by Smith, I. J.
Jack just stared at him.
“You want revenge, you want blood!” Ray stated.
Closing his eyes, Jack replied, “You should have left me in the road and kept driving.”
Ray looked at Jack with a sad face.
“Jack, I have been talking to the people here, do you not know, that you saved most of them? Even when you were beating down that man earlier, I could see hope in their eyes. From what I can gather, things have not been good here for a while now!” Ray said.
Jack rubbed his head in fury.
“I don’t owe them anything, I gave enough already! They don’t need me, I’m cursed!” Jack replied harshly.
“Cursed? Jack, you save lives!” Ray tried to comfort him.
Ray placed his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “You really don’t know do you? Jack, the safest place to be, is right beside you! You can’t control death. You once told me they called you The Reaper. Well, they need him now. The six months we travelled together, you have saved us more times than I can count. You told me about your childhood, I know I am not your father, but I damn well love you like a son!” Ray told him.
Jacks eyes began to tear up again.
“You want Macleod, and I promise you will get your chance. I will even drive you there myself, but right now there are kids out there in need of The Reaper,” Ray said gently.
Jack looked at the ground as Ray put his arms around him, and held him tight.
Frank walked towards Jack and Ray.
“Sorry if I am interrupting,” Frank said.
Ray let go of Jack and smiled, “No, you’re not,” Ray replied.
Jack wiped his eyes and turned his attention to Frank; looking at him, Jack could see the swelling of Frank’s eye and the bruising on his face. Jack shook his head in shame.
“Frank, everything inside me wants to say sorry, but I can’t!” Jack told him.
Moving closer, Frank replied, “You were right, I let these people down. I let Elle down, Jack I swear it should have been me and I wish it was. I let you down, you gave up everything saving me and I failed you!” Frank’s face screwed up, and his emotion showed, with the tears rolling down his face.
Jack quickly moved over to Frank. A shocked Frank could not believe it when Jack placed his arms around him. “You tried,” Jack whispered in Frank’s ear.
Letting go of Frank, Jack looked at the prisoners. “So we need to find the kids?” Jack asked.
As he walked towards the prisoners he said to Ray, “Get Kat out of sight, I don’t want her to see this.”
Ray walked away towards Kat, to take her to the school.
Adam, Bray and Zoe stood watching the prisoners; who were all kneeling with their hands on their heads.
Adam watched Jack as he approached; Adam was standing there, holding his knife when Jack walked up and grabbed it from his hand. “Hey!” Adam shouted.
Jack turned and simply looked at him, Adam could see the man in front of him was the one of legend and backed off.
Jack turned his attention back to the prisoners.
“So, you are The Mercy!” Jack stated, with a smile on his face.
“Five prisoners, five piggies!” Jack said with a laugh.
Without hesitation, Jack approached one of the prisoners and ran the knife across his neck, blood sprayed out onto Jack.
“AND NOW THERE ARE FOUR LITTLE PIGGIES!” Jack shouted.
Adam started to approach Jack, when Frank grabbed him. “No, let him do his thing!” Frank told him.
Jack crouched down in front of the remaining prisoners. “So…who is gonna tell me where the kids are?” Jack asked.
“FUCK YOU!” A large man shouted at him.
Jack smirked, “and then there were three little piggies,” he said.
Grabbing the man’s head, Jack pushed the knife into the man’s eye and twisted the blade, the large man screamed in agony, finally Jack punched the blade into his brain and the large man fell back dead.
A skinny prisoner puked at the sight.
“Please, if we talk Macleod will kill us!” one of the prisoners said.
“Piggy, what the fuck do you think I am gonna do to you?” Jack told him.
Jack wasted no time in slitting the throats of two more prisoners, leaving the man who spoke about Macleod alive.
“One little piggy!” Jack said to the last kneeling man.
The prisoner started to talk. “A fuel station, four miles east of here, just take the main road and follow the signs for marked with a red M. It is a holding area for new people, they will be there for days,” the scared prisoner told Jack.
Jack crouched in front of him and looked deep into his eyes. “I believe you little piggy,” Jack said.
The prisoner smiled with a sense of relief, he looked up in time to see Jack aiming the knife into his head.
Adam shouted out, “HE TALKED, YOU DIDN’T NEED TO KILL HIM!”
“I don’t know you! I don’t like you! So talk to me like that again and we will have a problem!” Jack said in a hard voice.
Adam backed off.
“Frank, you have a map of the area?” Jack asked.
Frank simply nodded in reply and led everyone to the office.
In the office, Frank laid out the map, he pointed to an area where the fuel station was.
“This must be it,” Frank told everyone.
Jack examined the map, “I take it you have no ammo left?” he asked.
“No, just a few hand weapons and whatever bullets Bray and Zoe have left,” Frank replied.
Looking at the map, he pointed to an Army cadet training site.
“We should be able to find some there,” Jack told everyone.
Bray looked at the map, “It’s a training site, they wouldn’t have live ammo,” he said.
“After the attacks of 9/11 and 7/7, ESA’s were put into place,” Jack told a confused group.
Frank looked at Jack, “ESA?” he asked.
Before Jack could answer, Adam jumped in. “Emergency, Supply, Ammunition. There are places like them all over the country,” Adam told them.
Jack frowned; at that moment he knew there was something odd about Adam.
Not saying a word, Jack grabbed the map and walked out the office.
Jack walked towards the vehicles.
“Where you going, Jack?” Frank asked.
“To get the kids!” Jack replied.
Ray was standing by the cars when Jack approached.
“You’re not going alone!” Ray told him.
Jack stopped and looked back, “OK, who wants to come? Just make sure you know who is in charge out there!” he told them.
Bray and Zoe quickly joined him; Frank began to join them when Jack stopped him.
“You need to stay and get these people ready to leave, when we get the kids back this place will not be safe anymore!” Jack told him.
Frank knew Jack was right and knew not to question him.
Adam stepped forward, “Count me in!” he said.
Jack was curious of Adam and made no argument for him not to come.
“And me!” Ray stated.
“Not a chance, Kat needs you, Tommy needs you!” Jack told him firmly.
Ray smiled and slapped Jack on the arm, “I told you, the safest place is with you!” he replied.
Shaking his head, Jack approached the car when Ryan joined them.
“I’m coming too!” he stated to Jack.
Jack could see a difference in Ryan. He was stronger, braver and had a look of wanting revenge. This was a look he knew only too well. Jack gave a half smile, “Welcome aboard!” he said.
In minutes the vehicles drove away as Frank stood and watched them disappear.
Zarina and Alice joined Frank.
“They will be OK!” Alice told him.
Frank laughed, “I’m not worried about them, I actually feel sorry for The Mercy!” he replied.
CHAPTER SEVEN
TRUTH
The jour
ney to the Army camp was a quiet one. Everyone wanted to question Jack on his journey over the last six months, but his grief for Elle kept them silent.
Jack studied the map carefully, “Once we get to Camp Grove and get the supplies, we should take this back road to the fuel station. It avoids the main roads and we should not be seen by spotters,” he told everyone.
The awkward silence continued, it was not a long drive and apart from the odd few roaming around the area was clear of zombies.
Jack was the one to break the silence, “Bray, did you find out what happened to your wife and daughter?” Jack asked.
Bray felt a moment of shock, knowing everything Jack had been through and still he remembered about his wife Jennifer and his daughter Beth.
“Not yet, things have been difficult, so it has been hard to get away to find out,” Bray struggled to say.
This response angered Jack; he kept thinking to himself ‘what the hell has been going on.’ Jack reached out and placed his hand on Bray’s shoulder. “We will!” Jack stated.
Jack then looked at Zoe and Ryan, “I’m proud of you two. You both stepped up!” Jack told them.
Zoe, who was sitting next to Jack in the back while Bray drove, took his hand and smiled. Ryan looked over to Jack, “I’m not gonna hold your hand, but I damn well missed you,” Ryan said with a wry smile.
As everyone else agreed with Ryan, Adam sat in silence staring out of the window.
Before they knew it they were at the base. Getting out the car, Jack approached the large, long fence that stood between them and the Army base. “Well I guess we now know why there were not many zombies on the way,” Jack said.
As they all stood looking into the Army base, they could see it was filled with zombies.
Back at the school, Frank was prompting everyone to get ready to leave. People moaned about leaving, most asked about the kids and, in truth, it was starting to piss Frank off. He stood in front of a group of them and lost it.
“SHUT UP! NOW LISTEN! WE CANNOT STAY HERE, THE MERCY WILL COME BACK, JACK AND THE OTHERS HAVE GONE FOR THE KIDS AND WHEN THEY RETURN YOU WILL ALL BE LEAVING!” Frank shouted at them.
Suddenly everyone went quiet and walked away to prepare to leave. Zarina joined Frank, “So we are all leaving together right?” She asked.
Frank took her hand and held it tight, “That’s the plan!” He replied.
A large crashing noise echoed around them, Frank turned to see part of the fencing that had not been reinforced giving way, zombies started to pile into the school.
Grabbing whatever weapons they could, everyone ran towards the zombies and started smashing their skulls, trying to kill as many as they could.
“Zarina, get the bus and use it to block the gap in the fence!” Frank told her.
Without hesitation she ran for the bus they had used to get there.
Paige was barking, she was still chained to the fence and the zombies were heading for her, Paige panicked and began yelping in fear.
Frank; pulled his knife from his belt and ran towards Paige.
Stabbing his knife directly into the zombie’s head, the skull collapsed making it hard for Frank to pull his knife out. He gave up and grabbed a metal bar that was being used to reinforce the fence and started swinging. Blood sprayed everywhere, bone and brain matter flew through the air as Frank went crazy, destroying all the zombies in his path. Before he knew it, the area around Paige was clear, he rushed to unchain her, but with the chain tangled it was hard, but as he finally released her, Paige began growling. Frank turned just in time to notice a maggot crawling face launch at him, they both fell to the ground, with Paige barking at them. Suddenly Frank felt the gouging of teeth on his shoulder, the zombie had bitten him. In anger Frank rolled the zombie over and smashed the maggot crawling head into the ground repeatedly with his bare hands. Within a moment he felt the cold concrete on the ground, the head was destroyed. His hands were covered in blood, flesh and bone, the look on Frank’s face was one of fear.
Zarina drove the bus into the zombies still coming through the fence crushing them all, she parked the bus by the hole in the fence, blocking their entry. Everyone else took care of the roaming zombies still within the school grounds.
Zarina rushed from the bus excited from the adrenaline rush, a feeling that quickly disappeared when she noticed Frank sitting on the ground with Paige by his side.
Approaching him, Zarina noticed the bite mark on Frank’s shoulder.
Frank looked up and attempted a smile, “This has been a really shitty week!” he said to her.
Back at the Army base everyone still stood outside looking in.
“We’re fucked!” Adam spoke out.
Jack simply nodded and said, “Yeah, well at least it will be fun!”
While the others talked amongst themselves, Jack approached the fence and looked inside at the buildings.
“It’s impossible, we can’t do it,” – “There must be a way,” – “It’s suicide,” they all argued among themselves.
Jack joined them again, “OK, just two of us are going in!” he stated as he walked towards the minivan.
They stood in shock, and then quickly they rushed at Jack.
“WHAT!” Bray shouted out.
Jack sighed. “Look, if we all go in, it is too much of a big target. Two of us can weave in and around them. If the EAS is anywhere it will be in the Officer’s Admin building, so two of us are going there,” Jack told them.
Ryan turned and looked back at the base, “There must be over a dozen buildings in there, how are you gonna find the one you need?” Ryan asked.
Jack gave a half smile and approached Ryan; placing his arm around him and turned him towards the Army Base.
“Ryan, my guess it’s the building in the middle,” Jack told him.
“How do you know that?” Ryan quickly replied.
Jack looked at Ryan with a huge smile on his face, “Because there is a sign saying OFFICER’S ADMINISTRATION BUILDING!” Jack replied while pointing at the sign.
Ryan replied softly, “OH.”
Returning to the minivan, Jack opened the trunk and looked around and found just what he needed-an old dog blanket.
“Alright, I need a volunteer?” Jack asked.
Bray and Zoe stepped forward.
“I will go with you,” a voice from the back of the group said.
Jack looked at Adam who had just volunteered.
“OK!” Jack replied.
Jack was curious of Adam and could not help but think there was another motive for him wanting to come.
Turning his attention to everyone else, “Ray, you and Ryan take the minivan around to the other side and make one hell of a noise, distracting the zombies for us. Bray, Zoe you guys do the same on the other side, just buy us some time,” Jack told them.
Without another word said, everyone began moving except for Ray, who approached Jack.
“When I found you, you should have died. You didn’t. I am not a religious man, but you always seem to beat the odds, to me that proves you have a destiny; you have a reason to live. So I will see you soon!” Ray told him, with a hint of emotion in his voice.
Jack knew Ray feared he would do something stupid and get himself killed because of losing Elle. In truth, Jack had no intention of dying, at least not until he found and dealt with Macleod.
As they all left of their missions, Jack and Adam took cover behind a bush, Jack still held the blanket.
Adam was uncomfortable with the silence.
“I take it that is for the barbwire on the top of the fence?” he asked, trying to break the ice with Jack.
Looking at Adam, Jack simply replied, “Yeah, I hate little pricks!”
Adam frowned and made no reply, suddenly the noise from the minivan and the others echoed through the air.
Both Jack and Adam watched as the zombies split and were heading towards the noises.
“Fuck me, its working!” Adam said in surprise.
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br /> “Come on,” Jack told him.
They rushed to the fence and began to climb, once at the top, Jack threw the dog blanket over the barbed wire. Jack quickly got over and started to climb down, Adam climbed over but caught his trouser on the wire, losing his grip and fell. His trousers ripped, and he started to fall head first to the ground, Jack grabbed him. Adam was shocked at how strong Jack was, with just one hand on the fence he managed to lower them both down.
“Thanks!” Adam said with scared voice.
Adam looked down at Jack’s hand, blood was pouring out; a part of the barbed fence had cut into his hand while he was holding onto the Adam.
“Oh shit!” Adam said and grimaced.
“Come on, we need to keep moving!” Jack replied.
Pulling a machete from his belt, Jack ran towards the building, a few zombies staggered towards them, but Jack swung away beheading anything that got close, anything he missed Adam stabbed with his knife.
Bray and Zoe watched as both Jack and Adam ran across the Army Base, “Come on!” Zoe whispered under her breath.
Reaching the Officer’s building, they were quickly inside, luckily the door was open. Both were breathing hard, Jack and Adam sat down behind the closed door, both were relieved that they had made it.
Adam stood up and locked the door, he looked around for a cloth so he could tend to Jack’s hand, finding a mini-British flag on the desk, tearing away the flag he handed it to Jack.
“Thanks!” Jack told him.
Adam shook his head, “I should be thanking you for saving me!”
Jack laughed a little, “I can’t carry the ammo out alone,” he said with a smile.
Standing up, Jack said, “We should hurry!”
“If it is anywhere, it will be easy to reach, but easy to hide,” Jack told him.
Adam rushed around the room; Jack took it slow watching his every move. Adam was at a book case when he found a crack in the wood; quickly he punched through the thin wood.
“Over here!” Adam shouted out.
Jack joined him, as they pulled the wood down. A large opening appeared; boxes were stacked high. Pulling them out, they found some of the boxes empty. The bottom boxes held ammunition and a few guns, but only small arms.