“I promise.” I offered her a smile, but I was confused. She seemed worried about something. “I always do.”
Jinx whined and I reached down to ruffle the fur on her head as I kept my gaze fixed firmly on Lily. Whatever it was that was concerning her, she didn’t seem willing to discuss it so I put it from my mind.
“What about you? Look after yourself, yes?”
“I will,” she promised with a smile. “I have plenty of people making sure of that.”
“Good.”
That seemed to be it for goodbyes. Gregg had moved across to stand beside the two mercenaries and it was just a case of heading out to the ship. I was about to turn away when I caught sight of a woman standing alone further along the road, beside the seawall.
My mother raised her hand for just a moment before turning and walking away. I watched her for a minute wondering what the hell that meant before flashing one last grin at Lily and Cass.
I left them there, watching silently as I climbed into the boat. The other three followed, taking up position on the hard seats as the sailor started the engine. I didn’t look back as the boat cut across the water, my mind already on the carnage to come.
We pulled up alongside the ship and we each climbed the rope ladder, and joined those already milling around on deck. I ignored the salutes of the minions and turned to lean on the railing, the chill wind pulling at my hair and making me grateful for the warmth of my beard.
Lily and Cass were still standing on the dock, watching us. I raised my hand and she did the same. I watched her as the crew got the ship underway and she was still there until the ship turned away from the island.
Gregg’s hand pressed against my shoulder for a moment before he removed it and leant against the railing beside me.
“She’ll be fine, mate. Cass will take care of her.”
“No doubt.”
We stood in comfortable silence for some time, watching the coast as we moved past it. The journey to the Isle of Man wasn’t long and we were there almost before I’d even realised.
“Where we going ashore?” Gregg asked.
“Northernmost point,” I replied absently. “There’s three villages towards that end which will be the staging areas for the three main forces. We’ll be with the eastern one.”
“Are your people spread out among them all?”
“Yeah. No point keeping them all with me. We’ll have about forty.”
He was silent again for a few moments as the ship slowed and the anchor was released. Unloading the containers would be a pain, but the admiral had assured me they had the ability to do so.
All that was left then was for me to climb down into the boat and head to shore, leaving the minions to unload the containers for me. I could trust them to do that at least. The minion in charge appeared competent enough.
I went ashore with Gregg and the mercenaries and was met by a small complement of marines. The leader, a sergeant judging by the rank displayed on his uniform, saluted as I waded through the surf.
“Sir. The Admiral has requested your presence.”
“Lead on.”
No time for pleasantries. I liked that. The marine led us across the sandy beach and up a grassy incline to the road beyond. There was a car waiting and beside it, four flatbed trucks. I nodded approvingly and smiled grimly as I caught sight of the crane coming up the road.
The admiral, true to his word, had taken the time to ensure my requests were met. That pleased me as I had no desire to be arguing over such matters.
We were driven south, following the coast. I stared out of the window at the walled-in fields of arable land until we came to the first of the three small villages.
It was called Bride judging by the weathered sign standing up from the tall weeds on the village edge. Not much more than a church and a handful of houses and a shop or two. There mainly to serve the various farms in the area was my guess.
The admiral had made the church his command centre. A fact that amused me no end. A thousand soldiers had taken over every other house and building but still, a number of tents had needed to be set up.
A perimeter fence had been set up around the village, providing a little extra security and towers had been quickly thrown together for the men and women to stand watch. I was a little impressed at the speed with which they’d set up camp.
My own minions had set up in what looked to be an old cattle shed. It made sense. The shed was large enough for all of them and easy to secure. Any lingering odour of cattle could be no worse than the stench of death that rose from the undead.
On the southern edge of town were a large number of wooden stakes. They had been driven into the ground, their points raised skyward. That was an oddity as they would be pointless for defence unless they were on an angle. Even so, they all had old stains from the tip to sometimes half-way down the length.
Gregg followed me into the building while the mercenaries opted to stay outside with the marines on guard. Isaac was chatting amiably as I stepped through the great wooden doors bound in iron.
Inside, the rows of benches had been moved over to the side to rest against the wall and tables set up in the space provided. The faint sounds of a generator could be heard and several of the desks and tables held computers.
Charlie sat at one of them, her chair setting her out from the rest of the techs. She had clearly been brought in to supervise her drone operators as they surveyed the landscape ahead of the invasion force.
A smart move and an indication that the admiral knew what he was doing. Not that I had doubted that. He was clearly competent and I had even developed a certain respect for him, which was a rarity.
Stained glass figures stared down at me as I crossed the stone floor towards the centre table where the admiral stood with a group of adjuncts. Religious iconography still hung on the walls and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that I was there. The proverbial wolf amongst the sheep.
“Ryan,” Admiral Stuart said as he looked up, eyes narrowed as he stared at me. “You’re here.”
“So it would seem. You summoned me, what do you want?”
“Play nice, mate,” Gregg said before he peeled off to go and say hello to Charlie.
The Admiral watched him go with a wry smile and gestured to the maps spread across the table. He didn’t seem to take offence at my tone, but the man was so uptight it was hard to tell sometimes.
“Here,” he said. “Are the three staging areas. Alpha, Bravo and Charley”
“We’re Alpha,” I said with a hint of amusement.
“Yes.”
“Okay. Please, continue.”
“Bravo and Charley will head down the western side of the island clearing these towns and villages, one after another.”
I nodded, not really caring what the other forces were doing.
“Meanwhile, Alpha will split and head south-west and south. One half going to Andreas and one to Ramsey.”
I did frown at that. Andreas was a village, though a sizeable one. Ramsey was a coastal town and would be the more challenging.
“You want me to go to Ramsey?”
“Yes. The other half will clear Andreas and swing back around to meet up with us at Ramsey. They can clear a few homesteads on the way which will take some time, but not too much. While they do that, we shall be putting those contraptions of yours to use.”
“My meat grinders.” I grinned and he frowned.
“As you say. Your… meat grinders will be placed on the main roads at the top of the town. There’s three, so we place one on each. The walls on either side of the roads will help funnel any undead directly to them.”
“We will need to control the flow,” I said, thinking about it. “If we don’t, then all we will do is block the workings.”
“At either side of the road are fields. We can have our troops lining up against the wall and hidden at either side. They can then jump up and attack from both sides as some of the zombies are funnelled directly
into the mouth of your machines.”
“Minimal casualties that way,” I said approvingly. “If the walls hold.”
“They should be spread out enough that they will. Charlie’s techs have provided us with some data on the distribution of the enemy. Shamblers for the most part with just one small pack of Ferals towards the south.”
“No Reapers?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“A lot of houses and a river running through the middle, splitting the town in half.”
“We take the north then we will control the bridges to the south.”
“It will be a good practice run for when we make it down to Douglas in the south.”
“Indeed.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“We are going to need you to draw the zombies in. We tried a test with the drones and they stared at them but didn’t move to follow.”
“That’s fine. We can do that.”
“It will be risky.”
“No more so than anything else. One question.”
“Of course.” He looked relieved when I didn’t argue about risking myself or my minions. I smiled at the thought that I would refuse.
“What was on the spikes outside?”
He hesitated for a moment and then said, “people.”
Not zombies. People. That indicated something quite exciting. People had flocked to the island when the world fell, thinking it was safe and it was, for a while. Then a cruise ship had run aground on the southern cliffs and, well, it didn’t take long after that.
But, when there had been people in the village. Well, someone had come in and impaled them.
“Who?”
“We’re searching now.”
Ah, so the admiral suspected as I did. That whoever did it was still there. Why else would they do it but as a way of keeping the other undead at bay? A camouflage of sorts. Covering up the signs of themselves with the rotting bodies of the villagers.
“Let me know when you find them,” I said with a grin that had the admiral turn away with a shudder.
Chapter 10
I was laid in bed with Jinx pressed up against me, her body warm and comforting as I draped one arm across her when the pounding started on my door. Jinx was up and padding across the floor in an instant as I reached for my gun.
“Forgive me,” Samuel said as he pushed open the door. “There has been an incident.”
“What sort of incident?” I couldn’t stop the yawn. If I’d been asleep for an hour I’d have been surprised. “How bad?”
“Very bad.”
That got my attention and I swung my legs over the side of the bed and pushed myself up. The urge to pee was something I couldn’t ignore so I dashed across to the small bathroom with a wave.
“Give me a minute.”
“Of course, My Lady.”
He was still waiting as I left the bathroom, drying my hands on a towel. I grabbed my jeans and jacket, knowing that I would be not getting much more sleep that night.
“Well?”
“Ah, there has been an attack.”
“Attack?” I felt the frown form as I looked over at him. “What sort of attack?”
“Zombie.”
My eyebrows rose as my eyes grew round. While we weren’t infallible, the drone coverage we had of the island should have given us some warning of any zombies left on the island.
“Where?”
“Here, in town, by the river.”
That was a serious problem and I quickly strapped my belt and holstered sidearm around my waist. “Lead on.”
Jinx followed along beside me and a full fist of acolytes fell in around us as we moved through the dark corridors of the sports centre. There was a truck waiting outside and I held back a sigh as I realised that they expected me to travel in that.
Two of the acolytes helped me clamber up into the rear and Jinx jumped up, staying close beside me. There was already a group of four acolytes seated inside and Samuel climbed in with the others.
“A little bit over the top, don’t you think?”
“Not at all, My Lady.”
His face was still in the dim light and I couldn’t discern whether he was being sarcastic or not. I crossed my arms and leant back against the canvas covering that made up most of the side and roof.
The truck set off, engine sounding overly loud in the silence of the night and I waited with as much patience as I could. Samuel either had no answers to give or was simply refusing to answer my questions, asking me to wait.
I did so, but with little patience. I was tired and overly emotional and certainly not in the mood for games.
A short drive later, the truck slowed to a stop and half the acolytes jumped out, weapons drawn as they spread out around us, to make sure it was safe. Only when they were sure was I allowed out.
I climbed down with the help of Samuel, lips twisting in annoyance as I realised just how ungainly I was going to get with the pregnancy.
We were on the western edge of the town, beside the river. Across it and up a grassy hill was the research facility where we kept the Reapers. A chill ran through me as a sense of foreboding swept over me.
The lights in the facility were on and even in the dark of night, I could see occasional flickers against the windows as people moved in front of them, blocking the light briefly.
“Here, My Lady.”
Samuel led me a short distance towards the riverbank where two men dressed in the black outfits favoured by the Dead, stood careful watch. On the ground beside them was a body. A torch flicked on and I got to see exactly what it was.
Young and wearing the uniform of a CDF soldier. I guessed he was on patrol and had stopped to pee judging by the way his trousers were open. Blood covered his shoulder, soaking through his coat and pooling beneath him, while a large chunk of flesh was missing from his neck.
“Where’s the other?” I asked. The CDF patrolled in pairs and had done since they first started.
“That, we do not know.” Samuel indicated the dead young man, pointing at the bloody hole in his temple. “Some of our people heard the cry and when they arrived, stopped him from rising. They were too late for anything else.”
It was possible that his companion had fallen into the river. It was wide and deep, with a current strong enough to take him out to sea. That didn’t tell me anything about what had attacked them and where it had come from.
My gaze went once more to the facility on the hill at the other side of the river and my heart sank a little.
“Any tracks?”
“Plenty,” Samuel said, swinging his torch across the ground to reveal the impressions in the mud. “However most of them are all around here. One set of tracks heads up and into the town.”
“Send some…” I stopped as I realised that of course, he had already done that. “Let me know if they find it.”
“Of course.”
“Back into the truck and then let's go to the facility up there.”
He turned and looked up at the building and his expression grew dark. He nodded once and gestured for everyone to head back to the truck. Before he left, he issued a quick instruction to the two acolytes beside the river.
They would take care of the body and clean up the mess before the people of the town woke up and we had a panic on our hands.
I climbed back into the truck, hating just a little the fact that I needed help, and in minutes we were off. Another short journey, barely ten minutes to follow the road through the town and then across the bridge to the north and onwards to the research facility.
When we arrived, there was just one harried looking man standing guard at the main entrance. He came to full attention as he saw me and performed a salute.
“Ma’am.”
There was a nervousness to him like that of a child caught doing something wrong. I clenched my hands into fists and held back my sigh as I fixed him with my best glare.
“Report!”
“A
h…”
“You heard her, what is going on here?” Samuel snapped and the poor CDF soldiers eyes flicked from me to him and the two fists of acolytes standing silently behind him. “Well?”
“There’s been an incident, ma’am. Sargeant Jameson has…”
“What incident?”
“A-an escape.”
Fuck!
I pushed past him and into the building, Samuel and the others following behind. I needed to find Professor Ashworth or one of the researchers and get some answers.
The offices were empty, though the building lights were all on. I pushed on through the corridors until we came to the containment area.
Professor Ashworth and Vanessa were standing in the centre of the corridor arguing hotly. She was gesturing wildly as she practically screamed at the smaller man who, to be fair, was giving as good as he was getting.
“The hell is going on here?” I demanded loudly. Even so, I had to repeat myself before they noticed my arrival.
They both turned to me at the same time, faces twisted in anger that faded as they realised who had spoken. Or perhaps, when they saw the armed men and women behind me.
“Ah, Lily, it’s… ah,” Darren began but I cut him off with the swipe of a hand.
“Direct and to the point Professor.”
“A-ah, of course. Ah, there’s been an… incident. Regrettable but entirely unpredicted.”
“Fool!” Vanessa snapped. “She’s gone!”
“Who is?”
“Briony.”
My eyes widened slightly at that and understanding came. Not a Reaper then, that was something, but the young woman that had taken the vaccine could well be something worse.
“How?”
The professor and doctor shared a look and I just knew they were about to try and blame each other so I cut that off before it began.
“I am not interested in excuses. At least one man is confirmed dead and another missing. What the hell happened?”
“She killed someone?” Vanessa asked, face ashen. “She wouldn’t!”
“Someone did. Tore their throat out on the banks of the river,” Samuel added, his voice stern with tightly controlled anger. “Tell me what happened here.”
Killing The Dead (Book 16): Infected Page 6