Dead & Alive Collection #1 [Books 1-6]

by Smith, I. J.

  “You know, there is a chance we may not survive this, you can tell me anything, it’s just us here!” she told him.

  Jack stopped what he was doing, “What makes you think I have an interesting story to tell?” he asked her.

  “The skills you have and tonight you were the only one not to panic,” she told him trying to get him to trust her. She continued, “There are so many rumors about you, but I don’t care about rumors, I just want to know you!” then she smiled.

  Jack stood silent for a moment, “Just between us?” he asked her.

  “I would never betray your trust.” She answered.

  He continued wrapping up her ankle. Elle believed he was not going to say anything when all of a sudden, he started to talk again. “I was Special Forces, SAS. I was active for over four years, I loved it, and it was my life. I grew up in foster and social care, so I never knew what a family was like, that was until I joined the army. The team I was part of in the SAS was special, we were like brothers. Anyway, 18 months ago, we were sent on a mission in Afghanistan. Military intelligence sent us in to take out a bomb factory, we were told there were ten people on the ground guarding the facility and the factory was locked down.” He stopped; Elle could see the conflicted emotion on his face. “Jack, you don’t have to tell me,” she said while taking his hand and holding it tight. Jack carried on speaking, “Anyway, everything was going well, we located the factory, and then it went to shit. The intelligence was wrong, it was not a bomb factory it was a training camp, a place where they trained the terrorists. We were in a running gun battle; we took cover in an old crumbling building. We tried to make a stand, but it was useless. We decided to wait for sunset; we planned to make a move under the cover of darkness. However, it was a long couple of hours. By the time the sun went down three men were dead and two badly injured. I was the only one standing. We had a chance to move, but the two injured men could not walk. I had to choose who had the best chance of surviving and leave the other man behind.” He stopped again; Elle could see he was getting angry. “I left a brother in arms behind, and carried another for three hours. It was a running gunfight, but we made it to the Evac site. Six men went in and only two returned. The man I carried out never walked again. When I arrived back to base I was immediately called in for a mission debrief. There was this intelligence twat there, the first thing he asked was, ‘What did your team do wrong’? I ended up breaking his jaw and spent seven months in a military prison. The week I was due to be released, I was expecting to be discharged. Then I got told I was a valuable asset and they wanted to find a way to keep me. I refused to return to Special Forces and opted to join a Section. The rest you know!” he finished telling Elle.

  They both remained silent, he put her sock and boot back on and tied her laces. She looked at him, knowing how hard it was for him to tell her. He lifted his head, “Finished! Try that!” he told her. Jack helped her off the table, as she got down, they came face to face. Still looking at Jack’s face; Elle moved into him and kissed him.

  He pulled away saying nothing, he paused for a moment and kissed her. Their second kiss was passionate and seemed to last forever. They stopped kissing and looked in each other’s eyes, Jack looked confused, “We should go!” he told her. Elle simply smiled in agreement and they moved out of the shop.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  RE-UNITE IN BLOOD

  Frank was fast approaching the MI6 building; leading the group when one of the survivors joined him. The man looked at Frank and said, “I just wanted to say thank you, for everything you have done for us!”

  Frank looked at the man talking to him. He was the same man who had saved him when Frank was attacked by a zombie. “I should be the one thanking you!” Frank told him while offering his hand in friendship.

  The man shook Frank’s hand, “The least I could do!” he replied.

  “So, what’s your name, or should I just call you thingy?” Frank asked.

  The man smiled, “Henry,” he replied. Frank looked at Henry; he was a middle-aged man, who looked more like a gardener than a zombie killer.

  “Nice to meet you Henry, wish it was under better circumstances,” Frank replied.

  “Yes, not sure better circumstances exist anymore,” Henry told Frank sadly.

  “We are going to get you out of here!” Frank reassured him.

  Henry’s smiled disappeared, “It doesn’t matter anymore. There is no one left waiting for me!” he replied.

  Frank felt terrible; “I’m sorry!” Frank tried telling him.

  “I just want to make sure the kids get away from this hell, it’s not important what happens to me!” Henry told him.

  Frank came to a sudden stop, he pulled Henry back, “Sshhh, don’t make a sound!” Frank said quietly.

  He gestured to the group behind them to stop. Frank looked around the corner of the building, opposite was the MI6 building, but they had a problem, standing between them and the chance of rescue was a small horde of zombies, they were all facing the MI6 building just banging away against the entrance.

  “We’re screwed!” Frank whispered under his breath.

  Zoe was moving further and further ahead of the group. Bray walked behind with Clare, the kids and the survivors. Bray looked ahead to see Zoe walking alone, “Clare, make sure everyone keeps up!” He told her.

  Bray ran ahead to join Zoe, “Hey, we should stay close together!” he told her.

  Zoe stopped and looked at Bray, she looked angry, “Then you should all move faster!” she told him bluntly.

  Bray sighed, “I know you had a hard time back there, but how about working with us?” Bray asked her.

  Zoe gave a sarcastic smile, “You think you know what I have been through, you have no idea!” she told him angrily.

  Bray looked down to the ground, “You’re right, I have no idea, but I’m not a monster and if you give me and my team a chance we will prove it,” Bray told her calmly.

  Zoe took a step back and looked like she was tearing up. Before either of them could talk, a voice echoed across the street.

  Bray turned to see a familiar face, “Jack!” he said excitedly.

  Bray also noticed Elle walking much better; she still had a limp, but moving much easier. Jack and Elle approached Bray and Zoe; Bray went to shake Jack’s hand, but was surprised when Jack gave him a hug instead.

  “You made it!” Bray told him.

  Jack smiled as he let go of Bray, Elle was next to hug Bray. “How did you guys make it?” Bray asked them.

  “Jack!” Elle replied.

  “Don’t listen, it was a team effort,” Jack added, as he walked over to Clare and the others.

  Clare’s face lit up, “Jack!” she said with a huge smile throwing her arms around him.

  “You OK?” he asked her.

  “I’m OK, happier now you’re back with us!” she said.

  “I see you did a great job looking after everyone for me!” he smiled.

  “We need to keep moving,” Bray’s voice called over.

  They all started walking again, Clare pulled on Jack’s jacket to get his attention, “Here this is yours,” she handed him back the knife he gave her.

  “Keep it, I want you to have it!” he replied. Clare gave Jack, a big smile in return.

  Elle walked with Bray and Zoe ahead of the others, “Zoe this is Elle!” Bray introduced them.

  Elle offered her hand, “Hi!” she told her with a smile. Zoe carried on walking, ignoring Elle. Bray rolled his eyes.

  “What’s up her ass?” Elle asked.

  “The world!” he replied. Elle looked confused, “I’ll explain later!” Bray added.

  Zoe came to a complete stop, the color on her face drained away and fear showed on her face. Bray and Elle caught up with her, “Oh shit!” Bray said while looking out towards the MI6 building. Jack and the others joined them. They stood out of sight of the zombies and looked at small horde of zombies between them, the MI6 building and rescue.

&n
bsp; “What the hell are we going to do?” Bray asked. Jack did not reply, Bray looked at Jack and noticed a look of concern on his face.

  “Frank!” Jack whispered.

  “What?” Elle asked. “Frank and the others, where are they?” Jack asked them.

  “They should be here by now!” Jack continued. “They have to be close!” Elle tried to reassure him.

  “Closer than you think!” a voice said behind them. Jack and the others turned to see Frank and his group coming towards them.

  “We have a problem!” Frank told everyone.

  “I bet we can guess what it is!” Jack quickly replied.

  Frank joined Jack and Bray to look towards the MI6 building. “We have no chance of getting to that building in one piece!” Bray stated.

  Jack looked around the street. “Well, we can’t stay here all day!” Jack told them.

  The building next to them was an empty shop that was having construction done when the outbreak happened. Frank led the group inside the empty shop; Jack was last to enter forcing the door shut behind him.

  A child screamed out, Jack ran over to the child. Looking around Jack could see a decomposing body on the floor; it was obviously dead; the skull had been completely crushed. The child was quickly comforted by Clare. Jack looked over the body on the floor, whoever it was had tried to fight off the zombies that attacked.

  In the rotting corpse’s hand, a machete was still firmly grasped; Jack leaned down and pulled the machete free. “I promise to kill a few of those zombie bastards with this!” he whispered.

  Jack held the machete by its black handle, dried blood stained the blade. Jack stood up sliding the machete behind his belt to hold it in place.

  An argument broke out. “We have to run!” “We cannot just give up!” “It’s suicide!” voices argued.

  Frank was calling for calm, Elle tried to speak to everyone, but no one listened. “SHUT UP!” Jack shouted. The room went silent; everyone turned and looked at Jack.

  “Standing here arguing amongst ourselves will not make the situation any better!” Jack told them.

  Zoe stepped forward “Well, what do you suggest?” she asked sarcastically.

  “There is only one option, we have to get inside that building to stand any chance of getting out of this hell!” he replied.

  Ryan spoke out, “Maybe we should just ask them to let us through!” Laughing at his joke.

  Jack looked annoyed, “Actually, we’re going to make a path through them!” Jack answered.

  Everyone looked at Jack like he was insane, Frank moved towards Jack, “What do you suggest?” he asked.

  “Four of us create a diversion, giving the rest time to make it inside the building,” Jack replied.

  Frank was lost for words. Elle spoke instead, “Its suicide!”

  “We don’t have any other choice!” Jack told her.

  Jack continued to speak, “Four of us will create the diversion to get their attention; leading them away from the building, the others will go around the other side of the building and approach the MI6 building from behind the zombies, move quickly enough and we can all make it!”

  “All except for the poor bastards, creating the diversion!” Ryan said.

  “You really think four people are going to volunteer?” Zoe asked Jack.

  “Only three, I’m already in!” Jack replied. Elle looked as if someone had punched her in the stomach, she could not believe Jack was volunteering. Zoe looked shocked but was impressed.

  “Count me in!” Bray sounded out. Jack tipped his head in response to Bray.

  Zoe looked at Bray; she started to think maybe she had these people wrong. “Me too!” Zoe added. Bray smiled at her.

  Elle started to move forward, Frank noticed her moving to volunteer and spoke out, “and I make four!” Elle looked at him.

  “OK, we need to get this done, now!” Jack told everyone, he continued to talk, “The rest of you, get ready to move to the other side of the building.”

  Frank needed to speak to Elle, “You’re in charge now, you know the codes for the door?” he asked.

  “Yes, good luck!” she replied sadly as she gave him a hug.

  “You should talk to Jack, before you go!” Frank told her, he was very aware of the attraction between them.

  She smiled and walked away towards Jack. “Don’t suppose I can talk you out of it?” she asked while trying to smile at him.

  “Promise me you will make it?” she asked him.

  Her eyes began to fill with tears, “Why you, why does it always have to be you?” she asked him.

  Jack moved closer to her and took her hand, not caring about anyone seeing his affection for Elle.

  “I simply don’t trust anyone else to do what needs to be done,” he replied.

  Elle did not answer instead she hugged him while holding back her tears. Elle let him go and started to walk away, Jack watched as she started to lead everyone out of the building, she hugged Bray on her way out. Jack could not take his eyes off her. In moments only the four of them remained.

  Jack removed his survival vest and took off his jacket; now he was down to his black T-shirt and then put his vest back on. He checked his sidearm and made sure his machete was easy to get to. He looked at the others who were also preparing.

  He approached Zoe, “Good to have you with us!” Jack told her.

  Zoe gave a half-hearted smile, “Well, I always did stupid things, no point changing now!” she replied with a smile.

  Bray and Frank approached them, “It’s an honor to stand with you all!” Frank told them.

  “Shut up, I don’t plan on dying tonight!” Bray replied.

  “Yeah, all we got to do is distract a zombie horde long enough for the others to run to safety. “Zoe added.

  “Just another Friday night then…” Jack added and they all broke out in laughter.

  “Come on, let’s get this over with!” Bray finished for Jack.

  The first group left the building; they walked to the end of the street and looked over at the horde of zombies. The groaning noise and banging against the MI6 building was echoing all around them. “How are we planning to get their attention?” Frank asked. Jack turned and simply smiled.

  Jack walked out closer towards the zombies, Frank, Bray and Zoe was shocked with what happened next. Jack started singing, “I’VE GOT A LOVELY BUNCH COCONUTS, DIDDLY DEE DEE….” Jack sang loudly. It worked, the zombies started to turn towards him.

  “He’s nuts!” Zoe said to the others.

  “Yeah, don’t you just love him?” Bray said, smiling, as he walked over to join Jack.

  “Go out with a song,” Frank added and walked over to join them.

  Zoe stood there looking at the crazy people in front of her and she laughed and joined them. The zombies got closer and Jack stopped singing, instead of pulling out his sidearm he pulled out his machete instead, “Time to dance gents… and lady!” he shouted out as he swung his machete at the nearest zombie. Jack swung with so much strength the machete went clean though its skull, cutting its head in half.

  “COME ON!” Zoe screamed, while using the side arm given to her by Bray. She was shooting and hitting her targets, but even with almost every bullet taking down a zombie, there were plenty to take its place. Bray and Frank still used their rifles, but more just kept coming. Jack kept swinging the machete around, while holding his sidearm in his free hand.

  “BACK UP! BACK UP!” Jack shouted.

  The team started to move backwards, the plan was working the zombie horde followed them. Eventually the zombies move a big enough distance from the doors and it gave a chance for the others to make a run for the MI6 building.

  “GO, NOW!” Frank shouted to Elle who was waiting on the other side with the rest of the group.

  Elle raised her gun and started moving as fast as she could towards the building, she made it to the side door of the building, Elle looked at the keypad. Ryan was pushing his way to the front of ever
yone else, “Oh my God, you’ve killed us all, there is no power so the lock can’t work!” he bellowed out.

  Elle gave him a pissed off look, “Shut up!” she told him.

  Elle punched the code into the keypad, 183467 she pressed enter. The door clicked and the lock was released, she looked at Ryan, “Independent power supply!” she remarked.

  Ryan pushed passed Elle to make sure he was the first one to safety; the group could not believe he did that. Henry grabbed the door handle, “You go ahead, I will make sure everyone gets in!” he told Elle, she responded with a warm smile.

  Henry glanced over to the zombie horde, he watched as the four brave volunteers were fighting for their lives. Henry watched them and thought how much it looked like the ancient battles that took place in the Coliseum, those four truly were living Gladiators.

  “Henry,” Elle said.

  Elle looked over at her friends, looking worried she said to Henry, “Come on! We have to secure the door!” she told him softly.

  “They’re not going to make it, are they?” Henry asked Elle.

  “If anyone can, they can!” she replied as she closed the door, locking them inside.

  Jack and the team were fighting hard, more zombies had now arrived, and the noise of the gunfire had attracted them. Frank started to be overrun; after he fired his last bullet, he flipped his rifle around and used the butt of the stock to bash in the zombies’ heads. He was hitting anything and everything that got close to him, but the numbers of zombies overpowered him, Frank fell backwards to the ground. As Frank screamed out, Jack swung around to look for him. Jack was covered from head to toe in splatters of the zombie blood.

  Jack looked in the direction of Bray and Zoe, “THEY MADE IT INSIDE, NOW FUCKING RUN!” he shouted at them.

  Bray and Zoe started to move. Jack ran to Frank’s location; a massive fat zombie woman was trying to bite Frank. Jack ran up and kicked her in the head; she rolled off to the ground.

  Jack held out his hand to help Frank up, when suddenly a zombie grabbed his leg, the zombie almost had its teeth sunk into Jack’s leg. Frank reached out and thrust his knife into its head, it dropped to the ground, away from Jack who then helped Frank to his feet.