by Stevie Kopas
Never Say Die
Stories of The Zombie Apocalypse
By Stevie Kopas
Never Say Die copyright © 2016
by Stevie Kopas
All Rights Reserved.
Cover art by Christian Bentulan
*****
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. This book may not be reproduced, scanned, distributed, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission and consent from the author, whether commercial or non-commercial.
This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental.
*****
Never Say Die — Stories of The Zombie Apocalypse
Contents
Jack
Gordon & Elena
Patient 63
Rosie
Trevor
Jack
The night was thick with humidity, as usual. Jack Abbot looked around nervously, wondering if the shadows were doing their job in concealing him. Leaning up against a brick building in an alleyway on the wrong side of town, Jack wasn’t sure the shadows were meant to do anything else but aid the devious anyway. His wife would kill him if she knew where he was. He just hoped Evans would show up on time. He knew he shouldn’t have even been there, the whole thing was a bad idea — but curiosity is the spark of the human spirit — or at least that’s what his mother used to tell him.
The thought of his mother reminded him why he was there in the first place.
Maya.
A whole year he’d searched for her, moving from one rundown town to the next, always coming up empty. He’d finally given up late last spring, trading the last of his supplies for a ride to what remained of the once-proud city of New Orleans. He wandered the streets alone, hoping to find shelter. A tall, dark, and mysterious bartender had looked him up and down that evening, at first taking pity on him but then falling in love. That’s when he’d met Scarlet, the beautiful woman who would go on to become his wife. She was the one thing that had finally made his soul feel at ease after the Dark Years; after so much time Jack had finally felt at home. He found work as a mechanic soon after and was allowed permanent residency. Nearly a year later is when he met Evans, the newcomer, who, much like Jack, was looking for a safe place to rest his head. They ended up working at the same garage and eventually became drinking buddies, making a habit of frequenting Scarlet’s bar at least once a week.
Late one night they’d both had their fill of Gin, and Jack had finally confided in his coworker about his sister. The siblings had survived it all, from the beginning of the outbreak right up to the end. Even after their mother fell victim to the infected, Maya had been the strong one and kept Jack going, kept Jack alive. They’d traveled down the Mississippi, following the trail that rumors of the civilized world sent them on. When Maya was taken, Jack was left alone that night for the first time in years, but he knew he couldn’t give up, not after all they’d been through. So he continued along the trail on his own, determined to find not only some semblance of civilization, but to find his sister somewhere along the way.
Evans begged Jack for more, he loved stories of the Dark Years, no matter how painful they might have been for the one telling the story. Evans had his own tale of tragedy, and hearing the woes of others was unfortunately what kept him going these days. If it weren’t for Evans’ dark desire for more information though, Jack would have never learned of Maya’s whereabouts. Hell, he still wasn’t 100% sure that he believed Evans, but he was one step closer to the truth, that’s all that mattered.
“Where the fuck are you, Evans?” He mumbled, checking his wrist and shaking his head.
He took another look around, neither seeing nor hearing anything new. Jack pulled another rolled cigarette from his coat pocket and sparked it up. As the smoke curled from his lips, he silently cursed Evans, but then he remembered that his coworker had never been commended for his punctuality.
Jack heard movement off to his left and his hand instinctively went for his firearm, but it wasn’t there. Evans had been clear: no weapons. Jack’s eyes scanned the darkness, the moon doing little to help in the way of light. After 10pm, electricity was cut to save resources, yet another reason Jack knew he shouldn’t be lurking around at this hour. He strained his ears, hoping to hear something again, but then relaxed when a small rat scurried out from beneath a nearby dumpster. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the tiny rodent.
It wasn’t often that you saw animals anymore, except for rats, but even then, they were a nuisance and carried disease. Nobody wanted them around and they were often killed on site. The rat stopped and looked up at Jack as if studying him.
“Get outta here, I’m giving you a free pass.” Jack snickered as he exhaled the strong-smelling cigarette smoke and the rat squeaked in response, quickly scampering back into the shadows.
Jack didn’t see the point in killing a harmless little rat; with society supposedly trying to rebuild itself here, he didn’t see the point in killing anything. As far as Jack knew, New Orleans was the only habitable zone for hundreds of miles, which meant the American population wasn’t doing so well. Every day the citizens were reminded of the fact that the human race was on the endangered species list by the tight grip the New Alliance had on the city. Run by near-ancient mob bosses and deviant thugs, the rules were strict and enforced… lethally. Killing happened whenever it was convenient, and that was a hard pill to swallow, considering how many countless lives had already been lost during the Dark Years. It had apparently been two years since any morts had been spotted near NoLa. All signs of infection had been eradicated and the city was safe thanks to the efforts of the New Alliance, but Jack could never wrap his head around the new way of life.
Jack could still remember the initial outbreak like it was yesterday. Patient Zero, the first Mortuus, or mort for short. Some pretentious asshole at the World Health Organization thought the name was more appropriate than calling them what they really were. The truth was, the creatures that took over the world and crumbled modern society were zombies, nothing more, nothing less. Mindless killing machines that stopped at nothing to get to their next meal. They consumed cities like fire, ripped through rural areas like tornadoes. It was hard to escape an enemy that grew their army by the hundreds with each passing minute.
The Cannibal Cadavers. Maya had coined that catchy alliteration for the morts one day when they were holed up in some old man’s machine shop. Maya said that once the world was back to normal, she was starting a metal band of the same name. But the day the world would be back to normal would never come. Even now, years later, things weren’t back to normal, and Jack often questioned if they’d all be better off cowering in abandoned buildings or at overpopulated, poorly-run shelters that inevitably failed.
Maybe that’s why he didn’t like killing the rats, they reminded him so much of the old days, back when it was just him, Maya, and their mother. People came and went, they never got close to anyone, but that was okay; Maya and his mother were all that Jack needed. Even though he spent his teenage years running for his life, it was still so much simpler back then. “Children aren’t meant to find the ugliness in anything,” Jack’s mother used to tell him. And though they were scared shitless a third of the time they were together, Jack was with his family, and that’s what meant the most to him then. That’s what meant the most to him even now. That’s why he needed to find his sister.
&nbs
p; Jack threw his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it like he’d done with his last three. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he shook his head and started down the alley toward the street when suddenly, a shadowy figure turned the corner. Jack stopped in his tracks, hoping like hell it was his coworker.
“Leaving so soon?” the man called out.
Jack breathed a sigh of relief, but still wanted to strangle him. “Fuck you, Evans! Do you know how long I’ve been waiting here? I’m sweatin’ my balls off!”
“Ah, we’re all sweatin’ our balls off.” Evans approached and held a hand out. “Give me a cigarette, I know you’re holding.”
“You know how much I have to pay the Scouts for these?” Jack said as he begrudgingly handed one over.
Evans smiled, a rolled cigarette between his teeth. “That’s why you’re my go-to guy.” He accepted a light from Jack and inhaled deeply, savoring the taste of the expensive tobacco. “You still up for tonight? You’re not looking so hot.”
“Yeah, I’m still up for it. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
Jack wasn’t looking so hot because his nerves were frayed to their end. If Evans was right, Maya was here, in the city, but terrible things were happening to her. It took threatening Evans with his life to get him to finally agree to take Jack to her. He didn’t care how dangerous it was, it was Jack’s turn to save his sister for once.
“Alright, then.” Evans spoke up, blowing a cloud of smoke into the air. “Here’s the deal. Wipe that fuckin’ paranoia off your face right now and get your head in the game, my friend. We’re going to a part of the city that’s been off limits since they resettled this place. I already told you that you’re not gonna like what you see, so I need to make sure…” He took a step closer to Jack and looked him dead in the eye. “Are you up for this?”
Jack nodded slowly, swallowing the building lump in his throat. “Yes. I’m up for it.”
“I’m only doing this for you because she’s your kin. There’s not much that means anything anymore, but family’s still gotta mean something. I need you to promise me that you’ll keep your cool, Abbot.”
Jack nodded a silent promise and Evans clapped him on the shoulder and cocked his head, motioning for Jack to follow him.
They walked in silence for a few dark blocks, both of them drenched in sweat by the time they’d nearly reached their destination. Jack studied Evans as they walked. He knew the man for months and felt he could trust him, but he realized now as he followed him that he didn’t even know the man’s first name.
“Hey, Evans, you never told me how you found out about this place.”
Evans chuckled. “That’s not important. What is important is that you realize I only got involved with these people to pay off some debts I owed some folks from out in the wastes. Nothing more, nothing less. You understand?”
Jack nodded, fair enough. He knew these people Evans were on-again, off-again involved with weren’t the kind of people you wanted to get involved with. Just like long ago, in a time before the Dark Years, they were the people that knew if you weren’t afraid to get your hands dirty, you’d climb to the top of the food chain in no time. Now that the end of the world had come and gone, they were running an entire city, borderline successfully at that, but as with all the good that can come from power, there was always corruption… and Jack was about to walk into a whole lot of it.
“It’s just up here,” Evans pointed.
“I don’t see anything.” Jack mumbled, following closely behind.
Evans didn’t bother responding as he turned a corner and led Jack down the dead end.
A worn brick wall was straight ahead, appearing at first just the same as the other run-down buildings in the area. They were too structurally insecure and posed too great a threat for even the poorest of citizens to live in. They remained abandoned and neglected, even when the New Alliance was doing their best to rebuild the city. Jack was surprised to see the dull, red glow of a light above a rusty, metal door. There was apparently power still running to this building. Evans moved toward the left, deeper into the shadows, and knocked on the door.
A small window in the center of the door slid open and a hand slipped out, palm open. Evans pulled a yellow poker chip from his pocket and handed it over. The hand disappeared momentarily before another deadbolt sounded and the door creaked open. The hand reappeared, returning the chip to Evans.
“Terrence.” An oversized man in the doorway nodded at Evans. Despite the darkness inside, he still had his sunglasses on.
Ah, so that’s his name, Jack thought, a smirk on his lips.
“Somethin’ funny, boy?” The big man asked and Jack shook his head, immediately intimidated. The man nodded. “That’s what I thought.”
Evans shot Jack a dirty look and rolled his eyes.
“He’s with you?” The man asked and Evans nodded. “He cool?”
“Yeah,” Evans said, placing a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I can vouch for him.”
The man nodded and stepped out of the way, allowing Evans through, but shoved a hand into Jack’s chest.
“Weapons?” He asked in a gruff voice, his stale breath meeting Jack’s nostrils.
Jack breathed through his mouth and shook his head, but the large man patted him down anyway.
“You’re clear,” he said and shoved Jack past him.
Jack jumped when the rusty door slammed back into place. It was darker than hell inside the building and it smelled like a sewer. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, red-lit interior, Jack could make out the decades-old paint curling on the walls, the cracks in the floor, and the overall disheveled state the place was in. He looked up and noticed patches of sky through holes in the roof and then tripped. Evans grabbed hold of his arm in the nick of time.
“Watch your step,” Evans whispered.
Jack’s breath caught in his throat as he stared at the rusted, jagged end of a pipe protruding from a wall, just inches from impaling face. He stood up and exhaled with a sigh, nodding his thanks.
They continued through the crumbling building and finally made it to a staircase that looked a little worse for wear. They climbed it carefully and made it to another door.
“You sure you wanna do this?” Evans asked Jack, his voice serious.
Jack was beginning to grow irritated and just wanted to get this over with. He didn’t care what these people were doing, he just wanted to see his sister, make sure she was okay.
“One hundred percent,” he answered, and Evans turned back to the door, pushing it open.
***
Two Weeks Earlier
Jack turned the bottle of Gin upside down and shook it, coaxing the last drop into his near-empty glass.
"Fuck," Evans said, drawing out the word. "Did we do that?"
"Sure did." Jack set the empty bottle down and sighed. "We probably don't need much more of anything except maybe a glass of water."
Evans chuckled and propped his elbow up on the bar, resting his head in his hand. He eyed Jack's wife on the other end of the bar. She wore a flattering red dress with matching lipstick that shined under the low lights in the room. "I hope you're aware of how lucky you are."
Jack smiled, following Evans' drunken gaze, his eyes falling on Scarlet. She noticed and stuck her tongue out at him and winked before turning away to continue tending to her other customers. He looked back at Evans and nodded. "Very aware."
Evans continued to watch her as she worked. His loneliness and self-loathing creeping up on him. He wondered when he would find a decent woman of his own. And then he wondered how long it would be until the painful memories of his past no longer haunted him.
"You weren't always so lucky though." Evans said to Jack.
"None of us were."
"Tell me about life before you managed to hitch a ride to this cesspool we now call the civilized world. We haven't had that talk yet."
Jack nodded. "We haven't, have we..." he teetered on his barstool, Gin drunk. He cou
ldn't remember the last time he'd talked about it.
He went on to tell Evans the same story that had replayed in his mind for so long. The chaos of the initial outbreak, where he'd been, who he was with. He had just turned fourteen, his whole life ahead of him. His sister had just graduated high school the week before and their mother had agreed to let her take a weekend trip with her friends, one last hurrah before she went off to college. Maya was excited; Jack still remembered the lyrics to the song she blasted on repeat while she packed for her trip. He was jealous, of course, wishing he could fast forward and be done with high school, terrified to be starting his Freshman year once the summer came to an end.
His mother burst into the house screaming at the top of her lungs, nearly tripping up the stairs. Jack followed close behind as she ran through their home, he could still remember that sinking feeling in his stomach as his mother pulled a suitcase from the closet and told him to pack as much food and water as he could fit into it. They left their house that afternoon and sat in three hours of traffic before finally getting out of the city, somehow all in one piece. Jack couldn't remember how many people he'd seen die that day. Hundreds perhaps, maybe more. People ripped limb from limb by the infected, others blowing their own brains out once they realized they couldn't make it in a world like this, and then there were those that killed for fun, hurting fellow survivors for no good reason even though all of humanity finally had a common enemy.
They'd moved from one abandoned place to another. After a while, they stumbled upon camps and settlements, but they never truly believed it would last… because it never did. Their mother died protecting them one night. Jack knew she had fallen to the infected, but he'd never know exactly what happened because Maya had never let him look back. She'd grabbed his hand and pushed him forward, made him run until he fell over puking his guts out and then snatched him up off the floor and they sobbed until they both fell asleep. Though they had a few years between them, his sister had fast become his best friend… his only friend. There were countless times when they were nearly separated, but she'd always find a way to save him, to get back to him, and he to her.