Deadweight | Book 2 | The Last Bite

by Forster, Paul

  Natasha couldn’t disagree more. Her recent venture out had reminded her the chase was nearly as important as the feast at the end. She knew she was a beast, a monster, and she enjoyed it. When she stumbled across those idiots in the village, she thought she wanted redemption. She didn’t. She wanted to be the monster she had become, but that William has shackled with this gilded cage. “You can’t expect me to stay the quiet little housewife forever. You have your work, I have your mother’s old romance novels. I’m not going to just wait for you to summon me like I’m fucking on-call.”

  “You’re welcome to leave. If you want to hunt so much, you go for it. I’m sure you remember what it’s like to have an empty belly, to not be able to think about anything but your next feed? You like the thrill of the hunt? Did you like being shot? How about stabbed or beaten? You’re a child, Natasha. When the dead are the only things walking this earth, you’ll thank me for providing for us.”

  The worst thing was Natasha knew he was right. She stormed out of the room naked. She was furious and had a point to prove. She rushed downstairs to the kitchen and opened the door to the cellar. Turning the light on, a dozen scared faces turned away, not wanting to draw her attention. She didn’t care. She picked a girl, a little plump thing in her early teens. She was complete and hadn’t been harvested from yet. This one would really piss William off. Grabbing the girl the other captives gasped but were helpless to save her, she unshackled her and stood the girl in front of her.

  Natasha looked her in the eyes for what felt like minutes but was only seconds. She was petrified and powerless. Just how Natasha liked her food. Slowly she moved her face closer to the girls, savouring every moment of anticipation. Her lips brushed against the girl’s cheek gently, as if she was going to kiss her before pulling away. The girl trembled and wet herself. Natasha smiled then lunged at the girl biting her cheek ripping a small piece of flesh away.

  The others screamed and cried out. The girl was frozen with fear as Natasha gripped her hard, ready to feed once more.

  “Stop this now!” William shouted at the top of his lungs. He was already behind Natasha before she could turn and ripped her off of the girl, flinging Natasha to the ground. “What the fuck are you doing?” William screamed at Natasha. He looked down at the girl, her cheek was bleeding from where the flesh had been torn away. The stubborn bitch had purposefully bitten her cheek. If it had been her arm, he could have amputated and kept the girl going. The facial injury was a showstopper. Unless…

  William grabbed Natasha and dragged her to a set of shackles at the far end of the cellar, away from its other guests. He chained her up and checked to make sure she was fully restrained.

  “I didn’t take you for that kinky sort Willy, maybe that’s where I’ve been going wrong?” Natasha teased. She had a devious smile spread across her face. She had achieved what she wanted, she’d got to him.

  “Calm yourself down, I’ll be back in the morning,” he said. William picked the girl up and took her up the stairs.

  “She’s underage you pedo!” she exclaimed. The smirk grew wider, then disappeared. “You can’t leave me here you arsehole,” she cursed. The door was already slamming shut as she screamed out her last words.

  Quickly William carried the girl to his lab and strapped her to a gurney, making sure her limbs and head could not move. “It’ll be okay, I promise. I can make you better,” he tried to assure her. The girl saw no comfort in the words coming from this monster. She’d seen what he’d done to the others without a care in the world. Her eyes struggled to move away from the caged creatures in this nightmarish, mad scientist’s laboratory. He wasn’t her saviour.

  William was determined to test his cure. Could it save a recently infected human? By now the microbe was working its way through her body, carried in her bloodstream. It was already starting to reproduce and feeding on her. The first people he had turned before society had fallen had taken days to become the unthinking beasts that now ruled the land. If he infected someone now, it could take as little as just a few hours for them to change. This girl was still herself. If he could apply the cure now before she lost any cognitive abilities, it would prove the effectiveness of the cure.

  The wound looked sore, but Natasha hadn’t taken too much flesh. She could easily have bitten a hole into the poor girl’s face. Instead, it was just a minor wound. William cleaned the wound before he began injecting around it with his solution. The girl squirmed in pain. Each injection like a bee sting on her face. William applied a dressing to the wound and admired his handwork, but he wasn’t finished.

  After fifty small injections all over the girl’s body, she had passed out with the pain. William stood back and stared at her, looking for any changes in her pigmentation or other signs that the infection had taken hold. Nothing. With the treatment having been applied, now only time would tell if it was effective.

  Chapter 41

  The prime minister had been restless since she had ordered the admiral to return with McKinley. The pistol remained in her grasp. She wasn’t sure if the next person through the door of number 10 would be loyal or a treacherous usurper ready to shoot her dead. Either way, she was prepared to shoot first and ask questions later. Gerard stood a few feet away and looked more nervous than she did. He equally wasn’t confident that the door wouldn’t open with a hail of bullets. Best not to stand too close to their potential target.

  “This is the state of the world? It’s like a fucking banana republic. Nobody respects the rule of law, or the rightful government. They think they can snatch power because they have hurt feelings, because they don’t like the tough decisions being made. If they think they have force, I’ll show them bloody force. I’ll show them I’m in charge. I’ll show them and anyone else who thinks they can take my job!” she declared. She had already decided that they would execute McKinley. Extreme times call for extreme measures. He would have conspirators, the SBS would be tasked with extracting their names from him. They would become her personal army, ready to protect her and destroy her enemies. If they wanted a dictator, she’d give them one. Three knocks on the door heightened tensions in the room. Gerard took a further, subtle step away from the prime minister whilst she readied her small revolver. “Enter.”

  The door slowly swung open. A special forces soldier in black carrying an assault rifle stepped through first, followed by a bound McKinley and three more soldiers. McKinley had a small smear of blood under his nose and his eye was red, the start of a nice shiner. Roughly, they shoved him down to his knees. Good, they had already started softening the bastard up.

  “Where is Hollis?” she barked, having expected to see her pet admiral proudly leading the traitor to her.

  “Ma’am, the admiral is in sickbay. An altercation with the prisoner resulted in a minor injury,” the first soldier stated.

  A wicked smile spread across her face. She was pleased to hear of his loyalty and amused by the idea of these middle-aged men brawling. “Very good,” she said and rose from her chair and stood over McKinley, “Do you know why you’re here?”

  He looked up at her emotionless and nodded, his eye already starting to swell.

  “I’m interested in how you thought you would get away with this? Did I hurt your masculine pride so much by stripping you of your position, little me, a woman?”

  “Well, I guess I thought you were a monster who had to be stopped, just like we’d put down one of those creatures rather than let it fester.”

  “Everything I did was to guarantee the survival of humanity. I took no pleasure in what had to be done, I will go down in history as a saviour, not a sinner.”

  “Myself, and many others know of your crimes, we won’t let them be forgotten.”

  “Yes, your co-conspirators. How many of them have you infected with your silly ideas of a better tomorrow without sacrifice today?” she asked then raised her pistol and pressed it against his forehead.

  “More than you can imagine, from cooks to senior
officers. On this ship and others, your crimes are more than whispers, more than rumour. People know the truth, and you can’t kill it. Do what you want with me, you’ll be the one tied and bound by the end of the day.”

  She looked to the soldiers. “I want a list of names within the hour, and either the brig or mortuary full,” she said. They each stared blankly without moving. “Take him away and get those bloody names!” she demanded. Still, they refused to move. She moved closer to the nearest soldier, inches away. “Do you understand! Do your damn job!” she screamed in his face as loud as she could. A small amused smile took to the soldier’s face. It could have been that the thought of this politician thinking she could intimidate him with his years of service and training. Or it could have been the sight of McKinley slowly rising to his feet, his hands unbound and a 9mm pistol in his hand.

  “Ma’am, you’re relieved of your duties,” McKinley stood behind her, his pistol pointed at her back.

  Her heart skipped several beats as the situation dawned on her. Slowly she turned to see the general. “Do you think you will do better?”

  “I’m not in charge, we already have a council organised. Like you, I must answer for my crimes and I will gladly do so. Hollis will answer for his too once his broken jaw allows him to speak.”

  She still had her pistol in her hand. The angry voice inside of her screamed at her to shoot everyone. The other voice, the fearful one, pleaded with her to give up and beg for mercy. Before either voice had successfully made its case, a soldier snatched the pistol from her, and showed it off to his colleagues. “This is cute, I think I’ll give it to my daughter.”

  “It should never have come to this. The people looked to us for protection and at every step we decided who would live or die. Had we made different, better decisions we could have saved thousands more, but we protected the few, the VIPs, the rich and those who we decided were useful.”

  “Spare me the lecture general. If I’m to be arrested, all I ask is that you stop spouting your misplaced morality and take me to the brig so I might finally get some rest.”

  The general nodded, and as the soldiers took her out of the room, Gerard quietly followed unchallenged. The general touched his swollen eye and winced with the pain, Hollis had a decent left hook but a glass jaw. Left alone, he sat down and popped the magazine out of his pistol and ejected the single round in the chamber, placing them all on the table. The bottle of whiskey caught his eye, and he poured himself a small measure to help with the pain. He wasn’t sure this course of action would have a better result than what the prime minister had been doing, but they wouldn’t kill their own people. On that point alone, they couldn’t be worse off. He knocked back the spirit and left the quarters. “There’s a pistol on the desk, secure it then lock up before reporting back to your CO,” the general commanded the bewildered sentry.

  “What’s happening sir?” the sentry asked, having heard parts of the altercation, but didn’t understand.

  “Something different, let’s hope it’s better.”

  Chapter 42

  As the helicopter rose above Wellworth, the SAS team were already growing weary of their daily routine. Death was everywhere. The few survivors they interacted with were as friendly as the feeders. This scientist was probably dead, but they had to continue searching as long as those in charge ordered it. Every foray into the dead’s domain reaffirmed the fact that unless he’d found a good, strong group, he wasn’t alive to be found. Peter was again left on his own, waving them off from the ground as they flew further away.

  Spencer had wanted to follow the lead they had received at Mackland’s farm, but those in charge had their own preferred targets to investigate, and that’s what he did. Today they would get close to Thornhurst, where the farmer had tipped them to a Johnson family living nearby. If not today, then perhaps tomorrow they might stumble across the right farm.

  The helicopter was only in the air for five minutes before it began circling the chosen landing zone. The door gunners concentrated on any movement, ready to open fire at any threat. None was visible, and after the okay from Spencer, the helicopter began its descent.

  “The satellites have recorded movement here that could be human in the last 24 hours,” Spencer confirmed to his men.

  “That’s what they’ve said about every fucking shit hole they’ve sent us to,” Gary rightly pointed out. “Sometimes it’s a survivor, most the time it’s one of them.”

  “We all have a job, yours is to shut up and do as you’re told. As is mine,” Spencer replied. He nudged his man just as the Lynx touched the ground and the men jumped out, taking up a defensive position before it soared back into the sky.

  The farmhouse looked much like the others. Made of stone with a few more modern outbuildings, it was functional and only changed as it had needed to over the years. Animal carcasses littered the fields, but no roaming feeders. That was something. As they neared the courtyard, several downed feeders lay on the ground, each with a wound through the eye. Not from a firearm, but from a blade or something pointy. They were getting closer to the farmhouse, but before they could make themselves known a man exited the farmhouse waving his t-shirt in the air atop of his spear as if he was surrendering.

  “Please don’t shoot!” Kevin tightly gripped the spear.

  The four man SAS team became more alert. It wouldn’t have been the first ambush they’d suffered from a group of survivors feigning compliance.

  “Stay there mate. Are you alone?” Spencer signalled his men to fan out to cover any potential attack.

  “Yes sir, it’s just me. I swear,” he replied. He was hardly likely to tell the truth if he was the mastermind of an ambush.

  Spencer didn’t need to look at the picture of William, it was obvious this wasn’t their man. “Secure him,” he ordered Gary, who obliged and rushed to Kevin.

  Gary threw the spear to the ground and forced Kevin to his knees, then his onto belly with his hands behind his back. A black cable tie secured him and he rested with his knee on Kevin’s back. The other three men began clearing the farm. Minutes passed, and they all came out, happy the farm was deserted.

  Spencer approached Kevin. “Is this your farm?”

  “No sir, I’m just staying here for a few days,” Kevin answered. Fear and hope, Kevin knew they may kill him, but they could take him with them. Either option seemed more desirable than being left alone to survive.

  “Where are you from? You sound like a city kid, not some country bumpkin,” Spencer asked. He was sizing up their captive, trying to decide what kind of survivor he was.

  “London.”

  “We’re looking for a man. He’s very important and could help end all this shit. Have you seen any other survivors in this area?” Spencer asked, he never dropped eye contact.

  “Just one, but she wasn’t right. She was like one of those things. She killed my mate, bloody ate him, right in front of me. I barely got away.”

  Like all soldiers who had fought on the mainland, they had heard stories of the intelligent feeders. He’d seen the reports on the variants of the creatures. Even Peter had his own story of an intelligent one. Besides a slight issue with their complexion, they looked and acted like a normal human being. But they were cunning, which made them more dangerous. Spencer wasn’t sure he believed they existed. He couldn’t make his mind up if they were just stories made up to keep the infantry alert, or just genuine survivors who had suffered a breakdown. It wasn’t a stretch to believe some poor bastard, trapped and alone, could lose their marbles and attack the living as if it were a creature. He understood the basic creatures, even the big buggers, and the more physically impressive feeders made sense. But smart ones? He really wasn’t sure he believed the dossier or the eyewitness statements.

  “A female?”

  “Yeah, good looking. Natasha.”

  That name rang a bell with Spencer, but he couldn’t place it and didn’t put a lot of effort trying to recall details. “Where was she?�
��

  “Thornhurst.”

  Getting closer, good. “Is she still there?”

  “No. She saved me and Jules. She walked amongst them. She even helped us get out of that place. But she attacked Jules for no reason as soon as we were clear of that fucking village.”

  He was nervous and evasive, Spencer picked up on it and continued, “Where was she going?”

  “Didn’t say, didn’t want us to go with her, that much was clear. She told us she was living with her boyfriend. Phil, Bill…” Kevin tried to recall the details, but all he could recall was the sight of her eating his friend.

  “William?” Spencer offered. His interest was again peaked.

  “Yeah, that sounds right. Will, William. Yeah, that was it.”

  Spencer felt some relief. Maybe they would be done with this mission soon. “Get that mad fucker on the blower, we need a pickup. We’re heading back early,” he seethed. He wanted to get back to Wellworth and report in. He’d plead with the head sheds to get every satellite they still had access to looking at anything within three miles of Thornhurst that even remotely looked like a house. He’d give the boys an early night, and they’d be out at the crack of sparrows, ready to get their man.

  “Can I come with you?” Kevin piped up, embarrassed.

  “No. We can’t accommodate refugees,” replied Spencer. He knew they could easily take the kid back to Wellworth, but they didn’t know him. He couldn’t risk the safety of his men when they might be so close to their objective.

  “I’m all alone, I need your help,” Kevin said. He felt a wave of desperation wash over him.

  “Sorry, not our mission. You’ve made it this far, carry on as you have been,” Spencer said and turned away from the kid, “Mike, test him. All good cut his restraints. If he fails, put one in his skull.”

  Mike nodded and followed Spencer’s order. He took his small testing kit, taking the blood, and quickly adding it to the small ceramic tile before applying the white substance. Kevin was as nervous as when Natasha had attacked his friend. His fate wasn’t in his own hands, and he was about to find out if his suffering could continue. “You’re fine,” Mike confirmed, bluntly advising Kevin he wasn’t about to be shot before he cut the cable tie off. He reached into a pouch on his webbing and produced two protein bars, which he tossed to Kevin. It wasn’t much, but it made Mike feel better about leaving the kid behind. The soldiers headed back to the landing zone, Mike monitored Kevin until they were a suitable distance away when he was happy to face forward.