New Beginnings Read online

"This 19 year old has been nothing, but a troublemaker. Starting fights to take their rations, arguing with anyone who doesn’t agree with him, then threatens their very life because they were right, and now threatening the life of another member of the conclave. Now is the time for your last plea, Austin and you better make it a good one.” He said straight to Austin, kneeing down to him before turning to his people. “Because you terrorized these people, now your life is in their hands." He said, gesturing to the people around him. John then steps aside and lets everyone chatter to decide what to vote for. I already knew what my vote was. I looked over to Sestra to confirm if she agreed. She had sorrow in her eyes, but she nodded.

  "I already know this stupid vote that everyone is going to choose, but all of you have to come to the realization that you need me. We all know we are shorthanded around here. Hell, we have two children sniping on our rooftop." He said. I looked around and listened to some people agreeing to let him stay, I know I had to say something in order to keep him away from harming more of our people. I walked out of the crowd looking at Austin dead in the eye as I stood strong and tall.

  "Your right, we are shorthanded, but we don’t need people like you. We need more people that will help, not harm us like you have been doing since you stepped foot on the grounds. Stealing food, treating us like we are beneath you when really, you are beneath us. We just didn’t know it until someone had to speak up. It’s time to send you out to meet the others that failed to work together!" I yelled harshly. The crowd listened to me and I saw them nodding and smiling. I felt like I had respect finally, even with John as I looked over to him and caught his smile towards me. The crowd started to chatter and began to get louder.

  "People, may I remind you that there may be zombies surrounding us so please, keep it down. Now, I will tally the votes. Votes for kicking Austin raise your hand." John said. Sestra and I raised our hands, when I looked around to count myself, I didn’t see anyone without their hand up, but a young woman standing in the back with others in front of her. "That’s a majority. Austin, I hear by kick you out of this enclave. Here’s a pistol with a single bullet, a flashlight, and your backpack that we saw fit for your travels. I hope we don’t meet again." John said, bringing out a pistol he had tucked behind him and took out the clip, then slid it in front of him. He then tossed a flashlight beside Austin. I had my hand on my own pistol that I had when I killed Trevor. I pulled it out and let it be by my side with the safety off, just in case Austin had any ideas. Austin looked at the pistol and placed his hand on it, taking a moment to think of what he should do. He then sighed and grabbed his pack. When he slid it on his shoulders, with the pistol in one hand and the flashlight in the other while walking through the crowd.

  “All of you aren’t worth my time.” He said when he got past two of the guards. He finally left through the gate and I sighed in relief, putting the safety on my pistol and tucking it away. I then turned to Sestra.

  "I can take the first watch. I need some time to think anyway." I told her. I was still bothered by Trevor’s death. She nodded, then walked with me to the roof. We chatted for a while before she made her way to her room, before she closed her door, she looked up at me and gave me a finally glimmer of hope in her eyes. I then laid down on the roof when she closed her door completely and stared at the starry night. Without all the lights of the city, the night sky could light your way home on the right conditions. I then looked for Austin. When I looked around, I saw he was still near the base, just at the warehouse down the street. Since I had my sniper rifle with me, I aimed it at him and placed my finger on the trigger. With a smile, I slowly aimed in the different direction and saw that he was hiding from a horde of screamers, I then found a stop sign and shot its pole, making it ring loud enough to be heard even to where I was. The screamers yelled and ran towards the sign, giving Austin some more time to run away from the horde. It was good for our base since it redirected them further away from us anyway. A few hours went by and nothing was happening besides mindless zombies wondering away from the base, the screams have stopped as well. I started to remember Trevor and how we met.

  Trevor, he found us in the strip mall that we were hiding in for two days. He was raised up to be a survivalist and taught Sestra and I how to live off the land for months. That’s what we did, that was how we survived the most of the apocalypse. Sometimes we had a zombie stumble in, but would only harm our traps we had laying around. Days and nights blended in together, living in the woods got easier and easier until a scouting party found us in the woods as they were hunting for food. John was in front and that was the second person we met during the apocalypse and he offered us to stay with him. The animals we hunted, after joining John, were becoming scarcer with each passing day. I was scared that it was because the undead were eating them and scared them off. So, we ended up with John and got involved as much as we could to get strong and use to the cement world, we never left. The army came and got killed off because they underestimated the undead. That’s where Sestra found the two snipers that we carry today and the riot armor. All that was five years for meeting Trevor and three years for the snipers, going by when the snow melts, that’s a year. She didn't like the rest because of how she couldn't run as fast and the helmet got in the way of her aiming. After that day, the three of us joined a scouting party to the strip mall that Sestra and I were hiding in. That’s where I found my lucky cloak hanging in the window of a medieval store, we joked, but I kept it. As my eye lids dripped closed, I started to realize that I should get Sestra before I fall asleep on the job. When I gathered everything and left home base, I noticed her storage unit door was opened and a large shirt was on the floor near the entrance. I grabbed my pistol and switched the safety off as I ran to the entrance, only to find a man hunched over in the corner, groaning in pain.

  “You stupid bitch!” He yelled. I then looked over at Sestra and saw that she signed prey with, then pointed to herself.

  Chapter 2:

  A new threat.

  As I stared at the man in the corner, groaning in the corner, my blood begins to boil inside my fists while Sestra buttons her pants back together. I then grabbed the man’s heel and pulled it over my shoulder and began to drag his fat ass out of the unit. He pulled his leg out of my grip and stood up as I turned into his direction.

  "You dare lay a hand on Sestra! A woman who can’t scream! I should kill you right where you are! Like a dog that you are!" I yelled, drawing the attention of more than just the other members of our enclave. “Did you not see what happened to Austin just a few hours ago!” I added, then saw a few zombies starting to grab the fence with their mouths wide open, but surprisingly were still quiet. The man was named Phil Thompson, a math teacher. Phil charges at me, trying to land a punch, but I blocked it with my elbow and because he was so fat, he just fell over on to his face beside me, making the ground shake below me. John saw what was happening and rushed over while Phil stands back up with a scrapped arm.

  "Alright! What happened?" John yelled.

  "This less than a man tried to rape Sestra!" I yelled. John looked at Phil.

  "Is this true?" He said. Phil looked into John’s eyes and started laughing like a maniac that he is.

  “Have you ever felt the youth’s young skin?” He said after his laughing fit.

  "Can I hit him?" I said with a step towards him, ready to strike his pig face, but before John could say anything, Sestra stood behind him and kicked it straight up in between his legs. Phil groaned in pain and collapsed back to the ground beside John and I. "That’s my Sestra!” I yelled with a smile as Sestra runs around him and beside me. “I want him bound to the pole." I said harshly as I turned to John.

  "Alex, take a breath. He will be, just calm down before you blow a fuse. We need our heads, not our fists." John said. I step away, brushing back my hair as I try to calm down, but my body was filled with rage, I mean really? The world is in the shit hole and you make it worse by doing this? This new world brought
out the real side of survivors. I looked through the door window when I got back into home base and saw John point to two guards and they walked over to Phil. They struggled to hold him up, so they settled with just holding his head up. John walked up to him and punched his lights out. They then dragged him through the gates with John behind them to watch for zombies and took out any who were close to them. They then tied his hands to the same stop sign I shot earlier, but the horde was long gone by now. Sestra and I stepped to the fence, watching Phil as the guards returned safely. Sestra and I waited for a few moments to see if Phil really gets what he deserves, but there wasn’t a zombie for miles. We watched and I grew impatient, so I slammed my fist against the fence links, before bringing out my sniper rifle and slid it in one of the chain links of the fence. I aimed the same way I did the first time, but was more difficult with the lower height without getting his head in the way. With luck, I pulled the trigger and the post rung like before. Zombies soon screamed and came out of their hiding places to get him. As we hear his screams and begging to end his life, we left and walked to our rooms.

  “Are you ok?” I asked.

  Yes, just shaken up. She signed. I sighed in relief.

  “Well, at least you get some you time, your turn for watch.” I said. She nodded and went up to the roof quickly. That’s when I went to lay in my bed, I thought of how we are use to the new rules, the new harsh environment. Anything minor in the old world was major in the new one and its worse in the city because that’s where the military brought everything together to try and defend it the best they could.

  When dawn came along, I sprung up in my bed after my nightmares that never leave me. I sighed, trying to breathe because it was the worse one of them all. It was Trevor and the nightmare was him saying why did you let me die? I pressed my palm against my face to make sure I'm in reality. When I pinched myself and felt the pain, I realized I am in reality, but I don’t know if it’s any better. I then yawned and stretched. I had to force myself to get out of bed, at that time I went to see what Sestra has been up to because she usually up before me and hanging around people that knew enough of our codes to communicate, or still asleep. I went to her room and saw that she was still asleep in her bed, or so I thought. When I walked to her bedside and sensed her slightly moving because of the bed was shaking as I sat on it. I then saw her hand reach under her pillow. She suddenly thrusted a blade through the air, aimed straight at my head. I quickly grabbed her wrist to stop the blade half way from my face, not surprised by the sudden attack.

  "Really, Sestra? You do this every morning. It’s predictable." I said bitterly with a bored look on my face. She looked at me with a smirk, as if saying of course, gotta keep you on your toes. I sighed as I stretched my fingers over her cold hand, then in a rough motion, I took the knife from her grip and got the knife in my hand. I then threw it into the wall where it stabs through the thin metal wall along with other slices in the wall are present from previous mornings. I then sense her move again and found another blade aimed to the back of my head and I moved my head slightly back as her thrust was vulnerable to where I could bend her elbow and make the knife be placed against her neck, my nose was cut slightly and bled only a little. I then took the knife from her grasp and looked into her eyes, feeling my gaze was empty. I was still mourning Trevor, but I tried hiding it and walked to the door of her unit and looked back at her over my shoulder.

  "Get dressed, it's time to gather our party for this morning’s scavenge mission. You get Nathan and James since they always seem happy to see you. I’m going to find Janie and we will wait for her at the gate. I bet she won’t even come though." I instructed. Sestra nodded and I released the metal door to close it so she could get dressed. As I walked back to my room to grab my cloak, I also grabbed my m15 and pistol with only a few clips of ammo left. I stood in front of my small desk, holding one of the clips in my hand, I had to worry about my ammunition some other time. After tucking the pistol in the back of my pants, I swung the strap of my rifle over my shoulder as I left my room before putting on my cloak, that way it is hidden when the wind doesn’t blow. Doing all this while walking towards the base, I was already approaching Janie who was sorting through the food packets.

  "Janie, today is your turn to go on our scavenging mission with some others. Meet at the gate in 15 minutes." I yelled across the room, but saw her walk out of the room as I placed my hood up and walked to the gate. I then sat in front of the gate, loading a mag in my rifle. I then waited the full 15 minutes, only to have Sestra bring in the boys and to have Janie a not show. I looked at Sestra and she shrugged. "Alright, if she’s not coming, then we can just report her to John” I said, standing up and turning to the group where they all were leaning against the fence beside the gate. Nathan was a 16-year old who use to work on robotics and never used a gun in his life until the apocalypse. When John recruited him, we made him shoot off BBs in a rifle so we didn’t use up our ammo reserves. James was the same way, only his age was 15. They both had a thing for Sestra. It was so obvious, but Sestra couldn’t see it, they both were wearing holed up shirts with another shirt underneath to hide their bare skin. Nathan was wearing a white, dirt stained shirt and had a scar on one of his cheeks that he said was from surviving a bandit raid on his last group of people he was with. James wore a blue shirt with a graphic on, but most of it was faded and was hard to tell what it used to be. Both had brown hair and sun bleached highlights from being in the sun. “Here." I said to Nathan, handing him my pistol.

  "What’s this for?" He questioned, taking it from my hand.

  "I understand you lost yours in the last mission you were on."

  "Yeah, but you need this, I can’t take it." He said, then I brought out my knife from my belt and flashed it at him.

  "Always a plan B." I said with a cocky smile, then set it back into its sheath as I approached the gate and Nathan puts the pistol away. I looked up at the guard who was standing up on a wooden watchtower they made out of wood that was found inside the base a long time ago. He nodded and opened the gate. We walked down the street, making sure the forest on both sides of us weren’t hiding any surprises for us. “When you see a zombie, say which side so we can take it out silently. I don’t want to alert any others that may hear a gun shot. Got it?” I ordered.

  “Yes sir.” James said. Our walk was long and hard because of the slow decline down the hill.

  “So, how did you and Sestra meet?” Nathan said after we reached the end of the hill. Sestra and I looked at the ground as the memories of me holding her as her father tried to rip us apart. I felt Sestra look at me, but at that time I was still imagining the horror and just looked at the forest line beside the road. She then took the lead and I looked at Sestra's back as she looks to the right of us where the other forest grew. I followed her gaze to a warehouse that we were passing by and a sudden man screamed from it! I started to run to the warehouse fence and quickly grabbed on the links.

  "We're not going in, right?" James said with a scared tone in his mouth. He was holding his pistol with both hands and frequently looked around him. I scanned the yard to find it empty, but it won't be for long because of the scream. Sestra stood beside me, and started to climb the fence and I was right behind her. When she got to the top of the fence, she sat on the bar to take out her binoculars and looked towards the east side of the yard, where we stood, and didn’t see any zombies.

  “Seriously, we should stick with the mission!” Nathan warned. I sat behind her and she offered her binoculars to me so that I could check the other side. I didn’t see anything when I did, so we both jumped on the other side of the fence, so there weren’t any surprise waiting for us.

  “We need to see what made that scream for the good of the group, but if we ignore it, we will just be sent to it anyway.” I said. I then stared at Nathan and James for a moment, still thinking about the past. "If you’re coming, hurry up and stay out of our way, or stay here to keep a look out. By the way, Sestra
and I are best friends since childhood and I saved her from her father's turning. I call her Sestra because she’s a sister to me. End of story." I explained, so if we were killed, at least two teenagers will now our story, in a shortened way at least. I then followed Sestra inside with my knife drawn. She took the lead as we crept through the entrance, only to hear the disturbing sound of flesh being ripped from a corpse and the snapping of bones, something was inside and was having a fresh meal. I crouched down beside the shelves that were right by the entrance and a gap between two wrapped boxes let me see some of what we were dealing with. What I saw was very disturbing and disgusting, and that’s coming from me. What I saw were legs that looked like they belonged to a spider, so I thought I was seeing a giant spider, but when I got a better angle, I saw that the legs were growing out of a zombie’s back and had to bring its body down to the corpse to eat it. Sestra stood at the end of the shelves behind me, looking over the corner. We could still hear the snapping of bones from the victim. Sestra then gets in front of me and peeked over the corner to get a better look herself and I poked Sestra's leg to indicate for her to crouch, but she turned quickly with her knife ready to stab. I looked up at her with an irritated look because she sometimes didn’t remember some of our signals, she then crouched after she remembered what the signal meant.

  Sorry she signs before I looked behind me to find Nathan and James approaching the open door. I placed my finger over my lips for them to be silent, then turned to Sestra as they crouched over to us and took lead, gesturing to her to get behind me, I then looked over the edge of the metal frame as Sestra steps behind me. I then saw that it had three legs on each side of its back, and holding a corpse to its mouth with two other spiked legs coming out of its collar bones, but still had the body of the infected zombie! I stay motionless, frozen in fear. I then looked over to find a metal sword laying behind it, it must have belonged to the poor sap that got caught in the new zombie’s reach. I pulled out my rifle from under my cloak, putting away the knife and filled my lungs to build up enough courage to face this demon from hell. When I finally was ready, I rolled out of cover and started shooting, aiming through the scope at its head, but as soon as the first shot missed and hit the wall behind it, it covered it’s head with the spikes coming out of its collar bones and stood up. The zombie’s head almost reached the ceiling when it fully extends its legs! I then targeted the joints of one of its legs to see if it will show its head again. The hell spawn then screeched in pain when the bullet stroke its joint, but the screech made my ears feel like they were being torn off from my head. I had to try and cover them to relieve the pain, but it didn’t help. I looked over at Sestra and she was doing the same, along with Nathan and James. It then hit me with one of its legs and its strength made me hit a far wall, across from where Sestra was. I forced myself to stand before it could do anymore damage when am down. I then looked at the creature and blood started to come down my face as the creature used its legs to move towards me and had a thumping noise as it moved towards me. Hissing, it dropped its bloody meal in front of me and splashed some blood on my cloths and face. It then hit me again with its giant leg and the power sent me hurling across the room past Sestra and smacking my head against the wall, then slid down it to the floor. It was hard to keep my eyes open and I had to fight from passing out. As I blink, I felt myself slipping, I then looked over to Sestra and with my last strength I slid my rifle as far to her as I could before I blacked out.