“What’s the plan today, mate?”
“Couple of days till we need to head back to the Isle of Man,” I said with a half-shrug. “Till then, I’m sure we can find something to do.”
“Why does that fill me with a sense of foreboding?”
I just flashed him a grin and kept on walking. Almost as soon as I reached the main entrance, four black-hooded minions fell into place around me. I rolled my eyes and shook my head as Gregg laughed.
We moved south towards the main road, ignoring the curious looks of the people that milled around aimlessly in the streets. Lurking in doorways, and loitering on their doorsteps. There was a sense of gloom hanging around them and I couldn’t have stopped my sneer if I had wanted to.
They had no sense of purpose. Each and every one of those people could have opted to do something, anything, to make their lives on the island more palatable. Instead, they chose to waste their time and then complain about it.
It was a pointless waste of the lives and considering that at least some of them had likely been saved by better men and women, those who risked their lives to save others, it was infuriating. I smiled at that and considered that it was a good thing that Lily had taken charge and not I.
Weeds were poking up beside the road and between the houses. The gardens we passed had waist-high grasses and weeds, the shrubbery spreading out wildly. Leaves and other detritus filled the gutters and covered the pavement.
The town was a mess and it was clear to see that no one was bothering to take care of even the most mundane maintenance. With a population of twenty odd thousand people with nothing to do, it should have been easy to assign some tasks to people.
If nothing else, it would give them some kind of purpose.
But that was something I would discuss with Lily later. Just then, I had other things to do and I was more than a little interested in how those things had turned out.
“Where we going, mate?” Gregg asked as we turned into a side road that was bordered on both sides by single storey buildings of corrugated plastic and aluminium. “What is this place?”
“Mechanics shop, a delivery company and a few other such places,” I said with a nod towards a sign above one gate that declared it to be a plumbing merchant. “All those things you need when your only other option is to wait for something to arrive from the mainland.”
“Right, but what’re we doing here?”
“You’ll see,” I said with a secretive smile that I knew would infuriate him.
He grumbled and muttered beneath his breath but he kept on following me. I was pretty sure that Lily had asked him to hang around to keep me out of mischief and I was fine with that. It was probably a good idea as I didn’t endure boredom too well.
The occasional car or van still sat on the cracked tarmac of the road. Dirt and leaves had settled over them and their tires, if not already deflated, were well on their way. It was easy to imagine that the rest of the world was suffering much the same. Their towns and cities falling apart with no one to maintain them.
“Great, bloody starting to rain,” Gregg said, holding out his hand before him to feel the raindrops as they fell.
“We’re here,” I said and waved at the large building before us.
It was perhaps eighteen to twenty feet high and all one storey. The lower part of the wall was made of white painted breezeblocks, long since fading to a dirty grey. The upper part was corrugated aluminium, painted the same white.
The roof was made of panels of the same material and there was a wide porch out front which cars and vans could park beneath. That was held up by two pillars of piled brick. I ignored Gregg’s curious look and headed straight for the front door.
I ignored the fact that one of the minions dashed ahead to make sure he went in first. Some things it was easier not to waste energy on arguing. If they were anything dangerous in there, I was pretty sure he would die and I’d get to kill it anyway.
Inside it was surprisingly well lit and Gregg stopped before the door, staring around with his eye opened wide and jaw hanging open.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Machinery had been shoved to the sides of the wide space and the centre had been filled with shipping containers. Several minions were hard at work on those containers and I shaded my eyes against the hot glare of the welder's flames.
“What is this?” he repeated and I ignored him once more.
A black-clad minion came running over and skidded to a stop before me, slamming her fist against her breast with bruising force. Her left hand had two fingers missing, a sign of previous failures back in Glasgow.
“My Lord Death.”
I didn’t roll my eyes. That title seemed to mean something to them and Lily had managed to somehow convince me that they needed it. Since it didn’t really affect my life if they kept using it, I had stopped trying to stop them.
“How is the work progressing?”
“Well, my lord. We have the first one completed and ready for testing.”
“Excellent. And the test subjects?”
“Outside in the pen, ready.”
“Then let us begin.”
Her eyes glowed with enthusiasm and she reached up to adjust her hood, scratching at her cheek, before turning to the others and calling out for them to attend us. I followed her towards the rear entrance, her workers setting down their tools and joining us.
Outside, the gravel-covered yard was surrounded by a high wooden fence. Beside which were hundreds of wooden pallets. I’d no doubt there had been more at one point, but some enterprising soul in the town had been taking them to break up for their fires.
As a result, there was a wide open space in the centre in which another shipping container sat. Just visible above the fence behind it was the crane they had used to put it there. I moved over to it, ignoring the falling rain as I inspected it.
Gregg, following behind, scratched at his head as he stared at it. “Okay, mate, I don’t get it.”
The front doors had been removed and the rear wall, leaving a rectangular tunnel of sorts. Holes had been cut into the sides at several points in seemingly random patterns. I flashed him a grin and nodded at the lead worker minion.
She clapped her hands and her crew began lifting some of the piled steel parts that had lain unnoticed beside the door. Gregg watched in fascination as they ran in and began slotting them into the holes and fixing them in place.
His eye widened as he watched what was happening and my grin widened. Once the minions were done, I walked across to stand at one of the open ends, allowing me to stare through the rear of the container.
Steel rods crisscrossed the interior, each of them with a spiral of metal teeth running down the length of it. Like some ancient beasts teeth, they stood out from the steel, sharp and lethal looking. Gears had been fitted to the outside and oiled chains strung across them, connecting them together.
On the side, a motor was added and a minion stood beside it, waiting. I nodded towards the lead worker and she raised her hands, clapping once more. Opposite us, several pallets were removed revealing a rough wooden cage filled with the undead.
“What the hell!”
“Be calm,” I said as I reached out and grabbed Gregg’s arm, preventing him from moving.
From where we stood, we were looking directly at the zombies. They were Shamblers, a dozen in number and left over from the invasion. Shortly after my return, Charlie had discovered a small group with her drone. They were wandering lost on the far side of the island in the hills and valleys.
Even then I had seen the merit of having them close to hand, a germ on an idea forming and I knew I would have a use for them.
“Release them,” I called and the gate was opened.
The first of the zombies stumbled out, head turning this way and that as it sought its prey. I lifted my hands and clapped, once, then twice. The creature heard and took several steps towards me, its foul brethren following.
; I clapped again.
Slowly, they moved towards the opening of the container and I nodded to the minion beside the engine. He flipped the switch and slowly, with the sound of metal grinding on metal, those steel rods began to turn.
“Oh hell!” Gregg whispered as he realised what was about to happen.
The zombies didn’t need any encouragement. The noise was enough to set them to stumbling ahead, sure that prey was close. A moan rose from the throat of the first that was silenced as it stepped into the meat grinder.
Blood sprayed into the air in a mist, foul and black though it may be. Bloody gobbets of flesh were flung about and the creature's limbs were thrown clear. Then the next zombie stepped into it.
A chuckle escaped me as one after another of the zombies marched straight into the grinder. Those steel teeth making short work of their rotted flesh. They were dismembered, torn apart, destroyed utterly.
“I feel sick,” Gregg said quietly.
“Why?”
“There’s something wrong about that, mate. There just is.”
I shrugged. It was efficient and, it seemed, successful at what I required of it. I nodded towards the lead worker minion who stood up a little straighter, proud of her work.
“Well done,” I said to her as the engine was shut off.
“Thank you, My Lord Death.”
“How many are ready?”
“We have parts enough for four and the casings have been readied.”
“Good. Get them loaded on the ship and make sure there are spare parts with them.”
“As you command.”
“You have someone here you can trust to continue the work?”
Her brows drew down behind her hood and there was a flash of confusion in her eyes but she saluted with a fist to breast and nodded. “Yes, My Lord Death.”
“Good. Have them take over. You’ll be leaving with me in a couple of days. Bring a couple of assistants but I want to make sure those are working when we need them.”
“Yes, My Lord Death.”
She stood straight once more, no doubt honoured that I was taking her with me to the island. She spun about and set off to give out orders.
“You’re taking them with us?”
“Yes,” I said with a smile.
“What are you planning?”
“Why, the slaughter of all the undead on that island,” I replied with a grin.
Chapter 6
I was tired and emotionally wrung out by the time Evie left to go about her business and there was still a great deal of work to be done that day. It was going to be another long one with me stumbling into bed long after everyone else.
Not that I had much choice and it was my own damned fault for taking over the island anyway. I leant my head back against the cool leather of the chair and waited for the first appointment of the day. My stomach rumbled loudly.
“My Lady,” Lisa said softly as she held out a bag of dried fish.
“Thanks,” I said as I took a piece. She nodded and placed the bag on the desk before me. “Didn’t have time for breakfast.”
Lisa tapped one of the bodyguards on the shoulder and he dashed off. I watched him go, with a bemused expression on my face. A minute after he slipped out of the council chamber, the doors opened once more and two people walked in.
A squad of CDF soldiers flanked them and I waved them back as they stopped and came to full attention. They moved back to stand beside the door, hands on the hilts of their weapons and expressions hard as I studied the two guests.
The man was tall, six foot or more easily. He had the build of a wrestler and the brutish look of a fighter. His nose had been broken more than once and not set properly at least one of those times. His beard though was well tended and his hair kept short. A tactical decision and not fashion, I guessed.
He crossed his arms over a barrel chest and studied me with the same intensity as I looked at his companion.
Shorter of stature with red hair tied up in a ponytail. She was quiet, demure even, and I suspected, utterly lethal. She was clearly fit and carried herself like a soldier. From what I had been told, she favoured a sniper rifle and was skilled with it.
“So, you be the leader here, eh?”
“I am,” I said with a quiet smile of my own for him. “And you are Isaac. The man who abducted my partner.”
“Aye, that I did. Your man said you’d not hold it against us.”
“He might not, but he’s not like the rest of us.”
“True enough.”
He paused and looked back as the door opened. The acolyte who had left earlier had returned and with a bowl of porridge to boot. It steamed gently as he ran forward and placed it on the desk before me.
“Thank you,” I said with a smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle in what I assumed was due to a smile hidden beneath the hood he wore. He saluted and returned to his place, but not before casting a dark look at the two people.
“Didn’t mean to bother your breakfast,” Isaac said, with a touch of humour. “Can come back later if you like.”
“I think not. We shall be done with this now.”
“So, it’s like that is it? I can see your boys in black giving us the hard look. So be it, do as you must but let my people go. They did nothing wrong.”
Erin, the red-headed sniper merely stared at me. It seemed they were both ready to die if that was to be my decision. I shook my head at that. It was such a foolish idea.
“We are not in the business of murdering people.”
“Tell that to them lot,” he said with a nod towards my bodyguards.
I glanced at them and saw what he did. They certainly looked very fierce and they all had their hands on their knives as they stared at the two people. I wasn’t sure if it was because they were in bodyguard mode or pissed that these were the people that had abducted their beloved leader.
“Ryan,” I said loudly. “Has no problem with you. His followers won’t either.”
Lisa pressed her fist gently against her breast and I could feel her humour, even with the mask she wore.
“Aye, well, be that as it may, you’ve had us locked up for weeks now.”
“It has been a busy time.”
“We did what we had to. It was that or die, our families too. I’ll not apologise for what I did.”
“No one is asking you to.” He blinked at that, confusion crossing his face for a moment. “I have an offer for you.”
“An offer?”
“I understand that you were mercenaries. Can I assume that you were good at your job?”
“Aye, that we are.”
“And you want a place of safety for your families?”
“That we do.”
“You will have it either way. I will not deny safety to anyone willing to live here and work towards rebuilding the world.”
“What’s your offer then?”
“A chance to redeem yourself. Not just to us, but to yourselves too.”
“You think we need to do that?”
I stared at him for a moment and I smiled, a little sadly, at what I saw.
“Yes. I think you do.”
He scratched at his chin and shared a look with his companion before looking back at me. I swallowed a spoonful of the porridge. It was hot and sweet and tasted quite delicious.
“Aye. What do you offer then?”
“You came here the first time to abduct, Ryan. I want you to leave here to protect him.”
“What?”
“My Lady,” Lisa said, her voice low and full of anger. I held up a hand.
“The Dead will give their lives to protect him. I know that. But I know Ryan too.” I looked directly at Lisa. “He is your leader and his word is law. Do you deny this?”
“No.”
“If he gave you a direct order, would you refuse it?”
“No.”
I offered her a smile to take the sting from my words.
“He is a stubborn and willful m
an. He will put himself in danger because he enjoys the chaos and because he is stupidly brave at times. I know the Dead will do all they can to protect him but I need someone to protect him from himself, which I will not be there to do.”
“We understand, My Lady.”
There was honest sincerity in her words and I hoped I was right. I didn’t want to upset her or her people but at the same time, I didn’t want to lose Ryan. He needed someone around that he couldn’t command.
“Do you?” I asked Isaac.
“Aye. I don’t know him as well as you do, but I know enough. I think I see what you’re wanting.”
“Then will you do this? Will you travel with him to the Isle of Man and make sure he comes home to me?”
He cocked his head to the side, scratching at his beard once more.
“What makes you think you can trust me?”
“I don’t but Ryan does. If he didn’t, you’d be dead. If there was any thought that you were a threat to me or the people of this island. You would have never made it here.”
“Besides,” I added with a warmer smile. “You’ve abducted him once before and I can trust you’ll be able to do it again should the need arise.”
His great, booming, laughter filled the room and even the quiet woman beside him smiled. He grinned, showing straight white teeth and inclined his head towards me.
“You have a deal, lass. I’ll keep your boy safe and bring him home.”
“Thank you. Please be assured that your people will be safe and welcome no matter the outcome.”
“Oh, aye. I have no doubt. You’re a different bunch to those Genpact arseholes, true enough.”
I hesitated then. I had a lot of work to do and the admiral’s staff had spent the better part of two weeks learning all they could about this Genpact group. Still, I had questions of my own that I wanted answered.
“What were they like?”
“Genpact? They were alright if you did as they wanted. They didn’t put stock in much but their intelligence. If you weren’t a scientist or great thinker, you weren’t worth as much to them.”
“And they did this to the world?” I gestured with my hand to encompass everything, from the zombies to the devastation and the thousands of refugees who had lost everything. “Why?”
Killing the Dead Season 3 Box Set | Books 13-18 Page 55