Search for Safety: Killing the Dead Book Two

by Richard Murray

  Chapter 12

  I limped into the bar and without much preamble recounted what I had seen this morning and what I believed it would mean for us. Lily of course, grasped my meaning immediately and started explaining to those who didn’t understand.

  “Are you sure they will be coming?” Eric asked.

  “We have seen it before. They start moving and don’t stop unless they have a reason.” Lily told him.

  “How secure is this place?” I asked Eric.

  “The windows are covered and the doors will lock, but they are just wood. With enough of them out there, they will get through.”

  “Is there access to the roof?” I asked.

  “Yes. A ladder around back goes all the way to the roof.” Eric said pointing in the rough direction of the back wall.

  “Someone needs to get up there and keep an eye out.”

  “I’ll do it” said Rachel, “I can use the rifle scope.”

  “Fine but no shooting” Lily told her sternly. “You see anything coming, you get down here and tell us.”

  Rachel agreed and ran for the door, stopping only to pick up her rifle. Pat went with her after a gesture from Lily. He at least would keep her from doing something truly stupid and bringing all kinds of hell down on us.

  “So what do the rest of us do?” Debbie asked, fear evident in her voice.

  “We wait.” I said before turning my attention to Eric, “Do any of those cars out there work?”

  “Yes they should all work.”

  “What about keys?”

  “We have the keys for a few of them” he said moving across to the bar and reaching beneath it. He pulled out several sets of keys and brought them across to me.

  “What are you thinking?” Lily asked as she came over to stand beside me.

  “These creatures keep moving unless they are distracted right?” I asked and she nodded, “Well if we do see some coming close, we can jump in a car and drive it past them and lead them away from here.”

  “It will need to be someone familiar with the area” Lily said thoughtfully.

  “I can do that” said Eric.

  “So can I” John added as he joined us, “I delivered takeout all around this area, I know it like the back of my hand.”

  “No. You aren’t going anywhere” said Debbie, her voice rising.

  “It would probably be a good idea to have two cars, they can go in different directions and split any group they find.” I said to Lily as Eric moved away to placate the worried mother.

  “Two people to a car,” she said “One to drive and the other to help navigate and add protection on the way back here.”

  “Ok, that makes sense. I suppose I can go in one of the cars.” I told her, the familiar excitement rising at the thought of potential violence.

  “No. Not you.” Lily said firmly.

  “What. Why?” I asked.

  “You need to rest your ankle. Anyone who goes in the cars will be walking back. If they drive back they will just bring the zombies with them.” Her tone was firm and brooked no argument. “I will go in one car and maybe Pat in the other.”

  “No! That’s too dangerous.” I told her and she laughed.

  “This whole world is too dangerous these days.” She said with a wide smile. “It’s nice to know you care though.” She added with a soft touch on my arm before she moved away to talk with the others.

  I was confused by my own discomfort at the idea of her putting herself in danger and doubly so by how familiar her touch had become. I despised being touched by people and avoided it wherever possible. I had even killed someone once just because they had touched me, yet I found that I could tolerate her touch and in some cases even welcome it.

  With a deep sigh I dismissed the troublesome thoughts and sat by the fireplace as I watched the people bustle around at their various tasks. I was annoyed that my ankle was preventing me from doing anything useful and if I were totally honest I resented being denied the chance to kill.

  “Hi, Ryan isn’t it?” a pleasant voice asked from behind me. I looked around to see the pretty red headed nurse.

  “Yes?”

  “How’s your ankle doing?” she asked.

  “It’s painful but I can get around on it.” I replied.

  “Well how about I have a look at it anyway.” Louise said and added, “If you have any other injuries I can look at them too, I have some medicines here.” She indicated the bag that was hanging from her shoulder with a wide strap.

  “Sure. Why not,” I said.

  “Great, come with me then.” Louise said with a bright smile and a cheerful expression as she led the way to a more private room that had served as a dining room. She indicated that I should sit on the edge of one of the tables.

  When I was seated she pulled up a chair and set it before me. She had me remove my shoe and sock before inspecting my ankle.

  “Well the swelling seems to be minimal so it looks to be recovering.” She told me. “I have a compression bandage that will help support it and in a week or so you should be fine.”

  I grunted and watched sullenly as she wrapped the bandage tightly around my ankle and up my calf. I was feeling sulky already for missing out on the excitement and the thought that I would be limited for a week or more was almost too depressing.

  “Anything else I need to look at?” she asked after she had secured the bandage.

  “A couple of things,” I told her as I pulled up my shirt to reveal the gauze that had been taped over the wound from where I had injured myself with a screwdriver just after this whole mess had begun.

  “What happened here?” she asked, voice raised in concern. I explained how I had been forced to leap across an alleyway and landed badly with a screwdriver in my jacket pocket that had cut deeply into my flesh.

  Louise tutted and poked at the raised red flesh around the edge of the gash. “Have you had anyone look at this?” she asked.

  “Some army medic did back at a refuge centre. She gave me some antibiotics but they were lost about a week ago before I could finish them.”

  “You have been incredibly lucky then.” Louise said with a shake of her head. “It looks like you avoided the worst but it doesn’t look right.” She sighed. “I am going to have to clean it out, this will hurt.”

  “Why does it need cleaning out?” I asked with alarm.

  “I don’t know when you last changed that gauze but the wound was healing and then broke open again allowing dirt and bacteria from the gauze to get in. It’s early stages yet but there’s definitely infection in there and if I don’t open it up and clean it out it will get really bad for you.” Louise said in a no nonsense tone.

  It seemed my day was going from bad to worse. Louise went to sterilise some water and a small scalpel she had in a case in her bag. As I waited Lily came into the room.

  “Hey” she said, “Just letting you know we are going out to get the cars set up.” She said.

  “Good luck out there” I told her with actual sincerity.

  “Same to you,” she said with a laugh. “Louise just told me what she needs to do. It will hurt.”

  “I appreciate your concern.” I grunted. Lily just gave another laugh and left the room.

  Louise soon returned with a bowl of water that she set beside me. With a business like attitude that I admired, she proceeded with her task. No talk or attempts to soothe any concerns or worries I may have. She just got on with it. She would definitely make a useful addition to the group.

  She cleaned around the wound first before taking the scalpel and slicing through the skin. The sharp pain was enough to make me wince and I muttered a curse or two when she started cleaning out the now open wound.

  In no time at all the wound was cleaned and she had fresh gauze taped over it. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small pack of pills. “Follow the instructions on the pack and take these until they are gone.” She instructed. “I will change the gauze for you when it’s needed but you
have to keep it clean and get some proper rest or you just won’t heal.”

  “Sure thing, I will ask the undead to stop bothering us for a few days while I heal” I said.

  Louise looked less than amused and she glared at me, “The worst thing out here will be infection. Even the smallest cut can kill you long before the zombies reach you if you aren’t careful” she said. “Keep it clean and get whatever rest you can.”

  “I will do what I can.” I assured her as she gathered her belongings. I thanked her for her assistance and went back into the bar. I was an infrequent drinker, the chance of making a mistake was too high for me to risk it, but right now I felt a strong urge to drown my sorrows.

  The clock set into the wall above the quite astounding array of alcoholic beverages, was insisting that it was eleven thirty six when Rachel came into the bar.

  “The zombies are coming” she told us, her face flushed from climbing down the ladder and running full speed into the building. “Pat is keeping a watch on them and he thinks they’ll be here in a couple of hours.”

  “Ok then, time to get into the cars.” Lily said with a look around the room, “Lock this place up and stay quiet.”

  “I’ll stay on the roof” Rachel said as she left the room.

  The room became a hive of activity as the few who were to be distractions in the cars readied themselves to leave. Lily crossed the room to where I sat on a stool at the bar.

  “Don’t drink too much” she admonished, “You may have to be able to react quickly soon.”

  “I doubt I will have much need to do anything, you and the others will be doing all the hard work.” I said with a touch of anger.

  “You aren’t upset that you can’t risk yourself are you?” she asked and I swallowed another gulp of my beer. “You are aren’t you! Of all the stupid things to get upset about.” She shook her head in amusement.

  “Take it easy on the drinks and get some rest. The sooner you are healed, the sooner you can be back out there killing things.” Lily said with a laugh before turning away.

  I don’t know who was more surprised when I reached out and took a firm grip on her arm. “Be careful” I said.

  She looked as though she were about to say something before just nodding and I released my hold on her arm. Lily and the others left and Jim locked the door behind them. Debbie was in tears and Robert was comforting her.

  “They’re in God’s hands now.” Jim said as he came back into the bar and I resisted an urge to laugh at him. I could just hear the sound of the cars engines starting and then soon fading as they moved towards the main road to intercept the zombies.

  I finished my drink and poured another. My mood was worsening and some small part of my brain was screaming at me to stop drinking and keep control. I told it to be quiet and then snickered at the ridiculous notion of one part of my mind telling another part to be quiet.

  “Having fun?” Louise asked as she joined me at the bar.

  “Just getting started” I told her with a grin.

  “I think I’ll join you” she said as she reached over the bar for a glass. “I really can’t stand waiting.”

  “You and me both” I agreed.

  “Debbie is a diabetic” Louise whispered to me. I gazed at her wondering why she was bringing it up.

  “Her insulin will run out soon” she said with a glance over her shoulder at the sobbing woman. “Even if we find some more for her, that won’t last forever and I doubt anyone will be making anymore.”

  “I suppose not.”

  “She will die and I can’t do anything about it except wait.” She took a long swallow of her drink, “It will only get worse too.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Think of all those people out there on anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, cancer treatments, and dialysis. The list is endless. All of those people will start dying soon, if any of them have survived so far.”

  “I guess so.” The idea of so many dying from anything other than the undead had not occurred to me. I wondered idly if anyone would be left for me to kill.

  “I became a nurse to help people and now all I can do is wait and watch people die” she said with tears forming that were angrily wiped away.

  “It’s going to be a rough few years” I agreed.

  “Add in the diseases, old and new that will come along and wipe out so many people, malnutrition will likely be the worst killer over this coming winter” she continued.

  Louise was drinking steadily as she spoke and I was beginning to think that she was a dour kind of drunk. I actually found her pessimism immensely appealing.

  “It could be worse” I said and earned a glower for my efforts. I refilled my glass.

  “Do you think you should be drinking so much?” asked Jim as he approached the bar.

  “Will it make any difference if we are drunk or sober when the zombies arrive?” I countered.

  “He has a point” Cass said from behind us. “If we need to fight, you will need to be sober.”

  “I think not. They will be no fighting for me today and if you lot are going to be a pain about it, I shall drink in private” I said as I stood and reached across the bar for a bottle of expensive looking wine.

  “Me too” Louise said as she grabbed a bottle of her own.

  We left the bar and the disapproving looks of the others and slowly climbed the stairs to the manager’s office.

  Once in the office I set the bottle of wine carefully on the desk and sat once more in the leather chair and stared out the window. Louise dragged a chair around the desk and set it beside mine before sitting down with her wine bottle nestled safely in her lap.

  “Jerks!” she said, “Who are they to tell us what to do?”

  I grunted a noncommittal reply and continued to stare through the window. I had realised that to continue drinking would be foolish and far too much of a risk to my own fragile hide, but I had no intention of letting the religious fellow think he had anything to do with it.

  Louise had opened her bottle and was happily swigging from it without the need of a glass. She began to chatter about this and that and I soon lost interest. A headache was forming and I suspected that was the fault of the alcohol.

  We would have a few hours yet before the undead even arrived and certainly several hours after that before the others returned. With little else to do I sat back in the chair and rested my foot on the windowsill as I thought over our options.

  Staying here for a few days would be fine once the imminent threat of the zombies was done with. We could send out a few scavenging parties and maybe find some camping gear, or perhaps even find the military that were obviously still out there somewhere.

  Louise had long since passed the pleasant company stage and had opened the second bottle of wine seemingly oblivious to the one sided nature of the conversation she was having with me.

  The day passed slowly with nothing to do but stare out of the window and listen to Louise prattle on. Eventually she decided that she needed the bathroom and more alcohol before wandering away. I was happy to see her go and be left alone with my thoughts.

  As the day crept slowly towards night and no attack materialised I guessed the others had managed to draw away the zombies. I was disappointed.

  It was nearly midnight when I heard a commotion from downstairs. I resisted the urge to go down to greet the returning heroes. They could get their pats on the back from the others first.

  A pounding on the stairs caught my attention and I swung around to face the door as Gregg pushed it open. He was upset as he almost yelled “Where’s Louise?”

  “I don’t know I haven’t seen her in hours. Why?”

  “Eric’s hurt, we need medical help.” He called over his shoulder as he ran down the corridor towards the staff room.

  I found Pat at the bottom of the stairs. He looked tired and was covered in mud and gore. Louise pushed past me and ran into the bar-room with little sign of any ill effects from the alcoho
l. Gregg stopped at the bottom of the stairs, reluctant to go in and join the others.

  “What happened out there?” I asked.

  “The plan kind of worked,” Pat began “A huge number of zombies were headed this way, when they saw us they split up and began chasing us. I don’t know what happened to the other car but we drove straight into another pack of the bloody things coming the other way.

  “Eric tried to avoid them but we ploughed through a few of them and then off the side of the road.” Pat ran his hand over his head, a nervous habit of his. I noticed his hands were shaking as he continued. “It was a nightmare. The car was stuck and the zombies were coming from all around us, so we jumped out of the car and ran. I don’t know how many I had to kill just to get away from the car but I thought I was done for.”

  The main entrance door opened and Rachel ran in and once she saw Pat, threw her arms around him and asked him what happened. I listened as Pat repeated what he had told us before asking “What happened to Eric?”

  “We got cornered by a group of zombies in the woods on the way back. I’ll say this for the old bloke; he’s a damn good fighter. He downed a couple of them before one knocked him over and he cracked his head open on a rock.”

  “So he wasn’t infected?”

  “I don’t know” Pat said hesitantly, “There was blood everywhere.”

  “We will need to keep an eye on him.” Gregg said.

  “We have bigger problems” Rachel said, “As I was climbing down the ladder I saw a load of them coming onto the golf course and they’re headed this way.”

  Chapter 13

  I hurried across to the door and pulled it open to peer out into the darkness. A thankfully cloudless sky and almost full moon allowed me to see a large mass of shadowy figures moving slowly across the golf course.