Dying To Live & Fighting To Live-Book One and Book Two (Zombie Overload Series) (13 page)

We can hear them
better now. The grunts, shuffles, smashes and crashes of items being
knocked over and probably some of the undead falling over things to
get to us. The first one, a patient in a hospital gown, appears. He
turns toward us and I take the shot. He drops to the ground. We wait
for the zombies to clear the doorway so that they aren't stacking up
and the others can't get in. Eventually, they stop coming. We reload
and carefully step over the ones we can and climb over the ones we
can't. Looking down the hall, we see a couple stragglers. Jake takes
them both down and then he carefully pokes his head out and looks to
the hallways on the left and right of us. Apparently, all is clear
because he goes through the door and into the hallway.

We enter the hallway
and see Jake running down the left hall. He gets to the big door that
separates this wing from the next and shut and locks it like Will did
with the stairwell doors. Will takes off down the right hall and does
the same. Being in many hospitals, we all know there is another set
at the end of this wing. We just have to be careful and keep our eyes
and ears open. We start down the hall in front of us and stop at each
door, listening. Some we can hear the undead. Some sound empty. We
reach a door a little more than halfway down the hall, and Jake rests
his hand on the door and bows his head. He's reluctant to open it and
I know that's the door to his brother's room.

Will and I watch the
hall, giving Jake the time he needs. Finally, he turns his head and
presses his ear against the door. He listens for awhile and looks at
me. I can't tell if his look means there are zombie sounds inside or
if it's quiet. Either way can be a bad thing. He turns the handle and
slowly pushes the door open. He never raises his gun but I raise mine
and follow as he slowly enters the room. Will stays at the door
watching the hall.

I'm anxiously
wondering, if I have to shoot his brother, how Jake will react. We
are fully inside the room and see nothing. The blankets from the bed
are half off, blocking our view of the floor on the other side of the
bed. Jake and I walk over slowly and are relieved to see the floor
empty of anyone. We turn and look at the other two doors. One is a
closet and the other is the bathroom. Jake listens at the closet
door, then flings it open. Nothing but an outfit on a hanger and a
pair of shoes stuffed with a pair of socks. We turn to the bathroom.
Jake again listens. He jerks back a little as if he heard something
and I step back. He flings the door open, and the next thing I see,
is Jake being hit with something metal over the head just before he
crashes to the floor.

I stand is total
shock, my arms and gun still pointing at the bathroom. I hear
something clatter to the floor and then a man cursing. Finally I see
him as he falls beside Jake and and tries to wake him. This must be
his brother. He looks like Jake and has a bald head, though not as
tall or as big as Jake. He's thin from the cancer, so very very thin.
Fragile-looking. Looking up he finally notices me. He throws his
hands up and screams, "Don't shoot! I'm alive!"
Well, no
shit Sherlock. I haven’t exactly had a zombie come up and
speak, asking to eat my brains, yet.
I lower my arms.

He begs me to help
him, gesturing toward his brother, and I move over to kneel next to
Jake. Checking for a pulse, I tell him his brother will be alright.
He just knocked him out. Pretty tough for a little dude with such a
horrible disease eating away at his body. I feel a moment of
sympathy. Maybe a little pity. And I hate that, knowing he'd probably
hate that. But I can't help it. Cancer sucks and it shouldn't happen
to anyone.

He stays by his
brother's side, continuing to try to wake him, and I join Will at the
door. Telling Will what happened, we stand and watch down the hall
for movement and listen for any noise. Finally, I hear Jake's voice,
though weak. I go back and kneel down next to him once more. I ask
him if he plans to sleep all day and he gives me a slight
smile/grimace. Grabbing his head, he moans. He looks up at his
brother and says to him, "Lil' Dude, I'm happy as hell to see
you, but you hit me like that again and I'm gonna kick your skinny
ass."

His brother smiles
at him, "Sorry, Bro. You gonna lay here and bitch or are we
getting the hell outta here?"

We help Jake stand.
He wobbles a bit, but after a few moments, regains his balance. He
tells his brother he needs to get dressed, so Will and I step outside
to give him some privacy. We leave the door open in case we need to
let them know there's trouble. We can hear Jake helping his brother
dress and his brother getting pissed off and insisting he can dress
his own damn self. I grin at Will as we listen to them argue. Typical
brothers. No matter that the world has gone to hell. They finally
come out of the room and join us. Jake tells us we need to get as
much medical supplies and meds as we possibly can. We grab several
pillowcases and start filling them up. Jake goes in search of the
meds and equipment his brother will need and also finds extra battery
packs for the equipment.

Jake is down at the
other end of the hall and is about to go into the intersection where
this wing ends and the doors leading to the other wings are located
on each side. I assume he is going to shut those doors. Suddenly, he
whips around and comes running full-speed toward us, yelling for us
to run. We turn and run toward the stairwell door and are almost
there when his brother falls. Will and I stop and go back for him. I
look up and see that Jake is almost to us and behind him, the entire
hall is packed as far as I can see with zombies. Jake runs up and
lifts his brother into his arms. I think any other day, his brother
would fight him about that. But I can see his face looking around
Jake and it's one full of terror. Will and I grab the bags of medical
supplies Jake had dropped and we take off after them.

We make it to the
stairwell and Jake is trying to get over the zombie mountain we had
made while still carrying his brother. As Will and I are waiting for
our turn, I look back and am filled with anxiety at how close they
are. Finally, Jake makes it over and just in time, too. Will tosses
our bags over the bodies, grabs my arm, and pulls me up the mountain
of dead zombies.

I get my foot stuck
between body parts and fall. I pull and pull but it won't move! Will
pulls as hard as he can on my arms. I feel a cold hand grab my leg. I
close my eyes waiting for the bite I know is coming. I hear a gunshot
and the hand loosens it's grip. I look up to see Jake putting his
rifle back over his shoulder. Jake grabs hold of my right arm, while
Will puts both hands on my left and suddenly I'm up next to the men.
We all grab the bags and Jake and Will keep beside me as we run up
the stairs to the landing. Safe. I grab onto Will and sob into his
neck.
God, that was terrifying!
Jake gives me a minute then
tells us we have to go. Jake lifts his brother again and we run to
the top floor where we had parked. Sitting his brother on the floor,
Jake looks out the window. He jumps to the side and we all do the
same. I look over at Jake and he shakes his head at us. We stay
quiet.

Finally, Jake
whispers as loud as he dares, "There are a lot out there. Maybe
fifty. We might be able to get to the Hummers. It's a big risk tho."

I lean my head back
against the wall, raising it toward the ceiling, and close my eyes.
My heart is pounding. I turn my head and look at Jake's brother, then
back to Jake. He's watching me and apparently knows what I'm
thinking, because he looks as worried as I am that he can't possibly
run fast enough with him in his arms. My brain kicks in and I tell
everyone that I have an idea. I run it past them to see what they
think.

"Will and I run
to our Hummer and drive off down the ramp. After we get far enough
away, we stop and draw them toward us, giving you and your brother
time to get in your vehicle safely." They think about it and
finally agree it's a good plan and about the only option we have.

Will and I move to
the door and I look out. I'm relieved to find the closest zombies are
about twenty yards away and this should be fairly easy to do. We pull
our guns out and get ready. I unlock the door and look back out to
see if they had heard us. Didn't seem to. My hand without the gun
shakily flattens against the door. I take a big deep breath and shove
the door wide, already running. I reach Jake's Hummer and sharply
turn to go to the passenger side of ours, when I come face to face
with a fat rotting man. He grabs for me and I back up. I have to back
up some more in order to get a shot that will take him down. Will ran
past me, going so fast he couldn’t see the problem I'm facing.
I hear him running back to me, screaming my name, but I shut him out.
I raise my gun, aim and fire. I have no time to run and he falls on
me. His head is on my chest and his big body has me trapped. He
knocks the breath from me when we fall. I'm struggling to breathe at
the same time I'm trying to get his fat ass off me. Finally, I feel
the weight of him leave me as Will pulls him off and then grabs me,
pulling me to the Hummer.

I look up and see
the horde of undead are almost on us. I fling myself into the
passenger seat and yell at Will to come on. I grab his arm and give
it a yank to let him know I mean NOW! He scrambles inside the truck
on top of me and slams the door shut. The zombies are immediately at
the windows, banging and moaning. Will gets off of me and slides
behind the wheel. Jamming the key into it's slot, he starts the
truck, rams it into reverse and plows over some of the zombies behind
us. Turning the wheel as he reverses, he is able to down the ramp.
Will stops near the turn, and we both twist around in our seats,
watching the zombies slowly shuffle our way.

I see Jake
cautiously open the stairwell door and carry his brother to his
Hummer. When I see Jake safely get inside, I tell Will to keep going
and we make it down to street level and out the exit to the main
street. The zombies follow us, allowing Jake to get out. We take off
at a faster speed and Jake follows.

The further away
from downtown we get, the fewer zombies we start seeing. Eventually,
we feel safe enough to pull into the parking lot of a gas station.
Turning our vehicles toward the street so we can see the open areas
better, Jake pulls up as close to my side as he can get. He and I
roll down our windows.

Jake says, "Well,
I can't believe it, but we did it. Thanks to both of you. I couldn't
have done this by myself. Thank you for helping me get my little
brother back. I guess this is where we go our separate ways."

"You know,
you're welcome to come to Missouri with us." Will tells him. I
look at Jake and nod, pleading with my eyes for him to say yes. We
could really use him and his knowledge. Plus, we can all help with
his brother. Jake looks at us for awhile, indecision on his face. He
raises his window and turns to his brother. They are obviously having
a discussion about the offer. Finally, he lowers his window again.

"Are you both
sure we won't be more of a burden?" He asks us.

I shake my head and
tell him, "No. Not at all. I don't think you or your brother
would be a burden. You could actually be a huge asset to us by
teaching all of us how to use weapons and whatever other skills you
possess." Will agrees and says so. Jake looks at his brother
again and I see his brother nod. Jake turns back to us, grinning and
nods his own head. I grin back at him, excited that he and his
brother are going with us.

We see a couple of
undead heading our way. Still two blocks away, we don't hurry.

"So, now that
we are going to be staying together, maybe you should introduce us to
your brother." I tell him.

He does and we learn
his brother's name is Greg. He's 24 years old and has Leukemia. Just
before all this crap happened, his cancer specialist had told him
they think the treatments had been successful although he would
continue being sick for awhile after all the trauma his body had been
through. Apparently, Jake hadn't known this yet and I see the joy on
his face. Greg sees it too and hurries to inform Jake that they
weren't positive of that so they shouldn't get their hopes up. Jake
nods but I can tell he only believes one thing. I really hope he's
right. Greg looks down at his lap and tells us he was a football
player in high school and had been offered a scholarship to a popular
university. It is hard to picture him in a football uniform by the
way he looks now. He continues telling us how excited how excited he
was, how excited his family and his longtime girlfriend was. Then he
got sick. His entire body hurt even when he wasn't moving. He grew so
weak he could barely get out of bed, let alone play football, or even
attend school. His parents took him to the doctor, who then referred
him to a cancer specialist. After a ton of tests and a phone call,
his entire life changed. He had to quit the team, he didn't get the
scholarship, everyone treated him differently. Either they babied
him, he says, giving a sharp look at his brother. Ignored him as if
he didn't exist anymore, like his friends and his girlfriend. Or,
worse, became disgusted with him and threw him out of their lives. He
gives Jake a look filled with pain and Jake places his hand on Greg's
fragile shoulder. I wondered what that was all about and figured we
weren't going to be told. Just as I was resigning myself to accept
that it was to be one more mystery, Jake looks at Will and I, and the
deep anger and pain I see on his face makes me suck in a sharp
breath.
Maybe I don't want to know.
But Jake opens his mouth
and tells us, whether we want to know or not.