Soulless Wanderers: Soulless Wanderers Book 1

by Drew Strickland

  To his right, a dead man flapping his lips, wearing only pajama pants and slippers, tried to bite into his shoulder. He quickly took his right hand off the soulless in front and strengthened his grip with his left hand. He pushed the pajama man’s face with his hand. The jaws of the monster were sloppily crunching down. It pushed back, and Paxton slipped his fingers into its mouth.

  Before it could crunch down one more time, surely obliterating his fingers, he yanked down hard. Its body tried going with it, but it’s legs kept it standing. The jaw of a few days old dead man starting to rot gave way and unhinged on the left. Paxton grabbed hard and pulled again, ripping the jaw off the dead man’s face. He punched it in the nose, sending it falling backward.

  He continued to push through the crowd of soulless, nearly to the end. One more line to get through. He shoved the woman, breaking through the wall of bodies. Another soulless, this one a little fatter than most, grabbed his shirt. The grip of the thing was strong, and Paxton spun around. He took the jaw that was still in his hand and swung it like a small dagger, right into the things eye. It stuck there as the monster still pulled him. Paxton hammered his hand on top of the jaw and imbedded it deep past it’s eye and into its brain. The grip loosened from his shirt as the fat monster fell to the street.

  He ran down the sidewalk, not caring about catching his breath this time. He heard the screams and knew she was alive. He was going to save his wife now. Two blocks down and he made the turn onto his street.

  27

  “Eden? Eden, where are you?”

  The words came to Daniel, and he slowly opened his eyes. He had actually fallen asleep after reminding himself that there was nothing he could do about his situation at the moment. If he didn’t get any rest, he would be worse off if the situation presented itself to escape. Still, the position he had to sleep was less than optimal. He rolled his neck around, trying to get it to crack and loosen the muscles.

  “Eden!”

  Daniel tried to crane his neck around to see what Cole was shouting about, but he couldn’t get a look around the massive tree he was strapped to. “Everything okay?” Daniel shouted back. His shout caught Alan’s attention, and he watched his captor roll over.

  “What are you shouting about, asshole?” he asked.

  Footsteps came stomping up behind Daniel at a fast pace. “What did you do to her, asshole?” Cole finally made it around the tree and stared him down.

  “What are you talking about?” Daniel asked.

  “Eden, she’s gone.”

  “I have nothing to do with that.” Daniel remained calm, even though he was being accused of something he didn’t do. With everything he was, he hated it when people accused him of being something worse.

  “Bullshit, you didn’t. Where—”

  “Cole!” Courtney came trotting up to the scene. “Think about this. He’s been here all night tied up. There’s no way he could have done anything.”

  Cole turned to Courtney, his face full of worry and anger. “Then where the hell is she?”

  “Maybe she was upset about Daniel. She seemed to like him, and now this.” She motioned to Daniel being tied up.

  Cole nodded. “That makes sense.” He seemed relieved at the thought it wasn’t anything sinister. “Then we need to look for her.”

  Alan finally got up. “I guess since everyone is going to talk right next to me when I’m trying to rest, I guess I’ll be getting up now, too. What’s up?”

  Courtney turned to Alan after seeing Cole’s face. It was red with anger, most likely from Alan’s lack of compassion at the situation. “Eden’s missing, so we’re going to look for her.”

  “Shit.” He rubbed his eyes and yawned. “Hope nothing got her out here. We’re kind of out in the open, if you didn’t notice.”

  Daniel watched Courtney shift her weight on her hips with attitude. “Yeah, and who’s idea was it to camp here? Someone seemed to know what they were doing and made us feel safe about it.”

  Alan shrugged. “Hey, I didn’t force you to do anything. I can take care of myself. Can you say the same?” Alan asked, eyeing her up and down like a piece of meat. “But alright, let’s rally the team and find this girl!” he shouted like an over-the-top cheerleader.

  “Maybe you should untie me and I can help,” Daniel offered.

  “Ha! Not gonna happen, Danny.” Alan said. “We better split up, though. Cover more ground.”

  Cole and Courtney seemed to nod. “The more ground we can cover, the better. The sooner we find Eden.”

  Jennifer walked up to the group and handed everyone a bottle of water. “Here, take this with you just in case. Who knows when Eden walked off, she might be thirsty.”

  Everyone took a bottle. “And break!” Alan said with a laugh. He was met with stares. “What? We’ll find her, don’t worry.”

  “I’m going that way,” Cole said and pointed to his left. He was already headed off before anyone could say anything else.

  “When do we meet back?” Courtney shouted to him.

  “When we find Eden.” And then Cole was gone in the woods.

  Courtney turned back to Jennifer and Alan. “I guess meet back in an hour or two? Hopefully we find her and can let Cole know, somehow.”

  “You two can go that way,” Alan said pointing in two directions. “I’m gonna get a little acquainted with nature, and then I’ll start my walk to find her.” The two looked at him, mouths twisted in disgust and watched him leave.

  “Courtney, Jennifer. Let me go,” Daniel said. “You can’t trust him.”

  Courtney seemed to hesitate. He could see in her face that she wanted to let him out, he just had to put a little more pressure and he was sure it would happen. He opened his mouth but was quickly silenced by Jennifer. “Say another word and I’ll put you down myself.”

  He could see in Jennifer’s eyes that she meant what she said. She was a woman who lost her love and had not much else to lose. He kept his mouth shut and watched Jennifer pull Courtney away. He was left alone, which was going to suit him just fine.

  He struggled beneath his bindings, trying to get what little slack out of the rope and bungee cords he could. He gained a little space to wiggle as the bungee cords stretched and tightened at the same time. He moved his hand around to the front of him and took a breath.

  Great, now his hand was in front of him, but he still was strapped to the tree. He spotted a rock and a small branch on the ground lying at his feet. He kicked at them and brought his foot on top, slowly dragging it toward his crotch. Once it was there, he was able to hold the branch with his hand. A twig snapped from behind him, somewhere in the trees. He stopped moving and listened.

  His heart was pounding in his chest. The last thing he needed was Alan coming up on him while he was trying to get away. Actually, he didn’t need Alan coming up on him at all, no matter the situation. That bastard was becoming cockier by the second, and he was sure there wasn’t much time left to be alive with him around. Daniel couldn’t hear anything else, so he continued to work.

  He pulled the branch up and between him and the rope. The more he looked and played with it, the more the rope seemed like twine. The twine felt like it had the possibility of being sun rotted somewhere. Now that he was able to struggle with sound, he had confidence he could break-

  The twine broke. He hardly had to put any pressure on it. Now it was just the bungee cords. He grabbed at the rock and began sawing. This was going to take forever. The outside of the cords started to fray, and then it hit him. They are bungees. There may not be a need to saw.

  He pushed his back against the tree with his feet on the ground. He tried to lift himself up with his feet. He slipped once, then got a better footing. He forced himself up from the ground and stumbled only a little. He was finally in a standing position. The bungee cords had followed him up the tree, but that was okay. If he could gain enough space, he was hoping to slip under them.

  Daniel pushed hard against the cords. He walked
straight, making sure to keep his footing firm. He was very aware of being flung back into the tree having to start it all over. The cords got tighter and tighter against him as he walked forward, but it was working. All the space behind him, it should be enough to slip underneath.

  He took one more step and started to drop underneath, but the last step was one too many and the cords sprung apart, losing whatever hold it had from behind the tree. The cords whipped across him, stinging his face, then flying into the woods. It wasn’t quite his plan but Daniel was finally free. He laughed at how easy it was to get out. Luckily, he had been left alone to try.

  His knife was gone, but he didn’t need it. He wasn’t far from the bunker and far from these people. He wouldn’t need them anymore and hoped to never see them again. He made his way into the woods, making sure to go at an angle from where he saw anyone walk.

  “Eden?” the cries echoed through the woods as he made his way through them.

  It wasn’t his problem anymore.

  28

  It’s his neighborhood. Seeing all the familiar houses of his neighbors, he could no longer hold back the tears. Even in the panic to get to his wife, he was home. He was going to get to see Stacey and be with her again. He pushed on and noticed the silence.

  It didn’t seem like anyone else had made it in the neighborhood, or if they did, they weren’t coming out. He had to assume they weren’t alive anymore, and more than likely part of that horde he just went through. He slowed to a jog, then to a walk as he saw all of the doors on the homes. They were all open, and when he glanced inside, it looked like the entire place was tossed. Just like in the movies when someone was looking for something.

  It didn’t matter. He turned his sights on his house. He could see it from where he walked and picked up his pace again. This time, trying to be quiet. The last thing he wanted was to alert any of the soulless around that he was here. It would be nice to get into the house without incident or tracking any of them in behind him. Fortunately, there weren’t any visible from the street.

  The house was fairly quiet, and he had no idea why Stacey was screaming. His mind went immediately to dark places. How could she have survived this long, only to be killed now, especially when she was still in the house? He walked up to the steps leading to his door. The plant on the porch was starting to wilt in the Arizona sun.

  Stacey screamed again, followed by a man’s voice. She stopped screaming, and Paxton heard a thud come from the second story. He grabbed the handle of the door, ready to charge in. “Sta—”

  Paxton stopped. Never mind the man that was upstairs with her, a rustling came from the side of the house, and Paxton quickly ducked behind the large sofa they had on their patio. He watched from behind the dusty cushions, his back to the left side of the house. From the right side, a man came walking around.

  But this man was alive. He smoked a cigarette and held a rifle around his shoulder. Even being alive, he was dirtier than most of the soulless he had seen. It was like he was a hermit come out of hiding. The smell of the man filled his nostrils, and Paxton had to concentrate to not vomit. This was definitely not one of his neighbors.

  The man picked up a walkie talkie and spoke into it. “Hey, Jonny, you almost finished with her up there? Don’t beat her too much, I want her awake when it’s my turn.” His voice crackled in a small laugh when he finished.

  Paxton’s face flushed with red heat. Stacey needed him right now. He began to peek his head over the couch and was going to clock the guy in the face. If he could get to him before the man could pull the rifle off his shoulder, he knew he would win. The moment was coming up. He put his hand on the cushion. He would jump out and grab him.

  1…

  The man flicked his cigarette behind the bushes and leaned against the wall. Paxton was hungry to strangle him, could feel it coursing in his veins.

  2…

  The sweat dripped down Paxton’s face and onto his leg. He watched the man set down his rifle next to him, leaning it against the wall. This piece of shit didn’t deserve to live.

  3…

  The snarl behind Paxton caused him to turn around just in time to see the scrawny dead soulless man fall on top of him. He was so in the zone that he never heard it until the last second. He reached his hand up, keeping the jaws away from his own flesh. The couch slid across the patio as the two struggled against it.

  “What the hell?” the disgusting man said as he watched the couch slide, revealing Paxton and the zombie. He began to laugh. “Looks like we got a wrastlin’ match.”

  Paxton kicked the soulless and crawled toward the man. He watched as the man went for his gun, but Paxton was quicker. He grabbed the dirty pant leg of the man and pulled hard. The man’s foot slid across the patio, and his face hit the wall. The gun fell on top of him. Paxton pulled him closer and grabbed the gun with both hands before the man could try.

  Paxton swung around as the soulless grabbed onto his waist. He swung the rifle at the monster, knocking it in the face. It rolled to the side, still scrambling toward him. Paxton turned around just as the filthy fist mashed into his face. Blood flung from his mouth onto the concrete porch.

  “Where the fuck you come from?” the man asked Paxton, obviously not giving a shit.

  The man grabbed at the gun and pulled it, but Paxton didn’t give it up. If he let it go now, he was dead. The dead man crawled back on top of Paxton. It was either the gun or the soulless. If he didn’t let go, he would get bit and probably eaten alive. If he let it go, this filthy excuse of a man was going to kill him.

  The soulless made its way up Paxton’s body as the two living men still played a game of tug of war with the rifle. Just before the snarling monster made it to his throat, Paxton let the gun go and grabbed the thing’s face.

  “You done fucked up,” the man said, taking full hold of the rifle.

  Paxton elbowed the man in the gut, buying him two seconds before the gun could be trained on him. He used those moments as best he could. He grabbed the dead man’s head and pulled his entire body up.

  The filthy man maneuvered on the ground for a better angle, putting him in the perfect position for Paxton.

  Paxton shoved the soulless head down on the man’s throat, the jaws chomping and lips smacking. Blood poured all over the concrete as the man tried to scream. All that came out was a wet gurgle that went long. The chomping and smacking kept on as the blood continued to pour. The man’s hands went limp, and Paxton grabbed the gun. He stood over the mess in front of him as the scrawny soulless continued to eat. He put the barrel of the rifle against the head of the soulless but thought about the noise. He brought the butt rifle down on the back of the soulless head, hard. Crushing its skull and adding brain matter and blood to the already grim scene.

  Paxton held the rifle and opened the door to the house. Whoever was upstairs with his wife was not going to live much longer.

  29

  Daniel stepped through the forest, looking at the scenery. It all looked familiar to him. He smiled, knowing where he was. He didn’t even care about making noise anymore. The excitement started to rise inside him, and he picked up the pace, going up a hill.

  “Eden!”

  Was that real? He stopped and looked around. There was no way they had made it this far. He was right outside his bunker. It must just be on a loop in his head. He had a lot of silence since leaving the group, so it was only natural to be hearing the last things you heard before. Wasn’t it?

  Before he had a chance to answer that question, a twig snapped from around the hill. He quickly stepped in that direction, seeing a soulless wandering about. It wore a jacket and hiking boots, possibly out camping when the event happened, but it didn’t explain where the man’s pants were. Maybe nature was calling right when it happened. Poor bastard. Daniel definitely didn’t feel sorry that the man was dead, but definitely hoped when it was his time he had a little dignity left through it, unlike the hiker in front of him.

  Daniel grab
bed a large branch from the ground. As soon as he did, the dead man heard him and snarled, making its way to him. Daniel swung the branch, knocking it off its feet. He got on top of it and pushed the sharp end of the branch up through its neck and into its skull. The blood spilled out from the wound, and it stopped moving. Daniel looked into its already dead eyes, eventually getting up.

  He hadn’t thought about it much before but killing a soulless was different than a human. There was the obvious reason of they were basically already dead and not really there. But then the not so obvious. When he took one out, it felt more like a task. It was something to do, not something to enjoy. He wasn’t filled with the same rush, the same bubbly feeling in his blood. It didn’t satiate him.

  He looked at the pantsless corpse on the ground, giving a small moment of thought to covering him up. He shrugged and walked on. At least he wasn’t walking around like that anymore. Being fully dead on the ground like that was the best he could get from Daniel. There were places to be right now, like up the hill.

  Once Daniel reached the top, he saw what he was looking for. The red metal wall. It wasn’t much, but it was his. It was the bunker. Daniel’s home away from home. In reality, it was just three shipping containers lined up in a U-shape and modified to be a sort of house, or shack. But inside was a lot prettier than the outside. Inside, he had it all modified to be a complete living space.

  He ran around to the front, keeping an eye out for anyone or anything, but the threat was clear for now. Next to the handle was the pin pad he put in not long ago. He typed in the numbers, and it beeped. He twisted the handle, and it opened. He quickly thanked himself for putting in the solar panels and battery to be off the grid a few months ago.

  It had been a few months since he was here, but it was just as he left it. It should be considering he was the only one who was really ever in here. It was nothing to be shown on HGTV for sure, but it was still a nice setup for him. It started with the kitchen in the front, then a living space to the left, and to the right was the bedroom. In a connection to the last container was where he kept all of his supplies. Food and weapons.