The Good, The Bad & The Dead | Book 1 | Once Upon A Time In An Undead World

by Grimes, A. L.

  Then he remembered…the bite.

  *

  ‘When were you going to tell us about this? Or were you just going to surprise the shit out of us while we were sleeping?’ To say Tom was angry may have been an understatement. He was thrusting his sword with each accusation.

  Claudia interrupted, ‘Let’s hear him out.’

  Before he could verbally retaliate Billie-Jo agreed with Claudia. ‘Fine, but when he tries to eat you…’ He threw up his hands and walked away.

  His mother piped up, ‘You should leave this lot and come home to me,’ she said.

  ‘For fucks sake, I am going to have a nose around,’ he didn’t wait for a response, he was back down the stairs, strangely Lola followed him.

  Claudia was first to break the silence between the three. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said.

  ‘It’s one of those things I guess,’ he replied.

  ‘Can I get you anything?’ Asked Billie-Jo.

  ‘You could untie me?’ He asked.

  ‘Don’t you fucking dare,’ bellowed Tom back up the stairs.

  ‘I thought you were going for a nose.’ Responded Billie-Jo.

  ‘I stopped to tie my lace, the dogs with me…Remember what I said.’

  ‘He’s right,’ said Claudia. ‘I’m sorry again Ben but until we know what’s going to happen, we can’t risk it.’

  ‘I understand,’ replied Ben. ‘I’d do the same.’

  *

  Tom was annoyed with himself for letting Ben go alone into the unknown. He appreciated that the small group could look after themselves in their own right and in the world of the living. This wasn’t the world of the living anymore though. The dead were moving about, attacking and eating people. The authorities didn’t have control, he had seen that first-hand. The dead were in fact multiplying and getting out of hand. If Tom were going to be a leader in this fucked up dead world, he would have to lead from the front and take the risks himself. On the wall he could see a detailed schematic of the dock. His original plan was to sit offshore in a boat, watch the docks, come ashore when needed and sit the end of the world out maybe with a few others for company. Good plan but not realistic.

  The way he saw it now, there was going to be lots of bloodshed and that’s before he factored the dead into the scenario. Society was pretty backward before the dead intervened. Now there was going to be an unprecedented hostility. There may be some people that would want to start again, build crops, introduce education, set up laws and start to repopulate. Then there would be the takers, the meanest of the bunch. The ones who didn’t give a fuck about morals, ethics or simple humanity. Him and Billie-Jo had met some on their travels this early into the apocalypse. Imagine what it will be like when people realise the government are incapable of doing anything constructive. Fuck, they can’t cope with a snowstorm how will they manage with an unnatural disaster…the simple answer, they won’t.

  A new society will be built on people who will defend the timid, the young, the infirm and correct moral principles. So Tom being Tom he did what he does best and listened to the little voice in his head…not his mother this time. He got up and headed for the door. He thought it polite to ask Lola if she would like to accompany him, he took her enthusiastic bark and tail wag as a yes. They both headed out of the door. All was not bad, the rain looked like it was easing.

  *

  Claudia looked closely at Ben’s bite. ‘I’m no expert on the dead, bites or infections but this doesn’t look that bad.’

  Billie-Jo leaned over for a closer look. ‘I agree.’ She examined the dead man who had attacked Ben earlier. ‘Do you want to tell us exactly what happened Ben when you came in here.’

  ‘Why?’ He asked.

  ‘Humour me,’ she replied.

  ‘I told you, I could see Dale on the sofa, his guts dangling. Then he came out of the toilet and bit me.’

  ‘Ok, said Billie-Jo. ‘Rewind back a bit. When he came out of the toilet was he doing anything specific?’

  Ben closed his eyes and remembered. ‘Oh shit,’ he said.

  ‘Oh shit indeed,’ replied Billie-Jo.

  ‘Do either of you want to tell me what the fuck is going on?’ said Claudia.

  ‘He wasn’t dead was he?’ Said Ben.

  ‘You tell us,’ said Billie-Jo.

  ‘Oh, said Claudia.

  Ben recalled the scene. How he had walked in on Dale’s apparent dissection. He had been so caught up in the scene of destruction that the man coming out of the toilet startled him. He raised his hammer, the man attempted to defend himself and opened his mouth. He thought he heard the word ‘stop’ but he didn’t, he was too frightened. The man didn’t bite him, not really. The force of Ben pushing back forced his arm into the man’s mouth.

  ‘I think his last words were “No” before I smashed the hammer into his skull. I thought he was to blame for what happened to Dale.’

  Claudia placed her hand on his arm, ‘He may have been responsible, you wasn’t to know. You did what you thought was right at the time.’

  ‘But I may have killed an innocent man,’ he replied.

  ‘Like Tom said, it’s going to happen. We will kill again to defend ourselves. You could have been the next victim, or we could be one more in our group, we won’t know. This is a fucked-up situation we find ourselves in, let’s get a grip and survive,’ said Billie-Jo.

  ‘Wise beyond your years,’ said Claudia with a smile.

  ‘I’ve had a lot of shit to put up with.’ She turned and headed towards the stairs.

  ‘These two are survivors,’ said Claudia to Ben. ‘We could have been tied up somewhere by now or worse still, like your friend here. They could have just walked by when they heard us screaming for our lives, but they didn’t. She is a good kid and while Tom may be off the charts at times, he knows what the fuck he is doing.’

  ‘Point taken,’ replied Ben.

  ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ Billie-Jo’s voice was raised.

  ‘What’s happened now?’ Asked Claudia.

  ‘Tom has gone…and he has taken Lola…prick.’

  *

  Tom’s new plan of action, find a container or containers that housed edible supplies, look for the fuel station and a find a boat. He couldn’t drive a boat but how hard could it be…he almost forget, go back and get the others minus Ben. Lucky for Tom the container bay was close to his current position, unlucky for Tom the containers didn’t advertise their goods but according to the map he had pulled from the wall, the log sheets were held in the main office overlooking his prize. He turned the corner, Lola at his heels.

  ‘Great,’ he said out loudly.

  He could see the scorch marks from the blast that Ben had described. Some mangled cranes and the containers toppled like dominoes. The more he looked at the scene the worse it got. The office he was looking for was floating in the water. Several of the docks employees were mingling around the wreckage. They were no longer part of the living community.

  He kneeled down, ‘Ok Lola, you’re up. You head that way and distract them. I’ll sneak up and take them out one by one. We meet back here in fifteen minutes.’ Lola looked at him.

  ‘I know that was for my benefit,’ said Billie-Jo. ‘What’s going on, why are you out here on your own. I thought we stick together.’

  He met her stare, ‘We do, I just wanted to have a look around and come up with a better plan than us stumbling about into the unknown.’

  ‘About Ben,’ she said.

  ‘Has he turned, is he dead?’

  ‘No to both, he isn’t infected.’

  ‘How can you be sure?’ he asked.

  ‘The guy who’s brains he bashed in, was alive at the time of the bashing. He killed a living breathing person.’

  ‘The sadistic bastard,’ they both laughed.

  *

  By the time Billie-Jo and Tom arrived back at the lighthouse, Claudia had taken it upon herself to untie Ben. Tom strode in with mischief on his face.
<
br />   ‘Whoooa,’ he said as he charged towards Ben. ‘Look out Claudia.’

  Ben put up his hands in defence, ‘I’m not infected.’

  ‘I know, I’m more concerned about the living around you,’ not a hint of sarcasm more like his words were dripping in it.

  ‘Ah, I take it you have seen Billie-Jo?’ said Ben.

  She followed him in, ‘I found him skulking about outside, peeping around corners like a deviant.’ Lola was tucked back in her jacket.

  ‘I believe I owe you an apology Tom,’ stated Ben.

  ‘For what?’ He enquired.

  First of all for being judgemental about how you are handling conflict and secondly for being a prick about it.’ He offered his hand.

  ‘You sure you’re not infectious?’ he replied before taking the hand. ‘Listen we are all learning, some quicker than others. Society is in the midst of a hostile takeover, either we join the fight, or we will become a victim of it. Me, I have a daughter and a dog to protect now.’

  Billie-Jo gave him the finger and a smile simultaneously.

  Tom filled them in on what he had seen. Ben informed that any small yachts would be anchored in the Albert dock, another few miles further up the river. There was the Dublin ferry but that would need an experienced driver to navigate that out of the docks.

  ‘So you’re saying we are fucked?’ Asked Tom.

  ‘Not necessarily,’ replied Ben. ‘We have a few options. We can scope out the surrounding area here, locate the supplies we need or want. Then we could hoof it up the docks find a boat, bring it back here, load up and execute your plan. Which is a pretty solid plan.’

  ‘Or?’ Said Tom.

  ‘Or we go back inland with the supplies that we get. One thing the docks have in abundance is newly imported vehicles.’

  Tom was all for democracy over dictatorship. ‘What do you two think.’

  Claudia was first to speak up. ‘I would feel better and safer on the sea. Roaming around the suburbs is asking for trouble. We will come across all kinds of hazards, the notable two being the dead and the living.’

  ‘I was on board with your plan from the beginning,’ said Billie-Jo.

  ‘Good pun,’ said Tom.

  ‘What,’ replied Billie-Jo.

  ‘Nothing never mind. What about you Ben?’ He asked.

  ‘Your plan is solid; I was merely giving us the options. I’m in.’

  They geared themselves up and set about their task. Within the hour they had cleared the dead from their path and set about checking the containers that hadn’t toppled.

  They got really excited when they opened a container that was Tesco exclusive.

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Chester, near North Wales.

  Ronnie was beginning to think this was not going to end well. He was hitting the dead with the axe in his right hand and pulling Derek by the collar with his left. Derek was not cut out for killing the dead unless screaming in their face was lethal. Several encounters had proved what Ronnie already knew…Derek was a burden and liable to get him killed.

  ‘I don’t think I can do this,’ he cried to Ronnie.

  They had already fought of several of the dead, more accurately Ronnie had. They now stooped behind a wall. Ronnie had two levels of motivation. Punch him hard in the mouth or tell him how it was, he went for the latter.

  ‘At the risk of repeating myself. Your wife and children are back on a both that is running out of food and fuel. They are stranded unless we can find a path through this lot and secure a boat on the other side then they are pretty much going to rot there.’

  ‘I know but I’ve never been a brave man, I feel like my heart is going to explode,’ whimpered Derek.

  ‘They are your kids, you have to do everything in your power to ensure they live,’ he was struggling with his own emotions and thoughts.

  ‘I’m not their real dad. If I’m honest I don’t think the boy likes me.’

  ‘I can see why,’ mumbled Ronnie.

  ‘Regardless, they are your responsibility now. Get up and move,’ Ronnie pulled him by the collar. Derek resisted. Ronnie reverted to his first form of motivation and punched him hard in the mouth. Before Derek could yelp in pain, Ronnie had clamped a hand over the muffled squeal and dragged him along.

  *

  Aaron crouched behind Jane; she could almost feel his breath on her neck. ‘Do you want to give me a bit of space,’ she said. ‘If I have to swing this axe I don’t want the pointy end catching you in the eye,’ a veiled threat that he comprehended.

  ‘What can you see?’ He asked.

  ‘A decent sized group of the dead, at least a dozen maybe a few more,’ she replied.

  ‘Can we sneak up on them?’ he asked.

  Fuck, he was annoying she thought. Surely Ronnie didn’t let him tag along because he liked him. From the interactions she had witnessed he was in awe or fear of Ronnie. He would probably do anything he was told, she guessed Ronnie wasn’t the asking kind. She also feared for the kids on the boat. The mother was flaky at best, Derek was off the charts when it came to him being a coward. She didn’t doubt for a moment that Derek’s only use to Ronnie was his ability to steer a boat otherwise the whole family would have been overboard. She didn’t know if Ronnie was completely psychotic, but he was definitely on the spectrum.

  ‘I think you should strip off to your underpants, flap your arms and cluck like a chicken to distract them. I’ll pick them off one by one,’ she said.

  ‘You think that would work?’

  ‘It’s worth a shot,’ she replied seriously.

  ‘You’re fucking with me aren’t you?’ He asked with menace in his voice. He grabbed her shoulder.

  As she turned the pointed end of the axe touched his Adam’s apple. ‘Like I said before, some space…we don’t want any unfortunate accidents…DO WE?’

  He swallowed sharply forcing the point of the axe further into his flesh, ‘We don’t,’ he croaked.

  ‘Right then, fuck off out there and make some noise. Removing your clothes is optional,’ she snarled.

  Aaron did as he was told.

  *

  Ronnie smashed a few more of the dead into oblivion as he charged along the terrace. Derek had tried to dig his heels in once again. He received another punch to the face and a stern warning that the next time the axe swung would be in his direction. Ronnie could see the others had cleared the dead from the path. He watched as Jane went to work on the others below while Aaron danced about like a chicken on ecstasy. Derek was forcibly dragged down the remaining stone steps. Ronnie tossed him to the floor while he helped finish off the dead with Jane.

  ‘What the fuck are you doing?’ He said to Aaron after the last of the dead fell to the floor.

  ‘She told me to do it, said it would distract the dead,’ he replied.

  ‘Seriously,’ said Ronnie.

  Jane shrugged her shoulders, ‘I didn’t think he would do it. What’s going on with him,’ she said referring to the whinging Derek heaped on the floor.

  ‘Apart from not giving a shit whether his wife and kids survive, not a lot,’ said Ronnie.

  ‘What happened to his face?’ She asked.

  ‘Positive reinforcement,’ said Ronnie flatly.

  ‘He doesn’t look like he has been rewarded,’ she replied.

  ‘He’s still breathing,’ replied Ronnie. ‘Now let’s find a boat that fucking works.’

  *

  The options were not great. A tugboat, several small rowing boats, two larger river cruises paying homage to deceased real and fictional people and a smaller passenger cruiser that would be ideal. All the boats were anchored in the middle of the River Dee and unless the current skill set included walking on water, somebody was getting wet.

  ‘How the fuck do they get to the boats?’ Bemused Aaron.

  ‘I imagine the owners would have a small craft on a trailer attached to their car. When the season opens they will drop it in the river and row across. They do
this to keep their vessels safe,’ replied Derek.

  ‘Thanks, for the nautical lecture,’ replied Ronnie. ‘In this scenario though, somebody is going to have to swim across.’

  They all looked at Derek. ‘Oh no, not me. I’m not a particularly good swimmer,’ he replied.

  ‘You’re the only one who can steer the boat. You need to bring it to the jetty, se we and your family can board it,’ said Jane.

  ‘As I stated clearly, I am not a good swimmer,’ he replied.

  ‘We’re not asking you to swim the channel, it’s a hundred metres at best. You could float over there,’ said Ronnie.

  ‘I will have to decline the offer,’ replied Derek.

  ‘Ok, your refusal has been noted,’ said Ronnie calmly.

  ‘Thank you,’ smiled Derek.

  He took that well, thought Jane…maybe not.

  Derek felt the collar of his jacket being yanked once again. His feet staggered backwards as Ronnie held him up. ‘Please no,’ was all he got to say before his feet left the jetty and the cold water rushed over him.

  ‘Was that necessary,’ said Jane.

  ‘We don’t have a lot of time here. Regardless of how or what we said to him he wasn’t going in the water voluntarily. He has a wife and kids across the other side of that bridge, which by my understanding…he couldn’t give a shit about.’ While Ronnie appeared calm on the exterior, internally he would quite happily drive an axe through Derek’s skull. ‘We can stand here discussing it while the dead regroup and come our way, or we can be proactive and get the job done.’

  When he put it like that, she couldn’t argue.

  Derek’s head popped up above the water. He spat a mouthful of water back into the river. He attempted to swim back towards the jetty. Ronnie pulled out his Glock and aimed it at Derek’s head. ‘Turn around and paddle that way…make it quick,’ he said.