Surviving The Aftermath (Book 1): The Dead Linger

by Roberts, Liz

  “What the hell is your name?” The man asked briskly.

  “Jeff.” He said, scratching his, what must be a week old growth of beard.

  “Well are you hungry?”

  “Yes.” He said quickly and a plate of food suddenly appeared in front of him. He reached for the one of the forks that were at the center of the table and start to eat, when the gruff stranger shoved Jeff’s plate of food on to the floor causing the plate to shatter.

  “You got something to pay with for that meal?”

  “Pay with what? Who has money anymore? It’s worthless.” Jeff was confused by this. Of all the places he’d gone never once was he ever asked to pay, they always just readily gave.

  “Well we’re not a god damn charity here, if you want something you have to pay, with trade or work or your ass.”

  “Well fuck you I don’t need that rotten food.” Jeff stood quick and limped to where the front door was, he got to the porch and stood shocked, looking out and around. Acres and acres of controlled chaos, that’s what was happening all around him. People were running around, hustle and bustle, to and from what appeared to be stores of such. They were set up all over, people selling some sort of patched up clothing, reworked blankets. Others were hollering about eggs and chickens, he even heard the words rat and dog in there too. People were actually eating dog. Other things were being sold too, not so out in the open though, homemade booze and drugs & sex, they went hand in hand, there was gambling going on, bets on everything. Dog fights were prevalent, cock fights, pig fights, people fights, any that could be gambled on. Jeff could see farther out that the whole place was surrounded by high aluminum fencing, with a barn at the far end that had people coming and going from that as well, and this farm house, on whose porch he was now standing on, was the only other original structure on the land.

  “Where are you going to go?” The grizzly gruff man came up behind him. “Were it buddy. There’s nothing but rotting walking corpses around for miles and miles, we’ve checked.”

  “What?!” He turned shocked. How far had he ridden? He wished he had been more coherent, but the pain and infection had really messed with his memory.

  “You’re the first living thing we’ve seen in months. And believe me we check. So what’s your story, how did you get here?” Jeff was really not in the mood to talk, as two more men came out, dirty, grimy and just as grizzly as the first, he noticed they had guns tucked in their waists bands, they didn’t make any effort to hide them.

  “Come on back in, we’ll trade, a meal for your story and whatever information you can give us. And if the info is good, we’ll give you some more food and maybe even a place to sleep.”

  The man came towards Jeff and grabbed his throat cutting off oxygen just enough for Jeff to know this guy was serious. “But if you fuck with us, I’ll gut you and we’ll serve you up as a meal. Wouldn’t be the first time, I’m sure it won’t be the last.” He released Jeff and he took in a big gulp of air and they went back inside. The guys lead him to an old ass country style living room/sitting area. It was like the rest of the place, dusty and dirty, and there were traces of old blood on the carpeting and walls. Jeff’s mind was racing, as they sat him down with another plate of food, he slowly started eating wondering what they wanted to hear.

  “So, what do you have to say?”

  “I’m not really sure what you guys want to hear, it’s desolate out there. Aside from the rotting corpses as you call them, walking around, there’s nothing.” The big guy on Jeff’s left grabbed his gun out and pointed it at Jeff’s head.

  “Well then I guess enjoy your last meal bitch.” He heard him cock the hammer back on the gun, images started flashing through his mind of childhood and his folks. His mom snorting a line of coke and his dad back handing her, his brother dying in a shootout with cops, him going to prison, suddenly he saw Jill’s face and that strip mall.

  “Wait!” The gun went down slightly. “I know a great place, I just came from there in fact.” How could he have forgotten? Jill and her lap dog Jack, and that fucker Casey.

  “Let me finish this meal, give me a sip of that whiskey,” he indicated to the man’s bottle, “and I’ll tell you everything they have, and how we can take it.” The grizzly guy mulled over the idea, nodded and the other man got up and gave Jeff a shot of whiskey in an old school highball glass. Jeff shot the burning booze back and indicated a refill.

  “There’s this place, kind of far from here, otherwise you would have seen it on one of your expeditions I’m sure, they have it all, food, guns, shelter, power, and women, lots of young women.” Jeff continued eating and sharing his story as the day went on, he couldn’t believe his luck had changed. He would still get his vengeance on those bastards and there precious new home.

  Chapter 7

  It was getting to be sunrise miles away as a new day dawned. People were assembling in their teams getting ready for the large venture they were taking up. Four sets of different teams were set up. People worried, about leaving such a small number left here, their home, their sanctuary. Fuel was getting dangerously low, they were working on alternative sources all the time, so this mass mission had to be handled efficiently and carefully with as little loss of life as possible and no waste of fuel. Casey, Kurt, Andy and Mike had devised the teams, one to clear out the apartment complex that lay on the backside of the department stores, another team to gather the construction equipment and disassemble the concrete fencing, the other team would be digging holes and mixing concrete and measuring out where and how the new fencing would be placed, and last but not least, a search party. Apparently it had been some time since a search and rescue had been conducted. Each team has a crew of 15, expect for the search and rescue, there were 5 of them. Every team needed enough able bodies to perform the tasks and enough people to watch their backs. Luckily there were three national guards’ people, Oscar, Al and Emily, that had been rescued at one point. They were in on giving basic training for search and rescue, some basic survival skills, and strategizing each aspect of the leg and what was the expected outcome. The search and rescue was 1 SUV 2 people, and the one reconstructed bus with 3 in the bus. They called the bus Alpha and the SUV Bravo. The crew breaking down the wall was Whiskey, the crew digging holes was Tango, and the raiders on the apartment complex were Zulu. Jill liked that, it reminded her of that movie Zulu, with the Zulu warriors, Jill felt like a warrior preparing for this mission. But Jack was not happy. He went on and on about not being on the Zulu team, but he’d been placed on Alpha, he was not a happy camper.

  “This is stupid. Search and rescue is going to be so boring. Come on Jill get someone on your team to switch with me please?” Jack whined as Jill finished tightening and then double knotted her boots.

  “You know we were all put into these teams based on our strengths and what we can do. There’s nothing wrong with search and rescue.” Jack wasn’t satisfied with that answer. He knew it was because he was young and Jill wanted him safe, between her and Meghan, he wasn’t going to be killing any zombies today.

  “Come on lets go meet the others.” She put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him out of the room. Out back the teams were gathered in their areas, leaving times were going to be staggered, it was thought that it would help for when teams were returning so the main door wouldn’t have to be open a long time, and people wouldn’t have to wait idle outside the gate. Weapons, tools, gas, every vehicle was given an emergency pack with some food and water. The Alpha teams were loading up, everyone saying their good byes. Jack was lingering an extra-long time with Meghan to Beth’s notice, Jill wasn’t sure what she thought of those two being together.

  “What do you think of that?” Jill tipped her head to indicate the young couple.

  “Not sure yet, Meghan mentioned he had a birthday and turned 18. I guess age shouldn’t be such a huge deal, but it just seems weird her dating so young, I mean technically there still teenagers. At least he’s a good boy.” Beth said finishi
ng up her thoughts. Jack came over by Jill and they gave each other a huge hug, she told him to come back safe to her and she’d do the same. Jack got into the SUV, he was with Bravo. Everyone had radios, Jill would definitely be listening for that call sign. The S&R team loaded and rolled out, 2 vehicles in all that had maps and compasses. A few of the people very familiar with the area were either with them or made sure they briefed them on what was where. The Whiskey team left 10 minutes later. They were heading out to a nearby construction area had been zoned off prior to everything starting, in fact it was so close that most of the men there at the time made it to the shelter and they already knew how to run the machines, giving everyone hope that it should only take a few hours to dismantle the wall and drive it back. The Tango team had to wait to hear from Whiskey, they needed the measurements, but while they were waiting they were getting concrete ready to mix and all other tools situated at ready. And Zulu, they were getting ready to go into hostile territory. Jill had filled people in about the dangers and what it was like out there. How she had seen others get taken down so now everyone wore high ankle boots with steal toes, thick denim jeans, Jill had a pair of leggings under hers. Leather jackets, denim jackets, anything thick enough so teeth couldn’t penetrate. Turtlenecks, scarves, other wraps, a variety of gloves were passed out. People geared up, prayed and were ready. There was a backside entrance to this place, when it was first constructed, this was their main point of entry until they had been able to construct the newer door system they had now. The area had been bricked off. This entry way was still partially useable with some work and a ladder, and it quicker to where the apartments were located. The zombies were already pretty stirred up with all the activity happening. People had taken to the roofs on all sides, using crossbows and arrows to help keep the numbers down.

  “You come back to me. God that sounds corny.” Casey said in Jill’s ear while hugging her.

  “Yeah it does, but I like it.” She replied, trying to keep it light and sassy. The air was already heavy apprehension with so many people leaving the safety of their sanctuary.

  Casey looked over at Oscar and said “Keep her safe.”

  “Don’t worry she’ll be in good hands.”

  “And don’t worry Kurt, I’ll watch out for Oscar.” Jill winked at Kurt. Casey and Jill were the only two people to be told of the two men dating, but others already suspected or knew it was somewhat obvious to others. So far no one seemed to outwardly have an issue, but the guys were keeping it a secret and maybe that’s how the people liked. Only time would tell.

  The group made their way out the back entrance and over to the apartments with only a few bumps in the road, birds chirping, grass was growing, trees swaying in the breeze, and who knew what lay ahead.

  This driving around was turning out to be monotonous bull shit. At least that’s what Jack thought. A meaningless job, something he was sure Casey and Jill thought up to keep him safe. He’d rather be tearing into those apartments, room by room. Instead he was here, sitting shot gun, waiting to rescue no one, because there was no one left alive, at least that’s what Jack had come to hypothesize on his own. They were it. Trees, houses, un-kept lawns were rampant, every once and a while they’d see a small pack of feral dogs running around, and of course zombies. Milling around houses, side streets, by cars, if a human scent lingered, they were there. In this part of town the hordes were pretty broken up, the biggest pack you’d see would only be like 4 or 5 and all the old slow ones. You could see the seasons changing really took a toll on the zombie’s bodies, they didn’t deteriorate like regular people, and it seemed to take them ages for skin or bone to rot. The summer humidity though was picking up in the Midwest and that seemed to help the process along. “Bravo, this is Alpha, come in.” Jack sat up straighter, finally maybe some action. Alpha was the bus patrolling the area. “This is Bravo go ahead.” John replied still watching the road ahead. Jack couldn’t even drive the vehicle at least that would have been something.

  “You got any action over by you?” The other driver asked.

  “Negative, nothing here.” And all went back to silence. So boring, Jack was getting antsy. They continued driving another 15mins when a hospital came into view, John instinctively slowed, it was just ingrained now, and this is where people went first, hospitals, when the virus broke out. And in most people’s experiences now a days, hospitals were a danger, somewhere you went to if you wanted to die. Or in Jack’s case if you needed a little break from the boredom.

  “Stop!” Jack said suddenly. The car jerked to a halt.

  “What’s going on?” John asked, in the passenger seat, turned to look too.

  “Why don’t we go in for supplies? I mean honestly how many Walgreens and other pharmacies can we hit up before we need something for serious injuries. We should go in there.” Jack indicated the hospital.

  “Are you nuts?!”

  “I’m dead serious. They have monitors and machines, morphine and other antibiotics. What if we’ll need that?” He was trying to be serious and plead his case. John just looked at him, shaking his head.

  “First off there’s only two of us, second we have no plan, and third we don’t have the fire power. We have no idea how many or what is in there.”

  “Call Alpha over here, I’m sure they’re not busy. We’ll go in quick, grab some stuff around the ER, that’s always on the ground floor. We’ll do a smash and grab, and when we get back with all the supplies no one will even care because they will be too excited with our find.” Jack was now amped for this, especially when he thought about coming home and telling Meghan all about it, she’d probably be so happy when he’d come back, say how brave he was. What could go wrong?

  Jill was geared up and ready and waiting, Zulu team got the signal to go in. The apartment complex was a couple of bi-level buildings that were situated in 2 parallel lines that ran concurrent with the mall strip. They discovered as they got closer each section while connected by the roof, the apartments were split into a 4-family style, having two ground floor apartments and two upper floor apartments, one of each faced the stores, and then an identical set on the across from it. And each “pod”, the group started calling them, of 8, had their own separate front and back entrance and were connected with a main hallway. There were a total of eight pods in each building, eight apartments in each pod, oh great math, so roughly one hundred and twenty eight apartments total that they had to check, it was going to be a long day. Jill and crew figured it would work to their advantage with the separate entrances and pods. They were made aware early on in this endeavor that they couldn’t go shooting off and breaking every door knob in the place. While yes they had a Menards under their control, they also had a key maker. A series of “magic” keys were made, there real keys carved out and they filed down with the possibility of fitting into any lock. There was a retired burglar amongst the survivors, he was 68 yrs. old and most helpful with this idea. Jill entered the first building with her group, they split off to different apartments in groups of 3’s, having no idea what to expect they needed to be cautious. Everyone was trying to figure out which key that would work, and it was almost simultaneous that groups found their key. A couple looked at each other down the hallway and the doors slowly opened. Jill walked in with Oscar, she wanted him on her team, he was good in a fight. With their guns raised Oscar and Jill stepped slowly inside the living room of a 2 bedroom apartment, they heard a couple shouts of clear from out in the hall but remained focus on their task.

  “Hello?” Oscar said loudly. Nothing replied, no sound could be heard, there was only a musty smell, like the place needed to be aired out. Oscar worked his way down the hall, the kitchen was clearly visible and they continued forward. Oscar and Jill were covering each other from room to room, until they deemed it clear, while there third person watched the entrance. They opened a window before they left, and propped the door open so others would know this room had been checked. Other teams were working on the ground floor a
partments already, place to place people seemed to be zipping through the areas quickly, 2 gun shots rang out and a voice claiming they got one. A few more shots from below, so far things were good. They cleared 3 more pods by noon when an ear piercing scream came from the apartment directly below Jill and Oscar. All three of them hightailed it down the stairs to the apartment below. There were others slowly coming up the hall from the other apartments. Oscar took the lead and was all hand signals, pointing to where he wanted Jill set up and the others also. With his own M4 raised he slowly crept in while Jill covered his back and left side of area. Another followed behind them. Jill could hear the crunch of bone and slosh of tissue and flesh tearing. She didn’t want to look, Oscar shot both zombie and victim. Jill kept her focus and gun trained on the surroundings, she firmly believed where there was one zombie, there were others. As there back up slumped with relief, he headed back out in the hall. That’s when Jill caught sight of the second zombie behind the door and he stumbled forward.

  “Look out!” Jill shoved Oscar out of the way, he tripped over coffee table and landed on the couch. Jill raised her gun to fire and took a step back tripping over the bodies on the floor and crashed down on the coffee table splintering the wood. That gave the zombie the advantage and he was on top of her. They struggled, Jill trying to keep his mouth away from her face and the Thing, just wanting to taste the warm human flesh. Its jaws were chomping at the air, Jill fought it, trying to keep her grip on her gun and push it up and away. She finally had to drop the gun, she was starting to sweat, and strain, using muscles she hadn’t used in a while and was regretting it now. The sucker was heavy and hungry, she just needed some separation from this thing.