"Oi, get off it will you?!" I yelled to the Crank slamming itself against my base's barbed wire barricade. "You're all driving me mad, the lot of you!"
The Crank growled gurgly in return. Sailor, my shepherd, whimpered at the sound. Not much of a protector really. Never has been.
The sweeper used to frighten him into hiding under the couch when he was a pup. Unless my brother was with him of course. My brother gave him the courage to be an actual guard dog. They were a team.
Until he was ripped away from us. I knew we shouldn't have moved to America. The disease creating the Cranks started across the ocean. Our parents sent us to America hoping it would protect us.
Within two years, the disease spread with global warming, carrying it in the condensated air in the clouds and in people as they traveled across the globe. What once started as a pandemic on one half of the world, ended up being the very end of the world as we knew it.
I unlatched the wooden board I'd attached to the wall, leaving a small opening enough for the nose of my gun to fit through. With three bullets to the head, the miserable undead creature was once again dead. Permanently.
Usually I would go out and retrieve the body of it and bury it, hide it, get rid of it somehow so it doesn't attract it's friends. But they're getting stronger. It's like the opposite of mortal life.
The longer the Cranks stumble around and wander, the younger, more agile, faster, and hungrier they get. Instead of growing older and eventually withering away like human life.
After locking up the gun hole once more, I retreated into the dog food aisle of the small convenience store I've been bunking in. Sailor was cautiously padding up to me, his head darting around in every direction.
I cracked open a can of dog food and set it on the tile in front of him. I grabbed a bag of peanuts from the neighboring aisle and sat with him so he didn't eat alone.
I pressed the sleeve of the jumper I was wearing to my nose, thankfully the scent hadn't faded from the dark turquoise fabric. It was dirty, ripped in a few spots, and the zipper didn't work. But it still smelled like him. My brother. Newt.
There isn't a day that passes I don't miss his cheeky grins and fittingly timed jokes and sarcasm. I have a tattoo on my left shoulder that matches the one he had in the same spot. A sparrow. We both have one. Besides this jumper, it's the only thing I have left of him.
His hugs were my favorite.
They felt warm. Welcoming. Safe. I never had to ask to hug him. Whenever I needed one he either knew on in instant or I'd just hug him and he'd return the favor without hesitating in the slightest.
He'd only been with Sailor and I for a few months after we'd watched the world slowly turn to brain dead zombies. There wasn't anything on the television anymore. No newscastings to tell us what city was next on the radar for destruction. No entertainment of any kind.
Electricity went out a long time ago. Which means all of the perishable foods are gone. I remember finding a market not far from my base here. Sailor got excited finding a pack of beef tips and ingested every last one.
It was bad. He was throwing up for a week. And it scared me to death because I worried I'd be losing him too. One of the last pieces of normal life I have left.
Once Sailor and I finished eating, the sun began to sink into the horizon. Which meant it was time to do a perimeter check.
"Come on, then," I patted Sailor's head. "You know the drill. Hush down, find the bed. I'll be on the roof, but not for too long."
After I made sure Sailor was settled on the makeshift bed made with the cushions from a desk chair and some throw pillows I found in the women's bathroom (don't ask), up to the roof I went with my gun.
I crawled military style across its flat top and peered over the edge at the land around us. Dry. Barren. I spotted a few Crankies across the way in the far distance, fighting over a scrap of clothing. Mindless bums.
The base barricade still seemed sturdy. The body of the Crank I killed earlier is still lying on the outer edge. Give it a few long days and it'll be nothing but a pile of rotted bones and bloodied cloth. Thanks to the bugs and buzzards.
At least some creatures are still thriving.
I decided it was safe and quiet enough around me to call it a night. I don't have to worry about something coming into the small base while I'm asleep. Sailor will definitely wake me with his crying.
I found my way back down to the small office room and climbed into the small makeshift bed next to Sailor. He buried his nose into my chest and shortly after, began snoring.
"Glad you're able to rest, mate," I kissed his head. After at least another hour of listening, I fell asleep to the sound of Sailors snoring.
—
I awoke to the rumble of the floor and the shaking of everything on shelves in the store. Surprisingly, Sailor was still asleep.
I didn't hear any growling or bangs of Cranks breaking in. Nor were there any flashlights or boots from when... never mind.
However the whole place was shaking. I heard something approaching outside from above on the right side. An aircraft of some kind. Then I heard many rounds of gunshots going off and that's what woke Sailor.
Before I was able to quiet him down, he shot up to a sitting position and started barking and howling very loudly.
"Oi!! Mate, hush!! You're going to get us found!!"
I managed to clamp his mouth shut. We both sat quietly and listened as the aircraft left, the rumbling stopped, and the building quit shaking.
"Gods," I let our a heavy and relieved sigh. "You just don't have a brain when you're afraid, do ya, buddy? Alright, back to sleep."
Shaken, I wasn't able to get to sleep right away. And good that, because I heard voices in the distance. I remained dead silent as I listened.
"I could've sworn I heard howling."
"I'm telling you, these Cranks make all kinds of sounds. Who knows, maybe one of ''em made that sound to lure us to it."
"Those damn things aren't smart enough to do that."
"Hey, check out this fence thing," One of them said. I heard my fence rattling, then the thud of two sets of boots hit the pavement parking lot outside. "It's all boarded up. Do you think someone's in here?"
"Dude, if anyone besides us has survived out here this long, I'll have to congratulate them myself."
Suddenly they began trying to knock down the wooden boards I nailed up over the shop door. Repeatedly. I heard the wood creak and splinter and break which woke Sailor right back up.
And, you guessed it, he began howling and barking out of fear. Immediately I began shushing him and trying to calm him down.
"See!! I knew there was a dog in here!" One of the men shouted. I heard a bell ring, the one attached to the shop front door. Then under the door I saw flashlights and that's when I started panicking.
"It's in here!" One of the men shouted, the doorknob rattled and that's when Sailor got up and scurried off under the desk and started whimpering. I picked up my gun and cocked it.
So when they kicked the door open, they both were face to face with my gun. Shocked, they both stepped back. I had tears in my eyes and I was shaking, pointing a gun at their chests with an unsteady finger on the trigger.
"Put the gun down!!" One of them yelled through their helmet. It's the same soldiers. The ones dressed in all black bulletproof suits. With big guns and yelling voices.
The ones that took Newt from me years ago.
"Leave us alone!" I cried out, sniffing back more tears. "Go away!!"
"Put the gun down and we won't shoot!!"
"I won't shoot if you won't!! Leave us alone!!"
"Oh for crying out loud! We're wearing bulletproof armor you idiot!!" The guard behind the first one shoved him out of the way and grabbed my arm.
Out of fear I yelped and shot in their direction, no doubt bringing on the attention of every Crank in the area. We'll be surrounded soon, no doubt.
My bullet bounced right off the guard and he kicked my gun out of my hand. Sailor shot out from underneath the desk and in an act of courage, sank his teeth into the calf of one of the men.
He cried out and to my dismay... shot Sailor.
His yelp was so loud, it shattered my heart like glass. I tried to fight off the men and get to him but they were too strong. I felt a sharp prick in my neck and as they were dragging me out of the shop to their aircraft, my vision blurred and darkness consumed me.