by Smith, I. J.
Clare looked and just nodded yes. Jack moved towards the kids and knelt down in front of them; he looked at the girl. She was covered in dirt and her blonde hair looked brown with all the dirt in it, he then glanced at Joe, no older than eleven, his clothes were just rags and his hair overgrown and black, they both looked starving.
Taking two bars of chocolate from his survival vest he offered them to Clare, “It’s not a trick you can have them,” he told them.
Clare looked at Jack, she was frightened to take the chocolate, she tried to move but was just too scared, “Tell you what, how about I just leave them here on the floor for you and I will move away.”
Clare gave a small smile and with that, Jack put down the chocolate, got back onto his feet, and backed away. Clare looked at Jack and then grabbed the chocolate, she gave a bar to Joe, and together they shoved the chocolate in their mouths as fast as they could.
“Looks, like they haven’t eaten in quite a while!” Elle whispered to Jack.
“I can’t believe there are survivors here, either,” he said to Elle. Bray took out his water canteen and offered it to the kids; they hesitated for a moment but took the water.
They drank it so fast, their mouths filled up and the water started to spill out, Bray just smiled at what he was seeing.
“Where are your parents?” Frank asked, deep down already knowing the tragic answer.
“Monsters…They became… Monsters!” Joe shouted out. “SSHHH...” Clare said trying to quiet him.
“They will hear us!” she continued quietly.
“Who will hear you?” Bray asked.
Clare looked at them, “The monsters, if you make noise, they will come for you!” Clare replied.
“How long have you been here?” Frank asked.
Clare still looking scared replied, “Three days.”
Frank looked back at Jack who was looking shocked, “How did you get here?” Jack asked them.
“We were looking for food and couldn’t return to the others when the monsters came after us, we climbed up here and hid,” Clare told Jack.
“OTHERS?” Josh shouted. Clare jumped in fear at hearing Josh shout at her. Bray looked at Josh in anger.
“Shut up!” he told him.
“Frank! We need to talk in private!” Jack said.
Frank agreed with a nod of his head, “Bray, look after them,” Frank told him. He walked over towards Jack and they walked over to the other side of the roof.
Frank walked to the edge of the building and looked down; the groaning from the zombies was louder, the creaking of the scaffolding made him wonder how much longer it would stand under the pressure of the army of zombies pushing against it. Looking at the rotting, moving corpses made him sick to his stomach. “How did it come to this?” he muttered under his breath.
Jack stood beside him, “There is something I need to ask you, and I need you to be honest with me,” Jack said to Frank.
Frank looked at him, “Go ahead!” he replied angrily.
Jack backed away from the edge, he sighed under his breath as if he was struggling with the question, “As Corporal, you should have been supplied ALL information for the mission. Frank, did you know there were survivors here?” he asked.
Franks face erupted in anger. “Fuck you Jack!” he snapped in reply.
Jack stood his ground.
“You think I would have brought us here if I knew, we lose people!” Frank answered angrily.
Frank started to walk away, but turned back and walked straight up to Jack, he pointed his finger at Jack’s face. “What about you?” he asked.
“What about me?” Jack asked calmly.
“Come on, you’re the one with the secret past Jack, you looked nice and cozy with Captain Jenkins. What exactly did she want to talk to you about in secret, Jack after the mission briefing?” Frank asked him.
Jack laughed, “You don’t want to know!” Jack replied to him. Frank took a step back.
“If I knew there were survivors and there were fucking zombies you think I would have let the team come?” Jack asked.
Frank looked at him in the eyes, “I know, sorry Jack, I know you would not have come here!” Frank said in an apologetic voice.
“I would still have come!” Jack responded.
Frank could not believe what he just heard, “You would have, wouldn’t you?” Frank asked him.
“It’s my job!” Jack replied in a low voice.
Frank felt guilty for questioning Jack; he knew Jack had to ask him if he knew anything. Frank had no idea what to say and was about to walk away, but realized he had not thanked Jack for not only saving all their lives, but also for taking the burden off his shoulders and dealing with their fellow teammates when they turned. Jack stood at the edge of the roof looking out over London; Frank came and stood beside him.
“What you did for Michael and Andrew was….” Jack stopped Frank before he could finish.
“Don’t you dare, don’t you dare thank me for that!” Jack told him.
Frank stayed quiet for a moment, “Jenkins, she asked you to take command, didn’t she?” Frank asked.
Jack looked over to Frank, “Doesn’t matter now, does it? What matters is trying to stay alive, saving as many as we can and killing a lot of those zombie fucks!” Jack replied emotionally.
Jack walked away from the edge; he started to walk back to the others. “Jack, what happened to you?” Frank asked in a concerned voice.
Jack turned his head, “If we survive, maybe I will tell you,” Jack laughed. Frank smiled and followed him back to the others.
Bray and Elle had been comforting the kids while Josh was still standing against the hut looking lost. Clare and Joe were now sitting down, and were starting to trust the team members. “Can you tell us where the others are?” Elle asked Clare.
Josh interrupted, “Does that really matter?” Josh asked.
Bray looked at Josh, “Of course it matters, if there are survivors, because then there is hope!” Bray replied harshly.
“Come on, are we really going to take the word of a couple of kids?” Josh replied bluntly.
Bray started to lose his temper; he jumped to his feet, but before he could react to the comments made by Josh, both Jack and Frank returned.
“Is there a problem here?” Jack asked sternly.
“Damn right there is, these two are asking about survivors and where they are!” Josh abruptly replied. Bray went to confront Josh, Jack stepped in and stopped Bray.
“Calm down, now!” Jack, told him.
Frank grabbed Josh and pulled him out of the way. “What is your problem Josh?” Elle asked.
“Not my problem, it’s our problem!” Josh replied.
“Survivors are not a problem!” Elle replied.
“Come on, think about it, we are here on a Top-Secret mission, how is the world going to react when survivors suddenly start appearing?” Josh asked everyone coldly.
Jack let go of Bray and turned his attention to Josh, “Are you kidding me? I don’t give a shit about Top Secret. If there are survivors, we are going to save as many as we can, is that understood PRIVATE?” Jack shouted.
Josh took a step back, knowing he had overstepped. Elle still sat comforting the kids.
Jack moved over to Frank, “What now?” Frank asked him.
Jack turned to Bray, “Find out where their people are.” Jack told him. Bray gave a tilt of his head in acknowledgment and walked back to the kids.
Frank walked over to speak to Josh, “I understand your concerns, but we all need to work together. We will deal with each problem as it happens,” Frank told him.
Josh simply replied, “Yes, Sir!”
Jack joined Bray and Elle to speak to the kids.
“Bray, where are the others?” Jack asked.
“The kids don’t want to tell us,” Bray replied.
Jack sat down next to Elle, “Clare, Joe, we can help, you just need to trust us,” Jack told them softly.
Clare looked straight at Jack, “They already have people helping them,” she told him.
Looking confused Jack asked, “Who helps them?”
“More soldiers,” Clare said suddenly.
Elle frowned and looked at Jack, “Soldiers?” she asked.
“They must have been left here after the evacuation,” Jack replied.
“Clare, we can get everyone to safety?” Bray asked her.
Joe finally spoke, “No monsters?” he asked, thinking about the zombies below.
Elle smiled knowing what he meant. “No monsters, I promise!” she told him.
“They are at the museum,” Clare told them.
“Sweetheart which one?” Jack asked.
“Near the bridge, it is straight down there,” Clare said while pointing in the direction of the river Thames.
“Thank you, Clare do you think you could take us there?” Jack replied.
Clare replied, “Yes, but the monsters will come for us.”
“Do not worry about the monsters, Ok? We will keep them away!” Jack told her.
Clare simply smiled; she was starting to trust Jack.
Jack stood up and asked Elle to join him and for Bray to stay with the kids. Jack and Elle walked over to Frank and Josh. “You OK now?” Jack asked Josh.
“Yeah, sorry I didn’t mean to make it sound like I didn’t care,” he replied.
“Well, this is a screwed-up night!” Jack laughed it off.
“Sorry Elle,” Josh continued.
Elle simply touched his arm, “No problem, Josh!” she replied.
“Frank, the kids said the survivors are protected by soldiers at a museum,” Jack told him.
“We should think about moving from here, time is ticking away. Can the kids show us?” Frank asked.
“Yes,” Jack replied.
“What about the zombies?” Elle asked.
Josh replied before anyone else could, “We kill the bastards!” Jack and Frank smiled.
Elle looked and laughed, “Sounds like a plan,” she laughed, causing the others to laugh too.
The team moved to the far end of the roof and looked down at the ground level, “OK, there is nothing down here at this end. We are going to move very quietly. When you reach the bottom, stay close to the wall until everyone has made it down!” Jack told everyone.
Frank and Bray were the first to start the climb down; Josh helped them, over the edge and then climbed down behind them.
Jack spoke to the kids, “Listen, I will go first and you both will join me. We climb together. If you need to stop just tell me!” the kids both agreed and looked scared.
Jack noticed the fear in their face, “Hey, I will not let anything happen to either one of you.” he reassured them.
Elle walked along the roof edge a few feet and Jack noticed her limping, “Elle, you Ok?” he asked.
She smiled at him, “Yeah, it’s just a little sore. I am fine, I will meet you at the bottom,” she replied.
As she watched Jack go over the edge, she kept smiling thinking how strong Jack was tonight, keeping everyone going and dealing with the hell around him at the same time. The kids started to climb down, after Jack.
Elle quickly made sure they were doing OK, “I will be right behind you!” she told them.
Jack looked down, seeing that Frank, Bray, and Josh had reached the bottom.
The kids were going slowly and were slowing everyone behind them down. Joe was struggling; his small legs had trouble reaching each bar. As he struggled to reach down, to the next bar, his foot slipped and he fell, quickly grabbing hold onto another bar.
The others climbing all watched, but feared shouting out, in case they attracted the zombies. Joe had his eyes shut as he tried to regain his breath, opening his eyes he let out a loud scream. Jack looked up to see Joe face to face with a zombie.
“JOE!” Clare screamed.
“KEEP MOVING!” Jack shouted at her.
Jack raced back up the scaffolding. Joe was pushing himself away from the zombie. As Jack got closer, he could see the decomposing body, it had an arm missing, and half its face had been torn off, revealing its skull.
Getting closer Jack could see the zombie was snagged on some cable and could not actually reach Joe; it still attempted to reach out for Joe with its last remaining arm.
Jack came up behind Joe, “It’s OK kid, I’m here!” he told Joe. Elle was looking over at Jack and Joe.
She watched as Jack pulled a knife from his vest, the zombie was getting closer. It was pulling so hard on the cable to get at Joe, the cable started to tear off the skin from the bone. The zombie pulled so hard its legs eventually broke off, Joe screamed as the zombie came for him, but Jack was faster and shoved his knife into the monster’s head. It slumped straight down.
Putting his knife away Jack grabbed hold of Joe, “It’s gone!” he told him.
Joe was crying and shaking.
“Come on!” Jack told him while putting Joe’s arms round his neck and carrying him the rest of the way down.
Gunshots started sounding out, “HURRY UP!” Frank shouted. Elle looked down to see zombies moving towards them. All the shouting had alerted the dead to their presence.
Jack reached the bottom with Joe on his back, as Jack put him down Clare arrived to hug her brother. Elle had struggled with her ankle being sore, but finally made it down.
“Everyone, let’s get moving!” Frank shouted and started to lead the team away.
Jack checked his gun and told both kids to stay close, Clare grabbed Jack’s hand, “Thank you!” she said with a tear in her eye.
Jack smiled and touched the side of her head, “Anytime!” he told her.
“But now we have to move,” he continued.
Bray told the kids to follow him. As they moved away two zombies came up behind Elle, Jack noticed and raised his gun, shooting them both in the head.
Elle started to move on, but Jack could see she was struggling. He ran up beside her, took her arm, and put it over his shoulder. “Lean on me,” he told her.
They both followed the team while shooting back at the zombies that kept coming after them.
As the team ran, more and more zombies began to follow them. Frank and Bray made sure the kids were close to them, Josh was running a few feet ahead of them. Jack and Elle were struggling to keep up. They were running down this long road, with shops and houses on both sides. Josh suddenly came to a stop. Oh shit!” he sounded out.
Frank and Bray along with the kids caught up to him, they also stopped. “Not a chance!” Bray said loudly.
Directly in front of them was huge horde of zombies approaching, “There must be hundreds!” Josh told the others.
Jack and Elle finally caught up with the others. “Why have you stopped?” Elle asked.
No one answered her, she looked ahead to see the zombies steadily coming at them. Jack let go of Elle, “Bray, help Elle!” Jack told him.
Bray took her arm; Jack started to look around him. Jack noticed a truck that had been abandoned; it had crashed into a shop window and now sat half in the shop and half out. “Clare, is there another way to the museum?” Jack asked.
Clare hesitated for a moment, “CLARE!” Jack shouted.
“Err. Yes, down the alley, we can take the back way,” she replied to him.
Frank interrupted, “What good is that Jack, they are just going to follow us anywhere we go,”
“Let me worry about that, the rest of you get to the museum!” Jack told them.
“Jack, there’s too many, you won’t stand a chance...” Elle started saying with fear in her eyes.
“GO, NOW!” Jack shouted.
Frank started to speak, “Jack…”
“God damn it! just get moving, I will meet you at the museum! “Jack interrupted.
Frank looked at Jack and knew he could not talk him out of it. The rest of the group started to move towards the alley, Jack stood loading his rifle and checking his side arm.<
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Elle spoke to Frank, “Wait!” she struggled over to Jack.
“Don’t die!” she told him, placing her hand on his arm. Jack smiled at Elle.
“Too stubborn to die!” he whispered to her.
She smiled back and struggled back to Bray. They started to move away, Bray looked back to his friend, Jack nodded his head in respect, and Bray responded the same way.
In a second, Jack was alone; his team had disappeared down the dark alley.
Jack whispered to himself, “Well, this is a really stupid idea!”
As he ran to the side of the truck, he started to climb up to the door; he felt something grab his leg. Looking down, it was a zombie. This fat rotting corpse was trying to take a bite out of his leg.
Jack kicked out; the zombie still had a hold, so he kicked harder this time hitting it in the head. He kicked so hard his foot smashed through its skull squashing its brain like a grape. The corpse dropped to the ground as more zombies started to appear. He climbed to the roof of the truck.
Once at the top he started shouting, “COME YOU SHITS! THE BUFFET IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS!”
He raised his rifle and started shooting randomly in the air. Clare was right, the zombies are attracted to noise, they surrounded the truck; there were so many that the force of them pushing against the truck made it start to rock side to side. On the truck roof, Jack pulled out a small brown block of C4 from his vest, he pushed a small black box with glowing red numbers displayed on it he changed the timer to 15 seconds.
“Eat this!” he shouted while dropping it over the side of the truck.
Immediately he ran to the edge of the truck nearest the wall, he leaned out grabbing a drainpipe. He jumped off the truck, holding onto the pipe and began to climb. He was fast; he was at the top and onto the roof within seconds. He ran to the other side of the roof, looking down, he could see a car parked below.
“This is going to fucking hurt!” he said shouted.
Then he jumped aiming to land on the car roof. He had barely jumped off the roof, when the explosion sounded out. Debris was flying everywhere, Jack landed hard on the roof of the car onto his back. Laying there for a moment with the wind knocked out of him, he laughed, looking up he could see an arm flying by above him. He rolled off the car roof and stumbled for a moment, but eventually managed to run.