“The point is, did you learn anything?”
“Yeah, not to get distracted by a jerk.”
“You know I’m not a jerk, and there’s more to it than that. You could easily distract someone else in a fight. Remember that.”
“How would I do that?”
“Well, you seem to do a good job distracting me.”
“Whatever.”
“I’m serious. If you were to smile, wink or giggle during a fight you’d throw someone for a loop.”
“Giggle?” she raised an eyebrow, “I don’t giggle.”
I laughed, “Whatever you say.” I got to my feet and offered her my hand, “Come on, let’s go inside.” She took my hand, and I pulled her up into a hug. “You’re getting better. You’re tough here,” I pointed at her arm. “You’re strong here,” I pointed at her heart. “Now you just need to toughen this a little,” I pointed at her head, “and you’ll beat me one on one.”
“I could already beat you one on one if you didn’t cheat.”
I laughed, “In a real fight, I want you to cheat as much as you can if it means you’re going to win.”
“Ok,” she said walking with me inside.
“So do you think Michael and Liz will get together?”
“If he’s smart he’ll notice that she wants him to.”
“True.”
“But if he’s anything like his brother then he’ll be too dense to notice.”
“Hey now. That’s not very nice.”
She shrugged, grinning, “So?”
“Well, I figured it out eventually.”
“Took you long enough.”
I smiled. She was right, it had taken me way too long. “I love you,” I said pulling her close.
“Love you too.”
Once inside I found Michael and pulled him aside. “You know I was just giving you shit, right?”
“Yeah, I’m just pissed that you were able to get in my head so easily.”
“I’m your brother, it’s what I’m good at. Remember when we played Halo?”
“Yeah.”
“And you would lose your temper the instant I started messing with you?”
“Yeah.”
“Same thing,” I smiled.
“I guess.”
“No, it’s true. Letting me in your head is one thing, just don’t let others in there,” I said flicking him in the forehead.
“You’re one to talk,” he grumbled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh come on man. The first time someone says anything about Sarah, and I mean anything, you go ballistic.”
“We all have our weaknesses. She’s my kryptonite.”
“So that would make you…Superman?”
I laughed, “Sometimes when I’m with her, yeah I feel like it.”
“You’re so cheesy,” he said shaking his head.
“That might be so, but it’s the truth. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“And here I was thinking that being united with your assumed dead brother was the best thing that could have happened to you,” he said in mock offense.
“We’ll call that the second best thing…Actually, I found Bear, so we’ll put you in third,” I said grinning.
He shoved me lightly, “Jackass.”
“Punk.”
“Asshole.”
“Pansy.”
“Beotch.”
“Pri… wait did you just call me a beotch?”
“Yep.”
“Beotch? Really?”
“Yeah, so.”
“We have got to work on your insults.”
“My insults are fine.”
“Yeah for a fifth grader.”
“Dick.”
“Better,” I said shoving him. Instead of continuing our little argument he just shook his head and walked away. “You going to go get your boo-boos fixed by Liz?” I teased. He chose not to dignify me with a response, verbal or otherwise.
I was about to go into my room to change again and maybe rest for a bit, but Michelle had other plans. She came running into the living room, Bear in toe. “James, James, James.”
“What, what, what?”
“Can we go shoot?”
“Did you ask Liz?”
“She’s busy.”
“Busy? Doing what?”
“Talking with Michael.”
I smiled, “Sure Michelle, we can shoot.”
“Yes,” she said jumping around and exciting Bear.
“Go get your shoes on. I’ll get the gun.”
“Ok,” she said before running off, Bear chasing after her and skidding on the kitchen tile.
I laughed, mumbling, “Just another average day,” before heading to the armory to grab a rifle and some ammo.
Chapter 25
Calm had settled over the house as we settled into a familiar pattern. Cooking, cleaning, guarding and, at times, playing. While we established some sort of normal life Michael and Liz had grown closer until they had finally admitted to themselves and us that they were together. No one was surprised when they admitted it, but we were happy all the same. Everyone needed someone special, especially when they were living in hell. I know that I wouldn’t have made it this long without Sarah, she’s what kept me sane.
A week passed without incident, no Walkers, no other survivors, nothing. Nothing but the everyday drama that could be expected when living so close to other people. Matt and Hannah were caught up in some argument about who knows what. Jason had made an ass out of himself when the topic of kids came up again, and Carrie wasn’t talking to him. It seemed like the only stable relationship in the house was between Bear and Michelle, and that was because Bear pretty much did everything Michelle said.
Sarah and I had gotten into a small argument that morning. I had woken in the middle of the early morning to find her gone and instead of letting it go like before I pressed her for answers. “Where were you?”
“I got hot.”
“So where’d you go?”
“Just outside for a little while.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“Because it wasn’t that big of a deal. I just needed some air.”
“I’ve woken up several times, and you weren’t there.”
“What’s the big deal, James? So I wasn’t there, and I didn’t wake you to tell you where I went. I’m a big girl, I can handle myself.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Whatever,” she said before leaving the room.
We had avoided one another for most of the day. I wanted to know where she had gone but I knew that trying to get answers from her while she was mad would be like trying to squeeze water from a stone, so I let her be. Although she avoided me, we still ran into each other, and every time she looked just as angry as before. Near the end of the day, after I had run into her and saw the look on her face, I decided to go outside. I was walking around the property when I heard something in the trees. Glancing up I saw several birds take flight. I turned to walk away but stopped dead in my tracks when I heard from behind me, “Don’t fucking move.”
“Hey Jasmine,” I said without emotion.
I stood with my hands in the air. There was nothing I could do, she had me with my pants damn near around my ankles. I couldn’t draw my gun or knife in time to stop her and I resigned myself to the death that was inevitable. She smiled at me, confident in her success, “Hello James. How are you this wonderful evening?”
“Well I’d be better if I didn’t have a fucking gun in my face,” I said, still emotionless.
“Unfortunately, you’re just going to have to deal with that.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to kill you, James.”
“I can see that, but why?”
“Why?” she scoffed, “I’ll tell you w…”
She was cut off as a knife spun through the air, and the heavy handle struck her in the jaw. I wasted no t
ime wondering where the knife had come from and just acted. I sprinted forward and kicked the gun from her outstretched arm. It flew into the woods, and I pulled my own gun, aiming it at her face. She cursed at me more than her hurt jaw and told her to shut up and sit on the ground. I turned around and saw Sarah marching up to me, the flames of rage evident in her eyes. “Nice throw.”
“I was aiming for her heart,” she said darkly.
Looking like she was going to go off on Jasmine, I cut her off before she could even begin “Go inside. Tell the others that Jasmine is here but that I have it under control.”
“But…”
“Go, I’m fine.”
“Fine,” she said, her rage still burning hot.
Once she had gone, I turned my attention back to Jasmine. “It was a dumb idea to come here, Jasmine. Even if you killed me you wouldn’t have been able to kill the others.”
She laughed, “I didn’t come alone.”
“What do you mean? Who did you find to come with you?”
She grinned up at me, her teeth stained red by the blood pooling in her mouth. She must have either busted a tooth or cut part of her cheek when the knife made contact. “Not who, more like what. I brought some friends along with me,” she said grinning through blood red teeth. I didn’t know what she was talking about at first, but when the fence started to flex, and the bells we hung began to ring, I knew that she had brought some unwelcome guests with her.
“How could you do this?”
“It was easy, especially when they’re so hungry.”
“But why come back when you could have gone anywhere? Why come back when you knew you would probably die.”
“You ruined my life. I thought it would be only fair to ruin yours.”
“So come for me, not them. They didn’t do anything,” I yelled.
“But don’t you see? Ruining your life means killing them. I’m going to take everything you love,” she grinned and spat blood on the ground.
I had no time to deal with her and so, kneeling down next to her, I used the butt of my pistol to knock her out. She hadn’t killed anyone yet, and the scratch I had on my arm wasn’t that bad so I would keep her alive, for now. “Alright Ryan, get your game face on,” I said as I stood and ran inside.
I wasted no time calling for the others, “Listen up. We have a situation. Jasmine is back, and she’s brought Walkers with her, a lot of them. You will all do as I say and we’ll get through this just fine. Liz, get Michelle to safety and stay with her. Make sure you grab a gun. Sarah and Thomas, get a rifle and get your asses to the roof. I want you picking off as many as you can before they get through the fence. I think we may be surrounded so make sure you shift your firing position as often as you can. Everyone else, get a gun and get outside. I want you to spread out evenly around the house. Pistols, shotguns, and Carbines with plenty of ammo. These are the changed Walkers and melees won’t work.” They stood there for several seconds, staring at me. “What are you waiting for? Get moving, Now!” I said raising my voice. There was a sudden burst of activity as they rushed to follow my instructions. I checked my weapon and grabbed a few more magazines from the armory, as well as a shotgun and a pocketful of shells.
“Where’s Jasmine?” asked Sarah.
“Knocked her out,” I said as I was loading the shotgun.
“Are you just going to leave her out there?”
“Yep,” I said unconcernedly.
“What if she dies?”
I looked at her, concern for my family evident in my eyes “Who cares?” I said coldly. “Get on the roof.” She only nodded and headed outside with Thomas. I didn’t need to check on the others, I trusted them to get their gear and do their job. I opened the sliding door and walked out into the failing light, hoping that my friends made it to morning. I used my shotgun first since I had less ammo for it and that it required to hands. I walked along the fence, putting the barrel right up against the Walker’s heads and pulling the trigger. I may have started the killing but the evening air was soon filled with the sounds of controlled gunfire. I was comforted by the fact that my friends were staying cool under pressure and taking the time to aim carefully. I killed a dozen Walkers with close up headshots, clearing a small section of fence. After glancing around I decided that the other may need my help and so, dropping the shotgun, I pulled my pistol and ran towards the nearest point of gunfire. I found Jason taking careful aim with one of the Carbines and squeezing off shots. He was rewarded with the bursting of skulls and the blossoming of brain matter. He seemed like he was doing ok and so I moved on to the next one in line. Hannah was next, and I stopped to help her. She was having trouble using her Carbine and hitting the Walkers in the head. She was quite a bit shorter than the fence, and so she had to wait until the Walkers had either shambled over one another to climb to the top or wait until the fence fell down. I did my best to clear a magazine's worth of the undead before giving her a reassuring smile and moving on. I moved like this for several laps of the property, helping those who needed it and killing Walkers along the way. After visiting Jessica multiple times to help her out, she was just as short as Hannah, I decided that I couldn’t waste more time than necessary helping just a few people. To aid them I ran to the ladder and raced up to the roof, almost tipping the ladder over in the process. “Sarah, Thomas. Listen up. I need you to concentrate on those not tall enough to see the Walkers over the fence. I can’t spend all my time helping them. I…” I was cut off by a scream from what sounded like Christina. “Sarah. Gun. Now.”
She didn’t hesitate, she only tossed me the gun as I turned towards the scream and raised the rifle to my shoulder. I zeroed in on Christina and found her backing away from her section of fence. It would seem that it had begun to collapse and a Walker had fallen over the edge. It was still on the ground, but it was attempting to get to its feet. I didn’t give it a chance. Moving the crosshairs, so they rested on the things skulls I squeezed off a shot. It erupted in a splatter of blood and brain. I didn’t have much time to admire my perfect shot because even as the one I had just killed was settling to the ground more were coming over the fence. I shot each one of them, pausing only to chamber a round and reload. Once she seemed to be ok and that the fence wasn’t going to fall just yet I handed the rifle back to Sarah and climbed down the ladder. I made several more trips around the house, helping where I could and killing anything that came into my crosshairs. I don’t know how many I killed, I don’t know how many the others killed, but what I do know is that I ran out of ammo far too quickly and had no time to get more from inside. I paid close attention to Christina’s section since it seemed to be the most vulnerable and I was glad I did, it didn’t last very long, and the Walkers began to break through our line. “Christina, go. I’ll handle this. You go take a safer section.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice tinged with fear and exhaustion.
“Of course. Get out of here,” I holstered my empty pistol as she ran away and drew my knives, knowing that it would be a lot harder to kill them hand to hand and knowing that I had few options. I slashed, stabbed, and severed spines with the blade, as well as breaking jaws, crushing temples and caving in foreheads with the heavy handle and the heel of my boots. It was the most frenzied fighting I had ever been a part of, and I lost myself in it. I almost died a dozen times that night but never came closer than when I thought I had dispatched a Walker but failed to finish the task. As I hacked and chopped my way through the Walkers that had burst through the fence, I felt a presence behind me. It wasn’t some sixth sense or anything special like that, just the feeling you get when you know that a body is close to you, too close to react. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to turn and dispatch the Walker in time, I almost accepted my fate, only hoping that the others would survive. But I didn’t die then, no, Sarah had other plans. I heard the crack of a shot, like so many that filled the air, and then heard it whizz near my head. I wasn’t the intended target, and the next thing I heard wa
s the crumpling of the body behind me. I turned to look and saw a Walker on the ground. I glanced towards the roof and saw what could only be Sarah waving briefly at me. I smiled and thought, That’s my girl, before diving back into the fray. By the end, I was blood splattered, and gore covered, glad that I didn’t have any open wounds.
It was night by the time the fight was over, and I walked among my equally bloody friends. They were terrified, tired and angry, but they were all still alive. I checked them quickly for wounds and found that Matt had a nasty gash on the side of his head that was bleeding freely. “What happened?” I asked him concerned.
“Fell. Hit my head on a rock. Hurt like a bitch.”
“Ok, go see Sarah, she’s clean and can take care of that.” He nodded and went to find her.
Finding that my friends were pretty much unharmed, I began the gruesome task of checking the bodies of the Walkers. I wanted to make sure that they were all actually dead and wouldn’t be standing up to try and gnaw on us while we slept. In my examination of the numerous bodies scattered and stacked around the property, I discovered something more troubling than an active Walker. Jasmine was gone. “Fuck,” I muttered and scanned the tree line. I didn’t think she would still be around, but I couldn’t be sure. I didn’t have time to worry about Jasmine, her plan failed, and she wouldn’t be able to gather Walkers for a second attack, at least not tonight. I snarled at the darkness, my anger peeking at the thought of what she had done, what she had tried to do. “God damn it,” I yelled as I made my way back to the others.
“What’s wrong?” asked Michael.
“Jasmine’s gone.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
“What are we going to do?” he asked, his hand coming to rest on the gun on his hip.
“As much as I would like to go after her, we have work to do here.”
“But we can’t let her get away.”
“She won’t go far. Probably just to town.”
“Why would she stay around?”
“Because she wants revenge. She’s hell-bent on getting back at me.”
“But why?”
“She thinks I wrecked her life. She thinks it’s all my fault.”
Survivors Series (Book 2): Heroes Never Die Page 31