“Nae,” he said before I could speak. “There be a storm brewing, a big one.” He glanced up at the grey shrouded sky and sucked in a breath. “Will be one for the ages. You need experienced men on them boats if you hope to succeed. That will be us.”
“I can’t allow-“
“Ye don’t have a say, not in this. It be our choice and it’s one we made knowing what we know. Those that will sail with you, we’ve said our goodbyes and we stand ready to protect this place you’ve built for our families.”
Once more, my tears fell, and it was all I could do to muster my voice for one last time.
“Then we will stand together, fight together… we will die together, protecting our home.”
Chapter 17
The Mersey class lifeboat sped through the dark waters of the River Thames as we approached the heart of the city. Snow had begun to fall and with the wind blowing across the water, visibility was low.
Which was a good thing, really, as I had no doubt that there would be plenty of opposition facing me as I approached the enemy base.
Gregg clutched the rail beside me, face set in a seemingly permanent scowl as he kept a careful eye on the small group huddled near the bow. He hadn’t said a word to me in hours and I gathered that meant he was upset.
It was Isaac that guided the boat along the river, staying as close to the shore of the wide waterway as possible in an effort to avoid notice. Which was pretty difficult considering the noise of the boat’s diesel engines.
At about twelve meters in length and four wide, we weren’t exactly a huge target and nor was there a lot of space, but it managed a decent sixteen knots of speed. Isaac assured me that was an equivalent to eighteen miles per hour.
He too, wasn’t exactly pleased with me and I couldn’t understand why as I’d stopped Briony from turning him into a zombie minion. Something that would have made him more useful since, with his injured leg, he was limited.
Instead, she had moved through the small group of people at the pier without any real resistance, turning all but the older Terry. It was, she assured me, necessary. After all, when first turned the Infected had a hunger that made them less than rational.
Best to let them eat enough to satiate that hunger, which would allow her to keep them under control while stuck on the boat with the three of us.
Briony turned to look at me as though somehow knowing that I had been thinking of her. Dark eyes glittered in her grey face and she had discarded her heavy coat. It wasn’t like she needed it to hide herself any longer, not as close to the Genpact base as we were.
I turned my gaze away from her and went back to watching the shore. The weather was to our advantage and would make visibility difficult for Genpact. That would allow us to get closer to the base and create a little havoc before they managed to kill us.
The city around us had an unearthly quality to it. Tall buildings towered over us, but their windows were dark and there was none of the noise that I remembered from the last time I had visited London.
Any city had a certain feeling to it. All of the time, you couldn’t help knowing that you were surrounded by people. There was the constant noise, the babble of voices and the sounds of the heavy machinery as parts of the city were torn down and rebuilt in a seemingly endless cycle of improvement.
The buildings rose up all around you, towering into the sky oppressively, pushing down on you. There was a hum, an almost electrical charge to the air and as I stared at those buildings, just beginning to show the effects of the weather, I realised it was gone.
In its place was a feeling of emptiness. The buildings remained but the people were long gone, and they weren’t coming back. Already the buildings had begun to crumble, their windows streaked with dirt left by the rain and snow.
Vehicles clogged every street, almost buried by the snow perhaps but still there. Doors hanging open, windows smashed, and their owners long gone. It was a city of millions and when the end had come, it had been fast and hard.
There was no escape for many of those people. I’d seen the images back when it all began. The panicked people, crowds thousands strong fleeing and finding that there was nowhere to flee to. Every street, every building, seemed to have pockets of zombies that grew by the minute.
It had been a bloodbath.
“I went to a concert there once,” Gregg said, finally breaking his silence as he nodded towards the dome of the O2 Arena as it came into view ahead of us.
“Yeah?” Isaac didn’t look away from his controls as he replied. “Who’d you see?”
“Can’t remember. Christ, it seems like so long ago. Went with my boyfriend. He’d bought tickets for a birthday surprise. Some group I’d never heard of.”
He stared at the snow-covered dome of the arena; eyes distant as he thought back to that day.
“We had a huge bust up. That’s all I remember about it, calling my sister to come and get me. Crying my eyes out as I waited, and this lovely old lady who had brought her kids, sitting with me until Cass came.”
Gregg blinked, smile fading along with the memory and he shook his head.
“She’s probably long dead now.”
“Head over to the north shore,” I said, breaking through the pointless chatter. “Just after we go past the arena.”
Neither looked at me but Isaac’s hands on the controls moved and the boat began to change direction. I smiled, mirthlessly, and tapped the hilt of the knife that rested on my right hip. Soon, I would get to use it and that excited me.
The River Thames wound its way through the city creating small peninsulas and the arena was located in the centre of the Greenwich peninsula. It was set inside the Millennium Dome, which was a testament to the governmental need to commemorate the turning of the millennium by wasting a large chunk of the taxpayer's money.
Still, the Dome was large enough to contain the multi-purpose indoor arena that was home to any number of concerts and events. It seemed a pointless waste to me, but apparently, a large number of people were happy to throw their money away visiting it.
Much as the name suggested, it was a large dome that was centred on the tip of the peninsula and was the scene of a great deal of building work over the decade and a bit it had been in existence.
In fact, it was built by one of the subsidiary companies owned by Genpact. The construction had taken a great deal longer than expected and was significantly over budget. If anyone had cared to notice, when it was being built and when additions were made over the next decade, a great deal of work was done with little real change to the site itself.
Which, of course, was because much of the work went on below ground.
I could easily imagine that in those last days, an event had been held at the arena. One for all of Genpact's staff and their families. Many of those would have flown into the conveniently located city airports and they would have all been in attendance when the world went to hell.
No one, then, would have noticed that none of those people at the event ever left the venue, as they all simply moved down into the multi-levelled bunker beneath it. Food and supplies would have already been in place and when the doors closed behind them, they could sit in safety as the city died around them.
It was pointless trying to go into the arena as those doors were long since sealed and wouldn’t be opened up again until it was time for Genpact to make its triumphant return to the world. No, there would be little point going there at all.
Still, I did know that people travelled between the various Genpact bases. Smythe had admitted as much to me when he’d asked me to visit the London base and kill everyone there. That meant there were other ways in and out that weren’t for the majority of the people contained within.
My guess was that there would be places that opened onto the river to allow boats to come and go, bypassing the need in the first couple of years to navigate a city full of the undead. I also knew that there would be a way for a helicopter to come and go.
I dou
bted they would trust the security at the airports. In the early days especially there had been utter chaos at such places as everyone sought safety and a means to leave the infected areas. No, it would be somewhere the zombies couldn’t go and that most people wouldn’t be able to access.
Like atop any of the large buildings that towered over Canary Wharf. Those ones that reached up into the sky, built of steel and glass, with flat roofs that were far, far, above the zombie-filled streets.
Yes, I very much imagined that tunnels would stretch out beneath the city, providing access to various points of use for Genpact. It would be easy enough for them to power freight elevators in those skyscrapers so that goods could be moved up to the roof.
Or perhaps crates with zombies inside.
There was also the advantage that once you were in that particular area, you were stuck. There was just the river to either side and the Isle of Dogs to the south that ended in yet more river. No one would have reason to go there looking for safety.
It wasn’t all guesswork, of course, some information Smythe had shared with me, while Isaac knew a little more. The prisoner I had questioned back at the island had filled in more of the gaps and while I didn’t have an exact location, I knew the rough area to search.
Of course, once we landed, I expected to encounter stiff resistance. Zombies, mercenaries and who knew what else. No matter what it was, I would deal with it, along with Briony.
I watched the Infected woman for a moment as we approached the shore. She wanted the base for herself and that would mean that as soon as she had the location, she would no longer need me. She wouldn’t turn me, I was sure of that, but she would try and kill me.
That was a problem.
Isaac wouldn’t be of use to me. Sure, he could pilot the boat because that required he sit in a seat and grimace at the pain from his leg as his hands did all the work on the controls. Once out of the boat, he would hold me back.
It would be easy enough to have Briony infect him, but I actually liked the man and so would spare him that. Gregg, on the other hand, could handle himself well and would be an asset. I was pretty sure that having him watch my back could make all the difference for me and at any other time, I would have used him for that purpose until he fell to the enemy.
“When I get off the boat, I want you to head home,” I said, breaking the tense silence in the cabin.
“What? Why?”
I ignored Gregg’s indignant questions and focused on the former mercenary.
“You owe me your life, yes?”
Isaac risked a quick look at me, brow creasing as he stared. He gave one quick nod before turning back to the controls.
“Aye, I guess I do, Clever Bastard.”
Of course, he did. I could have killed him for kidnapping me and I could have easily let Briony turn him. He knew that and understood that I chose not to have him killed.
“Then get Gregg back to the island and consider all debts paid.”
“Aye.”
“No fucking way, mate!”
“Yes.” I gave him a measured look, one that made him squirm a little. “I have no use for you here. I will need to be fast and brutal. You will merely slow me down.”
“Seriously!” His face twisted in anger. “You're trying that old trick on me? Screw you! I know I won’t slow you down and you do too. I’m not some idiot you can trick with that shit.”
“Fine. You are an asset, but you are still going home. If you stay here, you’ll never see your family again. There’s no returning from this.”
“I don’t believe you. We’ve survived worse.”
“No. We haven’t.”
It wasn’t about beating Genpact, not anymore, not with the threat to my family. It was about distracting them long enough for Lily to have a chance of surviving. For saving something. There would be no return to the island, no reuniting with the ones we loved.
No, it would be darkness and death, nothing more.
“We can do this, mate.”
“Go home, Gregg,” I said, shoulders slumping as I felt a sudden tiredness. “Really. Just go home and be with those you love.”
“Decide one way or another, lads. We’re about to hit the shore.”
My decision had already been made and with one swift movement, I spun and hit my friend as hard as I could with my fist. He hit the wall of the cabin with a heavy thump, eye rolling up as consciousness fled and he slumped to the deck.
“Take him home.”
“Aye, I will, Clever Bastard.” The large man hesitated and then reached out with his open hand. “Been nice knowing you. Any message you want me to take back?”
I reached out and grasped his hand firmly, eyes meeting his. To my surprise, there were a thousand things I suddenly found myself wanting to have said to people. To my sister, my parents, to Lily and to my children.
But, I guessed that none of that mattered anymore. I released his hand and turned towards the door to the cabin without another word and stepped out into the snowstorm where Briony and the other infected were waiting for me.
“No.”
Chapter 18
Our fleet set sail at dawn. Sixty-two ships off to face over a hundred others, each filled with every man and woman who had been willing to fight and die for the island. Which was quite a number. The fishing fleet sat low in the water due to those warriors and the cargo they carried in their holds.
It gave me pause for a moment. We’d sacrificed manoeuvrability and there was no real way to know how that would affect the outcome of the battle. Ultimately though, it didn’t matter. None of us would be returning and it was all just a show, a smokescreen that would allow us to get some small percentage of our people away to a place of safety.
The docks had been filled with people as we left, watching us in silence with many a tear being shed. Those families knew the score and despite their hope, they realised they were saying goodbye for one last time.
I knew how they felt for I had said some goodbyes of my own. Evie, who had become a friend and almost a sister to me. She’d held me close and whispered a promise to care for my babies as she had wept.
Jinx was next. I’d wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her dark fur as I quietly asked her to help protect the twins. Those children I hadn’t even named because I had been waiting for Ryan to notice they needed them.
The Alsatian had watched me with those big dark eyes of hers and somehow I had known she understood me. She’d moved across to sit beside the pram that held the twins and I felt sure that she would keep them safe.
Cass had gone next, my best friend. A survivor who had faced so much with me over the past two years. Neither of us had spoken as we just held each other, tears streaking our faces.
When I approached Ryan’s parents, his mother had just pulled me into an embrace and whispered a few soft words for me alone. Then, it was time to face the twins.
There was so much I had wanted to say to them. So much, I wished they could have understood. I reached out and gently touched each of their cheeks, knowing that if I picked them up I wouldn’t be able to put them back down and I wouldn’t be able to do what I needed to do to keep them safe.
I’d turned away then and without another word, marched across the dock to the waiting boat that would take me across to the Admirals destroyer. I didn’t look back as I crossed those rough waters.
No, I’d sat there as the sea spray mixed with my tears and I had kept my gaze on the gathered fleet. I’d known that to turn to look back would see my resolve shatter and I wouldn’t have been able to continue.
So, I had sat and silently wept as the soldiers around me made sure not to look my way, to give me some small semblance of privacy.
After reaching the ship, it had taken no time at all to get underway and I retreated to the small cabin I had been assigned, not needing to watch the waves as we cut through them and not needing to be around people until I could pull myself together.
All too soon
a knock came at the steel, grey-painted door and a black-garbed acolyte opened it and saluted with a fist to the breast.
“Pardon, My Lady, your presence is requested.”
I can admit that I was in something of a daze, barely seeing where I was as I focused on holding myself together. We walked through grey-painted hallways, past naval personnel going about their business and up flights of stairs that led to what I guessed to be some sort of control room.
There were windows, at least, that gave me a view out over the bow of the destroyer and the growing snowstorm that seemed to be determined to limit our vision. Control panels, display screens and all manner of equipment that I couldn’t identify filled the room and with it, were the sailors.
It was clear to me, even in my somewhat detached state, that they knew what they were doing. They worked with a quiet competence that was observable in their every assured movement. They spoke quietly, relaying information as requested and affirming orders given by the Admiral who stood staring out of the window.
He turned at my approach, a thin smile appearing on his face. There was a tiredness about him that I wasn’t used to seeing, a quietness that spoke of the intense pressure he was under. Yet still, he stood with back straight and head high.
“Ma’am.”
“It looks like you have everything well in hand,” I said, nodding to the busy sailors. “I’m not sure what help I can be.”
“You can address the fleet.”
I swallowed hard, my heart racing at the thought. I wasn’t sure what I could say that hadn’t already been said. Everyone on those boats knew the score and they didn’t need me to remind them once more.
“We will be approaching our destination shortly,” Admiral Stuart said, voice calm and almost soothing. “I will position the fleet midway between Dublin and the north-west point of Wales. We will be directly in the path of the raider fleet.”
“Everyone is aware of their roles?”
“Yes, ma’am. Minister Shepherd is waiting in the conference room with Doctor Cassidy and the rest of the delegation.”
Killing The Dead (Book 18): Sacrifice Page 11