Instinctively she jerked her foot away from it, then cursed as it came down on air as she took a step back, her arms jerking as she fell backwards.
On impulse, she released her grip on the shotgun, not wanting to pull the trigger by accident and then she was rolling quickly, bumping over the sloping peat and stones until with a thud she collided with the roof of the Land Rover, the force off the impact knocking the air from her.
Blinking against the pain in her back and shoulders, she forced herself to rise to her knees, eyes scanning the way she had just fallen for any sign as to where the shotgun had ended up, a curse escaping her as she saw it halfway between her and the ghoul which seemed oblivious to her new location, head turning as it looked for her.
Keeping her head low, willing her body to work after her tumble down the hill and the collision with the upturned Land Rover, Bella rose slowly, leaning back against the vehicle behind as she studied the shotgun that she had dropped. She flinched as she heard a soft moan come from within the Land Rover and dropping back down to a crouch, she moved to stare in through the broken windscreen which with the vehicle on its side rose like a narrow doorway before her.
She flinched almost at once as she saw the mutilated, blood-covered figure of Geri strapped in her car seat, her arms hanging limply down, empty eye sockets staring blankly back at Bella.
The former soldier winced as she studied the dead woman then screamed like a child as the figure suddenly lurched like a marionette, head flopping from side to side, arms flapping wildly, and pushing herself backwards, Bella lay on the damp peat behind her, her eyes wide in terror.
Then there was a click, and the body dropped forward, appearing to drop to all fours in the broken windscreen, and shaking her head, Bella pushed herself away on the ground, then froze as a figure appeared between the gap in the seats, its blood-stained features covered in cuts and bruises, as it stared out at her from the back seat.
“Alice?” the former soldier pushed herself to her hands and knees, her eyes wide, “Oh my God!”
For a moment, the young woman held her gaze in silence, the haunted look in her eyes hinting at the nightmare that she had somehow survived and then she chuckled, “You took your time”
Chapter Thirty Seven
“Eric!” Emily gritted her teeth as she stared at her younger brother, her head shaking, “I swear to God, stop being so annoying!”
“I’m not” the boy sent her a look which proved her point, his tongue poking from his mouth and the teenage girl sighed heavily, raising a fist.
“Keep on and I’ll kill you!”
“I’ll phone Childline” he taunted her, “I will!”
“Not if you are dead you won’t” she grimaced, then turned as a deep laugh sounded behind her.
Frowning, Emily held the gaze of the large man that owned the farmhouse with his wife, Robert or Raymond or something, his frame dwarfing her as he stood beside the front door of his property, a shotgun held in his large hands.
For a moment, she was silent, brow furrowed as she lowered her gaze from the mans face to the weapon, then met his gaze again, “Is it loaded?”
“It is” he gave a nod and she smiled broadly.
“Can I shoot my brother?”
Again he laughed and she sighed heavily, casting a look at the young boy as he stood throwing sticks over the edge of the drop beyond the front of the farmhouse, “Eric, get away from the edge!”
Snarling in frustration, she cast a glance back at the farmer, “Are you sure you can’t shoot him”
“Sorry” he winked, then turned to glance about the open ground, “I need to save these shells in case one of those things comes mooching round”
Emily nodded at his words, then sighed once more, “Bullets don’t work on them”
“Then I’ll have to kill it with my bare hands” the big man gave a chuckle and she nodded at him.
“You look big enough…they are strong though”
He shrugged, “So am I lass, any of those things tries hurting anyone with me about and they’ll get thunder and lightning”
“What?” she crinkled her nose up, “Weather?”
Laughing softly, the big man rested the shotgun against the frame of the front door and raised both his ham sized hands before him one at a time, “Thunder and Lightning!”
The teenage girl raised an eyebrow, “What, are you a boxer or something?”
“I was” the man nodded, turning to look over the moorland that stretched away to the South, a sad look in his eyes, “I was good too…I could have been a big name…lucky me though, my dad needed me to help him run his farm”
Emily nodded, eyes glancing about, “It’s not much of a farm is it…you don’t have any crops or cows”
His deep laugh had her frowning as he rubbed a tear of amusement from an eye, “There’s more to farms than cows and crops lass, I got sheep”
“Sheep?”
He nodded, “Six hundred of the buggers”
She turned at his words, glancing about, “So where are they?”
“All over the place” he sighed, picking the shotgun back up, “I have a large number down in the field below the rear barns and the rest scattered on the moorland, I have no idea how I am going to keep an eye on them now my two lads are….well…you know”
“Dead” Emily stated, her tone matter of fact, and the large farmer nodded, smiling sadly at her.
“Aye, they are that”
Nearly a minute dragged by as the two stood in an uncomfortable silence and then she turned once more, groaning as she saw her brother standing closer to the edge than before, “Eric!”
At her shout, he groaned aloud, arms flapping up dramatically in the air but he stepped back and turned away, kicking idly at some loose stones.
“That lad is bored” the farmer gave another chuckle and nodding, Emily met his gaze again.
“He’s always bored”
“Why don’t you go for a walk?”
“What?” she eyed him suspiciously, “Dog and Bella told me that we weren’t to wander off!”
“You aren’t wandering off” he gave a chuckle, waving a hand dismissively at her words, “You are on my land, besides, your mam and dad checked it for these thing’s didn’t they?”
Emily winced at his words, “They aren’t my mam and dad…they are just taking care of us for now”
The big man winced, “Sorry luv…”
“Its fine” she looked down at the floor, turned to cast a glance at Eric and then looked back at the farmer, “Are you sure we won’t get in trouble?”
He laughed at her words, “From who? I told you, this is my farm, I am in charge here, go have fun”
She smiled, nodding at the large man and then turned, calling to Eric as she approached him.
“Where are we going?” he muttered as he fell in step beside her, “Am I trouble again?”
“No” she rolled her eyes, nudging him with an elbow, “Just shut up, we are going for a walk”
“Why?
“Because we are”
Eric frowned, head shaking, “That is the dumbest reason for a walk I have heard off…are we on an errand for someone?”
“Nope” she sighed, “We are just walking”
He blinked, head shaking, “I don’t get it”
“Oh shut up” Emily nudged him again, “We used to go for walks all the time with mam and dad”
“Did we?” he frowned, glancing at her, “Really?”
She nodded then threw him a smile, “Now shut up and stop ruining the moment…every time you speak, I remember you are here”
“Hey, why are you so mean to me, Emily”
“I’m your big sister…it’s the law”
Trying to keep the smile from her face as he stared up at her in shock, Emily strode onward, pausing as they reached the two barns that the farmer had mentioned, then gestured with a hand towards a small track leading down beside one, “Come on, I think it’s down here”
<
br /> “What?” he cast her a look of surprise, “We are going to do something aren’t we? Tell me!”
Sighing, knowing that for the time being she had her younger brother completely under her control and behaving, Emily paused, nodding as she spoke, “You saw me talking to the farmer?”
Her brother nodded, and she continued, “We are on a secret mission for him, we can’t tell anyone”
“Anyone?” he seemed suddenly unsure, “What about Brandon?”
“No”
“What about Dog and Bella?”
“Definitely not Dog and Bella!” she snapped, her head shaking, “Swear to keep it secret or we are going to turn back now!”
“OK” he groaned, nodding, “I swear”
Chuckling, Emily began to walk once more, heading down past the barns, “Right, down here is the field where the farmer keeps all his special sheep, he wants us to make sure they look OK”
“Sheep?” Eric groaned, stopping dead in his tracks, “I don’t want to go see sheep!”
Shaking her head, Emily threw him a wink, “But these are special sheep”
“What?”
“No, if you don’t want to know”
“No, no, wait” he stepped in front of her, blocking her path as she turned back, “Special how?”
Emily smiled, “How do you think?”
Her younger brother blinked, brow furrowing and then he raised an eyebrow, “Because they are robots?”
She faked a gasp, frowning, “Who told you”
“No-one” his voice was a whisper as he glanced quickly about, “It was a guess!”
Emily frowned, trying not to smile as he stared up at her, “So, can we go see them?”
“Oh, you want to now?”
“Duh” he rolled his eyes, “Of course I do”
“I thought you said they were robot sheep?” the voice of Eric was confused as he stood in front of her several minutes later, their bodies obscured by a large cluster of gorse bushes that bordered the drop to the valley below, the walls of the rise at their backs, the two large barns to their left.
She winced at his words, her hands fastened to his shoulders as she stared over his head at the stretch of moorland which sat at the bottom of the slope, not really a field at all by normal terms.
The sheep that they had come to see lay strewn across the area, torn asunder, almost every one of them a bloody ruin where their stomachs had once been, blood caking the peat they lay upon.
For several moments, she let her eyes drift over the poor unfortunate animals, fighting to stop herself from being sick, and then she let her eyes gaze settle upon the group of ghouls that were clustered in a pile at the base of the steep rise like sleeping new born kittens sharing body warmth, the majority of them naked, their white bodies bright in the cold November sunlight.
“We should go” her voice was a whisper, and before her Eric nodded, tilting his head to her.
“Because of the ghouls?”
She resisted the urge to answer sarcastically, knowing that now was not the time to start another argument, instead pulling gently on his left shoulder, “Yes, let’s go”
“No” he shook his head, “I wanna watch them”
“What?” Emily blinked, her head shaking, “No!”
“You’re not my mam!” he snapped, taking a step away from her, his voice rising, and she winced.
“Eric, we have to keep quiet”
“No!” he shook his head, turning to thrust an arm down towards where the ghouls lay in a huddle, a sneer on his features, “I’m not scared of them!”
“Well you should be!” she snapped, suddenly angry, a finger pointing at him, “Because of them Moonshine is dead…Castiel is dead…lots of people are dead, stop acting like a child!”
“I am a child!” he argued weakly, and she snarled.
“Yeah, but you don’t need to be a dickhead!”
“Fuck off”
“What?” Emily blinked, head tilting slightly as she stared back at her younger brother and he winced, hands raising defensively before him.
“Oh…I….I didn’t mean…” Eric began, head shaking as he edged away from her, “Jack at school says it…I didn’t mean you…I meant…”
“You little bastard!” Emily shouted, a rage coursing through her as she stared at him, “Do you even have any idea what I have given up to look after you…no…you don’t…”
“I’m sorry!”
“Don’t you ever swear at me again!” she jabbed a finger towards him, then snapped her face to the side, her stomach lurching as she looked over the edge of the slope towards the valley below them.
“Emily!” Eric stepped towards her, “I am sorry!”
She nodded, hardly hearing his words as she stared down at the group of ghouls that were slowly rousing themselves from their pile, several already loping to the side, heads angling as they stared up at the brother and sister, snarling excitedly, hands reaching towards them.
“We need to go!” she reached out, snatching at Eric and he followed her gaze, his earlier bravado gone as he whimpered and stepped back to her.
“They can’t get up here can they?”
She shook her head at his question, then winced as several of them ran quickly at the slope, hands grasping at the soft peat as they tried to drag themselves up, all of them falling back down except for one which clung on, snarling angrily.
“No” she shook her head, stepping back towards the barns, dragging Eric with her, but keeping close enough to the edge to watch the climbing ghoul as it somehow moved up another metre.
It snapped its face towards her, teeth bared as it gave another excited snarl, and Emily raised her eyes studying the distance it still had to climb.
“Emily, its halfway up!” Eric whimpered and she grimaced, head shaking as she watched the ghoul extend a hand, grasping at a bush and then fall as it’s handhold suddenly came loose from the peat.
Snarling, it fell back to the ground forty feet below, its head striking a small cluster of rocks as it landed, its skull cracking. Instantly, the others were upon it, hands reaching down as they began to gibber and screech in a feeding frenzy, all but one which stood back, the remnants of a black robe hanging from its white-skinned form as it stared up at the pair, its features twisted in what looked like a smile. Grimacing, Emily stepped out of sight, Eric moving with her, and she shook her head, “We better tell the others”
“What?” he looked like he was about to begin crying, “Please don’t…they will think it is my fault for shouting and waking them!”
“Don’t be daft!” she winced, “We have to tell!”
“No, Dog and Bella will be angry!” Eric looked mortified, “Please…they won’t like me anymore!”
For a moment she stood in silence, holding his gaze and then she nodded her head, “Fine, but you don’t come back here ever again!”
He nodded and she grimaced, “Promise me”
Smiling, Eric crossed his chest, “I promise”
Chapter Thirty Eight
“Are you sure you are OK?” Dog turned from the front passenger seat to stare back at Alice as she sat in the back of their vehicle, his bearded features fixed with concern as he asked the question for the fifth time in as many minutes.
Nodding, touched by his evident concern, Alice forced a weary smile, “I told you I’m fine, just cold and shaken up…I’m so glad to see you guys”
He winced, nodding, and turned away, his head shaking, “Jesus fucking Christ…I can’t believe I didn’t realise Marcus was going to turn weird”
“It’s not your fault” Alice shook her head, leaning forward to place a hand on his shoulder and he gave a heavy sigh, his features twisting in grief.
“Isn’t it?” his voice was tight, strained, and sitting in the back of the vehicle, Alice saw the grief in his eyes as he turned to look back at her again, “I should have known…Marcus did nothing but sleep for most of the day yesterday before you left…the same as…my fri
end, Moonshine…damn!”
“Dog” the voice of Bella was concerned as she cast a glance at him and then turned back to the road ahead, “Seriously, I know the guilt game as well as you, this isn’t your fault…Alice is alive!”
He nodded, then sighed heavily, “He killed Geri, if I had realised what was up that might have been avoided…damn it…fucking Hell!”
“Hey, if you could have noticed it then so could I have, if you are going to take the blame then so am I!” Bella argued, head shaking, and for a it looked like Dog was going to argue only to change his mind and fall silent, sighing heavily.
As Bella drove the vehicle through the open moorland, Alice leaned back against the seat, her head turning to stare out of the window beside her, eyes staring up at the blue November sky as she cast her mind back over the night before.
She had passed out at some point in the Land Rovers headlong crash down the steep slope, but not before it had flipped wildly and the ghoul that had been Marcus had been sucked through the smashed windscreen by gravity as it had leaned between the seats, reaching for her.
Then she had struck her head, and the darkness had taken her for god knows how long until she had awoken with a start in the wreckage, panic coursing through her for a moment as she had tried to recall what had happened, and then she had seen the grisly remains of Geri beside her.
Shaking her head, feeling as if she was all but out of tears, Alice had sat in the overturned vehicle, studying the body of the courageous Scots woman in sadness, casting her mind back to the brutal and unexpected attack, wondering if there had been any way that she could have saved her, then she had felt her blood run cold as she had heard the feral snarls of a ghoul out in the night.
Fearing the sudden return of Marcus and having no weapons with which to defend herself, Alice had snatched up a shard of glass and clambered past the dead body of the woman she had shared a brief but strong friendship with, apologising each time she bumped it and sent the corpse lurching as it hung suspended by its seat belt.
Ghoul: The Beginning Page 22