Relief swept over me as I watched them drive away, my poor sister looked terrified.
'Troy, Bobby, Dylan and Mike I want you on watch, everyone else to the war room,' she said. We followed her to the war room, I kept an eye on Maggie to make sure she didn't run off. I knew she thought that by going with him she was saving us, but I wasn't going to let that monster get her again. As we entered the war room, Vera shut the door. There was Maggie, Frankie, Jade, Tamara, Bridget, Tessa, Brooke, Steven, Delilah and all of her friends. I knew how they felt about Maggie, so the fact that they were here meant a lot.
'We need a plan of action,' Vera told us.
'What are we going to do, I can't let that monster get my sister?'
'Easy lad, no ones saying we'll give her up,' Tamara said.
'No we're not, but we need a plan to defend against them. We have guns but not enough, we should have gone to the army base months ago,' Vera sounded stressed.
'You're right,' Delilah chimed in. So we hashed out a plan, we would go to the army based first thing tomorrow. None of us trusted his word. Maggie said nothing through all the talks, but her face said it all. She was petrified. In the end it was decided, we were going to war.
Chapter 20
Frankie
Yesterday was both the happiest and saddest day of my life, I loved Jensen and I had known that one way or another Nikkita wasn't coming back to me. Somehow I'd been dealing with her death even before she was really dead, it helped me to do what needed to be done. There was no other way, and even Nikkita knew it. At least it was me who killed her, and not some vile, sick monster. We'd buried her that night, in Sanctuary. I sat with Delilah as she cried at her graveside, even though she was so angry with me, I was still the only one who could truly comprehend her pain. I hoped one day she would understand why I had to do it, Jade and everyone else did. Even though none of them had left me alone since, as ridiculous as it sounded, I felt okay. I'd spent the last few months preparing for that night, and in a way I was glad it was over. I knew as soon as I saw her, what they'd done, I felt relieved that she wouldn't suffer any more that she could actually be at peace. For now, we had a war to fight.
We'd set off for the army base at the crack of dawn, Jade, Jensen, Delilah and I went in one car. Troy, Tessa and Emmet were in the second car while Tamara, Bridget, Zachary and Steven were in the other.
Jensen and I sat in the back while Delilah sat in the front watching Jade drive, I held his hand looking down at the gold band on my hand. I smiled, knowing that I'd never take it off. After the battle, we would begin our lives together, Nikkita would want me to be happy. Most people were lucky if they got one epic love, I was only twenty-two and I'd had two amazingly beautiful people in my life.
'How much further?' I asked distracting myself from my thoughts.
'About another half hour or so,' Jade replied smiling.
'Cool, was Maggie still pissed at you when we left?' I asked Jensen.
'Big time, I just wish she'd realise I'm trying to protect her. If Nathaniel was out here and she was with us, we'd be screwed,' he said worryingly.
I stroked his hand and smiled.
'Don't worry, we'll keep her safe,' I told him.
'I know, I just wish she would stop being so bratty about the whole thing,' he replied sounding fed up.
'Welcome to the world of teenage girls,' laughed Jade.
'Have you heard from Finn?' Delilah asked changing the subject.
'No, not yet. I'm sure they'll be alright though, he's a tough boy,' Jade replied. 'How's Zachary doing?' I asked.
'He's better, but Casey's death was really hard on him,' Delilah said sadly.
'If you or any of them need any help let me know,' I told her kindly.
'Thanks.'
Just then the radio crackled and Tamara came through. 'We've hit a road block, can you see it?' We all looked straight ahead, just on the outskirts of Inverness we saw it, the cars were piled up high. They were three stacked on each other, in a long line that covered the entire road. We pulled up just before the pylon, how on earth were we going to get through this?
'What's the hold up?' Asked Troy gruffly.
'Look dad,' Tessa said.
'Ah, fucking hell. What we gonna do about this?' He asked grumpily.
'We can't drive round, but we can climb over,' Jade told him.
'Speak for yourself woman, some of us aren't that fit,' he grumbled.
'Come on dad, we've got to get to the base. We need the weapons,' Tessa replied.
'Yeah, yeah. Alright come on then,' he mumbled. Emmet was the first one to get over, we told him to tell us if there was any dead on the other side. He didn't need to tell us, I could hear him fighting on the other side. I found him to be a bit of a weird kid, he was always up for going on runs, but he didn't spend much time with his people and was often found sitting by himself. We all raced over, I jumped down to find a dozen walkers all trying to claw at Emmet. I kicked one out the way, which made half of them turn to me. Thankfully the others were quick to get over, I slashed my way through the corpses until I got to Emmet. He'd fallen over and was clutching his leg, he held on to my arms for support as he got up.
'Cheers,' he said graciously.
'No problem, are you going to be alright?' I asked concernedly.
'I'm not sure that I can fight much more, I think I should stay here,' he winced in pain.
'I'll stay with him, he shouldn't be on his own,' Zachary offered.
'I'll stay too,' Steven chimed in.
'Alright then, let's go,' Jade told us.
We left the Steven and Zachary with Emmet, we knew he'd be in good hands. I walked along side Jensen and Tamara, poor Troy was lagging behind.
'You need to keep up,' Jade said kindly.
'I'm coming woman,' he replied gruffly.
I laughed a little, Troy was a grumpy old man but he made me laugh with it.
'It shouldn't be too much further, another fifteen minutes or so,' Tamara told us as she pointed to the map.
'Let's just hope we aren't wandering into anyone's territory,' I replied nervously.
'Has no one at Thurso heard anything about the other towns and cities?' Jade asked. 'Just the usual, the cities became overrun quickly. People fled to the smaller towns and villages, but most didn't survive long. The last we heard about the cities was about two years ago, a group of people were living in Edinburgh castle but it only lasted a few months. Apparently one of them went mad and started killing the others, the two survivors ended up with us,' Troy told us. 'So I wonder who put those cars there,' I wondered out loud.
'You don't think it could be Nathaniel's group?' I asked worryingly.
'It's a possibility, but we won't know until we get into the town itself,' Bridget replied warily. We carried on walking, keeping our eyes open for trouble. I got the feeling that we were being watched, things were too quiet here. Aside from the corpses near the cars, we hadn't seen one since being here. I didn't see how anyone could clear a whole town of dead, but if they had, we might be in trouble. It was still ice cold, but it hadn't carried on snowing luckily. I walked past a car, a lone walker sat in the seat. It saw me and growled but I stuck my knife in its head before it could do anything. We all stopped for a moment, standing at the edge of the town in shock. Whoever lived in this place, had fortified it to the max. A large, metal wired fencing surrounded it, cars blocked off many of the streets. I saw to my left a hand made sign, it read 'Enter at your own risk.'
'What do we do?' I asked nervously.
'We still need those weapons, let's just hope these people are friendly,' Tessa said trying to sound optimistic.
'You've got more enthusiasm that I have,' her dad joked. We walked to the fence, trying to find a way in. I was glad that Troy had brought his bag of tools, he had some wire cutters, some screwdrivers, hammers and a few other bits in. Bridget took them out of his bag and began to cut a hole, we kept an eye out for corpses while she worked.
'Pup
pies and kittens twelve o'clock, I told the others.
'Dead puppies and kittens,' Jensen laughed. We kept them away from Bridget, I took out two as they came shuffling my way. I wiped my face as their blood splattered everywhere, I felt glad that we were all adept at fighting. Jade took out three on her own, kicking one into the other and stabbing them simultaneously. Troy could hold his own, although he did need Tessa's help to take out one that he'd missed.
Jensen's training had paid off, he was as good as us at dealing with the undead now. He sliced the top of ones head off while kicking another out the way. Tamara of course was always good at taking them out, she needed no help or training. I sat down on the floor after we'd killed them all, I looked around at the piles of corpses on the ground. We'd killed a good twenty of them, I smiled knowing I was always safe with these people.
'There, I'm done. It's big enough so that if we have to rush back, we can do so without having to squeeze through,' she smiled.
'Keep an eye out, we don't know what's ahead,' Jade warned us. I wiped the blood off my knife, keeping it close as we entered the town centre. That uneasy feeling stayed with me as we ventured further into this eerily quiet place. Most of the buildings like many in the other towns and cities had been bombed or burned down, the state of this derelict place filled me with dread. We neared the army base with no sight of the dead, whoever did this was skilled. As we turned the corner we heard a voice, it came from some kind of speaker.
'Turn back, there's nothing for you here,' the male voice said.
'We need help, there's a group of slavers coming out way. We need help fighting them,' Jade replied loudly.
'You can't have my weapons, the men already took most of them,' he told.
'Can you just show yourself, we won't harm you,' Jade reassured him.
'What about the rest of your group?' He asked concernedly. We all told him that we wouldn't hurt him, we even put our weapons back in our belts and sheaths to prove it. The man said nothing, the speaker went silent. He appeared from the army base, I didn't know how he'd set up the speakers across the road, but I was impressed.
He was clearly an army man, he still wore the uniform. He was a very tall man, at 6'6 he towered over even me. He was old, maybe early sixties. He had thin, snow white hair, mud coloured eyes with ruddy coloured skin. He was well built for his age, with bulging muscles that looked like they were going to pop out of his clothes. He had a warm but wary smile, and he stared intensely at all of us.
'I'm Frank,' he said gruffly.
Jade introduced herself and all of us, she shook Frank's hand and smiled warmly at him.
'So these men you spoke of, do you know what they looked like?' Jade asked. 'Only caught a glimpse at two of them, one was real tall. He had long blond hair and these piercing blue eyes, the other was a black man, long dread locked hair. Real bastards they were, took most of what I had left. I hid, I didn't want no trouble,' he told us.
'Shit, its them. When did they come?' Jensen asked worryingly. 'Last night, really late it was. They woke me up, with their shouting, he grumbled. Troy smiled at him, I had a feeling they were going to get on. I looked at Jade and smiled at her, she was the best when it came being diplomatic and talking to people.
'Frank, how long have you lived here?' She asked softly.
'Ooh going on two years, yeah about the time me wife died,' he told her sadly.
'You've not been with any people, its just you here?' Jade wondered.
'No, didn't see the point. I'm an old man, I've not long left. Didn't want to trouble anyone,' he said.
I felt sorry for him, he seemed like a nice guy, just lonely. We all looked at each other, even Troy nodded at us.
'Would you like to come home with us? We have a town, we have hot water, real food, even houses to live in,' Jade told him gently.
'I don't know, it seems like you got troubles of your own. I don't want to be a burden.' 'We're trying to stop these men from taking our friends. Their slavers, you see. But you wouldn't be a burden, we could do a trade. You lend us your remaining weapons and in return you come live with us,' Jade smiled.
He stood thinking about it, at first he didn't look sure but then he asked, 'did you say you have proper food?'
'Yes, we have farm animals so breakfast usually consists of eggs,' Jade told him happily.
He smiled joyfully, 'It's a deal, I've got some food back in my home. You can have some of that as well,' he said.
'It's most appreciated,' we all told him. We followed Frankie back to his house, which was an old newsagents. It was small, cramped and full of food, weapons and clothes. We picked up a few trolleys on the way, I wondered how we were going to get this over the cars.
'Did you do all this yourself?' Troy asked Frank.
'No, I came here with some of my army buddies. They died before we could finish it,' he replied sadly.
'I'm sorry to hear that,' Troy told him.
'What did you mean when you said, you didn't have much time left?' I asked curiously.
'I'm nearing sixty-five, I can feel my body struggling with this life,' he replied softly.
'Well I guarantee, after a month in our place you'll be right as rain,' Tessa told him happily. 'Here's hoping,' he chuckled. I smiled, it was nice to know there was still good people around. After Nathaniel's group stealing his stuff yesterday, I hadn't expected him to be so kind. We packed up his stuff into the trolleys, despite most of his weapons being taken he still had decent amount.
'It's a good thing I kept loads of my stuff in here.'
'Can I ask, just what weapons did they get?' Jade asked worryingly.
'The dangerous stuff, unfortunately. The rocket launcher, all my semi-automatics a few rifles,' he replied sadly.
We all looked at each other fearfully, while we had a lot of weapons we didn't have what we needed to really defend ourselves. I just knew, we would be screwed when Nathaniel and his men came.
'I think we need to get home asap,' Troy said fearfully.
'You're right,' I agreed. We rushed to get all the stuff in the trolleys, we all added a gun to our belts. When we got back to Steven and the others we'd give them one each as well. In total we'd gathered, twelve hand guns, with two-hundred rounds of ammo, half a dozen sniper rifles with a hundred rounds of ammo and some riot gear which we all put on. I had a bad feeling about home, we all knew not to trust Nathaniel's word which is why we wasted no time in coming here, but something told me we needed to hurry home.
As we walked back I felt a little dizzy, I stood clinging to the trolley. I closed my eyes, and I saw it. For the first time in a long time, images flashed through my mind. Our home really was in danger, I saw them, Nathaniel's men. They were attacking Sanctuary, they had the weapons they needed. Oh Goddess, our home was being blown up, I could hear them as if I were there. Our people screaming, burning, Emmet was shot, Bridget was dying, oh fuck!
I had stopped in my tracks, I gasped and the others all turned to me. Looking fearfully at me.
'What's wrong?' Delilah asked.
I couldn't tell the truth, not in front of everyone. Most of them would think I was crazy.
'Nothing, I just got a sharp pain in my back,' I lied.
'You going to be alright, climbing over the wall?' Tessa asked concernedly.
'Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll be fine,' I reassured them.
Most of the others turned and carried on walking, but Jensen, Jade and Delilah looked at me worryingly.
'What's really wrong?' Jensen whispered.
'I had a vision,' I told him quietly.
'About Sanctuary?' He wondered. 'Yes, and it's not good. We need to get home,' I replied urgently.
He just nodded, we picked up the pace and kept up with the others. When we got back to where we'd left Steven, Zachary and Emmet we found the ground covered in fresh, bloody, corpses. Emmet and Zachary sat covered in blood, but Steven was nowhere to be seen. Delilah rushed over, fearful over her friends injuries.
&n
bsp; 'What happened?' She exclaimed.
'The dead came, it was more than we could handle. They got Steven before we could stop them,' he said breathlessly.
'Are you alright?' She asked concernedly. He shook his head and rolled up his sleeve, there it was. It was just one little scratch on his shoulder, but already we could see the black veins spreading. Delilah flung her arms around him, sobbing. I felt like I'd been stabbed in the heart, how many more people would Delilah have to lose? The others took care of getting the stuff over to the cars while I helped Delilah get Zachary over, he was already struggling to walk. Jade and Troy looked for Steven's body, they found it in the woods nearby. He hadn't turned yet but his inside were outside his body, Troy stopped him from coming out.
'I'm not looking forward to telling Brooke,' Tessa said sadly.
'I'm glad its not me telling her,' Troy told her.
'Is it just me or do you lot get a bad feeling about home?' I asked concernedly.
'No its not just you, I just don't trust that Nathaniel's word,' Troy replied.
'Same here, and I'm anxious about leaving Maggie alone for too long,' Jensen said worryingly.
'Don't worry love, she'll be alright,' I reassured him. Troy, Tessa, Emmet and Frank took one car, Delilah, Zachary, Bridget and Tamara took the other, leaving Jensen, Jade and I in the third one. We all raced back, feeling fearful as we drove. It started to snow as we fled back over the hills, I prayed that everyone was alright.
'Do you think their alright?' Jade asked worryingly.
'I don't know, I just hope my vision is wrong,' I replied fearfully.
'So do I,' Jensen said.
'What did you see exactly?' Jade asked.
'Nathaniel was attacking our home, I saw people screaming, burning,' I told her sadly. 'Burning?' Jensen asked. 'Yeah, I think they must have used the rocket launcher. We need to hurry, if my vision is right, we don't have much time.'
It felt like a race against the clock, I just hope my vision was wrong. As the snow came down and we struggled to get over the hills, my mind thought back to all that had happened this year. This time last year I was alone, I was searching for Jade's house after Cameron died. Even with my prophetic dreams and visions that I sometimes had, I never could have predicted the impact of what finding her would have on my life. Before deciding to leave for Scotland, we had three weeks of peace. I smiled thinking about Nora, she was a kind woman, I was glad she died peacefully in the arms of her dearest friend. She didn't have to see what happened next, but I had a feeling she was still with us. I could picture her and Tom smiling at us from above. I still missed Tom, he was a gruff old man, but we all loved him. I'd found so much more than I ever thought, these people were my family and Jensen was my world. If we were going home to find a battle, I would defend my loved ones with my life.
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