Soldiers of ZED: Book 1 - Tripton-Z Series

by WR Peden

  “I'll be back in a little with Levi to get both of those!” I tell Bob, picking up my spiked bat and bag. I decide to take go wake up DJ so I head back to Levi's spot. DJ is sitting up still trying to wake up chatting with Levi as I walk back in.

  “Morning, I see you went to visit the trading post,” Levi says looking at the new bat.

  “Yep, I got you a present DJ,” I answer as I hand the empty bag and the spiked bat to DJ.

  DJ eyes look get big like a kid in a candy store who was given a free for all. He grabs the bat and starts admiring it like he is the goblin-like creature from that famous ring movie. I thank Levi for the hospitality and ask him if he could talk to Bob and let me get my rifle back. Levi nods, as all three of us get up and head towards the armorer. Levi motions to Bob to give me back the rifle that was taken from us on the interstate. I graciously accept it and ask Bob if he is finished with the pistol yet.

  Bob pulls the pistol out and puts in on the tabletop and begins to speak “I made quite a few modifications per your request and even cleaned it up, you shouldn't have any issues in the future. I upgraded the trigger to allow for more of a rapid fire, I also changed the slide giving you less recoil after each shot, even did a modification for extended clips.”

  “What is this going to cost me for all these modifications?” I ask.

  “It's on the house this time don't worry about it.” Bob answers.

  I reach my hand out and shake his hand and was about to walk away when I noticed several boxes of ammunition and a few extended clips behind the table. I reach into my pocket and pull out five twenty dollar bills and slap it on the tabletop.

  “Give me two extended clips and as much ammunition for the rifle and pistol this will buy me,” I tell Bob as I push the money to him.

  Bob who now has a big grin on his face takes the money, turns around and grabs both clips, slamming them down and grabs an arm full of ammunition boxings setting them in front of me on the table.

  “Here you go hopefully this will get you to the fort, Bob responds as he puts the money in his pocket.” I take the bag from DJ who is still petting his new friend and load all of the ammunition and clips into the bag. I thank everyone once again and hand the bag to DJ as we make our way back to the truck. We start heading back the same way we came DJ looks over at me as we drive onto the field he rolls his window down, leans out the window with his new friend in his hand. I lined the truck up to the perfect spot as we approach a lone zombie. I don't know if it was the speed of the truck, the new bat or combination of both but the carnage left after DJ struck the zombie was very Tarantino-like. DJ sits back into the seat as I turn on the windshield wipers on to see through the blood, guts and bone fragments that splattered on his side of the windshield and him.

  “There should be a shirt or something in the back you can use to wipe your face off if you want DJ,” I tell him.

  In a twisted and demented way, DJ looks at me and wipes his face using his hand and then just smears it down his clothes with a grin that would rival the Cheshire cat.

  “What did I unlock with this gift?” I think to myself.

  We continue down the road back down the interstate swerving purposely into the random zombies on or near the roadside. I hear a ding sound coming from the dashboard, look down and see the gas light on. I remember a gas station near the interstate so I stop purposely going after the undead to ensure we had enough fuel to make it. We get to the gas station and fortunately for us, the gas pumps seemed to still be in working order and the power was still on out here. Not wanting to attract any unwanted attention I hand DJ the pistol and borrow his spiked bat as I go into the store to check around as he awaits by the truck.

  I look around not seeing any signs of movement at all so I hop the counter and try to figure out how to turn on the pumps. After a few minutes of flipping switches and hitting buttons I managed to turn it on, while activating every pump out there. Not wanting to get into any altercation I quickly hopped the counter and headed towards the truck to check if it was working. Much to my astonishment when I try the gas pump it works with no issues, so I start to fill the truck up. I hand DJ his bat back, grabbing my pistol and tucking it into my waistline. I tell DJ to hang around here at the truck while I go, scout, around to see if I can find anything of use. I walk back to store instead of going inside I choose to check the perimeter, as I round the corner I see an abandoned highway patrol car knowing they typically have high powered weapons and ballistic vests, I went to investigate. As I approach the car I notice someone sleeping in the front seat, I pull my pistol and slowly open the door they don't look like they have turned yet so I tap them on the shoulder to no reaction. I then take my index and middle finger put it on their neck checking for a pulse. I don’t feel one and he is ice cold to the touch. Still being cautious I keep the pistol pointed at the deceased police officer while dragging him out of his seat onto the ground. Not wanting to take any chances I reach down and grab the baton from his utility belt, extend it and start bashing his head in. After ensuring his death was for certain I slammed the baton into the concrete to close it and set it on the hood of the police car.

  Doing another quick security check around the car. I then start to search the car finding a variety of very useful items such as another assault rifle and a shotgun hanging on the rack behind the seat, a portable CB radio, extra shotgun shells and a variety of miscellaneous items in which I sit on the car. After searching the interior and taking all of the items we could make use of, I step back out and take the utility belt of the now headless officer and set it with my new loot. Wondering if there is anything else of value in the trunk I take the officer's keys and head to the back of the car. I go ahead, pop the trunk, low and behold I have hit the motherload. Leaving the trunk up I go up to yell at DJ to drive around once the truck is full. I go back to start unloading the trunk, I pull out a tactical shock shield, grab it and hit the buttons to test the shock and laugh out loud after seeing a big ark come from the prongs on the shield. I set it down to the side, continuing to pull out the riot gear from the trunk. After I removed it all from the trunk, I notice I have three complete sets. With everything ranging from face shields to ballistic vests, padded pants, military grade boots. I look back into the trunk to find a tool box as well and knowing I have found success in these before, I pressed my luck to open it, only to find assault rifle ammo loaded to the brim. I close it and set it beside the trunk with a huge smile on my face right as DJ pulls around with the truck. DJ hops out shutting the door behind him and comes over with a huge smile on his face after seeing what was found. I go to open the back door to which it is locked, it then dawns on me the keys in the ignition and all doors locked. Knowing you have to hold the lock up on the door from the outside I realize we are now locked out of the truck. DJ now looking worried and scared now starts to apologize

  “Don't worry it isn't the first time.” I said calming DJ down.

  Knowing this is a police car in hopes of finding something I can use to pop the lock, knowing most officers carry items for such cases. After a few minutes of us both searching the car DJ finds a slim jim and hands it to me as I head over to unlock the truck door. As I am working on the door I suddenly heard a loud shotgun blast from behind me, uncertain of what just happened, I quickly turn to see DJ holding the shotgun ready to fire again at a zombie with a hole the size of a basketball in his chest. Somehow the now chestless zombie is still walking towards DJ who blasts another round, this time ripping the rest of his torso from his body and shredding what was left of his head as he falls to the ground. DJ still shaken sits the shotgun back down on the hood and continues to look around. Knowing that the loud noise from the shotgun blasts will attract others, I hurriedly pop the lock on the passenger door. I climb over and roll the window down on the driver's side and hit the unlock buttons for all doors. I motion for DJ to start loading the equipment and supplies. We finish loading the truck and hop back in I turn the CB on and sta
rt scanning different channels to see if I can hear anything. I find one channel that apparently has military lingo but it is really faded and hard to make out. Leaving the CB on that channel I sit it in the cup holder in the center console as we leave the gas station and head back towards the interstate.

  We make it back to the interstate continuing east with a full tank of gas and a truck full of weapons and supplies. Being from around here I know that we should only have about a thirty-minute drive ahead of us as long as we don't run into any more complications. As we are driving down the road, DJ reaches into the back seat, looking for riot gear that might fit him. Due to his size, the only thing he is able to use is a pair of the boots which he goes ahead and puts on. I playfully tap DJ on the shoulder and point out the large group of the infected in front of us standing motionless in the middle of the road. Without saying a word DJ rolls down his window, grabs his trusty bat and begins to play as if he were in the World Series. I increase the speed and head straight for the center of the group. I lay on the horn to get their attention. Just as they start to turn around we meet them DJ bat in hand, goes slugger style on one of the infected causing his head to be decapitated and fly what has to be one hundred plus yards in front of us. Meanwhile, the truck takes the brunt of the impact causing several zombies to go every which direction even running over a few almost causing DJ to fall out of the truck. I hit the brakes as DJ slides fully back into his seat, throw the truck into reverse, and slam into the remaining zombies.

  As I come to a stop to put the truck into drive, one of the zombies reaches in through the passenger side window trying to grab DJ. Without hesitation or lack of remorse, DJ takes the end of the spiked bat shoving multiple nails straight through the skull of the zombie-making him look like a pincushion. I managed to put the truck in drive and take off dragging the zombie whose head is still attached to DJ's bat along for the ride. DJ seems to be having fun moving his bat out of the window, treating the lifeless body of the zombie like a kite until the decaying flesh could take no more and detaching the head which was still attached to DJ's bat. DJ is still swinging his bat back and forth trying to dislodge his new trophy from the nails as we start to approach the outskirts of the base. Not knowing which way would be best to try and gain access to the Soldiers of Z.E.D. I decide it would be best to try through the front gate as Levi told me the location of their headquarters. Feeling a little hungry myself I decide to take the first exit labeled Waynesville, turning right would typically leads you to the back gate of post but I turn right to head towards the town to try and find some food at the local supermarket. Much to my surprise being this close to the base, I notice the supermarket seems to be untouched as we come to a stop in front of the building. Luckily for us, there doesn't seem to be much activity on this side of the town either.

  “DJ Are you hungry” I ask.

  “Yes, but help me dislodge this undead thing, make him give me back my bat.” He replies.

  I uncontrollably start laughing as I tell him to throw it down on the ground, grab the baton and start to scrape off the mashed skull off this bat. After fighting with it for a few minutes we managed to dislodge the skull by fracturing it into multiple pieces and ripping it from the attached flesh. I open the back door of the truck, grab my assault rifle and a couple of extra magazines, sling the gun onto my back and stuff the extra magazines for the rifle and pistol into the backpack with our snacks. I then make sure all the windows are rolled up and keys in my pocket before throwing the bag onto my back over the weapon sling but making sure I can easily pull the rifle up for combat if needed. DJ throws the bat onto his shoulder, still dripping with blood and hanging flesh attached to the nails as we walk to the doors. I try them but no luck, DJ without being asks takes the bat in hand, points the tip with the pointed nails at the glass door and with one heave hits the glass causing a very loud shatter. I reach in, unlock the door, open it up and direct DJ to follow me as I crouch down walking behind a counter looking around to see if anyone or thing heard the commotion. After a few minutes of looking around me and DJ look at each other and decide it should be safe. We split up to go gather food for us to make for lunch and for survival.

  I start walking toward the fruit and vegetable area trying my luck, but knowing my odds are slim on having anything of any value over there considering this apocalypse has been going on for apparently a little while now. I still don't know how long I was out before I woke up in the Super 9 and on top of it, I still don't remember how I even got there. I was hoping by finding my truck it would trigger some sort of memory but much to my hopes it did not. I continue to look around and seem to notice the odd site of everything being absolutely normal. No ransacking, no prepping, just like this apocalypse appeared out of nowhere and no one seemed to be able to get prepared. These stores are better now than when we have potential flooding. After reaching the outside aisle with all of the fruits and veggies I look around and see just what I had imagined. All of the fruits and veggies have rotted and turned, I double up a couple of the vegetable bags and proceed to put some of the most rotten stench covered fruits and veggies in hopes that I can utilize it as part of a distraction to the zombies we keep encountering.

  I see an empty shopping cart just up the aisle and proceed to go get it. Just as I put my hands on the handle to grab the cart I suddenly feel something grabbing my leg and hearing a gurgling moaning sound. I instantly look down and notice a one-armed torso only undead creature grabbing my leg, without hesitation or thinking I proceed to stomp repeatedly on the zombies head trying to limit the amount of noise made. After killing the zombie I viciously shake my leg to try and get the chunks of skin, flesh, and blood off. After getting as much off as I could I take the cart and proceed around the store grabbing a variety of food and supplies.

  Meanwhile, DJ who went the opposite direction as me has already grabbed him a cart and started filling it. DJ has already filled his cart halfway and covered approximately three aisles. As he rounds the next aisle seeming like he is in his own world he looks down the aisle to see two adults and a child looking at the food in the aisle. They stand there, motionless just staring at the food on the shelves. DJ relapsing and thinking back to when the world was normal proceeds on without hesitation and not paying attention to the decayed flesh or the lack of movement from the family only twenty feet in front of him. DJ slowly approaches the family turns and grabs some more groceries when suddenly a can of corn falls off the shelf making a thud sound as it smacks the ground.

  “Sorry” DJ states as he reaches down to grab the can oblivious to the now approaching undead family. An odd feeling comes over DJ as he instinctively decides to look up. Just as he does the little girl lets out an ear-piercing yell, hands raised and jumps onto DJ who tries to fight her off as the other two go to join in.

  Fortunately for DJ I was on the next aisle over and started to head over when I heard the can drop. The moment I heard the scream I rounded the corner just in time to see DJ trying to fight off the girl and the other two just getting there. Just about the time, the taller one dropped to bite DJ I hollered causing him to turn towards me. As he looked at me his face became a football as I kicked him like it was the game-winning field goal of the Super Bowl causing an instant decapitation and flying down the aisle resting near the back wall of the store. I looked over and saw DJ’s modified bat sitting in his half full cart. I grabbed it and swung as hard as I could embedding it into the other adults head. I then used it as a leash and pulled her away from DJ, propping her head up on a can on the floor.

  I look down at her “Eat this Bitch” I yell as I brought the heel of my boot down onto her head next to the embedded bat.

  Suddenly I heard a loud crashing sound behind me and turned to see that DJ has just thrusted the little girl into the aisle rack knocking everything in that area down. I then saw a rage I hadn't seen from him before as he got up ran over to the little girl and started punching her repeatedly until her face looked like freshly ground
meat. I sat back and waited for his anger to subside before talking.

  “Hey, you ok?” I ask DJ who has now stopped punching the zombie. He rolled next to his artwork of mangled undead and sat up just looking at his hands. He then looked up at me.

  “I'm sorry,” he said with fear in his eyes.

  “Don't worry about it bud. Did you get bit? I reply.

  “No, I don't think so. But can't tell.” He answers looking at his blood and gut covered hands and clothing.

  “Here” I state as I grab a jug of water that DJ had in his cart.

  “Clean up a little so we can make sure.”

  DJ takes the jug and begins to try and wash off as much of the gore as he can. As he finishes he lets out a sigh of relief.

  “What's up?” I inquire.

  “I seem to be fine I don't think they got me.” He answers.

  “Let's go, that had to draw some attention,” I say as I head back around the corner to get my cart, DJ grabs his and meets me at the start of my aisle. As we head out, DJ stops near the alcohol section that is offset from the main aisles.

  “I guess you need that after that last encounter” I jokingly poke at DJ.

  With the straightest face, I have ever seen DJ look at me and said. “Nope, I'm going to start lighting every one of them I see on fire.”

  With a shocked look, I watch as he finishes loading his buggy with every bit of the purist most flammable alcohol he could find.

  “This is not the same kid I saved from the car a couple of days ago.” I thought to myself.

  I shrug it off and continue walking towards the entrance, as I'm walking past the counters I look over and see the packs of gum and have a flashback.

  To my daughters are in the backseat of the truck chewing gum which was one of their favorite things to do as we get ran off the road by a heavily armed convoy. The memory jumps to me waking up and looking to see a group of men helping my family out of the truck but leaving me. All I can see is the familiar Soldiers of ZED patch I saw earlier on those men I met near the Super 9.