Beyond Dead | Book 4 | The Island

by Frost, Christopher

  Kiefer reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper that Bob had scratched and drawn the direction he would likely take to get to his daughter down in North Carolina. All Kiefer needed to do was find a motorcycle with more balls on it than a dirt bike and meet up with Bob somewhere along the route the following days. He had argued that he could have gone with him tonight and followed by car until he found a bike but Bob hadn’t wanted to wait. Kiefer couldn’t blame the man. After all it was the man’s daughter they were talking about.

  The plan was solid. Wait for daybreak and go with the others on the morning raid for supplies and more gasoline to supply the generators and he’d find himself a bike and head down the route that Bob had mapped out.

  Another solid plan.

  Kiefer pulled on the brim of his cap as Clover muttered something in cat-language and took off.

  “Go on. Run off. Hope a dog gets you,” Kiefer laughed as a zombie descended on him and its teeth tore half his neck away. His mouth opened to scream but there was nothing left in his throat to make noise. Two more zombies fell on Kiefer and knocked him to the sandy beach as he lay immobilized by fear and shock as his flesh was torn away and eaten.

  His ball cap had been knocked off his head and ebbed with the soft tide.

  Chapter 14

  Brittney and Garrett were sitting outside on huddled together under a blanket on the porch swing. Brittney’s bare foot pushed on the wood to move the two of them in a steady rocking motion like she had done with Garrett when he was a baby.

  “Could you see the show?” Tuck asked.

  “Like the Fourth of July,” Garret said.

  “Now what?” Brittney asked.

  Tuck stood on the grass out of reach. An outsider. He watched Brittney’s leg as it pushed her son on the porch swing.

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head, deciding to be honest rather than lie and tell her that everything would be alright now because they took out one tiny bridge. “Get through tonight and then survive tomorrow.”

  “That isn’t very optimistic.” Brittney’s smile was warm.

  “No. It isn’t.” Tuck tried to smile back as warmly as she had but he could see on her face that his smile was as fake and forced and he had tried to avoid.

  He left the two of the to the porch swing and went around to the back where he had seen the generator earlier. Fredrick had told him that no one on the island had used their generators since the outbreak because they didn’t want to draw attention to themselves. There was no worry about that now. They had drawn plenty of attention with that display of fire or destruction. At this point there was nothing to worry about by kicking on the generators and enjoy what little bit of electricity they had left before all the gasoline was used up.

  The generator was already all hooked up and wired directly into the house. It was surrounded by a small garden so that it didn’t look like such a blight on the property. Tuck switched the control to ON and pulled on the cord until he got it running. It was one hell of a generator and he would have to go down the breaker and make sure he shut off the non-essentials. Although he believed the thing could probably power the whole damn house.

  “We can watch TV,” Garret was yelling as he jumped up and down on the couch playing with the remote.

  “You aren’t going to get cable.”

  “That’s alright there’s a stack of Blu-ray with just about every movie in the cabinet over there.”

  “You have fun with that kid.”

  Tuck found Brittney in the kitchen looking through all the drawers and cabinets and pulling out the cans and bags of food and lining them on the counter.

  “Any chance you found a beer in there?”

  “Actually, yes.” Brittney popped the top of a Sam Adams and reached over to hand it to Tuck. When she did he tried his best not to look down the loose front of her shirt but couldn’t help himself and saw a glimpse of her breasts. “If you don’t mind it warm.”

  “At this point I would take it hot,” he said, “I’m going to head down to the basement and mess with the breaker. I want to make sure we don’t overuse the generator with too many things sucking power from it.”

  “Okay. I’ll be here taking inventory of our loot.”

  “Good,” Tuck went on with his rambling small talk, “Write down anything you think you might need. We are planning a raiding party for the morning and it’ll help to have a list of everything.”

  “Yeah, right. Good thinking.” She smiled.

  Tuck opened the door to go down into the basement.

  “Hey, Tuck,” Brittney interrupted him, “You alright?”

  “Yeah. I’m fine. Just been a long day.” He forced a smile and she gave him one back just as forced before he descended into the basement.

  The lights worked and he quickly found the breaker box and began switching off everything that was labeled that was useless. The extra bedrooms, the shed, the pool, the pool house, and the irrigation system. When he was sure he had shut off enough power he looked around the basement that was anything but a basement.

  There was a bar made of dark wood. Tuck couldn’t guess what kind of wood it was made out of except that it probably had had a lot of numbers on the sales ticket. The bar was stocked with to shelf liquor and there were six vacant stools. A television the size of a movie theater screen was on a far wall with leather couch and chairs around it. Autographed sports memorabilia from all the major Boston sports teams were displayed around the room. In the corner was what looked like an antique poker table. There were chips all stacked and ready to be divvied up. Tuck sat down and opened a deck of cards and shuffled them in his hand. He listened to the engine like noise they made when he made a rainbow with them when he split the deck and shuffled it. He laid out seven cards as he set up a game of solitaire.

  “Whatcha doing?”

  The voice startled him and Tuck wacked his knees on the underside of the poker table. Brittney had come down into the basement and made it almost all the way to him across the massive open floor without him even noticing. Why was he letting his guard down?

  “Just playing a game.”

  “Solitaire?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’ve been down here awhile.”

  “Have I?” he asked. It hadn’t felt like he had been downstairs for that long but when he thought of it he was on his third or fourth hand of the game.

  “Yes. Do you mind?” Brittney pointed to the empty seat next to him and Tuck pushed it out from under the table for her. She sat down with two bottles of Sam Adams and handed one over to Tuck.

  “Thank you.” He took a sip and realized he hadn’t even finished his first drink and put the new one behind the old.

  “Can I ask you something?” Brittney asked, “No bullshit?”

  Tuck grabbed his beer and took a longer sip this time.

  “Me first. Where’s Garrett?”

  “House is locked up and he’s asleep on the couch. Found the complete series of Static Shock.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Yes.” Brittney leaned in closer to Tuck so that he could smell the faint aroma of beer on her breath.

  “Why you so distant all of a sudden? No bullshit, you promised remember?”

  Tuck tipped back the first bottle Brittney had given him and didn’t put it down until it was empty.

  “I am not good at this?”

  “What?” she asked.

  “Socialization and what not.”

  “Been doing fine so far.”

  “Adrenaline’s wearing off.”

  “You’re a bad liar.” Her hand grabbed his thigh and squeezed.

  “No,” he said.

  “Why? Because Garrett’s upstairs.”

  Tuck stood up and pushed her hand away.

  “You’re drunk.”

  “This is my first beer.”

  “Come on, Brittney don’t make me say it. Don’t make me the bad guy I’m too damn tired.”

  “You don
’t understand.”

  “You’re right. I don’t understand. The one person I ever loved – “ he took a deep breath and finished his beer as he went around to the bar and popped the cap of the Captain Morgan Kraken and started to drink. “The one person I ever thought I loved fucking betrayed me. Used me. So, I don’t understand love. But I know it when I see it in others. When people have been apart for periods of time or haven’t seen their children or their wives. I’ve seen what real love looks like through a cage.”

  “Tuck, I am not saying that I did not love my husband. I am not denying that. And for as long as we have left on this hell world I will greatly miss that he will not be part of his son’s life. Or even part of mine. But the man I loved I loved because he was a good father, because he was a good and decent man. I don’t even remember the last time he touched me Tuck that it wasn’t about both of us just satisfying out own needs. I am sorry that he died but I didn’t lose the love of my life I lost my best friend and my son’s father.”

  “I can’t. I’m sorry.” Tuck pulled from the bottle again while Brittney crossed behind the bar and finished her own beer leaving it on the bar. Her arms came up and pressed against his chest until she had him confined to the liquor cabinets.

  “I can feel you want this as bad as I do.”

  His forehead leaned forward and pressed against her. He was trying with all his might not to touch her but she was pressing her pelvis against his and she knew how hard he was.

  “Tuck, please?” she begged. Her lips kissing his stubble chin as her hands outlined his muscles under the dirty tee shirt. She kissed along his jawline and took his vacant hand and placed it on the small of her back. “I just want to feel alive. For as long as we have left. Please, just make me feel like I am not one of those dead out there just going through the motions.” There was a tear in her eye mixed with the plead.

  “You sure?”

  Brittney nodded against his face and then Tuck effortlessly lifted her off her feet and her legs wrapped around him as he carried her to the poker table and laid her down. He kissed her deeply for a long time and like a school boy on a second date explored her body over her clothes. Brittney pushed herself up and grabbed Tuck’s shirt and peeled it off his body. She kissed his chest and her hands roamed over the scars that painted his body but she said nothing only kissed the darker larger ones more wetly as if her kisses told him that it was alright.

  Tuck pulled her shirt over her head and let her breasts fall free. He cupped them both and then lowered his head down and took her dark nipples into his mouth. He kissed up between her breasts and to her collarbone before her neck and back across her face to her mouth as he squeezed her ass and ground his hard cock against her through the material of their pants.

  Brittney began to furiously work on his belt until she had it undone and pants unfastened and his cock in her hand stroking it hard as precum ran over her fingers.

  Tuck lifted her with one arm and tore off her pants until she was completely naked on the table. He pushed her back and grabbed her ankles pushing her knees toward her shoulders and kissed the inside of her thigh until his mouth was at her wetness and tracing her lips with his tongue. He licked her wetness and pulled on her hood to expose her clit so he could pull her aroused and swollen button into his mouth and hear her cry out in moans.

  “Tuck,” she pleaded trying to push him away and grab hold of his cock as she used her feet to push down his pants. Brittney pulled him on top of her, his bare chest against her breasts and they kissed. The head of his cock lingered between her wet lips teasing the entrance of her sex.

  “Please,” she begged again.

  “I don’t want you to be disappointed.”

  “What?” she scowled.

  “I’m white remember.”

  “Oh my god you are such and asshole,” she laughed and grabbed his hips hooking the with her ankles and thrust him forward until he was buried inside of her and she immediately began to quiver with the first wave or orgasm. Tuck smiled down at her and she bit his lip as he began to move in and out of her until they found a rhythm.

  Chapter 15

  Brittney went upstairs with Garrett after Tuck and her had laid for a bit on the floor in the twilight of their sex. He was alone and restless. There was still the unfinished bottle of Captain Morgan’s so he grabbed that and headed outside. The night was cool and he left his shoes and shirt back in the house. The grass and freedom felt good to him. As he walked around the house, he peered in the window to see Brittney snuggled up with her son in her arms while the cartoon played on the television. He was fooling himself if he thought anything could come of this. Playing house with the widow and her kid.

  Tuck stepped onto Summit Ave and the rough pavement scratched and threatened to cut at his feet but he continued to walk on. He wanted to check on the bridge fire. Maybe some of the others were feeling as restless as him and would be by the giant fire. Although now that Bob was gone, he didn’t really have anyone that he felt he could relate to. Not that Bob knew anything about spending time in jail. Still he felt a kindred spirit with the older man.

  At the bridge the fire was still smoldering. It had settled down quite a bit since they had all gone their separate ways for the night and Bob had disappeared into the night on the bike. The cars were still parked but no guards. He would have to have a discussion with someone about round the clock guards and maybe more than one outpost on the island to make sure they weren’t surprised by anything.

  Tuck opened the door of the Mercedes and found the keys still in it. He turned it over to the battery and fumbled through the FM and AM stations only hearing the same emergency broadcast. There was an iPod rigged to the system and he turned it on and started thumbing through the variety of music until he found a live Led Zeppelin album and let it play. While the music came through the speakers, he dug through the glove box and center console looking for little secrets. In the cubby on the driver side door was a pack of cigarettes. He hadn’t been a smoker until he went into prison and hadn’t even craved one since getting out, but looking down at the pack of smokes he couldn’t help but tap one out of the pack and perch it between his lips while he thumbed the cigarette lighter in and waited for it to heat up.

  The first drag of nicotine struck him hard and made him feel light headed. He coughed the second inhale and almost tossed the smoke but thought he’d give it another go. Tuck stepped out of the car and lit his second cigarette of the evening while he cranked up the music loud enough to be heard in the open night but probably not across the island. With his cigarette dangling from his lips and the bottle of booze in his hand he started down toward the water.

  It was dark up here in the mountains. The stars shined brighter than they did down near the cities with all their light pollution. Tuck pulled out another cigarette and didn’t have a lighter so he had to monkey-fuck his smoke. He pulled on the fresh one and flicked the end of the old one out into the night.

  “What the hell?”

  Tuck squinted at the darkness where his cigarette butt had landed in the sand and still glowed. Something was out there and moving.

  “Shit.” How could he have been so stupid? The island wasn’t large but it was large enough to home zombies. He had placed all his faith in the townies that they had eradicated all the dead from the island. What a fool.

  Tuck looked around for something to kill the zombies. In the afterglow of fucking – no, it wasn’t that. He had just wanted it to only be that – Brittney he had left the house without even a gun. Tuck held the delusion that everything was fine and safe here on the island just as Rebel had said it would be.

  “Fuck it.” He’d leave it for tomorrow. Go back to the house. Cradle Brittney in his arm and fall asleep with his hand up her shirt and holding her warm tit. But if there were zombies that meant the were feeding on something.

  Someone.

  Tuck went back to the Mercedes and popped the hood. Inside he found a set of golf clubs and some extra c
lothes. They would work perfect. He wrapped the clothes around a five iron and brought it to the fire and lit his torch. He walked back to the beach and held the torch in front of him as he approached the sound of the coughing zombies listened as they tore away flesh and clothing.

  When he got back to the beach with the fire in his hand, he saw what little remained of the zombie’s victim. It was Kiefer. He could tell by the remaining wardrobe and that ball cap of his that listed on the lake tide.

  “Oh shit, Kiefer.” Tuck charged at the zombies and began brandishing the fire trying to drive them away or light their tattered clothes aflame. He had pushed himself directly into the middle of them and was standing over Kiefer like a protective mama bear, though the only way Kiefer was getting up again was as one of the undead.

  With the booze and anger flooding his soul he hadn’t been thinking straight when he went directly after the zombies. Tuck hadn’t thought to see how many there were until they were surrounding him and one came out of the pitch black and sank its teeth into his shoulder. He pushed the zombie off of him and saw he was only bitten and the thing hadn’t been able to take a chunk of him. He might have been able to survive a bite but losing chunks of flesh would surely kill him from bacteria and infection alone.

  The zombies coughed their weird sick language and had Tuck surrounded. They began to close in and he couldn’t see a way out. He had been careless and stupid. The two things that he had avoided to keep him alive in prison.

  One lunged at him and then another.

  “STOP!”

  Everyone was still.

  Tuck waved the fire around in the circle that he had been pushed inside. The zombies all stared at him coughing and grunting but they were still. They had actually stopped when he had commanded it.