“Come on! We can go to my house. It should hold the rest of us.”
“What about everyone else?”
“We’ll get them. These kids need to be safe right now.”
Runners caught up to them, but Dexter and Faith shot them out of the way and kept running. The closer they got to the house, the closer the zombies approached them. Other members from the community followed her as they fought towards the house. Eric opened the door and let Maria and the others in while Dexter shot most of the zombies behind the people, but one of them managed to catch one man. He tried shooting it off him, but more surrounded his body and dragged him down. Dexter ran inside and nearly slammed the door, but Eddy put his foot in the way and opened it.
“Oh, Eddy!” he yelled as he hugged him.
“Get inside!” Maria yelled.
“We don’t have time. It’s Jason’s men. They sent the trucks to ambush us. To draw us out.”
“Where’s Faith?” Jess asked.
“She’s upstairs I think.”
Jess ran upstairs and heard her talking to the kids in Eric’s room. Lisa and John ran outside the room panicking as they rushed downstairs. Jess went into the room and helped Faith lift Eric off the ground. He groaned and snatched away from Jess as he sat on the edge of the bed and stared at them with anger.
“You did this!” Eric shouted at Jess.
“What are you talking about?”
“If it wasn’t for you and your band of idiots, my community would have been okay. Get away from me!”
Eric shoves her back and Jess scoffs, “You’re so miserable!”
“I’ll get Maria and check on the kids.” Faith said.
As she walked downstairs, Eddy and Dexter were fighting zombies from the windows.
“Maria, Eric needs you.”
Maria gasped and ran upstairs, but Lisa screamed from the kitchen and scared Faith. She ran to the kitchen to find a zombie on top of Lisa. Luckily, John was holding it back by its hair, but the hair slowly started to separate from its skull. Faith pulled out her knife and stabbed the zombie in the head.
“What happened?”
Zombies approached behind John and Faith snatched him behind her and began shooting the zombies.
“Eric, you need to calm down!” Jess calmly suggested.
Maria walked in and looked at his wound, “What’s happening?”
“This bitch is about to cause our deaths!”
“First off, don’t call me a bitch!”
“Eric, calm down now!”
“No, I’m sick of them getting all the treatment. I’m your husband! You should be defending me!”
“I defend the right side and you’re wrong!”
“Yeah, well, the right side is also cutting short by the day.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m glad Sam is dead.”
Jess slapped him hard and frowned at him. Maria looked at him in shock and backed away. Eric looked at Jess slowly and frowned.
“You little bitch!”
Eric pushed Jess to the ground and jumped on top of her. Jess tried hitting him in the face, but he held her hands down. Maria tried pulling him off her, but he slapped Maria to the ground. She fell against the drawer and dropped to the ground. While distracted, Jess freed one of her hands and stuck her thumb in Eric’s wound. Eric screams and punched Jess in the nose, which causes her to bump her head on the floor. He placed his hands around her neck and squeezed tight. Jess struggled to breathe as she reached for her knife, but it was an inch too far. Eric yelled, but the knife went through his throat and blood spattered all over Jess. Maria snatched out the knife and Jess threw him down. She crawled away from him and stared at Maria. Eric tried reaching for Jess, but his eyes were full of fear. Fear of dying. Fear of not existing anymore. He dropped his hands and died with his eyes still open and staring at Jess. Maria was shaking, but she gripped the knife and walked to a corner. As she slid down the wall, Jess stood up and walked to her.
“Maria…. give me the knife.” Jess whispered.
Lisa and John rushed in, but Lisa screamed and glanced at Eric’s dead body. John hugged her and gazed at Maria before Faith came in and gasped at the scene. Blood tracing from his throat. Maria sitting in a corner in shock. Jess bloody.
“What did you do?” Faith asked Maria.
“She’s in shock.”
“What did she do?”
“What does it look like! She killed Eric to save me. He was going to kill me if it wasn't for her.”
Jess grabbed the knife and stood Maria up.
“Jess, we have to go. Zombies are pouring in. We can’t stay here.”
“Okay, but we have to-”
Maria slowly grabbed the knife from Jess's hand and stood tall, “I’m helping you.”
“Maria-”
“Let’s go.”
Maria walked past them while they all stood around and thought about what she just did. Faith grabbed Lisa and John and walked out of the door while Jess stayed behind. Jess looked at Eric and felt bad for what happened. He had his problems of course, but he was still an innocent person in this world. At least that’s what she told herself. She ran out of the room, but Faith and the others were already fighting zombies below. One zombie slipped past them and headed towards Faith. She pulled out her knife and walked down to the zombie, but John kicked its leg and caused the zombie to fall. John stabbed the zombie in the head and smiled at Faith.
“Come on!” John screamed.
“Where do we go?” Eddy asked.
“Out the side. We can fight them from there, but we have to get out of this community.” Dexter responded.
They all headed for the side of the house, but Maria was ahead of them. She was already outside fighting the zombies and Jess was scared for her.
“What is she doing?” Jess asked herself.
Jess ran outside and stood beside Maria as she pushed zombies out of the way and shot most of the zombies. Some members of the community were still surrounded by zombies, but when they saw Maria and the others, they shot their way towards them. One of Jason’s men grabbed his gun and came out of the truck. He shot most of the zombies in his way and grabbed a grenade from his waist. He aimed it for the group, but a zombie bit him on the arm and he dropped the grenade below him. The grenade exploded and blew the truck up near it. The zombies around it died and the gates fell over. Maria stopped and looked at what her community had become. There was no more hope for this community and she couldn’t change anything. One of the Silent Ones knocked Faith out and threw a knife into Maria’s leg. Dexter aimed at him, but he grabbed the knife from Maria and grabbed Lisa. John ran towards the man, but he suddenly stopped. The man had a knife at Lisa’s throat while they all pointed guns towards the man. Lisa cried heavily and Dexter started shaking. He didn’t want to shoot because of what could happen. Eddy aimed straight at the man’s head, but before he pulled the trigger, one of the community members stabbed the man in the back. The man screamed, dropped the knife, and Eddy shot him in the head. John ran to Lisa and hugged her tight.
“It’s okay.” he whispered in her ear.
Eddy nodded at the member and walked away as the rest of the zombies were killed by the others. They all looked around and noticed what happened. Their community was no more. Fire spread through the grass and destroyed their crops, but bodies turned the community into a graveyard. A group of men ran up to the fires with buckets of water while others were heard crying, holding their loved ones. It was horrific. Dexter helped Maria up while Eddy picked Faith up and walked to her house. John looked around and caught one of the Silent Ones running away and ran for him.
“John! What are you doing?” Lisa cried.
Eddy noticed her yelling and placed Faith down.
“Jess, get her inside!”
“What is he doing?”
“I don’t know. Just get inside!”
Eddy ran behind John as he chased the man into the woods and
gripped his knife. Eddy caught up to him, but he covered his mouth and brought him to the ground. John struggled to break free, but Eddy put his finger over his mouth and told him to be quiet.
“Look.”
Eddy pointed towards a foot trail the man left behind and John gasped.
“I can follow him quietly.”
“You? No, I’m going with you!”
“No, you’re not. This isn’t a game John.”
“I know that.”
“Good, then go back.”
“No. They won’t kill me. In case you haven’t noticed, they captured children, not kill them. I want to know what they’re doing.”
“Me too, but I can’t risk you being out here. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re not exactly a kid anymore.”
“It’s not happening!”
“What’s up with people not following rules?” Eddy mumbled.
“I heard you!”
“Don’t care!”
Eddy grabbed John’s shirt and dragged him along as he walked away and Steven stared at the trail. Minutes past by as Faith woke up in her bed and felt Lisa’s hand grab hers.
“Hey Faith.”
“What happened?”
“A man knocked you out and threatened to take me, but they killed him. John ran after another one…he hasn’t come back yet. Don’t worry, Eddy’s got him.”
“Good.”
“The community is gone Faith. Zombies can just walk right in and we don’t have anything to defend us.”
“It’s okay. We’ll make it.”
Faith began to get up, but Lisa touched her shoulder, “Are you sure you want to get up.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
Dexter walks in and sighs with relief, “Good, you’re okay.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Well, good news is the community can be saved, but we’ll need to have full guard and build these walls back up.”
“How long will that take?”
“Weeks.”
“Well, we better-”
Eddy walks in and John rushes to Faith and hugs her. She exhaled calmly and hugs him tight. Eddy smiles at them and looks at Faith. Dexter pats him on the shoulder and walks out, but Eddy looks around.
“Where’s Jess?”
Sam’s grave was still in good condition, but the sticks were barely managing to stay intact. Jess tightens the string and smiles lightly. She grips their rings and hold it close to her. Eddy walked up behind her and stands quietly, but a single sound caused Jess to jump and point her knife in Eddy’s face.
“Woah! It’s just me.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
They continued to look at the grave and Eddy sighs, “I still can’t believe he’s gone.”
“Me too. He was…”
“Perfect.”
“Yeah. Perfect. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“Do what you keep doing Jess.”
“Look how that’s working out.”
“After we take care of Jason and his men, everything will be alright.”
“Thank you Eddy, but everything’s not going to be okay. I lost…everyone I love dearly. I’m going to find and kill every single one of them.”
“And I’m going to be by your side.”
Tears drift down her cheeks as she wipes them away quickly, “What do we do with those trucks?”
“Give them a taste of their own medicine.” Steven interrupted.
“Yeah, but we don’t know where they are.”
“Maybe we ask.”
“Ask who?”
Steven led them inside one of the survivor’s house and closed the door behind them. One of Jason’s men was tied to a chair upstairs in a room and Jess was shocked, but relieved. He was bruised up all over his face and had cuts all over his chest.
“How did you do this?”
“Wasn’t that hard. I took him while you fought the zombies.”
“Smart.”
The man stared at them in fear and Eddy saw that.
“Did he tell you anything?”
“No. I haven’t talked to him just yet.”
“Wait,” Eddy removed the cloth from the man’s mouth, “Why do you look so frightened?”
“I don’t want to die.”
“It’s a fake.” Steven interrupted.
“I thought Jason taught you to be tough?”
“He did. Not all of us are in his team by choice.”
“What do you mean?”
“He killed most of my family because I wouldn’t join him. I didn’t want anyone else to die, so I did, but he still has my sister locked up.”
“How am I supposed to trust a word you’re saying?”
“Look in my back pocket.”
Steven digs into his pocket and pulls out a picture. It was his family, but not the way it was supposed to be. Their insides were hanging out and they all faced the camera with their dead eyes. Steven sighed and handed the picture to Eddy and Jess. They gasped and looked at the picture, but Jess walked out of the room quickly.
“I'm sorry.” Steven sighed.
“I don’t want to be part of his group anymore. Please, help me.”
Eddy walked out of the room and pulled Steven with him, “I really want to trust him, but I don’t think I can.”
“I know. He may be telling the truth though.”
“Maybe.”
“Where's Jess?”
“She and Sam were together and David was like a brother to her. It’s heartbreaking to hear what he was once a part of.”
“Oh. So, what do we do?”
“We keep him locked up. If he is telling the truth, he stays here until we figure out what to do with him. I don’t want to send him back there. We both know how horrible Jason can be.”
“True. What do we tell-”
Jess comes around the corner with a gun and shoots the man in the head. Eddy and Steven jump and they both stared at the blood drop from the back of his head.
“Why did you shoot him?”
Jess pulls a picture and shows it to them. It was the exact picture the man had in his back pocket. Eddy shakes his head in relief and shows Steven.
“He tried to set us up.”
“Where did you get this?” Eddy asked.
“One of the other dead men. Apparently, they all followed up on a plan in case this happens.”
“It practically worked.” Steven sighed.
“No shit! I can’t handle this.” Eddy walked out of the room frustrated and Jess moved out of his way.
“I’ll get rid of him.”
“Not by yourself.”
Jess walks towards the man, but Steven stands in place.
“You mind if I ask a question?”
“No.”
“What happened to the baby?”
“What?”
“I saw the scar on your stomach. You had the baby the other way.”
“A C-section.”
“Yeah. My mother had the same thing.”
“Um…he didn’t make it.”
“That’s not…that’s not fair.”
Jess begins to cry a little, “No it’s not.”
“I just want to help.”
“I’m sorry about your family. You’re too young.”
“Thanks.”
Eddy approached them breathing heavily, “Jess, they’re back.”
“Who?”
“The zombies, but they’re runners.”
Jess grabbed her gun and rushed out of the room. Outside, the runners were scattered all around the community. The people were handling the situation, but most of them were still afraid. They were able to shoot most of the runners while they rushed outside to help. Lisa stayed inside and watched due to her condition, but John grabbed Faith’s gun discretely.
Z Island Series (Book 2): War After Z Island Page 12
