Seasons of Z (Book 2): Dead Spring

by Riva, Aline

  Sage looked down at the drawing, then about the empty aisle.

  “What? That can't be right...”

  “There's a story in the pictures,” Joy said, indicating to the scattered drawings on the floor, “Looks like a family found a way in here and sought refuge – but the father was bitten, and he turned, and bit the mother... the kid obviously survived to tell the tale...” she reached down and picked up another crayon drawing, this one was of a little girl with big blue eyes and a brown fringe that framed her face as her hair fell in straight lines of crayon to her shoulders, “And this is her...And this is a supermarket, it's warm, there's food and drink and toys and the place is securely locked up... she could still be in here.”

  Just then Poppy, who had been listening with interest spoke up.

  “There's a tent in the toy section,” she said, “There's blankets and food and chocolate inside, but no little girl.”

  “She must be hiding!” Joy said urgently, “We have to find her!”

  Sage took Poppy's hand.

  “I'll head towards the home furnishings,” she said.

  “And I'll check out the tent,” Joy replied as she hurried off.

  On the way to the toy section, she hurried past several aisles, and as she went, she glanced down each one. She saw juice cartons strewn about in the soft drinks area. Biscuits and cereal bars had been opened and wrappers were strewn about the floor. The sweets aisle was littered with wrappers and torn open packaging. She finally reached the toy section, ran down it and reached a tent that sat colourful in a display area. Here there were more cartons and empty bottles of water and food wrappers. She went up to the tent and lifted back the flap. Inside was a pillow and a thick duvet, but it was empty. Joy looked down at the cereal bar left amid a pile of crumbs on the makeshift bed, she touched the wrapper, giving it a squeeze. It was fresh... Then she saw some crayons in the corner of the tent, a big pile of them along with a messy pile of paper. She snatched up a drawing of that same little girl standing all alone and saw a name was written beneath it. Joy dropped the drawing, stepped back from the tent and looked about the aisle.

  “Angel?” she called out, “Angel, are you here? You don't have to be scared, it's okay, I'm a police officer, I'm here to help!”

  She walked up the next aisle, turned out down the route that led to the clothing section, walking slowly, watching for movement.

  “I'm here to help you, my name is Joy!” she called out again.

  Then she stopped, seeing a row of long skirts in autumnal shades on a clothing rail up against a wall. The fabric moved again, and Joy stepped a little closer, speaking kindly.

  “I'm here with friends. We have a little girl with us, her name is Poppy and her big sister is called Sage. You can't stay here alone, it's not safe. We want to help.”

  And then a small child crawled out from under the rail of skirts, dressed in jeans that still had a price tag and a dark knitted jumper. Her hair was straight and mid brown with a neat fringe. She got up and stood there, looking up at Joy.

  “You don't look like a police lady.”

  “That's because I'm not in uniform,” Joy said as she smiled down at her, “And I need you to trust me.”

  “I have to see your ID,” said Angel.

  Joy gave a sigh.

  “I left that in my police car which I left behind a long time ago when I had to leave my village,” she told her, “Where are your parents, Angel?”

  The little girl shrugged as a sad look came to her wide blue eyes.

  “I think they went shopping.”

  Joy leaned closer, meeting her gaze with understanding.

  “I don't think they're shopping, are they? It's okay to tell me what happened. You're a very brave girl to live here all alone.”

  Angel paused for thought, then decided, Joy was definitely a police woman. She spoke with the kind of tone a police lady had used when she had come to her school once to talk about road safety.

  “Mummy and Daddy brought me here when the monsters came, so we could be safe.”

  “And then what happened?”

  Angel paused as she blinked rapidly as tears stung at her eyes.

  “A monster bit Daddy before we shut the doors. And Daddy turned into a monster. Then Daddy bit Mummy and -”

  “And Mummy changed too?”

  Angel nodded.

  “Where are they now?” she asked gently.

  Angel pointed up the store.

  “They chased me into the cafe, I went under the tables and got out and shut the door.”

  Joy looked at her in surprise.

  “That was very clever! Are they still in there?”

  Angel nodded sadly.

  “Yes, but I don't look any more.”

  “Why can't they get out?” Joy asked.

  “Because I turned the key.”

  Joy thought about the keys left on the floor next to the entrance.

  “How did your parents get into this place?” she asked.

  “With keys,” Angel replied, “Daddy used to work here.”

  Joy knew what had to be done – but Angel was too young to understand that what was left of her parents had to be put down with bullets.

  “I'm going to take you to meet Poppy,” she said with a smile, “You can stay with Poppy and Sage until we're ready to leave. You have to come with us now.”

  Sadness flickered in Angel's eyes.

  “Mummy and Daddy won't get better, will they?”

  “No,” Joy told her softly, “They wont get better, Angel. Now let's go and find Poppy.” Then she took her by the hand, leading Angel off towards the home furnishings department.

  While a surprised Sage watched over Angel and Poppy, who started to talk right away, it was clear Angel had missed company. She told Poppy she liked her toy car, then she asked her if she had brothers or sisters. Sage asked how old she was and Poppy said I'm six, almost seven – I'm seven in May, and then a shot had rang out, along with a burst of shattered glass, coming from far off across the store. The next two shots were rapid, and then silence fell.

  “What was that?” said Angel as she looked wide eyed at Sage.

  “Just people shooting zombies, it happens all the time,” Sage assured her, then after they made a quick detour to the clothing section to quickly grab a few items for Poppy and Angel, she led the kids towards the entrance to wait for the others.

  Chris arrived back with River and Sage was quick to take them to one side and quickly explain about Angel. Then Joy finally joined them, and she looked pale and had grabbed a bottle of water on the way out to sip slowly to quell her nausea.

  “All done?” Sage asked discreetly, and Joy nodded.

  As the door was unlocked and opened up, Joy was glad to be out in the fresh air once more – she had almost thrown up when she had found her way to the cafeteria, one look through the blood smeared glass had told her why Angel had said, she didn't look any more... What did two starving zombies locked up together eat in the absence of human flesh? The answer was, each other. They were emaciated and partly devoured, still having strength to lunge for her as the glass shattered, but two clean shots to the head had put them down. It was a story she would not relate to the others until later, when Angel was sleeping...

  The sight of the blood splashed lorry had brought a look of alarm to the child's face until Poppy put hand on her shoulder and spoke reassuringly.

  “It's okay, we had to drive through a pile of zombies to get out when they stole our farm house. But we'll find another place, everything will be okay. First we have to go and get Mickey, some bad people took him away.”

  She had briefly met everyone else, Joy, Sage, Poppy, Chris and River – and she looked to the others, then her gaze fixed on Joy.

  “Who is Mickey?” she asked.

  Chris chuckled as Sage passed him the bags of clothing to place in the back of the lorry.

  “Mostly a pain in the arse,” he muttered, then River picked up the heavy bag fro
m the pharmacy and joined him as they headed for the lorry.

  “Bad timing, he's still missing,” she reminded him in a low voice.

  Joy forced a smile as she looked down at Angel.

  “Mickey is my boyfriend. And tonight me and Sage are going out to find him. You will stay in the lorry with Poppy and the others and you will be very safe.”

  As she said that and Angel nodded in agreement, the thought suddenly struck Joy that maybe, she shouldn't have made that promise. Now they were out on the open road again, Mickey's fate was still uncertain, they didn't know where they would end up next, and now they had two kids to take care of too...It was a thought she didn't want to dwell on, and it wouldn't be long until they would take the lorry around the back roads, and head in closer to Rainhill house, where hopefully, Mickey was still alive...

  Joy watched as the others got into the back of the lorry, then she limped to the front and cautiously climbed up to join Sage in the cab. As the engine started up her knee was still throbbing and she didn't know if she would have to run like hell tonight, but she was already decided, she would get through this night no matter what it took. The sun was lowering in the sky as the lorry left the car park, evening was fast approaching. Sage had said, they would strike as soon as it got dark. For Joy, that couldn't come fast enough. All she wanted was for him to be back with her and the others, safe and unharmed.

  Chapter 8

  Darkness had fallen. Below the ground floor of Rainhill house, a dim electric bulb had switched on. Footfalls sounded on the stairs and as the door was unlocked, Mickey nudged Alex as they put their plan into action. Mickey sat there on the floor, as Alex lay with his head in his lap as Mickey placed a hand on his hair.

  “Shh, my lovely, calm yourself. You know you enjoyed every minute of it...” Mickey said, making sure his voice carried down the room as Rosemary approached.

  She stood there by the door, looked in and a shine of satisfaction came to her eyes to see the one she called Anita curled with her head on Mickey's lap. She noticed Anita's leathers were tugged down and saw a smear of blood on her thigh. Mickey gave her a bright smile.

  “I showed her what she's been missing!” he said proudly.

  “Anita?” she said, “Do you see I'm right now?”

  “Yes,” Alex whispered, and clung tighter to Mickey as he stroked his hair and looked up at Rosemary.

  “She's in love with me already!” he said.

  “I always knew she just needed the right man,” Rosemary remarked, then she unlocked the cell door and it swung open.

  “You will come with me now – both of you,” she said, “It's time to join with me in the circle. You're a part of this community now. Mickey, you've pleased me greatly.”

  Mickey got up, then paused to take Alex by the hand, pulling him to his feet. He bowed his head in submission then quickly tugged up his leathers and then Mickey kept a grip on his hand. They exchanged the briefest glance: The plan was working...

  The forest was dark, Joy wasn't thinking about her leg as she walked down the lane with firm resolve set in her gaze. In the far distance, they could see the house, visible because it was built on a small hill amongst the trees. It would be a long walk, but they couldn't risk taking a white, blood splashed lorry any closer for fear of being seen. They would have to make the journey on foot. For Sage it was easy, she wasn't injured. Joy didn't doubt at some point her knee would throb, but she was running on pure adrenaline, knowing they were finally doing this, they were finally making a move to get Mickey out of that place...

  The others had stayed back in the lorry. Later, they would drive past the house and see if it was clear to fetch the other vehicles. Until then, they were parked up half a mile down the road in a quiet lane, with Chris armed and listening for any hint of approaching hostility, whether from the living or the dead as River sat in the cab of the vehicle with Poppy and Angel and tried to reassure them all would be well.

  “It's a hell of a hike to that house,” Sage remarked as they carried on walking, “When we reach the woods, we have to go slowly and carefully. There might be guards posted now. Or those zombies that attacked the farmhouse could have gone back when they found us gone, and headed for Rainhill instead - they can smell food on the wind for miles around!”

  Joy said nothing in reply. As much as it felt like justice would be served if Rosemary wound up being eaten by her own zombies, it did nothing to ease her fears for Mickey, who was trapped somewhere in that house.

  “We'll take our time,” Sage reminded her, “We can't mess this up. And we shoot anyone who meets us with hostility, we have to - I know a lot of those people we saw camped outside looked tired and hungry, but some of them were eating and sharing meals oblivious to the heads on the spiked wall. That says a lot about the state of their minds.”

  “And this is why I'm afraid for Mickey. They might have killed him,” Joy said quietly as she they walked on past more hedges and then beneath the shade of a tree as they carried on up the country lane.

  “If they have, I'm shooting that place to hell,” Sage replied.

  “So will I,” Joy agreed, “ If Mickey's gone, I'm going for the guards and anyone else who gets in my way, and then Rosemary is mine. I'm taking her down.”

  “We'll do this together,” Sage reminded her, “I'm here for you all the way, no matter what's happened to Mickey. They wont get away with it.”

  Now the thought was running through Joy's mind that Mickey might be dead. She knew no matter how much they hoped for a different outcome, the world had changed so much and so swiftly that maybe only the zombies and the crazy people survived, maybe the rest ended up like all the others they had lost along the way... Why should it be any different for Mickey? She felt mildly sick as they carried on making their way up the long lane in the darkness, as she realised that sick feeling was nothing to do with her injured leg and everything to do with reality biting hard.

  Mickey and Alex were both uneasy as Rosemary escorted them as armed guards walked along side them, all the while they were both aware of the guns they carried and how escape at this point, was not yet a possibility. They had gone upstairs to the ground level of the house, passed several rooms with open doors where people sat about on faded furniture, some looked lost, others terrified. A woman was fighting off a drunken armed man who shoved her to a sofa. The front door was wide open, outside fires flickered as those camped out the front coughed as others sat in silence. Clearly, sickness was here, most likely due to lack of food and proper shelter...

  Alex glanced to his bike, still resting against the wall near the gate. The keys were in the ignition and left where Rosemary's men had placed it. He looked away, following the others as Rosemary opened up a door and led them inside to a room where the walls and ceiling were painted black. The guards stood outside, in here, a lone gunman sat on a chair in the corner, watching as Rosemary led them to a circle smeared on the floor. Outside of the circle strange symbols had been etched in blood. Candles flickered as she knelt in the circle, then gestured to Mickey and Alex to join her. Alex got on his knees as Mickey did the same, they were facing each other while she knelt there looking on. Then she placed a long, sharp dagger in the middle of the circle and a silver bowl that shimmered as it caught the candle light. The two men exchanged a glance that said, what the fuck. Rosemary had that cold smile on her face as she spoke again.

  “The spirits whisper to me there must be a test. And I must choose the loyal one of the two of you...” she looked to Mickey.

  “Cut her throat, you're more use to me than her – Anita is delusional and there are many more women here for you, Mickey.”

  Mickey looked down at the knife. The gunman had just come up behind Alex, got him by the hair and tugged his head back, baring his throat. He could feel Rosemary's cold stare cutting through him as she spoke again.

  “Is something wrong, Mickey? Have you lied to me about your loyalty? This is the ultimate test, you had to force her – it has not ch
anged her mind, she still despises me, she's against me, the spirits of the depths told me so!”

  Mickey looked at her, slowly nodding.

  “I thought they might say that,” he agreed, “They know the truth from a lie...”

  He reached out, his hand hovering over the blade as candle flames flickered throwing shadows up the dark walls. The gunman still had Alex by the hair. It was now or never. He knew it as Alex tried to meet his gaze, and he knew they would either get out, or die in this room. Mickey grabbed the blade and lunged past Alex and slammed against the gunman, the blade sunk into his belly as he fell, dragging Alex with him as Mickey slammed his wrist against the floor, shattering bone as the gun clattered from his grasp.

  “NO!” yelled Rosemary.

  Mickey saw a black shadow looming as she lunged at him as her dress billowed out behind her, they collided as the blade slid from the body of the gunman and Mickey rolled free, snatching up the gun as Rosemary grabbed the silver bowl from the floor and swung it at his head. Mickey rolled again, but she rolled with him as he kept the gun in his hand, trying to take aim. Alex was staggering to his feet, his shirt soaked in the dead man's blood.

  “Get out!” Mickey gasped as Rosemary grabbed him by the throat.

  Alex looked back at him once and fled the scene. Mickey was gasping for air as her hand closed heavy on his throat. Her eyes were vacant as she stared down at him, focussing all on her grip as she tried to throttle him. He raised his hand but she knocked the gun from his weak grip. And then he reached down with his other hand as the view of murder in her eyes began to mark with pinpricks as his vision began to fade. He had seconds left as she knelt on his leg and pushed the weight of her body on top of him as she leaned down, pouring all pressure on to his throat. His other hand reached into his pocket, drew out the brick and with the last of his strength he raised it and brought it down across her head. She slumped down, he caught his breath and coughed and choked and it was a fight to push her off him as he weakly fought for air, but finally she rolled to the floor and he lay there on his back, the brick beside him as he took in one breath, then another as his vision began to return. He sat up, reached for the brick, shoved it back in his pocket, then grabbed the gun from the floor and staggered to his feet.