Life In Death (Book 1): Surviving Death (The Struggle)

by Holmes, Ethan

  “Frank…You haven’t slept in days. We can handle it,” Anna said with a motherly concerned look.

  “That’s enough. I can handle it. Who else,” Frank said sternly.

  Tommy reached across the table for some broccoli. “I can.”

  Anna sighed. “I guess that means that I do too.”

  “We need one more. I would like two on each side of the house,” Frank explained.

  “Guess I could tag along,” Steve said with a mouthful of pork chop.

  “Good. Let’s enjoy this. Could be the last real meal for a while,” Frank said as he stuffed some mashed potatoes in his mouth.

  “Let’s just hope it’s not,” Steve said then he stuck half his pork chop in his.

  Frank called everyone out to the JERRV before they went to sleep that night. Almost everyone was yawning, including Steve.

  “What’s going on Frank?” Jim asked.

  “I wanted to go over a few things before you all went to bed,” he tried to gather his thoughts the best he could. “This place may be nice, but we can’t get complacent. We are far from safe here. There could be one of the Biter in the barn right now and we would never know it until one of us went in there. We may be keeping watch out here but there are many blind spots that the Biter can sneak in through. That’s why I’m telling you, unless you are in the house, treat every room like one of them is in it, like one of them is around every corner. It may just save your skin. I’m sorry to tell you all this now but I worry about all of you since I’ve made you my responsibility. That’s all I’ve got… go get some sleep.”

  Everyone stood there gazing at Frank then one after the other they dispersed into the house until it was only Steve, Anna and Tommy left.

  “Where do you want us, Frank,” Anna asked as she unslung her rifle.

  “You and I are paired up tonight, Anna. Get some rope out of the JERRV and grab the turret harness. I may be throwing you up in that pecan tree out back. Tommy, you and Steve are on the JERRV. Check the side yard every 30 minutes or so,” Frank ordered.

  Anna jumped in the JERRV, put on the harness and got her rope out while Tommy and Steve got on the truck’s roof. Frank and Anna walked around the house to the large tree and Frank put his back to the tree and cupped his hands at his thighs. Anna knew what it meant and immediately put her foot in his hands, her hands on his shoulders and he hoisted her as high as his arms would reach. As light as she was, she had no problems shimmying up the tree to about 15 feet. She tied one end of her of her rope to the thickest tree limb that she could reach and the other to her harness. As soon as she was stable, she shot Frank a thumbs up.

  “Let me know if you need anything.”

  “A pillow for my ass if you got one. It’s going to get sore after a while,” she requested, shifting her body weight around trying to get comfortable.

  “Sorry. We’ll trade off in a few hours. Ok?”

  “Frank,” Robby called out as he walked out the back door.

  “What’s up Robby?”

  Robby handed him a couple of hot thermoses. “Here is some coffee to keep you two awake and some chicken soup in case you get hungry. Don’t worry about wasting food. Got a ton of the stuff in the basement. Your other team already got theirs.”

  “Thanks! We haven’t slept much the last few days so this will help a lot,” he explained He opened the coffee and smelled it. “Oh my God. I’ve been craving some coffee a lot lately. We really appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome. Just don’t let one of those things eat me,” Robby chuckled.

  “I’ll do my best. Oh, would you mind bringing out a pillow for Anna?” Frank said with a smile.

  “Sure thing. Be back in a few minutes,” he said as he turned toward the house.

  Robby went back inside the house just as something fell over in the barn. Frank immediately jerked around, weapon pointed at the door. He began to walk toward the open door and thought about it probably being close quarters in there so he flipped his rifle around his back and drew his pistol and knife, both at the ready. He got about ten feet from the door and turned on the flashlight mounted to his pistol. He opened the door and the light illuminated four Biters in the barn. All of them turned toward Frank, mouths open, hissing and moaning, eager for their next meal.

  “Fuck,” he mumbled to himself.

  He decided to take them out quietly so not to alert others in the area so he holstered his pistol. Anna understood so she didn’t shoot them, although she kept her finger on the trigger and the crosshairs on the one closest to Frank. He lunged toward the closest one and drove his knife in its skull. Its body went limp and it crumpled to the ground. The next one lunged at Frank. Frank combat rolled to his side, it narrowly missed him. Its skull met the sole of Franks boot. Frank stomped a few times until its skull caved in. The next two were fairly easy. Where he was standing, the last two stood directly in front of him, in a straight line formation. He kicked the first in its chest and it hit the second, sending them both to the ground. As soon as they hit, Frank literally jumped in the air and landed on the first’s head, immediately crushing it. At the same time, in a swift movement, he used the left over momentum and knelt down burying his knife in the lasts one’s skull. After they were finished, he entered the barn to check for more. There were none, but there were bloody chicken parts and feathers scattered everywhere. He cleaned his knife off on one of their shirts and went back toward the tree. He leaned against the tree, his knees shaking, threatening to collapse. He heard a soft, accented voice above him.

  “Are you ok, Frank,” Anna asked.

  “… Give me a minute,” he said through the huffing and heaving.

  “Everything is ok now. Just breathe,” she said reassuringly trying to help get his heart rate down.

  “This shit really sucks,” he said, still not capable of regaining his composure.

  “You shouldn’t have taken the first watch, Frank. You’ve got less sleep than Tommy and me combined.”

  “I’m fine. I will just get better sleep when the sun comes up,” Frank said not sure if he even believed his own words.

  “Fine. At least have some coffee.”

  “Good idea.” Frank picked up the coffee thermos and poured himself a cup. He replace the lid and threw it up to Anna. She opened it to smell it.

  “Mm. It smells really good. I can’t even remember the last cup I had.” she didn’t even bother with the cup and drank it straight from the thermos. “Wow! That’s strong coffee. I like Robby. You can tell a lot about a man from his coffee. Real men drink strong coffee.”

  “I prefer Turkish coffee myself. The place in Kansas city made it almost perfect.”

  “The hookah place?” she asked

  “Yeah. It was great.”

  “I would rather they left out the coffee grounds though. But it is good. I wish I had some. We would be so jittery after that,” she said wondering if Frank realized that she is just trying to get him to calm down faster.

  “I’m getting jittery just off Robby’s coffee.” He paused for a moment and realized his knees weren’t shaking anymore.

  “Thanks for the small talk. It really helped.” He shot her a smile then finished off his coffee.

  “You’re welcome, Frank,” she said smiling down at him.

  Robby walked back out of the house and handed Frank the pillow. “It’s the fluffiest one I have. Maybe you guys should get a tree stand.” He saw the lifeless bodies at the barn door. “Where did they come from?”

  “They were in the barn. Looks like they got to your chickens.”

  “Son of a bitch… Well, thanks for taking care of them.”

  “Thanks for the pillow. Anna is not going to be happy here in the next few hours. Think we will go with the tree stand idea.”

  “No problem. Have a good night,” Robby said as he turned and went back into the house.

  Frank threw the pillow up to Anna and she immediately put it underneath her.

  “So much better.
Thanks, Frank,” she said with an exaggerated sigh.

  “You’re very welcome. Anything to help your butt,” he said sarcastically.

  She giggled. “Why are you always thinking about my butt?”

  “How could I not? It’s a very nice butt.”

  She started laughing as quietly as she could.

  “I’m going to check on the others. I’ll just be at the side of the house so you can still see me. I’ll be right back. Ok?”

  “Be careful. I’ll scream if I need anything,” she said.

  Frank peeked around the corner of the house and Tommy was there taking a look around. Frank started walking around the corner.

  “Tommy,” Frank whispered.

  Tommy was startled and pointed his weapon at Frank. Frank raised his hands.

  “Oh shit! I wasn’t expecting anyone over here.”

  “Sorry about that. Just coming to check up on you. How are things going,” Frank asked as he put his arms back down hoping Tommy didn’t shoot him.

  “Boring. That was to be expected though. You?”

  “Had a run-in with some Biters in the barn,” Frank explained.

  “Holy shit! Guess you were right about the barn. You ok?”

  “Yeah. Just a little shaken up is all,” he said, already feeling the ache in his knees.

  “Yeah well, take it easy. You haven’t had much sleep. You’re not as fast as you usually are.”

  “I know. You sound like Anna,” Frank said trying to hold a chuckle back.

  “Smart girl. How many of them were there?”

  “Four. They got Robby’s chickens,” he said.

  “Damn. We should seal up that tomorrow,” Tommy said while looking off in the distance.

  “Agreed. I’m going to head back to Anna. Let me know if you need anything.”

  “Got it.”

  The next few hours went on uneventful. Frank had switched places with Anna. Anna was stretching when she got down.

  “Damn! My ass bone hurts,” she said while bending over to stretch.

  Frank couldn’t help but look at Anna’s ‘perfect ass’, as he describes it.

  “I’ve only been up here for a few minutes and I’m already feeling it.”

  Anna knelt down and picked up the coffee thermos.

  “Want some? There’s only enough for one of us,” she said shaking the metal container.

  “Drink it. The pain in my ass will keep me awake,” he grunted while trying to find a comfortable position. “Go and check on the others, would you please?”

  “Sure. Be right back.”

  She stopped at the corner of the house and eased herself around the corner. Nothing. She got to the front of the house and Steve was on top of the JERRV.

  “Hey, Steve.”

  Steve turned toward her and smiled. “Hey there. Coming to check up on us?”

  “Yeah. Where’s Tommy?”

  Tommy walked around the JERRV. “Right here. What’s up?”

  “Frank asked me to check on you two. Need anything,” she asked.

  “No, but I did want to talk to you. Steve and I were talking and we think Frank is going to burn himself out. We shouldn’t bother him tomorrow and just let him sleep. He will probably try to stay up tomorrow and help with everything. You know how he is.”

  “Yeah. I think we can take care of everything for one day. I will talk to him and see what he wants done tomorrow,” she explained.

  Tommy looked up at Steve. “Sound good to you, Steve?”

  “Yeah, as long as everything gets done. Just don’t let on what we are doing, ok?”

  “Ok, I’m going back. Be careful,” she said as she turned away.

  Frank was still up the tree looking around, trying to gather his thoughts. He wanted to tell Anna how he felt about her but he could never find the right time. ‘Is there a right time in the zombie apocalypse? Would there ever be a right time? Why did this have to happen on that day,’ he thought. Anna and Frank were supposed to have dinner the night that the ‘zombie apocalypse’ started. He mentally kicked himself in the ass for putting it off. He heard footsteps in the leaves behind him and turned, it was Anna coming back.

  ‘I’m going to have to put it off again…’ he thought.

  “How are they doing,” Frank asked.

  “They’re good. I wanted to ask, what will we be doing tomorrow?”

  “Well, we need to board up the first floor windows. Also with winter coming, we need to get the wood stove out of the barn and clean it. I think we may try to find a fifty-five gallon drum to put a small fire in so the JERRV guys won’t freeze. After that we need to set up the barn so we can lock it up at night. The rest is just getting things settled and making a schedule for the night and day watches,” Frank explained, almost too tired to think.

  “Sounds good, Frank,” she said hoping he couldn’t see the devious smile on her face.

  A few hours later, everyone started to wake up for the morning. Jim walked up to the tree to talk to Frank.

  “I guess I can take over for a while,” Jim called out.

  Frank climbed down the tree, hanging on to the harness just in case he fell. He was so tired that almost needed it. When he got down he looked at Jim to thank him.

  “Shit dude… You need to go get some sleep,” Jim said.

  “I look that bad, huh,” Frank asked with a tired groan.

  “Like shit frozen over,” Jim said, seeing the dark circles around his eyes.

  Frank grumbled.

  Anna came up behind him and put a hand gently on his back. “Come on, Frank. Let’s get some sleep.”

  “Yeah, Yeah…” Frank said trying to hold back his soured mood.

  When they got on the back porch, Robby met them at the door. “Bed on the right at the top of the stairs is all made up for you. Get some sleep.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Anna said, looking forward to the sleep to come.

  Robby looked at Frank with a smile.

  “Guess she didn’t get the memo about the ‘sir’ crap.” He looked at Anna, who didn’t get the joke. “It’s Robby, honey. None of that ‘sir’ shit. I work for a living.”

  Anna giggled. “Thank you, Robby.”

  “You’re quite welcome, sweetie.”

  Robby stepped aside and let them through. As they went inside Frank lost his balance as if he were drunk and nearly fell. Luckily, Anna was there to catch him.

  “Easy there, tough guy,” she said as she steadied him. “You ok?”

  “Yeah, thanks. It’s been a long time since I was this tired.”

  Robby noticed Frank’s stumble. “How long has it been since you’ve slept, son?”

  Frank looked back over his shoulder, trying to think. “Uh…about 4 days now.”

  “Holy shit! You should’ve burned out a long time ago,” he looked at Anna. “Hurry and get him upstairs. I’ll be up in a few minutes with some tea. It’ll help so he won’t feel like shit when he gets up.”

  As they made their way upstairs, they saw Kim and Isabelle were waiting for them at the top.

  “Mommy!”

  “Hi sweetie. Mommy’s going to go to bed.”

  Anna looked at Kim. “Could you keep an eye on her until I get up?”

  “Sure. You guys get some sleep,” Kim said with a smile.

  “Thanks.” She looked down at Isabelle. “You listen to Miss Kim, ok?”

  Her little head jerked up and down.

  Robby came up the stairs followed by Tommy and Steve.

  “Alright Frank, drink this.” He handed a cup of flowery tea to Frank and one to Anna. “I made one for you guys too. My wife used to make me this stuff when I was on night shift. Works wonders but tastes horrible.”

  Frank took a sip of the tea and was surprised at how bitter and fragrant it was.

  “Needs vodka.”

  Everyone started laughing. Frank tipped his cup up, drinking the last of it. He handed Robby back the cup. “Thanks, Robby. I think I will take a shower before I ge
t to bed.”

  “Probably a good Idea. I could use one, too,” Anna said.

  “Ladies first.”

  “Oh no, guy who needs sleep first,” she said as she pushed him gently toward the bathroom.

  “Ok, I’m going,” he said, playfully.

  After his shower, he put only his pants on and headed out the door to go to bed. Anna bumped into him in the hallway as she came out of the adjacent room.

  “Oh! Sorry, Frank,” she said, feeling embarrassed about touching Frank’s bare skin. She couldn’t help but look at Frank’s muscular, scarred body. Herself wearing a tank top that exposed her midsection and tight shorts.

  “My fault. Shower’s free. Wake me up when you do, ok?”

  Frank’s words were barely coherent. As tired as he was he couldn’t help but looking at her body. They awkwardly shuffled back and forth trying to let the other through. Finally Frank turned to let her pass, taking the chance to glance at her rear-end as she walked by.

  “See you in a few hours, Frank. Sweet dreams,” she said sweetly as she closed the door.

  Frank stood there for a moment, taking what just happened all in.

  ‘Did what just happen, happen or am I hallucinating,’ he thought as he went into the bedroom. He collapsed on the bed and immediately fell asleep with the picture of Anna fresh in his mind.

  As he woke, he noticed that it was still daylight out.

  ‘That can’t be right. I feel great,’ he thought.

  He decided not to worry about it. As he headed down stairs he noticed everyone but Jim and Kim at the table eating. When everyone saw him, they all stopped what they were doing, as if they’d seen a ghost.

  “What? Something on my face?”

  “We didn’t think you would ever get up,” Karen explained.

  “How long have I been out?”

  “About 24 hours. We had decided that you need to sleep as much as possible before you burned out. All a part of our fiendish plan,” Anna said as she put her plate in the sink.

  “Yeah. You looked like death yesterday,” Steve explained.

  “24 hours!? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have slept that long.”

  “Seriously? You’ve basically been keeping us alive for days. I think a day is a small price to pay,” Will said.