Ashes to Ashes (Book 1 of 2) A ZOMBIE FICTION

Helpless

It seemed that I was in a light coma from the experience because I could hear everything, but nothing else. We had been driving for I don't know how long, but it had been a long time. I could tell from the rattling of small metal against cardboard that I had been put with the ammunition in the truck, which seemed to be behind everyone. 

From in front I could hear the sounds of two magazines being loaded, then talking.

"Alright, everyone is now loaded up. Keep your gun close if we run into trouble again." Russ told everyone, just barely audible from the inside of the truck; I could hear water splashing and swooshing in the distance. We were near the coast.

The ride remained silent for a few more minutes until an explosion went off. The vehicle shook violently as we rolled over the explosive, then stalled.

"SHIT! Ambush!" Drake shouted as rounds pinged off of the tank.

"Just get it started and roll forward! Go!" His father ordered.

"I'm trying! She isn't turning over! Shi-" Another explosion, this time directed into the vehicle with an RPG, the same weapon that took us out of the sky.

"Alright! Return fire!" Russ ordered as his door opened and I heard him hit the ground a take off running for cover.

"Close that door and lock it! Then do the same with mine!" Drake ordered as he jumped out and from the sound of it ran behind the vehicle. I heard the doors shut and lock, then the others began frantically talking.

I was now able to crack my eyes open, but not far. I still couldn't move anything, so I kept them shut so I could hear.

"They've got Russ!" 

"Open the door or he buys it!"  I heard a man shout from outside.

"Don't fucking do it! Don't let these pricks t-"

"Shut up old man!"

"Fuck you!"

The gun fired halted I still hadn't heard Drake. Then, from the dark void of my hearing, one single round. Fired from a rooftop behind the vehicle, followed by multiple other rifles opening up.

"Alliance! Get 'em!" I heard one of the hostile men shout.

Then, one of the doors opened and Russ climbed back inside; "Drake made some friends..." He told everyone between heavy breaths.

"WHY YOU RUNNING YOU COALITION BITCHES!?"  I heard a woman shout from the rooftop behind us followed by a barrage of gunfire.

"Come back! We'll off you quickly!"  A male shouted from the street behind us.

The battle ended and Drake had climbed in, "You know, I hadn't even known they were in there, but when I told them what I was doing they just offered to help. Oh yeah, they're gonna be sitting up in the bucket as we drive... if we can drive." He tried to start it again and it worked, we began rolling with protection and had soon stopped again.

I could hear someone climbing around towards the driver door, "You know the airport's loaded with those pricks right?"

"Really?" Drake asked.

"Yeah, hundreds of them. Look, we've got a command post about a mile back and I can see you've got wounded. We'll help you if you can take us there."

"Yeah, where is it?" 

"I'll guide you." 

The trip was silent, but once we got there I could hear radios and people and sizzling of meat. I could hear something being dragged, and quickly realized that I'd been pulled out of the truck and put onto a gurney. After ensuring that I was in safe hands Drake went to find the others, and I stopped listening to anything but the radio next to my 'bed'.

'Well,'  The accent was a strong southern one, 'Alright everyone, right now  I'm comin' at ya' with some more tips. If you're alone, get someplace high up and stay there unless you need to move. The zombies can't climb, nor can most of them run, but they are still dangerous and get more so as they mutate. Number two, sleep with something sharp under your pillow. While blunt objects do good if you've got a swing, you might not be able to swing when you're pinned, so if you've got a knife you can easily stab them in the skull and end the attack. Alright, that's all for now. This is Eddie signing off, peace and don't forget to aim for the head.'

He must watch a lot of zombie movies in his day, because he actually called them zombies. As ridiculous as it sounded, the word zombies was becoming more of the truth. But so far I hadn't even come within five feet of one for myself, I've only seen them attack people. I still didn't have an accurate description if someone asked me what they looked like.

I was out for two more days before I finally was strong enough to move.

"Ooh, he's cute." An unknown female voice stated, talking to Drew.

"He's single too. But he's out cold."

"What happened to him?"

"We were flying covering the others on the ground when some of the 'Coalition' shot us down. Well we landed in a building upside down, his arm broke on impact I think, but he refused to give up. I don't know what drew him to start shooting with a broken arm, but he did and before long the osprey we were in had exploded."

"Y'all survived that?!" She had a slight country accent, a cute one.

"Yeah, we were blown out of the building but landed on some wooden structure below us, fell through and I got tossed around. He must've fell right with all of the concrete 'cause he was buried in it. A piece of metal stuck through his leg, and we were lucky to find him alive, barely. After that we had to use the truck's battery to bring him back and had him stabilized by one of our own."

"Wow. He's tough as the concrete he was buried in to be alive still."

"Yeah, I agree. He used to tell us stories of shit he went through, usually done by his parents, but I never believed them completely until then."

"Like what?"

"Well this one time..." They had walked out of hearing range and I had unconsciously moved my head to the side.

"Hey doc." An older man called out, "His head moved."

"Good, he's coming to. Just keep and eye on him and tell me if he tries to talk."

"So, you never quite explained how his leg didn't break?" A woman stated, urging the doctor to explain.

"Well, the piece of metal, the rebar, went straight through the fatty tissue and in between the bones, not making contact with either."

"Lucky kid."

"Yes, very. He's also lucky that the concrete was not sitting right on him as it would have crushed him."

"Damn. Well, I'm gonna go take my watch." The woman stated.

"Very well. John?"

"Yeah doc?"

"Would you go get two bottles of water for when our friend here wakes up?"

"Sure, gettin' tired of the smell of antiseptic anyway." The man walked out and I heard a running sink and what sounded like washing hands. Then passed out again.

It turned out that with how bad my wounds were many of those who learned of them had the thought that I would have been better off dead, but I was glad to be alive. 

I heard the doctor talking one time to Kat and he told her that I had grown at least four inches since I'd been here, and that I'd grown out of my size ten sneakers that I had been wearing and to about a twelve. This meant that I would now fit my boots that were tied to my bag. I would have been about Shaun's height at this point if the doc wasn't lying.