She grumbled as she turned it around and took a couple of lefts, bringing them back on track down Cannon Street. They'd gone only a few metres when she stamped on the brakes again.
'God, can you just learn how to drive already?'
She ducked down beneath the steering wheel. 'Get down.'
'What?'
'Get down, now, get down.'
He looked at her blankly so she grabbed his collar and hauled him towards her. He came willingly enough until his head touched hers.
'What's going on?'
'Up ahead. Guys with guns.'
'It's the army, they're here to save us, oh my god, oh thank god--'
'Shut up. It's not the army. They've got these big crosses on their backs.'
'Huh?'
'Look.'
She raised her head just enough to peer over the steering wheel. He joined her and together they looked at what she realised was the back of St Paul's Cathedral. Four men did were loitering, standing in a rough circle with guns slung carelessly over their shoulders. The one with his back to them displayed a huge symbol on his back, of a white cross with a red outline.
'That's not the army.'
'Are they church people? Maybe the church is helping out.'
'With guns?'
They exchanged looks and he shook his head. 'They won't hurt us, come on, we ca—'
He reached for the door handle and she slapped him. It was the second time that day, and had a much greater effect this time.
'Oww, what the hell?'
'Think about, Ed. Weirdos with guns and gas masks. Where'd they get the gas masks? They're in on it.'
'On what?'
She thought about slapping him again. 'I don't know. I don't what it is. But this whole thing, the fog and the zombies? They've been caused by something, right?'
He shrugged.
'So someone's behind this. London's deserted, there's no one here except us. But by pure chance, there's a bunch of random guys with gas masks right in the middle of town. You really think they're here to help us?'
'Why else would they be here?'
'I dunno.' She hated admitting it, but she didn't have a clue. 'I just don't wanna show ourselves until we know who they are.'
He shrugged again but his hand was away from the door handle. 'So what now, then?'
She peered over the steering wheel. The four men were still there but now she noticed something else behind them. Two huge trucks, painted menacing tones of grey, pulled up on the edge of the road and disgorged lots more of the men. They greeted the first four then wandered away around the side of St Paul's.
'Why aren't they being attacked?'
It was true. Why hadn't she realised? The four men looked relaxed, not like they were surrounded by zombies. And they were surrounded, but at a distance. It was as though there was an invisible barrier about ten metres away from the men in all directions. The zombies were gathered around them, eager looks on their faces but coming no closer.
'They must have something.'
'Like what?'
'I don't bloody know, do I?'
They sat in silence, staring at the perimeter of zombies. She wanted to get out and go around St Paul's, but the moment they appeared the zombies would flock to them. She ground her teeth together. They could drive around it, go the long way and come from another direction, but the men could be gone by then.
'What do we do?'
Ed shrugged and patted the dashboard. 'We're safe in here.'
'Yeah, screw safe, I wanna see what they've got.' She pushed open the door, grabbed her bag and stepped out. She hovered beside the car, heart thumping. She stayed completely still, watching the ring of zombies for signs of interest. The men in gas masks weren't even reacting to them, like they saw them every day, like they were normal. She took a slow step away, pausing as she put her foot down. Still no movement from the zombies.
She took another.
Stop.
Another.
Stop.
There were zombies further away who should have seen her, but at that moment she was unnoticed. She glanced back at the car. Ed had pulled the driver's door closed and stared at her through the window, wide eyed and shaking his head. She stared back and was about to gesture him out when she stopped. Maybe it would be better this way. She didn't have to worry about him and she wouldn't have to think about him if she ran.
She turned away from the car and took her slow steps, one by one, towards St Paul's. She almost got around the back before she heard the tell-tale growl that meant she'd been smelled. Sweat broke out across her back and her breath caught in her throat. She broke into a run, away from the soldiers and down the far side of the cathedral, trying to ignore the scratch of feet as the zombies closed in.
Alex - Plague Day
The world turned upside down. In truth, his feet simply stepped from grass onto a patterned-stone pathway, lined with trees and sat beneath a burning sun. But it was night time and he was on Glastonbury Tor so there was no way there could be sunshine.
But there was.
So the world flipped and Alex found himself hanging, clinging on with nails already cracked and pulling off.
Luke was already striding away down the path and he tried to keep up, but his legs refused to obey his commands and he staggered to a stop. The trees bore huge harvests of olives and the smell made him think of holidays and summer. The stone beneath his feet was carved into long spirals and shapes that danced before his eyes and made him dizzy.
He swallowed and looked down the path. Ahead lay the sea, glittering an impossible blue beneath the sun. Before it, a long low wall bordered the edge of the hill upon which they stood. A figure sat on the wall but it was too far to make out any details. There was a possibility this was God. A god. The god. It didn't matter overmuch. He wanted to chuckle and shake his head, but he couldn't deny the warmth that beat on his head, nor the wind that caressed his legs with soft sand.
He didn't know who the person sat on the wall was, but he knew he wasn't in England anymore. He swallowed and made his slow way after Luke.
As he drew nearer, the person came into focus and proved, for the most part, unremarkable. White, wispy hair that clung to his skull like ambitious candyfloss, created the image of an old man, and the lines on his forehead agreed. He wore a loincloth and nothing else, displaying a wiry body, the sort older men in the Mediterranean had that spoke of a life spent on boats beneath the sun. But despite the mundanity of his appearance, his eyes were entirely remarkable and Alex found himself trapped.
They were the colour of the sea after a storm and pierced straight through him. His disbelief, what was left of it, withered. This person, this being, was something he hadn't even imagined, let alone seen before. Luke called him the Father and it was a name that fitted. He'd already seen everything Alex had done. He knew all his secrets and his mysteries. The question that remained was what sort of a father he was.
Alex's father had been solid. That was the word he used when he talked to mates. Solid, easy, relaxed, patient. A good dad, really. He supported his son's love of chemistry and had been way more thrilled than Alex when he got the place at uni. He had the feeling the man sitting on the wall would be somewhat different.
He caught Luke just as he spoke.
'Why did you send me to Earth?'
It was asked in the tone of voice that normally commanded answers and threatened pain if they didn't arrive. The white-haired man merely raised his eyes to look at Luke and his eyebrows to indicate he'd heard.
'You know the answer to that. It was time for you to rediscover yourself.'
'I know who I am well enough, thank you. Now tell me the truth, why am I here?'
The Father leant back and folded his arms. 'Come forward, Alex, please.'
He decided he'd rather leap off the cliff than come forward, but his feet were already moving. He stared at his legs, willing them to stop, and decided that he didn't have any control over them. Which was b
oth terrifying and oddly comforting. He wasn't out of his depth. He'd already drowned and was standing on the sea bed.
'You made a difficult choice a couple of weeks ago. You made the right one, well done.'
'You know who I am?'
'Of course. I know who everyone is.'
Luke snorted. 'You mean you looked at my list. Are you sure you didn't plan my list?'
'You know I don't take that sort of a hands-on role. Why, was it different to usual?'
'I failed. I failed my quota. The first time ever. And it wasn't because I was 'out of sorts' or 'no longer inspired by my job'.'
'You were, though. It is clear to me you've been out of sorts for some time.'
'Bollocks. Someone told you I was out of sorts and you believed them because it gave you a good reason to screw me.'
The Father raised his eyebrows again and smirked. Alex hadn't expected a smirk, and when the Father met his gaze for a second, he squirmed. It was creepy, like finding your dad's stash of porn.
'Tell me, Luci, in what way have I 'screwed' you?'
'Ways. You sent me to Earth, quite possibly making me mortal. You sent me here to save everyone from a disease that I don't have a chance of stopping. And then you let someone send Kali to distract me at the one moment I could have done something.'
The Father frowned, shaking his head. 'No one has been to Earth, not since you arrived.'
'That's where you're wrong. Kali was here six days ago.'
The air around the Father shimmered, like a heat haze over the desert, and Alex blinked as his ears popped. The old man stood abruptly and smoothly, showing none of his age.
'Who was the someone?'
For the first time since they'd met, Alex saw Luke hesitate. He didn't know why but he filed it away to ask him about later. Or maybe not ask him about directly, just dance around it until he found out the truth. Luke shifted from foot to foot.
'That isn't important.'
'That's entirely important. That is, in fact, considerably more important than your whining and whinging about being sent to Earth.'
'Well, that's a shame, because I--'
'HEED ME BOY OR I WILL ENSURE YOU SPEND THE REST OF YOUR DAYS HERE.'
Alex flew back as though a great wind had smashed into him. He landed on his arse and rolled head over heels down the path. He came to rest against one of the trees, head and shoulders thumping. He stared back to the wall and saw Luke still standing, bent almost double against the onslaught.
The Father's voice carried clearly despite the distance. 'Alex, I am sorry. That was not intended for you.'
The Father raised a hand and Alex was back in his place, standing a few feet from him. He gave him a kindly smile and patted his shoulder. 'Forgive me, sometimes I forget who I'm speaking to.'
He turned back to Luke. 'If someone is involved in your time here, would it not behove you to tell me? If they are meddling to bring about the apocalypse, I need to know.'
'What will happen to them?'
'Come now, Luci, you know better than to ask that. You've experienced it first hand, why would you need to ask?'
'Call me nosy. A lot's changed since my time. Humour me, what will happen?'
The Father sighed and sat back on the wall, adjusting his loin cloth. 'They will be banished—'
'What, sent here, or below?'
'I don't, in truth, know. My first instinct is below, as it always is, but coming here might be a better choice this time around.'
Alex didn't know he was going to speak until he heard his voice. 'Sorry, can I just check something? Are you saying that whoever is doing something wrong gets the choice between going to hell or Earth? Like that's a tough decision?'
He waited for the Father to do the scary voice thing again but instead he smiled warmly and patted the wall beside him. 'Come, sit down. Earth is a place of many wonders, true, but for beings such as Luci here, it is also a place of great danger. When I send one of them here, they are made mortal, killable, you see?'
Alex nodded.
'Hell is unpleasant—'
'Boring.'
'Thank you, Luci. Yes, boring as well. But he or she will live forever there, or at least until I forget why they're there and grant them a release.'
'Like you did with Luke.'
'No, not really. I never forgot what he did. I just decided to give him a second chance.' The Father sighed and shook his head. 'First son syndrome, I'm afraid.'
'You're so full of shit.'
'And thank you again, Luci. You see, this is what he gets away with.'
Alex wanted to cover his head with his hands and sing 'la la la' until everything went away. He was chatting to God, and the crazy old bastard was talking about Luke like a wayward son. He really needed to read his Bible, because he couldn't remember any of this stuff.
The Father's frown returned and he looked back up at Luke. 'So tell me, beloved son of mine, who sent Kali to Earth.'
Luke hesitated again and Alex covered his ears, tucking his head into his chest. Finally Luke nodded. 'She said it was Az.'
'Az? Isn't he your friend?'
Luke looked surprised for just a moment before he shrugged. 'In a way.'
'In the sort of a way that involves betraying you and dooming the human race to the most hideous plague ever released on Earth?'
'Yeah, something like that.'
The Father rested his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. His voice was muffled. 'Are you telling me you cannot stop this plague?'
'I don't think I can.' He sounded regretful and oddly quiet. Alex glanced up at him. Luke stared at the Father, brows drawn together, hands held over his stomach. The Father raised his head and Alex jumped. His eyes had changed, becoming dark. The storm was rising.
'This is Az's fault. I sent you to Earth because I knew you could do what needed to be done. I wasted centuries of reconditioning to make it happen and it has all been for naught. Damn him. DAMN HIM.'
The sound bounced around the trees as leaves fell like snow. Luke wasn't ready this time and staggered back. Alex's ears popped again and all he could hear was the echo of the Father's voice, over and over again. He swallowed a bunch of times and a little came back, though it sounded more like the sea than anything distinct, the constant susurrus of the water on the rocks far below.
The Father was standing, scowling at something. Alex blinked and opened his mouth. A figure had appeared, lying face down on the stone a few metres away. It was huge, nine or ten feet tall and covered in red hair. All three of them watched as it dragged itself to its feet.
Its face was slightly more ordinary, looking very much like a human with an extended jaw and a horn poking up either side of its ears. Alex glanced at Luke. The angel was rubbing his head just beside his ear and staring at the ground. The red-haired being straightened, looked around and froze, shaking his head as he caught sight of the Father.
He paced across the stone and knelt before him, touching his head to the Father's foot.
'You may kneel and grovel all you like, Az. I wish to know why you sent a succubus to Earth without my say so.'
Alex had never considered himself a good judge of character. But the moment Az raised his head, he knew he was lying. Which was strange, because if his best guess was anywhere near right, this guy was a demon. And he thought that demons, compared to anyone else, would be good liars.
'I haven't sent anyone to Earth in centuries, Father. Which succubus is it that you speak of?'
Luke turned away and Alex almost gasped. His face was drawn and he was blinking as though he was about to cry. Their eyes met and he scowled fiercely at him. He mouthed 'this is your fault,' and while Alex was desperate to ask exactly what was his fault, he turned away instead, back to the Father.
'Don't lie to me, Az. You are well aware of how futile that is. And you are also aware of the repercussions. Tell me.'
There was silence, deep and threatening, and Alex wished more than anything that he was somewhe
re else, somewhere as far away as possible.
'I sent Kali to check on Luke.'
'To check on him?'
More silence. Az was trembling, his fists pressed into the stone. His voice had been loud and firm to start but now he barely whispered. 'I sent Kali to interfere with his work.'
The Father nodded. Just how much did he know already? There was an air of the showman about this, as though he was trying to prove a point. Alex thought back to his comments about Luke being his first son. Maybe this was one of those awkward learning moments.
'You sent Kali to ensure the plague would be released. You have doomed the vast majority of those on Earth to a fate worse than death. I am interested as to your motivations, Az.'
'My motivations are my own and I cannot and will not be compelled to share them with you. I understand I am to be punished. Send me below and be done with it.'
The demon surged to his feet, thrusting his healthily sized chin at the Father and folding his hands behind his back. The Father shook his head and sighed. 'You will not be travelling to hell. Since you have chosen to reshape the Earth it seems only fitting that you become part of its new order.'
Az held out his hands in supplication, already falling to his knees. He was speaking but Alex couldn't hear his voice. The demon faded from view and the last the scientist saw of him was his hands covering his ample face.
'He will not be best pleased with you.' The Father said.
'I know. I shouldn't have told you.'
'You had no choice, my son. Perhaps he can be of use.'
'So the plague is going to happen?'
'I cannot stop it. It is not for me to meddle in that way. If you cannot stop it then the human race is doomed.'
'So I'll be alone.'
'Not quite. You'll have Az.'
The Father cracked a smile and Alex almost laughed. Then the import of what the Father said sunk in.
'Hang on, what do you mean? I can't die.'
The Father gave him a smile like he was a doctor passing on bad news. 'Of all the people in the world who could understand the illogic of that statement, it is you.'
Thirteen Roses Book Two: After: A Paranormal Zombie Saga Page 7
