Dead Alive Trilogy (Book 2)- Cursed Resurrection

Misery Loves Company

"Hurry up," The giant called to Ryan as he led the way through the woods, "If you're going to see Jordan, and you are going to see Jordan, then you need to go faster."

"Well, it's easy for you to say, your stride is as long as a football field."

The giant looked back. Then he said, "John risked his life to save you. That puts you low on my favorite people list, I don't need you to be a smart ass now."

"Fine, " Ryan replied, "What's your name?"

"Ain't got one," the giant answered.

"No, really, give me your name."

"Told ya, I don't have a name," the giant persisted.

"Well how does that work?"

"Well," answered the giant, "People around the Bunker call me Tiny."

"Tiny ," Ryan repeated, "I see why they call you that."

Tiny rolled his eyes, shrugged and moved on. He led Ryan to a chain link fence. It was smeared with blood, most of it shoulder high. Ryan guessed that some Plaguers were here at some point. Tiny took a key out of his pocket and inserted it into a large, silver padlock. He unlocked it and opened the gate. It was more of a door, so only one person, or half a Tiny, could come through at a time. Tiny squeezed through and stepped to the side so Ryan could come through. After Ryan was in, Tiny closed and locked the gate and said, "Welcome to the Bunker."

The Bunker was a large field with rows of many consecutive, small rolling hills. No, the hills were buildings, bomb shelters or something. They had stairs that led down into them. Watch towers were placed all around the massive chain link fence that went around the whole field. People were walking in and out of the shelters. Most of them had some sort of uniform. Some people were carrying food, some were carrying supplies, some were carrying weapons. They all had stern looks on their faces. In short, the Bunker was just like a military outpost.

Ryan caught two people carrying a a rag, no, a man two a fire pit. They were followed by a sobbing woman. Ryan realized he wasn't the only person who had to give up all that he had to come to this point. He wasn't the only person with baggage. Every living person had lost something. But every person here had gained shelter. Ryan looked at Tiny. Tiny and John were the first people who didn't want to eat him that he saw since his house collapsed."

Tiny interrupted the thought, " Come on, we need to tell Jordan about this."

They continued walking. Ryan asked, "Who is Jordan, anyway."

"Our team leader. Jordan is also second in command here. In charge of scavenging, rookies, and getting the word about the Bunker out into the world to save as many people as we can. Plus, Jordan's the person who actually takes the strain of running this place. If you got a problem, you take it to Jordan."

Tiny le Ryan into one of the nearest shelters. Ryan slipped on the steps and almost fell. The inside of the shelters was military green. There was a door in the back indicating that there was another room in the shelter. A younger guy, maybe 15 years old, was handling some files at a desk. He looked up and said, "I'm sorry Jordan can't do walk-ins because there are too many people who need help. If you file an incident repor-" he saw Tiny and stopped, "Oh, my bad. Sorry, Tiny. Hey, who's with you?"

Tiny answered, "This is Ryan. We found him stuck in a tree surrounded by Zulus. John led them off," He then said to Ryan, "This is Dylan." He motioned to the kid.

At that moment, John barged into the room, out of breath. He said, "Man those guys don't give up. I led them in the opposite direction, then made a wide loop back here. That's tiring."

Tiny asked him, "Did any follow you here?"

"No," John said.

Dylan grabbed Ryan by the arm and pushed him through the door in the back. John and Tiny followed. The back room was neat, an odd thing to see during the end of the world. A girl in her late teens or early twenties was leaning forward with her hands braced on the desk looking pensive.

Upon the three entering, she looked up. She stared at Ryan, brow furrowed. Ryan realized he was doing the same thing. He thought he recognized her. He asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

" It's nothing, but I think I know you."

"I have the same feeling," Ryan agreed.

"Whatever," Jordan dismissed, "So there's away that things are done here. If you disagree, then you just have to deal with it, take it up with the board, or leave. Sorry, no exceptions. There are few givens, like don't murder, undead company excluded of course. You'll pick those up as you go along. You will work to benefit the community. We do not tolerate lazy douche bags. Dylan has a list of all the available jobs," Dylan handed Ryan a clipboard with list of job titles, most of which were crossed out, the empty job that immediately caught his eye was "Scavenger/Rescuer." Jordan continued, "Once you choose your job, we will transfer you to the proper area so you get the specific instructions for that job. Any questions?"

"Yeah, what's the board," Ryan asked.

Jordan answered, "When the Bunker was set up the founders decided not to let one man make all the decisions, so they made a board."

"Okay" Ryan was ready to pick his job, "Can I have the Scavenger/Rescuer job?"

"Okay," Replied Jordan, "That's my team... Oh, I forgot, what is your name?"

"Ryan."

Jordan's eyes widened immediately. She had a sudden look of realization, but almost nobody in the room saw it because it was quickly replaced by rage. Shew drew her arm back so her tightly clentched fist was next to her shoulder, then she threw it forwad and landed it right into the jawbone of Ryan.

Ryan hit the ground hard. Then he realized too. All his memories from highschool about this girl came flooding back. "Nicole," he said.

As Ryan was getting up John asked, "Who's Nicole?"

Ryan motioned to Jordan. To which John replied, "So Jordan is Nicole, and you know each other?"

Ryan nodded and said, "We went to high school together."

"Highschool," Jordan/Nicole scoffed, "That's it? We dated."