by Ryan Casey
Mattius sighed. He tilted his head to one side. “Ricky, I’m sorry about your mother. Really, I am. But—”
“Don’t,” Ricky shouted. He squared up to Mattius. He felt that Mattius had pressed the gun to his belly, sure, but still he stared into his eyes and let the rage within pour out like water from a leaky tap. “You don’t even say her name. You don’t even talk about her. You killed her. No other way about it. You killed her.”
Mattius lowered the pistol then. In his arm, Kesha had gone quiet. She was looking up at Ricky with twinkling, curious eyes. Ricky even thought he saw her smile at him.
“You’re right,” Mattius said. “I called the shot on your mother.”
Hearing him say those words made Ricky’s skin crawl and his desire for revenge peak. It took all his resistance to stop himself punching Mattius right now, and never stopping.
“But think about it, Ricky. I was doing you a favour.”
“Think very carefully about your next words.”
Mattius smiled a little. He lifted the gun, pushed it into Ricky’s belly. “Your mother. This world wasn’t a good place for her.”
Ricky pushed himself closer to Mattius, squaring up to him. “Don’t.”
That smile twitched at the corners of Mattius’ mouth a little more. Ricky sensed that Mattius was enjoying this. The sick bastard was actually enjoying goading him about the death of his mother.
That hurt a lot. After all, Ricky had believed in Mattius for a long time. He’d stood by his side when Mattius had made some awful, sometimes brutal, decisions.
Right now, he felt nothing but betrayal, like a child finding out for the very first time that the tooth fairy isn’t real, even after months and years of suspecting it.
“You know, I thought we could work things out,” Mattius said. “I really thought we could figure out our differences and move on, you and me.”
“How can we after the things you’ve done?”
Mattius shook his head. “Don’t put everything on me. You stood by my side when I made difficult calls. You were there when our place burned down. When I took the girl’s arm off and killed the woman. And you were there when we fed people to the dead.”
“I was,” Ricky said, his lips shaking. He tasted tears on his lips and realised he was crying. “And I regret it. Every second of it. I made the wrong call standing by your side. I’m not going to make the same mistake again.”
Ricky half expected Mattius to shoot him right there.
Instead, Mattius put Kesha down and punched Ricky in the side of his head.
The punch knocked Ricky to the floor right away. He tasted blood as the side of his skull collided with the edge of a desk.
He tried to get back to his feet. He wanted nothing more than a clean punch at Mattius.
But Mattius got there first.
He rammed a boot into Ricky’s right side.
The kick knocked the wind out of Ricky's body. He tasted blood even more intensely now, as it filled up his mouth.
“See, the difference between you and me is that I adapt to the situation,” Mattius said.
He kicked Ricky again. This time, Ricky thought he felt something crack.
“I don’t cling on to revenge. Even with Riley, I didn’t hold on.”
Another kick. The pain in Ricky’s side was so intense that he thought he might pass out any time now.
Mattius put his foot on Ricky’s head. He started to apply gentle pressure, and Ricky realised what was going to happen. He saw Kesha over at the other side of the room, heard her crying.
And he saw the manic, bloodshot look in Mattius’ eyes.
The look of a man who’d stumbled way too far over the edge and lost his way.
“But sometimes, when you don’t do as you’re told, well…”
He pushed down further. The pressure in Ricky’s skull was at bursting point, now.
“Sometimes you just have to crush the bug.”
Ricky gritted his teeth together. He wanted to fight, but he was too out of breath, too weak.
He looked over at Kesha, and he hoped—prayed—that things would work out for her.
Then something in his head slipped, and his vision blurred, a sudden flurry of blood splattering against his lips.
He thought it was over. For a second, Ricky was convinced that his skull had cracked and that his brains were going to be spread out along the floor of the hatch.
But that didn’t happen at all.
Instead, the pressure from Mattius’ foot dropped.
Mattius staggered off his head, then to his side.
Ricky blinked a few times to try and figure out what was happening, truly.
When he looked up, for the first time in this entire showdown, he felt something that felt like… hope.
Mattius was holding the back of his head. He had a concerned expression on his face. Ricky saw then that blood was dripping between his fingers.
Above, at the entrance to the hatch, Ricky could just about make out a figure.
A man.
Dark hair.
Blue eyes.
Tall and slim.
This man was holding a thick tree stump in his hand. There was blood on that tree stump.
He stumbled down the ladder, and it was then that Ricky realised exactly who this man was.
“Riley,” Mattius muttered.
Riley stood opposite Mattius. Mattius was still clutching the back of his head, where he’d been hit by the tree stump.
Behind Mattius, Kesha wailed.
Ricky saw Mattius putting two and two together. He lifted his pistol as Riley stepped towards him, the tree stump lifted. His finger tightened on the trigger.
“Don’t come another step closer,” Mattius said. His speech was slurred. His balance wasn’t great either. But he looked like he needed another hit to really take him down.
Ricky took a few deep breaths. Despite the pain in his right side, he clambered to his left, shuffling around the side of the table, then underneath it. Mattius kept his half-conscious focus on Riley. But Ricky would have to be fast if he wanted to help. He knew that the second Mattius felt that consciousness slipping for good, he would pull the trigger, and it would be game over.
“You made… you made a mistake,” Mattius slurred. From under the table, Ricky could see he was still staggering from side to side. “Coming here. You made a mistake.”
There was silence, for a few seconds. Silence, as Ricky climbed out from under the table. As he stood up, right behind Mattius, trying to keep as quiet as he possibly could. He couldn’t let his teeth chatter together. He couldn’t even breathe on Mattius’ neck.
“No,” Riley said, the tree stump still raised. For a split second, Ricky saw Riley’s eyes make contact with his, and he took that as a signal. A signal to act. “It’s you who’s made the mistake.”
Riley lifted the tree stump higher.
Ricky grabbed Mattius’ arm and punched the gun from his hand.
Riley brought the tree stump crashing down on Mattius’ head.
Ricky saw Mattius fall, and he felt that crack like he’d delivered it himself. He was lying down again on his front now, the gun in his shaking hand. He turned it around and pointed it at Mattius, who was on all fours. His head was bleeding badly in two places. But amazingly, he was still conscious, his eyes still twitching from Ricky to Riley and back again.
Blood covered his face, making him look even more demonic. He tried to splutter a few words, but it was pointless, his consciousness fast failing him. He crawled a few paces towards Ricky, and despite the bad condition Mattius was in, Ricky still couldn’t help feeling afraid.
Ricky turned the gun on him. He had to be ready to pull the trigger, to put him down for good.
Then Riley put a hand over the gun.
“No,” Riley said.
“But he’s—”
“He’ll fall. Any moment now. He’ll fall.”
Ricky watched Mattius claw his way closer towards
him. The urge to just pull that trigger, even though it’d blow Riley’s hand apart, was strong.
But he had to hold on. He had to keep the faith.
He felt Mattius’ hand wrap around his ankle. He felt his grip tighten. And bizarrely, it was like some of his energy was being sucked from his body, like he was growing weaker just because this monster had his hand on him.
“He’ll fall,” Riley said.
Mattius struggled to look up at Riley. His eyelids were faltering as more blood oozed down his face. He opened his mouth, but nothing but a gasp came out.
Then, “Kesha… is… mine…”
For one split second, Ricky felt Mattius’ grip around his ankle grow tighter than ever before.
“Mine,” Mattius spluttered. “Mine…”
Riley shook his head. He smiled at Mattius. “No, she isn’t. Not even close.”
There was another raging flicker of anger in Mattius’ eyes as he made a lunge further up Ricky’s body, right towards his thigh.
Then his hand loosened.
His head hit the floor.
Mattius was out cold.
CHAPTER TEN
When Mattius opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Riley.
It was dark. It took him a few seconds to remember where he was and what had happened.
And then it dawned on him.
The hatch. He’d escaped his camp and made his way towards it. When he’d got here, he found Ricky alone in there. He’d tried to figure things out, but things had got… well, out of hand.
Then Riley had stepped in.
He felt a sharp pain on the top of his head and he remembered, then. He remembered what Riley had done to him. He’d cracked him right over the top of the head. And at that moment after he’d done it, Mattius had been convinced that it was over. That it was the beginning of his death. That Riley was finally getting the revenge he so dearly craved.
But here he was. Awake. Alive.
And Riley was standing opposite him.
It was totally silent inside, which meant the mass of zombies must’ve moved on. They’d be back, no doubt. And they’d be a problem for somebody else. You didn’t just have a mass of zombies like that wandering the country keeping themselves to themselves. Sooner or later, they’d swallow everyone up.
Mattius wouldn’t be around to see that, though. He knew that now.
“It’s funny, isn’t it?”
Riley’s voice snapped him from his thoughts. It broke the silence and made everything very real all of a sudden. Their roles had been reversed. And this time, Mattius was certain that Riley wasn’t going to show him the same mercy that Mattius had shown him. The same level of forgiveness.
“I don’t see much to laugh about,” Mattius said.
Riley walked slowly towards him. The soles of his feet thumped against the tiled floor, like an apocalyptic death bell ringing away. “The way things change. The way things work out. It’s funny.”
Mattius leaned his head back against the wall. He felt so ill. So sick. Hell, he felt ready. “Just do what you have to do.”
Riley stopped, then. He crouched opposite him and looked deeply into Mattius’ eyes. And Mattius saw something. He saw the loss Riley had been through. He saw the grief he’d felt at losing people so, so close to him.
And he saw the rage.
“You don’t get to decide,” Riley said. “You don’t get to call the shots. Not anymore.”
He reached behind his back and pulled out a machete.
Mattius’ stomach turned.
If Riley was going to torture him, then he had to be prepared to accept that. There was no dignity in war. It was the death of a soldier, and he’d chosen the soldier’s life. Still, that didn’t stop the sweat rolling down the sides of his neck. “I won’t beg. The only thing I’ll beg is that you keep Kesha safe.”
“See, that’s the thing,” Riley said, lifting the blade to Mattius’ throat. “She was safe. Before you came along. She was loved. She had people around her. Me. Jordanna. Chloë. It’s only since you got hold of her that she’s been in graver danger than ever before.”
“Don’t pretend to me you knew how to look after that girl out here in the wild.”
“We pull together,” Riley said. “We always have. And we always will. And yeah, we’ve lost people along the way. We’ve lost them to the dead, and we’ve lost them to the living. But no matter what, we always push back. We find a way through.”
Mattius sniffed up some bloodied snot. “Then do what you have to do.”
Riley lowered the machete. He placed it on the floor right between them. “Again, I don’t think you’re understanding what I’m telling you.”
He lifted Mattius’ chin, so they were looking into one another’s eyes.
“I hate you. For what you did to Jordanna. For what you did to Chloë. I detest you. And I wish you a life of pain.”
There was a pause. A pause where Riley’s bloodshot eyes focused even more.
“But I’ve conquered my rage. I don’t need revenge. Not anymore.”
He reached down and picked up the machete. He took a few steps back. Mattius could hear he was taking some long, drawn out deep breaths. He couldn’t believe Riley had actually let him off the hook. After all this, he’d decided not to take out revenge on him.
“Then you’re a stronger man than I had you down as,” Mattius said. “And maybe you’ll—”
He didn’t finish what he was saying.
He didn’t finish, because Riley brought the machete slamming down against his right shoulder.
He looked at it and saw the blood. The machete hadn’t cut clean through, but there was a deep, gaping wound there, which was pouring out blood. He felt sick and dizzy. He couldn’t process the pain. Not yet.
Riley pulled the machete out of his shoulder. Blood dripped down from the edges of it. The pain started to set in, to suffocate Mattius.
“See, I might’ve got over what happened,” Riley said.
He brought the machete down again.
Mattius’ right arm was dangling on by a string of flesh, the bone cracked.
He pulled it back up. “I might’ve made peace with you.”
He swung it again. And this time, the machete took Mattius’ arm clean off.
It fell to the floor, and blood spurted everywhere.
Mattius could feel nothing but pure, hot agony burning through his right side, suppressing his breathing. His face was going cold. Every inch of his body was in pain with what was happening.
Then Riley pressed the machete right into the middle of his chest, right against his diaphragm. He looked into Mattius’ eyes again, but this time, he looked totally calm about what he was doing.
“But this isn’t for me,” he said.
Then he pressed the machete into Mattius’ chest.
Mattius felt his skin tearing. He felt the muscles slicing under the force Riley was applying.
Slowly but surely, he felt another load of blood start pouring out of his body, and another source of agonising pain crippling him, making it hard to breathe, hard to see.
But he did see one thing.
Riley.
Riley was right up in his face now. He was getting closer as he pushed the machete further into him. Mattius tried to beg, but blood spluttered out of his lips.
All he could think about was the girl, and the woman. Chloë. Jordanna.
All he could think about was everything they’d gone through.
All he could think about was how sorry he was.
“This isn’t for me,” Riley said, as the machete pressed right towards the muscles in Mattius’ back.
Then, Riley smiled. And the rage and lust for revenge really did seem to lift from his face. He looked totally rational. Totally at ease with what he was doing. Totally exorcised of all his demons.
“This is for them,” he said.
He pressed the machete right through Mattius.
So far that it pushed out of his back
.
And then, he let go of the handle, stood up, and walked away.
Mattius tried to move, but he couldn’t. He tried to talk, but he was too much in pain, too much in shock.
So all he did was think about his wife, his Cassandra.
All he did was think about holding her withered hand.
Kesha, resting on her lap.
The pair of them smiling, happy, all over again.
He thought these nice thoughts as the darkness surrounded him and the blood filled his lungs.
But the last thing he saw was the dead eyes of the girl and the woman he’d killed. Chloë. Jordanna.
And as much as he resisted, that terror chased him into the darkness, and…
RILEY WALKED AWAY from Mattius’ body.
He felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Not because he’d killed Mattius. Not because he’d got his own revenge. But because he’d settled the score. He’d made things right with Jordanna and Chloë.
And now, when he looked around at Mattius’ blood-soaked, dying body, he saw Jordanna and Chloë by his side.
They looked back at Riley, and they smiled.
Riley looked back at them, and he smiled too.
He felt a twinge in his right arm. He looked down and saw he was bleeding from the bite wound. He’d have to get it seen to fast. He wasn’t for using Kesha’s blood to heal himself. It didn’t seem morally right.
But hell. He was going to have to survive. Because he had a duty now.
To protect Kesha.
To protect her, no matter what.
When he stepped outside the hatch, he saw Melissa and Carly. Carly had Kesha in her arms, and she was looking down at her with a smile on her face.
But there were two more people, too.
He stopped. Stopped right in his tracks.
One of them was one of Mattius’ people. The guy with the dark curly hair. Ricky.
But there was someone else by his side.
When Riley saw her, he thought of the ghosts he’d let go of. He thought of the weight that had lifted from his shoulder when Chloë had disappeared, and when Jordanna had disappeared. He’d felt the finality to that, when he’d killed Mattius. Like they weren’t going to haunt him anymore.