by TW Brown
She had walked in as calm as you please. Her first break came when the bigger of the two was actually right by the stairs with his back to her as she came up from behind. She had hacked into the back of his legs. While the man rolled around on the floor, bleeding and screaming his head off, she had jumped over and positioned herself beside the doorway of the room where the lantern cast its bright white glow.
When the second man emerged, Shadiyah came in low on him as well. Her blade sliced across the Achilles tendon and put this man down beside his companion. By the time Paddy arrived, she was standing over the pair feeling very pleased with herself.
“By the Virgin Mother,” Paddy had gasped.
“Tie them up,” Shadiyah said calmly.
Now that he was gone, she wondered if he had done so out of fear of her. Whatever the reason, he had properly secured both men who, upon seeing their former companion, began to hurl threats and insults through their clenched teeth. It no longer amazed her at how man could push through anything to express hate and evil intent. One of them had his hamstrings severed, the other those cord-like tendons on the back of his feet—that was evidenced by the peculiar little rope that poked from one of the wounds as the tendon had jutted through the opening.
The one with the hamstring injuries was bleeding the worst and so Shadiyah went to work on him first. She did not want him to die before she managed to deal out her new brand of justice.
“If I let you go…what will you do with me?” she purred, leaning down in the man’s face, tracing his nose with the knife that she had pulled from the sheath on his belt.
“Before or after I cut your tits off?” the man managed through clenched teeth and a jaw so tight that she believed another ounce of pressure would cause both to shatter.
“Good answer,” Shadiyah said calmly as she pulled away and stood.
Reaching down, she undid the man’s trousers and pulled out his manhood. Before he had the chance to make a lewd or vile remark, she severed it with his own knife. When he screamed, she stuffed the meat into his mouth and slammed him in the temple with the hilt of the sharp little blade.
“What the…” was all that Paddy managed to say before his eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
Shadiyah stepped back as the man began to choke. She actually found it funny and began to laugh as the man’s face turned a horrific shade of red, then purple. He bucked and strained against the binding to no avail as blood gushed from between his legs. Eventually he twitched a few times and stopped moving.
Shadiyah turned to the second man who was now blubbering through what sounded to her like the Lord’s Prayer. “…on Earth as it is in Heaven…”
“Do you really think he is listening?” Shadiyah mocked as she approached the man who was now wide-eyed and pale. His lips continued to move fervently, but no sound came out any longer.
Stopping beside Paddy, Shadiyah knelt and caressed the man’s brow. He moaned softly but remained unconscious. Standing, she eyed the man tied to the wooden chair.
“Water.”
He continued to stare at her, his mouth still moving soundlessly. Sweat had begun to trickle down his face and into his eyes. When she stomped over to him and hissed the word “water” again, he responded by wetting himself.
“Not what I had in mind,” she said flatly. “Where is your water? I won’t ask again.”
The man nodded to a green bag sitting beside the bed where his companion lay dead. Shadiyah actually flashed a smile and thanked the man before going over and rummaging around until she discovered a bottle. Returning to Paddy, she poured a little on his forehead. When he still did not respond, she poured more.
The man snorted, drawing a good amount of liquid up his nostrils. This caused him to hack and cough.
“You’re okay.” Shadiyah lifted the man’s head a bit and patted him on his stubbled cheeks.
“Lass…what have you done?” the man coughed as he sat up slowly and accepted the bottle of water.
“I have started making this world a better place.”
Getting to her feet, she walked over to the man tied to the chair and knelt so that she was at eye level with him. She traced his face with the point of the knife that was still dripping with the blood of the body on the bed.
“So, what were you in jail for?” she whispered.
The man licked his lips and opened his mouth three or four times before he was actually able to speak. “Public intoxication and creating a nuisance,” he finally managed meekly. “I weren’t hurting nobody. Just blowing off some steam after a bad week. When the coppers came to the pub I might have called one of them a wanker. He told me that I would be arrested for verbally assaulting an officer if I called him a wanker again. So, I asked him if I would be in trouble for thinking he was a wanker. He told me that he couldn’t arrest me for my thoughts…so I said ‘Good, because I really think you’re a bloody wanker’ and that is when I got cuffed.”
A chuckle from behind her made Shadiyah turn around. Paddy threw his hands over his mouth and then waved her off. “Sorry, lass, but that is a wee bit funny. I think you should spare this young man simply because of his wit.”
“I let him go and then what?” Shadiyah challenged. “How can you even consider letting this animal continue to draw breath after what he did to you?”
“It weren’t me doing those things. I was as much under Ivan’s thumb as the wee man there,” the man in the chair said. He craned his neck at Paddy to see if he might get some support, but Shadiyah grabbed him by the face and jerked him back to look at her.
“Then you are weak and one of those types who commit terrible things while excusing yourself by saying you were just doing as you were told. So when Ivan maybe tells you to rape some girl…then you have a built in excuse, yeah?”
“We weren’t doin’ nothing like that…I swear. In fact, we even helped one poor girl that was trapped in a shop by a few of the stenches. Escorted her to her flat and everything.”
Shadiyah turned to Paddy with a raised eyebrow for confirmation. She saw him look past her to the man in the chair, and his expression drooped just a bit. He looked back up at her and shrugged his shoulders.
“They told me about it. I was in the flat we was using and guarding the supplies we had managed to scrounge up while they went out looking for more.”
“But if they were treating you so bad, why didn’t you take that chance to run?”
“And go where, lass? The streets are full of the walking dead. Alone, you have nobody to watch your back. I am looking for my cousin Seamus, but he was in London when all of this happened. We left Leeds and were making our way south, but that is not an easy task these days.” Paddy walked up to Shadiyah and took her by the hand holding the knife. “Why don’t you let that poor bloke go? You can come with me to London. We will look for Seamus and make a go of surviving this madness. If anybody will be alive down in London, it will be Seamus O’ Hara. The man is a walking mountain of muscle and meat.”
Shadiyah stared at the man for a moment and then pulled her hand away. She looked around the room, her eyes lingering on the body tied to the bed and all the blood. That small voice that begged her to accept the offer of the little man was growing louder. The image of Assi flashed in her mind and that voice went silent.
“I wish you luck, Paddy,” Shadiyah whispered. “But I can’t.”
“Lass—” he began, but his mouth shut when her knife hand twitched.
“I said no.” Her voice had no emotion, and was as cold as her eyes.
“Maybe if—” Paddy tried again.
“No!” Shadiyah silenced him with a very sharp tone that warned him that continuing in this manner might be to his detriment. “You may leave. His fate has already been decided. I have no desire to go to London today. Perhaps someday I will head your way. If I do, then know that I will bear you no grudge or ill will. Now, perhaps it is best if you be on your way and leave me to my business.�
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Moving to the lantern that was sitting on a desk, she removed the hood and held the knife to the flame. She occasionally glanced over at the bound man. She did nothing but smile as the man in the chair now hurled threats and curses at her.
“Let’s see if this is ready yet.” Walking over to the man, she leaned over, but had to pull back suddenly when he lunged and his teeth snapped together with a loud clack.
“You really are no better than the zombies,” she scoffed.
“I am going to rip you apart, you lousy bitch!” the man snarled and then spat at her for emphasis. It was obvious that his earlier apparent fear had given way or transformed to rage.
Like a snake, she struck. Grabbing the man by the hair she pressed the red hot flat of the blade to his lips. There was a hiss and a sizzle as the flesh seared. The man wailed in pain, his curses replaced by those shrieks.
“Yes, keep it up,” Shadiyah cooed. “That should bring a few of those nasty zombies. Right? So scream some more. There will not be anybody coming to help you.”
“I think you’ve made your point, lass,” Paddy tried once more
“The boy has probably learned his lesson. In any case…I don’t believe either of them will be hurting anybody ever again.”
“You can go if you like. I’m not done,” Shadiyah’s voice hissed. “Consider that your final warning.”
“Suit yourself. I’ll be on my way then.”
15
Face Off
As the door shut and the little man exited, Simon gave the word and he rushed up the stairs with Caron coming right behind. There was another horrible scream on the heels of the sound of sizzling flesh.
When he reached the top of the stairs, Simon stopped so suddenly that Caron slammed into his back and almost rebounded hard enough to topple backwards down the stairs. Shadiyah was standing behind a man bound to a chair. She had a handful of his hair and used it to jerk his head back in a terribly awkward manner that looked painful in and of itself.
“Shaddi!” Simon barked.
The woman who looked up at him barely resembled the girl he had known. Her eyes were wild and gleaming with evil malice. She was splattered in blood, both old and new. Some of it was black and indicated that it was likely from the undead, but the rest had obviously come from the living. Her hair was a frightful wig of snarls and tangles with bits of leaves and twigs caught in it. Her clothing was filthy and not fitting of the lowliest scratter you might find sleeping in an alley or under a rubbish bin.
“Simon?”
For a moment, the woman’s face changed and her features softened just enough that a hint of her old self could be seen. If he would have blinked at that moment, he would have missed it; it was gone that fast. The hardness came down and locked itself into place.
“Come home with me,” Simon whispered. He took another step into the room, actually having to concentrate and force his foot to rise up and move forward.
“I can’t,” Shadiyah said, her voice sounding strangled.
“Yes. If you come with me now, everything will be okay. We will get through things together. Both of us have lost our sisters. Both of us hurt, but if we lean on each other, we will be stronger and we will get through this.”
Simon took another step closer but stopped when he saw the knife press against the exposed throat of the terrified man in the chair. A tiny line of ruby red life fluid welled and began to send a few small drips down the man’s exposed throat where the knife had slid an inch or two.
“There is nothing for us to get through,” Shadiyah finally answered. “Our paths have gone in different directions.”
“Shadiyah,” Caron stepped out from behind Simon, hands out to show she was not carrying a weapon, “it’s not too late. You are a warm, wonderful person. You witnessed something terrible, and your mind is just struggling with how to process it.”
Shadiyah cocked her head to the side in a way that reminded Simon just a bit of the creepy zombie children. She seemed to be regarding Caron, but it was as if all the humanity had been stripped from the woman’s eyes. There was something dark, and he wondered if this is what the victims of serial killers saw in the end when the mask was ripped away and the charade that had been used to lure the unsuspecting victim was over.
“Are you really going to use inane psycho-babble to tell me that I just need a hug and some time to grieve?” she snarled, which was even creepier since her face continued to hold almost no emotion. “Maybe a few Prozac or Diazepam will numb me while I learn how to manage my feelings? How about this…maybe I just reached my limit and am going to start giving out to the people who went through life preying on others and have now been given free reign in the absence of law and order.”
“But not everybody is like that,” Caron insisted, Simon put a hand on her arm, but she shrugged it off and took another step closer. “Your friend Simon is not like that…Mrs. Raye—”
“What do you know of that woman?” The blank expression finally shattered and all the hate, anger, and anguish exploded across Shadiyah’s face. “She worked for the bloody MI5. Who knows what kind of person she really is!”
“But you know what kind of person I am.” Simon edged past Caron and now stood just a few feet away from Shadiyah. “You have known me for years. We have shared many memories together. I knew your parents, your sister…so, while certainly not as great for me as it is for you, I feel the pain of their loss.”
Shadiyah was silent for several seconds. Her eyes kept flicking from Simon to Caron and then to the man in the chair as if she might be weighing each of them against each other. When the tears appeared at the corners of her eyes, Simon actually breathed a sigh of relief.
He had begun to fear that she had lost every ounce of her humanity. If she was still able to cry, then he had to think that there was hope for her to recover and return to at least some semblance of herself.
“If you come back with us, nobody will ever have to know about…” Simon looked around the room, his eyes lingering on the body of the dead man on the bed lying in a pool of blood that was already beginning to attract flies. They paused again on the man in the chair. His face had hideous blisters where his lips should be as well as another nasty knife blade-shaped welt on his right cheek that would soon be a massive blister.
There was a small pool of blood at the man’s feet, and when Simon looked closer, he decided that the man was dead and just didn’t know it yet. His feet were secured so tight to the legs of the chair that the belts keeping him secure were acting like tourniquets. When those came off, it was likely that the man would finish bleeding out in a few short minutes.
“You can trust me, Shaddi.”
Simon reached out for her. There was a sudden and sharp pain in his gut. When he looked down, the knife that Shadiyah had been holding in her hands jutted from his abdomen.
***
She ran. Twice she collided with one of the walking dead, but she just kicked and shoved until she was free, got back to her feet, and continued to run as fast as she could. In the darkness ahead, she saw the silhouette of the M1.
She reached the embankment, scrambled up, and then turned to her right and kept running until she was physically unable to go on. When that moment came, she fell to the ground in a heap and rolled onto her back. She stared at the starry sky and waited for the tears to come in a flood.
She waited.
And waited.
When they did not come, she just continued to lie flat on her back and stare straight up. She told herself that she would just stay that way until the walking dead found her. She would not run or fight. She would let them have her and put an end to the pain and anguish that controlled her now.
Eventually, a low moan came from somewhere close. She had to roll her head back and strain her neck to look. She spied a pair of feet moving through a pool of moonlight. They were right on the other side of the car that she had fallen down beside.
This is it, she thought.
; But it wasn’t it; the zombie reached the end of the car and simply continued to shamble on its way. She needed to make a noise if she was going to bring the undead to her. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came.
She closed her mouth and rolled back to lying flat. When she felt her eyes begin to droop, she rolled under the car and fell asleep. By then, she had decided that she might not want to live, but she did not want to die either. She certainly did not want to be eaten alive by zombies.
Her eyes flashed open, and she tried to sit up in a hurry. That resulted in her hitting her forehead on the underside of the car she had used as a blanket and shelter for the night. Once the stars receded from her vision, she rolled out from underneath the automobile and pulled herself to her feet.
Looking around in every direction, she was initially disappointed when she did not see a mob of angry villagers coming after her for murdering their beloved Simon. There was also a surprising lack of the walking dead to give her any concerns. The ones on the M1 were spread out and just staggering and stumbling along, paying her little or no interest.
She walked up the road until the sign above indicated that the turnoff would take her to Garforth. Just like Leeds, it looked as if the fires had mostly died down. She considered just continuing on, but by the time she had reached this point, her mind was back on track for the idea of seeking out those who hurt others and ending them.
“You already let one get away,” she said out loud, jumping at the loudness of her own voice.
Heading south, she walked along and allowed the sun to shine on her face. She knew she was filthy and needed to bathe, but at the moment, she would have to settle for bathing in the shafts of daylight. Up ahead about two or three hundred yards were a trio of the walking dead. It looked as if they were also heading into Garforth.