by I. J. Smith
Craig smiled. “Then you need all the help you can get!”
Adam shook his head. Craig placed both his hands-on Adam’s shoulders. “We can fight, we have been since the outbreak, please?” he begged.
“Jack’s gonna kill me for this!” Adam stated. “OK! But you all do what I say, when I say it. If you cannot deal with that, say so now and we will part ways!”
“We can do that!” Craig said happily.
The others all had now caught up with Adam and Craig. “Why are we stopping?” Kat asked.
Adam glanced at her. “Just making a deal.” Craig smiled at Kat.
“So where are the weapons?” Sarah asked.
Craig pointed at a large barn that sat in the field. “Over there!”
Adam shook his head in disbelief. “COME ON!” Adam led the way towards the large red barn.
The grass was well overgrown. What was once a beautiful meadow being now nothing more than overgrown weeds. As they were walking towards the barn, Paige began barking, Jacob tried to calm her, but she would not stop. Adam stopped and looked back at Jacob, he watched as Jacob raised his hand, giving him the sign everything was ok.
As Adam turned, Kat screamed. He watched as Sarah had grabbed ahold of Kat and was pulling her back. One of the twins, Brian, screamed out in pain. Adam rushed forward just in time to see Brian pulled to the ground.
Adam came to a sudden stop; he looked down to see a large sinking pit of mud. Dozens of zombies were stuck in the mud, all reaching out for the living. Brad rushed forward, Craig and Taylor stopped him, they watched as Brian was pulled away and torn apart. Blood sprayed in the air as the dead bit down into his face and body. Kat pulled her sword out and swung at the zombie that had attempted to pull her in, with one swing she took its head clean off. She watched as the head rolled away and continued to groan.
Brad fell to his knees. Jacob appeared with Paige. “There’s more!”
Adam walked around and could see most of the area was now a sinking pit of mud, the high grass had covered it visually. He looked out and could see no clear route to the barn. “Well that’s it, now we head for Jack and Raven.”
Sarah walked over to Adam. “There must be a way to those weapons?” she asked.
Adam looked around, “Maybe from the other side, but we don’t have time to find out. We have wasted too much time as it is. Those weapons are not going anywhere, not with these surrounding them.”
Adam walked over to Craig, Taylor and Brad. “OK, we are heading out. If you wanna join us, you can.”
Craig glanced at Taylor and shook his head; together they helped a crying Brad to his feet.
A few miles away…
Zoe was watching out of the window at the carpark around them. Tommy was fast asleep; he had lost a lot of blood and was too weak to move. Ryan had walked around the building looking for anything he could use as a weapon and supplies. He walked back into the room to see Zoe looking so beautiful with the sun shining on her face.
“Anything?” he asked.
Zoe shook her head. “I think they are long gone.”
“Good, because there is not much here and we are going to have to move soon!” Ryan replied.
Zoe gave out a sweet little laugh; she smiled wide as she watched Ryan. “What?” he asked.
“Nothing and everything, look at you.” She said, looking at the man who had changed so much since their time in London.
Zoe reached out with her hand. “Come here!” she told him.
Ryan walked over to her and took her hand; she pulled him close and kissed him gently.
“Oh God, will you two stop!” Tommy suddenly said.
Both Zoe and Ryan laughed. “It’s nice to see you alive, Tommy-boy!”
Tommy tried to look around but the pain in his leg as he tried to move was too much. “WOW! STOP! You’re gonna open those stitches up!” Zoe warned him.
“Where are we?” Tommy asked with pain in his voice.
“A recreation center, so if you wanna swim go ahead, but I should warn you there are some zombies in the pool right now!” Ryan replied.
“Really?” Zoe asked.
Ryan turned to her. “Yeah, it’s disgusting; all their skin is flappy and loose.” In that moment, Tommy was sick.
Zoe and Ryan looked away as their friend puked his guts up. Ryan looked out the window, he pulled the blind away. “Holy shit, that is perfect!”
Zoe looked out and couldn’t see what he was looking at; all she could see were some abandoned vehicles. “What is perfect?”
Ryan pointed to a half rusty old Volkswagen camper van. “We need to find the others and Tommy can’t walk and will need to lie down, that will be perfect.” Zoe watched as an excited Ryan rushed out of the room leaving her with Tommy, who was still being sick.
“Great!” she said.
Ryan rushed to open the door, with metal-bar in hand he walked towards the camper van. He watched carefully, the only zombies in sight were those on the other side of the fence roaming around. He looked at the half rusty orange van with a smile. He looked around to see all the tires were fine; he stood by the side door with his bar in hand. As he slid it open, a groaning echoed out.
Ryan stepped back as the re-animated corpse of a child stumbled out. She had blood all down her flower top and her pigtails were stained red with blood.
“I’m sorry!” he muttered.
Ryan slammed the metal bar into the girl’s head, repeatedly hitting her until her skull collapsed.
He stepped over her body and climbed into the van. Being careful, he looked to make sure it was clear. He climbed into the driver’s seat and was ready to attempt to hotwire the van, but the keys were still in the ignition.
“Damn!”
Not expecting anything, he turned the key. After a few seconds of struggle, the van roared to life. The radio suddenly blared out, ‘BORN IN THE USA!’ Ryan quickly turned it off. “Nope, Great Britain actually,” he joked to himself. He drove the van to the front of the building to pick up Zoe and Tommy.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
RAGE
The rain started to pour down as the sun set over the fort. Bray was sitting in the corner against a wall; his face was still swollen and bruised. His daughter Jennifer sat next to him, holding his hand. They watched as everyone in the fort worked, women worked in the crops, children fed the animals. Only the soldiers sat around laughing and eating. Bray looked at them with hatred; his anger grew as he watched the tall, broad-shouldered Gabe approach his close friends Brandon and Celine.
Bray looked at Brandon. The view of watching him grovel at Gabe’s feet made him sick. Bray noticed the size difference; Brandon was small-shouldered and looked like a child next to Gabe. Then Bray noticed Gabe running his hand along Celine’s blonde haired legs. “I’m gonna kill you!” Bray muttered.
Rain appeared with a bowl of water and a cloth; she kneeled down beside Bray to tend to his wounds. “You keep moving and your cuts will keep opening up!” Rain told him firmly.
Jennifer attempted to comfort her father, but he was lost to her. The guilt of leading everyone here was too much for him to accept. Looking around, Bray could see the children he led here were now working, washing clothes and carrying water to the soldiers. With a sigh, he looked at the ground.
Jennifer squeezed his hand, “I love you dad!”
Bray attempted a smile, but felt his gaze turning back towards Gabe, Brandon and Celine. This time his eyes were met with Gabe staring back at him. Bray locked his eyes on Gabe, he watched as Gabe let go of Celine and stood-up.
Bray’s look suddenly turned to fear; as he watched Gabe march over to him, quickly followed by Brandon and Celine.
“You look unhappy!” Gabe stated.
Bray pushed himself up to his feet. Gabe walked closer to him. “Why the sad face?” he asked.
“Please, just let us go,” Bray replied.
Brandon laughed aloud. Celine stood shaking her head. Rain took Bray’s arm and attempte
d to pull him back.
Gabe smiled. “You wanna hit me? Maybe you wanna kill me?” he glanced at Jennifer with a smile and then looked back at Bray. “Come on, save your little girl. Save everyone and just kill me.”
Bray locked eyes with Gabe. “Woah!” Gabe said. “Look at this! Now, this is a man who wants to kill. But this is a man with no guts to try it.”
Gabe snarled at him and turned away. Just as he began to walk, Bray spoke out.
“My friends know where we are and when they come for us…” Gabe grabbed him by the throat before he could finish. “They will what? Oh yeah, the kids told me about The Reaper!”
Bray was struggling to breathe; Gabe pushed him back towards Rain.
“Looks like we have a problem, this man will just not learn. I have been patient, but now I am tired of it.” Gabe said as he grabbed Jennifer and threw her at Brandon. Bray panicked as Brandon placed his hand on her jaw, preparing to break her neck.
“I’m hungry, how about you?” he asked Brandon.
“Starving!” he replied.
“Don’t worry, he will make it quick!” Gabe told Bray.
Rain quickly rushed towards Jennifer. “NO!” Rain was suddenly hit across the face by Celine and fell to the ground; Celine quickly kicked her in the stomach.
Bray went to move, but was stopped by Gabe pushing him back again.
“Kill her!” Gabe told Brandon.
Bray panicked. “NO! NO! PLEASE! PLEASE!” He begged. “I BEG YOU, PLEASE DON’T!”
Gabe looked at him. “You’re begging? If you’re begging, then why are you on your feet and not your knees?”
Without a second thought Bray dropped to his knees. “Please!” he continued.
Gabe laughed aloud while everyone in the fort watched Bray on his knees. Gabe suddenly kicked Bray in the face. As his nose exploded with blood, the pain could be seen on Bray’s face. But his thoughts were only for his daughter’s safety.
“I don’t know, I don’t think you have learned your lesson yet!” Gabe told him.
“Please!” Bray spoke through a tearful voice.
“OK! Maybe you just need some time to adjust to the way we do things here.” Gabe replied.
“Just clean my shoe and we will forget all this,” Gabe added.
Bray looked down to see Gabe’s white shoe and the large piece of shit on the side of it. Sudden giggle could be heard echoing out. “With all these animals, here, this place is covered in shit!” Gabe told him while holding his foot out.
Bray shook for a moment; refusing to look at anyone he went to wipe the shit from Gabe’s shoe. Gabe pulled his foot back. “NO! Wiping leaves smears. LICK IT OFF!”
Bray looked at Gabe; he looked at his daughter and could see the fear in her eyes as Brandon tightened his grip around her throat. Bray blinked, a tear ran down his face as he lowered his head. He held out his tongue and licked the shit from the shoe. The sound of Bray retching made Gabe speak.
“Puke on my shoes, she’s dead!”
Bray continued to clean the shoe with his tongue, until finally Gabe kicked him back to the ground. “I hope we understand each other now!” Bray nodded in reply. Brandon let go of Jennifer who rushed for her father, but was pushed away as he rushed off to the corner of the fort and began to puke.
Rain grabbed Jennifer and held her tight. She watched as Bray broke down in the corner.
Celine walked around the fort with Gabe and Brandon. “We should kill him!” Celine told them.
“We will, but we can have some fun with him first!” Gabe replied.
Bray stayed curled up in the corner covered in puke and crying.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE RESCUE
Deep into the night, the sky was filled with clouds. A dense fog made it almost impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. Walking across a large field, Adam guided the others through the fog.
“Sssshhhh!” Adam sounded out angrily as those behind him talked.
Adam was concerned; he knew they were headed in the right direction, but visibility was nil. His only comfort was at least they would not see them coming either. As he held his knife he heard the groans of the dead surrounding him.
“Oh shit!” he muttered under his breath.
Adam began to run. “Come on!” He ordered the others.
Sarah and Jacob followed from the rear, with Kat and the boys in front of them. Kat held one of her swords. An arm reached through the fog. Appearing was the decaying corpse of a child, with one slice Kat cut it down. More and more zombies appeared through the fog. A machete swung out, blood sprayed in the air hitting Taylor in the face. Craig tried to grab an arrow from his satchel, but failed. A large zombie grabbed at it, the panic in Craig’s face shone like a star.
As the rotting hands reached for him, he noticed 3 fingers were missing flesh - just bone was showing. Suddenly a sword blade cut through the air, slicing both arms off. As the arms hit the ground, Craig looked up at Kat.
Before he could say anything, she grabbed him and dragged him to run away with the others.
They run across the muddy, overgrown grass. Adam looked back in horror.
“PAIGE!” He shouted in fear.
It was silence. Suddenly the sounds of yelping echoed through the mist. “No!”
Adam went to run back when Jacob grabbed him. “It’s too late!” Adam looked at him in fear. Shaking his head, he continued to run. They ran for almost an hour, when Kat came to a stop. She looked around, the mist was beginning to lift making her vision better. She tapped her foot on the ground. “Concrete!” she told everyone.
They all stood silent looking around. “Are we near?” Sarah asked Adam.
Adam stood staring into the distance. “No, we are there,” He replied.
Sarah and the others looked in the direction Adam was staring. They could all make out a dim light, reflecting off a large metal fence.
∞
Far along the fifteen-foot fence, a large gate stood with a small building beside it. Inside, two men sat talking and drinking coffee. They were both dressed in all-black army fatigues and carried powerful rifles.
“I can’t believe they ordered us back here!” one of them said.
The other man was dunking a biscuit into his coffee. “We follow orders, even if they are stupid ones,” he replied.
“But there is nothing here, except for the damn dead. I mean all night we watch them banging against the fence. What’s the point?”
Eating his soggy biscuit, the man laughed. “Well the new boss seems to think there is something here.”
“Nah! He was just bringing back the zombies for testing. Still hoping to find a damn cure.”
Suddenly a loud noise outside banging against the gate startled both men. Looking through the window, they looked at the gate shaking.
“Dammit, must be another zombie got its damn arm stuck again.” The man said as he left the building. The other man stayed, still eating his biscuit.
Approaching the gate, the man pulled a torch from his side. He shined it all over the fence. “Well, that’s strange,” He muttered to himself.
He started to walk back to his friend. “Fucking zombies, worse than the damn kids!” He suddenly stopped, and stood looking at his friend.
His friend was being held with a knife to his throat. He went to raise his gun, when he felt the cold blade of a machete against his neck. “Hi sweetie, wanna date?” Sarah teased him.
Adam held the other man. “Get the keys, let the others in!”
Sarah took the man’s rifle and pushed into the building. She grabbed the keys and ran for the gate. She quickly unlocked the gates to let the others in. She was about to close it when Jacob stopped her. “No, leave it open. I have a feeling we will need to make a quick getaway.” He told her.
In the building, Adam still held the man by the throat. The second man suddenly rushed at them, but before he made it; he felt the cold steel of a sword slice through his neck. He lived just long eno
ugh to turn and see a young girl looking at him. As he fell to the ground Adam said, “KAT!”
Kat turned with a smile. “It’s OK, you can thank me later,” she said with a smile.
Adam shook his head and returned his attention to his prisoner, he swung him round to face him while still holding the knife to his throat. “You took a friend of mine, where is he?”
The man looked scared and confused. “I don’t know what you are on about, this is just a research lab.” He said with fear.
“Let me cut his fingers off and he will talk!” Kat said.
Jacob closed his eyes in shock. The man looked scared.
“I swear, they only bring zombie here! There are no survivors!” The man said.
Adam raised his eyebrow, “Then who are we?” he asked.
The man looked around at his captors. “Oh shit.”
“Where is he?” Sarah asked as she stepped forward.
He looked at her. “I…I..Don’t know.” Sarah raised her machete and then, within a second, the man started to speak. “The lab, there is a residence there. If they captured anyone they would go there. It’s the most secure area.” He replied with speed.
Adam pulled him close to his face. “Then show us!”
∞
A short distance into the base, a small hut stood with a single light over a large door. Several black 4x4 vehicles were parked around the hut. Two men dressed in all black fatigues stood guard at either side of the door.
Both men stood quietly, looking ahead into the decreasing fog. One of them moved forward slightly to focus better, he could see a silhouette moving towards him. He went to move forward again but was stopped by a sudden shallow whistle. The second man rushed to raise his gun as he watched his comrade struck in the head with an arrow, throwing him back into the wall of the hut.
Before the second man could raise his gun high enough, he was stopped by an arrow into his heart. He hit the wall hard and dropped to the ground.
Craig and Taylor rushed over with arrows drawn, to make sure they were dead. Taylor kicked one of the men to make sure and then waved his hand in the air.
