Z Island Series | Book 3 | Survivors of Z Island [Retribution Part 1] Read online

  SURVIVORS OF

  Z ISLAND:

  RETRIBUTION

  PART 1

  TERRENCE OSBORNE JR.

  Copyright © 2020 by Terrence Osborne Jr.

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher 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.

  First Printing: 2020

  ISBN: 979-8645025960

  Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, educators, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the above-listed address.

  U.S. trade bookstores and wholesalers: Please contact Terrence Osborne Jr; email [email protected].

  Dedication

  TO ALL OF MY READERS, FAMILY, AND FRIENDS

  10 DAYS LATER

  Blood dripped from Jess’s head as she woke up to horror. The ringing in her ear from the silence made her think about what happened. Her entire body covered in blood and dead zombies surrounded her. A large part of heavy debris had fallen on her leg that prevented her from moving. The room she sat in was destroyed, but when she looked out of the door to her right, she noticed the debris from the building was still collapsing. Smoke filled the halls that traveled in the room and no one was heard wandering around. Her breathing began to get heavy as she saw a body across the room. The debris had smashed the person’s head flat, making them unrecognizable, but Jess knew who it was. She tried moving the debris from her leg, but the weight was too much for her weak body. She kept trying, but it wouldn’t budge at all. A zombie emerged around the corner and scared Jess. She was able to stop making noise, but she noticed the zombie looking at her, but not moving. Its body was different from other zombies. It stood tall and skinny, but its face was unbearable to look at. It looked swollen, but it had pores surrounding its face. It made a horrible screeching sound and walked into the room with Jess sitting hopelessly against the wall. She wanted to cry, but she covered her mouth and watched the zombie walk in front of her. Every second got harder; the pain had gotten worse and one sound could potentially lead the zombie to her. It slowly stranded around the debris and heard a noise coming from another room. It screeched loudly and ran out of the room to where the noise came from. Tears drew over the blood that scattered across her face as she looks down and grabbed the radio off her.

  “Guys,” she whispered, “I’m stuck. I’m still in the building, but there’s a zombie inside, and it’s attracted to noise.”

  She grunted and exhaled painfully as she held her leg and tried to control her pain, “He’s dead guys. I’m pinned, and I can’t move. Please, somebody answer me.”

  I

  GOOD NEWS

  The war was over. Drew and the rest of Jason’s men were dead. Life seemed normal at first. Then it struck her. Sam was dead, Eric had to be killed, and many others were gone. The war between man costs more than she could imagine. Jess watched as the bandage wrapped around her leg tightly. She flinched as pain shot up her leg and through her chest.

  “All done.” Drake smiled.

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. Do you really think it’s over?”

  “We’ve been killing all his men since the island. Throughout the five years, that’s all we’ve been doing. Since New York. Since the start of it all. We never told the community because we didn’t want to get rejected. We needed a place to stay. We…we thought we had lost them. Obviously, we were wrong.”

  “Well, the important thing is that we’re alive now and they’re dead.”

  “Yeah, but we’ve lost so much. At some point, you should ask whether it was all worth it. All of the fighting.”

  “You have to keep finding something to fight for I guess.”

  “I guess so.”

  Eddy excitedly came around the corner with Steven as Jess looked back at them.

  “Eddy? What’s wrong?”

  “Jess, I have some incredibly great news!”

  “What is it?”

  “We picked up a radio transmission and…Jess, it was a scientist in North Carolina! He found a cure!”

  “Wh-…what?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “It’s true!” Steven answered.

  “Well…”

  For once in a long time, Jess was speechless. The hairs on her arms raised and her eyes were full of surprise. Her smile appeared briefly but disappeared again. She asked herself: what if her family was still alive to hear the good news?

  “This is great news!” Jess screamed as she hugged Eddy tight.

  “Where’s Maria? She needs to hear this!”

  “She’s keeping to herself. She’s not the same since…well…everything.”

  Jess glanced across the lot at Maria sitting down at an abandoned bus stop with her legs crossed and her head hanging down.

  “I’ll go talk to her.”

  Jess walked through the survivors with deep sorrow. She knew what they had been through and all the people they’d lost. Not one person smiling. Everyone was still recovering from the aftermath of the war. One man was laying down on top of a flat box on the ground unconscious. Blood traveled down the side of his face as another survivor wiped it with a dirty, torn shirt. Children cried at the news of their parents no longer being around. Maria watched the sun sink into the ground as Jess sat next to her and watched along with her. She didn’t say a word. They just continued to look at the sunset and enjoyed the view. It reminded them of the beauty that still exists within the horror. Jess brushed her hair back and exhaled lightly.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “It is.”

  Jess glanced over to Maria, “There’s a possibility of a cure, Maria.”

  Her pupils widened as she held her head down and chuckled, “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  Maria began smiling as tears ran down her cheeks, “Why couldn’t this news come when everything was alright? Why did it come after I-”

  Jess watched her wipe her tears away and rubbed them on her legs. Jess knew what she had been through. They both did things that they didn’t want to do, but it had reason.

  “We have been through so much. It was because of us though. We came to your community and brought Jason and his men to you. I’m the reason You had to…kill Eric. And for all those reasons, I’m sorry.”

  “I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: it’s not your fault. You thought you had lost Jason and his men and Eric chose to do what he did. The only thing we can control in this world is choice. Choice is what got us here. In this moment. Now we must make another choice. Do we stay, or do we go?”

  “We go, Maria. It’s not a tough decision we make.”

  “What if there is no cure? What if we’re too late?”

  “We can’t be. That message had to be recent.”

  “If it wasn’t?”

  “We have to try.”

  “Jess, I can’t bring all these children through this.”

  “Wait. Are you staying?”

  “Someone has to keep them safe.”

  “Maria! We can figure this out. The children will be safe. I can’t leave you here.”

  “Jess, we’re not your responsibility. You don’t have to pr
otect us. We’ll be fine. Trust me.”

  “You gave me a home. I must repay that back somehow. I destroyed your community!”

  “Then go! Find the cure! Make all of this pain and surviving mean something!” Maria smiled.

  “I think I should tell them in the morning. Let them get rest first.”

  “Sure.”

  “Thank you, Maria. For everything.”

  “I’ll have your back. Always.”

  Jess stood up from the bench and walked back to the group. Maria sighed and looked up at the sky. The color went from blue to pink and the beauty of it reminded her of a time where she was at peace with Eric and her family.

  ─

  Eddy walked out of the store with Steven as Lisa approached them, “Hey guys!”

  “Lisa,” Eddy said.

  “Hey, Lisa!” Steven smiled.

  “So, Jess was talking with other people and they all think it’s a promising idea for groups of two to keep guard on each of the corners.”

  “Okay. I’ll volunteer.” Steven suggested.

  “No way. You’re young. You should sleep.”

  “Eddy, you’ve been through hell. You’re tired. I see it. Go rest. I hardly did anything today. Plus, we all need to rest after tonight.”

  “Give me four hours. Then come get me.”

  “Okay.”

  “Good night you guys,” Eddy said as he walked away.

  Lisa sighed and smiled Steven. The tension between them was unbearable. Neither of them didn’t know what to do or say to each other, but they just stood there; quiet as the wind. Their breathing had synced and the pupils in their eyes dilated when they stared at each other.

  “Well, for what it was worth, I’m really glad you’re okay.” Steven chuckled.

  “Same. Happy to have someone like you at a time like this.”

  “Yeah. Well…I’ll go get my things. I have to-”

  Lisa rushed up to him and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. The moment caught Steven off guard and sent his mind swirling with emotions. His eyes closed as he felt Lisa’s lips press against his. For that moment, it felt like he was floating. The feeling he was getting through his body was that of a first kiss. Lisa backed away and smiled at him, but he was still lost in his own mind. She chuckled and waved in front of his face.

  “Steven?”

  “Lisa. That was-”

  “Our first kiss?”

  “Our first kiss.

  ─

  As the night fell, the rest of the survivors managed to surround the store with wrecked cars, barrels, and wire they had found scattered around. Two people stood at each corner of the blockade while the rest slept inside individual outlets within the store. Steven and Marcus were among the people guarding the store while Lisa watched him from inside.

  “You must really like him.” Faith interrupted.

  “Uh, yeah. I do. Kind of ironic, giving the circumstances.”

  “I think we have all the time in the world. Just be careful. After what we’ve been through, it’s hard to trust anyone anymore.”

  “It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?” Lisa mumbled as she walked away, leaving Faith to question herself.

  ─

  Steven looked back and caught a quick glimpse of Lisa before she walked away and smiled.

  “Young love.” Marcus chuckled.

  “Better now than never.”

  “I hear that. I just wish-”

  “Hold on. What’s over there?”

  Marcus held up his rifle and pointed it at the trees ahead of them. Branches snapped, leaves rustled, and groans echoed into their ears as he and Steven concentrated into the dark.

  “We need to wake everyone up,” Marcus whispered.

  “Why?”

  “If that’s what I think it is, we all need to leave.”

  Marcus ran towards the store as Steven confusingly stared at the trees.

  “Marcus?” Steven asked.

  “Steven! Come on!”

  Zombies appeared from the trees, but there were too many of them. Steven gasped and ran after Marcus. As he ran around the walls getting the other guards, Marcus ran inside and yelled for everyone to wake up.

  “Zombies! They’re coming!”

  “How did they get here? I thought we led them away!!” Jess asked.

  “I don’t know how, but they’re here! Get up! We have to go! Get the children together and go to the back of the store!”

  Eddy ran up to Marcus with a gun, “What are we going to do?”

  “We’re going to distract them. Lead them away from the group. At least until they get far away.”

  “Okay.”

  Gunshots brought their attention outside to the other survivors shooting at the zombies. Runners emerged from the horde but were shot on sight. Steven saw the horde getting bigger by the second but remained calm for the moment. Eddy and Marcus helped them shoot them while Jess and Maria were getting everyone out of the building to prepare running. Jess watched the zombie horde grow larger, but she trusted Eddy and Marcus to make the right decisions. Hank and the others guarding the other side ran over to Eddy and Marcus with fear in their eyes. Hank immediately looked at the horde and said nothing. He simply grabbed his gun and began shooting.

  “Where are we going to lead them?” Marcus asked.

  “Away from the group. Wherever they go, we go the opposite way!” Eddy suggested.

  As the rest of the survivors exited the store, Jess grabbed the radio from her waist and ran to Eddy. The horde was bigger than she had expected. The zombies were a massive crowd, more than they could handle right now.

  “Here,” she placed the radio in his hand, “keep this close!”

  “Where are you taking them?”

  “I don’t know yet. Far from here. Just…don’t stray too far from us!” Jess yelled as she ran back to the survivors.

  Eddy clipped the radio to his belt and approached Marcus, “We need to get moving before they get too close.”

  Marcus watched Jess and the rest of the survivors disappear behind the left side of the building, so he began walking towards the other side of the building and shot in the air.

  “Lead them this way!” he alerted everyone.

  Hank and the others walked behind Marcus as they all shot in the air while Eddy and Steven shot some zombies for extra distraction.

  Eddy. You there?

  Eddy grabbed his radio, “Yeah, I’m here. What’s wrong?”

  Nothing, we’re moving as fast as we can. Are you attracting them?

  Before Eddy could reply, he saw a couple of Runners running the direction Jess and the group were going and trembled with fear, “Jess, you have three Runners heading towards you! And they’re leading a small horde your way!”

  Jess turned around and saw the Runners approach from the side of the building. She quickly pulled out her knife and alerted Faith of the situation. Her, Faith, and two others from the group pulled their knives out and attacked the Runners. One ran up to Jess, but she ducked under it and kicked its legs in, which made it fall and gave Faith the opportunity to stab it in the head. The others killed the rest of the zombies as Jess continued to lead the group away from the horde.

  Eddy put his gun away and grabbed the machete from his waist as the horde got closer. Steven looked behind them and looked for anything to help them get away from the zombies. He knew Jess led the group to the street behind the store, but he didn’t know if they were out of sight yet.

  “Let’s head for the street. There may be some other building we could get to!” Steven shouted.

  “Okay, I can contact Jess and ask where she’s going,” Eddy mentioned.

  Steven peeked above the tree ahead and spotted a rooftop. From his understanding, there was another neighborhood behind the trees.

  “There’s buildings there!” Steven pointed.

  “Okay, I’ll tell Jess. We’ll hide there so they can pass.” Eddy replied.

  Marcus and Hank cont
inued to kill the zombies while Steven waited for them to follow him. Suddenly, he saw a figure running at him from his left and pulled his gun out.

  “More zombies!” Steven yelled.

  The others saw the zombies emerging from their left and panicked. Eddy gripped his machete and ran.