Zombies Vs Aliens: Respawn

Chapter 6.2

Wolf Girl lived with the corpses of her parents, she snuggled with my zombie pets, ate dead animals raw, and I still covered her eyes as he mowed down the silent undead. It was brutal, bits flying off everywhere. The zombies stood there, taking the heat, doing nothing to save or defend themselves, utterly mindless. I wished I closed my eyes.

            "Eat it, mother fuckers," he snarled, emptying the whole damn clip into them. None of them were standing when he finished. I was thankful the Muppets hadn't followed us, I don't think our trigger happy new acquaintance would wait for an explanation.

            "Uh, that was violent." Fred piped up, the ever colorful commentator. Before the powerhouse could round on him I jumped in.

            "Thank you, for helping us." I set Wolf Girl down, shifting her behind me just in case. "I'm Li, he's Fred, and this is..." Did I really want to introduce her as Wolf Girl? "Lannie." Fred quirked an eyebrow at me around the soldier.

            "Jeremy Daniels." He slung the gun onto his shoulder, extending a hand. I shook it, surprised by the shift to civility. It took a moment for the information to click.

            "That's your full name," I said, realizing what an idiot I sounded like two seconds later. Might as well carry on. "How do you know your full name?"

            Jeremy to his credit, shifted uncomfortably, looking a bit guilty as he lifted the dog tags from around his neck. "How did you know?"

            "You're just like us mate," Fred reached up to clap him on the shoulder, hastily removing his fingers at the look on Jeremy's face. "So, uh, how many aliens did you chow down to become one of the gloriously altered undead?"

            Jeremy froze, eyes wide with horror. I pinched the bridge of my nose, reconsidering the company I kept.

            "God, Fred, you don't just ask someone how many aliens they've eaten."

            The soldier backed away from us, the dreadful march of his thoughts playing out on his face. I was certain he was about to bolt as I approached him, gently tucking my hand into his massive paw.

            "Hey, why don't we have a talk, compare stories? I bet we've both seen some pretty crazy shit." He stared down at me, not really seeing me, but he let me lead him further into the compound. We entered the main room, littered with evidence of an intense fight, from the faded blood stains to the bullet holes in the walls. Whatever this place was, it did not end well. I nudged two rickety chairs from a nearby table, leading Jeremy to sank his massive frame into one. Hallelujah, it held his weight.  I sat across from him. Wolf Girl trailed in after us, while Fred went off exploring.

            "What do you remember, Jeremy?"

            He blinked up at me, straightening his shoulders. "Last thing I remember my unit was stationed here to defend and evacuate the city."

            "You remember how all this happened?" I interrupted, shocked.

            "Don't you?" He frowned at me, tugging the wrist of his intact sleeve.

            "Fred and I barely remember anything, we don't know our real names."

            Jeremy was silent for a moment, his dark eyes thoughtful. "I can't remember the majority of my life, but I remember my last day here. There was a breach in the quarantine, someone violated protocol and the infection got into the city."  His expression blanked out again, as he rubbed the back of his left hand. "It spread through the remaining population so fast, we only had half the city emptied. They swarmed us, people I talked to and joked with the night before fell that fast. My unit got splintered, swept up in urban warfare, cornered, taken done one by one until there were just a few of us left. We radioed for a fly by to pick up the survivors but it never came. They left us for dead."

            "How could they do that?" Fred's question startled me. I hadn't heard him enter the room. Jeremy shook his head.

            "It was bad, we'd already lost most of the East Coast. The military was stretched too thin, we took heavy losses in the battle for New York City. The morning we radioed for help they nuked Manhattan."

                Fred's mouth fell open. I felt the same. The army nuked Manhattan?

            "We held out for a few days, until one of my men lost it, cracked under the stress."

            "What'd he do?" I asked, engrossed.

            "He opened the gate." Jeremy stopped rubbing his hand, staring at it. "I was in the back, cleaning the guns, taking inventory of our remaining ammo, when they burst into the room, dozens of them. I only had my pistol loaded and ready. Got off two shots before one bit my hand."  He lifted his hand in front of him, splaying his fingers wide. "I remember thinking, 'well shit, that's all she wrote', I knew I was going to turn."

            "God, you were still alive?" Fred leaned against the wall, his expression rapt. Jeremy glanced at him. His dark eyes were lighter than mine, I could see the similar cracked effect in his irises Fred had, like charred wood.

            "I planned to plug myself, but I had a score to settle with the private who let them in. Found him cowering in the bunk room, only one of my men left alive. Chicken shit shot me twice in the chest when I pulled him out..." Jeremy's low voice trailed off, his expression blanking out again. I touched his knee, giving him focus. His eyes shifted to me as he sat up, clenching his hand into a fist.

                "Next thing I knew, I woke up here." The soldier rose to his feet, pacing the short length of the room. We were losing him again. Fred shot me a worried look, I could guess what he was thinking, a loose canon would not help the structure of our rag tag group.

            "I'm guessing the two grape stains in the back are your handiwork?" Fred kept his voice even, watching the guy's reaction. Jeremy froze, rocking on his heels as he touched his face, tracing his mouth.

            "They dissolved right in front of me. I thought I was crazy. This was some tripped out nightmare I just needed to wake up from. But there was this," he said, gesturing around him, "and our friends outside. I knew I wasn't human anymore when they didn't come after me. Didn't know what to do, specially when I saw more of those things in the city, saw their ship. They cut down anything and everything in their path, so I came here, cleaned my guns, decided I should carry through with my first plan."

            It took me a moment to follow the track of his thoughts, pursing my lips as I caught up. "You were going to kill yourself?"

            Jeremy just stared at me, his expression haunted. Fred's eyes widened, fixed on the back of the man's head. "How did that work out for you?" He asked, his tone a bit strangled.         

            Jeremy reached for the back of his head, his hand shaking. "It didn't."

            I didn't wait for him to turn, circling around him, not sure I was ready for the sight but I had to know. I craned my neck up and up, the shock a sucker punch in the gut. Nope, not prepared at all. I couldn't believe I missed this, he was very tall, but a bullet hole in the back of your head is pretty noticeable by anyone's standards.

***What do you think of the risen soldier? *waggles eyebrows* Don't forget to vote!***