Earth: Book One (Elemental Series) (17 page)

Chapter Fifty-Three

Day Three: March 30
th
, 2020; 12: 57 pm

“A wise man once said: ‘Warriors do not win victories by beating their heads against walls, but by overtaking the walls. Warriors jump over walls; they don't demolish them,’” Austin started. “Let’s not demolish but jump over walls. Ready team?”

“What does that even mean?” Dean asked. He was in Austin group with Zander and Max.

“I don’t know,” Austin shrugged as he does so a piece of dead flesh falls off his lab coat. “It sounded good though, right?’

“Who said it?”
Zander asked.

“
Carlos Castaneda.” Max answered
.

Austin glanced over at him.

“I’m not that stupid,” Max wasn’t stupid, but he often felt like he is. His plan was to get lab coats and lather themselves in zombie guts and blood.

“Ready teams?” Austin said in the walkie-talkie.

“Yep,” Chyler said back. She was with Eleanor on a bus that Eleanor managed to wire. Forres was also with them, though she still won’t move much.

“Yes,” Felix said through a bandanna from Saint Hopes’ kitchen. Bex was with him but not in the kitchen.

Rayne was not with them anymore. She left with some supplies.

“Alright, we’re going in,” Austin replied. He started to walk in the woods near Saint James Mental Hospital. They slowly make their way, unnoticed, to the tunnel that leads into Saint James.

Zombies seemed unware of them. They did look over at them but they disregarded it when they smelt the zombie flesh and guts.

Max led the way in the tunnel, until a door came in view. They all sprint to the door, going through the maze of undead. Some of the undead looked where they were going, almost confused. Once they get to the door, Max threw it open and they all piled in.

Dean was the last one and he closed the door behind them. He turned, nearly bumping into Zander’s broad shoulder. “What the-?” Dean started.

The group was in a storage room; a meat fridge to be exact. But the meat was different; it was moving but tied down. Someone had tied down zombies.

They – except for Dean – covered their noses from the foul smell of rotted flesh.

“Let’s go, team,” Austin ordered. He sounded weird because his nose was held close. He took off the lab coat and threw it on a zombie like he was the coat hanger.

The tied down zombies went crazy at the smell of human.

The group started to leave the room besides Dean.

Dean stopped when he saw an undead girl. She was young, but not young than ten. Her head was down with her long blonde hair draping over her face. She looked almost normal besides the blood that was on her floral dress.

Dean crouched in front of her and put his hand over his mouth as if he could smell the iron in the blood on her dress or the smell of rotten meat. He was really disgusted with this horrible world. A ten year old died. Her brain wasn’t even developed fully yet. She looked small and fragile so she couldn’t have put up much a fight. Zombies prey more on the weak and fragile, and Dean hated that the most. This girl couldn’t possibly deserve to die.

The girl raised her head slowly and their eyes met. Her small eyes were pure white, filled with nothing: no life, no color or soul. They stared at each other for a second.

She jumped forward and snapped at him. She recoiled because she was tied up.

Dean’s heart stopped for a split second as he jumped up.

She snarled at him and it almost looks like she was smirking.

Dean blinked at her.

“Come on, Dean,” Zander said, peeking his head back in. “I hope she bites your face off,” he joked.

Dean jogged after Zander and pushed him playfully. Dean stayed in the back of the group. He looked down at his hand – the one that he covered his face with. Teeth marks were on the side. He sighed and pulled his long sleeves over his marks.

“We should split up and cover more ground,” Austin suggested.

“No, we really shouldn’t,” Max said. “This isn’t a horror movie. This is real. We should stay together.”

“Fine,” Austin said, looking at the map on the wall.

“I think we are here,” Dean joked, pointing to the red dot that said, “You are here.”

Austin shots him a glare and Dean withdrew like a puppy knowing that it couldn’t win a fight. “I’m going to check over here. You guys go to the office and see if there are cameras there.”

He walked away, leaving Max rolling his misty gray eyes.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Day Three: March 30
th
, 2020; 1: 32 pm

Austin walked slowly through the insane hospital.

Each time he came to an intersection, he looked all ways and goes on. His military boots pound through the empty halls.  The only other thing that fills the halls was blood; not really fresh.

When he came to double doors, he took a deep breath and pushed the doors open. He entered the room, scanning what’s in front of him. It was some type of Movie Theater with chairs and a projector set up but scattered around with blood.

Austin’s heart decided to stop breathing as he heard growl, none human or undead growls; dog growls. He turned slowly and saw two guard dogs in attack mode. They are pure zombies. One of them has no side of his face and the other seemed to have no insides because his whole stomach was eaten out.

“Oh crap,” Austin muttered as the dogs charged at him.

Austin shot at the one German shepherd dog that had no insides.  He doesn’t have time to shot the second so it tackled him. His gun flew but he doesn’t need it. Austin gripped the dog’s head and in a swift movement, snapped it. A cracking noise rippled through the room.

He quickly kicked the dog off of him and scramble to his feet.

A growl came as the dog got back up. His head hung by a thread of nerves and meat. Even though, the dog’s head was sideways and flappy, it charged again.

*****

Day Three: March 30
th
, 2020; 1:33 pm

Dean, Max and Zander stopped as they hear gun shots. They looked at each other.

              Then they took off running in the direction they came in.

              Dean felt weak and lost all of his color.

*****

Day Three: March 30
th
, 2020; 1:34 pm 

Austin covered his face when he heard gun shots just as the dog jumped at him.

When he heard a
thump
in front, Austin peeked. The guard dog was lying on the floor in front of him, bleeding black blood from a blood wound. Austin looked over to see an old guy with a gun.

“Thought, you could use some help,” The old guy said. Even though he was old, he has a lot of tattoos. Behind the tattoo old guy was a military guy and two hippies.

“Do you know, Scarlett?” Austin asked the military guy.

The guy popped his gum. “Why? What’s it to ya?”

“I have her daughter.”

“Yeah, we got split though…”

Austin let out a curse. “You don’t have a case for Forres Tanner, do you?”

The guy took off the bag he had and threw it to Austin. “I do. It came like three days ago with some food.”

Austin thought it was the weirdest thing ever. Why would the doctor make zombies real then give food to dying people? Austin doesn’t know but he knows they have to leave. ”Let’s go. You could come or stay, I really don’t care.”

Just as Austin left the room he bumped into Max.

Max raised his gun thinking they are zombies. He relaxed a bit when he saw Austin but not all the way. He still had to keep his guard up with Austin.

“Let’s get out of here…,” Zander said.

Austin picked up his walkie-talkie. “Felix?”

“Boom?”

“Go ahead.”

“Finally!”

Chapter Fifty-Five

Day Three: March 30
th
, 2020; 1:37 pm

Felix took out Dean’s lighter after putting the walkie-talkie in his back pocket.

He saw his reflection in the fridge and he has to admit, he looked so good; cargo shorts with a white long sleeve slick shirt and a bandanna wrapped around his nose and mouth. Lighting a flame, he flicked back the lighter and threw it.

Time seemed to tick slower as Felix ran and jumped into the vent on his back. The slick shirt let him slide around like wet soap on a tiled floor.

The lighter hit the kitchen floor and the whole kitchen ignited, becoming its own sun.

He smoothly pulled himself up when he got to the five ways in the vent and dropped down the hole that Forres made before, feet first.

At the bottom of the hole was Bex with a fire proof blanket. Felix fell on the now clear floor with a loud
thump.
Bex covered both of them with the blanket just as the fire came out of the broken vent. A couple of bangs rippled the hospital.

When the explosions and flames seemed to be done, Bex threw back the covers. Felix let out a laugh, standing. Pain would shot through him, if adrenaline wasn’t busy coursing through his veins. Everything around the two of them was either on fire or burnt. “Let’s go before this place collapses,” Bex coughed.

They ran out, dodging things on fire. Outside, burning objects were lying in the street. They saw the bus nearby and they ran to it, hopping in.

*****

Day Three: March 30
th
, 2020; 1: 43pm

After the blast, Austin’s group and newbies ran out of the tunnel. Most zombies’ attention was on the explosion and drawing near it. The people with guns cleared a path. They seemed to have run so far because everyone was breathing heavy and sweaty. No one talked but once they saw the bus, they started to wave their arm.

Eleanor pulled the bus near them and they all piled on the bus except for Dean.

“Come on, Dean,” Zander said, motioning for him to come.

“I’m sorry… I got bit…,” Dean said, looking at his hand. It was oozing blood that was black instead or red.

“You’ll be fine,” Zander reassured him. “We need to go.”

Dean looked over at Eleanor. She nodded and closed the bus door, starting to drive off.

“No!” Zander screamed and slammed his fist against the door. Another friend gone… He sat in the middle of the isle and put his head between his legs, willing himself not to cry.

Forres saw something. She looked up and saw an enormous thing. It was three stories tall. She stared as he easily picked up a car. The enormous thing was about to whip the car at the bus. “Eleanor!” Forres yelled, unable to contain herself.

Eleanor looked the mirror just the car came flying to them. She swerved the bus just at the last minute. The car landed right next to them. Glass shattered. She doesn’t wait for another car to fly. She drove quickly away from New York City with the sun following them along the horizon.

Austin stopped Eleanor at the dome. “Zander give us the next clue,” he ordered.

“Next clue for what?” The hippie girl asked. Zander grabbed the case and sat in front of Forres.

“Alright, listen up,” Austin started, standing in the middle of the bus. “We have rules. One, kill any walker even if they aren’t a threat. We can’t lose any more people. Two, no murdering, even though this is now a free world, no killing humans. Also that girl,” he nodded to Forres. “She’s our ticket to stay alive. She dies; we die. It’s simple. Got it?”

Most of them nod.

“But why?” The hippie girl asked.

“We just need to keep her alive. Have a problem with it, leave.”

“I want answers…”

Austin chuckled. “And I don’t care. I only care for the survival of Forres and Chyler. No one else,” Chyler perked up even though her eyes are watering because her mother wasn’t with them, neither was Sargent’s sister.

“Fine. We’ll leave,” The women stood and looked at her husband. He doesn’t look at her. “Fine,” she repeated and left the bus, alone

Felix whistled.

“Anyone else have a problem?” Austin asked.

The old guy raised two fingers.

“What’s your name?”

“Strix.”

“What’s your problem Strix?”

The old guy rubbed the back of his neck “More of a question. Are you the leader?”

“We vary a bit but for the most part, I’d say I am.”