Stephanie blushed, embarrassed of the praise, and said to Lee, "We shared rabbit together, didn't we Bentley?"
"We sure did." Bentley laughed and rubbed her head. "She was content out there, on her own, but I think she'd be better off with us, where it's safe."
"She is staying," said Vince. "I don't care what anyone says."
Shell-shocked, Lee James puffed out a breath. He then looked at Stephanie and smiled, noticing for the first time that she was carrying a bow in her left hand. She was a pretty thing, five-five in height, and her black waterproof poncho that she was wearing, and the shades on her head, made Lee intrigued by the young girl. "Welcome to your new home."
*
Karen Bradley had been speaking with Robert Newman about Pickle killing the intruder, and it was apparent that with the shock of the incident subsiding, a lot of people he had spoken to agreed that maybe Pickle had a point. There was the discussion about the demise of Jimmy Mac and that he wasn't going to be missed, even by his own son. It had also been agreed that for the short-term David McDonald was going to stay with Charles Pilkington and his parents, which delighted both boys who had become good friends over the weeks.
When Newman told Karen that he needed to go and do perimeter duty with Kirk Sheen and another name she had never heard of, she said cheerio and walked along Sandy Lane on her own. She looked to her side to see the tanker by the Lea Hall building. That was going to provide so much fuel for future runs, she thought, amongst other things. She knew it wouldn't last forever, but maybe the fuel will get them through winter.
She rubbed her eyes and began to choke at the thought of Kyle Dickson being dead. She remembered her and Shaz coming across Paul and Kyle after they had crashed. A dazed Kyle asked Karen and Shaz if they were ninjas. She smiled as the flashback projected in her mind, and a tear left her eye. She rubbed her blurry eyes as she could see figures by the barrier approaching her, and she rubbed them again to restore her focus.
They were too far away to make out, but with them walking towards her and her walking towards them, their appearance could quickly be seen. She could see from left to right: Pickle, Bentley, Sheryl, Lee, a girl she couldn't figure out, and ... Vince?
She stopped walking and screwed her face. She tried to get a better look at the group that were heading her way, all, but Sheryl, with smiles on their faces.
"Vince?" Karen took two steps forwards and stopped again. She repeated, "Vince?"
As soon as she was certain that walking towards her was Vincent Kindl, she strolled briskly towards the group with a wide smile developing on her features. The first thing she did when she was near him was throw her arms around the man that had disappeared for days.
She took a step back to look at his face. "Is that really you, Vince?"
"Certainly is, sugar tits," he snickered and held out his arms. "How you doin'?"
"How..?"
"I'll tell you later. I'm too tired to explain," said Vince, and pointed at Stephanie who was standing next to Lee, bag on her back, and her bow being carried in her left hand. "But I'd be dead if it wasn't for her."
Karen hugged him once more. Vince then whispered into Karen's ear, but she seemed confused why he was apologising for her loss. What loss? What was he talking about?
"What loss?" She broke away from the embrace.
"You had a miscarriage," Vince said.
She shook her head. "I never had a miscarriage."
"But I went into your house, a week ago," he said softly, now making everybody confused. "You were sitting in your bath and bleeding."
"I'm fine," Karen reassured him. As soon as Karen explained what had happened on that particular day, Vince smiled and seemed relieved. She hugged him once more, now embarrassing the man with the small audience that they had.
It appeared that Karen's little self-harming secret wasn't a secret anymore, but she didn't mind. Vince was back.
"Right, Karen." Vince pulled away and said, "That's enough."
"I'm sorry." She took a step back. "Was I hurting you?"
"No, I'm getting a semi." His comment made Pickle, Bentley and Lee laugh. It was good to have him back.
She playfully slapped him across the arm, and pointed out that there was a minor in their presence. Vince apologised to Stephanie, but she shrugged it off and was told by Lee that she could stay with Vince and Rosemary, which pleased Vince. She was then ushered away from the group, and Lee said that he'd show her round while Bentley, Rick and Sheryl went back to their barrier duty.
"I need to talk to you lot later on, with everyone present," announced Vince, as Lee and Stephanie were making their way further up the road, away from the group.
Pickle said, "Sounds serious."
From what he could make of his facial expression, Vince could see that Pickle wanted to know more. "Okay," sighed Vince. "I think the camp could be in danger. I'll explain further when we're all together, but we need to up the security in this place."
"Already been done," explained Karen, brushing her dark hair behind her ears.
"Why? What's happened?" Vince asked, making Pickle and Karen glare at one another. Noticing this, Vince screwed his face and queried, "What is it?"
Pickle and Karen told Vince everything that had happened in his absence. They informed Kindl about the attack on the camp, Nicholas Burgess' death, and the sad end to Kyle Dickson, which he took hard. The recent death of Jimmy Mac didn't bother him.
Vince then told them about his run-in with the huge man at the Spode Cottage. Pickle told Vince that it sounded like a character he knew from his past, called The Bear, and that the man Vince spoke of could have been the same man that had robbed the Lea Hall building and had killed Nicholas. They told Vince not to worry, and that the security was as tight as it could be. Also, the barbed wire was going to be added to the wiry fence this morning.
Vince hugged Karen and Pickle and told him he was off to see Rosemary and get a nap, but before that he needed to see Paul Dickson. Both men had lost their sons, and Vince knew what the man was going through. He told them all that he'd see them later and walked away, upset about the news of young Kyle.
He tried Paul's house, but there was no answer, so he made his way to his own and was welcomed by a few residents on his way back to his home. His conversation was short, but polite, and then he walked into his house and entered the living room, where he could see Rosemary and young Lisa sitting on the sofa.
Once they saw him, both females ran at Vince and all three embraced. He told them that he was too tired to explain what had happened after he fell into the River Trent. All he told them was that a young girl had saved him, and that she was now a resident of Sandy Lane.
Lisa was obviously upset about the death of Kyle, but seemed excited that a young girl had arrived, and even more so when Vince told her she had a bow, was very good with it, and that she was going to stay with them after Lee had finished showing the girl around. Lisa wanted to know more, but Rosemary calmed her down, and told the excited young girl to stay in the living room whilst she took Vince to the bedroom to have a lie down.
Both Vince and Rosemary reached the landing and she told him that she had missed him.
"I bet you have," he laughed and teased. "I bet you've been banging all sorts since I've been away."
Rosemary blushed and never responded to his ribbing.
He took his boots off and lay on the bed fully-clothed. He put his hands behind his head and confessed to Rosemary, "I've only been awake a few hours and I slept fine last night, but with the morning I've had... The last few days have taken it out of me. I think it's a power nap I need."
"You don't have to explain." She leaned over and kissed him on the head. "Just get some rest, and I'll welcome this Stephanie girl when Lee's finished showing her around the place."
"I went back to our old camp," he announced. "I'll fill you in later."
She could see his eyes filling and touched his face. "I'm sorry you came back to the awful news ab
out Kyle. They buried him by the hut, near the bowling green."
"Awful news?" Vince shook his head. "I suppose we should be used to it by now."
Chapter Fifty Seven
His back was against the wall, and had at last managed to stop the bleeding to his face. The cut on his right cheek wasn't as deep as first thought, and a simple sock from his foot with applied pressure seemed to have stopped more blood loss. The right side of his back was still smarting; it had been the most painful experience of his life. He was unaware if it was the right thing to do, but he had managed to pull the arrow out from his trapezius and had no idea how much he was bleeding, but he was still conscious, so maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought. He knew it was a long shot, but he needed go somewhere and get help, and he needed rest.
He staggered to his feet and walked into a side street. He was going to knock on every door of the homes until somebody appeared, but he saw a curtain twitch from a bedroom window, and went over to the house without delay. He looked behind him and snarled when he thought about that scarred man and his companion.
"Cunts! Fucking cunts!"
He knocked the door, turned and continued to talk to himself. "Camp? Once I'm back on my feet they won't have a fucking camp left. The bastards!"
Bear hammered the door this time, and a window opened above him. Before the old man had a chance to open his mouth, Bear demanded to be let in, and he told the man that he needed help and a place to rest. The old man seemed hesitant. Bear told him that if he didn't let him in, he'd come in anyway and would then kill him. A bloody Bear waited for two minutes, then the front door was opened by the frightened old man.
Against his wishes, the elderly gentleman, who lived alone, was going to look after Theodore Davidson for a few days until he was able to get some of his strength back. If the old man behaved and did what he was told, then he would be allowed to survive.
*
Vince had been on the bed for forty minutes, but hadn't slept. He immediately got off the bed and put his boots on. His mouth tasted funny and his teeth were in dire need of brushing. He walked over to the bedroom window and looked out onto the back gardens of Sandy Lane. It seemed peaceful, but he knew it was probably chaos in the first week.
He looked to the side of him and opened a drawer. In the drawer was two pairs of boxers shorts, a knife—just in case—and something that was given to him a week ago; a present from someone. Vince's eyes filled once he clocked the gift, picked it up and put it into his pocket. He released a long, slow breath out to compose himself, then left his room to go downstairs.
He entered the living room and went through the kitchen, where he could see Rosemary and Lisa, standing up and embracing in the corner. Rosemary looked over and flashed him a smile, and Vince pointed to the back door, telling Rosemary he was popping out. He didn't need to ask Rosemary what was wrong with Lisa. It was obvious. She was only nine years old, she had lost her family only weeks ago, abducted and abused by a vile man by the name of Kevin Murphy—the same man that was responsible for the death of Vince's son—and now young Kyle was dead.
How was a nine-year-old supposed to cope with that?
Fortunately, she had Rosemary. At least that was some kind of comfort.
Vincent Kindl was now outdoors and walked along the road with his head down. He turned left onto the grounds where the Lea Hall building was, looked to the right and could see the impressive tanker that they'd been talking about earlier. That was going to be a great help.
Before he had chance to walk past the building, he was greeted by a man called Jeffrey Maidstone. He was one of the farmers that was originally from Vince's camp, and seemed pleased that Vince had returned safely.
"I heard you were back," Jeffrey spoke up. "Can't believe you're still alive."
"Yep, I'm full of surprises." Vince smiled.
"Did you hear about what happened with Pickle?"
Vince shook his head.
"Remember when he lost it at your camp? Well this was a whole lot worse."
"I have no idea what you're mumbling on about."
"We had three intruders." Jeffrey looked over his shoulder, worried from eavesdroppers. "They took Jasmine hostage, but eventually they were taken off the site."
Vince nodded, unimpressed by Jeffrey's story. "Is that it?"
"Pickle walked them off the camp and cut the leader's throat to make a statement, to make sure they never came back."
"Good."
"Good? He killed the man in cold blood."
"They broke into the camp and took a young girl hostage." Vince shrugged his shoulders. "So ... fuck him."
"But what happens if Pickle starts lashing out at other folk in the camp?"
"You arse must be jealous of the shit that comes out of your mouth," Vince snapped. "This camp will need people like Pickle, especially..." Vince decided not to spread gossip about the huge man that nearly killed him. He didn't want to start a panic. He had already told Pickle and co about his run-in, but they didn't seem fazed.
Jeffrey screwed his face in confusion. "Especially what?"
"Forget it."
Vince's response wasn't the one that Jeffrey was after. Jeffrey walked away, shaking his head and cussing under his breath. He was convinced that Pickle was now a liability, and hoped that him staying wouldn't come back to haunt the camp.
Vince strolled over to the hut that was near the neglected bowling green, and became motionless when he reached Kyle Dickson's grave. He shook his head in disbelief, and slowly dropped to his knees to do something that he rarely did ... to pray.
The Lord's Prayer was mumbled under his breath, and once he got off his knees he walked over to the 'head' area of the shallow grave, and put his hand in his pocket. He took, out of his pocket, an action figure of Wonder Woman. It was the same figure that Kyle had given Vince.
A week ago, Kyle had told Vince that he was being bullied, and Vince told Kyle that he'd find a solution to stop it. Giving the gift to Vince was Kyle's way of thanking him.
Of course, the bullies, David McDonald and Charles Pilkington, had turned over a new leaf since the death of Kyle Dickson. They had been humbled by it, and also helped repair the damage to the grave after it had been vandalised. A story that Vince was told by Rosemary.
When Vince had been given this gift by young Kyle he was extremely touched by the gesture, and had put it into his drawer for safe-keeping, just in case Kyle wanted it back, for whatever reason. He bent over and stood Wonder Woman into the dirt and made sure that it was in deep so that a gust of wind wouldn't take it away or blow it over.
He blew the grave a kiss and said with a tremor in his voice, "Sleep tight, little man."
Vince looked to the dreary heavens and could feel the first spots of rain hitting his face. He smiled, allowing the saltwater to hit his features and stood there for a few minutes. He thought about Kyle's demise, his own brush with death when he fell into the river, and nearly being choked to death. It seemed that every week there was never a dull moment, and the only reason he was still breathing today was because of other people and luck.
The world was a shitty place, but he was thankful that he was still alive.
For now.
THE END
If you've enjoyed reading SNATCHERS 8: The Dead Don't Pray, feel free to email me your thoughts on facebook and/or leave a review where you've downloaded the book.
Very kind regards,
Shaun Whittington
Author's Notes
Once again, thanks for purchasing another book in the Snatchers series. A lot of people claim that the zombie story is old hat, tired, and a subject that has been done to death. But because of the sheer volume of Z books out there, I believe that it has its own genre now, instead of being listed under the title of horror or apocalyptic, "zombie" should have its own category.
Book seven and this one are basically getting to know the new characters from the Sandy Lane camp, book seven especially. Books seven and eight are quite t
ame, compared to others I've written in the series. Book eight is mostly about getting to know the characters more and about the death of Kyle Dickson.
The death of the young boy was something I wasn't sure about. The Paul Dickson character is quite cowardly and doesn't get involved in battles as such, and I wanted to change him. In the next episode(s) I want to make him darker, on the edge and more psychotic. Losing everything that he had loved was the only way I could do this.
There is a reason for seven and eight being reasonably tame. They are building to what will happen in the ninth episode in the series. The first draft of book nine is halfway to being finished, (I'm writing this on the 3rd Jan 2016) and it is going to be the most brutal one yet, almost from start to finish. And you'll also be reading more about Elza and Ophelia in book nine.
Going back to the book, I had a conversation on Facebook with a Neil Berrigan (I hope you're reading this, mate) back in February 2015, who wondered if I could do a story that involved a toddler from book two being saved. I can be brutal in some of the books, but I decided to give this particular life a reprieve. That's why I introduced the Beverley character from John Lincoln's camp in Little Haywood, who was originally from Milford. She tells Vince a story about Jenny and a man leaving her house (escaped inmate, Jason Bonser, from book one and two), and that she eventually broke into Jenny's house, found her dead, but managed to save the toddler, the same toddler that Jason Bonser left after killing his mummy in book two.
So six books later, it's now clear what happened after Jason Bonser left the house in Milford. Beverley also tells us in Chapter Forty Five that a few days before, she saw a woman mowing down the dead in her jeep. Of course, we all know that that was Karen in the first book after fleeing from a reanimated Gary in her Cherokee Jeep, although Vince is unaware that she's actually talking about Karen.
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