Patriarch: Soulless Wanderers Book 2 (A Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Thriller)

by Drew Strickland

  He quickly ran into the prep kitchen and grabbed the biggest handle from the first knife block he saw. No time for snacks now, he had to find where Diego was. Pax ran down the hall to the elevator, hoping he wasn't too late. He looked up at the numbers and saw them light up. It went to the top and stopped. Of course, he thought. If it were a hotel, it would be the penthouse. In a hospital? Maybe an office suite. But that's where Diego was. He swallowed hard and pushed open the door to the stairs. It was going to be a long, painful way up.

  Pax was more out of breath than he had been in a while. At the top, he sat on the floor of the landing on the stairs for a good five minutes before climbing to his feet. One good thing about the apocalypse was he was in the best shape of his life. He had done more running and physical exertion in one month than maybe his whole life. Still, an entire hospital flight of stairs after being beaten and shot wasn't easy.

  Pax cracked the door open at the top of the stairs. He could see the two men heading back his way from down the hall walking with another man. It wasn't Diego. They were whispering and laughing about something, but he couldn't make out what they said from where he was. He hid as they passed the stairs and heard the elevator ding again. He listened for the doors to close and peeked out again. The man they had walked with was still there. He began to walk back down the hall.

  Pax slowly opened the door after the man had passed by. He let the door close silently and followed, making sure to step lightly. He didn't know how many people were up here and needed to be as quiet as possible. Slitting the man's throat was probably too risky if he decided to be noisy when he died. Pax quickly wrapped his arms around the man's neck from behind, putting him in a chokehold. The man immediately tried to pry Pax's arms off him, but Pax had better leverage. He tried to scream, tried to call for help, tried to punch back, but none of it worked. His screams only came out in whispered squeaks. Pax had cut his throat off to let anything escape. The man passed out shortly after.

  Pax looked around and quickly dragged the man back to the door he came from and slid him into the stairwell. There was no point in killing him. Diego was the one he wanted. He walked down the hall, peering in every room on the way in. He already knew they were all empty because the lights were all off. There was only one room at the end that had a light on, but he couldn't be too careful, so he checked anyway.

  Pax made it to the end of the hall where the double doors were closed and a light shone from underneath. He listened and heard two people talking. It sounded like a woman and a man. He heard the man's voice get closer to the door, knowing this was his opportunity. He turned the handle and swung the door open. He quickly took a look around the room.

  Diego turned to face him, his eyes confused at the interruption, then went wide with surprise. His arm was wrapped where Pax had shot him outside, but he seemed to be in good shape. Pax looked across the room and saw Vanessa. She still wore her nurse outfit and looked like she had been crying. Even behind the tears, she was beautiful. There was no time to worry about what was happening. Diego ran to the desk and pulled a gun from the top.

  Pax saw it coming and chased after him. When Diego pulled the gun up, Pax kicked at it with his sock covered feet. His gown flew up in the air, probably flashing everything to the room, but Pax didn't have time to care about it. The gun flew from Diego's hands and bounced on the cheap carpet lining the floor. Pax pulled up the knife and put it against Diego's throat.

  "You made a huge mistake, Diego."

  "What's that? Making sure you lived?" Diego asked, unafraid.

  Pax smiled. "That was one of them. The other was lying to me. I saw what they did to Rodger down there."

  Diego's eyes went over Pax's shoulder. "No, Vanessa."

  Pax turned around to see Vanessa holding the gun Diego had dropped. She fired a shot, but it went wide and hit the wall. Pax turned back to Diego who was already ducking beneath the blade Pax held. Diego dove into Pax and knocked the wind out of him. The two of them went down, and Diego smashed Pax's hand, but he wasn't going to give up the knife.

  Diego took his fist and punched Pax's wound. The pain became overwhelming, and he grabbed at Diego's arm, trying to stop it. Diego grabbed the knife from where Pax had left it and put it underneath his chin. "Estupido pendejo. Is this how you're going to repay the man who saved your life?"

  Pax laughed a little. "The last time someone saved my life, it didn't really go too well for me."

  Diego pushed the knife against Pax's skin, piercing it slightly, drawing a small trickle of blood out. "I should kill you right here. Come into my room, my hospital, after letting you live, after saving your life!" Diego pushed the blade even harder, causing more blood to seep.

  "Then do it," Pax said, ready to have it all end right there in the hospital office.

  12

  "Do it, Diego. Kill this asshole," Vanessa screamed at him.

  Diego ignored her and continued talking to Pax. "You don't know when to quit. And Rodger, that motherfucking asshole, he got what he deserved."

  "He said-"

  "He was full of shit. He was here when it all went down. At first, he seemed alright, but as time went on, medicine went missing. The shit we needed to keep the sick kids out of pain. The people who needed surgery, like you, asshole. He was an addict and using it for himself."

  "So, you killed him?"

  "I wish. First, we debated the situation, wanting to give him a chance. We let him live, but then he raided the pharmacy. Killed two guys and took off."

  Pax felt like a fool. Rodger was what kicked him into gear to take the hospital. He believed the man, and it put him here. "And what about all the others? You tried to kill us."

  "I told you before, just because we're good people, doesn't mean we aren't gonna defend what's ours. We ain't just gonna roll over when a gang of thugs comes around and threatens our families."

  Diego was right. Guthrie was wrong the whole time. "So, what about me?" Pax asked. "I've killed. I've killed a lot of your people. I've caused all your families pain."

  Diego looked down at Pax, still holding the blade. The door suddenly opened and the guard that Pax had put to sleep in the stairwell came charging in. He held a gun up and rested against the doorway. Diego smiled and slapped Pax's face in a light, friendly manner. "You didn't kill that one. That's a start." Diego stood up, taking the knife away from his throat. He offered Pax a hand to get up. Pax took it and lifted himself to his feet.

  "If you won't kill him, then I will," Vanessa said, holding the gun up at Pax.

  "Vanessa! No."

  "He doesn't deserve to live. He said it, he killed our people, our families. Why does he get to live?" she screamed. Tears ran down her face.

  "Because he saved Hector," Diego said, stepping between the gun and Pax.

  "What?" Vanessa asked, her hand dropping to her waist. The gun dangled there in a loose grip. "Hector was in danger?"

  Diego saw the guard still holding the gun up and motioned for him to stand down. Diego half shook his head, and the guard stepped out of the room. He returned his attention back to Vanessa. "I didn't want to say anything about it before. I didn't want to worry you, there was no reason because he is fine now. But Hector went outside."

  "With them, when all this was going on?"

  Diego nodded. "There was lots of shooting, and I think he got worried, maybe scared, maybe just curious. But there he was, in the line of fire. That's why we saved him," Diego pointed back at Pax. "That's why he got shot, so Hector didn't."

  Vanessa looked over Diego's shoulder and locked her eyes on Pax. "Is that true? Did you save Hector? Or did you just happen to get in the way, you stupid idiot?"

  Pax nodded his head. He didn't know the kid’s name before, but it didn't matter. A kid, on whatever side of the battle he was on, didn't deserve to die. "It's true."

  Tears streamed down Vanessa's cheeks. She dropped the gun and walked up to Diego, who still stood between them. He stepped aside, allowing Vanessa to step di
rectly up to Pax. She slapped him hard across the face. Pax grabbed his cheek where he felt the sting. She wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you." She quickly turned around, and Diego grabbed her.

  "It's okay, Vanessa," he told her.

  She kissed him, and he returned it. "You should have told me sooner, idiota."

  "I know, baby, but I didn't want you to worry about Hector."

  She hugged him one last time and walked out of the room. Pax opened his mouth, slightly grateful, slightly confused. "What the hell-"

  Diego cut Pax off. "Don't ask, man. Vanessa is a very passionate woman."

  "Hector?"

  Diego smiled. "Her nephew. He's a good kid, too. Curious about everything and has no fear. Not always the best thing at such a young age, especially in the shit we're in now. Nice gown, by the way."

  Pax grabbed at the gown in the back, making sure it wasn't splitting open, but continued his questions. "So, if I didn't save Hector?"

  Diego shrugged. "That wasn't in the cards. You did save him. That's who you are. Just because you run with bad people, doesn't mean you are a bad person. You were put in a position to answer to who you actually are, and you did that. If you didn't save him, you wouldn't be the person you are, and we wouldn't be having this conversation."

  Pax slumped into the office chair next to the desk. "I've just been through so much shit. Guthrie was the first one that took me in and believed in me. He showed me the way. Nobody was going to step over me again."

  "I get that. Vanessa and Hector are my family now. It wasn't always that way, but now it is. Nobody is going to come in and take my family from me, but it doesn't mean I am going to kill everyone. There are still good people in the world. There are also a lot of shit holes out there. You have to be able to tell the difference between them, and I was right about you. You are one of the good ones. Guthrie, though? You gotta ask, now that he knows who is in here, all the women and children, what's pushing him to keep going after this place? What’s the real reason he wants the hospital?"

  Pax didn't have a real answer. He tried to think of one, but none came. At least, none that didn't involve just killing a bunch of people and taking the supplies from people who needed them. Before Pax could think about anything else, the walls shook and what sounded like a loud explosion occurred outside. Pax fell out of his chair and to the floor. Diego fell next to him.

  They both climbed to their feet and ran to the window, looking outside at the parking lot. There was a large cloud of smoke and fire around. Pax saw the pickup truck at the fence where the hole had been created. In the parking lot, Guthrie and the others were making their way through the lot and inside the building. They had bombed the side of the building. Pax heard screams as the gunshots went off downstairs and the soulless started coming inside.

  13

  "This is who you choose to follow?" Diego asked, driving it in deeper.

  "I didn't know. He doesn't know," Pax scrambled for an explanation but couldn't come up with one. Every excuse he thought would just sound hollow.

  "I have to get my people to safety."

  "Just wait, I can fix this. I can fix all of this."

  "How are you gonna do that?"

  "Guthrie will listen to me. He has to. I'll tell him. He'll realize you aren't bad people. You’re families, children. You’re just trying to survive like us. We can survive together."

  Diego shook his head. "I can't put everything I have on you, Pax. You do what you gotta do, but I have to get my people, my family to safety."

  Diego turned around and grabbed the gun off the floor. Pax watched as he went to the door. "I'm telling you, I will fix this. He will listen to me."

  "He's not the man you are holding him up to be, Pax. But for your sake, I hope he does listen." Diego walked out of the room, letting the door close on its own.

  "Fuck," Pax said when he was left alone. He could hear more gunshots downstairs in the lobby. He hoped it was all for the soulless making their way in, but part of him knew it wasn't. He had to make it downstairs fast. He ran to the door in his hospital booties, and his gown flew open a bit in the back. First, though, he was going to need pants and maybe some shoes.

  Pax ran down the hall where Diego and his bodyguard had already disappeared at. He pushed the button for the elevator but saw the lights lighting up, going up and not down. There was no time to wait for the elevator to get to him, he was going to have to take the stairs again. He kicked the door open and ran as fast as he could.

  The screams were louder inside the stairwell. They echoed all the way up to where he was. There are too many people in here, he thought. Unfortunately, it was the only way down for him. He pushed on, circling the stairs, floor by floor until he got to the fifth floor. He looked over and saw all the people piling inside the stairwell, trying to head up to any floor that would take them. Then the bullets followed, along with more screams. Pax quickly slammed against the door and fell into the fifth-floor hallway.

  There were less people there than he expected. A few people ran down the halls, some of them ducking into random rooms, hoping to hide from the fight that was at hand. He couldn't hide. This was on him. He ran down to his room and opened the dresser. He had no idea why he didn't put them on before, but here they were. His pants, shoes, and shirt were folded neatly in a pile. He quickly slipped his pants on, buttoning them as fast as he could, and slipped his shoes on over his hospital booties. Before he could put a shirt on, he glanced to the right, seeing a man in the doorway.

  "Hey, culero!" The man was not part of Guthrie's group. Apparently, he didn't get the memo from Diego that he was a good guy and pointed his gun at Pax.

  "No, no, no! Wait, I'm okay!" The man didn't listen. Pax quickly dove over the bed just before the trigger was pulled. The bullet hit the couch across the room, exploding a small cushion. Cotton filling floated in the air as Pax looked at the man underneath the bed.

  "You can't hide there forever."

  Pax watched the man's feet walking around the bed. The man was right. He couldn't hide there forever. He'd been stabbed and shot many times before, so what was one more time? He leapt from behind the bed, staying low. The man fired the gun, missing again. Pax tackled him at the legs, bringing him down to the floor. "I'm not a fucking culero, I'm not a fucking pendejo, I'm not a fucking asshole, alright!" Pax screamed. "I'm just a fucking guy, trying to make it in this fucking world like the rest of you."

  Pax punched the guy in the face multiple times. He slammed the man's hand against the bed frame at the bottom until the gun was knocked loose. Pax quickly picked it up and pointed it at his attacker's face. Pax stared down at the man, his eyes locked back onto him. The man lifted his chin, ready to die.

  "You got that? I'm just a guy, like you. Understand?" Pax held the gun, waiting for the man to reply. "I said, do you understand?"

  "I understand," the man gave in.

  Pax took a deep breath and let it out. He crawled off the guy and looked down at himself. Blood covered his gown and his fists were bruised. "Is there a back stairwell?" Pax asked.

  The man scooted himself against the bed and nodded. He wiped his face on his sleeve, the blood smearing all over, making it look worse than it was to begin with. "Keep going down the hall to the right. There's an elevator for the janitors so they don't take the same ones as patients."

  "Thank you." Pax got up, still holding the gun. "I'm gonna borrow this."

  "You're not gonna kill me?" the man asked.

  "No, I'm not gonna kill you. Not sure if you heard, but I'm one of the good guys." He grabbed a blanket off the bed and tossed it over to the man. "Sorry about your face."

  Pax left the man so he could go clean up the mess he started.

  14

  Pax waited for the elevator to bring him to the lobby floor. He looked at the sign inside the car showing a person running from fire toward the stairs. He figured the old rules didn't apply to him in the new world. What a riot that would be, though, to die in an eleva
tor shaft after surviving everything he had been through. Inhaling too much smoke when there were soulless wandering the world would be one more cruel joke to add to his life. The door dinged and slowly opened before any of that could happen.

  The screams had slowed down, from people escaping the gunfire, Pax hoped. He saw a few bodies littering the floor. Most of them looked like they had been soulless, their skin rotting and torn in places that wouldn't be normal for a living person to have. But a few people were on the ground who looked like they had survived the original event. Fresh bite marks were scattered over their necks and faces, a few others had fresh bullet holes in them. He stepped over the bodies and passed a few soulless as they chewed on fresh corpses, too busy to notice Pax.

  "Alright, boys, looks like this floor is ours. Time to split up and take it floor by floor." Pax could tell it was Guthrie speaking. Not only was he commanding others, but he had that gruff confidence in his voice Pax used to admire. Pax had never known Guthrie to show any sort of insecurity. Sure, maybe he had run off when Diego's guys had overpowered them, but that just meant Guthrie wasn't stupid. He came back, swinging hard. He was not somebody to take lightly. "Walt, you and Sean take the top floors, then we can meet in the middle. Billy, Mark, wanna stick with me?"

  "Fuck yeah, I do!" Billy yelled. His excitement would not be contained. There was no response from Mark, but Pax figured he only nodded in approval because there was no argument with Guthrie.

  "Good. Let's go."

  Pax could hear the footsteps as the men headed away. Pax quickly turned around, knowing he would never be able to catch them on the lobby floor. He was going to need to beat them to the second floor and stop them there. He opened the door to the stairs, having no time to wait for the elevator, and quickly stomped up the concrete path. At this point, it was too much to think, he was exhausted. His body had given up on trying to rest and just pushed on with Pax's willpower. He kicked the door open to the second floor and ran inside, his gown blowing behind him. At least I’m wearing pants, Pax thought, gripping his weapon.