by Smith, I. J.
Paige ran along the high fence barking.
“PAIGE, QUIET!” Ryan shouted.
Paige whined as she backed up. From the darkness appeared a half-rotted zombie, another, and then another; within moments hundreds appeared and crushed against the fence.
The singing and guitar playing made it impossible for anyone to hear the groaning of the dead. The fence was high but not strong, as they crashed against it; the metal began to bend. Paige turned and ran; she raced passed Eddie and Ryan.
“Must be dinner time, Paige can smell her food!” Ryan joked.
Eddie laughed out loud.
Zarina and Zoe laughed as they heard the bad singing coming from the park. People began to dance around the fire, cheers and laughter echoed throughout. When suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise, and everyone stopped.
Ryan turned, seeing hundreds of zombies coming into the park.
“RUN!” He shouted.
Outside a church, a red car slowly came to a stop.
“This is where they took her?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, we followed them to this point.”
Climbing out of the car, Jack, Raven, Jacob, and Adam walked towards the open doors slowly. A scream echoed out of the church. Jack pulled both his machetes clear and rushed in. Stopping suddenly in his tracks, he looked at a dozen zombies moving towards the screaming.
“SARAH?” Jack shouted.
“HELP ME!” A female voice screamed back.
Adam held his gun, Raven held her axe.
Jacob held a small knife. “Oh shit!”
“OK, let’s do it!” Jack shouted.
Rushing forward, Jack buried his machete into a zombie’s head, bone shattered as the blade cut through it. A single gun fired out, attracting the zombies away from Sarah,
“GO!” Jack ordered Raven.
Raven rushed along a pew and stood against the side wall. Jack and Adam stood their ground. Adam fired again, the bullet smashing through the skull of a zombie. Jack sliced the stomach of one, its insides dropping to the ground; he then cut the head in half.
Raven ran up the side of the church. She reached the statue where Sarah was tied up. A zombie was about to fall onto her when Raven buried her axe into its head. She kicked the zombie away and for a moment was distracted by the sight of a headless Randy tied to another statue. Raven pulled a small knife from her belt and began to cut Sarah free.
As Raven helped Sarah walk, they turned to see a blood-soaked Jack smashing his machete into the last zombie. He stood there, breathless, looking at Sarah; she moved away from Raven and rushed over to him. She threw her arms around him and wrapping her legs around his waist, she began to cry.
Jack rubbed her head. “You’re OK now!” He comforted her.
Jacob pushed himself up from the ground.
“What happened to you?” Adam asked.
“I fell over!” Jacob replied.
A few miles away in a little village, Kat and Ray walked alone. They had sent Tommy off in the car to look for abandoned vehicles and to siphon fuel. In truth Ray wanted some alone time with Kat, it had been so long since they were alone together.
“This is so peaceful,” Kat said with a sigh.
Ray smiled at her. “Yeah. Look, not a cloud in the sky.”
They continued walking along the street, talking.
“I am so proud of you!” Ray suddenly said.
Kat looked shocked. “Where did that come from?”
“Even in this world you have grown into such a beautiful, kind soul.”
“Stop it, you’re gonna make me cry.” Kat said.
They looked at the shops around them, half had already been ransacked.
“I’m not sure we are going to find much here,” Kat told him.
A male voice behind them suddenly spoke.
“Oh, I am sure there is something!”
Both Kat and Ray spun round, MacLeod stood there smiling at them.
“RUN!” Ray shouted.
Kat rushed away, Ray stayed to give her time to escape.
“FOOL!” MacLeod laughed.
The sudden screams from Kat made Ray turn, she was being dragged back by five men, and they threw her to the ground in front of Ray. MacLeod punched Ray in the face; he fell down next to Kat.
“What do you want?” Kat asked.
MacLeod’s smile vanished. “JACK!” He roared.
CHAPTER SIX
BREAKDOWN
Ryan pushed Eddie away from the horde of the dead approaching them.
“Move! Keep moving!” Ryan ordered him.
Pulling his knife free from his belt, Ryan turned to face the raging army of the dead. The zombie corpse, dressed in a Postman’s uniform reached out for him. Ryan stabbed his knife into the side of its head. As the body dropped, zombies trampled over it, making a grab for Ryan.
Paige barked as she ran back towards the others, Eddie quickly behind her. Tony rushed over to him.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Zombies, they’re coming!” Eddie said, while trying to catch his breath.
Tony looked out; from the darkness, he could see the figures of hundreds approaching.
“OH SHIT!” Tony yelled.
He quickly started to guide the others towards the vehicles. As they ran towards the bus, a group of two women and a man ran ahead of everyone else. They stopped suddenly, sliding to the ground in horror. Zombies appeared from behind the parked bus, the other vehicles were all blocked as the dead marched towards the living. A sudden scream echoed out.
Tony turned to see a young child being held by a zombie. He wanted to help, but could only watch as the zombie took a bite into the child’s neck. Blood and flesh poured from the zombie’s mouth, as it sank its rotting teeth into the body once again; more zombies joined in, tearing the child’s body apart.
Looking around there was chaos; people ran around trying to find a way through the horde, but they were surrounded.
From the darkness, shadows appeared running towards the survivors. Zoe was shooting at the zombies in her path, Zarina stayed close behind her. As she ran towards the living, she screamed out.
“WHAT THE FUCK! GET INSIDE!”
Within seconds, everyone made a run for the caravans, squeezing as many in as they could. Zoe guided Zarina to an empty caravan, but was suddenly cut off from it by the zombies. Zoe glanced around and noticed the site toilets.
“UP THERE!” She shouted to Zarina.
Zoe pushed Zarina towards the toilets; Zoe helped her up onto the roof. Paige’s barking caught Zoe’s attention, looking over she could see Eddie had been left behind; Paige stood in front of him barking at the zombies approaching them.
“EDDIE!” Zoe screamed.
Zoe ran towards Eddie, a large zombie grabbed at her, catching her shirt and dragging her to the ground. The zombie dropped on top of her. She held it back, its rotted face crawling with worms as it kept attempting to bite her face.
“No, no, not like this!” Zoe muttered.
Suddenly Paige attacked the zombie, biting at its neck and dragging it off Zoe.
Jumping up, Zoe ran for Eddie. He was sat curled up on the ground crying.
“GO AWAY! GO AWAY!” He kept saying over and over.
He covered his ears as the sounds of screams and groaning echoed around him. As Zoe grabbed him, he opened his tearful eyes; she rubbed his face and dragged him up. “Come on!”
They ran towards the toilets, past Paige who was still barking at the zombies, as they kept trying to attack her, but she was too fast and kept them occupied long enough for Zoe and Eddie to get to safety.
Zarina reached down from the roof and pulled Eddie up, he was heavy and Zoe had to push him up. Once Eddie was up, Zarina reached out for Zoe.
“Come on!”
Zoe glanced over to Paige, she shook her head.
“NO!”
Zoe screamed out. “PAIGE! COME HERE GIRL!”
Paige barked and ran towards Zoe.
“Good girl!” Zoe said as she picked Paige up.
Zarina reached down and grabbed Paige. Once Paige was on the roof she reached out for Zoe, suddenly, gunfire echoed out as the zombies grew closer.
“COME ON!” Zarina shouted at Zoe.
Reaching up Zoe grabbed Zarina’s hand. Zarina was pulling Zoe upward, but at the last moment a zombie grabbed Zoe’s leg. Pulling her downward, Zoe kept kicking the zombie in the head, trying to escape its grip. Eddie grabbed onto Zoe’s arm too and pulled hard. Zoe felt like, her body was being pulled apart. Zarina let go of Zoe’s hand and grabbed a large stone that was on the roof.
Zarina stood on the edge of the roof and threw the stone, hard at the zombie. As she threw it, she lost her balance and fell from the rooftop. She landed on the zombie that had ahold of Zoe. Eddie was then able to finally pull Zoe up. They both looked over as the screams of Zarina, being ripped apart, filled the air. Zoe watched, horrified, as the zombies tore into Zarina’s stomach, pulling out her intestines. Zoe looked into Zarina’s eyes as she died.
On the roof, Zoe looked out over the park. Hundreds of zombies surrounded caravans that were now, filled with the living.
“WE’RE DEAD!”
Inside a large caravan a dozen people huddled together. Tony sat by the door. He had lodged a metal bar across the lock to keep it shut.
“We are gonna get through this,” he told everyone.
“How?” A young woman asked.
Tony stood up; he looked around the room at the faces he had been with for months now. At the far end, three women he met during his time at the school huddled together in fear.
“Rachael, Veronica, Nadine,” he uttered to himself.
As he scanned he saw Andy a man he travelled with after the outbreak; he held the woman he now loved, Brandy, tightly. They all looked like it was already over. The banging against the side of the caravan was getting louder, the number of zombies outside increased. The caravan was now beginning to move; the stone blocks it sat on were starting to give way.
“Everyone, please listen. We cannot give up!” Tony was saying when a female voice interrupted him.
“Oh shut up!” Rachael screamed out.
Tony watched as she stood up.
“All you have done is push for power since we left the school. You kept telling us that Jack never had our best interests at heart. That everyone who fought for us, only ever had their own mission and it never involved us. I remember you cowering in fear while The Mercy attacked. You hid while others were raped and killed!” She spoke with anger, as tears rolled from her eyes.
Tony stayed completely silent.
“Jack, Bray, Adam, and all of them offered to train us, teach us how to fight these things. They went out and got us food, while we stayed here listening to your bullshit!” Andy added.
“You all feel the same way?” Tony asked.
No one replied.
“I only ever wanted to make us a home, to give us a future,” Tony spoke with a defeated tone.
He sat back down by the door. The banging from the zombies increased, the caravan rocked and fell from its stone footings. One side of the caravan dropped hard, the fiberglass wall cracking open. An opening appeared and the arms of the dead reached through, desperately attempting to get to the living.
As they screamed inside, the walls started to tear open even wider. Nadine pulled her-self up and started to climb over people. She scrambled for the door; Tony grabbed her before she could remove the metal bar securing it.
“GET OFF ME!” She screamed.
“You open that door, and we are all dead!”
Nadine pushed him back, she kept trying to reach for the door, but Tony kept blocking her path. Reaching out with her hands, she picked up an iron that sat on the side. She swung it out and smashed it into Tony’s face. Blood sprayed over Nadine, Tony stood for a moment, but now there was large hole in the side of his temple, blood gushed.
Nadine screamed as the body fell against her, she pushed him away into the metal bar that secured the door. Tony’s body knocked the bar loosed and pushed the door open and fell through. A zombie reached out and grabbed Tony, dragging him out, tearing and biting at his body.
The zombies quickly barged their way into the caravan, Nadine was first, a zombie bit into her face tearing her nose clean off. As the zombies piled in, they ravaged the living. Screaming echoed out across the park, the windows of the caravan soon become covered in blood.
Zoe stood watching from the roof as the zombies piled into the half broken down caravan. She heard the cries for help, closing her eyes, she could not handle anymore.
Eddie sat holding Paige. Zoe covered her ears until finally the screams stopped.
For the first time, Zoe cried.
On the other side of the park was a large hall. It was used for Discos, Parties, events, and anything really. In the shadows around the brick building two figures ran. Bray held his daughter’s hand as he raced passed the dead. Together they had managed to avoid them; he held her hand tight and led her round the back of the hall. There was a large metal security door. He tried pulling it open, but it was locked. Bray banged on the door in the hope someone living was inside; before it opened, three zombies emerged from the side and moved towards Bray. He grabbed his daughter and pulled her behind him, blocking her from the dead. He had his gun, but knew the moment he used it, it would attract the others. He picked up a brick that was lying on the ground.
“Come on, you ugly fuckers!”
As a zombie reached out, Bray smashed the brick into the side of its head. The skull collapsed, and Bray’s hand buried itself into the zombie’s head. Bray grabbed the brain and began to crush it with his bare hands. He kicked the zombie down. He pulled his gun and was about to fire when the door opened.
“In here! Quickly!” A female voice spoke.
Rushing inside, Bray locked the door behind him. He turned round to see Alice standing in front of him, he hugged her.
“You made it!”
She smiled at him. “Not just me!”
Alice led Bray and Jennifer into the hall, there was over a dozen kids.
“We were making them beds up in here when everything happened,” Alice told him.
Jennifer looked around; the kids she had travelled with were safe. She saw a young woman standing in the back, giving water to the kids.
“RAIN!” She shouted, as she ran towards her.
Rain stood up and rushed towards Jennifer; they grabbed each other and hugged one another firmly. Bray walked over to join them, Jennifer grabbed Rain’s hand.
“Rain, this is my dad!” she introduced him.
“Ah, you’re Bray. I have heard all about you!” Rain spoke.
Bray smiled and reached out his hand.
“Come here!” Rain suddenly spoke, grabbing Bray and hugging him.
“You have an amazing daughter,” she whispered into Bray’s ear.
Bray was speechless; he looked at Rain, no makeup, long dark hair and a beautiful smile.
“Erm, thank you for looking after my little girl,” he finally spoke.
Rain smiled.
“We looked after each other.”
Alice walked up beside Bray. “So what’s the plan?” she asked.
Bray shook his head. “There are too many, and with all these kids there is no way we will make it. We need to buckle down and wait for the others to come back and hope they have an idea.”
Back outside, Zoe continued to watch as caravans containing survivors were attacked by the dead. Out of the corner of her eye she watched a single figure running at speed and weaving in and out of the dead.
“Ryan!” she uttered to herself.
She looked hard; he was covered in blood, but still on his feet. He raced towards the bus, but his path was cut off from the dead. Every way he turned, the dead approached him.
“RYAN!” Zoe shouted.
Ryan looked and could see Zoe standing on the toilets roof. On one s
ide of the building there was a small pack of the dead, but the other side was clear. He raced towards the building, slicing at the zombies in his path. As he reached it, Zoe reached out. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him up.
Ryan looked at her, breathless. He looked at Eddie and Paige and smiled.
“Hi!” He suddenly spoke.
Zoe without warning threw her arms around him, Ryan was shocked by this. It took a moment but finally he hugged her back.
Eddie looked out over the park that was now crawling with the dead.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHOOSE
Ray stood between Kat and MacLeod.
They still stood outside, under the night sky; MacLeod had circled them and said very little since demanding to know where Jack was. His five men stood around them licking their lips at the pleasure awaiting them.
Suddenly MacLeod stopped and leaned against an abandoned car.
“It’s so peaceful here!”
Ray stared directly at him.
“I promise you, I have no idea where Jack is.”
MacLeod smiled and started to walk around again.
“You have not met my friends here right? When things are bad, these great friends are always there for me. They look after me and I look after them.”
He walked over to the first man.
“This is Death!” He walked over to the second man. “This is Pain!” Then to the third man. “This is Trouble!” Over to the forth man. “This is Suffering!” and finally to the fifth man. “And this beautiful man is The Devil!”
Ray stared at them.
“I really don’t know where Jack is!” he repeated.
MacLeod moved face to face with Ray.
“The Reaper! Since our little fight, I have been looking for him. I have met so many people, so many of them have heard of him. They fear him!”
Kat suddenly shouted out.
“LET US GO OR THE REAPER WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!”
Ray moved back and stood in front of his granddaughter.
“She is just a young girl, your problem is with Jack not us!” Ray pleaded with MacLeod.
MacLeod moved closer and grabbed Ray by the throat, throwing him to the ground. Ray bashed his head onto the ground, a deep cut opened up and blood ran down his face. Kat ran at MacLeod but was immediately punched to the ground.
