Safety Lost (Killing the Dead Book 3)

by Richard Murray

  The sun was rising and the camp was coming alive by the time Julie left the cottage with the kids in tow. I glanced at each in turn and satisfied that they were all wearing enough clothing that they wouldn’t get hypothermia and cause me trouble, I led the way from the camp.

  We traipsed through the woods for several hours. The children were cheerful and willing to stay close enough that I could keep a watchful eye over them. I had no intention of explaining to anyone, let alone Lily, that I had lost a child.

  After an hour of aimless wandering we found a sizeable glade with a large fallen tree through the centre and a shallow banking that led down to the lake. Fallen leaves covered the ground and it seemed a pleasant place to stop for awhile.

  The children were happy to play in the glade for several hours. They climbed the trees and chased each other happily. Julie allowed some of the children down to the edge of the lake to throw pebbles into the water and look for fish and insects.

  I was sitting on the fallen tree trunk and keeping a watchful eye on the surrounding woods when Emma came running back from the water’s edge and called for my attention.

  “What is it?” I asked her.

  “There’s a boat” she replied and pointed back in the direction of the water. Curious, I called for Julie to gather the children as I followed Emma back to the water.

  When I reached the water’s edge Emma pointed north and following her gaze I could just make out the shape of a boat that looked to have run aground against a small island that was just offshore. The dense vegetation and trees, even without their leaves, provided excellent cover and likely hid the boat from most vantage points.

  “Where did that come from?” Julie asked as she joined us with the rest of the children.

  “Has no one seen it before?” I asked curiously.

  “No one has mentioned a boat and if they had, they would have talked about it.”

  “It would be worth checking out surely” I said, “A boat will give us a great deal of options.”

  “Maybe we should tell Matthew or Howard about it.”

  I paused as I considered. It would be useful to have the boat all to myself but I couldn’t really get across to the island and board the boat which may well have zombies aboard, with the children in tow.

  “Yes, perhaps you are right. Let’s get back to camp then.” I said.

  Julie gathered the children together and despite the numerous complaints of the kids who wanted to stay and play, we soon had them moving back towards camp.

  It was a fairly easy walk and we were walking past the cottages and into the centre of the camp in no time at all. The children were dropped off at the remains of the bonfire where Claire was dishing out a thick soup.

  “Look, they have seen us” Julie hissed to me. I passed a bowl of soup to the last child without one and followed her gaze. I saw the man I had last seen shaking Howard’s hand standing with another man I didn’t know, Candice and Rachel. Candice was pointing towards us and the men were staring in an unfriendly manner.

  “You go and find Matthew and tell him about the boat” I said.

  “What are you going to do?” Julie asked.

  “I am going to say hello.” I said and walked away from her.

  The men watched me carefully as I made my way across to them and their talk quietened as I stopped a few feet away from the decking they were standing upon.

  “Hello Rachel, why don’t you introduce me to your new friends.” I said.

  “Oh they know who you are already” Rachel said with that sneer that I remembered so well. I smiled back.

  “Well then, perhaps they would like to introduce themselves to me.” I said, “Though of course I have met Candice.”

  I glanced at Candice and saw that she was still wearing the same leather jacket and carrying her bag, clutched tightly to her breast. She met my gaze with her own hate filled look.

  “Aye you have met her” a tall fellow with a thick dark beard and a scowl said. “You met some of our friends too.”

  “Yes and it was so much fun. I rather hope to have the same fun with you too.” I said with a grin that widened as his scowl deepened.

  “You want to be careful pal.” The second man said his voice full of repressed anger.

  “Oh I don’t know. I see no real reason to be concerned so far.” I replied with a low laugh that grew louder as I saw the first man take hold of his friends arm as he stepped forwards against the railing.

  “I have heard some interesting stories about you Ryan” Rachel said, “Perhaps I should share them with your girlfriend Lily.” She smirked as though she had scored a point.

  “Share what you want, with who you want.” I said, “Just remember if I dislike what you share, I shall pay you a visit.”

  Rachel continued to smirk, though Candice flinched. The two men continued to stare at me with hate filled gazes. I gave one last grin and a little wave as I turned and walked away. I felt an itch in the centre of my back despite my confidence that they would not do anything with so many people around.

  Julie was back beside the bonfire and chewing at a nail as she watched me walk back towards her. I told her to take Emma back to the cottage and turned to watch the newcomers while she did.

  The men were dangerous. I was in no way confident of discerning too much about people and I lacked the social skills necessary to pick up on some of the things that most people took for granted, but I did know a threat and those two men were definitely a danger to me.

  I had already planned to kill them before I had met them. Now after meeting them I was sure that I would need to kill them sooner rather than later. With a final look towards Rachel’s cottage and the men that were staring back at me, I headed back to my own residence.

  Chapter 26

  Lily and Pat arrived back at the cottage earlier than I had expected. Pat looked grim and Lily looked furious. I told Julie to take Emma and grab some food for us all as Lily paced the room.

  “Everything ok?” I asked after Julie had left.

  “John died today.” Pat said when Lily didn’t.

  “Ok...”

  “Liz was devastated” he continued.

  “Yes she was and Rachel has decided to let Liz stay in her cottage, to help comfort her.” Lily snapped through clenched teeth.

  “That doesn’t mean anything bad.” Pat protested.

  “It can’t be good can it?” She asked, “When was the last time you saw Rachel do anything for someone other than herself?”

  Pat looked defeated and hurt as he sank back into the couch cushions. I watched a few more minutes as Lily continued to pace.

  “I take it you expect the worst.” I said to Lily.

  “You’re damn right I do. That poor girl has been through enough, we cannot let her stay in that cottage with those men.”

  “Then what would you like to do about it?” I asked quietly.

  “I don’t know.” Lily snapped.

  “We could tell Matthew about them. He used to be a policeman” Pat offered.

  “No, he has gone north to look at some boat.” Lily said and it occurred to me that she knew Matthew had been a police officer and hadn’t mentioned anything to me. The suspicious part of my brain was on high alert.

  “We should bring her in here, Claire and Maggie too.” Lily said after a few moments thought. “We can keep everyone safe here in one place.”

  “That won’t help the other people in the camp.” I pointed out. “Would it not be simpler to remove the threat to us?”

  “No.” Lily said with a sideways look towards Pat, “Too many questions would need answering and I don’t think people here would be happy about some of those answers.”

  “Claire won’t stay here” Pat said, “She is scared of her or Maggie catching something from Cass.”

  “Is that why she hasn’t been around much?” I asked and Lily nodded.

  “You’re right. I can warn her
though. She will still listen to me at least.” Lily said.

  “What about Liz?” Pat asked her.

  “I will go and talk to her too.”

  “Perhaps I should come with you.” I said, “I met those people earlier and they are dangerous.”

  “No, I will be fine as long as there are people around.” She said with a strained attempt at a smile.

  As she left, she almost collided with Cass and Gregg as they entered the cottage. They joined us in the living room with equally troubled looks.

  “What was up with her?” Gregg asked and Pat quickly outlined what was going on.

  “I’ll go and keep an eye on her,” Cass said and left the three of us alone.

  “Why are you looking so miserable?” Pat asked Gregg.

  “We have had a busy day. Must have been a couple of hundred zombies in total, spread over half a dozen groups and all headed this way.” Gregg said. “We managed to divert most of them to the south but I can’t see that working for long.”

  “We need somewhere defensible” Pat agreed.

  “They won’t leave here until it’s too late though.” Gregg said. “I was talking to Matthew about it and even he thinks that until everyone sees the undead walking through camp, they will refuse to move. They are comfortable here.”

  “We could leave without everyone else.” I pointed out.

  “Yeah right. Do you really think Lily will leave anyone here?” Pat snorted.

  “You may have a point.” I agreed with a smile.

  “Did you meet many zombies?” Gregg asked Pat who shook his head.

  “We saw two groups but they were already headed north so we left them alone.”

  “There’s too few of us to guarantee that we got them all anyway.” Gregg said with a sigh.

  The cottage door opening curbed any further conversation as Julie and Emma returned with a large pan of soup.

  “Food’s here” Julie said as she placed the pan on the table before taking a pile of plastic dishes off of Emma.

  “Soup again?” I asked.

  “We have more soup than anything else at the moment.” Julie said. “It’s good to use it now before we break into the tinned foods.”

  “Supplies getting that low?”

  “We need to find some more or we will be down to one meal a day” Julie said grimly.

  “The boat might help” I said thoughtfully.

  Julie filled in the others about the boat we had seen and I walked across to the window to stare out into the darkness. I was sick and tired of running from one place to another. I wanted to settle in one place where I was safe to go about my own business.

  More importantly I wanted to kill someone myself. It was all well and good killing the zombies and even actively creating situations that got people killed, but the pleasure I felt from those wasn’t close to the sheer joy of quietly and calmly killing someone at my leisure.

  No matter what happened with Liz or Claire or anyone else. When everyone was asleep tonight I would pay a visit to those men and put an end to any threat they may pose, permanently.

  Lily returned with Cass and informed us that she hadn’t even managed to speak with Liz and while Claire had listened, she wouldn’t be joining us. She went into her bedroom and didn’t come out.

  The rest of the group stayed in the living room a while longer. Gregg had found a ratty pack of cards in one of the cottages cupboards and was teaching Emma poker. Julie was familiarising herself with Cass and Pat and I sat in silence lost in my thoughts.

  Eventually everyone made their way to their beds. Pat was snoring on the couch and I lay awake in the darkness as I waited for the bonfire to die down and everyone to go to sleep.

  A creak of a door opening caught my attention and I sat up while reaching for my knife. I released the knife when I saw Lily walk softly into the room, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

  “Everything ok?” I whispered.

  “No. Not at all” she replied as she sat down beside me. “I don’t think I can do this.”

  “Do what?”

  “This. This whole stupid apocalypse survival thing. Too many people are being hurt and I can’t help them.” She said quietly and I became aware that she was shaking. “I can’t stop thinking about John dying and Liz and what might be happening to her. I can’t stop thinking about the damn zombies and how many people have died.”

  She wiped her eyes but couldn’t stop the sobs that wracked her body. I awkwardly put an arm around her shoulder and she leant in and nestled against my chest as she wept.

  I had never been close with anyone before Lily, not even my parents or siblings. I kept everyone at a distance and I was happy that way. If I had any feelings they were buried deep down in whatever passed for my soul and I was content with who I was. I had never envied people their easy familiarity, their ability to offer comfort to others, until now.

  For the first time in my life I wanted to offer comfort and understanding to another person and I didn’t know how. All I could do was hold on to her and let her cry until she finally fell asleep.

  As she slept, her body warm against mine I lay back in the darkness and felt no need to move her away from me. Her closeness was strangely comforting and I felt content. I shifted slightly where I lay and heard her murmur in her sleep. I glanced down at her and I felt the smile that formed on my lips.

  It occurred to me that my thoughts of violence and death had been forgotten and it was then that I realised just how dangerous this woman was to me and just how important she was too. It took a long time for me to fall asleep.

  Chapter 27

  A groggy looking Pat woke me. He was looking confusedly at Lily who was still nestled against me.

  “Matthew is at the door.” He said.

  “What does he want?”

  “You two.”

  “Oh, better ask him to give us a minute.” I said and began to gently shake Lily as Pat headed back to the front door.

  Lily roused slowly and blinked her eyes as she yawned and looked around. She looked confused for a moment and then embarrassed.

  “Oh god, I’m sorry about last night.” She said as a blush rose up her cheeks.

  “Think nothing of it.” I said with a smile. “Apparently Matthew is waiting at the door and wants to speak to us.”

  “Well invite him in while I get dressed” she said as she climbed to her feet and headed to her bedroom, blanket wrapped tightly around her.

  I was very aware of the foul taste in my mouth as I walked to the door. I told myself that no matter what Matthew wanted I would brush my teeth first. Perhaps shave too, I thought as I scratched at the week’s worth of growth on my chin.

  “What can I do for you?” I asked Matthew after a brief greeting.

  “That boat you saw, I want to go and take a look and thought that since you found it, you should come and check it out.”

  “So why do you need me?” Lily asked as she joined us.

  “I thought you could come along too. I understand you have a rudimentary knowledge of engines and we have no idea what state the boats engine will be in.” Matthew said, “We set off in twenty minutes.”

  “Who else is going?” I asked before he could leave.

  “I was thinking of asking a couple of my scavengers. We shouldn’t need many.”

  “What about those two new guys?” I asked, “It would be a good chance to see how they do and won’t take anyone away from diverting those zombies.”

  “Ok, sounds good to me. I’ll go and tell them.” Matthew said and left me standing by the door with Lily staring at me.

  “What are you planning?” She demanded.

  “I have no particular plan” I said with a smile, “I just thought it would be a good idea to get them out of camp and keep them where we can see them.”

  “I’ll ask Cass to check in on Liz.” Lily said thoughtfully.

  “Probably a good idea.” I agr
eed. “Now if you will excuse me, I need to freshen up.”

  “Wait” Lily said as she caught my arm. “About last night...”

  “What about it?”

  “I’m sorry. I was upset and I know how much you dislike that sort of emotional outburst.” She said.

  “You do?”

  “It isn’t hard to notice after a while.” She said with a faint smile.

  “Oh. Well don’t worry, I wasn’t bothered by it.” I said with a smile of my own before gently pulling my arm free and heading into the bathroom.

  Ten minutes later I was freshly shaven and washed. A cold shave with a disposable razor that should have been disposed of many shaves before, was not the best way to start the day. My face felt raw and ill used, but I was happier to be clean shaven. It just felt neater.

  “Ready to go?” I asked Lily.

  “Yeah, just letting everyone know what’s going on.” She said.

  “What are you lot doing today?” I asked.

  “Cass and I were supposed to head out again but Cass is staying here so I am going with the big guy.” Gregg said with a laugh and a thump on Pats shoulder.

  “Julie is helping with food today and Emma is staying close” Lily said.

  “And I am going to see about talking with Liz and keep an eye on things.” Cass said.

  “Well it sounds like we all have a busy day ahead of us.” I grunted, “Best get to it.”

  Lily and I left the cottage and headed across the camp to Matthews place. The two newcomers were already there. They were dressed in mismatched clothes and carried a shotgun apiece. A pair of scowls greeted us as we approached.

  “Good morning gentlemen” I said with a wide grin.

  The shorter man looked as though her was about to say something but his companion silenced him with a glare.

  “Ah good you are all here” Matthew said as he came out of his cottage carrying a hunting rifle. “Gary and Shaun these are Ryan and Lily” he said by way of introduction.

  “We’ve met briefly” I said.

  “Oh, ok. Well we’re going to have a look at the boat and I am expecting to find some of the undead on it. I see you two have your guns” He said to Gary and Shaun before turning to us. “You two need anything?”