The next zombie I swung an overhead forward swing and split a zombie’s head in half as the blade slid out of the zombie’s upper neck. Molly and Carrie swung at their zombies in the middle of the head right by the ear cutting the heads in half. Patch swung his sword at a zombie’s leg, nearly cutting the leg off before a finishing blow, cutting its head off – Jess did the same, except she stomped on the leg and swung overhand on the zombie’s head. Scarlet swung a forehand swing at a zombie nearly taking a chunk out the side of its skull and then backhanded a swing at another zombie’s skull. Shaun used his ax while Sarah used her wakizashi sword. Shaun swung his axe chopping the leg off before delivering a final blow. Sarah swung her sword cutting one zombie’s head in half and then stabbing another in the face. I sliced one zombie, spun around to slice another backhanded and then swung at another cutting its head off. Ashley kicked one zombie in the chest before slicing its face, spun around to slice another, and stabbed one right in the eye. Warren’s backhanded swing at a zombie penetrated deep in the zombie’s skull past both its eyes, he pulled the sword out, stabbed one zombie under the chin into the brain, and then finally swung forehanded at another. The other Black Shadow teens used their swords, axes, or their bows to kill their zombies – we killed the pack in less than five minutes, but we had gotten some undead blood on our hands, arms, and little on our chests. I never liked seeing zombies’ blood, it was darker than human’s blood and smelled worse.
I let out a disgusted groan seeing the zombie’s blood all over my gloves and forearms. From the looks on my friends’ faces, they were feeling the same as well. We wiped the blood off of our blades with a rag.
“See? Nothing to it,” Jess said, to the soldiers and officers.
“Yeah, all that training is paying off,” Sergeant Davidson said.
“Well done,” Lieutenant Billings said.
However, nine more zombies came out of the bushes from behind us. Before any of us went to kill them, Captain Noir drew his Cold Steel Katana and like us, he busted some sweet moves on the zombies. He cut heads off, stomped their skulls in, and the last zombie he spun around and did a backhanded swing on a zombie’s face and it fell with half of its head gone like the ones we killed. Captain wiped his blade with a rag and looked at us.
“You make it look so easy. I think I pulled something on that last swing,” Captain Noir said, stretching his muscles.
“Look, I don’t care if his foot is gone. You get him to that town even if you have to drag him there!” Captain Alvin yelled on the radio.
I noticed that Molly was walking funny. I sheathed my sword and marched straight to her.
“Molly . . . what’s wrong with your leg?” I asked, concerned.
“I got blisters on my feet. It’s these new boots. My feet aren’t adjusting well. Plus, I didn’t put high socks on, so it’s been rubbing against my skin,” Molly answered.
I bent down and saw that the back of her heels were a little red, but they didn’t look too bad.
“What about your feet? How bad is it?” I asked.
“My left is worse than my right,” Molly answered.
I walked over to Captain Noir, “Hey Captain, we’ve been walking all night and all morning. I know we’re in a bad situation, but we’re all exhausted. So, just a suggestion, why don’t we go down to the river, take a little rest, wash off the day’s road dirt and this blood, and then we can meet up with the others at Dunsmuir.”
Captain Noir glanced at Captain Alvin then turned to me.
“That’s a good idea. Let’s cool off and get cleaned up,” Captain Noir said.
****
Grim
River had a bandit on the ground facedown with his hands tied behind his back, as she brought two stun guns to the bandit’s neck shocking him intensely in front of his bandit friend – a kid in his late teens. The bandit screamed in pain while the other grunted trying to stop her, but River’s brothers held him down to the ground. I was watching from the side leaning against the truck’s pickup bed with the sun on my face and eating some grapes.
River stopped, “You know guys, I think I might possibly be a tad bit sadistic, because there is just something so satisfyingly enjoyable watching scumbags like this shitstain wiggle and scream. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I just know that I really, really, do find it like so much . . . justice. It’s cathartic in a way.”
“Fuck you! You fucking evil bitch! You’re gonna rot in Hell!” one of the teen bandits yelled.
“What was that?” Clark asked, before bringing a stun gun to his balls and shocking them.
Of course, he screamed and writhed in pain.
“If you don’t talk, this is gonna get so much worse!” River yelled.
The bandits didn’t say anything, except giving us some pretty solid glares.
“I see. Well! If you don’t like the good cop, then I guess I’ll let a real professional take it from here and believe me . . . they always talk to him,” River said, pointing to me.
River got up and walked toward me, “They’re all yours Captain Harvard. I can’t get them to talk, sir.”
I walked over to them and just stared at the bandits for a long while, my blank expression was devoid of emotion. Initially, they weren’t intimidated, but as the silence continued, they started to sweat with a twinkle of fear in their eyes. I walked over to the truck very slowly and pulled out a big toolbox. I dropped it making a loud noise that made the bandits flinch. I opened it and started fishing through the tools.
“Whoa, okay, come on. Come on, man. You don’t need that. Look we don’t know where those kids are. We don’t know!” the teen bandit said.
I found a big pair of water pump pliers and decided that this was my chosen tool of torture. I walked behind the teen bandit, that seemed to get the bandit that River tasered anxious and uneasy.
I placed one of the teen bandit’s fingers in the pliers and said, “I’m gonna count to ten.”
The bandits didn’t say anything.
“One,” I said, before breaking the bandit’s finger.
He screamed in pain.
“Two,” I said, before breaking another finger.
I was ready to break another, “Three—”
“We don’t have them, but we know where they’re going!” the other bandit hollered.
“Where?” I asked.
“To some small town called Dunsmuir, southwest of here. We stole a radio from a dead soldier and heard what your people were saying.”
Everyone’s eyes widened.
“Do other bandits have radios, too?” I asked.
“I don’t know, probably.”
I broke another finger making the bandit scream.
“I mean yes! One of our guys has a radio!”
“What channels are they listening to?” I asked.
“The ones they’re using, fifteen and eighteen. That’s all we know! We swear!” the bandit said.
I got up, placed the pliers back in the toolbox, and put it back in the truck.
“What do we do about these two, sir?” Cody asked.
I pulled out my sidearm and shot them both in the head.
“Okay, that works.”
“Son of bitch. So, the enemy is hearing everything our guys are saying, meaning they know exactly where they’re meeting up,” River said.
“And we can’t warn them, because then they’ll know that we know. So, the situation is even more fucked up . . . shit creek without a paddle and now the boat is leaking,” Clark added.
I switched the radio to emergency channel nine to command, “Gold Command, this is Captain Harvard. We have received intel that the enemy has a stolen Pacific Army Radio and are listening to channels fifteen and eighteen. They know about the Black Shadows and where they’re headed in Dunsmuir, over.”
“Roger, Captain Harvard. We’ll work to triangulate its location, but the mission still stands. Find those kids and any survivors and protect them against any threat. We need to find them
as soon as possible before the storm arrives, over,” Gold Command responded.
“What storm? Over,” I asked.
“A massive thunderstorm is coming inland from the ocean headed your way. With those high winds, the choppers won’t be able to fly to those kids. Find them immediately. If the storm hits before you get to them, you’ll have to wait it out and they may not have that long. Over,” Gold Command ordered.
“Yes sir. Captain Harvard out,” I said.
“A storm is coming sir?” River asked.
“Thunderstorm. A big one coming our way. If we don’t find those kids the choppers won’t be able to pick them up and they’ll have to wait it out,” Lieutenant Amos said.
“Roger that Gold Command. Over and out.”
“They may not have that time. There may be some that are seriously wounded or the bandits will find them before we can reach them,” Cody said.
“Then let’s find them first,” I stated.
“Move out!”
****
Nathan/Sonny
We got to the river to wash up and get the day’s dirt and blood off us. I didn’t care if the water was cold on my face, I just wanted to be clean. After washing her hair and face, Molly laid down against her backpack while I was treating her feet. Carrie brought me some water to help clean Molly’s feet while Ashley and Jess were trying to put some cloth in the boots to act as moleskin, so her feet don’t rub against her skin so hard – and I had some long socks ready for her.
“Hey, you holding up okay?” Carrie asked Molly.
“Oh sure! The sun is shining, the sky is blue, we’re by a river surrounded by nature, beautiful trees, zombies and bandits are trying to kill us, and I got prince charming giving me a foot rub like I’m at a day spa. I’m doing spectacular,” Molly said.
“Sarcasm, that’s good. Helps to maintain a positive mental attitude.”
“Laughter is the best medicine . . . but morphine and painkillers sure help when you can’t find your smile.”
Carrie began to massage Molly’s neck and head which put Molly at ease, making her almost forget the pain in her feet.
“Oh my god, thank you. Please don’t stop,” Molly said, with a relaxed smile and her eyes closed.
After drying her feet, I placed Neosporin on the blister areas before putting a bandage cloth pad on it and wrapping around it with medical tape.
As I was treating her feet Molly asked, “So . . . is our plan to get to the town and wait for choppers to come get us?”
“Well, that’s pretty much it, we’re supposed to get everyone there, including those that are lost, and then the choppers will come and take us back to the Fort,” Carrie answered, while massaging Molly’s neck.
“A simple plan, but doing it is a little more complicated,” I stated.
“Yeah, like life . . . and it’s never-ending bullshit that it throws into your face. God, I miss normal life,” Jess said.
“You know what I miss? Pizza night,” Warren stated.
We turned to him as he continued, “My dad used to work late nights before the outbreak, so it was usually just my mom and me. Some Friday nights, my mom would get two boxes of pizza and we would just . . . eat pizza and watch a movie. Sometimes, we’d watch horror, action, and oh! We’d watch Stranger Things! That was a good show. Sometimes, we’d even just blast music in the house.”
“Oh, that sounds awesome Warren. My parents and I would do something like that too sometimes, except it was either hot dogs or burgers,” Sarah said.
“Sounds like you and your mom are pretty close,” I stated.
“Yeah . . . or at least we were. Now, it’s kinda the other way around. My dad doesn’t work late, but my mom does – she has the graveyard shift, so I don’t see her as much. So, my dad and I have gotten closer, we’d do cool stuff back at Fort Gold Rush, but . . . you know, I miss my mom,” Warren said.
There was a silence in the air for a while.
“Our mother would take my sister and I rollerblading sometimes. She was a good ice skater, so in the winter we would go ice skating too. I think that’s the best part, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing so long as you’re with that person and you’re happy,” Carrie stated.
“Yeah, that’s right . . . I remember those times. Do you remember that skill crane by the snack bar Carrie?” Ashley asked.
“Oh yeah, that’s right! The skill crane! We both won a prize for Mom and Dad.”
“I won that pair of skeleton earrings for Mom and you won that cute little stuffed bulldog for Dad.”
“He kept it at the dashboard in his SUV! He named it Buttface!”
They both laughed, which made Molly and I smile.
“I remember that little guy. Those arcade games and air hockey were fun. God, I miss Dave and Busters,” I said.
“Me, too,” Ashley said.
Everyone told one story after another and eventually I finished treating Molly’s feet. I put the socks on her and Ashley gave her the boots. I left to take a leak after that.
I walked far enough where I’d get some privacy in the woods. Before I even unzipped, I heard a branch crack and a twig snap. I looked over and saw someone hiding behind a tree. I pulled out my Ruger SR40 and had it ready. I knew that it was dangerous to use something loud, but if something happens to me the gunshot will warn the others.
“Who’s there? I know you’re behind the tree, come out slowly, hands first,” I called.
The person came out and it was Ellen.
“Ellen?” I asked, lowering my gun.
As I holstered my gun, I got a better look at Ellen. She looked like she hadn’t gotten any sleep like she’s been up all night. Her forearms and hands had a little bit of both dirt and zombie blood.
I started, “Ellen, are you okay—?”
Before I could finish my question, Ellen ran over and hugged me close. I was a little surprised at first, and then I hugged her back. She sounded scared from the sounds of her breathing like she was trying to calm her nerves and I could feel her heart beating.
I spoke, “Ellen—”
Ellen interrupted, “Shut up. I don’t need to be mothered. I just . . . I need to . . . I need to hold someone. I almost died more than once and, and do you . . . do you know many zombies I killed? It was fucking crazy! It was intense and . . . just hold me, will ya?”
“It’s okay, Ellen. It’s okay, you’re safe. You’re alive and that’s what matters,” I said as I held her.
“No! It’s not okay! Those bandits came out of nowhere and they picked you to stay and fight! You were back there at Camp Sledgehammer fighting those fucking crazy assholes and I didn’t know if you were gonna make it out of there alive!”
I looked at her to study her expression.
“I thought you were gonna die and my mom would have to go through that shit all over again and your people would be broken from losing you and, and just—Fuck! Everything is just so fucking . . . Goddamn it!”
Ellen squeezed me and held me tight again. I didn’t know what to say. I just stood holding her. She smelled like grass with a little bit of sweat. She must have spent the night out here. After a while, she eased up and looked at me.
“I got separated from the others. Zombies came at us and we tried to stay together, but there were just so many of them. I got lost. I had to kill over twenty zombies that were chasing me. I barely got any sleep last night. I slept for like three hours out here like an animal,” Ellen explained.
“Where are the others? Did they go to the town Captain Alvin mentioned?” I asked.
“Probably, I don’t know! I was running for my life!”
“Okay, Ellen it’s gonna be okay. My friends are down that way by the river and Captain Alvin is down there with Captain Noir. They’re trying to reach the others on the radio. Let’s go down there, meet up with the others and—”
“Wait, is that a sword? Is that a Katana? From the armory?” Ellen pointed.
“Yeah, it is. Well, actually it’s
a Chisa Katana,” I answered.
“Chisa Katana?”
“Yeah, it’s not a full-length Katana, but it’s not a Wakizashi either, which is a short sword. It’s something in between as far as blade length, but it still cuts like a beast. No joke. You want a sword? This is a sword baby!”
Ellen stared at me with one eyebrow raised and said, “Call me ‘baby’ ever again and I’ll send your nerdy ass to the moon in a little tin can.”
“Got it.”
“Wait, where are you going?”
“I still gotta pee, so give me a minute.”
I went around some trees and did my business, while Ellen was talking to me from the other side.
“So . . . how did it go? Back there at Camp Sledgehammer? Did you guys kill more than we lost or whatever?” Ellen asked.
“Yeah, the mines and IEDs definitely tipped the odds in our favor before the herd showed up, but there were a lot of them. We did lose some people, both soldiers and Black Shadows – I counted at least fifteen Black Shadows dead and probably the same number of soldiers, if not more,” I answered.
“Goddamn, no good rat bastard sons of bitches,” Ellen swore.
“Yep, bandit bastards. Life is good and it also sucks.”
“Well, at least you and your friends aren’t dead. So, there’s a silver lining.”
“That’s good, Ellen. Looking on the bright side.”
“Yeah, but I wish I could say the same thing about my friends who I have absolutely no idea if they’re alive or not.”
I was finished and came around to see her, “Ellen, there’s a chance they made it to the town or they’re hiding in a house or a motel somewhere around here. People survive. You made it this far, why should they be any different?”
Ellen studied my face and thought for a moment.
“Yeah, if they’re strong, which they are, then they’re alive,” Ellen said.
“Yeah, ready to head down to the others?” I asked.
“No, now I gotta pee. Be a gentleman and non-perv and keep watch.”
“Okay.”
The Dark Days Series | Book 2 | Sanctuary Page 27