by I. J. Smith
Jack straightened up. “I can’t go through that pain again, that’s why I told Raven I didn’t remember.”
Jacob nodded and before Jack could walk away Jacob wrapped his arms around him. “I got you brother!” Jacob whispered to him.
∞
Kat was arguing with Adam. “You’re not in charge here!” Kat shouted.
Adam turned to her. “I said, get everything packed up, we are moving on!”
The shouting continued as suddenly Jack appeared through the door with Jacob. He looked around the room at everyone. He took a moment and then gave his orders.
“Adam, weapons. Anything and everything we have needs to be laid out.” He turned to Ryan. “Power, do you think you can light up a few of these apartments?”
Ryan smiled. “Oh, yeah I can!” Jack nodded.
He pointed at the boys, Craig, Brad and Taylor. “Vehicles with fuel. Plus, a bus, think you can do that?” he asked. Taylor stepped forward. “Fucking yeah we can!”
Jack looked at Banks. “Doc, I need some bombs!”
“Easy!” Banks replied.
“Everyone else, pack up what we need because we’re not coming back.” Jack told them.
As everyone began to walk away, Jack shouted out. “ZOE, SARAH, KAT!”
They walked over to him. “I have something special for you three, but it’s dangerous!”
“You can count on us!” Kat replied with a smile.
Jack nodded. “Find Grove’s little team and make sure you lead them here.”
Sarah gave a wide smile. “You’re back!” She replied as she kissed him on the cheek. All three walked away.
Raven stood in the doorway. “I’m sorry I kept this from you.”
Walking over to Raven, Jack wiped a tear from her eye. “You were protecting me, but now I need to do what I am good at.”
Raven cleared her throat and stood tall. “What do you need me to do?” She asked.
“Two things, one help me cut my hair and two tell me everything about this barn full of weapons.” He told her.
∞
Adam was arranging the weapons; they had the rifles they liberated from the guards at Oasis. There were a few side arms, and plenty of knives. He was checking the number of bullets when Ryan walked in.
“How’s it looking?” Ryan asked excitedly.
Adam shrugged. “Ammo is short; in fact, we have near none.” He said in a depressed voice.
Ryan looked over at Adam; he was not sure what to say. “You OK?”
Adam nodded his head and carried on counting the bullets. Jack appeared at the door, he looked at Ryan and tipped his head, giving him the sign to leave. Jack walked over to the table where Adam was working. Adam looked up at Jack.
“Not much here!” Jack mentioned.
“No, erm. We used a lot clearing this place out.”
Adam was holding bullets, when Jack placed his hand over them, stopping Adam from working.
“There is something I need to say to you!” Jack told him.
Adam looked at him. “Yeah, I guessed this was coming.”
“I trust you!” Jack told a shock Adam.
“What!”
“You kept everyone here safe, you kept me alive after rescuing me. That is not an easy job. There is no way you could have done anything about Eddie.” Jacks words made Adam feel at ease.
“Raven told me about the barn of weapons, also something about half-sunken zombies. But we can deal with that later.” Jack told him.
“You really think we can beat Groves?”
Jack smiled. “Beat him with this, not a chance. But maybe we can give him a bloody nose and slow him down enough for us to get ready.”
“You have a plan?” Adam asked.
“Come on Adam, you served in the Army. How do you stop a convoy?” Jack said with a laugh.
“Your clever bastard. Lure them in, blow the shit out of them. And of course, they cannot run because they are blocked in by the buildings. That’s why you wanted power to the apartments, to make it look like they were led here by accident.” Adam replied happily.
“You came up with that in a few minutes.” Adam continued.
Adam asked one more question. “You think he will fall for it?”
Jack smiled. “Of course, he will, he is Navy. Also, not very smart!”
They both laughed loudly.
“Look Adam, I was helped by Bray and the others. If you wanna leave, you can. Oasis does not know about your connection with Jenkins. You can disappear.” Jack told him.
“You want me gone?” He asked.
“Hell No! I need you! But it looks like Jenkins fucked us both over. If you wanted a way out, there is one.” Jack replied.
Adam picked up the bullets. “Actually, I would like to play this shit out.”
Jack patted Adam on the back and left the room. Leaving Adam, a very happy man.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
LURE
Groves sat in the black 4x4. He looked tired and scruffy. For days, he had been leading the search for Jack. As he sat in the passenger seat, the driver’s door opened. He turned and looked down his nose; as Kelly climbed in.
“We should find somewhere to rest; the sun is setting!” Kelly told him.
“No.” He looked out the window. “We don’t stop!”
Kelly punched the steering wheel. “We need rest. We haven’t stopped for days.” She said angrily.
Groves gripped his sidearm and pulled it free, he stared at Kelly. No words were spoken.
“SIR! SIR!” A soldier in black fatigues came running to the vehicle. He looked at them worried, as he saw that Groves held a gun.
“What?” Groves grunted.
“The woman from the security tape, we have spotted her!” The soldier said excitedly.
Groves’ attitude suddenly changed; he rushed out of the 4x4 and looked ahead. He could see and hear his soldiers shouting. “Over there!” He stood watching as they all rushed around. Groves smiled as he jumped back into the 4x4. “Drive!” He sternly told Kelly.
Kelly quickly raced the vehicle towards the enemy.
A soldier also dressed in black rushed around with his rifle held high. He jumped onto an abandoned rusty car, and looked around. He could see more soldiers coming up from behind him, he looked forward just in time to see a small rock smash him in the face. He fell back off the car, with a big cut between his eyes.
“HERE!” He screamed.
Gunshots began to echo out. The roaring engines of the 4x4’s sounded out all around. Groves quickly left his vehicle and raced towards the wounded soldier. “Where are they?” Groves asked. The soldier didn’t reply, he only touched the wound on his face. Groves grabbed the man by the neck, “WHERE?” Groves screamed. The soldier pointed away, toward where the rock had come from.
Groves held his sidearm and raced past the abandoned car. He scanned the area, with the sun-setting it was making it harder for him to see, so he squinted. Soldiers appeared at his side, moving forward.
“HEY ASSHOLE!” A female voice shouted out.
Groves turned to the direction of the sound. A tall beautiful, dark haired woman stood looking at him with a smile. She gave a little wave. Groves raced towards her, but she disappeared behind a wall.
“HEY DIPSHIT!” Another female voice shouted out.
Groves turned to see a tall red haired woman looking at him, she also waved. This time he managed to fire a shot, but it hit the brick work of the wall near her. Groves scanned the area again.
“HEY ASSWIPE!” Another female voice shouted out.
He turned angrily this time to see a young, dark haired girl with two samurai swords strapped to her back. She simply gave him the middle finger and rushed away.
Groves shouted out to his soldier. “WITH ME!” They all followed Groves and gave chase.
∞
Brad walked around a large car park. “There’s a nice one!” He pointed at a vehicle.
Craig and Taylor looked at the car. “T
hat is a fucking hearse!” Taylor said with a distasteful look on his face.
“OH!”
Craig gave a strange look towards Brad. “There is a bus in the main! I am going to go get it. You two just get a couple of anything except that hearse!”
As Craig walked away, Taylor approached Brad. “Hey buddy, you OK?” He asked.
Brad looked to the ground. “I miss my brother!”
Taylor placed his arm around his friend. “I miss him too; it wasn’t fair what happened to him.”
“Do you think we should just leave?” Brad asked.
“Honestly, I think the best place is with Jack. Even you said The Reaper saved you.” Taylor reminded him.
“He did, you’re right! We should stay!”
Taylor placed his hand on Brad’s shoulders. “Hey, you will always have me.” He said softly as he leaned in and kissed Brad gently. Brad held Taylor tight.
The sound of a bus horn distracted them. Brad and Taylor looked over to see Craig raising his hands in frustration. They both ran to different cars, breaking the windows and hotwiring them. They both struggled to get them to start, but eventually both engines roared.
They followed the bus and drove away.
∞
Ryan and Banks were working together. Banks was putting the finishing touches to the explosives Jack wanted, as Ryan worked on getting some power to the apartments. Ryan had managed to connect several car batteries to the main lights. As Tommy walked in, one of the lights exploded over his head; making him jump out of his skin.
“Fucking Hell Ryan!” A scared Tommy shouted.
Ryan stood with a smirk on his face. “Sorry kid, just testing!”
Tommy was picking the small bits of glass from his hair. He looked tired, his hair was a mess and it looked like he was attempting to grow a beard. Ryan looked at Tommy with concern. He had noticed over the past weeks; how much he had become withdrawn from everyone. Ryan knew it all came down to Kat’s relationship with Craig.
Tommy just roamed around the room. “We have everything packed up ready to leave!” Tommy finally announced.
Ryan smiled. “You know, she is just letting off steam with Craig. It is her way of dealing with Ray’s death.”
Tommy looked over at him, and snapped, “None of my business!”
Ryan was securing some wires with electrical a tape, when he glanced up at Tommy.
“She never dealt with Ray’s death. You mean a lot more to her than he does.”
Tommy limped towards the door, he stopped just before leaving. “You and Zoe make a good couple.” He replied as he walked away.
Banks looked over at Ryan. “That was a nice thing to do!”
Ryan shook his head. “He’s a good kid, just needs some guidance.”
“BINGO!” Banks shouted.
Ryan looked over, “You done?”
With a smile, Banks replied. “Yeah, luckily you had the detonators! I just needed to find something to explode. Nice and easy!”
“How many do we have?”
Banks did a quick count. “Nine all together. But only one trigger, so they all will go off together.”
Placing the small explosives in a box, he told Ryan, “I better get these to Jack!”
As Banks was leaving, he was stopped in his tracks by Ryan’s sudden comment.
“Nice work!”
∞
Paige was lying on the floor looking up at the buzzing noise in the room. Raven was holding battery powered hair clippers. Hair was falling to the floor; Raven had her hand placed on Jack’s powerful shoulder. She gently leaned forwards and blew the loose hair from Jack’s head.
“Done!” Raven announced.
Jacks rubbed his head with his bare hands.
“OKAY, LET’S SEE YA!” Jacob yelled out.
Jack turned around; his hair once again was closely shaven, his beard trimmed down to stubble.
“Better?” Jack asked.
Raven smiled, Jacob stepped forward to his friend. “The Reaper is back!” Jacob said excitedly.
Jack looked down towards Paige. “How do I look sweetie?” Paige began to bark excitedly.
The sudden honking of car horns echoed out. Jack rushed to the window, he looked to see a bus and two cars parked up outside.
“Those Fucking idiots!” Jack shouted.
Jack rushed from the room, quickly followed by Raven, Jacob and Paige.
∞
Outside the Apartments, Craig was celebrating with Taylor and Brad. As he gloated about how great they did; Ryan and Banks appeared. The men both remained silent, but Ryan looked angry. Adam appeared with Tommy, both carting heavy bags. Dropping his bag to the ground, Adam rushed at Craig, and grabbed him by the throat.
“Is there something wrong with you?” Adam asked angrily.
Before Craig would reply, Jack appeared in the doorway. Everyone looked at Jack and his new look. Craig looked at Jack, with a scared face.
“You really don’t like your balls, do you?” Jack stated.
Adam pushed Craig away. “Move that damn bus and put it across the street, blocking the road. Now!”
Tommy moved over to Jack. “Here are the bombs.” Jack looked inside the bag to see them.
“Nice work Doc!”
Banks handed him the trigger. “And a trigger, damn I feel like it’s Christmas.” Jack smiled.
“Adam, you know what to do!”
Rushing over he took the bag and raced down the street.
“Tommy, get the cars loaded up and take those fucking idiots with you.” He said pointing to Craig as he walked back from parking the bus.
Limping towards the cars, Tommy passed on the instructions, “Craig, go get the bags from inside and load up the cars.”
“I don’t take orders from no fat ass!” Craig mumbled.
Jack pulled his machete clear and rushed at Craig. “Fuck it! I am just gonna kill you!”
Raven rushed forward and placed her arm around Jack. “Kill him later; we don’t have the time now.
THEY’RE BACK!”
Jack looked to see Kat, Zoe and Sarah running towards them.
“They’re coming! They are no more than five minutes behind us!” Kat yelled while trying to catching her breath.
“Ryan, you ready?”
Ryan tipped his head as he rushed back inside the apartments. Jacob grabbed the rifles from the bag of weapons; he tried handing one to Jack.
“Nah, just the 9mm for me; I have my babies right here!” Jack smiled while tapping his machetes.
Jack glared at Craig. “Get the cars loaded and stay outta the way.”
Still catching her breath, Kat was welcomed by Jack with a cuddle. “You OK?” Jack asked?
She held him tight. “I missed The Reaper, good to see you back!”
“Is there much of a point of me asking you to wait with the others?” Jack asked her.
She grabbed a rifle from Jacob, shaking her head.
“Then let’s do this!” Jack told everyone as he walked over to the bus, pulling out his machete; he climbed underneath.
Jacob frowned. “What the hell?”
Raven laughed. “It’s just Jack, I stopped asking why he does anything!”
Adam suddenly appeared. “HERE THEY COME!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
BOOM!
Weaving through the abandoned vehicles came the convoy of 4x4’s. The soldiers, all in black fatigues; all with their weapons held high. Zombies roamed the street. The soldiers were under strict order not to fire; the Zombies were taken to be taken down with knives to the head. Groves jumped out of one of the 4x4’s and walked ahead of everyone else. He looked at one soldier and asked, “You chased them to this street?”
“Yes, Sir!”
The soldier moved closer to Groves, he pointed down the street to a large building. “Sir, look!”
Groves could see a few of the apartments had lights. He could not help but smirk. They continued their journey forward to the apart
ments.
Up ahead there was a bus blocking the street. “We need to move that thing!”
Some of the soldiers ran forward, to move it.
Jack sat behind a wall with Jacob, Adam, Raven, Ryan, Sarah, Zoe and Kat. He held the bomb trigger, he glanced at Kat. “Want the pleasure?” He asked her.
She licked her lips. “Seriously?” She replied.
“Why not, have some fun!” Jack said and winked at her.
Kat held the trigger; Adam sat next to her; while Jack watched as the soldiers grew closer.
“Wait for it!” Adam whispered.
The sign of Jack waving his hand gave them the ok. “OK, now!” Adam told her.
She pressed the red trigger and for a second nothing happened. “Oh no!” She muttered, thinking she had done something wrong. Suddenly Adam pushed her head down; she glanced over to see Jack covering Raven. A mighty flash appeared through the night sky; followed by the mightiest explosion.
Screams of the people caught in the explosion filled the air. Debris from the building and vehicles caught up in the explosion flew through the air. Jack, who was still covering Raven, felt her hand grip his tightly. Holding her head down, his face was rested on her hair. He could smell strawberries; he closed his eyes for a moment. Coming to his senses Jack jumped up and ran toward the bus.
“Jack!” Raven screamed.
She looked around the corner to see him light a match and with a flick of his wrist, he threw it under the bus into a puddle. He rushed back behind the wall, “Down!” He screamed as he once again covered Raven. Another, closer explosion sounded out. The sound of crashing metal, as it hit the ground, would have been heard for miles.
“So, that’s what you were doing?” Raven whispered to him as they locked eyes. He gave her his half-smile and then stood up.
“Alright, time to have some fun I think!” Jack said as he walked back to the bus; which was now aflame and laying on its side.
Jacob stood up. “Fun, this man has a warped idea of fun!”
Kat stood beside him with a smile. “Yeah, it’s great to have him back!”
Groves was on the ground, his face covered in blood, from a cut on his head. Pushing himself back to his feet, he looked behind him. The cries of dying soldiers filled his ears. He could see the convoy was in tatters. Soldiers laid on the ground in flames, the buildings on each side of the street had been bought down on top on the others. Zombies roamed all around the rubble, attracted by the noise of the living. He looked ahead to see a bus on its side, flames engulfing it. He noticed Kelly pulling herself from the 4x4. As he began to walk, he heard singing from behind a wall.