As The World Dies | Book 4 | After Siege

by Frater, Rhiannon

  Macy rushed at Rune, coming so close to him her nose nearly touched his. Wagging her finger accusingly, she shouted, “How dare you lie to me! Lewis told you we split up over Julian, didn’t he? How dare you try to manipulate me!”

  Rune calmly took a step back from the upset woman. “I haven’t spoken to Lewis.”

  Emma inched closer to Macy, drawing her attention. “I did talk to your nephew, but not about your husband. I didn’t even know his name.”

  “Same,” Juan said. “I didn’t get any background about your personal past when I talked to Lewis.”

  “No, no! You’re all lying. How else can he know Clive’s name?”

  “He’s a medium,” Juan insisted. “The dead talk to him. Clive is here with us right now talking to him.”

  “No, no!” Macy backed away from Rune, shaking her head wildly. “Clive and his brothers would’ve kept their family safe. They were all former military.”

  Rune swallowed hard, his blue eyes red and watery. Emma thought he looked a little pale in the dim afternoon light coming through the windows. His interaction with the other side appeared to take a lot out of him. “Yes, ma’am, they were doin’ a fine job until a horde from Chicago swept through their town. It was massive. There was no way they were going to survive. When the fence came down and the front door was breached, Clive and his brothers held their ground while the family members took their lives upstairs. The mothers made the children lay down with their stuffed toys and shot them in the back of their heads. They had no choice, Macy, but to give their kids peace. This is the same choice you face.”

  Macy staggered backwards, collapsing against the far wall next to the shuddering bathroom door. “No. You’re making it up. Someone told you about Clive. You’re trying to trick me so I’ll go to your damn fort!”

  Rune took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. When he exhaled, his breath was a frosty mist. “Clive says he should’ve stayed with you, but he couldn’t bear to see you coddlin’ your son’s dead body like it was actually him. Now that he’s on the other side, he regrets that choice. He knows now that he should’ve stayed with you.”

  “You’re lying. You’re making this all up! Lewis told you enough for you to concoct this lie!”

  “We’ve got no reason to lie,” Juan said defensively. “We’re trying to help.”

  “Tell her something that Lewis couldn’t know,” Emma urged the empty air in front of Rune, hoping Clive could hear her.

  Tilting his head to one side, Rune bobbed his head while apparently listening to the ghost of Macy’s dead husband.

  Juan edged around Rune to stand at Emma’s side. She was surprised when he took her hand, but quickly realized it was for his benefit, not hers. He was trembling. Gently, she squeezed his fingers.

  When Rune spoke, his icy breath plumed from his lips into the warm, putrid air. The air freshener couldn’t push back the scents of rot and decay. “Clive says that when Julian was born you had real bad postpartum depression. It hit you like a freight train, but you hid it well. In fact, he didn’t realize you were strugglin’ at all. You always seemed to have everything handled. You were an office manager and a damn good one. You always had everything under control at work and at home. You gave the impression you had motherhood licked. That is, until one night he found you holdin’ Julian and sittin’ in the back of the closet in the nursery crying. The baby wouldn’t sleep, wouldn’t stop cryin’, and you were failin’ your baby. You were overwhelmed. You felt like a failure. Clive kneeled beside you and assured you that you weren’t a failure, that you were doin’ your best. He promised to help more and took you to the doctor the next day. He never told anybody that you had to take medication to fight against the crushin’ depression. It was important for you to look strong in the eyes of your family since they were always so hard on you. He understood that and wanted to protect you. Now his greatest regret is that he didn’t protect you when you needed him to again.”

  “Oh, my God!” Macy gasped. “Clive would never tell Lewis that. Lewis is the family gossip. Everyone would be in my business in no time. My mother would’ve given me so much grief for taking medication. She thought I should be able to pray through all difficulties in life.”

  “I don’t pull that John Edward’s bullshit. I’m the real thing.” Rune pulled over the chair that Macy had been sitting in earlier and sank into it. He was visibly shaking.

  Blinking her eyes rapidly, Macy swept her gaze over the room. “So Clive is here? Now?”

  Rune extended his pointer finger and indicated a spot near the radiator. “Right there. With Julian.”

  Her bottom lip trembling, Macy stared at where Rune indicated. “With Julian?” Her eyes drifted to the shuddering door, where the growling zombie struggled to get out.

  “He’s not in that corpse, Macy,” Juan said gently. “Your son is not that thing in there. You have to let him be at peace.”

  Macy hugged herself, dragging a shuddering breath into her lungs. Emma could tell she was struggling to accept the truth. “I brought him all this way to save him. People died to get me here. Rickie died so that Julian could be cured.”

  “You did your best by him. Clive and Julian both know that,” Emma assured her.

  Rune wiped his brow with a trembling hand. “You’d be doing him a kindness letting him go, ma’am.”

  Macy shook her head adamantly. “No. You don’t understand. I kept him clean. I made sure his wound was wrapped. I didn’t let him bite or eat anyone. I’ve kept him from becoming one of those things out there. If I can just find someone with the cure, they can bring him back!”

  “He’s decaying, Macy,” Emma said motioning to the air freshener. “It’s happening real slowly, but it is happening. No one can come back from that.”

  Tears trailed down Macy’s cheeks and she wiped them away with the back of her hand. “No. The man on the radio said that if the body didn’t have lethal wounds the cure would work.”

  “But there isn’t a cure,” Juan reminded her softly. “It was a lie.”

  “Why would someone lie? Why would that do that to me and the others?” Macy flung up her hands and paced in front of the door. “No, no. Somewhere around here there has to be a lab and-”

  Shakily, Rune stood and reached out to stop Macy in mid-stride. “Macy, Clive says you need to let go of Julian. Let him take your son into the light and give him peace. Julian is chained to you. He hasn’t moved on because he’s confused. The corpse bewilders the boy because he knows it ain’t him, but you talk to it like it is him. Julian is afraid because he doesn’t understand. He is struggling because he feels guilty about dyin’ and not being able to climb back into his body. He’s tried, Macy, so many times. For you.”

  “Oh, God,” Macy whispered. “Oh, God, what have I done?”

  Rune released her arm and she turned away, hands over her face.

  “We’ve all lost people we love,” Juan said gently. “All of us have gone through the hell of loss. At some point, we all have to let go. No matter how hard it is.”

  Nodding, Macy lowered her hands. “I know. I just thought…”

  “My daughter and grandson died the first day. I found out because they came to warn me about the end of the world.” Rune set his hands on his belt buckle and lowered his gaze. “It was hard to see them like that. Ghosts often carry the wounds of their deaths on their spirit bodies until they cross over. Julian is a handsome boy. He didn’t suffer the death my daughter and grandson did. That was a blessing. Take it and hold it close to your heart. You did your best and now you have to do what is right.”

  Eyes flicking toward the bathroom door, Macy didn’t immediately reply. Seconds ticked by, loaded with many possibilities. Juan released Emma’s hand, patted her shoulder, and stepped to one side while swinging his rifle into position. Cautiously, he approached the windows. Emma wondered if he’d heard something and was about to follow to investigate, when Macy broke the silence.

  “Maybe I should leave him
here. Just in case.”

  “If you leave him here, ma’am, you will keep your son’s spirit trapped. Julian will stay here. Do you want that?”

  Emma expected Macy to say she was fine with that proposition, but was pleasantly surprised when the mother shook her head. Tears glistening on her cheeks, Marcy stepped closer to the radiator. She stared hard into the shadows.

  “Are they both there?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Clive will take him to heaven, right? If…if…” Macy glanced toward the quaking door.

  “He will take him into the light.”

  Emma was about to edge toward Juan, when Macy trained her gaze on her.

  “What would you do, Emma?”

  “My son died and came back. It took me over a year to find him, but when I did I put a bullet through his head and buried him.” It was difficult to keep a steady voice, but somehow she managed it.

  “How?” Macy shot her a disbelieving look. “How could you do that?”

  “To give him, and me, final peace. I couldn’t stand the idea of him wandering around like that. Chewed up, dead, trying to kill other folks…I did what I had to do.”

  “I need some time to decide,” Macy declared, sniffling.

  “You don’t have time,” Juan said from the window. “We’ve got company of the dead kind and it’s those damn zombie-rules-breaking fast ones.”

  13

  The Haunted & Hunted

  Emma joined Juan at the window and squinted through the dirty, smeared glass. A half- dozen runners dashed back and forth in front of the building, heads jerking about.

  “They’re hunting,” Juan said.

  “Did they hear the truck when we arrived?”

  “Maybe, but they’re tracking a noise right now. Watch their heads. Doesn’t it look like they’re trying to locate a sound?”

  “Our voices perhaps?” Macy offered.

  “Possibly.” Juan glanced at her, his jaw tightening with resolve. “You don’t have time to drag out your decision. Either you come with us or stay here. We can’t wait to see if more show up. We gotta move or we’ll have more of those assholes here than we can handle.”

  Macy’s lips parted in surprise, obviously not expecting an ultimatum.

  Juan bristled at her expression. “We risked our lives coming here to try to save yours. If you choose to ignore what Rune said and stay here with your dead kid, I’m not going to stop you. I didn’t lie to you yesterday. We won’t force you. You have a choice to join us. The same way we have the choice not to risk our lives for you and your zombie kid.”

  Emma fully expected Macy to rip into Juan. The anger filling the woman’s eyes was understandable. Juan had ground the brutal truth into every word he spoke. Macy clutched her hands at her sides and set her lips into a tight line. She looked away from the windows and Juan to stare at the empty corner.

  After a few tense seconds of contemplation, she turned to Rune. “What is my anniversary date?”

  Rune listened to a voice only he could hear, nodded, and replied, “March twelfth.”

  Blinking back tears, Macy pulled a shuddering breath into her lungs, exhaling explosively. “Okay. You’re the real deal. I don’t want my son to suffer because of my...issues. What do I do?”

  Rune glanced at the quaking door. “Julian’s corpse needs to be put down so his spirit can move on.” His hand moved to Glock. “I can do it for you.”

  “No. I’m not going to have a white man killing my boy. I’ll do it.”

  Rune pulled his firearm and held it out to her.

  “No,” Macy said, shaking her head. “I have my own way.”

  “It’s better not to use a gun anyway,” Juan spoke up. “The runners are pacing around. They don’t know we’re in here yet. Let’s keep it that way.”

  “We’ll have to kill them when we head to the truck if they’re still hanging around,” Emma pointed out.

  “If we’re spotted, Juan, it’s going to be messy one way or the other.”

  “I’m trying to think of a plan, Rune. Just help her do what she needs to do to get her kid through those pearly gates.”

  “Once his corpse is put down, the tether will break.”

  Macy leaned over and pulled a knife from a sheath strapped to her ankle. The blade was sharp and glinted in the pale afternoon light. Holding the tan hilt firmly in one hand, Macy sighed wearily. “This was Clive’s bayonet when he was in the Marines. It only feels right to do it this way.”

  “I’m sorry,” Emma said. “I wish there was another way.”

  The crack of the rifle from just a few days ago echoed in her memories. Billy’s small body collapsing would forever haunt her, but she knew it had been the right thing to do. Hopefully, Macy understood that the act she was about to perform was one of love and deliverance.

  Macy fastened her gaze on Rune, fingers twitching around the hilt of the fighting knife. “If I...kill the zombie, it will set both of them free, right? Clive will take Julian to heaven?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Your husband is here to do two things: apologize to you and take Julian into the light.”

  With a defeated look, Macy said, “Okay then. I need you to leave the room. I have to do this alone.”

  Juan and Emma exchanged wary looks, but Rune was already walking to the door. While Juan took one more moment to study the activity in the street below, Emma walked over to Macy’s side.

  “I know this is the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do, but it’s the right thing to do for yourself and your son.”

  Macy gave her the saddest smile. “What do I live for once he’s gone?”

  It was a question Emma had grappled with for some time. She had found her answer at the Fort. “Yourself. I know it’s hard. Trust me, I do. But every life left on this planet is important. We all have a role to play.”

  Macy studied Emma’s face, perhaps gauging her sincerity. “Do you really believe that?”

  Emma nodded. “Now more than ever.”

  Juan tore himself away from the window and hurried across the room to Emma’s side. The urgency in his stride spoke volumes. “Okay, Macy, make this fast. The runners are moving away from us and heading down the road. Once we exit the building, we’ll be in their sights.”

  “Maybe you should just let them wander away,” Macy tersely replied. “It will give me more time.”

  Juan’s green eyes were alight with his frustration and a surprising amount of anger. “We’re losing sunlight and there ain’t no assurances that they won’t double back and bring more friends. We got a chance to get out of here and we have to take it. You gotta do what you gotta do.”

  Macy stared down at the blade clutched in her hand. “Fine, but I want to do this alone.”

  “You got two minutes.”

  Juan exited the room through the open doorway, clearly expecting Emma to follow. Instead, she rested her hand on Macy’s wrist.

  “Love means sometimes letting go,” she whispered.

  Her expression unreadable, Macy lifted her head. “I’m learning that. Thank you.”

  Emma’s despair over her own loss threatened to resurface and choke her. Leaving the room, she quietly shut the door behind her. A terrible thought filled her mind and she forced herself not to barge back inside.

  Juan asked Rune the question that Emma was wondering herself.

  “Think she’ll do herself in?”

  “If so, it’s her choice.” Rune tilted his head to gaze up through the broken roof at the late afternoon sky. It was growing gradually darker, stars poking through the dimming sunlight. “We can’t save everyone.”

  “Yeah, I noticed,” Juan snapped, his irritation with Rune obvious.

  The medium bristled. “I don’t know what happened to Ed’s group. I told you that.”

  “Your ghosts are pretty worthless at times, “Juan groused.

  Rune glared at Juan. He looked a little pale, but was steadier on his feet. “They came through when it counted most. Jenn
i warned us about the horde.”

  “She’s the exception because she was always loca.”

  “She made an effort to save all of us. That was her choice. I can’t control the ghosts. I can’t make them show up and tell me what’s up. I ain’t no fraud. I won’t lie.”

  “Yeah, I know. Not like that John Edwards shit.”

  “I’m legit. The spirits come to me. I’m their conduit. I can’t make them do jack shit. I get that you’re upset over Belinda, but now is not the time. We got other shit to deal with.”

  With a curt dip of his chin, Juan brushed past Rune to watch the stairs. Rune remained near the door, his hand on the wall, eyes closed. Emma wasn’t sure what he was doing, so she lingered further down the hallway to give him space.

  Two minutes ticked away, but Macy didn’t make an appearance.

  Emma silently prayed that the woman wasn’t taking the easy way out. She knew how alluring that option was when everything seemed lost.

  The wind picked up, whistling through the broken ceiling, but another sound caught her attention. Straining to pluck the sound out of the ambient noise, Emma drew her weapon. Juan glanced her way, his expression questioning. He pointed to his ear and she nodded. Among the creaking and groaning of the building, she detected feral moans.

  Juan tiptoed over to a shattered window that overlooked the garden below. Craning his head, he looked downward.

  Rune’s head snapped up. “It’s done.”

  Emma whipped about, her heart leaping with fear. Before she could ask him what he meant, Macy opened the door and staggered out into the hall. She shut the door behind her, blocking out the view of her son lying stationary on the floor. The dagger in Macy’s hand was dripping with black blood and reeked, but she didn’t appear to notice. Sobbing, she struggled to control her grief.

  “You did good. I felt them move on,” Rune said kindly.

  Her dark eyes filling with relief, she gave him a faint smile. “I’m glad. Now I’m ready to leave.”