by Colley, Ryan
Among The Dead
Part Three:
Dwell in Unity
Ryan Colley
AMONG THE DEAD: DWELL IN UNITY
Ryan Colley
KINDLE EDITION
Copyright 2020
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This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com or Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real persons, events, or places are purely coincidental; any references to actual places, people, or brands are fictitious. All rights reserved.
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Edited by Apollo Editorial Services
www.facebook.com/ApolloEditorialService/
Cover art by oliviaprodesign
DEDICATION
For my Uncle Lee, who was taken from us by Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease before his time.
If you’re here for Among the Dead, skip ahead a few pages, but I would appreciate it if you read what I have to say.
CJD is extremely rare and is caused when a normal brain protein misfolds and turns into a prion. It spreads more aggressively and rapidly than cancer and has a more devastating effect than dementia. It has a kill rate of 100%.
There is no understanding of how you get it, or why it happens. Most importantly, there is no cure. It's a ticking timebomb and, if you have it, “death will inevitably follow” – the words used by the NHS website.
Below are links to the leading the researchers into CJD – an acronym I have become too familiar with. If you do one thing today, learn about it and spread the word:
www.prion.ucl.ac.uk
www.cjd.ed.ac.uk
Finally, on the following page is a poem I wrote following my Uncle’s death and the pain it’s caused – I’m not a poet, but I wanted to share it with the world.
THE GRIEVING ROOM
I want to leave the grieving room.
Where a widow mourned and children cried.
Where a father weeps when their son had died.
Where a mother holds her child's hand.
Where the doctors did all they can.
I want to leave the grieving room.
Then there's me, with no role to play.
Stuck for words of what to say.
When tears are stuck and cannot give.
Staying strong for those I'm with.
I want to leave the grieving room.
I have nothing for those in need.
Nothing to give to those who grieve.
No help to those left behind.
Words of comfort feel like empty lies.
I want to leave the grieving room
I think of times that will not be.
Of all the things he will not see.
A life of What-Ifs left behind.
Just old memories in my mind.
And then I left the grieving room.
But the grief will always follow me.
ACKNOWLEDGeMENTS
Thank you to Apollo Editorial Services for their excellent editing work.
Thank you to Tonya Norton, Angela Smith, and Tracey Mullen McCall for beta reading for me.
Finally, a thank you to you – for coming back to the next installment.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE GRIEVING ROOM
PREVIOUSLY …
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
Interlude One – Stephanie
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
Interlude Two – Kirsty
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
Interlude Three – Stephanie
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
Interlude Four – Stephanie
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
Interlude Five – Kirsty
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
Interlude Six – Stephanie
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
Interlude Seven – Keith
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
Interlude Eight – Kirsty
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
Interlude Nine – Keith
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PREVIOUSLY …
I made the most stupid and selfish decision of my life – I left my family to fend for themselves when the dead started to rise. And for what? To save my girlfriend.
I thought I’d be the hero, but it didn’t work out exactly how I planned. Not all was lost though, I made a friend on the way though – Officer James Morrison. We became close and he was killed by the drunken disgrace of a human, General Harrington. I promised to kill him and he would feel the force of my vengeance.
I made my way through the living hell that was London and all the way to Essex. I walked up Alice’s blood strewn driveway and to her front door which had been left ajar. I could hear movement inside and began to push the door open …
There was blood and death, yet my Alice wasn’t there. That wasn’t the end of it though as I gained a lead and began to follow them.
The journey took its toll on me and I collapsed due to infection. A loving couple saved me and brought me back from the precipice of death. It was there I learned of a military convoy which left Essex – I was sure Alice and her family were with them. We all ended up leaving together in search of the convoy, but death seemed to follow me like an old friend. My new companions died terrible deaths.
I came across another group who were thriving and ready for the future. They took me in and helped me. It was then the charismatic and charming leader revealed to me he’d caught two women and were doing unspeakable things to them. I knew I had to stop him and I brought his world crashing down around him.
I saved Kirsty and Stephanie, and we watched their captor get torn apart by the undead. We left that place, not sure where we were going – but we had a much more pressing matter, a stowaway from the base …
CHAPTER 1
I sprinted up the stairs, not daring to look back to see if I was being followed – by the living or undead. I was in survival mode and only cared about myself. Anything else didn’t matter. Suddenly, I heard the staccato of gunfire behind me. Good. At least someone was alive.
I continued up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Zombies poured out of the surrounding rooms, the noise we made on entry drawing them out – like shaking a hive of hornets.
I pushed forward, ignoring the undead closing in around me. If they were agile or coordinated, it would have been the end of me. Luckily, the dead aided my advance, stumbling over each other as I weaved between their swelling masses. Yet, it wasn’t enough. Not until I was safe anyway.
Someone behind me shouted, “Sam! Wait!”
****
A few weeks earlier
I pulled him out into the moonlight and grabbed him by the chin, twisting his face into the light. I realised that I knew him from the camp, and smirked. I pushed the gun even harder against the soft flesh of his throat, and snarled, “Now, what shall we do with you?”
After all the chaos and my near-death experience, I hadn’t even considered the fact that we could have had an unexpected guest.
“Know him?” Kirsty growled, matching my fury as she levelled the SA80 assault rifle at him. If he somehow got the gun off me, Kirsy would end him without hesitation. Stephanie made her way out of the passenger’s seat and watched the exchange cautiously from a distance. She looked weary and wary – of course she did after what she’d gone through. I thought I caught a glimpse of the Benelli M4 Shotgun in her hand, but I didn’t know for certain – I’d have to take my eyes off the stowaway to check, and that wasn’t going to happen.
“Yeah, I know him,” I sighed, finally answering Kirsty’s question. I focused fully on the man, “Why are you here, Keith?”
“I was scared and needed to leave the base,” he replied, referring to the container site we’d left in flames. Seeing his muscle-bound and tattooed form, I found it hard to believe fear was the cause. However, seeing Keith left me torn. He’d been kind to me. Almost a friend. But so had Boss and the other monsters that lived there. I looked at my companions, reminded that I stood amongst the results of my poor judgement.
“How’d you get away?” I asked, jabbing my gun harder into him, reminding him of its presence and his position.
“I ran and hid … before the shooting started,” he stated, struggling to breathe with my gun pressed against his windpipe.
“Before the shooting started?” I questioned, narrowing my eyes at him. Why would he hide before any shots were fired? That was the only reason our escape was noticed – no one had a clue before that.
“The look in your eyes … I’ve seen men with that look before and it never ended well. I left the base and that is when I heard the gunfire. I hid in the van and hoped for the best. I wanted to lay low until I could return. Or leave without being noticed,” Keith explained calmly. He was surprisingly cool about the whole ordeal. Maybe his confidence was founded on the truth he told? I sighed, his story held up, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t guilty of something far worse than lying. I only knew him because we lived in the same place – I knew nothing about him outside of that. Thrown together out of convenience. I was tired of it all.
“So, what will we do with him?” Kirsty asked, never taking her gun off him. I’d relaxed my stance slightly.
“I think we should kill him,” Stephanie said quietly. We all turned to look at her. She was so quiet, and that is what made it so unexpected.
“What?” I questioned in disbelief, staring at her.
“I mean, he was one of the guys from back there … he deserves it,” she continued firmly, finding her confidence. She appeared shy as she scratched her arm, but the look in her eyes was pure fire and rage. And that is when I confirmed that she clutched the Benelli.
“That doesn’t mean he’s bad,” I replied. Sure I didn’t trust him, but that didn’t mean I wanted him dead – not without a trial at least. I wouldn’t condemn an innocent man.
“She’s right,” Kirsty added. “We can’t take any risks, and he did associate with them.”
“So did I!” I shouted in reply. It was true, I’d been with the group that had caused them so much harm, and I was a bad person – not in the same way they were condemning Keith to be, but I still had done awful things. I didn’t rape anyone, and who’s to say Keith wasn’t in the same boat as me? I didn’t want to be part of a lynch mob.
“You saved us. He didn’t. That’s the difference,” Kirsty replied calmly. She was right, he hadn’t – but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have had he known.
“We need to kill him,” Stephanie said with a small smile. I almost didn’t catch it, because she tried to conceal it as quickly as it appeared, but it was there.
“We do,” Kirsty agreed, nodding as if the decision had already been made.
“No, we don’t!” I shouted. That didn’t slow them down. They were both talking, discussing it amongst themselves, almost daring the other!
“There’s so much to lose if we let him live. There’s a risk,” Stephanie said callously.
“Yeah, if we just get rid of him now, that’s a future problem solved,” Kirsty agreed. She trained the rifle on Keith. I was rapidly losing control of the situation. I didn’t want any more death. It was one thing to kill to survive, it was another to actively instigate it. Keith was going to die right there if I didn’t do something fast. Stephanie was encouraging Kirsty. Kirsty was encouraging Stephanie. I had to do something.
“Did he rape either of you?” I shouted, my words like a knife cutting through the air. Both women were visibly affected by my words. I looked at both of them before asking, “Did he?”
“I didn’t!” Keith said quickly, looking between me and them. He was losing his cool composure, shifting uncomfortably.
“Keith, you better shut your goddamn mouth right now,” I warned him, pointing my finger angrily at him. He was compromising his survival by talking. I turned back to the women, “Did he?”
“No,” Kirsty sighed.
Stephanie looked at him and began, “I think–”
“He didn’t. I remember each and every one of their faces … he didn’t do it,” Kirsty answered for her, giving her an angry look. She then turned back to me and said, “That doesn’t answer what we’re going to do with him.”
I sighed and stared at Keith. I didn’t trust him to be around us – I barely knew the man. However, I wasn’t happy about driving away in the night, leaving him in the middle of nowhere.
“Keith,” I said, looking at him. I lowered my gun completely. “I need you to step out of the van. If you try anything, Kirsty will end you without hesitation. Got it?”
He nodded and did what I asked. We were all tense, but he turned to me – an imposing figure up close. We stood in silence for a moment.
“Are you going to kill me?” he asked finally.
“No, Keith, I’m not,” I sighed, rubbing my eyes. I was so goddamn tired and didn’t want to deal with anyone. “You have a choice. Leave us now, or stay with us and we drop you off somewhere. However, both situations have stipulations.”
“They are?” he asked and licked his lips. Even in his current situation, he stood tall and proud, with a straight back and his arms behind him.
“If you leave now, you get nothing from us. We leave you here and drive away,” I explained. He squinted, as if contemplating the situation. He nodded, waiting for me to continue. “Or you stay with us. You’ll be safe, and I promise that we won’t harm you. You will be fed and watered, but you will be bound and, if you annoy me in any way, gagged. I am heading north, and I will drop you somewhere along the way. Understand?”
“I do,” Keith nodded. He then smiled, as if he were going to crack a joke and said, “Option two sounds like the better of them. So I think I’ll go with that one.”
“Where is our say in this?” Stephanie demanded and, surprising even myself, stamped her foot like a spoiled brat.
“There is no say,” I said simply. “My van. My road trip. My rules.”
She huffed but remained silent. She wasn’t going to argue with me. I looked at her, momentarily seeing her face free from the horrors she’d experienced before the darkness returned.
“You said about going north. North where?” Kirsty asked. She lowered her gun but still kept it pointed in Keith’s direction.
“Just north … I’ll explain tomorrow, but you’re welcome to join me on my journey,” I shrugged and yawned, stretching my arms and hearing shoulders back a popping noise. I looked at Stephanie, who was still sulking. Except it wasn’t sulking, she was experiencing mental torment from what happened before.
After hunting through my supplies, I found some rope. It was
difficult to find amongst the food, water, and guns, but it was there. I, very briefly, felt a flicker of annoyance about having three extra travel companions. When I planned my journey, I’d included just enough supplies for one month for one person. Three extra people were a drain on my resources. I wasn’t happy about it, but I wasn’t a horrible person either – I wasn’t going to let them starve. We would all be treated equally, including our reluctant prisoner.
I tossed Stephanie the rope, telling her to bind Keith, leaving her to it. When she informed me she was done, I double-checked her work. There was no way he was getting away. Sure it was overly tight, but it was better to be safe than sorry. I gave him an uneasy smile, and then I shut the van door. It was time to rest.
Stephanie was already asleep in the passenger side, Kirsty in the driver’s seat. Exhaustion outweighed their survival instinct. Outweighed their fear. I doubted either of them wanted to sleep, but they just couldn’t help it. The human body could endure so much, but sometimes it couldn’t take anymore. I smiled – perhaps they felt a modicum of safety with me around? I wanted to take shifts and have someone keep watch through the night. However, it looked like I’d been selected for the first shift by default. I climbed onto the roof of the transit van, surprised by how flimsy it felt with the metal popping whenever I moved. I had a full three-hundred and sixty-degree view. Nothing would sneak up on us. I was just so tired, but I had to stay up. I could stay up just one more night. I didn’t mind leaving my companions to sleep. They needed it.
CHAPTER 2
There was no attack in the night. No stirrings from the van either. I’d been expecting nightmares through the night, but there wasn’t a sound from below. Was that a good thing?
The moment first light appeared, I climbed down from my vantage point and stretched. Had someone been watching from afar, it would have appeared that a statue came to life in the rays of the sun. My joints popped and clicked as their flexibility was tested – I needed it after being locked in the same position for so long. My muscles ached and were tense. I doubted I could run even if I tried – punishment for sitting in the cold. That being said, it wasn’t as cold as it had recently been. Spring was in the air, and the slightly warmer breeze was a sign of it – a sign that the hot weather was on its way.
