Killing the Dead (Book 10): Feral

by Murray, Richard

  Though, as I watched her, I began to realise that she was actually enjoying herself. She talked animatedly with my parents and siblings. She smiled and laughed, told stories that were quite humorous, judging by the reactions of the others and seemed to be in her element.

  It was disconcerting to consider that for her to be with me, she had neglected that part of her nature that enjoyed being around others. Sharing things, conversation and camaraderie.

  Admittedly it hadn’t always been possible to have such things considering our trying to survive, but if we were to continue together, one of us would need to change. Either she would have to give in to my need for solitude and general dislike of people or I would have to force myself to attend more such pointless evenings as the family meal I’d been required to be part of.

  Considering that a large part of what attracted me to her was the person she was. To ask her to be anything other than that would mean she would no longer be that person I found so appealing. She was a person who flourished when surrounded by life and laughter, joy and good friends. While I would readily admit that I was nothing like that, I could fake it for her. Easier for me to suffer through a few such events with poor grace than it would be to destroy the person she was.

  Which was a whole different type of disturbing. The fact that I was considering doing something for her because it benefited her and not me. Surely a first for me since I’d lived my life doing things that benefited no one but myself. It was all very odd.

  “You okay?” she asked as she glanced my way and found me frowning down at my half eaten food.

  I shared a smile with her and said, “fine. Just thinking.”

  “Nothing good ever comes from that,” she said with a low laugh.

  “Indeed.”

  “Have you considered what I asked?” Gabriel said. I glanced his way as Lily shook her head.

  “Not yet.”

  “What’s this?” Father asked.

  “We need supplies. I suggested a trip.”

  “No,” Father replied. “No more trips away into danger. We’ll get by.”

  “But we need…”

  “Enough of this! We’ll get by.”

  “We’ve plenty of medical supplies now,” Evelyn added. “Georgia said we could grow crops just a little way from the castle. With fish from the river to the west, we’ll be fine for a while.”

  “Dad…”

  “Some time to recover is needed,” he replied as he set down his knife and fork. He reached for a napkin and dabbed at his lips before looking directly at Gabriel. “No supplies are worth the cost of another loss like we just suffered.”

  “Just because Ryan brought back a load of undead once, doesn’t mean he will again!”

  “I’m to blame?” I asked quietly and his face tightened as his eyes narrowed. I looked from face to face and recognised enough to know that he wasn’t the only one that felt that way.

  “Not your fault,” Lily said with a gentle touch on my arm to get my attention. “It could have happened to anyone.”

  “If he’d not gone to Dumfries then it wouldn’t,” Gabriel said but to my surprise, Evelyn leapt to my defence.

  “And we wouldn’t have the medicines we need either.”

  “Come now children, no fighting,” Mother urged. “What’s done is done.”

  “How about you father. Do you consider it my fault?” He looked away as I said it and I smiled. “So be it.”

  “Are you going to try and deny you led them here?” Gabriel asked.

  “Why would I? It would achieve nothing when you have already decided. If I hadn’t gone to Dumfries then they wouldn’t have followed us and Lily would be dead. I would still make the same choice again.”

  “Of course you would,” Gabriel snapped. “God forbid you think of anyone other than yourself. Even saving her was for you. I doubt you’d have risked so much for anyone else. It’s only because it affected you.”

  “I think we should maybe finish up,” Lily said. “Before things get said that can’t be unsaid.”

  “Perhaps you’re right,” Mother said. There was a sadness to her tone that I’d not heard before and I wondered at it. “It’s almost time to attend the prayer group anyway. Would any of you care to join us?”

  “We will mum,” Evelyn said with a nod to her son. Gabriel just shrugged and I had no need to bother replying. She certainly wouldn’t expect me to attend.

  “I will too,” Lily said and I sighed softly as I turned to her, a question clear on my face. She smiled and shrugged unashamedly. “It wouldn’t hurt to have a little help on our side. I’m going out with you tomorrow.”

  “You are?”

  “If we can’t take the truck to one of the nearby towns, there’s plenty of other places we can try. I need the exercise after these last couple of weeks too.”

  “Fair enough. I’ll see you back at our ‘room’ I guess.”

  “You will,” she agreed and leant down to share with me a brief kiss before she left with the others. I looked at the table full of plates that needed cleaning and smiled at my brother.

  “I’ll let you clean up.”

  His reply was lost to me as I left the room. A journey out to one of the towns would have been a little more fun than traipsing over the hills looking for farmhouses to loot. Admittedly there were still undead wandering down from the north but they were one and all, Shamblers. We’d not seen another Feral since the attack.

  I felt the need for a challenge. An enemy that I could get my teeth into, in a manner of speaking. Something a little more entertaining than the odd shambler or half-starved survivor.

  Perhaps if we went east rather than west, I would find something to keep my attention. I resolved to find a map and take a look at the surrounding area before picking a likely site.

  Chapter 4 – Lily

  It felt strange to be getting ready to leave the castle. Since I’d arrived, I’d spent the majority of my time indoors recovering and the chance to get out and about was almost intoxicating. Even though I knew it was dangerous.

  Dressed in jeans and a warm coat that was fortunately also waterproof, I joined everyone else in the courtyard. Ryan, and Jinx moving silently alongside me. One glance at them was enough to make me smile. They seemed to be the same personality, just in different bodies. One canine and one just about human.

  “Hey,” Cass greeted with a wide smile. She rolled her eyes as she tilted her head towards the gates where Gabe stood and I shared a quick smile of my own. It seemed she’d been as irritated by him of late as the rest of us.

  There were about fifteen of us gathered before the gate. Each carrying an empty backpack and dressed for warmth, with more than one waterproof jacket in sight. The patter of the rain hitting that waterproof cloth was loud enough that I had to strain to hear when Gabe spoke.

  “We’re going to head out as a group,” he began. “There’s a farm a couple of miles from here where we will organise who is going where.”

  He looked around, making sure to make eye contact with as many people as possible and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. He’d obviously read some book on leadership once and was employing as many of the suggestions as possible.

  Once assured that no one was going to ask any questions, he nodded and gestured for the gates to be opened.

  We filed out in silence. There was little need to talk and the grey, rain filled clouds that covered the sky above, seemed to press down upon us. Weapons were held ready and the people around me stayed close together.

  Pat walked with Cass and far to the front of the group was Gabe and Becky. Gregg pushed Charlie’s wheelchair, the one we’d found about a week ago and apparently a poor replacement for the one she’d lost when fleeing from Dumfries if her frequent and vocal complaints were to be believed.

  I couldn’t help the frown that formed as I saw her. It wasn’t that I doubted her capabilities, it was just that with the chair, she was severely
limited in where she could go. The large bundle on her lap also looked to be just about the right size for her drone. My gaze went back to Gabe as a nasty suspicion formed.

  “Hmm?” Ryan said as I nudged him not ungently in the side with my elbow.

  “Check out Charlie.”

  His eyes narrowed as he grunted. He’d seen something off about her coming with us too. But then again, he’d probably have had the same response to everyone who wasn’t part of our normal group.

  The faces of the people around me were mostly familiar to me. Obviously, there were the people I had arrived with, and then Charlie and Georgia. There was Martin, a tall dark-skinned man with dreadlocks almost down to his waist. Foolish really considering how easy they’d be to grab in a fight.

  Jess and Natasha could be sisters, or perhaps cousins. Both in their mid-twenties, slim though I had the impression they always had been and not just because of lack of food like most people now. I’d spoken to them a few times and found them to be pleasant, well-meaning people.

  Leo looked like a brawler. His muscular arms covered in tattoos. He moved lightly as though always just moments away from springing into a run. His pockmarked face and crooked teeth did nothing for his looks, but once you spoke with him you found him to be genuinely funny and charming.

  The final member of our group was Zak. Maybe fifteen at most though he’d said he was older when asked. Shaggy hair that flopped over his eyes at the worst time and a tendency to flinch if anyone got too close. He was missing several teeth from when he’d been beaten unconscious in the refugee camp and that was likely a mercy considering what they’d done after. It was no wonder he was skittish.

  I looked at each of them and wondered if I could trust them when the zombies attacked. I hated myself for thinking that way, but that was the reality now. I could trust Ryan and the rest of my little group. The others… not so much.

  We walked in silence for a good thirty minutes as I worried about pretty much everything. Cass’s baby, the journey north that so far hadn’t been a resounding success and we still had a hell of a long way to go. The very weird fact that I was in love with a serial killer who was enjoying the apocalypse far more than anyone should. It was a mess to be sure.

  The mud-choked farm yard that Gabriel led us to was typical of its kind. Abandoned some time after everything went to crap, whether or not that was by choice I couldn’t say. There were plenty of signs of violence at least. Cracked windows, dark stains around the door frames where something had maybe tried to get in. We’d seen it a thousand times and would probably see it a thousand more. If the world ever got back to normal, the therapists would make a fortune.

  Gabe stopped beside a flatbed truck that had seen better days. Its mud-spattered paint couldn’t hide the rust or the shattered passenger side window. Tiny glass fragments were spread around the ground, sitting atop the mud in a way that indicated the window had only recently been broken.

  “There’s a change of plan,” Gabe said and I looked at Ryan.

  “No surprise there,” he muttered as I nodded agreement.

  “What change?” someone said, voice indistinguishable through the rain and the thick hood that I’d pulled up against the weather.

  “We’re not splitting up,” Gabe said with a wry smile. He tried to meet the eyes of the people clustered around him as he raised one hand to forestall the burst of questions. “There’s a reason.”

  “I bet,” I said to Ryan. His mouth curved up into a smile but his eyes were distant as they watched his brother.

  “As you know, food stocks are running low and some of us are leaving soon to travel north, looking for help.”

  He paused and tapped the truck with one gloved hand. “So instead, we’ll take this into Annan and gather as much as we can.”

  The noise around us rose in volume as everyone seemed to start talking at once. I cast a nervous glance to the fields at either side of the farmhouse. We’d cleared out most of the undead in the area but more kept wandering in and even with the rain to mask us, we didn’t want to make too much noise.

  I waited as patiently as I could while he waved his hands for quiet. Cass looked back over her shoulder, worry etched on her face as her eyes met mine. I smiled confidently back to her but that look of worry didn’t fade.

  “There was thousands of people in Annan!” Martin said in a soft Scottish burr. “I passed through it just after everything kicked off and it was bloody chaos!”

  “Aye!” Natasha said. “You cannae expect us to take on a town full of the damn dead things. Not after barely surviving the last fight!”

  “I’ve thought this through,” Gabe protested. “We have the drone to distract them, move them out from the end of town we’ll approach. If we do it right, most of them will be moved out of the area before we even reach the town.”

  “How much range does that drone have?” I asked Ryan quietly.

  He shrugged as he scratched at the thick stubble on his chin and said, “vaguely recall her saying it could go a couple of kilometres. Battery only lasts about thirty minutes though.”

  “You think it’ll work?”

  Gabe was busy fielding questions and I tried to get a feel of the crowd. Pat, Cass and Gregg would likely do whatever Ryan decided. They’d survived a number of times thanks to listening to him and he’d earned their respect. Georgia and Charlie were an unknown but the majority of the protests were coming from the Sanctuary folk that I had no experience working with.

  “As likely to work as anything else,” he said finally. “If nothing else it will give us something to do and get us away from here sooner rather than later.”

  “Is it really that bad being around your family?”

  “Not for you maybe, they like you,” he said with a wry smile.

  I slipped my hand into his and pressed against him, offering support should he need it. Not that he would or ever acknowledge it if he did. But still, I hoped that he’d appreciate that the offer was there.

  Cass turned to look my way, one eyebrow raised in question and I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. No real objection to the idea and if anything, it would allow us to gather a few extra items for ourselves to take with us when we left.

  The questions from the gathered crowd slowly died down as everyone realised that no one had raised a serious objection to the plan. Gabe smiled triumphantly and gestured for everyone to climb aboard the Truck. His eyes caught mine for a fleeting moment and I saw there his acknowledgement of my silence. He was well aware that if any of my little group had spoken against his idea, it’d have been sunk.

  Pat and Gregg lifted Charlie carefully into the back of the truck after Martin unhitched the sides, letting them fall with a bang that caused more than one person to flinch and look around warily. Leo, after a brief word with Gabe, climbed into the driver’s seat and in short time the truck roared to life.

  With a smile at the sight of Ryan, grimacing as he lifted a muddy Jinx onto the truck bed, I climbed up and seated myself against the back of the cab. Charlie, to my right, nodded once in greeting and hugged her covered burden closer.

  Once everyone was aboard, we set off. Out of the farmyard with a sense of unease and apprehension for what we’d find at Annan. The truck bed wasn’t particularly clean or comfortable, and I seemed to feel every bump in the road when we hit it.

  I slipped my arm through Ryan’s and settled against him as I watched the countryside go by. Trees and bushes with fresh buds appearing on their branches. The endless fields and hills that bordered the roads.

  There was a stillness to the world around us as we travelled. No birds flew in the rain-laden sky, no animals frolicked in the fields as we passed. Only the occasional corpse, standing still, staring blankly into the rain.

  No matter how I tried, I couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding that grew as we approached our destination. I looked at the faces of the people around me. New and old, friend and acquaintance. I had no ide
a what we’d find at Annan, and from the tense, worried expressions of these people, they expected the worst and I couldn’t fault them for it.

  The only ones who looked remotely at ease were the dog and Ryan. She was lying beside my legs, tongue lolling as she enjoyed the ride and he was humming softly to himself. Barely audible over the rain, it was some old tune and a sure sign that he anticipated some chaos and killing to come.

  I let my eyes close and rested my head against his shoulder. If I tried really hard, I could just about imagine that the world was alright and at peace. Just for a short time, I really needed to believe it.

  Chapter 5 – Ryan

  The flatbed truck came to a slow stop just as the rain was beginning to lighten. I wiped the excess water from my face with one hand and flicked it away. The dog tilted her head as she looked at me and rose to her feet before shaking her entire body, spraying all of us.

  “Nice,” Charlie muttered as she glared at the dog and I held back a grin at a warning glance from Lily.

  Gabe climbed out of the cab and as though that were a signal, the people gathered in the back of the truck began to move. With much grumbling and shuffling, the sides of the truck were dropped and the group jumped or climbed down to the slick tarmac of the road.

  While they were all getting themselves readied, I stood upright and looked around. Any potential threats were my primary concern but at the same time, I wanted to get a feel for the area we were in.

  The road we were on was a two-lane strip of tarmac with the occasional car dotted along its length and grass verges to either side. A typical country road and one like any other we’d seen in the previous months of travelling through the undead infested countryside.

  To the north, was open fields for a great distance with, just visible on the horizon, a screen of trees. No doubt marking the border of the farm land. When I turned to look to the south, I swore softly to myself.