Killing the Dead (Books 4-6)

by Murray, Richard

  I heard Lily moving into the kitchen behind me and I assumed she was looking for something to use as a weapon. The damn zombie still showed no sign of movement and I had to creep closer.

  Despite the cold I could feel beads of sweat appearing on my skin and I tightened my grip on the knife handle. Less than a metre separated the zombie and me and it still hadn’t moved beyond turning its head to keep watch on me as I came ever closer.

  One more step would put me in range of striking with the knife. Two more steps would allow me to be close enough to jam the blade into its chest and three more steps would put me close enough to crack the creatures’ skull. I took the first step.

  With a roar the zombie lurched towards me and I let out an involuntary yelp that would be embarrassing for anyone let alone a seasoned serial killer and zombie slayer.

  It swung its arms wildly as I thrust the knife and succeeded in deflecting the blow. Its mouth opened to reveal broken and stained teeth. I ducked beneath the swing of one arm and barrelled forward into it.

  The zombie didn’t fall down. Instead it wrapped its arms around me and bent forward as it tried to bite through my jacket. In desperation I stabbed my knife blade repeatedly into its leg, hoping to cause enough damage for the leg to be useless.

  I could feel the material of my jacket being pulled as its teeth tried to cut through and felt something close to panic as I kept stabbing the knife into its leg.

  With a fresh moan the creature released its grip on me and stumbled to the side. Its damaged leg collapsed beneath it and it fell to the floor. I had a moment to look up to see a triumphant Lily holding the dented metallic toaster she had just used to hit the zombie.

  “Don’t just stand there, kill it.” She yelled.

  I thrust the knife down towards its skull and again the zombie blocked the blade with a wild swing of its arms. Becoming increasingly annoyed at my inability to kill it, I dropped down onto its chest and used my weight against it.

  It clawed at me and moaned and I had a momentary worry that it would break through my skin with its gore stained fingers and I would be done for, before I managed to stab the blade of my knife down through its eye and into the brain. It fell silent and still and I looked over to Lily.

  “That wasn’t normal was it?” I asked.

  “No. I’ve never seen one behave like that.” She agreed. “What the hell was up with it?”

  “I don’t know. Perhaps this is the one that ate those bodies out there so was healthier or whatever the zombie equivalent is.” I said. “I just hope we don’t find more like it.”

  “Yeah, me too. You seemed to be having trouble there.”

  “Took me by surprise is all.” I said defensively. “I wasn’t expecting it to react like that.”

  “Sure.” Lily agreed with a grin.

  “When I think on,” I said as I ignored her grin, “Eric was more like this one when he turned.”

  “He was certainly faster than the normal ones we see.” Lily agreed.

  “Maybe it is to do with how much damage they have. This fellow was in good enough condition that everything was working well enough for him to move almost like a live person.”

  “It wasn’t as stupid as the others though.”

  “That could be to do with damage to the body too. If the body is working well, then maybe enough of the brain is, enough to allow them some kind of thought beyond basic grab and eat.”

  “God I hope not.”Lily said with a visible shudder, “I can’t imagine how dangerous the world would be if more of them were like this. It’s bad enough that they outnumber us a million to one at the moment.”

  “Well that’s one less at least and, considering the noise we made, let’s get a move on and check the rest of the house before we get any more surprises.” I said with a grin.

  Lilly dropped the toaster that she had picked up in haste and did a thorough yet rapid search of the kitchen and came up with a meat tenderizer that was about the size of a regular hammer with a sturdy wooden shaft and a double sided metallic head.

  Better prepared we made our way through the apartment, one room at a time. It didn’t take long. Two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms and a utility closet were all empty of people living or dead so we left the apartment and headed up the stairs.

  The second floor had six apartments, two with doors open. One of the doors had been broken through and a trail of blood and carnage was all we found in that apartment. Aside from decoration, the apartments were all set out in the same way, two bedrooms and a living room and kitchenette. It certainly made clearing them easier.

  With nothing to kill on the second floor we went up to the third and final floor. Another four doors all of which were closed but one had two zombies standing quietly outside. I nudged Lily and pointed to them and she gave a quick nod to show she was ready.

  The third floor had two windows which let in enough light for us to see. They were set at either end of the wide hallway between the rooms. The same hardwood floors that had filled the rest of the building made up the flooring and we had to move slowly and carefully to avoid making any noise and alerting the undead.

  We separated, Lily moved to the left side of the hall and I stuck to the right. The zombies were outside a door at the far end of the hall and rather than sneak up on them and be surprised like I had been with the last one, I tapped on the nearest door frame with the hilt of my knife to get their attention.

  As soon as the first sound was heard the zombies both turned towards us and let out their mindless moan. They came stumbling towards us at a reasonable speed. Arms outstretched and teeth gnashing as though they could already taste our flesh.

  They showed little of the agility or ability of the last one and I let out a breath I hadn’t even been aware that I had been holding. Both of the Zombies were headed towards me, either not noticing Lily or deciding that since I was the one that made the noise, I would be tastier. I stepped forward to meet them.

  I swayed to the right to avoid the lunge of the first and caught it by the throat with my left hand. It tried to claw at my arm but I swing the knife and struck it firmly in the temple. A sharp crack as the thin bone broke was the last noise it made before it collapsed.

  Lily had moved behind the second and hit it once on the back of the head. It stumbled forward but wasn’t quite done for. She raised the meat tenderizer in both hands above her head and swung it with as much strength she could muster.

  “Nicely done.” I said to Lily as the last zombie crumpled to the floor and she smiled back at me.

  “We should see what they were after behind that door.” She said.

  “If you say so.” I said good naturedly, and she gave me a sharp look.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “I’ll be fine, go on and knock on the door.” I said and she let the matter drop as she went across to the apartment door.

  In truth the need was still with me and I didn’t want to bring it up again. The two kills had been satisfying and mildly pleasant but had no way sated that need. It was something I would need to deal with as soon as I had the chance.

  Lily knocked on the door and when she received no answer she called out and knocked again. When no response came I gently moved her to one side, borrowed the meat tenderizer from her and aimed a few heavy blows at the lock with it.

  The apartment was quiet and dark and I led the way with my knife at the ready. The living room was empty and we swiftly moved to the bedrooms. I opened the first door and heard a swiftly stifled sob from behind me.

  I pulled the door closed and turned to Lily who looked at me with wide eyes that were already filling with tears. I knew she was upset but stood awkwardly, not sure what to do. It seemed she knew what she needed because she fell forward and wrapped her arms around me as the tears came.

  Chapter 5

  After a few minutes of awkwardly patting her on the back, I quietly asked, “Are you ok?” I immediately knew it
was a stupid thing to ask someone who was in tears but it was all I could think to say.

  “I’ll be fine.” She said echoing my response from earlier. She pushed herself away from me and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. I quietly hoped that she had made sure it had no zombie blood on it first but figured it was wisest not to ask just yet.

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, sorry. It just caught me by surprise.” She said with a wan smile and I nodded as though I understood.

  “If you want to go downstairs and make sure everyone’s ok, I’ll take care of this.” I said softly and she paused for a moment before nodding once.

  “I’ll see you downstairs.” She said. “Thanks.”

  She walked quickly across the floor and stepped over the remains of the two zombies we had killed as though she barely noticed them. I was sure that we had cleared any loose zombies and the faint sounds from below indicated that the rest of the group had entered the building and discovered the mess in the foyer.

  With a sigh I pulled open the door to the bedroom and stepped inside. It wasn’t a task I was looking forward to but I felt that I could spare Lily having to deal with it at least. I crossed to the crib that was set against the left hand wall of the room.

  The child looked to be less than six months old and was the only source of noise in the room as it tried to move with limbs that had barely formed. I looked across at what I could only assume to be the silent remains of the mother, the look of horror and despair had remained on her face even in death. An empty bottle of pills was open on the bedside table.

  I hesitated as I gripped the knife. The thought of killing a baby, even an undead one was unpleasant and not something I had ever considered having to do.

  Once the deed was done I carefully wrapped it in its blankets and placed it besides the mother’s remains. It seemed appropriate.

  A quick check of the last room to make sure we would have no surprises, revealed it to be empty so I left the apartment and went to join the others on the ground floor.

  The suitably armed group were standing in a circle as Lily gave directions. I joined them and she looked across at me. I nodded once, a simple gesture to convey that the task was done and she grimaced.

  “So we all know what to do?” Lily asked and the group chorused their assent. “Right, you lot get to it and I’ll go and see if I can find some volunteers to start the clean up before we bring the kids in here.”

  I watched as the group split in two and went to separate sides of the foyer. They quickly broke into the apartments that were locked and disappeared inside.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Those guys are going to clear the apartments that were locked and then we are going to clean this place out.” Lily said.

  “We’re staying here then?”

  “For a while at least, yeah.” Lily said. “None of the apartments have power or gas but we can at least secure this place for everyone. I’m hoping we find some food as well.”

  “Sounds fun. Anything you’d like me to do?”

  “If we find any food we’ll need some way to cook it. I’ve asked those guys to look out for any camp stoves but I’m doubtful they’ll find any. You don’t live out here and then go camping.” Lily said.

  “I’ll take a walk around the grounds and see what I can find. Can make sure it’s all clear too.” I said and she nodded.

  “Thank you. For... everything.” She said.

  “No problems. Just remember to save me a room on the top floor when you are moving everyone in.” I said with a grin before leaving her and heading out into the cold.

  My grin and good humour soon faded as I made my way around the building. The need was still there and I would still have to kill someone.

  It had never really been a problem for me before. The need would grow and I would find someone to kill. Even back then though, I would be irritable and prone to quick bursts of anger as time went on until finally when everything was in place and I made that oh so wonderful kill... well then I would feel incredible for a time.

  With everything that had been going on since the zombie apocalypse had started, I had been killing fairly often and openly. It had been a temporary salve to my need and it hadn’t been a major issue, until now.

  The many deaths I had orchestrated, the zombies and living people I had killed had merely kept the need at bay for a time. It had been growing unnoticed until reaching a point where I could no longer ignore it.

  I knew what I was like. I would need to kill the right way and soon or one of those bursts of anger would end up with me lashing out and killing someone I shouldn’t. My promise would be broken and I would be cast from the group. My chances of survival all alone amongst the undead were depressingly low.

  With dark thoughts cycling through my mind I didn’t notice the zombie until it had a firm grip on my ankle.

  It had been dragging itself along the ground for some time, its back must have been broken at some point and the lower half of its jaw was missing which was why I hadn’t heard it. I swore loudly and kicked out at it.

  My irritation turned to anger and I kicked at the head several times until I heard a crunch and the zombie fell still. I was annoyed with myself and stayed more alert as I completed my circuit of the building.

  A low shed in a small stand of trees besides the water held some gardening equipment along with some spare garden furniture that had been put away for the winter and a large metal barbecue grill.

  I couldn’t see any charcoal to go with it, but it was a start at least. I left it safe and dry in the shed and headed back to the front of the house.

  Lily was keeping busy in the foyer. She was directing a number of people at various tasks. She glanced up as I approached.

  “Cass, if you go into the first apartment you’ll find some buckets and rubber gloves. You guys are going to start on getting rid of as much of this blood as you can. When the other groups have finished clearing the apartments they will be helping.” She said with a stern glance towards Gregg as he came out the far apartment.

  “Hey, I never said I wouldn’t help.” He protested as he raised his hands in defeat.

  “Get moving brother,” Cass called. “I’m going to need you to get scrubbing the floors.”

  He laughed as he disappeared up the stairs with Pat following. Cass turned to her group which seemed to be most of the adults from the boat and told them firmly to take the rug out and burn it.

  “Everything ok out there?” Lily asked as she pulled on some rubber gloves herself.

  “Yeah, one zombie. It’s dead.” I said. “There’s a shed out back with a barbecue in. No fuel that I could see but I figured we could find something to burn on it.”

  “That’s great.” She said before calling up the stairs. “Pat, I’ve got a job for you and Gregg.”

  “I hope you’ve found something to cook on it.” I said.

  “That’s one thing we do have at the moment, a good number of tins of food in these apartments. We should be able to feed everyone for a few days at least.” She said as the guys arrived.

  “You called boss?” Gregg said with a smile.

  “Ryan found a barbecue in a shed out back.” Lily said with a smile of her own. “You and Pat can go and dig it out and see if you can find something to burn on it.”

  “If it means we can get some food, I will be more than happy to do that.” Gregg said, “Come on big lad. Let’s see what we can find.”

  I watched Gregg and Pat amble away ever cheerful and comfortable with each other. They seemed to be striking up a friendship. The easy camaraderie that they shared was perplexing and something I had never found.

  “If you want to make yourself useful” Lily said, “Get a bucket and some gloves and start scrubbing. I want everyone in and secure before it gets dark.”

  “Of course.” I said and went to gather a bucket.

  The work was hard and wi
thout having eaten and being through the stresses of the last few days, extremely exhausting.

  We stripped out all of the filth covered rugs and carpets and piled them on top of the corpses in a pile at the side of the house. Then utilising as many of the household products we could loot from the apartments we scrubbed the walls and floorboards.

  It wouldn’t be perfect and we would have to keep an eye out for mould as we had no way of drying everything properly but it was better than leaving it covered in blood.

  When we had finished with the foyer and the apartments that had been open when we arrived, Lily arranged for a suitably solemn group of our people to quietly remove the remains from the top floor apartment.

  With no chance of digging a grave, it was decided that they would have to be burnt with the rest of the infected remains. Lily politely asked Jim to lead the group in a prayer before a bottle of lighter fluid taken from an apartment was emptied over the pile and lit.

  I saw no reason to impose my sour presence on the group as they paid their respects and in all honesty, the piety would just irritate me. I left them to their business and took a walk around the house to where Claire and Julie were keeping a watchful eye on the children as they prepared a meal.

  “Hey,” Julie said brightly as I joined them at the barbecue. Pat and Gregg had set it up against the back wall and I had heard someone say they were going to set up some kind of shelter for when the weather turned even worse than it currently was.

  “Hi. How’s the food doing?” I asked as I sniffed the air appreciatively. Claire was a damn good cook, though in my current state of hunger I would be happy with half cooked offerings.

  “It’s getting there.” Claire said in her usual bubbly manner. “Just tinned vegetables and noodles but it will be filling.”

  She seemed to be coping with the limited cooking facilities and had balanced a large pan on the grill that had a fire burning beneath it.

  “Sounds delicious.” I said with a half hearted attempt at a smile.