Alive

by Ashley Shannon

  SNEAK PEAK - ALIVE PART TWO

  SNEAK PEAK

  “PALEN!” Eli’s voice didn’t sound like his own when he yelled. The cart with baby Cash in it was still moving to them, but had slowed down once it wasn’t being pushed. Palen ran up to them and Eli shoved his sister to him.

  “Take her! Don’t let her go!”

  Eli took off running, determined to save the baby. He wasn’t going to let Rion lose the only person she had left in this world. His shoes skidded across the slick floor, finding little traction.

  Hitting the cart with the full force of his movement, Eli’s wrist banged into the metal. Cash was still crying which would draw the attention of the zombies soon. Eli ran around the side of the cart and pushed it back to the door.

  Once he made it inside with the cart, Rion pulled Cash out of the carseat and tried to soothe him. Her hand held his head while she made small shushing sounds, rocking him evenly from side to side.

  Palen had managed to pull Kimber inside the door. She had stopped fighting against him, now sobbing in his arms. The metal door was locked and for now they were safe.

  “Did everyone make it?”

  “No, everyone did not make it, Eli!” His sister yelled, turning her head to him. Her eyes were steely, piercing through him, as if to say she blamed him for this. He couldn’t believe that she would blame him for saving Cash and not going after Drew. It had been obvious, at least to him, that Drew was beyond being saved.

  “It looks like everyone’s here.” Johnny said, his arm around Sada, but she was still looking around.

  “Where’s Levi?”

  “Fuck!” Johnny turned away, taking his arm away from Sada and pounding it into the side of the van behind him.

  “We have to go and get it.”

  “No. No one is going out there. We don’t even know if he is alive or where he is in the store,” Eli said, ignoring the insistent tone in Johnny’s voice.

  “I know he was one of yours, but..”

  “Yeah, Eli, he is one of ours,” Johnny said.

  “And unlike you,” Kimber’s voice was ice cold when she spoke to him. She walked up to her brother and stood only inches from his face, “they don’t leave their people behind.”

  “You can’t be serious right now, Kimber!” Eli throw his hands in the air, causing his baby sister to take a step back. “There was nothing I could do for Drew. Nothing anyone could do. I had to save Cash.”

  “Yeah, right. You had to save her baby, fuck saving the person your sister loved. Drew was family.”

  “Drew was the girl who messed around with a guy behind your back.”

  Eli didn’t see it coming, until it was too late. Kimber cold clocked him right in the jaw. Pain seared through the left side of his face, rippling away from where Kimber’s fist made contact.

  “Stop!” Someone yelled, but Eli didn’t know who. He wasn’t going to hit his sister back, but he wasn’t going to let her beat him up either. The next hit she threw, he blocked, throwing his arm into hers. She flinched, pulling back and waiting a second before trying to punch him in the face again. After a few misses, Kimber gave up and threw her entire weight in Eli, knocking them both to the ground. On top of him, she began to beat down on anything she could reach, making contact with his face and chest. Eli pulled his arms up to protect his face, only trying to keep himself from harm.

  Whatever Kimber was screaming at him, was muffled due to the placement of his arms. Palen grabbed Kimber by the arms and pulled her away from her brother. Her anger turned to tears, folding her body into Palen’s protective arms.

  “Thank you.” Eli stood up, feeling a little worse for wear. “Kimber,” he said, his voice softening her resolve, “I would have saved her if I could, but she had already been bitten. Either way, she would have turned. Please tell me that you understand that?”

  She nodded, not looking at him. The expression of sadness on her face made her look ten years younger, like the girl Eli had protected on the playground. Guilt raced through him, but he had said his piece and it was true. There was nothing he could have done for Drew, but even in knowing that, he still felt the pain of guilt.

  “There’s still a chance for Levi,” Johnny said, “I’ll go out and get him.”

  “That’s a suicide mission and you know it!” Eli felt like he was going crazy, “There’s thirty or more zombies out there! You can’t take them on by yourself.”

  “I’ll go with him.” The solider stepped forward, letting go of Kimber. He looked determined and ready to spout some nonsense about duty and honor.

  “This is ridiculous!” Eli couldn’t believe that he was standing on the side of reason seemingly alone. “We can’t risk anymore people getting infected. The only thing we can do is wait. We can stay here. Levi knew where the vehicles were being kept. He could get her on his own.”

  Palen and Johnny looked at each other and laughed.

  “What is wrong with you two? Eli was confused. It was as if they had lost their damn minds, laughing and smiling.

  “You don’t know Levi very well,” Palen said, shaking his head. “He can’t use a weapon. If you said they’re thirty or more zombies out there, he’s as good as dead.”

  “Unless we go and get him,” Johnny said.

  They weren’t going to let this go, Eli could see that now. With Frankie gone, Palen and Johnny were practically the leaders. There was nothing he could do or say that would make them realize this was a stupid decision. But at least they weren’t asking any of his friends to go. Eli had the capabilities to help them track down Levi and fight of some of the Zs, but he wasn’t going to risk it himself or any of his group.

  “Fine, go get him. But you’ll have to go alone. I’m not going with you.”

  “That’s fine.” Both Palen and Johnny looked fine with that decision. Eli had hoped they wouldn’t see it as a slight in some way.

  “We know you have to protect yourself for your girl and your baby. It’s a lot to ask to put yourself in this kind of danger when you have a child to protect.”

  Eli looked at Rion, but he didn’t say a word. She was rocking Cash in her arms. The baby had finally fallen asleep, but she was afraid if she stopped the rocking movements he would wake up again. Eli waited for her to correct Palen, when she didn’t say a word, he didn’t either. Cash wasn’t blood, but as far as Eli was concerned he might as well be. He thought perhaps Kimber would say something, or Jasper and Carin, but no one said a thing.

  “I appreciate that.”

  Palen walked to the Hummer and pulled out two high power rifles. He wanted to give Johnny and himself the best chance at surviving the rescue operation.

  “Odds are, he went to the bathroom. When he came out he may have tried to make it back here or went back in and locked the doors waiting to be rescued,” Palen said.

  “He would have worked out all the numbers,” Johnny said, nodding in agreement with Palen’s ideas.

  “What do you mean ‘the numbers’,” Kimber asked Palen, clearly confused.

  “Levi has Aspergers. He is, like, super intelligent and runs the odds all everything we do,” Palen answered.

  Johnny turned to Kimber and said, “When we were trapped at the high school, he ran the odds for our best way to survive. He planned out how we should escape down to every detail. It was incredible.”

  “Maybe he can’t wield a weapon or even aim one, but he is a great asset to have,” Palen added, handing Johnny ammo.

  “And,” Sada added, “He’s our friend. Kimber’s right, we don’t leave our friends behind. We made sure that you guys came with us, and if he’s alive, the guys will find him. We’re not leaving him here if he is alive.”

  Palen and Johnny readied themselves by the door. Eli was ready to open it and quickly lock it behind them.

  “I’ll knock four times when we get back, so you know it’s us and not any Zs,” Palen said.

  Banging came from the door and Eli looked at Palen trying to figure out why
he was pounding on the door now. But it wasn’t Palen. The voice on the other side made them all realized that.

  Eli swung the door open as fast as he could and a sweaty but alive Levi ran inside. The door slammed behind him loudly. That would draw the zombies to them, if they hadn’t started making their way to the back of the store already.

  “Where were you?” Sada cried, hugging Levi tightly.

  “I don’t like to be touched.” His voice was monotone with no inflection of emotion. Sada pulled away from him, looking slightly insulted.

  “Where were you?” She asked, standing with her arms crossed like a disapproving mother when her daughters been out past curfew.

  “I was in the bathroom. Everyone disappeared and it took me a long time to navigate my way to this door without being noticed.”

  Palen cracked a smile and so did Johnny.

  “I swear,” Johnny said, messing up Levi’s brown curls with his hand, “You’re gonna outlive us all.”

  Author’s Note

  When writing Survive, I wasn’t sure I would be able to do just that. Survive started as an idea I had seven years ago, during a discussion with a few co-workers about how we would handle the zombie apocalypse. While everyone else was talking about bunkers and cabins, I was thinking bigger. I wanted to take over the nearest Wal-Mart. There you would have everything you needed. It was originally called Super Dead Store. A terrible title, but I knew the idea was something I loved. After two years of serious work, I have arrived with a story I love and I hope that everyone who reads it does too. I am excited to share with you the stories of Rion, Nolan, Eli, Drew, and Kimber in the next installments, Alive and Thrive. Alive will be released in January 2018. Thrive will be released in February of 2018. Thank you so much for going on this journey with me.

  About the Author

  Ashley Shannon is the author of the young adult zombie thriller series, Survive.

  Survive is a fast paced adventure following four teenagers, who are faced with the end of the life as they know it after leaving detention. Alive and Thrive, books two and three in the series, are set to be released in September and October of 2017.

  When she isn't writing, Ashley can be found on her YouTube channels, discussing books, grammar, writing, and more. She is active on social media and can be found on Twitter, GoodReads, and at her website www.ashley-shannon.com With her son, Graham, Ashley resides in rural Iowa and enjoys reading, drinking coffee, playing in the park, and the occasional ill-fated art project.

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