in whisper. “Forgive me.”

  As I stepped further away from the drop off, I could hear the trucks engine roar and slowly fade into the distance. I knew if I was going to find Kiere I was going to have to start in the same place they took her. If I knew anything about the Z.E.D.S. Damian was going to try to rally some of them up to bring me back home. For that purpose, I hid in the top floor of an old wood shop building and waited for moments to see if they would arrive. They will come looking for me and they know to start where I was last seen and go to the point where Damian knew I had to start. Stationed near a bay window surrounded by saw dust and wood pieces I finally see three trucks come from the south and park near the torn apart bodies.

  First, I see Aurora step out of the truck. She was frantically looking around the tops of each building that surrounded them. Shaun, Brock, Mark, and Amelia began searching around corners, but not going far distances. Mara had her blade on standby standing near the trucks just anticipating for an act of death. My brothers Seth, Sloan and Emmitt were shouting my name as my father leaned against the truck with his head facing the ground. I could see the disappointment in his face. Every few seconds I could see him wipe the tears from his eyes.

  Damian paced next to Aurora as she began shouting louder than my brothers yelling my name. “Atlas! Please don’t do this! I know it wasn’t your fault. I love you! Please don’t do this! We can get Kiere back together. You don’t have to do this alone.”

  Her voice crackled with every scream she portrayed. I felt it though she was blinded by my gone missing rather than Kiere being kidnapped. I didn’t answer her back no matter how much I wanted to yell I’m sorry. I wanted to ask her for forgiveness, but I knew I didn’t deserve it.

  “ATLAS! PLEASE,” Aurora yelled.

  In whisper I said to her, “I’m sorry Aurora. I have to do this.”

  Aurora fell to her knees and my entire team came to her aid. I saw Aurora notice the stuffed animal resting close to her. She gripped it tight and held it to her chest. The team knew that if I was there, I wasn’t coming out. They knew I believed my mission was to be accomplished by myself. They wouldn’t agree with my decision, but it wasn’t their decision to make. I watched as they entered their vehicles and drove out of the small town. Once I knew they were long gone from my hide out, I ventured out of the building and to the bodies that I had slain just hours before. Most of their insides had been torn apart from the flesh eaters, but their clothes were almost intact. Searching through the blood covered pockets of the pants they wore; I found only berries and packs of dried meat that hadn’t been removed from their packaging. One of them began to rise again from the deep circle of Hell I tried to send them to, but my Winchester blade placed him back to the asphalt.

  None of their pockets had any insight to where their camp was. Call it wishful thinking, but I was hoping for a folded-up map with a nice red circle around the location of their home. In this life, nothing ever comes that easy.

  After the bodies were completely scavenged, I turned my attentions to the surrounding building in hopes for food and water to take with me. Most of the town was pretty bare of essentials, but the old appliance store located just two blocks from the toy store, contained some interesting hiding places. A wise doomsday prepper once told me, “What people hold most dear in this world will be hidden in plain sight.” Oh, how I missed Brian. That old man taught us well.

  The beaten-up stoves that were taken to the workers for repairs was located in the back. I opened each door of the three they had placed in there. Each one contained canned food, water, and some canned jams. It was enough to get me by for a limited time. As I gathered the essentials, I couldn’t help but exert a slight chuckle of being able to find food in stoves.

  Night was beginning to fall, and I knew that I was going to have to find more reliable shelter than the place where everyone would believe they could find me. I gazed upon the woods that surrounded me, but I didn’t have enough tools to keep myself braced against a tree trunk and above the ground. I stumbled upon an alga covered pond. There weren’t any bodies floating in the water and if there was something living stationed in the muck then it wouldn’t come to the surface due to fright of being captured. A canoe was tied to a low hanging tree limb just inches off of the shore and a cement block resting inside of it. Someone used to come out here and escape the world in which they lived. I imagined maybe a father and son taking retreat from a busy day to catch some fish and just have those good old father son talks. From the looks of the rope and moss-covered wood of the canoe I realized it has been in place for a while. Whoever had access to this canoe has long forgotten about it.

  I pulled the canoe closer to shore and untied it from the tree limb. I placed my bag into the boat and pushed it from the shore as I jumped in. It floated to the middle of the pond. I believed that a floating canoe wouldn’t draw much attention. I should be safe just floating around waiting for the sun to rise. Once I reached the point where I felt comfortable enough to stall the boat, I took the other end of the rope that was attached to the tree limb and tied it to the cement block. It splashed into the water and sunk until it reached the bottom. I placed my head onto my bag and just stared into the infinite abyss of the night sky. The stars shined so bright that it was almost heavenly.

  The beauty didn’t last as my mind ventured back to Kiere and Aurora. I felt selfish enjoying the night while Kiere was being held captive and Aurora praying for Kiere’s return. The hatred and anger settled into my mind and all I could do is raise my middle finger to the stars. This was my first night without Kiere and Aurora at my side. My eyes grew weary, but my anger did not. I tried to establish some type of escape because I knew I could wake up at first light and begin my hunt again. I wasn’t going to be any good to anyone if my body and mind was exhausted.

  I forced my thoughts to escape back to the first birthday party we held for Kiere. The team and I were holding a meeting about scavenging. We tried to keep the days marked for as long as possible to keep track of predicted winter months and growing seasons. Then Aurora came up to me and said it was Kiere’s birthday. Kiere had mentioned to Aurora that her birthday was on June 4th and her dad would always take her to her favorite place to eat. Afterwards he allowed her to pick out whatever she wanted for her birthday. They would usually end up at a bookstore where she wo
uld search through every book looking for The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Her father told her that it was a book he read to her every night while she was in her mother’s stomach. Unfortunately, it was lost during a road trip her father and mother took before she was born. Before they could ever buy a new one, her mother died while giving birth to Kiere.

  During the meeting we decided to scavenge for her birthday rather than supplies. Her dad would always take her to a nice little pizza joint where apparently her dad and mom first met. We each left to find things that we could put together in order to make a pizza with. We already had tomatoes for the sauce and even found some dough in an old bakery located in the old Glasgow area. Aurora found out that Kiere’s favorite toppings were olives, pepperoni, and pineapples. It was a very odd combination, but we were determined to find them. Hours passed by and after the sun set and the moon rose, we finally made it home with what we needed to make pizzas for the entire group. After placing fire to the pits, we had created outside, we began cooking the pizzas. The gifts each Z.E.D.S. member found was pretty extravagant considering the end of the world. Abandoned department stores and old jewelry markets still contained nice objects. Shaun had even found a birthday candle to place on Kiere’s pizza.

  We all sang happy birthday to Kiere and watched as she opened presents from each of the captains. The smile on her face was too beautiful to put into words. Then once she opened her last present she began to cry as the paper fell to the floor. We asked her what was wrong, and she told us that she wished her dad were there. Even with trying to explain everything to her we knew it wouldn’t keep her from crying. Fortunately, Aurora had one last present for her. There was a seasoned bookstore located in a strip mall in Glasgow. Aurora searched every shelf and every room until she found Kiere’s favorite book, The Wizard of Oz. Once Aurora handed Kiere the book, her tears subsided, and the frown became a smile as her arms wrapped around her neck.