Sean pulled Anna clear of Kay and wrapped his arms around her chest and held her writhing body to him, while I darted over and knelt beside Kay. I ripped off my jacket, peeled off my jumper and removed my t-shirt, before shoving Kay’s hand out of the way and pressing the balled up t-shirt against her throat to stem the blood flow. ‘We have to get Kay out of here now!’ I barked at Sean.
I watched as Sean ignored me and, with his head close to Anna’s, he spoke to her. ‘Shhh, Anna,’ he soothed. ‘It’s OK, darling. It’s me. Sean. It’s your brother.’ Sean jolted his head back instinctively as Anna snapped her head to the side and snarled at him. ‘Ssssh, Anna, please. Anna.’ he implored, his voice cracking. ‘Please remember me.’
‘Sean, we have to go!’
‘Remember that I love you. That you love me,’ he continued, ignoring me. ‘I love you, Anna.’
Anna cocked her head to the side and I saw her features soften as her body relaxed in Sean’s arms. Despite the dead human face on top of her head, and the blood and shit smeared over her half naked body, I realised, in that moment, just how beautiful she must have been before she ruined herself – tall, though half a foot sorter than Sean – modelesque, full lips, big green eyes. ‘That’s right, darling,’ soothed Sean. ‘You remember me.’
Sean let go of Anna and he moved around so he stood in front of her. ‘I’m going to help you. I’ll take you away from here. Away from Marco.’ Anna’s features twisted and she shook her head. She raised a filthy hand to her forehead and raked at her skin with her sharp nails, drawing blood. ‘Anna, don’t!’ said Sean and he put a hand out towards her but Anna batted it away. She unleashed an animalistic squeal that rose into a shrieking cry and punched Sean in the jaw, sending him backwards where he sprawled into a table. Anna turned and fled through the door.
Sean scrambled to his feet and limped after her. But, before he reached the door, I grabbed Kay’s left hand and pressed it against the blood soaked t-shirt at her neck, hoping she had the strength to hold it there, and leapt after him. I grabbed his elbow and pulled him back into the café and round to face me. I saw that Anna’s punch had reopened his cut lip and he licked at the fresh blood with the tip of his tongue.
‘What the fuck, Sean! Anna’s a Human Zombie and you didn’t think we needed to know that? So who’s this,’ I said, kicking the body of an HZ in its side, ‘your uncle Dave?’
‘Get off me,’ growled Sean and he used his right arm to shove me to the side.
I darted back in front of him and pressed my left palm against his chest in an attempt to stop him leaving. ‘No! Listen, we have to get Kay out of here now.’
Sean batted my hand away and glared at me, his eyes flicked towards the door. I thought he would bolt, but at the sound of multiple shrieks and howls from somewhere outside, he turned back to me. ‘OK, come on,’ he growled and he pushed past me to Kay, laying on the floor where I had left her. Sean helped her to her feet, wincing as his own battered body took her weight, while I threw my jumper on over my bra, shoved my arms into my jacket and picked up Kay’s axe. The three of us headed out the door.
Sean supported Kay, dragging her along with him as he hobbled across the veranda, trying to keep up with me. At the stairs, we ran downwards as fast as we could, careful not to lose our footing on the uneven stone steps. Out onto the sea wall, we turned left towards the harbour, relieved we couldn’t see any HZs ahead. I snapped my head around to scan the area, hoping the HZs weren’t pursuing us from the café, when something caught my eye. ‘Up there … who the fuck?’
Sean turned to follow my pointed finger, back up to the Mermaid. On the roof of the café, looming over us, stood a figure. Blood smeared his bare chest. He wore a pair of black trousers and a black cape covered with black feathers. Over his face he wore a black mask in the shape of an animal’s skull, with an elongated nose. Around its mouth had been glued – I could just make out from that distance – a row of human teeth, and on each side, near the top, were horns, like rams horns, curled outwards. In his left hand he held an HZ by its hair. The HZ was on its knees in front of him but, even before the dark figure dragged it to its feet, I already knew it was Anna.
‘Anna!’ said Sean. He left Kay to stand unsteadily by herself and he stumbled closer to the wall below the café. ‘ANNA!’ More HZs crawled on all fours onto the roof, coming to a stop beside the figure as he held a knife to Anna’s throat. ‘Marco, you bastard, let her go!’ yelled Sean. I watched as the figure – who I now knew was Marco, though he looked very different to when I first met him – ran his knife across Anna’s throat. Her body went slack in his arms and he tossed her off the roof, down onto the veranda. ‘NOOOO!’ Sean raised his arms, palms up towards Marco, then placed the heels of his hands against his temples. ‘No. No. No,’ he muttered, shaking his head. He turned his body from the café, towards the beach.
I continued to watch as Marco turned and stalked to the back of the roof and leapt off, the HZs creeping on all fours to follow him.
‘Sean, we have to go. They might come after us,’ I said. He snapped out of his trance and glared at me. Without a word, he turned and staggered back up the steps towards the café. ‘Sean!’ I yelled after him, worried the HZs would be waiting up there. ‘Shit,’ I said when he didn’t come back. I grabbed Kay around the shoulders, worried at how pale she looked but not wanting to leave her alone, and with me dragging her along, we followed Sean back to the café.
We found him kneeling at Anna’s side, her body twisted on the concrete, blood pouring from her throat. No sign of Marco or the other HZs. ‘I couldn’t save her,’ said Sean.
I thought for a moment, about how to clear Sean’s name so me and Kay could go back to our camp. ‘No. But she can save us.’
Entry Sixteen
We staggered back to the harbour and up to St Andrews, Sean with Anna’s body over his shoulder, the human face hat hanging on the side of her head. I had my arm around Kay’s waist, pretty much dragging her along behind me. Shane stood on guard duty and I heard him say, ‘What the fuck …?’ before he thrust his hand into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a walkie talkie. He lifted it up to his mouth, held down the button on the side and spoke into it, ‘I think you need to come out here and see this … Yeah, I’d say it’s an emergency,’ before lowering the walkie talkie and staring at us with wide eyes, but he made no move to let us in.
We stood on the other side of the gate, me swaying from exhaustion and from the weight of Kay hanging off my shoulder. She managed to hold my t-shirt to her throat by herself, but I knew if I let go of her, her sagging legs would give way and she’d crumple to the ground. Sean’s knees buckled beneath him with the strain of carrying his sister’s dead body. He readjusted her on his shoulder to prevent her from slipping off, looking like he was wondering whether to place her on the ground for a moment or if we would be let in soon, making it not worth the effort. We must have looked an absolute picture … albeit one from a grizzly horror comic and not from the family album.
Several seconds passed before the door to the building opened and Chris, Soph, Max, Tracey and Jordan stormed out, each clutching their weapons. I saw Sean shoot Max a dark look.
‘What the …?’ began Chris.
‘We have the murderer you ordered,’ I said feebly. ‘Can we come in?’
‘Shane, open the gate,’ said Chris. Shane clambered down the fire escape, pulling the bundle of keys from his pocket as he did so. He fumbled with the keys and the lock, and opened the gate enough for us to stagger through.
Max sprang forwards and, with his teeth bared in a snarl, he punched Sean in the side of his face. The impact forced Sean’s head to swing to the right and he staggered back a couple of paces before the weight of Anna on his shoulder caused him to lose his balance. He fell onto his backside, Anna crashing head first over his shoulder and onto the tarmac. Sean sat there for a moment, rubbing his jaw with his right hand, before he leapt to his feet and charged at Max.
�
��Whoa … whoa!’ said Chris, coming to stand between Max and Sean with his arms stretched, palms out towards the two men, forcing them apart. ‘That’s not going to help anyone.’
‘All three of them need to be locked up!’ yelled Max, straining against Chris’s hand. ‘They’re fucking mental!’ Chris turned to him and placed both of his hands on Max’s chest, holding him back from us, while Sean glared at Max over Chris’s shoulder.
‘Calm down, Max,’ said Chris.
‘Calm down? Lucy, then Josh –’
‘Sean didn’t touch either of them!’ I said.
Chris turned his head to look at me, lowering one of his hands from Max’s chest and pointing it in my direction. ‘You guys have some serious explaining to do.’ He glanced down at the bloody, filthy body of Anna laying crumpled on the tarmac.
‘Rest assured, we’ll explain everything very seriously. But right now Kay needs help. She’s badly injured.’
‘OK,’ said Chris. ‘Max, back down, mate.’ Chris placed a hand on Max’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. ‘We’ll listen to what they have to say. OK?’ Max glared at us but gave a little nod of his head.
I heard Sean say, ‘That’ll be a first,’ as he turned away from Chris and Max. He knelt down beside Anna and lifted her into his arms as though she was a sleeping princess instead of a dead cold blooded killer.
‘Come on, this way,’ said Soph, stepping forwards and helping me to guide Kay into the building. Sean staggered to his feet, Anna cradled in his arms and followed us, while Soph gripped Kay’s right arm and supported her as we marched along the corridor. Soph stopped outside the door to one of the apartments on the ground floor. ‘Somebody get me a first aid kit,’ she said as she opened the door, and Jordan dashed off down the corridor and around to the back of the building, her long brown hair billowing out behind her. Inside the apartment, Soph led us to one of the bedrooms and I helped Kay onto the bed.
Soph turned to Sean, who stood in the doorway. ‘Put that in the living room for now,’ she said, nodding at the body in his arms, and Sean disappeared from view with Shane and Max following him.
Kay looked pale as she lay on the bed shaking, and a thin film of sweat covered her face. I watched, Chris and Tracey beside me, as Soph pulled Kay’s hand out of the way. She removed the balled up t-shirt from her throat, exposing the bite mark. Blood oozed freely and Soph placed the t-shirt back on the wound and pressed down on it. ‘Zombie?’ asked Soph.
‘No. She’s not infected,’ I replied realising a whole lot of blanks needed filling before I could explain how Kay got injured. And I didn’t even know all the blanks myself.
Jordan darted into the room holding a bright green fabric case about the size of a kid’s lunch box, with a white cross and the words ‘First Aid’ written across the top in large white letters. She handed it to Soph’s free hand. ‘OK, first things first,’ said Soph as she placed the first aid kit on the edge of the bed. ‘Let’s get Kay patched up.’
Sean sidled up next to me. I glanced back to see Shane and Max shadowing him like a couple of FBI agents not about to let their man out of their sight. ‘How is she?’ asked Sean as Soph removed the t-shirt once more and set about cleaning the wound with an antibacterial spray before wiping the area around it with cotton wool.
‘The wound doesn’t look too deep. I just need to get the bleeding under control. And she’ll probably need antibiotics to prevent infection.’
‘Why don’t you two come with me and explain a few things,’ said Chris.
I looked at Kay. ‘She’ll be OK, Sophie.’ said Soph. ‘Go with Chris and I’ll let you know when you can come and see her.’
I nodded and me and Sean followed Chris out of the bedroom and down the hall to the living room. I saw Anna’s body laid out carefully on the floral patterned sofa, her hands crossed over her chest as though she lay in a coffin. Sean glanced at her as he entered the room and looked away just as quickly. Chris led us to a round wooden dining table at the far end of the long room. An empty fruit bowl sat in the middle of the table and a couple of unopened letters addressed to a Mrs Dixon and a short shopping list, penned in neat, cursive writing, were scattered on the table top, all covered with a film of dust. ‘Sit down,’ said Chris.
I pulled out a chair and sat down, while Sean slumped into the seat next to me, his back to where Anna lay. Chris, Shane, Max, Tracey and Jordan took the other seats. I imagined I was facing an interview panel for a job I didn’t want but needed desperately. ‘So, who’s that?’ said Chris pointing over Sean’s shoulder towards Anna.
‘My sister,’ said Sean and he licked at his busted lip. ‘Anna.’
‘Your sister?’
‘Anna murdered Lucy,’ I said, drawing random lines in the dust on the table top with my finger. ‘Sean had nothing to do with her death, other than he tried to stop Anna. She killed Josh too.’
‘She’s a …’
‘An HZ, yes,’ I said.
Chris turned to Sean. ‘Why didn’t you tell us the truth?’
‘From what I heard,’ I said, wiping my dust doodles away with the palm of my hand and glaring at Max, ‘Sean wasn’t given the chance.’
‘What?’ Chris, his brow creased, followed my gaze to Max who sat biting his nails. ‘Max?’
‘I thought … We all thought … He wouldn’t have –’
‘I wanted to protect my sister. I wanted the chance to try and save her, but I knew I couldn’t do anything for her if I was dead. Only it’s not easy to explain anything with your mouth gagged and while the shit is being kicked out of you.’
‘What did you and Josh do, Max?’
‘Nothing, I –’
‘They were planning on killing Sean and saying it was self defence,’ I said.
‘Is that true?’ said Chris.
Max’s face grew scarlet and he refused to look anyone in the eye as everyone present stared at him. He sniffed really hard, making a sound like a pig snorting and snuffling. He cleared his throat loudly, before turning his head and spitting the hacked up contents of his throat into the corner of the room. My stomach sickened at the sight. He turned back and glared at me and Sean, before shifting his eyes to Chris. ‘No, you got it wrong. That’s not what –’
‘Is that true, Max?’ Chris said louder.
‘Josh – he and Lucy had started seeing each other. He –’
‘You what? Why didn’t anyone tell me about that?’ said Chris. ‘I never would have agreed to Josh being involved in the questioning if I’d known that.’
‘That’s why we didn’t tell you,’ said Max. ‘He wanted justice. He wanted –’
‘Save it,’ I said. I turned to Sean. ‘But if you were going to tell them – if they’d let you – why didn’t you tell me and Kay everything last night?’
Sean let out a sigh. ‘Because when you and Kay helped me to escape, I thought I still had a chance to save Anna from Marco and get the two of us out of this fucked up, mental town. I didn’t want anyone standing in the way of that, did I? You said yourself you wanted to hand Anna over to this lot. I wasn’t about to let that happen.’
‘You were only ever interested in saving yourself and Anna, not that you’d be fucking off and leaving us with Marco and a town full of crazed HZs without warning us about them,’ I said.
‘I never claimed to be a fucking hero.’
‘So why stick around now?’ I asked Sean.
‘Wait, back up, who’s Marco?’ asked Chris before Sean could respond to my question.
‘Yeah, this is where my knowledge gets a little patchy,’ I said. I turned back to Sean. ‘You mentioned before that he brainwashed Anna and the others?’
Sean sat back in his chair. ‘Me and Anna, we were at our dad’s place in Lewisham when all the shit kicked off. I watched from the balcony of my dad’s flat as the streets below turned into carnage – zombies ripping humans to shreds until there were only zombies left. Anna wanted to go and find her little boy; he was at his nursery in Bromley wher
e they lived. I wouldn’t let her go. I knew if we split up we’d never see each other again. Dad had suffered a stroke a few months before the outbreak and I knew I couldn’t go with Anna and leave him behind. If we never made it back, he’d die without us.
‘Anna suggested we take the old guy along, that if we could get to her car, parked outside the flats, we could easily make the drive to Bromley and find Jaden. I wasn’t crazy about the idea. I made her wait ‘til the next day, once the bloodbath of the first day had calmed down a bit. I snatched her car keys so she couldn’t go anywhere and I tried to pretend I couldn’t hear her crying all night for her kid.
‘There weren’t as many zombies on the second day and, with me and Anna armed with what we could find in Dad’s kitchen and tool box – a curving knife and a claw hammer – we got out of the flats and we made it to Anna’s car. Only we didn’t get far. We soon ran into gridlocked roads. The streets were teaming with zombies, and buildings all around us were burning. The fires drove survivors out onto the streets only to be torn apart by the zombies. We had to ditch the car and carrying on on foot but …’
Sean breathed out heavily. He sat looking at the table top for a moment before carrying on. ‘Dad didn’t make it.’ He paused again. ‘Me and Anna got through the bloodbath, I don’t know how. I just remember swinging my hammer in all bloody directions, not even looking to see if I was hitting zombies or humans, just needing to get out … to get Anna out.
‘We ended up nabbing a couple of bikes from a shop and we rode to Bromley. Only, when we got there, the nursery was empty, all apart from a zombied up assistant. We tried looking for Jaden at Anna’s ex-boyfriend’s flat, just in case he’d picked the kid up. Empty. Anna broke down. She blamed me for not letting her go on the first day. Later, when we’d been on the road for a couple of weeks, Anna spoke to me long enough to admit she blamed herself for Dad’s death.
Blog of the Dead - Life Page 13