Seasons of Z (Book 2): Dead Spring

by Riva, Aline

  He was still dizzy as he lurched out the door and hurried up the stairs. He heard shouts and as he reached the top of the stairway, people were clashing, fights were breaking out, others were running for the door as shots were fired. An armed man turned and saw him standing there, and Mickey fired a shot as his head swam, the man fell and that was good enough – maybe he was dead, may be not, but it didn't matter, he was no longer in his way as Mickey stepped over him, bumped against a wall, grabbed at his throat and coughed again. Then he realised he was not coughing because of Rosemary's strangulation – smoke was starting to rise as the smell of burning filled the house. He saw flames licking down the staircase, then curtains ignited at a nearby window. Now everyone wanted to get out as they scrambled for the door, fights forgotten as they fled the flames... Alex had said he wanted to burn the place...

  As the heat from the fire made him cough again as he staggered for the door, a hand caught his shoulder, tugging him back and as he spun around he slammed his good hand against the wall to stay upright, coming face to face with Rosemary, her expression a twisted mask of rage as blood ran down it.

  “You did this, you demon!” she raged, and gave him a shove.

  He fell through creeping smoke and hit floorboards where fire was already chasing up to meet him. It was also licking around petrol cans stocked up in the middle of the room. Clearly, Alex had not wasted time. He had known where the petrol was kept, and fetched it right away. And this place was going up in flames as soon as the flames crept closer... He tried to sit up, then gave up on that as weakness overtook him and he turned on his side, coughing in the thickening smoke as he started to crawl for the door.

  Through the haze of smoke, as his eyes stung and watered he saw her, staggering outside and into the chaos as she looked about and then gave a scream of rage to see her dominion crumble as her guards ran for vehicles and others tried to climb the gates. And then, as Mickey crawled to the open door, he looked out to see through the barred gates: They were here already, a horde of the undead, no doubt they had come from the farm house – and if they had, maybe it meant when her people had cut them loose, Joy and the others had seen them coming and got out in time, because these creatures were shrieking and roaring, starving and craving flesh as the sounds of human panic amplified.

  Rosemary stood on the path, looked about the chaos and then went up to the gate.

  “No...” Mickey said breathlessly as he lay there, crawling a fraction more from the burning building as he looked on in horror, “No, you fucking maniac...”

  But she did it.

  She slid back the bolts on the gate and then stepped back, away into the shadows as the creatures poured in. People screamed as undead hands tore at flesh and sunk teeth into throats and jabbed bony hands into bellies and tugged out guts, devouring them as the victims still cried out for help. The driveway was awash with blood and zombies and everyone she had taken in had just been sacrificed. Mickey looked to the carnage as he cleared the house and rolled down the step, then he lay on his side, too weak and battered to move as he reasoned the house was on fire and out here, the zombies were eating the living. He was trapped, he was going to die one way or another...

  Mickey saw a zombie in rags set its sights on him, but as a panicked woman dashed for the gate, it grabbed her instead and pulled her back and she sunk to the ground quickly as it fell to its knees, tearing out her throat keenly. It was still eating her as it looked at him, as if to indicate he was next on the menu... Bodies littered the driveway. Up in the house, people were screaming and then a window smashed as man on fire plummeted to the ground, where a zombie descended, oblivious to the the flames that caught at its torn clothing as it fed on the burning flesh. And Rosemary was looking on from the shadows, close to the gate as her world burned up and her people were eaten alive. She watched without emotion, ready to turn her back and walk away. Then something shot through the gate with a roar, as a flash of a sharp blade was flung out and sliced across her throat. Rosemary's hand flew up to the open gash as she chocked and spluttered and coughed blood and as she fell, the rider on the motorbike looked down at her.

  “Last man standing!” he yelled, “I fucking told you so!”

  The bike turned around and headed over to the steps. It weaved around a zombie, then as it came to a halt and one of the creatures lunged, the rider swung a gun around and fired off shots, felling several zombies and the unfortunate victims who were infected and dying anyway. The rest of the zombies were feeding. One had just fallen on Rosemary, and sunk its teeth into her cut throat. As the man on the motorbike held out his hand and Mickey accepted it, he found the strength to stand. As he was helped to his feet, he met the eyes of Alex once more.

  “I thought you left!”

  “Without you?” Alex said in surprise, “You got me out, Mickey. No way would I leave you here! We have to go, this place is going up any minute!”

  “I know that!” Mickey agreed as he climbed on the back of the bike.

  Just as Alex made a move to turn the bike for the gates, a snarling zombie ran at them. Mickey dragged up his last reserve of strength, smacking it square in the face with his brick, then he shoved it back into his pocket and held on tight as Alex took some sharp turns around bodies and feeding zombies, and they sped out of the gates of Rainhill house.

  Sage and Joy were about to turn off the lane and head across the field when there was a boom and a ball of flame erupted into the night sky as Rainhill house went up in flames. Smoke was rising, flames were lighting up the night and all Sage could hear as she stood staring at the sight was Joy as she fell to her knees and screamed Mickey's name. Sage reached for Joy and hugged her tightly as Joy wept, clinging to her as she looked over her shoulder, unable to tear her gaze from the inferno beyond the treeline.

  “We waited too long, we should have gone in sooner!” she wept as she let go of her and Sage helped her up.

  Joy's injured knee was throbbing all over again now from the way she fell to the ground, but pain was the last of her concerns as she stared in horror at the sight of the fire. It was raging. No one inside would have survived that...Now she was thinking about a nasty house fire she had been called to ten years back as a young copper and she remembered seeing the charred bodies. No, she couldn't think of Mickey like that, not her Mickey...

  Smoke carried on the wind, making a thin veil of mist that crept out from the trees, it rolled and spread slowly as closer to the blaze, the heaviest of the smoke poured up into the sky. A swirl of it had started to spread from the bottom of the lane, and through that swirl came the roar of a powerful engine, then a bike was visible, and on that bike was a young man they did not recognise, and as he sped towards them, they saw he had a passenger.

  “Mickey!” Joy yelled as tears of sheer relief filled her eyes.

  Sage turned to her laughing. If anyone could get out of a situation like that one, it would be Mickey...

  “He's okay, Joy!”

  Joy couldn't speak. As the bike slowed to a halt, she ran over and hugged Mickey, his face was stained with blood, he had a small cut to his head and a bruise to his face, but he was alive.

  “Thank god!” she wept as she hugged him, then as she helped him off the bike and he leaned against her, exhausted and still unsteady, he glanced to Joy and Sage, then to the biker.

  “This is Alex, he saved me and he's coming with us.”

  Alex sat there on the bike with his shirt stained with a blood and a surprised look on his face.

  “Maybe I'm going somewhere. Maybe I have plans.”

  “And where would you be going?” Mickey asked.

  Alex looked to the two women and shrugged.

  “I don't know but...” he glanced to Mickey, “Are you sure? You don't even know me.”

  “It's safer if we stick together,” Joy agreed, “And thanks for saving Mickey. I'm Joy, this is Sage...”

  Just then, on hearing the sound of a vehicle, Alex looked nervously behind them as a blood
splashed lorry pulled up.

  “It's okay, they're with us,” Joy added.

  Mickey was helped into the back by Joy, who joined him, then Sage went around to the cab of the lorry and got in, joining River, and the vehicle moved off, heading back in the direction of the farmhouse. It was dark but the moon was bright and full that night and if there were any zombies still at the house, they hoped they would be easy to shoot down, because they had left a lot of supplies back there before the horde had invaded...

  As the lorry drove the long way around, taking back roads to avoid the burning house and any zombies that might have made it out of there, Alex sat in the back beside Mickey as more introductions were made.

  “This is Chris,” Mickey said, “And River is upfront driving, you've met Sage and Joy, and this is Poppy and Angel.”

  “Hello,” said Poppy, and she reached behind her, grabbing a bag full of clothing and pushed it towards him, “You should change your shirt, it's got blood on it.”

  “Thanks, I'll do that later, I need to get cleaned up first,” Alex replied.

  “You might be able to grab a shower if the farmhouse is empty now,” Joy added.

  Chris laughed.

  “Just get in there before Mickey – once he's in the bath, that door won't be open for at least an hour!”

  “I like to be clean!” Mickey exclaimed, “The apocalypse is no excuse for smelling like a toilet!”

  Joy smiled as she shook her head.

  “Says the man who stinks of piss!” she said in a low voice.

  “That's a long story,” he replied, and he sniffed at his coat and quickly drew back, recalling the urine tossed over him in the cell.

  “I definitely need a bath!”

  The lorry drove on, pulling up outside the farm house. The place was as they left it, with the front door wide open...

  The engine shut off. Sage and River climbed down from the cab. Sage was clutching her weapon as she ran to the back of the lorry, then she looked inside at the others.

  “Chris, I need you with me. Everyone else stay here.”

  “I can help,” offered Alex.

  “This is River,” said Chris, “River, meet Alex – he saved Mickey.”

  She glanced in the back at Mickey, who was feeling bruised and sore as he rested against a pile of spare bedding.

  “Just tell me when the bathroom is free,” he said, and closed his eyes as his head ached and bruises throbbed.

  “I'll check you over as soon as I can,” she told him, then Chris reached behind him, running a hand over the weapons, and held out a hand gun.

  “All yours, Alex.”

  “Thanks,” Alex replied as he accepted it, and then he and Chris got down from the back of the lorry to join Sage.

  “Joy, I want you to stay here in case we get trouble,” Sage told her.

  Joy was only too happy to remain in the back, reunited with Mickey. Her gun was holstered at her side, and she nodded in agreement. Then Sage led the way, as Chris followed close behind as she instructed him, as they avoided stepping on the remains of crushed corpses as they negotiated the driveway.

  Sage went up to the open door first, they paused to listen as Chris shook his head.

  “Nothing,” he whispered, “At least, not downstairs... and before you ask, I can't smell them coming this time - there are too many outside stinking up the place.”

  Sage reached inside and hit the lights. The hallway was bathed in a warm glow as further down, the wall was still spattered with blood. Doors were open, the phone was on the floor, the table was still on its side where River had flung it sideways to trip the intruders before Mickey was taken. Paintings on the wall hung at angles where the undead had bumped against them. The living room door creaked as Sage pushed it wider and snapped on the light. The place looked as if it had been burgled, with china smashed and slashes in the curtains where bony fingers had ripped at them in frustration on finding the place empty. She went across the room and checked a broken window, the garden seemed empty and there was no access around the back apart from through broken windows, but as she looked out, nothing stirred. There were shadowy spots, and it would have to be checked properly with the kitchen light on, but so far, there was no sign of lingering dead.

  “Clear,” she called out.

  “Same,” Alex called from another room.

  “I need you in here!” Chris called from the kitchen, and they hurried down the hallway to join him as he stood there in the darkened room. Sage turned on the light. Here and there blood smears marked the walls where creatures partly damaged by the lorry had made their way in. But the room was empty.

  “I can't check the garden,” he reminded them, “I can't exactly take a look out there.”

  “I'll go,” Alex said, and he opened up the back door as light flooded across the lawn, then stayed in its path as he walked the length of it, checked the gate, swung his weapon behind trees and checked the shadows where shrubbery grew tall.

  “Nothing!” he called back.

  With the downstairs rooms checked, the upper level was next. Chris went first, taking each stair slowly as he listened, hearing a thud coming from one of the bedrooms.

  “I hear something...”

  “I didn't,” said Alex.

  “Trust him,” Sage whispered as she looked upward, “If he says he heard something, he's right...”

  They crept slowly up the stairs, the hallway light was on but all it showed above was the upper floor and wide open doors... except for one, that was shut. They reached the top and paused to listen again. A thud sounded, followed by a low snarl.

  “Sounds like one of them got shut in and can't get out,” Chris said in a low voice.

  Sage took a deep breath.

  “Chris, wait here by the stairs in case it gets out,” she looked to Alex, “When I say, I want you to open the door. I'll shoot it.”

  Alex nodded. All three took a deep breath, looking to the closed door. Then as Chris waited by the stairs with his weapon ready, Alex and Sage approached the door. The whole of the upper floor was in silence save for the sounds they could hear coming from the other side of the door, now they were up close, they heard the shuffling and then low snarls.

  “Sounds like one zombie,” Sage whispered, and she raised her weapon, ready to take aim as she gave a nod to Alex, who reached for the door knob, gave it a twist and push then jumped back, pulling his own gun as the door swung open.

  The creature's eyes burned in hunger as it opened a mouth full of human teeth and gave a roar, running at its living prey. Sage fired off two shots, as its body was knocked back and brains and bone spattered the room. In the shadow of the unlit room, the stains looked dark as blood ran over a dressing table and a bone fragment slid down the mirror. Sage breathed out slowly, then turned on the lights.

  “We'd better check the other rooms but if anything was in there, it would have come out by now -”

  She gave a yell as something closed a cold hand about her ankle, stumbling back as she fell with a thud to the carpet. There it was, a second creature – what was left of it after being torn in half by the wheels of the lorry out in the driveway. Its hair hung matted and it hissed and snarled as it bared teeth, slithering closer as entrails snaked behind it. A shot rang out, punching a bullet into its skull as Alex fired. The grip on her ankle was gone and she kicked the zombie off in disgust, as it rolled into a pile of its own guts with a wet thud.

  “Are you okay?” Alex asked.

  She was shaken as she nodded, grasping his hand as he helped her up. Then she looked about at the blood and guts spattered room and shook her head.

  “Well, it looks like Chris and River won't want to take anything out of here... it's all contaminated.”

  Then they left the room and she closed the door firmly. Chris looked up from the top of the stairs.

  “Is it clear?”

  Sage nodded.

  “We think so... better check the other rooms, just to be sure.”
<
br />   Chris went into the first room, sweeping the place as he walked the floor with the light on, seeing shapes and shadows and no movement, hearing no sounds of the undead. It was empty. Alex and Sage were checking the rest, every room was a mess where the undead had stumbled about, but the other rooms were clear, too. They regrouped in the upper hall as Sage glanced back at the closed door.

  “We're safe to come in, take what we need, clean up and then go,” she told them, “We can't stay here any longer - the place is covered with blood - human and zombie, and there's still bodies tied to stakes in the field. That will attract more of them, and we don't know know how many survived the fire up at the house. I say we take two hours, no more, then we go on our way.”

  “Agreed,” Chris replied, then they headed back downstairs. They had the farm house back, but only for a brief time. Staying here was no longer an option.

  They wasted no time, backing the lorry up close to the house, then going inside and closing the front door firmly. There was a single broken window in the front room, and Sage and Joy turned a sofa on its end and pushed it up against it, just to be sure no weak spots remained. Mickey was first up the stairs despite his bumps and bruises, and as Joy caught him limping stiffly upward she called out, Limited bathroom time, we're leaving, Mickey!

  River and Chris didn't bother to gather any belongings they had stored in the bedroom because the room was spattered with zombie blood. That door was kept shut, with Sage instructing everyone not to let the kids wander in. Mickey was surprisingly quick in the bathroom, taking a shower then returning to his room to get changed, as he found Joy packing up their stuff. He looked tired, and Joy told him to take it easy, she would pack for him. He thanked her and went downstairs, where he found an undamaged chair and sank gratefully on to it as he closed his eyes, resting beside the warm fire as the others got ready to leave.