“Look, leave it, yeah.”
I shrugged my shoulders and turned my attention back to the street. If he didn’t want to tell me then I would accept that. I didn’t actually care that much anyway.
Besides, I had other things on my mind.
Another boat had approached the island during the night and was only spotted because of the Admiral’s diligence in protecting the island. Since the seas were calmer than the last time, a fast boat was sent to meet them.
When they got there, the man piloting the boat was busy throwing people overboard. His intention, it seemed, was to have those people drown and wash up on our shore as zombies, likely infected with smallpox like the first lot.
Genpact were upping their game. As a third boat was on its way towards us. It seemed that we were an island under siege and since every available CDF soldier had been distributed around the coastline to ensure no unwanted visitors came ashore, the plan to attack them was on hold.
We arrived at the docks just in time to see the fast response boat returning. It had a sleek wedge shape that cut through the water, almost skipping over the tops of the larger waves. Its engine roar was enough to set the seagulls to flight as it slowed to a stop.
Each of the squad of soldiers was wearing gloves and a breathing mask over their face. Every bit of skin was covered and they had paper coveralls over their uniforms. A man was manhandled from the boat and up onto the docks where more, similarly clad, soldiers were waiting.
He would be taken to the same medical centre where Gregg and I had spent the better part of two days, where he would be assessed and then interrogated.
“Why didn’t they take him to the other place. That little island to the south?”
“Because he’s probably not infected,” Isaac offered as he joined us. I gave him a nod of greeting which he returned warily.
“What makes you think that?” Gregg asked, turning to look at the brutish former mercenary.
“The man I killed had one of the black discs on his chest,” I said quietly, and it was Isaac’s turn to nod. “They work for Genpact and are mercenaries, not martyrs. They don’t want to die.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because I worked with them, lad,” Isaac replied, staring at the man that was being marched across to a waiting truck. “I recognise that fellow. Worked with him before and he does what he does for money. He’s no believer.”
That was news to me, and I watched the prisoner go with some interest. He was tall and well built, with a square jaw and buzz cut that I had come to associate with the professional military. Even under guard, he walked with shoulders back and head high, sneering at his captors in much the same way that I would.
His eyes met mine briefly and I couldn’t help my smile. There was a deadness to them that made me almost certain that he was like me. That meant I could find a way to motivate him to give us some answers.
He was loaded onto the truck and his guards climbed in behind him. The engine roared to life and the truck moved slowly, pushing through the snow that covered the road. I watched it go and turned to look at my friend.
“Tell me you aren’t thinking what I think you’re thinking.”
“I am.”
He groaned as Isaac looked puzzled and I smiled widely at him in a way that made him shiver.
“Let’s go and meet your friend.”
We followed the tracks made by the truck, which made the going a little easier as we could walk through those great gouges made by the tyres, rather than forge a path through the snow ourselves.
It was a short walk to the medical centre and when we arrived, the minions that surrounded it, parted before me with a simple salute of fist to breast, which I ignored. The CDF soldiers at the door were a different matter.
“Sir, this area is restricted.”
The woman who spoke was in her later twenties with all the brash confidence of youth and the self-assurance of one who has survived the worst the apocalypse could throw at her. She didn’t flinch from my stare and she kept her hand near the poignard sheathed at her belt.
Behind her, the rest of her squad looked uncomfortable. Understandable really as they knew who I was and had likely heard enough stories to know what happened to those that displeased me.
My lips twitched at the corners as I fought down a smile. It was pleasant, sometimes, to be feared. Though I would have preferred not to be noticed at all, if I had no choice, I would rather they were scared enough to do as I told them to do.
Something the young soldier before me didn’t look likely to do.
“We have business inside, lass,” Isaac said. “Who’s in charge here?”
“Captain Jennings.”
I couldn’t help the smirk at hearing that name.
“Get him out here then!” Isaac snapped. “Too bloody cold to be standing around out here.”
The young soldier pursed her lips but turned and snapped an order to one of her squad. The soldier rushed off and returned a few minutes later with the scowling captain in tow. I widened my smile, mockingly as he stepped out into the cold.
A hard-faced man, there were still small scars visible on his face from where the rats had bitten him down in the underground tunnels back in Glasgow. They were faded, but there for those who knew to look.
His left hand was missing a finger, one that he had cut off at my command. A penance for his cowardice when we were attacked by a group of Ferals. A punishment that he hadn’t forgotten and really didn’t like being reminded of.
“What do you want?” His voice was gruff, his entire body tense and anger twisted his face.
“I want you to move your people out of my way.”
“Mate,” Gregg said quietly as he put a hand on my arm and gently pulled me back. He turned his attention to the captain. “I am a member of the new government and I would like to go inside and question the prisoner.”
“No one enters,” Jennings said. “Admirals orders.”
“Then I suggest you get authorisation from him and fast,” Isaac said with a snigger. “You’ve got a shit load of cultists surrounding you all listening and getting more pissed off by the second that you’re not doing as their boss says.”
Jennings tore his gaze from mine and looked behind me. I didn’t need to turn to know that my minions were watching and from the way the colour drained from his face, he understood what they could do.
“You should do as you’re told, Captain.” I nodded down at his hand. “You did the last time I gave you an order.”
His gun was half-way out of the holder before Isaac’s big hand wrapped around his arm, holding it in place as I just grinned. The former mercenary stepped close and spoke quietly to the captain.
“Jesus, mate. Did you have to do that?”
I had no reply. I was out of sorts and itching for a fight. I knew that. I also knew that Lily would be pissed at my provoking one with the captain but I couldn’t seem to help myself. I had an almost desperate need to kill someone and that urge was growing daily.
With the time spent in quarantine, I’d not even had the distraction of training. It was like an itch that was all over my body and could never be scratched. I licked my lips and forced my hand away from my knife handle.
“The hell is going on here!” A voice roared from behind us. “Stand down! All of you!”
“Thank God!” Gregg muttered.
Isaac looked back at the voice and his eyes narrowed as he released his hold on the Captain and stepped back. The soldiers all stood to attention and saluted, though Jennings only did so with a sour scowl for me first.
“Admiral,” I called out, not taking my eyes from the soldiers before me. “About time you got here.”
“Tell your people to stand down,” he snapped, and I finally looked around, blinking in surprise.
My minions had all drawn weapons and were forming a wall between us and the new arrivals. Admiral Stuart, not looking happy in any way, waited impatiently with a small squa
d of marines who all stood with assault rifles held at the ready.
Lily, beside him, looked equally displeased.
I raised my hand and snapped my fingers, the sound loud in the tense silence. The minions immediately sheathed their weapons and returned to their positions, standing guard.
“Hello, Lily.”
She didn’t immediately reply which indicated that she was a little annoyed with me. She spoke quietly with the Admiral as they made their way to us and I waited, a carefully bland smile on my face.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded irritably as she came close enough that no one could hear her whispered words but me.
“I wanted to speak to the captive.”
“Ryan,” she said, with a soft sigh. “There’s rules. You can’t just decide to do something and have it happen. We’ve set up protocols for a reason.”
I vaguely remembered her mentioning them but hadn’t actually considered that they would apply to me. For such a long time I had done as I pleased, and it had worked out fine. My brow furrowed at the thought that I would need to ask for permission to do things.
“Don’t over-think it,” she said with a smile that suggested she wasn’t too angry with me. “Why do you want to speak with him?”
“Isaac knows him,” I said with a casual wave towards the mercenary. “He’s definitely Genpact.”
“And just what were you planning to do if he didn’t want to speak to you?” Admiral Stuart asked in a voice taut with controlled anger.
“Whatever I needed to do.”
“No!” he snapped. “There are rules to how we will treat people. We are not savages.”
“We are whatever we need to be to survive,” I said, giving him a curious look. “I thought you understood that.”
“Things are changing,” Lily said, placing her hand on my arm in what I assumed was a gesture of comfort. “We need to be better than we were. We have a place we can call home and we can become something much better.”
“So, no torture?”
“No.” She smiled, almost kindly and patted my arm. “I know you’re impatient, but we need to do this right.”
It clearly meant something to her and while it would inconvenience me, I could see ways to get around the rules without outright breaking them. So, I shrugged and nodded.
“Right, we can maybe-“ she cut off as the radio the Admiral held burst to life.
He listened intently for a moment before looking up at us, expression troubled.
“What is it?” Lily asked.
“We’ve lost a drone. Charlie is sending another to cover its area, but something could easily slip through to the island before it gets there.”
“How did we lose a drone?”
“Sniper,” Isaac said grimly. “Erin could make a shot like that easily. Best prepare. We’re gonna have company.”
Chapter 13
I couldn’t help my irritation. The man was definitely not one for following rules, but even so, he would have to learn how to. I couldn’t spend my days telling everyone else they had to and then ignore his breaking of any rule he chose.
Part of the problem was that I could see the wildness in him. It had been growing since the earliest days when he had shed his thin veneer of civility and embraced the insanity of the battle for survival in the apocalypse.
For nearly two years that wildness had been allowed to grow and like Pandora with her box of all the world’s evils, I wasn’t sure that what had been let loose in the man I loved could ever be reined back in.
It was a problem that I wrestled with in the darker hours before the dawn, as I watched him sleep, wondering if the next day would be the one where he realised that a safe little island wasn’t for him.
But, I pushed that irritation to one side as we rushed back to the command centre, and I dragged my thoughts back to more immediate problems. It would be the best place to find out what had happened. At the door, the Admiral went in first and I was stopped by a hand on my arm.
“What?”
“If someone has broken through and come ashore, they will head for the power or water plants. I’ll take some of my people to the water plant.”
I stared at him a moment, not sure why he was telling me and then it dawned on me and I frowned at his grinning face.
“Yes, fine. I’ll radio ahead so you don’t get any problems.”
His grin widened and I leant in and planted a too brief kiss on his lips before pulling away. I ignored how Gregg rolled his eyes before he shared a smirk with Isaac.
“Send more people to the power plant,” Ryan instructed as he turned to leave. “And the food depots.”
Once again, I ignored that fact that he was issuing orders despite me being the one in charge and just shook my head before moving into the building.
Inside the main command room, electric heaters had been set up to provide some defence against the winter's chill. Techs hurried about or huddled over their terminals, hard at work. A couple of soldiers in the blue uniform of the CDF moved about, offering hot drinks and sandwiches.
Charlie, wheeled herself from one station to another, barking orders and issuing demands. She rarely left the command centre and had even set herself up with a small living area in one of the old offices.
She had reasoned that she had little real mobility and wasn’t interested in suffering the indignity of being carried up and down the stairs whenever she went out. Plus, she had her drones and those were her eyes, showing her the world in a way few others would ever see it.
So, she lived and worked in the old office building. She had turned an office into a nest of sorts, filled with all manner of electronic junk that she worked on in between sleeping and watching over her staff.
It made sense to be honest, and since I couldn’t seem to go more than an hour or so without being called back for some emergency, I was considering setting up camp there myself.
“So, what happened?” I asked as I joined Admiral Stuart, Minister Shepherd, Cass and Samuel by the centre table.
“Someone shot down Larry!”
I gave a quizzical look to Charlie as she wheeled herself up to the table. “Larry?”
“Yeah, I named them, so what?” She glared around the table at each of us in turn, daring anyone to laugh. “You gonna do something about it?”
“Perhaps if you told us what happened,” Admiral Stuart said with a great deal more patience than I had.
My children were in danger as much as anyone else was from these invaders and I would not allow anything to happen to them.
“Larry was following his usual flight path and then wasn’t. There’s no images of who shot him down and I’ve reviewed the footage five times now. I can’t find bugger all.”
“You’re sure it was shot down and didn’t malfunction?” Shepherd asked.
“There’s indicators if things start to fail. We didn’t see any and when we got another drone out there, Larry was spread over a large area.”
The Admiral looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’ve ordered a patrol to gather the pieces. We shall need to investigate.”
“Need to listen to me!” Charlie snapped. “When Archie was checking out the remains of Larry, we caught this.”
She placed her tablet on the table and clicked the play icon on the still image. It burst to life and we watched in silence as the drone, hovering above the ground, focused its camera on the smashed remains of poor Larry.
It then moved up, spinning on its axis before continuing to patrol, the camera swivelling to look out to sea, allowing the tech controlling it to watch for any approaching boats.
“There,” Charlie said as she stopped the video. “Didn’t see it the first time, but it’s there.”
“What is?” Cass asked, peering down at the small screen through narrowed eyes.
Charlie’s finger tapped at the bottom corner of the screen and I squinted at it. A small dab of orange, barely visible against the rocky shore.
“A boat,�
� Admiral Stuart said. “Small but big enough for four people.”
“Four mercenaries,” I said with growing dread. “Or four contagious people.”
The threat was clear immediately. Four trained mercenaries could do a great deal of damage before they were caught. Four people infected with some contagious disease could devastate us.
My mouth was suddenly dry and my palms sweaty as I contemplated the damage that could be done and I glanced up, meeting the admiral's gaze. He nodded slowly.
“I’ll order out every available soldier. We’ll find them.”
“The Dead will join in the search,” Samuel intoned in his quiet rumble. “They shall be found.”
“I want any spare drones out there looking for tracks,” I said, finding strength in their words. “With all the snow out there we should see something, surely?”
“They will have been trained to cover their tracks. It will not be that easy to find them.”
“Ryan has headed to the water plant and suggests,” I smiled at that. “He suggests that we bolster the forces at the power plant.”
“Smart idea,” Shepherd said sourly. “We lose power and we freeze. They put something in the water, and we could all be dead.”
“Or worse,” Cass added with a shudder.
That soured the mood even further and I had a very real urge to head home to my children. To hold them and keep them safe.
The thought that there were people on the island that were trying to do harm to us, to undo everything we were trying to rebuild. It both terrified and infuriated me.
“I want to know where they are launching these boats from and I want them stopped.” I looked at each of the other people around the table in turn. “Find where they are coming from and assemble a force. We can fly over to the mainland and stop them.”
“Won’t be easy, ma’am.” Admiral Stuart said. “But it will be done.”
“Good.”
“How do we get the information?” Cass asked, looking around with mild concern. She knew about the prisoner too.
“I’ve a couple of long-range drones,” Charlie said grumpily. “But they don’t have the range to search.”
“Any ship will be seen,” Admiral Stuart admitted. “I would suggest we send some teams ashore and have them search manually.”
Killing The Dead (Book 17): Siege Page 8