"Thank you, sir!" I said excitedly. I then left to find Karla and ventured through the town until I heard her laughter coming from the bar. "Of course." I whispered to myself, then walked inside and to the center of it, searching through each booth until I found her. I walked over to her and found she had two women under her arms and her tongue down one's throat. "Yo, sex-fiend, we gotta go." I said, Karla looks up at me as the other woman looked at her with lustful eyes.
"The fuck man! We just got here." She complains.
"I don't want to spend the night here." I said.
"I do." She said, then looked at the other woman that wasn't violated by her tongue. A chill went down my spine and made me shiver.
"Are you coming with me or staying here?" I asked, staring down at her. She looked at both of her companions, then sighed as she looked back up at me.
"Sorry man." She said. I nodded,
"Alright, I'll be here tomorrow to pick you up. We need you for a scavenge mission." I said, then left the bar and walked towards the gate. It felt like forever till I past the workshop and to James where he was standing against the gate. I stood a few feet away from him. "Got my clips?" I said.
"Yeah, about that. See, we're low on ammo so your mags are ours now." He said with a cocky smile like he thought I was weak, but he was wrong. I chuckled, rubbing my facial hair, it wasn't visible, but still there.
“You slime fuck!" I yelled, taking a couple steps to him, he just laughed. I got angry and bashed his face in with the butt of my rifle. He collapsed to the pavement and I sighed, seeing that I had knocked him out. I then looked around to make sure no one saw. Seeing that no one had, I dragged him into a dark ally and took the clips out of his pockets and took his as well. A cardboard box was leaned against the wall beside me. I tore a small square out of it and wrote Scum on it with mud and tossed it on his chest as I walked past him. I then went inside the tower to find my knives and found them on the table. I quickly left the tower and lifted the lever to open the gate and closed it behind me by climbing on the gate and throwing a rock on the lever. Walking down the road, I slide the mags back into there place in several secret places in my scarf and back in my guns.
Chapter 7:
The prisoner
I made it back to the station when it was just becoming dusk and the zombies are screaming. Taking out my pistol, I stealthy stepped into the kitchen without making a noise. I looked inside to find all the bags still there. I then whistled to Sestra to see if she was in trouble. Sestra whistled back the response that she is alright, then I heard loud footsteps coming from the stairs. I saw her legs running down them and sighed in relief. That's when I started to relax because she wasn't captured. I put my pistol away as she runs up to me and checks my arms and neck for injuries. I would chuckle of her signs of caring, but I was still angry from James.
"I'm fine, Sestra, as always." I said bitterly. She looked up at me with worry on her expression. Trevor shows himself from the mechanic room that was next to the kitchen.
"Hey buddy, didn't hear you come in." He said, wiping his hands off from oil in a rag.
"Yeah, I didn't want to be caught off guard if someone took you guys captive.” I said. The white coat then shows his face from a holding cell.
"You guys, you may want to see this." He said. We all got curious and walked into the room to find a twig of a man on the floor with handcuffs pinning his hands behind him. His back was facing us and he laid on his side.
"Is he alive?" Trevor said and the man twitched, making me pull out my pistol.
"Stay behind me." I ordered, creeping up behind him. I then nudged the man's back with my foot. He fell to his chest and placed his cheek on the patted floor.
"Who are you people?" He mumbled.
"Well, at least we know he isn't a zombie. My name is Trevor, this is Alex, Sestra and Jason." Trevor introduced. The man struggles to sit up, but he did so. He breathes heavily and looks up at us. His shirt was baggy and his arms looked just of skin and bone. I then heard a dripping sound. I looked towards it and saw a small puddle in a corner.
"How long have you been here?" I asked.
"It's hard to say." He said. He had a slight stench to him and when he spoke, his voice was raspy from lack of water. Not a stench of smell though, but of something was raising red flags.
"Sestra, will you get him some water and a can of something, please?" I said, not breaking my focus on the man. I heard her feet step away and that’s when I went to stand in front of him, as I was kneeled down to his eye level. He looked up at me as my mind screams to get away from him.
"What is it Alex?" Jason asked.
"I don't know yet. I just know that he is not like us." I said, looking down at him. I then kneeled down in front of him, grabbing a hand full of his hair. "You listen to me and you listen well. You try anything to hurt my friends, I will end you as painful as I possibly can." I threatened, pulling his hair back a little. I then stood back up and leaned against the wall. There was an awkward silence in the room for a moment.
"Anyways, what's your name?" Trevor asked.
"It's Joe." He answered. Jason moves aside for Sestra to get in the room. She stood a few feet away, trying to figure out how to feed him. I took the bottled water from her and turned to Joe.
"Open." I commanded. He looked up at me. I uncapped the bottle and poured it on his face until he opened his mouth. I then poured the cream corn into his mouth and went back to leaning on the wall. He was chewing and you could see the chills down his spine from the old corn.
"Ok, the elephant in the room is, why are you in here?" Trevor asked.
"I walked into the police station and they threw me in here. I don't know why." He said. Another red flag went up in my mind, that's when I knew I should be cautious. I stepped in front of Sestra and she looked at me, she knew what I needed her to do. She turned to the others and pushed them out of the room, closing the door behind her. I then sat cross legged in front of him. I stared at him and he stared back.
"Ok, What?" He asked after a while.
"Your story doesn't add up. The human body can't survive without food for three weeks and the dates on the paperwork state that there a month old. I see the dripping water in the corner and that's how you survived more than three days, unlike your holding cell mates in the rest of the cells. So, why are you in here?" I asked. He sighed and cleared his throat.
"There was an earlier group in here and they threw me in here because they didn't like me in their group of people." He said. I still didn't believe him.
"Where are they?" I asked.
“Why?"
"Because of reasons." I said. There was a moment of silence from him. "We can keep doing it this way, or I always wanted to try my hand in torture." I threatened. I tried to read his expression, but he wasn't showing any hints of breaking.
"I don't know. All I know is that they use to live in the city and came here for supplies, but all this place had was ammo and their storage was full already." He said. The city, city, city. Lately that's the favorite place to go for some reason. I sighed and got to my feet to leave the room. I walked out with the door slammed behind me. I then looked over to see Trevor and everyone standing in front of me.
"So?" Jason said.
"He can't be trusted, not at all. Karla likes to go to the place we were today and that’s where she is now, so Sestra and I can go back there." I advised.
"May I come as well?" Jason asked out of the blue. It took me by shock, so I hesitated before answering.
"Sure, do you still have those grenades?" I asked.
"I got one left." He said, pulling it out of his coat pocket.
"Alright cool, don't use that unless I tell you to. You travel with me, you follow my orders and get there before dark. Got it?" I said, getting a good feeling as I looked at the inspiration in everyone's eyes.
"Yes sir!" Jason said with a smile.
"I may not be here when you three get back. I need to check on my hideout
and bring back some food to it." Trevor said.
"Ok, as long as you come back." I said. We then try and get some rest, though my nightmares kept me up most of the night. It was finally morning and we got ready, loading up in the swat room, reloading my rifles. Placing my sniper rifle on the table, I caught Jason eying it. "If you’re thinking of taking it, good luck. I never let it out of my site." I said, looking at him, sliding bullets inside a clip.
"It's not that. I was wondering what kind of scope was on your sniper there." He asked as I slapped in the mag.
"It's a sword optic. It may be larger than any other scope, but it has thermal, night vision, and flair. Not to mention laser range finding. Has all these functions, yet only weights less than a pound." I explained, swinging the strap to where it can rest across my chest. I did then swung the rifle strap on my shoulder. I looked over to Jason to see if he was ready, but he was still loading clips. I then looked over at Sestra to find that she has finished placing the last clip in her tactical chest vest that has pouches that hold four clips in one pouch. I had a strange feeling, as if something was going to go wrong. I ignored the feeling as I walked towards the front door and saw a zombie pounding on the glass doors. I stopped in my tracks, staring at it when Sestra and Jason walk past me. Sestra opened the door just enough to poke its head through, then shot it, there was little noise because of her silencer on the pistol, Jason looked back to see me.
"Alex?" He called. A sudden jolt of fear had paralyzed me, but I knew now that the feeling was a warning. I came into focus and saw Sestra looking into my eyes, holding my head. I lifted my head up to break the fear.
"I want the both of you to stand close together and form a kill circle. My gut tells me that this isn't going to be an easy day!" I ordered, pulling my hood up and walking past them. I swung the door open, having my other hand on the rifle. I looked around for a faster way to the enclave and saw a Chevy two door. "Ok people. You see that Chevy? We are gonna run to it so that I can hot wire it." I explained.
"Wouldn't the vehicle be too loud?" Jason asked.
"Yes, but we can have it keep going the opposite direction to lead any zombies away from where we are going, we can even have it aimed into the city." I explained, then got ready to run. I looked behind me to make sure they did the same. We ran across the street to the car and I tried to immediately open the door, but was locked. I looked inside and found that it had those push down locks. I then looked around to find anything to fit through the window. Jason then hands me a copper wire from his pocket. I look at him, then took the wire and forced it through the top of the window. When I hooked it on the lock, I pulled hard on the wire, almost breaking it. The lock clicked open as it was pulled up. Sestra heard the click and she then saw a zombie coming up on her side. She had to take it out quickly before it alerts others that may be around. She took out her pistol and ended its life quietly. "Stay focused little one!" I ordered, then opened the door and saw a corpse rotting inside. I sighed and slammed the door before the stench of the rotten flesh reached out to us.
"Well, that's depressing." Jason said, I looked around and found no other cars at all. I then wanted to check the trunk and so I opened the door and found a button with the trunk symbol on it. When I pressed it, the trunk pops open. I then went to it to find a knapsack. I took it and let the trunk slam shut.
"We better go before the zombies come, no time to see what’s inside." I said, walking on the pavement, trying to open the knapsack, but the zipper was jammed. We walked for a few hours, not being able to find a single running car and still in the kill circle formation. Sestra was on my right and Jason on my left. My hands started to hurt from trying to rip open the knapsack and it’s still stuck closed.
"Alex, have you eaten anything today?" Jason asked.
"I haven't yet. Why?" I confessed, taking out my hunting knife and trying to separate the zipper. Jason then digs inside his backpack and takes out a bag of peanuts.
"Here." he said, getting my attention. He tosses it to me and I catch it. Swinging the pack over my shoulder, I open the bag and ate some, then offered some to Sestra. We walked a few more hours till we reached the compound. The fence was taller than any trees nearby. The vibe of intimidation struck me as I looked up at the top of them.
Chapter 8:
A cure.
We were tired, I was tired, my feet were heavy and the whole area around us was quiet. I could barely stand, so Jason pounded on the gate. That’s when I realized why I was so weak. It was because I wasn’t use to the traveling because at our old home, we would go on scavenge missions and that’s it. I looked over to Sestra as the gate opened. Sestra’s legs were shaking. I then look over to see James and a few other guards standing on both sides of him. James still had a bruise on his forehead from the butt of my rifle.
"Well, look who it is!" James said loudly, giving me an instant headache and I had caught my breath back. I tried hiding my exhaust being.
“Surrender your weapons!" He commanded and you could sense he wanted to start something. We remained silent. I was ready for his hostility. "Surrender your weapons or die." He yelled, aiming straight at me. The tension grew as his guards looked at him, then they aimed at us. it was five against three and we were the three. "Alex, you know you’re not this stupid!" James yelled, thinking that I was going to retaliate, like I normally would. My mind felt blocked from my exhaustion. Keeping my eye on him, I raised my hands up above my head.
"James!" I hear in a man's voice.
"Ah, hell!" James said, putting down his rifle. A man in a jean jacket walks up beside James.
"What did I tell you about pointing your damn weapons at innocent people?”
"Yes, but-"
"But nothing!" The man interrupts. He then looked at us individually, but pauses at my face and narrows his eyes as if he knew something. "What's your name, sport?" He said to me.
"Alex. My comrades are Sestra and Jason. James and I had a little disagreement so he's P.M.Sing." I said. The man looks back at James.
"This true? Are you P.M.Sing?" He asked.
"He hit me with the butt of his gun!" James yelled and his voice made a slight echo in the distance. It worried me, but I had to defend against James.
"That you tried to steal the ammo! Now, I am not trying to get a fight out of you. I am here to get one of my friends out of here and check on my sword from the old man." I yelled.
"Alright you two!" The man yelled over ours. I then took the moment to listen closely around us until I hear a soft, hollow scream in the distance. I sighed and rest my rifle on my shoulder. I then hear a hollow scream behind us. I look to Sestra and she nodded. Out the corner of my eye, I see her turning to face behind us, but I didn't hear her fire her pistol. I look to her again and saw she had frozen in fear. I turned around and saw that it was actually a zombie horde coming straight at us because of our careless yelling. I looked to the man in the jacket. "Yes, get in!" He yelled, waving us in. Sestra started to shoot at the horde, taking down a few at a time, but it triggered the rage and they started to charge at us. I wrapped my arm around her waist and pushed her inside just as the gate started to close.
"Sestra, stay inside. I'm gonna lead them away." I ordered, then looked back at the charging horde. I count of thirty zombies and more forming inside it as time progress. I look back to Sestra as the gate let me have enough time to say what I needed. "I will come back little one! Don't forget me!" I yelled, pointing through the gate. I saw tears collecting in her eyes, but she nods. That's when the gate closed and I looked back to the horde. They were closing in. I took out my pistol and shot one through the head. "Come on you ugly beast! follow the birdie!" I yelled, running back towards the police station. An hour has past and I was reduced to walking. I checked behind me and saw that they were still chasing me, but I still shot two of them in the head. That was a mistake because they started to charge at me again. I looked around and saw that I may be able to climb up a brick building. I ran up to it and star
ted to climb. I got half way up to when they came up to the building. My arms grew tired as I reached up to place my hand on another loose brick. I had to be careful not to break the bricks or I fall to my doom. Suddenly, five shots ring from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to find another zombie, but she had a 9mm pistol and a German Shepard growling at the horde.
"Hey kid! What are you doing up there?" She said, her voice cracked into a husky tone, like a smoker's voice. I stayed silent, not sure on what to do, so I kept climbing until I reached the roof and looked down at her. She looked up at me and then aimed up at me with her M19 assault rifle. I returned by aiming down at her with my sniper rifle and as I looked through my optic, I saw that she looked half zombified and half human. It was disturbing to look at her zombie side, but I then notice that she has fired her weapon and yet the zombies haven't noticed her. "At least give me a name!" She yelled up at me.
"Help me get rid of these pests, then we can talk!" I yelled back. I then looked through my scope and saw she was deciding whether to help or not. She then aimed down at the zombies and opened fired. It took a minute and the zombies were dead.
"Search." She commanded to her K9 and it walked through the pile of corpses, then walked back to her side. "Ok, it's safe now." She said. I looked around and saw a fire escape on the other neighboring building. I stepped on the ledge of the building, seeing if I could jump to it. I sighed, then took step back before jumping off the roof and grabbing the railing. My plan was to get on the platform, but dangling to my death. My breath became heavy as adrenaline came to my head. I looked down and gripped a bar and letting go of the railing. I then felt my feet touch another railing and I hopped down to the platform. I then followed the stairs down to the ladder and rid it till it hit the ground. I then walked to the strange woman who stood with her zombie knee bent. Perhaps its weak or something, this whole woman was filled with mystery and I was curious. "You gonna come with me to my camp or keep staring at my bad leg you freak?" She insults. I smirk and looked towards the enclave, noticing how dark it was getting.
New Beginnings Page 7
