Writing Contest 2/JackTheChineseMonkey

Logan Xaiver.
I stood there, standing over him. I was shaking, my assault rifle almost falling out of my hands. The fierce sun shining down on me, burning my skin as I stood there. All around me were bullets flying, orders being shouted and bodies all around me, the desert was like a graveyard. I looked down at him. My friend. My brother in arms.

He looked back at me, but his eyes were empty. He wasn’t moving or breathing. Alex Monroe, my friend, was dead. The bullets were flying around me but I was numb. I couldn’t move. Why did I sign up for this?

Suddenly I was tackled to the ground and fell into a small ditch, tumbling down and dropping my rifle on the way. My friend and fellow soldier, standing over me. “We have to keep moving Logan! We’re almost there!” He screamed at the top of his lungs when suddenly a bullet ripped through the back of his head. He fell down on top of me as I struggled to move. I pushed him over and took a look at the back of his head. There was a long, deep cut in the back of his head, and blood was flowing out like a river. My trembling fingers reached for his wound, uncertain on what to do. I closed my eyes, to scared to even open them now. Slowly, the gunshots and shouts drowned out. I was alone.

I opened my eyes to a dark, small room. I got up and looked down at my uniform. It was gone. I was wearing jeans and shirt. It was casual, but the clothes were black with dirt, except for a few patches of a dark red colour. Blood? I stumbled towards the counter in the room, finding a flashlight and revolver here. Out of nowhere came from screams from the other room. I didn’t even need to see them. The people screaming were my family. I sprinted towards the door, swinging it open to a scene of pure chaos.

Standing with their back against the wall in complete fear was my youngest sister Lucy. She had a small knife in her hands but there were several walkers coming her way. Standing on top of the table was my older brother Josh. He held a shotgun in his hand and was shooting the small horde of dead around him. He screamed for my help. Standing at the main entrance was my mother, swinging a baseball bat at the dead, trying to hold them back. I ran to help my brother.

I smacked a walker on the back of the head with my flashlight sending him to the ground and shot another with the revolver. The shot seemed to anger the others, as they started to swarm me. I kicked and threw my arms around me to try stop them getting closer, but their numbers were getting bigger. Where were they coming from? There wasn’t this many before? Suddenly a walker grabbed me and we fell to the ground, knocking the table my brother was standing on.

I watched as my brother fell into the arms of the dead. It was like it was happening in slow motion. The arms enveloped him, and all I could hear were his deafening screams. I screamed out and barged through the walkers, knocking the majority of them away. I looked down at my brother, but couldn’t bare to look for more than a few seconds. His face, was torn apart like meat from a bone. I staggered through the walkers, pushing them away as I fell to the ground. I saw them surrounding my younger sister, and I ran to help. A walker grabbed onto her and leaned towards her neck. He was inches away, snapping violently like some piranha. I raised my gun in reaction, I was too far away to help. My mother screamed at me to stop as I pulled the trigger, but it was too late. The bullet ripped through the air. It didn’t hit the walker. It hit my sister in the shoulder. She screamed out in pain and let go of the walker in pain. The walker fell on top of her and started to devour her, the flesh ripping off of her bones.

I fell back, crying. “ No!” I screamed. The walkers were swarming me now, surrounding me like a pack of wolves waiting to eat. Through the herd of walkers I saw my mother being ripped apart, her arm coming off like a toy’s. I lifted the revolver and shot at the walkers screaming. “No! It wasn’t meant to be like this!” I screamed as I threw a walker into the wall. “I thought I could protect you!” I shouted as I kicked another walker back. “I’m fucking sorry! Just take me!” I yelled as the walkers ripped me apart.

I sat up in my sleeping bag covered in sweat. I looked around me, scanning the office room as I slowly stood up. It was a dream. A nightmare. A reminder. I looked over at my small pile of supplies. Some food, an assault rifle and a handaxe. An abundance of medical supplies. A dozen empty bottles lying around the pile. I covered my face in my hands, sighing as I did so. I hated nightmares. They were always about the people I had lost. The worst part is, I had lost more people than I could count. Every nightmare was different, different people and different mistakes. I walked over to the window and looked over a derelict Atlanta. Hordes of walkers marched around in pacts, waiting for an innocent human to mess up. I scratched my beard, it was getting long now.

Staying in a city wasn’t always a smart idea, but I liked it. The highrise building were normally safe and the chances of meeting bandits were pretty low these days. Sure, there were plenty of dead, but they were to outsmart in small numbers. It was the mistakes that got you killed. Plus, there is amazing amount of food left in this city. Truth be told, I was always a city boy. Staying in highrises at night to wake to a sunrise over the city was nice. Plus the countryside was more populated with people. Small groups were rather common in a way, you could normally find one every two weeks or so, not to mention the communities. Communities were starting to pop up now, some with around twenty people and some with a couple hundred. However they were extremely rare, and I was yet to find one that could fit my standards.

My standards were pretty simple when it came to communities. One, it cannot be a strict community, I don’t want to be a prisoner where I stay. Two, they have to be civil. I don’t want to be mistaken for a crime I didn’t commit or to get involved in some dispute with another group over land or food. Lastly, I have to be comfy when I sleep. Little pet peeve of mine.

I walked over to a desk and sat down and picked up the phone. “Hello? Anyone there? Didn’t think so.” I chuckled as I put the phone back down. I had only been part of a few groups, even fewer communities. I was never with one for longer than five months I think. I left very few of my own accord. Most of them all died. I could of done more to prevent it, I really could of. Some of them I got split up from. When you find a herd, or you get into a gun fight with another group things can get hectic, and the people you’ve survived with for months will flee. They won’t intentionally leave you, they may think you’re dead. But you’ll never see them again either way, they think you’re dead if they don’t find you within a week. One group I was kicked out from, the only group I didn’t see ripped to pieces by walkers or bullets. I guess it was better that way. Then again, I was falsely accused. I hope that David fucker had what was coming to him.

I had a rifle without any ammo but it’s scope was pretty good. I used it to scout out areas from far away. I picked up said rifle and opened a window, slightly leaning out of it. I raised the rifle and looked down the scope, looking around the streets of Atlanta. I did this often, scouted out the herds, seeing where they were going and making sure if any two herds formed together and made a even bigger herd. I saw that happen once, it was like two chemicals mixing together. They both walked into each others and the whole entire herd shuffled around for a minutes in a massive crowd. After a few minutes they started to head in one direction the same as before, this time twice as big. It was quite interesting to watch really.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Footsteps were coming from the stairs. I put my rifle down slowly as I turned to the door which lead to the stairs. I grabbed my hand axe and made my way towards the door, slowly pushing it open as I did so, it was like trying to not wake up your parents at night, near impossible.

Standing near the stairs was a walker. He had long stringy brown hair which looked like it could be pulled out without much effort. His eyes looked extremly sunked and he didn’t have lips, his gum and teeth were showing, blood dripping through. He wore a bikers jacket and long baggy jeans. I swung my hand axe into his eyes and pushed over the banister. I ripped my hand axe out just before the poor fucker fell. I leaned over to the banister, and to my dismay there were a small group of walkers making their way up the stairs. The falling biker didn’t help their mood, only making more eager to get upstairs. There had to be at least twelve. They would be here in a minute or two.

I walked back into the main office calmy, not wanting to panic myself or make too much noise. I walked over to my bag and supplies and filled my bag. I slung it over my shoulder, picking up a few empty bottles as I did so. They clinked in between my fingers as I walked away from the door. The stairs were the only exit, excluding the elevator shaft. But I wasn’t risking that shit. I already the checked it, the lift seemed to have fallen and took some of the ladder out while doing so. Shame.

I knelt behind a desk as I heard the walkers making their way inside. I slung my assault rifle over my back, too much noise. I peeked over the desk, trying not to show too much of make face. The small group was in the room now, the last one now walking in. I picked up one of the empty bottles and threw it across the room. It smashed against the wall moving the walkers away from the door. Only a few were in my way now. I just had to make a path. I picked up a bottle and got ready to throw it, but as I threw my arm back, I felt the bottle slip out of my hands. “Shit!” I whispered, looking back as it smashed through the window leading to outside. I looked at the walkers turned to the new source of sound, they started to make their way over here.

Fucking great. Not only was I out of bottles so I couldn’t distract the walkers in this very room, that could attract unwanted attention from the walkers outside too. I needed to move and fast.

I watched as a walker stumbled past me, I was literally sitting under the desk right next to it’s feet. I slowly shuffled away, moving under another desk. The walkers were literally surrounding me without even realising. I was one mistake away from having to use my gun, which was a mistake in itself. I leaned around the corner, and looked at the door to the stairs. There was one walker in my way. I quickly jumped up, startling the walker next to me, I pushed him to the side and he fell into a computer, making a big enough racket to grab the other walkers’ attention. I picked up a keyboard and swung it at the walker in my way, letting go as the keyboard snapped in half as it collided with his face. He fell to the ground and I jumped past, making my way through the door.

I reached into my bag and found my rope. I laid it onto the ground and brought out my hand axe, I used it to cut off a small section of the rope. I used this to tie the door handles together, basically locking the door. The walkers piled against it. The rope wasn’t going to hold for long, and I wasn’t to go wait for it to break.

I learned how to use bottles as way of distracting walkers from David, the man I mentionws earlier. He was a dick and a terrible leader, but he was resourceful. The guy didn’t understand that sometime murder was justified in some cases. He thought it was wrong, even in self defense. I tell you what is wrong, kicking someone out of a group who had saved all their lives at least once. Be it in the field or at home as a doctor. If they let me stay they might of successfully made it through their dispute with that other group. Hell, I even tried to help once I was kicked out. I remember that day well. The goodbyes as I was banished, me tracking this other group to get one last shot at taking them out. The attack went well, I killed a few and definitely caused them some problems at their base, but it wasn’t enough. I was shot and had to fall back. I found my group a few weeks later, in our old base, their bodies riddled with gunshot wounds.

I did what I had to, Rico had to be dealt with, if only David could see that.

I was walking through an alleyway when a gunshot broke the silence of the dead city. I gripped my assault rifle, waiting for another shot. There was nothing, until the screams came. They were getting louder and louder. These are the type of mistake I was talking about, the ones that get you killed in the cities.

It could work in my favour, I could clear the wal-mart, the sound would be a distraction… But then again, that was a person. Could be a bandit, a hero or even a child. Fuck, I couldn’t just leave without checking it out, someone may need my help. I owed it to Chuck to help.

I stuck to the sides of the streets, not getting any closer than ten steps to a walkers. The groans were like the symphony of the dead. It was horrifying. I turned a corner, and that’s when I saw it. A small group of three, surrounded by walkers. One was laying on the floor, and old man. Blood was leaking out of his leg as he tried to stop it, pushing down on the wound. A boy and a girl, maybe both in their twenties were trying to defend them. I had to help.

There was scaffolding on the right building, so I sprinted to it and pulled myself up. The walkers were too distracted by the screaming to even care about me, there had to be around thirty walkers. I reached into my bag, shaking as I did so. Moments like this always got me panicky, the moments were others’ lives depended on me. I pulled out a small hand grenade. I wanted to save it for a emergency, and this seemed like one. I looked over at the group and the girl had noticed me and was shouting for my help. I pulled the pin and threw it to the opposite building.

The blast was louder than I expected, and more powerful too. The windows’ glass shattered and chunks of the wall went flying. “Fuck!” I said, reaching for my assault rifle. I took the safety off, and looked at the herd. Most of them were distracted by the blast, did these guys need my help anymore? I mean firing my gun, an assault rifle, is like signing your life goodbye in a city, especially in a street like this. I looked over at the group, they were all shouting for my help. I couldn’t leave them just yet. “Get your friend up and get over here!” I screamed as I raised my rifle.

I shot at the walkers one by one, aiming for the head. I never shot more than two or three bullets at a time, trying to conserve ammo. The sound of gunshots was probably echoing through parts of the city, drawing all walkers nearby. I had to be quick. I made a path for the group to go through, and I continued to cover them as I did so. The boy helped the old man and pushed him up the ladder, I helped him up and then tried to help the other two up. I got them up and the walkers started to swarm the scaffolding.

“Jesus Christ you’re god send. My names Joey…” The boy started to say. I interrupted him by smashing the windows behind us with my handaxe. The old man was still screaming. “Lovely to meet you Joey, but introductions later, yeah?” I said as I jumped through the window. I helped the old man through the window with the help of the girl and laid him onto the floor. “Okay, you.” I said as I pointed at the girl. “Check downstairs is safe and see if there’s a table down there.” I ordered. She nodded and ran to the stairs, not wasting anytime. “Joey, man, go through my bag and get out the alcohol, bandages and hydrochloric Peroxide!” It was far from ideal, but it was one of the only things I could use to treat the gun wound.

I had already checked the old man’s wound as I bought him in. It looked like the old man had a gun in his pocket, and like the idiot forgot to put a safety on. It likely went off in his pocket. I pulled out a pistol of the mans pocket, it seemed I was correct. The mans screaming was making the walkers outside get more agitated. We were low for time.

“There’s a table down here!” The girl screamed from downstairs. “We’re coming! Joey, bring the stuff!” I said as I lifted the man. His hands clawed into my arms, almost making me drop him. I came to downstairs to windows being pushed upon by walkers and the door almost being knocked off it’s hinges. “Jesus! Get the door!” I said as I put down the old man on to the table. I grabbed the supplies off Joey as he sprinted past to the door.

“Okay man, my name is Logan, I’m an ex-military medic and I’m going to patch you up okay? You just need to bare with me.” I explained. The old man nervously shook his head, biting down on his sleeve. “This is going to sting a bit, but not for long.” I said as I began to apply the hydrochloric Peroxide. The old man wiggled around in pain, forcing me to hold him down. I passed the bottle of alcohol to him, tilting my head. “It might help. I’m trying to quit.” The man took the bottle, and started to drink.

A loud bash came from the door and as I looked over the walkers arms were pushing through a small gap in the door. I was going to have to be quick. “Joey! On my count, jump away from the door. You, girl, come help me now!” I said shouting over the walkers. I applied the bandage to the gun wound. “Dude! We just have to get across the street, we have a van!” Joey said as the wakers tried to grab for him. The girl came and pulled the man’s arm over her shoulder. I picked up my rifle and loaded it. “With fuel? Really?” I asked as I ran in front of the door and crouched like I was taught in the military. Having fuel these days was as rare as giving birth successfully. I’ve seen plenty of pregnant women since the end, I don’t know one that got their baby in the end.

“We’ve been careful with our fuel.” Joey shouted over the dead as they groaned. “Okay! I’ll make a clearing, then we get in the van and go.” I clarified, before raising my rifle. “Now Joey!”

Joey jumped out of the way ash he slung the doors open. I started to pick off each walkers one by one, but there seemed to a be a lot. Joey scrambled his way over to me, and picked up the old man’s pistol and started to fire. My gun started to click as it ran out of ammo. We were out of options. “Follow me!” Joey screamed as he ran into the small gap in between the walkers. The other two followed, and I had no choice but to follow too. We ran through as walkers clawed at us, trying to grab us as we ran. I swung my hand axe and cut off a walkers hand as it went to grab Joey, saving him. Joey swung the back doors to the van open and the girl and the old man got in. I slammed the doors shut as I ran to the front, jumping in.

Joey fumbled around with the keys as the walkers surrounded us. I started to reload my rifle just incase we had to run again. A walker pushed his face against my window, cracking it. Before I could react the engine came to life and we started to drive through the herd. “Come on! Come On!” Joey screamed as he ran down several walkers. It was a bumpy ride but we were soon away from the herd.

“Okay… Okay. Now we have the time, I’m Joey, in the back is Katy and Dave. I’m awful grateful sir. I need to know, is Dave going to be okay?” The boy asked, his fingers trembling. I clicked the magazine into my rifle, putting it down afterwards. “Yeah, he should be. I stopped the chances of infection and the blood isn’t flowing out as much. Worst comes to worst, he may need some blood. No worries there, I’m blood type O. I can give to anyone.” I explained as I kicked my boots off.

The boy smiled, chuckling as he did so. He tapped on the driving wheel. We drove past the skyscraper I was staying in the previous night, and I saw a small group of walkers around it. “You know, we could do with someone like you.” Joey explained, not taking his eyes off the road. I sighed. This wasn’t an offer I liked to reject, everyone always looked so hurt. “Joey, look you look like nice people, but there’s only three of you. Those aren’t great oods. And I can’t stand to watch anyone else die…” I explained carefully as I could. I was just making up excuses with the numbers, big and small groups, they all fall sooner or later. We were starting to leave the city now. “Wrong, back at home, there’s sixteen of us all together.” He said, pointing to a map on the dashboard. “Yeah but…” I started, but I didn’t get to finish.

“Look Logan, I’ll lay the pros and cons out for you. Cons first. We don’t have a doctor to help treat the wounded or ill, but that’s where you could help. We also don’t have actual leader at the moment, as our last one got his head torn apart by walkers. Finally, we haven’t scouted the whole area nearby, there could be another group nearby which could be dangerous. However, there is strength in numbers. We’re holed up at a school, and no one can get in without us seeing it first. There are barely an walkers in the area, we grow food and me and this girl called Stacy will often go hunting, ever since the end of the world huntings got easier, let me tell you that. Deer population boomin’! Our community is tight knit, everyone knows everyone and we’re willing to work together to overcome any shit storm heading our way. And we can sustain plenty more people, that’s why we were in the city. And we may now have a out of action David, for however long, but we got you. You can teach us things and we can teach you, farming, hunting, basic building, you name it.” Joey said eagerly.

“And I get you don’t want people to die. But the thing is, you turn me down or not, I’m going to die anyway. You’re going to die. Sooner or later we all die. But like I said, safety and strength in numbers. We’re prepared for hostile survivors or a herd. And one day the place might fall and we might be pushed onto the road again but we’re going to go down fighting! What’s the point in surviving if you’ve got no one to survive with? Come on dude, at least give the place a go…” Joey finished.

I sat there in the car, thinking of everyone I watched die. Everyone I had lost and never seen again. The people who abandoned me. The people who tried to kill me. The people I had killed. I looked at the countryside passing by. I really fucking loved the city. But it wasn’t going anywhere. I looked into the back of the van, watching Katy tend to Dave.

“Okay Joey, I’ll give this place a shot.”

I really hope I don’t regret this. Then again, I used to regret a lot of things. Not anymore.

I hope this place works out.

“Yes Logan! You’re going to love this place.”

A few words.
Firstly I would like to thank the wiki staff for organising this event and I would like to thank whoever is reading this. When writing this I aimed to make this act almost like a pilot, making you ask questions about the characters and what they were speaking about. What happened to these people that Logan is mentioning? Is this supposed school safe? I also tired to not have it so every walker is just gunned down, which I why I had the office part at the start. Overall if I had more time I would expand on Katy and Dave, but oh well:) I hope to receive good feedback and hopefully with this I can improve my writing:)