Free Beyond Death (Book 2): Apocalypse by Silas Cooper

in circles between the sound of the Humvee and Dax’s horn.
    “We can’t save him,” Frank said, looking at Chase.
    “Bullshit,” he yelled as he opened his door.
    Gun out, he fired off a few rounds. Frank grabbed him. The two struggled a second before he felt a zombie swipe at his back. Instinct had him jumping back in the vehicle. Luckily, instinct had Frank fire at the closest zombie and then slam the door.
    Chase leaned against it even as several more zombies banged their bodies against it. In a daze, he watched their hands hit the window. Flesh seemed to slide off their bones with each hit. Catching his breath, he swallowed over the nausea threatening to empty his already empty stomach.
    Frank tried again to slam more of them into the building. When a small window opened between them and Dax, he saw the man smile and then salute him. Next thing he knew, Dax blew his own head off. Before this could register, Frank turned around the Humvee and fled.

Chapter Twenty-One
    Although he’d planned to find out more about the guy they’d picked up on the ride to the military base that Frank had called a compound, after losing Dax, he’d said nothing. The image of losing him played over and over in his mind. It could only be silenced by memories of all Dax had done for the group or by Jayda moving the hand that she’d placed over his.
    When they reached the compound, he couldn’t tell if the mood that ran through the van was relief or excitement. Probably a mixture of both drowned out by their losses. Each woman had cried at some point on the trip there. He was sure that Dax’s tragic death had only dredged up their own losses along the way.
    As they pulled up to the gate, an armed guard came up to the window. Frank flashed him a badge of some sort.
    “We’ll take the weapons,” the guard said, his own gun poised at the ready.
    “What does he mean, take the weapons?” Chase asked Frank.
    “It’s just protocol,” Frank answered as he handed over his own weapon.
    “I don’t want to do that,” Chase said back.
    “You have no choice. It’s fine. This isn’t the outside world. We’ll be safe inside these walls. You have no choice. Either walk away armed or go in without,” Frank shrugged as he finished.
    The doors all opened and guards stood awaiting their decision. At the moment, it seemed they may just be shot on the spot if they refused. So, after that step was completed, the vehicle was then searched as were each of them. They got to get back into the Humvee and drove in.
    After exiting, they were handed over by Frank and his friend to a military man. Chase and the group followed him. The tension built in his already tight shoulders as they moved further and further into the building. He would have been far worse off had he known that the man leading them through the building had been the same one that had killed Lucas’ brother, Dr. Benton.
    Chase finally broke the tension by asking the guy where they were going.
    “To the living quarters to get you checked in,” he answered frankly.
    They continued to follow him until they reached a large metal door. Using his thumb as verification, the military guy made the door open. It closed after them, making Chase jump.
    “Food or testing?” the woman who sat at a desk just inside the door asked.
    “You decide,” the guard gave a tense, brief chuckle. “I could care less.”
    “Wait, what does that mean?” Chase asked the man even as he walked away from them as if he hadn’t heard him.
    He looked to the woman who seemed to take some kind of pity on him.
    “I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you, but you were brought here to be either used as food or testing. Please remove all of your clothes,” she demanded in a flat tone.
    Chase tried to refuse. He even started to scream at the woman. Soon though, he found himself struggling with a guard who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. He threw a punch, but before he even felt it land, an arm snaked