Killing The Dead | Book 23 | Come The End

by Murray, Richard

  I kicked away the leg I had cut loose and without taking my eyes from those watchers, I began the work of cutting free the other. Only when I was done, did I stand upright, looking out over that crowd.

  Blood covered my hands and body, some of it my own, more of it the creatures. I was weary beyond words but I kept my back straight and looked down upon those fighting, letting them see me and the work I had done.

  “Surrender.”

  Just one word, not even said that loud, but it carried well. There was no need for threats, nor promises of what would befall them if they didn’t obey. They could see that for themselves, there at my feet, limbs cut away and rocking from side to side as though still trying to right itself.

  The first sword was thrown to the ground, the raider raising his hands high. Then another, and another. Soon a deluge of weapons were cast down and I stood over them and watched until they were done.

  Lily, bearing wounds of her own, gave an order and men ran to gather rope to bind the enemy. They were taken one at a time to the intersection before the warehouse and made to kneel. There, their hands were bound and then their legs at the ankles.

  One after another, until none remained free but our people. All the time it was being done, I stood and watched in stony silence, knowing that if I moved, I would collapse and the fear I instilled would fall away.

  “My Lord Death,” Samuel said, approaching. “What are your orders.”

  I looked over the bound and helpless prisoners, taking in our own people, wounded and grieving the loss of so many of their friends and family. My eyes met Lily’s and I held them for a long moment that seemed to stretch to eternity.

  Finally, she gave a nod, the slightest movement of her head but I saw it, and I turned to Samuel, loyal and faithful follower that he was and I smiled, as I gave him a command.

  “Kill them all.”

  Epilogue

  They carried Ryan into the house, leaving a trail of blood across the floor. I followed after, the terrible cries of the raiders being slaughtered like pigs ringing in my ears. Evie found me a chair and I sank into it gratefully beside our bed as one of the white sashes began to clean and attend to his wounds.

  No one spoke, there was nothing to say. No arguments to be made about not killing those raiders. They had brought their deaths upon themselves and their actions had determined their fate. None would weep for their loss.

  There would be weeping enough when we had a moment of quiet, of solitude. A moment to reflect and remember what had happened. What we had lost.

  A moment to grieve.

  Cass gripped my hand and Evie leant back against the wall, arms folded across her torso as she watched her brother being worked upon. Conflicting emotions crossed her face as she chewed on her lower lip, eyes red and full of tears.

  There was history there, a lot of anger that had yet to fade, but he was the last remaining member of her family and she could not bear to lose another. Not right then.

  Gregg came into the already crowded room, face grim as he approached me. My heart sank as he knelt before me.

  “You up for a walk?”

  “Where?”

  He just shook his head and glanced over at where Ryan lay, then at his sister. “You too.”

  I was in no mood for games but in too much pain to argue as I forced myself up and hobbled along after him. Cass joined me and with a gesture, Samuel had two black-garbed cultists following us.

  The wagon had been pulled up outside the house and he had to help me into the cab. Cass climbed in beside me, face betraying her confusion, as the two cultists climbed into the back. Gregg took the driver's seat and set off, headed out of the village and along the north road.

  “Where are we going?”

  He just shook his head and continued to drive in silence for the next five minutes before he slowed the truck and gestured for us to get out.

  I winced as I climbed down to the road, settling onto my injured leg, but Cass held onto me providing support as Gregg led us into the trees beside the road. I moved slowly, each step sending a burst of pain through me that only worsened as we began to climb the hill.

  My already sour mood was close to erupting into an anger-filled rant as I demanded where we were going when we broke through the trees and all thought vanished from my mind.

  “Mama!” Gabriel sang, leaping up and running towards me.

  Tears were on my cheeks as I clasped him close to me and Cass wept openly as she scooped her daughter Patricia into her arms. Angelina sat stroking Jinx though she didn’t seem displeased to see me.

  “You won then?” Two asked, joining us. Her two sister, Furies, were standing guard at either side of the rock outcrop where they had made camp. “He not with you?”

  “He’s alive,” Gregg said, answering the question she didn’t seem to dare to voice and she relaxed visibly. “It was bad, but we made it.”

  “How?” I asked, looking from him to the young woman.

  “We was told, as soon as the fighting starts, to get the little ones and bring them here. We were to keep them safe until one of you came for them, and only for one of you.”

  “Ryan told you this?”

  “Aye, he was firm about it. Protect them at all costs.”

  Cass, eyes shimmering and cheeks wet, looked over her smile one of pure joy as she hugged her daughter closer to her breast. Whatever anger or resentment she might have held for Ryan had vanished and I smiled back at her.

  It felt wrong to be happy after the tragedy that had befallen us in the past few weeks, but I couldn’t help it, my children were alive and well.

  “Thank you,” I said to the young woman. “I am in your debt. I can never repay you for this.”

  “No need to,” she said. “Just tell me you gutted all them bastards.”

  “They’re dead,” Gregg assured her. “Every one of them.”

  “Good.”

  I lifted Gabriel in my arms, heedless of the pain it sent running down my leg. My baby was safe, and in my arms, that was all that mattered.

  “Mama!”

  “Yes, baby?”

  “A boat!”

  We all turned at that excited exclamation and there, through the trees, a boat was moving slowly across the waters. I stared at it for a moment before looking excitedly at my friends.

  “We need to get back to the village!”

  Gregg supported me as we traipsed back towards the truck, and it wasn’t long before we had all piled into the back and I clutched both my children to me, which Angelina accepted with a silent scowl, while Jinx lay across my feet.

  It was a moment of pure joy, finding my children alive after thinking them lost. The others, all the death and the destruction, I could mourn them later. For that moment, I just wanted to enjoy being with my children.

  The truck arrived back at the docks just as the boat did and by the time we were making our slow way along the wooden boards to the mooring posts, a sailor was already tying off the boat's lines.

  He looked up at our approach, craggy features of his weatherbeaten face showing more lines than I remembered and signs of hard times.

  “Ray!” I called, unable to keep the joy from my voice. “You’re alive! We thought you all lost?”

  He exchanged a glance with one of the nearby sailors and shook his head before gesturing at the bodies being piled beside the road for burning.

  “You’ve had troubles of your own?”

  “We have, but things are looking up if you’re alive and well. How many survived?”

  Another exchanged glance with his crewmate and his brows drew down as his shoulders slumped.

  “This is it, lass.” His voice caught at that and he coughed, clearing it. “They’re all gone, everyone.”

  “They can’t be!”

  “Aye, lass. It’s true. Only the restless dead are there now. Everyone we knew, they’re all gone.”

  Note from the Author

  Thank you for reading this far and I hope y
ou enjoyed this latest story of our favourite serial killer and his family. Big things have happened and the safe position they had held is no more. What will they do going forward, with enemies all around them, Genpact making a play for power and revenge, and no safe harbour to call their own?

  It will be interesting, I have no doubt.

  As always, you can find infrequent updates on the Facebook page, and I hope you continue on to the next book for the season four finale.

  Richard Murray