Z Island Series (Book 2): War After Z Island

by Osborne, Terrence Jr.

  “That’s the warehouse. Good eye.”

  “Wow. I caught it before Sam? Record!” Eddy laughed.

  “Seriously?” Dexter asked.

  “Sorry.”

  Sam pulled up a couple of yards away and got out of the vehicle, only to automatically pull out his machete and shoves it through a zombie’s head. David stabs one zombie with strong force, but pain shot through his arm, causing him to leave the knife in its head and back away. Dexter kicked some of the zombies away from him while Eddy killed them from behind. David tried going back to his knife, but another zombie attacked him on the ground. David struggled to get the zombie off him, but a knife burst through its face and nearly cut David on his cheek. Sam pulled his machete back and helped David up, but Sam walked away from David and fought the zombies. He left David alone to get his knife and continue fighting the zombies. David looked depressed while he fought the zombies, but they were nearly done fighting. Dexter killed the final zombie and they all looked around to make sure there were no more zombies left and that they were all alright.

  “That was fun, but aren’t you guys tired of warehouse buildings by now?” Eddy asked.

  “Pretty much.” Dexter responded.

  “Thanks Sam.” David mentioned.

  “I told you not to come. What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I don’t know. I felt pain in my arm, but I’m fine though Sam. I-”

  “You’re not fine David! I don’t want you to die, okay! I should have left you.”

  “Sam!” Dexter yelled.

  “What?”

  Dexter pointed at one of the vehicles parked on side of the building, “That’s Andrew’s truck. He’s here.”

  Sam puts his machete away and pulls out his pistol, “Get your guns out. Whatever killed them wasn’t many zombies. Otherwise, they would still be here.”

  Sam walked up to the door and pushed it open, but hides away from the opening. He peeks in and looks around, but no one was in sight. Sam slowly walked inside and pointed his gun in every direction while searching for Andrew and Gary. It was empty. Just shelves everywhere with boxes stacked on each shelf and some torn open with rats running everywhere. Looking in each aisle, Sam grunted and sighed with frustration. They finally came up to the last aisle and saw nothing.

  “They’re not here!”

  “Where could they be then?” David asked.

  “How about there?” Eddy pointed towards a door that had a race of blood underneath the door.

  Sam pulled his gun back up and advanced to the door, “Okay, let’s be careful. Me and Dexter will go inside. You and Eddy can keep watch.”

  David nods his head as Sam and Dexter went inside to follow the blood trail. Eddy waited until he heard them walk away to start laughing to himself, but suddenly stopped smiling.

  “What?” David asked.

  “That’s the second time I saw something Sam didn’t.”

  “And?”

  “That never happens. Throughout the months I have known you guys, I have never seen something Sam hasn’t seen first. Could it be because he lost his mother yesterday? I mean…he hasn’t talked about it yet.”

  “Maybe. I just don’t want him to shut us out.”

  Sam and Dexter followed the blood trail that led into one of the large back rooms and the blood trail had gotten wider. Sam and Dexter looked up to find many bodies spread around the room.

  “Oh shit! It’s Andrew and Gary’s men!” Dexter whispered.

  They walked past the bodies, but they didn’t look at them. They only looked around for Andrew and Gary. The bodies were torn apart. Gore everywhere and some of them were separated from their other body parts. Sam had no doubt that this was zombies, but what zombie could do this? Bullet shells were everywhere, but there seemed to be no trace of any zombies.

  “What were they shooting at?” Dexter asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  “But zombies would still be here.”

  “I guess we’ll see.”

  “I hope we don’t.”

  Sam saw a familiar body ahead of him and gasped.

  “Is that-?” Sam ran to the body and turned it over. It was Andrew.

  “Damn!” Dexter sighs.

  Sam exhaled and put his head down into his hands. Suddenly, blood dripped on Sam’s shoulder and Sam moved away.

  “What?” Dexter asked.

  Sam looked up and gasps at what he saw. Dexter looked up also and shockingly backs up. It was Gary’s body hanging from the ceiling, but something was holding it. It stood quietly in the shadow and made quiet munches at Gary’s body. Sam pointed his gun at the creature, but it suddenly looked directly into Sam’s eyes growling. Sam froze with fear and stared back at it. Dexter held his gun up at it, but his hands were shaking.

  “What…is…that?” Dexter asked.

  The creature jumped down and landed in front of them. It was big. Large bumps around it everywhere and it stood tall at seven feet. Its head was a little larger than normal, but its teeth was large and sharp. Its nails were longer than anything they’ve seen, and the eyes, big and yellow, frightened the both of them as they immediately opened fire on it as it shrieks and charges after them.

  “Move!” Sam shouted.

  Dexter jumped out of the way and watched the zombie run into the wall and leave a huge hole in its place. Dexter continued shooting at it as Sam tried to maneuver around it. Bullets flew into the zombie, but it wouldn’t die. It was like as if the bullets were just rubber tapping its body. The zombie kept charging after them, but Sam and Dexter managed to move out of the way. It turned around and slaps Dexter against the wall as Sam continued shooting.

  “Do you hear that?” Eddy asked.

  Neither one of them asked any more questions and ran inside. Sam grabbed his shotgun and shot the zombie in the head multiple times, causing the zombie to yell loudly and fall to the ground. Eddy and David ran around the corner and stood there, looking at the zombie dead as Eddy ran towards Dexter.

  “What the hell?” David asked.

  “Andrew? Gary? They’re all dead?” Eddy asked.

  “We have to go now! That’s enough for me today.” Sam said.

  They headed out of the door and walked towards the exit, but Sam was shaking. He had no idea that the zombies would evolve like that. Over the years, he never saw anything more frightening than he did today.

  “What was that?” Eddy asked.

  “Not now Eddy. Later.”

  “That thing is-”

  A roar came from inside the warehouse and they all looked back. Sam slowly backed away and began running.

  “That thing is still alive!” Sam shouted.

  The zombie burst through the wall and looked at the group, which sends all of them screaming and running to the vehicle. Eddy grabbed a grenade from his pocket and tossed it behind him. As soon as the zombie ran for them, the grenade exploded in front of it and causes it to fall to the ground. Sam and the others finally make it to the vehicle, but as soon as they get inside, the zombie ran through the door and Eddy grunted, “Oh come on!”

  “Everybody get down! It can’t see us!” Sam said.

  “What if it does?” Eddy asked quietly as he squatted down between the seats.

  “It’s tinted windows.”

  “So?”

  “So, get down!”

  Sam quietly pressed his foot against the break as the zombie walked around the vehicle and sniffs around for their scent. Sam sneaks into the driver’s seat and waited for the zombie to walk away from the vehicle. The zombie walks behind the vehicle while Sam starts the car and quickly drives away. The zombie turned around and started running at them. Sam drove as fast as he could, but the zombie was not far behind it.

  “It’s still coming!” Eddy shouted.

  “Kill it!” Sam yelled.

  Eddy crawled to the back of the car and grabbed another grenade. He opened the trunk of the vehicle and pulled the grenade string, but he didn’t drop it.r />
  “What are you doing?” Dexter shouted.

  Eddy counted to himself and dropped the grenade. He crossed his fingers and waited for the grenade to explode. The zombie ran towards the grenade, but as soon as its foot hovered over it, the grenade exploded and killed the zombie. Its legs flew in every direction and Eddy let out a loud scream of victory.

  “Yes, bitch! I killed it!”

  “Good one Eddy!” David laughs.

  “That’s what I’m talking-”

  The back tire burst and Eddy nearly falls out of the vehicle before catching himself and getting back in. Sam slowed the car down in time to stop, but a vehicle pulled up behind them and Eddy took no chances. He started shooting the vehicle, aiming for the windows, but it appeared to be bulletproof. Sam and the others jumped out and pointed their weapons at it, but no one came out. The windows were pitch black and they couldn’t see anything. Sam and his group kept their distance and suddenly, the doors opened and five men came rushing out and pointed their guns at Sam’s group.

  “Put your weapons down!”

  “Never!” Sam replied.

  “You thought we wouldn’t find you Sam? After all you and your group did?”

  Sam’s eyes widen. He knew what the man was talking about, but no one in the community knew.

  “Sam? What is he talking about?” Dexter asked.

  “I thought we killed all of you?” Sam said.

  “You nearly did, but you can’t kill us. You never will, but you never seemed to kill the leader though. He would never show his face, but for you, he must. This is our world. Our zombies…and you’re in the way. Along with every other human being left.”

  “So now what? You’re going to kill us?”

  “Uh…yeah. I think so. Five years later and we finally found you.”

  The man looked at the group and smiled at someone behind Sam, “Huh, what are you doing-”

  Bullets opened fire on the five men and Sam looked around to see who was shooting them. The men fell to the ground and Sam continued to hold his gun up until he saw Jess rise from the ditches, along with a couple of other members from the community. Sam was surprised, but worried. Most of them were covered in blood and Jess had a face that Sam knew was not good.

  “What are you guys doing? Why are you covered in blood?”

  “They found us.”

  “Who found us?” Eddy asked.

  “The people who created the damn virus! They call themselves The Ancestors now.”

  III

  HIDE AND SEEK

  Jess finishes patching the man with on new bandages. The cut was swollen, but it was stitched together and it seemed alright at the time due to the circumstances. She sighs as she throws the old ones away and helps him on his feet.

  “You should be good now.”

  “Thanks. Tell Sam I’m very sorry for his loss, and you of course.”

  “I will. Thanks.”

  The man begins to walk out of the room, but he stops in front of the door, “Do you think it was such a good idea for him to go on that mission?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I think he needs closure.”

  “Maybe the zombies can help him with that.” The man says as he walks out of the house.

  “Yeah. Maybe.”

  Jess starts to put the materials away as Faith approached her.

  “Hey Faith. What’s up?”

  “Nothing, I just…don’t know what to do anymore, you know?”

  “Yeah. I feel so helpless right now besides helping other people instead of being with Sam. How are you holding up by the way?”

  “I’m trying. The kids are doing better than me right now,” she laughs.

  “Yeah. I know it’s hard, but we’ll be okay.”

  “I know. I miss him.”

  “We all do. Trace was a great person. It’s always the good people we lose the most.”

  Faith chuckles lightly to avoid the topic, “So, I managed to stretch out our foods and supplies to last us all today. We should be fine until Sam gets back.”

  “Or we could just go ourselves.” Jess suggested.

  “What? No! Sam said-”

  “I know what Sam said, but we need food. We need supplies. We have to get them.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, just think about it. We are getting low. The food is manageable, but we need supplies, like medicine.”

  “Fine! Let’s make this quick.”

  “Okay. Meet me by the gate.”

  As Faith stood by the gate, Jess was inside her home looking around for her gun. She noticed it on the counter in the kitchen and held it tight. Grabbing the gun made her feel powerless for some odd reason. Usually, she would think about the good that came from holding one, but this time, it reminded her of what didn’t go right. She shook her head and walked out of the house, passing on a fake smile to the civilians as they passed through.

  “Ready?” Jess asked.

  “Yeah. Let’s go.”

  While driving, they pulled up to a grocery store miles away from their community. Jess and Faith got out of the vehicle and observed the store. The doors were tied shut, but the inside was ruined. It didn’t, however, stop Faith or Jess from trying.

  “Well, do we just break the glass?” Faith questioned.

  “Might as well. There’s no zombies around.”

  “Yeah, about that.” Faith gasped as she looked ahead at a small herd headed their way.

  Jess panicked and grabbed a rock, “Well, you jinxed us.”

  “What are you doing?”

  Jess threw the rock at the door, breaking the glass and setting off the alarm inside the store.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Jess grunted.

  Jess and faith ran inside and ran around the store in hopes of finding any kind of supplies. As the zombies grew closer, Jess and Faith were still wandering around the store trying to find even the smallest of foods.

  “Anything?” Faith shouted.

  “No!”

  Jess ran into one aisle, but a zombie was walking towards her. Faith grabbed her knife and ran towards it, but the zombie crouched down and crawled towards her. Jess screamed and backed away quickly, but ran into Faith. Faith gasped and shot at the zombie, but it jumped onto the shelves and knocked them over. Faith grabbed Jess’ arm and ran, but the zombie crawled after them. As they headed for the front door, the herd had arrived, causing them to run away from the door and head for the back.

  “There’s an exit in the back!”

  The shelves were being knocked down one by one like dominoes, but Faith took the risk and ran through one of them. Right when they got to the end of the aisle, the shelves began falling over, but they managed to get through. Faith saw a door ahead of them and laughed.

  “There it is!”

  When they got to the door, it was locked, but Faith squatted down and tried to unlock it.

  “Hold them back!” Faith told Jess.

  Jess pulled her gun out and shot at the zombies, but she didn’t know where the crawler was. It freaked her out, but she could help but concentrate on the zombies in front of her. Most of them were trying to walk through the fallen shelves, but failed and fell in between them. Faith finally got the door opened, but when she opened it, the crawler jumped at Jess, but she jumped out of the way and hit Faith in the room. The door closed behind it as Jess jumped up and tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t open.

  “Faith!”

  Jess continued fighting the zombies as Faith fought the crawler inside. Jess kept shooting, but she ran out of bullets and the zombies were getting closer. She grabbed her knife and began stabbing them in the head. She grabbed one zombie’s shirt and kicked the other one against the shelves and stabbed it in the head. She threw the other one against the other zombies and quickly reloaded her gun. The last couple of zombies ran after Jess, but she shot them in the head and looked for any more zombies. After she was done, she tried to open the door, but it still wouldn’t open.
She started hitting the door as she heard Faith screaming, but it suddenly stopped and the crawler yelled.

  “Faith!” Jess began to cry.

  She finally thought to herself and shot the doorknob off the door and kicked it open. She cried with excitement when she saw Faith sitting next to the zombie breathing heavily. Jess rushed to her and gave her a hug.