Thirteen Roses Book Two: After: A Paranormal Zombie Saga

by Cairns, Michael

  Jackson stiffened as he realised what the man was saying. Some part of him didn't care, but it was the part he had buried deep, the part the children had eaten away. The rest of him burned with fury and he clenched his fists and began to push through the sheets towards the voices.

  Ed

  They were in St Paul's Cathedral, there was a giant tent filling most of it, and they were heading for someplace called the hidden chambers. He'd left all his comics at Mum and Dad's, but he was pretty sure he'd find a story like this in one of them. He'd wanted to take them so bad, but two filled up as much room as Dad's iPad so there was no choice.

  He sneered as he stared at Bayleigh's back. What a great decision that had been. He'd kept the iPad all of three days before it got stolen. Back then, running away to London still had something magical about it, some hint of wonder. The wonder was stripped away quickly enough, torn from him in strips until he lay naked to the elements. He'd never got it back. He still loved London but all he saw now were dry places to sleep and shops that might have something useful in the bins.

  But he was here now and with people who cared enough to search for Krystal. And one of them was some kind of angel or something. He was still too scared of Luke to ask him anything specific, but he knew what he'd done to the soldiers. And there was something about him. The way he walked around the zombies, like he really didn't care. It was like Ironman or something, really cocky. It was cool.

  He grinned, one corner of his mouth turning up. Bayleigh was nice too. She wasn't quite old enough to be his mum, but she didn't want to be, and that was cool. His grin dropped. Why was he thinking all this stuff? If by some miracle they got out of here alive, they still had to deal with a world filled with zombies. It wasn't like there was some idyllic life ahead of them, where they all lived together in a house and baked bread.

  And there was no way he was ever living with Jackson. The guy was so creepy and not just in a shaved-head, big-beard, god-loving way. There was something in his eyes. He'd seen stuff and done stuff Ed didn't want to know about. Except he thought maybe he should know because it was important. But if Luke was scary then Jackson was plain terrifying and there was no way he was asking him anything.

  Luke raised a hand and they stopped. Ed glanced right and saw a statue of a woman. She looked sad and the stone around her eyes had crumbled, like her tears had worn it away. It looked like she knew what lay ahead and already felt sorry for them. He shook his head and turned resolutely away.

  Luke was kneeling at the base of the wall, listening to voices drifting through the darkness. The voices bounced around the cathedral, impossible to make out, but the click of footsteps were definitely coming closer. Luke led them away from the wall towards a raised part of the church. They raced across it and tucked themselves behind a large stone pillar. Everything in here was over-sized and all three of them could hide behind it. The voices came closer.

  'We'll expose another in a couple of hours. I don't hold out much hope, though.'

  'It'll happen, sooner or later. It was more virulent than we thought.'

  'And praise God for that. It was absolute, just as we wanted.'

  Ed could hear the incredulity in their voices. It was like they'd had this unreachable dream that had somehow come true. He shuddered.

  'We'll check on the mother and then perhaps something to eat?'

  'That sounds like a grand plan. I do so enjoy the tubes of smush.'

  'Not long now, brother. And th—'

  The voice cut off. Luke waved, still peering around the column and they followed him. He ran back across the raised edge, eyes fixed on a point on the wall. He reached it and pushed his hand straight through the stone. Ed stared, blinking. He pushed past Bayleigh and reached slowly out. His fingers brushed what should have been the wall, but there was nothing there. His hand went straight through it. It was outstandingly cool.

  Luke gave him a grin and pulled a knife from his pocket. He opened the blade and knelt, then dug into the stone to mark the spot. They dashed back and hid behind the column.

  'They're checking the mother, whoever she is. As soon as they come out, we'll go in.'

  His mouth barely moved and the words were almost too low to catch. Ed nodded and waited, hands gripped together to stop them shaking. Bayleigh leant her back against the wall and slid down until she was level with him.

  'How you holding up?' she asked.

  'Okay, I guess. A bit tired now.'

  Bayleigh grinned and nodded. 'Me too, oh yeah. Can't actually remember the last time I slept, not properly.'

  'Yeah, when's that gonna happen?'

  She chuckled and ruffled his hair with her hand. She pulled it out and looked at it, grimacing slightly. He blushed. 'Sorry, I read somewhere if you leave it long enough it cleans itself. I don't like using the showers in the hostels.'

  'No, it's fine. I get that. I'm not sure it'll clean itself now, though. You might need to give it a head start.'

  'Well, I've got lots of shower to choose from, I guess.'

  He tried to smile but her face stopped him. There was nothing cool about being able to choose from lots of different showers, not when the owners were dead. Luke hissed and waved his hand at them for silence. Ed sneaked around Bayleigh and peeked out.

  The two men, clad in long robes that were almost white, emerged from the wall and strode away down the cathedral. Luke watched them go, head moving further and further round the column. Satisfied, he waved them out and they rushed across the space.

  Luke went first, and then it was Ed's turn. He stared at the massive bricks. They were solid, they looked so solid, and he was going to walk straight into them. He took a step and his foot went through like the wall wasn't there. He followed it with the rest of him, and found himself in a white corridor.

  Luke stood a little way ahead, watching him, finger pressed to his lips. Ed stepped further forwards as Bayleigh came in after him. The corridor was pure white and lit by striplights, the kind they used to have in school. Actually, they probably still did, only he didn't get to see them. Of course, no one got to see them anymore, but that wasn't the point.

  With a finger still pressed to his lips, Luke led them down the passageway, passing door handles that Ed only noticed when he bumped into one. It was white, the same as everything else, and invisible unless you stared straight at it. Why were they missing them all out? Krystal could be behind any one of them, easy. Unless Luke knew something he didn't, which was pretty likely.

  Luke stopped by a door, the same as all the rest, and tried the handle. It didn't move. He swore under his breath and hauled harder on the door. Still no give. He glanced at Bayleigh and Ed and muttered something about bringing the wrong people. Then he stepped back from the door, lined up and booted the lock.

  The sound was immense after the enforced quiet, bouncing up and down the corridor. All three of them ducked their heads, but Luke hauled off and took another shot. This time the handle burst out of the wood and the door swung in. Luke rushed through it followed closely by Ed.

  And there was Krystal. She looked fine. Tired, but unhurt, and Ed beamed. Krystal looked at Luke and frowned, like she recognised him but didn't know where from. Her eyes moved over Bayleigh and lit on Ed, and a smile burst across her face. He realised he hadn't seen her smile until now, not properly. She ran across and threw her arms around him. He almost lost his nerve and backed out, but he kept control and hugged her.

  She pushed him away and looked in his eyes. 'You alright?'

  He nodded. 'You?'

  'Yeah, you know. They took some blood, bloody bastards. But yeah, I'm alright. Who's the rescue party? I know you.'

  Luke inclined his head. 'I'm Luke. I sold you some flowers a couple of weeks ago. You made an excellent choice, well done.'

  'Huh, what? I remember the flowers, but what about the choice?'

  'You saved Edward here from doing something very foolish. That took strength. Well done.'

  'Oh.' Her face went re
d and Ed grinned. It was nice seeing her bashful.

  'Right, this is Bayleigh. Introductions over, we need to get out of here.'

  As the last word left his tongue, Ed heard two things. One was the shouting of soldiers, blaring from out in the cathedral. The other was a voice he realised was David's, praising the Lord in strident, bold tones.

  Krystal

  She let go of Ed reluctantly and said hi to the pretty lady with the messy blonde hair. She looked as tired as Krystal felt, only more so. They all jumped as angry voices filtered in from somewhere outside. Another voice chirped up and she frowned. He sounded kind of mad.

  'The Lord has healed me, praise the Lord for he has healed me and brought me to the light. I'm saved, I'm saved.'

  The flower seller dashed from the room and she followed close behind. Ed and Bayleigh came with them and they raced down a long narrow corridor. What was it with everything having to be white? The shouts were getting louder and the flower seller stuck out a hand, halting them a little way before the end of the corridor.

  'Stay here.'

  He crept forwards and waited at the end. She looked at the others, brows drawn together, but they both stared intently at him so she joined them. Moments later, a gun barrel came straight through the wall. She was about to dive to the floor when it was followed by one of the soldiers, and she bared her teeth. The grimace turned to a smile as the flower seller grabbed the end of the gun and yanked, pulling the soldier all the way into the corridor.

  The flower seller's other hand caught the guard in the side of the neck, right beside the tube to his gas mask. He coughed, letting go of the gun and putting his hands to his throat. The flower seller smashed him across the side of the head with the gun and the man hit the floor. Krystal blinked. The entire thing took about a second and the flower seller wasn't even out of breath.

  He turned to Bayleigh, eyebrows raised. 'Is that better?'

  'It is, thank you.'

  'Huh?' Krystal asked of no one in particular.

  Ed nudged her. 'Long story. Luke's trying to be nice.'

  'Luke?'

  'The flower seller. He just introduced himself.'

  'Oh, sorry, bit out of it. That was pretty good though, hey?'

  Ed grinned tightly and nodded. Luke pulled the soldier towards them and dumped him on the floor, then rushed back to the end of the tunnel.

  'What's with the wall?'

  'It's amazing, coolest thing ever.'

  'Or just weird.'

  He looked at her like she was a bit crazy and she couldn't help smiling at him. Despite the soldiers and the zombies and the weird guy still shouting about God, Ed found the time to be amazed by a wall. It was a pretty impressive wall, to be fair. It was also the first time she'd ever seen him look his age. It was nice.

  'Let's go, come on.' Luke yelled at them before vanishing through the wall. Krystal hesitated as she was about to step through, but Bayleigh pushed her in the back and she staggered out into St Paul's. The first thing she noticed was the crazy man. He was standing to her left, talking to a pillar. His arms were raised above his head and she noticed both hands were bruised.

  'God has healed me. I've been healed, it's a miracle.'

  The second thing she noticed were the four soldiers only a few feet away, aiming their guns straight at her. It wasn't the nicest introduction to the cathedral and certainly not what she imagined God wanted. The soldiers were ignoring crazy healed man entirely, which struck her as odd. Unless they'd seen that sort of thing before.

  She cowered before the guns, ducking her head and covering it with her hands. Ed did the same, putting his own hands out in front like that would make any difference. She'd been rescued and now she was going to be shot. She took a deep breath and tried to stop her hands shaking. She waited. Nothing.

  She peeked up, and saw the soldiers freak out. One of them dropped his gun and backed away from it like it was going to bite him. Two of them dived into a variety of weird contortions, twisting and curling. The last sat with a thump on his arse and stared into the distance as tears streamed down his face.

  Luke raced across to the crazy man and grabbed him by the shoulders. They stared at one another for a moment and the praising died down to silence. It lasted only a moment before he thrust his hands into Luke's face, shaking them back and forth. Luke slapped him, really hard round the face, and Krystal winced. It worked, though, the guy shut up straight away.

  Luke dragged him over to them and they huddled in a circle. Krystal kept glancing over her shoulder at the soldiers. What was wrong with them?

  'What happened to them?'

  Luke made the slightest of shrugs. 'They're seeing their worst fears.'

  The crazy man cackled and nodded. 'Oh yes they are. They need God, you know, he'd save them.'

  'Shut up. Krystal, this is David. He'll get better.'

  She nodded, staring wide-eyed at the crazy man. He was one of them. She tried to smile but the look he returned made her blood run cold so she fixed her eyes on Luke.

  'We need to get back to the tunnel. But we need to get the others first. We run from here back to the Lady Chapel. You hide in there until I find the others. Understand?'

  They all nodded, Krystal too thrown by the entire thing to argue. He was in charge. She wasn't sure why, although after the weird thing he'd done with the soldiers, she wasn't going to argue. Without another word, Luke set off across the cathedral, dashing from column to column.

  Now and then he'd stop them with a raised hand and stare towards the far end. It didn't make sense that more soldiers hadn't come to stop them. The four they'd left behind were still lost in their own little nightmares, but surely someone else had become suspicious?

  She put on a burst of speed and caught up with Luke. 'Why aren't more of them trying to stop us?'

  'Good question. I was wondering that myself. We might be having a little help from the Father, though that may be wishful thinking.'

  'Who's the Father?'

  'Theoretically, he's the guy that runs this place. In reality, he's a lazy, sadistic bastard to whom I am only very reluctantly related.'

  'Runs this place? What, like the caretaker or something?'

  Luke chuckled and shook his head. 'I'm afraid not. The caretaker would be doing considerably more work. The Father's at the other end of the scale.'

  He pulled her behind another column and held her there, peering around it. They were running beside the tent and she took a moment to look at it closely. It was made of shiny material, which was what she'd seen reflecting on her way in here. It was enormous and really creepy. White tents looked wrong, like something out of a war.

  'What's in the tent?'

  'The others of our number should be finding that out right now. Hopefully, they already have and will be meeting us back in the Lady Chapel.

  'What's a lady chapel? Sounds kind of rude.'

  'It's the place in the church reserved for the Mother of Christ.'

  'Makes sense. Let me guess, in a place this big, it's pretty bloody small, right?'

  Luke looked at her a little longer this time, a smile turning his mouth up at the corners. 'How old are you, Krystal?'

  'Sixteen. I think. Might have lost count.'

  'Hmm. You've been on the streets three years, right?'

  She nodded. He took her arm and led her back out into the open. They crossed the empty space to the wall and scampered along it. She could hear Ed, David and Bayleigh right behind, panting and gasping just as she was doing. They reached a point where the wall gave way to iron railings and Luke shoved her in through the gate.

  A statue of a woman stood at the far end. The Lady Chapel. Tiny. She hissed quietly and joined the others crouching behind the pews.

  'We'll wait a few more minutes for them to return then I'll go and get them.'

  He turned away from her to the other three. 'Can any of you remember where the door in the wall is?'

  They looked sheepish and shook their heads.


  'Excellent.' He was so dry she couldn't decide whether he was being sarcastic or not.

  They crouched in silence. She became acutely aware of the little things. The blood still pounded in her head and the place where they'd stuck the needle in her stung. A little trail of fresh blood wound down her arm, coaxed out by all the running. She could hear Bayleigh and David rasping away and Ed's softer breathing. Luke made barely a sound, though she could see him breathing in the slight rise and fall of his chest.

  He was good-looking, in a scary way. Not good-looking enough to be nervous around, but nice to look at. David she couldn't look at at all. His eyes were wild, roving and never settling, and his hands moved with them, shaking and twitching. She looked back out into the cathedral. It was so quiet and peaceful.

  A shout came from somewhere in the tent and Luke groaned, rubbing his temples.

  'What is it?'

  'It's Jackson. Whatever he found in the tent, he didn't like. Dammit.'

  He turned to Bayleigh. 'Can you look after them until I get back?'

  She nodded, eyes wide. Then he was up and running, back out the chapel and across to the tent.

  Alex

  It was as predictable as rain in winter, but he still wasn't quick enough. By the time he reacted, Jackson was three cubicles over, mauling his way through the hanging sheets. He was yanking them from the lines so Alex struggled after him through an obstacle course of beds and rumpled sheets.

  Jackson was mumbling, ranting about God's will and the face of evil. Alex stifled the urge to swear loudly as he shoved his way through. This should have been so easy. They found the beds and the women, they knew what was going on in here, but they couldn't do anything about it, not with two of them and however many soldiers. So they should have just sneaked away and returned at another time, with a plan. Assuming they came back at all.

  He looked down at the woman he was struggling past. He wasn't sure woman was the right word. She looked so young, though not that much younger than Lisa. And Lisa had been pregnant. He stopped, gripping the rail that ran down the side of the bed. It shook as the muscles in his arm tensed. She'd been carrying his son.