Survival Instincts (Book 1): Sacrifice

by Andersen, J. . J.

  “Raelynn!” He shouted, screwing the cap back on the bottle and cocking his gun. He grabbed his bag of extras, and rushed from the store, gasping as the front of the general store she had gone into was covered in zombies. He went to go start clearing it, when movement in the distance caught his eye. A shadow moved closer to him; the sun not high enough to show its face but he was pretty sure it was a zombie. It ran like one. John aimed his gun at the figure, closing one eye and aiming for its head.

  “Don't shoot! It's me, Nix!” He called out to John as he reached him with his hands up, the bat high in the air. John rolled his eyes and lowered the gun.

  “I almost shot you, boy. Anyone ever tell you that you have a weird running style, huh? Geez.” John bit. Nix shrugged.

  “Only every day of my high school life. Where’s Rae?”

  ***

  Phoenix knew what John was going to say before he uttered a word just by the screwed-up look, he got on his face. Nix rolled his eyes and looked towards the building a few doors down that was being smothered with his worst fear. Damn zombies.

  “She’s in the building covered in zombies that want to turn lanky geeks like me into chomper chow, isn’t she?” He sighed.

  “Got it in one, but maybe if you run, they’ll think you’re one of them and leave us alone.” John chuckled. Nix rolled his eyes and regripped his bat.

  “If it’d save Rae, I’d do it. But since I’m pretty sure that’ll just get me killed, I’m going with the hitting them over the head with my bat option.” Phoenix said with a determined stare towards the growling creatures.

  John shrugged “Suit yourself.” He said and they both moved forward, prepared to take them all on to get to her when the worst thing, Nix could think of to happen, actually happened. The glass broke. The windows gave way, pouring glass and zombies into the store, all determined to eat the girl of his dreams. But they wouldn’t get that chance because despite the pounding of his heart in his ears and the shaking of his bones, he wasn’t going to give them the chance to get to her. Nix ran at the horde, bashing them over the head, swinging his bat at every zombie he found as John chased after him, taking them out with his knife that he had pulled from god knows where and the barrel of his gun. Zombie after zombie went after them, and Nix wasn’t giving them a chance to eat him. He bashed and stomped, and battle cried his way through the aisles, all the while, searching for Rae, pleading with whatever was out there for her to be safe.

  The zombies seemed to be never-ending, Nix was exhausted, his favourite Pac-man shirt was ruined, stained with rotting flesh and blood, his bones protested painfully with every swing of his bat, not used to the work out but he pushed through. He wasn’t stopping until he found her.

  By the time the sun had hit its peak in the sky and the carnage of what him and John had done was exposed to the harsh light of daytime, they had made their way through every zombie in the store. Nix swung his bat one final time, bringing it down on a zombie’s head in front of him. It squirted everywhere but he didn’t care. John came up behind him, chugging back whiskey that he had already opened and clapped him on the back.

  “Don’t worry bud, after an effort like that to save Rae, I won’t let Andy kill ya when he finds out about what you want to do with his daughter.” John laughed walking away with his whiskey high in the air, taking another victory chug. Nix wasn’t in the mood for Johns drunk comments and ran down the aisle. He hadn’t found Rae yet, and it wouldn’t be over until he did. She had to be somewhere. He ran through the store, his pace quickening with every minute he didn’t find her until his gaze fell on the closed door that read managers office.

  He ran to it and banged on the door. No answer. He tried again, bashing and trying to shove open the door. Still nothing and he almost gave up on her being in there until he heard a gurgle from behind the door. James’ gurgle.

  “Rae!” He called through the door, trying the handle but still no answer. Something was wrong.

  ***

  Raelynn woke to her head pounding, her mouth dry and her lids heavy. James lay awake next to her, his smile growing across his face as he saw that she was awake. Her stomach twisted. How long had she been out? She focused more on where she was. She was still in the office and there was still bashing on the door, but they were alive. She rubbed her face and sat up, making sure she wasn’t going to pass out again before sitting up. She was about to try and make James some food when the door handle rattled. Her eyes darted to it. She picked up James, scrambling away from the door and leaning against the couch with her gun aimed at the door. The desk was there but if the door opened, she wasn’t sure it would hold.

  “Who’s there?” Rae shouted out and the banging stopped.

  “Raelynn! Rae! Is that you? Please open up.” Nix called back through the door, trying the door handle again. Rae recognized his voice immediately and put James down. She stood on shaky legs and managed to heave the desk out of the way. Nix burst through the door, almost collecting her with it but he didn’t pause, he ran straight to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her against him, her feet no longer touching the ground.

  “You had me so scared.” He cried into her, his arms tightening around her. She buried her head into his neck, her own tears welling. She pulled back when John came over. He patted her on the shoulder and moved behind their embrace in the doorway to pick up James. Rae looked over them both, they were covered in blood and zombie.

  “You took on that entire horde? Just you two?” She questioned with a raised eyebrow then turned to Nix “You hate zombies, I’m pretty sure they’re like your worst fear, aren’t they?” She frowned wondering how he had managed to kill zombies who he had been avoiding the entire trip.

  “I did it because you helped me abseil for the first time, because you protected me against Dylan all the time and because I realised that zombies are definitely not my worst fear, losing you is.” He revealed, a slight blush creeping across his cheeks. Rae was about to tell him how much it meant to her that he had taken on all those zombies for her and how the fact that he had even risked his life for hers at all, made her feel all kinds of good but before she could get a word out, Nix pulled her against him again and pressed his lips into hers. They were as soft as Rae imagined, and her body melted against him. His arms held her waist as her hands moved to his neck, scrunching the loose hair in her fist. Her body warmed against his, her lips parting against his as she kissed him back with a need so fierce, it ripped through Rae like a storm. She wanted more of him, more of his taste, more of his touch. Nix must’ve wanted the same because he pushed her back against the door, his mouth demanding more of her passion with strokes of his tongue against hers. She sighed against him, his kiss creating too much pressure inside her that she had no will power or resistance left to push him away. She didn’t need it though because John’s awkward cough from the corner doused her with enough metaphorical cold water to pull back, despite really not wanting to. She would have preferred to send John on his way with James and lock her and Nix in the room, but she doubted that’d go down well with John. Nix bit down on her lip gently then let her feet touch the ground again. They turned to John who had packed up James and was waiting with the food. He handed the baby to Nix.

  “Good, now that I have to douse my eyeballs in acid, how about we get a move on before my gun hand gets twitchy?” John prompted. Rae and Nix chuckled before Nix accepted James into his arms and they left the store.

  “We’ll be right behind you Nix. I just need to talk to Rae for a second.” John admitted as they walked out onto the street. Nix looked between them warily then nodded and walked on ahead with James. Rae turned to John with a frown.

  “What’s up?” She asked, carrying a bag of food in one hand, her gun in the other. He sighed and looked ahead of them.

  “I’m sorry Rae.” John apologized coyly “If I hadn’t gone off to get my whiskey, you never would have been overrun like that. I should have come back straight away, or better ye
t, not left you alone at all.” He admitted, not making eye contact. Rae didn’t want him carrying the blame though, sure it might not have happened but maybe they both would have been trapped and then Nix wouldn’t have had back up. She much preferred them all to come out alive.

  “We all made it out. You don’t have anything to feel guilty about.” she shrugged. He shook his head.

  “You almost died over a damn drink.” He bit through clenched teeth as he looked down at the bottle he was holding with a deep scowl, “This stuff has taken everything from me and today it almost got you killed. I can’t have that on my conscience Rae.” He admitted, finally looking at her. She stopped in front of him, pulling his big bear body into her arms.

  “I’m not dead, I survived. If it hadn’t been for you and Nix, I probably wouldn’t have. Your conscience is clear.” She promised leaning back, squinting up at his face. He shook his head and looked past her, deep in thought before looking back down at the bottle.

  “It worked out this time but I’m going to make damn sure there isn’t a next time. I’m not going to touch another drop of this stuff. I’m done.” He vowed going over to the bin on the side of the street and shoving his bag of bottles into it, tipping the last one out over it with a sombre face. She smiled at him.

  “I’m proud of you.” Raelynn said, kissing him on the cheek. He smiled half-heartedly then moved to catch up with Nix. When they reached him, she held her arms out for James who was alert and cooing at everything around him. Nix handed him over with a frown and she supposed it was strange, she had actively avoided James the whole time, but she was doing okay now. Maybe it was time they knew why she was a wreck in the first place.

  “Are you okay?” Nix asked handing over James and looking at her like he was waiting for her to say ‘just kidding’ then hand him back, but she didn’t, she snuggled him.

  “I’m okay but I haven’t been totally honest with anyone.” She admitted.

  “Honest about what?” Nix asked harshly, he hated lying and she had known that but at the time it had seemed her only option, now she understood she could tell him the truth because he would still treat her as Rae. She looked between both of them then let them in on her omissive problem.

  “Well, I haven’t lied, so much as not told you the whole story. I think it’s about time that I did.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Tell us then.” Nix tried but she shook her head.

  “I will, I promise but my dad needs to hear it too, so we need to get to him first.” She decided. If they were phased by her temporary hold, they didn’t show it. Instead Nix started walking again.

  “We better get going then, you coming?” He said looking back. She nodded and followed him back to the RV with John nodding in agreement and bringing up the rear.

  They made it back to the RV where Jen patched up Raelynn’s cut then ate the food that they had grabbed from the store. They finished up then got back on the road, off to Colorado.

  “To Rio Grande Forest! Last stop!” Kenji chuckled, pretending to choo-choo like a train. Rae grinned then frowned. He had never asked why they were going or asked any questions; he had just agreed to take them wherever they needed to go. She wanted to say she questioned his motives out of pure curiosity, but she couldn’t lie, she was just that paranoid.

  “You haven’t asked why we’re going there. Don’t you want to know?” Rae asked and he shook his head.

  “Nope.” He started, “It didn’t really matter to me. It still doesn’t. You say you wanna get there to see your dad, I know that much and me and Jen got nothing better to do.” He shrugged.

  “I don’t just want to see my dad. We’re going to find my dad because he has more information on what happened and might have a way to stop this apocalypse.” Rae said earning a grin from him.

  “Huh, so because I’m taking you there, if you guys stop whatever this is that would make me a hero, right? Hero Kenji sounds good to me.” He chuckled. Rae rolled her eyes with a playful smile before Kenji spoke again. “You know I thought John was your dad, like almost this whole time until you said you needed to get to your dad.” He said as John let out a bellowing laugh at the statement and Rae snickered.

  “No, definitely not. I’m curious now though, what else have you assumed?” Rae asked.

  “Well I thought John was your dad, you and Nix were together, and that Evie and James were your kids. You look sort of young to have a seven-year-old kid, but you know the controversial world we live in, so I dropped it.” He admitted. Rae’s jaw dropped as John and Nix laughed whole heartedly from the back seat.

  “We found the kids abandoned in the mall, so we brought them with us to stop them from being eaten.” John explained between chuckles.

  “Ah, kidnappers, it’s cool though. I’m technically a murderer, I guess the zombie apocalypse changes even the best of us.” Kenji joked half-heartedly.

  They finished joking at that, everyone fell silent and after a while, finally fell asleep. One and a half an hour later and Rae was woken by Kenji’s booming voice through the RV.

  “We’re here!” He grinned, waking everyone up. The light from the midday sun glared off the fresh layer of snow on the ground. It had stopped falling but the crispness of the air was still there. They all climbed from the RV, walking through the wooden gate and into Rio Grande National Forest.

  “I see no camp or dad?” Kenji questioned and Rae chuckled.

  “Don’t worry, it’s hidden. Let’s grab what we can from the RV then we’ll head there.” She replied. They packed up all their things, locked the camper then set off on the track that would have been invisible to the untrained eye, but she had been down it so many times she could have found it blindfolded. She led the group through the forest, John trailing behind with his gun, her gun in her own hand. John knew where to go as well so she wasn’t as worried about him getting lost as she was the others. The walk was so full of tree roots, vines and moss, not to mention all the luggage, that the walk seemed longer than she remembered but she kept going. Nix walked closely to her, holding Everlynn’s hand as Raelynn cradled a sleeping James in her free arm. Just as she was starting to wonder whether she remembered the way as much as she had thought, an old log cabin came into view. Raelynn grinned as the trees broke into a small clearing surrounding the cabin, and up the steps onto the porch, Rae found what she had been craving to find. Her father. He grinned as he came down the steps, his arms held out to her. She handed James to Nix and ran to her father, tears streaming, warmth blooming from her heart as he enclosed her in his arms. She snuggled against his tough chest, the woodsy scent of his flannel shirt taking her back to when she was ten years old, and her dad was her hero. He kissed the top of her head, his tall, broad build cradling her against him. She cried against him, relief flooding her. She hadn’t known what she would find when she made it but there had been a niggling fear that she would never see him again but the sight of her dad after all these years took all her pain and worry away. She squeezed him tighter, then sniffled and pulled away, wiping her eyes. She turned back to the others who were waiting to be introduced before doing anything.

  “Dad, this is my family.” She gestured back to her group. He knew Nix and John who came over and hugged her dad with a clap on the back in that manly way they did.

  “Good to see you, son.” He mumbled to Nix then moved to John. He shook John’s hand with a nod.

  “Thank you, John. For getting my girl here.” He whispered. John nodded gruffly then moved aside so Raelynn could introduce the others.

  “This is Kenji.” She started “He’s a photographer.” She said as Kenji went to shake Andrew’s hand but got pulled into his bear hug instead. Kenji patted him on the back then stepped back, straightening his clothes.

  “Well, not really a photographer. An aspiring one. I was training to be an investor like my father. Photography wasn’t really an acceptable career choice for the eldest son in my family. I take good pictures though and I love taking
them. Maybe I will be one day when this is over…” Kenji rambled before John scoffed.

  “And he doesn’t know how to shut up but don’t worry, he grows on you.” John teased. Kenji grinned goofily, fiddling with the strap on his camera around his neck. Andrew laughed.

  “That's an impressive piece.” Andrew chuckled at the camera, accepting what he wanted to be without a second thought.

  “Thank you.” Kenji nodded bashfully, hiding a grin and a light in his eyes as he turned his head away. Rae brought Jen forward.

  “And this is Jen, she doesn't talk and is our mechanic, who plays chess and piano if I remember that right.” Rae said as Andrew offered her a hug, she accepted it with a warm smile and nod towards Rae. Raelynn returned the gesture then grabbed Everlynn forward.

  “This little princess, is Everlynn.” Raelynn smiled. Andrew got down on one knee and offered her a hug too. She looked up at Rae in question. Raelynn nodded back with a grin. Everlynn smiled wide and ran into his arms. Andrew laughed and picked her up.

  “You’re the most beautiful princess I have ever seen.” He smiled. Raelynn went over to Nix and grabbed James, bringing him back to meet her dad. It pierced her heart slightly, dampening a bit of her mood, guilt chewing at her insides as she remembered that her son had never met him. Pushing it aside once again though, Raelynn showed James to him.

  “And this handsome boy is James, Evie's brother. We found them both in the mall back home, abandoned.”

  “Well they’re not anymore, are they? You’re a good girl, Rae” He smiled proudly, cooing at James before looking back at her. She blushed at his compliment. Her dad looked around at all of them then over their shoulders, checking their surroundings the way he used to when they were hunting. She thought she saw him stop and shake his head slightly, but he said nothing, so she dropped it. He clapped his hands together.