Z-Day Chronicles (Book 2): Rising Up Read online

  “But you know,” Three continued. “Everyone else has been trying to best you on the obstacle course. Unfortunately for them, you’re too slick. You got wings in those feet of yours? How do you do that?”

  “Oh, parkour,” Joseph replied. “Nothing to it, really. Just gotta know when to sprint, when to go a steady pace, when to jump and how to land. I can teach you if you like.”

  “You’d do that?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  Three knocked on the table he and Joseph sat down on.

  “Thank God,” Three responded. “I’m kinda tired of being stuck in the back of the pack.”

  Once on the obstacle course, Joseph and Three kept a steady pace juxtaposed of each other. Joseph taught Three how to vault over the logs, properly run up the wall on the course, balance on the beams they had to cross, and glide through the other obstacles on the course in a form that saves their energy while keeping a strong, quick pace. Many of the other recruits saw how the two of them dashed through the course and also stepped in to take some parkour lessons in between exercises and training.

  Come time for the recruits to learn the hand to hand combat, everyone gathered around a circular dirt ring. Austin stood in the center of the ring, while Jake and Brandon stood at his left and his right.

  “Not only do you have to be concerned about the dead in this godforsaken planet we live on,” Austin started. “But it is also the living. Many of them believe in survival of the fittest and taking what they can from you for survival or pleasure, and they will do everything they can to best you. You must outmatch their skills, for they do vary. You are going to learn proper take down and incapacitating skills, and you are going to learn how to defend yourself when you are unarmed. What I want first is for you recruits to line up in two lines facing each other on either side of the combating grounds.”

  The ten recruits did as Austin had ordered, lining up in two lines across from each other on both sides of that dirt ring.

  “The rules are simple,” Brandon said. “Do not leave the ring or you are out. You win by either submission or knock out. The game will be tied once we say, ‘Stop.’ The two in the front of the line will start us off. Once they are done, they will move to the back of the line until everyone has had their share of combat.”

  Joseph was first in his line. He was facing a husky pale guy with bulky shoulders, like those of a bodybuilder, and a pair of dog tags with the number nine on them. The man went into a standard fighting stance, with his fists clenched in front of his face, awaiting Brandon to say when to begin.

  “I’ll try and go easy on you, Seven,” Nine said.

  Joseph formed a peculiar stance, with his arms relaxed in front of him, and his palms pointing towards the ground.

  “I don’t know about that, Lieutenant,” Jake whispered. “Do we need to tell him he’s all wrong on his fighting stance?”

  “I’ll tell him,” Austin responded. “As soon as he’s kissing the dirt. He’ll learn after that.”

  Brandon then strolled to the side of the ring, giving the two some fighting room.

  “Begin!” Brandon called out.

  Once Nine inched forward towards Joseph, he swung his fists. Joseph quickly dodged the jabs, slapping them out of the way as he swiftly moved from side to side. He carefully placed his footing, slowly sidestepping to the right, circling around Nine, who would shift his torso in Joseph’s direction.

  Nine suddenly pounced towards Joseph, with his feet aiming for Joseph’s head. Joseph quickly ducked, rolling to the side, and then cartwheeling back in his feet. Once standing, Joseph flipped towards Nine, knocking him down with a corkscrew kick.

  “I stand corrected,” Austin whispered to Jake. “And that never happens when training recruits.”

  “Never hurts to expect the unexpected,” Jake replied.

  “Still has a long way to go, Marshal.”

  Joseph then offered to help Nine up, but he refused, picking himself up on his feet, and angrily proceeding to the back of his line. Joseph then walked to the back of his line, right behind where Three stood.

  “Dang, bruh,” Three whispered to Joseph. “Parkour and martial arts. I’m gonna have to start calling you ‘Ninja’ from now on.”

  “Thanks,” Joseph chuckled, fist bumping Three’s hand.

  Each of the recruits continued to fight each other, two by two, until everyone had their share of hand to hand combat. Once that was over, everyone had lunch and later headed to the next lesson.

  Chapter 6

  All of the recruits arrived at the two story building, where everyone would practice breaching.

  “This is what you will do,” Jake began. “Each of you will grab a gun and charge the grounds. Once you see a target, you will shout out, ‘Bang!’ and move on. Once the room you check is rid of zombies, you will shout out, ‘Clear!’”

  One by one, the recruits barged through the front door of the house. Each member took a turn sweeping the building, then exiting through the back door once every room was cleared.

  Come Joseph’s turn, he swiftly glided up the stairs, eliminating the targets he would come across.

  “Rawr! You’re dead!”

  Joseph turned around to see Jake, who hid inside a walk-in closet, holding a sharp K-Bar against the side of his neck. Austin strolled to meet up with Joseph and Jake.

  “Number Seven,” Austin began. “When sweeping a building, make sure you check everywhere. We lost too many of our brothers in the field for failure to mind their surroundings. Luckily it was the marshal that got you. He’s more lenient than Chief.”

  “Lieutenant, where is Chief?” Joseph gulped.

  “You tell me,” Jake replied as he removed his knife from Joseph’s neck, holstering it.

  Jake then left the building with Austin, leaving Joseph alone to finish up his sweep of the course. As Joseph continued to skim through the house, he made sure to check every surrounding, wondering where Brandon was hiding.

  Back on the obstacle course, the recruits followed Joseph, dashing through each trial on that trail. Every one of them were were taught parkour during their free time and were now going the same pace Joseph was running.

  Three and Nine ran right behind Joseph, followed by Four, a tanned woman with brown hair shortened to her chin, and One, a lean pale boy, who looked to be about nineteen years of age or so.

  As the recruits followed Joseph across the log beam, Number Six, a dark boy with thick muscles, slipped his footing while crossing to the other platform. As he hit the dirt and leaves below him, the recruits heard a snap coming from his leg, followed by a loud, bellowing scream.

  All of the recruits hurried to Six, hoping that he wasn’t badly injured. Sure enough, Six’s leg was fractured. A fragment of his shin pierced the outer layer of his skin. Blood began slowly pouring out of the injury. Since the blood was a dark reddish color, it was safe to assume that Six didn’t sever an artery.

  Brandon, Austin, and Jake observed the commotion over the distance. As Austin was reaching for his radio to contact the medics, Jake stopped him.

  “Hold on a second, Lieutenant,” Jake said. “Let’s see how they handle this first.”

  Joseph looked around while Four held pressure on Six’s wound. He spotted a couple of large sticks next to a tree that looked sturdy enough to be fashioned into a splint. Joseph then leaned down and ripped Six’s shirt from his torso.

  “Sorry, Six,” Joseph apologized. “We gotta stop the bleeding.”

  Joseph tore strips of the shirt, then handed the largest piece of the cloth to Four. As she gently but firmly applied the cloth to the fracture, Joseph laid the wooden rods against Six’s leg, joining them with the smaller strips, which were used to tie up the makeshift splint.

  “Where’s the lieutenant?” Six quivered.

  “I don’t know,” Joseph replied. “Let’s not worry about that right now. We gotta get you to the infirmary and get you patched up.”

  “Do you see anything we can us
e to pick him up?” Three questioned.

  “I saw a wooden plank next to mud course,” One suggested. “It looked big enough to carry him on, but I don’t know how sturdy it is.”

  “It’s worth a shot,” Joseph agreed. “Take Nine with you and go get it. Hurry!”

  Once One and Nine brought back the large plywood plank, Three and Four slid Six on that slab of wood. Once Six was situated, Nine and Three picked up the plywood, while Four kept Six’s leg elevated and Joseph kept him calm, so as he wouldn’t go into shock. The other recruits followed the four to the infirmary, taking turns carrying Six, until the medics took over in tending to his wound.

  Dinner time soon came around for the recruits. Joseph grabbed his share of the rations and headed to the spot across from Three, where he usually sat at.

  “Yo, Ninja,”

  Joseph turned his head to the direction he was being called from. It was Nine, standing a couple feet away from him, holding his plate and canteen.

  “Not bad today,” Nine complimented. “Mind if me and a couple of the other fellas come over here and sit with you?”

  “Yea, sure,” Joseph answered.

  As Nine sat next to Three, the other recruits, one by one, sat down around Joseph, until everyone was at his end of the dining table.

  “You guys ever figure out what happened with Six?” Joseph asked.

  “He’s gonna be staying in the infirmary for the night,” Four answered. “Then he’s gonna be sent back to the settlement. Can’t finish the training if you can’t run.”

  “That’s gotta suck.”

  “Yeah, he’s pretty upset about that. Can’t come back until he heals up, and he’s gonna have to start over from the beginning.”

  “Hey Ninja,” One started, changing the subject. “Heard you got picked up here in Tallahassee. The soldiers were saying you got your family out of that hot spot with those moves of yours.”

  “This sounds kinda cliche,” Joseph replied. “But I only did what I had to do. Fence was in the way, and zombies were nearby. So I climbed up and unhinged it.”

  “You don’t mind us calling you ‘Ninja,’ do you?” asked Ten, a tan, lean boy with short, black hair, who looked slightly smaller than Joseph. “Everybody is gonna be calling you that anyways with those karate moves of yours.”

  “Either ‘Ninja’ or ‘Bruce Lee,’” Three joked.

  “That style I showed at the fighting grounds was actually a mix between Tai Chi and Capoeria,” Joseph chucked. “Oh, and a little known fact: The actual term for ‘Ninja’ is the Japanese word, ‘Shinobi Onu’, or ‘Shinobi’ for short, which means, ‘One who endures.’ They were spies and assassins throughout Feudal Japan.”

  “Pretty b.a. if you ask me,” Four complimented. “So what all do you know?”

  “Well I know Ninjutsu, Jujitsu, Capoeria and Tai Chi, Taekwondo, and Jeet Kun Do.”

  “Okay,” One began. “So we know where you’re from and what you are capable of, and we definitely know not to piss you off. Didn’t the L.T. say your name was ‘Joseph Boyer?’”

  “Nope,” Joseph answered. “He said my name was ‘Number Seven.’”

  “We know that, Seven,” Nine added. “We’re talking about the name you came here with. You know: before training.”

  “Well I won’t be using it until I pass boot camp... but yes; it was Joseph.”

  Joseph opened up his canteen of water and took a swig of that refreshing liquid.

  “So what about you guys,” Joseph continued. “Where did you get picked up at, One?”

  “Scavengers picked me up in Greenbow,” One answered.

  “Good ol’ New Orleans,” Nine replied. “Cajun country.”

  “Well I’ll see your Cajun country,” Four smiled. “And I’ll raise you Vegas, baby.”

  “Same here,” Three added.

  “Oh, I see,” Nine replied. “You must’ve been one of those casino showgirls before Z-Day began.”

  “Please! If she was a showgirl, then I was a drag queen.”

  “Now that I think about it,” Four smirked, shifting her eyes towards Three. “You do look familiar. I think I seen you this one time on a nightclub stage with a couple other trannies.”

  Joseph snickered, nearly choking on the food he was trying to swallow.

  Jake, Austin, and Brandon heard the commotion from the table they were sitting at.

  “Finally sitting together,” Jake started. “Looks like they’re bonding pretty well.”

  “That they are,” Austin agreed. “Number Seven is making a good impression. He’s improved a lot since last week, and is teaching the other recruits what he knows, as a leader should do.”

  “I should probably add this,” Brandon said. “Those skills that he’s teaching the other recruits are probably the skills we need for the scouting parties spoken about at the meeting. Maybe we should give him a shot with one of the HR-Teams.”

  “I’ll put him with Alpha,” Jake suggested. “He might work for them for the time being until he’s ready to lead his own scouting team. Let’s not get our hopes up yet though; he still has to finish training.”

  “Yessir,” Austin finished. “A couple more days before Week Three. Graduation is just arou-”

  BOOM!

  An explosion was seen from nearly fifty feet away from where everyone was at.

  “Take cover!” Brandon ordered.

  As everyone was running away from the commotion, ammunition began flying, killing some of the soldiers that guarded the small outpost that was set up. As Austin ran for cover, a flurry of bullets pierced his back, killing him before he could hit the floor. Some of the recruits were also caught in the crossfire, perishing from the burning lead.

  “We got raiders!” Jake shouted. “About twenty to thirty of ‘em!”

  As more soldiers neared the firefight, a rocket zoomed by those taking cover, erupting the ground next to them.

  “That’s a B-300!” Brandon stated. “And those guys are carrying M60s and M4 Carbines! That’s military grade! Where the hell did raiders get that kind of firepower?!”

  “They must have looted the N.A.S. in Pensacola,” Jake assumed. “The armory was empty when we got there.”

  “Are you frickin’ kiddin’ me?! Help is on the other side of the settlement! And we don’t have enough weapons to take those guys down!”

  “Then we stall ‘em ‘till help gets here!”

  Chapter 7

  The only ones uninjured at the small outpost were Jake, Brandon, One, Three, Four, Nine, and Joseph. They stayed hidden behind the van the recruits arrived in while the raiders circled the outnumbered group.

  “I’m gonna have a good, long chat with the Senator if we get out of this,” Jake grunted.

  “I don’t get it,” Nine started. “They have a bazooka. Why not just blow up the vehicle we’re behind and kill us?!”

  “They want us alive,” Brandon answered. “Use us as a bargaining chip, then dispose of us when we aren’t needed.”

  “We gotta come up with something quick,” Jake stated. “Or else these guys are gonna get the best of us.”

  Joseph peeked around the van, scanning for a way to overcome the enemy forces. He noticed a rifle ten yards right of their position. He just needed to find someone to distract the raiders long enough.

  “Marshal; Chief,” Joseph started. “Do one of you have a sidearm?”

  “I’m out,” Jake answered. “I think Chief has only one clip left.”

  As a raider circled around to the bus, Brandon opened fire. As the intruder fell to the grass below him, Brandon’s gun clicked.

  “Not anymore,” Brandon stated. “I’m out too.”

  “There’s another rifle at our three o’clock,” Joseph stated. “Not to mention the gun from the guy Chief just killed. If we can give a long enough distraction, I think I can sneak around all the other debris and get to them quick enough.”

  Brandon gave out a sarcastic laugh. “What do you expect us to do, Seven? Ta
lk them to death?!”

  Joseph paused for a moment and thought of Three.

  “Actually, yes,” Joseph answered. “Three, you think you can do that?”

  “Hope you know what you’re doing,” Three responded as he shimmied around the others, positioning himself towards the front of the van.

  “Don’t get yourself killed, Seven,” Jake ordered. “Swift and quick!”

  “Yo,” Three called out. “Ain’t you raiders got somewhere else to be? Like, back in Oakland?”

  While Three was attempting to use his peculiar sense of humor to grab the looters’ attention, Joseph backed away from the van to an overturned table, taking cover behind it.

  “You know your buddy over here,” Three continued. “He must’ve been religious or something, cuz he’s definitely holier than thou now.”

  One abruptly punched Three in the back while Four and Nine socked him in the back of the head.

  “Ow!” Three exclaimed. “Hey, what was all that for?!”

  “You trying to get us killed?!” Four whispered. “We’re trying to distract them, not piss ‘em off!”

  “That and I’m Catholic!” One added.

  Joseph saw the looters angrily turn their attention towards the van, giving him enough time to shimmy to the next piece of large debris that was closer to the guns.

  “Okay, my bad,” Three continued. “I’ll admit: That was a little morbid.”

  “No turning back now,” Nine whispered. “The damage has already been done.”

  “What do you guys want? Seriously! I mean, we have some food... er... had some food until Demolition Man over there blew it all up. I don’t know, there might be some of it left; probably overcooked, though.”

  “I’m gonna enjoy killing that comedian once we’re done here,” said the looter holding the B-300.

  “Hey!” Three shouted. “That’s ‘Stand Up Comedian’ to you!”

  “I don’t see you standing up!”

  “I’ll admit,” Four chuckled. “That was funny.”

  “At least we had a good laugh before being killed,” Nine added.

  As the commotion was going on, the group noticed some figures appearing out of the bushes. A nose burning odor followed as they popped out into their view. More figures showed themselves from the left and the right as they closed into the battleground.