Dead & Alive Collection #1 [Books 1-6]

by Smith, I. J.

  Jack did not reply; stroking the dog’s head as it moved closer to Jack, and eventually lay on the ground and rolled over, allowing Jack to rub its belly. Jack noticed it was a girl, he rubbed her belly and she licked Jack across the face. A huge smile appeared on his face; Elle watched the smile on Jack and realized at that moment how soft he was. He was a soldier; a warrior always one to depend on to do the hard job, but this man with the dog was the real Jack. Elle pulled a bottle of water from her bag and approached them with caution. She kneeled down beside Jack and the dog, undoing the bottle. She used a discarded hubcap to pour the water into and sat it next to the dog. The dog rolled back to its feet and started to drink the water. Elle stroked the dog and looked at Jack, noticing a tear in his eye.

  Within moments everyone approached the dog and stroked it. The excitement of the dog was clear; Frank smiled and looked to Jack, “So what’s her name going to be?” Frank asked.

  Without hesitation, Jack replied, “Paige.”

  Frank wondered what the name meant to Jack, but for this one moment he was happy and decided not to ask; instead he welcomed Paige, “Welcome to the family Paige!” he spoke.

  Jack smiling away looked at Frank and tilted his head in gratitude.

  The group walked along the street, Paige walked alongside them, and they had their guns at the ready in case of an attack from the dead. As they walked past the abandoned vehicles, the groaning of a zombie echoed. From behind a van a zombie walked towards them. Bray wasted no time lowering his gun and pulling a hammer hanging from his belt; he hit the dead in the skull once embedding the hammer into it. Pulling the hammer free; the zombie fell to the ground. He turned and looked to the others smiling, “Now that is how it’s done!” he joked. As the others laughed, a loud pop echoed throughout the street. Zoe watched as Bray fell back against the van, he was shot in the shoulder. Jack quickly raised his gun in the direction of the shot and stood looking for the shooter.

  Zoe and Mark rushed to Bray’s side. Elle and Frank had their guns raised alongside Jack; while they looked for the shooter. Ryan had dropped to the ground covering his head. Frank looked over at Ryan; “You got us covered Jack?” he asked.

  Jack was focused looking for a target, so simply replied, “I got this!”

  Frank ran to Bray; he looked over the wound. “Bray, it went straight through,” he told him. Breathing a sigh of relief Bray tried to get to his feet, but struggled; Zoe and Mark helped him.

  “Jack, we need to find cover!” Frank shouted.

  “Go,” Jack replied.

  Frank grabbed Bray’s gun and noticed Ryan on the ground, “Ryan get moving!” he told him.

  Ryan looked up and quickly rushed to Frank and the others. They began to move around the van, when suddenly Paige started barking. Jack swung round to see a small swarm of zombies headed towards them, “Shit!” he grunted.

  Jack wasted no time in beginning to shoot, “MOVE NOW!” He shouted out.

  Frank joined Jack and Elle and lay down cover fire. Paige stood beside Jack; they continued to shoot, “We are going to run out of ammo before we make a dent,” Jack told them.

  All three of them began walking backwards; following Bray and the others, Zoe looked around and shouted out, “In there!” pointing towards a house.

  “They’re just going to follow us,” Mark replied.

  Frank looked over his shoulder to them, “Just get inside, we will lure them away!” he shouted to them.

  The front door was open, so Zoe, Bray, Mark and Ryan rushed inside; they placed Bray on the floor. Mark rushed around the house to make sure they were alone, Zoe stood by the front door. She watched as the others walked past, luring the dead that follow them. She heard Jack shout out, “Get Paige inside and lock the door.”

  Zoe looked over to where Paige was standing with the others and gave out a loud whistle; Paige looked over to Zoe as she clapped her hands on her legs to tempt the dog in. The dead came into view, Paige ran for Zoe weaving in and out of the zombies in her way. Paige yelped as something grabbed her leg, she tried pulling but the grip was too tight, Paige began to yelp in panic as the rotting corpse tried to bite her. Zoe looked in horror until a shot fired out, the zombie’s head split open. Paige now free from the grip ran for Zoe. Zoe looked over to Jack, who had just fired the shot that saved Paige; he tilted his head and continued to shoot. Zoe slammed the door shut and bolted it; Ryan came up behind her pulling a heavy table, to barricade the door.

  Zoe and Ryan helped Bray into the living room. They laid him on the sofa, and Zoe helped removed Bray’s jacket and shirt to reveal the bleeding wound.

  Mark came into the room. “Everything is clear and it looks like all the zombies outside are following the others,” he told everyone.

  Bray was sweating heavily and spoke out regardless of the pain, “We need to help them!” he barely said.

  “First, we need to make sure you are OK and then we can help them,” Zoe told him.

  Mark had a towel he found while looking around the house, he helped Zoe cover the wounds to stem the bleeding. Ryan reached out for his vest, Zoe helped him. He opened a side pocket, pulled out a small black box, and handed it to Zoe. She opened the box to reveal a needle some thread and a clear liquid.

  “Oh God!” she squirmed as she realized at that moment she would have to sew up his wound.

  Jack, Frank and Elle continued to lead the swarm of the dead away from the house.

  The three of them took turns to shoot, all they wanted to do was keep the swarm, moving and not use up all their ammo in the process, they led them down the street and onto a big clearing, looking around Jack could see they were entering a supermarket car park.

  “OK, this is far enough!” Frank spoke out.

  “What’s the plan?” Elle asked.

  Looking around the car park, there was abandoned cars, shopping trolleys and rotting corpses lying everywhere. Jack looked to the far side and could see a high fence and a row of recycling banks nearby.

  “There, up and over,” Jack said while pointing to the banks.

  All three of them ran, still followed by the dead. Elle was the first to the recycling bank; she helped Frank up while Jack continued to shoot. Frank dropped to his knee and began shooting, “Jack, your turn,” he told him.

  Jack lowered his gun and easily made it to the top, “OK, over we go,” Jack spoke out.

  All three of them climbed at the same time, the swarm of dead, crashed into the fence while they were climbing; the vibrations made Elle slightly slip. Jack grabbed her arm; she turned and gave a fearful smile. Within moments, all three of them were over the fence.

  Frank dropped to the ground and a dead arm reached through the fence to grab at him, only inches separated them.

  “We should go around the back of the houses and join the others,” Frank suggested.

  Jack simply nodded in agreement; Frank was quick to ask, “What's wrong?”

  “Just wondering who shot Bray,” Jack said concerned.

  The three of them began running towards the houses and disappeared from sight.

  Watching the three soldiers run, were a man and woman stood on the roof of the supermarket.

  “We missed our chance,” a male voice said, lowering his rifle.

  “No, we are going to get another one,” a female voice responded.

  The male figure turned to look at the woman, “I hope you’re right, Alina,” he told her.

  Alina stood there smiling, staring at the three people run off, “You bastards are mine,” she whispered.

  CHAPTER THREE

  THE LAST OF PEACE

  Alina watched from the rooftop as Jack, Frank and Elle disappeared from view, “Follow them back to the others, I will get back up and return,” she told the man.

  The man looked at her in disappointment, “Are they really worth it?” he asked.

  Alina angrily kicked him in the groin, as he fell to his knees in pain, Alina grabbed his neck, “Listen, Toby, those p
eople slaughtered our friends,” she snarled.

  Toby looked up and simply nodded to show he understood, she let him go and quickly rushed off, her mind set on only one thing, revenge.

  Jack, Elle and Frank arrived back at the house the others were hiding in, looking around to make sure nothing was following them. Frank moved to the back door of the house, he turned the handle only to be greeted by the door flying open and a gun pointed at his face.

  “Oh shit!” Frank muttered under his breath.

  He looked at the barrel of the gun, and time seemed to have stopped; he looked at the person’s face to see Mark standing there. He gave out a sigh, “You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Frank told him.

  Mark smiled as he lowered the gun, “Am I glad to see you guys!” he told them happily.

  Before Frank could answer Jack, pushed past him into the house asking Mark, “How is Bray?” as he walked passed him.

  As he walked into the main room, the dog Paige rushed over to him in excitement. Jack paused and kneeled down to face Paige, who instantly started to lick him. He rubbed the dog’s head before standing up and moving towards to Bray and Zoe.

  Zoe was still putting pressure on the wound, she was attempting to stop the bleeding to allow her time to tend to the wound, Bray had removed his jacket and shirt and sat topless, blood ran down his back soaking the cream cushions of the sofa red with blood. Looking at Bray, Jack was concerned; his face was drained of color, he appeared drowsy. Knowing they did not have much time; Jack placed his hand over Zoe’s hand.

  “It’s OK, I will take it from here,” Jack softly told her.

  Zoe looked Jack directly in the eyes and could see the determination in his eyes, not to let his friend die. She removed her hand from the towel; handing control to Jack.

  Jack kneeled in front of Bray, “Hey! Wake up!” Jack ordered him.

  Bray stirred, but had little strength to respond. Jack all of a sudden slapped him around the face, making Bray suddenly alert. Everyone in the room watched in surprise of Jack's actions.

  “Frank, give me a hand,” Jack told him.

  Moving to Jack's side, Frank looked concerned. “What do you want me to do?” he asked.

  Jack pulled a small knife from his vest, “Heat it up,” he simply told him.

  At that moment Frank understood the action Jack was about to take, he took the knife and ordered everyone in the room; “I need a lighter, anything with a flame.”

  Within seconds, everyone was rushing around pulling open draws and cupboard doors; it took only moments when Ryan shouted out, “Here, I have it!”

  Ryan rushed over to Frank. He stumbled over a table and nearly fell to the ground but managed to stay on his feet. He handed Frank a candle, and a box of matches. Ryan watched as Frank looked at the items. Jack looked and responded, “Good work!” giving Ryan a compliment.

  Frank lit the candle and placed it on the floor; he held the blade over the flame. Bray gave out a painful whine. Not wanting anyone to see Bray like this Jack ordered everyone to go and look for medication, painkillers, and antibiotic, anything that would help. The room emptied.

  The blade was glowing and orange-red; Frank looked to Jack, “You want me to do it?” he asked.

  Jack smiled, “You get the next one,” he joked, trying to calm the panic he could see in Frank’s eyes.

  Jack took the knife and stood up; he removed the towel that covered Bray’s shoulder, “I’m sorry this is going to hurt!” Jack warned him.

  Before Jack acted, Frank grabbed Bray to hold him still; he also pulled a pencil from his vest, “Bite down on this!” he told him while placing the pencil in Bray’s mouth. Looking at Jack, Frank nodded his head, indicating for him to start.

  Jack held tight to Bray as he touched the hot blade against the wound. Bray gave out a scream of pain, and Frank struggled to hold him down. Jack moved the blade to Bray’s back and the exit wound. Touched it again against Bray’s skin, and once again he screamed out. Within a moment, Jack was finished and the bleeding had stopped. Bray passed out, as the smell of burning flesh filled the room. Frank was shocked as the aroma was one resembling overcooked frying beef; this made him sick to his stomach.

  As Frank lay Bray down on the sofa, making him comfortable he noticed a distant look in Jack’s eyes. He looked as Jack stared at his own blood-covered hands; Frank had no words to comfort him.

  The door opened and Elle walked in the room, “Is it safe to come in now?” she asked.

  Frank was the only one to reply, “The bleeding has stopped, and he needs to rest.”

  Elle walked further into the room and stood over Bray; as she looked at him Ryan, Zoe and Mark entered the room carrying a few pill bottles. “This is all we could find,” Zoe told Jack.

  Jack took the bottles and looked at them, “These will do for now,” he responded.

  Elle spoke to Frank, “This is a good place to hold up for now, at least until Bray is stronger!” she told him.

  Frank agreed, “Looks like we have a temporary home for now,” he tried joking.

  Jack snapped, “NO, we cannot stay here!”

  Frank looked at Jack and replied, “All respect Jack, but I am in command here.”

  Jack gave a sarcastic smile, “OK Sir,” he uttered angrily.

  Grabbing a towel, Jack wiped the blood from his hands, “You might be forgetting one thing, Sir!” he told Frank.

  Frank simply lifted his head; waiting for Jack to continue to speak.

  “Bray was shot, just outside, meaning someone was watching us, and they know we are here,” Jack told him.

  The room went silent, everyone looked at Frank, and once again, Jack had proven that he would be the best person to lead them. Frank stood tall, “We will stay here for a few hours, enough time for Bray to get some rest and then we move,” he told everyone.

  Silence continued in the room, as Jack walked over to the window and sat on the floor. Paige moved over to him and lay down beside him, resting her head on his leg.

  Alina carefully walked down a long road, scattered with abandoned vehicles. Some of the cars looked as if they had been put in place on purpose to provide a barrier. She weaved through the gaps and fast approached a tall concrete structure. Two dark figures stood on guard at the entrance; as she got closer a sign could be seen, it reads, ‘Multi Story Car Park in Greater London.’ She walked towards the figures, large oil barrels burning stood scattered around the building as she walked past them she gave a happy smile.

  Inside the complex, several people could be seen working on vehicles, burning barrels scattered everywhere; supplying the only source of light. Women cooked food and cleaned clothes, the area looked like a refugee camp, dirty and covered in trash. Alina approached some stairs, she ran up there as fast as she could to the top level; running inside. This level was much more elegant; generators supplied power to televisions with games being played, sofas, piled up food and drink was scattered around. The screams of a woman saying, “Please, no!” could be heard echoing throughout the level; people sat around laughing at the screams.

  Alina was looking for someone; she scanned the room as two men approached her. They were dressed in leather jackets had long hair and beards; they looked like the kind of men you would avoid on a dark night. As they approached, Alina stood her ground. “Boss,” both men said in unison. A smirk came from Alina, “Kane, where is he?” she demanded to know.

  One of the men answered, “Follow the screams,” he said with a smile.

  Alina shook her head, “Why does he always have to play with them?” she sighed.

  Before she marched off towards the screams, she said one more thing to the men, “Get the team ready, we have a target!”

  She walked away, the two men cheered and high fived each other, excited by her words.

  Following the screams, led her to the far corner of the level, where a big green, army style tent was standing. The screams came from inside. Alina pulled open the sheet covering the entrance
and walked through. She looked as a half-naked man wearing only a dirty pair of jeans, stood in front of a completely naked woman who was bleeding and crying for help.

  “Can’t you just screw her and get it over with?” Alina spoke aloud.

  The man turned to face her, his stubble was overgrown, his hair shined black with grease, and he approached with a look of anger in his eyes, as he walked towards her looked like a man the devil would be afraid of.

  “I don’t screw the bait,” he grumbled as he took Alina forcefully in his arms and kissed her, she wrapped her arms around him and gripped him hard.

  The woman continued to cry, Alina released her grip on Kane and walked over to the woman, “Do you mind, we are having a moment,” she said softly as she pulled a knife from her from her belt and with a smile ran the blade along the woman’s throat.

  Kane laughed out, “I guess my playtime is over, so why are you back already? I thought you were on a two-day run?” he asked.

  Alina turned with a smile, “I found them, the ones who destroyed our holding area,” she told him.

  Kane’s eyes lit up with excitement, “For real? You know where they are?” he asked.

  Alina simply nodded in reply, Kane began to walk out of the tent; grabbing his leather jacket on the way. Alina quickly followed, he headed towards the stairs that led to the roof, “I am going to enjoy this,” he laughed out as he started his journey to the roof.

  The door swung open on the roof, the night sky was clear and the stars filled the sky, “I have everyone getting ready,” Alina told him as they walked out on the roof.

  A mass of groaning noises could be heard, the rattling of chains echoing out, Kane walked towards the noise, coming into view was several chained-up Zombies. They pulled at their chains; their rotting flesh could be smelled from a distance. Kane and Alina approached them, Kane stepped forward to a dead woman, her face half-missing, reaching for Kane, it groaned out.

  “I think our children are hungry, so let us go feed them,” Kane said happily.