The Brother's Creed (Book 2): Battleborn

by Joshua C. Chadd

  “Give him your coat!” James yelled at the girls in the back.

  Surprisingly, Chloe was the one to act, taking off her jacket and reaching up to put it against Mike’s neck. He let go of the wound for a second to put the jacket in place and blood squirted from his neck.

  He’s not going to make it.

  Ahead, James was beginning to lose Tank’s taillights. Barely able see as the rain speckled his glasses and blood ran down his face, he gunned it. How had the bastards known they were coming? And who the hell were these people? The Reclaimers? That meant nothing to him. He’d only ever heard of them from Mike.

  The questions nagged at him, but he could do nothing about them, so he drove on. Endless darkness loomed ahead. He’d lost Tank’s taillights and the truck was beginning to slow even though he pushed the pedal to the floor. Was the gas running out, or was it something worse? He glanced over and saw Chloe was in the back seat again and Mike slumped in the passenger seat, his hands no longer covering his wound.

  “Help him!” James roared.

  “He’s dead,” Chloe said, a quiver in her voice. “They both are.”

  James cursed and the engine started to make odd noises as smoke poured from under the hood.

  ~~~

  “I can’t see them!” Connor said, looking back. “Slow down!”

  “Got it,” Tank said.

  “Son of bitch! Were they just waiting for us?”

  “I told you, bro, they hounded us that night we got away. I was sure when we doubled back they’d find us in that house.”

  Connor watched through the back window, but he still couldn’t see his brother’s headlights.

  Dammit! Is the whole universe against us?

  Connor looked around. They’d only been hit by a few rounds—one of the back windows had a hole in it and there were a few holes in the hood, but nothing serious.

  “Stop, we need to wait for them,” Connor said.

  Tank pulled next to an abandoned box truck and turned the Hummer off, along with all the dome and dash lights. They were plunged into complete darkness. Rain pounded on the roof and lightning illuminated the sky at random intervals.

  They waited for a couple of minutes. Still no James.

  “We need to go back,” Connor said.

  “You ready to kick some ass if we have to?” Tank asked as he started the Hummer and turned around.

  “I’m always ready to kick some ass.”

  Headlights shone on abandoned vehicles as they made their way back. Connor kept his eyes open, searching for enemies and zombies but especially for his brother and the gray truck. Why did this keep happening to them? Were they being punished? Or was this just what the new world was like—one disaster right after another. It was like Murphy’s Law had come to life. Connor tightened his grip on the AR in his hands.

  You better not be dead, bro!

  Minutes passed and there was still no sign of James or the truck. Connor was beginning to lose hope that they’d ever find him. If he’d crashed off the side of the road, they would never see him in the darkness with this storm. Then what would he do? He had Tank sure, but Tank—however much his brother—was not James. Could he live without the one person who’d been there his whole life? Could he continue on without him?

  “There!” Tank said, pointing to the gray Dodge sitting in the middle of the interstate, smoke rising from under the hood. All the windows were shattered and bullet holes speckled the entire vehicle. “That doesn’t look good.”

  Don’t you even think of leaving me! Connor thought, fighting his emotions.

  Tank pulled the Hummer in a circle, coming to a stop facing south on the right side of the Dodge. Connor opened the door, rain blowing inside. Jumping out and quickly shutting the door, he ran over to the truck, soaked by the time he arrived. Mike slumped in the passenger seat, a gaping wound in his neck. He looked into the backseat and noticed Selena bent forward, leaning on her seatbelt with a small hole in the back of her head and most of her face missing. Jumping back, he reacted as Mike’s corpse began to stir. Without thinking, he pulled out his knife and stabbed it in the eye. He shoved the knife back into its sheath without wiping off the blade as he looked around.

  Where the hell are you, James?

  Movement behind an abandoned vehicle at the edge of the light cast by the Hummer’s headlights made him turn. It was a large zombie limping toward them.

  “Damn you, James! Where are you?”

  He was angry and just wanted to kill something. Spinning, he sighted in on the zombie with his ACOG, his finger resting on the trigger, but he quickly lowered his AR and ran forward. It was no zombie. James was supporting Chloe as they staggered toward the Hummer. Connor took Chloe from his brother, who was holding his side, and began to walk her back to the Hummer.

  “Thanks,” Chloe said, wincing as he took her.

  “You good, bro?” Connor asked, worry plain in his voice.

  “Yeah, hit in the side. Not sure how bad,” James said, breathing heavily.

  Connor helped Chloe into the backseat and then went around to the other side and opened the door for his brother. James climbed in. Connor jumped into the passenger’s seat and Tank sped off, heading south again.

  ~~~

  “Good to see you two,” Tank said. “The others?”

  “Didn’t make it,” James said, looking down at his side.

  He unzipped his tactical vest, taking it off and pulling his shirt up. A small piece of metal was stuck in his left side. He touched it. It wasn’t in deep so he pulled it out, wincing at the pain.

  “You got the first aid—”

  Connor already had the kit open. “Chloe, you good?”

  “Yeah, I just twisted my ankle when I jumped out of the truck.”

  Connor handed James a clean piece of gauze and he wiped off most of the blood. As wounds went, it wasn’t bad—basically just a large cut. No organs had been damaged. He’d probably be fine, but it hurt like hell.

  Connor helped him wrap his side after they’d cleaned and sterilized it, and it felt much better now that he’d removed the metal shard. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

  “Where the hell do we go?” Tank asked. “We’re boxed in.”

  “Turn off on one of the roads opposite Sheridan,” James said. “Get off the grid and figure out what these bastards want.”

  “Too late,” Tank said. “Just passed the exit for US-14.”

  “Let’s whip it around then,” James said. His ear and side were beginning to hurt more now that the adrenaline was fading.

  The hummer began to turn. “Stop!” Connor said.

  Tank pressed on the brakes and the Hummer slid to a stop.

  “What?” Tank asked.

  “James,” Connor said.

  By the tone of his voice, James knew it was bad—very bad. He opened his eyes and looked out the windshield. Sitting in the middle of the interstate was the other school bus.

  Please no, James thought. I can’t bear it if they’re all dead.

  He climbed out of the Hummer, flicking on the flashlight attached to his AR. The rain had abated somewhat, but was still coming down in sheets. Connor joined him and they slowly approached the bus, wary of any traps.

  James looked at the bus. Suddenly it was on fire, children screaming from inside the inferno. He could see Olive in there as the skin melted off her face. Mila sat next to her, clutching her little body in charred arms. She looked up at him with those hazel eyes, an expression of pure horror and pain on her face. Just as suddenly, he was in the master bedroom, and blood covered every surface. The half-eaten bodies of fifteen children were scattered on the floor. The zombie that had been Sandy crouched over one of the bodies, ripping off chunks of flesh. It looked up at James, fresh blood smeared on its face, and lunged for him.

  When he came back to himself, he was on all fours on the pavement, rain pouring down around him. Connor was kneeling next to him with a hand on his back. James looked up at his
brother, the rain hiding his tears. Connor’s face was a mask of concern.

  “What just happened?” Connor asked, uncharacteristically gentle.

  “I have no idea,” James said, picking up his AR and standing. “It was like that time in the basement, but worse. I don’t know what’s going on.”

  “How do you feel now?”

  “Terrified, but alive. Let’s check the bus.”

  “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “Connor, I’m fine. Let’s go.”

  James passed his brother and walked to the bus. The door was open and he climbed in, looking around. There were no zombies and, surprisingly, only one body slumped against the back door. Slowly walking down the center aisle, a feeling of unease grew inside him. He heard Connor enter the bus behind him, but he didn’t look back.

  The body was one of the men. Hank, he thought. He was completely naked, a metal stake driven through his head and into the back door. “I have been reclaimed” was written in blood on the back window above his head. Inside his mouth was a folded piece of paper, which James pulled out and unfolded. The feeling of unease had grown into pure dread.

  A crude map was drawn on the paper with a red X marking a spot somewhere east of the interstate. He flipped it over. Words in red ink were written in a flowing script.

  James read the note aloud, “I have your friends. I will kill one every twelve hours until you arrive. Come unarmed and in plain sight. If I even think you’re planning a rescue, I’ll kill them all, starting with the little ones. You have to pay for what you’ve done, the lives you’ve taken. I’m waiting, J.”

  Epilogue

  A door swung open and light flooded the dirt floor. Alexis’s eyes snapped wide. She blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden brightness of the lights from outside the doorway. Looking around, she saw that all the adults, including Ana, were chained to wooden posts driven into the ground. Everyone’s wrists were clasped in metal shackles behind their backs, and the shackles were then chained to the posts. The large room appeared to be the inside of a pole barn with metal walls and a simple dirt floor.

  Wait, where’s dad? she thought, panicking as she searched the shadows, but he wasn’t there. Where is he? Did they kill him? She racked her brain, trying to remember what had happened and how they’d come to be there. Her thoughts were blurry and the back of her head hurt. She’d been hit in the head. She knew that much, but what had happened?

  Her eyes were drawn to two figures standing outside, illuminated by an exterior light above the door. Their backs were turned, but they were armed and looked to be male. Beyond them, the sky was beginning to darken. This startled her.

  How long have we been here? And who are these people?

  A different figure strode into the room, backlit by the light flooding in from outside. Alexis couldn’t make out much about this person because of the shadows. The figure stepped further into the room and approached her, crouching down in front of her and looking her in the eyes. Alexis was shocked by the face that stared at her—a beautiful woman with pretty blue eyes and a face framed by luscious black hair.

  “Hello, my dear,” the woman said, caressing Alexis’s cheek. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Where are we?” Alexis asked. The woman had a sweet voice. Everything about her made Alexis feel at ease.

  This is so wrong. Who is she?

  “Your new home,” she said and paused, looking thoughtful. “More like a temporary home, actually. I wouldn’t get too attached.”

  “Who are you?” Alexis asked.

  “Who am I? That’s rude,” the woman said. “You haven’t even told me your name.”

  “Alexis.”

  “Now that’s better. You can call me Jezz.”

  Her voice was so sweet and her smile so genuine that Alexis was completely caught off guard. This must be the person they send to talk to the prisoners, she thought, to put them at ease.

  “Where are all the kids?” Alexis asked, the realization of their absence hitting her as she looked around the room.

  “They’re safe. I couldn’t really keep them in a place like this, now could I?”

  “Why are we here?” Alexis asked, looking back at Jezz.

  “Ah, now that’s a good question—one I can’t answer quite yet. We’re waiting on more guests to arrive.”

  “Guests?”

  “Yes, my dear.”

  “Guests for what?”

  “You’ll see, but don’t fret about that now.”

  “Do you know where my father is?” Alexis found herself asking before she could stop. The question had been nagging on her mind since she’d awakened.

  “Your father?” Jezz asked.

  “One of the men with us. He’s not here.”

  “Ah, which one? The one I staked to the back of the bus? Or do you mean the two young men we’re waiting on?” Jezz asked, a wicked smile twisting her face. Gone was the sweet woman, replaced by a creature who had a maniacal look in her eyes and an evil grin.

  Alexis was taken aback.

  “Yes, I know about your friends, but don’t worry. They’ll be heading this way shortly. We can’t have them leaving and ruining all the fun.”

  “What do you mean ‘fun’? We’re prisoners here!” Ana said, from across the barn.

  “Ah, there’s the fiery redhead from earlier,” Jezz said and walked over to Ana.

  “Why the façade?” Ana asked. “You’ve already caught us. Why keep this up?”

  “Façade?” Jezz asked, standing in front of Ana. “You misunderstand all of this. I’m doing this for you.”

  “How can you even say that?”

  “Because I mean it. But I don’t expect someone simple-minded like you to be able to understand it.”

  Jezz walked back over to Alexis and reached down to caress her cheek, but Alexis instinctively shied away.

  “Oh, don’t worry my dear. I’m not going to hurt you—at least not yet.” She walked to the door and looked back. “This is for your own good, trust me. You’ll see soon enough.”

  “You’re demented!” Ana screamed as Jezz turned her back and walked through the door.

  One of the guards shut the door behind her, plunging the room into darkness.

  “Now what’d we do?” Ana asked, struggling with the shackles.

  “Wait, I guess. James and Connor will be coming for us soon and we still don’t know where my dad is,” Alexis said.

  “Yeah, but this woman’s insane. What’s to say she won’t randomly just kill us all?”

  “Nothing.”

  Ana sighed, renewing her efforts to escape her bonds.

  Alexis could hear some of the men and women around her crying and cursing. She tried to stand, but her wrists were fastened tight and the chain was too short to offer much movement. There was no way she was going to be able to fight back or break free. They were stuck here until they were rescued or killed, yet she felt an odd sense of peace. She couldn’t explain it and it didn’t make any sense, but she felt calm, like everything was going to work out and they had nothing to worry about. Maybe it was her exhausted mind playing tricks on her or sleep deprivation, but she felt they weren’t alone. It was almost as if there was someone watching over them, protecting them.

  She leaned her head back against the pole she was chained to. Maybe she was finally losing it. After all she’d been through in the past week, she could see how that could happen. It’d be so easy for her to break and never even know it. All of this could be a horrible nightmare for all she knew. But no, this was real. Too real. She decided to believe the presence was really there—and it was there to help them. She chose to believe, despite the fears and doubts gnawing at her, despite the knowledge that she may die soon, unable to do anything about it. She believed.

  This is not the end, said an unfathomable voice in her mind.

  To be continued…

  What an ending! Yeah, I know what you’re thinking:

  Really Josh? A cliffha
nger? Jerk!

  But I couldn’t have written it any other way. This is how the story was meant to be told and I wasn’t going to argue! However, I do apologize because this is a serious cliffhanger. I know I’d be pissed reading it.

  The good news is the next book is going to dive into the characters even more and possibly be quite a bit longer than the last two. We’ll have to see, but in the meantime…

  Thanks for reading Battleborn!

  I hope you’ve enjoyed the second book in The Brother’s Creed series. The story will be continued in 2018 with Book 3: Wolf Pack!

  If you want to know when the next book comes out and stay up-to-date on my writing, make sure to sign up for my mailing list HERE!

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  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  As always, I couldn’t have finished this book without the help of numerous people. Huge thanks to:

  Jesus, you’ve guided me every step along this journey, in writing and in life.

  My wife, you’re the catalyst that pushed me to pursue this lifestyle. You’ve spent countless hours with me proofing, editing, helping with the cover, website, and everything else. I couldn’t have done this without you!

  My family, you’ve continued to support and help me through the whole process.