Killing the Dead (Books 4-6)

by Murray, Richard

  “You’ll agree or you’ll need to kill me before I’ll help or leave.” I said calmly and his face twisted in rage.

  “Agreed. Get some rest. You’ll need your strength when they break in, you’ll be the first to face them.” He snarled before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

  “That went better than I expected.” I said to Pat with a grin.

  Chapter 12

  A warm meal of beans and rice as well as a few hours of rest in the apartment had done me the world of good. Pat seemed a little grumpier than normal but that may have been our ever so likely impending death that was dismaying him.

  I nudged him with my elbow to get his attention and when he looked over at me, I gave him my most innocent grin. He scowled but soon couldn’t help the smile that came to his face. He shook his head and muttered something about madmen.

  My knife for once was in my left hand and in my right I held one of the clubs that I had appropriated when someone put it down for a minute. I didn’t think anyone would ask for it back, though I did hear a few low swear words but that could have just been due to the general attitude towards me.

  We stood at the bottom of the stairs as we watched the once impressive looking barricade of household furniture, gradually move and shift as the undead horde did their best to push through it. The bar that prevented the door from opening had finally broken in two about an hour before.

  The stairs, though wide were not enough for more than three or perhaps four people to stand abreast at any one time, so Matthew had arranged us in rows of two. We were spaced evenly apart and the rows were staggered so that while the front two would take the brunt of the zombie attack, the second row would have space to strike out between us.

  Both Pat and I had been directed to the very first step, a fact that seemed to annoy my companion but merely amused me. It was a cowardly way of trying to see me dead and my impudent grin as Matthew directed us to our place in line let him know that I knew it.

  Behind us, the restless people shifted and murmured amongst themselves. The children were locked in one of the apartments on the top floor and nearly everyone else had a weapon in hand, ready to defend their home. The guns had long since fallen silent as the ammo had run out.

  “Get ready.” I said to Pat as I watched the first head appear over the top of the barrier. Whatever gap they had made between the doors and the barricade didn’t seem to allow more than one or two to clamber over the stacked furniture at a time.

  I hefted the club in my hand one last time to ensure I had a ready feel for its weight and with one final smile for my friend I leapt forward and slammed it down on the top of the first zombies head as it came within reach.

  Pat was immediately at my side, his heavy lump hammer in one hand and a chair leg that he had ripped quite easily from one of the dining room chairs in the apartment in the other. He cracked the skull of the second zombie and then the third, a fact that I refused to let stand.

  I crushed the temple of the next zombie and stabbed my blade through the eye of another before Pat could reach it. I was determined to kill more than he could and laughed at the look on his face as he realised what I was doing.

  Amidst the flying blood and bone, we crushed and pummelled the undead. One after another, they crawled over the lifeless bodies of their brethren to reach us. Their gaping mouths and grasping hands a constant threat as they moaned their dreadful chorus, I loved every second of it.

  Slowly, step by step we moved back towards the stairs as the numbers grew too much and the pace weakened along with our strength. They were climbing to their feet now before they approached us and all too soon we were kicking them back to clear space at our feet.

  The people in the second row were making themselves useful at least. Despite any fear they had, they struck out with their clubs and did their best to kill the zombies though they were no real competition to Pat or me.

  Despite my humour and optimism, despite my determination, we were forced back. There were just too many of them and we were not at our full strength by a long shot.

  “Switch places.” Matthew shouted from further up the stairs and Pat backed up the stairs just moments before I did and the second row stepped forward.

  With arms that trembled with fatigue, I followed Pat up the stairs as each row in turn moved forward to take the place of the ones before them.

  At the top of the stairs we slid down against the wall and took what brief rest we could. Not long to wait and we would take our place back on the stairs and move forward to fight once more.

  All too soon Matthew called out once again and the rows moved. I was somewhat annoyed to note that the intervals between each row changing places were much shorter than when we had been at the front.

  The fourth row had moved forward when the zombies got their first kill, a middle aged man who slipped in a pool of congealing blood and fell right into the waiting mob. His screams were full of pain as they tore at his flesh.

  Panic set in amongst the next rows in line and they backed up, away from their fallen comrade which left enough space for the zombies to surge forward, and another of the group was dragged screaming towards the waiting mouths of the endlessly hungry horde.

  I glanced at Pat and shook my head in irritation, these people had no place trying to defend anything let alone the people that Lily wanted to save. As another scream sounded, a young woman this time, I moved down the stairs to fill the gap and return some order to the chaos. Pat, faithful friend and staunch companion followed in my wake.

  My secret was out or at least suspected enough to be just about the same thing. I was hated and reviled by the people I fought to save and I stood firm amidst a maelstrom of death as I let myself finally be free of pretence, free of holding back for fear of being discovered. I revelled in the slaughter and I laughed with glee at every blow of my club and stab of my knife.

  But all too soon, my arm was flagging and fatigue was slowing me down. Bloodied hands pulled at my sleeves and clawed at my legs. A thick streak of blood ran down one cheek from where a gore stained hand had come far too close. It was time to move back and rely once more on the fools behind us.

  “Switch.” Matthew called and I gratefully moved back as the next rank moved forward. Shamed by our skill and their earlier panic they set to the zombies with renewed fury.

  I sank to the floor at the top of the stairs and let my head rest back against the wall. I knew that I should wipe away the fouled blood lest I become infected, but as the adrenaline had fled, so too had the last vestiges of my energy.

  “This can’t last.” Pat muttered from beside me and I rolled my eyes towards him, the only part of my body I was willing to move.

  “They’re fucking tireless.” he said, angry and upset at the same time. “They’ll keep coming until we’re all dead.”

  I had no words of comfort, no glib answer to his growing fear at the thought of dying. In truth I had never needed them myself so had naturally never imagined that anyone else did either. I had long ago realised my life would likely end in a violent, brutal death and had accepted that.

  My only concern was that Lily would live just that bit longer, would have the chance to survive and perhaps make it through to a time when the undead no longer roamed the world. I doubted that though, she would be lucky to survive to the summer and I was glad that I would not live to see her die.

  Fresh screams came from below as someone died painfully and irritatingly noisily, then another and another. I tried to see past the bodies on the stairs but to my annoyance all I could see were the cowards who were retreating up them in a panic.

  Another scream sounded as Matthew called for order and I wearily pushed myself to my feet, sliding my back up the wall for support. If I were to die, it would be on my feet and fighting for every last second of life as I killed as many of them as I could.

  Not being the one to kill Rachel, Candice and Matthew was a minor irritation b
ut I imagined that soon enough it wouldn’t matter to me anyway.

  The stream of retreating people became a flood as ever more of them fell beneath the zombie advance and even Matthew was looking as though he were ready to run. I caught his eye and gave him a weary grin, mocking his fear. He scowled and raised his own weapon.

  “How many do you think we’ve killed?” I asked Pat as he joined me at the top of the stairs.

  “Not enough.” was his only reply and my grin widened.

  “Let’s make it enough then.” I said.

  The last of the fleeing people left the stairs, some of them ducking into apartments and slamming the doors but most running for the stairs to the next floor. I noticed Candice had fled, as had Rachel. Matthew was the only one left to face them with us.

  I watched them climbing the stairs, scrambling to be the first to reach us, rotten flesh scraping away beneath the gnarled hands of their own kind as they each fought to be the first to feed. I laughed and raised my weapons.

  Weary limbs screamed their protest as I forced them to swing my club and thrust my knife forward towards the undead horde. We killed and we killed, an endless wave of corpses left in our wake as we were slowly pushed down the hallway towards the next set of stairs.

  It was harder to keep ahead of them as they pushed along the narrow hall. The only thing slowing them was their own eagerness as they struggled to get past each other, constantly jostling each other and tripping over the ones we had slain.

  Then Pat fell, knocked over by one of the fresher zombies. He hit a door with his shoulder and went through, soon lost to sight as the undead split their focus between him and us. I felt a small pang of loss for my friend and roared with rage.

  Matthew was fighting alongside me, and doing surprisingly well for the retired policeman that he was, it still wasn’t enough though and never could be. There were simply too many and reluctantly we began climbing the last set of stairs.

  I lost my grip on my knife, the handle and my hands both too slick with blood. I watched with dismay as it stayed lodged in the eye socket of a zombie as it fell. I had been going to use that to slit Matthew’s throat before I died.

  With a shrug I took hold of my club in both hands and raised it, ready to swing against his skull when a fresh round of gunfire erupted below us.

  “What’s that?” Matthew yelled in surprise and I laughed as I diverted my swing down against one of the undead.

  “A friend.” I replied with an unfamiliar surge of feeling, before laying into the massed ranks of the undead with renewed strength.

  At the sounds of gunfire, shamefaced men and women came down the stairs, their feeble courage renewed and some of the pressure against me was released. Against all the odds I had survived and my only thought as I stepped back to let others take my place was that I may actually get the chance to kill my enemies after all.

  The fight continued for another hour and cost the lives of several more of the men and women who lived in the apartment building. As I watched the last of the zombies drop to the floor, I was just glad that I wouldn’t have to be involved in the clean-up.

  Cheers sounded from all around the building and I knew it was over. I climbed wearily to my feet and moved with aching limbs towards the apartment I had last seen Pat fall into. If he had turned, I would be the one to end his misery.

  My steps were cautious and I watched warily for any sign of movement from the piled corpses that seemed to cover every inch of floor. The stench of rot and voided bowels filled the air and I almost regretted having eaten before the fight.

  I poked my head carefully around the door of the apartment before going in. A great many dead bodies littered the floor and none seemed to bear the hulking frame of my friend. I followed the trail and to my utter amazement I found Pat, sitting with his head in his hands on the bathroom floor, his hammer still encased in the skull of a zombie that lay before him.

  “Any bites?” I asked without preamble.

  “Fuck knows.” Pat said wearily, “Every single part of my body hurts so I’ve no idea.”

  “Well get your sorry self up and we’ll find someone pretty to look your over.” I said with a smile that turned to a grin as he looked up at me with a weary smile of his own.

  I helped him to his feet and we headed for the top of the stairs, to arrive in time to see Lily, Cass and Gregg clambering over the dead.

  We paused, Pat with one arm over my shoulder for support and as Lily looked up her eyes caught mine. She yelled with joy and dashed forward to stop just before me.

  “I really want to hug you...but maybe after you clean yourself up.” She said, happiness heard in every word.

  “Probably for the best.” I agreed as I glanced down at myself and barely recognised my clothes, they were so covered in all kinds of unpleasant fluids and viscera.

  “If you’ve been bitten you better believe I will beat you senseless.” Cass said, as she rushed over to Pat and I let her take him from me.

  “You made it then.” I said and Lily smiled happily, her pretty face becoming so much more beautiful that I could do nothing more than return that smile.

  “We thought we were too late.” she said, smile faltering and voice roughened with emotion. “We saw them crowding through the doorway and just thought they had killed you all.”

  “I thought you were too.” I admitted. “We were just about done for when we heard the guns.”

  “We brought some friends.” Gregg laughed. “Good to see you survived mate.” He added with a nod for me.

  “So am I.” I agreed, “How did you persuade them to come?”

  “We didn’t so much persuade as bribe.” Lily said as she led the way to the top of the stairs so I could look down.

  The two groups were milling about with much shaking of hands and thanks. I shook my head and smiled once more at Lily.

  “When I sent you to Coniston I thought I was just keeping you safe, I never really expected that you’d turn up with them in tow.”

  “I had to promise them a great deal that Matthew will need to honour, but even he should see that it’s necessary for the help they brought.” Lily said.

  “How many came with you?” I asked.

  “Twenty six.” Lily said happily, “All with shotguns or hunting rifles.”

  “They made a hell of a difference.” I said, “The woods south of here are still full of them though and all this noise will probably have attracted the attention of others.”

  “We can deal with that later.” Lily said firmly, “For now let’s find an empty apartment and get you cleaned up.

  “Now that’s something I can do.” I said.

  Chapter 13

  It took nearly an hour of scrubbing and four showers that by necessity I had to alternate with Pat, in icy water before I considered myself clean of the infected blood. Our clothes were abandoned in a hamper as unsalvageable, they would be burnt later.

  We had locked the apartment door and while Gregg lounged once more on the couch in the living room with a bowl of something or other he had purloined from the apartment buildings supplies, I climbed beneath the covers of a double bed in one of the two bedrooms and was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

  It was sometime later when I awoke, to find Lily beside me with her arm draped protectively over me. She stirred in her sleep but didn’t wake and I lay beneath the covers and listened to the sounds of her breathing.

  I was very much aware of how close I had been to dying in the last few days and how much of a threat the zombies posed. One we had almost forgotten in the previous weeks due to the scarcity of them in and around the hills of the Lake District.

  One thing was for sure, the attack had shown how inadequate the defences were at the apartment building. I wondered if they would finally listen and move everyone over to the island which would be a great deal more secure.

  Lily snorted and started awake as shouting broke out somewhere else i
n the building and she blinked sleepily as a heavy pounding came from the front door.

  “Another attack?” she asked and I shrugged.

  “No idea, let someone else answer it.”

  It seemed as though every muscle in my body was aching and I was reluctant to leave the comfortable and above all, warm confines of the bed. The banging on the door wouldn’t stop though.

  Gregg finally roused and answered the door, judging by the angry voices I could hear I reached for my knife thinking that perhaps the angry villagers had finally come with pitchforks and torches to oust the monster.

  I remembered that my knife was still stuck in some corpse on the second floor just as the bedroom door flew open to slam against the wall and an infuriated Matthew stormed in.

  “How dare you?” He demanded of Lily who stared back at him with confusion.

  “You are aware that we’re in our underwear here?” I said.

  “What’s up?” Lily asked before he could respond to me.

  “You promised them half of our food and a quarter of any fish we catch.” Matthew spat and I grinned.

  “They wouldn’t come without something in return and if they hadn’t you’d all be dead.” Lily replied calmly in the face of his rage. “Are your lives not worth the price?”

  “You had no right to offer them anything.”

  “We brought that food.” Lily said as she pulled herself to a sitting position taking my warm blankets with her as covering.

  “They can’t have it.” Matthew said sputtering in his rage.

  “If you don’t honour the deal, what will stop them taking it?” I said with a grin. “Like you did to us.”

  Matthew had the good grace to look embarrassed about that but he directed his response to Lily and did his best to ignore me. My fingers twitched in need of my knife.

  “We need that food.”

  “You need less of it now.” I pointed out helpfully, “How many died during the fight?”

  “Ryan, you aren’t helping.” Lily said with a pointed look and I slid down beneath the covers to hide my grin.