Z-Risen (Book 1): Outbreak (8 page)

I grabbed the girl’s hand and tugged her close. “Just until we get free; then you can do whatever you want.”

“I don’t care. I just don’t care anymore. I got nothing
,” she repeated.

“I need help, okay? I can’t run because I sprained my ankle.”

“Fine. Fuck! You helped me, so I’ll help you.” She lifted my arm and put it around her shoulders.

Joel swore a few
more times and then took point. I gimped along behind him, holding the girl close.

“I’m Jackson
,” I told her as I trained the gun all over the place.

“I’m Roz. Jackson your first or last name?”

“First. Jackson Creed.”

“Okay, man. Now that we got introductions out of the way
, why don’t you shut the fuck up so we don’t get swarmed?”

“Me
? You’re the one that came in with guns blazing. If it weren't for my wrench you’d be one of them by now.”

“Keep your wrench in your pants and keep that gun aimed. Where we going anyway?”

“Fortress, I guess.”

“Fortress?”

“It’s just what we call home. Do you have any food?”

“Lots in my house. Before we were overrun we had a big stash.”

“How’d you get overrun?”

“They were making a lot of noise. Dad snuck out to see what it was. One of them saw him and
that was all it took. They killed my sister and a kid we’d taken in. Dad made me go. He made me leave them, but I couldn't just go without knowing, so I came back a few hours later. Eyes front so we don’t get killed out here.”

“Eyes front? Play a lot of video games?”

“I’m in the Army, dumbass. I was home on leave when this shit went down.”

“Would you two kindly shut the fuck up
?” Joel whispered.

We’d covered a few blocks when Joel stuck his hand up
, fist closed. I stopped and fought my twisted foot. We were in the backyard of a house with a dead lawn and a small fence. I staggered to the fence and lowered myself to my knees, then covered Joel as he advanced on the house. He paused in the middle of the yard and didn't move for a few seconds, then ran toward the side of the house and planted himself in a deep shadow.

The back of the home had a shattered sliding glass
door; the accompanying screen door was in shreds on the ground. There was a body sticking its legs out of the doorway. They didn't move.

Noises near the street in front of the home.

Roz turned her gun to the side and examined it, then slid a few shells into the breech. Then there was movement out front; Joel faded from sight, but he wasn't gone long. Like someone had set his ass on fire, he came running back.

“Thirty or forty of them on my three o'clock.”

"We're cut off?"

"Worse
, there's lights in Fortress. We're blown."

I swore like the sailor I am for a few seconds.

“Back to my house. We have supplies and it used to be boarded up before Dad got himself killed,” Roz said.

“The house we just left? Could have told us that before we walked half the fucking city
,” Joel said we moved around a fence keeping low.

“You asked for my help, man. You didn't ask me for a place to stay
, so secure that fucking attitude.”

“Well, yes ma'am
,” Joel said. I could almost hear his eye-roll.

“It’s safe for the night
, then we can try your place again.”

"No reason to go back there. It'll be picked clean." Joel said.

I wanted to punch someone.

“I don’t think we have a choice
,” I said between clenched teeth.

Something shambled near us in the dark. I
glanced up, almost too late.

A figure stumbled
upon us, moaning, white eyes searching. Its mouth was stretched into a jagged grin of glee. Joel didn't hesitate. He shot the fucker, but missed a head-shot in his haste. The shot nicked its throat, though, and spun it to the side. I hopped up on my bad foot and almost screamed in pain. I covered by swinging the wrench into the Z’s jaw. The blow arced upward as I stood, so it had the force of a fucking car wreck and lifted the Z off the ground. It flopped backward and didn't move.

Joel shot another shape and then Roz fired her shotgun
, blowing a hole in the middle of a Z.

“Shit! Zulu’s everywhere
! Go go go!” Joel said, and we did just that.

We hauled ass, Joel weaving between fences and house
s as we tried to keep up. My twisted foot was a constant shriek of pain, but it was better than the alternative.

We broke through a bunch of dried up shrubs and were on the other side of the house we’d just left. Roz tapped Joel and pointed at a single story home right next to it. The place was darker than fortress and as we drew close
r I realized why. Boards had been nailed to the inside of the windows. The door was shut but writing was spray-painted onto it.

“Looters will be shot by well-armed occupants.”

Well, hell. That had been our trick at Fortress. I guess advertising wasn't such a good idea. Someone must have waited for us to leave and then moved in on our territory. Voices. Now I knew I'd heard them. Now they were in our home. I had a brief fantasy of Joel using his assault rifle with some kind of scope that can see through walls to take out the sons of bitches.

We moved into the open
, but a shaped drifted near the front of the house and then stopped to stare at the moon. The figure swayed back and forth. Joel lifted his AR but I waved him off.

Another shape came into view and stood next to the first. The man wore a ripped t-shirt and nothing else. His legs hung with grey slack skin. The girl
wore what was once a white dress. She was tiny and one arm flopped against her side when she lurched.

I lifted my wrench and pointed. Roz got the idea and produced a huge knife with a serrated edge.

I leaned over and whispered to Joel, "Cover us."

Joel nodded, pointed, and drew his finger across his neck
. He then put his finger to his lip and blew gently.

Roz headed straight toward the man
, leaving me the girl. I would have cut Roz off but I couldn't walk fast enough. I ‘hmphed’ and advanced with her.

We were a few feet away when the guy turned. Roz had the knife raised and was about to drive it into his skull. The girl didn't see me
, so when the man surprised us I changed tactics and hit him across the head. Roz turned on me and I thought she was going to drive the knife into me.

The guy fell to the side but his foot
spasmodically kicked out and tangled with Roz's legs. They both went down, and the girl in the white dress, seeing her opportunity, leaped on top of Roz. Roz pushed her up by the neck, but when I swung, the girl rolled to the side and my blow sailed over both of them. The girl snarled as she tried to get back on top of Roz, but Roz was having none of that. She came up in a crouch and drove the blade into the girl’s chest.

Blood
gushed from the Z’s mouth. The knife got stuck, so I leaned over, aiming carefully this time, and crushed the girl’s head with the wrench.

Together we staggered into the house and Roz quietly closed the door behind
us. There was a thick metal bar in the hallway. She and Joel picked it up and dropped it into slots on either side of the entry way. Then she showed us a huge dresser that she and Joel pushed against the door.

Roz held up a hand
, so we waited. She marched down the hallway and looked into rooms. She came back and moved into the kitchen and then the living room, training the shotgun on every corner. She finally came back and ushered us in.

We staggered into what had been the living room and Roz collapsed on a couch.

“Don’t you ever fucking do that to me again, asshole,” she said.

I looked around
in confusion. Me?

“What?”

“I had that shit, man. You didn't have to get in my way.”

“Yeah, Creed. Fucking jerk
,” Joel added from a dark corner.

“I’m going to bed. You fuckers try anything and I got a shotgun shell with your name on it.”

The room was too dark to show Roz clearly, but I couldn't help noticing that she had a knockout figure.

“We aren't animals
,” Joel said.

“Whatever
, man. Just keep your dicks out here and no one gets killed.”

A door closed down the hallway.

We were left in a strange place and it was pitch black. Joel slipped on his NVG's and moved around the house.

I laid back on a lazy-boy
, propped my feet up, and tried not to think of how miserable I felt. Damn leg hurt. I was thirsty, fucking exhausted, and so hungry I could eat about six meals.

After some rustling around
, Joel came back and put something in my lap. I almost broke into tears when I realized it was bottled water and a pair of food bars in plastic wrappers.

It's late and I can't write any more. It was hard enough getting used to sleeping in Fortress
; now we have this temporary home around us and a new friend.

This is Machinist Mate First Class Jackson Creed and I am still alive.

The Base

9:15 hours approximate

Location: Undead Central, San Diego CA – Roz’s Place

After losing Fortress last night
, we crashed with our new friend Roz. She’s about five-foot-five and Latino. She’s got dark brown hair and she’d probably clean up pretty nice. Roz is cute, I won’t lie, and she’s got some killer bod, at least the little I noticed while I had my arm draped over her shoulder last night. She also looks like she will kill me if I look at her that way again.

My leg is a mess. I
hurt my ankle last night and now it’s swollen, but I don't think it's a full sprain. I can walk on it, even though it's more of a hobble than an actual steady stride. Joel Kelly just looked at me like I was a puss. Fuck you, Marine-boy. I did it protecting you and Roz.

Roz tossed me an ace bandage so I could wrap it tight. I wish I had ice. I also wish a Burger King drive
-through worked by hot strippers would suddenly appear where the front window is boarded up. I wish I had a way to go back in time a few years and tell Jenny Collins that I liked her. Not love, just liked. We did some shit over her clothes, but I know I could have gotten her with a little more skill. Might as well wish for a tropical get-away while I'm at it.

Joel was
nothing but unhappy smiles and pissy Marine attitude. He stormed around all morning. Stripped his gun, put it back together, counted rounds, swore a lot, and snapped at either one of us if we asked him what the plan was.

I
asked about eight times.

We had water and food
, but mostly some kind of emergency rations Roz's father had collected over the last couple of years. They’d started the end of the world out with a three-month supply of food and clean drinking water for four, but after inviting in a few family members and a kid from the neighborhood, they’d used up a decent chunk. We drank sparingly, but it was hard not to guzzle. The last time I had clean water was about a week ago.

Joel finally got cabin fever and said he was going to check on Fortress.

"I'll go with you."

"Rest your foot. We may need to get mobile soon. I'll be right back."

"Dude. I'll go. You can't make it without me."

"Believe it or not
, I'm a Marine and I don't need a gimp squid tagging along, asking me to wipe his nose."

"Whatever. If you run into trouble what are you going to do?"

"At the first sign of a real threat I'll come back. Get some sleep and don't give Roz any shit."

Like
I wanted a knife in my chest.

"Your idea of trouble and my idea are different. You think a pack of Z's is a challenge. I think they're a death squad."

"Whatever. Just chill. I'll be back. Here – write about Reynolds, because he deserves it." Joel dropped the log book in my lap.

He'd already strapped on his combat gear and filled his pouches with magazines and a couple of energy bars from Roz's stash. He downed a bottle of water in three gulps and slid the blinds aside to take a look.

Shit. That was one day I wanted to erase from my memory. But he had a point. If we were to honor Reynolds’ sacrifice, it needed to start with his story. I can’t say that his story will ever be more important than those of the millions that have already died, but to us, he was a hero. The kind you hear about on the nightly news.

Jesus. The media, TV, newspapers, and cell towers. None of that shit works anymore. None of it
. And that is just the start of the hell we now live in.

Joel shot me the finger and then closed the front door quietly behind him.

###