Walk of the Dead: The Evil That Men Do

By Abel Hernandez

Adrian, our hero from Class of the Dead, must traverse
through a zombie apocalypse to find Alexandria; the
young girl that has fallen in love with him, not knowing if
she and the other survivors from Class of the Dead are
even alive or not. Along the way, he meets new friends
and deadly enemies that are more dangerous than the
ravenous dead that infest the cities that lay between him
and Alexandria. Also a father returns home from a
hunting trip to search of his sons in hopes they are still
alive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664179486

Abel Hernandez

My name is Abel Hernandez. I was born on July 5th, 1974 in Fontana, CA. I am the 2nd oldest of 5 children from my mother Monica Solorzano. I have 3 brothers and 1 sister. Currently, I am a single father of 3 amazing boys. My oldest is David Hernandez and he’s 18 and a senior In High School. I also have twin boys that are 8 years old. I was married once to my twins’ mom but I’m currently divorced. I was raised by my grandparents Natie and Edward Cardenas and didn’t know I had a father till I was in 5th grade. Not having a father growing up taught me how to be a better father to my boys. I’ve always had 50/50 custody of them and I make sure that I am active in every aspect of their lives. Throughout my life, I found that I was naturally good at just about everything I did. A “Jack of all trades,” if you will. In high school, my friend Brian Pierce introduced me to comic books. The X-Men specifically, and I have been hooked ever since. Shortly after that I started drawing and creating my own super heroes and writing short stories for them. In my early 20’s a was a big dare devil. I liked danger. Cliff jumping, sky diving, bungee jumping. Anything that got my adrenalin going. In my late 20’s, I met some people that played in a local band called The Irritations. I quickly found that I was a natural at playing bass guitar. Within a few months, I bought a bass guitar and taught myself how to play. In less than a year, I was writing my own songs and I created a band called Black Dragon. During my musical career, I played in 5 different bands, recorded 7 different albums, and played in every major club and “hole in the wall” bar from Los Angeles to Indio. From Hemet to Barstow. Even clubs in Las Vegas. We did interviews and were played on college radio, internet radio and on “Dream’s World Wide Television” show in Los Angeles. I’ve had the opportunity to open for some of my favorite bands I used to listen to growing up. Bands like Quiet Riot, Marky Ramone of the Ramones… Even an all-star, 80’s band that included Steven Adler form Gun N Roses and members of Cinderella and Dokken. Once my kids were born, I gave up the rock star life and focused on being super daddy for my boys. They are my life! My life has always been an uphill battle and I’ve had more bad times than I care to remember. But I’ve always push forward and searched for as much knowledge as I could fill my mind with. Even though my current profession is a simple one, it pays the bills, provides for my kids and allows me my current hobbies. Riding quads and traps shooting tournaments. I also write, direct and produce short videos for my YouTube channel and the videos are scenes from the chapters of my book. While doing that, and writing this story, people keep asking me, “Why am I doing this? What do I wanna get outta it? Am I trying to get rich?” People have been asking me this about all the ventures I’ve done in my life. Drawing comics, writing and preforming music. Like my other projects throughout my life, I tell them the same thing… “I’m just having fun!”

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 by Abel Hernandez.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance

to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/24/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

826233

CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Leaving Class of the Dead

Chapter 2: Two Days?

Chapter 3: If You Can Hear My Voice

Chapter 4: Dad

Chapter 5: Smells Like Chicken

Chapter 6: God’s House?

Chapter 7: The Doctor is IN!

Chapter 8: Ketamine Is a Hell of a Drug!

Chapter 9: Free Samples

Chapter 10: The Peace Corps

Chapter 11: You Will See

Chapter 12: The BJ Motel

Chapter 13: Riffraff and Rippers

Chapter 14: Like Father, Like Sons

Chapter 15: The Doomed Eight

Chapter 16: The Doomed Eight Part 2 Is This a Private Party

Chapter 17: Now What?

CHAPTER ONE

Leaving Class of the Dead

GET HER ON THE BUS, NOW! Standing at the door to the bus, Robert starts to pull her up the steps, but she’s resisting, not wanting to leave without Adrian. He’s only a few feet from her, backing up to the door, the dead almost an arm’s length away. As she finally steps one foot on the bus, she sees both of Adrian’s pistols fire a final round. The slides on his guns lock in the open position. He’s out of ammo—six guns, fifteen rounds each, ninety rounds, ninety dead rippers, but he didn’t even slow the horde down.

Alex screams his name, ADRIAN! She takes her sword from her back and tosses it to him. In one fluid motion, he catches it and removes it from its sheath and swings it in a half circle behind him, decapitating almost a dozen rippers. From the front of the bus, the rippers make it to the door, cutting off Adrian. Alex opens fire and expends the last of her clip on them. Adrian turns around and can see that the rippers are about to get inside the bus. He focuses on the rippers at the door, shouting to Robert once again, GET HER UP THE STEPS AND CLOSE THE DOOR! GET OUT OF HERE! GO! I’LL KEEP THEM OFF OF YOU! GET HER OUT! GET EVERYONE OUT . . . NOOOOOWWWWWWWW! From behind, he takes more heads for his collection and clears the door just long enough for Robert to shut it and stop the rippers from getting inside.

DRIVE! he tells Nurse Johnson.

NOOOOOOOOOOOO! LET ME GOOOOOOO! WE CAN’T LEAVE HIM! NOOOOOO! Alex screams and cries as she tries to break free from Robert’s grip. The nurse puts the bus in gear and starts to pull the bus away. NOOOOOOOO! DON’T LEAVE! STOP THE BUS! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! HE NEEDS ME! She cries and cries and struggles, but Robert won’t let her go.

Everyone watches out the windows as the bus leaves. They can all see Adrian at the center of a circle of dead, the devil’s light catching Alex’s blade from moment to moment as he swings away. Bloody arms and rotting heads fly up in the air. Blood sprays in every direction. The bus pulls through the gate, and Robert finally lets her go but blocks the door to the bus. She runs down the aisle to the back window. She screams his name again, ADRIAN! He’s still swinging her blade in every direction. He’s keeping the dead at a short distance from him in a circle, but she knows he can’t keep it up forever. She can see all the rippers focusing on him and pushing and pushing and tightening the circle. She watches as the bus drives up the street and turns until he’s no longer visible. She hangs her head and cries harder than she’s ever cried in her life.

With every slice, Adrian looks in the direction of the fleeing bus. He catches short glimpses of Alex in the back window before the bus makes a left turn. Short glimpses, but enough to see her in tears. He has to keep fighting. The second he’s done, the rippers will turn their attention to the bus and follow them. He’s got to give them more time. Under his feet, the ground is becoming more and more saturated with blood and body parts. It’s getting harder and harder for him to maintain his footing. Alex’s words give him a purpose, give him strength. I LOVE YOU! keeps replaying over and over in his heads as the circle of dead continue to close in on him. The hungry groaning of the dead is deafening, but all he can hear is those three little words, I LOVE YOU! over and over again. Constantly turning in a circle and swinging with all his might, Alex’s sword, so sharp, cuts cleanly through everything it touches—heads, arms, necks, but he’s still not even making a dent in the dead. His muscles start to tighten. Adrian is in great shape, but no one can keep up this pace for too long. He starts to get winded. The bus is no longer in sight. How far have they gotten? he thinks to himself. Keep pushing! Keep fighting! he tells himself. Till you can’t move anymore! For Alex! For David and Abigail! For everyone! He begins to slow down. He doesn’t want to, but his body is giving up on him. After every ripper he kills, he tells himself, Just one more . . . Just one more.

Fighting through the pain and believing, hoping that the bus is far enough away, he begins to accept his fate. The hungry roar of the rippers seems to get louder at this point. Is it his acceptance of his fate? Louder still! "Wait! What’s that sound? He’s heard it before. At the bus yard. Like rolling thunder. BBRRRAAAAAPPPPPPP! BBBRRAAAAAAAPPPPP! BBRRAAAAAAPPPPP! Adrian looks back toward the back street that the bus carrying Alex and the rest just drove up and sees headlights bouncing and heading toward him. The sounds of the many off-road vehicles so loud, many of the rippers start to turn their attention to the back street. The Moto X gang from the school bus yard is charging down the street like the Riders of Rohan from Lord of the Ring: The Two Towers. It’s the school bus yard all over again. Only this time, Adrian is past his last leg. He has an opening now, but his movements are so slow he’s not even sure if he can stand another second. He turns to keep fighting, swinging the sword across the shoulders of five rippers. His left leg cramps up on him, and he falls to one knee.

At the front of the Moto X pack is their scout, Chris Lora. From the slightly elevated street he can see Adrian. He sees the sword swing and Adrian fall to one knee. He presses the thumb throttle on his quad as far as it can go and heads straight for Adrian. Their leader, Kenny Overman, is close behind, riding his Kawasaki KX 450F dirt bike fitted with chain saws that protrude out from under each handle and a javelin-like spear directly in front of the bike. He twists the throttle and jets past Chris in Adrian’s direction, chain saws revving at top’s end, anticipating the rotting flesh of the dead. The rumbling of his engine and the chain saws has the rippers turned and headed toward him. As he plows into the herd of dead, the first ripper gets impaled by the spear on the front end of the bike, lifting the ripper off its feet. The revving chain saws tear into the abdomens of the rippers to the left and right sides of the handlebars. Blood, bone, bits of flesh, and entrails are shot out in both directions as the teeth of the chain saws rip the dead in half just above the waist. The body of the ripper impaled on the spear begins to turn sideways from the weight of the upper torso, creating a snowplow effect. As Kenny pushes his bike through the huddled dead, any ripper not caught on his spear are pushed to either side by the ripper turned sideways on the spear, feeding the metal teeth of his chain saws. Kenny creates a nice path through the dead for Chris to follow. The ride through is extremely bumpy from all the bodies cut in half by Kenny that are lying on the ground. Kenny continues to cut a path to Adrian, and when he reaches him, he starts to circle Adrian a few times to give Adrian some breathing room. He dips left then leans right and rides in a counterclockwise circle, his left chain saws still doing work on all the rippers that continue to try and push the circle tighter. Each one is torn in half by the grinding metal teeth.

Kenny Overman: Kenny was a natural-born leader. He was the very first of this ragtag group of magnificent wanderers. He didn’t intentionally create this Moto X gang, but after coming home and finding his new bride turned into a mindless flesh-eating monster, he did the one thing that always took his mind off his problems. He jumped on his dirt bike and headed for the small hills up by his house. After two days and needing food and water, he headed back home. He put his new bride to rest as peacefully as he could then got his riding gear, food, water, supplies, and anything he could use as a weapon and hit the road in search of other members of his family. What he found was a whole new kind of family in the people he would save from certain death along the way, as they quickly joined him on the road. Off-road vehicles seemed to be the best form of transportation, as they could traverse just about any terrain.

Exhausted, out of breath, and muscles locked up, Adrian can barely manage to remain on one knee, his sword thrust into the ground, holding him up. Bouncing down the bumpy path of severed bodies created by Kenny, Chris reaches Adrian and stops inside the circle of death that Kenny is maintaining at the moment. Chris stops next to Adrian and jumps off his Honda 400ex quad and quickly grabs Adrian from around his waist and helps him to his feet. DUDE! ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU BIT?

Adrian, so out of breath, manages an answer: Not . . . bit . . . Thinking he can stand, he lets go of him, and Adrian instantly falls to both knees. As the rest of the Moto X gang enters the gate, Chris signals one of the sand rail drivers to his position.

Chris grabs Adrian again and helps him to his feet again. WHERE’S EVERYONE ELSE THAT WAS WITH YOU?

Trying his best to maintain consciousness, Adrian manages to utter one word, Gone . . . Then he passes out and collapses.

AW SHIT! DAMN, YOU’RE HEAVY! DON’T WORRY, MAN, WE GOT YOU! The rest of the gang begins to strafe the ripper horde as they did back at the bus yard, each vehicle fitted with instruments of destruction; but this time, there is a whole lot more rippers than before. They do more damage to the horde than the leaving Class of the Dead did during their departure, but if they stay too long, they’ll surely get swallowed up.

Still holding up Adrian’s limp body, Chris takes Adrian’s left arm and puts it over his shoulder to hold him up better and free up an arm. The sand rail pulls up and stops. Chris brings Adrian to the back door of the rail and picks him up and puts him inside. Kenny breaks from the circle and pulls up next to them. IS HE DEAD? he shouts.

NO! HE JUST PASSED OUT! I DON’T THINK HE’S BEEN BIT EITHER. EVERYONE ELSE IS GONE! Chris tells Kenny.

Kenny looks back over his shoulder and can see his people doing damage but can also see the sea of dead pouring into the school from the opposite side and flooding toward them. WE CAN’T STAY! THERE’S TOO MANY! STRAP HIM IN AND LET’S GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE! Chris nods in compliance and straps Adrian into the backseat of the sand rail then signals the driver to take off. He quickly heads back to his quad. Still running, he hops on and starts to follow the sand rail back toward the street they just came down.

Kenny pulls out his sidearm and fires two shots into the air, a signal for the entire team to retreat. BANG! BANG! LET’S GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WHILE WE STILL CAN! LET’S MOVE, PEOPLE! All the riders stop their assault on the sea of dead and follow their leader back up the street. The twenty yards of space they just cleared of rippers is quickly covered by new walking rippers trying to follow the Moto X gang as they leave. Riding away, Kenny takes one last look over his shoulder and can see they made the right choice to leave. The dead swarm the school like army ants marching through the forest of the Amazon.

When the buses had left the school, they headed up the street to the east then turned left and headed north to the mountains. With Adrian passed out in the backseat of the sand rail, there’s no way to tell which direction they went or if they were even alive. The only person that knows what happened moments earlier is unconscious, so the Moto gang continues to ride east. Using the communications headsets inside their helmets, Chris talks to Kenny, Well, there goes our place to stay for the night. Any ideas and where we should hold up?

From the middle of the convoy, Kenny answers, Look for some kind of storage unit place. They usually have high concrete walls and strong rod iron gates so no one could break into them, and a video security system. By the way, . . . did Adrian mention if anyone else made it out of that place alive?

Now scanning for a storage unit place, he answers, I asked him where everybody else was. All he could manage to say was ‘gone,’ then he passed out.

Somewhat discouraged, Kenny tells Chris, Shit, man! That doesn’t tell us much. Well, find a place for us to sleep for the night, and when he wakes up, he can fill us in on what happened to everyone there. Then we can get to that other school you scouted to the south and see if they need any help.

Pulling away from the convoy, doing his job scouting ahead, Chris answers, You got it, Chief!

Chris Lora: Of all the people in this group of road warriors, Chris was the most dependable and worked the hardest. Before the outbreak, he loved to drink beer and chill out with family and friends. But when things absolutely had to get done, everyone called on him. He wasn’t shy about working hard and helping others. When Kenny had come across him, Chris was chilling on his porch, drinking a beer—covered in blood. Chris had the unfortunate pleasure of coming home to the exact same thing that Kenny did, but Chris also had a young son. It was the hardest thing Chris ever had to do, putting down his wife and child. Everything he did the world before the outbreak was for them. It took a lot of beers to convince Chris not to end his own life, but Kenny finally convinced him to join his family and fight on against the monsters that took his loved ones.

Darting out into the night, Chris scans the city for any storage places. Their next objective is to the south, so Chris makes a right turn at the next major intersection, hoping to find a place in that direction. Over his in-helmet headset, he informs Kenny of the direction change so that the rest of the group can follow. About ten miles down the road, Chris spots a storage place. He stops about a block away. Hey, Chief! I found one! I don’t see any dead around the place. High walls and strong entry gate. I’ll wait here till you guys get here. Don’t wanna startle anyone that might be held up in there. He shuts off his engine so the noise won’t attract any dead in the area. Just because he can’t see any at the moment doesn’t mean that there isn’t any lurking in the nearby shadows.

Kenny answers back, That’s good to hear. We’ll be there in a few and then we can approach the place and see if anyone is home. Chris dismounts his quad and takes his Glock 9mm pistol out of its holster and surveys the area around him. Not a lot of firepower, but he carries a machete on his back just in case.

Within a few minutes the rest of the gang pulls up behind him. Kenny stops his bike next to Chris. Is that the place? he asks.

Chris points to the corner. Yup, right there on the corner, man. I haven’t seen any lights on inside or any other activity.

As Chris puts his pistol away and gets back on his quad and starts it up, Kenny tells him, Okay, let’s pull up slowly and check it out. Hopefully there’s no one there. The entire gang approaches the storage place, calm but at the ready for any action from the dead or the living. They stop right at the front entry gate to the place. To the left of the gate is the main office. All the lights are off, and there’s no noticeable movement inside. Chris and a few of the others that ride quads put their brakes on and get off their quads to get a closer look. Over the in-helmet headset, Kenny tells Chris, Most of the places were just businesses before the outbreak. They would close at a certain time and go home for the night, just like any other job.

Right in the front window, Chris spots a sign with the business hours on it. Looks like this place was open every day from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Maybe we got lucky, and this is one of those places. He walks to the front door and knocks. HELLO! ANYONE IN THERE? WE MEAN NO HARM! WE’RE JUST LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO STAY FOR THE NIGHT! WE DON’T WANT ANY TROUBLE! He waits for a few moments to listen for any kind of response. Nothing. I don’t think anyone is here, he tells Kenny. Kenny signals one of the men riding shotgun in one of the sand rails to the door. As he exits the rail, he grabs a crowbar from the back of the rail and heads to the door. Chris backs up, and he and the rest of the quad riders draw their pistols just in case.

The man places the straight, flat end of the crowbar in the doorjamb and cranks back, popping the door lock out of place and prying the door open. Opening inward, he backs up so the standing quad riders can enter cautiously. Guns up and aiming inside, lights from the sand rails illuminate the inside, not completely, but enough for Chris to find the light switch for the room. He flips the light switch on and finds a horrific, yet surreal scene. In the back corner of the room, a family of five lies dead, all from a gunshot wound to the head, a .38 revolver still in the hands of the father. Holy shit balls, man! Chris blurts out. The team that entered the room stand over the bodies of a man, a woman, and three children, one of them just a baby no more than eight months old.

What’s going on in there, Chris? Kenny asks over the headset.

Looks like a family was held up in here, who knows for how long. From the looks of things, the dad shot all of them in the head before taking his own life. Chris orders the bewildered team to fan out and search the complex for anyone or anything else. They manage to tear themselves away from the sad scene and check out the storage unit.

Looking around the main desk, Chris finds a switch to open the main gate and lets the Moto X gang in, then closes the gate behind them. As they pull in, the rest of the first team announce that the place is clear. Still in somewhat shock, Chris removes his helmet and gazes once more at the deceased family. Upon entering the office via the side door, Kenny, with his helmet already in his hands, stands next to Chris. Man, that’s some fucked-up shit right there. Try and protect your family from getting eaten or take their lives. I don’t envy the father when he gets to wherever it is people go when they check out of this world. But we can’t just leave them in here, and we need to get Adrian off that rail and lay him down in here. Give me a hand taking the bodies out. Chris complies and tries his best not to look the family in the face as they lift and carry the bodies outside.

Inside the office, the family had a nice little couch just perfect to lay Adrian down on. Some of the other members of the gang carry him inside and leave him on the couch. This place should hold up nice for the night, or longer if we need it. Get a few people to check the place for empty units and let them make home for the night. And can you send Ashley in? I got an easy job for her. Please of course. Chris gives Kenny a nod and heads out the door.

Ashley Daigle: This young vixen had just turned twenty-six before the outbreak occurred. She grew up with a taste for everything that wasn’t the norm. Standing at five feet eight, she was anything but a helpless female. She was practically born riding a quad and shooting guns. Her fiery red hair matched her attitude and temper, if you ever found yourself on her bad side. She loved the comic book character Harley Quinn and took it to another level as her weapon of choice was a large mallet she used with ease to crush the heads of the dead she encountered. She was one of the first people in the Moto gang. Kenny found her slaughtering a couple of dozen dead at her home. She had just returned from college and found the half-eaten remains of her parents inside, and it sent her into a rampage. Not only did she kill all the dead in and around her parents’ home, but she also proceeded to dismember the corpses with her bare hands. Kenny eventually got her to calm down, and seeing that she had no family left, he convinced her to ride with him.

You wanted to see me, boss? Ashley states as she enters the office.

Yeah, I need you to stay here with Adrian and watch over him until he wakes up. Also, keep an eye on those surveillance monitors and watch for any activity around the perimeter of this place. Notify me immediately if you see anything. One last thing. If he turns, kill him! She pulls up a chair to the desk with the monitors on it, sits down, and puts her feet up. You got it, boss. Kenny heads outside to the rest of the gang and tells everyone to find an empty storage unit and bunk up for the night. He has a few men on night watch as the rest prepare to sleep. This storage place will do for the night. Come morning, he hopes Adrian will be awake and they can be on their way.

CHAPTER TWO

Two Days?

With Ashley watching over Adrian and keeping a close eye on the surveillance monitors, the Moto X gang settles in for the night. A few of the men and women grab the entry login from the office and all the backup keys to the storage units, hoping to rummage through them for any kind of supplies. The group currently has twenty-three members, seven women and sixteen men. They have become nomadic warriors, roaming the ruins of a once densely populated state, scavenging for what they need to survive and picking up survivors as they go. Although they may miss the way things used to be and the loved ones they’ve lost, most of them have accepted what the world has become. People like Kenny and Chris remind them that just because the world has gone to shit doesn’t mean they should lose all sense of humanity. Good people still exist, and if humanity is to continue, it’s up to them to keep it going. In a world gone mad, it can be easy to lose one’s mind and join in the insanity.

As they search through the storage units, they find lots of useful items. One unit has a few mattresses and couches. In another they find a barbecue. Some units are just filled with books and papers that they use to make a fire in the barbecue to give them a sense of warmth. They find clothes, blankets, tools, kitchen supplies, kid’s toys, and many other random things. They even find a large crate full of 100-dollar bills in it. Useless now of course, but it makes great fuel for their fire. In one unit they even find lots of canned foods. They take the opportunity to fill their bellies as nights like these don’t happen every day.

The group eats, relaxes, and enjoys the warmth of the fire, and they tell each other fun stories of how the world used to be. It’s about 3:30 a.m., in the middle of June, although no one is really keeping track of that sort of thing anymore. The nights really aren’t that cold right now, but the fire almost reminds them of camping. No one shares the horrors of the loved ones they’ve lost or any bad times they may have had before the outbreak. The only things to reminisce about should be the good times from way back when. It gives them hope for the future and for mankind. Eventually, one by one, they start to fall asleep in their makeshift beds while the few selected for lookouts guard the group. The sun will rise in only a few more hours, but bedding down inside the storage units will let the group sleep in a bit. After the events of the evening, they need it.

When the sun clears the mountains to the east, Kenny is the first one awake and already making a plan for the day. He lets most of the gang sleep in. It’s almost as if Kenny didn’t need sleep, always looking to the next day and what it has in store for them. He calmly wakes Chris and the rest of the quad scouts. They had five scouts all together, and they all rode quads because the quads were quieter than the dirt bikes. The scouts were Chris, Ashley, Paul Lundberg, Raylene Perez, and Randy Jones. Kenny had them all meet in the office since Ashley is already there still watching Adrian and the video monitors.

What’s up, boss man? It’s pretty freaking early, dude, Paul states.

Well, I’m hoping not to be here for that long, so I’d like you guys to get a jump start on the day and scout the area for water and gas. Also, I’d like you guys to head toward that other school to the south and have a look from a distance. Try and get as much info on the place as you can before we approach it. I don’t want any of our people getting hurt when we make contact with them. Ashley, go with them, and I’ll keep an eye on things here, Kenny addresses the group.

Chris turns to the rest of the scouts and tells them, All right! You heard the man, time to go to work! Let’s suit up!

As scouts, they don’t carry a lot of firepower. Just pistols with extra clips and machetes or bowie knives. Their quads aren’t fitted with as much anti-ripper things as the rest of the riders have. They need to be light and quick and less noisy. Each person carries a backpack with some water and a few energy bars they’ve collected during their scavenging. The backpacks are mostly for finding and bringing back supplies for the rest of the group. Each person was chosen by Kenny himself for the different attributes they all possess: Chris for his leadership and his work ethics; Ashley for her eagerness and toughness in a fight; Paul for his knowledge in mechanics; Raylene for her small size, quickness, and fighting prowess; and Randy for his outside-the-box thinking and sheer strength. But most of all, they were the best riders and always worked as a team, with the best interest of the entire group in mind.

Aw, man! Must be nice to get to sleep in, hahaha, Paul jokes while the scout team gets ready.

Don’t sweat it, dude! If shit hits the fan, Ashley will protect us, man, Randy joins in.

Keep it up, tough guy. Watch, if shit does hit the fan, you’re gonna be crying for me to save your ass! Ashley tells Randy.

HAHAHA, you tell him, Ashley. What the hell would these guys do without us ladies? Raylene spouts.

All right, kids, we’re wasting daylight. Let’s get a move on, Chris centers his team for the mission. Paul fitted each of the quads with special mufflers he created to make the quads stealthier. He also fitted two with small A-shaped plows in the front to move the dead or any objects, the other two he fitted with rails with spikes in the front. From inside the office, Kenny opens the gate and the team departs on the mission for the day.

Godspeed, my friends. Stay safe, Kenny tells them over the in-helmet headsets.

Okay, people, don’t bunch up. Keep the chatter down and your eyes open. Gas is our main objective then water and supplies. After that, we can check out that school, Chris commands.

Over the headsets, everyone answers one after the other, Got it! Check! Roger that! Loud and clear! Through the city they find several small gas stations slash convenient stores. The stores, although already looted, do still have a few items littered about the stores—bottled water, soda, candies, chips, and various other snack items. Unfortunately, all the gas had already been taken some time ago. Having no luck finding gas in this town, the team heads to the school to the south. It’s only about fifteen miles from where they are now, but every mile burns more gas and takes them farther from the sanctuary that the class of the dead are headed to.

From a distance, Chris can see the school and stops to survey the area. It appears to be butted up near some small alluvial hills. In the current situation, the hills at the rear of the school actually provide an element of security from that direction. In order to get a better view of what’s going on in the school, the team will have to circle around to those hills and trek up them to get a bird’s-eye view. It’s a little out of the way, but they need to be sure, and the street that they’re currently on now is completely level with the school itself and directly in front of it. They keep their distance from the school as they circle around to the hills and find a windy trail that leads to the top. When they see they’ve almost reached the top, they stop and get off their quads.

Why are we getting off here, dude? Let’s just ride to the top, Chris, Randy questions.

DUDE, don’t ask why. Just do as you’re told, butthead! Ashley scolds him.

It’s an old Native American tracking style. We don’t want our objective to see us at the top of the hill. So we gotta walk the rest of the way up, and as we get closer to the top, we crawl. On the top of the hill, there’s no trees or bushes. Just tall grass. If we’re standing, we’ll stick out like sore thumbs. Now, everyone, take off your helmets and goggles. We don’t need any kind of reflective surfaces giving us away. They all comply and follow Chris to the top.

Lying down in the tall grass, overlooking the school, they wait patiently for any kinds of signs of life. The dead that surround the school seem to be more agitated than the ones they’ve seen wandering the city. They definitely seem to be drawn to this place. Maybe they’ve already left, Chris, Raylene says.

No no, look! There’s a few people coming out of that building that looks like the office. Looks to be about at least fifteen people, Paul points out.

Just then, they hear the crackling of a loudspeaker. IF ANYONE CAN HEAR MY VOICE AND YOU’RE IN NEED OF HELP, COME TO CANYON SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL. WE HAVE FOOD, WATER, SHELTER, AND FIRST AID. REPEAT! IF ANYONE CAN HEAR MY VOICE AND YOU’RE IN NEED OF HELP, COME TO CANYON SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL. WE HAVE FOOD, WATER, SHELTER, AND FIRST AID! The speaker cuts off, and shortly after, five more people walk out of the office into the quad area of the school.

No wonder the dead are so worked up! These people are ringing the dinner bell . . . and probably doing it daily. It won’t be too long before their gates give way and they’re overrun, Paul states.

You’re right. We gotta get back and tell the boss what’s going on here, Randy says as he starts to slide back down the hill.

Chris looks back and sternly tells Randy, Wait, dude. We gotta know more. How do we know that those people aren’t using that as bait to trap people and rob them or worse? Take Ashley and Raylene back and tell Kenny what you saw. Paul and I need to stay here, maybe even overnight to watch these people. If we ain’t back by tomorrow morning, come get us!

Nodding his head, Randy motions for the two women to join him and head back to the storage unit. At least we don’t have to worry about it getting too cool out here. Not with this summer heat, Paul jokes with Chris.

Before the three leave, Chris gives one last instruction. Stick to the same route that got us here and keep your distance from that school once you get down from this hill. And avoid any confrontations with the dead. The rest of the group needs to know that we’re still here.

Putting her hand on Randy’s shoulder, Ashley tells Chris, No worries, man, us girls will keep him under control and focused. They get their helmets back on and head back down the hill. The two men return to watching the group of people at the school; it seems that no rippers have made it that far up the hill. Their sole concentration is focused on the school. Hey, Chris, I got a question. Do you think that if those people down there weren’t using that loudspeaker, the dead would still be piling up at the gates trying to get in? I’ve noticed that some places we pass have considerably more dead than others. Like the storage unit where everyone is at . . . There’s no dead around there trying to get in, but we’ve passed a few grocery stores here and there, and it’s like the dead still wanna go shopping and shit!

Chris gives Paul a quizzical look and replies, I don’t know, man. I’ve noticed that too. Maybe there’s still something inside their brains that makes them wanna do the things they did when they were still alive. Try not to lose any sleep over it though. As soon as the sun goes down, get some rest, I’ll take first watch. Paul tries his best to get comfortable in the tall grass while Chris goes back to watching the group, looking for anything strange about the people there.

It takes Randy and the girls almost an hour to get back to the storage unit. The team spent most of the day looking for supplies and scouting the area and the school. When they return without Chris and Paul, the rest of the gang assumes the worst. Kenny comes storming out of the office as the three pull through the gate. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? WHERE’S CHRIS AND PAUL? he says frantically.

Easy, boss man. They’re okay. They’re up on a hill overlooking that school. Chris wanted to stay overnight and watch them more. They’ll be back in the morning.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kenny says, Dude! Don’t scare me like that. Taking off her helmet, Ashley asks if Adrian has woken up yet. Not yet, Kenny replies. He’s still out cold. No fever though. He keeps mumbling something though. Keep watch over him for a while. There’s still enough canned food for everyone to eat for another night. If they’re not back by morning, we’ll all go looking for them. Randy, give me a breakdown on the supply hunt. Ashley heads into the office and resumes the job she was doing the night before as Kenny walks off and talks with Randy and the rest of the group.

Inside the office, on the couch, Adrian tosses and turns and continues to mumble about whatever he seems to be dreaming about. They were hoping to be on their way by now; not liking to stay in one place for very long was a dangerous thing to them. But not finding any gas makes Kenny have to reevaluate their situation. Kenny doesn’t like having two of his people out there alone, but he trusts Chris and his decision. They need to know as much about the group of people in that school as possible.

Back at the hilltop above the school, night has fallen, and the automatic lights of the school have the entire place lit up. It helps Chris monitor the people inside. They don’t seem to be of any kind of threat. No guns to be seen, just handheld weapons of different sorts. From his vantage point, they don’t seem to be dangerous. Just people trying to stay alive and not get eaten. Next to him, Paul sleeps quietly as the hours pass. The night seems to pass quickly. Up in the hills, you used to be able to hear the sounds of nature like coyotes, birds, and insects. But with the dead in such huge numbers in the area, all the wildlife seems to have been scared away. Chris was supposed to take turns with Paul on watch, but he decides to just let him sleep through the night.

As soon as the sun is up, Chris wakes Paul up. Come on, man. Wakey, wakey . . . hands off snakey! Time to roll out back to the others.

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Paul yawns and replies, Hell yeah, man, this ain’t my first dance! Let’s go! They mount up and head back to the storage unit to report.

When they arrive, they’re greeted with cheers from the rest of the group. Everyone is happy for their return. Thank God, you guys are safe. I was about to send someone out to find you guys. What did you find out? Kenny tells the two men.

Chris answers, Well, boss, there appears to be about twenty people there. At least that’s all I saw—there could be more. I didn’t see them with any kind of firepower . . . no guns anyway. Just sticks, axes, shovels, and a few other handheld weapons. But the school is surrounded on three sides with those dead things. On the back side of the school, there are some small hills. That’s where we held up for the night. Also, the people inside are using their loud school speaker to shout out to anyone in that neighborhood, telling them if they need help to come to that school. All it’s really doing is attracting more and more dead every day. But overall, they don’t seem to be a threat.

Kenny takes a few seconds to think. If they’re not a threat, then we need to approach them before they get overwhelmed. Let’s draw up a plan.

Excited to be moving again, Chris begins to tell him the details of the surrounding area. Hey, boss, what about Adrian? Is he awake yet?

Kenny shakes his head no. Not yet, man. And we can’t head out to this school until he is. I don’t wanna leave him alone and unconscious. So as soon as he wakes up, we’ll be on the road.

Kenny has Chris get some rest and sends Paul, Randy, and Raylene back out to search for gas again. The rest of the gang continues to search the rest of the units until they’ve gone through all of them and scavenge all they can find. Paul, Randy, and Raylene are gone most of the day and don’t return until dusk. This time, they manage to find a few gallons of gasoline for the vehicles. When they pull through the gates, everyone greets them, happy to see they return unharmed and with gas.

Good job! Glad you were able to find some gas, Kenny greets the three-person team as he stands just outside the office side door.

With everyone focused on the returning trio and Ashley fast asleep at the desk in the office, Raylene points behind Kenny and asks, Hey, how long has he been awake?

Everyone turns in shock and sees Adrian finally awake, standing there with a bewildered look on his face. How the hell did I get here? he asks.

HOLY SHIT, DUDE! YOU’RE AWAKE! Kenny shouts.

Ummm yeah, I’m awake . . . How long was I out for? Adrian looks around for anyone to answer, but everyone waits for Kenny to tell him.

Two days, man . . . TWO DAYS!

Adrian’s eyes open wide. He can’t believe it. The last things he remembers was seeing the bus with the kids and his friends on it pulling away. TWO DAYS? WHAT THE HELL! WHERE’S ALEX AND ROBERT AND ALL THE KIDS? he shouts.

I don’t know, man. When we got there, you were about to be swallowed up by that horde of dead. We saved you right when you went down. We immediately got the hell outta there. Didn’t know if anyone had made it or not, so we brought you here. You’ve been out ever since we drove away from that place, Kenny informs him.

Adrian turns away from everyone and begins to mumble again. Two days . . . Two days? They could be anywhere by now. I need to know if they made it. I need to know if she’s alive, he tells himself.

Hey, man, we’ve been waiting for you to wake up so we can visit another school Chris saw to the south. From the looks of things, they’re about to be in real trouble, Kenny shares with Adrian.

Turning back around to the group, Adrian says, Thanks for saving my life back there, but I gotta go find out what happened to the rest of my group. They left in a school bus before you guys got to the school.

Paul chimes in, Look, dude, for the last two days, we’ve been scouting this city looking for gas and supplies. We’ve swept everything in a twenty-mile radius, and we didn’t see anyone out there other than these people in a school to the south.

Kenny motions for Adrian to head back into the office to tell him more of the details of that night and explain to him that it’s not safe for him to venture out on his own looking for his people. Look, man, we can’t spare any vehicles for you to search for your friends. They could be alive or dead. Who knows? What we do know is that there are some other people not too far from here that need our help ASAP. Come with us, and after we save or deal with these people, we’ll help you search for yours.

Reluctantly, Adrian agrees. He knows that he can’t get far by himself on foot and that there’s safety in numbers. So he asks to be filled in on the situation with this other school and offers to help in any way he can. It’s weird for him though. He was a leader with his other group; here he’s not sure who to trust fully just yet. Everyone lies down for one more night here. Tomorrow morning will be Adrian’s first adventure with these new people. He’s seen them fight before, but will they fight with him or against him?

CHAPTER THREE

If You Can Hear My Voice

Dawn breaks on the third day of their stay at the place formerly known as Henry’s Storage. Everyone is up and busy getting ready. No cheerful talking or bullshitting. Today is all about business. This is not their first time doing this, and it probably won’t be their last. Each person prepares mentally for what’s to come. Some of them say a prayer; others psych themselves into battle mode. Weapons are checked and checked again—blades sharp and ready to slice and dice, guns locked and loaded. They’ve discussed the plan all night—the layout of the school and the surrounding areas, what to do if things get ugly and they had to fight the dead and the living, where to fall back to if necessary, and where to meet up if anyone gets separated. No one gets left behind! The engines of all the off-road vehicles hum as they idle and warm up. Everyone hopes that the people inside the school are friendly and things go smoothly. At the same time, they’re ready for a fight!

Both sand rails in the group are four seaters. Usually, they use the backseats to carry supplies they find or extra weapons; but today, Adrian finds himself in the backseat of one. When they rescued him, Chris managed to save the sword he was carrying, and lucky for Adrian, he still had his pistols strapped to his body too. He may have run out of ammo that night, but the Moto X gang had plenty of reserve ammo for themselves and gave Adrian what he needed so that he wouldn’t be useless in the situation to come. He’s still struggling with his current position in this group. He didn’t want to go to this other school. He only wanted to find Alex again. Nothing else mattered. But if helping them now means they help him find her afterward, he’s willing to do what he has to for the Moto gang. Kenny seemed like a good person when they first met, and technically, Kenny and the Moto X gang had saved his life twice now. So Adrian blocks out those misguided feelings and his love for Alex and focuses on the moment. He has to stay alive if he wants to find her.

The gang lines their vehicles up mostly two by two, side