Z Strain

by SJ Morris

  “I’ll help ya, Scotty! Just getting her undressed is good enough for me. I know I’ll get my turn later.”Said another skinny, white kid, who was also in his teens, as he ran over to where I laid in the mud.

  “No way, Carl! Get the fuck away from her! Scotty asked me!”

  “Boys, boys... let’s not get too uppity about this. You will all get your turn when I’ve had my fill and y’all know that. You want to fight about it and I’m gonna have to fuck you two first before you can have her. Now, you don’t want that again, do you, boys?”Said Scotty with a huge grin on his face as he rubbed himself through his pants.

  It took everything I had to stay face down and unmoving as they argued over me, while Kamil’s clothes were ripped from his body. I could barely see Kamil, but I knew what they were doing to him.

  Poor Dana too, having to watch quietly while all of this happened.

  Sampson brought out two chairs, one for himself, and one for Dana. He made her sit next to him and watch as the others tore Kamil’s clothes off and tied him to a big tree. His arms were outstretched around the huge trunk, his face pushed into the bark and his legs pulled apart behind him. He appeared to be unconscious, or at least I hoped he was.

  I wanted to jump up and beat the life out of each one of these assholes.

  I wanted to beat them for what they had already done and what they were going to do to us. I also wanted to beat them for what they were going to do to the next group of innocent people they found if I didn’t stop them. I had to do something. I couldn’t just lay here, pretending to be out cold, while my friends were tortured.

  Jessup started walking over to me, pulling a long kitchen knife from his belt and I hatched my plan. He kneeled next to me, rolling me over, face up. He grabbed at the bottom of my t-shirt and started cutting it off with the knife. Just as he was about half-way, I threw my knees up and caught him in the head.

  Instantly, he dropped the knife and grabbed for his head, screaming. I grabbed the knife and ran away as quickly as possible. I cut the ropes from my hands as I ran and looking back, I saw that the other two kids, who also only had kitchen knives as weapons thank goodness, were chasing me.

  I turned the corner and hid behind some garbage cans that had been tossed around the night before. I tried to catch my breath and be quiet, but the adrenaline running through me was making it hard to be still.

  The boys came around the corner and when they didn’t see me anymore, they both stopped and looked around.

  They had their backs to me and were only about ten feet away. They started whispering to each other, planning for one to go this way and the other to go that way.

  As soon as one walked away, I jumped up and grabbed the one closest to me in a headlock and slit his throat before he even had a chance to make a sound.

  The other boy was still slowly walking away, as I laid the other down in the mud, and slowly crept up behind him.

  I did the same with him too, slicing his neck open, quietly.

  The only sound was the gurgling of air breaking free through the blood, pooling in his throat.

  I stood over the bodies of the two young boys I had just killed.

  The old me would have cried, but the new me watched their final movements coldly, to be sure they weren’t going to get back up.

  When I was satisfied enough of their red blood was pumped from their bodies and I knew they were dead, I grabbed each of their knives and checked their pockets for anything that might help me.

  One had a bottle opener key chain from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and the other had a pack of mint gum. I dropped the bottle opener and put a piece of gum in my mouth. These two were almost no help to me at all, but I tucked the other knives into my pants and continued around the building as quietly as possible.

  When I was able to see the front of the building where the others were before, the only thing left out there now was Kamil, still tied to the tree, and the two metal chairs. I wanted to go to him and to cut him free, but I knew that’s what they were hoping for.

  So, instead, I backtracked to the side of the building with the bucket loader we’d used the day before, to block the door from the infected. I climbed the arm and made it back to the roof. My pack was no longer up there and my gun was gone too, but I had my knives.

  Therefore, I knew I was going to be okay.

  Besides, they wouldn’t be expecting me to come down from the roof at them, not again, at least. They expected the two shit-stains they sent after me to get me and bring me back; little did they know…

  I opened the roof door slowly and climbed down the steps as silently as I could. I made it down and just sat on the floor, with my eyes closed, listening, just like Chris had done in the woods with the infected.

  I soon heard muffled voices coming from the front of the store.

  Just as I expected, I learned that they were all up at the windows with rifles, trained on the tree outside; the one Kamil was tied to. They were waiting for me to try and save him so they could shoot me…what assholes.

  Dana was sitting on the floor next to Sampson’s feet with a blank stare. I was sure she was so traumatized she barely knew what was going on anymore.

  Good for her, but bad for me at the moment.

  I crawled closer to where they were and peeked my head out and looked right at her.

  Amazingly, she popped her head up and looked right back at me with a smirk. I guess she wasn’t traumatized, just a good actress. She looked up slowly at Sampson, who was still searching outside in the rain for any trace of his boys, or me.

  Dana slowly crawled away without him noticing and slid in next to me, behind some shelving.

  “What’s the plan? I heard them say they’re almost out of ammo. I think Sampson has five rounds, Scotty has three, and Dustin is out.”Dana whispered to me.

  “That’s great. If we can get them to empty their guns without getting shot in the process I’m sure we can take them.”I said as I cut her hands free and gave her one of my knives.

  “Let’s get to the back of the store and start throwing things at them. Maybe get them to fire where we make noise instead of at us.”Dana quietly suggested.

  I had no other ideas, so we grabbed a few things that were on the shelves around us and got as close to the roof stairs as possible, just in case things went wrong and we needed to make a quick getaway.

  I tossed what looked to be a small can of paint to the front right corner of the building.

  Sampson turned quickly and shot one round blindly, where the can had landed.

  “No one move, I heard something inside,”Sampson said quietly to Scotty and Dustin, as they too turned towards the can.

  “Maybe the old man woke up and he’s trying to get out of the closet.”Whispered Dustin, pointing at a door across the room from where Dana and I were hiding.

  “Chuck’s alive,”I whispered to Dana.

  “I knew he was…I just didn’t know where they put him.”She said back.

  “Well, now that we do know, we probably shouldn’t throw anything over there so they don’t accidentally shoot him.”

  “Good idea.”

  Sampson and the other two goons were still facing the back corner of the store when I saw an infected, slowly shuffling in front of the windows toward Kamil’s limp body.

  In an instant, our situation just went from shitty to fucked.

  I put my finger in front of my lips showing Dana to be quiet and pushed out my chin in the direction of the windows. Dana’s eyes made contact with the badly decomposed infected slowly making its way towards one of her only friends left in the world, and they filled with tears. She covered her mouth with her hands so she didn’t cry out, but I could see it in her face that she wanted to run past the psychos with guns to save him.

  I shook my head slowly to reinforce that she couldn’t do what she wanted without getting killed.

  She put her head down and wept quietly.

  “Hey Sampson, look out front. We got a w
alker heading for your boy outside.”Said Dustin.

  “Damn it! Ain’t no walker gonna get a hold of my shit before I do.”Sampson said as he stomped away, to one of the side doors, and out to where the infected was getting ready to attack Kamil.

  Kamil just lay there, unconscious in the mud, and slowing rain.

  Sampson walked up, just behind the infected and as it turned towards him reaching its mangled arms for him, he pulled the trigger.

  I was expecting a loud bang but heard nothing. I only watched as Sampson fumbled with the bolt lever on his gun and the infected managed a painful sounding groan. Sampson finally realized he wasn’t going to get a shot off and ran back for the door. He threw himself inside and grabbed for whatever he could to put in front of the door and secure it. I guess he was just as afraid of the undead as everyone else…When he didn’t have his gun.

  “Scotty, give me your gun!”Sampson yelled when there were no more items around that he could stack in front of the door.

  “No way! I only have like 3 bullets left and I need‘em!”

  “Well, then get rid of the walker before it finds a way in here!”

  “Me and my busted ass knee ain’t doing nothing. This was your shitty idea in the first place and Iain’t about to die‘cause of you! You may have been my boss back at the garage, but now you ain’t shit no more, just like the rest of us!”

  This really pissed Sampson off and he punched Scotty right in the chin. Down goes Scotty!

  Agh well, one less asshole for us to worry about.

  Just as I thought things were looking up for us, though, there was a banging on the closet door in the back of the store. I could hear Chuck’s muffled yelling and what sounded like kicking.

  “Dustin, now I know you ain’t as stupid as Scotty, so I know you’ll listen when I tell you to do something, right?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Alright, then. Go in the back and shut that stupid fucker up. His banging is going to attract every walker to us, so go shut him up. Kill him, if you have to, I don’t care. And where the fuck is Jessup and Carl? They should be back with that bitch by now. Where the fuck didthat other girl go, the pretty one? Goddamn it! Everything is going to shit today!”Sampson started to pace in front of the window looking out at Kamil.

  Dustin started in our direction, grabbing Scottie's gun away from his unconscious hands.

  I figured this was the best chance we were going to get.

  I motioned for Dana to stay down and in the corner.

  She nodded slowly with tears streaming down her face. She was worried about Kamil and so was I.

  As long as the infected were still clawing at the door to get in, that meant they weren’t eating Kamil, but I was still going to have to act fast.

  Dustin walked past where we were hiding, without noticing us, so I slowly walked to the end of the aisle, peeking through the shelf to make sure Sampson was still occupied by the infected at the door, and thankfully, he was.

  Dustin leaned over to pull a feedbag away from the closet door and I slowly inched up behind him, with my knife out. I was about to stab him in the throat when Sampson yelled from the front of the store.

  “Dustin! Look out!”

  I tried to stab him anyway, but the element of surprise was lost and he turned with his hands out. He rolled me into his chest, so he could wrap his arms tightly around my body, and when he did, he grabbed the knife from my fist.

  Dana jumped up from her hiding spot, knife in hand and started charging my captor. He grabbed his rifle from the wall he had leaned it against and pointed it at her, stopping her in her tracks.

  He still had one arm wrapped around my chest and he had my knife in his hand, pressing the blade firmly against my jugular.

  “Now, now, sweetie. Let’s not do anything stupid to get your friend here killed.”Said Dustin with a smile.

  “Atta boy, Dustin! How about you bring that one to me and you can wrangle the other one. We’ll tie her to a chair this time so she doesn’t go anywhere. I think I want to send that one out there to get rid of the walkers that are knocking at the door here. Hand me that rope. I’ll put a leash on her so she don’tget any ideas.”Sampson said, pointing to me.

  Dustin kept me in front of him as a shield, pointed towards Dana, so she didn’t try and jump him while he brought me to Sampson. She had a look in her eye that said she was about to do something stupid, so I shook my head no as much as I could without getting cut, and her face dropped in defeat.

  Dustin handed me over to Sampson, who grabbed the extra knife I had in my back pocket, which I completely forgot I had.

  Damn it, this could have all been over if I remembered that damn knife!

  I played nice since I could now see the one infected outside had multiplied to five.

  I was glad to see they were still by the door, instead of heading over to Kamil.

  I hoped, as long as he stayed unconscious and quiet, they would stay focused on the food they could hear making all the noise inside.

  “I got this one. Go get my pretty girl and tie her up to that chair over there. I’ll play with her later after this one cleans up outside for us.”

  Dustin headed over to Dana with his gun up.

  She looked to me, again and again.

  I shook my head no each time.

  She dropped the knife to the floor and kicked it in Dustin’s direction.

  “That’a girl. Come along, nice and quiet now, and you won’t get hurt.”

  I guess Chuck heard that we were captured again and he started banging on the closet door again.

  The moans from the infected outside the main door got really loud when he started that. Sampson got really antsy now, shifting his weight from side to side while holding my arms over my chest. I took this as my chance to hopefully talk my way out of this.

  “Come on, Sampson! Tie the rope on me and let me get rid of those walkers outside. We both know you’re ready to piss your pants with them in the process of breaking down the door.”

  “Shut up, bitch. The more talking you do, the more they wanna get in here. So, just shut up!”

  “Come on, I’m good at getting rid of them. Let me help you out and make them stop banging on the door.”I said, as quietly and sweetly as I could muster while talking to this piece of shit.

  “Fine! As long as it’ll get you to shut the fuck up.”He whispered as he grabbed the rope off the shelf next to us. He started looping it through my belt loops on my pants and finally, he tied it off. He pushed me towards one of the windows in the front of the store, that was as far away from the door the infected were banging on as possible. It was on the same side, but it was as far away as he was going to let me get.

  “Move the shitaway from that window and hop out as quick as you can. When you’re outside, I’ll throw you the knife so you can clean up out there. Don’t get any ideas about running‘cause I got a good hold on the other end of this rope. Plus, if you run, or try something I’ll just hurt your friend over there.”He said motioning to Dana, who was currently being tied to a chair. Chuck was still banging against the closet, trying to free himself, and the infected were in a frenzy outside the door.

  I grabbed the shelf that was in front of the window and pushed it out of the way as quietly as I could, so I didn’t attract any attention to the window I was going to be using to climb out of.

  The window was a crank that opened outward, which was good, but the crank was pretty rusted and it took all of the strength I had to get it open enough for me to fit through.

  I took another look at the zombies clamoring at the front door. They were still moaning away, banging at the door.

  I looked at Sampson angrily and he gave me his yellow smile as he purposefully wrapped the rope around his arm.

  Asshole.

  I climbed up to the windowsill and hopped out as quietly as I could. Sampson tossed the knife out like he said he would and began closing the window. He left it open, just enough to let the rope out. />
  I looked up to the infected as I hit the ground. A few of them looked over in my direction with their milky eyes and started towards me.

  I stood up, and then stood as still as possible.

  There were three coming right for me, but I knew what was going to happen. I looked inside the window as Sampson’s smile turned to an open gap, while the infected walked right past me. I smiled at him and might have even stuck my tongue out at him.

  His jaw dropped even more and he looked at me, dumbfounded.

  Take that, asshole! I sneered.

  All right, enough fun for now.

  I pulled some rope out of the window to give myself some slack and followed closely behind the three infected that had walked past me but were now heading for Kamil who looked like he might be coming to. I got right behind them and stabbed each one in the back of the head. They each fell with thumps to the ground in front of me, oozing their disgusting black blood.

  I felt a tug at my leash and turned around to see the remaining seven infected now coming at me. I guess Kamil was making more noise waking up than I thought. There was one newer infected in the group and he came at me quickly, but I shoved the knife up, straight through his chin as he rushed in my direction.

  The others, I decided to have some fun with.

  I tugged as much rope out of Sampson’s hands as I could and walked in an arc around the oncoming infected, holding the rope up at hip height.

  This corralled the infected all together, so I could stab them each in the brain one after the other. In less than five minutes, all ten infected were down. I was just about to head for Kamil when the rope was pulled back into the window.

  “What the hell are you doing? Let me untie Kamil! He’s coming too and if he starts yelling he’s just going to attract more infected to us.”

  “No, you don’t. I’ll get him. You come inside you precious little thing, you.”He said as he opened the window back up.“Why did the walkers just go past you; why didn’t they try to tear you apart?”

  “I don’t know. I was in a car accident and after that, the infected don’t seem to care about me anymore.”I lied.