Killing the Dead (Books 4-6)

by Murray, Richard

  “Gregg, could you go and get Pat from downstairs please. Then find some way of releasing Jenny and Leon.” Lily said, her eyes never leaving mine.

  “Sure thing.” Gregg said and quickly left us alone. Lily entered the room and slowly closed the door behind her.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “When I realised you had gone I knew where you would be and Cass, Pat and Gregg volunteered to come and find you.”

  “They fired on you as you approached?” I asked as I remembered the reason for Sarge leaving me with Andy.

  “Yeah, we turned back and they left but as we were headed back we heard the gunfire in the house and I persuaded them that it must be you and you needed help so we came back.” Lily said as she took a tentative step towards me, hand out as though approaching an easily startled deer.

  “We came up to the house,” She continued softly, “Expecting a fight or to find you dead and instead we found carnage downstairs.”

  “I had fun.” I said and tried to grin.

  “I knew they wouldn’t be able to kill you and then we heard more shooting up here. Pat and Cass were searching downstairs while Gregg came up here with me.” Lily said, “We heard talking here and found you.”

  “And Leon and Jenny?”

  “Yes them too.” She paused as she took the final step towards me. “What are you planning to do with him?”

  “I am going to kill him slowly, ever so slowly for what he did.” I said, cold and distant. Holding back emotions I shouldn’t feel.

  “Is it true what you said?”

  “What?”

  “About caring for us... for me?”

  “Yes.” I whispered, ashamed of her having heard.

  “I can’t watch you torture a man, I can’t do that and feel those same feelings for you.” She said as she reached out and placed her hand over mine on the knife.

  “But Emma...” I began.

  “I know.” Lily said as her hand tightened over mine and she gazed into my eyes. “Make it quick though.”

  For a moment I couldn’t understand what she meant, what she had said but as Sarge screamed his denial and begged for mercy I realised she had spoken those words.

  “Are you sure?”

  “For what he did to Jenny and Leon, for Claire and the others... for Emma. Yes.” She said, “I can’t have feelings for a sadist but I can for a man who protects those he cares for.”

  Her eyes never left mine and her hand remained over mine as I plunged the knife down into Sarge’s chest, as I felt the shudder as the blade pierced his heart and as he screamed as we took his life.

  She kept her eyes on mine as the joy flooded through me, as I succumbed to the deepest pleasure I had ever experienced as I left myself totally open to her probing gaze and let myself be seen fully for the first time in my life. She didn’t look away.

  Killing the Dead: Then Came the Snow

  By Richard Murray

  Copyright 2014 Richard Murray

  All Rights Reserved

  All Characters are a work of Fiction.

  Any resemblance to real persons

  Living or dead is purely coincidental

  Chapter 1

  Her eyes were still fixed on my own and her hand rested against mine on the handle of the knife as Sarge gave his last breath. We stood together for several long minutes, unmoving.

  She watched as I succumbed to the purest form of pleasure I had ever experienced and she shared in that most intimate thing, that one moment I had only ever shared with my victims. She watched and waited and didn’t turn away in disgust.

  That wonderful moment we shared was broken when the noise level from the ground floor rose to a volume that could be clearly heard through the closed bedroom door. Lily heaved a sigh and broke eye contact.

  “I’d better check on them.” She said with a glance back to me and a half smile.

  “Of course.”

  “You coming?” She asked as she crossed to the door and pulled it open. “I’m going to guess that the arguing will involve you. Besides, we need to get you patched up. You look a mess.”

  I couldn’t argue with her logic so shrugged and followed her, though making sure I pulled my combat knife from Sarges’ chest and wiping it clean on the bed covers.

  The doors that led into the separate bedrooms where I had last seen Leon and Jenny chained up, were closed and I guessed would still hold those two members of our group who had gone missing more than a week ago.

  Lily didn’t seem inclined to stop and check the rooms as she marched towards the top of the stairs, the loud voices of the rest of our group were loud enough to drown out the noise of Ed. I could still hear his moaning though, beneath the rest of the noise and the sound brought a smile to my lips. I was pleased that he was still suffering.

  As we reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped through the door into the main living area of the large house that the deserters had decided to make their base, the arguing stopped abruptly and three pairs of eyes turned to watch us approach.

  Cass had a look of irritation and I couldn’t tell if it was aimed at me or her brother Gregg. He had a slight flush just visible on his dark skin and I could tell that he had been the one doing most of the shouting. Pat stood between the siblings, likely playing referee between his friend and his current girlfriend.

  “We need to talk.” Lily said with quiet authority.

  “Damn right we do.” Gregg muttered as he looked away.

  He seemed to be unwilling to meet my gaze and for some reason that caused a soft swell of regret to move through me. I idly touched the handle of my sheathed knife and wondered if I would have to kill these people that I had just barely realised were friends, or even if I could do so.

  “Why didn’t you finish him off?” Lily asked me with a nod towards the moaning Ed.

  “I wanted him to suffer.” I said to Lily, aware that the others were listening intently to my words. “He was the one who shot Claire for no reason other than her asking a question. He doesn’t deserve an easy death.”

  Lily looked back at me for several long seconds, no doubt debating in her mind whether or not it was worth asking me to kill him or to leave him to suffer. Finally she nodded curtly.

  “Fine, we need to get him out of here though so we can talk.”

  “I’ll do it.” Pat said. He was looking at the slowly dying Ed with distaste and his voice was rough with constrained anger. Claire had been his friend too.

  We waited impatiently as Pat grabbed hold of one of Ed’s legs with his large hands and dragged him across the room towards the door set into the back wall. Ed’s moaning turned to screams as he disappeared from sight leaving a slick trail of blood across the floor.

  Lily was still staring defiantly back at her friends and they were watching me, their expressions were not especially pleasant. I wondered if anyone would mind my taking a seat on one of the couches as my legs seemed a little weak.

  As the adrenaline was leaving my system the pain from the wound in my side and the gash in my scalp were doing their best to get my attention. The cloth I had strapped to my head with Andy’s belt wasn’t a perfect bandage and the flesh wound left by Sarge was leaking badly enough that I was starting to make a mess of the hardwood floors.

  Pat returned from the back rooms and all eyes turned once more to Lily who gazed back at her friends, unperturbed by their hostile expressions.

  “What have you told them?” She asked Gregg directly.

  “Just what I heard.” He replied.

  “Is it true?” Cass demanded and Lily let out a sigh of regret. I wondered if this was my final night with the group.

  “Yes.” Lily said simply. “It’s true.”

  “Fuck.” Gregg said loudly. “You knew about him all this time and you didn’t say anything?”

  “How exactly would you like me to have told you?” Lily snapped back, “Just blurt it out over b
reakfast? No, I made the choice that you didn’t need to know.”

  “Why would you decide that?” Cass asked, her hand had tightened its grip on the handle of the meat cleaver she was holding. I was in no condition to fight.

  “Because I trusted him when he said he wouldn’t hurt us.” Lily said and Gregg snorted.

  “How can you trust him? He’s a killer.” He yelled with a gesture towards me, “I heard him myself. How many people have you killed?” He asked as he directed his attention to me.

  “A few.” I said quietly as I pressed one hand against the wound in my side. I wondered idly if it would be a good time to ask for a cloth or bandage.

  “A few? How many is a few? How many did you kill before the end of the fucking world?” Gregg demanded.

  His anger was written plainly across his face and I couldn’t help the stab of regret I felt. Gregg had always been friendly towards me.

  “Does it matter?”

  “Yes it does fucking matter.” He spat and I shrugged.

  “Seven.”

  “What?”

  “The number of people I had killed by the time the world ended.” I said.

  The others looked at me with varying degrees of surprise and horror with only Lily showing no response. She had already known.

  “Why?” Cass asked quietly.

  “My reasons are my own.” I said equally quietly and she flinched.

  “He has told me why and I understand.” Lily said, “Look you can all surely trust my judgement on this. Can’t you?”

  “This is unbelievable.” Cass said as she turned and smacked Pat across the arm, “Why are you just standing there, say something.”

  “Nothing to say.” Pat said in his usual calm, dull voice.

  “How can you have nothing to say? How are you not freaking out about having a serial killer with us all this time?” Gregg asked. He didn’t look at his friend as he spoke, just kept his eyes on me.

  “I’ve known for ages.” Pat said.

  It was my turn to be surprised and by the looks of the others, they were too.

  “You’ve known?” Lily asked, “Since when?”

  “That night at the farm when Ellie was killed.” Pat said quietly, “I’d already seen him fight those looters in the village but when I watched him take out the ones that attacked us... I knew he wasn’t just a normal bloke.”

  He paused and looked at each of us in turn before speaking again.

  “I know what people think of me. Big dumb Pat, good lad but not too smart. Well, I listen and I see things.” He said, “I’ve seen him save each of our lives at least once, often more. I’ve seen him notice threats to us before anyone else would even realise they were threats and then taken them out without blinking. He just did what needed to be done to keep us alive.”

  “Yeah because he needed us.” Gregg snapped.

  “Every one of us here started out needing the other people for protection, food or whatever. So what? Doesn’t change things does it?” Pat asked, “Think about where you were when he found you.”

  Gregg fell silent and though he didn’t look especially happy, he was at least thinking. Cass was slowly nodding her head.

  “You were unconscious little brother.” She said, “I remember being tied up and whipped, hanging there knowing that it was going to get worse before they killed me.”

  She looked across at me and I saw that some of the hostility had leached away.

  “I remember crying not because of the pain but because I knew we were going to die. Then Ryan was there. He killed the men who had us and allowed us to come back with him to his group. He didn’t need to do that.” Cass finished.

  Since my ankle had been sprained and I was going to have trouble driving back to my group, it had made sense to let them come so that she could drive me. I decided not to mention that though.

  “This is crazy.” Gregg said, “He’s a serial killer.”

  “He keeps his promises though.” Lily said and Gregg looked at her with confusion. “When we first met and I learned of the sort of man he was. I had few options.” She looked back at me and smiled.

  “Right away he grasped what would be needed to survive and he told me that we needed to work together. He said he had no intention of hurting me and I believed him.” She turned her gaze back to the others. “I told him that he could come with me if he made a promise that he wouldn’t kill any innocent people and he’s kept that promise.”

  “Has he?” Gregg asked, “How can you know for sure?”

  “Because he’s told me who he’s killed when I’ve asked him.” Lily said firmly, “I believe him and I trust him. We wouldn’t even still be alive if it wasn’t for him.”

  “Maybe.” Gregg muttered.

  “Look I’ll make it simple.”Lily said, “If you all think he can’t be trusted then say so and we’ll leave right now.”

  I looked at her in surprise as I realised she had said ‘we.’ Perhaps being cast out of the group wouldn’t be so terrible if she came along for company.

  “You’d leave with him?” Cass asked.

  “Yes.” Lily said simply.

  “I don’t have a problem with him.” Pat said, “Never have.”

  “Well if you two are fine with him then so am I.” Cass sighed, “But if I see one hint of him being a threat to us then he’s gone.”

  “Fine.” Lily said with a slight nod of the head in acknowledgment of some agreement made between them that involved me but I seemingly had no say in.

  It occurred to me that Lily was doing all of the talking for me, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as I had neither the patience nor the social skills for it, but I still should have had some say in my future. If I hadn’t been using all of my energy just trying to stay upright, then perhaps I would have said something.

  “What about you Gregg?” Lily asked the young man. He looked at first Lily, then Pat and finally at his sister. For several seconds that felt like an eternity they stared at each other as though in some silent sibling communication before he finally threw his hands in the air.

  “Fuck it.” He said, “It’s already the end of the world and the zombies are everywhere. Why not have a serial killer too.”

  “Good.” Lily said happily, “Now that’s settled we need to get Jenny and Leon unchained and load our supplies back on the boat.”

  “Perhaps now would be a good time...” was all I managed to say before I collapsed to the floor.

  Chapter 2

  Consciousness was slow to return and when it finally did I found myself blinking bleary eyes in a darkened room. I was lying in a bed beneath a thick quilt and could hear the wind howling beyond the window.

  Try as I might I could not grasp how I had ended up in the bed wearing what felt like a t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. I pressed my hand to the wound in my side and discovered a bandage wrapped tightly around my waist holding a pad of gauze in place. I found the same to be wrapped around my head.

  Despite the chill in the air, I pushed aside the covers and tried my best to sit up. It didn’t go well. My arms were trembling with just that small amount of effort and after a couple of attempts, I gave up and lay back against the cushions and listened to the wind howl beyond the windows.

  “Ryan?” Lily asked in a voice heavy with sleep.

  She struck a match, filling the room with an acrid smell that followed the flash of light and lit a candle that was stuck to the bedside table with a thick base of melted wax. The flickering light illuminated the room enough for me to recognise that I was back at the apartment buildings.

  “You’re awake.” She said and smiled though she looked exhausted.

  Dark rings circled her eyes and her usual smile was strained. She moved slowly as she brushed her hand over her eyes to wipe away the sleep.

  “It seems so.” I managed to say though my throat felt scratchy and raw.

  “Here, drink this.” She said and picked u
p a glass of water from the table and held it to my mouth, tipping gently to allow me to drink. I nodded my thanks.

  “What happened?”

  “You nearly killed yourself.” Lily said sternly, “You lost a great deal of blood and I can’t believe that you didn’t tell me you’d been shot.”

  “Just a flesh wound.” I muttered as I shrank back from her frown.

  “A deep one.” She said, “Deep enough that you were bleeding badly and that combined with the deep gash on your head and god knows how many small cuts on your hands, meant you were in a bad way.”

  Lily let out a weary sigh and leant back in the armchair beside the bed. She pulled a quilt back up around her shoulders and laid her head back against the cushion.

  “You nearly died.” She said, “It was a good thing you collapsed there with all those supplies and looted items the deserters had. They had some first aid kits, military ones. I cleaned the wounds as best I could and wrapped you in bandages.”

  “Pat carried you out to the boat and we brought you, Jenny and Leon back here. We got you into bed and have been watching you for the last two days as you battled a fever.”

  “A fever?” I asked and she nodded wearily.

  “Those deserters had some antibiotics in one of the medical kits. Not many, but enough to break it.” She said and managed to smile, “We weren’t sure if it was a regular infection or the zombie one, it took a lot or arguing just to get you in here, let alone risk wasting the few medical supplies we had.”

  “Who would argue with you here?” I asked, “You’re in charge you can make those decisions.”

  “Not anymore.” She said and I looked over at her in surprise, “There’s been a bit of a coup.”

  “A coup?”

  “Yeah, people weren’t happy that I risked the boat and the lives of the rest of us as well as the possible anger and retaliation of the deserters by going over to the island after you. It was only the fact that we brought back Jenny and Leon and could confirm that they were all dead that got us through the doors.”

  “After everything you’ve done for them...” I began with a rising anger that she cut off with a single glare.