Ruined Between the Sheets: An Anthology of Dystopian Stories that Get to the Point Read online

  Ruined

  Between the Sheets

  R.M. Walker • K.A Knight & Erin O’Kane • Grace White • Rhiannon Lee • Katie May and Loxley Savage • Dia Cole • Joelle Greene • TL Reeve and Michele Ryan • C.A. Storm • Nikki Landis • Lilly Griffin • AJ Sinclair

  Contents

  R.M. Walker

  Surviving

  K.A Knight & Erin O’Kane

  Days After

  Grace White

  SCORCHLANDS

  Rhiannon Lee

  Dust and Chocolate

  Katie May and Loxley Savage

  THEIR LAST KISS

  Dia Cole

  Last Night in Hell

  Joelle Greene

  The Storm

  TL Reeve and Michele Ryan

  Martyrs

  C.A. Storm

  Lilith: The First Omega

  Nikki Landis

  Ground Zero

  Lilly Griffin

  Fortress in Madness

  AJ Sinclair

  WHEN THEY’RE EXPOSED

  Rae Tina

  One Hellova Love

  Copyright © 2019 by R.M. Walker, K.A Knight & Erin O’Kane, Grace White, Rhiannon Lee, Katie May and Loxley Savage, Dia Cole, Joelle Greene, TL Reeve and Michele Ryan, C.A. Storm, Nikki Landis, Lilly Griffin, and AJ Sinclair

  All rights reserved.

  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. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design Copyright © 2019 Vampari Designs www.arizonatape.com

  First Printing, 2019

  Surviving

  R.M. Walker

  1

  Liability

  She crouched behind the car, her knife in her hand ready. Peering over the bonnet, she saw two bodies lying on the street at awkward angles. Experience told her it didn’t mean they wouldn’t get up again. She looked back at Corporal Ben Quince, ‘Q’, crouched at the corner of the street. He nodded once, and she returned the nod, not nearly as confident as he was.

  Sergeant James Maddox was crouched behind a car farther down, but she could only see the sand colour of his military boots. She knew what the next move was and waited for the sign.

  Maddox moved into sight, and her heart pounded in her chest as he half crouched, half ran across the road to the armoured truck. Corporal Billy Howison, ‘Howie’, sat in the driver’s seat waiting for them.

  She hated this bit. It was the hardest part. Trying to move without making a noise. Three Commando gunners from the Royal Regimental Artillery Corps could move as if they were weightless. Lexi Cornish, a checkout operator from a supermarket, could only move like a herd of elephants was stomping down the street.

  Q eased in beside her, his mouth by her ear. “Balls of your feet, low to ground. You can do this.”

  She drew in a breath and nodded.

  “Good girl.” He kissed the shell of her ear and moved forward in a crouch.

  Her ear tingled, and she held onto the feeling as she followed him. Keeping her attention on the bodies, she moved like a deformed monkey. She was almost there when her foot slipped on the gravel and sent it skittering. Freezing, she held her breath, sweat dripping down her back.

  Q motioned her to move and crept forward. One body twitched, and she froze again.

  “Move,” Maddox yelled as Howie started the engine.

  The bodies got to their feet, heads moving oddly as sightless eyes tried to pinpoint the sudden noise. Their hearing was increased though, and it more than made up for their lack of sight.

  Q dragged her to her feet and together they sprinted to the truck. He kept pace with her, even though he could run faster. Gurgles and groans sounded from behind her. They were gaining on her, and she put everything she had into her legs. She reached the open back door, and Maddox grabbed her backpack and hauled her up. Q shoved her up, climbed on top of her, and slammed the door shut behind him.

  “Let’s ride!” Howie whooped and drove off, leaving the bodies far behind.

  She untangled herself from Q and collapsed onto the floor, breathing hard.

  “Are you hurt?” Maddox demanded. “Is she hurt?”

  “No, sir. Just winded,” Q replied, without a hint of breathlessness.

  “Good, that’s excellent.” Maddox patted her shin, but she was still trying to avoid cardiac arrest as her lungs exploded.

  “That was an excellent run, people,” Maddox declared. “Good teamwork.”

  Lexi grunted, her breathing easing. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move with the stealth they possessed. And now she’d messed up again. She’d messed up every time they’d made a run. One of these days she’d get one, or all of them, killed. She was a liability. Tears filled her eyes as she lay staring at the sand coloured roof of the truck.

  Maddox’s cropped blond hair came into view as he crouched beside her. His eyes were an icy blue, and his top lip was scarred, but it did nothing to take away from how gorgeous he was. In fact, it added to it. Howie hit a pothole, and he almost toppled over, catching his balance with a hand on the side.

  “You did good, Shorty.” He grinned at her, but she closed her eyes, snorting.

  “Are you disagreeing with your commanding officer?” he enquired.

  “I lost my footing and sent gravel flying.” She opened her eyes. “I’m like a baby elephant walking on eggshells. I’ll get you all killed.”

  “Wow, would you like some cheese with that whine?” He poked her side, and she squirmed away from him.

  “Admit it. It’s the truth,” she said.

  “What happened before you skidded on gravel?” he asked.

  Howie hit another pothole and Maddox fell against the side. “For god’s sake, Corporal, try to avoid them,” he snapped.

  “It’s like trying to avoid the clap in a brothel, sir. Roads riddled with them,” Howie called.

  Lexi couldn’t help the chuckle that left her mouth as she moved to sit opposite Maddox.

  Maddox smirked at her, raising his knees and resting his wrists on them. “You haven’t answered my question.”

  “I was doing my crab impression—”

  “No, from the top.”

  “Oh.” She scratched at her head under the ball cap, her hair in need of a wash again. “We got to the chemists, all three, took what we could, and then worked our way back to Howie.”

  “And what’s in your backpack? Fresh air?”

  She pulled her ball cap down over her eyes. He had a point, damn him. But then he always did.

  “Don’t roll your eyes at me.”

  “See through caps now, can we?”

  His hands gripped her upper arms, pinning her against the truck, and his lips crashed against hers.

  “Yeah! Kiss the sass from her, Sarge,” Q cheered.

  She resisted point four of a second before she was submitting to his invading tongue. Point six of a second later and she was giving him as good as she got. Their tongues tangled together, and the ball c
ap was knocked from her head. Her hands went to his hips, and she moaned into his mouth.

  He lifted his head, smirking at her. “I don’t think there are enough years to kiss the sass from her, Q.”

  “Between the three of us we could do it,” Howie put in.

  Another pothole sent Maddox onto his butt and her into a peal of laughter.

  He scooted to the side, swearing at Howie. She picked up her cap and put it on, lifting her knees to her chest. She was tired, exhausted. Once the adrenaline faded away after a run, it left her drained and in need of sleep. Sometimes it was possible, sometimes it wasn’t.

  For the first time in almost four months they had a safe place to go, not that it was completely safe. Nowhere was these days. Not since the first infected.

  Lexi was at work when the news flashes brought everyone to a stand-still. A new virus baffling the medical and science community. With several ground zeros, it was impossible to work out where it had started, but the main worry was when it would end. There was no cure for the illness which started as the common cold and ended shutting down the major internal organs. But that wasn’t the worse bit. The worse bit was they didn’t die. Whatever the virus was, it worked like a parasite invading the body, shutting down the parts it didn’t need and taking over the brain. It consumed the host until only an unquenchable rage remained. They became killing machines, incapable of pain, hurt, emotion, or intelligence. They didn’t eat or sleep. The only way to stop them was a bullet, or a knife to the brain. Just like in the zombie films. Except these zombies were faster and had an acute sense of hearing to compensate for being unable to see.

  Lexi always thought if zombies ever rose she’d be one of the first to die. She couldn’t run for shit and enjoyed chocolate too much. And she would have died if she hadn’t fallen for three Commando gunners of the Royal Artillery. Literally.

  She’d gone home from work, barricaded her door with her heavy wardrobe and sat in front of her telly. It was chaos, the images being broadcast by news reporters becoming more and more horrific as the days passed. Control was lost as it became an ‘every man for himself’ situation. The virus hit her town the day after the telly went black and electricity failed. She’d heard the screaming, shouting, and gunfire on the streets. And then she’d heard the growling and screaming in the corridors outside her apartment. They’d banged against her door and she’d hidden beneath her bed crying. Her wardrobe saved her, and they stopped after a while. She only came out when the need to pee overtook her fear.

  It took three days for it to decimate the normally bustling, happy town. The streets were vacant, cars were abandoned. There were no signs of any uninfected people, but there were plenty of signs of infected ones. People who died from brain injuries were the lucky ones. People who died from any other reason joined their rage-filled comrades.

  She’d stayed there for two weeks, rationing out her food until it was gone, and the only water was drips from the tap. The roads had quietened down, the infected growing less as they wandered in a seemingly endless need to walk. Living on the second floor had its advantages, but it also had its disadvantages. She’d pushed the wardrobe and heard the growl as an infected shoved the door. Pushing the wardrobe back, she’d burst into tears. They were waiting for her, or another one was there.

  Her only option was the window and therein lay the disadvantage. If she tried to jump she’d break something, knowing her. Or she’d make so much noise they’d congregate under her window, waiting to tear her limb from limb. But she couldn’t stay there. She’d die. And one thing which amazed Lexi was her will to survive. The inbuilt drive to stay alive, no matter the odds. She’d cursed that drive more than once.

  She’d packed as much as she could in an old backpack and climbed out of the window.

  And got stuck.

  Her pack caught on the catch on the inside of the window, and she ended up dangling from the strap with no way to free herself.

  She’d still be there, a hanging skeleton of shame and irony if her three gunners hadn’t been taking shelter in the cafe opposite. They’d been working their way through town to the base camp set up at the start of the chaos. But they’d spotted her in the apartment and were planning to rescue her. She’d made it harder for them by getting stuck in the window. But in her defence, she hadn’t known they were planning her rescue.

  She’d hung there, cursing her stupidity when a figure in camouflage climbed the wall next to her in a brilliant impression of Spiderman. She’d only gaped as he’d winked at her and with his knife, cut the strap holding her in place. Too shocked to cry out, she fell into the arms of the other two. Before she could blink, they were dragging her between them across the street and into the cafe. Spiderman hot on their heels.

  With the equipment they had and enough wear on their sand coloured camouflage uniforms, she knew they were army and not soldier wannabes. Feeling safe with them, she’d gone with them to their base. Discovering it was overrun, they’d devised a plan to grab as much as they could. They told her to stay hidden in a secured pub and they’d come for her. She hadn’t believed they’d come back. She was a liability and slowed them down. When they’d left, she’d sneaked through the pub, gathering anything useful. With no plan and a heavy heart, she’d left and made her way out of town, lucky enough to not come across any infected.

  She’d been figuring out a way to cross the river when Howie (Spiderman) sneaked up, gagged her, and carried her to the armoured truck they’d got from the base. He’d thrown her into the back, got in behind her, and they’d driven off.

  Maddox demanded to know whether the reason she was alive was because she had no brain for the virus to attack. She’d told them she hadn’t expected them to go back for her.

  He’d rolled his eyes, introduced them all, and told her she was stuck with them now.

  That had been nearly four months ago.

  She’d fallen for them hard. Three gorgeous, commando trained artillerymen that took good care of her, how could she not? When they’d initiated a physical relationship with her she’d assumed it was because she was the only woman they’d come across. By that time she was in too deep with them for dignity. And it scratched the itch they gave her just by breathing.

  Q chewed her up and spat her out when she let it slip. It had offended and hurt him. Did she think so little of him that he’d use her like that? Was she using him in the same manner? Shocked by his words, it had come tumbling out how she liked them all. Maddox and Howie had been listening. They told her they liked her too, and even if there were other women, they’d still choose her. It made her more secure with them.

  But the knowledge she was slower and a liability never left her. And it was increasingly evident.

  “Stop sulking and get your butt over here, Shorty.” Maddox hit her square in the chest with a balled up bit of paper.

  She didn’t need telling twice and scooted over. He spread his legs, and she nestled into him, her hand on his shoulder and her face pressed against the side of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. With the rocking of the truck over deteriorating roads, she dozed off, safe for the moment.

  2

  Nowhere is safe.

  “Lexi.” Maddox shook her, and she woke straight away.

  Before this happened, she’d slept like a log, but those days were long gone and now, even the crack of a twig would have her awake and alert. She hated it.

  “We’re here.”

  She shifted out of his arms and looked over the front seats. The base they’d chosen while they’d spent a few days stocking up was ahead. It was a house set back off the road with high stone walls around three sides. The woods were behind the walls, and the front of the house was secure with large metal gates. When they’d first found it, the owners were inside, but infected. Howie and Q dispatched them while Maddox and Lexi checked the back of the house. They’d given her a knife that strapped to her thigh. So far she hadn’t used it. Her gunners were trained killer
s and most of the time they dispatched the infected before she even knew they were there.

  She scanned the sides of the road for movement. It was woody, and the trees gave them cover, but it could also hide infected.

  “Any signs?”

  Howie shook his head. “No, sir. Quiet. I haven’t seen one since we left the town.”

  Q turned and nibbled her earlobe, making her laugh.

  “Eyes front, Corporal,” Maddox ordered.

  “Yes, Corporal, eyes and teeth front,” she teased him.

  He snapped his teeth but didn’t look away from the road. Howie slowed as they approached the curved driveway leading to the house. Something was different, but she wasn’t sure what.

  “Stop.”

  One thing they taught her was to say and get it wrong, rather than say nothing and regret it later.

  “What is it?” Maddox demanded as Howie slowed to a stop, keeping the engine idling.

  “I don’t know… something’s not right.” She scanned the road and saw it. “Someone’s been here.”

  “How do you know?”

  “There’s a dead badger. It wasn’t there when we left. It wasn’t there at all before. Someone’s knocked it down since this morning.”

  “She’s right,” Howie murmured. “I’d have known if I’d run it over.”

  “We all would,” Q murmured. “We’d be eating it for tea.”

  “Do you reckon it tastes like chicken?” she asked, distracted by his comment.