by Aline Riva
Deserted with the Dead
Book Three: Fearland
By
Aline Riva
and
Nathan Ward
Deserted with the Dead Book 3 Fearland by Aline Riva and Nathan Ward
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
A Kindle Original 2016
Copyright © Aline Riva and Nathan Ward 2016
Cover Design Copyright © Nathan David Ward 2016
The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
All rights reserved. No part of this publication be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Acknowledgements:
With thanks to Jess for the idea that brought to life the unforgettable Flossie!
Deserted with the Dead
Book Three: Fearland
Introduction: Aftermath
The Ruins of the Seascapeland Amusement Park:
As the helicopters hovered above and those who could stand waved, blood drenched and only separated from the undead by the fact that they were all shouting for help and had the same human look of desperation in their eyes, the choppers prepared for landing, hovering lower as Tara shielded her eyes from the morning sun that glittered on dancing waves as she focussed on the place far out at sea that was at a distance but remained as a beacon of hope.
Two of the others were running over to an open space beside the ferris wheel where there was a large former picnic area, leaping over the fallen dead as they made their way far out, waving again, urging the helicopters to land. Over past the barrier that led to the open sea, a boat was speeding towards them – it would be quite a difficult path for those people to reach them but it was a rescue party and the survivors were glad of it.
As the boat reached the wall and the helicopters descended, Tara gave a sob and David pulled her into his arms, letting her weep against his shoulder as he stood firm, unwavering despite the carnage and loss of life around him as his dark gaze fixed on the man who was on the ground, on his back, eyes closed, clothing ripped and bloodstained from a battle that had gone to the bitter end and come at a great price. Blood ran from his nose and from his ear as he turned his head, then his eyes flickered open briefly, focussing on the thunder of the helicopter as it loomed closer.
David watched as Rick struggled to focus on the helicopter, then Lois, who was knelt at his side, looked up, her face streaked with tears.
“Please hurry!” she yelled, her worlds lost against the sound of the choppers as they headed for the nearby landing spot.
David blinked, holding back tears for his fallen friend as he watched the blood run from his ear, a sure sign the head injury had caused terrible damage.
Tara pulled away from David's embrace. She looked shattered from the carnage around them and the fight it had taken to survive while so many others had fallen.
“We're losing him,” she said, “He won't make it...Was this worth it, David?”
He considered her question as over in the field, the helicopter landed, then the second landed further up in the distance. As he met her gaze David shook his head.
“I don't know,” he replied as he placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes, “I don't know anything any more...all we can do is hope they have the answers...” And he turned his head, looking to the distant structure far out at sea, where a raised landing platform was now visible...
Rick Lester:
As I try and focus on the sky my eyes are blurring and I can't hear the helicopter. Sound is fading out and my body feels as numb as my metal hand, like parts of me are fading out slowly. My head hurts and my vision is fading like a narrow tunnel and I can't see them any more – not the helicopters, not the people on the ground around me, I can't see anything as it all shifts through my mind, flashes of memory...
I see the dead coming at us, the water coming in, the doors closing and the airlocks sealing as we fought to get above ground again...I see the razor sharp teeth in the yawning mouth of the mutated shark, a zombie snapped in half as it thrashed about in the shallows, I see so much but most of all, I see him. I see Mortiz, I watch it play out over and over...
This is what I came here to do, and this is how it ends now. I know what I'm seeing, these moments running through my head, it all makes perfect sense to me as I consider what led me here to this moment:
It's my story.
I'm Richard Alexander Lester fading out as I understand what I'm seeing.
It's about why I fought, and how I ended up like this...
It was for justice, it was for revenge.
This is the story of what I fought for, and why I died today...
Chapter 1 : A Month Before – The Hunt Begins.
The cars were parked off the road, the sun was rising and the campfire was crackling as flames flickered and threw out a welcoming glow that banished all hint of gloom as dawn's rays chased away the last shades of lingering night.
David had suggested they stop there, the clearing was just off the road and with no hint of undead for miles, it seemed a safe enough place to get out of the car, take a walk, recover from hours on the road and then simply grab some sleep. David was still sleeping, he was next to the fire, Tara was beside him, feeling safe with his arm around her as they slumbered on. Jason had taken first watch, then gone back to his car and now Toby was sitting there, looking about the trees and the shade they offered here at the edge of the woodland. As sunlight filtered through gaps in leaves and dappled the forest floor it was clear they were quite alone – out here in the sticks there was not a sign of the living dead for miles – nor a sign of their victims, no half eaten corpses or body parts...
It didn't even smell of death, or of that stink the undead brought with them that went beyond death and into something far more gut-wrenching and vile. Here the foliage seemed at peace as birds sung in the trees and the morning sunshine offered heat where the night had brought such chill, the world was waking up on a beautiful morning and in that moment, it seemed as if the world had never been touched by the horror that had changed it and ripped away the ordinary forever more. Right now, it could have been an ordinary morning on an ordinary day – except that ordinary didn't exist any more...
But once in a while, it was a welcome notion to forget that, as Rick lay on his back on a blanket and opened his eyes as he was greeted by the sight of a blue sky framed by overhanging boughs of a nearby tree. Beside him, with a pillow to cushion her head, Lois slept deeply. He glanced at her and smiled, then his smile faded and the light left his eyes as he thought on the things that sleep had kept at bay and reality bit sharply:
Mortiz. They were searching for Mortiz, the bastard responsible for the mall massacre. Not even one of the undead, a human being...How could one of the living be such a monster? Until the massacre, he had thought only the undead were capable of such carnage...
“Rick?”
He looked down from blue skies as his light brown gaze remained dark with the need for vengeance.
“I was just thinking,” he replied, “About him... that bastard's out there somewhere...”
“And we'll find him.”
On hearing David's voice, he looked over the other side of the campsite to see David had woken and sat up, blinking away sleep as Tara stirred, then did the same.
“The only road that he
ads away from the mall is the highway – we followed that to the next logical turn off...he was travelling with his army, we heard no vehicles so I'm guessing they had to be travelling together in a large form of transport, perhaps something military...and too big for the back roads and dirt tracks. Where ever he's headed, it's a major route, we have to stick to the major roads and keep going...Sooner or later they will be some kind of clue, even he can't leave behind no trace, he's not a ghost.”
As David got up and stretched, feeling stiff from his sleep on the ground, Tara did the same, then she ran her fingers through her hair and looked to the parked cars.
We should be on our way soon. It's been quiet for too long.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” said Toby as he stepped away from the trees with his weapon lowered, “Quiet watch for me. I almost dozed off a few times.”
David looked about the campsite.
“Where are Jason and Sandra?”
“In the car,” Tara informed him, pointing over to the orange Lotus, where the pair of them were sleeping side by side, as Sandra's head slumped against his shoulder they both woke, exchanged a glance and then shifted apart, as Lois noticed that she smiled and then looked away, wanting to know nothing about the private life of the man who had seduced her so long ago – but seeing Sandra held no fondness for him did give her a certain amount of satisfaction - there was a woman he wouldn't charm into bed...
As Rick and Lois got up and Lois lifted the blanket and gave it a shake, David looked over at the two occupants of the Lotus.
“We're moving out soon.”
Sandra blinked, nodded and then yawned. Jason got out of the car, adjusted the mask that covered his burns and headed for the woodland.
“Oi,” David called to him, “It's dark back there – be careful, take your weapon!”
Jason waved his hand dismissively then glanced back.
“I'm going for a piss, that's all the weapon I need right now!” and he chuckled as he stepped into the gloom.
Lois shook her head, glaring after Jason as his back vanished, swallowed up by shade as he went deeper into the woods for a moment of privacy.
“He's got all the weapon he needs?” she exclaimed, “What's he going to do if one of those dead things come at him out of nowhere, shag it to death?”
David laughed as he shook his head.
“You don't like him much, do you, Lois...”
The flash of alarm he caught in her eyes had him intrigued, even though he was sure he had just accidentally touched on something that was absolutely none of his business...
“I just think he's a prick that's all!” she said quickly, then she turned away and headed for the car and Rick followed, thinking nothing of her remark.
As the others got into their cars and the doors closed and engines started up, the smell of the smoke from an extinguished camp fire was slipping through the air as Jason zipped up his trousers.
“Oh that's nice,” he remarked, “Piss off without me...”
Then a hand pressed gently on his shoulder.
He paused, smiling as he guessed that gentle touch could only belong to one person.
“Lois,” he said in surprise, still looking to the tree bark darkened by his urine because to look around and meet her gaze always took a certain amount of courage, especially now she knew the truth... Her fingertips gave a gentle squeeze to his shoulder, taking him by surprise. That touch had been more than brief or friendly, that slow, deliberate squeeze had been something else entirely...
Jason started to smile, then wondered why he felt so awkward all of a sudden.
“Look... you've got your life...I've got mine. You're with Rick now and I can tell how much you love that man, but honestly, Lois...the bottom line is, Rick is a little bit crazy, know what I mean? If he caught me with you, he'd blow my fucking head off...No! Don't do that...”
He caught his breath, looking to the tree bark, focussing on it as her hand slid around his waist, then lower, rubbing in a deliberate, circular motion. Suddenly the arousal was too much to bear and he turned around sharply.
“That's it, you're getting it, point of no return!” he said impatiently, tugging down his zip.
It was then that he froze, his blue eyes widening in alarm: This was not Lois, who had of course gone back to the car with Rick. In front of him stood a woman, she was pale and her flesh was intact, her eyes were dark and her skin bore the odd pallor of the half-turned, the small minority of virus victims that had not become undead, just, become something else... There were all kinds of strange rumours about them. Some said they were still human and desperate for a cure, others said they were part of a new elite and among them all there had to be one that could control the undead... It was all wild speculation and rumours that sprang from underground where survivors from all walks of life swapped theories.
But the one thing that stood out to Jason was the fact that it was common knowledge that half turned had passed the infectious stage and were no longer dangerous... This woman was tall and slender, wearing a see through night gown that skimmed her thighs and what ever part of her the virus killed, it certainly hadn't been her sex drive.
She was not the first half turned he had enjoyed, and she wouldn't be the last, either...
“Come here, you beautiful nightmare,” he whispered, and he placed his hands against her cool arms, turning her back to the tree as she stood there with legs parted.
Jason was breaking out in a sweat as he looked at her, the last one he had enjoyed had been a few months back – the females were always up for it, basic needs still embedded in their minds... the last one had shed all hair and the smoothness of her bare flesh was so erotically kinked he had almost had an accident in his underwear. This one still had hair, it was long and blonde and fell to her shoulders.
He stepped closer as his eyes glazed with desire for the half human whose basic needs were definitely about to be fulfilled.
“I want you so bad!” he whispered breathlessly.
Back at the remains of the campsite, where the fires had gone out and the last of the smoke had faded and the trace of smoke that had filled the air thickly now lingered faintly and ghostlike, The cars were waiting to pull out.
“Where the fuck is Jason?” Sandra said in alarm as she leant out of her open window as the Lotus engine turned over, purring with the promise of much power within its well maintained engine.
David got out of his car, then Rick followed.
“I'll be okay,” David said as he glanced back at him, “I'm just checking up on him.”
As he spoke he pulled out his gun, and Rick did the same, his prosthetic hand catching sunlight as he held the weapon in his grasp to check it, then passed it to his human hand.
“Yeah and you could wind up checking on him and the dozen living dead who are eating his insides as we speak,” Rick reminded him as he looked to the darkened woodland, “No, I'm coming with you.”
David nodded, suddenly glad of the company as he reasoned it had been too quiet in those woods for too long and he could well need back up if something bad had happened to Jason...
The two men disappeared into the gloom, then as a sound of rasping, rapid breathing filled the air, Rick said nothing, touched David's arm and indicated to a gloomy clearing to the right of the trees. The two men followed the path, their weapons raised.
As they entered the clearing, the infected woman was pushed back as Jason turned away, his hands moving in a
blur as he adjusted his clothing, then looked back, face flushed as his eyes stayed wide.
“Oh thank fuck for that, she was right on me then!” he said, breathing heavily.
The infected woman was on her knees, looking thoughtfully at Rick and David, then she reached out a hand, making a low moan as frustration burned in her eyes.
“You poor creature,” David said softly, firing a single shot to end the suffering of the half turned mutant. The bullet hit between her eyes and flung her on to her back, whe
re she lay with her gown up, legs spread as one glance made it shockingly obvious to the others exactly what had just happened here...
“She almost killed me!” exclaimed Jason as he rushed forward, his face still flushed, “You saved my li -”
The fist to his face sent him sprawling, as he sat up he clutched at the undamaged side of his face that now ached like he had a possible fracture. Rick had just struck him with his metal hand. As Jason got up, the two men glared at him in disgust.
“You had sex with a half turned infected?”
“They're so docile, so friendly...!”
“They are half zombie!” David said sharply.
“But not infectious, not after the first forty eight hours...Oh come on, guys... you must have little secrets, you know, stuff that gets you going that you wouldn't brag about, don't we all?”
“Not like you do!” Rick said in disgust, “That's one step away from corpse shagging! You make me sick!”
“Yeah, you'll make everyone sick,” David added as he turned back with Rick and the two men left the clearing.
Jason hurried after them in panic.
“Don't tell them!”
The two men looked back at him, looked to each other, then carried on walking. By the time time they had reached the cars and the others were still waiting, Jason hurried through the woods, caught up with them quickly, and looked to David and Rick pleadingly.
“Don't!” he begged
“Okay,” David replied, and he looked to the others as Toby, Sandra and Tara looked out of their car windows, “It's okay, guys, we found him alive... he was up to no good in the woods...”
“Please!” Jason said in desperation.
“You're pathetic,” Rick told him in low voice, glaring at Jason, “I really resent having to share my company with a pervert like you! What's next, are you going to move on to shagging the undead stinkers too?”
