“I think they do.” Rachel said, “The whole worlds dying what does a few more matter?”
“You harm her and we’ll have no choice but to kill you.” Lily said.
“As if you won’t do that anyway.” Rachel spat, “You and your pet killer.”
“We won’t.” Lily promised and I looked at her in annoyance. “Let the girl go and I swear to you that we’ll allow you to leave.”
“You aren’t in control here.” Rachel said, “You can’t make that promise.”
“No one’s in charge here since you killed Matthew.” Lily said sadly and Gabby started with surprise as she looked at Rachel with fresh eyes.
“You really killed Matthew?” Gabby asked and Rachel looked at her thoughtfully before replying.
“I guess it’s too late to convince you they did it?”
“Why?” Gabby asked, “He was a good man.”
“He was an idiot.” I said just as Rachel said the same. She looked at me and a moment’s understanding passed between us.
“Whatever he was, he wouldn’t have wanted anyone else hurt.” Lily said, “You can take some food and water and leave with your friends.”
“Really?” Rachel asked with suspicion and I stared at Lily aghast. She knew how much I wanted to end this woman’s life.
“Really.” Lily agreed, “No one will stop you.”
“Send away your pet killer.” Rachel said. “I don’t trust him.”
“I’ll make sure you leave safely.” Toby said and it was my turn to look back in surprise. I hadn’t noticed his arrival.
Toby watched me warily as he tugged on the bandage that was wrapped around his neck before he spoke.
“You know I have no reason to trust him.” he said to Rachel, “Let the kid go and I’ll take you from here right now.”
“Lily?” I said and she shook her head. I grimaced and clenched my jaw.
“Agreed.” Rachel said. She’d noticed the exchange between Lily and me with amusement and it had apparently convinced her.
She released the little girl who ran towards Lily and Gabby and I watched in frustration as Toby stood between Rachel and me as she dropped her knife and left the room.
Chapter 25
I washed away the blood from my damaged nose and tried to breathe only through my mouth. It had been a bad day and made more so when I was told they had no pain killers at the apartments.
Gabby had gathered everyone together and Lily was explaining what had happened and what she proposed that they do now. Toby had escorted Rachel and three of her friends from the apartments as I watched in frustrated anger.
Candice and Jason were dead and only the junkie and the two we had left injured before the gate were still alive. They hadn’t been given weapons but I didn’t have any doubts that it would take them long to find some.
I wanted to grab Lily by the shoulders and scream at her until she told me why she had allowed her to go so easily, why she had allowed such a threat to exist.
She didn’t want to be judge, jury and executioner and I could understand that. She had some notion that law and order could prevail in these darkened times and I could even kind of accept that, though her confessed love for me raised some questions since she knew what I was.
The thing I couldn’t understand though was why she’d risk so much only to throw it away at the end, to allow a threat to the people she claimed to care for, walk free.
Loud voices could be heard from outside the apartment and I guessed that Lily had said her piece and it was question and answer time. I had no idea what she hoped to achieve but I was done with it.
The small amount of care I had for other people had been entirely for her benefit but if she was to be so blasé about the threats those people faced then why should I bother?
I dried myself off with a towel that smelt strongly of the mustiness you get when you have no way of properly drying them, before I went to the living room and sank down against the wall and waited.
The apartment was distressingly bare of furnishings and I guessed that they hadn’t yet managed to replace the items they used to barricade the doors when the zombies besieged the place.
My nose hurt and my ribs ached, I was fairly sure at least one was cracked. My shoulder was sore from being hit by the club and the exhilaration I had felt from the earlier deaths had leached away when confronted with my fury over Rachel’s survival.
“Ryan?” Lily called as she entered the apartment.
“In here.” I replied, voice even with no hint of my anger showing.
“Hi.” She said brightly as she slid down the wall beside me.
“How’d it go?” I asked with feigned interest.
“The majority have decided to come over to the island where we can make a home.” Lily said, “It took a little convincing but Gabby helped by telling everyone Rachel had confessed to killing Matthew and that raised enough doubts about her to call into question a lot of what she said.”
“Good.” I grunted though I didn’t really care.
“Yes it is.” Lily agreed cheerfully, “We’ll take everyone over on the passenger boat along with food, blankets and anything else that isn’t nailed down. It’ll take a while but we’ll make a secure home over on the island. I think we’ll have a good chance of surviving the winter.”
I grunted again and a small line appeared between her brow as she watched me.
“Gabby and me will make up two parts of a council of three.” Lily said, “We haven’t decided on a third yet but everyone agrees that a single person is no use.”
“Good for you.” I muttered and she frowned.
“Do you trust me?” She asked suddenly and I blinked.
“Yes.”
“Then why are you sulking?”
“You have to ask when she is walking free out there?” I snapped and her frown turned to a smile.
“If we had just killed her outright we’d have never gained the support of everyone here.” Lily said. “It happened so fast, her killing Matthew and us being attacked that I had to figure something out quickly for everyone’s sake.”
“What do you mean?” I asked with growing confusion.
“I hadn’t expected her to confess so easily but it certainly resolved things for us.” Lily said, “Now I’m sending Gregg across with the first group of people to let Cass know what’s happening and I’ll be sorting things out here with Gabby.”
“Ok?”
“Everyone will be entirely too busy to care what you are doing but if anyone asks, you and Toby will be making sure no one returns to make trouble.” Lily said and understanding started to come, albeit slowly.
“Toby agrees?” I asked.
“We had a talk.” She said with a smile.
“What about you wanting a trial?” I whispered.
“She confessed and exile has never really been an option though it needs to be seen to be the case.” Lily said equally quietly, “People need order and comfort, even if it’s just the illusion of order.”
She paused and looked around as though fearing being overheard before gazing at me quite seriously.
“I told you I’d do whatever was necessary to protect the people I care about.” Lily said, “So be safe and come back to me.”
With a brief but passionate kiss she made her goodbyes and left the apartment where I sat gaping like a landed fish. My admiration for her if anything had grown and I was confident that the people gathered here would have a more than capable leader.
I pushed myself to my feet with a grin and headed for the door where I found Toby waiting. He eyed me warily and gave a curt nod that I returned before leading the way out of the apartments.
We walked to the gate in silence and then through and along the road to the junction where it met the north-south road. There Toby gazed at the snow in concentration for several minutes before leading us to the south.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked curiously as we wal
ked. “I thought you’d be upset at the whole...” I gestured to his neck and he grimaced.
“Not exactly happy.” he grunted, “But it was Rachel that forced my hand. Never wanted to try to kill you.”
I accepted that and we kept walking though I would be sure to keep my knife close and Toby ahead of me. Just in case.
We found the first of our quarry barely an hour’s walk away from the apartments. It was the man I had slashed several times with my knife. He was lying in the snow and staring up at the grey clouds above.
He blinked when I kicked at his ribs and looked towards me with a grimace.
“Why did they leave you?” I asked curiously.
“Because I’m too hurt to carry on without help.” He muttered through a voice that was cracked with pain.
“Where are they going?” Toby asked before I could say anything else.
“Piss off.” Was the only response and he refused to answer any more questions.
“Put him out of his misery.” Toby said and I looked at him with surprise.
“Really? Not what I expected.”
“I’m a hunter, I kill my quarry when it’s in my sights and if I wound one, I’ll put it out of its misery. This is no different.” He said with a look at the dying man.
With a shrug I pulled free my knife and expertly slit his throat with a single slice, before I stood back and watched him thrash and gurgle as he died.
We continued on as darkness gathered around us and fresh snow began to fall. I wanted to urge Toby to move faster as I worried that we would be forced to turn back if the snowfall became too heavy.
Eventually though we came to a bend in the road with a house just visible around the curve and Toby held up one hand and crouched down. I looked at him questioningly and he gestured to the house ahead.
“I’ll be surprised if they aren’t in there for the night.” he said, “Stay here while I scout.”
Since I would happily admit to being an urban hunter rather than one that moved with ease through the natural surroundings of the countryside, I remained where I was while I watched Toby move silently into the trees beside the road.
I had waited nearly an hour when he returned and I was cold, wet and very bored. Toby appeared out of the trees beside me and nodded once before gesturing for me to follow.
He was certainly a natural when it came to moving stealthily and even though I followed as closely as I could, I almost lost him twice. We were soon at a low wall that surrounded the house and he crouched down behind it.
“They’re inside.” he said. “All three of them.”
“You coming in?” I asked and he shook his head.
“No, not my type of prey.” he said, “I’ll wait here.”
I shrugged and climbed over the wall before crossing the garden and pressing myself against the wall beside the back door.
The house had two floors and a conservatory at the far side, faint smudges on the frame beside the door looked to have been made by bloody fingers at some point in the past.
With a final glance towards where I had left Toby, I tried the door handle which turned easily and the wooden door swung open. I entered the house with a grin.
The man waiting beside the door died with my knife in his chest and a look of surprise on his face. It had been far too easy to gain access to the house for me to think of it as anything other than a trap. I’d deal with Toby later, but for now I had someone else to kill.
The junkie lookalike died with a wail as I slashed her across the throat and she dropped the butcher knife she was holding when she rushed me. I didn’t bother to hide my elation at their deaths as I advanced into the living room to find a furious Rachel waiting, carving knife in hand.
“Hello Rachel.” I said as I closed the door behind me, a little added barrier in case Toby tried to intervene.
“Fuck you.” she said and my grin widened.
“No, I have something else planned.”
“You can try but I’ll kill you too.” she said with a glance at the knife she held in her hand.
“I hardly doubt you’ll be able to.” I said as I advanced slowly towards her.
“One cut, that’s all it’ll take.” she said and I paused as I noted the red stain along the edge of the blade.
“Clever.” I muttered.
“Believe it.”
“One problem though.” I said as I began my slow advance towards her.
“What?”
“The blood on your knife is fresh.” I said as I lunged at her.
She leapt back and I followed her, I wasn’t entirely certain that the blood on the blade wasn’t an infected zombies but the way it glistened slickly in the last dying rays of sunlight that came through the window, I suspected it wasn’t.
Rachel lashed out with the knife and I dodged just quickly enough to feel the blade move past my face. She grinned manically and the next swing she made I caught on my arm as I stepped forward and thrust my own knife blade into her stomach.
Her eyes’ widened as her mouth fell open but no words came. I stared deep into those eyes and saw the madness that lurked there. I couldn’t help but twist the knife as I pulled it free and she screamed and screamed.
I sat beside her as she lay on the floor and clutched at the wound in her belly and I considered letting her die slowly. Finally I decided against it, I had things to do and her scream was annoying.
My knife rested between her breasts and I caught her eyes and held them with my own.
“Goodbye Rachel.” I said as my knife plunged down and her screams died along with her.
Epilogue
The sound of children’s laughter filtered through the window and I moved across to see what they were so cheerful about. It turned out to be some game where Gregg chased them around in the morning sunshine while they ran away giggling and laughing.
In the distance I could see Pat and Cass, holding hands as they walked through the rows of low greenhouses, slowly as he wasn’t quite recovered yet. Jenny, the young woman who had survived the attentions of the deserters was cheerfully tending those same greenhouses and seemed remarkably at ease on the island where she had once been tormented.
One of the boats was returning from the lake and the occupants held up several of the fish they had caught. We had three boats and each of them usually returned with at least a few fish each day. It was a little tedious to have so much fish as part of our diet but it was far better than nothing at all.
The island had a long stretch of open ground in the centre surrounded by trees and it was thought that we would be able to grow some crops which was why Toby and a handful of helpers were busy preparing the ground.
I had briefly considered killing Toby for his part in the ambush but ultimately decided that I actually quite liked him, so let him live. Though I did make it clear that I wouldn’t give any second chances and to be fair, he had been incredibly useful since then.
Our group had grown. New refugees would filter in on occasion and Lily along with her council colleagues were doing a remarkable job of keeping the growing community together though of course, it didn’t hurt that I did my part to maintain order.
When all else failed, I stepped in. Order was maintained and any who threatened my friends, my people, died. Always discreetly but the man who had tried to get into the children’s room one night was swiftly dealt with before he harmed one of them. The woman who was stealing food rations accidently choked on a piece of food one night and the agitator who believed he should be in charge was soon dissuaded.
“Becky asked again.” Lily said as she came up behind me and placed her arms around my waist.
“The snow may be melting but new threats will come.” I said, “This place is safe, doesn’t she realise that?”
“She does and she appreciates our help but soon, in the next few weeks she’ll leave.”
“Scotland...” I said with annoyance, “She really believes the na
vy landed up there and she can make it through?”
“Yes.” Lily said with a sigh and a gentle kiss to the back of my neck, “She’s hoping to convince some of us to go with her to help. I think she wants me to ask you.”
“Really?” I asked as I turned around in her arms and bent forward to meet her lips with my own.
“Would you consider it?” Lily asked as she pulled away slightly, “She has her brother’s work and she knows Cass is immune, she’s convinced they’ll make a cure.”
“Maybe.” I said with a grin, “But not just yet. For now I just want to enjoy being safe with you.”
She laughed and our lips met as we embraced. I had no idea what the future would hold, whether I’d go to Scotland or stay hidden away on the island. The one thing I did know was that I was with the person I wanted to be with and at peace.
The End.
Note from the Author.
For a year now, Ryan and Lily have been a huge part of my life and imagination. I can only hope that those of you who have read this far have enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed recording it for them.
This is the end for Ryan and Lily for a short while, though once the snows clear and spring is underway, I would imagine that the boredom along with Becky’s pestering will bring Ryan out into the world once more. I shall be there to record it and I hope that you will be interested enough to read it.
Until then, I have a few other projects that I would like to get off the ground. A redesign of my blog, marketing of Ryan and Lily’s story, paperback versions of the books as well as more books waiting to be written. Standalone or series, I have yet to decide but once I do, the info will be available on my blog. Thank you for reading.
Richard Murray
For updates on the books and infrequent Tweets you can check out: Richard@Rhayn4
Or for a blog that is updated at least once a month, often more and will have updates on book progress check out: rhayn4.wordpress.com
You can also find me on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8340039.Richard_Murray and on Facebook, though that is generally just the occasional picture of cats and angry rants about the weather.
Killing the Dead (Books 4-6) Page 44
