Dead & Alive (Book 1): Survive (3 page)

Then a shot sounded out, Andrew still on his knees fell back, the bullet hit Andrew in the head and the back of his head exploded sending blood and brain matter flying across the room. The room went silent as Josh, Bray, Elle and Frank all looked at Jack. He was standing with his gun held up pointed at Andrew.

Jack lowered his gun and looked back to the team, “Hesitate, you die,” he said in a cold manner.

“You... You. Killed him,” Elle stuttered.

“He was dead the moment that thing took a bite out of him,” he replied.

“You cannot know that, he may have been OK,” Elle replied. “Michael was bitten and he turned into a Zombie, Andrew was bitten and would have also turned into a Zombie,” Jack shouted.

Frank let go of Elle, “He’s right,” Frank told everyone.

The banging from outside got louder, Josh moved towards the front of the shop, “There are more of them now,” he told everyone while looking through the shutter.

“OK, we need to move,” Jack, told all of them. “Bray, with me,” he told Bray while walking to the back of the shop.

On the back wall, there was a fire exit. “Come on,” Frank told Josh and Elle.

They both started to follow Frank to the back of the shop to join Jack and Bray, but took one last look at their two dead friends. “I am going to open this slowly and I will go first, turn the safety of your weapons,” Jack told them.

Just as Jack was about to open the fire exit, Frank grabbed his arm. “I should go first, I am in command,” Frank told him.

“Frank, I’m good,” Jack reassured him. Jack pushed the bar; unlocking the door, the door opened and Jack crept out slowly with his weapon raised.

Emerging from the door, Jack stepped into the darkness. Looking around as he stepped out into a car park, the car park was not empty. Trucks and cars were scattered all round as Jack continued to move forward quickly followed by the rest of the team. The darkness was against them, restricting their view. Frank moved to join Jack at the front, “Anything,” he whispered.

A crash echoed from behind them, Bray turned with his gun ready. The fire exit door had slammed shut behind them. “SHIT!” Josh shouted.

Jack and Frank turned to see Josh about to fire his gun, approaching them from the right was a group of zombies. “Run, “Jack told them. “We should fight,” Josh replied.

“We don’t have the ammo or the numbers to fight them off, now move,” Jack told him.

Elle grabbed Josh by the arm, “We have to run,” she told him.

The team started to run from the zombies approaching them. Running between the cars, they reached the edge of the car park. Jumping over a small fence, they found themselves on a road. At the far side of the road more zombies were coming, the team changed direction and carried on running. They approached a turn in the road, in front of them two zombies came into sight; Elle raised her gun and opened fire. She shot one straight in the head with her first shot. Before she took a second shot, another Zombie appeared from behind a parked truck. Catching her off guard the Zombie was about to get hold of her, when Jack appeared from behind Elle, he shot the Zombie directly in the head. Elle was shocked, but only for a moment, she quickly raised her gun and took her second shot at the third Zombie shooting in the head.

Josh, Bray, and Frank caught up Jack and Elle, “There is too many, everywhere we turn there is just more,” Bray told everyone in a panic.

Frank looked at their surroundings, “There,” he pointed to an old building surrounded by scaffolding.

“Do you think these things can climb?” Bray asked.

“Not faster than us,” Josh replied while starting to run towards the building.

As they reached the building, Jack turned, “OK, everyone up, I will cover you,” he told them.

Jack took a knee and held his weapon up, from the darkness more and more zombies emerged. Jack started to lay down cover fire. Elle started the climb with Josh quickly behind her. Jack was shooting ahead not seeing what was approaching from his side. Bray was starting his climb when he looked to the side and noticed a Zombie almost at Jack’s position.

“JACK!” he shouted.

Elle looked down to see the same Zombie, she also shouted, “JACK!”

Before Jack could turn Frank came running in, holding his gun high, shooting the Zombie.

Jack turned in shock, “Time to move,” Frank told him. Frank held out his hand to help Jack to his feet. “Thanks,” Jack said to him. They both ran to the scaffolding looking up as they climbed, they could see the others had already made it to the top. Climbing up, Jack looked down to see the zombies gathering with their arms raised.

“Finally some luck, they can’t climb,” Jack laughed. Frank also started to laugh a little. Reaching the top, Bray and Josh were ready to help them over the last bar. 

Now safely on the roof, they looked around, making sure nothing was on the roof with them. Jack stayed by the edge and pulled his water canteen out, taking a long drink; he noticed a small hut in the middle of the roof. Elle walked back to Jack, “You OK?” she asked.

“Not really,” he replied, feeling the guilt of killing two of his friends.

“You did the right thing, “she told him. Jack looked into her dark eyes, as she continued to speak, “You saved us, you kept calm when we panicked, you were the one strong enough to do what had to be done,” she told him affection.

Jack looked uncomfortable, “I didn’t want to shoot our own people, but… just but!” he sighed.

Elle moved in and kissed Jack on the cheek, “Thank you,” she told him. “Don’t thank me for that, please,” he replied to her.

Elle smiled and took his canteen of water, “Do you mind?” she asked. Before he could answer, she had already taken a drink. Jack smiled at her.

“OVER HERE!” Frank shouted.

Everyone approached Frank, who was standing by the hut door. “What is it?” Jack asked.

“In there, I heard something,” he replied. All of them stood in front of this small brick building, looking at it they could see it was a storage shed.

“Are you sure?” Josh asked. A small creek came from the door; all the team raised their weapons. Jack pointed to Josh and Bray to move to the side of the door, he then pointed Elle to cover them while he and Frank was to open the door.

Frank stood to the side and grabbed the door handle. Frank stood still and mouthed the words, one… two… three, quickly opening the door a small figure rushed at them. The figure ran into Elle, taking her off balance the dark figure swung a metal pipe at her, catching her ankle as she tried to drag herself away. Jack rushed and grabbed the small figure, grabbing the metal bar from its hand.

“Don’t hurt me please,” a young female voice shouted. Jack held the figure while removing the hood that covered its head. Jack was shocked. He had   uncovered a child, a young girl no more than thirteen maybe fourteen.

A second figure emerged from the storage shed, “Please, she didn’t mean to, please do not hurt her,” a young male voice screamed. Looking over to the second voice, a young boy stood there looking even younger than the girl did.

SURVIVORS

The sound of the zombies groaning and banging against the scaffolding echoed in the night, the team on the roof stood in shock at finding two kids. Jack still had a grip on the girl who attacked Elle, the boy stood in the doorway of the storage shed. Bray lowered his gun and walked towards the boy, but he backed off deeper into the shed.

“Please, leave him alone,” the girl, shouted while trying to struggle away from Jack.

Frank stepped forward, “It’s OK, we’re not going to hurt you,” he reassured the kids.

Jack let go of the girl and she ran to the boy, Jack turned to help Elle back to her feet. “You alright,” he asked her while helping her.

“Fine, just a bump,” she replied to him, smiling. They both turned their attention back to the kids.

“What are your names?” Frank asked.

The girl looked scared, but eventually she answered, “I’m Clare and this is Joe my brother,” she replied sounding scared.

“Hi, I’m Frank,” he replied her in a soft voice. Frank then started to point out and introduce the rest of the team, “The man next to you is Bray, the man by the wall is Josh, and they are Jack and Elle,” he told them.

Joe was hiding behind his sister, “We don’t have any food you can steal,” Clare suddenly said.

Bray looked disgusted, thinking of these kids scared of them and thinking he would hurt them. “Are you hungry?” Bray asked them. Clare looked and just nodded yes. Jack moved towards them and knelt down; he looked at the girl in front of him. She was covered in dirt and her blonde hair looked brown with all the dirt in it, he then glanced at Joe, no older than eleven, his clothes were just rags and his hair overgrown and black, they both looked starving.

Taking two bars of chocolate from his survival vest he offered them to Clare, “It’s not a trick you can have it,” he told them. Clare looked at Jack, she was frightened to take the chocolate, she tried to move but was just too scared, “Tell you what, how about I just leave it here on the floor for you and I will move away.”

Clare gave a small smile and with that, Jack put down the chocolate, got back to his feet, and backed off. Clare looked and then grabbed the chocolate, she gave a bar to Joe, and together they shoved the chocolate in their mouths.

“Looks like they haven’t eaten in a while,” Elle whispered to Jack.

“I can’t believe there are survivors here,” he said to Elle. Bray took out his water canteen and offered to the kids, they hesitated for a moment but took the water.

They drank it so fast, their mouths filled up and the water started to spill out, Bray just smiled at what he was seeing.

“Where are your parents?” Frank asked, deep down already knowing the tragic answer.

“Monsters…. They became… monsters,” Joe shouted out. “SSHHH...” Clare reacted.

“They will hear us,” she continued.

“Who will hear you?” Bray asked.

Clare looked at them, “The monsters, if you make noise, they will come for you,” Clare replied.

“How long have you been here?” Frank asked.

Clare still scared replied, “Three days.”

Frank looked back to Jack looking shocked, “How did you get here?” Jack asked them.

“We were looking for food and couldn’t return to the others when the monsters came after us, we climbed up here and hid,” Clare told Jack.

“OTHERS!” Josh shouted. Clare jumped in fear hearing Josh shout at her. Bray looked at Josh in anger.

“Shut up,” he told him.

“Frank! We need to talk in private,” Jack said.

Frank agreed with a nod of the head, “Bray, look after them,” Frank told him.  He walked over towards Jack and they both walked over to the other side of the roof.

Frank walked to the edge of the building and looked down; the groaning from the dead was louder, the creaking of the scaffolding made him wonder how much longer it would stand under the pressure of the army of dead. Looking at the rotting, living corpses made him sick to the stomach. “How did it come to this,” he muttered under his breath.

Jack stood beside him, “There is something I need to ask you, and I need you to be honest with me,” Jack told him.

Frank looked at him, “Go ahead,” he replied angrily.

Jack backed away from the edge, he sighed under his breath as if he was struggling with the question, “As Corporal, you would have been supplied all information for the mission. Frank, did you know there were survivors here?” he asked.

Franks face erupted in anger. “Fuck you Jack!” he snapped in reply. Jack stood his ground. “You think I would have brought us here if I knew, we lost people,” Frank said in anger. Frank started to walk away, but turned back and walked straight up to Jack, he pointed his finger at Jack’s face. “What about you?” he asked.

“What about me,” Jack replied calmly.

“Come on, you’re the one with the secret past Jack, you looked nice and cozy with Captain Jenkins. What exactly did she want to talk to you about in secret Jack after the mission briefing?” Frank asked him.

Jack laughed, “You don’t want to know,” Jack replied to him. Frank took a step back. “If I knew there were survivors and there were fucking zombies you think I would have let the team come?” Jack asked.

Frank looked at him in the eyes, “I know, sorry Jack, I know you would not have come here,” Frank said in an apologetic voice.

“I would still have come,” Jack responded.

Frank could not believe what he just heard, “You would have too, wouldn’t you?” Frank asked him.

“It’s my job,” Jack replied in a low voice.

Frank felt guilty for questioning Jack; he knew Jack had to ask him if he knew anything. Frank had no idea what to say and was about to walk away, but realized he had not thanked Jack for not only saving all their lives, but also for taking the burden on his shoulders and dealing with his fellow teammates when they turned. Jack stood at the edge looking out over London; Frank came and stood beside him.

“What you did for Michael and Andrew was….” Jack stopped Frank before he could finish.

“Don’t you dare, don’t you dare thank me for that,” Jack told him.

Frank stayed quiet for a moment, “Jenkins, she asked you to take command didn’t she?” Frank asked.

Jack looked over to Frank, “Doesn’t matter now, does it? What matters is trying to stay alive, saving as many as we can and killing a lot of those Zombie fucks,” Jack replied with emotion.

Jack walked away from the edge; he started to walk back to the others. “Jack, what happened to you?” Frank asked in a concerned voice.

Jack turned his head, “If we survive, maybe I will tell you,” Jack laughed back. Frank smiled and followed him back to the others.

Bray and Elle were comforting the kids while Josh still stood against the hut looking lost. Clare and Joe were now sitting down, and started to show trust. “Can you tell us where the others are?” Elle asked Clare.

Josh interrupted, “Does that really matter,” Josh said aloud.

Bray looked at Josh, “Of course it matters, if there are survivors, then there is hope,” Bray replied harshly.

“Come on, are we really going to take the word of a couple of kids,” Josh replied directly in a stern voice.

Bray started to lose his temper; he jumped to his feet, but before he could react to the comments made by Josh, both Jack and Frank returned.

“Is there a problem here?” Jack asked sternly.

“Damn right there is, these two are asking about survivors and where they are,” Josh abruptly replied. Bray went to move against Josh, Jack stepped in and stopped Bray.

“Calm down, now,” Jack, told him.

Frank grabbed hold of Josh and pulled him out of the way. “What is your problem Josh?” Elle spoke out.

“Not my problem, it’s our problem,” Josh replied.

“Survivors are not a problem,” Elle replied.

“Come on, think about it, we are here on a Top Secret mission, how is the world going to react when survivors suddenly start appearing,” Josh told everyone coldly.

Jack let go of Bray and turned his attention to Josh, “Are you kidding me, I don’t give a shit about Top Secret. If there are survivors, we are going to save as many as we can, is that understood PRIVATE!” Jack shouted.

Josh took a step back, knowing he had overstepped. Elle still sat comforting the kids. Jack moved over to Frank, “What now?” Frank asked him.

Jack turned to Bray, “Find out where they are.” Jack told him. Bray gave a tilt of the head in acknowledgment and walked back to the kids.

Frank walked over to speak to Josh, “I understand your concerns, but we all need to work together. We will deal with each problem as it happens,” Frank told him.

Josh simply replied, “Yes, Sir!”

Jack joined Bray and Elle to speak to the kids.

“Bray, where are the others?” he asked.

“The kids don’t want to tell us,” Bray replied.

Jack sat down next to Elle, “Clare, Joe, we can help, you just need to trust us,” Jack told them softly.

Clare looked straight at Jack, “They already have people helping them,” she told him.

Looking confused Jack asked, “Who helps them?”

“More soldiers,” Clare spoke out suddenly.

Elle frowned and looked at Jack, “Solders?” she asked.

“They must have been left here after the evacuation,” Jack replied.

“Clare, we can get everyone to safety?” Bray asked her.

Joe finally spoke, “No monsters?” he asked. Thinking about the zombies below.

Elle smiled knowing what he meant. “No monsters, I promise,” she told him.

“They are at the museum,” Clare told them.

“Sweetheart which one” Jack asked.

“Near the bridge, it is straight down there,” Clare said while pointing in the direction of the river Thames.

“Thank you, Clare do you think you could take us there?” Jack replied.

Clare replied, “Yes, but the monsters will come for us.”

“Do not worry about the monsters, Ok, we will keep them away,” Jack told her.

Clare simply smiled; she was starting to trust Jack.

Jack stood up and asked Elle to join him and for Bray to stay with the kids. Jack and Elle walked over to Frank and Josh. “You OK now?” Jack asked Josh.

“Yeah, sorry I didn’t mean to make it sound like I didn’t care,” he replied.

“Well, this is a screwed up night,” Jack laughed it off.

“Sorry Elle,” Josh continued.

Elle simply touched his arm, “No problem,” she told him.

“Frank, the kids said the survivors are protected by soldiers at a museum,” Jack told him.

“We should think about moving, time is ticking away. Can the kids show us?” Frank asked.

“Yes,” Jack replied.

“What about the zombies?” Elle asked.

Josh replied before anyone else could, “We kill the bastards,” Jack and Frank smiled.

Elle looked and laughed, “Sounds like a plan,” she laughed out, causing the others to laugh too.

The team moved to the far end of the roof and looked down to the ground level, “OK, there is nothing down this end. We are going to move very quietly. When you reach the bottom stay close to the wall until everyone has made it down,” Jack told everyone.

Frank and Bray were the first to start the climb down, Josh helped them and then joined them, climbing down behind.

Jack spoke to the kids, “listen, I will go first and you both will join me. We climb together. If you need to stop just tell me,” the kids both agreed and looked scared.

Jack noticed the fear in their face, “Hey, I will not let anything happen to you both.” he reassured them.

Elle walked along the roof edge a few feet and Jack noticed her limping, “Elle, you Ok?” he asked.

She smiled at him, “Yeah, it’s just a little sore. I am fine, will meet you at the bottom,” she replied.

As she watched Jack go over the edge, she kept smiling thinking how strong Jack was tonight, keeping everyone going and dealing with the hell around him at the same time. The kids started to climb down, Elle quickly made sure they were OK, “I will be right behind you,” she told them. Jack looked down seeing Frank, Bray, and Josh reach the bottom.

The kids were moving slow and this had slowed them all down. Joe was struggling; his small legs had trouble reaching the next bar. As he struggled down his foot slipped and he dropped, quickly taking hold of another bar.

The others climbing all looked, but feared shouting out in case they attracted the zombies. Joe had his eyes shut as he tried to regain his breath, opening his eyes he let out a loud scream. Jack looked up to see Joe face to face with a Zombie. “JOE” Clare screamed.

“KEEP MOVING!” Jack shouted at her.

Jack raced back up the scaffolding. Joe was pushing himself away from the Zombie. As Jack got closer, he could see the decomposing living body, it had an arm missing, and half its face had been torn away, revealing the skull.

Getting closer Jack could see the Zombie was snagged on some cable and could not reach Joe, it attempted to reach out for Joe with its last remaining arm.