Z Island Series (Book 2): War After Z Island

by Osborne, Terrence Jr.

  The men followed Eric while Eddy waited for Jess and Maria to finish talking. Eddy walked behind Faith and placed his hand on her shoulder.

  “Faith, I’m so sorry.”

  “I have to go back to my community.” Steven interrupted.

  “Not now. Not by yourself.”

  “Yeah. No problem.”

  Eddy walked away with Dexter and Faith held her head down. She started to cry, but Lisa grabbed her hand and John stood in front of her. They both had a depressing look, which made Faith drop to her knees and hug them both. Jess backed away from Maria and walked away. Faith spotted her through Lisa’s hair and stood up.

  “Go back to the house. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  Jess opened the door and noticed how quiet the house was. She looked around and nothing changed. It seemed as if everyone was still alive. She see Sam come around the corner, but in a more transparent setting.

  “This house…how could it still be intact like this?” Sam asked as he smiled and looked around While Austin laughed and played around on the couch.

  “Well, it’s safe. Their leader seemed to not agree with his wife though.” Tina replied.

  “Yeah, but for how long? Look at their wall! They need to build up on it.” Jess pointed.

  “Yeah, but other than that, I say this place is worth building upon. We can do this.”

  A knock sounded at the door and Sam opened it.

  Eddy came walking in and smiled at all of them, “Hey!”

  They looked at him weirdly while Dexter stood outside the door and mumbled under his breath.

  “Really Eddy! Manners!”

  “Oh, come on! It’s how I meet everyone! Name’s Eddy by the way. That’s my big-headed brother, Dexter.”

  “Obviously the smart one!”

  “Please come in!” Sam laughed.

  “So, how are you liking it? Comfortable?” Dexter asked.

  Sam sighs, “Uh…yeah. It’s good. You don’t know how good it feels to finally have water. I mean, wow!”

  “Well, it all gets better. We scout every week to find something useful; food, gear, medicine. The usual.”

  “Good to know. Say, I think you may need help with those walls. It needs to be-”

  “Higher? Yeah, explain that to Eric.”

  “He’s the…?”

  “Leader. Yeah.”

  “A dumb one at that!” Eddy laughed.

  “Eddy.”

  “What? We’ve been trying to convince him for two months! Nothing’s changed.”

  “Well, maybe I can persuade him.” Sam said.

  “Good luck with that.”

  “Well, we have to go. It was nice meeting you!” Eddy smiled.

  They shook hands and exited the house while Sam locked the door and peeked through the window.

  “What?” Tina asked.

  “As nice as they were, I don’t trust them yet.”

  “Sam, come on.”

  “I can’t risk it. They seem like good people. They really do, but I must make sure it’s not a cover up. This community…it’s too-”

  “Normal?” Jess asked.

  “Yes.”

  Eddy rushed into the restroom and slammed the door. He stared into the mirror and cried. He threw his back against the wall and slid down slowly. He dug his face into his hands and zoned out everything around him.

  Faith opened the door and walked in on Jess staring around the house. She was eager to say something, but the way Jess was looking made it seem like whatever she was looking at was real.

  “Jess!”

  Jess jumped and exhaled loudly. She glanced at the door, but Sam wasn’t there. She peeked over her shoulder and didn’t see Tina either. She started shaking and trembling, but Faith was able to catch up to Jess before she tipped over and fell to the ground. Jess covered her mouth and cried silently. Faith sat next to her in the middle of the room and rubbed her shoulder while tears dripped from her cheeks also.

  “Jess, I promise you, we’re going to kill Jason. Even if it kills me.”

  “We need to go back!”

  “Not now. It’s dangerous, but we’ll go.”

  Jess grabbed Sam’s ring from her pocket and took her necklace off. She tried to hold back her tears as she put his ring on the necklace next to her ring. She promised herself that she’ll always fight to survive. For their family.

  Later that night, Jess sat on the couch very quietly. The room resembled her feelings: emptiness. Rage. Sorrow. She just pictured Sam there. No one else. Just the two of them and their son running around the house laughing and playing. She rubbed her stomach and remembered the time she was pregnant. The way Sam lit up when he saw her stomach grow and how he played with her belly during the months. Then came the tragedy that shook both their worlds. One incident had cost their son’s life. Someone knocked on the door, but Jess just looked at the door. She didn’t answer. She just…sat there.

  “Jess?” Steven asked.

  Jess continued to be silent, but Steven opened the door and stared at her. He didn’t move a muscle. He stood there at the door and watched her sit there and gaze at the window.

  “Jess, can I come in?”

  She didn’t answer, so he decided to enter. He walked up to her and sat on the ground in front of her.

  “Jess, I-”

  “I know. You’re sorry. I’ve heard it from everyone. I’m fine.”

  “Jess, I know you’re not fine. You just lost someone who meant the world to you. Trust me when I say I know how you feel. I never told anyone, but I’m 16 years old, which made me 11 when everything went to hell. We were picking my brother up from work and that’s when they quarantined the city. We were in Boston. Weeks passed and they built a wall to protect us from the outside, but after the zombie population got larger, the wall seemed to get weaker, so to speak. They brought down the wall and flooded the whole city. None of us had time to run before they came into our neighborhood and killed everyone on sight. Finally, they came into our home. They killed my dad first, then my mom. My brother rushed me upstairs and told me to hide in the closet and never come out, no matter what happened. As soon as he shoved me in that closet and tried to run out of the room to distract the zombies, they came in the room and killed him, but I saw how he killed one of them. I watched my brother get torn apart in front of me and there was nothing I could do about it except watch him scream and hear it fade away while the zombies enjoyed his insides. Since then, I have been on my own, struggling to survive and gathering with new groups to learn how to survive. Now I’m here. The world we live in now, it’s only temporary, but we must have the strength to fight it through. Either way, the zombies are going to be extinct. We have to believe that. Not everyone will make it. Sam seemed like a great guy for as long as I’ve been with him and that’s been a little time. I saw how much he cared for all of you and it showed me how special your group was. You’re all strong and I know you’ve been through more than you let on. Don’t give up Jess. Don’t go to the dark place like I did. It will get you nowhere.”

  “Sorry Steven.”

  “Nothing can change what happened, but I have to survive to make up for it. That’s why I’m still here.”

  Steven stood up and walked out of the house. Jess watched him walk through the community and figured, “If he can do it, so can I.”

  Jess stood up and walked upstairs to her room. She opened the door slowly and walked inside. The room was neat. It almost disturbed her. The neatness only reminded her of what could be a perfect life. Her, Sam, Tina, and their son keeping the house and rooms clean while they laugh and talk. She took off her shoes and threw them in the corner of the room as she entered the restroom and turned on the shower. She stripped her clothes and stepped in the water. It was warm and comfortable, but it seemed to be no use to Jess. She washed her body and brushed her hair back as she tried to forget about what happened for the moment. She dropped down in the tub, brought her legs to her chest, and wrapped her arms around he
r legs. She cried as the water hit her face and traveled down her back.

  “I’m so sorry!”

  VI

  “WHAT DID YOU DO?”

  12 hours into the day and it was not a perfect one. Zombies filled in front of the door while Eddy, Dexter, and other men pushed the furniture in front of it. They appeared to be inside Eric’s house and Faith was screaming for John and Lisa to go upstairs. After they pushed the furniture in front of the door, they backed away from the door and looked around.

  “Try to find more things to block these windows with. They can get in from any opening!” Eddy shouted.

  “Where’s Jess?” Dexter asked.

  “I don’t know. She was upstairs.” Eddy replied.

  “Well, we need her. Her and-”

  John and Lisa screamed as Faith ran upstairs and rushed into the room where they were. Her jaw dropped when she saw the wide puddle of blood trace from a body. Lisa cried and walked away while John followed behind her as Faith walked around slowly. Someone moved in front of Faith and she jumped. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She looked at the bloody person sitting in the corner with a knife and gasped, “What did you do?”

  The morning came, but it was a gloomy day. Hopelessness filled the community and it was a day of mourning for Jess and her group. None of them could cope with the fact that Sam and David were truly gone. Eric woke up on the couch and rubbed his head.

  “Maria?”

  Maria walked downstairs and merely glanced at Eric, “Yes?”

  “What did I do that was so wrong?”

  “You were out of control.”

  “I was not!” Eric shouted as he walked towards her.

  “Stop! I did it because you were about to do something you were going to regret.”

  “I know exactly what I’m doing. Don’t you ever doubt me!”

  “I can do whatever the hell I want and you weren’t going to put them out on my watch!”

  Eric scoffs, “Okay.”

  Maria walked out of the house and slammed the door while Eric punched the wall and yelled. Maria managed to walk into Jess, who was putting a backpack on.

  “Hey, Jess. What are you doing?”

  “I’m about to go scavenge for supplies. We’re running low.”

  “By yourself?”

  “Yes.”

  “Jess, I can’t let you do that.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  Eddy approached them, “Hey, what’s going on? How are you feeling Jess?”

  Maria looked at her, “You want to tell him, or should I?”

  “I’m going to find supplies.”

  “You and-”

  “Just me.”

  “No way! I’m coming with you!”

  “No Eddy! I can’t risk anyone else dying!”

  “But it’s okay for you to risk yours? No. I’m coming. End of discussion.”

  “I’m coming too.” Steven said as he walked forward, “I don’t stay here anyways and I think I could help your situation with supplies.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “My group. We have food like you couldn’t imagine. We could help you.”

  “Okay. You can take me, but just the two of us.”

  “Three,” Eddy interrupted, “I’m going to go get my stuff.”

  Jess sighed and watched Steven crack a smile. Eddy just wouldn’t give up. Jess loved that about him, but it scared her at the same time. She didn’t want anyone to die. Especially if it was because of her.

  “Alright. We’re leaving in 10 minutes.”

  Jess walked away and glanced at Faith’s house. She knocked on the door and waited for anyone to come towards the door. John opened the door and let her in.

  “Hey John. Where’s Faith?”

  “She’s in her room.”

  Jess walked to the room and knocked on the door as she entered. Faith was laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

  “Do you ever think we’ll get past what happened?”

  “Yes. It’s going to be hard, but we will.”

  “I meant about what Jason said about David. The whole time and we didn’t know anything about him. His name. Nothing.”

  “It was definitely shocking, but he wanted to escape what he was about to become. If he was still alive, we would have discussed everything, but at the same time, we’ve been with him for five years and not once did he cause doubt in my mind. We trusted him, not his past.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I’m going to go with Steven to his camp. He says he have supplies we could use.”

  “By yourself?”

  “No. Eddy’s coming along too.”

  “Okay. I don’t trust Steven just yet.”

  “Me neither, but I have to take this risk. If not, then you know what’ll happen.”

  “Okay,” Faith stands up and hugs Jess, “be safe.”

  “Always.”

  Jess exits her house as Eddy and Steven waited by the gate. As Jess approached, she noticed how scared she had gotten from walking out of the community after Sam and David. Her legs trembled and she held her backpack straps tighter as she got closer.

  “You alright? Do you need a minute?”

  “I’m fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

  The men opened the gate and Jess exhaled quietly as she stepped out. She walked over to the right side of the camp and squatted next to Sam and David’s grave they made. She touched the cross and dug her fingers in the dirt while a tear dropped in the center of the burial.

  “I’ll see you and Austin soon, but I’ll survive for you as long as I can.”

  She stood up over both Sam and Jayden’s graves. Eddy walked behind her and observed the graves.

  “You know, it gets better.”

  “Yeah, that’s the worst part.”

  Jess walks away and Eddy grabbed his backpack and opened it. Inside was a machete and Eddy pulled it out and held it tight, “I’ll protect her.”

  Eddy stood up and threw the backpack over his shoulder. He ran behind Jess, but Dexter yelled from inside the gates. Eddy groaned and turned around slowly.

  “Shit.”

  Dexter opened the gate and walked fast towards Eddy, “What are you doing?”

  “I’m going with them!”

  “No!”

  “Dexter-”

  “You’re not going! I said no!”

  “You can’t tell me what to fucking do Dexter! You have to let me go! I can take care of myself!”

  “I’m not losing you!”

  “You won’t! it’s my choice Dexter!”

  “Just like Mom made her choice?”

  “She did that for herself! I’m doing this for the group!”

  Eddy walked away, but Dexter grabbed his arm, “Don’t do this!”

  Eddy snatched away and walked past Jess and Steven. They looked back at Dexter as he scoffs and walked back into the camp. Jess sighed and followed behind Eddy. Steven imagined what happened between the two of them and walked away. Minutes went by and Eddy kept walking ahead of them. Jess knew he was hurt because he hadn’t talked since they started walking. She walked faster and caught up to him, but he refused to even look at her.

  “You want to talk about it?”

  “Not really, but I kind of have to now. My mom was a very selfish person. Everything she did, she did it only to benefit herself. Dexter basically took care of me while she brought different men inside our homes. When everything went down, she literally tried to save herself. She left me and Dexter to fight a horde by ourselves and eventually, every horrible thing she did came back and bit her in the ass.”

  “I’m sorry. No one deserves to be treated like that by their parents.”

  “Yeah. Fuck her.”

  “Hey!” Steven pointed, “it’s this way.”

  Steven walked down the street and continued forward. While walking, they heard noises coming from the side of a building, but they ignored it. A zombie came from around one of the buildings and walked to
wards them. Jess sighed and grabbed her knife.