“When?”
“Was recorded an hour ago.”
“An hour… why the hell did you wait so long to get me?”
Cass picked up the headset and slipped it on as I glared at Charlie who looked back without flinching from my anger.
“We don’t have enough people to monitor all the different bandwidths, all the time. We listen to those we expect contact on and record the others. Once an hour someone skips through the recording to see if anyone tried to contact us. At this time of night…”
She didn’t need to finish that thought and I knew I shouldn’t be angry, but that poor man had called for help and no one had responded. He was very likely dead, and he had died thinking no one had heard his cries for help or his piteous death.
“Where is this Coleford?”
A few taps on the keyboard and a map of Wales appeared on the screen. Charlie highlighted a small village more than a hundred and twenty miles to the south of us. Even if we had been listening to the call when it came in, we would have been unable to do anything to help.
“Dear God,” Cass whispered as she removed the headset and looked at us, eyes wide. “Who did this?”
Another tap on the keys and a coloured overlay appeared on the map. The village indicated was in an area shaded green, though close to the border with the red area to the west.
“Silures,” Charlie said tapping the screen with one finger over the red shaded section. “The Riders are green.”
“So they were asking why they weren’t being protected by these Riders?”
“Seems that way.”
“Well,” Cass said, lifting her hand to gesture at the screen. “Where were they?”
It was Isaac who answered after a glance from, Charlie. He scratched at his beard and heaved a soft sigh.
“Best as we can tell, these Silure raiders are nasty pieces of work but they aren’t strong enough to take on the Riders who had always maintained a heavy presence on their border. Now, the Riders are scum, but they actually seem to stick to their promise of protection in return for goods.”
“With a good portion of rape thrown in,” Charlie muttered, and Isaac gave a curt nod of agreement.
“I did say they were scum. Anyway, a few of the people we have been in contact with aren’t in either group's territory, but they trade with those who are. So, a lot of what we have heard is hearsay, but it seems to be worth listening to.”
He paused and leant back against the table, crossing his arms across his barrel chest before continuing.
“The Riders have been called back to their home base,” he said. “We haven’t heard a definite reason why but there are plenty of rumours.”
“What kind of rumours?” I asked.
“Another raider group, some undead that have survived until now, a civil war between the top lieutenants after their warlord was overthrown! One group even suggested there was a demon visiting torments upon them for their evil ways.”
He spread his hands wide and lifted his shoulders in a shrug as if to say, ‘could be anything’ and continued, “there’s a lot of chatter about people being crippled and tortured to death.”
“I did speak to one woman who claimed she heard the radio call,” Charlie offered.
“Radio? Why aren’t we listening to them if they use the radio?” Cass asked. “Wait, are they listening to us?”
Charlie shook her head and said, “as far as I know, they aren’t listening. They don’t seem to be aware of us at all.”
“Small mercy,” I agreed. “Why are we not listening to them though?”
“You’re welcome to try, boss-lady. We have no idea what bandwidth they’re transmitting on or if they are in range. Unless we happen to be cycling through those bandwidths just as someone is talking, we don’t know if it’s being used or not.”
“Great, we could do with finding it.”
“Give me more people and equipment and I can maybe manage that. Without those, not much chance.”
“Okay, we’ll look at that later.” I ran a hand through my greasy mop of tangled hair. It was badly in need of a wash and a cut, not that I had time for either. “So, someone or some, thing is attacking them, and they felt the need great enough to pull back their people leaving their own borders unprotected.”
“Seems that way,” Isaac agreed.
“What the hell could be causing them to do that?” I chewed on my lower lip. “A parasite, maybe?”
“If it’s a parasite, we can’t see it,” Charlie said. “Could be a small one that hasn’t been picked up yet but my money’s on a rival group.”
“We don’t have any money,” I muttered.
She was more than likely right but something just felt wrong about that. It was too easy an answer. Nothing else made sense though. The Riders were the largest group in the area so should have ample people to protect themselves without leaving their borders unguarded.
I couldn’t see it being zombies because aside from a few Reapers, they had essentially died off. There were no zombies that could have survived so long without food and certainly not enough to cause serious trouble to a raider army.
The coup could be plausible, but again, if there was infighting those stationed on the border would be picking sides and there would have been violence amongst those factions. They wouldn’t just head home before choosing who to side with. People weren’t like that.
Which left the idea that it could be something new, something dangerous. That thought scared me because anything dangerous enough to force them to call in their border forces was something that I didn’t want to meet.
“Okay, what’s our plan?” Cass asked, breaking into my train of thought. “We need to help those people.”
“Most likely dead,” Isaac grunted, then held up a hand to forestall an argument with my friend. “No, I get it. We need to check. I can take a group down there.”
“How many of your people are ready?”
“Around a hundred are competent enough to go, though I wouldn’t take so many. Most will stay here and continue training the new recruits from the island and providing protection here. I’ll take a couple of squads with me.”
I hated the idea of him going into danger with just ten of his soldiers, but I understood the need to keep the bulk of our peacekeeping force at Mostyn.
“How long will you be gone?” I asked and hie eyebrows rose in surprise at my lack of objection.
“If we walk, it will be weeks. We take a vehicle or two, it will likely be a couple of days to get down there and check it out before heading back.”
“Can we spare a vehicle?” I looked at Charlie who nodded eagerly.
“Yep, the engineers have a few of the trucks up and working along with four vans and three cars that have been used for scouting. We’ve got plenty of fuel from the refinery so for the moment, we’re good.”
“Not a single one of them still with their own parts,” Isaac muttered. “Frankenstein’s monsters, the lot of them, but they work.”
The engineers had done well, stripping all the nearby vehicles and cobbling together a small fleet of workable vehicles. Mostly they had been used for the sawmill and other projects around Mostyn, but the intention had always been to build a rapid response fleet of land craft, which meant that it was as good a time as any to test them out.
“Okay, take plenty of provisions and supplies. Medical aid for any survivors you find and radios to keep in contact.”
“Daily report is mandatory,” Cass added, and it was my turn to nod. “We need to know you’re safe.”
“You can have a tech,” Charlie offered. “They can take a drone with them to give you some aerial surveillance.”
“Much appreciated. Volunteers only, though.”
“Always.”
Her irrepressible grin suggested that the volunteer may not be so willing, but we weren’t in a position to refuse just then. I gave her a stern look anyway.
“Find out what the hell is causing the Riders so
much hassle. If it’s another parasite growing so close, I want to know.”
“If its something else?” Charlie asked. “Some new horror to plague us.”
“Then God help us and don’t tell Samuel. That last thing we need is fuel for his religion.”
“Copy that, Boss-Lady.”
I just shook my head as I stared at the map on the screen and wondered just what was so terrible that an army of raiders was needed to deal with it.
Whatever it was, I knew that it was a problem I didn’t need just then.
Chapter 17
Abigail worked fast, I had to give her that. In the years since we had first met, her confidence in her abilities had grown significantly which meant that I thought that my friend might survive. What happened after that, I couldn’t say.
“Cut’s deep but I don’t think you did any major damage!”
I ignored her tone of voice as I watched through the window, waiting for the raiders to appear. It wouldn’t be long, as while I had tried to stem the bleeding as best I could, enough had leaked from him to leave a trail.
“Gather our belongings, all the food and water we can carry too.” I looked back to see the women hovering around the table where Gregg lay as Abigail worked on him. “Do it!”
The women jumped to it and I glared at them for a moment more before turning back to the window. If the raiders found us before we could move Gregg, a choice would have to be made. We couldn’t fight and carry him with us, and we wouldn’t survive a siege.
That left little in the way of options.
Another look back at where Abigail worked, bent over Gregg’s body as he moaned and thrashed on the table, almost incoherent with pain.
“Someone grab his shoulders!” Abigail snapped. “I need help!”
Emma dropped the bag she had been packing and rushed over to help as I snarled. A scream of pain was wrenched from Gregg’s throat before he went limp and I took a step towards him, danger forgotten for just a moment before I shook my head and returned to watching out the window.
There was nothing I could do to help my friend other than to make sure that if he lived through Abigail’s ministrations, he wouldn’t die at the hands of the raiders.
“Bags are packed,” Two remarked. “What now?”
A good question. During our time in the city, I had made sure to acquaint myself with the surrounding area. I knew the roads and the short cuts, which would get us maybe a mile without being easily seen.
Beyond that, we would need to stick to the main roads or risk becoming lost in unfamiliar streets or trapped by the small army of raiders that seemed to be infesting the ruins of the city.
“West,” I said, thinking quickly. “We make it to the Bartley Reservoir and then we can skirt the southernmost edge of the city before heading north towards the coast. We make it to Liverpool and then it will be a short journey north from there.”
“That’s a hell of a long way to go with an injured man to carry.” Two said, tucking a lock of dark hair behind her ear. “I thought we were staying here until the job was done. Why the sudden change of mind?”
“Yes, well, things change. We’ve not even seen the leader of this group yet and have no where near enough people to attack their base.” I slammed my palm against the windowsill, my frustration spilling out. “As fun as it might be to keep picking them off, it won’t work.”
“You made us a promise!”
“One I will keep.” My eyes narrowed as I looked at her. “But I cannot do that if I am killed.”
“What if we don’t go?”
“Then you stay here and do as you please. I will take my friend back to the island and return with an army of my own. If you’re still alive, you can watch me destroy these raiders then.”
“This is bullshit!”
I shrugged, before turning away, rapidly losing interest in the conversation. She could do as she pleased, and I was in no mood to put up with her whining. I had stabbed my friend and if he died, I would have not only killed one of my few friends, but I would have broken my promise to Lily too.
No, I needed to get him back home. Then I would take control of my minions and send them against the raiders. Something that Samuel should have already been doing but wasn’t. Which I would need to speak to him about.
If nothing else, I would prove to my friend that I was not avoiding my responsibilities and, eventually, the cult that I had allowed to grow would be whittled down to nothing. Removing a problem that had grown too large for Lily to have to deal with.
“He’s bandaged,” Abigail said, wiping sweat from her brow with the cuff of her shirt. Blood stained her hands. My friend's blood. “I can’t recommend moving him.”
“We don’t have much choice.”
“Because you stabbed him.” Her tone was accusatory, and I flashed a grin as I glanced back at her.
“Yes.”
“He’s lost a lot of blood.”
“And he will lose more if the raiders find us.”
“You aren’t listening to me. There’s no way that he could walk far at the moment let alone run from these raiders you’ve spent weeks provoking!” She absently wiped her bloodied hands on her jeans as she stared intently at me, as though trying to will me to listen to her. “If we leave now, he will die anyway.”
“Can’t we do a blood transfusion?” Emma asked.
“We haven’t got the equipment to do a blood transfusion and I have no idea if anyone here is even compatible.”
“What about carrying him?”
I shook my head at that. Sure, if we had an actual stretcher, ample food and rest, we might have been able to carry him for the weeks of travel ahead of us. As it was, the faces of the women were pale and drawn, dark smudges beneath their eyes showing their exhaustion for all to see. I couldn’t imagine that I looked much different.
“We can’t just leave him!” Abigail said, looking back at Emma and then at me. She heaved a sigh as she crossed her arms, expression troubled. “I’ll stay.”
“What?”
“You all go, and I’ll stay with him. This place is big enough that we can hide out if you lead them away.”
“No.”
“I’m not going to leave him here!”
“Neither am I. He’s my friend.”
“Then what are we going to do?”
I was all too aware of time passing. Every minute we waited was another minute for the raiders to move closer to finding us. The problem was that I didn’t have any real idea of what we would do but I did know that we couldn’t stay at the school.
With wide windows all around the building and only a single storey, there was nowhere to hide where we couldn’t be seen. The signs of our presence were all around in the dust and cobweb free rooms we had been sleeping in and the general detritus we had left behind.
“We carry him,” I said, coming to a decision.
“I already told you, we can’t do that!”
“There’s not much choice. We only need to carry him a short distance, just away from here.” Gregg was so very still lying there on the table, his dark skin pale and sweat beading his skin. I glared at the young medical student. “Keep him alive.”
With the decision made, we got to work. I pulled on my backpack while Two picked up Gregg’s. His pack had the data and the vaccine in it. I couldn’t have it in mine because I was the most likely to be caught up in any fighting, while I couldn’t entrust it to Abigail.
Three and Five lifted Gregg between them while Abigail hovered nearby. Emma drew her blade and I did the same. She gave a sharp nod of her head at my look, understanding that she would bring up the rear while I would take point.
I led the way out of the school, past the small carpark beside the main entrance and out to the street. There was no one in sight and I knew I was pushing my luck by waiting much longer so moved straight across the street and into the garden of the closest house.
Around the back, the garden stretched out a good forty metres,
with almost waist-high grass and weeds. I didn’t stop to think about the trail we were leaving as we approached the back fence. Once we were over it wouldn’t matter.
“You can’t be serious!” Abigail snapped as I reached for the top of the fence.
“I am.”
“We can’t lift him-“
Gripping the top firmly I heaved myself up and over the wooden panel, dropping down to the other side before she could finish her complaint. Two passed over Gregg’s rucksack before clambering over to join me.
Together, we caught hold of Gregg as he was lifted over the six-foot-high fence and carefully lowered him down. He didn’t stir nor make a sound and I felt an unusual pang of what I suspected to be guilt.
The other women scrambled over and once more, I passed Gregg to Three and Five, before leading the way once more.
We went from garden to garden, then across a narrow road and did it again with the next set of houses. Then we paused, taking a moment to catch our breath before continuing on. I kept a careful watch on the road, noting the lack of tracks in the fallen leaves that covered the road like a carpet.
I lead them north, along the road and then left at the next intersection. Across a park and through the trees that lined its edge before coming out near my intended destination. The women carrying Gregg were breathing heavily, their arms trembling with the weight they carried, and Abigail seemed to be struggling to keep from berating me. It was only her fear of attracting the raiders that stilled her tongue.
“We’re almost there,” I said, keeping my voice low. “The next street over.”
“Where we going?” Two asked and I just smiled secretively in reply.
Homes had given way to businesses as we walked and there were fewer trees which meant less old leaves and seeds littering the ground. There were more cars, abandoned on the road, and the various businesses had been smashed and looted of anything that could be used.
Two was brimming with unasked questions and I kept us moving at a brisk pace to avoid having to listen to her ask. Then, we were there, and the women gaped up at the sign above the wide window.
Killing The Dead | Book 22 | Fury Page 11
