“Hold!” Samuel yelled, his voice filling the room and cutting through the hubbub.
“Thank you,” I said politely and he nodded.
“I can go,” Lily said but I gripped her hand tight and pulled her close.
“No.”
“This one is different,” Samuel said and there was something in his voice. Approval? “Treat her as you would one of our own.”
And that was all that was required. The hoods were dropped back down and my followers went back to eating and talking quietly amongst themselves. I headed over to the food table, almost dragging a wide-eyed Lily behind me.
“You look refreshed, My Lo… Ryan,” Samuel said with a thin smile showing through that mass of hair he called a beard.
“I feel refreshed.”
His smile widened as his eyes shifted to Lily and he reached for a bowl before spooning a large portion of porridge into it. He passed it to me and then filled another for Lily, before bowing low to us both and moving away to afford us some privacy.
“That was odd,” I said as I led her to a quiet corner where I could sit with my back to a wall.
“He’s happy for you,” she whispered as she looked around at the curious gazes from my minions. “They all seem to be.”
“They do?” I asked with a touch of suspicion.
“These people worship you.”
“Maybe.”
“They’ve made you the focal point of a new religion,” she hissed through clenched teeth. It seemed that, perhaps, that still annoyed her. “More than that though, they believe in you.”
“Trust me,” she said. “If there’s nothing else in the world you can believe, it is that you can trust me and I will never lie to you.”
I did trust her, but a part of me kept seeing far too much of me in them. If there was anyone in the world you shouldn’t trust, it was me.
“Okay,” I said and she laughed, unconvinced by my response.
We ate in companionable silence and I kept looking up to see her watching me. It was strange, the sense of calm I felt when I was around her. I was fairly certain that if we survived the fight to come, she would not be joining my little group, which meant that all too soon it would be her turn to leave me.
“Hoods!” A voice called out and there was a rustling of cloth as a long room full of people rushed to cover their faces.
“How come you don’t need to? She asked and I shrugged.
“No one’s tried to tell me I have to.”
The grey-eyed man marched into the room, two of my minions marching beside him. He glanced around the room and as soon as he caught sight of us, he came straight over.
“Lieutenant,” he said as she rose to her feet and saluted smartly.
“Sir.”
“We were concerned,” he said and a blush ran up her cheeks.
“Nothing to be worried about,” I said before she could reply. “She was with me.”
“That’s why we were concerned,” he said with a glance at the knife on my belt. I flashed a grin at him.
“Everything is fine, sir,” Lily said.
It irritated me more than a little that she was playing second fiddle to anyone. She was clearly the best choice to be in charge and I wondered if I should help things along. I eyed the grey-eyed man for a moment and contemplated some murder, but realised it wouldn’t work. She would be displeased and he was likely a good man else she wouldn’t be fighting for him.
“Perhaps we should start again,” I said as I rose to my feet.
He cocked an eyebrow and even Lily looked surprised. I spread my arms and plastered on my best fake smile.
“We will be fighting together soon enough, makes sense to be friends and I don’t even know your name.”
“This is Admiral Stuart,” Lily said.
“An Admiral, really! Here on the front lines.”
“The number of available people is limited and this is too important,” the Admiral said stiffly. “I felt that I needed to take a hand.”
“Far be it from me to tell you how to do your job.”
“Indeed, likewise it would be ill-mannered of me to comment on yours,” he replied and my smile widened. He had a bit of a bite to him. I liked that.
“Perhaps we should discuss what will be happening today?” Lily said, glancing between us.
“Please,” I gestured to a nearby cushion. “Join us.”
He settled down awkwardly on the floor and I gestured for one of my minions to bring him some food. He accepted it with some grace and chewed absently as he watched me and waited for me to speak.
It was likely some power dynamic game that he was choosing to play and on a lesser man it might have worked. Since I neither cared about his games or whether he believed that he was in charge, I sat and quietly ate my porridge.
“These warehouses,” Lily said, breaking the silence and rolling her eyes. “How many and what do they contain?”
“Seven warehouses. Tinned food for the most part with some electronic goods and toiletries.”
“Seven…” the Admiral said.
“Yes. They are near the train station. Goods would be taken to those warehouses and distributed to the various stores around the city and surrounding area.”
“And you’re willing to share them?” the Admiral asked.
“I said you could have them.”
“What will your people eat?”
“There are other places with food around the city. We’ve found several,” I said. “In fact, since we have ample, those warehouses were secured and left untouched.”
“It would be a huge boost to us,” Lily said, a growing excitement in her voice. “With proper rationing, we could supplement it with fish for the whole winter.”
“Can we get it to the ships though?” he asked. “We’ve no trucks.”
“With a little effort,” I said. “The river isn’t too far from them.”
“Then, if you could provide me with their location, that would be appreciated.”
“Of course.”
“Now, about that Reaper downstairs.”
“What of it?”
“Our scientists would love to…”
“Can they study a dead one?” I asked and scowled as he shook his head.
“It would help to have a live one,” Lily said. “Please?”
“Fine. Take it. I’ll find another one to kill.”
“Then, there’s just the assault,” Lily said.
“Not just that,” Admiral Stuart added. “We have to discuss something else if we are to work together.”
“Sir?”
“What happens down in the tunnels?” he asked. “I know you chain people up, surrounded by rats and zombies. What other torments do you use to beat these people to your will?”
“Sir!” Lily said, but I waved her to silence.
“Megan,” I called and one of the acolytes rose to their feet. “Tell this man what you did in the tunnels for the last two days.”
“Proved myself,” a feminine voice said.
“How?”
“I fought the Scourge.”
“Thank you.”
She sat back down and I looked at the Admiral.
“There you go. All they do, down in those tunnels is keep them clear of the undead. They have a knife and a torch though we recommend they don’t use that. The light attracts them.”
“When they feel that they are good enough at killing the undead, at surviving, that they can join a Fist without putting their brethren at risk… that is when they ascend those stairs and take their place among us.”
“That’s it?” he asked, sceptically.
“Does there need to be more?”
“What about the finger thing?”
“They do not have to do it,” I said. “Our role is to die so that others may live. Our deaths will be hard fought, but we will fall to the undead. There is no question of that.”
I glanced at Lily, wondering at the shimmer in her eyes but pressed
on regardless.
“Each of these people understands that. They know that is their fate and they fight willingly as they have lost everything else that matters to them. If you are afraid, if you are unwilling to risk being hurt, if you are going to run, then people will die.”
I shook my head slowly at his bemused expression.
“There is no retreat for the Dead,” a voice said coming from one of the acolytes nearby.
“We die so they do not have to,” said another.
“We are the knife in the darkness.”
“Our purpose is to protect the Living.”
“Our life for theirs.”
All around us, the faithful were rising to their feet, their voices raised as one as they spoke.
“We are the Lost.”
“We are the Empty.”
“We are the Dead.”
I looked at the Admiral, a smile on my face at his obvious confusion.
“Death walks the world,” I said as I rose to join my people. “We ask no one to join us, to fight beside us but welcome any who wish to. Each of us will stand and fight to the bitter end. If anyone does join us, they have to understand.”
“Understand what?” the Admiral asked.
“That there will be no victory, no parades or even thanks. The only promise we give is that when they die we will ensure they do not rise again. If one is willing to join, to give up everything…”
I couldn’t help the way my eyes shifted to Lily as I said that.
“Then they are welcomed. If they falter, if they run, they are not ready. To give up a piece of your flesh, willingly, is to prove to us that you have nothing left to lose. That when the Scourge come towards you, you will stand and die before you will run.”
He licked dry lips and looked around at each of the acolytes standing, watching him. He nodded slowly, perhaps understanding finally what we were.
“Then let’s talk about the attack.”
Chapter 28 – Lily.
“You gonna tell me what happened?” Gregg said with a salacious wink. “Not that I can’t figure it out.”
I blinked and shaded my eyes as we came out of the subway station, even the dim sunlight too bright for a moment.
“Not telling,” I said.
The CDF and Marine force stood off to one side as the Dead spread out, doing a fast sweep of the immediate area.
It was clear that they’d been here before, at least once, probably more times judging by the bodies piled beside the road. Not for a while though, I decided as I gave one of those piles a cursory glance. It was hard to tell with the weird decay rate of the undead, but I guessed they’d been dead a while.
The subway station was located at a place where the road split to either side of it. To the north-east was a number of apartment blocks. From south-east to south-west was all industrial buildings, while to the north and north-west was an old church and then some housing.
We’d pass by those as we went west for approximately half a kilometre to end up at the southernmost end of the BAE systems buildings that surrounded the shipyard. If the Reaper was anywhere, it would be there.
It didn’t sound like we would be going far, but that was half a kilometre of what could only be considered, enemy territory. Ryan had been clear that while they’d cleared the streets wherever possible, they’d left any building that was secure and even secured a few to trap the undead inside.
With almost a hundred people, we couldn’t help but attract attention and the last thing we needed was to announce our presence to the Reaper.
“Thing’s okay with you, though, yeah?” he pressed and I held back a sigh as I turned my attention to him.
“Yeah, I think so. But, time and a place, c’mon.”
“Sorry,” he said with a smile that said he was anything but.
I gripped the hilt of my poignard and watched Ryan as he spoke quietly with Admiral Stuart. Jennings hovered close by, his attention split between the two. I hoped he wouldn’t do anything stupid like try to get revenge.
As difficult as it had been to keep the two men focused on the task at hand and working together, I doubted that I’d be able to keep the peace should Ryan kill one of the Admirals troops.
Despite what I’d just said to Gregg, it was difficult to keep my own mind focused on the attack. I’d done something that I’d sworn to myself I wouldn’t do. While it had been more than satisfying, it was something that would only lead to more heartbreak in the future.
He’d made it clear with his little speech at breakfast. He was one of the Dead and to be one of them, you had to give up everything that you loved. Not so hard for him since he had so little that he cared for, but I still believed that he cared for me. And was willing to let me go.
That hurt a hell of a lot more than it should have and I cursed myself as a fool for thinking he would ever be able to care for me like I did for him. He’d already left me once; the second time shouldn’t hurt so much. Should it?
“You okay?” Gregg asked and I nodded, turning away from him to hide the unshed tears in my eyes.
“Admiral’s coming,” I said and the squad stood to attention.
“At ease,” he said with a weary wave of his hand. “We’re splitting up.”
“Sir?”
“Half our force led by, him,” he said with a nod towards Ryan. “Will take the northern road. I’ll lead the other half along the southern route. If we follow this road, we’ll eventually turn north as they turn south and join up on Elder Street.”
“Is it wise to split up, sir?”
“We’ll ensure that nothing will be creeping up behind us,” he said. “He seems to think the Reaper might still have some surprises in store.”
“He’s paranoid,” Mark muttered and I swung around to glare at him.
“Captain Jennings will take two squads and join Ryan. That way both forces will be a mix of our groups.”
I had to hope that was because he was a higher rank than me and not because of my relationship with Ryan. Whatever the hell that was anyway.
“Once we get to Elder Street, we’ll contact our troops to begin their distraction.”
“What are they going to do, sir?”
“Use what little ammo we have left to fire on the docks from the boat.”
There was little else to say and I nodded tersely as I gave the order for my squad to fall in. A number of black-garbed acolytes joined us and as Ryan led his force along the northern road, we set off along the southern.
It was eerily quiet. The hulking shapes of the factories that we passed were silent and still. Abandoned cars still sat in the car parks, covered in dirt from almost a year in the open air. There were no undead to be found.
None wandering amongst the cars, no zombies making their slow, stumbling way along the streets. Just emptiness and a chill ran down my spine as I realised that in a decade or even less, that the whole world would be like that.
The undead couldn’t go on forever. We’d seen signs that the Shamblers at least were decaying, just extremely slowly. A couple more years of British weather and they would be gone. All that would be left would be an empty world full of slowly crumbling remnants of humanity.
It was imperative that we save as many people as we could. I’d once watched one of those documentaries that they showed on the TV, back when life was normal. They said that many years ago, some natural disaster or perhaps an ice age, had reduced the world’s population to less than ten thousand people.
From that small number, we had grown and spread across the world until we numbered more than seven billion. On our island, we had around twenty thousand survivors. That gave me hope that humanity wouldn’t die out.
“Hold,” the Admiral said as we came to an intersection.
Acolytes approached it cautiously, ensuring it was safe and clear of the undead before they waved us forward. We turned into that street and were halfway along it before Ryan and his force turned in to it.
We met half way, our
groups silent and tense as we waited for some attack that had yet to materialize.
“Anything?” Ryan asked.
“Empty,” Admiral Stuart replied.
Ryan nodded as though he’d expected nothing less and I realised that he had. He’d understood immediately that any Reaper in the area would have drawn every zombie to them. I felt like an idiot for not realising the same.
“How many do you think we’ll face?” I asked and Ryan shrugged.
“Who has the radio?” Admiral Stuart asked.
“Sir, I do,” Mark replied as he hurried forward.
As they reached out to our troops on the other side of the river, I watched Ryan carefully. He seemed a little more relaxed, a slight smile on his face, but that was likely due to the impending violence.
He still ensured that no one got too close to him, giving the impression of being alone despite being surrounded by loyal followers. He was the only one without a mask and I had no clue who any of the others around him were.
He needs to put a bloody label on them, I thought as I strained to see if one of them was Samuel or perhaps the woman who had escorted me to Lou’s place. I wanted to speak to them.
“The drones are in the air,” Admiral Stuart said, breaking into my thoughts. “Charlie reports that most of them are massed towards the docks. There are several near one of the southern buildings.”
“Which one?” Ryan asked.
“One of the factories.”
“That’ll be where the Reaper is,” he said. “We need to strike there.”
“It’s a large building surrounded by smaller ones,” the Admiral said. “The perfect place for a trap.”
“Can we have the drones get closer?” I asked. “Perhaps see if they can find any open doors.”
“That would indicate zombies might be inside,” the Admiral mused. “Very well.”
He nodded to Mark who spoke rapidly into the radio, listening intently for a reply. When it finally came, he shook his head.
“Nothing open, sir.”
“Fine then, pass the order to open fire,” the Admiral said. “You maintain contact with the drone operators.”
“Sir.”
Ryan cocked an eyebrow as the Admiral turned to him and I hoped he wasn’t foolish enough to try and give him an order.
Fear the Reaper Page 19
