A:N/ I hope you like the next chapter. It's an intense one.
Chapter 37: Us or Them
Four months ago- James' compound
JASPER
"We need to deal with James and Caius," I said, determinedly to Edward and Bella. I knew Edward was hurt, but we still needed to go after them. Screw Ben and the others. They made their own bed when they decided to stay with James.
My head was throbbing as I said this because pain radiated from my nose. I thought I broke it from being slammed into the wall by one of James' guards. The blood had mostly stopped, but the pain was still there.
"Edward can barely walk," the man named Carlisle said. "He certainly won't be able to fight or run."
I knew that Edward would have to go home, but there were more than enough people to help me track down James. He was only one person and now that these people were liberated there wasn't any reason that a few of them couldn't help me. But it was clear that this wasn't going to happen.
"I've taken care of most of the guards and I'll deal with James and Caius," I stated as patiently as I could.
Didn't they understand that we would never be safe if James and Caius were allowed to live?
The room filled with silence for a moment before Carlisle broke it.
"If you've killed most of the guards, then we need to get everyone else and get out of here. James and Caius are nothing without the other guards," he said.
I bristled at his words. The cowardice of these people was ridiculous.
"I'll take care of James and Caius," I said. "But we're not taking anyone else with us."
Like hell, would I take care of these people who just let James steam roll over them. We'd done enough, I'd done enough.
I noticed that Edward was swaying on his feet, leaning heavily on Bella. He needed to get home.
But just as I was about to say something, the man named Ben spoke.
"What about my girlfriend? I helped you. You need to take Angela with you," he said hoarsely, rubbing his neck which had small indents from where I'd tightened the chain around his throat.
I narrowed my eyes at him, "Yeah, right. You're the savior. You waited until he got beaten to a pulp to do it. Did your conscience finally get the best of you?"
Instead of responding to me, he turned to Edward, preying on his weakness.
"Please Edward. I wanted to help you earlier, but James always threatened Angela if I showed the slightest amount of resistance."
Edward stared at him for a moment, mulling things over in his head.
Before he even said anything, I could tell that he was going to give in which frustrated the hell out of me. These people weren't our responsibility.
"If we let the good people die, how are we any different than James?" the man named Carlisle asked in a quiet voice.
I wanted to tell him that in this world people had to take care of their own. If they couldn't defend themselves, then saving them was just postponing the inevitable.
Edward looked at me then and said quietly, "Camden Head apartments."
I knew that he was trying to compromise, but it still made me angry. We didn't owe these people anything.
A quite voice interrupted my thoughts.
Some of those people you just murdered probably had wives and children. Who is going to take care of them now? I ignored the voice because I'd only done what I had to do.
I wasn't a stranger to this voice in my head. I'd been hearing it off and on for the last two years. At first, I'd thought it was just part of my subconscious, but I wasn't so sure anymore. Maybe it was the ghost of one of the people that I'd killed. It could be. I'd killed a lot.
After a few more minutes of trying to convince the others to hunt for James, I decided to go without them.
Their priorities didn't make sense to me and I couldn't waste any more time. If James was allowed to live, he would just gather others and come after us.
Is more killing really necessary? Don't you have enough blood on your hands? the small voice spoke again.
I went floor by floor, forcing my way into people's apartments searching for a place that James or Caius could be hiding. They told me Caius was dead, but there was still James to look for. Some people fought me, but most just gave in as I searched every corner of their space. I had to steel myself as I saw how people cowered away from me and how some even cried.
Wasn't I just as much of a monster as James?
Not to my family, I'm not. I told myself for comfort.
Finally, I had to accept the fact that James had already made his escape from the building. He'd left his people and all of his belongings behind.
I had no choice but to venture out into the city, so I prayed that I knew James well enough to predict where he might go.
He was always one step ahead of me, taunting me by leaving little clues. He wasn't even trying to hide.
Twice, I'd almost caught him and the second time I was actually able to wound him.
For the first two weeks, we played cat and mouse in Camden.
There were a couple of near misses where James took a shot at me, but I could never get close enough to catch him.
One late afternoon, I thought I saw him slip into an abandoned mall.
In the furniture department, I found where James had probably spent a couple of nights. He'd chosen one of the king sized beds which had probably been extravagant in the old world. Now, it was riddled with cigarette burns and garbage.
How did I know that it was James who had squatted here?
It was because the bastard left me a message, right there on the bed.
You must be hungry from all that running you've been doing. Catch me if you can hoss. Chow's on me.
~ J
Sitting on the bed next to the note was a box of fish crackers and a juice box.
After two weeks of chasing him, for some reason James stopped running and spent a few days in a zombie infested town called Windsor. I assumed it was because he'd run out of food because I was having the same difficulty. The two towns that we'd been in had practically been cleaned out. Regardless, he couldn't have picked a worse town because it was crawling with the dead. There must have been a colony of survivors who had set up a home in this town but had later been overrun.
Because of the number of dead, it was too dangerous to stay in a house. I needed to be able to sleep without always having to watch my back. Therefore, I set up camp in a storage unit. Thankfully, the locked storage units had been a safe haven for mice and rats which had been hiding from the weather and the dead. They didn't taste very good, but they kept me full for a little while.
During the early hours of the morning, I searched for James, hoping to catch him off guard. However, besides seeing signs that he left me to show that he was in the area, I couldn't find him.
It was by accident that we found each other.
I was desperate for something to eat, not having had much in my stomach for the last couple of days, so I found a small grocery store that looked like it hadn't been completely destroyed.
I was in the back of the store searching through aisles of mouldy packages of bread, torn open cereal boxes, and discarded cans of soup when I heard a voice.
"Well, finally we meet hoss."
I spun towards the voice only to encounter a smirking James. "I guess it was bound to happen with food at a premium."
I didn't speak, looking for my moment to attack.
Even though James was speaking casually, he never took his finger off the trigger of the gun he had aimed at me.
"Let's call a truce. We need food and two heads are better than one. We used to be good hunting buddies, didn't we?"
I paced from left to right my hand on my gun in my waistband and the other on my knife on my hip. I wanted to grab my gun, but I knew that he would shoot me before I had the chance.
"Not talking? Why are you so high and mighty? We're both murderers. I know it was you who took out my men. No one else could be so cold-blooded as to slit their throats from behind without giving them a chance of surrendering. You know those guys had families, right? At least I took care of the people I kept under lock and key. Sure, I played the king of the castle-"
Suddenly, a bullet whizzed by my head as James pulled the trigger mid-sentence.
Not having let my guard down, I dodged behind one of the shelves and yanked my gun out, firing where he'd last stood.
I heard a thud and then silence, but I was fairly confident that I hadn't hit him.
I held still listening for any small sound that might give away his location.
Suddenly, there was a loud metallic skittering sound that grabbed my attention, causing me to whip my gun in its direction.
A can of soup rolled past the end of the aisle.
"Shit," I growled, spinning on my heel in the opposite direction.
But James was right behind me, kicking at one of my legs to throw me off balance.
I lost my grip on my gun as I fell heavily against the shelves. It clattered to the ground leaving me weaponless. I grabbed the nearest thing to me on the shelf and threw it at him with all my might.
With a loud bong, the pot that I grabbed struck James' gun and shoulder.
"Fuck!" James snarled, dropping his gun in pain.
I used that opportunity to yank my knife from my belt and throw myself at him, knocking us both to the ground.
I slammed my blade down towards his face, but he yanked his head aside and kneed me in the stomach.
We fought without words, nothing but growls, grunts, and the sound of fists striking flesh.
James clawed at me, taking every opportunity to scratch, gouge, and even bite. But I had the upper-hand, slamming my blade down time and again. Each time, I brought my blade down I only succeeded in scratching and slicing his skin as he grappled with me.
He seemed to be tiring, fighting to stop my downward strokes that were powered by gravity as I hovered over him.
However, just as I thought that I'd finally get the killing blow, James reached up and yanked on my broken nose.
I screamed in pain and dropped the knife. I was blinded by the pain, which gave James the opportunity to shove me off of him and grab for my knife. However, blindly, I pushed it away from his grasp and under the shelves.
With as much force as I could muster, I kicked at James who was trying to get to his feet. At the angle he was in, my feet connected with his upper thighs and groin, which caused him to hunch forward in pain.
Before I could get to my feet, with a roar James grabbed the top of one of the shelves and pulled it down on top of me as he dodged out of the way.
In alarm, I rolled away from the laden shelves that were toppling towards me.
With a crash, it smashed to the ground, but not before the contents fell off, landing on and around me.
With grunts of pain, I pushed away pots, boxes of dishes, and other miscellaneous things that had fallen on top of me.
"Come on in boys!" James called from the general direction of the exit. "He's ripe for the picking, juicy brain and all."
"JAMES!" I roared, staggering to my feet and heading towards the exit. I had to finish this. I wanted to go home.
But before I could even reach the end of the aisle, I was blocked by the dead.
"Shit!" I snarled and turned in the opposite direction where I knew there was a fire exit.
Knowing that I might not get the chance again, I ignored my pain and headed around the building towards the front of the grocery store where James had exited.
He was about a half a block ahead of me, so I put on speed. I'd hurt him more than I thought. My kick to the groin and his permanent limp had made his head-start meaningless.
The strange mix of pain and exhilaration of having the hunt almost over made me stupid. All I could think was that I would finally be able to put James down like the dog he was. Then, I would go home and be with Alice. She would be having our baby soon and I wanted to be there.
Therefore, I was caught off guard when James dodged into a building and was suddenly out of my sight. Instead of realizing that I needed to get out of firing range, I only saw the light at the end of the tunnel and so I kept running after him.
A gun shot from one of the windows brought me to my knees with a shooting pain radiating from my left arm. Despite the pain, I dragged myself out of the line of fire and hauled out my gun in the entryway of another building.
I waited for James to come after me because I didn't think he'd be able to resist getting me at my weakest. However, he never came. He must have been hurt worse than I realized.
I crawled further into the building and shut the door, hoping to keep any dead from seeing me as they were attracted into the streets by the sound of the gunshot.
Cringing at the pain, I pulled up my sleeve to see what damage lay beneath the fabric.
A small dime-sized wound could be seen in my bicep. The bullet wound was small, but the pain was excruciating. There was no exit wound, so the bullet was still in there.
I pressed around the edge of the wound, trying to see if I could actually get up the inner strength to pull the bullet out myself.
Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my knife planning to dig it out. I knew that infection was likely, but I had to risk it. Maybe if I could get the bullet out, the pain wouldn't be so bad. I wasn't a doctor, but I didn't think I could function with the amount of pain my arm was causing me.
However, the minute I worked the tip of my small Swiss army knife into the wound, I began to feel dizzy and my vision blurred. Before I could stop myself, the knife fell from my numb fingers and darkness took me.
"We should just leave him. We don't know him, Tia," a voice said, pulling me out of the darkness.
For a minute, I was disoriented. I couldn't remember what was happening and why I was in pain.
"I know, Amun."
My eyes flew open at the voice and I saw that four strangers were standing over me, two men and two women.
Immediately, I tried to crawl away from them, but the pain that shot up my arm as I tried to put weight on it pulled me up short.
"Hold on. You'll pull your stitches," the younger of the two men said.
The man had a friendly open smile when he looked down at me. The older man next to him looked similar with an olive complexion and black hair, but there was a hard look in his eyes that told me that he didn't want to be there. Looking around at the rest of them, I thought that they were probably a family.
I didn't care. I didn't know them.
I snarled at him, reaching for my gun but it wasn't there.
"See! This is what we get for helping someone," the older man said. He had a strong accent which I couldn't identify.
"He's in pain, Amun," the older woman said with an even stronger accent than her husband.
"We're not responsible for that, Kebi," the man said.
"I know, habibi. But if we can help, we should. He is still human," she said as she gently touched his forearm.
Amun merely grunted at that and walked away.
"Where are my weapons?!" I growled. "Give them to me!"
"They're over there," the younger woman said in a soft voice. "We're not keeping them from you, but we didn't want you to hurt us by accident."
"We didn't want you to overreact and shoot us or something," the younger man said with a wry smile.
"Give them to me," I hissed again, trying to climb to my feet, but the pain kept me on the ground.
The younger woman began to speak now, gesturing at me in a soothing way.
"My name is Tia and I'm a nurse. I'd like to reset your nose. You don't want it to heal crooked and you must be in incredible pain."
She looked to be about in her mid-twenties with curly black hair and large dark brown eyes that radiated warmth. I felt, for just a short moment, my guard being lowered. But then I snapped back into focus when she reached out to touch my nose.
I flinched away from her at the pain just that small touch caused.
"Don't touch me!" I snarled.
"Let's go," Amun said. "We don't need this bullshit. We need to get out of the area. Company Z will be coming through this area any minute."
"Father, let my wife take care of him," the younger man said, firmly.
"You have ten minutes, Benjamin. Then, we will be leaving," Amun snapped before returning to his position by the window where he could see out onto the street.
"Well, you heard him. We patched up your arm. We could have killed you while you were unconscious, but we didn't. This is your last chance for Tia to fix your nose. Take it or leave it," Benjamin said firmly although the friendly gleam was still in his eyes.
"It will help with the pain and it will help you breathe better. If I don't fix it, it will impair your breathing permanently," Tia said, calmly.
I stared at her for a moment in distrust, but I grudgingly had to admit that she was right. The pain was distracting and I couldn't be distracted. And if what she said was true about the breathing, I couldn't afford to be short-winded. Running equalled survival in this world.
Silently, I endured the pain of getting my nose reset. Benjamin held my shoulders, just in case the pain was too much. However, I was able to control myself and didn't move a muscle.
After it was reset and she put on a temporary splint, the young couple offered me food.
They were much too nice for this world. They were going to get themselves killed.
"You shouldn't be doing this," I said, slurping down the can of tomato soup that they'd offered me.
"Doing what?" Benjamin asked, looking confused.
"You shouldn't be helping strangers. It's everyone for themselves," I said.
Benjamin smiled.
"Well, you would be up shit creek if we followed that philosophy, my friend."
"I've met a lot of survivors," I said. "Most would kill you without a moment's hesitation. I might have killed you if I hadn't been injured."
I felt a twinge of sadness at what I'd become.
"Well, thank God for small mercies," Benjamin said.
Suddenly, all four of us heard the rumble of vehicles in the distance.
"We've got to go now. They're here," Amun said, rushing back to us and grabbing his family's things.
"Who's here?" I asked, nervously because I sensed their panic.
"They're a military group. We thought they were here to help, but they're not," Tia said with a pained look on her face. "They're killing anyone they come across. They take people's things and kill them so that there will be less people to fight for resources."
I looked at them incredulously.
"What the fuck are you still doing here?" I asked. "Are they hunting you?"
"They caught sight of us yesterday, but they didn't find us," Benjamin said.
"Let's go!" Amun snapped.
"You!" he said, pointing at me. "You're not coming. We've done enough!"
I nodded.
"Go," I said to Benjamin and Tia. "I'll be alright. I have a family too."
Benjamin nodded and grabbed a hold of Tia's arm, pulling her towards the back exit.
Using a chair to hold on to, I pushed past the dizziness and climbed to my feet. On unsteady feet, I hurried to the window and looked through the curtains at the street that was now swarming with the dead. I couldn't see any survivors, but I wasn't going to be able to go out that way regardless.
I was in a townhouse, so the buildings along this side of the street were up against each other. I looked out the window of the back exit and there were just as many dead out there as in the front. The only thing that I could think of was to go up on the roof. Then, I would be able to see what was happening and maybe wait for the dead to disperse.
Limping, I forced myself to work past the weakness I felt as I climbed the stairs to the top floor and looked out the windows in each of the bedrooms. I still couldn't see any survivors and to my relief that included Benjamin, Tia, Amun, and Kebi.
The master bedroom had a balcony which I hoped would allow me to get up onto the roof.
Quietly, I slid the sliding glass door open and silently stepped onto deck, ducking so that I wouldn't be seen by anyone who might happen to look up at the building.
I edged to the railing of the deck and looked through the slats of the posts to see if anyone was below. When I saw no one, I stood up and looked to the roof. A small step ladder was leaning up against the wall where someone must have been using it to clean the rain gutter.
As quietly as possible, I climbed the ladder and pulled it up after me. Then, laying down on my stomach, I wormed my way towards the side of the building facing the street.
I heard the trucks coming before I saw them.
There was a convoy of them, large hummers and one transport. When the lead truck entered the intersection that was located diagonally across from the building I was in, it stopped.
Gunfire filled the air as soldiers poured out of the hummers and took down the dead that had filled the streets.
Once the dead had been put down, a man stepped out of the vehicle and motioned for the rest to do so as well.
He was short and muscular with square shoulders and black, close cropped hair. He was dressed in the standard army camo that the others were wearing, but there was an air of authority about him that I could see even from this distance. The way he gestured to the others and the way they immediately obeyed him showed that he was their leader.
He gestured at another man to approach him.
"Where did you see them?" he demanded in a deep baritone.
"I saw them this morning at this intersection, Sarge. They're probably in one of these buildings," the soldier said.
"Fan out," the sergeant ordered. "Check every building. We don't want them slipping out of the city."
There were about forty to fifty soldiers that quickly spread out, kicking in doorways with weapons drawn. I heard some trampling through the building I was in, but I had to hope they wouldn't think to check the roof.
"There were two men and two women?" the sergeant asked.
The soldier nodded his head vigorously.
"Were the women young?" The sergeant said.
"I couldn't tell, Sarge. I only saw them from a distance."
A hollow feeling filled my stomach at the question.
Suddenly, I heard the sounds of screaming and shouting from another building.
"I guess we found them," the sergeant said.
"Bring'em on out, boys," the sergeant ordered loudly.
Amun and then Benjamin were brought out first with guns pressed to their heads while Kebi and Tia were brought out kicking and screaming.
The sergeant looked them over in a calm detached sort of way.
"Did they have anything?" he asked one of the soldiers that had his gun pressed against Amun's head.
"Nothing much. A few cans of food and a first aid kit."
"What a shame," the sergeant said.
Before even taking a breath, he raised his pistol and shot Amun.
"AMUN!" Kebi screamed, fighting with all of her might to get out of the soldier's grip.
Amun slumped in the soldier's arms and blood frothed to his lips. He looked from his wound to the sergeant as if confused about what had just happened.
"Father," Benjamin cried out.
Without another word, the sergeant fired another shot, striking Benjamin and killing him instantly.
Using my gun, I focused my sights on the sergeant, trying to control the shaking that was a combination of weakness and fear.
But before I had the chance to do anything, Kebi somehow broke away from her captor and hauled out her gun, pointing it at the men around her.
"Now, now, now, little lady. That's not necessary. We're not going to hurt you," one of the soldier's said with a leer.
Without blinking, Kebi shot him in the head.
Suddenly, the air was full of gunfire, bringing Kebi to the ground.
In the hail of gunfire, I took aim at the sergeant and fired, but he stepped towards Tia and my bullet whizzed past him. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice with all the other gunfire, so there could still be a chance to get him.
All the guns were now trained on Tia who was sobbing uncontrollably.
The sergeant approached her carefully, like he would a wounded animal but his gun remained trained on her.
I couldn't shoot him now. With his finger on the trigger, I couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't shoot Tia on reflex.
"Let's have a look at you, darling," he said, lifting her head by placing a hand under her chin. His gentle tone conflicted with the way he pressed his gun against the side of her head.
"What do you think boys? Are there any takers? Remember you can only have one war wife," the sergeant said.
When no one said anything, the sergeant fell silent. I knew that could mean only one thing.
I lifted my gun and prepared to fire. It was Tia's only chance.
"She's a nurse…" a voice spoke, freezing all of us in our tracks.
I looked towards Amun whom I'd thought had been dead.
"What's this?" the sergeant asked, turning towards Amun, but his gun was now pressed against Tia's head.
"She's a nurse," Amun gasped. "Don't kill her."
"Ah ha… Well, isn't that interesting…" the sergeant said. "We can never have too many people with medical training… I think I'll just claim this little lady for myself."
"What's your name sweetheart?" he asked, pulling Tia towards him.
Instead of answering him, Tia spit in his face.
I practically moaned in despair, knowing that a person like him wouldn't take that kind of disrespect.
"Well, sweetheart. I'm not going to kill you for that, but that's your one mistake. My name is Sergeant Stefan Romani and I'm in charge of Company Z. I've just claimed you. You're now my war wife. We've reverted to caveman times, little lady. The strongest survive. The strongest reproduce. Me and my men are the top of the food chain and we're going to be the ones to stay that way. You don't have a choice about your new station in life. It's a fact you're going to have to deal with. But now that you belong to me, you'll be protected. I'll take care of you. You'll never starve, you'll be kept safe. All things considered, you should be thanking me."
Laughter filled the air at the sergeant words.
Anger filled me. I wasn't going to let Tia be treated like a brood mare.
I took aim again and fired at him, but my aim was off and I struck the vehicle behind him.
I fired again, but by this point, the sergeant had pulled Tia up against him and was using her to block whatever shot I could fire.
"WHERE DID THOSE SHOTS COME FROM?" he roared.
All of his soldiers' weapons were now trained on the buildings around them.
"I think they came from up there, Sarge," one of the soldiers said, pointing at my building.
"I want the motherfucker found!" the sergeant snarled.
Some of the soldiers rushed towards the building I was in while the other soldiers searched the neighbouring houses.
I couldn't move. In order to get to the other building, I had to stand up and they would definitely shoot me then.
"You told me that there were only four," the sergeant said to the soldier that he'd questioned earlier.
"That's all I saw… I didn't know…" the soldier said, inching away from him.
Coldly, the sergeant shot him in the leg.
The wounded soldier dropped to the ground, screaming. However, it didn't affect the sergeant.
"He's not to be treated. If he survives the wound, then he's forgiven," the sergeant said to another soldier that was by his side.
The soldiers searching the house I was on top of had reached the top floor and I could hear them in the bedroom under me.
I flattened myself to the roof even more, clutching my rifle to me. I hoped that I'd be able to get off a couple of shots before they caught me.
When the sliding glass door onto the balcony opened, I knew that this was probably the end.
Then, suddenly, there was shouting below.
"Let's go! Let's go! They're about to converge on us!" voices were shouting.
Then, I heard the chorus of groaning that had started out as background noise but was now getting louder by the second. It meant that there was a herd nearby, quite a large one from the sounds of it.
"There's too many of them!" one of the soldiers shouted. "Sarge, we've got to go."
"OKAY, BOYS. LET'S MOVE OUT," the sergeant shouted.
The soldiers that were on the balcony below me left and I sighed in relief.
Crawling to the edge of the roof, I stared down as the soldiers as they began to climb back into the hummers.
It was my last chance. Before the sergeant was able to shove Tia into the front seat of the hummer and climb in after her, I took a shot. This time, I did hit him, but only in the calf.
He spun around towards me as he staggered and for a moment we made eye-contact.
There was pain in his eyes, but also fury.
With a grimace, he raised his gun to shoot at me, but the number of dead around him stopped him.
"Come on, Sarge," the driver of the hummer shouted from inside.
Quickly, Stefan climbed into the hummer, but once the door was closed he looked at me.
With a sneer, he lifted his hand and made the gesture of firing a gun at me before the convoy roared away, leaving the large herd of dead in its wake.
That was when I heard Amun crying out in pain and then screaming as the dead converged on him.
I climbed down off the roof quickly and hurried to the doorway of the building.
I didn't know if I could get to him. There were too many dead around him. But I needed to put him out of his misery.
There were three or four dead on top of him, biting and clawing, so the only part of him I could see was his face.
Again, I made a move to go to him, not able to stand his screams of agony.
Just at that moment his eyes opened and his head lolled towards me.
"Shoot me," he shouted.
Without hesitation, I lifted my gun and pulled the trigger striking him in the head.
Why couldn't I have made that shot earlier? Why wasn't I able to shoot the sergeant?
I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of Tia being taken by them.
Leaning heavily against the window frame, I thought about the decision I had to make. Did I continue my search for James or did I go after Tia?
One part of me wanted nothing more than to finish James off and go home. But another part of me was horrified by the idea of being so selfish as to leave a girl at the mercy of a bunch of monsters.
I had only one choice. I had to go after Tia.
"Look'em over, boys. Let me know if there's any you want as your war wife."
"Ladies, the world has changed and it's intent on killing us. My men and I intend to live. I'm sorry to say that if you're chosen by one of my men, then you belong to him."
"What about my son and daughter?" one of the women cried out.
"I'm sorry, miss. It's my men's progeny that get to live on."
"Run! Run!" the woman screamed at her young son who grabbed his sister and took off for the woods.
"Do we go after them, Sarge?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Take two men," he said.
I ran as silently as possible in the direction of the children, dodging trees and bushes along the way.
I came out of the woods in front of them and they cried out shrilly in fear. However, I didn't have a chance to say anything to them because I could hear the soldiers approaching.
Pressing a finger to my lips, I shushed the children and pushed them down behind a bush.
Then, I crept back into the woods to come up behind the soldiers.
It was too easy to slip up behind the first soldier who was busy looking for the children. As I cut his throat, the only sound that escaped him was a gurgle because he'd been completely unaware that I was there. It was clear that not all of the people with the sergeant were real soldiers. It seemed much too easy to kill one of them.
However, the next one proved more difficult. He heard me approach him from behind, but for a moment he thought I was one of his unit. By the time he realized I wasn't, he didn't have time to lift his gun.
I couldn't shoot either or I'd draw attention to myself. So I slashed at him with my knife, cutting deeply into his shoulder. Even though I wounded him, he didn't back away. He threw himself at me and with only his fists attacked me.
He was stronger and bigger than me, but I was the one with the knife.
After a few more painful blows from his meaty fist, I lodged my knife in his chest. With a groan of pain, he put his hand on the place where my blade had pierced him. We were face to face now and I could see every emotion pass over his face as I thrust again.
Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not kill, the phantom voice of my mother said in my head. God will not forgive your sins, my son.
I felt physically ill, the shame and disgust overtaking me.
I had in front of me a dead man, just an average looking guy, not much older than me. In the old world, I probably would have shaken his hand, made some small talk. We may have even become friends. In this world, I killed him without a word. Not because I hated him. I didn't even know him. I did it because if I didn't he would have probably killed me.
It was then that I heard the children whimpering behind me.
I turned to them, but they shrank away from me in terror.
"Come with-" I began, but at the sound of my voice they took off running into the woods.
I started to go after them, but that was when I heard screaming from behind me.
Instead of following the children, I returned to the community of RVs.
But by the time I got there, it was too late. Company z had slaughtered all of the people of the small community.
"Where are Jones and Caprice?" the sergeant asked, looking into the woods. "The little ones couldn't have gotten that far."
"Do you want me to go after them, Sarge?" another soldier asked.
"No. If they can't find two small children, they're useless," he said with a look of disgust. "Let's get down to business."
After all the killing, there was no more sympathy for the dead. The soldiers laughed at the silly expressions on the dead's faces and gave them rude names as they searched the RVs and bodies for anything valuable. They clearly didn't think of the dead as people at all.
I noticed that some of the soldiers had the thousand yard stare of PTSD, but others seemed to have come to accept the madness of killing. There was only so much horror a person could take in before their minds would snap.
After the scavenging was complete, the sergeant looked to the woods again.
"Lewis, Johnson, go find the useless bags of shit Jones and Caprice," the sergeant barked at two of his men.
It was time for me to leave. Soon, they'd know that their soldiers were dead and come looking for me.
As I ran away, I kept an eye out for the children, but I never saw them. I prayed that it meant that they'd found a safe place to hide and not that the dead had gotten them.
I could never get close to the sergeant because now he had a constant guard around him. I'm sure he knew that I was out there, looking for any opportunity. His guards were constantly on the lookout for me, but I was careful not to give away my location. I had to bide my time because eventually I would be able to get to him when his guard was down.
Now, we were in the countryside so I had covered myself in dirt and grass in order to camouflage myself, but it was touch and go. Many of the men whose job it was to search for me were trained soldiers that had spent their career searching for and killing enemy combatants.
But not all of them were soldiers. Without rhyme or reason, the sergeant would sometimes let young men live if they agreed to join his group. It was those people that were the most painful to kill.
One of the ones that the sergeant had sent looking for me was no more than 16 or 17.
A moment before I shot him, I thought, Dear god, do I really have to do this?
But I had no choice, the minute he saw me he ran at me with gun raised.
It was after that kill that the phantom voices in my head started talking to me more than ever. I would sometimes hear my father, at other times I would hear Alice, but more and more I was hearing strange voices that came from the people I'd killed. They were sometimes accusing, but at other times they would cry out in pain or wail about the people they'd left behind.
Most nights, I woke up drenched in sweat because I dreamt that I was looking into the eyes of that kid I'd killed.
Despite the constant nightmares, I stuck to my mission. I had to kill the sergeant. It was in this way that I learned how Company z operated.
When Company Z encountered larger communities, they would always begin by offering a truce. They would tell the hopeful people that they would be spared if they left their homes along with all of their resources.
Faced with a group of armed soldiers that clearly knew what they were doing, many of the smaller communities would leave their shelters, believing that the soldiers would keep their word.
However, Company Z would then kill them all except the women whom some of them would decide to keep.
Every man in the unit was trained to obey orders for even the most unconscionable acts. They were more like weapons on legs, as robotized as it was possible for a human to be and still live.
Stefan demanded unquestioned obedience from his soldiers and if he sensed even a small ounce of reservation from any of them. He would shoot them and then leave them to nature. If they survived their wounds without medical care, he would forgive them.
The first time I witnessed a community fight back, Company z did something I didn't expect.
As always, Stefan offered to let them leave if they left belongings, but the leader refused. His people had weapons and threatened to fight to their dying breath to protect their place.
In the face of a strong opposition, Stefan seemed to back down, telling them it wasn't worth the ammo. But then he gave a signal. Suddenly, I saw one of the soldiers stand up from where he'd been sitting on top of the hummer. Then, he raised what I thought was a bazooka to his shoulder and fired. It only took one shot to blast a hole in their wall. Then, the transport came flying towards the gap in the wall and into the community. In the chaos, the two people in the transport, climbed out and opened the back, allowing fifty to sixty zombies to pour out.
Then, it was just a waiting game. Company Z sat in their vehicles and waited until the community which was fighting to stay alive used up all its ammunition. Some escaped and were picked off by the soldiers, but most of them died under the herd of zombies.
Then, the soldiers went in to the community to scavenge what was left behind.
After it was all over, they used a battery operated radio to attract the dead back into the truck.
This kind of takeover happened more than once and Company Z had it down to a science.
Each time they destroyed a community, I would walk through the devastation looking for anyone that was still alive. Most of the people were dead, but others were wounded beyond help. They would call out to me for help, but all that I could do was put them out of their misery.
In the weeks that followed, I saw so many people die that when I dreamed all I saw was blood. Even in my waking moments, I imagined that I saw blood everywhere and now the phantom voices were practically screaming in my head.
About two months after Tia was taken and after I'd seen countless communities destroyed, I heard a commotion erupt in camp.
"Sarge! Sarge! I caught a creeper," a soldier said as Stefan stepped out of his tent.
I craned my neck from my perch in a tree to see if I could get a good shot at Stefan.
Raising my gun, I took aim, attempting to focus on Stefan's head in my scope.
"Well, who do we have here?"
"My name's James, hoss. I've come in peace," James said in a meek voice.
I nearly cried out in rage as I looked at James. He looked half-starved and very weak, but I knew that he was just as dangerous as ever, especially since he knew about my family.
"Why do I care whether you come in peace?" Stefan said with a smirk.
"I can give you information in exchange for food and shelter," James said.
"What do I need your information for? I think we're doing pretty well for ourselves," Stefan laughed and began to walk away. "Kill him."
As the soldiers began dragging him away, James shouted out.
"I know where there's a large community that's ripe for the picking."
Stefan stopped and turned back to James.
"What are you talking about?"
"I know a community behind sturdy walls that has about thirty people living there. They have food, electricity, and I know for a fact that they have women, beautiful women."
As the panic hit me, the phantom voices began screaming in my head, panicked voices of the people I loved. They were so loud that I had to press my hands over my ears.
We're going to die.
You're letting them kill us.
Why haven't you killed Stefan?
Don't you care about us?
Why have you abandoned us?
It's your fault! It's your fault!
You haven't killed James. You haven't killed Stefan.
Without being aware of my surroundings, I suddenly slammed into the ground, having fallen out of the tree.
But the voices didn't stop.
I'm going to die. Your child is going to die. It's your fault. It's your fault.
It was the voice of Alice that got me moving.
Blindly, I staggered through the trees, away from Company z.
I couldn't think of anything else as the voices shouted in my head.
Come home. Come home Come home. Come home…
BELLA
The trill of Quil's birdcall signal sent a shock of electricity down my spine because it meant that the scouts from Company z were here.
I looked around in a panic for Edward, but he was already rushing to my side.
The first thing he did was cup my face in his hands and press a kiss to my lips.
"Don't leave my side, Bella. Promise me that no matter what you'll stay with me," he said.
I saw the hint of panic in his eyes.
Jasper's information about how Stefan Romani's men would choose "war wives" had scared everyone.
"I promise," I said, turning my face so I could kiss the palm of his hand.
He pulled me against his chest in a fierce hug before letting go and taking my hand.
The signal meant that the scouts had arrived and were scoping out our community. This was the point where we had to be really careful. Even though James or Victoria and Tanya had probably told Stefan everything about us, we didn't want to give away that we knew that they were coming. It was one of our only advantages.
"Let's go," Edward said, quietly.
We ran for our post. It was our job to man the north wall and be prepared to lift the door to the shed that was packed full of zombies.
Even though it was just the scouts right now, it didn't mean that Company z wasn't right behind them. They might have broken pattern with the information Victoria and Tanya had given them.
Seth had agreed to take on the most dangerous mission of all of us. He was going to track the scouts back to Company z to see how far away they were and where their camp was located.
Peter and Embry both volunteered, but Embry was still wounded and Peter had Charlotte to worry about. Therefore, the job fell on Seth.
It had caused a big fight between Edward and Ben.
Edward was angry when Seth was chosen. He didn't want the Clearwaters to lose any more family. It had taken Leah months to come out of her deep depression and now we were risking her only living relative.
It took Seth himself to end the fight. He told Edward in no uncertain terms that he was his own man and that it was none of Edward's business.
Therefore, the minute Quil's warning was heard, Seth had left the safety of the walls and was waiting in the woods to follow the scouts.
Edward and I both positioned ourselves behind the camouflage blind in the guard tower that overlooked the woods.
Embry had rigged up a kind of pulley with a crank wheel that Edward would turn to raise the door on the shed if the signal was given.
It was my job to keep an eye out for any one that tried to breach the wall.
In tense silence, we waited.
At first, the movement on the edge of the tree-line seemed like nothing more than the wind tossing the branches of trees and bushes, but then as I stared at it through the scope of my rifle I started to distinguish shapes moving along the ground.
I tensed, my breath catching in my chest.
Sensing my reaction, Edward stood up from where he'd been checking the pulley and carefully lifted his set of binoculars to search out the woods.
It wasn't just one soldier; it was five or more, crawling through the grass on their stomachs.
I turned my eyes towards Edward in a panic. Jasper said that only one or two scouts were sent to check out a community. We had more than that coming just on our side of the wall.
At the same time as we tried to count the number of soldiers approaching, we heard the sound of a vehicle approaching the front gate.
"Edward," I whimpered quietly.
Things weren't going as we'd planned.
"I love you," was all he said in a barely heard whisper, but the choked emotion was clear.
Suddenly, the air erupted in a high pitch screech and then a voice speaking over a megaphone.
"Ben Cheney! My name is Sergeant Stefan Romani. I'm here to talk about your unconditional surrender."
As the closest tower to the front gate, we were able to hear when Ben responded.
"Now why would we do that?" Ben asked.
"We know all about you. We know how many people you have in there, how much fire power you have. We know that you have a lot of women and children in your group. If you want to keep them safe, your only recourse is to surrender and we'll let you leave. As you can see, we're heavily armed."
The conversation was exactly as Jasper had described it, but this time the soldiers were approaching at the same time. Soon, they would reach the booby traps that we'd set and then Company z would know that we'd been expecting them.
"This is our home. We're not going anywhere, but we'd be willing to provide food as payment for you to leave peacefully," Ben said, calmly.
"Well, even though that would be mighty kind of you, my boys really need a place to hang their hats. Your community would be the perfect place with your walls and your gardens. Maybe we can make a-"
A scream ripped through the air, followed by a flurry of gunfire as one of the soldiers stepped in one of our traps.
The traps were Embry's idea. He was a history buff that had read a lot about the Vietnam war and its guerilla tactics. We didn't have the fire-power that Company z had, but we had the element of surprise.
He had set up punji traps everywhere in the field around our walls. They were simply holes filled with sharpened nails that were then covered in grass and leaves. When someone stepped in one, their foot would get impaled on them.
In the distance, we heard another cry and more gunfire.
"Well, I guess that ends any discussion of surrender," a growl came over the megaphone.
"I guess it does," Ben responded.
"Get on with it boys," the sergeant called over the megaphone.
My instinct was to begin shooting at the soldiers who were quickly approaching the walls, but we had to save our ammunition for killing shots. More soldiers were coming from the woods.
So, I held off as Edward prepared one of his bolts for his crossbow.
With his lighter in hand, he waited to light the gas soaked cloth that covered the tip.
"Not yet," I said as we both stared through the blind.
The soldiers were moving quickly towards the wall, but were trying to scan the ground for any signs traps at the same time.
With a cry, another soldier fell with his foot stuck in one of the traps. The minute he was down, I took aim and fired, killing him instantly. We had to start killing them as they were getting too close to the wall.
At this point, the soldiers raised their weapons and began firing at us, knowing where we were now.
I watched them approach the marker that we'd set up in the grass which told us when they were in crossbow range. When they passed it, I said, "Now!"
Edward lit the end of his arrow, and shoved the blind aside, taking aim at a line in the grass.
Without hesitation, he shot the arrow, striking the gas soaked grass and igniting it in flames.
The soldiers that were in the process of crossing the area were caught in the flames and began screaming in pain.
It was an awful sound that I was relieved to be able to stop with the bullets from my gun.
By this point, there were more soldiers coming from the trees and there were some that were almost at the wall.
Edward dropped his crossbow and got down on his knees next to the pulley.
We both knew that we couldn't wait for the signal to release the dead. We would do it when enough of them were in range.
I continued to fire at the soldiers that were now at the bottom of the wall, not giving them the chance to try to climb.
Finally, there were enough of them near the wall that it was time.
"Now, Edward," I said, more calmly than I felt.
With muscles straining, Edward cranked the wheel, raising the door of the shed a little at a time. But it didn't take much before the dead were crawling out through the gap and rushing towards the surprised soldiers.
"Retreat! Retreat!" the soldiers below us began to yell, but it was almost drowned out by the moaning and snarling of the dead who were ravenous for a meal.
We watched in horror as terrified soldiers ran through a minefield of booby traps, trying to get away from the dead.
Some of them stepped in traps and fell, quickly being swarmed by the dead who tore into them. Others made it to the woods, but the dead were on their heels. I didn't think that they had much of a chance.
I knew that it was either us or them, but looking at the number of dead littering the ground and knowing that I'd had a hand in killing a large number of them made me feel sick.
Eventually, it was quiet on our side of the wall and the adrenaline was quickly leaving me.
I started to shake as shock took over and my breathing turned to gasps and then sobs.
Without a word, Edward pulled me into his arms.
He was shaking too as we sank to the floor of the guard tower.
In the distance, we could hear gunfire, but it was becoming more and more sporadic until there was silence.
"I killed those men," I whimpered.
"They were going to kill us, babe," Edward said in a hoarse voice. "It's okay. It had to be done."
"It's not okay," I cried into the crook of his neck. "I'm a murderer."
Edward squeezed me tight against him, feeling the need to be closer to me.
"Shhhh, Bella," he said against the top of my head. "You're not a murderer. You did it to save our home, our family."
I continued to sob, the hole in my heart aching as it tried to swallow me up.
I heard murmured words from Edward and someone from below us, but I couldn't understand them.
I just clutched Edward closer, needing his strength more than ever.
I don't know how much time passed, but eventually Edward encouraged me to stand up and follow him down the ladder.
Someone passed by us, taking our place on the watch tower.
Pulling me against him again, Edward led me in the direction of home.
On our way, we ran into Emmett and Rosalie.
The minute I saw Rose, I broke into sobs again.
Rushing to me, she pulled me into her arms.
We didn't need to say anything. I could feel the sadness radiating off of her as well.
In the background, I heard Emmett and Edward and then Ben as well talking.
"We lost Mike," Ben said. "One of the soldiers shot him when he lit the grass on fire. Katie is devastated. She was with him."
Rosalie held me tighter as we both broke into sobs.
"We killed around twenty of them, but that still leaves quite a few. The dead will take care of more of them, but they'll be back," Ben said.
I shuddered at the thought of doing it all over again.
"We won't have the element of surprise this time," Emmett said.
"The group needs to meet to discuss where we go from here, but we have a bit of time. Seth is following them and he said he'd contact us on his walkie-talkie when they regroup," Ben said.
Rosalie clenched me harder before letting me go. Immediately, Edward took her place.
"You guys need your rest," Ben said, looking at me sadly.
"Are there enough people on the walls?" I asked.
"Yes. You need to take care of yourself, Bella. You and Edward both," he said. "Get a couple of hours rest."
Edward and I walked home in silence, holding each other tightly, but not speaking.
The sight of our home made me pick up the pace, pulling Edward along with me. A sense of urgency took over as I became desperate for the familiar comforts of home.
I threw open the front door and rushed inside. The minute the door closed behind me, I was spun around and crushed to Edward's chest.
With a sigh, I stood on my toes and pressed my lips to his. He leaned into the kiss, his lips soft and hungry against mine. My lips parted for him and my hands found the hair at the back of his head and tugged. He groaned, low, into my mouth.
"I need you, Bella," Edward said, hoarsely.
I whimpered against his lips and pressed myself harder against him.
Lifting me up, Edward wrapped my legs around his waist and then carried me up to our room.
We fell onto the bed in a tangle of arms and legs, desperately pulling off each other's clothes.
Edward's whole body was trembling as he pulled me flush against him naked.
I felt soothed when he touched me, but it only seemed to make him more needy, more frantic.
"Bella," he whispered against my lips, sounding desperate.
He whimpered as I straddled him and then moaned into my mouth when I rocked over him. His fingers dug almost painfully into my thighs as he pulled me harder against him all the while kissing and nipping every inch of skin he could reach.
"Please, Bella," he moaned. "Please…"
Reaching over to the night-stand, I pulled out a condom and rolled it onto him.
When we came together, Edward cried out in a way that sounded like it was half-painful.
"I love you, Bella," he cried out against my neck as he set a frantic almost rough pace. "I can't lose you."
"I love you too," I gasped, pulling his face up to mine for a kiss.
However, when I looked into his pain-filled eyes, my heart stuttered.
"I'm here," I said to him soothingly as I recognized the fear he was feeling. "Edward, I'm here. You didn't lose me."
I kissed him gently on the lips as his pace slowed and the fear slowly ebbed from his eyes.
Our love-making turned tender, not rushed in any way. We whispered words of love and devotion to each other as we moved. In that moment, everything else fell away. It was just us and our love for each other.
Gently, we brought each other to the brink and then toppled over.
In a haze of drowsiness, Edward continued to touch me. His fingers ran up my arm until he reached my wrist which he lifted to his mouth and pressed his lips against it, inhaling deeply and closing his eyes. In response, I burrowed myself deeper into his arms, wrapping an arm around his ribcage and throwing a leg over his.
"I was so scared, Bella," he finally whispered. "I am scared."
"I am too," I said, pressing a kiss to his chest.
"It's not over, you know," he said, quietly.
"I know," I said, sadly.
"You'll stay with me," he said it more like a question as if he couldn't be certain of anything anymore.
"I'll never leave you," I murmured, lifting my head and pressing my lips to his. I looked into his eyes and there was a gleam to them that hinted at unshed tears.
With a sigh, Edward closed his eyes and laid his head down on the pillow.
Within seconds, the both of us were asleep.