Killing the Dead (Books 4-6)

by Murray, Richard

  “You could come with us.” Lily said and I withheld a groan.

  “We’ve become quite comfortable here.” Gabby replied.

  “Living underground can’t be good for you though and especially with those things wandering around above you.”

  “We get by.”

  “What about food and water, basic sanitation?” Lily pressed, “Surely you need to go out sometimes.”

  “That’s hardly any more dangerous than it is for you to come into the town from your camp in search of supplies.” Gabby countered.

  “More people will mean more protection for everyone and there are some really bad people out there to deal with as well as the undead.” Lily said as she leaned in conspiratorially to Gabby, “We’ve met some terrible ones and paid the price.”

  “All the more reason to stay out of sight down here.”

  And so it went, round and around as Lily tried to persuade the others to join us and Gabby countered and offered plausible reasons why they were safer in the home they had made beneath the ground.

  In truth I couldn’t argue. It was admittedly cold down below the earth but it seemed safe enough and while Gabby and her people were entirely too trusting, I could imagine that they could stay hidden below the ground for quite some time.

  I also had to admit to a fondness for cellars. After all, I had been completing my...work in my own when Lily had first come into my life.

  Still she seemed determined to persuade them to join us and if it was something that she really wanted, then I would do what I could to help persuade them. It was just a question of how.

  “What do you do when you need the bathroom?” I asked a still chubby fellow who was also sitting to the back of the crowd.

  “We usually go upstairs in the taxi place.” he said, “Have to check its safe first though.”

  “You wouldn’t mind showing me would you?” I asked politely and he blinked owlishly before slowly nodding his head.

  My chubby guide pushed himself to his feet and spoke briefly with Gabby before gesturing me to follow him. Lily flicked her eyes towards me and raised one eyebrow questioningly. I gave her my most innocent smile and she frowned.

  I swore softly to myself as I followed the chubby man. The last thing I wanted was for Lily to think I was up to something whether I was or not. It meant that I would need to be on my best behaviour for a little while. I just hoped my chubby guide didn’t fall and break his neck or she would think it was down to me.

  A set of stone stairs led up to a door that opened into the back room of a taxi office that was empty except for the worn gray carpet that still had the marks left behind when the leather couch and a coffee table were moved downstairs.

  Three doors led from the room and all three were closed, my chubby guide pointed to the one directly opposite and grunted something that I took to mean that was the door I wanted.

  “Where do the other doors lead?” I asked and he blinked at me once more before answering.

  “That one goes outside,” he said as he pointed to the one to my left, “That one goes to the front of the taxi place.”

  My guide had the ruddy complexion and red nose of a man who had a habit of drinking too much and since you could no longer just wander out to the shops, I had to wonder if his sluggishness came from alcohol withdrawal.

  “Is it safe?” I asked with what I hoped was a fair approximation of nervousness.

  “Should be.” he said. “Gabby goes out front and uses the radio sometimes.”

  “Radio?”

  “Yeah, the one they used to keep in touch with the drivers with. Melody fixed it up to run on a battery and Gabby keeps trying to contact anyone who might be listening.”

  “Why didn’t you use it to contact the soldiers who had a camp here?”

  “Gabby said it wasn’t safe. Too many people in one place.”

  “Well she was right about that.” I agreed. “No need for you to stay while I do my business.”

  “Have to.” My guide insisted stubbornly, “No one should be up here alone, too dangerous.”

  I gritted my teeth and offered rather insincere thanks for his willingness to protect me before I left him standing beside the door and entered the bathroom. I pulled shut the door behind me and stood quietly in the tiny room, illuminated only by a tiny sliver of light coming through a cracked glass pane the size of a book that was set high in the wall.

  With nothing but a dirty basin with a single working tap and the toilet itself, the tiny room contained nothing of any use to me at all. I waited an appropriate amount of time before flushing the toilet and pulling open the door.

  My guide was still waiting beside the cellar door and I plastered on a smile and headed back down the stairs. He pulled the door closed behind us and turned a key locking it.

  “Have you managed to contact anyone on the radio?” I asked Gabby directly as I sat back down in my place beside the wall.

  “No.” She replied with a sour look at my guide. “Which doesn’t mean anything, just that power is out everywhere.”

  “What radio?” Lily asked and with only a minor look of annoyance Gabby explained.

  I leant back against the cold stone and listened quietly to the new round of questions that were being asked for a few minutes before my attention wandered to something a great deal more fun.

  The questions and talk soon turned to more mundane things and I still hadn’t figured out exactly how I could help persuade the new people to come back with us. One of Gabby’s group members had pulled out several tins of something or other and with the aid of another of her group, they carried them upstairs.

  When they returned it was with two pans that steamed faintly in the lanterns light. An aroma that was incredibly appealing slowly filled the room as the two group members handed cheap plastic bowls to everyone and poured a healthy portion of thick stew into each.

  “It’s just tinned stew I’m afraid.” Gabby said with a smile.

  “Don’t think that’ll bother anyone.” Cass grinned back at her.

  I was inclined to agree and as hungry as I happened to be, I was determined to drink down the stew slowly to make it last as long as possible.

  As stews go, it wasn’t at all bad and by the time I eventually finished it off and licked the last remnants out of the bowl, dignity be damned, I was still hungry. I sighed and set down the bowl before letting my head rest back against the wall.

  “Right folks, bathroom time and the last chance to go before we settle in for the night.” Gabby called.

  “What do you do if you need to go in the middle of the night?” Gregg asked.

  “There’s a bucket in the next cellar, you either use that or hold it till morning.” Gabby said sternly. “I’m serious here. We can’t risk any light being seen at night. It’ll attract the zombies.”

  I waited patiently for everyone to go about their business as the germ of an idea formed. It could be dangerous to my group but it had the advantage of helping persuade the new people to leave with us, which was what Lily wanted.

  Chapter 14

  It was decided that each group would keep at least one person awake and on watch at all times since trust was in relatively short supply these days. Pat was the first to stay awake from our group along with my chubby guide from the other group.

  I slept as easily as anyone who was exhausted could and was immediately irritable when Gregg shook me awake at some ungodly hour of the morning.

  “Your turn.” He whispered and grinned as I swore at him.

  “I need to pee first.” I muttered.

  “Take that lantern.” Gregg said as he pointed to one of the two lanterns that were lit though only providing dim light. “Keep it wound up.” He advised.

  With another grunt that no doubt showed just how unpleasant a person I was when woken in the middle of the night I pushed the blanket aside and winced as the cold air hit. I checked my knife and picked up the lant
ern after exchanging a nod of greeting with the red headed woman and then pushed past the blanket and crossed into the next cellar.

  As soon as the blanket was back in place I held the lantern high as I looked for the stairs that led up to the ground floor.

  Once I had located them I headed up, careful to avoid anything that I could knock over or make any noise with.

  At the top of the stairs was a simple wooden door with a deadbolt holding it closed at the top and bottom of the door which had been added recently judging by how new they looked. It was easy to slide them open and cautiously pull on the door.

  Time was not on my side and any moment the red head would begin to wonder what was taking me so long, so I moved through the restaurant kitchen without taking the time to look around. I pushed through a set of double swing doors and stopped.

  The chairs and tables had all been piled up against the hole in the wall that had once been a window and against the doorway. An effective barrier had been created and it would take far too much time and make too much noise to dismantle it enough to get through.

  I was disappointed to be so easily thwarted but with little choice I returned to the cellar, careful to slide back the bolts on the door to ensure no one would know where I had been. I gave another nod of greeting to the red head and I sat against the wall and waited out the remainder of the night.

  We had a breakfast of cereal bars, mine was blueberry and quite tasty if a little dry. No one commented about my late night excursion and I was reasonably sure that no one suspected anything.

  Gabby and her group organised themselves with practised ease and while her chipper demeanour was immensely annoying to me, I could appreciate her organisational skills. She had done well with her group and their survival and I was starting to consider that persuading them to join us would be beneficial to me as well as Lily.

  “It’s snowing again.” Toby announced when he came down the stairs after his morning check on the taxi office above us.

  “How heavy?” Gabby asked and he shrugged.

  “Bout the same as the last time”

  “That’ll be a problem for you guys.” she said as she crossed the room to talk to Lily. “If it’s that bad out there, visibility will be shocking and you’ll need to stay here for a bit longer.”

  “We really need to get back to our group.” Lily said as she chewed on her bottom lip in thought.

  “You won’t get far like this but if you can wait it out you can be some help here.” Gabby said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “We’re going to go across the road to get some supplies and, to be honest it would go easier if we had some extra hands.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked with a great deal of distrust. “You just said we shouldn’t leave because it’s snowing.”

  “I understand your suspicion,” she replied cheerfully as though not put off by it in the least. “I was a vet before all this started and my practice is close by.”

  “You want the drugs from it?” Gregg asked.

  “Those would be useful but I was thinking more along the lines of the food from the wholesalers that was two doors down.” Gabby said.

  “A food wholesaler?” Lily asked sharply, “What makes you think it’ll have anything left?”

  “Because I was at work when everything went to hell,” Gabby said, her smile faltering for the first time. “I saw the chaos as people went mad looting whatever they could and I got to watch as many of those people were ripped apart by the undead.”

  “So the food and stuff will be still there?” Gregg asked and she nodded.

  “Since we’ve been here, no one else has managed to get close.”

  “Why haven’t you gone there already then?” I asked not even bothering to hide my suspicion now. “What makes you think it’s safe to go now.”

  “We’ve been keeping an eye on it.” She said indicating Toby who stood close by glowering at me, “He’s been leading small groups of them away over the last few weeks. He started as soon as the numbers there dropped.”

  “You think a snowstorm will be the best time?”

  “I do.” Gabby said smile firmly back in place and good humour seemingly restored. “You can help us and Toby knows the area well enough to get us there without meeting any problems. With your help we can clear any remaining zombies and you can have some food to take back to your group.”

  “What do you think?” Lily asked me and without hesitation I nodded.

  “I think we should try it. You keep saying you want something to take back to our people.” And it will give me more time to set something in place to encourage these people to join us, I added silently.

  “Ok, count us in.” Lily said after glancing at the rest of our group and seeing no dissent. Dale wasn’t asked and wouldn’t really matter anyway. “Tell us about this place.”

  “Right, I’ll fill you in while Toby scouts ahead.” Gabby said.

  “I’ll go with him.” I said and grinned as his glower deepened.

  “Why?” Gabby asked.

  “Because I want to make sure we’re not going in blind.” I said to Lily who was looking at me questioningly. “And I don’t trust them yet.”

  “Ok, stay safe.” Lily said as Gabby protested.

  “You aren’t going.” Toby said and Gabby echoed him.

  “Either I go ahead with you or none of us go.” I said firmly and saw them exchange looks.

  “Fine.” Gabby said, “You don’t need to but Toby isn’t responsible for your safety.”

  “That’s fine by me.” I told her.

  “I’m serious.” Lily said quietly as she grabbed my arm before I could walk away, “Stay safe out there and don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

  “I won’t.” I promised with a smile that seemed to reassure her.

  Toby was halfway up the stairs when I caught up with him and he didn’t have anything to say which suited me well enough.

  I followed him out of the back door from the Taxi place which led into a courtyard where the drivers parked their cars. It was enclosed on three sides and opened out directly onto the main road.

  The snow was falling heavily with thick white clumps that clung to my clothes and chilled my skin when it touched. A freezing wind was blowing it against the sides of the buildings around us and I could see a thick layer of snow already on the abandoned cars on the road.

  Without a word Toby set off walking, his feet churning a passage through the ankle deep snow. I followed along with one hand on the hilt of my sheathed knife and the other firmly in my jacket pocket in an attempt to keep some warmth.

  He was cautious and always ensured the way was clear before turning a corner. He would check the cars and use a two foot length of wood, likely part of a sweeping brush handle, to prod any snow covered lumps that could have been the ever patient undead waiting for unwary meals to wander by.

  After just a short time following him down one street after another, I had to admit to some admiration for him. He stalked through the town like a hunter and I couldn’t help but wonder what he had hunted before.

  I was pleased to note that we had been moving steadily away from the place where we had first met him, the zombies and blocked roads were not something that I felt the two of us could deal with alone.

  It wasn’t long before we reached a junction and encountered the first zombies that we would need to remove so that we could continue.

  Toby held up one hand to – I assumed – indicate for me to stop and he stood quietly assessing the potential threat, his weapon twitching in his hand as though aching to be used. I was curious to see how well he would do and he no doubt felt the same about me.

  The zombies, five of them, were facing away from us and standing still, though their heads were moving around. It took me a moment to realise that they were watching the snow, each heavy flake catching their attention for an instant before the next.

  I
glanced over at Toby and saw him looking back. I nodded once to indicate my readiness as I pulled out my knife. He stalked forward and I followed, anticipation rising.

  He swung his length of wood with both hands wrapped tightly around one end and connected solidly with the head of the closest zombie. It went down without a sound and he raised his weapon to strike the next as I reached my first.

  Tired of being outdone at killing I rammed my knife straight into the base of its skull and pushed the zombie forward into the next as I pulled free my blade. I kicked out at a third as Toby killed his second and I stabbed down at the zombie before me.

  Before the third could even regain its feet I had pulled free my blade the from skull of my second kill and kicked out once more at the third as it struggled to rise in the snow. It fell over onto its back and flailed wildly with its arms and legs.

  A solid whack from Toby broke one of the arms, the broken bone ripping through its decayed flesh and rendering it useless. I pushed its other arm down with one foot and set my weight against it to prevent it from catching me with its gore covered hands before I swung down and sank my blade into its skull.

  The whole thing had taken less than a minute and Toby was looking at me with something approaching respect. It was mutual. We had worked together as though we had done so for years. More to the point I finally felt like the old me, the unstoppable killer that had been so absent in my last few encounters.

  “How much further?” I asked as I wiped the blade clean on the tattered shirt of one of the dead.

  “Just down the road.”

  “How many will be there?”

  “Shouldn’t be too many.” Toby replied with a shrug, “Most have moved on by now.”

  “Moved on to where?”

  “Some went south, others north.”

  “We were further south, towards the bottom end of the lake. A lot of undead were headed north at the time.” I said thoughtfully, “At some point all those that met up at the bottom end of town will start moving outwards again.”

  “Probably.” He said and sounded totally unconcerned. I wondered idly who he had lost to leave him so uncaring.