Z-Risen (Book 2): Outcasts (20 page)
Entry #20 – The Road Ahead
17:00 hours approximate
Location: Not-sure-where, CA - Undead Central
Roz and Christy were safely seated in the back of the camper with Frosty. I looked toward the passenger side seat and thought of Anna Sails. I should be sitting over there while she drove and peppered me with dark looks every time I asked stupid questions. There was no way around it. We might not have been perfect for each other, but I felt her loss with a hollowness I’d never experienced before.
Anna had been ready for any fight but I’d also found something else in her, a fierceness that was hard to define. I’d learned a lot during our short time together, and it was with a heavy heart that I shifted into drive and found a section of road I could roll onto.
And Joel.
Joel “Cruze” Kelly, the best friend I’d ever had. When we first ended up in this fucking zombie wasteland we hadn’t been the best partners, but we’d made do and even become friends. He’d taught me how to field strip an assault rifle, given lessons on flanking maneuvers and laying down suppressive fire, and always had a comeback ready for my dumb jokes. I was a much better man for having him in my life.
Sappy, sure, but I’m not the same guy I was a few weeks ago. Back
then, I’d been an alcohol swilling, foul-mouthed engineer who cared only about where we were headed and when we were getting underway.
I looked in the rearview mirror again, but the ambulance was a smoking ruin. The gunfire had torn the vehicle apart before it had caught fire. Then the Z’s had arrived, led by a full pack of shufflers, and made short work of
McQuinn’s crew. Some went down, but many simply piled back into cars and roared away. I didn’t know if McQuinn was alive, and I didn’t care at this point. If he was out there and I ran into him again, I’d be more than happy to go slow while I took him apart. I hoped he was a fucking Z.
I pulled out to a crossroad where a couple of bodies lay next to a car. I took a right. The plan was to run parallel to the freeway for as long as possible and hopefully come across Camp Pendleton. Along the way I’d stop and pick up a map.
I looked down because my vision was suddenly cloudy.
###
17:30 hours approximate
Location: Not-sure-where, CA - Undead Central
We were a few miles out when I came across the car. It had most of a Z hanging off the back and it had been shot to hell. I was going to pass it when curiosity got the better of me. If one of
McQuinn’s men was in the car, I wouldn’t mind dealing out a little justice with my wrench.
If I got lucky, it was Frank himself, although I was sure he’d gone down under a shuffler.
I stopped a few hundred feet from the car and stared for a minute. Nothing moved.
Roz slipped out of the camper and ran to my side of the truck.
“What’s up?”
“I think that’s one of
McQuinn’s cars.”
“So let’s drive past it. Come on, Jackson. I want to be as far away from this place as possible as quickly as possible.”
“Me too,” I mumbled.
But I didn’t. Sudden white-hot anger filled me and the world swam in front of my eyes. I might have been crying again or I might have been overcome with rage.
I jumped out of the still-running truck and drew the little Sig. I ducked down and angled toward the car, ignoring the throbbing of my ankle.
I kept the gun up. The second anyone showed
their face, I was going to blow it off.
Roz hissed at me to come back but I ignored her. She groaned and followed, flanking the car from the other side.
I moved up on the abandoned vehicle and found it empty. There was blood on the seat and some splashed on the door, but there was no one in sight.
The shops along the sides of the street were a mess. Most had smashed in windows and battered doors. A gas station bore graffiti that read, “Aim for the Head.” If the occupants of the car had found a store to hide in, there was no way I was going to find them unless I went door to door.
Something moved near the hood.
The car had come to stop next to a solid concrete barricade that might have been used to block access a few weeks ago. I’d heard from other survivors that the government had tried to quarantine entire cities but the virus had spread far too rapidly.
A gun barrel suddenly angled over the barricade so I dropped to the side of the car. I rolled my eyes when I realized how stupid I’d been. We could have driven by this car without a second thought.
“You better be an ace fucking shot because there are six of us,” I bluffed.
“What, you teach that dog how to shoot?”
I gasped and stood up. The gun barrel lowered and I rushed to the barricade.
I’ll never be able to explain the rush of emotions I felt when I found Joel Kelly with his back against the barricade, clutching his chest. But that wasn’t the half of it. Next to him, holding her arm as blood ran down her side, was Anna Sails.
“Oh fuck!”
Because I’m good with words like that.
“Good to see you too, buddy,”
Joel said.
“Anna, my Anna,” I said and reached out to brush the hair off her face.
“Jesus, Jackson, it’s been thirty minutes and you’re already a weepy little bitch,” Anna said through clenched teeth.
“I thought you two were dead,” I said.
“If I don’t get this bound, I may be in a few hours.”
“Are you hit anywhere else?”
Anna moved her hand aside to show where a couple of wounds were puckered along her upper left arm. I crouched next to her and put my hands on her neck and felt down to her shoulders. I went over her chest and then hips as I probed for wounds, but she didn’t gasp, she just stared at me.
“If you don’t stop feeling me up, you’re the one that’s going to get hit.”
Roz dropped next to Joel. She smiled at him, then put her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead against the side of his face.
“Are you okay?”
“Armor saved me but I feel like I was kicked by a fucking mule. I might have a broken rib.”
“How in the hell did you escape? I saw the ambulance explode.”
“We weren’t in it. We got the hell out of that piece of shit and then used it for cover. One of McQuinn’s men was trying to crawl into his own car, so I borrowed it,” Joel said.
I imagined Joel Kelly politely asking the guy to give up his car. I had the feeling it didn’t go over like that.
“I got you, baby,” Roz said and kissed him on the cheek.
“Jackson,” Anna said, “It’s not that bad. Get Joel to the camper and then come back for me.”
I ignored her and put my arms under her legs and around her back, then gently lifted her off the ground.
“Shut up, Anna. I’ll get you fixed up. You’ll be back on your feet in no time, you’ll see.”
“Yes sir,” Anna said and put her head against my chest.
I carried her to the camper and ripped up a piece of bedding for her to press against the wound. It would have to do until we c
ould find something better. Christy greeted her with a small smile and Frosty’s tail thumped against the floor so hard I worried that every Z within a half-mile radius would hear.
In the distance the shrill call of a shuffler broke the silence.
“I’ll be right back, Anna,” I said next to her ear. I didn’t want to take my eyes off her.
“Go get your pal before those Z’s show up and make this day into an even bigger mess.”
“Anna, I—”
“Shut up, Creed. Just shut up and come back to me. We’ll talk later,” she said.
“I was just going to say that I’m so glad you’re here. That’s all.”
She grimaced through the pain and managed to hit me with a smile that was something I don’t think I’d seen yet – because it was genuine.
###
07:30 hours approximate
Location: Not-sure-where, CA - Undead Central
It’s dark outside and this candle is just about burned to the table. We found a copse of trees off the road and pulled under them. The gas tank is still half-full so we have plenty for the next day or more. With any luck it will be enough to carry us all the way to Camp Pendleton. I never thought fifty miles would seem like such a long distance, but there’s a whole world out there just waiting for us to screw up. Just waiting to devour us.
Anna thinks she knows where Bright Star is camped but she’s worried about how long they were planning to be there. It could be that we arrive and the entire group is already gone.
Joel’s cool with that because he’s convinced that the Marines would never give up Camp Pendleton. I didn’t bother reminding him what happened to the naval base in San Diego.
Joel and Roz insisted that we take the bed because Anna needs to sit up during the night to keep pressure off her wounds. Christy fit in alongside Anna, so I’m taking what’s left of the bed, and that’s more than good enough for me.
I can feel Anna’s eyes on me as I finish this entry. I’ve looked up to catch her staring at me a number of times even though she tried to feign sleep. With her injuries, she is in a lot of pain but she doesn’t complain.
Tomorrow will be a fresh start. We’ll drive all day if we have to so we can reach the base.
For tonight, I’ve got this book. I’ve got food and water thanks to the camper. I’ve also got great friends
and even a dog that thinks her place is with her head in my lap or in Anna’s. I’ve got Joel.
Best of all, I’ve got Anna, which is reason enough to keep getting up and kicking ass. We’re hurt, but we’re alive, and that’s enough for now.
This is Machinist Mate First Class Jackson Creed and I am still alive.
The End
The adventure will continue in
Z-RISEN 3:
POISONED EARTH
Coming in 2014.
Why I wrote
the Z-Risen series
I’ve written a lot of zombie books over the years and had a lot of fun doing it. The Z-Risen series was born out of a conversation, over beers, with my friend Craig DiLouie in mid 2013. I had an idea to do a military themed series based partially on my own time in the United States Navy and pair up a Navy Engineer with a Marine. The two forces have always had a friendly rivalry and I thought it would make for a good story.
The first book was initially written as a free web serial and it was set in the same world as my Permuted Press book Beyond the Barriers--the books can be read independently.
I’m an indie author and I work very hard on my books. I hold down a full time job, have a family, and still manage to get in a few hours a day to write. I love hearing input from readers and the best way to provide that is via a review.
When you leave a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, or where ever you purchased a book, it helps other readers. This also helps the author out more than you can imagine.
So please, friends, if you can spare a few minutes of your time, go and review Z-RISEN: OUTCASTS on amazon.
Be honest and know that I read every review and use feedback to better my writing as well as have a positive impact on future novels.
Watch for Z-Risen: Poisoned Earth in 2014.
06:12 hours approximate
Seattle, WA – currently free of dead
This is author Timothy W. Long and I am still alive … and writing.