Dead & Alive (Book 1): Survive

by Smith, I. J

They helped him to his feet, Jack started to move backwards when Frank shouted at him, “Careful,” Jack turned just in time to see a Zombie launch itself at him.

  “What the fuck,” he shouted.

  He stepped away from the Zombie; he noticed it was chained to the wall. “They have a fucking pet Zombie, any other time, that would be strange,” Jack said.

  He walked over to the opposite wall, and slid down the wall to the ground. Frank and Bray joined him.

  “Josh?” Bray asked.

  “No,” Jack replied looking down.

  They all went quiet. “Do you know if Elle and the kids are OK?” Frank asked.

  “They have them,” Jack replied.

  “How did they get you?” Jack asked.

  “We found soldier’s uniforms covered in blood, we guessed they were not in charge. We were about to come after you when they sneaked up on us” Frank replied.

  “I see you both put up a fight,” Jack replied, indicating the marks on their faces.

  “We tried, there were too many,” Jack replied.

  Jack sighed, touching his head to check if it was still bleeding. “Are you OK Jack?” Frank asked.

  Jack looked lost in thought, “I’m going to kill them all,” Jack, replied. He looked up to see the Zombie pulling at his chains trying to get to them.

  “Any of you notice that Zombie is wearing a military uniform,” Jack observed.

  Back in the basement where the team found refuge, the boarded up door was now open. A torch still sat on the floor lighting up the room.

  The metal door the team escaped through was rattling; the hinges broke off from the door. Falling through was a single Zombie, a half-rotted mutilated corpse got back to its feet and began to walk.

  The Zombie walked through the open door the team went through, dragging its rotting feet through the thick dust, walking over the footprints left behind.

  It kept moving through the hall and then the room until it noticed blood. Josh’s body still on the ground, a small gasp of air came from Josh, he was still barely alive. The Zombie slumped down beside Josh and sank its teeth into Josh’s face.

  Elle was now tied up and placed with the other prisoners. Clare and Joe had regained consciousness and were also tied to the wall. Joe cried as Clare tried to comfort him. Elle looked at Clare, “Are they the soldiers?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Clare replied.

  “NOOO!” a man said, interrupting them.

  Elle looked over to see a man who had been badly beaten. He was dressed in blood stained rags, his hair and beard was overgrown.

  “Who are you?” Elle asked him.

  “Private Ryan Garrett,” he replied.

  “You’re a soldier? “She asked.

  “My Section was left behind after the evacuation; we helped survivors and fortified this place. I wish I had died in the outbreak. Some of the people we saved were animals, eventually they took over. The things I have seen, Murder, rape, blood so much blood. They posed as soldiers to tempt in new survivors,” Ryan replied.

  Elle looked at the broken man, “Where is the rest of your team?” she asked.

  “All dead, except for me,” he told her. Elle looked around the other survivors; she counted twenty including the kids.

  Alina entered the room, Ryan lowered his head and moved, she walked over to Elle, “You, I need to know how you got here?” she demanded to know.

  Elle laughed, “Go to hell,” she replied.

  “Sweetie, we’re already in hell. So tell me or I am going to feed you to the dead,” she told Elle.

  “Go ahead, anything is better than looking at your fucked up face,” Elle replied in anger looking at her broken nose.

  Alina smiled, “We will see if you feel the same after Harvey has had a chance to break you in,” Alina laughed and walked away.

  “You should not aggravate The Boss like that,” Ryan told her. Elle thought of Jack, and hoped he was OK.

  Jack was standing in front of the chained Zombie; he was just out of reach from it. “Jack, what are you looking at?” Frank asked him.

  “The uniform, we’re not facing soldiers, we’re facing scum,” he replied.

  Bray looked at Frank with concern, “Err. Jack, how does that help us?” Bray asked.

  Jack turned to his two friends, “To kill evil you must become evil,” he stated. Bray and Frank sat there in silence, worried Jack had lost his mind.

  Someone unlocked the door, as it opened Frank and Bray stood up. Three men with guns walked in, “sit down all of you,” one of the men told them. Jack laughed.

  “You think this is funny,” the man told him.

  The man with the gun walked over to Jack and hit him in the stomach with his gun. Jack bent over in pain, but did not go down.

  “STOP!” a female voice shouted. Alina walked in, “Jack... now... now play nice,” she smiled. Alina walked into the room, “I think we should talk,” she told them.

  Frank looked at her, “Who are you?” he asked her.

  “The Boss,” she replied.

  “She killed Josh,” Jack interrupted.

  Bray moved towards her, when one of the men hit him. Bray hit the ground, blood flowed from his mouth.

  “Nope, Jack got close and did this,” she said while pointed to her nose.

  “So no one else is allowed,” she smiled. “Bray, don’t worry. I’m going to kill that bitch,” Jack told him.

  “I see now, you’re not in the mood to cooperate. So I will go ask your female friend again,” she told them. Alina started to walk out of the door when she stopped and turned back, “I don’t think we need them anymore,” she told her men and walked away.

  One of the men approached Jack, “Any last words,” he asked Jack.

  “You have pretty eyes,” Jack replied.

  The man laughed, as Frank helped Bray back to his feet. The man stood closer to Jack, “Take a good look,” he told Jack.

  “Can I have them?” Jack asked calmly.

  The man laughed aloud again. Jack grabbed the man’s face, the two other men shouted, “Let him go,” Jack looked to them, and Frank and Bray grabbed hold of the men, wrestling them to the ground. Frank hit the man’s head into the ground; Bray punched the man repeatedly until he stopped moving.

  They grabbed the men’s weapons and looked at Jack. He still had a grip on the man’s face, Jack squeezed his thumbs into the man’s eyes, and blood gushed out, his eyes popped like cherries popping in your mouth. The man fell to the ground screaming. Bray and Frank looked at Jack as he wiped his hand on his vest.

  Jack took the man’s weapon and then helped him to his feet, “Are you hungry?” Jack asked.

  “WHAT!” The man screamed in pain.

  “I’m not talking to you,” Jack told him as he threw him into the path of the Zombie. Jack watched as the Zombie ripped into the man’s flesh. The sound of agony echoed in the room.

  Bray stepped forward with a gun to shoot the man. Jack grabbed Bray’s gun and stopped him, “Let him suffer,” Jack told Bray. “Let’s go.” Jack told them.

  Jack walked out the room. Frank and Bray watched as the Zombie ripped the flesh from its victim, “What was that?” asked Bray.

  “I don’t know, but we should go,” Frank replied, they both rushed out the door to catch up with him.

  They all had their weapons raised; they walked into the room where Josh was killed. A puddle of blood was still on the floor, “this is where they killed Josh,” Jack told them, indicating the place where his body was.

  He started moving towards the room where he had last seen Elle. Jack moved towards the double doors, not caring, he just kicked the door open and walked in. Two men stood by the table; Jack gave no warning and opened fire.

  Killing the two men instantly, He turned to look at the people tied to the wall, he looked through the survivors. There she was, “Elle” Jack shouted. He ran over to her and untied her from the wall, Bray and Frank started helping the others. They untied Clare and
Joe, Joe hugged Bray. After untying her hands, Elle put her arms around Jack.

  He held her tight. “Jack we need to move,” Frank told him.

  He stroked Elle’s cheek, wiping blood away, “Not yet,” Jack replied and stood up. “I owe someone a promise,” Jack said as he walked towards the doors.

  Frank ran to him and grabbed his arm, “Jack, we should go,” Frank told him. “I won’t be long,” Jack replied.

  “THAT’S AN ORDER!” Frank shouted.

  Jack carried on walking, “Good luck with that,” Jack muttered. Frank walked back into the room. “We need to make a stand here,” he told everyone. Frank closed the doors behind him.

  Jack walked along a long corridor; he could hear talking at the far end. He walked towards the noise, before he reached the room a big fat man walked out. “Hello Harvey,” Jack said smiling.

  “Oh shit,” Harvey shouted as he ran back in the room. A man appeared with a gun and started shooting, Jack ran to the side against the wall. Jack shot back, shooting the man in the knees, he screamed as he hit the floor. Jack ran to the man, standing over him, he pointed his gun at the man’s head, “Boo,” Jack sounded out to the man before shooting him in the head.

  Jack turned and walked back to the office, “HARVEY! HARVEY!” Jack shouted.

  He moved back to the room and walked in, “Harvey, I can see your fat ass,” Jack told him. Harvey was hiding behind a desk in the room.

  “Please, don’t kill me, I’m sorry,” Harvey begged.

  “What are you sorry for Harvey, killing people, raping women, raping children?” Jack replied.

  Harvey started to cry, as he stood up. Jack put his gun down; he walked over to Harvey and smiled as he punched him in the throat. Jack grabbed Harvey and dragged him out the office; he threw him against the wall and punched him repeatedly in the face.

  Harvey face was bleeding heavily, his nose was broken and bent, and his eye had swollen over. Jack hit him so hard a couple of teeth dropped out of Harvey’s mouth and landed on the floor. Jack held Harvey up, refusing to let him fall down. Harvey cried out, Jack noticed Harvey pissing himself.

  “Oh, Harvey,” Jack said.

  He pushed Harvey to the ground; Jack then kicked him repeatedly in the groin.

  “Time to die Harvey,” Jack told him. He turned to get his gun, when a gunshot sounded out and hit Jack in the vest. Jack fell against the wall. Harvey started to drag himself away.

  Jack looked to see Alina walking out the room, she had her gun held high pointed at Jack. “You’re ruining everything,” she told him. She was about to shoot when Harvey started screaming again.

  She turned to look to see a Zombie ripping Harvey’s stomach apart, pulling internal organs out and chewing on them. Alina tried to shoot it, but missed. The Zombie looked at Alina and stood up and started moving towards her. Alina shot again and still missed, she was now out of ammo. She shouted “SHIT!” and ran back in the room.

  The Zombie turned to Jack, as it moved towards him, Jack recognized it, and “Josh, I’m so sorry” he said as he got to his feet. He looked at Josh and noticed a chunk had been ripped from his face, at that moment he knew the dead were in the museum.

  Zombie Josh tried to grab Jack, but he moved. He pushed the Zombie away, Jack pulled a fire extinguisher from the wall, “Rest in Peace my friend,” Jack told it as he hit the Zombie in the head.

  The Zombie fell down to the floor, Jack raised the fire extinguisher and hit it repeatedly in the head, the skull crushed, blood sprayed over the floor.

  Dropping the blood soaked extinguisher, Jack turned back to the office. He kicked the door open, no one was inside. The door at the other side was shut, but the window was open. Jack looked out the window; he could see the boards that once covered the windows on the ground. He looked outside just in time see Alina running away into the darkness.

  Frank was helping the survivors; Bray was guarding the door.

  Elle walked over to Frank, “Where’s Jack?” she asked him.

  “Letting some anger out,” he replied.

  “We should help him,” she replied.

  “I don’t think he wants help,” Frank told her.

  Bray shouted out, “He’s back,” Jack walked through the door.

  Elle noticed Jack’s hands, they were bruised and bloodied. “How did it go?” Bray asked him, Jack was silent and continued walking into the room.

  Elle walked towards Jack, “Hey, you OK?” she asked.

  He looked at her, but stayed silent. Jack looked around the room, looking at the survivors still half-dressed and bleeding.

  “They need food,” Jack spoke out. He walked away from Elle, and sat down alone in the corner. Elle looked at him, thinking he looked lost.

  CHAPTER SIX

  SWARM

  Jack sat in the corner of the room alone, he had not moved since he returned. The others were concerned about him, Elle and Frank both tried talking to him, but got no response. Bray was helping the survivors; he was handing out food he collected from the other room.

  Private Ryan Garrett walked over to Frank; he stood in front of him and saluted. “Not necessary,” Frank said.

  Frank offered his hand, Ryan shook his hand. “Elle told me about your team, I am sorry,” Frank told him.

  Ryan looked emotional, “We just wanted to help,” he replied.

  “I promise, people will know what you all did here,” Frank reassured him.

  “Thank you, for saving us,” Ryan told him.

  “I wish I could take the credit, but it was all down to Jack,” Frank replied, with concern in his voice. Frank looked over to Jack; he could see Elle trying once again to speak to him.

  Elle had approached Jack; she was holding a bottle of water and a cloth. “Mind if I sit down,” she asked. Jack did not reply. She sat down next to him anyway, she handed him the water and for the first time he spoke, “I’m not thirsty,” he whispered.

  Elle moved closer, “It’s not to drink,” she replied. She opened the bottle and poured some water on the cloth; she reached out and took his hand. She rubbed the cloth over the bloodstains.

  Jack looked up, “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  Elle started to hold his hand, “You have nothing to be sorry about, they had it coming,” she replied.

  Jack whispered again, “No, I’m sorry I couldn’t prevent him hurting you.”

  Elle started to tear up, “Hey, he didn’t do anything. He never got the chance, thanks to you,” she told him; a tear began to roll down her cheek.

  Jack reached out and wiped the tear from her face, “Don’t cry,” he told her, she smiled pushing her face into his hand.

  “We need you, the only chance we have to survive this, is with you,” she told him. Jack looked up and giggled to himself.

  “How’s your foot?” he asked.

  Elle laughed, “Bloody painful,” she told him with a smile.

  Jack stood up, he helped Elle to her feet, “I should talk to Frank,” he told her.

  Bray had finished handing out some food and water; he found Clare and Joe sitting alone. Clare’s face was still bloodied; the fat man had hit her hard and made a nasty cut above her eye.

  “You want me to look at that?” he asked Clare.

  Joe looked up with a smile on his face, Bray noticed a bruise forming on his cheek, and he was still disgusted that anyone could do this to kids. “No, it’s fine,” Clare said in a sheepish voice.

  Bray knelt down in front of her, “They cannot hurt you now, I promise,” he told her in an attempt to comfort her.

  “Did you find the others?” she asked him. Bray looked confused, “Others, what others?” he asked.

  Joe interrupted, “The other kids,” he told him.

  “Other kids!” he spoke out, shocked.

  Bray jumped to his feet and run to Frank, “Frank, there’s more kids here somewhere,” he told him.

  Frank looked as shocked as Bray was, Frank turned his attention to Ryan, he walked o
ver to him and gestured him away from the other survivors. “Are there more kids here?” Frank asked.

  “They kept the children separate,” Ryan told him.

  “Shit,” he sounded out. Frank looked around the room looking for Jack; he was still standing with Elle.

  Frank ran over to him, “Jack, there’s more kids here.”

  He told him. “We need to find them, now!” Jack told him.

  Frank, Bray and Jack were going to look for the missing kids, “Elle, you’re in charge,” Frank told her.

  “Find them,” she replied.

  The three men walked out of the room, closing the doors behind them. They started to walk when the door reopened behind them, Ryan walked out the door, “I can help,” he told them.

  “Come on,” Frank told him.

  They approached the room where they were held with the chained Zombie, “We should deal with that,” Jack said, as the Zombie groaned and the chains rattled.

  Jack and Bray entered the room, the Zombie was pulling on its chains, on the floor the man who tried to kill Jack had now changed into a Zombie himself. Jack looked at the ravaged living corpse on the floor, it could not stand. Its legs were torn apart; Jack stared, as the Zombie tried to drag itself towards him.

  Bray noticed the look on Jack’s face; he had the look of guilt. “You had no choice,” Bray told him.

  “I could have just killed him, I didn’t have to feed him to a fucking Zombie,” Jack replied. Bray stepped forward, pulling out his sidearm, he aimed at the Zombie on the floor and shot it clean in the head, he then raised his gun to the chained Zombie, he shot it in the head the back of the Zombie’s head exploded sending blood and brain residue against the back wall.

  “Thanks Bray” Jack told him.

  Frank and Ryan were still out in the hall, a constant banging noise started to sound. Jack came out of the room, “Where is that coming from?” he asked.

  He looked around the hall and then back into the room, he looked to the floor, and something was missing. “What happened to the two men you guys put down?” Jack asked.

  “They were right there,” Frank told him.

  “Did you kill them?” he replied.

  “We just knocked them out and took their weapons,” Frank told him.