Killing The Dead | Book 22 | Fury

by Murray, Richard

  “Oh, I will. You need to bloody well hear this!” he took a step towards me, finger pointed accusingly at my face. “It was all fine and good while you got to play, an endless war with the undead that meant you didn’t have to stay home and be an actual father to your children.”

  “Stop…”

  I burned with anger as though fire filled my veins, my body trembling like electricity ran through me. A need to move, to lash out, to destroy was almost more than I could bear as I tried desperately to ignore that voice in the back of my mind that told me he was right.

  “No! I’ve had enough. I’m done! As far as I’m bloody well concerned, we are no longer friends, and you can live your life as you please. I’ll go back to the island and tell them you’re dead because the man they knew is!”

  “They’ll never have to know what you’ve become, and you can spend your miserable existence doing what you love most. Bloody, killing people. Your children, Lily, they’ll never need to know that you chose death over them-“

  His eyes went round, and a gasp escaped him. For a moment, I stood there, not understanding why he had stopped talking. Then his gaze dropped, down to my hand and the knife I had just plunged into his stomach.

  I stared at it as his blood spilt out over my hand, the blood hot against my suddenly cold skin and I felt something inside of me that I had never felt before, but seemed to recognise all the same.

  Fear.

  Chapter 14

  Gregg staggered back, stumbling away from me as he grabbed the knife hilt, panic filling him and then the pain hit. A scream of pain and anger was torn from him as his legs gave way and he hit the ground, hard.

  “Y-you stabbed me!”

  “I’m sorry!” I actually was, surprising even myself with that realisation. “I didn’t mean to.”

  “What the hell did you mean to do then you bloody nutter?”

  A good question and one I had no answer to. I had reacted without thinking, all that rage and pain spilling out in one simple movement. An attempt to silence the accusations that were ringing all too true to my ears.

  “I-I don’t know.”

  Which was the truth. For months I had been full of anger, burning with a rage that couldn’t seem to be contained. I had unleashed it on the raiders because it was far easier to do that than to look into myself and find the source of it.

  Turns out I hadn’t needed to for Gregg had seen to the heart of it and I had acted poorly, albeit instinctively. That suggested that deny it as much as I might, his words were all too true and that was something I would need to reflect on. Later.

  “Keep the hell away!” he snapped as I took a step forward.

  “Don’t pull the knife out.” I held my hands out and moved slowly as though a fast movement might startle him. I crouched and cautiously reached out a hand to the knife that protruded from his abdomen. “Let me take a look.”

  He batted my hand aside, a wild-eyed look to him as he bent forward, curling around the wound protectively as he groaned.

  “Just don’t touch me, yeah?”

  “I could leave you to bleed out and die.” I settled back on my heels and watched him. His skin was already paler than usual and clammy sweat mixed with the rainwater that was falling onto us. “Your choice.”

  He didn’t immediately reply but another wave of pain swept over him and he ground his teeth together as he tried to hold back the groan of pain. “Fine, just help me!”

  With one hand I pushed him back as I lifted his coat so that I could see the wound. It was messy and deep, but survivable. That was something at least.

  The knife had gone in below the belly button and towards his left side. I smiled as I realised that even in my flash of rage, I hadn’t actually been trying to kill my friend.

  “Why are you smiling?” he snapped. “What the hell is there to smile about?”

  “You’re not dying, at least not too quickly.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, that I missed all of your major organs and arteries. It likely hurts but there shouldn’t be any real damage inside.”

  “Of course, it bloody hurts!”

  “You’re swearing a lot right now.”

  “Yeah, I wonder why that is!”

  He groaned again and waved me away as he grimaced. I tilted my head as I watched him, wondering at his anger.

  “I did apologise.”

  “What?”

  “I told you I was sorry. I didn’t mean to do it.”

  “You’re a bloody nut-job and I’m done with you!”

  While the wound wasn’t immediately fatal, he was still losing blood. I didn’t want to remove the knife and I very much doubted that he would be able to make it back to the safe house alone. Something that I was sure he would realise soon enough.

  “We should-“ I cut off and held up a hand for silence as I caught the faintest of sounds on the edge of hearing. I looked back along the street, eyes narrowing against the rain.

  “What is it?”

  “I might be needing that knife back,” I muttered as I heard it again, the unmistakable sound of horse’s hooves on the ground. “We need to move.”

  He didn’t argue as he reached up a hand for me to grab. I pulled him to his feet as he pressed his lips together and squeezed shut his eyes as he fought against the pain. Blood continued to spill from the wound though the knife was plugging it and preventing most of the blood loss; when he walked, it would hurt like hell.

  I wrapped one arm around his waist as he leant on me for support and, together, we made our slow way further along the street. As we walked, I kept looking back, waiting for the horses to come into view and as soon as they did, I pulled him into the garden we were passing and headed straight to the front door of the house.

  It had been smashed open at some time in the past and we were inside before they noticed us. Of course, it helped that the hedgerows were so overgrown that it was impossible to see anything past them.

  “Christ! It hurts.”

  I let him down onto the stairs and he sagged there, skin clammy with sweat as I peered around the side of the door.

  “Damn.”

  “What?”

  I didn’t reply, just stared at the trail of blood that led right to the door. As soon as those raiders came close they would see it and they would be on us. I glanced back at my friend and knew that getting back to the safe house with him wounded as he was, would be almost impossible.

  The smart thing to do would be to leave him and head back alone. I could always come back later with Abigail and if he had survived, she could tend to him. Back before the fall of the world that is exactly what I would have done.

  His eye opened and he caught me watching him. A snort of laughter escaped before he hung his head, shoulders slumping.

  “You’re leaving me here, right?”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “I know you. You’re around for the things you consider fun, but when the fun stops, you leave.”

  “That’s not true.” At least I didn’t think it was.

  “No?” Another shake of his head as he laughed. “You killed your brother and then left rather than dealing with the consequences of that. You were happy to hang around in Glasgow as you built your cult because you had the undead to kill.”

  “When you joined us on the island you hung around while we went from one crisis to another. The Infected, the Genpact guys kidnapping you, the war against the zombies on the Isle of Man. You stayed for all of those, but as soon as things settled down you were off.”

  “I only left to fight Genpact and protect my family.”

  “Yeah? You could have sent Samuel and your death cult buddies, but you didn’t. You had to go yourself.”

  “I couldn’t trust anyone else to complete the task.”

  “You couldn’t let anyone else have all the fun of murdering people while you sat at home changing nappies!” His laughter was full of pain as he curled around the knife in his
gut. “In the bunker, you were so bored you let them torment you, locking you away for weeks at a time!”

  “Then there’s been our time since London. You move from one fight to another, never stopping looking for an enemy to kill. You avoid going back to the island because you know that if you do, there will be no one left to fight.”

  “You’ll be bored.”

  His words had the ring of truth to them and I couldn’t think of a way to refute his accusations. I had a need to kill, to feel the adrenaline rush of combat and violence. Being a parent, a partner, and living peacefully was not for me.

  “What would you have me do?”

  “Just go home, mate. At least one of us should make it back.”

  “You don’t think you will?”

  “I think you’ve killed me, mate.”

  “The knife wound won’t kill you.”

  He raised a trembling hand to lightly touch the knife embedded in his abdomen. “Can’t make it back to the safehouse with me slowing you down. Can’t fight your endless wars with me holding you back. I’m done, mate. I know that.”

  Raised voices from outside drew my attention and I knew the raiders had discovered the blood from where I had stabbed my friend. I looked back at him, slumped there on the stairs and I grimaced.

  It would be easy to leave him, to go about my life as I chose. But I couldn’t do that. He was one of my few friends and someone I actually cared about. Well, someone, I didn’t want to kill, which was pretty much the same thing.

  I pulled free my axe and left him there as I passed noiselessly through the garden to the gate where the overgrown hedge had spread its branches across the pavement. I moved as close to the edge of those branches as I could without risking being seen and peered along the road.

  Two of them, both wearing the usual armour and carrying crossbows. They were speaking animatedly as one pointed down at the blood trail. Together, they seemed to reach an agreement and dismounted before tying their horse's reins to a nearby gate.

  With crossbows raised before them, they followed the trail and I nodded slowly. The horses would have made way too much noise and the blood was fresh enough for them to reasonably assume that we hadn’t gone far.

  They moved easily, eyes constantly moving as they watched for danger. Their crossbows were held ready with fingers lingering near the trigger mechanism. It was clear to me that they were veterans and not so easily dealt with as some of those others.

  I stepped out into their path as they neared the hedge where I waited. They raised their crossbows and pulled the triggers as I ducked back out of sight. The crossbow bolts flashed past and I was moving again before they could have a chance to reload.

  My axe tore away the lower jaw of the closest raider and I leapt at the second as he dropped his crossbow and reached for his sheathed blade. He grunted as my booted foot met his stomach and he stumbled back as I recovered my balance and swung my axe.

  He caught the blow on one rubber armoured forearm, and I struck again, wishing for a moment that I had my knife. His sword was out, and he sent a furious reply that I barely managed to parry, turning sideways and sliding past him as I spun away.

  His scream filled my ears as my axe sank into the centre of his back and I kicked out, taking his legs out from beneath him. While he moaned, blood pumping from the wound, I pressed my boot against his back and wrenched the axe free.

  One more blow and he was silenced.

  I didn’t bother to check the other, knowing that the wound to his face would either kill him or leave him in no shape to cause me any problems. While I would have enjoyed taking the time to kill him, the cries of pain may well have been heard and time was against me.

  “You came back,” Gregg said, sounding almost surprised as I hurried back into the house.

  “Time to go.”

  “Nah, mate. Leave me, I can’t make it back.”

  I ignored his protest as I grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. His pain-filled cry was all the response he could muster as I threw an arm around his waist and helped him out of the house.

  For a moment I considered taking one of the horses but I immediately dismissed the idea. There was no way I could get my friend onto one of the beasts and even if I did, I had no idea how to make it move or stop it once it started. I was more likely to kill myself than get to safety.

  We moved as quickly as Gregg was able, with me taking most of his weight as I kept careful watch for danger. Twice we had to hide to avoid patrols and both times I waited, ready to fight and kill to protect my friend. Both times they didn’t find us.

  It was almost dark by the time we reached the safehouse, a former primary school with a fence surrounding it and multiple doors to leave from should the need arise. When we were inside, at least one person was positioned on the flat part of the roof, hidden beneath the lip of a sloping section. They could hide there and watch the approaches.

  I was not surprised then when they came out, weapons ready, before I was even half-way along the road with Gregg mumbling too low for me to hear or understand the words.

  “What happened?” Abigail demanded, skidding to a stop, eyes wide at the sight of Greggs wound.

  “He stabbed me.”

  All eyes turned to me and I managed a half-shrug of my shoulders.

  “It was an accident.”

  “Some accident,” Two remarked, eyes narrowing as she glanced along the road. “Best get inside quick.”

  “We left a trail a blind man could follow,” I said, allowing the women to take Gregg from me. I exhaled softly and rolled my shoulders as his weight was lifted from them. “Get him patched up and then we need to leave.”

  “He won’t be going anywhere!”

  “No choice.” I gestured back to the blood trail that clearly marked our passage. “We leave or we die.”

  “Where do we go?” Emma asked.

  Again, all eyes focused on me and even Gregg turned his head to stare, awaiting my response. I knew what he wanted me to say and why I didn’t want to. That reasoning had been made abundantly clear to me by my friend.

  If I did as he wanted, I would be forced to view the new life that Lily had found for herself. I wasn’t sure that I could bear that, or even what I might do when confronted with her loss. When Greggs words alone had resulted in a loss of my control that left him bleeding on the ground, my knife in his guts, then seeing her happy with another may well be my undoing.

  On the other hand, if I stayed in the city it would be alone. He would head off and since I couldn’t trust him to survive without me I would have to send my Furies with him for protection. No matter what choice I made, I would be alone in the end.

  Perhaps that was as it should be. If it was the case, then the least I could do was see my friend home to his family.

  “Home,” I said, turning away. “The Isle of Man.”

  Chapter 16

  I stifled a yawn with one clenched fist as I pushed open the door and stepped into what had become the command centre while we were in Mostyn. Harsh fluorescent light had me squinting around the room, looking for Charlie amidst the computers and wires that hung down from the ceiling.

  “Hey, boss!”

  Cass wore a smile as she pointed out Charlie’s hand that had risen up from behind a bank of screens. I headed over, ignored for the most part by the technicians who were still working even in the early hours of the morning.

  Isaac was leant over, elbows on the desk as he pressed a headset against his ear and listened intently. His eyes followed me as I rounded the desk to join them, but he didn’t speak. Charlie, black hair that was usually braided, loose in a truly impressive afro, wore only shorts and a grey t-shirt.

  “What’s so urgent?”

  One of her technicians had roused me barely twenty minutes before and I was more than a little grumpy about it since I had only been asleep an hour before they did so. My morning would also begin in less than three hours so the little sleep I had been hoping to get didn
’t seem like it was going to happen.

  “Kids okay?” Charlie asked, avoiding my question.

  “Yeah, Jinx and half a dozen cultists are watching over them,” Cass said. “What’s up?”

  Charlie didn’t immediately reply but instead glanced at Isaac who ran one hand through his tousled hair and dropped the headset to the desk before standing up.

  “You need to listen to this.”

  I accepted the headset and slipped it onto my head, as Charlie played the recording. There was nothing but static for a moment and then a voice.

  “Hello…. Anybody there? We need help. Please, God, you need to help us.”

  There was a sound in the background like something from a horror film. A high-pitched keening that seemed to go on without end. Howls and screams of pain filled my ears and all thoughts of sleep vanished from my mind.

  “Christ! They’re here, it’s too late now. God help us all, you need to come. Some of us might survive.”

  A heavy thud of metal against wood as though someone was chopping at the door and the man spoke, his words too low for me to hear though I suspected them to be a prayer of some kind. Isaac kept his gaze fixed on me, face betraying nothing.

  “They were supposed to protect us,” the voice said, full of fear as the splintering of wood could be heard nearby, an accompaniment to the screams of pain and terror. “If we paid their tax, they would keep us safe! Where have they gone?”

  More blows against the door and then a whimper as the sound from beyond increased in volume. They had made a hole in the door was my guess and the man spoke, words spilling from him as he rushed to get it all out while he could.

  “We’re in Coleford, north of the River Severn and west of Gloucester. Please, if you can hear, come and find us. If any survive, they will need all the help they can-“

  His words cut off as his scream filled the air. A heavy blow, like that of a fist striking flesh came next and guttural laughter as voices full of madness spoke a language I couldn’t understand.

  “Oh, oh, please, please, God, no!”

  Another blow silenced his protests and then he squealed, making me wince as I pulled the headset away from my ear. All that came after were rough grunts peppered with laughter and the whimpers of a man being abused. I dropped the headset to the desk and looked away.