“Faith, I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
John ran outside and aimed the gun at the zombies. They were moving too fast and he couldn’t concentrate. One zombie ran towards one of the men, but John froze. He didn’t shoot because he didn’t want to miss and shoot the man, which resulted in the man being attacked and eaten by the zombie. His screams were shadowing John’s thoughts, but he managed to shake his head and shoot the zombie in the head. The gunfire scared John but as more zombies appeared, he frowned and started shooting the zombies. On some zombies, he could shoot them in the chest and other areas, but never in the head. One runner headed towards him, but Eddy shot it and rushed towards John.
“Dammit John!” Eddy screamed.
He grabbed John by the arm and pulled him inside the house, “Stay here.”
“But I want to fight!”
“Not now!”
“This is bullshit!” John mumbled.
Eddy ran back outside and continued to help Jess and the others with the zombies. They had finished them off and started looking around for any more zombies. Eddy exhaled loudly and let John outside. John, smiling and cheering in his own thoughts, ran outside with his knife, but quickly gasped in disappointment.
“Eddy. I could’ve helped!”
“I know that, but you have to learn some things. First off, in a place like this, you don’t wonder off on your own. Never!”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“Obviously not,” Eddy sighed, “Go in the house and tell Faith you’re coming with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“To get these people’s kids back.”
“Oh, yes!”
John ran into the house, but Eddy took off before he came back. While outside, Dexter came behind him and grabbed his arm, “You’re doing this alone?”
“Yes.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“Dexter-”
“This isn’t an argument.”
“Fine, but hurry.”
“I’m coming with you!”
Others surrounded them, but Eddy didn’t like the idea at all.
“Look, I know you all want your kids. That’s why it’s just me and Dexter going.”
“Like hell you are!”
“We can’t risk those kid’s lives by going all together. In order to do this successfully, it should be us. Plus, can you guarantee your safety out there?”
“We have numbers.”
“Trust me, that doesn’t matter. We will get them.”
Eddy and Dexter disappeared in the woods while John came back outside only to find Eddy gone.
“Shit!” John kicks dirt and sits down in frustration.
VII
NO SAFE PLACE
The trail ran cold. Eddy constantly paced around and looked for any signs of footprints, but Dexter just scoffs and leans against a tree. Eddy stood up in frustration and walked over to Dexter.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“No, you don’t just scoff and say it was nothing.”
“We’re wasting our time right now. It’s a million to one chance we’ll find them.”
“I’ll take it.”
“Eddy, Sam is gone!”
“What?”
“Oh, come on! I know you want to be like him. I should have come out here alone. You don’t have to prove yourself. I can lead them.”
“Since when did you want to become leadership material?”
“I didn’t. I just…want to do what Sam would have done. Jess is a mess, Faith, Maria, who else is there?”
“Sam always did what was best for us! Best for this community! What is with you?”
“You depended on him so much!”
“You’re not jealous, are you?”
“Yes! Before everything happened, I was the one who looked after you! I told you wrong from right!”
“Yes, but it’s just not the same anymore. Of course, I will never betray you or not take your word into consideration, but you should know, it’s a different time now. I don’t have to follow your every move anymore. I choose my own path! Not you!”
Eddy grabs his knife and continues looking for any sight of footprints while Dexter remained against the tree thinking about what Eddy said. He was no longer Eddy’s protector.
“I found it.”
Eddy traced the footprints to an abandoned cabin. Dexter walked in front of Eddy and followed the trail. Eddy scoffs and continued behind him as they approached the cabin. It was filled with vines and leaves, but the front door was cleared.
“Why would he-”
Eddy pulled out his gun and opened the door. The cabin was empty. There were no signs of anyone or anything living inside. Dexter sighed and walked out of the cabin.
“Nothing’s here.”
Eddy ignored him and kept looking around for some answers. He knew there was something, otherwise, the footprints wouldn’t have led him there. Eddy suddenly saw something being covered up with a towel. He moved it and saw a bowl with a towel. It had mud on it and Eddy picked it up. He looked around the room for any sights of mud and suddenly found a little smear of mud by a rug.
“Of course!”
He dragged the rug away from the area and found a hatch underneath it. As horrified as he felt, Eddy opened the hatch slowly and looked down. There was an underground tunnel that led somewhere and Eddy had gotten curious.
“This is it.”
Eddy walked outside to look for Dexter, but he wasn’t around. Eddy quickly grabbed his gun and pointed it around. The area was quiet. Wind whistling through the gaps between branches, few birds chirping in the distance, and leaves crumbling on each other across the ground. As he creeped out into the woods, he heard something coming from the side of him. When he turned towards the sound, a zombie emerged from behind the tree. Eddy gasped and pulled out his knife. He kicked the zombie down and stabbed it in the head. Eddy panicked and looked around for Dexter. He prevented himself from yelling, but as the seconds passed, the more anxious he was to shout for his brother. Eddy turned around and spotted a small herd of zombies heading his way. Eddy quickly ran towards the cabin and quietly closed the door. They had already seen him, but he tried hiding anyway. There were too many for him to take on by himself and he remained frightened. He closed the hatch and hid behind a table while gripping his knife and gun. A couple of runners approached the door and looked inside. Eddy stood still behind the table, but he saw a clear view of the zombies. They were standing there, waiting to hear a sound so they could run and devour whatever made the sound. Suddenly, the brains of the zombies splattered on the windows and Eddy jumped up. He held the gun at the door as he listened to the zombies screech and someone yelling for Eddy.
“John?”
Eddy ran towards the door and opened it. A zombie turned around and reached out for Eddy, but he stabbed it and kicked it against other zombies. John and Dexter were seen fighting zombies on the other side while Eddy killed the rest of them.
“What the hell are you doing?” Eddy asked.
“I found him following us and zombies attacked. That’s why I wasn’t here.”
“John…”
“Eddy, I have to see this through.”
“Why?”
“They tried to take my sister! I’m not letting one of them live!”
“No! You’re going back!”
“No!”
“John! It’s not a question and you don’t have a choice.”
“Look out!”
One of the Silent Ones threw a knife towards them, but missed. Dexter grabbed his gun and shot him in the head. His body dropped outside the hatch, but fell back inside. The gunshot was heard from every direction and they knew it meant trouble.
“Shit!” Eddy mumbled under his breath, “look, we have to-”
Eddy gasped at Dexter as he held John in his arms. The knife had gone through his chest and Dexter started to lose it.
<
br /> “No! John!”
John continued gasping for air while Dexter held him.
“I’m sorry.” John said.
“Save your breath John. You’re going to make it!” Dexter assured.
Eddy pulled Dexter’s head towards him, “Get him home.”
“What about you?”
“Go!”
Dexter didn’t argue and lifted John up, “Put pressure on it!”
“Come back!” Dexter told Eddy as he ran back to the community.
Eddy exhaled loudly and grabbed his knife and gun. He walked inside the cabin and looked down the hatch. The body laid there, no life in it and Eddy paused. He asked himself if he was prepared to kill for the second time, but this moment gave him no time to think it through. He climbed down the ladder and walked past the body. The tunnel was similar to the other tunnel they saw, but this one was far more disturbing. Blood trialed down the way and body parts made themselves present. The smell nearly suffocated Eddy as he put his shirt in front of his nose. The more he looked around, the more troubling the sight had gotten. The body parts were there, but there was something about them that questioned Eddy. Then it hit him; these were kids and teenagers. The shoes, the limbs, all were those of young survivors. Eddy cried inside, but remained concentrated. He came up to a more expanded area of lights and cages. The whole area was more of an underground slaughterhouse. Eddy heard one of the men and hid behind one of the cages. As he hid behind the cage, he noticed he was being overshadowed by a dead teenager. His eyes were gone and he looked as if he died of starvation. His body was very skinny, hardly nothing on him but bone, and Eddy covered his mouth from crying aloud. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing in front of him. The two men walked around the cages laughing while eating and Eddy saw them. How could they laugh at anything after what they do? They passed up one cage and laughed in the children’s faces. Most of them cried, but some looked at them with hatred. Eddy felt for these children and he wanted to kill every single one of them. The sight of one of the dead children hanging proved so. He was no longer filled with fear. Fear turned into anger, anger turned into chaos, and chaos turned into massacre. Eddy opened his eyes for what seemed like the first time in minutes. He seemed to blank out and when he focused in on the situation, he panted. Bodies of the Silent Ones flooded the area and Eddy didn’t know what happened. He looked at his hands and found a bloody knife in his hand. He dropped it and fell to the ground. The men had their throats slit while others were stabbed repeatedly and shot. Children and teens cried in the following cages as Eddy gathered himself and stood up.
“I’m going to get you out of here.”
“Please. Help us.”
“You killed all of them like it was nothing.”
“Thank you, mister!”
The comments from the children brought joy, but uncertainty to Eddy. He’s thankful that he saved them, but he can’t get over the fact that he blanked out throughout the whole thing.
“Move!”
Eddy shot the cage open and let the children out. They excitedly ran out and stood behind him as he walked over to the other cages. As he freed the other children, one of the men snuck up on him and grabbed his knife.
“Watch out!”
Eddy dodged his knife and grabbed his arm. The children stood there and watched him fight over the knife and one of the kids hits the man in the back with a rock. The man screamed and Eddy snatched the knife out of his hand. He stabbed the man in his chest and let the man lay on the ground dying.
“Okay. Come on! Let’s go.”
Eddy opened the hatch and ran to the door to make sure no zombies were around. When it was safe, Eddy opened the door and waited for the children to get out of the tunnel and headed outside. While he led them to the community, memories of being in that tunnel looped in Eddy’s mind. The zombies that approached them were not a problem for him. He simply shot them and kept running. He wondered if he was going to black out again and cause something else, but when he thought about it, it wasn’t controllable. Later, Eddy arrived at the community with a few zombies in front of it. Eddy shot them and ran to the gate.
“Open up!” Eddy yelled.
Maria opened the door and let Eddy in and laughed with excitement when she saw all the children come in. Eddy watched as mothers and fathers ran to their children, but also watched those who didn’t have a son or daughter to come back to them. Other children didn’t belong here, but nobody cared. They were safe and that’s what mattered. Eddy ran to the medical house and barged in, but he was interrupted by Jess holding Faith and rubbing her back. Eddy slowly approached them, but the doctor, Kevin, tapped him on his back and held his head down.
“Please tell me…”
“I’m sorry.”
“Oh…” Eddy panted.
Lisa was heard in the room and Eddy walked in and looked at John’s body. He came up to Lisa and laid his hand on her shoulder, but she turned around and cried in his arms. Eddy hugged her tight and cried as he looked at John. The doctor did everything he could, but there was nothing left to do. He was in a better place now. A place with no violence. A place with no doubt, no evil…no war.
“I’m sorry.” Eddy whispered.
“This has to stop.” Lisa cried.
“It will. I promise.”
“That’s the thing Eddy. You can’t.”
Lisa walked out of the room and left Eddy staring at John’s body. The doctor walked in front of the body and covered it up as Eddy wiped his eyes and walked out of the room.
Two weeks passed by and the community was quiet. Men worked on the walls while others were scattered around practicing with their weapons. The walls were extended so the graves were inside rather than being outside the walls. Jess held her head down while sitting next to Sam, Tina, and Austin’s graves. She couldn’t cope with the pain. The feeling twisted her guts inside and caused her to groan with pain. The sun was rising, but the words “good morning” did not whisper into her ear. She couldn’t feel Sam’s arms reach around her or Austin playing in the other room. She didn’t see Tina downstairs cooking or laughter that overflowed the hallways. Pure darkness wrapped around her and kept her close, but she didn’t want that. She wants to be free. She wants her family back.
Eddy walked past Jess and sat down next to Lisa and Faith. Faith was crying and Lisa was destroyed. It appeared in her eyes and the tears told him something words could never do. He remained quiet while reaching out to Lisa and giving her and Faith a hug.
“Faith, Lisa, we will find Jason. We’ll kill him.”
“Yes, we will.” Lisa said as she stood up and stormed off.
Faith jumped up and chased after Lisa, “Lisa! Stop!”
She grabbed her arm, but Lisa snatched away and stared at her.
“We’re stopping Jason! Not you!”
“Look how that’s working out! We need to fight him!”
“Not you!”
“He’s the reason John’s dead!”
“John’s the reason!”
Lisa gasped with shock as they stood in front of each other, “It’s his own fault! We told him to stay, but he went anyway! Yes, Jason is at fault for purpose, but John made that decision!”
“I’m not about to listen to this!”
Lisa walked towards the house while Faith angrily threw her hands down and paced back and forth. Jess and Eddy approached her as Faith dropped to the ground crying.
“She’s right. We need to fight him. He can’t win!” Eddy sighed.
“He won’t. We’ve lost too much already.” Jess said.
Lisa walked up to her room door and stops midway before looking back at John’s room door. She opens the door and walked around. It was left the same way as if he was still there. Messy. Lisa laughed at the memories that ran through her head. She would always make fun of how dirty his room was and he would always slam the door in her face. Lisa quickly wiped the tears around her eyes and heard a knock on the door. She walked up to the door and o
pened it to Steven.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
Z Island Series (Book 2): War After Z Island Page 13
