Love, Revenge and Zombies

by Travis Cotter

  As the biker struggled to get his bike turned around he had failed to notice the group of zombies gathering around him. By the time he got the bike turned around and was ready to take off it was too late. The undead grasped on to him and pulled him in every direction, he pulled the throttle and tried to get away but there were too many. The bike went out from under him as the undead pulled him to the ground. Paul didn’t have to stay and watch, he knew what was going to happen. He climbed back into the truck and drove off towards the sporting good store.

  Twenty-Three

  Three days had passed since Paul had returned back to the sporting good store with the woman and child. He found out the woman’s name was Rebecca and she was twenty seven years old. Before the world had gone to hell she was a chef at an upscale restaurant. Paul had never heard of it and probably couldn’t have afforded it even if he had heard of it. She laughed when Paul said that to her and he enjoyed the sound of laughter again and even if he wouldn’t admit it he enjoyed the company. When he was alone he stayed focused on what he needed to do but his mind would always be filled with pain and anger. With Rebecca around he didn’t always have to focus on the pain and there was also the boy that he was trying to keep safe.

  The boy still had a small gash on his head from when he fell while trying to run from the bikers. He was six years old and his name was Shawn. He was alone for three days before Rebecca found him in the dumpster. His parents had died trying to hold back a horde that was over running their apartment. Shawn’s dad had sent him out on to the fire escape and told him to stay there until he came and got him.

  Shawn told Paul about how he had watched his parents get attacked through the window. He told Paul how his daddy had died and then got back up and tried to get him through the window. Shawn had heard his parents talking earlier about how when the monster bit someone they would turn into one of the monsters too. Shawn had climbed down the fire escape to the second floor where he stayed for two days.

  He told Paul how scared he had been when he was alone. Also that he cried a lot because he missed his mommy and daddy and he didn’t know what to do. He asked Paul if it made him a chicken because he was scared and cried a lot.

  Paul hugged him and said “no it doesn’t make you a chicken. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever known and your mommy and daddy would be very proud of you.”

  Paul had to hold back his emotion as Shawn smiled at him and said “I miss my mommy and daddy but I know God took them to heaven.”

  “Yea he did,” Paul replied.

  Shawn then told him about how he had got hungry and tried to climb down the ladder but he couldn’t reach the ground and how he was scared to jump down. It was another day before he found the courage to jump down into the dumpster next to the fire escape.

  Once he was in the dumpster he said he found a loaf of bread. He told Paul how the bread didn’t taste very good but he made sure not to eat the green parts because he remembered his daddy telling him that it wasn’t good for him. Shawn said that Rebecca had found him later that day and had taken care of him ever since. Shawn and Rebecca had been together for almost two weeks when Paul found them.

  Paul had continued to work on his escape plan for another week. He had even pulled the truck up to the back loading docks and started loading his gear and supplies into the bed of the truck. Rebecca asked him numerous times if she and Shawn would be able to go with him when he left. Paul told her each time that it wasn’t safe for them to go with him because he didn’t know what was waiting for him once he left the city and that he was leaving to go start a war.

  Paul told Rebecca all about Abby and how much he loved her; he told her how he had to go out into the world to find the men responsible for her death. Rebecca understood why it was dangerous for them to go with Paul but she also knew how dangerous it was if they stayed behind without him. She knew that she and Shawn probably wouldn’t be alive still if they hadn’t come across Paul as they tried to escape the bikers.

  It was another four days before Paul decided that it was time to leave the city and start his journey. He found some maps in the store and remembered the areas David had circled on the maps pinned to his boards in room 214. The circles were around a section of desert in the state of Nevada, so that would be where Paul was going to head first.

  “Please, you have to take us with you,” Rebecca said as Paul set his M4 on the front seat of the truck and placed his 9mm in the holster around his arm.

  “It’s just too dangerous out there, but I have a place I’m going to take you where you will be safe,” Paul said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

  Shawn and Rebecca climbed into the truck and waited for Paul to return from inside the store. He’d gone back inside to grab a couple more things and a few minutes later he returned to the truck. Paul opened the back door of the truck on the driver’s side and smiled at Shawn who was buckled in behind the passenger seat. Paul set an AR15 and a few loaded magazines for his M4 and two magazines for the Ar15 in the backseat.

  “Now buddy make sure you don’t touch these okay, they are very dangerous,” Paul said to Shawn.

  “I promise I won’t touch them Paul,” Shawn replied with a big smile on his face.

  “Thanks buddy,” Paul said as he set two sheathed machetes in the floorboard behind the driver’s seat.

  He closed the back door of the truck and got into the driver’s seat and fired up the truck. He drove away from the sporting good store and headed towards the Philips Hotel. He knew Rebecca and Shawn would be safe there with the doctor and all the other survivors.

  He drove through town and ended up having to cut down some alleys and some side streets to avoid large groups of undead. They had to back track a few times because some roads were too congested with broken down cars and some other roads were blocked by manmade barricades.

  It was almost two hours before they finally pulled up near the side entrance of the hotel. It was the same door that Paul had been let out of when he left the hotel the last time. He parked the truck then stepped out and took a look around before he gave Rebecca and Shawn the okay to get out. There didn’t seem to be any undead around so Paul waved at Rebecca and Shawn. Rebecca got out first and then opened the backdoor so that Shawn could climb out.

  “So where are we exactly?” Rebecca asked as she looked around.

  “It’s the Philips Hotel; there’s a group of survivors here that I met awhile back. They have a nice set up and they’ll be able to keep you safe,” Paul responded.

  Rebecca locked eyes with Paul and smiled before she spoke again “I still don’t understand why we can’t go with you.”

  “Yea Paul I want to go with you too,” Shawn chimed in as he reached up to hold his hand.

  “I know you do buddy and I would love to take you with me but it’s too dangerous out there and I’m going to find some really bad men. I don’t want you to get hurt when I find those bad men so I need you to stay here and protect Rebecca,” Paul said as he knelt down to be at eye level with Shawn.

  Shawn wrapped his arms around Paul’s neck and hugged him.

  “Okay Paul, I will stay here and protect her but you have to come back when you’re done with those bad men,” Shawn replied.

  Paul hugged him back and held back a tear before he spoke again “I promise buddy, I will come back when I’m done.”

  He let go of Shawn and walked over to the door on the side of the hotel with Shawn following right behind him.

  “Hopefully they’ll have someone on guard near the door so they can let us in,” Paul said as he knocked on the door.

  There was no answer after he knocked a second time so Paul tried the handle. The door was unlocked. It shouldn’t have been unlocked and Paul knew that. His gut was telling him that he should turn around and leave but he knew that wasn’t going to happen. He wanted to know why the door was unlocked and he had to know whether it was safe to leave Rebecca and Shawn at the hotel.

  Twenty-Four

 
; Paul had returned to the truck and opened the back door to grab his weapons.

  “Get in the truck and wait here. I’m going to check out the hotel and if it’s safe I will come get you. If I’m not back in ten minutes then I want you and Shawn to take the truck and leave,” Paul said to Rebecca as he slung his M4 over his head.

  He placed a magazine in both of his back pockets and then put two more in the pockets on the legs of his pants.

  “I’m going to leave the AR15 here for you, only use it if it’s absolutely necessary. If it gets dangerous I would rather you leave than fight and wait for me. I’m serious, if I’m not back and you feel like you need to leave than leave. Promise me that,” Paul said with a serious tone in his voice.

  “I promise,” Rebecca hesitantly replied.

  “I mean it. I want you to leave if I’m not back soon or if you feel unsafe,” Paul said sternly.

  “I promise we will leave if it gets dangerous or you don’t come back in ten minutes,” Rebecca said as she loaded Shawn in the truck.

  She walked back around the truck gave Paul a hug and then gently kissed his cheek.

  “Will I see you again?” she asked as she held her hug an extra second longer.

  “Hopefully you’ll see me again in less than ten minutes,” he said with a smile.

  She pulled away from him and smiled back “I hope so.”

  Rebecca climbed into the truck and sat behind the steering wheel.

  “Can you hand me that magazine for my 9mm? It’s next to you on the seat,” Paul asked.

  Rebecca found the magazine next to her and handed it to Paul, she let her hand linger on it for a moment as Paul reached out for it.

  “You better come back,” she said one last time and then let go of the magazine.

  “You better leave if I don’t,” Paul replied as he slid the magazine into one of the slots on his shoulder holster.

  Paul opened the back door of the truck again and retrieved one of the machetes. He slung the strap on it over his head and let it hang on his back.

  “I need you to be brave and protect Rebecca. Can you do that for me?” Paul asked as he smiled at Shawn.

  “I’ll be brave. I promise,” Shawn replied.

  “Okay buddy, I’m going to go make sure it’s safe. You need to stay here until I get back,” Paul said.

  “I’ll wait here until you get back and I’ll be brave for Rebecca. I love you Paul,” Shawn said with a big smile on his face.

  Paul stopped what he was doing and just looked at Shawn for a minute. He held back the emotions that were swelling up in him and simple replied “I love you too.”

  Paul entered the hotel with his 9mm in hand and looked back one last time to check on Rebecca and Shawn before he closed the door behind him. The hall was dark as he made his way down it towards the lobby. He didn’t want to risk turning on his flashlight and giving away his position if there was anyone unfriendly up ahead. He stopped where the hallway ended and the lobby began. He listened for a few seconds but heard nothing. It was a good sign that he hadn’t heard anything because maybe it meant that there wasn’t any danger there but he knew it also could mean that everyone that had been there was gone or already dead.

  He holstered his 9mm and brought his M4 up and held it out ready to fire as he slowly entered the lobby. The lobby seemed to be clear as he looked around and glanced down the hallways that led off of the lobby. As far as he could tell there was no one around so he called out “is anyone here?”

  He waited for a moment but got no response so he called out again “Doug, are you here?”

  Paul waited again but still didn’t get a response. He thought about checking upstairs but he knew his ten minutes would be up soon and he wanted to get back to the truck before Rebecca drove off without him.

  He was walking back towards the hallway he had come in through when he heard a noise come from behind the check-in counter of the hotel. Paul froze where he was standing and raised his M4 up. He now had the counter in his sights. He waited silently for another sound to come from behind the counter and sure enough it did.

  “I hear you. Come out before I have to come over there and kill you,” Paul shouted out.

  He spun around when he heard a voice come from the hallway behind him “I guess the jig is up, come on out boys.”

  Paul turned to see the fourth biker that had got away when he first found Rebecca and Shawn. Paul had shot one of them and then saw two others die but he had wondered what had happened to the fourth guy. Now here he was standing in front of Paul with a grin spread across his face.

  “Come on out boys,” the biker shouted out again.

  Two men stood up from behind the check-in counter and then four more came walking into the lobby from the hallways that led to the hotel rooms. There was three more walking down the stairs from the second floor into the lobby. Paul knew the men had found the weapon storage in the hotel because they were all holding military grade weapons.

  “What happen to the people that used to be here?” Paul asked as he turned to face the man in the hallway behind him.

  The biker didn’t respond so Paul repeated the question as he stepped closer to the biker “where are the people that were here before? Tell me or I’ll put a bullet through your head and ask someone else!”

  “There’s no need for violence,” said a voice from behind Paul.

  Paul turned to see Doug walking down the stairs towards him.

  “What the hell happened here Doug?” Paul asked.

  “Well I had heard that some of my old friends had returned to town. Since you were kind enough to take out David for me, I decided to invite my friends to come stay here with me,” Doug said with a smile.

  “That doesn’t answer my question. Where is everyone?” Paul asked again.

  Doug could tell that Paul was getting angry and then he said “let’s calm down before someone gets hurt. I’ll have to apologize for my friends. They tend to be a bit on the rough side when they get too drinking and partying. After you’ve spent a good chunk of your life locked away or running from the law, it’s nice to kick back and relax.”

  “So you’re telling me you let these savages in here with those innocent people?” Paul asked as the anger grew in his voice again.

  “Please don’t be rude. Those are my friends you’re calling savages,” Doug said with a smile still on his face.

  “Where is everyone?” Paul asked again.

  “Some of them are still around, you know for entertainment and such. I’m sorry to say most of them are dead,” Doug said with a chuckle.

  He stopped laughing and in an instant was serious again “to be honest I’m not actually sorry. They were useless and in the way of our survival, I did what I had too so that me and my boys could survive. Do you know how hard it is to feed fifty people everyday? There wouldn’t be enough for me and my family so we eliminated the competition. Survival of the fittest.”

  Paul’s anger was raging through him like a tidal wave as he spoke “then I guess I don’t have to feel bad after I do this.”

  Paul fired a bullet through the head of the biker that had been standing next to him. He raised his M4 and aimed it at Doug, Doug smiled at him again.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. If you try to kill me then my men have been ordered to kill the woman and boy waiting for you out in that truck. Some of my men should be outside with them right now keeping them company,” Doug said with that same sick grin on his face.

  Paul fired his M4 at the men in the lobby then turned and sprinted down the hall towards the truck. He could hear Doug shouting from the lobby “kill them all!”

  Paul kicked open the door at the end of the hallway and shot a man standing next to the truck.

  “Get out of here now!” he yelled at Rebecca.

  She turned the truck on and spun the tires as she floored the gas pedal and backed the truck up. Another man was standing on the other side of the truck as she backed up. He turned to fire a
t the truck but Paul was already firing at him before he could pull the trigger.

  Rebecca slammed into a car parked behind her and then put the truck into drive and pulled forward. Paul was running for the truck when gun fire erupted behind him. He couldn’t make it to the truck with the bullets flying past him. Paul dove over the hood of a small sedan parked near him. He hit the ground on the other side of the car and sprang back to his feet. He opened fire back at the men shooting from the doorway of the hotel.

  “Get out of here now Abby! You have to leave now! I won’t let you die,” Paul yelled out as he looked over at the truck.

  Rebecca wasn’t sure what to do as she sat there frozen with fear. She knew Paul was yelling at her but she also realized he was calling out the wrong name. Paul fired at the men again and hit one of them in the chest and then ducked as the men returned fire.

  “Go now Abby!” Paul yelled.

  A tear ran down his cheek as he stood to return fire again and then he shouted at Rebecca again “You have to go now! I can’t let you die!”

  Rebecca had tears running down her face as she hit the gas again and drove out of the parking lot and then turned out of sight.

  Paul was sitting on the ground behind the car after he watched the truck drive away. The gun fire from the doorway had stopped and he heard Doug speak again “it seems that your friends have left you. Now we will kill you and then just for fun maybe we’ll hunt down the woman and child.”

  Paul was focused again and had regained his composure before he spoke “I swear I will kill every last one of you, even if it’s the last thing I do. I will make sure every one of your men is dead and then I’ll kill you too!”

  Doug laughed after he heard what Paul said and replied “then lets do this and after you’re dead I promise I will take good care of your woman friend and maybe if you’re lucky I’ll let the boy live!”