The First Paladin (The New Earth Chronicles Book 1)

by J. J. Thompson

She was looking at burnished metal and eagerly reached down to pull the object out of its crate.

  Is it...?

  It was a shield. Heavy and wedge-shaped, the gleaming buckler was unadorned and functional.

  Who had this belonged to, Liliana wondered as she lifted it and examined both sides.

  On the inner side were two loops of thick leather with buckles that could be adjusted to fit her arm. There was also a loop of metal to hold on to to help control the shield. She slipped her left forearm through the straps, held the metal loop and moved the shield up and down and side to side. It was definitely heavy, but not overwhelmingly so. When she held it up in front of her and crouched behind it, the shield covered her from below her chin to midway down her thighs. Liliana was delighted.

  It may not be a suit of armor, she thought. But it's a damned sight better than nothing.

  She stood in the vault and looked at the weapons she had found and the shield on her arm and laughed.

  “It's like Christmas has come early this year,” she said out loud.

  And then her mood changed.

  “Probably the last Christmas that will ever be,” she added. “Which means that I had better use these gifts properly.”

  She rearmed herself, adjusted her load so that she could carry the shield across her back with a leather strap that she hung over her shoulder and carried the bow and pack on top of it. Then she picked up her candle again and looked around a final time, silently thanked the unknown curators of the place and turned away. It was time to go.

  Once outside again, with the sun high overhead at midday, Liliana stood in the light for a few minutes and just breathed. It felt so good to be out in the free air again.

  But she couldn't waste any more time. She was out of water and there was a long way to go to cross the city. The Moskva River was somewhere up ahead and she hoped that there was a bridge still intact that she could use to cross over it. She should also be able to fill her canteen and perhaps get cleaned up as well. She was filthy from the dusty museum basement, not to mention itchy with dried sweat, and was eager to get washed up.

  It took another two hours to reach the river, but Liliana was finally able to bathe. It was a quick dip, just in the shadow of a bridge that seemed more or less intact. She kept close to the shoreline and constantly watched and listened for anything hostile while getting clean. But even though she was on edge, the bath was wonderful and she set off again feeling reinvigorated.

  The bridge was choked with cars and trucks and several sections of it had been smashed apart, probably by dragons attacking fleeing citizens. But she was able to climb across precarious steel beams and once took a running leap over a gap that left her shaking with relief when she made it. Falling into the swiftly flowing river while loaded down with weapons and a shield could have meant her death.

  When Liliana reached the opposite side of the bridge, the sun was dipping toward the horizon and she decided to camp for the night. She had probably only slept a couple of hours in the museum basement and her fatigue was making her clumsy and dulling her senses.

  She climbed into the cabin of a transport truck, used a scrap of cloth to sweep out several spiderwebs and to dust off the bench seat and closed and locked the door behind her. She had a good view of her surroundings from the cabin and felt fairly secure.

  She ate a can of bean and bacon soup, drank some water and set her shield and weapons on the floor. Then she lay back on the seat, using her pack as a pillow and drifted off to sleep just as night fell around her.

  A loud thump next to her head made Liliana jerk upright and look around wildly. It was the middle of the night and she couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours. For a moment she had no idea where she was. She had been dreaming of herself as a child, carefree and innocent, playing with some neighborhood children. The cab of the truck looked alien and unfamiliar to her.

  Another thump shook the cabin, followed by a second against the passenger door. Something was trying to get in.

  The cab was large enough to move around in fairly easily and she quickly put on her weapon belts and slipped the shield over her left arm. She left her pack and the bow and quiver on the floor; she had no use for either at the moment. Then she slowly raised her head high enough to look out of the driver's side window. Dead red eyes looked back at her no more than six inches away.

  Liliana let out a cry, pulled the door handle up and spun around on the seat, kicking the door open with both feet. The undead creature was catapulted through the air and landed on its back with a hideous wet plop. It had knocked over another of its kind as it fell and both lay on the ground for a moment, clawing at the air like a pair of upended turtles. Then they managed to push themselves awkwardly to their feet and turned toward her.

  The paladin drew her sword and again it blazed silver in the presence of evil. On the other side of the truck, she heard the sound of shuffling footsteps. There were more of them.

  She raised her shield before her and charged straight into the faces of the attacking zombies. They might be supernatural creatures, but they were slow and clumsy. Her shield blow knocked them back and she sliced off both of their heads with two quick blows. Gushes of sticky black blood splashed everywhere as they fell, but Liliana was already spinning around, looking for the others that she had heard.

  There was a mound of broken pavement blocking the front of the truck and it took a moment to see the first of the attackers. One finally stumbled around the debris followed closely by a second.

  Ah, just two, she thought with relief. They shouldn't be a problem.

  And then another followed the second and still another. And they just kept coming.

  Liliana hesitated a moment and then jumped into the truck cab. She grabbed the rest of her things and got out just in time to avoid the first attack. As the zombies began swinging their arms at her, growling and slobbering at the same time, she backed away from them toward the bridge.

  This is not a good place to fight these things, she reasoned. Better to face them when I'm ready then to be overwhelmed by sheer force of numbers.

  She already counted a dozen of the things and, further down the road behind them, shapes were moving in the night.

  No, I'll have to retreat and deal with them another day.

  She held up her sword and hurried back on to the bridge. The last broken section that she had crossed over had been the one that she'd had to leap over. But if she could barely jump across the gap, then there was no way that these undead could do it. She hoped.

  The light from the sword dimmed the further she got from the zombies and Liliana realized that she wouldn't be able to see well enough to jump across the destroyed section unless she remained close enough to the enemy to keep the sword shining at full strength.

  Great. Now I'm playing tag with a bunch of walking corpses.

  The situation was so bizarre and unreal that she almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. But she did not. The consequences of a mistake on her part were all too real.

  She stood and waited for the leader of the mob to shamble close enough to increase her light. Once it was within twenty feet or so, the blade blazed brightly again and she began walking, trying to match the pace of the undead and constantly checking over her shoulder to make sure that they weren't getting too close or too far away. It was a strange, otherworldly parade that she led and at one point she found herself actually humming an old martial tune that she remembered from school.

  Stop it, she berated herself. This isn't a game.

  She finally spotted the gap in the bridge and hurried forward until she was standing about ten feet from the edge. With luck, it would give her the running start that she needed to leap across. She tightened her belts, secured the shield, bow and pack across her back and watched the approaching horde of zombies, waiting for her sword to reach its maximum brightness.

  The undead moaned, croaked and growled as they came and, even in the dim light of the stars, Liliana
could see a long line of stragglers behind the main group.

  Oh God, how many of my people were turned into those things, she thought sadly. Wasn't it enough that they were killed? Did they have to be cursed like this too?

  The leading zombie approached. She could tell that he had been a young man when he died, but the rot on his skin and the unsure light hid most of his features. It was probably for the best.

  Her sword shone brightly again and Liliana turned to stare across the open span. She took a deep breath and ran straight at it. As she touched the edge of the broken pavement she leaped with as much strength as she could muster. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she flew over the gap and she felt a stab of fear.

  I'm not going to make it, she thought in a panic. I'm not going to make it!

  She slammed into the cement of the bridge on the opposite side and rolled several times. When she stopped, she stared up at the stars with her shield digging into her back and felt a tidal wave of relief wash over her.

  Well, what do you know? I made it.

  Liliana looked around for her sword. It had been flung out of her hand when she hit the ground and slid under a wrecked and rusting car. She crawled underneath the vehicle and grabbed the blade and then backed out again. Standing up, she turned to stare across the gap at the zombies massing on the other side.

  Are they stupid enough to try to cross over after me, she wondered.

  It turned out that they weren't. The group of undead monsters just stood there, hissing and moaning and reaching impotently towards her. Unfortunately for them though, the stragglers behind the main group started catching up with the others and crowded forward, eagerly trying to each their prey.

  Liliana snorted in amused disbelief as the front ranks of zombies were pushed out into space to tumble down, writhing and moaning, into the swift currents below.

  Not brainless, she thought as she watched the undead continue to push their fellows into oblivion. But pretty damned close.

  What amazed her even more than the mindless thirst for her blood was the sheer number of animated corpses that kept appearing out of the night. Her sword wasn't glowing as brightly because of the distance between herself and the zombies, so she couldn't see how far back the line of undead extended, but she watched dozens being pushed over the edge of the broken bridge and more continued to appear to fill the gap.

  Eventually they seemed to get it through their rotting brains that Liliana was unreachable and instead of groping toward her, they began to wander off into the darkness, seeming to lose interest.

  So they can learn, even though it takes them time to process information, she thought as she sat down on the pavement. Interesting.

  Once the last of the undead had staggered off, Liliana took off her shield and weapons, opened her pack and drank some water. Then she sat with her sword across her knees and stared into the darkness. She decided that it would be wiser to wait until first light to try to get some sleep; she hadn't seen any of the monsters in daylight and thought that they might not be able to function after sunrise, and she wasn't certain that the creatures couldn't find some other way to reach her position.

  So she got as comfortable as she could and settled in for a long night.

  The next morning, Liliana lay down in an abandoned car and slept for several hours before setting out again. Jumping over the gap for the third time was just as nerve-wracking as her earlier attempts and she was relieved to put it behind her. She hoped that she'd never have to do something like that again.

  The sun had risen in a clear sky, but the weather turned as the morning went on and heavy clouds rolled in before noon. The smell of rain was in the air and the first fat drops of water hit Liliana's face as she was climbing over a mound of broken cement near the far side of the downtown area.

  “Great,” she muttered. “Just wonderful. I'm going to need to find some shelter.”

  For the first time she decided to risk going below ground. There was a Moscow Metro station within sight and she approached it reluctantly.

  Liliana hadn't used any of the subway tunnels so far, for several reasons. For one thing, she was afraid that after the destruction of the city, which had left millions of tons of debris pressing down on the underground, the routes might be unstable and liable to collapse. Also she hadn't wanted to take a chance of missing any signs of survivors and she doubted that people would be spending a lot of time below ground. And now she had a new reason to want to avoid the tunnels; the zombies.

  Where did those undead monsters hide during the day? Were the Metro lines infested with the creatures? It was a frightening prospect.

  Well, unless I can find a better source of light than matches, I won't be descending into the bowels of the city anyway, she thought. Isn't there a way to make a torch or something?

  She climbed down the pile of broken cement and metal that she was standing on and examined the ground. There was all kinds of trash scattered about and she spotted a lot of pieces of broken wood and sticks.

  Hmm, there might be a way, she thought.

  She gathered up a bundle of wood, all of it at least two feet long, and then tore some strips of cloth from a discolored old shirt she found lying on the ground and wrapped the bundle together. She wrapped more cloth around the end of it and kept it close to her chest to try to keep it dry.

  Okay, now all I need is some sort of fuel.

  Liliana looked speculatively at the scattered wrecks of cars and trucks, many of which were half-covered in debris.

  Could I use gasoline? No, it burns too quickly. Diesel?

  She grinned suddenly. Diesel fuel might actually work. And the gas tanks of one nearby truck caught her eye.

  Walking over to the wreck, she tapped on the steel tanks and listened to the echo. Yes, there was definitely fuel in there. She just had to get it out somehow.

  There was no tubing in sight that she could have used to siphon the gas out of the tank and, as the rain started to fall in earnest, Liliana became impatient. She drew her sword and ran a forefinger lightly along the tip of the blade.

  I don't want to damage it, she thought with some concern. But maybe if I use it point first?

  She shrugged and set the point of the sword against the side of the tank. She grasped the hilt with both hands, took a breath and then shoved against the tank as hard as she could.

  She almost fell over as the blade slipped into the tank as if it was made of cardboard.

  “Oh my God,” she exclaimed in wonder as she let go of the sword.

  It was sticking out of the gas tank, a foot of the blade inside the metal container.

  “Well, that was easy. And amazing.”

  Liliana grabbed the sword hilt and slipped the weapon out of the tank again. A stream of brownish liquid began to pour out of the slit in the tank and she hastily held her makeshift torch under the flow, soaking the end of it with the diesel fuel.

  Now let's see if this works, she thought as she turned toward the Metro station and hurried through the rain as the shower became a downpour.

  The roof of the shelter had been smashed open and she headed down the debris-choked stairs into the darkness to get away from the rain. Before it became completely pitch black, Liliana looked at her sword blade. The metal was clean, with no diesel residue, and it wasn't glowing; a good sign.

  She sheathed the weapon and pulled out a box of matches from a pocket. She struck one and held it against the diesel-soaked cloth.

  Instead of bursting into flames, the torch lit slowly and began to burn with a cheerful, yellow light.

  Excellent, Liliana thought. I hope that it lasts for a while. If not, at least now I know that I can make more.

  She held up the torch and continued to descend the stairs, carefully stepping over and around trash that had fallen from the street above. Except for the sound of the rain over her head, the underground area was deathly quiet. The air cooled as she walked down the stairs and there was an odd smell, a mixture of cement dust, rus
ting metal and a faint sweet odor of decay. Liliana didn't like it at all.

  She reached a landing, turned and walked across the tiled floor to an escalator. There was less debris at this level, but the floor was discolored from water damage and some of the tiles were cracked or missing.

  Liliana stood at the top of the escalators and stared down into the inky gloom below. The odd smell was stronger here and a part of her was telling her to turn around and leave this place, seek the daylight, flee the darkness. She pushed down those objections, but took a moment to calm her mind and steady her nerves.

  I need to see what is down there, she told herself. If I'm going to live in Moscow, and especially if I find survivors, then the city's secrets have to be revealed. For better or for worse.

  She steeled herself, held the torch in her left hand and drew her sword.

  Alright then. Let's see what there is to see.

  Chapter 14

  The escalator was free of debris and Liliana was able to descend the steps without staring at her feet to avoid tripping. She looked around carefully as she went and listened to every little sound.

  This is probably a really bad idea, she told herself. If I get trapped down here, no one is coming to rescue me.

  The air was full of creaks and groans as the earth settled above her and it was almost impossible to distinguish normal sounds from those that might have been suspicious. Nevertheless, she moved as quietly as she could and stayed alert.

  At the bottom of the escalators was the station. Liliana raised her torch and walked to the edge of the depression where the tracks were. She looked in both directions but could only see arched tunnels leading into darkness.

  Old vending machines were lying on their sides, smashed open by vandals, probably after the subways stopped working. She walked over shards of glass that crunched under her feet as she examined the entire platform.

  Dust, garbage and fetid air was all that she found. There were several streaks on the dusty floor, footprints made by someone, or something. But it was impossible to tell how old they were. Gathering up her courage, Liliana jumped down to the tracks and walked along one set until she came to the tunnel heading in a generally northern direction.