Alive and Fighting: New in Town Read online

  "Nero, you in?" Johnny called into the room as he entered.

  "He's with Mr. Williams, but I can help you." An olive skinned young woman in white scrubs with a red arm band said, showing Johnny and Amy in. "What seems to be the trouble?"

  "This is…uh…Amy! She was attacked by a Reaper, Jenny. I've got questions for her, but I want to make sure she's okay, just joined us yesterday believe it or not." Johnny explained.

  "Wow, day one and tackling Reapers. Where's it hurt, babe?" Jenny asked as Amy hopped onto the table.

  "She punched me in the stomach and shoved me to the ground, honestly I'm surprised it's still hurting." Amy said, gesturing to her torso.

  "Mhmm, Johnny if you could step back I'm gonna pull the curtain closed. Amy, could you take your hoodie off?" Jenny requested, to which both Johnny and Amy complied. "Feel free to ask your questions Johnny, I'll be able to figure this out silently. Lie back if you would Amy."

  "Did you get a name?" Johnny quickly asked, very interested.

  "No, I asked her, but she didn’t tell me." Amy told, as Jenny observed the dark bruise on Amy's stomach.

  "Hmm. Any defining marks? Tattoos, jewelry, weapons?" Johnny questioned, still interested.

  "She was covered by her hood and pants, so I don’t know about tattoos. She was wearing a choker and had a whip. Does that help?" Amy said, remembering all she could.

  "Well that's impressive. Only their top field agents get to wear chokers, your survival is surprising me more and more. The whip is a bit of a dead end, that's kind of their signature secondary weapon to their scythes. Did she want something from you or did she just attack?" Johnny asked, respect clear in his voice.

  "Yeah, she saw me kill a zombie and offered a job audition. When I refused, she attacked. I used the zombie's body to block her whip. The barbs on it got stuck so I pinned her against a dumpster with my knife to her neck…I offered her a chance to leave, stupid I know. That's when she hit me." Amy somewhat shamefully admitted as Jenny checked her bandaged arm, giggling when she found out it was a tattoo, not a wound.

  "I admire your respect for human life, but Reapers don’t deserve second chances. You see one, you kill it. Well, I'm damn proud of you and I'll be talking to Mr. Williams about an immediate promotion. Anything else?" Johnny asked from behind the curtain.

  "Yeah." Amy responded, remembering the spoils of the fight. "I got her whip and choker, the whip was still stuck in the corpse and my knife freed the choker."

  "Toss the choker over the curtain, it might be enough to tell us who she was or what her rank was." Johnny excitedly requested, to which Amy complied.

  "Do their accessories really tell that much?" Amy asked, throwing it over.

  "You’d be surprised…Holy shit. The fact that you're still breathing puts you in a group probably no bigger than seven. The woman who attacked you is Angel. She's ruthless, loves killing, prefers torture. As far as I know only you, me, and a handful of Great Apes have fought her and lived. Fuck asking, you're promoted." Johnny proudly exclaimed through the curtain.

  "What? It's only my first day, I haven't even been assigned a barrack, or a field test, or anything." Amy babbled, stunned by the news.

  "Amy, did you hear me? You lived where veterans have died. I do understand you're not experienced in our day to day, but I'll take that into consideration as to what type of promotion you get. Also, screw barracks, you're getting a room in the Thorn. I'll send someone to take you to your room once Jenny's done." Johnny stated plainly from behind the curtain.

  "Speaking of, I figured what's causing the pain. It's actually something I've seen come through here a lot recently. Angel used a localized nerve stimulant, doesn't actually cause any damage, just mimics severe wounds to cause the body to overreact. My guess is she had a ring or some other small piercing weapon on her knuckles coated with it." Jenny announced, handing Amy her hoodie back.

  "Same stuff that had Spike out for a few days?" Johnny asked, after Jenny reopened the curtains for Amy.

  "It would seem. Luckily Amy here only got a nick of it, the introduction site was tiny, barely a pin prick." Jenny answered, cleaning her hands.

  "Are we working on a counter measure? We can't afford to have our top field agents incapacitated by punches." Johnny asked, before turning to Amy, "No offense of course."

  "None taken, and it's fine, I'm starting to feel better anyway." Amy said, standing up off the table.

  "Lie to yourself Amy, but don't lie to us, especially in front of a doctor. We know how this stuff affects people." Johnny laughed, putting his hand on Amy's shoulder.

  "As to that counter measure, yeah we've got some people working towards that. Vultures are closer though. Odds are they'll have it worked it real soon. We can just start making it ourselves when they start shipping it out." Jenny added, drying her hands off.

  "Odds are higher that they engineered it too." Johnny chuckled, leading Amy from the room. "Thanks for the help Jenny, give Nero my regards if you would."

  "Of course, try not to get hurt out there!" Jenny jabbed in reference to his many scars, to which Johnny stifled a laugh.

  "Follow me, if you would Amy. Gonna get you all set up in the Thorn." Johnny said, heading out of the Warehouse towards the towering Thorn.

  "Great, should I get my stuff first?" Amy asked, remembering all the gear she'd brought from the Alamo Graveyard.

  "Spike, can you get Amy's things brought up to room…seven-twelve?…Thanks bud." Johnny requested through a walkie-talkie.

  "Oh, thanks." Amy said, as her stomach hurt again at the thought of carrying all her belongings.

  "That's why I called for your stuff to be brought up, I'd prefer to keep you out of the infirmary again on your first day." Johnny chuckled as he opened the doors of The Thorn.

  The bottom floor of the Thorn was remarkably empty. The floor was littered with small holes where in a bygone time, small poles and chains would have been screwed in to allow a long line to form. In the back of the room was a circular desk against the wall where a young woman sat. She wore, like almost every Harvester, a white hoodie. Her hood, unlike Johnny's was worn down, letting her jet black hair frame her face.

  "Emma, could I get room seven-twelve's key? This, by the way is Amy. She'll be the one living in that room." Johnny explained, approaching the desk.

  "Sure Jonathan…so, I guess you decided not to follow up on our date?" Emma plainly asked, while retrieving the key from a locked case behind the desk.

  "Kinda workin' right now Emma, can we talk about this later?" Johnny quickly requested, taking his sunglasses off momentarily.

  "Fine." Emma agreed, tossing the key over Johnny directly into Amy's hands.

  "Thanks…Uh, Amy, the elevator's right around the corner." Johnny said, putting his glasses on before turning back to Amy.

  Johnny silently took Amy to the elevator and pressed the faded number seven. Slowly, the elevator rose up the Thorn until coasting to a stop and sliding its doors open. Amy's new room stood not ten feet from the elevator, which Johnny quickly disembarked after waving Amy ahead. The room was larger than any Amy had been able to call her own. Comprising the entire back wall of the room was a giant glass window, looking out over the Harvester compound and the city beyond. Branching from the main room to the right was a bathroom and to the left was what must have been a closet.

  "Wow…" was all Amy could say, looking over the city. "How, or really why are there rooms like this here?"

  "This whole place used to be some kind of haunted amusement park. The Warehouse was a labyrinth, from what I hear they shut it down just before the Infection when some kid got lost in the building and almost died when he got trapped behind a rotating panel. The storage basements were made up to look like a graveyard, kind of the same sort of attraction as the warehouse was, but with a more open feel to it. They called it the Necropolis. This tower, shame it never opened publicly, each floor was themed differently. This one was like a haunted hotel or something. Stay off
the third floor, it was set up as a butcher's shop or something, and we just fuckin' can not get the smell out." Johnny explained, smiling at the window.

  "I'll keep that in mind." Amy laughed, stepping down towards the window to the platform where the bed rested, looking out the window.

  "Spike'll have some people up with your things soon…Amy, you're gonna do great things here, we're proud to have you…Seeker." Johnny said, turning to leave the room, adding the promotion just as the door was about to snap shut.

  Amy sat down on her new bed and stared through the massive window over the complex, over the streets, over the city of Blood Oak. She watched as zombies shambled across roads towards alleys, as Harvesters moved around the ground below her, as Graveyarders pulled salvage from the ruined skyscrapers. Throughout the city, Vultures were studying the zombies and distilling them into powerful narcotics, Great Apes dashed across rooftops listening and eavesdropping on everyone's deepest secrets, Reapers kicked in doors and plundered homes, The Klan spread fear to the ends of the city limits, and everyone else simply tried to make it day by day. The world was a dark place, for many a number of reasons, but currently because the sun was just setting behind Blood Oak.

  Also available in the Alive and Fighting Series

  Alive and Fighting: New in Town

  Alive and Fighting: Every Sin a Saint

  Alive and Fighting: Lost and Found

  Alive and Fighting: Revelations

  Alive and Fighting: Heroes in Blood Oak

  Alive and Fighting: Addictions

  Alive and Fighting: Carrion

  Alive and Fighting: Broken, Part 1

  Alive and Fighting: Roads Walked

  &

  Alive and Fighting: Parting Gifts (Coming November 2013)