Surviving The Aftermath (Book 1): The Dead Linger (14 page)

“Jill!” A loud stage whisper came from behind her and she spun quick with her guns up and ready to fire. It was Casey and the others. They were locked in a store, all of their fingers poking through the grates. Jill and Oscar immediately tried lifting the gate.

“We’ve tried that, you have to shoot the lock.” He pointed to the corner on the ground. Everyone looked around to see if anyone would here the noise.

“Screw that shit, shoot the lock!” Jane said. Three shots rapidly fired busted the lock off and they lifted the gate fast.

“We have to get out of here now!” Casey said grabbing Jill’s hand.

“Wait, whose blood is this?” Oscar asked halting everything.

The unlocked store across the way was so dark it was decided that they needed all lights on if they were going to find one of their wounded, possibly unconscious members.

“Where’s Ben?”

“Don’t know, we were separated. We have to go now though.”

“Ben . . .” Oscar whispered heading into the store. “Ben . .” Still nothing. It was a shoe store with only a few racks of clothes, there weren’t many places to hide here. The sound of mashing and slurping, as if one was eating watermelon could be heard. Jill looked over at Oscar as they crept towards the cash register. Oscar quickly crossed himself as they looked down and saw the zombie feasting on once living flesh. Quickly and quietly Jill used her bat before the zombie could even comprehend what was happening. So many questions, how did the zombie get in to what appeared to be a locked up mall? Were there others? Jill radioed Tom “We killed a Zed. We found Casey and few others. What’s your location?” Nothing. Again she repeated the message and still nothing. Shit, this was turning into a scary movie or something. They made their way back to the main hall, it was decided to leave all the lights on and try and stay covered. They had to find their friends and go. The bass drum noise could still be heard, but it got louder as they walked farther down through the mall, it was almost rhythmic. The mall was very extensive, they must have walked a tenth of mile already and still not close to the end yet. They continued to walk staying close to the walls on each side, suddenly Jill stopped.

“We have to tell everyone to get out of the mall now.” Casey repeated quietly.

“Why, what’s wrong?” Oscar asked.

“These guys here have been rounding up zombies and locking them in stores around this place.” He paused to let people absorb what he just said. He just looked around at their shocked or confused faces. “I know right, it’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of. But now that I’m trapped in with them, it’s the scariest.”

“Wait.” She said.

“What?” Someone else said.

“It’s quiet.” Oscar stated. Every one stood silently, straining their ears to listen, that’s when the moans of the dead and gunfire filled the air simultaneously.

“We got them, go back now! Head to the trucks! Hurry they’re behind us.” Tom shouted over the radio. Jill’s group stood still not sure yet where Tom was as they came sprinting from around another T-section corner about 50yds in front of them. Jill tried not to blind the sprinting people with her light and called out covering fire as a mix of bandits and sprinting zombies came following close behind them. Ben was being carried haphazardly so, Casey and Jack grabbed Ben between them on their shoulders, Casey turning to fire shots around his side.

“Stop shooting and just run.” Jill shouted at him. She and Oscar lined up with the others to clear a path for the rest of the group farther behind to make it through. With the fast zombies getting closer panic started creeping up and the others turned to bolt too. Sprinting with an occasional pause to fire, Jill managed a quick reload and continued to fire at the sprinters legs, at least she could knock them down, because there was no way she’d get heads shots running so fast.

“Hurry!” Jill said over the radio as if it really needed to be reiterated. The store they originally entered from was in sight, but she could feel them behind her, a zombie snagged the pack of the girl next to Jill. She reached out to her only there was nothing there, the zombies were still behind her, reaching for her. She popped off a couple rounds over her shoulder, having no idea that she just ended the zombie life of one that was seconds away from ending hers. She finally reached the store but didn’t slow her speed and worked her way over to the side where the cars were. She must have been super far behind because she couldn’t see the rest of the group in front of her. Behind her she could hear the group of Zeds falling and knocking things over her, that allowed her to take a quick look and see she had a bit of breathing room.

She neared the doors “Jill over here, the second exit”. Someone said over the radio.

“What second exit?” She started running again around another corner in the store.

“Where we entered the store, come there.” Oscar said. Fine! Jill quickly continued to change direction and race to the other side of the store where the other doors were broken. Sprinters still on her 6, Jill not sure how much longer she could keep this pace up with her lungs starting to burn, she could see the doors and two men with guns trained up and behind her began to fire bullets hitting several sprinting zombies directly in the head and clear some more space. The three of them outside dove into the open doors of the cars and sped off with zombies still chasing and sprinting after them. Jack was driving the car now, Casey and another girl were in the back with Ben laid out trying to stop the bleeding.

“Hurry get us back home!” The girl assisting Casey shouted.

“Please Ben hang on.” She said while holding his hand. Casey was ripping packages of gauze open, and quickly trying to apply pressure to the wound.

“This is all I have.” He said out loud to know one in particular.

“I’m hurrying I swear.” Jack said looking back and forth to the speedometer and his foot on the gas. They radioed a head to have the doors ready to open and they had wounded. The drive seemed to take forever, but they finally reached the Utopia. Getting in through the door locking system as fast as they could, they opened up the back and got Ben out, Beth was there ready to take over. Beth kneeling over Ben, he was now coughing up blood and seemed to be in pain, he was still holding the girl’s hand and another woman’s and they kneeled next to him. Beth was working franticly just trying to stop the bleeding. He was shot three different places in the torso, and it was evident one was in a lung. Jill had seen a few people die like this before, spiting blood and slowly bleeding out internally. The fight in Ben stopped, his arms and hands went limp and the two women started crying harder, Jill found out later they were is mom and sister. She had no idea. Beth, taking his vitals, she slowly leaned back and made the call.

“He’s gone. I’m sorry. There was just too much internal damage.” She said slowly and then closed his eyes.

“Damn it!” Casey said turning trying not to touch his bloody hand to his face. Someone else walked over and asked who else didn’t make it.

“Where’s Bernie?” Someone stepped forwards and asked. Everyone looked around for her, and Jill knew that must have been the girl that had got taken down by her.

“She didn’t make it either.” Jill said still standing next to the truck. Everyone was very quiet and helped move Ben’s body inside the store. Jill wasn’t sure what she should do so she just started helping Oscar unload the few supplies they had managed to get. A few people were crying and consoling each other.

“It happens. Not every trip out is 100% successful.” Oscar told Jill, she just nodded and kept unloading. A few others came to help until all was done and Jill still didn’t know what to do. Ben’s body had been taken away to be disposed of, bodies weren’t buried anymore, no place to bury them, but they were cremated, that is if there was a body left to deal with. Not everyone got a funeral nowadays.

“Hey you ok?” Jack came over to talk to Jill.

“Yeah. I think I’m just going to go shower and to bed now. You going to be ok?”

“Of course.” Jack gave Jill a brief hug and jogged off toward Meghan who was starting to walk back inside. The cars had been put away, the supplies having been dispersed to their proper places, Jill continued to stand there watching people continue with their late nightly routines, others going off to bed, Jill looked up and could see how bright the stars were, the moon wasn’t quite full yet but very close. Casey stood by the main entrance and noticed Jill still standing there, she looked lost almost. 

“I guess you could look at it like a war and were and soldiers, not everyone makes it back, and we all take risks.” She had no idea what to say that would help him, he looked very sad. Silence was now stretching between them, and Casey leaned forward to embrace Jill in a hug. They held each other for a moment before Casey whispered to her that he was glad Jack made it back. They walked inside, holding hands, passed the others, down the hall towards Jill’s room. They stopped in front of her door.

“Do you want to come in my room?” Jill whispered to him, hoping he’d say no but really wanting him to say yes. She wasn’t sure if she was offering to sleep with him or just comfort him, but she didn’t want to leave him either. Casey leaned back to look at her, and nodded his head after a moment. Jill reached behind him and unlocked her door and they both slipped inside.

Chapter 4

Pissed and seething, Jeff lay on the cot that was inside his jail cell. He was monitored 24/7. He needed to talk to Tyler, find out what was going on and how to break him out of here. He lost track of how many days he had been in here for, he hadn’t seen Casey or that bitch Jill since they drug him in here. He didn’t know what yet, but he was going to do something to Jill when he got out of here, just for that shot in the balls he took. Thinking about that only infuriated him more. He’d done time in prison before, but he’d done easy time. This was worse, no smokes, no interaction, he didn’t even get exercise time. Sometimes he’d stand there and shout for hours, just holler and scream to be let out, other times he would just swear and threaten. He tried at first to be friends, tried to tell them that he had been isolated so long his people skills were bad, that he was so horny he lost control, anything to get them to believe he was fine. But now he had a feeling that they were going to leave him here to rot. Now he just thought about killing. Just breaking down those walls and letting those walking rotting corpses in to take care of everyone while he got away. He looked over at his wall, he must be right on the corner of the building, closest to the outside, because all night long he swore heard nothing but the zombies moans and shuffling around out there. He stood and put his ear to the wall wondering how close they were to him out there. He hadn’t slept in days, what was going on, he wanted to know. It was just like all of a sudden there was constant noise. Sometimes he could hear faint gunfire, good, he hoped that meant those living were being eaten by the dead. He prowled around a bit then sidled up to the bars, put his hands on them gripping them till his knuckles whitened. He just stood there looking at the door, then up at the video camera hoping someone was watching him right now. What time was it? He wanted to scream and shout again, but thought it was scarier if he just stood there silently. He was thinking again, about Tyler, how if he could only get in touch with him.

One room away Kurt sat with Andy in the security room, talking strategy and watching the security monitors they had installed around all the buildings. They were very interested in the monitor that was showing the room with the jail cell.

“I think he’s lost it. At first I thought letting him out after a couple days would have been fine, but now. . . .  . look at him, he’s gone crazy.” Andy said eyeing Jeff pace back and forth like a tiger.

“I know. We have to tell Tom and Casey.” Kurt replied.

“What are we going to do with him?” He asked Kurt.

“Probably kill him. He’s too violent to let loose, and if we send him away with supplies of any kind he’ll probably just try to compromise our shelter.” Kurt was thinking now.

“What do we do about his friend?”

“Not sure yet, we’ll have to feel him out, see how loyal he is. Maybe he’ll give up Jeff to stay here, protected. That’s the one thing we can offer.” Andy said. They had been watching Jeff put his ear to the wall, now he was leaning his head against the cell bars, staring out and then shifting his gaze to the camera that looked down on him.

Kurt gave a shutter “I’m telling you man, he’s not right in the anymore.”  He said quietly as they watched Jeff on.

“I know.” Andy replied. “You ever see the movie Psycho? The good one with Janet Leigh?” Kurt just nodded. “This is like the ending scene, where Norman is talking inside his head as his mother how he’ll be released because he’s not going to swat the fly away from his hand, and he looks up at the camera and smiles.”

“Yeah, this is just like that.” Kurt said.

Oscar was enjoying being alive. His favorite thing to do was clean his gun, and he always tried to clean it at least every other day, it had gotten him through the last year or so of hell, and until he found something else this was his baby. Being outside, enjoying the fresh air was one of the best things. He’d always think back to his mama’s house, and the cookouts they use to have with all his Aunts and Uncles and cousins there. Just good times. There had been talks more recently about raiding the armory, but that would be an overnight trip, lots of planning had to go into that one. But he knew they would go, they didn’t have a choice. The Cabela’s raid had been a partial success with only a few minor casualties, but they found the rest of the equipment they need to actually make their own ammo. Oscar started having thoughts of possibly surviving this whole thing.