Killing The Dead (Book 18): Sacrifice

by Murray, Richard

  But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be watching. It would also mean that they had seen Briony and would understand at least a little of what she was.

  I waited beside the door to the stairs as the Infected forced open the elevator doors, only to find the empty shafts led down a short distance to a basement and no further.

  “Satisfied?” I asked, affecting as bored a tone as I could manage.

  The pain in my shoulder was distracting and I had little patience at the best of time for people not doing as I told them. Since I was usually right, and they weren’t.

  “The attitude is unwarranted. It would be foolish for us to be anything less than thorough,” Briony said, a little snidely I thought.

  She brushed past me into the stairwell and began the long climb up to the top of the building. I shared a look with Gregg who shrugged.

  “Just how did you get her to agree not to try and kill me?”

  “Logic,” he said, with a furtive glance at the backs of the Infected a little way ahead of us. “I just pointed out that she can’t risk turning you but there will be times she needs you more than an infected.”

  “Such as?”

  “That the people in there are majorly pissed at you and are more likely to try and capture you rather than kill on sight.”

  Made sense, though I didn’t want to point out that the mercenaries sent to the Island had actually had orders to kill me. Though, with me being so close, Smythe may well decide that it was too good an opportunity to resist.

  Not that it would matter unless we actually got into their secret base. Which meant climbing the stairs all the way to the top of the bloody building. Which wouldn’t have been fun at the best of times, but cold and wet from the snow, along with my injuries. My mood was definitely not great.

  I climbed the stairs in silence, my thoughts my own. I regretted not naming my children, but more than that, I regretted Lily thinking I didn’t care about them. I couldn’t help but regret not coming back home to her.

  She had opened me up to a great many new things. Some of them more pleasant than others, such as learning how to love another. It was a shame then that I could not have been a better person for her and wouldn’t have the chance to try to be.

  I pulled off my pack, carefully, and removed a small pack of food from it. There wasn’t much left, but it was enough. I dropped the pack on the stairs and continued on. I wouldn’t be needing it.

  Gregg took the piece of food I offered him with a grateful, if somewhat strained, smile. His cheeks were flushed and sweat stood out on his brow. I would have commented on his needing to exercise more, but for the way he clasped his forearm as though it pained him.

  Perhaps he wasn’t as immune as he’d thought.

  Sooner than expected, we were at the top. Briony pushed open the door and dashed out, her minions following after, alert for an ambush. When none came, I stepped out.

  There was little there besides the helicopter and a stone-built block with a set of elevator doors in the centre. A camera was mounted above those doors and it turned to follow us as we approached it cautiously.

  On the panel beside the door was a series of numbers which I assumed were so that a code could be entered. As I reached out to it though, the doors slid open almost silently revealing an empty interior.

  “Now what?” Gregg asked as he stared at it.

  “We go in?” I said with a shrug. “They clearly know we’re here.”

  “Could be a trap. For all we know they’ll let it fall all the way to the bloody bottom to kill us.”

  “No, I don’t think so,” I said as I looked up at the camera and smiled. “I think they want to talk.”

  “Then let’s talk,” Briony said, pushing past us and into the elevator.

  With a shrug, I followed. The worst that could happen was that they killed us quickly. I very much doubted that they would have that intention.

  “This will be fun,” I said as the doors slid closed.

  Chapter 24

  The doors slid open to reveal a corridor full of people in full combat gear, holding all manner of weapons all aimed directly at us. I was mildly impressed with the effort they’d put in. Clearly, they took us seriously.

  “Weapons on the floor, now!”

  I offered a smile to the rather large man who had screamed the order and tilted my head to one side as I stared at him. Giving up my weapons was not exactly something I was willing to do, but then again, I didn’t need them to kill.

  “Now, now, Captain. I don’t think that will be necessary.”

  The voice was instantly recognisable, and my smile widened as a man I remembered quite vividly, pushed through the crowd of armoured security people.

  Shorter than me, perhaps five and a half feet at most, he had wispy strands of grey hair that ran around the side and back of his head with nothing on top but pale skin and liver spots. His bulbous nose had red veins stark against his pale skin and wide glasses balanced atop it.

  He still wore the same pale green suit with a waistcoat and bow tie, that I had seen him in the last time we’d been in the same room. Of course, back then had been just after he’d had me tortured and just before I slaughtered everyone in his base.

  “Been a while, Smythe.”

  The man in question raised a thin hand to forestall the angry tirade from his security guard, and merely smiled at me in turn. His eyes flicked towards my companions and his smile only widened. If anyone were responsible for the armoured zombies, it had to be him.

  I’d make sure he felt my annoyance at their creation quite clearly as I killed him.

  “Ryan. I would say it was a pleasure but that would clearly be a lie. You may keep your weapons, but should you try to harm me you will not leave this place alive.”

  “Leaving alive is an option then?” Gregg muttered.

  “Of course,” Smythe laughed. “It’s past time that we put our differences aside.”

  “Why would we do that?”

  “Because there are worse things in this world than me, dear boy.”

  Well, that was ominous, and I had to admit to more than a little curiosity. I kept my hands away from my weapons as I led my little troupe of misfits after Smythe. The security forces fell in around us, weapons held ready with barrels pointed towards the floor.

  He led us down a long corridor, past several rooms that I guessed were for the security detachment that was stationed there. The main base was still some distance away on the other side of the river.

  The corridor led to another, much wider, with an actual subway system. A couple of carriages and an engine to pull it. Inside was clean and had ample seating of which my group happily partook, while the security forces simply stood around and watched us.

  “Not the most dignified form of travel but it suits our purposes and is quite swift,” Smythe said as he seated himself opposite me.

  “Whatever works for you.”

  He nodded, appearing to not pay too much attention though I suspected that was a ruse. I had no doubt he had taken in everything about us and probably noticed a hell of a lot more than I ever would.

  “Your wound is not too bothersome, I hope? We can easily take the time to stop by our medical station.”

  “I’m good.”

  Which was a lie. The pain was quite intolerable, and I was almost guaranteed to have an infection. Not that it would matter since I doubted that I would leave the base alive anyway.

  “And your friend, he has been bitten, yes?”

  “He’ll be fine too.”

  I was more than a little put out by his lack of concern over our presence. No matter how good his people, there were still five Infected sharing the carriage with us and, of course, me. But he didn’t appear to be too concerned which was a little unsettling for it meant that he knew something I didn’t, and I really didn’t like that feeling.

  The tunnel we travelled along was well lit and the journey as short as promised. In a few minutes, the doors opened, an
d we stepped out onto another platform. More security personnel in their grey fatigues with black body armour and helmets, stood waiting and I smiled at Smythe.

  “My people are cautious.”

  “Rightly so,” I admitted.

  He didn’t reply but led the way once more into a warren-like maze of corridors. I was soon lost as it was considerably larger than the previous base. Clearly, they had been planning their apocalypse for quite some time and had prepared for a good number of survivors.

  Another elevator and a short journey down two floors to number three of seventeen. Impressive indeed, though I would never admit that to the man who’d had me tortured.

  More corridors, though with less security and more people in their day to day clothing. Clearly an administrative floor as the labs I’d expected were absent and instead, we passed an endless array of offices until we came to a conference room.

  It was all very, ordinary. Like we’d come to their place of work for a meeting and not wandered in from the apocalyptic wasteland, covered in blood and gore and ready to kill everyone there.

  Briony had been silent for the most part but as we entered the conference room, she bade her followers, Alan, Archie, Millie and Matt to sit on the hard plastic seats at the far end of the room while the rest of us, seated ourselves at the other end of the large polished wooden table.

  Smythe joined us, and while two of his security men stood behind him with weapons pointed not so subtly at us, the rest waited near the door. Too many for us to kill, not without losses anyway. Besides, I wanted to know what he had to say so I was content to play nice for the moment.

  “I gave you an offer of employment once,” Smythe said without preamble. “That offer still stands.”

  “Seriously?” Gregg snorted. “After the torture and the killers you sent to our home?”

  The older man waved a hand dismissively. “Just business. We all have our roles to play.”

  True enough I supposed, though I was unsure as to the role he expected me to play. I kept a wary eye on his guards as I listened to him speak. No matter how you looked at it, he had the upper hand which made it more than a little curious for him to invite me in for a sit-down.

  Either he wasn’t as confident of the outcome as he pretended or there was something else that he didn’t want to share with me. The more he talked though, the more I would be able to piece together what that was and then, well, then I could kill him.

  “What is your offer?” I asked, cutting through the chatter.

  “There are… factions, growing in our little corporate family. The damage you did at our base in Scotland has not helped matters.”

  I smiled at that, which only brought a scowl to his face.

  “The Tokyo base has stopped responding to our communications, while the German and Polish bases are talking far too much, but only to each other. North America is screaming blue murder and South Africa is under siege and haven’t asked us for help.”

  He tugged on the lapels of his jacket as he huffed, clearly irritated at having to explain such things to me.

  “Which means that they sense weakness and no longer trust our leadership. They need to be brought to heel and due to our, disagreement with your people, we have used too many of our resources to adequately respond.”

  Ah, I thought. It made sense then. We hadn’t just rolled over and shown our belly to their superiority. The supplies we had taken from their base in Scotland would have hurt their cause somewhat and their standing even more.

  “Why not just nuke them?” I asked, referencing the threat he had made to my family.

  “Wouldn’t work.” He waved his hand dismissively. “As soon as one base launches their nuclear armaments, the others shall do the same. They are a deterrent to ensure no single group tries to turn on the others. Assured mutual destruction.”

  Which was a good indication that he wouldn’t use it against the island, but I couldn’t be sure of that. His situation was not quite tenable. He likely stayed in power only because of the English base’s place at the top of the hierarchy.

  I had no idea what type of system they had for replacing their leaders, but a group of scientists who believed themselves superior to the simple-minded people they had all but wiped out, would have some kind of system in place.

  Which meant that he needed to get the other bases in line else he would be out on his ear and a man without any power in the zombie apocalypse, might not last so long. No replacement for his job would keep him around as a reminder.

  No, he was feeling the pressure from a number of places and my appearance at his door was likely another nail in his coffin.

  “What do you want from us?”

  “You have proven yourself to be… considerably skilled in the art of death,” Smythe said, a look of distaste crossing his face. “It caused no little consternation in our research division when you managed to kill two of our newest creations.”

  Not without some injury, admittedly, but I could see why that would be a little upsetting to them. They were fools, one and all. Sitting in their labs and thinking up new and exciting ways to try and wipe out the remaining people.

  I doubted that any one of them had any real combat experience and none of them would have faced off against an actual zombie. They had no idea how to fight them or how effective their modified zombies would be.

  “We have some more in the process of being adapted. I would be more than grateful to hear your comments on their effectiveness.”

  “So, you want him to consult for you?” Gregg scoffed. “That’s it?”

  “Not at all.”

  The old man interlaced his fingers before him on the table and leant forward, eyes glittering with malice as his smile stretched taut.

  “I want you to send a message to the other bases. I want them brought back into line and I would very much appreciate your showing them that we are not to be reckoned with.”

  My eyes flicked up to the faceless helmets of the security guards and I smiled as I imagined their annoyance.

  “What would we gain from this?”

  “Your people could live.”

  I paused then, holding back my initial reaction as I forced myself to consider his offer. It was no small thing. While I was useful to him my family would be safe and we would have time to prepare for the moment when I was no longer of use to Genpact.

  “More than that,” he said, turning his attention to Briony. “We could offer you a fully equipped laboratory, research staff and all of the knowledge in our data centre for as long as you need to study your… condition.”

  It was time to smile then. Crafty bastard had dangled a great big carrot in front of her, knowing that her accepting it would be the stick he could beat me with. In his eyes, part of my strength lay in my alliance with her.

  He was wrong, of course.

  “We could use time to discuss this,” I said with a gracious smile that I was sure looked strained.

  Smythe wore a cocky smile of his own, seeming to think that he had won. As I glanced at Briony and caught sight of her thoughtful expression, I suspected that he might have.

  The question I needed to ask myself was, should I take the offer? I mean, sure, he was going to betray me at some point, but I could buy some more time for Lily. I could actually get the chance to see her and my children again, to live.

  My wound ached and a tiredness settled around my shoulders. I was tired, so very tired. It had been two years of danger and murder. I’d had a great deal of fun and found someone who actually loved me.

  I wasn’t sure that I was ready to give that up. Could I? Join the people who had been trying to kill my family, who had tortured me? It would be fun, but at the end of the day, I was just so damned tired.

  “Well?” Gregg asked as the door closed behind the last of the security forces. “You can’t believe that shit?”

  “We do not trust them,” Briony said. “The plan remains the same.”

  So eager to fight them, sec
ure in their belief that I would help them win or that I would get them home safely as I had done so many times before. If we fought them, it would be the end of me. I was sure of that.

  There would be no last goodbye to Lily, no chance to see my children grow to become the adults I hoped were nothing like me. No, it would be short and violent and ultimately, it would result in our deaths.

  “Agreed,” I said. “Let’s go kill them all.”

  Chapter 25

  The four Infected went through the door first, not bothering to open it, they just burst through. Wooden splinters hit the wall opposite and the two security guards barely managed to cry out before they were down.

  Teeth and hands tore at their clothes as the Infected sought the flesh beneath. I stepped out after them, noting the people staring in surprise. They’d probably not seen zombies feed before, safe as they were in their little bunker beneath the earth.

  I stooped to pick up one of the dropped assault rifles, hefting it in my hand for a moment before I flicked off the safety. A young woman, barely into her twenties, dressed like a secretary stared at me with wide, fear-filled eyes.

  Another day, I might have considered her innocent. Just a young woman who wanted to survive in a world that had gone to hell. I might have remembered my promise to Lily. But not then.

  The bullets ripped through her, blood spraying the floor as she collapsed and behind her, the screams began. I emptied the full clip into the backs of the fleeing people, making sure to aim for their torsos and not their heads.

  I wanted them to rise again.

  Gregg watched me in wide-eyed wonder, and I had no smiles for him, no reassurance. My time amongst the living was up, my love, my children, my hidden hope of a future and a connection to the world that my family would bring, all gone.

  All that was left was the killer and like Death, I would stalk through that place bringing an end to everything it was, to the threat it posed to the Living.

  I discarded the first gun and picked up the second, cradling it in my arms as I turned to Briony. She didn’t flinch away from my darkness, but there was a sudden doubt in her eyes and perhaps a little fear.