Dead Alive Trilogy (Book 2)- Cursed Resurrection

Beginner's luck

Ryan stepped lightly on to the mass of twigs and leaves that carpeted the forest floor. He had no idea where he was going, but Tiny must've because his steps were steady and intentional. Ryan took another deep breath, quietly as usual because Zulus had terrific hearing. John turned quickly. Hanging on a tree by it's ankle was a six month old Zulu. It's ankle was wedged in betweento limbs of the tree. Upside-down, it reached for the team. Its moaning was too loud, they would be heard.

"I'm gonna climb up there, see what happened, " John said.

Tiny nodded in approval. Ryan protested, "But it could bite you."

John dismissed it, "Don't worry, I do this alot."

He climbed up the tree on the opposite side of the Zulus. He went to the top of the tree and called down, "He must've got bitten and decided to off himself. He jumped but got caught."

John started to climb down, but Tiny stopped him, "Wait, I heard something. Can you see anything?"

John looked onto to the ground in the area around Tiny and Ryan. He was about to say no when they heard the most horrifying sound any of them have ever heard in their lives. The moaning was coming from all sides. Tiny called for Ryan to climb up to John as he sprinted to to the tree. Ryan was up first, but was closely followed by Tiny who had just gotten out of reach as the zulus surrounded the tree. 

"This is how," said Ryan. John looked at him a what expression. Ryan continued, "This is how I managed to get caught in a tree."

John chuckled.

They waited. Tiny had already contacted Jordan with his two-way. He didn't know how long it would take. They went in opposite directions, so who knew how far she had to go. There was sharp cracking noise. Ryan knew exactly what it was.

He said, "Okay, that's not good. There so many of them that the force on the tree is making it collapse. We don't have much time."

The tree suddenly shook violently causing John to fall off.

"Shi-!" he screamed until he hit a branch. He started to get up. Tiny stopped him.

"Wait! You're on the branch that's hanging that Zulu."

"Shi-" John bit his fist to keep from screaming. The Zulu was bending upward, trying to get a bite out of John. Ryan jumped down to help. When he hit the branch, it snapped partially. The Zulu flailing around made it swing up and down.

"Stay still, " Ryan called. He inched out to where John fell and held out his hand. John took it. Ryan heaved him up and led him back to the trunk of the tree. The Zulu had other plans.

The limb snapped off. John and Ryan made mad grabs for the tree.

"Shit!" screamed John. He and Ryan were hanging inches out of reach of the Zulus.

Ryan and John climbed up on to the lower limbs. The tree shook again, more this time. It gave Ryan an idea.

"Tiny, pass down your ax!" he called. Tiny unclipped his ax and dropped it handle first down to Ryan, who almost dropped it. Ryan slammed the edge into the tree as hard as he could at a 20 degree angle downward. He removed the ax from the trunk and slammed again, this tim at a 20 degree angle upward. As he kept repeating those motions, he told John to climb higher.

An hour later, after it went dark, Ryan was dead tired. The edge of the ax was worn down and pretty blunt compared to before. The tree had a 40 degree wide wedge cut out of the trunk. It was deep enough to go to the middle of the width. Ryan climbed up to John and Tiny. Tiny took the ax away from Ryan.

"What were you doing, killing us quicker?" Tiny scolded.

"Just trust me," Ryan said.

The tree shook the hardest it had yet. Ryan took a deep breath. He positioned himself so he was directly over the wedge he cut and leaned outward.

"I'm not gonna lie to you," he said, "This is gonna hurt." Just then, the tree snapped at the wedge. It tilted to Ryan's side and fell over. Ryan gritted his teeth and tucked his chin. The top of the tree hit a large boulder and left a few feet in between the trunk and the ground, just enough for Ryan to fall off. All three of them were lying on the ground. Ryan had successfully gotten them on the outside of the surrounding horde.

Tiny was the first to stand up. He reached down and picked Ryan up by the shirt. Jon was last. They scavenged all their items that they dropped when they hit the ground and left just as the crowd of Zulus arrived to their position.

Ryan ran through the forest. All he wanted to do was put as much distance between him and those Zulus as possible. Then he heard something. It was familiar, and was getting closer. It reminded him of the many ATV and Jeep outings to the woods he took with his family and Nicole- Jordan.

Suddenly, two bright lights blinded him. He jumped to the side just in time as a large Humvee Crushed the foliage and tree saplings where Ryan had been standing.

"Get in the car!" Jordan called from the driver's seat. Ryan showed his best relieved face, followed by a look that said, "It's about time."

Ryan hopped in the passenger seat before John could. John got in the back with Tiny who was so large that, dispite the size of the car, he took up most of the seat. Jordan drove a wide arc to the Bunker.

"Hey, Ryan," John said on the way, "You know how we made it out of that tree alive?"

"Sure," Ryan replied.

"Because it was your idea to cut down the tree." Ryan was confused, had John just complicated him?

"Um... you think it was a good idea?" Ryan stammered.

"Of course not, Jackass! That same thing wouldn't have worked if it was my idea. It's beginner's luck, kid. So I figure, at least for a few weeks, we'd better keep you around. Your idiotic plans might just work for a bit."

"Um, Thanks?"

Jordan snickered. John was... the unofficial morale leader of the Bunker, the court jester. If you had John's approval, you weren't just a citizen of the Bunker anymore. You were part of the family.