Free Beyond Death: Origins, Book 1 by Silas Cooper Page B

she and Richard had to say; she just didn’t want to be alone. Who could blame her? Jayda, with Sherri on her heels, followed Richard upstairs.
    “Give me back my phone,” she demanded.
    “Here. Have it. You wait for him. I wish you the best. He already ruined your military career, but I guess you have another leg to give up still,” he huffed as he slammed the phone into her outstretched hand.
    Despite the sting of his words, she tried to understand how he felt. He loved her, and right now every nasty thing he said came from a mix of two emotions, love and fear. He feared losing her, to a zombie or Chase. He wasn’t military. He didn’t have the grit she and Chase had. She’s married him for his kindness. Even though he didn’t show it now, she knew this impossible situation had silenced it out of his own survival instinct.
    “Jayda, get me some of your clothes for Sherri. Just an extra shirt and pants, maybe a jacket, then we’ll pack what food we can—water bottles and energy bars for the road. The car is in the garage. We can pack it up as full as we can, then take off out the front. We’ll run their asses over if we have to,” Richard ranted.
    Jayda moved in to help Richard pack. She placed in two sets of clothes, two jackets. Survival mode she knew well. Jayda looked out the bedroom window and scanned the street. It looked deserted. A quick stroll to the bathroom window on the other side of the house showed only a few of them lingered. Maybe even the dead gave up. 
    Downstairs, they packed all they hoped would fit in the car, and placed it by the door to the garage. Richard had a dry sink in front of it. She knew he didn’t trust the garage door to hold if a horde of them came knocking. So they packed and stacked, figuring they’d pack the car right before they left.
    Sherri, who had her nose pressed to a piece of wood over a window, looking out a small hole in the board, gasped. Jayda moved close to her.
    “What is it?” she asked.
    “Gun?” Sherri choked out.
    Jayda nudged her away and looked out the hole herself. She saw two shadowy figures stepping away from a car that hadn’t been there before.  They both had large guns, military grade, aimed and ready to fire, as they walked.
    She squinted in the dusk to make them out, but they had on hoodies with the hoods pulled up. The air would start to chill, but she figured it more for protection. The noise from the car must have alerted the zombies because they seemed to appear from all angles from around the houses.
    She watched as the muzzles of the guns flashed. Silencers. She held her breath as those things fell, one by one. She prayed this was Chase. In the meantime, she ignored Richard asking her what was going on. With her hand up to silence him, she watched the progress of the two men with bated breath.
    Moments ticked along like hours as each one of the creatures fell around the men. One was a sure shot while the other seemed a newbie. They made their way steadily toward her house. She’d demanded that Sherri duck down. As they approached, guns aimed at the house, she did the same. Richard followed suit.
    Seconds later a knock came at the door. Repetitious, as only a living human being could manage, she stood.
    “Don’t answer it!” Richard warned, grabbing her arm to stop her.
    “Jayda,” a voice came through the door.
    “It’s Chase,” she said smugly, a triumphant smile of joy and relief settling over her as she pulled herself from her husband’s grasp.
    Pulling open the door, she stepped aside to let the two men in. Chase held the door open as he motioned. Jayda saw another man emerge from the car and run to the house. Once they were all three safely inside, Chase turned to her. His eyes held wonder, love, and fatigue.
    She leapt into his arms without thinking. Relief showed in her muscles she hadn’t even realized were tight. Her mind went back in time with his strong and familiar arms around her. The gun at his side gave her