Marriane had a relapse during the night.She had been doing so well lately that Adam had almost forgotten that she was struggling with oesophageal cancer.The cancer had been a rude shock to the family when Adam was in his final years of college and his sisters had just been admitted to the University of Chicago.At first, their parents did not inform them about the situation, but they all got suspicious when their parents insisted that there was no need for them to come home to spend their holiday that semester.Adam came home only to meet his mother in a hospital bed.She just had her surgery.Though his sisters were not informed immediately, they eventually knew.All had been well in the household, apart from the fact that they were not doing so well financially since the exorbitant rate of $68,980 had been from liquidating the family business assets.They were all happy that the Stage 4 oesophageal cancer had not claimed Marriane’s life.The happiness was short-lived when the tumo
Carlisle and Ryan told the people to go back to their rooms.Sophia stayed with Marriane and continued crooning to her while rubbing her down with the wet cloth that she had asked for.Adam didn’t waste time before going out into the night to get his mother’s medication.“I will come with you,” Caleb said as he followed Adam out into the cold night, still bare-chested.“No, I will…”“You don’t know where the vial is,” Caleb said simply as he opened the door and jumped into the passenger door.He was silent for a while before he said “Are you going to tell us where you got the car from?”“Dad…”“Never mind, never mind. I must be out of my mind asking this right now when Marriane is lying in there like that. Can you drive faster?”Adam drove faster.They got to the house and came back without any casualties.It was as if the zombies were off the street for the night or they had decided to go elsewhere.Adam knew they merely got lucky though.Marriane was calmer when they got back. Thou
Adam drove for a while on the highway before he started hearing it.A thumping sound was coming from the Jeep’s bed!He had been tuning the radio dial to see if he could get any signal.No stations seemed to be on.All he was getting was static noise.Adam quickly switched off the radio to be certain that he had not imagined the sound from the back.There was silence for a moment, but then the sound came again.Wondering what could be making the sound, Adam thought of parking right there to check.But on second thought, he decided to move farther from the residential areas.He was not fooled by the calmness of the surroundings. He was sure that there were zombies lurking around, just beyond sight. He was not about to deliberately call them to feast.The first thought he had was that the one making the noise from the boot had to be a zombie who had managed to hide there when he was not paying attention.Adam knew that zombies don’t go down without making noises that could attract atte
“Oh fuck it!" Adam swore under his breath, some paces away from Jeremy. Then he reversed. “Get in. and I don’t want to hear a thing from you!” He snapped when Jeremy wanted to talk. “You want an adventure, yeah? Well, you are about to get one!” Adam said. He had briefly thought of taking Jeremy back to Maradoit, but the thought of his mother’s health and his sisters’ safety made him let go of the thought. The boy would need to learn how to survive eventually. He might as well start now. Adam just hoped he wouldn’t end up getting the both of them killed. Adam lifted the Jeep over a fallen car with a bloodied car seat. “Oh, cool” Jeremy breathed in excitement. “How did you…” Adam turned his “What did I say” gaze on Jeremy and the latter shut his mouth immediately. Adam almost missed it. Just as he was lowering the car down, he saw a pharmacy from the corner of his eyes. He quickly slowed down. “Why…why are you slowing down?” Jeremy asked immediately. “You know...you are n
Adam stepped over the zombie as the crystal core disappeared.The Katana sang its deadly tune, and Adam sank it deep into the neck of one of the zombies he had seen in the doorway.He wondered briefly where the other had gone, but he couldn’t dwell for long on that.He took a step in the direction where the baby’s shrieks had increased.He needed to shut that baby up before it got all of them killed.“Get the fuck away from me!" Another shout from outside got Adam’s attention.That boy!Adam swore in anger as he changed direction again.He now knew why the other zombie had not come for him.It had turned back and joined five other zombies that had surrounded the Jeep.They were hitting the glass in an attempt to get to Jeremy.When that didn't work, they started pushing hard at the car as if to topple it over.A smaller car would have been rocked by their desperate push.Adam didn't want to risk finding out if the Jeep could hold either.Yet the boy kept shouting, “Get the fuck away
Adam came across his first semblance of order after crossing the Milwaukee border.Jeremy had narrowly missed being bitten by a persistent zombie who hung on to the car door.Jeremy had thought it was a good idea to get down to help Adam when he got mobbed by zombies while he was trying to fill the storehouse with dry fruits from the fruit market.The zombies thought otherwise.Adam had to rescue the boy from getting killed.Then the fat zombie clung to the car door.Adam couldn’t stop the car as he told Jeremy to shake off the zombie.“He wouldn’t let go!” Jeremy shouted in fear as the zombie snarled at him through the glass.The half-opened window was the only thing separating the zombie from Jeremy.It clung hard to the car, even as Jeremy tried over and over to pin the car door firmly against its hand so it would let go.The zombie’s veined, gray eyes bulged as the car picked up speed, and its legs dragged after the car.Still, it did not let go.Hand pinned against the door.Bloo
“Criminal”“How can he do something like that?”“Do you see the bloodstains on his clothes? He must have been doing this for so long.”Adam hardly took note of the whispers of the people in the cars as he wondered what had happened to Jeremy.“Jere…” His attempt to take a step towards the boy was hindered by another fist strike to his face.“Stay away from him, murderer!” the officer who had accused him shouted as he went over to where Jeremy was lying on the hard, dirt-packed ground.He used the nose of his hard boot to nudge Jeremy.“Hey, boy! Get up!”“He has fainted, you bastard!” Adam shouted in frustration.As he saw the boy lying there, unmoving, all he could remember was Old Larry’s dying face and the promise he had made.“He needs to get to the hospital! Help him!” Adam shouted agitatedly as he tried to remove his hands from the handcuff.“And who said you could raise your voice at us, criminal?” Another officer said, with a sneer.The officer raised his hand to hit Adam aga
“I will get us killed for sure.” Jeremy muttered for the umpteenth time as he concentrated hard on the road. He bit down on his lips as he turned the steering wheel the way Adam had shown him. “Better you do it than for the zombies to get us,” Adam said in a muffled tone as he scooped out a handful of raisins from its bag and tossed them in his mouth. He munched it fast and turned to see Jeremy give him a sceptical look. Jeremy turned his head away fast when he saw that Adam was looking at him. “What?” Adam asked impatiently. “You wouldn’t tell me how you brought out so much food? I saw that you did not bring it out from the backpack," Jeremy said hesitantly. He kept his eyes on the road as he turned the steering wheel again. He turned his body in the direction he was turning the steering wheel, as if that would help him steer better. “You are not dead, are you?” Adam said shortly before he leaned over and used one hand to help Jeremy guide the car back onto the road. The ca
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Adam left the house after Theo was buried.Even though Lisa was not happy with the idea, she respected his decision after warning him to stay away from danger and call her from time to time.Layla paid him no attention as he left and in a way, he knew she might never really forgive him.Reminding himself of how much more important the art of survival was to them at the moment than the matters of the heart, Adam became a scavenging nomad.Layla was right in a way after all, if Theo had not been with him, he wouldn’t have died.So he thought of the best plan.To travel alone from place to place, helping those he could and educating people more on how they can beat this thing.He gathered men from place to place, and trained them in ways they could get food, avoid attacks and how they can survive.Soon enough, Lisa and the others made out the first batch of the new vaccine they were working on.It was a vaccine that could mask people’s scent when they are near zombies.They had been able
“Please tell me you were not out here all night.”Adam threw the soil off the shovel and swiped at his sweaty brows before looking back at Lisa.She stifled a yawn as she peered at him through bleary eyes. “You really have been here all night?”Adam smiled as he said, “Pot. Kettle.”“Well, excuse me. I have been trying to think of ways to save lives. What is your excuse?”Adam’s smile was gone as he said, “I have been trying to do what I can to preserve the body of the life that was taken because of me.”“Oh, Adam,” Lisa said in a heartfelt tone as she came closer to him. “She blamed you, didn’t she?”“She was right,” Adam said automatically. “I couldn’t even get the tools yet a man died because of my decision. That is not on anybody, Lisa. It is on me.”He turned away and continued digging again.He ignored Lisa’s approach and continued to dig in a frenzy.His back glistened with sweat in the cold air and the increasing light of dawn brushing the sky.“Adam!” Lisa called sharply when
“So it was your fault!” Layla said immediately Adam finished his narration.She had been holding herself so rigidly as Adam told them everything without sparing any detail.Even as others gasped and muttered with sympathy and shock as Adam explained exactly how Theo had died, she had only stood their with soot and sweat drying on her body.With her arms tightly around herself, she stood still, like she might crumble if she moved.Tears falling from her eyes had increased, but she didn’t say anything.Then, immediately after Adam completed his narration, she blurted that out.“Layla, I don’t think Adam...”“No, it was his fault.” Layla cut Maddy off. “If he had not told him to stop, if he was not so concerned about getting some goddamned farming tools, Theo would still be here with us!”Each of her words dug a dart into Adam’s heart.He had not expected that from her.From anyone else, he could have expected the hateful words coming out of her mouth.But not from Layla. She was...Layla
It didn’t take Adam long to realise that his guess was right.The fiery halo was nothing but a blazing fire.“Who the fuck was making a fire out there?” he wondered as he ran with all his might.He started hearing the sounds of rushing feet ahead of him as well.Soon enough, he caught up with Maddy and some other men also running in the direction of the fire.“What is going on?” Adam asked instantly.Maddy’s eyes widened in surprise as she saw him. Without stopping, she said, “You are back! Good, we are about to find out who the fuck wants to die so badly.”They burst out into the opening to see Jared struggling with Molly!What the… “Hey!” Adam called out in fury.The two struggling figures turned to look at Adam.At least Jared turned.Molly used that opportunity to send her elbow into Jared’s guts.Though her hit didn’t do much to hurt him, he grunted and staggered back a bit.That gave Molly the chance to turn around as well.Her face fell when she saw Adam.Then she looked guilt
Adam recognised the car even before he saw the cutout van behind it. His heart leaped for joy when he saw Layla at the wheel of the car. But then his happiness was tainted by what Lisa just told him. He looked back at his sister just as the car parked. “You are sure?” he asked urgently. With tears in her eyes, Lisa nodded. Adam stepped out of the car. “Adam!” Layla called excitedly as she rushed forward to hug him. The men in the van came down just as Layla realised that Adam was not as excited as she was. She moved back from his embrace and asked, “What is wrong? Were you able to get…” Layla saw Lisa at the back of the car just then. She smiled in greeting and said, “Glad to see you are okay, Lisa.” “Hi, Layla,” Lisa responded in a gloomy tone. That made Lisa’s brow rise in confusion as she looked back at Adam and asked, “What is the problem?” Adam didn’t bother to mince words. “It is Theo,” he answered. Layla automatically looked towards the airplane, where Jeremy w
Hoping that he wouldn’t cause their crash, Adam quickly turned his phone on and searched for how to land an airplane while it was on autopilot.He could see the anxiety on Lisa’s face as she removed her jacket and placed it on him to keep him warm.Silent and morose, Jeremy stared intently at the unconscious body.Lisa looked up at Adam and he could feel the hope dying in her as she asked, “How far to go?”“Not too far,” Adam stated.Not that he was so certain of all the digits and radars on the system.He just hoped they would soon be in Sydney.He was glad for the fact that Theo had already inputted their destination into the control system before the unfortunate incident happened.Adam looked over at the body on the floor.The blood had finally stopped.Lisa had made sure of that.Still, Thomas remained very unconscious.When Adam had checked his pulse earlier, it had been threadbare.Things were not looking good at all.Adam took his mind off the morbid thoughts and focused on sea
Adam ran as fast as his pain-wracked body would allow. The angry shrieks and snarls behind him were thrumming in his head. Even though the sword kept slashing zombies down behind him while following him, the zombies were relentless in their pursuit. At that moment, Adam thought fondly of the chemical the Emir’s men had used on the zombies. He would make it his life mission to ensure they had something like that too. That was if he survived. Which was not looking so likely at the moment. The bites on his body hurt like hell as he ran without pause. The overgrown weeds slowed him down, while the mindless zombies plowed on without stopping. He had to turn to shoot at the closest two zombies that escaped the sword’s reach, even while backing away. The zombies were gaining on him as the airplane came into view. He could see the anxious faces of Lisa and Jeremy by the window as they were yelling something he couldn’t hear. The sword gained him some ground as he quickly climbed th
They started coming from everywhere. The more the zombies that were with them snarled and growled, the more other zombies started coming to join the feast. Adam regretted his urge to stop at that place. As he swung, slashed, and cut, he wished he had never thought of stopping at all. He took no notice of the crazily increasing storehouse.Cores dropped in succession and the storehouse increased in tune with it.Adam was too busy fighting for survival to marvel at the size of the storehouse.One couldn't stand at one side and see the other side of the storehouse again at this point.Adam was sweating profusely as black blood flew yet more zombies poured out of what had once seemed like a ghost town.It was like entering a hornet’s nest. The more he killed, the more they started coming. Theo was holding his own, and Adam was helping him out whenever he could. But when Adam was able to pull out a gun and toss it to Theo, the gun fell to the ground uselessly as Theo shouted, “I don