Beyond Death: Origins, Book 1 (6 page)

Awake only from the bad coffee he’d gulped at Dax’s, Chase drove feeling like a zombie with a lead foot. Eyes wide and burning, but constantly scanning the road for obstacles like abandoned cars and them, he kept going on overdrive and over-caffeinated delusion of strength. Miles stretched endlessly. Ghost towns came and went. They’d stopped briefly to loot a small mom and pop store that miraculously had no broken windows.

With the trunk stuffed with supplies, they’d had to hit a few and swerve around a few of them that had gotten too close for comfort during their raid of the store. Risks. Their lives had become an endless mirage of them just to get by. Even stopping to take a leak proved life-threatening. He dared not even roll down his window to escape the smell of three sweaty, dirty men who hadn’t showered in who knows how long.

“Where are we?” Dax asked.

“Why?” Chase asked abruptly.

“I know another guy who lives just a little ways from here. He’s ex-military and has a nice arsenal of weapons in his shed that he brags about. I know he has silencers. I tried to call him several times before you guys showed. But I either didn’t get through or got no answer.”

“Silencers, huh?” Chase asked.

“Yeah. I noticed that these creatures, these zombie-like things, they seem hyper-sensitive to sound. And they move fast, at least as fast as us. Guns with silencers have to be better than the kitchen knives we have. Might be worth the short detour,” Dax proposed.

“I think you’re right. Jayda said they were boarding themselves in. No telling what we’ll come across at any time. Would be good to be armed well. Just tell me where to go. I think it’s a chance we have to take,” Chase added.

Adrenaline rushed through him as he made a hairpin turn at a speed too high to pull it off had the road not been abandoned. He couldn’t chance hitting another car, but for the most part, he was free and clear to move as he pleased.

“I really hope this part of the country was just hit worse, because all these empty roads and empty towns are starting to freak me out. I feel like the last men on earth. We just watched on the TV a few hours ago chaos in the big cities still. So, hopefully it’s the more rural towns this has happened too. Even the zombies aren’t hanging around,” Chase said as he shuddered.

“I’m sure you’re right. The wealthy fled. We are talking the suburbs of LA here. Look, turn here,” Dax added.

When they got to the house, they could see no signs of life. Chase took the lead, and Dax and Lucas flanked him. With all sides in view, they moved as one. A few quick lessons in the store, and they’d followed Chase’s lead to form a stealthy unit.

“The front door is open,” Chase whispered as he adjusted his grip on his knife.

One of the ones advertised to cut through soda cans, he hoped a zombie would be a piece of cake. They inched forward until just a few steps from the door. Chase motioned for them to stand back a few steps. He stepped cautiously to the door, and peered around. Seeing a dead body, he waited to see if it would move.

Noticing a few remnants of his brains hanging out the side of a cracked skull, he motioned for Dax and Lucas to come into the house. He heard Dax’s sharp intake of breath as he reached the horrid scene.

“Be quiet. One of them or more could still be in the house,” Chase warned in a harsh whisper. “I assume this is your friend?”

When Dax didn’t move, but just stared at the dead guy on the floor, Lucas nudged him. Nothing. Chase shook his head. He hoped at least they’d gain weapons, not just this suddenly useless man.

“Dax,” Chase hissed. “Come on man. Snap out of it. We need to get to the shed and get out of here.”

Dax started to break down and mutter some gibberish about his friend. Chase got the gist of it. He figured if this guy couldn’t survive an attack, he had a snowball’s chance in hell. In trying to get Dax to shut up, he didn’t hear the zombie enter the room. The thing lunged toward Dax, who’d shut up only because he’d gone back to frozen.

Stepping forward, he went at the dead guy with his knife raised. In a swift move, he angled the knife and brought it right down into the zombie’s temple. As the thing fell, he did a quick check of himself and Dax. No visible scrapes, he saw Lucas standing on the other side of Dax, knife raised. Relief flooded him. At least he wasn’t alone.

“Dax,” Lucas hissed. “Let’s go. You have to stay quiet and keep moving.”

Dax didn’t even blink.

“Dax, please man. You move or you die,” Lucas tried again.

“Forget it,” Chase grumbled low. “Just walk him if he’ll let you. We have to move. This way.”

“Key,” Dax finally choked out one word.

He’d pointed to the kitchen. Chase led them in the direction Dax pointed. Dax moved only as Lucas directed him.

“Where?” Chase hissed when they got there.

“Drawer,” Dax stated and pointed again.

Chase managed to secure the shed key and move them out of the house to the back yard. Thankfully, the zombie had been alone. Maybe a friend or neighbor already in the house with the guy. Either way, Chase barely held back his excitement when he got the door to the shed open.

“Who the hell keeps guns like this in a shed?” Chase asked. “We have at least twenty military grade weapons here, with ammo. How the hell did he get all of them anyway?”

“Long story,” Dax finally answered. “Let’s just grab them and get out of here.”

“Fine by me,” Chase added as he got to work filling Lucas’ and Dax’s arms as full as he could.

Without further incident, the trio moved to the car with their finds. They stuffed the thing so full there was barely room for them with the food supplies, the lab stuff, and now the guns. Chase felt set to take on the world. Or at least get Jayda to safety. This time.

“Let me see your phone,” Richard demanded.

“It wouldn’t kill you to talk nice. I know it seems like we’re in the middle of some zombie apocalypse right out of some horror movie, but with more reality than we’d like, but seriously, you’ve done nothing but criticize and bark orders since our neighbor—” Jayda left off, the memory too overwhelming still.

“Give me your phone, please,” Richard said.

Jayda could tell he’d made a frail attempt to change his voice, even though he’d failed miserably.

“Why?” she asked.

His irritation only made her more testy and ready to do battle. Before she realized what he was doing, she felt him rip her phone from her hand. He turned from her, and she followed.

“What is wrong with you?”

“See,” he shouted under his breath. “Chase hasn’t returned one of your last six calls. He’s not coming and we’re leaving. You stay if you must, let the guy let you down once again. But Sherri and I are leaving.”

Sherri had followed them into the kitchen. Jayda knew it had nothing to do with hearing what she and Richard had to say; she just didn’t want to be alone. Who could blame her? Jayda, with Sherri on her heels, followed Richard upstairs.

“Give me back my phone,” she demanded.

“Here. Have it. You wait for him. I wish you the best. He already ruined your military career, but I guess you have another leg to give up still,” he huffed as he slammed the phone into her outstretched hand.

Despite the sting of his words, she tried to understand how he felt. He loved her, and right now every nasty thing he said came from a mix of two emotions, love and fear. He feared losing her, to a zombie or Chase. He wasn’t military. He didn’t have the grit she and Chase had. She’s married him for his kindness. Even though he didn’t show it now, she knew this impossible situation had silenced it out of his own survival instinct.

“Jayda, get me some of your clothes for Sherri. Just an extra shirt and pants, maybe a jacket, then we’ll pack what food we can—water bottles and energy bars for the road. The car is in the garage. We can pack it up as full as we can, then take off out the front. We’ll run their asses over if we have to,” Richard ranted.

Jayda moved in to help Richard pack. She placed in two sets of clothes, two jackets. Survival mode she knew well. Jayda looked out the bedroom window and scanned the street. It looked deserted. A quick stroll to the bathroom window on the other side of the house showed only a few of them lingered. Maybe even the dead gave up. 

Downstairs, they packed all they hoped would fit in the car, and placed it by the door to the garage. Richard had a dry sink in front of it. She knew he didn’t trust the garage door to hold if a horde of them came knocking. So they packed and stacked, figuring they’d pack the car right before they left.

Sherri, who had her nose pressed to a piece of wood over a window, looking out a small hole in the board, gasped. Jayda moved close to her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Gun?” Sherri choked out.

Jayda nudged her away and looked out the hole herself. She saw two shadowy figures stepping away from a car that hadn’t been there before.  They both had large guns, military grade, aimed and ready to fire, as they walked.

She squinted in the dusk to make them out, but they had on hoodies with the hoods pulled up. The air would start to chill, but she figured it more for protection. The noise from the car must have alerted the zombies because they seemed to appear from all angles from around the houses.

She watched as the muzzles of the guns flashed. Silencers. She held her breath as those things fell, one by one. She prayed this was Chase. In the meantime, she ignored Richard asking her what was going on. With her hand up to silence him, she watched the progress of the two men with bated breath.

Moments ticked along like hours as each one of the creatures fell around the men. One was a sure shot while the other seemed a newbie. They made their way steadily toward her house. She’d demanded that Sherri duck down. As they approached, guns aimed at the house, she did the same. Richard followed suit.

Seconds later a knock came at the door. Repetitious, as only a living human being could manage, she stood.

“Don’t answer it!” Richard warned, grabbing her arm to stop her.

“Jayda,” a voice came through the door.

“It’s Chase,” she said smugly, a triumphant smile of joy and relief settling over her as she pulled herself from her husband’s grasp.

Pulling open the door, she stepped aside to let the two men in. Chase held the door open as he motioned. Jayda saw another man emerge from the car and run to the house. Once they were all three safely inside, Chase turned to her. His eyes held wonder, love, and fatigue.

She leapt into his arms without thinking. Relief showed in her muscles she hadn’t even realized were tight. Her mind went back in time with his strong and familiar arms around her. The gun at his side gave her the first rays of hope.

“You made it,” she exclaimed as she pulled back in an awkward move from his tight grasp.

“I did,” he sighed.

Chase tried to keep his mind on the task, despite working with Richard. The man gave him only short, gruff answers. He got that. From the moment he’d gotten there, he could feel the daggers that Richard had shot at him with each look. He understood that too. Who was he to barge in here and take over in his ex-wife’s house?

She had a husband now. He did what he had to do because he just had to where she was concern. Right or wrong, here he was. He obviously had more to fear than just the walking dead outside. Didn’t seem so safe in here either. Not that he couldn’t take Richard, but on a mental-emotional level, he stood on shaky ground.

Creating a list of what they’d need to bring with them, the essentials only, had become a pissing contest. Despite the short, angry disagreements and sarcastic agreements, Jayda had left the room. Eventually, Dax and Lucas had followed them, mentioning something lame about checking on the women. Regardless, they still couldn’t fit the six of them in one car with it all, no matter what the list consisted of.

“We need food and water, we need stuff from our lab, we need weapons, and we need…shit! We need medical supplies. What do you guys have?” Chase asked.

“Just the basic home medical kit. It would be enough to get through maybe one wound,” Richard said. “We could scavenge through the neighborhood, the houses that are abandoned. We assume all of them, but who really knows. We boarded up and stayed put.”

“We have a neighbor that is an EMT,” Jayda said as she walked back in the room. “I can show you the house. I know she keeps a good stash of stuff at her house, more than she should probably legally have. I’ve teased her about it and borrowed from it. She may not have taken it all if they fled. If they haven’t, maybe they’d let us take it to come with us.”

“I’ll go with Chase,” Richard spat at her.

“Thanks, but I go alone. It’s an easier in and out I learned from the house we got our weapons from,” Chase said and turned to go find Dax and Lucas.

He filled them in on where he was going, and Dax offered him the small pistol with a silencer to hide in his jeans. That way he could move fast and silent even if attacked.

“They have an alarm system if they’re not home,” Jayda added, standing in the doorway.

“I can help with that,” Lucas added.

“I go alone,” Chase said again.

As ice rose in his veins, he listened to Lucas’ instructions on how to disable an alarm.  He just prayed that they hadn’t taken the time to turn it on if they’d fled.

As Chase looked out the small windows high on the door that weren’t boarded up, Jayda came up close behind him.

“I’m worried about you,” she whispered.

“Why,” he snapped in the quietest voice he could manage. “You just assume I can’t handle it, that I’ll freak out and screw up? That’s exactly why I’m going alone.”

“No, I didn’t think that at all,” she sighed. “I’d worry about anyone going out there, no matter how trained they were is all.”

“Sorry,” was all he got out.

She nodded.

The sun coming out, he stripped off his hoodie and tucked the gun in the waist of his jeans. He gave her a weak smile and walked out the door.