Survive (Book 1): Salvation

by Veronica Smith

  Chuck killed both the women and left the man for last. He was about to put his hand over the cannibal’s mouth when he heard a gurgling noise, diverting Chuck’s attention. Edd had come across a nearby sleeping man and slit his throat. He took his hand off the dying man’s mouth too soon and the ghoul gurgled with one final breath. Edd winced, realizing he fucked up bad.

  The man lying below Chuck suddenly opened his eyes just as Chuck looked back down at him. In a flash, he rolled over one of the dead women and jumped up to his feet, crouching and pulling free a knife. He glanced at the dead women, growled, and bared his blackened teeth at Chuck. He looked down at Chuck’s missing arm and grinned in recognition.

  “Are we having fun yet?” he yelled manically.

  The team had managed to kill over half of the tribe before the gurgling and the yelling woke the rest, so it was more evenly matched now.

  Chuck roared, the stealth of the mission gone, and ran to the left, sheathing his knife and releasing his club in two swift moves. The ghoul swiped the air where Chuck had just been and cursed. Chuck ran in a circle, following the ghoul, his club already gaining momentum in his swing. Suddenly he stopped and appeared to trip on something. The ghoul grinned and jumped in the air to bring his knife straight into Chuck’s face. Chuck pivoted on his leg and boosted up with a grin, bringing his club up. He twisted his wrist to bring the blunt face of the club right into the face of the ghoul. The cannibal flew back at least ten feet. He landed on the ground, stunned for a moment, while Chuck slowly walked over to him. He lifted his head and saw Chuck coming, his club swinging loosely in his remaining hand. He saw death in Chuck’s eyes but refused to go without a fight. The trouble was Chuck wouldn’t give him a fight. He also wouldn’t give him an easy death. Every time the ghoul got back up Chuck would turn the club to a different head and smack him, spike him, slash him, not hard enough to kill him, but enough to make him wish for death. He wouldn’t get that wish just yet. Chuck hit him so many times that when he finally lost consciousness, he looked worse than a zombie. Chuck raised his club up to give the final blow when Tamar came limping up to him, her hand wrapped in a piece of cloth torn from her shirt.

  “Wait!” she called to him, “Mutants!”

  Chuck faltered mid-swing and turned to her, “What kind? Animal or human?”

  “Dogs,” she replied smugly.

  Mutant dogs were rarer to see. Zombie dogs were everywhere but only occasionally did they come across a mutated dog. They were larger, even larger than the zombie wolf dogs they previously saw. They had long spiked tongues that oozed green pus. They could shoot out their tongues at least three feet, which put them out of range of most of their hand weapons, so they were much more dangerous.

  “Three of them,” she added, knowing exactly what he had in mind. “They are still a distance away over the rise; Zach just caught sight of them.”

  Chuck grinned and dragged the beaten ghoul by his limp arm over to the rise. When he got to the top, he saw the mutant dogs were much closer and starting to run now. He kicked the ghoul over the edge and he rolled all the way down to the bottom. When the mutants saw him, they put on a burst of speed. The movement had woken the ghoul and he had enough life in him to turn his head and see the dogs coming.

  “No...” he croaked, too weak to shout out.

  Just as the first one reached him, he managed to pull in enough breath for one final weak scream. It was music to Chuck’s ears. He looked behind him and, satisfied that the mission was running smoothly, he ran down the rise, his club up and beginning its swing as he approached his first target.

  None of the mutants heard him coming, so into their meal they were, so he swung with the blade end and chopped off the head of the nearest dog. It never even knew what hit it. One kept on eating while the other looked up and narrowed its eyes, green pus oozing from the corners. It opened its mouth and Chuck saw the mutated tongue snake its way out and head straight to him. He smacked it with his club, hitting it sideways, and then twirled it until the tongue twisted around the club, impaled on the multi-spiked side. He jerked down quickly and the blade end severed the tongue. The dog howled and shook its head. Chuck wasted no time; he swung his club one more time and, the tongue still stuck to the spikes, smacked the single spike into the top of its head. Now the club was stuck on the dog, and covered with the long tongue, so he dropped it and pulled out his machete, just as the remaining mutant finally turned from its meal and jumped at him. He swung hard and ducked down, decapitating it in one swipe.

  “What a mess,” he said aloud, “but so worth it.”

  He looked down at the ghoul who had now finally turned and was slowly stirring. He quickly stabbed it through the head with the machete, and then began the messy task of removing the infected tongue from his club.

  With his hand covering the ghoul’s mouth, Antonio quietly pushed his knife into the eye socket and he quit struggling. As he stood up, he wiped the blood and brain matter on the ghoul’s shirt. His regular knife was a better choice for this than the machete.

  Silent but deadly. He smiled at that old joke and guessed none of the younger members of Cocky would get that one anymore. Hell, fart jokes are timeless!

  He made his way from one sleeping cannibal to the next. There were some that slept in tents or lean-tos but he was surprised to see that quite a lot of them slept out in the open. He had just come out of one tent, having killed the entire family of four, when he stopped and reflected. He hated the fact that he had to kill the kids, but he knew they would be just as dangerous as their parents were. Besides, the gnawed human femur, still clasped in the hand of one of the children, hardened his heart. Instead of getting Tamar or one of the Imperials to take care of them, he just did it himself. It was a grim reminder of just how bad the world was now.

  He suddenly realized that it wasn’t as quiet out here as it was when he went in the tent. He could hear people stirring in their beds and then heard a cackling laugh. He followed the direction of the laugh and saw a ghoul standing above two dead women and Chuck looking at him, madder than he’d ever seen him before. When he heard Chuck roar and saw him move he knew it was on. He felt a pressure on his back and turned around to see a man trying to stab him with a dull machete. The idiot probably hit his backpack, causing Antonio no damage, except now he probably needed to mend his backpack. He didn’t look too smart, and had a shakiness to him that Antonio knew came from eating human flesh. He put the knife in his other hand and pulled out his axe. The ghoul’s eyes widened but he charged anyway. Antonio stepped to the left and caught him in the side of the head with his axe, killing him instantly.

  He looked towards the sound of running feet and saw three more ghouls running at him, their machetes out. There were two men and one woman. They weren’t people to him anymore. They were worse monsters than zombies; only a monster eats their own kind. He tried a trick he’d seen Rick do; he jumped forward at them and ducked down to roll his body into their legs, knocking all three of them down like bowling pins. He jumped up and took off the head of the first one trying to get to his feet. Then he killed both of the others with a couple of chops of the axe. Many ghouls were still lying in their beds where they were killed before their attack was noticed.

  Damn, we got a great group of warriors!

  Because of their training, the Imperials were in some ways more dangerous than Cocky. They were smaller and faster and they were mistaken for ordinary children; a fact that they happily took advantage of. Antonio noticed that although they killed the cannibal children as they said they would, they also killed any cannibal adults they came across. He looked around and realized that everyone had things well in hand, so he ran off in search of the cages.

  The first cage he came across had the women and children from his compound inside.

  “Antonio!” Alice, Bob’s wife, cried out, “I knew you would come! I knew it!”

  She burst into tears of relief and the other captors joined her. The cages were held close
d with knotted ropes, so he got out his machete and began sawing. Just as he finished cutting the rope, Edd came running towards him.

  “We’re almost finished with them all,” he said.

  “Follow me to the next cage so I can get the men out. Then take them all somewhere safe until this is over,” Antonio told him. “Protect them; they’re all pretty weak. Grab up all the weapons you can find on the dead ghouls and arm those that can use them.”

  Edd nodded and started herding them out of the cage. Antonio ran to the next cage, his freed family at his heels. After Edd and the freed people left the camp, he went to the last cage; he expected and found the worst. There were only four people inside and they were hung up on posts built into the cage walls. He recognized them as Neal and his wife, Donna. The other two were Donna’s parents, Joe and Bea. They were alive but they wouldn’t be for much longer. All of them were missing their legs and Neal and Joe were the only ones with any arms.

  Antonio stood in shock at the sight. Chuck was the only one he’d known with missing limbs and lived.

  “Kill me please,” Bea whispered hoarsely. She and her daughter were nothing but torsos and heads. Cauterization marks showed where the removed limbs had once been.

  “Please,” Donna chimed in, “I can’t... won’t live like this.”

  They were both crying. Neal and Joe were unconscious but looked near death.

  “We’ve already decided,” Bea added, “all of us. What kind of life can we possible have? Neal and Joe are already near dead from blood poisoning. I know the symptoms. We have it, too.”

  “Do it!” Donna begged.

  Antonio cried openly. How can I kill these people? They are my family.

  “Do it! Do it!” Donna and Bea screamed repeatedly, the insanity they’d been trying to hold inside finally unleashed, “Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!”

  Antonio screamed in agony and swung his axe at Bea. She smiled just before it took her head.

  “Now me, please!” Donna sobbed.

  Antonio cried harder and put Donna out of her misery. He checked Neal and Joe and found that Joe’s heartbeat was barely there, though Neal was already gone. He may have died at the same time as his wife. With a heavy heart, Antonio released them as well.

  Tamar ran quickly to and from the ghouls. Her favorite blade was dripping with ghoul blood. She found herself inside a small tent and crept to the sleeping man. She cupped her hand over his mouth and pushed her blade into his brain at the same time. He never even woke. She heard movement and saw a child that had been sleeping next to him under the ratty blanket. A little boy peeked out and she hesitated. He was about five years old, and his big blue eyes looked at her apprehensively.

  “Come on, sweetie,” she said, putting away her knife and holding out her arms.

  He threw the cover off and got up. He stopped when he looked down and saw the man, obviously his father, with his face covered in blood. Tamar noticed that the child had a human hand in his own hand that he had been eating. For an instant, she thought she might vomit.

  At that moment, she heard a scream, “Savage!” and jerked in that direction just in time to see Savage falling, a spear through her chest from a ghoul who had been hiding until she passed him. Rick had screamed her name then quickly killed the ghoul who killed her. He caught her as she fell but she was already dead. The child leaped over his father and pulled out his own knife. Tamar fell back on her butt and scooted out of the tent, the child coming after her with rage on his face. He swiped at her before she could get up and she quickly put up her hand; his knife sliced her palm.

  Dammit, that hurt!

  She rolled to the side and got up while pulling her blade back out. The blood on her palm made holding her own knife precarious. Good thing those damned Z.E.D.s taught her to fight with either hand. She quickly rubbed her shirt on the handle and took up the blade with her uninjured hand.

  “I really don’t want to hurt you,” she said to the boy, never taking her eyes off his knife.

  “You hurt my daddy!” he sneered at her. “You’re nothing but my next meal.” He lunged at her and she slammed her blade down right into his forearm; causing him to drop his knife. He bellowed in pain and kicked her in the shin, backing up a step with her knife still in his arm.

  Damn, this kid is really hurting me. Time for me to end this.

  Stepping forward, she quickly yanked the blade out of his arm and just as quickly slammed it back down, but this time into the top of his head. He slid off the blade into a pile on the ground. She picked up and pocketed his knife in her long pouch, just as she’d done with all the other knives she’d found. She glanced up and saw Chuck dragging and beating a ghoul with his club.

  “Tamar!”

  She swung around to see Zach running to her, “Zombie mutant dogs!”

  “Coming from where?” she asked.

  He pointed at the rise and she glanced at Chuck then back at the rise. She ran as fast as she could to warn him.

  When it was finally over, there were a few minor injuries, including Tamar’s palm. From the mission team, only Savage had been killed. Everyone knew that this mission would never have been a success without her so her body was wrapped to bring her back for burial.

  Of the rescued, they recovered all but eight of them, which included the two couples that Antonio had to put down. The other four had already been consumed. Carlos and Rodrigo were jubilant when they found Carmen and didn’t want to let her go. They found Tamra’s sister, Judy, and her kids, Becky and Brian, and assured them that Tamra was fine and helping protect their new home. All of the freed captives were thin; they refused to eat anything found in the camp, even hesitating on the water. Knowing that their next stop was home, every member of the rescue party gave up their food and water. They marveled at the dried fish and Tamar shrugged.

  Give them a few more weeks and they’ll be sick of it, too.

  There was no way to get everyone home in the vehicles, so they decided to go back to the Imperials’ cave to recoup and send a driver back home to bring a bus and more supplies. Rick, Steve, and Edd drove back in a truck, taking one of Chuck’s marked up maps.

  Chapter Eighteen - One Week Later

  Everyone was healing from their injuries, and the rescued had put some weight back on. Only a few hours from the compound, the team going home had come across an uninfected wild horse when they hit it. It was running across the road as they were cruising at about fifty. Luckily, it caught them on the side of the truck and not the front or it would’ve destroyed the radiator. They found out moments later why it ran into them; two zombie dogs were chasing it. Rick and Edd quickly took them out while Steve checked on the horse. After examining it carefully and finding no bites, just two broken legs from the impact, Steve decided to put the injured horse out of its misery. Since he already had images of steaks in his mind, he was careful to use only the machete he used for hunting. Fresh meat, especially of this size was a rare treat.

  Now everyone was eating their fill of horsemeat stew while the rest was drying for storage. Steve had talked Shirley into cooking up steaks the first night everyone was back, his carnivorous dream fulfilled.

  The members of the community welcomed the rescued people and the Imperials with open arms. Room arrangements were made; a few shifting to accommodate the new members, and unused rooms were cleaned out and filled up quickly. Chuck looked out at his new, much larger family and smiled. He went to the front of the room and cleared his throat. Everyone stopped talking although some continued eating.

  “You can’t imagine how good I feel right now!” he said with a smile. “To be honest, I was scared about what would happen when we got so many people in here. But it worked out! You worked it out. You are all my family and I would die to protect each and every one of you.”

  There were some tears shed at this, mainly from those rescued, but Shirley was seen quickly wiping a tear before she thought anyone could see.

  “Cocky is now bigger and stronge
r than ever. I’ve been talking with Tamar about the Imperials joining us, so we are now a force to be reckoned with.” He paused, “I’ve thought long and hard on this part. I know you named us Cocky and we loved it and have lived up to that name at times. And the Imperials were actually named by the Z.E.D.s so I don’t know how they feel about that name.” He stopped again to let his proposition sink in. “I’d like to replace our names, Cocky and Imperials, for one name. I spent hours trying to come up with a name I think suits us and I found one I liked. There was a Swedish metal band called Sabaton back before the zombies. I was a huge fan and had looked up the name’s meaning. It actually means part of a knight’s armor that protects the foot; but it’s loosely translated as ‘protector’. And that’s what we are. We are protectors. That band was famous for their songs that were all about great battles from all times around the world. We’ve fought many battles ourselves. So I think it really fits us and would like to put it to a vote or see if anyone else even likes the idea.”

  He shifted on his feet nervously. They had come up with the original name, so how would they feel about changing it?

  Antonio stood up, “I think the name would suit us perfectly.”

  Tamar looked to the other Imperials and they all nodded, “Like you said, Chuck, we didn’t pick our name; it was given to us without a choice. It’s always going to be a reminder of our captivity. I think a new name is a great idea for a great new start. I like the sound of Sabaton.”

  Others chimed in agreement. “Vote!” someone called out.

  “You want to vote now?” Chuck asked, “You don’t want to think it over?”