The Weak and The Damned Read online

  The Weak and The Damned

  Samuel Lee

  Copyright © 2015 by Samuel Lee

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: July 2015

  Dark Worlds Publishing

  Table Of Contents

  The Weak and The Damned

  Chapter ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Chapter ONE

  The sun-baked white sands of the Florida gulf coast seemed endless, spreading for miles as far as the naked eye could see.

  On the surface, the coast seemed peaceful and unblemished by the umbrellas, folding chairs, or other clutter commonly found on such beaches. The hot landscape was scoured clean by salty sea breezes and barely disturbed by the activity of a small beachfront community.

  Consisting entirely of a handful of picturesque villas, the multimillion dollar community no longer contained the wives and offspring of powerful businessmen. Its current residents were several dozen hard-eyed men wearing modified military uniforms.

  The community's gated entrance was reinforced with concrete road blocks and stalled vehicles. Each approach was carefully guarded with constant patrols sweeping the streets and alleyways between the homes.

  One of the spacious villas housed Captain William M. Lawson, his belongings, and until recently his young mistress. Lounging on the villa's large back sundeck with a few view of the clear blue water Captain Lawson appeared deceptively relaxed. In reality, the tall, heavily muscled, battle-hardened soldier was intensely aware of his surroundings.

  Every few moments his hand absently caressed the rifle that leaned against the side of his deck chair. The sound of approaching footsteps brought William to his feet before his aide, a 16 year old recruit, could speak.

  "Captain!" Second Lieutenant Gardner barked as he saluted crisply and waited while William sketched his own returning salute. "Our scouts found a survivor in the town and we thought you would want to interview her right away, sir."

  "Bring her here” William kept his voice cool and disinterested, but he felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Once Gardner saluted and left William gathered his rifle along with the maps he'd been analysing. For the past few months the quasi-military group William controlled had encountered very few survivors.

  Tired of the current group of women under his control William was looking forward to an encounter with someone new. He found himself hoping for one who was young and attractive, but the Captain was sure he would enjoy himself regardless of the age or looks of the female in question. William Lawson prided himself on his versatility.

  Striding past his anxious aide and personal guards William walked to the villa's luxurious master bedroom firmly closing the door behind him. After pouring himself a small glass of bourbon, the scouts had recently brought to camp

  William sat down in a large chair to wait for Gardner and the new female.

  It was always easier to have the new women brought directly to his personal quarters. They had no time to learn what to expect from the other women, and William preferred it when they were shocked and frightened. Something about seeing the look of relief and hope slowly melt away when the woman realized why the Captain wanted to see her alone always delighted William.

  Since the Crisis began William had lived out most, if not all, of his fantasies. In his youth, William had always enjoyed pushing women to their limits and, if he could get away with it, past them.

  His own personal preference for forceful sexual encounters was ultimately what caused him to join the military. That bitch just couldn't keep her mouth shut, could she? William thought bitterly as he remembered the 17 year old girl whose father had threatened to call the cops after his daughter came to him crying about her date with William.

  The immediate result of that little slip up, was William's parents paying the girl's family a nice sum of hush money while William himself joined the Army.

  Once the plague that was commonly known as the Crisis began William went from a forgettable United States Army enlisted man to a rapidly promoted Captain as his superior officers died or were killed.

  What began as a seriously virulent airborne illness quickly became a bloodbath as those who didn't simply die became violent, undead cannibalistic monsters that were driven to spread the virus through blood and saliva contact.

  Since most people refused to believe that the reports of actual, honest to god, zombies attacking citizens the population was soon overwhelmed as basic communication broke down. By the time the remaining healthy individuals attempted to organize a resistance it was too late.

  The resulting chaos had given William, and other survivors, free reign to indulge in any secret desire they had ever entertained with no consequences. What was left of the military high command took little notice of personnel slipping away or terrorizing the civilian population. However, after briefly enjoying the unrestrained freedom the cool hand of reason forced William to think of the future.

  If he and those around him continued on with no mission or structure they would soon find themselves slouching and groaning with the rest of zombie horde.

  William was able to organize the surviving soldiers under his command into an impressive fighting force, but as the chain of command continued to crumble he found himself struggling to stay in power.

  Since fighting for control of his men while simultaneously battling zombie like creatures was not an option,William came up with an elaborate piece of fiction.

  In addition to promoting him to Captain, William claimed that his units now dead commanding officer had told him the location of the defunct military base that was stocked with supplies.

  The lie kept him relatively safe, and the chaotic landscape of what remained of the United States made travel difficult.

  When William insisted on remaining at a fortified location for several months to rest and gather supplies most were too exhausted by the difficult journey to question the delays. Plus the women, their "dependents" kept even the most sceptical soldier relatively docile.

  It took only a couple of months for everyone in William's command to realize that uninfected, airborne virus immune, women were extremely scarce.

  Understanding that the promise of salvation in the form of a mythical military base would be unappealing if it was populated only by male soldiers, William had ordered his men to bring all survivors they encountered into camp using force if necessary.

  Any man who seemed useful became a recruit or was classified a skilled civilian while the women and children were classified as dependents and sent to live in separate quarters.

  Access to the women was severely limited and William was determined to keep things that way. The women kept the civilian physicians, electricians, and other specialist docile while encouraging the soldiers to remain obedient in the hopes of spending what was now called “recreation time” with one of the more accommodating women.

  William rewarded his officers with a woman of their own who could be brought to their private rooms whenever the officer was off duty. He himself had indulged in this luxury after his nomadic community stumbled upon Angel.

  At 18 years
old, Angel was a tall statuesque blonde with startling black eyes and a light-hearted vivacious personality that had seemingly endured the end of modern civilization.

  Found with a man who claimed to be her father, Angel later admitted he was another survivor who had found Angel shortly after their town was overrun by the living dead. Not content with raping her, the man had forced Angel to act out a perverse, never ending, fantasy with him that left William wondering if the man once had children of his own whose only escape was death in its more permanent form.

  Unskilled and nearly hysterical at the loss of Angel, the man whose name William had not bothered to learn was quickly put to death.

  William himself had enjoyed several months of Angel's gratitude and deliciously inventive mind. She was willing to act out all of the sadomasochistic scenarios that William preferred, and William enjoyed the novelty of having a woman in his bed who was not constantly crying.

  Even though the 6'4" man with his light brown hair, vivid blue eyes, a physique made muscular by months of constant travel, strict rations, and hard fighting was considered sexually appealing by most; the majority of female dependents viewed sex as a duty rather than a pleasure.

  Angel's eagerness and obvious willingness were a welcome change for William.

  It was only after Angel became pregnant that William's unorthodox post-apocalyptic romance began to unravel. The girl, previously always eager to spend time with William, began refusing to leave the dependent quarters.

  When she did join William in his private rooms or tent she was so uncharacteristically docile in his bed that William soon stopped sending for her altogether.

  He assumed her change was brought about by her pregnancy and began sending for one of the other women when his physical needs became a distraction.

  Only later did he learn that Angel was carrying on an affair with one of the guards assigned to the dependent quarters. The guard confessed that the reason Angel was so eager to come to William's bed and stay his favourite was because it granted her more freedom and less supervision than the other women.

  Convinced the child was his, the young guard was determined to run away with Angel. The plan was eventually discovered and William, enraged and embarrassed, had the man crucified in full view of the hotel that was serving as dependents quarters at the time. Angel remained with the dependents since, regardless of how furious William was, he could not afford to kill a pregnant woman.

  Though William knew that some unauthorized assignations took place between the women and the men he chose not to interfere. Most of the women understood it was better for them and their children to accommodate the men, and the men knew things were easier if they didn't attempt to get too rough with the women.

  William understood that it was best to let some rule breaking go unpunished, but after Angel the idea of having a woman in his bed whose thighs had parted a thousand times by the command of his men turned his stomach.

  The arrival of a newly found, possibly grateful, female survivor would give him exactly what he desired, a woman who would remain solely his for as long as he wanted her. Knowing that it was often more difficult to find survivors while on the move, William had put off leaving their current location for as long as possible.

  He planned to leave their current location within the week once more supplies were stockpiled. William knew that his group were fond of the current beach front location, but something about the area was making him uneasy.

  He tried to ignore the feeling knowing that location was perfectly safe. The community entrances were guarded against the undead and other survivors, and the water itself offered its own security since no one had ever seen the dead entering bodies of water.

  Regardless of how safe the position seemed, William was growing anxious to leave and was pleased that his men were able to locate at least one female to partially (in his own mind at least) justify the decision to linger at the beach. William hoped amusing himself with the new female would give him a chance to relax and take his mind off of his growing concern.

  CHAPTER TWO

  A discreet tap at the door followed by a murmured word from the aide brought William forcefully back to the present. He shook his head slightly as if to shake away the memories before telling his aide to enter the room.

  The young man, a boy really, slowly opened the door and then stepped back allowing Second Lieutenant Gardner to enter the bedroom. Behind the Lieutenant came two young recruits and the long awaited woman stood quietly between them.

  The woman was tall, perhaps 5'8", and very slender. Her surprisingly pale skin was smooth, and the thick hair that fell down her back was jet black. When she lifted her face to look around the room William saw that she had large, slightly slanted, dark brown eyes.

  She was dressed in shorts and a thin sleeveless t-shirt, the type of clothes one would wear for outdoor travel in the hot humid climate. Her feet were bare, but that wasn't unusual, William required all of the dependents to go without shoes or socks. It discouraged escape and casual exploration.

  "Where did you find her?" William asked, rising from his chair and stepping forward to get a better look at the woman.

  "Well, sir," the Lieutenant spoke slowly, obviously choosing his words carefully "she was down on the main strip, going through one of the souvenir shops, sir." The words were spoken as if the Lieutenant did not want to repeat them.

  "Was she really?" Though William hated to question one of his most trusted officers, there was something about this woman and that story that he didn't like. The average survivor was found skulking in shadows, not browsing prominent buildings in broad daylight. While he found her attractive, William was not feeling even slightly aroused.

  "Sir," the Lieutenant frowned, "as near as the scouts could tell she was simply sitting in a store room going through a few boxes that we left behind when we initially checked the area for supplies.

  The store was just at the edge of the zone we cleared and there were no infected around that they could see." Lieutenant Gardner looked as though he wanted to say more, but he stopped talking closing his mouth with an audible clicking noise.

  William felt himself returning the Lieutenant's frown. The first thing they did when inhabiting an area long term was to sweep the buildings outside of their safe zone.

  Clearing the infected made things easier when the scouts went out searching for food, gas, clothing, and other valuable supplies. Unfortunately, no matter how well an area was cleared the infected always seemed to find their way back as if they were drawn by the presence of so many uninfected human beings.

  William could not remember the last time any scout went to a building to pick up supplies and did not encounter at least one infected person.

  "Did she receive a medical examination?" William found himself looking over the woman again. She appeared to be well-fed, clean, and very healthy.

  Though William felt a faint stirring in his loins as his eyes passed over the swell of her breasts he still felt faintly uneasy. In his experience, the infected only avoided those who were already infected, but the woman did not seem to be bitten and all those susceptible to airborne infection were long dead.

  "Yes sir, she got a clean bill of health from the medic." Gardner hesitated a moment before continuing. "We can leave her here if you like. She was checked for weapons too."

  The usually stolid officer flushed slightly and one of the privates shuffled uncomfortably drawing a disapproving glare from William. They all knew why he liked interviewing the female survivors alone, but regardless of their own personal feelings none of them dared show their disapproval.

  Part of William wanted to send the woman away. He wanted to have her to quarantined or send her to stay with the other women until he could figure out why she unsettled him so much.

  William opened his mouth to issue the order to return the woman to dependents quarters, but instead he heard himself say "I guess you can just leave her here." The Lieutenant nodded brusquely, sketched
a salute and walked briskly from the room leaving the two privates to awkwardly scramble after him.

  CHAPTER THREE

  When the door slammed shut after the soldiers the woman jumped and took a half step back. William forced himself to smile at her as he held up his hands in a placating gesture.

  "Take it easy, I'm not going to hurt you I just want to talk." He saw her glance doubtfully at the rifle that leaned against his chair. "I mean it watch, I'll put the gun away." Moving slowly he picked up the rifle and placed it on the top shelf of the bedrooms large, walk in, closet.

  Given the woman's slender frame, he doubted she could overpower him and get to the closet to retrieve the rifle.

  "How long have you been on the road?" William asked, the wide smile still on his face. He sat back down in his chair and was amused to see that the woman was slowly relaxing now that the weapon was out of sight. The woman seemed to consider the question carefully before answering.

  "I've been traveling almost non-stop since Atlanta fell." Her voice was soft, musical, with just the barest hint of an unidentifiable accent.

  "My parents moved to Miami while I was in med school. I thought it would be easy to reach them but..." Her voice trailed off and she looked wistfully out of the window that overlooked the clear water and setting sun.

  "I'm surprised you made it this far by yourself. My group moves slowly because of our size and the stalled cars on the roads, but most people traveling alone usually end up becoming nothing but meat."

  As he spoke William realized why he was so unsettled by the woman. She was too clean, too put together. After a year or more spent fighting the undead hordes, less savoury survivor gangs, and the elements themselves, the average person staggered into their encampments looking like hell or worse.

  In fact, after the one-year anniversary of the initial Crisis came and went most of the women William's soldiers encountered wore their hair short to avoid lice since washing on a regular basis became problematic.