by Smith, I. J.
DEAD & ALIVE
THE BLACK ANGELS
BY
I.J. SMITH
COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.
All work is Copyright © I.J. Smith April 2017
I.J. Smith has asserted his moral rights
Cover illustrations by I.J. Smith, Copyright © April 2017
The Black Angels, names, characters and all related work is Copyright of I.J. Smith
DEDICATION
Just a simple thank you, for those who stood by me.
During this dark period in my life, I have been lost.
Somehow you all make it better.
TABLE OF CONTENT
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER ONE
CALM BEFORE THE STORM
The sounds of children playing and people laughing echoed around the large walls of the Fort. A place that once stood for pure evil, now was home to the former prisoners of the Preacher. It had been almost two month since Jack and his people took over and the place looked so different. It was as if the sun was shining directly over the Fort.
Outside the main gates, across the bridge there was now a large metal gate. On the wall above the main gates, Ryan was working hard. There were two large metal tubes poking over the wall. Suddenly flames blew out though the air.
“HELL YEAH!!” Ryan screamed out.
The sound of applause echoed out. People cheered at the brilliant work that Ryan had been doing to build a defense for the Fort. For weeks, he had been working so hard, extending the number of solar panels and even erecting three wind turbines. This supplied plenty of power; the generators were now there for emergency use only.
Because of all the noise, Raven walked out from a large room that was now Banks’ laboratory. Jack had been true to his word and found the equipment Banks needed to continue his work. Jack gave Banks only two rules to work by; ‘Never lie to me,’ and the most important, ‘No damn Zombies in the lab.’
There were now benches and tables scattered around inside the Fort. Fake grass covered a large corner of the ground. Raven looked over to see Jack and Jennifer playing chess on a bench.
Raven began to walk over to them, thinking of the efforts Jack had put into making this a home. He had been spending a lot of time with Jennifer since Bray left. As she walked closer and stepped on the fake grass, she laughed to herself. She remembered when Jack and Ryan were looking through a large Home Store. She thought they only went in to get supplies for Ryan to make a flame thrower and remembered them driving back in a huge truck filled with all these bits.
As she reached Jack, she heard him laughing with Jennifer. “No! You beat me again?” He joked with Jennifer. Many times, Raven had noticed Jack was losing on purpose, she figured it was his way of taking Jennifer’s mind off the horror she saw here. All the kids in the Fort now wore clean clothes, and were well fed. Rain was even having classes to teach them.
Raven reached the bench and sat down next to Jack. “Oops, looks like I am in trouble!” He remarked to Jennifer as he smiled as Raven.
Raven placed her head on his shoulder. Over the past months, they had grown closer, not to the point of being a couple, but to being on the verge. She looked at the smile on his face and knew for now that he was at peace.
Raven whispered to Jack making sure Jennifer could not hear. “Remember Adam, Zoe, and Sarah are going south soon!” Jack suddenly kissed her on the forehead. “Thank you!” He whispered back.
“Jenny, I need to go work for a while. You going to be OK?” He asked.
Jennifer smiled wide and nodded. She quickly jumped up and ran towards some other kids that were playing nearby.
“You’re really good with her!” Raven stated.
“I promised Bray.”
Raven stood up. “Oh, also Tommy is ready to unveil his work at the celebration tonight!”
Jack stood and began walking with her. “What are we celebrating exactly?” He asked.
“Liberation, everyone you saved from Gabe and his disciples want to thank you.”
Jack shook his head. “I hate parties; besides it wasn’t just me.”
“No, it was all of us, as you keep telling everyone. But you’re the leader, they look up to you. You changed this place. It’s a home now., for all of us,” Raven told him gently.
“Anyway, have you got an idea what Tommy is working on?”
She shook her head. “Not a clue.”
“I told you what happened last week right?” Jack asked her.
She simply looked confused.
“Well, I tried to have a look under all that tarpaulin; Tommy threw a stone at me!”
Raven burst out laughing. “What?”
“Honestly, he chased me away!” They both continued to laugh, as they walked towards the area where the cars were parked.
Adam was already loading a small green car; Zoe and Sarah were standing behind him talking.
“You know, if you wanna help, you can!” Adam said sarcastically.
Zoe and Sarah smiled. “But you’re doing such a great job!” Zoe replied with a smile.
Adam grumbled under his breath as Jack and Raven approached them.
Loud clapping came from Jack. “So, which of you beautiful ladies want to stay here, and let me go instead?”
“NOPE!” Zoe and Sarah said in unison.
Zoe walked over to Jack and pinched the cheeks on his face. “And deprive every one of the guest of honor tonight?”
“I hate you!” Jack joked with her.
As Raven stayed and talked with Sarah and Zoe, Jack approached Adam. He pulled Adam to one side, out of ear-shot of the others. “Stick to the map,” Jack told him.
“Jack, it has been months since we heard anything from Groves or Oasis!” Adam protested.
Jack grabbed Adam’s arm tightly. “I am serious! Stick to the route we planned. First sign of trouble and you head back immediately!”
Adam smiled. “We’re only out for a few hours, we should be back by midnight.”
As Adam walked away, he quickly asked Jack, “Anything you want us to bring you back?”
Jack just walked away shaking his head. “Yeah, some peanuts!” Jack said with a laugh. He noticed Ryan had joined the women. Zoe had her arms around him, sharing a passionate kiss.
Raven glanced at Jack and gave a small smile. Sarah noticed and spoke. “Right, come on give me a hug. We need to go!” Raven embraced her friend.
Adam hit the horn of the car, “Come on!” Zoe kissed Ryan one more time. Sarah shouted out as she climbed in the car. “Enjoy the party!”
Paige came running towards them and began barking at the car. Sarah opened the door and Paige jumped straight in.
Jack and Raven stood watching as the main gates were opened, at the second gate Kat was preparing to open them. The car drove off, the gates closing behind them.
∞
Several miles south, along the waterfront. There stood several Naval warehouses and Officers. They looked out over Gosport Harbor, for centuries it was home to the once great British Nava
l Fleet. It was surrounded by water and a thirty-foot wall where there was no water. It was a perfect place to remain safe from the Zombies.
The old Naval yard was actually rather busy. Small boats were moored up, a group of people dressed in orange overalls were unloading supplies of food and medical supplies on to a truck.
The people moving the supplies looked dirty; they were bruised and battered, as they were prisoners.
Guards dressed in black fatigues and carrying rifles, kept watch over the entire operation.
There was a large black warehouse behind them all. Inside, the entire warehouse was empty, except for large white board in the center, with several chairs in front. There were three table covered with guns, explosives, and computer equipment.
Several people were sitting around in the chairs, dressed in black body armor. They were chatting between themselves. Suddenly, a door opened and in walked a short haired blonde woman in a pure white dress, her high heels echoed throughout the warehouse. With her walked a bald man, who also wore body armor and a man who was missing his right arm.
The bald man spoke, “Miss Evans, meet the Black Angels. The meanest bastards you will ever meet!”
She gave a hint of a smile as she walked over to a table and picked up a file. “Captain Chambers, perhaps you can help Mr. Groves find a seat?”
Chambers chuckled. “I don’t need any help.” Groves said in reply.
Miss Evans pinned two picture to the board. One was a male and the other a female. As some of the group of people were talking; Chamber shouted out. “OK! SHUT IT!”
The Black Angels went quiet, strictly listening to the orders of their Captain. Chambers sat on the edge of one of the tables. Groves looked around, with no seats available; the Black Angels all looked at him with smirks on their faces.
“OK, LISTEN UP!” Miss Evans shouted out.
She pointed to the picture of the woman on the board. “This is Samantha Jenkins. She is a high-profile target, right now we have no intelligence on her whereabouts or even if she is still alive.” She paused for a moment as she pointed at the picture of the male. “Now this is your target; former Special Air Service Operative, Jack Mason!” She was stopped when the Angels gasped.
“Perhaps this would be a good time for you to takeover,” She told Chambers. He stood up and walked over to the board.
“Please, call me Ricky. The Black Angels are a family, we work on a first name basis.” Miss Evan simply nodded, not giving her first name.
“First I would like to introduce my team. My second, Sara Backhouse.” Ricky spoke as a short haired blonde woman raised her hand. “Then we have my explosives expert, Tom Callan. If you need it taken down, he is the best!” A short haired man with a mustache raised his hand. “Tonya Mann, can kill just about anyone with anything.” A long red headed woman smiled. “Brothers Andy and Daniel Freeman, they speak about two words of English. But are really good at killing!” Both brothers raised their hands. Miss Evans noticed both were bald and had identical scars across their faces.
“And finally, we have a true psychopath. Meyers!” Miss Evans frowned. “Meyers what?” she asked.
“Just Meyers!” Ricky replied. Miss Evans looked at the man, he had long greasy hair and eyes as black as night.
Ricky smiled. “These are the legendary Black Angels!” He said with his arms spread out.
Groves sniggered as he stood to the side. Ricky noticed, but ignored it.
“The brief!” Miss Evans said.
Ricky pointed to the picture of Jack. “Now, we have all heard the stories. I know we have all heard of him. This man is our target and you’d better show him respect!” Ricky stopped talking as Groves burst out laughing.
Ricky glared at Grove. “And what is so funny?”
Groves was still laughing as he spoke in reply. “Respect, there is no respect for a man like that!”
Ricky shuffled his feet as he pondered whether to kill Groves, or not. Ricky suddenly punched a hole clear through the board.
Groves knew he was pressing Ricky’s buttons. “Hell, I don’t respect him and captured him without firing a shot!”
“You’re a fucking retard!” Ricky muttered.
Ricky turned to face Groves with a smile. “You captured him, you tortured him, and you learned nothing. In fact, he learned what he needed to know about you!” Groves expression changed. “When you caught him, there was a bus full of survivors. Full of children.” Ricky laughed. “That is why you captured him, only because he allowed you to. He simply protected his people!”
Ricky stepped towards Groves. “Because, you fucktard, Jack is a man who not only deserves respect, he gets it! Thinking you can torture answers from him just shows me that YOU are an IDIOT!”
Groves went to speak, but Ricky raised his hand, stopping him.
“I’m not finished! You may have read a few mission statements about him, but you know nothing!” Ricky pointed at the photo of Jenkins. “She, this woman right here.” He tapped the photo. “She destroyed most his file before she vanished. She tried to hide him from Oasis, for a very good reason.”
Groves stammered. “Annnd..What is that?”
Ricky turned to the Black Angels. “Tell him!” He yelled at them.
Sara Backhouse stood up. “I first heard of Mason seven years ago, there was a terror cell running out of a London address. They had information on a planned attack, Jack was sent to handle it. The things he did to them, you could not even imagine in your worst nightmares!” Sara stated and sat back down.
Meyers suddenly stood up. “I had heard of him. I met him and he gave me this.“ He lifted his shirt up to reveal a scar that ran down his entire torso. “And I want to meet him again!”
The warehouse was silent for a moment.
“There are a thousand of stories about Jack. But all I care about is our current situation!” Miss Evans said, to get things back on track.
“The mission is this, we break him! We break Jack Mason!” Ricky stated.
“And how do you plan on doing that?” Groves asked.
Ricky smiled. “By taking everything away from him!”
Ricky stood looking at Groves for a moment. “Miss Evans has supplied us with some intelligence. Jack has sent a team south, one to look for certain supplies and the second to recon the area. I guess looking for Oasis movement!”
Grove walked towards Ricky.
“How do you know this?”
Miss Evans stood up. “We have a source within Jack’s inner circle. They supplied us with the information.”
“Who? Are they reliable? How do we know they are not setting you up?” Groves asked.
Miss Evans smiled. “All good questions. The source is none of yours or The Black Angels’ concern. The source is working on a different project for us and their closeness to Jack is just a bonus. Trust me this person will do whatever I tell them to!”
Miss Evans began to walk away.
“Captain Chambers, get your team ready!” She shouted back.
CHAPTER TWO
PARTY
As the zombies roamed around the moat that surrounded the Fort, the lights were flashing in the Fort. The sound of music echoed out, attracting the dead to roam and fall into the water.
The soothing music was Country and Western, it made Jack cringe as he approached Kat.
“Turn it down!” He ordered.
Kat shook her head. “Not tonight, this is the one night where we get to forget!”
Raven approached them, she held two mugs with wine in them. She handed one to Jack. “Here, enjoy the damn party!”
He looked into the mug. The red thick liquid looked more like blood. “Where the hell did you find this?”
Raven smiled. “Probably best not to ask!” Jack locked eyes with her, she gave him a little smile, biting her lip. Kat was quick to notice and spoke. “Think I will check up on Tommy!” She walked away.
Jack took a drink and cringed at the taste. “Oh God! I think we once u
sed this to clean out the septic tanks!” He joked.
Raven screwed up her nose at the thought of drinking it. She glanced over at a far side wall, she noticed Craig painting. “You know, he should be enjoying the party!”
Jack glanced over his shoulder. “He likes to work.”
Raven looked at him. “Or maybe he is just trying to make amends with you. Since we took the Fort he has worked harder than most to make it a home. I think he just wants your approval.” “I think he wants to show you, that he is not a bad guy!” She added.
Jack sighed and shook his head as he walked away from Raven and towards Craig.
Covered in white paint, he pushed the roller up the wall. Covering the once blood spattered wall with gleaming clean paint. Jack approached Craig from behind.
“Oi!” Jack shouted. Craig spun round shocked, he dropped the roller on the ground. “Shit!” He remarked.
As Craig stumbled to pick up the roller, Jack spoke out. “Not sure if you have noticed, but there is a party going on around us!”
Craig glanced around him, he could see people laughing and dancing. He gave out a little chuckle. “I just need to finish this first.” He smiled.
As Craig dipped the roller in the white paint, Jack grabbed it from his hand and dropped it to the ground again. Jack stared into Craig’s eyes, placing his arm around his shoulder. Jack began to guide Craig away from the wall.
“I gave you a hard time because when I looked into your eyes, I could see you were scared and lost. Trying to be a big hard man, but the truth is you’re not!” Jack said as Craig frowned at Jack’s words.
Jack smiled at him. “You know, I did not mean that in a bad way. Since you stopped trying so hard, you have now earned my respect!” Jack told Craig as he held his hand out in friendship. Craig had a wide smile as he shook Jack’s hand. “Now, go enjoy the party!”
As Craig walked away, Raven walked passed Jack, giving him a wink.
“You look drunk!” Jack told her. He looked into her glazed over eyes. She had a smirk on her face, Jack lost himself in her dark eyes. She began to move closer to him, she leaned into him, about to press her lips against his. When suddenly Kat surprised them.