by Smith, I. J.
Paige stood barking at the intruders in front of Elle. The large man with the sword walked towards them. Elle grabbed onto Paige, holding her back.
“Control that damn dog, or I will!” he told her harshly. While holding the handle of his sword, indicating he would kill the dog if she didn’t.
Elle held onto Paige tightly.
Now, that the intruders, had the people being grouped together in the middle of their settlement. The intruders blocked the gateway, killing the few zombies that still approached. Frank was still bleeding from his face when he was pushed to the ground. Ryan was still swinging his bat, refusing to give up, until a large man finally overpowered him. Knocking Ryan to the ground, the man repeatedly kicked him.
Sounds of crying and whimpering children filled the air.
The large bald man screamed out, “QUIET!”
An eerie silence began. The large man with the sword walked in front of the prisoners. He stopped and looked at Frank. “No ammunition,” he muttered. Thinking of the bullet that just missed him, that was fired by Frank, the large man kicked Frank in the face, blood spraying out.
The large man stood in front of the prisoners. “WE ARE MERCY! I lead Mercy! I am Macleod! We are here to protect you. For that you pay!” he told everyone.
Frank struggled to his feet. “We don’t need nor want your protection!” he told him firmly.
Macleod smiled and just stared at Frank. Two of his men grabbed Frank and one held a knife to his throat. “Trust me, you need protection!” he told him.
“We are Mercy. We bring order to the chaos of this land, is it not fair that we are paid for our services?” he asked.
Frank looked at the scared people in his group. He knew at that moment he could not fight the intruders. “What do you want?” he asked.
Macleod, with his sword in his hand, walked closer to Frank. “Simple. Half your food, a place to rest and a place that services only us!” Macleod replied.
“Just take what you want!” Frank told him.
With a smile, Macleod spoke. “We will. Plus, you will keep giving. No running away from your duties.”
Frank frowned, unclear by what the man meant. He knew the moment these people left. He would take his people and leave the school.
Macleod raised his hand into the air. “Round them up!” he shouted. Screaming began again. Adam watched as the children were being dragged away from their group. Frank was still being held with a knife to his throat. “What are you doing?” Frank asked.
“We are Mercy; do you think we are stupid? The children come with us, until we can trust that you will keep you end of the deal,” Macleod told him.
As the children were being dragged away, the people in the group began to stand up. “STOP!” Macleod screamed at them raising his sword.
The children were beginning to be loaded into the truck. “We are Mercy. But there must be a strict law. Any attempt to fight against the law, will be met with strict punishment. Some of my people will remain behind to make sure you understand,” Macleod told them.
Elle stood up. She held hers arm out, making sure everyone behind her stayed quiet. “Please, they are just children!” she pleaded.
Macleod looked at her, noticing the glow on her face and the large bump on her belly. “Is there nothing more beautiful than the seed of life?” he asked.
He walked closer to Elle and gently touched her belly. “We are Mercy,” he said with a smile to her.
Elle gave a hint of a smile back.
Macleod turned away. With a pause that was like slow motion, he swung around, his blade flying through the air. The look in Elle’s eyes changed to dread. The blade of the sword cut sliced through her neck like butter. It was as if time had slowed down for everyone. As her head flew through the air, blood sprayed from her headless corpse. Her head landed on the ground with a bounce and rolled.
Frank fell to his knee screaming out, “NO!”
Shocked, everyone was silent.
“We are Mercy. You will obey the law!” Macleod said, while his people were laughing behind him.
The intruders continued to load up the truck with the group’s supplies. Children were already loaded onto the truck. Frank slowly kneeled in front of Elle’s body, with tears in his eyes. “I failed,” he whispered to himself.
Eventually, the truck and one of the cars left. The intruders who remained behind told people in the group to secure the gates. Alice led a team to secure the gates before the zombies found their way in.
Adam and Ryan approached Frank.
“Why would he do that?” Ryan asked.
Adam looked around, the fear in their people’s faces obvious.
“To show their power over everyone,” Frank replied.
Frank looked up at Adam. “Six months! Why are we even still here?” Frank asked.
Adam looked ashamed. “I’m sorry!” he replied, walking away. Deep down wishing that he was able to have gotten these people out of this place long ago.
Frank and Ryan stayed with Elle’s body.
One of the male intruders approached Frank and Ryan. “Throw that body over the fence and let the dead have it!” he told them.
Before Frank could react, Ryan jumped to his feet and ran at the guy. Punching him in the face, breaking his nose, blood sprayed from his face. Ryan was pulled back, and beat on by two other men. The man with the bleeding nose shouted out, “HOLD HIM!”
Without saying a word, the man grabbed Ryan by the neck, and began punching him hard, opening a cut above his quickly swollen eye. Ryan fell to the ground; all three intruders began kicking him.
“Please, you’ve made your point!” Frank begged.
They stopped. “We are Mercy!” the bleeding man replied.
The bleeding man looked at Elle’s body that still lying on the ground. Smiling as he picked up her decapitated head. “Now! Throw the rest to the dead!” he demanded, walking away with her head.
The bleeding man reached the front of the school, standing on the steps he shouted out, “WE ARE MERCY, I AM BLAKE! YOU WILL SERVE US!”
Blake walked over to a metal sign post. He reached up and pushed Elle’s head onto the top of it.
Frank looked around at his group. Everyone’s silence was one of grief and terror.
Frank realized the intruders had wasted no time in making their intentions known. Frank looked around to see over a dozen of the intruders were left behind to secure the school. Deep down, he knew it was over. He had failed in his promise to Jack.
CHAPTER THREE
HIDDEN
Bray and Zoe had been driving for hours.
“Where the hell are we headed?” Bray asked.
With a shake of her head, Zoe replied, “We have picked the area clean, we need extra medicines. On the map there is a big shopping mall a few miles up the road.”
Bray simply sighed. He knew Zoe was the main person behind all the baby supplies being collected.
“This baby is going to have the best!” he remarked.
Zoe’s face turned sad. “It is the least we can do after Jack gave up his life,” she said, with a lump in her throat.
Bray opened the car window; the fresh air blew in his face. He missed Jack, he thought about how he could reply to Zoe. He often thought about Jack, wondering how he would have reacted to their way of life. He remembered arguing with Frank about the lack of security at the school and how settling there was the wrong move.
He could still hear Frank now, “I AM IN COMMAND AND YOU WILL FOLLOW MY ORDERS!”
Bray also felt selfish, cursing Jack dying before fulfilling his promise to help him find his family.
Suddenly he spoke in reply, “That baby is gonna be spoiled and loved.”
His words made Zoe smile. “Big softy,” she said.
Zoe slowly stopped the car. “We should go on foot the rest of the way,” she suggested.
Bray looked at the road ahead; it was covered with debris. Parking the car was the best option; goi
ng forward could risk damaging their vehicle. Zoe pulled the car up behind a couple of abandoned vehicles, trying to make it look like their own car was also abandoned.
Stepping out from the car, both Bray and Zoe checked their guns. Both carried a sidearm and a knife on their belts. The truth was, ammo was low and they barely had a dozen rounds between them. Unlike other countries, gun stores were not on every corner, finding guns and ammo was much harder in Great Britain.
Leaving the car behind, the two of them walked away, towards the town ahead of them.
Bray and Zoe walked along in silence. They passed several more abandoned vehicles while walking towards a long row of shops. They passed several houses along the way, but no longer bothered to search them.
A few months back, Zoe and Bray were searching a large house in a gated community. They both figured houses like this would be well stocked with food and medicines. After all, the rich would not just pop down the shops like the rest of us would.
They broke into this large house, every time they went inside a new property they would shout out trying to attract the zombies, sometimes they would come and other times they would be lucky not to find any inside.
On this occasion nothing came following the noise.
Bray searched the kitchen while Zoe checked the bathrooms for medicines. She was searching a cupboard when a loud smashing noise echoed through the house. She rushed down the stairs to find Bray on the kitchen floor. He was being approached by zombies, a woman and a child. Zoe pulled her knife and stabbed the woman in the back of the head. Before she could deal with the child, Bray pulled his sidearm and shot it in the head.
For the first time she noticed fear in Bray’s eyes.
Zoe knew about Bray’s wife and daughter and somehow these two zombies attacking him, finally made him realize that there was little hope for his family being alive. From that moment on they never searched houses again.
The sun was beginning to set; they had driven for so long they had lost track of time. Bray and Zoe continued towards a small shop, it looked intact. The door was locked and the windows were unbroken. “This place looks good,” Zoe remarked.
Bray was about to respond when the sound of an engine echoed out. Zoe turned to look in the direction of the noise, Bray heard sounds of laughter and excitement. “COME KITTY, KITTY,” two male voices shouted.
The sound became clearer; it was that of a group of motorbikes. “WHERE ARE YOU KITTY-KAT?” a male voice shouted.
Bray pulled his sidearm. “We need to get off the street, now!” he said.
“Come on!” Zoe quickly replied.
She led Bray along the street stopping outside a charity shop. The door was open, but Zoe believed it could still give them a safe place to hide. She raised her sidearm and walked into the shop. Bray quickly followed, closing the door behind him. He dragged a table from the center of the shop and pushed it against the door to brace it.
The shop was full of secondhand goods, piles of clothes scattered the floor and shelves stacked with old DVD’s and toys.
The sound of the motorbikes grew louder. “We need to hide!” Zoe told Bray sharply.
Bray looked out the shop window, he hated hiding but what choice did they have. He turned and followed Zoe, who was walking into a back room and disappeared from sight.
A loud crash and a scream echoed through the shop. Bray rushed to join Zoe, he ran into the darkness to check on his friend. As he rushed into the room, he was shocked to see Zoe on the floor and an overweight teenager standing in front of him holding a cricket bat.
“Don’t move!” the boy said in a scared voice.
Bray walked towards him.
“STOP!” the boy yelled.
He swung the bat, but Bray grabbed it and took it away from him, throwing it on the floor.
The boy now stood there scared, of what Bray would do to him, when suddenly a young girl appeared holding an axe.
“We don’t want any trouble!” she told Bray.
Zoe begun to move, groaning in pain as she placed her hand on her head. The touch was tender, the wetness of the blood made Zoe angry. She rushed back to her feet and grabbed the boy by his shirt. Looking him directly in the eyes, she could see his fear. She pushed him away.
“Idiot!” Zoe shouted at him.
The sound of motorbikes continued to roar outside. Bray looked over to the girl was scared too.
Bray asked, “They looking for you two?”
With a simple nod of her head the girl responded.
With a sigh Bray spoke, “I’m Bray and the angry red head is Zoe!”
Zoe gave an angry smile that struck fear in the boy.
The girl replied, “I’m Kat and he’s Tommy.”
Bray looked at Tommy, who was a chunky, overweight teenager with brown curly hair. He then glanced at Kat, she was short and slim with long blonde hair. Bray knew straight way Kat was the strong one of the pair, he could see it in her blue eyes.
“It’s OK. You have nothing to fear from us!” Bray tried to reassure them.
Kat still held her axe.
Bray moved to the back of the room, the back door was broken open.
“Tommy, hand me that bat,” Bray asked him.
With hesitation, Tommy picked up the bat and handed it to Bray. Pushing the bat against the door and the handle against the wall, he secured it shut.
Bray sat down on the floor next to the door. “So why are they looking for you?” he asked.
Kat leaned against the wall opposite Bray. He was shocked to see how she reacted to him, she had talent. Kat knew exactly where to stand to keep everyone in her sights.
“They attacked my family a while back and my friend killed one of them!” Kat told him.
Zoe ripped a skirt she found on the floor and held it to her bleeding head. “They have been chasing you ever since?” Zoe asked.
Tommy interrupted before Kat could say anything, “We thought we left them behind us, but when we came looking for supplies today we found a big painted red M.”
Bray frowned, puzzled by what Tommy had just said.
“A red M?” Bray asked.
“It is their logo, they call themselves Mercy,” Tommy replied.
Zoe looked at Bray before she spoke, “So what happened to the rest of your family?”
“Nothing, they are waiting for us back at our motorhome. This was the first time we have been allowed to go out alone. We were only here a few hours when they turned up. We have been hiding ever since,” Kat replied.
Looking impressed Zoe replied, “Nice move.”
“OK, we will give it a few hours, enough time to allow some distance from them. Then we will take you back to your family,” Bray told them.
“NO!” Kat grunted.
“We will be fine alone,” Kat continued.
“Stop being a bitch, we will take you back. Just so you know we are the good guys!” Zoe angrily replied.
Kat looked furiously at Zoe. Tommy then said, “It can’t do any harm. Besides they have guns, they can help.”
Kat looked very unhappily at Tommy. “Fine, but my grandfather will not like it!” Kat replied.
A few hours had passed since they last heard anything from outside. Bray was back in the front of the shop looking out the window for any sign of them. Zoe joined him.
“Well?” Zoe asked.
“We should move, while we still have some night sky for cover,” Bray replied.
They both walked into the back of the shop. “OK, you guys lead the way!” Bray told them.
Kat stood up. “Honestly, we will be fine alone,” she told them.
Zoe frowned at Kat. “Come on!” Zoe told them.
They left through the back door. Walking out into clearing while looking around the men; or for anyone else watching them. Opposite them was a forest, they all ran across and disappeared into the trees.
They walked in silence for a while.
“So how far away is your family?” Zoe asked.
>
Kat looked across to Zoe. “An hour’s walk east, they are parked on a back road, well away from the main roads,” Kat replied.
That was all anyone said before continuing to walk in silence.
Behind the females Bray and Tommy talked.
“So, are you Kat’s brother?” Bray asked.
“No! No! We are just good friends. Her grandfather helped me when the dead began to walk around trying to eating us,” Tommy replied, with a smile.
Bray could not help but think how innocent he looked. It amazed Bray how he had survived so long in this new world.
Before they could continue to talk they heard the snapping of twigs. Zoe and Kat came to a stop ahead of them. Bray moved forward slowly looking into the darkness. Suddenly a figure appeared from the darkness, a half-rotted zombie headed toward them, quickly followed by several more.
“Shit!” Zoe uttered.
“Stay close,” Zoe told Kat.
They could not risk shooting, in fear of the gunshot attracting the bikers.
Pulling their knives out, Bray and Zoe moved forward.
A zombie with its guts hanging out and half an arm missing was the first to attack. Bray quickly moved to its side and pushed his blade into its brain. Zoe rushed another zombie, forcing her blade into its head. She felt a hand land on her shoulder, turning around to see a half decaying face attempting to bite her.
Zoe struggled to pull her knife free from the other zombie. Suddenly the head of the zombie attacking her shattered. Zoe watched as Kat bashed the skull of the zombie into a thousand bits. Bray took down the last two zombies.
“Thanks,” Zoe told Kat.
Kat smiled in reply, but was stopped by the sound of hands clapping. They all turned to see four large men; one was holding a knife to Tommy’s throat.
Bray reached for his side arm, but was hit from behind knocking him delete to the ground. A large bearded man took Bray’s gun from him. He pointed the gun at Kat and Zoe. “Now, where is the rest of your family?” the bearded man asked.
Kat took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Fuck you, I am not telling you shit!” she told him.