by Smith, I. J.
A man with long greasy haired appeared behind the scar faced guy. Jack frowned for a moment. He recognized this man as Chambers; The Butcher.
Chambers stepped forward. “So, what do you prefer, Jack or Reaper?”
“Call me Sally for all I give a shit!” Jack replied
Turning his head, Jack could now see a red dot on the back of Ryan’s head. He glanced up at the building behind him. A long haired, red-headed woman waved at him as she held her sniper rifle. Jack laughed to himself.
“Dead-man’s trap!” He muttered.
“I’m going to call you ‘Reaper’, you deserve it. Also, you’re right, you walked straight into a Dead-man’s trap!” The Butcher told him.
“Well Butcher, gonna kill me and get it over with?” Jack replied
The long greasy haired man stepped forward, but The Butcher stopped him from approaching Jack. “Meyers, not now!”
Jack smiled. “Meyers, why does that ring a bell?”
“Aww fuck it!” The Butcher replied.
“You two met in 2012,” The Butcher told Jack.
Jack laughed out loud.
The Butcher stepped forward. “You remember! That’s good. Because there are things I want to know from you.” He paused, “But first, there are three more with you?”
Jack stepped face to face with The Butcher, “One she is bleeding out, one is trying to stop her from bleeding and the other you beat within an inch of his death.”
“OK! We can leave them be for now!” The Butcher circled Jack. “Reaper! I just love that name. Now, beg for your friend’s lives.”
“NO!” Jack shouts.
The Butcher looked annoyed. “I don’t give shit anymore. I am tired of babysitting. I got a young girl here.” Jack pointed at Kat. “She thinks I’m her damn brother, hooked onto to me like fish.” Then he pointed at Ryan. “And this fucking idiot wants to fight you all.”
The Butcher looked even more surprised.
“2012? What did you do?” The Butcher asked.
“I used a really fine cheese grater to grate someone’s nose off. Do you know an eyeball can pop with pus? In fact, his name was Meyers too.” Jack smiled at the greasy haired Meyers.
Before the Butcher could react, Meyers pulled a blade and ran it across Jack’s chest. It cut him, but not deep. Jack laughed, “Is that payback for your brother or you?” Jack smiled, “Yeah I remember slicing you open as you escaped.”
Jack rubbed his hand across his chest, the blood was flowing slowly.
The Butcher stepped forward towards The Reaper. “What happened after London 2012? You vanished for all those years. You only showed up again when you killed that Military Intelligence Officer.”
“I took a vacation, decided to spend some time in hell. Met the Devil and let him know I was coming soon.” Jack replied.
The Butcher grew angry and punched Jack in the face. With his nose bleeding, Jack licked the blood. “Wanna play, Bitch?”
The Butcher dropped his gun.
The Reaper rushed at The Butcher, taking him off his feet. Jack punched Chambers in the face repeatedly. Chambers locked his arm around Jack and head-butted him. Rolling to his feet, Jack punched Chambers in the ribs. Jack then pulled Chambers’ head down and kneed him in the face. Chambers grabbed Jack round the waist and crushed Jack’s back into a wall. As Jack dropped down to his knees, Chambers kicked him in the face. Both men were tired and bleeding. The snipers on the rood fired at their feet. “We don’t have time for this!” Backhouse yelled out.
“Spoilsport!” The Butcher muttered.
Meyers, Daniel, and Cullen walked over and forced Kat and Ryan to their knees.
With a smile, Jack joked. “Guess it’s time to die.”
There was a massive white lorry blocking the road. From the top of the lorry the sound of metal chains and squeaking wheels. Jack watched as Zoe was lowered in from the side of the lorry. She was chained to metal bars that were covered in long metal wires and barbed wire. Jack noticed the blocks of C4 on her body. He looked at her face, half of it missing. Guilt hit Jack hard; she had been tortured the same way he did to the terrorist in 2012.
Jack noticed Ryan try to rush for her. He pushed Chambers aside and wrestled Ryan to the ground. “She’s wired!” He whispered in Ryan’s ear. Jack held him down on the ground and whispered, “Stay down!”
Jack stood up and faced Chambers.
“It’s just a game Reaper. Just a game!” Chambers says with a smirk
“Oasis never listened! I told them, I know nothing about the damn box!” Jack told him.
The Butcher smiled. “Jack, they don’t care anymore. They just want you dead!”
Jack looked around at Zoe again, he heard her speak to Ryan. “I love you!” She said before she looked at Jack.
“I’m gonna kill you!” Jack told Chambers.
The Butcher laughed, “With what? You have nothing left. No power!”
Jack looked again at Zoe.
“Butcher, you really think you have power.” Chambers frowned. “Only one person here has the power.”
“Enlighten me, Reaper. After all, your power got your friend Eddie eaten!” This remark made Jack think one word in his mind. ‘Traitor!’
“When I came back to this country, the Zombies roamed. Some survivors took to the belief that they had power too. But I took it from them and I am gonna take it from you!” The Reaper walked towards Zoe.
“I met this beautiful red head, and she proved to be stronger than most soldiers I ever met. She is a fighter. She is my friend. Most of all, she has all the power!”
Zoe with her one eye winked at Jack.
Suddenly Zoe screamed out, regardless of the pain. “I FIGHT WITH THE REAPER!”
Ryan screamed “No!”
Zoe pulled her arms free, setting off the trip wires and exploding the bombs. Sending Jack, Ryan and the others flying across the street. The flames flew out knocking Chambers from his feet.
“TO THE ROOF!” Chambers ordered his people. Chambers, Cullen, Meyers, and Daniel disappeared through the same door they had appeared from.
The flames roared as debris fell; Ryan was covered in shrapnel, as was Jack. Both men lay bleeding. Jack looked up to see Kat was lying unconscious on the street.
On the roof, Chambers appeared. Sara was about to open fire when he stopped her. He waved at Mann, not to fire. “We don’t need to do a damn thing.” Chambers muttered.
The sound of the explosion was like a beacon to the dead, the other end of the street suddenly became filled with the dead; all approaching them. Jack could barely move. The Zombies grew closer, one dropped down in front of Kat.
Chambers stood in shock at what he saw.
Jack got to his feet, the flames roaring behind him. “Reaper!” Chambers yelled; Jack looked like a true patron of Hell.
“That’s impossible; no one could get up from that!” Sara says.
Jack pulled his machetes and sliced through the head of the Zombie hovering over Kat. Dozens of the dead approached and Jack was a one man killing machine. He sliced his machetes through the air; protecting his fallen friends. Heads flew through the air, the blood sprayed covering Jack.
Sara aimed her gun at Jack. “Take the shot!” Chambers ordered.
Jack rammed his machete into the head of a Zombie, a rush of wind passed his ear as a bullet hit the Zombie. He turned to look up at Chambers and the others; suddenly his body was covered in red dots.
“Come on!” He screamed.
The echo of gun fire behind him rained down from the opposite roof. A small army truck reversed up to Jack’s location. From the back Tommy jumped down with a machine gun, throwing a spare one to Jack. Immediately the dead began to fall, but Jack focused all his gunfire on the roof. Jacob rushed out followed by Craig, Taylor, and Brian. All armed and fighting the dead.
“Quick,” Jack pointed to the building where Raven and Adam were. “In there, get the injured on-board.”
The gunfight continu
ed, Tommy swept Kat up into his arms and got her on the truck. Ryan was forced up by Jacob and thrown onboard. With everyone else safely on the truck; Jacob reloaded his gun and stood beside Jack. “Where is Zoe?” Jacob asked.
“Gone!” A simple reply.
Jack continued to shoot at the roof. “Come on, we have to go now!” Jacob banged the back of the truck and Jack still firing, jumped in. Chambers watched as they drove into the distance and disappeared.
“Well, that was a shock!” Chambers muttered.
CHAPTER NINE
BATTLE LINES
The army truck sped through the streets, stopping for nothing. Anything in its way was smashed through. Zombies exploded as they hit the front of the truck. Jacob sat next to Jack in the back.
“What the hell happened?”
Jack glanced at him. “WAR!”
∞
Bray was sat at a dinner table; fresh cooked chicken with all the trimmings was laid out in front of him. Even a glass of red wine was poured for him. The room was just like any other dining room except this one had no windows, they were boarded up. Bray heard the door unlock and Lisa walked in. “I hope they are looking after you?” She smiled as she asked.
“Well as prisons go, it is the nicest I have seen in a while.” Bray replied.
“It’s not a prison, just a precaution.” She replied. Lisa looked at the wine glass. “YUCK!”
“Wanna beer instead?” she asked.
Bray replied with a huge smile. Lisa opened a small fridge and handed him a cold beer.
Twisting the lid off, Bray looked at her. “So, are you the one who is gonna ask me everything?”
Lisa went silent as she sat down. “That is obvious! A friend of mine taught me a few things.”
Lisa sipped her beer. “You know why we have to do this right?”
Bray drank deep. “Not sure you wanna know some of the crazy shit I have seen.”
Placing her beer down, she looked across the table at him. “How did you end up in England?”
Bray laughed, “You already know that. The place was evacuated, I’m wearing dog tags. Obviously, I was sent in after.” Lisa slammed her fist on the table, “You caught me with that one.”
“Have you always travelled alone?”
“No!”
“What happened to your companions?” Lisa asked.
“I left, something happened and I needed to leave for a while.”
“Do you think ‘he’ is still alive?” Lisa asked.
Bray looked up. He stared at her in the face. “Now that was a fuck up!”
Lisa frowned and realized what she said. “Shit!”
“Stop playing games with me. Most of the people here are military. This place is well protected, you have power and I am guessing communication. So, if you’re Oasis, go fuck yourself!”
Lisa laughed. “We are thinking you are Oasis.”
There was a silence in the room for a moment when Lisa asked something that shocked Bray.
“Is Jack Mason part of Oasis?”
Bray took a slow sip of his beer. “I am not saying another word, until I meet who is in charge here.”
“Please just answer the question.”
“You want to know about Jack Mason; then I want answers from the boss!”
Bray went silent and ate his food. The door unlocked and Bray was met with the biggest surprise of his life. “Jenkins!” He grabbed a knife from the table and rushed at her. Lisa jumped in between them.
Jenkins pushed Lisa to one side. “You want to give me a chance to explain first?”
Bray stepped back towards the table; he sat back down and placed the knife down on the table. Before another word was spoken two kids ran into the room. “Bray!” They both screamed.
“Clare! Joe!” He said as he wrapped his arms around them. Both had grown so much since the last time he saw them. As he held them tight he answered Jenkins.
He looked up at Jenkins. “OK, talk!”
∞
Back at Fort Brockhurst there was chaos. The Fort was being locked down out from fear of attack. The injured were being rushed to medical for treatment, Dr. Banks never rested; he ran from patient to patient giving the best care he could.
Back at the Fort, Jack stood by the Army truck, blood was dripping from the edges of the back onto the newly laid concrete ground. Drops of rain began to fall, making the blood spread further like a mini-river.
They had been back several hours and Jack had still not gotten any treatment for himself. Since his return, he had not spoken a word to anyone; instead he just roamed the grounds of the Fort. People began to gather around him, all asking questions. He ignored them, until the voice of a young girl spoke out. He turned to see Jennifer standing there looking at him. “Are the bad men coming?” she asked.
Jack chuckled to himself, “Yeah, they’re coming.”
Everyone began to panic. “But you’re going to save us!” Jennifer said with a smile.
“Probably not, don’t you think it’s time some of you began looking after yourselves?” Jack answered angrily.
“Jack?” Jennifer said softly.
“Leave me alone, I’m not your father and I don’t wanna be. He ran away and left you. Now leave me the fuck alone!” Jack snapped back.
The crowd of people muttered around Jack. Words like, crazy, insane, and there is something wrong with him echoed around him. Jack stormed off.
Jacob was in the makeshift hospital. Jack entered the stone room and immediately noticed Paige yelping at him. He walked over, her eyes were open and you could see the joy in her eyes at seeing Jack. It took a lot of strength but she licked his face, as he kissed her hairy cheek.
“You rest and get strong.” He whispered to her.
A short haired blonde woman appeared. “She will be fine, just needs time.”
“And you are?” Jack asked rudely.
She was taken aback by his attitude. “Lisa. Lisa Ashdown, I’m a vet. I saved Paige.” She smiled.
Jack began to walk away. “Send me the bill!”
“Rude bastard,” she muttered under her breath.
Jack walked along the beds of the wounded. Dr. Banks grabbed his attention and waved him outside to talk in private.
“How bad?” Jack asked.
“For Raven, it was a clean shot. But she lost a lot of blood; I am giving her a transfusion. She will be fine.” Dr. Banks moved further away from ear shot of anyone else. “Ryan is covered in shrapnel wounds, but he will be good. But Adam is a different story; I managed to do some tests before I induced him into a coma. Jack, he cannot feel his legs and without the proper equipment I cannot be certain of anything. With Adam, it will just be a matter of waiting.”
Jack stepped away. “Jack, we really should see to you. Those cuts can become infected.”
Jack looked in a world of his own. “You were right; there is a traitor amongst us.”
Banks looked sick to the stomach. “I am sorry; I so hoped I was wrong.” Banks moved closer. “How did you confirm it?”
“Eddie. This Black Angel, ‘The Butcher’ as he likes to be called, mentioned about Eddie being eaten. There is no way they could know that, we didn’t even know till we took the Fort.”
“So, what now?” Banks asked.
Jack looked at him. “Now, I do what I’m best at.”
∞
Bray sat down at the table; Clare and Joe looked so excited at seeing him. Lisa and Samantha sat across from Bray.
“The only reason I am sat here is because of them?” Bray asked while looking at the kids.
Joe looked up. “Mum saved us!”
Bray frowned as Clare spoke out, “Joe calls her mum. Honestly she is a mum to us!”
With a simple stare at Samantha, Bray made it clear he was grateful.
“So, Jack Mason is the reason I’m here?”
Samantha locked eyes with him. “Actually, this was accident; we are careful who we bring inside the town. But Lisa is a very cari
ng person and wanted to help you.” Samantha answered and took a drink of water from a glass. “I had your name placed on a watch list, along with the rest of your team.”
Bray chuckled. “You might want to change your list; only myself and Jack are left.”
The look of shock was all over the faces of the people around him.
“Just you two?” Samantha asked.
There was a moment of silence; when a question was asked that made Bray laugh.
“Is Jack working with Oasis?” Samantha asked.
The sound of laughter echoed throughout the room. Bray found it hard to stop laughing.
Samantha looked up. “I think I will take that as a no!”
“Jack was tortured by Oasis for information he didn’t have. He took the pain that Adam should have taken. Jack suffered from a bleed on the brain and even then, he never talked.” Bray smiled. “Jack is at war with Oasis!”
Bray said one more thing. “You’ve heard of The Reaper?”
Lisa sat up straight. “We heard stories from survivors in London and other camps about a man who would appear and save them.” She took a deep breath. “They said he left nothing but death in his path!”
Samantha smiled. “Jack is The Reaper!”
CHAPTER TEN
ANGER
Back at the dockyard, soldiers in black fatigues were still forcing the slave labor of their workers. Two black 4 x 4’s drove up to the front of a large warehouse. Chambers jumped out followed by the rest of his team, they walked directly into the warehouse.
As they walked in, Miss Evans was sitting on the desk with a one-handed Groves.
The Black Angels were all bloodied. “And come the conquering heroes or is that Angels?” Miss Evans asked.
“I would clap, but I am missing one!” Groves raised his stump.
Groves looked at The Black Angels. “I am sure there were more of you before!” He gloated.