That would take far too long and while they were searching, more boats could be sent. More people bringing death and disease to our island home.
“What about the prisoner?” I cocked an eyebrow and made sure to look each of them in the eye. “How long would it take to get answers from him?”
The Admiral looked troubled but he answered as truthfully as he could, a good soldier, following his oath despite his own misgivings.
“It would depend on the manner of questioning, ma’am.”
He was too like Ryan at times, going all formal and distant when he wasn’t pleased. I almost smiled at how they would both react should I suggest that to them.
“No torture,” I said and caught the look of relief on both the Admiral and Cass’s faces. “But we need to know what he knows. Isaac could be of use.”
“Not the time to be light of hand,” Shepherd muttered but didn’t argue too much.
“As for the teams sent to the mainland, I think two would be best. One CDF and the other-“
“The Dead,” Samuel grunted, apparently pleased. “It shall be done.”
It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was the best we had. We would find the infiltrators and stop them before they harmed us and then we would stop them coming. Once we were secure, we would respond to Genpact in kind.
We would be the ones invading their territory. It would be us, leading an armed invasion of their home and we would be the ones who would win out. Because we were the ones trying to save lives and not just destroy anyone who didn’t share their ideology.
I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth as I watched the technicians scurrying about, responding to the orders being issued by the Admiral. They were my people, they had given their trust to me and had voted for me to lead them.
Which is exactly what I would do, and as their leader, I wouldn’t let anyone harm them. God help those that tried.
“Then let’s get started,” I said with as much determination as I could muster.
Chapter 14
Boredom set my teeth on edge. I had a murderous urge to kill and no target for my ire. It was galling, to say the least. To make it worse, Isaac had been called away to interrogate the prisoner and it had been made abundantly clear that I was not needed.
My minions were too in awe of me to do anything but obey my every order like perfect little robots, devoid of individual thought, and Gregg was… well, Gregg. He irritated me with his chatter, but I enjoyed his company.
That too, annoyed the hell out of me.
“They’re not coming,” Gregg said. “Too many people. Probably go for the power plant.”
I gave a half-hearted shrug and pulled my coat a little tighter around me. The chill wind had begun to blow stronger as the day headed towards night and about an hour before, more snow had begun to fall.
The water treatment plant was on the far edge of the town and if they were going to attack it, then I suspected it wouldn’t be that day. No, they would need to survey it first and when they did, they would notice a lot of guards.
When night came and those guards disappeared inside, they would find a gap in the defences and, hopefully, seize their chance. They would, of course, come up against my waiting minions and the fight should be short and very much to the point.
But first, we had to put on the show of force before our inexperienced ineptitude provided them with an opening. If they didn’t attack, then we would do the same thing the next day and the day after until they were caught or killed.
While they may well attack elsewhere, I was confident that they would want to infect our water supply. It would be a simple means of turning us all into zombies and it was a tactic they had used before, back when the world was whole.
Despite that, there were some feelings of disquiet deep in the back of my mind. Niggling little doubts and an apparent concern for the safety of my children. It was a new and not entirely pleasant feeling.
I was protective over them, of course, why would I not be? They were my children. But, I had never actively worried about anyone before. It was disconcerting.
“You thought of names yet?”
“What?”
“For the twins. You decided on names?”
“Hadn’t really thought of it.”
He gave me an incredulous look and shook his head. “You’ve been calling them ‘the twins’ since they were born, then?”
“Yes.”
“That’s weird. What does Lily think?”
“She’s not said anything.”
He shook his head once more and barked laughter that was loud enough to have a couple of my minions turn to look.
“Oh, mate, you’re in trouble.”
“I am? Why?”
He reached over and patted my shoulder but didn’t immediately reply. Instead, he wrinkled his nose and pushed himself up from where he had been seated on a low stone wall. He brushed the snow from his jeans and stretched.
“I need food.”
Again, I shrugged in response as I had nothing else that I could say. If he wanted food, then he didn’t need to announce it, he could just go and find some. Unless the announcing it was part of some normal person ritual that I didn’t understand.
Perhaps he wanted me to go with him or was trying to question whether I had some. I eyed him curiously, but he didn’t do or say anything else, just stood there in the shadow of the main, rectangular, building, his breath misting the air.
He scratched at the ruined skin of his cheek and then lifted his eyepatch to rub beneath it. I wondered, idly, if it pained him, that missing eye. I opened my mouth to ask but stopped as the distant sound of thunder came to us.
My head whipped around, searching the skyline to the south, heart beating hard in my chest. “There,” I said and pointed to the thin plume of smoke rising into the sky.
“Not the power plant,” Gregg murmured, squinting at the smoke, lips moving as he thought. “There’s nothing there. Just houses!”
We shared a momentary look of confusion before turning back towards the rising smoke. Without another word spoken, we set off walking at as fast a pace as we could manage through the thick snow.
It would be too late for us to do anything, CDF soldiers would be there long before us, but I had to know if it was them or not.
A second crack of thunder was followed by a third and two new plumes of smoke rose up into the sky to the south-east and west of us. I twisted my head from one plume to another, gauging the distance, then the fourth came.
Less than six hundred meters. We increased our pace and soon heard the cries of the dying, drifting on the icy winds as they blew across the snow-swept landscape. I drew my blades.
We turned into a street and stopped, eyes drinking in the sight before us. Gregg swore softly behind me and reached for his own weapon as the ravenous cry of a zombie filled the air.
Smoke rose from the broken windows of a house. The blast had blown most of them outwards, but I suspected at least one would have been smashed in as the bomb passed through it. Fire engulfed the property and the neighbours, feeling safer than they had in almost two years, had rushed to help.
The charred zombies had leapt from the building, four of them, flames still wreathing their bodies as they tore through those neighbours. They were almost as fast as Reapers and I hadn’t seen their like since those images from the earliest days of the fall.
A handful of people were down, their flesh ripped and torn, filling the mouths of those undead creatures. Even as we advanced, the first of those bodies began to twitch and the zombie feasting there gave up its meal and moved to another body that had yet to reanimate.
I didn’t wait for Gregg, didn’t even see the fleeing neighbours, as I pushed on through the snow with my sights set on the undead scourge. I ached to feel my blades sink into their flesh, to end their existence, to feel the thrill of their deaths.
The first one saw me, eyes flicking up from its foul meal, blackened skin falling away from its chee
ks as its mouth widened in a terrible smile. I matched it with one of my own and leapt at it.
I crashed into it, elbow smashing against its face, the thick material of my coat protecting me from bloodstained teeth. My knee slammed into its chest and my other arm thrust forwards, blade sinking deep into its skull.
There was a moment or pure pleasure as its eyes widened and what foul, imitation of life lingered there fell away. Then I was up and moving, blades flashing in the dim afternoon light.
Blood spattered on the snow as I moved between those undead creatures, my blades weaving their own bloody path across undead flesh. A second zombie fell, and then the third, its teeth trying ineffectually to find my flesh.
More of those killed began to rise, bodies shaking and jerking as the parasite they had been infected with began its work, taking control of their bodies and raising them with one primary urge, to feed.
Bloody fingers scraped across my cheek, leaving crimson tracks but not breaking the skin as I spun away, twisting around a rising zombie, pausing only long enough to sink my second blade into its skull as my first slashed at the eyes of another.
A zombie fell, and then another, more corpses to lie in the snow. My breath was heavy, the taste of copper in my mouth from the frenzied blows of a zombie as it died. I spat my own blood onto the snow, blade slamming into a creature’s skull. I let the child-sized body fall to the snow at my feet and faced the last remaining enemy.
It hissed, opening wide its mouth to show bloodied teeth. A moan escaped it, some vestigial attempt to communicate its rage, its hunger. The creature leapt at me and I stepped in, blades rising before me, points out.
I let out a grunt as the creature impaled itself on those blades and I wrenched my arms to the left, letting the creatures own weight drag it to the ground. I pulled back one blade and thrust down, then all was still.
With heaving chest, I pulled free those blades and took a moment to wipe them before I rose to my feet, looking around me to see I had an audience.
The people of the island, those from the surrounding houses watched me in silence, fear or something that I didn’t care to try and recognise, on their faces. Two of my minions, having run to join the fight had fallen to their knees, hands pressed to their breasts and heads bowed.
I puzzled over their behaviour for just a moment before turning to my friend, who was staring at me, open-mouthed.
“Bloody hell, mate.”
“What?”
“That was… wow.”
His words were barely heard as I struggled against the pulsing surge of joy that filled me. I had fought the monsters once more, I had dealt death to my enemies and I had been supreme. It was a feeling unlike anything else and I wanted more.
I shuddered at that thought and closed my eyes, reining it in as best I could. That way lay madness for there would be no stopping me until the world itself was empty of life if I gave in to that urge.
“We should go.” My voice was hoarse, as I struggled to keep it even. “There may be more in need of help.”
“Sure thing, mate,” Gregg said softly, using the same tone he used when Jinx snapped at him. “Whatever you say.”
I sheathed my blades and turned away without another word, heading further into the town, towards the rising smoke. They had attacked my home and for that, there would be a reckoning.
Chapter 15
A large room with only one door to allow entrance or exit, and no windows, had been turned into a temporary holding area for the prisoner. He had been handcuffed to a bolt that protruded from the table before him, and he stared balefully at the officers questioning him.
I rubbed wearily at my eyes and stifled a yawn as I watched from the doorway. It had been a long couple of days with little to show for it and almost no sleep. I had only seen my babies for short periods in between emergency meetings and it wasn’t going to end any time soon.
Two mercenaries were still at large, hidden somewhere in the town. I was sure of that since we had almost continuous coverage of the surrounding area and with the snow, no one could travel far without our seeing them.
Every member of the CDF and Navy were working all hours to try and find those men, while Samuel had the Dead patrolling constantly.
The last explosion had been twenty-six hours previous and had resulted in the messy death of seven civilians, two CDF soldiers and one mercenary infiltrator. He was the second of the group to die, the first had made the mistake of running straight into Ryan.
I rubbed at my eyes once more and leant against the door frame. The two black-garbed acolytes standing just inside the room edged a little closer as they eyed the prisoner. It was almost nice to see how concerned they were and if I wasn’t waiting to deal with representatives of the various island factions, I would have been a lot more appreciative.
“Anything?” Admiral Stuart asked as he came up beside me.
Without turning my head to look at him, I said, “Not yet.”
The mercenary we had captured had been refusing to talk for days. It was almost frustrating enough for me to consider allowing a harsher method of questioning. While I was wanting to create a better future for us all, I couldn’t do that if Genpact won.
Did it then, justify the use of extreme measures?
We were already planning on attacking their base and there would be lives lost in doing so. More than that, there were a number of bases and they were held by people with an ideology totally at odds with our own.
I wasn’t even sure that we would be able to come to peace with them. It would be all or nothing, which meant them or us. One group would have to be wiped out and that was a hard thought to bear since I was damned sure it wouldn’t be my group.
Which made it seem crazy not to indulge in a little torture to get the answers I needed. We were fighting for our lives after all.
“Perhaps-“ I cut off as the sound of running feet hitting the linoleum sounded, coming closer with each step.
“Sir!” the young soldier skidded to a stop and performed a quick and sloppy salute. “Ma’am.”
The Admiral glared at him, lifting his chin and looking down his nose at the quivering soldier, who paused, taking a moment to tug on the bottom of his jacket to straighten it, before he stood to attention and performed a much smarter salute.
“Out with it!”
I hid my smile at the way the young man’s cheeks heated to a colour that almost matched his short-cut hair. His eyes flicked nervously between me and the Admiral and it was clear he wasn’t sure who he should be looking at.
“Just speak,” I told him, gently with a soft smile of encouragement. “It’s okay.”
“Y-yes, ma’am.” He swallowed and looked directly at me. “Another of the mercs has been killed.”
That was three down, one to go. My smile widened at that and even the dour Admiral looked a little pleased.
“Tell us what happened,” I encouraged.
“Some of those cultists….” His eyes moved to my own bodyguards and he swallowed nervously. “Ah, some of the Dead, they found him trying to get close to the command centre.”
My eyebrows rose at that. It seemed to be such a foolish thing to attempt as that command centre was incredibly well guarded. Dozens of soldiers patrolled the perimeter and stood guard at the entrance.
I looked up at the Admiral with some alarm as I realised why that made them such a good target. He shook his head slightly as he met my gaze and I almost sighed in relief. He understood my alarm and he had likely already considered it and made appropriate plans.
“That leaves one remaining.” Admiral Stuart rubbed at his chin with one hand, eyes distant. “At this moment we have to consider he could be anywhere.”
“Most people are familiar with their neighbours. He won’t just be able to blend in and hide.”
“True, ma’am, but even so…”
I glanced down at my watch and closed my eyes wearily as the admiral dismissed the young soldier. It would not be lon
g before dawn was upon us and people would leave their houses, heading out for their daily tasks.
During the night, with freshly fallen snow, it was easy to find tracks. Which made me wonder why one of them was out near the command centre in the first place. Since their arrival, there had been several small attacks at seeming random locations and I couldn’t shake the feeling that they were rushing.
“Ma’am,” Admiral Stuart said warningly and my eyes snapped open.
I followed his gaze and turned my head to see my beloved marching down the corridor towards us, Gregg and Isaac in tow.
Their clothing was wet from being out in the snow, their skin paler than usual and noses red. They’d all been out too long and, not surprisingly, Ryan’s coat sleeves were stained with the blood of the zombies he had killed.
He didn’t smile, not even when he met my eyes and I shivered a little as I realised there was too much of the killer there and not enough of the man. I’d heard tales of what he’d been doing, running from one fight to another.
People were talking and the legend surrounding him was growing. I had overheard two of my own bodyguards speaking in hushed tones, full of awe. More and more, they were looking to him as though he were a true deity and it was beginning to scare me.
“I’d like to speak with the prisoner,” Ryan said without preamble as he reached us.
“No.”
The Admiral’s voice was firm and his hand hung down at his side, near the holstered sidearm. Ryan didn’t indicate he had noticed but I was sure he had. As he’d likely noticed the nervous CDF soldiers sharing glances as they too had heard the growing tales of my beloved.
“Why?” I asked, holding up one hand to forestall any complaints from the Admiral. “I’ll not allow torture and I can’t see you doing any better than the people already questioning him.”
In response, Ryan pulled out a flattened, round, metal device. I looked at it curiously as the Admiral swore softly and almost took a step back.
“I disarmed it,” Isaac said. “Safe for now, but no idea how many more there might be.”
Killing The Dead (Book 17): Siege Page 9