Plague of the Dead | Book 3 | Plague of the Island

by Rayfield, Alli

  I gave the kids a snack of canned fruit when Daniel walked into the rec area.

  “Hey,” he said looking overheated and tired.

  “Hey,” I said back and took him into the food storage area while the kids ate.

  “We’re almost out of food,” I told him.

  “Shit,” he said, “How much do we have?”

  “If we limit what everyone eats, maybe a week. Not counting the travel reserves for us.”

  The travel reserves were a bag designated for each of us, supplied with 2 bottles of water and 3 days’ worth of food in case we would need to leave on a moment’s notice.

  “Pull from the others reserves,” Daniel instructed.

  “I already did. The seven days is with their food added,” I replied.

  “Shit,” Daniel said again, “I’ll set up a quick run.”

  I nodded. He gave my hand a squeeze and then went out the door.

  Daniel called an emergency meeting about the food later in the day. The kids were near, playing in the sand.

  Daniel told everyone about the food and what we needed to do.

  “I wish Laura had brought that up before,” Gerald stated, clearly irritated.

  “To be fair, before we could rely on fish and eggs,” Luther said.

  “True,” Gerald grudgingly agreed, “but still we need to know what food counts are at.”

  “Not a focus now. Now we have to worry about correcting it…” Daniel said. Before he could continue Lasa let out a scream.

  She was looking out at the ocean. What scared her wasn’t hard to miss. The sight was terrifying.

  Chapter 11

  The sight was unbelievable. In everything that I had seen so far in the plague, nothing was like this. There was a horde of zombies heading towards us. They were rising out of the water. There was one close enough it was crawling on to the sand and growling excitedly.

  There were heads popping up out of the water, making their way onto the beach. I had no idea where they had come from. Looking into the distance, it appeared they were only zeroing in on our section of beach. Like a plan of attack from the zombies.

  I was numb. The fear in me was so strong. This was the first time I had been so afraid that I could not move. I just could not understand how it was happening. The chunks began rising in my throat.

  The horde was big enough to make Daniel say, “We need to leave this place now.”

  At first, I couldn’t understand why. It was scary but it looked like we could handle it. Even with us being shorthanded, it seemed like we could take them down.

  However, when I looked again and took in what was really happening, I could see just how huge the horde was. The water was breaking as the heads were surfacing. If we stayed, we would only be zombie food. They would outnumber us in seconds.

  I watched as Daniel ran to the rec building to grab keys.

  Kent, Luther, and Gerald shot the herd as they headed towards us. They were trying to get control of the situation but there was no control to be had by us. Any leverage we had; the zombies had taken away from us.

  I finally got my senses back and grabbed Brain and Lasa’s hands. I led them away from the water and towards the cars. They both looked shellshocked.

  I kissed Lasa’s head and gave Brian’s hand a squeeze.

  “Stay here,” I instructed.

  I watched as Phoebe ran to grab our backpacks of supplies.

  I pulled out my gun to help shoot the zombies that were on the shore. There was no point in shooting at the ones in the water. There were too many. But we needed to take care of the ones that had made it on to the beach or the ones that were close to it. It was the only way to buy ourselves some time to have a chance to get out of there.

  Daniel reappeared with two sets of keys. He handed a set of keys to Luther.

  “We have to go now,” he stated.

  Luther nodded and yelled over the firing range, “Let’s go.”

  Kent and Gerald nodded, and we all ran. We began to climb over the cars. Daniel picked up Lasa and handed her to Gerald. Luther did the same with Brain. Phoebe came running out of the rec area with our bags. She threw them over the cars to the other side.

  “This is insanity,” She said as she climbed onto the cars.

  I was the last one on our side of the car wall. I looked back to see that our shooting the zombies on the shore had done nothing. There were now a ton of zombies on the shore heading towards the car. The saltwater dripping from their bodies. It was also causing the dead flesh to seemingly slide off their skin as well.

  The sight of it made me sick. I didn’t have time to focus on it now.

  “Shelly,” Daniel called to me.

  I began to climb up the car and quickly lost my balance. I began to fall back to the sand, but Daniel caught my hand. He had to help me climb onto the car.

  The horde was closing in quickly. They were nearly to the cars already. Some walking, others crawling.

  Daniel told Lasa and Brian to get into the Jeep. He helped Lasa get buckled as I climbed in the passenger side.

  “I’ll follow you,” I heard Luther call out as he got in the driver side of the Explorer.

  Gerald, Kent, and Phoebe got in the other vehicle with Luther.

  Daniel climbed in the driver’s seat and started the Jeep. It kicked into life quickly. Daniel threw it into gear and began maneuvering us away from the growing horde.

  The Explorer was right behind us, having no issues getting started and heading out of the chaos.

  I looked back at our former safe haven. I could not help it. The line of cars was holding the zombies back. It was unbelievable to see them gather at the line of cars. Their teeth chomping at the empty air; hoping in vain to somehow get a taste of flesh.

  Chapter 12

  Once we were a few miles away and in the clear from the likes of the dead, Daniel pulled over. Luther followed suit and pulled over behind him.

  They were the only two to get out of their respective vehicles. Even though we seemed to be in the clear, it was safer to not have so much tempting zombie food out at a time. Plus, with how quickly that horde had come from the ocean, it was best to be on the safe side.

  I pulled my dead phone from the glove compartment and plugged it into the Jeep’s lighter knob. I wasn’t even fully conscious of doing it. It was like a ritual I did to keep some kind of normalcy in my life.

  “I’m hungry,” Brian said.

  “How can you be hungry after seeing that?” Lasa asked.

  This started an argument between them. Their voices screeching and growing louder in the small enclosed space of the Jeep.

  “Quiet,” I said. A headache piercing its way into my brain. I couldn’t listen to them argue at that moment.

  I reached into my bag and handed Brian a breakfast bar.

  “Thank you,” he said and quietly added, “Sorry for fighting.”

  “It’s okay,” I reassured him. “It’s been a long day for all of us. You need some water Lasa?” I asked.

  She just shook her head and held Chippy tightly to her chest.

  Daniel opened the door a slid into the driver’s seat. He didn’t turn it on.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “We’re going to sleep here tonight,” He stated. “Head for the Air Force Base in the morning.”

  “Why not now?” Lasa asked clearly scared of staying where we were.

  “It’s getting dark,” Daniel said sweetly. “The headlights will attract attention not to mention the roads might be a little rough to navigate. Better to have daylight on our side.”

  Lasa nodded at his explanation but said nothing more. She just continued to hold on to her stuffed animal.

  Luther came to check on Brian before it got dark out.

  “How you feeling?” He asked me before heading back to the Explorer.

  “I’m okay,” I said.

  That was true mostly. Physically I felt fine but emotionally was another story.


  Once darkness set in, we all tried to get some sleep. Daniel and I split up watch shifts while Brian slept in the back in the cargo area and Lasa slept in the backseat.

  Daniel offered to take the first shift, so I closed my eyes. Sleep wasn’t restful. I know I slept some, but it wasn’t good sleep.

  Daniel woke me up after a few hours to take over watch.

  “You alright to take over?” He asked.

  Though I was still tired, I agreed since I knew Daniel needed some rest.

  The watch was mostly uneventful. I heard frogs in the distance and the moon was full. It was an eerily peaceful, well-lit night.

  I saw a zombie making its way down the road. It was growling to itself and walking slow. I had my hand on my gun ready to fire if needed but the zombie paid no mind to the cars. It never even looked in our direction.

  My mind kept going back to the scene at the beach. How did that even happen? It made no sense. Thinking about it made my head hurt but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was like everything I thought I knew about those creatures was wrong or at very least misguided.

  “You okay?” Daniel asked, startling me from my thoughts.

  “Yeah,” I said and nodded.

  “Shelly, are you okay?” He asked again.

  I shrugged, “I don’t know. What was that back there?”

  I immediately looked back to see if the kids were awake. In the moonlight I could see Lasa sleeping peacefully and I could hear Brian snoring.

  Daniel took my hand in his, “I don’t know what that was or how it happened. I don’t even know how they could do that. I guess it explains the zombie fish.”

  I nodded, “I guess.”

  He rubbed his thumb along my knuckles. We sat silently for a bit.

  He was staring into the void.

  “You alright?” I asked.

  He chuckled a bit, “Yeah. Just I had this plan. Idea and it didn’t work out.”

  “Plan?” I asked.

  He nodded, his brown hair falling into his eyes. “The day Phoebe got bit; I was planning this really nice dinner for the two of us.”

  “Were you going to bust out the spam?” I joked.

  He laughed, “I was going to go even fancier, the Vienna sausages.”

  I let out a gasp, “Wow, you were going fancy.”

  “Only the best.”

  I laughed. “What was the occasion?”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. Even in just the moonlight I could see the shine of it.

  My heart forgot to beat. I was in shock. Even with the baby I just wasn’t expecting him to propose.

  “I mean I have no idea when we would get married. I can’t even get a proposal out without fifty zombies attacking.”

  “You sure you want to get married?” I asked.

  “To you? Yeah. You’re the forever I never should have been able to find in this bleakness.”

  I smiled, “I really love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  He slipped the ring on my finger and kissed my forehead. I leaned my head on his shoulder and we took the final watch together.

  Chapter 13

  We held hands as we watched the sun rise. The others got up and we went in groups, taking turns to take care of business.

  “Are we going to be alright?” Lasa asked me as she, Phoebe and I freshened up.

  I looked to Phoebe and she had a sympathetic look in her eyes.

  “We’re going to keep fighting. It’s a hard time and it’s dangerous but I will do anything to keep you safe.” I told her and kissed her cheek.

  She hugged me tight then. I hugged her back.

  We walked back to the vehicles and Daniel started the car. We made our way toward the base.

  As we drove, it began to rain. Being Guam, the rain didn’t last long but it was still relaxing. A bit of normalcy in a world of insanity.

  Daniel was right about it being difficult to navigate. There were tons of abandoned cars on the road. Though it was worse going the other direction. I remembered the back up of cars from when Daniel, Phoebe and I made our way across the island with Robert, Jamie, and Freddie.

  That seemed like a lifetime ago though it had only been about six months.

  We were able to go off road where we needed to being in the SUV’s. All things considered we made good time.

  There weren’t many zombies. At least no hordes. There were a few stragglers. I guess the hordes were coming up from the ocean.

  As we got closer to the base and I saw my POS car still sitting on the side of the road where it broke down. The tires were missing from it and there was a zombie missing its lower half crawling towards it.

  Daniel pulled the Jeep up to the gate of the base. Unbelievably it was still guarded. The base had not suffered the same fate as the Navy Base did being overrun.

  Despite this, it still looked mostly deserted.

  “Sorry, no entry,” the guard said and then looked at me. It was Richard, “Shelly! I can’t believe it. I thought you were dead.”

  “Hi, Richard. I’m okay. Just have a situation.”

  He waved for me to come talk to him in the guard post.

  I got out of the Jeep.

  “Whoa,” he said seeing my growing belly. “I guess you’re full of life.”

  I laughed a bit and explained to him what was going on. Why we left where we were and our theory about Phoebe.

  “She was bit and didn’t turn?” He asked.

  I nodded.

  “I got to call it in, but Japan feels they’re close to finding a cure.”

  “Japan? You’ve heard from Japan?” I asked surprised.

  “Yeah, the Air Force Base was able to reestablish contact with a few bases,” He shared. “Not a lot of them but none of this seems as bleak as before.”

  “Except zombies popping up out of the ocean,” I stated.

  “What?” He asked genuinely perplexed by my statement.

  I explained what happened to our camp site. He was truly stunned.

  Luckily, most of the Air Force Base was on high cliffs but he would make calls to verify the beaches were heavily guarded.

  After a few walkie talkie conversations, we were approved to stay.

  An officer came to escort us to where we would be staying. The officer insisted on driving the Jeep and Daniel moved to the passenger side to let him. I moved to the back with the kids. Lasa laid her head against my arm.

  The drive was uneventful with little conversation. The officer was not one for small talk.

  We were assigned three rooms in the dorms. We could spread out in them how we saw fit.

  “Someone will be by to pick up the one who survived the bite in the morning,” He said, “Don’t leave your rooms for any other reason until told otherwise.” He finished.

  Luther took the kids saying it made the most logical sense since I or Daniel should be with Phoebe. He also insisted I needed to get some rest as I had been moving more than I should have been.

  Lasa wasn’t too thrilled with it, but she didn’t protest too much. She did make a big show of giving me a hug and making me kiss Chippy before she left.

  Kent and Gerald shared a room while Daniel, Phoebe and I took the last one.

  Daniel said he’d sleep on the floor since there was only two twin beds in the rooms.

  Phoebe went to the bathroom to freshen up. Though without power or running water, I figured she went in there for a few moments alone.

  Daniel handed me my phone that he had grabbed from the car.

  “Thanks,” I said as I had forgotten about it. “Don’t know why I still plug it in and drag it everywhere.”

  “You still have hope that your sister is alright. Nothing wrong with that.”

  “Except it’s silly.”

  “It’s not,” he said brushing my hair from my face and kissing my forehead.

  He set up a bed for himself and almost immediately began snoring.

  I looked at my phone. It had a
fully charged battery and for the first time in months, I saw a few bars indicating service.

  I couldn’t believe it. I knew I had to give it a shot. I went to my contacts and pressed call when it got to Cate’s name.

  There was nothing on the other end of the line. Not even a message that my call couldn’t be completed or some other mess.

  I ended the useless call and set my phone down. I laid down on the bed and drifted off to sleep.

  I’m not sure how long I was asleep, but I woke up due to a nasty cramp in the bottom of my belly. I wasn’t sure what was causing it, but on top of the cramps my stomach tightened and twisted in the onset panic. I waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark and until I felt I could walk through the pain. After which I got out of bed.

  I saw a backpack sitting on a chair and felt for a flashlight. I found one after a minute or two of frantic searching.

  I made my way slowly to the bathroom trying not to cry out in pain. When I got to the bathroom, I turned on the flashlight. There was no blood, but the cramps were intense and didn’t ease up.

  I sat down on the floor because I couldn’t stand the pain and just focused on my breathing. I had given birth before and vaguely remembered the pain of it. But this felt different somehow. This didn’t feel right.

  I tried not to focus on the worry and dread trying to wash over me. I just focused on breathing.

  I made a pillow out of some towels and somehow eventually fell asleep on the bathroom floor. I woke up to Daniel gently shaking me.

  “You alright?” He asked kneeling next to me.

  The sun was coming in through the windows and casting shadows against the light in the room.

  Daniel looked extremely worried.

  “I’m okay,” I said, “I just had some terrible cramps.”

  He wiped my hair from my face, “You need a doctor. Maybe we can get Luther in here.”

  “I’m fine,” I lied. I felt better. While at least the pain had become a dull ache rather than the intense craziness it was before.

  “No, Shelly. You need someone to check you out.”

  Daniel helped me up off the floor and I laid down on my bed. I quickly fell back asleep.