Killing The Dead (Book 16): Infected

by Murray, Richard

“Long story, I’ll tell you later,” Gregg replied and I shook my head as I tried to ignore them both.

  “You’ve located somewhere to spend the night?”

  “Yes, My Lord Death. There is a church.”

  I waved him to silence and pushed past him, walking the short distance into the village from where we had been waiting.

  It was a small village, even compared to the last one, with a handful of houses and a village hall that was smaller than any of the other buildings around it. I guessed the place was simply a hub for the farms that surrounded it.

  The church was little more than a chapel. Single storey with the front wall rising up, above the roof to end in a point where a wooden cross stood upright. Just below that, an opening had been cut into the wall for a metal bell to be hung.

  Surrounding the chapel were hundreds of weathered headstones in what I could only assume had been the graveyard for the entire parish for centuries.

  “Jesus H Christ!” Isaac said. “A fucking graveyard in a zombie apocalypse. I won’t be sleeping well tonight.”

  “You won’t be sleeping at all,” I said and ignored his response as I headed into the graveyard.

  As with everywhere else, the grass and weeds had run wild. With no one to tend to the grounds, in places only the last few inches of headstone were visible. The wall that surrounded the graveyard was barely four feet high and made of grey stone with much of the mortar flaking away.

  It wouldn’t provide much in the way of defence and the tall grass and numerous headstones to hide behind would make it easy for an enemy to approach. Which was what I wanted.

  The interior of the chapel was all old stone with stained glass in the windows. There was little dust about and the candles that filled the rear wall behind the pulpit were well used. I grinned as I became ever more confident that I was right.

  No one would set out stakes with impaled people on and then just walk away. Well, a total nut case might do, but to take an entire villages population would require a good number of people. When the entire island was being overrun by zombies, the only reason to do such a thing would be to ward off any living folk and to provide a screen from the zombies.

  While it was possible those people had long since died after setting up their little stakes. The fact that there were no zombies in the two villages at all was telling. Add to that the local chapel being cared for, at least on the inside, I suspected that those people were still around.

  If that were the case, then they wouldn’t want some interlopers moving in.

  I grinned at the thought and issued a few quiet orders to my minions. They would play their part and I was pretty sure we were going to be in for a fun night.

  Erin gave me a questioning look as I approached her, smile firmly in place. Her frown deepened as she suspected I was about to ask her to do something.

  “How are your climbing skills?”

  “Good.”

  A single word reply. I liked that. Taciturn was always preferred when I was speaking with someone since I had little interest in small talk. Straight to the point was best.

  “When it’s too dark to be seen. Do you think you could climb up to the roof and keep watch without being noticed?”

  “Yes.”

  I gave her a nod and left her to it. I really quite liked the short red-headed woman. Not only was she pretty lethal but she didn’t waste my time with needless chatter. Which I was sure to get from Gregg I realised as I sat down beside him.

  There was little to actually do while we waited so I leant back against the wall, keeping one eye on the door and crossed my arms. I waited for several minutes in silence and only then did I glance at him.

  “What?”

  Crumbs of flatbread fell from his mouth as he spoke and his cheeks were bulging so full of food were they. I cocked an eyebrow his way.

  “Hungry?”

  “Yes.”

  He swallowed a large portion of the food leaving him looking less like a hamster and reached for his canteen. I watched him for a moment with a furrowed brow and it was his turn to grin.

  “You annoy me so much sometimes,” I said and he laughed quietly, shoulders shaking with his mirth.

  “Ah, you love me really, mate. I know it. You don’t need to say it.”

  I didn’t dignify that with a reply and instead cast my gaze about the room, making sure everyone was in place. It was difficult to see much in the dark church with only the occasional flash of lightning to provide light.

  The thunder sounded to be overhead and the wind sent the rain crashing against the windows. The weather was truly wild and I knew there was little real chance of us noticing anyone’s approach in such conditions. Which made it the perfect time for them to come for us.

  I just wished they’d get on with it.

  “You know I was serious, yeah?”

  “About what?” I asked, only half listening to him.

  “Asking Lily to marry you.”

  I turned to look at him, not that I could see much more than the outline of his face in the darkness.

  “Why?”

  “It matters, mate. For some people it really does. You’re having kids together. It would be nice for her to know you are committed to that.”

  “I am.”

  “Yeah, but she doesn’t know that, does she?”

  The very fact that I was with her was evidence of that, or so I had thought. I’d never actually considered ever marrying anyone. I was far too distant to ever be a good husband and it was difficult for me to interact with people at the best of times.

  I’d had a few girlfriends of course, but that was mainly to help maintain the illusion that I was a normal guy and not some loner serial killer. Plus, there were the casual hook-ups of course. They were easy, after all, and didn’t require much in the way of an emotional commitment.

  But there had never been anything really long term. Not until Lily anyway. I couldn’t say how long we’d actually been together, not accurately anyway. But it had been at least a year. That was longer than any other had been.

  She’d never mentioned marriage though, but I supposed that was understandable as she knew me well enough to know that I wouldn’t notice subtle hints. If she wanted to be married, she would have to ask me or tell me straight up that it was something we had to do.

  Perhaps then, I should ask her. It wasn’t like I was planning on going anywhere and it made no real difference to me. So, if it made her happy, then perhaps it would be a good thing.

  “You really do annoy me,” I muttered to Gregg who chuckled softly.

  We waited in silence, listening to the wind howl and the patter of the rain on the roof. The air was chill even with twenty of us crammed into the small chapel. I kept my hand near my knife hilt and breathed slowly, listening for any change.

  Eventually, it came. A slight creak of the door hinges, barely perceptible beneath the fury of the storm. A slight increase in the sound of the falling rain as the door was opened and the squelch of a boot on the stone floor.

  I held myself still, eyes half shut as I watched the shadowy forms moving into the chapel. A flash of lightning lit the room, reflecting off of the long knives in their hands and I smiled. I’d been right after all.

  “Now!” I called and my minions erupted into action. Leaping up and rushing the suddenly confused enemy. “I want them alive!”

  A cry came from outside and my smile widened as I guessed the fist I had told to bide their time outside had decided to take out any stragglers.

  It was over in moments and I flicked on my torch as a handful of filthy men were forced to their knees on the cold stone floor.

  “Give us more light,” I instructed and several of my minions pulled electric lanterns from their packs.

  By the time the other minions brought in two more men from outside, the chapel was lit with a pleasing light. Enough for us to see by, but dim enough that it wouldn’t be too noticeable through the stained glass windows, or so I hoped.
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br />   I approached the kneeling men, who glared balefully at me as they struggled in the grip on my minions. Their faces were streaked with dirt that even the rain outside hadn’t been able to wash away and their hair and beards were long and matted.

  Their clothing was equally filthy and they stank. It was an earthy odour, like dirt and mould. That set me to thinking and I smiled down at them as I pulled out my knife.

  “Who are you?”

  No answer, just a hardening behind their eyes and a setting of their jaws. They weren’t going to give up anything easily and that was irksome. I needed to be sure of the kind of men they were before I could kill them.

  Just coming to kill us wasn’t enough to prove anything. People were allowed to defend themselves after all and they may well have thought of us as invaders.

  “Where are you from?”

  Still no answer and I nodded thoughtfully. I couldn’t kill them but I was pretty sure that I could hurt them a little without violating my promise. I caught the eye of one of the minions and nodded.

  Immediately, he grasped the back of a big captives neck and forced him forward, holding him in place, head bowed before me.

  I smiled at the others as I met their eyes one after another, making sure they were watching. Then I lifted my knife and stepped forward.

  “No! Da!”

  The one who called out was young, I realised. Barely out of his teens. I was almost disappointed that one of them had spoken so quickly. While not a fan of casual torture, it was a useful tool in my arsenal and having experienced it myself at the hands of Genpact, I could honestly say I had thought of many ways to improve on what they had done.

  After all, I was fully intending to torture the leader of that group that abducted me.

  “Where you from, kid?” Isaac asked, stepping forward and grabbing the young man roughly. “Tell us or your da will die slow and screaming.”

  Well, he had a taste for the theatrics it seemed and I wasn’t going to let that go to waste. I took another step toward the boy's father.

  “Keep yer mouth shut, boy!” another of the captives snarled.

  “Mate,” Gregg said, voice full of worry. “Don’t do this, yeah? We can just talk to them.”

  I glanced at him and he grimaced, holding his hand out towards me in a pleading gesture. I almost laughed out loud. Isaac was playing the bad cop and Gregg was playing the good. That left me to be the worst cop.

  Blood sprayed into the air and the man screamed as my blade cut deep into his cheek. It would leave a nasty scar and bleed profusely but wouldn’t cause him any real harm.

  “Da!”

  “Take the boy outside,” Isaac snapped, pushing the teen roughly towards Gregg. “He can see what’s left of his da when we’re done.”

  “No! Please, don’t!” the boy cried as Gregg grabbed one arm roughly, a minion taking the other.

  Together they led him outside, into the rain.

  “Now,” I said quietly to the kneeling men, as I brandished my bloody knife. “Let’s see if we can conjure up some screams to scare the boy.”

  Chapter 19

  I raced through the dark halls of the sports centre, Jinx keeping pace easily, her tongue lolling. The bodyguards Samuel had set outside my door were hard on my heels. I skidded to a stop beside the reception desk at the main entrance.

  The guards there watched me curiously but made no move to stop me. Their job was the guard the entrance and they would do that until told otherwise. They considered it their duty to obey.

  It didn’t matter. I didn’t need them just then. My mind was racing and my heart beating faster as I clutched the paper in my hand. I had the answer, I was sure of it. I stared out at the pounding rain, momentarily stuck as to what to do next.

  “My Lady?” Lisa asked and I turned to her.

  One of the guards must have gone for her as she was without her hood for once. The face revealed was young and pretty, but for the letters burned into her cheek. She caught my look and quickly pulled on her hood, ashamed.

  “A car,” I said quietly, not taking my eyes from her. “Quick.”

  The scar on her face would have a story behind it and probably one that led to her decision to join the Dead. It wasn’t for me to pry and should she want to tell me, she would. Right then, I had other things on my mind anyway.

  “Where to?” Lisa asked as she sent an acolyte running with a single, sharp, gesture of her hand.

  “To the research facility.”

  “With the weather and the danger, could this not wait till morning when we have more acolytes available?”

  “No. I need to talk to them now, while the idea’s fresh.”

  “Then it shall be as you command.”

  A small four-door Audi pulled up outside the doors and I glanced at Lisa who shrugged almost apologetically.

  “Most of the cars and trucks are being used in the search.”

  “I’m sure it will be fine.”

  One of the acolytes pulled an umbrella out from beneath the reception desk and passed it over to the closest bodyguard. He took it without a word and followed me to the door, opening it as I stepped out and holding it above my head.

  The wind pushed against me and Lisa reached out a hand to steady me as the rain bounced off of the ground all around us. I hurried across to the car and practically dived into the back seat. Lisa seated herself beside me and the kind man who had carried the umbrella climbed into the passenger seat.

  We drove slowly, the car’s lights illuminating little of the road, the rain was so heavy. It pounded on the roof of the car, splashing with such force against the windows that I could barely see through them.

  Not that I tried. I stared at the crumpled paper in my hand and desperately thought through what I had read. Again and again, over and over, as I contemplated the possibility that I was right and what that would mean for us.

  I barely noticed when we came to a stop and my bodyguards stepped out. The door beside me opened and I looked up, pulled from my reverie by the blast of cold wind and rain that hit me. The acolyte stood waiting with the umbrella but he was struggling to hold it steady as the wind kept pulling at it.

  “Thanks,” I muttered with a flush of heat to my cheeks as Lisa helped me out of the car. I wasn’t that big, yet, but at almost sixteen weeks, I was already starting to show

  Despite the umbrella, I was soaked just from the short walk to the doors of the research facility and chilled to the bone. I couldn’t help but worry what the weather would be like in winter considering the cold summer we’d been having.

  But all that was forgotten as I found Vanessa, Darren Ashworth and another man, crowded around a computer terminal. None of them looked up at my approach and I pushed aside my irritation and loudly announced my presence.

  “Doctors.”

  They looked up in surprise and I was more than a little amused to realise they had all been so busy working they probably hadn’t even noticed the time. Of course, I would have been more amused if I wasn’t still so pissed about Briony escaping.

  “Ma’am,” Vanessa said curtly. It seemed she had decided to go formal on me and from the chill in her tone, I wasn’t considered a friend.

  “Vanessa, Darren, and this is?”

  “Jameson, ah, ma’am,” the third doctor said with a look of confusion as he noticed me.

  Unlike the rest of us, he still had a bit of meat on his bones and I guessed that with so few of them in the bunker, he’d not wanted for food while the rest of the world starved. I couldn’t hold it against him, but I did. A little anyway.

  “We need to talk about this.” I brandished the paper and their eyes went to it as though drawn there.

  “What is that?”

  “Your report on your friend.”

  “Briony?”

  She shared a look with Jameson and her lips twisted as though she were trying to stop herself from saying more.

  I dropped the paper onto the desk and they all reached for it at
the same time. I waited patiently as they sorted it out between themselves, smoothing it flat on the desk and leaning forward to read it.

  “Fairly standard stuff,” Vanessa said. “I’m not seeing what’s wrong.”

  Jameson gave a shrug and even Darren looked confused, but then he always did. Usually not about the science though which is what had surprised me.

  “What do you see there?”

  “Fairly basic stuff. Bloodwork, stool and urine samples taken and the results. List of drugs given and effects, physiological changes… I don’t see anything that isn’t in every other report I’ve ever written.”

  “You’ve included medical history,” I said with rising excitement. “You’ve listed the drugs taken before the vaccine and you’ve detailed the effects as they occurred after she had taken it.”

  “Yes, so?”

  “There’s a section there.” I pointed to a large paragraph halfway down the page. “Where you have listed possible side effects the vaccine could have and what it could interact with.”

  “Again, I don’t see any problem with this. The report on the actual vaccine itself is more detailed but-“

  “You missed out something,” I said excitedly as I cut her off. I had all of their attention now and I could barely contain myself.

  “Well, what did we miss?”

  Her tone was so dismissive that I almost didn’t say, fearing I might be wrong. But I sucked in a deep breath and I laid it out as simply as I could.

  “You didn’t note down whether or not she was already immune.”

  The doctor's eyebrows rose as her eyes widened, mouth forming an ‘O’ of surprise. Jameson stared down at the paper, creased furrowing his brow and even Darren wore a look of surprise.

  “Of course,” Darren said, hitting his forehead with the palm of one hand. “Of course!”

  “What do you mean immune?” Vanessa demanded.

  “Some people,” I said with barely disguised glee. “Some people, when bitten, don’t change. For whatever reason, it doesn’t work on them.”

  “The parasite infects them still, but is dead. Inert. It doesn’t activate and we don’t know why,” Darren said, eyes growing distant as he began to think about the possibilities.