Note From the Author:
I just want to say Thank You to everyone who took the time to read ‘Least Likely to Survive’ and post a review, be it positive or otherwise.
Thank you to my friends and family who support my insanity, to the readers who’ve reached out and encouraged me to continue; I am proud to call you friends. Thank you to those who’ve helped me proofread over the months, (I’m looking at you, Sarah Dougherty, Jonathan Sharp and Jason Page) your feedback and input has been invaluable.
Let’s all raise our glasses, kiss our loved ones and be grateful we aren’t out battling zombies at this very moment.
Chapter 1:
If my high school today could have a vote, I was sure to be voted ‘Least Likely to Survive’. I was trying to wrap my head around the events of the last few days while Jack and the kids watched the AlamoDome burn.
Reaching into the console, I pulled a cigarette free from the pack and stuck it between my still swollen lips and lit up. Inhaling deeply, I pushed the button to roll down the window and blew smoke at the reflection in the rearview mirror of the others heading back to the car.
Everyone we had met over the last few days were now likely dead, most of which I was grateful for, but a couple I felt my chest tighten thinking about, especially Austin. I didn’t know until the end that he had any hand in what had been done to me, and still didn’t know if he’d been involved or just knew, but his expression as he saved my life made me want to believe he hadn’t known much. I wanted to cry for him and for all the innocent people that died there, but my eyes remained dry. Maybe I’d never cry again. Maybe the serum had changed me in ways I had yet to even discover.
What I did know was I could now see perfectly, had way more physical stamina, was healing at an astonishing rate and had went from an ‘ok shot’ to ‘class one sharp shooter’ in the matter of a couple days.
“Hey Angie, we may have a slight problem…” Jack’s words pulled me from my daze as I looked over the driver seat to see him standing next to our Hummer rubbing the back of his neck and staring at the front tire. Fuck. Jack only rubbed his neck when things were bad.
I pulled the lever on my door and slid out, making my way around the front of the truck to stand at the wheel where Jack, Chloe and Ty were all standing. I looked down to see a giant piece of metal lodged in the rubber and the rim bent at an awkward angle. Damn.
Chloe reached over and tugged on Jack’s sleeve, “Can we just change the tire?” The hopeful tone of her voice made it that much harder.
“’Fraid not kiddo, the rim’s bent,” Jack reached down and traced his hand lightly over the warped metal. “Only way to fix it is with a new tire and rim, neither of which we have at the moment.”
“Fuck!” Ty kicked the truck and walked to the side of the road with his hands folded on top of his head. Roscoe followed him, tail wagging in his merriment. I knew how Ty felt.
I watched Chloe’s face twist in deep thought while she soaked in the situation. She was a bright kid, and I knew it wouldn’t take long before she came to the same conclusion the rest of had.
“Does that mean we’re walking?” She asked. The fear was prominent in her voice and it made her sound much younger than her 12 years. I studied her pale features and thought how much older she looked than she should’ve. Dark circles lined her sea foam eyes and she’d gotten so thin her cheekbones stood out like cliff edges over a deep ravine. Her dark hair was pulled into a pony tail and she had on the same jeans and tank top she’d been wearing the day we met; only Beiber’s face was partially covered by a hot pink tracksuit jacket from the Dome. After all that had happened, I actually didn’t mind seeing that teeny bopper mug grinning at me from her shirt.
I took another drag from my cigarette and looked to Jack. His eyes were squinting from the glare of the fading sun on the concrete of the overpass we were standing on as he surveyed the layout. He pulled his beat-up old hat off his head and ran his fingers through his straggly dirty-blonde hair. There was about 2 days worth of dark blonde stubble speckling his cheeks and he was still wearing the black muscle shirt I had last seen him in under his bomber jacket. I looked down to see his faded blue jeans in place along with his old boots. I let out a small smile at the thought that at least my doing the laundry before I’d been taken hadn’t gone to waste. Although that had been days ago so I wondered how long they’d been wearing what had once been clean.
The dirt and blood marring Jack’s jacket were enough to tell me they’d had quite the time before he’d found me, and even the ashes smeared across his cheek couldn’t distract from his blinding beauty. I was pretty sure that every painter or sculptor ever had had Jack Jones in mind when creating anything depicting the perfect male specimen. It was no wonder he was one of the most famous actors on the planet and every woman (and a few men) lusted after him.
I knew the wheels in Jack’s head were done spinning when he let out a deep breath, put his hat back on his head, planted his hands on his waist and stared at the ground. We were walking.
I looked down the overpass at the miles and miles of cars lining I-37 through the heart of San Antonio and knew that even finding another serviceable vehicle was out of the question. The traffic was so thick we’d likely have to do some climbing over the abandoned cars, let alone try to drive through it. We were so fucked.
I had been so caught up in my study of Jack I hadn’t noticed Ty get the map out of the truck and was busy rustling pages across the hood of the Hummer. I walked over to stand next to him and watched him trace the map and refer back to some printed sheets.
I picked one up and studied it. It was a magnified Google map of San Antonio zoomed out to include the coast. He had marked the various routes we could take to get us there. “What’s this?” I asked him holding the map out.
Clearing his throat, “Well, I found a computer with a bunch of maps and other things on the hard drive and printed them out. Look,” He held a several pages out to me, “I figured out that if we head to Austwell, it’ll shave about 12 miles off the trip and keep us out of the heavily populated cities and there’s some info on farming and growing crops. Thought they might come in handy.” He looked at me with a sheepish grin as he pushed the lock of dark hair out of his almost black eyes. He didn’t look much better than his sister, although he’d been pale and skinny when we’d first met the 15 year old. I had to hand it to him though, for all his skinny jeaned emo attitude, he was kinda brilliant.
I started to laugh as I put the pages down while reaching up to tousle his hair. “Way to go, kid. Glad the experience wasn’t in vain.”
Ty chuckled and pushed my hand away. “Geez Angie, did you think we all just sat around twiddling our thumbs after they took you?” He looked at me more closely then and reached up to touch my now scabbed lip. His eyes squinted in concern and his voice softened. “Are you ok? What happened in there? We were really worried and Jack was completely freaked.”
I pulled back and looked back down at the maps. Nope. Still wasn’t ready to talk about it. “I’ll live.” He started to say more, but I interrupted him as I turned to address the group. “Ty’s right, judging the distance, we should probably re-route to Austwell.” I looked at the sun drooping behind the burning skyline, “But it’s going to be dark soon and we need to find a place to stay the night.” Reaching down I rubbed the top of Roscoe’s head and smiled a little as he licked my hand. Guess he was glad to see me too.
“Alright, let’s grab what we can and get moving,” Jack said as he started for the car. “The infected are already getting interested in the fire and they’re starting in this direction.”
I looked over the side of the overpass w
here he’d been looking and sure enough, hordes of zombies were heading right for the still burning mass of steel we’d just escaped. Fucking fantastic. Now we were stranded without a vehicle in the heart of a major city that had become a zombie free for all.
I knew my island was still out there waiting for me, but I felt beaten and defeated and really just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry for the next century. I looked over at my makeshift family arguing over what to bring at the back of the car and felt my chest constrict. We had made it this far, but to be fair, we hadn’t really had to do much. Sure, there had been some close calls, but we’d been able to drive through most of it and that was days ago when I’d still had the energy to keep going. They didn’t know what I’d just lived through, they didn’t know what had been done to me and they didn’t know what I was turning in to. Hell, I didn’t know what I was turning into.
There was no way I was leaving them behind, but could I ever tell them the truth? What if they left me for it? After everything we’d been through together, I knew being without them would fucking break me. No, it was better to keep it to myself and try to get us all out of this Hell. Then when we were all safely trapped on a deserted island and they had no escape, I’d make my confession. I was pretty sure keeping this from them was awful and I was probably a terrible person for it, but the thought of being alone again was unbearable. For better or worse I had grown attached to them and I wasn’t about to give them up without a fight.
I reached into the passenger seat of the truck and grabbed my backpack that someone had been nice enough to bring. I started to rifle through the pockets making sure everything I would need was in there when I felt Jack come up behind me.
He reached around my shoulder and unzipped the little pocket on the front. “Your glasses and your Chapstick are in here.”
I turned my head to look at him and caught my breath at the closeness. His face was inches from mine and I could feel his heartbeat through his shirt. He still smelled amazing.
Feeling the heat of a blush creep up my neck into my cheeks, I turned back to the pack and pulled my glasses out of the pocket, throwing them over my shoulder. “Don’t need them anymore.”
He started to ask why, but I stopped him before he even got the words out. “Not ready Jack. Eventually, but not now.” I turned my head back to see his face and watched the words sink in. His eyes filled with questions but he knew not to push me.
“When you’re ready.” Jack nodded his head and walked away. I stood there for a moment longer than I needed to waiting for my heartbeat to return to normal. Nothing had changed between us and with that one look I knew he still felt the same way about me as I did for him. Also the mega-kiss in the hallway when he’d found me outside the lab was a dead giveaway.
Finishing my inspection of the pockets, I made sure the precious few personal items I’d brought were still there and made room for food and water. I picked up my pack and headed to the back of the truck where Ty and Chloe were still arguing over what food was essential.
“I refuse to eat nothing but beef jerky for who knows how long. A few cans of peaches won’t be that heavy; I’ll even carry them!” My heart became light at the high-pitched whine in Chloe’s voice; I’d actually missed it, and that surprised me even more. Who knew it was possible to miss whining?
“Ugh. Fine. Whatever. But when you get eaten because you can’t run as fast as the rest of us due to your peaches, don’t come crying to me.” Ty zipped up his backpack and stalked away.
Chloe stuck her tongue out at his retreating back and proceeded to shove 2 cans of fruit into her pack. “Seriously, tell him, Angie. We can’t live off jerky alone.”
I pat her shoulder before reaching around her and grabbing some canned pears, a couple bottles of water and a few packs of smokes. “I know and I agree with you. But he’s right, make sure it’s not so heavy you can’t run.”
She sighed and set down the 3rd can she’d been about to shove into the bag. “Fair enough,” she grumbled in response.
I listened to Chloe continue to grumble under her breath while I zipped up my backpack and attempted to slip it on around the harness. I still had both rifles on my back and the straps kept getting twisted around the butts of the guns.
“Here, let me,” Jack laughed as he walked up behind me and took hold of the situation. “There’s only so long you can watch someone try to strangle themselves before an intervention becomes necessity.” He untwisted the strap enough that I was able to slide the pack on around the guns. Only trouble was the pack would be a bitch to get off unless I took the harness off first. I’d much rather be without clean underwear than without my guns so that wouldn’t be an issue.
“Thanks.” I turned around and faced him as the kids and Roscoe joined the group. “Did everyone make sure to grab some food and water? We don’t know what we’ll find out there.” Casting serious looks at all parties, they nodded their agreement. I glanced at Ty, “Dog food?”
Nodding his head, he shook his pack and ran his hand across Roscoe’s nose. The dog wagged his tail so hard I thought he might become airborne as his tongue hung further out the side of his mouth. Guess he was ready to go.
I took a deep breath and started towards the tangle of cars in front of me. As I walked, I made sure one of the Rugers was already in my left hand and the short sword I normally kept in a sheath at my thigh was out and ready. I glanced behind me to see everyone else had followed suit and had weapons at the ready. I also noticed I was still in the lead, which I wasn’t entirely sure was the best idea, but felt better knowing Jack was behind the kids. They were great shots, but I didn’t want them to be the brunt of a sneak attack.
Jack cleared his throat quietly, “So what’s the plan, Angie? Are we walking to the coast?”
It was a great question; one that I had no answer for. I stopped walking and turned to face him. “Not likely considering it’s over a hundred miles. I figured with it getting dark we could look for somewhere safe to hole up for the night, then tomorrow try to get as far from the city as possible.” I faced forward and focused on the sound of my breathing and our footsteps.
“What kind of place?” Ty asked, jogging to catch up with me.
“Uhhh…” I looked back at Jack, hoping he’d have a good answer.
Jack shrugged his shoulders at me and continued looking around. After a few moments he finally answered, “Anywhere that looks like it might be defensible,” he cast his eye to the horizon before finishing, “And soon, the sun’s about to go down. We have maybe half hour, tops.”
Ugh. That would be tough considering we were still on the interstate and knee deep in cars. I slowed down as we approached a group of cars clogging the road so that we could slide around them. “Should we get off the next exit then?”
I was sideways, belly against the passenger door of a dirty, what used to be white minivan and trying to not get caught on the suburban behind me.
“Yeah, sounds good,” Jack said as he brought up the rear of our train squeezing between the cars.
No one spoke for a while as we all focused on navigating the motor graveyard. It reminded me of Denver; lots of abandoned cars, lots of blood. I wasn’t moving as fast as I would’ve liked so that I made sure the group stayed together. I was tired, but I felt strong and it wouldn’t have been farfetched to think I could just run to the coast. But I sort of loved those slowpokes so I kept pace.
Darting glances in every direction at once, I noticed the ashes drifting by from the fires were getting thicker; I assumed it meant the fire was losing momentum and the breeze was picking up. Or it was burning fiercer and had simply found more ammo. I didn’t really know enough about fires to tell one way or the other. What I did know was trying to shimmy through the throng of vehicles to the first exit which was still a quarter mile out was taking forever. My pulse sped up just thinking about the shitstorm we would have on our hands if we were caught out here after dark. I didn’t think zombies were nocturnal and more active a
t night, I just knew that darkness would make it harder for us to see them.
The silence was nerve-racking. It seemed weird to not at least have Chloe going on about something, but I figured we were all too busy being on high alert to make small talk. It did give me a lot of time to look around and listen to the sounds of the city, or lack thereof in this case, which made it all the more unsettling.
Living in a city, you grow accustomed to the sounds of traffic and sirens, noisy neighbors, cars backfiring, dogs barking…there was nothing here. The only sound was our footsteps, Roscoe’s paws tapping out a staccato on the pavement and the burning of not just the Dome, but the various other fires still going strong around the city. Also, I could hear the raspy screams of the infected somewhere in the distance, which freaked me out. The overpass was a good 30 feet high, there was no one in sight and yet I could hear them clear as if they were a few feet away.
I veered left and headed towards a gap in the side rail where a car had taken out the fence and went over. Trying to see over the side but not lean too far in case I was spotted, I searched the ground below for the source of the noise.
Sure enough, down on the ground was the car that had gone over and hanging out the sunroof moaning were a man and a woman trying to claw through the metal. From my stance I could see they were both infected, had the groans not been a dead giveaway. A chill started at the base of my neck and worked its way all down my spine watching them. It wasn’t just the sight; it was that the woman looked so much like me we could’ve been related. Had things gone in a slightly different direction that would’ve been me.
Backing away from the edge, I tried to put the sight out of mind. It wouldn’t do any good to lament on what might’ve been while I was still breathing and able to keep going.
Sneaking a look to the west, the sun was a burning flame partially distinguished by the horizon and I knew we didn’t have much time left. I glanced behind me to make sure everyone was still there and sure enough, 3 dirty, tired faces were squinting in the sunset a few feet behind me.
This is the End (Book 2): Not Dead Yet Page 1