A couple tried to climb down the ladders, but the zombies had no such need and simply stepped off the edge of the wall, falling to the hard ground below. More than one raider was pulled from where they were climbing down the wall by the falling body of a zombie.
Those that made it, ran full speed for the building and I cursed at myself. It would have been a great deal more amusing if I had pulled up the rope ladder behind me. A shame, but still. There was some amusement to be had in the thought of them thinking they were safe and then being blown to pieces.
I stayed there for some time, watching ever more of the undead climb onto the wall and then fall over the other side into the open ground before the building. Some of them rose to their feet, others crawled, their bones broken. Some even managed to hit the ground head first and didn’t move again. But they didn’t stop coming.
At some point, they would realise that they couldn’t get out of the trap they were falling into. They would fill the space between building and wall and their brethren would keep on coming. Falling one atop another, forming layer upon layer of undead until they reached the level of the walls and only then would they spill out the other side.
Some might think to walk along the walls, but most were not so bright and so the longer I waited, the more there would be to kill when I pressed the button on the device I held. There was no reason to rush, I had nowhere else to be and it would give Lou and the others time to escape.
I wondered if he would pass my message along as he’d said he would. If perhaps, when the Navy landed he would be there to meet her. To tell her of what I had done. To let her know that at the end, I had at least tried to be the sort of man she had wanted me to be.
It was a strange feeling for me to have, but I could swear that I missed them. Cass and Gregg, even the dog, Jinx. Most of all, her, Lily. I didn’t know why, but it was important to me that she know that I had tried to be a better man. I had tried to right the wrongs I’d done, there at the end.
The area below was filling rapidly with the undead and I breathed a soft sigh. At the rate they were going, I wouldn’t see the dawn. Strange that. I’d never cared before, but now that I knew I would never see another, I really would have liked to watch the sun rise in the morning.
“YOU BASTARD!”
“Hello Georgia,” I said without turning. “Glad you survived.”
“Treacherous fucking arse!” she said, voice rising painfully. “I trusted you!”
“That was a mistake.”
“Obviously!”
Her footsteps came closer, the vibrations in the wood planks I stood on increasing with each step and I placed my thumb over the button. If she struck me down, I would be sure that my last act was to press it and see her dead.
“How many others made it?” I asked with some genuine curiosity.
“Six.”
“So few.”
Was it worth taking the time to go down and kill them? No, I decided not to bother. As much fun as it would be, it was a pain climbing the ladder and I wanted to be standing on the walkway at the end, to see them all die when I pressed the button.
“Was that your plan all along?” she demanded and I held back a smile as she came up beside me, Hori Hori in hand.
“Not quite,” I said. “Still, I can make it work.”
“You have a way out then?”
There was a tension beneath her words, a taut anger that spoke of violence to come. I very much doubted that I would be able to make amends to her. Still, it would be entertaining to try.
Down below there was a bit of a bottleneck at the bottom of the wall. They were coming over so fast that the ones that hit the ground had little chance to move before others landed on them. It meant that a small mound had grown there.
Even with that though they had begun to fill the open area between the building and the wall. Mostly crawling, but some managing to walk, they searched for a way through or more prey. Georgia’s anger had alerted them to our presence and more than one stared up at us hungrily.
“Yes,” I said. “There’s a way out.”
“Tell me.”
Her grip tightened on the handle of the Hori Hori and I figured that she was going to kill me as soon as I told her. Guess she was over me.
“I’ll show you,” I said as I turned to face her fully.
She regarded me with suspicion, eyes narrowed as she watched me. Her body tense, ready to react. I recalled how deadly she was, how fast her movements when she fought and I grinned at her.
“What?”
The thing of it was, she was only dangerous if you feared her blade. When you had nothing to live for, there was nothing to fear. In one smooth motion, I reached up and pushed.
Her arms pinwheeled, mouth opening wide as a sound of pure rage uttered from her. She reached for my hand, gripping tight for a moment, long enough to swing her Hori Hori. I tried to block her attack as best I could, surprising even myself with the instinctive reaction.
The flat of her blade rapped my knuckles and I swore as my hand jerked open and the detonator flew free. As though time seemed to slow, I had to watch it fall, helpless to do anything to stop it. My one chance of ending everything the right way, of saving Lou and his people.
It hit the edge of the walkway, bouncing upwards and out over the open space to land on the top of the wall ten feet below and six feet from the edge of the building. I held my breath as it bounced again before coming to a stop perilously close to the edge of the wall and the river below.
I screamed as a white-hot pain pierced my flesh. Georgia’s Hori Hori sinking deep into my shoulder. Her knee found my side as she pulled herself upright, a savage grin on her face and laughter in her eyes.
When she pulled free her weapon, I screamed again and dropped to the wooden planks of the walkway. I’d been wounded before, but the damage from that Japanese trowel was by far the most painful to bear. She stood over me, my blood dripping from the blade she held and she had the poor grace to gloat.
“D-do me a favour,” I said as I clamped down on the pain and she paused in the act of raising her weapon.
“What?”
“Help me to my feet.”
“Why?” her voice was full of suspicion. Rightly so to be fair.
“So I can look you in the face as you kill me.”
There was a hesitation in the way she held the weapon and I pushed myself to my knees, as painful as that was and looked up at her.
“Wouldn’t you rather stare me in the eye as you kill me? I always enjoyed watching the light die in their eyes when I killed people.”
She was wavering, I could tell and I hid my smile as I waited impatiently for her response. Finally, with a growl, she reached down and gripped my arm, helping me to stand.
“There,” she said as she looked directly at me. “Happy now.”
“Yes,” I said as I pushed forwards with all the remaining strength I had.
Not expecting that, she wasn’t prepared. My weight pushing against hers overbalanced her and it was her turn to scream as we both fell over the side of the walkway.
We both hit the edge of the wall and something cracked in her back as my hand scrabbled for a handhold. I managed to somehow wedge my hand into the slight gap where two containers met and gripped tight to the edge.
“Help!” Georgia said from below me.
I glanced down and laughed out loud at her. She was barely holding on by her fingertips to the slight ledge where the container I was clinging to, sat atop the one below. My blood was flowing freely down the side of the same container and my arm began to shake. Even if I’d wanted to I couldn’t have helped her, not in the condition I was in.
Instead, I pulled myself up as best I could, gritting my teeth against the pain, sweat standing out on my skin as my body trembled with the exertion.
A yelp sounded from below me as I pulled myself onto the top of the container and I looked down as she screamed. Her eyes met mine for just a moment before a zombie tore a
good portion of her face away. Her screaming lasted far longer than I’d have expected.
With a groan, I pulled myself over the container top towards the detonator. Immensely pleased that there was only a couple of feet gap between the walkway and the wall, albeit with a ten-foot difference in their heights.
I was fairly sure something inside of me was broken and I was bleeding badly from the wound in my shoulder. It didn’t matter though. My fingers closed over the detonator. With the little strength I had left, I pushed myself to my feet and stood there, wobbling a little as I watched the zombies falling from the top of the wall.
There was still time and I so very badly want to kill as many as I could. When I died, thousands of zombies would die with me in one glorious explosion. It was just a shame that I didn’t see the Feral running along the top of the wall until it was too late.
It hit me with stunning force, lifting me from my feet and sending me flying. My last conscious act before the darkness claimed me was to press down on the button in my hand.
The world exploded into flames.
Note from the Author.
Wow… erm, so that happened. As much as I hate a cliffhanger, sometimes it can’t be helped. He tried to set things right at the end and finally found some peace. There’s one final book in the Killing the Dead season 2, and that will be following soon. Hopefully, then, we will have some closure and say our goodbyes to a fallen friend.
Richard
Why not visit the Facebook page. www.facebook.com/KillingtheDead and say hi? I don’t tend to spam nonsense to people but I do post occasional updates and respond to questions.
March of the Dead (Killing the Dead Book 11) Page 18
