The Mortis Desolation (Book 1): Mortis

M
ortis
© 2015 by Logan Rutherford

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover Art by Ebook Launch (
www.ebooklaunch.com
)

Copyedited by Gabriela West (
www.editforindies.com
)

I
’d never screamed so loudly
in my life.

I ran toward Ashley, but Pike wrapped his arms around my chest and pulled me back. “Let me go!” I screamed as I fought against his grasp, but he was too strong.

“Miles!” he shouted. “Stop! It’s too late, she’s gone! They’re coming for us next!”

I knew he was right, but still, I felt like I had to do something. I watched as Ashley bled out on the ground, her eyes wide with a bullet hole between them.

She was dead, killed by the ruthless gang called the Roves.

John joined Pike, and together, they were able to turn me around. Tears flowed from my eyes, and I found it hard to stand. But I knew I had to. Ashley stepping out into the open was what got her killed, and now that they knew we were here, it wouldn’t be long until they came after us. I couldn’t hold them back. We had to go.

I found the strength to stand, and we started running. One foot after the other, down the abandoned alleyway.

Pike, the leader of our group, led the way, while John took up the rear, making sure I didn’t fall behind. Up ahead, Pike jumped over a trash can that had fallen over, blocking the path. I did as well, but behind me I heard John trip and fall.

I turned around and ran back to him, helping him up.

A bullet ricocheted off the wall right behind me, and I ducked down.

“Come on, they’re onto us!” I shouted as I pulled John up.

Fueled by adrenaline, we ran as fast as we could. Another gunshot whistled past my ear, and I somehow found it in me to run even faster.

Pike turned a corner up ahead, and so did I. We were catching up to him.

I looked behind us, and the Roves had yet to turn the corner. For a few moments, we were safe. But that didn’t mean we ran any slower.

Pike exited the alleyway and turned right. I was nervous about being out in the open, but we had no choice. We had to get back to our truck if we wanted to make it out alive.

John and I exited the alleyway and turned right. Pike stuck close to the walls of the buildings, and we did the same. I even ducked down a bit, trying to stay as small as possible.

We ran along the sidewalk of the shell of the once-great city of Dallas. My gun kept hitting my side and my backpack bounced around, but I tried to pay it no attention. I was only focused on escaping with my life.

Pike left the small amount of protection that being up against the buildings provided, and darted across the street. John and I followed suit. I was so focused on getting across the street as fast as I could, I stopped breathing for a few seconds. I focused on the sounds of our footsteps hitting the ground, echoing around the silent street.

Until I heard more gunfire.

The Roves finally had us back in their sights. Bullets bounced off cars around us, but we were far enough away that accuracy was impossible.

I made it into the alleyway, thankful to have lost them for a little bit longer. Up ahead I could see the open back doors of our van. Julia had it running and waiting for us.

Pike reached it, but instead of getting in, he turned around and pointed his guns at us. For a spilt second I panicked (well, panicked even more), until I realized he was actually aiming behind us.

“Hurry up!” he shouted.

No shit, I thought.

I reached the van, and slowed a bit. Still, I had to dive in. John dove in behind me, and Pike climbed in behind us. He shut the doors, and shouted at Julia. “Go! Go! Go!”

The tires peeled out, and the van shot off.

I didn’t get up from the floor of the van. I just lay there, crying.

I
n the outdoor shower
, I let the scalding-hot water run down my body, hoping that maybe it would wash the memory of Ashley dying out of my brain. All I could think about was her head snapping back, her beautiful dark-brown hair struggling to keep up. Her head hitting the ground and bouncing up, just once.

My stomach twisted and I began to heave. Nothing came out, though. After the third time I’d already thrown everything up.

My throat felt like it was never going to recover. Not after the screaming, crying, and now vomiting. The pain was almost unbearable.

I turned off the water and got out of the shower. I shivered as I dried off with a towel. I looked up at the sky, and it was dark and gloomy.

I slipped on my underwear, basketball shorts, and black shirt. I threw on my flip-flops, and walked back inside the bank that I called home.

The Jefferson Memorial Bank had been my home for three years.

Three years. That’s how fast the world had gone to shit.

I entered the bank, and warm air blasted my body. It felt so good. I placed my dirty clothes in a pile by the floor. Whoever was on clothes duty would come by and get them later.

I began walking to my room. People looked at me with a puzzled look on their faces as I walked by, trying to figure out why I looked so solemn. There hadn’t been an announcement yet, but there would be that night as we ate dinner. I was not looking forward to that at all. But at least I wasn’t going to have to tell anyone personally. Ashley was here on her own. Her brother had died in the mayhem at the beginning of all this. When the Genari came to Earth and accidentally destroyed life as we knew it.

Ashley’s parents died a long time ago, before all this, so it was just her. And to a certain extent, me.

We
were
a thing at one time, but she hadn’t been the same since we rescued her from a Rove camp that had kidnapped her. They’d tortured her, made her a slave, and did unimaginable things to her. We got her out, though. We saved her. But she was just a shell of who she once was. And it killed me that I couldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t blame her for changing, though. I mean, she’d been traumatized. No way you could come out of that unchanged. Still, it was a tough pill to swallow. Especially since she was never clear on why she didn’t want to date me anymore. She said she was in love with me, but that she couldn’t be with me. I thought that eventually I would be able to help make things better, but I never could.

I couldn’t help but think about what it would have been like if she’d never gotten kidnapped, and the thoughts rendered me completely and utterly distracted. I couldn’t think about anything else. But I was okay with that, because it got the image of her dying out of my head, even if it was just for a little while.

T
he night was
cool and the stars bright, so the motley crew of Jefferson Memorial Bank decided to eat outside around a bonfire. The sound of the zombies banging on the wooden fence was drowned out by everybody talking and laughing. There were still people keeping watch, of course, making sure the zombies never got too numerous, but other than that everybody congregated around the fire. They had yet to be told about Ashley.

There were around thirty people living in the bank. It was far enough outside of Dallas to be safe from most zombies, and the Roves. There were still a lot of zombies around, but most of them paid no attention to us, and if they did, they didn’t last very long.

I sat as close to the fire as I could bear, seeing how long I could sit there until the heat was too much. I looked around at all the faces. The citizens of Jefferson were a diverse bunch. There were people of all ages, shapes, and sizes. The oldest was Marcus. He just turned thirty-three, and generally kept to himself. When he first came to Jefferson, everyone was excited because we thought he could be our leader, since he was an adult and knew a lot more about surviving than our current leader. However, he mostly kept to himself and his writings.

The youngest was baby Kin. He was just over a year old, and was a bit of a shock. All the females in Jefferson were on birth control, thanks to a large enough stash that we found on a supply trip to last a lifetime. Plus, the males have to use condoms. It’s not that we’re anti-repopulating the Earth, it’s just that we don’t currently have the resources to sustain all the new additions we’d be having.

Yet despite our rules, there baby Kin was, wrapped in his mother Bethany’s arms.

I couldn’t help but smile at him. The innocence of a baby was beautiful. I tried to think of why, but as I was trying to figure it out, our leader, George, stood atop a chair and shouted.

“Can I have your attention?” he asked—rhetorically, of course.

Everyone stopped their conversations, and turned toward him. His face glowed orange in the light of the fire, matching the color of his short ginger hair.

“This is a night of celebration and fellowship, but I’m afraid I have some bad news.” He paused while everyone waited with bated breath in complete silence. “While on a routine scouting mission, one of our best citizens, Ashley Finch, was killed by the Roves.”

I braced myself for a tidal wave of questions from the crowd, but was surprised when the announcement met with complete silence. Everyone was in total shock.

“Her death is a real blow to our community,” George continued. “Nevertheless, we will press on. We will not spend forever mourning her, because that is not what she would have wanted. She would have wanted us to celebrate her life, and move on. To not be held back by her passing, but to use the pain and sadness as strength, not weakness. Ashley will always be remembered. We will never forget.” George raised his glass. “To Ashley!” he shouted.

“To Ashley!” the crowd roared back.

I kicked at some dirt and returned my gaze to the fire. “To Ashley,” I said under my breath, my voice cracking.

I got up from my seat and walked inside the bank. I was done with all the people. I just wanted some time to myself. I walked to my room, which consisted of just a bed, desk, and dresser. I collapsed onto my bed, and within moments, I was fast asleep.

T
he sound
of someone banging on my door woke me from my sleep.

“What is it?” I said as I wiped the gunk from my eyes.

“It’s Andrew. I need your help up on the Wall. There’s a lot more zombies than usual tonight.”

My heart skipped a beat and my stomach turned. I always got nervous when it came to the zombies. Even though, technically speaking, they weren’t zombies. They behaved just like them, though. They were a side effect of the aliens, the Genari, coming and bringing the many virus’ with them. It was inadvertent, but one of theirs mutated with one of ours, and a supervirus was born, turning the infected into zombies.

Out of the frying pan into the fire, I guess.

I got out of bed, and since I was still dressed from the night before, I walked out.

Andrew’s young, round faced stood half a foot below mine. At sixteen, he was a year younger than me. He wasn’t nearly as muscled or adept as I, but he was just a Wall guard so he didn’t need to be.

“What’s the cause of the uptick in zombies?” I asked.

“Frank thinks it’s because of all the noise we made last night. It’s attracting them.”

I shrugged. “Makes sense.” We turned the corner and entered the Common Room. Tables were placed around the room, and at the front was a long line of them where food was usually served.

At this time of night, the room was empty. Our footsteps echoed around as we made our way across.

“Are they using guns?” I asked.

“Yep,” Andrew said. “There’s enough of them out there that Frank decided it was necessary.”

I grinned. Usually the Wall guards used bow and arrows to keep the sound down, even though we had silencers for the guns. Plus, we didn’t want to waste ammunition. So instead of being worried about there being enough zombies to warrant guns like I should’ve been, I was excited at the thought of letting off steam and taking out my frustrations on some zombies.

We exited the commons through a small hallway at the back, and walked through the tall glass door that led outside.

A biting wind cut through what little clothing I had on, making me shiver. I rubbed my arms and my teeth began to chatter.

“There’s some jackets up on The Wall,” Andrew said.

I nodded. “Sweet.”

The bonfire had gone out, so it was almost pitch black out. The moon was covered by clouds, so if it wasn’t for the red glow of the lights up on The Wall, it would’ve been impossible to see.

Andrew and I walked toward The Wall, and climbed up the staircase.

The Wall took us forever to build, but ever since we finished no zombie had ever gotten in. It surrounded the entirety of the bank, and had an eight-foot walkway that went all the way around it. We were on the backside of it, along with ten other people wearing night vision goggles and shooting down at the zombies.

I grabbed a pair of goggles hanging on the wall, along with an assault rifle and some clips. Everybody was gathered to my right, so I went a little bit to the left where it wasn’t so crowded.

The red spotlights that shined down made the zombies look extra creepy. I put the goggles over my head and turned them on. The dull red lights made everything bright and green, with the night vision easily lighting up the zombies.

I got one of them in my sights. A lady, with most of her clothes torn off. Her leathered skin creased and wrinkled with every shuffling step she took. I squeezed the trigger, and her torso tore to pieces. It didn’t matter, though; only head shots counted with zombies. Frustrated with missing, I aimed in the direction of her head and sprayed. She stopped moving, indicating that my shot was true.

“Hey, try and conserve ammo!” Frank, the head of the Wall guard, shouted over at me.

I nodded my head, but other than that paid him no attention. I wasn’t some newbie guard, I knew what I was doing.

I shot another zombie, this time trying to be more accurate. They were still coming, though, no matter how many we took down. The line of cars that we had set up slowed them down a bit, but some still got over. Those who did would only make it a few steps before falling into a shallow pit that we had just begun to dig. We hadn’t gotten it deep enough yet, because they easily climbed out of it. If any of them made it past, they would make it to the Wall. A good amount of zombies had done this, but they were taken out before they became too much of an issue. The Wall was sturdy, but if enough of them pushed on it, there was a chance of it falling down.

I took out a zombie that had crawled under one of the cars, and its body fell to the ground in a jumbled heap.

“Holy shit, there’s a lot of them,” Andrew said as he walked up beside me to help out.

“Sure is,” I said as I shot another zombie that almost made it to the pit.

“There’s a solid stream of them coming,” Andrew said between shooting. “We’re gonna run low on ammo if we have to keep this up.”

I gritted my teeth and shot another one. Unlike Andrew, I wasn’t too worried about ammo. We lived in Texas, so one of the first things we did when we set up this camp was raid every gun store we could find. Our ammo stockpile was enormous, and was the envy of other surrounding camps. They weren’t too much of a problem, though.

“It’ll be okay, Andrew,” I told him as I stopped to put a new clip of bullets into my gun. “The only thing we have to worry about is getting bored.” I smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder.

Andrew nodded his head and smiled. “How about whoever kills ten zombies the fastest wins?”

“Wins what?”

Andrew shrugged. “Bragging rights?”

I scoffed. “Bragging rights? Fine. Just this once. Next time though, we’re betting something.”

“Okay, this is just a practice round, then.”

I put out my hand and Andrew shook it. “Deal. Winner gets bragging rights.”

I turned, and acquired my first target. Rejuvenated with the desire to win, I took the zombie out with precision and ease. However, when I moved to my next target, that’s when everything changed forever.

It was a Xenomortis. A creature I thought to be extinct, but there it came, charging at the wall of cars with the force of a freight train.

I trained my gun at its head, and pulled the trigger. The others on The Wall did the same, and a flurry of bullets hit the alien creature. It had little to no effect. The hard, lizard-like skin of the alien zombie acted like the world’s best bullet-proof vest. Bullets ricocheted off it, hitting the human zombies around it.

The Xenomortis hit the cars and sent them and some zombies flying. I unleashed another volley of bullets into it, and they began to make a difference. The Xenomortis stumbled, but stayed upright. Its vacant lizard eyes were fixed on one thing: destroying The Wall.

It was almost to the pit when I got my idea. “Aim for the feet!” I shouted. Before anyone could ask why, I told them. “The bullets will ricochet up!”

Everybody knew what I was talking about. The quickest way to kill a Xenomortis is by shooting up underneath its head, into its soft spot underneath the jaw.

A relentless wall of bullets shot toward the Xenomortis’s feet. It stumbled, almost falling, but then someone’s shot hit just right, and the head of the Xenomortis exploded.

I shouted for joy, but my celebration was too early. The now dead Xenomortis was just a few feet from The Wall, and still had a lot of forward momentum. The Xenomortis slammed into The Wall beneath me, causing the section I was standing on to collapse. I flailed in the air, trying to grab on to something, but it was futile. I slammed onto a piece of wood, knocking myself out.