“How long has it been since we left them there,” Anna asked. No doubt worrying about her daughter.
“Don’t worry, Anna. Natalie isn’t stupid. I’m sure she kept Isabelle safe,” Frank said confidently. This comment wasn’t just for Anna’s benefit.
The gate to post seemed to be deserted, which was unexpected since so many soldiers died there.
“I figured this place would be crawling with those things,” Frank blurted.
“Where did they all go?” Tommy wondered.
“It doesn’t matter. We need to get to my house,” Frank said as he put the gas pedal to the floor.
They arrived without incident in front of Frank’s house, but eight Biters were waiting for them in the yard. Frank pulled out his field knife.
“Well, there isn’t much choice but to go through them. Let’s go,” Frank said as he opened the car door.
He walked through the yard and began to stab the skulls of every one he could get his hands on. Blood and brain matter flew through the air with every thrust of the blade. A large splatter appeared on the side of the house when Tommy crushed a skull with the bat. Frank looked for Anna and saw that she was surrounded by three of them. She began by killing the first one, but the knife was stuck in the skull. She abandoned the knife and took out her sidearm and began to pistol whip the second until he fell dead. The third took a hit to the side of the face which spun him around. She grabbed him by the shoulders, kicked him in the back of the knee. When he collapsed, she quickly twisted is head around and it made a “crunch” as his neck broke.
Amazed, Frank said, “I think that’s all of them.”
Anna pried her knife from the Biter skull with a huff, looked at Frank and blew her long bangs from her face.
‘That was hot…’ Frank couldn’t help but think.
As they approached the door, Frank pulled his Beretta and his flashlight in case there were any inside the house. As they entered Frank scanned the room being sure not to light up the windows and advertise a human dinner special. They made it to the kitchen which had the storm room. Frank knocked lightly on the door and called softly to Natalie. You could hear her started to cry as she started to unlock the door. Paranoia had started to set in as she opened the door slowly with the pistol Frank had left for her was pointed out. As soon as she laid eyes on Tommy she broke down and started to speak through expletives and sobs. Anna broke through to get Isabelle and cried quietly into the child’s hair.
It was the first time Frank had felt so awkward so he went upstairs to start packing up the weapons and some clothes.
The others came up stairs when they were done crying. Frank turned toward them as they were coming in the room. “Grab some of those duffle bags and load up anything that will fit. Leave the elephant guns. Ammo is in that dresser over in the corner, grab all of it. Hurry, we still have to get to the motor pool.”
“I always thought you were a bit weird to have so many guns but God bless you,” Tommy said with a chuckle.
“A lot of them I got from my dad. Some of them are older than you. I wish we could raid the armory at the company but we don’t have the combo to the vault. These should do us just fine, though.”
Frank and Tommy carried the bulk of the weight and Anna took point with her M4. Natalie carried Isabelle in one arm and her pistol in the other. Anna opened the front door to check the yard. She motioned for them to come out.
“Alright, hop in the minivan and let’s go,” Frank ordered.
It took an hour for the group to maneuver through the maze of debris and abandoned cars. As they approached the motor pool, Frank realized that he didn’t have any keys to the JERRV. “We are going to need bolt cutters. I don’t have the keys to the JERRV. The commander had them…”
The JERRV (Joint EOD Rapid Response Vehicle) is a 15 ton truck the size of a semi, well armored, and could easily mow down anything in its way. Like with most military vehicles, the vehicle doors are secured with padlocks.
“I have some in my locker,” Anna said as they pulled up to the locked gate.
Frank jumped out to unlock the gate when a Biter had got up to his knees from his dirt nap. Frank casually kicked him in the face with steel toe boots, crushing in the front of his skull. Exhaustion and hunger had fouled up his mood. He quickly opened up the gate and locked it closed as soon as the others drove through. They got the bolt cutters and headed to the JERRV. When they got to the truck, Frank motioned for them to stay in the van. He checked around the vehicle to make sure that there wasn’t any Biters that would jump out to attack them. When it was clear he motioned for them to get out of the van. Tommy immediately went to manhandling the bolt cutters to get the locks off the doors of the JERRV. Thanks to his large size, it didn’t take long. Anna jumped up on the hood of the massive vehicle to turn on the power switch located next to the engine. After she turned to power on, Frank went to start the engine and “click”. The battery appeared to be dead.
“Fucking Murphy... Find some cables and get it jumped off. I’m going to go get some fuel cans,” Frank snapped.
The only fuel cans in the motor pool were in the maintenance bay…which was unlocked. All the mechanic soldiers were very paranoid when it came to locking up the bay. If it was unlocked, it meant there was someone still inside. Frank immediately pulled his sidearm. He eased the door open, his weapon at the ready and turned the light on.
‘Damn it. Of course, all the fuel cans are on the far side of the room!’ He moved slowly through the cluttered bay, careful not to disturb anything or make any noise. The fuel cans sat beside a Humvee that was in for repair. He started to pick up as many as he could carry at once when he felt something tug on his foot. A Biter was chewing on the toe of the boot. Lucky for Frank, the Biter’s arm had got caught under the tire of the Humvee. Frank recognized the Biter. It was their mechanic, Jenkins.
“Good luck chewing through that, son,” he said then thrusted his knife in the top of the Biter’s skull.
This hit Frank a little hard. He liked Jenkins. He got everything done that need to get done and never complained. He would even do them favors, including make a good excuse to cover for Frank and Tommy when they damaged the Humvee that he was currently stuck under. Frank had to keep his emotions in check, for the good of everyone. No one needed to see him break down.
Frank collected his cans and went outside to find the team waiting for him at the fuel point.
“Good work. Tommy, fill these up and top off the truck. I’ll go see if there are any batteries in here.”
Frank went back inside and found plenty of batteries, but none for his truck. He took the batteries anyway. Mostly because he’d want to kill himself if he didn’t and needed them later. With the JERRV filled up and all the weapons that they could carry, everyone started to get in the truck, everyone except Frank. Anna noticed his hesitation.
“What’s wrong, Frank?”
“It’s going to get hard to find working cars down the road. I’m going to drive the van back,” Frank said.
“It’s a lot safer if you ride with us,” Tommy said.
“I’m thinking long term, Tommy. The JERRV won’t last forever. We need something more reliable if we are going to survive.”
“Fine, just don’t fall too far behind,” Anna ordered.
Frank jumped into the van and they headed back toward the post gates. Frank wracked his brain, trying to figure out their next step. He knew they wouldn’t be able to stay at that pharmacy much longer. It would only be a matter of time before the Biters got in. Frank’s thoughts were interrupted as he saw Anna begin to slow down.
As they approached the post gate, a feeling of panic rose in everyone as they saw the horde was back at the gate. Anna knew that the armored truck would have little trouble getting through them but she was worried about Frank.
“Lock the doors.” As soon as she heard them click she coaxed the beast up to speed and then thanked God, Jesus, Buddha, and any other deity she could think of fo
r getting the truck up to 40 miles an hour before plowing into the Biter horde. Like a knife through butter, the truck flew through them with ease.
Frank’s trip was a different story. All of the Biters that Anna mowed down became speed bumps that Frank had to ease over so as not to damage the van. He did it as quickly as he could but a few Biters managed to make it to his windows. They beat on the glass, trying to claw, bite, and lick their way through. The glass held.
“Is Frank still behind us,” Anna asked.
“He’s slowed up a bit, but he is moving,” Tommy yelled.
Anna slowed to a crawl, waiting for Frank to catch up. As soon as she saw that he was clear, she sped up.
Anna breathed deep to try and get her heart rate down. She glanced back at Isabelle to make sure she was ok. The child was fast asleep.
In the pharmacy, Steve paced the floor. Everyone watched him and waited for the others to return. Will walked up to him.
“Dad, they should have been back by now,” Will whispered.
Steve wrapped his arm around him.
“Don’t worry, son. They’ll come back. It’s probably just taking a while. Have some faith.”
Dean overheard them.
“Humph. They’re not coming back. They got what they needed and left us here to die,” he said, loud enough that everyone could hear him.
Steve turned to him with a scowl on his face.
“Dean, sit down and shut the fuck up.”
Dean grumbled and sat back down. One of the women stepped toward Steve.
“But, what if he’s right?”
Steve looked at her and smiled.
“When has Dean ever been right?”
She chuckled.
Chapter 3
The Reunion
As they pulled up to the pharmacy, she parked close enough to the building that they could jump from the roof to the truck if they needed to. Steve met them at the door.
“We didn’t think you guys fucking made it,” he said with a smile.
“We had a few setbacks,” Frank stated.
“A few setbacks is better than dead,” Steve uttered.
“Very true. Let’s hand these weapons out and get some sleep,” he said through a yawn. “Everyone, this is Natalie and Isabelle.”
Everyone looked up smiled and waved, everyone except for Dean.
“Great, more mouths to feed,” Dean grumbled.
Steve overheard him. “Yeah, more mouths to feed. Maybe we should throw you outside to make things easier. I’m sure those things outside are pretty hungry.”
Frank walked up behind Steve and patted him on the back while he glared at Dean.
“I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship, Steve.”
“I usually ask for dinner first, Frank,” he said with a chuckle.
Frank began to reach into his cargo pocket.
“Would you take an energy bar,” he asked as he held one out to him.
Steve laughed as he took the bar from him.
Anna laid Isabelle down next to her as she settled in for the night. Frank sat next to them leaned up to the counter eating a nutrition bar.
“Thank you, Frank.”
“For what,” he asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“You saved us. Isabelle wouldn’t be here right now and neither would I,” she said, a tear flowing down her cheek.
“You’re very welcome,” he said as he nudged her shoulder with his.
She laid down next to Isabelle and started to stroke her hair as the young girl slept.
“You know, that was some good driving earlier,” Frank snickered.
“Sorry about that. It was the only thing I could think of,” Anna said blushing.
“Don’t be sorry, it was the only thing you could do. It’s why I wanted to train you. You’re not afraid to take a chance when it counts. But those moves at the house said a different story. That IDF training really paid off. Seems like you’ve used it before.”
“…”
He placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
“You don’t have to tell me. It’s in your past. Get some sleep,” Frank said with a gentle smile.
“Thanks, Frank.” she smiled as she closed her eyes.
Tommy and Natalie sat on the other side of the counter lying next to each other.
“What do we do now? How will we live like this,” Natalie whimpered, still in shock after the day’s events.
“We will have to do the best we can to survive. These things can’t walk around forever. We will just have to wait it out. We will probably be moving around quite a bit. At the end of the day, all we have is each other,” Tommy said, trying to be reassuring.
“I hope you’re right, honey,” she said, feeling a little better.
Steve walked over to Frank. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
Frank got up and followed him to the back room. Steve sat down at his desk.
“I love this store Frank, and as much as it hurts to say it, we are zombie shit if we stay here.”
“I know. The only problem is where we go from here,” Frank posed the issue.
“I was thinking about that while you were gone. My thinking is that we should look for an area that wasn’t heavily populated. Like the desert or mountains. We could even go to Alaska.”
“I got nothing better. We will pass on the idea but I can’t guarantee that everyone will follow us.”
“That would be their decision, but I think that they would be idiots not to follow you. They would never make it on their own. You and your team are the only reason these people have any hope left. I was Navy back in the day, I know Spec Ops when I see it,” Steve said with a serious look.
“That obvious, huh?”
“For me it is. I was a corpsman in a seal unit about twenty years ago. I know that take charge attitude when I see it. You come in here and put these people to work, offered them protection, and gave them your personal damned weapons without asking anything in return. These people would be fucking stupid not to follow you. You’re their best chance of survival. I know I’ll follow you to the gates of hell knowing you’ll keep Will safe,” Steve said
“I won’t let you down. I think the old man…”Frank said trying to remember the man that gave him the trouble earlier.
“Dean.”
“Yeah, Dean may have a different plan. He’s going to end up getting himself killed or worse, he will get the rest of us killed,” Frank supposed.
“He’s an idiot. He always has been. We better watch him, he always does something stupid to fuck things up.”
“Agreed,” Frank said
The next morning Frank called everyone over to the front door to have a discussion on where they should go from here. He waited for five minutes while everyone shook out the morning grogginess as most of them had just woke for the morning. Once everyone had gathered, he noticed that someone was missing.
“Where is Dean?” Frank asked.
“He said that he needed to use the bathroom…like twenty minutes ago,” Anna answered, realizing what she just stated.
“Tommy, check the bathroom, please. Anna, see if he is outside,” Frank said with a sigh.
Tommy didn’t get far. Anna yelled, “He’s outside messing with the JERRV!”
“What the hell!? What is he doing,” Frank asked.
“Ha! Looks like he’s trying to start it. Guess he doesn’t know about the power switch,” Anna said with a giggle.
“Any Biters?”
“None that I can see. Going out?” Anna asked
“Yeah. Lock the door behind me.”
As he headed out the door, he snuck around the truck quietly. He made it over to the door without alerting him. The idiot didn’t even close the door when he got in it. Frank drew his Sig Sauer 9mm that he pick out of the weapons, and pointed it at Dean.
“You know, it helps if you actually know what you’re doing,” Frank asked.
Dean jumped so high that he h
it his head on the roof. “Uh…um…well…”
“Get the fuck out of my truck,” Frank said sternly.
Dean hopped out of the truck. Frank took Dean’s pistol from him then grabbed him by the back of the shirt collar and led him to the pharmacy door. The door opened as they approached it and Frank pushed him through. Dean stumbled through the group as if he were drunk. When he regained his balance, he turned toward Frank to make a snide comment about respect. He kept his mouth shut when he saw Anna’s M4 pointed in his face.
“Sit,” she ordered with an ‘I will kill you’ look in her eyes. He did as he was told.
“Ok, before I was interrupted with stupidity, Steve and I were talking last night about places to go. I would like to have a discussion, not an argument, about this with the rest of you,” Frank said.
Steve took over. “What we were thinking is that we need to go somewhere that didn’t have a high population to begin with. Mountains or desert, hell, we were entertaining the thought of Alaska.”
“Why do we need to leave? Aren’t we safe here,” an Asian woman asked.
Frank could tell she was scared and was about to answer her question when Will spoke up instead.
“Where would you rather be? Here with weak drywall and windows or in that steel tank?”
Frank and Steve both smiled. “What’s your name, miss?” Frank asked.
“Kim”
“I know you’re scared, Kim, but Will is right. We can’t stay here much longer. Either they are going to get in here or we will run out of supplies. Don’t you agree?”
Life In Death (Book 1): Surviving Death (The Struggle) Page 2