The Human Race (Book 2): The Fighting Chance Read online

  The Fighting

  Chance

  Book Two of

  The Human Race

  By: Tahnee Fritz

  Copyright 2014 Tahnee Fritz

  All Rights Reserved

  For Mom

  Part One

  “And another one bites the dust!” I exclaim as the blast from the gunshot fills my ears.

  The zombie falls to the ground in a puddle of its blood. The brown stuff sprays out from the wound on his head and is currently painting the green grass. It’s the fourth one I’ve killed today and the sixth counting the two my partner took down. Yet another good day as we sit perched about five feet above the ground in our little watch tower outside the city.

  Yes, I still live in Des Moines. It’s been a little over a year now and I don’t see things changing. This place is pretty awesome, especially when you’re quick to make a name for yourself. Which is exactly what I did. Living a monotonous life, doing the same thing day after day just isn’t my cup of tea. So, I did what I do best and made sure zombie killing stays in my repertoire. Good thing there was plenty of room on the security force and even more room for ideas on how to keep this place safe.

  “Nice shot, Bridget.” My partner, Keith, states with a hint of admiration to his voice, “You always hit them right above the eyes.”

  Keith is an older man I met before I joined the security. He used to be a veterinarian and chose to kill zombies and vamps instead of picking up where he left off when he got here. He’s just one member of my little team out here on the exciting side of the wall. There are twelve other towers, each with a team of their own. There are three towers to each half mile surrounding the city and two people to a tower. The project isn’t complete yet, but the city is hard at work on getting it there.

  The towers weren’t my idea, but I am in charge of my team. Dwayne is the mastermind behind it all. He came up with this idea about six months ago when a horde of over a hundred zombies charged the wall. They never got through, but the government in the city has been afraid of that happening ever since. Dwayne proposed the idea and within minutes it was approved. Naturally, he came to me to head up a team and we take the first shift of the day and another team comes out in the afternoon and stays till dusk. We don’t keep people out here when the vamps are hunting. The patrolmen on top of the wall take care of those things.

  I take a drink of my water and stare out to the woods in front of our tower. Not a day goes by that we don’t see at least one zombie. It might take a little while for them to show their ugly faces, but we always get a shot in. I get to share the fun of killing these things with five others who take just as much pride in doing this job as I do. That is the main reason I picked them to be part of my group. Since the towers aren’t finished, there are only three other teams during this shift and, yes, we do have a little contest each week to see which group kills the most zombies. The winners get the weekend off.

  The trees in front of us are quiet right now. That last zombie was the first one we’ve seen in a couple hours. There is not much time left in our shift, then we’ll be walking back to the gate and heading home. Vehicles and ATVs aren’t allowed on this side of the wall. Someone learned the hard way that the noise from the engine attracts zombies and it’s harder to aim when you’re trying to steer.

  “Got big plans for the night?” Keith asks as he checks how much ammo is left in his shotgun.

  I shrug and put the cap on my bottle of water, “Don’t know yet. Other than dinner and hanging out with Ryder.”

  “My wife is making her famous chicken casserole tonight. I say famous because this is the fourth time in the last two weeks that she’s cooked it.” Keith jokes.

  He’s been married since before the zombies and vampires took over. His whole family, wife and two kids, survived the journey to get here. They’ve even managed to keep their dog the entire time. Ryder and I have been invited over for dinner with his family on a few occasions and they are great. The kind of family I used to have. One filled with love and laughter and other amazing feelings only a family can give. I met Keith a few days after his family made it here. When the horde came to the wall, he was one of the first people to jump in line when I asked who’d be willing to step outside the gate and take the zombies down. He’s a pretty good shot and isn’t afraid of much anymore. Just like me.

  Carter is another member of my team. I didn’t really choose him, he sort of told me that he was doing this to make sure I don’t get myself killed. He became one of Ryder’s closest friends over the last year and has promised him to keep an eye on me while we’re out here. That and it’s really nice to have an old friend on my team.

  Speaking of old friends, I have to pay a visit to my dear friend, Sherry. I see her all the time, but she insists on me coming over at least every night. She lives in the house next door to mine, sharing it with her father, her cousin Dillon, and Seth. Oh, and I can’t leave out the newest addition to her little family, her son Isaac. Ever since we left Hatfeld, she and Seth really hit it off and got busy when they got comfortable. One thing lead to another and baby Isaac was born. He’s a cute kid with his daddy’s looks and his mother’s personality. I can’t wait to see what that’ll be like when he gets older.

  Ryder and I share our small house with Carter who made up the basement as his own so we could have the entire second floor of the house to ourselves. There’s a black cat who made a home with us as well. She comes and goes whenever she pleases because Ryder doesn’t have the heart to turn an animal aside. At least he let me name it. Vambie seems to suit the little demon just fine. Other than the mice and birds she brings home, I’m sure she would love to make a meal out of my hands and legs sometimes. She bites me every day, so naming her a mixture of the two monsters I hate the most seemed right.

  A slight breeze blows through the area sending chills up my spine. It’s that time of year when the temperature starts to drop. The days are getting shorter and snow will cover the ground soon. Compared to what I’ve gone through in the past, winter here is nothing. I get to stay indoors with heat and hot soup instead of fighting the cold and walking through it. I will have to do my job out here in the towers, but I’m sure we’ll have snow days every once in a while.

  I take a deep breath through my nose, smelling anything that could be coming near us. This gift of mine is another reason I’m so popular amongst the security force. It has saved quite a few lives and others have started looking to me when things don’t seem right. It still has yet to fail me.

  “Smell anything?” Keith asks.

  I shake my head and say, “Other than the few lying out there, not a thing. Zombies must be getting scarce today.”

  Keith smiles, “Good. Making it home in one piece is always a blessing.”

  I shrug, “Yeah, but it’s much more exciting when we see more than a few.”

  “Of course the magnificent Bridget would say that.” He jokes.

  I shrug, “I am known to be a bit crazy. If you ask Ryder, he’ll tell you all about it.”

  “I have before.” Keith replies. “It is quite amazing listening to your story of survival. Other than the crappy parts, I mean.”

  “I know. I do enjoy reliving some parts of my journey to this point in my life. Mainly after I met Ryder and saved his ass a few times. Life got even better from that point on.” I reply.

  Keith nodded, “Life got better when I got to Des Moines. No more fighting for food or killing off zombies and vamps. We still do, but this is easier. I don’t have to worry about my kids getting attacked or eaten or starving to death anymore. That and I have a home here. It’s great knowing I’ll have a place to slee
p from now on.”

  I shrug, “I didn’t mind sleeping under the stars or in a random building somewhere. I’m just glad I get to make a difference in this place.”

  Other than Ryder and my few friends being here, that’s my favorite part about the city. I can live with the rules and put up with the people that annoy me. As long as I still get to make a difference in the outcome of the human race, I don’t care where I am. Having humans survive what’s left of the world is the most important thing. Being part of the reason why we’re surviving adds icing to the cake.

  * * *

  I get home around dinnertime and the sky is slowly getting dark. It takes a little while to walk from the gate, even longer when I talk with some of the others on the security force. We had to tally up our zombie death toll and I’m proud to say that my team is ahead by three zombies. One more day to go and I’ll be relaxing this weekend. If things go right, it’ll be the third week in a row where my teams wins. We’re just that good.

  I walk through the front door of the two-story house and smell meat cooking on the stove in the kitchen. Ryder works for one of the construction crews in the city, building houses and expanding the living quarters here. He normally gets home after I do, but sometimes he gets here early and starts cooking. Thanks to Carter for giving him some lessons, he’s gotten quite good at it. I’ve had many great dinners here due to their cooking.

  Our house isn’t very impressive. It’s just like most of the small houses in the city. Two bedrooms on the second floor with a full bathroom. In the living room, there is a flat screen TV hanging on the wall. We don’t have cable, no one does, but we have plenty of movies to choose from. Most of the time we lounge around and talk about things. It’s rare for us to turn the boob tube on. The kitchen is small as well, with the normal appliances you’d see in a kitchen. There’s another full bathroom right before turning to get to the basement stairs on the other side of the kitchen. Carter fixed the basement up as his own little apartment and we never venture down there.

  I shut the front door and walk through the living room, “That smells amazing.” I say as I make my way to the kitchen.

  Ryder glances over his shoulder and tosses me a smile, “Thanks, babe. How was your day?”

  I shrug as I sit at the table set for three and say, “Eh, same as always. Killed some zombies, bullshit with Keith, then walked home. How was yours?”

  “Kind of boring. The house we’re working on is having issues so we all got off early. I went to the store and picked up a few things, then went to Seth’s. Isaac started bawling, figured that was my cue to leave.”

  I let out a slight chuckle, “That kid has quite the voice on him. He’ll be just like his mom.”

  He flips a piece of chicken over in the frying pan and it simmers, letting steam rise to the ceiling. I used to feel bad about having Ryder cook our meals all the time. That is until I tried making supper one night and it turned out very badly. I’m not even sure how I messed this meal up, seeing as how it was soup and all, but I did and I’ve never cooked since. Not that anyone’s complaining about it.

  The front door to the house opens and I recognize Carter’s heavy footsteps. I can hear him kicking his boots off before walking through the living room and into the kitchen. I’ve noticed over the last year that he’s kind of a neat freak. He likes to have a clean house and hates when things get left lying around. You’d think for a big guy like him, he’d be a lot less into cleaning and more into kicking some ass, but he’s just different.

  Carter walks to the fridge and takes out a few bottles of water. He sets each one on the table then sits in the chair across from me. After taking a big swig of the cool liquid, he shakes his head in disgust.

  “God, I miss beer.” He says.

  Des Moines is a dry city. Alcohol and tobacco are very strictly forbidden. People don’t need to be contributing to the problems of the world. Also, those two things can really affect your judgment if you’re face to face with one of the monsters.

  “You’ll get over it.” Ryder says.

  “I don’t know, man. Before all this, I could drink a six pack like it was nothing.” Carter replies.

  “Never had the opportunity to touch the stuff and I probably never will.” Ryder adds in. “Although, my foster parents probably bled beer and whiskey.”

  Carter laughs, taking another drink of water.

  Just like Ryder, I’ve never had a taste of alcohol. My parents only drank when they went out for dinner on date night. Dad never wanted that sort of thing in the house in case one of us kids decided to try a sip. He hated getting mad at us whenever we did something wrong, I could only imagine how much that would tear him apart if one of us got drunk.

  The familiar click of the dial on the stove catches my attention. Ryder is taking the frying pan off the burner and heads for the table. He dishes us each a decent sized chicken breast, then goes back to the stove. From the oven, he takes out a tray of bread then comes back and dishes us each a slice. Finally, he sits down next to me and takes my hand.

  Another thing that I’ve had to get used to about Carter, is that he is a really religious man. He goes to church service every Sunday morning, refusing to go to work until he’s done. He tries not to shove it in our faces about going with him or forcing us to see things his way. As long as we do one thing for him each night, he leaves us alone about it.

  He takes Ryder’s free hand and reaches for mine. I reluctantly reach across the table and let him wrap his fingers around my hand, then he bows his head and closes his eyes.

  “Dear lord, we thank you for another day on this planet. Another day of getting to survive when hell is on our doorstep. We thank you for this meal we are about to eat and for the opportunity of having food at our disposal. We pray that you help more humans find this city so they can have the same blessings we have been given. Thank you, lord, amen.” Carter lets go of our hands and lifts his head.

  I might not be very religious or keen on the whole God idea, but Carter sure is good at saying grace. Ryder’s done it a few times and I was made to try it once. I failed and things got a little tense at the table, but at least I tried. It’s just too hard to thank a mythical man in the sky who’s responsible for all the bad things happening to the humans. I probably shouldn’t have said my grace sarcastically that night, but I never have to do it again.

  I count that as a plus in my book.

  I take a bite of chicken, letting the flavor caress my taste-buds. I still can’t get used to eating this good every night. Having a home-cooked meal was rare for me before we came to Des Moines and I’m really trying not to take it for granted. I know things could go to hell at any minute. Vamps could find a way in or zombies could break through and this will all be a distant memory. I don’t really want to go back to searching or begging for food each and every day. Hoping I’ll find some tiny morsel to fulfill my stomach’s demands. I spent five years living like that and it’s one of the few things I don’t miss.

  “Oh, Bridge,” Ryder says, after swallowing the food in his mouth, “Sherry wants you to come over tonight.”

  I nod, “I know. She’s been hassling me to come over for a while.”

  “Why don’t you?” Carter asks.

  I shrug, “I don’t know. She has too many other girls hanging out with her all the time.”

  “Yeah, they’re called friends. You should try it sometime.” Ryder says.

  “I have friends.” I retort.

  Carter shakes his head, taking Ryder’s side in the argument I know I’m going to lose, “The others on our zombie task force don’t count. You need actual friends to hang out with outside of work.”

  “I’m sure those other girls Sherry has over aren’t so bad.” Ryder adds.

  I don’t know about all that. I used to be great at making friends with anybody. As long as they were nice to me, it didn’t matter who they were or what their social status was. The girls in this city aren’t like the ones I went to school with. Mos
t of them have lived here their whole lives and have never set foot outside the wall since it was built. They talk about having a great life and starting a family and having babies. They’re happy living an old-fashioned life where they stay home and the man goes out and does things.

  I don’t fit in with that type of lifestyle. I live for the adventure of life outside the wall. I look forward to waking up in the morning to go to work and do what I’m best at. They don’t understand me and none of them care to. It’s much easier keeping my friendship circle to those who share a similar interest as I do. The men and women on the security force and the other teams out in the towers defending the wall, are great friends in my opinion. They know exactly what I’ve gone through in life and many, if not all, of them can relate to my story.

  I take another bite of chicken. Their stares are starting to get distracting and a little awkward. It has been a few minutes since any of us has said anything and I know they want me to say the next thing. It wouldn’t be so bad to hang out with Sherry for a little bit tonight. I can’t lie, I hope it will just be the two of us. I know I’m wrong because she normally has her other two best friends with her all the time. They live across the street from us so it’s easy for them to come over whenever they want.

  “I guess I’ll go over there after supper. I’m not promising I’ll stay forever, but if it’ll get you two off my back about having friends.” I finally say.

  Ryder smiles with food in his mouth and says, “Good.”

  “Yeah, you can’t lose the only girl friend you have in this place.” Carter adds.

  I roll my eyes and rip off a small piece of my bread. I never thought living with two guys would be this annoying. The world didn’t prepare me for this sort of thing.

  * * *

  A little over an hour after supper and I find myself sitting on a recliner in Sherry’s living room. Ryder and Carter came along with me and are currently playing pool in the basement with Seth and Jim. Us girls are left alone in the living room to gab about whatever goes on in this city. I wish I could say it was just the two of us. I mean I really wish I could say that. There are just three other girls sitting on the couch beside Sherry and Isaac talking their lives away.