'Go on, we'll be alright without you,' I told her kindly. The red haired girl went back inside while we dealt with the rest of the corpses, thankfully Frankie's group were more adept at killing the walkers than my group were. It only took a few minutes to take them all out.
'Now that all the biters are gone, I think we should know everyone's name,' Frankie said smiling. The girl who'd gone in with the sprained ankle was Veronica, the girl I'd saved during the fight was Francine, the woman that was first asked about our castle was Ria. Dale was the bus driver, in my group there was also Randal, Carter, Joseph, Trent, Maria and Vinnie.
I took a good look at the people on my team, taking in every detail of how they looked. Randal was a tall lad who couldn't have been any older than twenty, his short copper hair, beige skin and apple green eyes made him look even younger, he was among those who clearly needed a good meal.
Ria was almost a foot shorter than Randal, but just as skinny. Her long honey hair fell in a mess of waves down her back, the snow white skin and baby blue eyes only seemed to enhance her tired look. I couldn't be sure, she seemed to be in her late twenties.
Dale was around the same age as Ria, only he looked pretty well built for a guy who hadn't been eating much. His chalkboard hair was short and slicked back, his soft chocolate eyes looked at Ria with a gentleness that made me wonder if he cared for her. Looking at the darkness of his olive skin, I wondered if he was from another country.
Francine was an older woman, in her mid-thirties, her long black onyx hair was tied back in a tight braid on her porcelain head. Her midnight blue eyes stared at her people with a gentleness that warmed my heart.
Carter was among the older people of my group, I guessed he was around forty. He was tall, dark and muscular with a shiny bald head, his mud brown eyes were fierce and I could tell he loved a fight.
Joseph was in his early thirties, his white milky skin, short brunette hair and turquoise eyes seemed a bit of a mismatch. Trent was a tall, quiet guy who looked barely thirty, the caramel brown skin, long raven hair and stone grey eyes made him look foreign. Maria was a younger girl, in her early twenties. She was average in height, but so skinny I could see her ribs poking out through her white shirt. Her short sunflower hair glistened in the sun light, her smoky beige skin and sapphire eyes made her seem much younger than she was.
Vinnie was another meat head, with bulging muscles, golden bronze skin and a bald head. I felt concerned, given that even those who could defend themselves, still couldn't really hold their own against the dead. I sensed I had my work cut out for me with this lot, some would prove loyal and kind, others I knew would only prove to be trouble.
'Come on then troops, lets head out,' I said trying to make a joke. Some smiled, others clearly took offence, oh lovely, living with some of these people was going to be fun. I'd never thought much about religion, or karma but after that day I felt there was some kind higher power at work.
My heart began to beat through my chest, my palms grew sweaty and my mind felt foggy, as both groups were about to head off in their directions, when we heard half a dozen cars approaching. I quickly grabbed Frankie and hid in a small shop next door to the wholesalers. I'd never had a sixth sense the way that Frankie or Jade did, but I was good at listening to my intuition and right now my gut was telling me to run.
'We've got to help them,' she whispered frantically.
'No, if it's who I think it is we need to stay put,' I told her strongly.
'Oh shit, but if it is Nathaniel's group they'll butcher those people,' she cried. I held her back, hand over her mouth as we listened to the screams. I could feel the tears in my eyes spilling out, I might not have liked all those people, but they didn't deserve this. Every bone in my body ached to help these people, Jade, the others and Sanctuary could take these monsters on but these people had no chance.
'Where are they, where's our women!' I heard one of them shout.
'I don't know, I swear,' Colin begged.
I listened as they slit his throat, I heard him chocking on his own blood. The screams of the children were deafening, the cries filled me with terror as they were ripped from their mothers arms.
'I can't just sit here and let them die,' Frankie cried, tears spilling down her face.
'I know how you feel, but if we go out there we'll die as well,' I replied trying to hold it together. I knew about Frankie's illness, she'd suffered with it for as long as I could remember. She often let her emotions get the better of her, sometimes it was a good thing it meant she loved more strongly, more fiercely than most people did. Yet at times like this, when we had to hide and let other people die I knew the guilt would eat away at her. All I could do was hope and pray that she could come back from it.
'No, not my baby!' I heard a woman cry. I crept to the window, I knelt high enough to take a peek. The leader, Nathaniel was holding a toddler up in the air, and was holding a knife to his throat. The woman was on her knees, begging him not to kill her baby. I felt the fury build inside of me, I clutched my knife with one had feeling my hand ache as I gripped it with all my strength.
'Tell us where they are,' he screamed.
'I saw them run into that building,' the woman told them.
Oh bollocks, I wanted to feel angry at them for giving away our position but in truth if that was my child they'd threatened I knew I would do the same.
'Oh fucking shit,' I said.
'What do we do now? If they catch us we're screwed,' Frankie replied fearfully. My mind scrambled, trying to think of a way out of here. I watched as Nathaniel threw the toddler back at the woman, he ordered his men to search the shop. I clutched Frankie's hand fearing the worst as the men walked closer to us. In that moment, I didn't know what to do or how I was going to save the love of my life. Whatever form of punishment they had in store, I had no doubt that it would be far worse than anything they'd ever inflicted upon anyone.
I couldn't get the image out of my head, my poor friend. She didn't die quickly or gently. Even now as I sat on a bench, in the pouring rain I couldn't stop the tears from falling.
Chapter 12
Izzy
I couldn't get the image out of my head, my poor friend. She didn't die quickly or gently. Even now as I sat on a bench, in the pouring rain I couldn't stop the tears from falling. I'd gone to find her, that was my mission, my whole reason for living this long. I was on the battlefield, searching for my friend, but she was nowhere to be found. I'd ran inside the houses, rescued countless other women and children. I slashed my way through nearly half a dozen corpses, my mind frantic, the adrenaline pumping fiercely through my veins.
'Hayley,' I shouted. I heard no response, only the sounds of screaming and fighting. I saw a young guy, he couldn't have been any older than eighteen. He lunged at me, screaming that I'd stolen his wife. I didn't want to do it, but he left me no choice. I pushed him away, but he kept coming, I stabbed him once but it wasn't enough. He came at me again, knocking me to the ground, his blood pouring down my chest. I stabbed him, a second time and third and I kept on stabbing him, until his body was riddled with holes. I knew that since losing Hayley to these monsters I'd been unhinged, crippled with anger and hate for these men but never had I been murderous. As I sat, covered in his blood I felt something so strong so powerful that it overwhelmed me. The burning desire to not only kill these men, but to torment them like they had done to so many innocent women.
'We have to go!' Nikkita shouted running towards me.
'No, I haven't found her yet,' I replied. I raced off into the night, calling out Hayley's name. I killed another slaver, who was trying to flee the carnage. I felt nothing as I gutted the bastard and watched while insides spilled out on to the cold, icy floor. I marched through battlefield like a soldier on the front lines, I knew my mission and nothing would get in the way.
I finally found her, fleeing one of her captors. I could see it, there was no denying it. My friend carried one of the men's baby's, the man had hold
of her by the hair. He tried to drag her back, she kicked and screamed but he was just too strong. I ran to her, the look of relief in her eyes almost made me weep.
'Izzy,' she cried trying to reach for me.
The man pulled her back, he held a knife to her throat.
'You come any closer and she'd dead,' he said fiercely.
I backed away a few inches and held my hands up, I didn't want to put her in any more danger. 'That's good, now drop your knife,' he told me.
I did as he told me, I kept silently praying that someone would come along to help, but everyone else was so busy trying to get their own people out and fighting the dead.
'Just let her go,' I begged him.
'Keep your distance woman,' he warned. I didn't know what to do, or how to get Hayley away from this psycho. From behind him came a walker, I didn't say a word until it was upon him. I raced forward, picking up my knife as I went. The guy had been bitten, I saw him fall to the floor trying furiously to kill the biter that had got him.
'Izzy,' she cried as she ran into my arms.
'Hayley thank god, you're alive,' I said tearfully. I held her in my arms, letting the tears of joy fall. After all these months, she was here, back in my arms. I didn't care that she carried a rapists child, I was just so overwhelmingly grateful to have my friend back.
'I thought I'd never see you again.'
'I never gave up on finding you,' I replied smiling. I told her to run with me, and we began to race through the corpse filled village. As we neared the very edge of the place, a walker grabbed. I didn't see it in time, I couldn't hear through all the screaming and shouting. He grabbed her, took her right from my arms. I tried to pull her back, but he'd taken hold of her waist. I tripped and accidentally let go of her, I watched in horror as he tore her stomach to shreds.
The dead fetus spilled out on the floor, along with her innards. I resisted the urge to be sick at such a sight, in all the years since this vile plague had infected our world, I never seen such gruesome sight.
Hayley screamed in agony as she was forced to watch the thing feed on her baby.
'No, not my baby,' she wailed
I raced over to her, killed the walker and tried my damnedest to save my friend. I knew it was too late, but I couldn't just leave her.
'I'm sorry,' I cried into her.
'Don't let me turn,' was all she said. She was turning, and all I could do put her out of her misery. I raised my knife shakily, closed my eyes, told Hayley I loved her and plunged it into her skull. I held her lifeless bleeding body in my arms, I cried, ignoring the battle for a moment. I couldn't believe she was gone, after all I'd done to save her.
I'd been a complete wreck after that, once we'd got to Sanctuary they'd kept me in isolation for ten days. I didn't even get a chance to enjoy our new home, everyone had told me about it though. The fresh food, seeing the animals, the beautiful scenery. I hadn't been able to see it, but I learned after a week how to manipulate them, I had to make them believe I was alright, if I was going to get my revenge.
It was all Jade's fault, if I'd have been able to go with Hayley I could have saved her. But because Jade went and I didn't, I lost my best friend. Without Hayley I was lost, without purpose. I just couldn't let it go, Jade's friends had all survived and my only friend was gone. So I played nice, started helping out and made myself useful until the opportunity arose. After four days of hard working I saw my chance, we'd just had a meeting, the compound was running low on supplies. I'd offered to go and help, the leader Vera was unsure but Jade of course vouched for me.
'Alright then if you think she's ready,' Vera said.
'So that's most of my group on the run,' Jade replied.
'Dad and I want to go as well,' a girl named Tessa piped up.
'If your sure, I mean there's already enough people going,' Vera told her.
'Yeah I'm sure, I think dad needs to get out,' Tessa joked. Tessa was in her mid-twenties, she was 5'9 in height with peanut butter coloured skin and chocolate eyes, her long white blond hair stood out against the darkness of her skin. She was slenderly built with a thin mouth and owl like eyes. She appeared to be kind and caring, but she was also strong and fierce when she needed to be. Her dad, who I'd met a few days ago had just turned fifty. He was a few inches shorter than his daughter, with dark hair that he had shaved. Tessa got her dark skin and eyes from her father, but unlike his daughter, Troy was very rough around the edges, with a foul mouth and suspicious mind.
I wasn't looking forward to being on a run with him, but in the end it wouldn't matter. For I would have my revenge, and no one was going to stand in my way. It was decided, we would leave as soon as we were ready. We would be gone for a day at least, our destination was Portree on the Isle of Skye. They'd chosen there because aside from Frankie and Nikkita, no one else near lived there. A lot of the people here had come from the Isle of Skye, from what Vera and the others had been told the island fell pretty quickly. There was many towns and villages with supplies ripe for the taking.
Half an hour later we were packed into the cars, Troy and Tessa took one car, Bridget and Tamara took another, they left me in the car with Jade, Finn and Jensen. It was barely dawn when we left, people here got up this early every morning.
'I love the countryside here,' Jade said happily as we drove.
'So do I,' Finn replied.
'Since we're going to be nearby, I don't suppose there's any chance we can drop by and see Frankie and Nikkita,' Jensen asked. Jade smiled for a moment, I knew Frankie had gone off to be with her girlfriend, leaving Jensen sad and alone. I understood his pain, I missed Hayley like crazy after we'd been separated. I almost felt bad that I was going to hurt his friend, I actually liked everyone else. Jensen and Tamara often made me laugh, but I couldn't let my feelings for them get in the way of my revenge.
'If we're going to be away for a day or two, it would be helpful if they'd let us stay at the castle. Are you sure you're going to be okay, you know seeing them together?' She asked kindly.
'Yeah I'll be fine, I just want to see her again you know. Make sure she's okay,' he replied smiling.
'Alright then, after we've got what we need we'll head over there,' she said happily. 'I still owe her a thank you,' Finn told them.
'We all do,' I chimed in. Despite everything I knew I still owed Frankie a lot, if it wasn't for her I'd still be held captive by Dave and his men. That girl had been through the ringer, trying to save everyone. Every so often Jade would look at me in the rear view mirror and smile, god I hated her chirpy nature. I wanted nothing more than to stab her right here and now, but death would be too good for her. I had a better form of punishment in mind for her, Portree was famous for its stunning harbour. All I needed was the right opportunity to get her away.
'You boys going to be alright scavenging on your own?' Jade asked them a little while later.
'Yes ma'am,' Finn replied jokingly. We laughed, even though he was kind, strong and so grown up for his age in many ways he was still just a kid. I liked his youthful optimism and daft joking nature, it showed that even in this harsh, cruel world there was still hope that people could be happy. Sadly that would never be the case for me, even after I had my revenge I still had to live in a world where Hayley was gone. I knew that she wasn't the only casualty in the battle, many innocents were lost. Too many, I thought sadly. Out of the forty women and kids that were there not even half were saved, I knew that weighed heavily of everyone's minds.
'Cheeky git, I'm not old enough to be called ma'am,' Jade laughed.
'You are pushing fifty Jade, Id say that's old enough,' Jensen joked.
'Just you wait till I get out this car, I'll give you both a clip round the head,' she replied smiling.
'We best get running Jensen, she's gonna get us.' I couldn't help but laugh, if Hayley was still alive I would actually be glad to be apart of their group. For the most part they were all good people, though I couldn't forget how they wanted to give up once Jade wa
s back and they thought Maggie had died.
'What the hell is that?' Jensen asked a while later. I could hear it, faintly in the distance. Screaming, shouting and fighting. Before we could wonder who it was, I saw him, the leader of the slavers. No one could mistake that white blond hair, those piercing eyes. I felt my blood boil as I saw that they were terrorizing a group of innocent people, I looked at the others who shared my anger.
'We've got to help them,' Finn said angrily.
'Too right we're going to help them,' Jade replied, the fury in her voice making her seem more dangerous than she was. We jumped out of the car, not bothering to wait for the others to pull up. I charged in, going straight for the leader, but before I could get there I saw them, in the shop next door. Frankie and Nikkita, hiding from sight.
'It's those people who took our women,' growled one of the men. As I neared the leader, I saw them, hundreds of them running our way. The leader knew they were outnumbered, there was too many dead ones for even them to handle. It dawned on me that now was the perfect time to activate my plan, while everyone was distracted fighting the dead or trying to get away, I could take her. I turned to see Jade, taking on a small cluster of corpses. The others were preoccupied, I took my chance. I pulled the chloroform covered cloth out of my pocket, just as Jade took out the last of the walkers that had surrounded her I covered her mouth with the cloth, holding it tightly until I felt her fall asleep. The others had not noticed, what I'd done.
'Where's our reinforcements?' I heard one of the slavers shout.
'Damn cannibal's, I knew they couldn't be trusted,' the leader said. Oh shit, they had aligned themselves with cannibal's! I'd heard the rumours back in Sanctuary, over the last few years a few dozen of their people had gone missing. Only a few had come back, they'd told Vera about a small group of cannibal's. They'd been taking their people, only when the opportunity struck. If the slavers had allied with them, we were all screwed. I dragged Jade away, before any more corpses could come our way. I'd got a few a streets away when I found a car, I bundled her in while I hot wired it. Luckily for me there wasn't anything wrong with the car, it ran just fine. I could smell the sea air from here, it was more or less a straight road from here to the harbour. I'd looked at the map on the way here, I'd memorized the route.
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