The echoes still bounced between the buildings, confusing her. Then another shot rang out and she headed straight for it. Her pace slowed as she heard voices. There were men, more than one of them, not far ahead.
They couldn’t be real. There weren’t any men alive in London. What the hell was going on? Luke was nowhere to be seen. She stopped, swearing under her breath, before creeping along the side of the building.
She peered round the corner. The street lighting was better here and the first thing she saw was Krystal. She had her sword held before her and was staring down at the zombie at her feet. Stood around her were four soldiers of God, dressed in grey uniforms and aiming guns at Krystal.
Bayleigh sucked in a quick breath to stem the surge of invective threatening to pour from her mouth. What the hell were they doing here? She stared at the zombie, searching for the cause of death, and spotted at least one bullet hole in its head. That explained the shooting, and why Krystal was still on her feet.
‘Put the sword down.’
‘Not a chance.’
‘We have guns.’
‘Yeah, well, good for you. I’ve got a sword and it’s the only defence I got against the zombies, so screw you and your guns.’
Bayleigh noticed that her language had slipped. In the last few days her street edge had softened, revealing a normal accent. But in the storm, with sword raised against the soldiers, it had reverted to normal.
‘I’m going to shoot you.’
‘No, you ain’t. If you were, you’d have done it by now.’
The soldier raised his gun. Bayleigh opened her mouth to shout and a hand settled over it, choking her off. She watched, wide eyed, as the soldier fired. The concrete by Krystal’s feet buckled and spat slivers that blended with the rain. Bayleigh kicked and lashed out as her assailant dragged her back into the shadows.
Luke’s voice sounded harsh beside her ear. ‘Stop it, stop it. We can’t let them know we’re here.’
‘We can’t leave her with them.’
‘We won’t, but they’re taking her to get to me.’
‘Why are you so important?’
‘I’m the key to all of this.’
She stared at him, shaking her head. He responded with a nod. ‘I really am. But I’ll tell you later. Right now, we need to get Krystal.’
Another shot sounded and they raced back towards the street. Bayleigh reached the corner and a gutteral moan, like a wounded animal crying in pain, rose in her throat as she saw Krystal lying on the floor.
Alex
Alex settled behind the wheel of the truck, snorted, and shook his head. He couldn’t do this. What if they crashed? First he invented the plague, now he was going to wipe out the survivors in a blazing inferno. Luke would kill him, assuming he didn’t top himself first.
But what choice did he have? Luke would kill him just as much if they returned and found them still sat here. Did any of the ladies drive? Of course they did, he should just ask them. Where had his confidence gone? He tried to remember how he’d felt with his baseball bat, finally believing he could do something worthwhile.
A faint trickle of belief filtered through. He put the truck into gear and, after a few false starts, got them going.
He wound through Ealing, out the other side, and onto the A40. The rain was getting heavier and sounded like hailstones on the roof of the truck. He did his best to ignore it, focusing on the road and the little he could see in the head lamps.
The A40 was like a half empty car park, vehicles scattered like dice on the road. He pushed the truck to 35mph and kept it there as he weaved side to side. The going was steady and he reached the junction to Beaconsfield quicker than he expected.
He turned off, went past the town and up into the hills. As he drove away from the street lights and out into the country, he understood why this had been such a good choice. Countryside stretched away on both sides, pitch black and revealing nothing of its secrets.
His headlights cut through the storm, showing him nothing but road and trees. They were alone out here. He actually believed this could work. He smiled, relaxing enough that his shoulders ached instead of being just numb. He’d been holding them so tense on the drive but now they were—
They hit the water at 40mph and slid across the road. He shouted, hands tightening as the wheel tried to spin. Screams came through from the back and he flushed despite the barrier between them. They came out the far side of the puddle and the wheels caught the tarmac. The truck lurched again but stayed steady and he let out the breath he’d been holding.
The dark road no longer looked safe. He slowed right down and moments later had reason to be grateful. Around the next corner, a four car pile up covered most of the road. As he squeezed past, he looked down into one of the cars and saw someone staring back. Sweat beaded his forehead at the pale face, and teeth scraping against the window.
They slid past and the face faded into the darkness. He shuddered and leant further over the wheel. Not far to go now. He reached the road off to the right and pulled up it, slowing yet further as the surface deteriorated. Concrete gave way to loose stone that set the truck rattling from side to side.
The trees closed in and, despite knowing there weren’t hundreds of zombie waiting in them, the darkness still felt ominous. Not seeing, not knowing, was somehow worse than having the enemy made clear by street lights.
A farm appeared in the head lights and he slowed. It was made of white bricks that glowed unearthly in the light. Three chimneys poked up from the steep roof and the windows glinted, reflecting any attempts to pry into their secrets.
They didn’t know what they might find up here, if anything at all, but this was a good start. He needed to stop driving and lie down for a while. He wanted to give the ladies space to walk around as well. They’d been crammed in the back for hours without complaint.
He pulled up before the farm and slipped down from the driver’s seat. The rain battered him as he dashed round to the back of the truck. He tapped on the door and it opened immediately. He still wasn’t used to every woman he spoke to being stunning, and this one was no exception.
She was rare because her hair was a pale brown instead of the common blond, but she had full lips and wide, soft brown eyes, and he couldn’t help imagining kissing her as she smiled at him.
‘Are we here?’
‘Yeah, at least for tonight.’
‘It’s dark.’
‘No street lamps. There’s nothing here except the birds and the farm house. We should be safe enough to relax a bit and get some sleep. Is Ed alright?’
She grinned and nodded. ‘He’s fine. He acts all shy but I think he likes being surrounded by the girls.’
‘Who wouldn’t?’
She laughed and he waved at the farm house. ‘I’m going to take a quick look and make sure everything’s alright, then we’ll get inside.’
‘Hang on.’ She stuck her head back in the truck, said something, then jumped down. The rain hit her and she shivered and put her hands over her head. ‘Goodness me, it’s horrible out here.’
‘You don’t have to come. You can stay in the truck.’
‘I’ve been in there far too long. I’m Tanya, by the way.’
‘Alex.’
‘Yeah, I know. Come on.’
He’d left the head lights on and they followed the beam up to the front door. It was locked and wasn’t going to budge. He swore and hurried back to the truck. In a pocket under the seat he found a torch. It was rubber coated and boasted a decent beam when he flicked it on. Tanya joined him as he headed down the side of the house.
In the dark it was difficult to see any details. The beam ran along a hedge made of twisted branches beside a path of loose stone, but what lay beyond was anyone’s guess. They reached the back corner and he shone the torch across the darkness beyond.
Revealed was a courtyard covered in potted plants. Windows reflected the light back but gave no clue as to what lay within. To the lef
t the torch beam caught on trees spaced across the lawn. He guessed they were fruit trees but in the dark they may as well have been oak.
They followed the back of the house. Tanya’s breathing was loud in the silence. He twitched. She was breathing through her nose and it reminded him of Jon, one of the guys he’d shared the house with. He always fell asleep on the couch and sounded like a kettle boiling. It put Alex off his Call of Duty, enough that he took to holding his nose until he rolled over and fell off the sofa. There were nicer ways to wake someone up, but few as amusing.
Tanya sounded the same and was just as irritating. Except this wasn’t a game and he was right on the edge of his tolerance. He stopped, took a deep breath, and turned to her. She was no less lovely but he felt none of the same urge to kiss her.
‘Could you breathe through your mouth please?’
Her forehead creased but she nodded and he tried to give her a smile. He turned back and they crept on through the rain. Instead of filling his ears, the rain somehow added to the silence. It disguised any threatening noises, so he found himself jumping every time his feet disturbed a stone or brushed against a plant.
They finally found another door. This one swung open and, with a huge sigh of relief, he stepped into the porch. Tanya came straight after and, for a moment, her body was pressed tight against his. Then a zombie struck him full in the face and drove them both back out into the rain.
The torch went flying, beam flicking wildly as his head struck the stones. For a second it illuminated his attacker, a huge creature in a wind-cheater and wellington boots. Then the beam moved on and the zombie disappeared.
Alex brought his knees up just in time and the zombie slammed onto them when it attacked. Its hands got a hold of his face and the wounds from a few days ago stung with the fresh contact. Tanya was screaming and Alex told her to shut up. A claw went into his open mouth and the sense of deja vu was horribly strong. It wasn’t happening like that, not again.
He grabbed the zombie by the collar and hauled him to one side. They rolled until they lay facing one another, side by side on the floor. Then Alex slammed his fist into what he hoped was its face. His hand struck something hard and the skin split. He yanked it away, holding it out in the rain to wash away what he assumed would be saliva from teeth.
Had it broken the surface? He couldn’t answer the question but his mind shut down as what it meant weighed in. The zombie swung again and grabbed his ear between rough claws. He shouted in pain as it tried to tear it off, then lashed out, punching anything he could hit. He struck its chest and arms and possibly neck as well, but got nowhere. The creature kept pulling.
He had a brief moment of lucidity in which he realised he needed to do something smarter than flail around. Then he flailed around some more. Luke hadn’t told him what to do if he couldn’t see his enemy. He closed his eyes and the world grew calmer. What could he see?
He could see the arm because it was attached to his ear. He grabbed a hold of the zombie’s wrist and bent until it cracked. He shoved and felt it give way. The sensation of skin and bone separating made him gag, but he kept doing it until it tore apart and the hand hung lifeless from his ear.
He kept hold of the wrist and twisted round, knocking the other arm away, until he could put his foot where his hands were. He ran it down the creature’s arm until it pressed against what he had to assume was its face. Then he started to stamp. It was like kicking fruit, that gave way a little more with every boot.
The zombie struggled harder, trying to yank its arm free, but Alex clung on, kicking faster. Something gave way, bones cracking and turning to mush into which his boot sank. The zombie stopped struggling and Alex scrambled to his feet, gasping for breath.
The torch was across the courtyard, beam shining into the trees. The moment he looked at it, what little night vision he’d just acquired, fled.
‘Tanya?’
‘Yes, I’m here.’
He jumped at her voice right beside him. ‘Are you alright?’
‘Yes, I’m okay. Just bruised my elbows when we fell over. What happened?’
‘What happened? You didn’t see the zombie?’
‘I didn’t see anything, it’s so dark.’
Alex shook his head and managed a wry grin. ‘Okay, well,’ he reached out and felt her arm. She moved eagerly nearer, tucking in under his arm. He ignored the soft warmth and guided her until his feet touched the corpse. ‘Can you feel that?’
‘Yes.’
‘That’s a dead zombie.’
She jumped and tried to pull away but something made him hold her there. ‘There’s no point pretending it isn’t there. You wanted to come and help. This is what helping means. Do you understand?’
He wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted her to get but he sniffed in satisfaction as she mumbled ‘yes’.
‘I’m getting the torch, stay here.’
‘Can’t I come with you?’
‘It’s just over there, look. You’ll see me as soon as I get in the way of the light. Don’t worry.’
He stepped away and paced towards the torch. Almost immediately he thumped into one of the pots and swore as he scraped his shin. He tried to remember how the garden had been laid out, but his fight with the zombie had thrown him completely. He took tiny steps, stretching his hands out before him, and reached the torch without kicking anything too hard.
He scooped the torch up without looking into the trees and turned back to the house. He played the beam across the back, spotlighting Tanya. She looked like a drowned rat, albeit a very pretty one, hugging herself and peering back at him with squinting eyes.
She was shivering as they stepped through the door and he made reassuring sounds. ‘We’ll get a fire going and warm up, don’t worry.’
The torchlight played across faded carpet and white walls. Down a corridor he caught sight of black and white lino flooring. As the torch played across the scene, he thought he saw movement but when he chased it with the light there was nothing there. His back was already up, and it rose still higher when he heard the growl.
Krystal
She had two choices. The first was to get back on the bike and go charging off in the hope of finding them. The second was to find somewhere a little dryer and give them a call. She left the bike and headed for the nearest alleyway that looked at least vaguely sheltered from the rain. She’d never had a phone before and had no idea whether it would work after being soaked in her pocket. She was sure it wouldn’t work if she took it out into the storm.
The alleyway was dryer, but it was far from dry. She crept down it, hand hovering over the hilt of her sword as she searched for doorways. She didn’t love the idea of entering a random building at night, but it would be better than being out here.
The alleyway had bare brick walls on both sides so she tiptoed through to the far end. She was most of the way there when the zombie appeared. Her sword came out so fast she was thrusting before she’d even realised she’d drawn. The blade went through its teeth and punched a hole in the back of its skull.
She drew it free and washed it off in the rain. She took a few long, deep breaths, trying to remember what Luke had said about remaining calm. She was pretty good at it, but things like that didn’t help. She was hyped up and maybe that wasn’t a bad thing, but she should calm down just a touch.
The deep breaths helped and watching the blood run from the back of the zombie’s head focused her. He looked like he’d been in business, though his suit was a bit tatty now. It was difficult to tell in the rain. Had he had a kid? Did they get along? Did it matter anymore?
It didn’t, only there was all this talk of repopulating the world and bringing more people into it, but no discussion of whether it was a good idea. She imagined Jackson or Dave having children and shuddered. There was no one here to police it. They could do whatever they wanted to their kids and there was no one to argue, not really, not even anyone to notice if things went wrong.
She peered out
of the alley. The street beyond opened into a T-junction with another, far larger road, and the usual gang of zombies wandered this way and that. She watched for a while, shivering each time the rain caught her neck and ran down her back.
She stepped back and stuck her hand in her pocket. Her phone wasn’t there. She tried the other side but with no more luck. Her phone was gone. Maybe it was back with the bike; it might have come out when she went down. She swore and stomped back through the puddles.
She didn’t get as far as the bike before deciding it was pointless. The street was underwater, littered with bodies and other cars and all manner of things that would make searching for a black phone as pointless as begging outside a bookies. She cursed and wandered back down the alleyway.
One of her options was gone, so the only thing she could do now was get back on the bike. But she didn’t know where she was going and once they were out of central London, she didn’t know the roads well enough, especially at night in the middle of a storm.
They’d realise she wasn’t with them and come back to find her, so she should stay with the bike. But her stomach was growling and there was a cafe just across the main street and the need to be out of the rain, just for a few minutes, was overwhelming. She sneaked out of the alley.
Crossing the street wasn’t as bad as she’d expected, but the zombies caught sight of her once she reached the far side. She dashed until she had the row of shops at her back and drew her sword. The first one lost its head above its mouth and the second had its eye skewered out as she drove it off.
She was settling into a stance, feeling the focus that Luke kept going on about settling over her, when thunder rolled across the sky. The zombies dropped to their knees and she stared across the junction. At that moment, the truck slid around the corner and headed towards her.
It mounted the pavement and slammed into two of the zombies before screeching to a halt. She was preparing to high five Bayleigh when she saw through the windscreen a face she didn’t recognise and a uniform she wished she didn’t. It was the soldiers. Somehow they’d found her and now they were here, at the worse possible time, when she was alone.
Thirteen Roses Book Five: Home: A Paranormal Zombie Saga Page 9
