Killing The Dead (Book 15): The Gathering Storm

by Murray, Richard

  “Fucking kill it, them! Fuck!”

  “Why bother. It can’t harm us.”

  “Jesus, mate. Have a bloody heart just once. Put them out of their misery.”

  I stared at him for a moment until I realised he was actually being serious and with a quiet shake of my head I went into the bathroom. My knife slammed down, once, then twice and any signs of un-life were gone.

  “Happy now?”

  “Not even close.”

  He seemed more than a little sullen and I had no idea what he was upset about so limped over to the bedroom. The door opened without any noise and it was clearly empty of threats so I crossed to the window and pulled open the curtains.

  As I had surmised, the back of the shop had a small horde of zombies wandering around and while they weren’t close to the same numbers as those in front of the shop, it wasn’t a great sign.

  Gregg joined me, took one look through the window and swore quietly before stomping back into the main room of the apartment.

  “So, what now?” he asked as I joined him and I flashed him a smile.

  “We kill some zombies and leave. “

  “Just like that, huh?”

  “We’re in a paint shop,” I pointed out and gave me a blank look. I held back a sigh and realised I would need to explain. “We have a lot of paint tins, most of them weighing a few kilos. With the state those creatures are in we can either crush some skulls when we drop them on their heads or we can distract them by throwing them further along the street.”

  The noise would draw some away but not many and we hadn’t anywhere near enough tins to be effective at crushing any skulls. We’d be at it for days.

  “Plus. I saw paint thinner.”

  “So what?”

  “Paint thinner will burn. It’s highly flammable.”

  “You thinking Molotov cocktails again?” he asked with a growing interest.

  “No. I don’t think they would work with paint thinner. But, if we make a lot of noise around front and gather a lot there. We could soak blankets in the thinner, drop it down on them and set them alight. Pour more thinner on to keep the fire burning and have a nice bonfire.”

  “Which will leave us trapped in a building with a big arse fire out front. Great.”

  “The fire attracts them. We’ve seen that ourselves. A lot of those from the back of the shop will go around front as they follow the sounds of the commotion and those that remain, we can kill before we sneak off.”

  He looked doubtful but since he didn’t have any better ideas, he shrugged and agreed to try it. As I gathered the blankets, he went back downstairs to gather up any and every bottle and container that had flammable written on it.

  It took a little time and almost a dozen trips up and down the stairs, but eventually, we had a large stack of bottles and a small pile of blankets that were dry and extremely flammable.

  “Right then,” I said with a grin. “Let’s get started.”

  Chapter 15

  Thick and undoubtedly toxic smoke rose up into the sky as I leant out and poured more paint thinner onto the blaze below. Even with the cloth, dampened with water from our bottles, that was wrapped around my face did little to keep the acrid odour out.

  “More blankets,” I called.

  Gregg gathered an armful of soaked blankets and pushed past me, coughing at the smoke, and tossed them through the window. They landed amidst the gathered zombies below and were soon burning, helping to spread the flame through the crowd.

  The smell was horrendous and the moans of the undead assaulted our ears. I backed away from the window, coughing and very much aware of what it must be doing to my lungs.

  “Now what?”

  “Downstairs,” I said and coughed again. “Bring some of the paint thinners.”

  “I just bloody brought it upstairs,” he muttered but did as I said and lifted several bottles into his arms.

  Smoke was coming through the crack beneath the front door and I couldn’t help but grin. Soon enough the door would be burning and the zombies would fall through it into the shop. I intended it to be a mistake.

  Taking one of the bottles of paint thinner from Gregg, I unscrewed the top and began to empty it directly onto the floor. Gregg watched me with an open mouth for just a moment before he did the same.

  Soon all the bottles were empty and discarded and we retreated to the back room that had been used for storage. I left the door open and crossed to the rear door. It was secured with a deadbolt only and I pulled that back.

  “Can hear moaning, mate.” Gregg hawked and spat, face twisting at the foul taste the smoke had left in his mouth. “Gonna be a fight.”

  I just grinned in response and pulled the door open.

  My knife plunged and I shoved the corpse away from me before batting aside the withered arms of another zombie. It died just as quickly as the first and the fight began in earnest.

  Gregg joined me and together, we cut our way through the zombies crowding the back door. They were weak and ineffectual having had little to feed on for the past year. Even so, they could hurt us.

  I grimaced as foul smelling fingers scraped across my cheek and slammed my fist into the side of the offending zombies head as I pulled my knife blade out of another zombies skull with my other. It collapsed into the wall and I kicked it, shattering its jaw as I cursed at the pain that brought to my poor injured toes.

  “Left, mate!”

  I sidestepped to the right, away from the lunging zombie and it fell past me right into Greggs waiting knife. I stabbed another zombie through its empty eye socket and pushed yet another away. It fell amongst the piled rubbish bags that were waiting to be collected.

  “More coming,” I called out as a group of zombies turned into the alley that ran behind the shop.

  It was a sizeable group and we were tiring so we began moving in the opposite direction. The zombies coming at us, their movements jerky and uncoordinated. It wasn’t hard to brush aside their fumbling grasps and slam our blades through their skulls.

  Even so, we began to tire.

  No matter how weak they were, there were just too many of the damned things and our energy was not infinite. Another died by my hand and I risked a quick glance around as I did a quick count.

  Too many following us, slowly admittedly, but relentless. I grabbed a zombie by the neck and pulled it past me. It fell as soon as I let go and struggled to rise.

  “Turn right,” I snapped to Gregg as we broke free of the alley.

  He followed me without question and we made our own slow way through the town. Behind us the smoke was rising in a thick black column that would be seen for miles and before us, were a seemingly endless array of zombies.

  They kept coming, singly and in groups. Each and every one of the damned things that got close to us died but we were tiring.

  “Try and remember this is your bloody fault,” Gregg said as thick black blood sprayed across his face. He pushed away the zombie that had come way too close to his flesh and grimaced. “I’ll be sure to remind you if you forget.”

  “If we survive you’re welcome to.”

  “Did you just say, if?” he asked with a bark of laughter. “Bloody hell and there I was thinking you thought yourself invulnerable.”

  I pulled my knife from the skull of the zombie I had just killed and looked at him. I’d never thought I was invulnerable and I wasn’t sure where he’d got that impression from. I had always known I was damned good at what I did and was supremely confident in my abilities to survive.

  But that was different, or at least I thought so. I made a mental note to check with Lily and then put it from my mind as I kicked out the legs of a zombie and then stamped on its skull when it hit the ground.

  Behind us, the pack of zombies had poured out of the alley, their voices raised in those damned moans that announced our presence to every other zombie in the area. They kept on after us, slowly gaining ground.

  We turned into another road and
without a word, I clambered over a wooden fence into the garden of a two storey house. The door was locked but the glass panel didn’t require much effort to smash.

  “The hell are you doing?”

  “Just follow me,” I called out as I ducked down and climbed through the broken glass panel.

  I wasn’t worried about zombies in the house. Any that had been stuck inside for a year or more weren’t going to be in great shape. Even so, as I approached doorways, I slowed and glanced in cautiously before passing them.

  We passed through the hallway without incident and came to the kitchen. As I’d hoped, there was a back door and like the front, it had glass panels set into it. I kicked at the bottom panel.

  “Mate, key.”

  Gregg reached up to a hook beside the kitchen cupboards and pulled down a key which he tossed to me. I tried it in the lock and it opened easily. We both went out into the garden, closing and locking the door behind us.

  “Feels familiar,” he said with a grin and I flashed him a smile in return.

  We’d certainly done much the same before. It was a simple way of losing the attention of the undead. They would be around the front of the house as we scarpered over the back fence. I reached up to the top of the wooden fence panel and gripping it tight, pulled myself up.

  “Clear,” I said as I swung one leg up and dropped over the other side.

  I clenched my eyes shut and reached out to steady myself against the wood as pain surged up my leg. For a moment I’d forgotten about my toes and landing on them had been a bad idea.

  “You good?” Gregg asked as he dropped down beside me and I nodded.

  “Just go.”

  He didn’t need telling twice and set off. I followed as best I could, well aware that I was becoming a liability and back before Lily’s rules, if a member of the group had held me back I would have killed them. The irony of being the one holding us back didn’t escape me.

  We passed a small cluster of low buildings that were clearly businesses and headed towards the road that led out of town. We were on the right track at least and still headed in the right direction but once out of town we would be vulnerable.

  “Hold up,” Gregg said as he came to a stop. Two zombies were making their slow way towards us and I glanced at him with a look of irritation as I prepared myself to kill them.

  I was covered in sweat and my breath was coming in short gasps. Pain was shooting up my leg with every step and as the adrenaline began to fade, I was fighting exhaustion. Which wasn’t good.

  “This way,” he said and set off towards the businesses.

  My blade flashed out and the first zombie died and then I swept my arm back and slammed the blade through the temple of the other. As it fell, I followed Gregg, limping and cursing my aching body.

  He stopped outside the glass door to one building and peered in. Unlike the ones we’d passed in the town it didn’t look to have been looted.

  “You have the map?”

  I reached into my pocket and pulled it out, glancing back over my shoulder. For the moment the road was clear of zombies but that could soon change.

  “Thought so.”

  “What? What did you think?” I snapped and he just smiled as he passed me the map back.

  He didn’t answer and I seriously considered hitting him as he tried the door. It was only the fact that he was my friend that I restrained myself. Anyone else would have had my knife buried in their back.

  I followed him inside and my irritation died away as I realised what he had planned.

  “You can say it, mate.”

  “No.”

  “Go on. You’re impressed. Say it.”

  I did my best to ignore him as I looked around the shop at the stacked boats. They were mainly single and double canoes but there were some inflatables too. We didn’t really have that much time so I helped Gregg lift down one of the double canoes.

  We balanced it on our shoulders and he picked up two sets of oars. Once again, I realised just how much of my slack he was pulling and I appreciated it. Much to my own surprise.

  Working slowly, we manoeuvred the canoe through the doors and then walked around the side of the building. I’d not heard it before but once clear of the building I could. The River Tay. It ran all the way to Dunkeld and I’d discounted it originally because we had no boat anyway.

  I stood back and let Gregg ready the canoe. Somewhere close by a low rumble could be heard. The rising sound of hundreds, perhaps thousands of zombies moaning as they came towards us.

  We were hidden by the building but as soon as they came past it, we would be visible. Their eyesight was bad, but not that bad.

  “Get it.”

  Gregg held it steady as I climbed into the front seat, my feet sliding down inside the canoe. He passed me a set of double-ended oars and lifted his own as he pushed the boat out into the water. As soon as it was clear of land, he climbed in with practised ease.

  “Used to do this when I was a kid,” he said as I looked questioningly at him.

  “Those zombies will keep going,” I said and he glanced back over his shoulder. The first of the zombies were passing the buildings. “They’ll walk all the way to Dunkeld along that road.”

  “As long as we keep to the water we should be there long before them, mate.”

  I didn’t doubt it and as we began to paddle, I mulled over the possibilities. We would still have a potentially hostile force to deal with and it would be hard to do that with a small army of zombies coming up behind us.

  No, having them take each other out would be the best idea. I grinned at the thought and settled back as I paddled slowly and worked out a plan.

  Chapter 16

  The town was busy. There was an undercurrent of excitement running through it, of purpose. Something that had been sorely lacking for a great many of the people for quite some time. The word was out, we were preparing to go to war.

  Men and women in the navy blue fatigues that had become the de facto uniform for the CDF, ran from place to place in groups. They were burdened down with sacks of food supplies or weapons from the improvised forges that had been set up.

  Despite the cold rain that fell, there was no fear on their faces but a determined excitement. They wanted to be doing something, to be fighting back for once and not just defending themselves.

  As they passed me, they would slow and perform a quick salute before running on. I acknowledged each and every one of them and pulled my coat a little closer to me, the chill seeming to penetrate to my bones.

  I tried not to think too much of what Commander Lowery had told us. I avoided looking at the seemingly perpetually overcast sky or notice that woodsmoke rose from many of the houses as the people inside tried to stay warm.

  It was summer and it felt much like late autumn.

  Not a full nuclear winter, but a definite cooling, he had said. We were certainly feeling the effects of that and if it were like that in the summer, then I wasn’t looking forward to autumn or winter.

  Jinx whined and I glanced down at her, meeting those large brown eyes of hers that were so full of protective love, I couldn’t help but smile. I reached down and gently ruffled her fur for a moment. Then my smile slipped and my worries returned.

  We finally had a plan that was set in motion. We would conquer the Isle of Man and relocate ourselves to there. A much more defensible island with ample farmland and fishing to help sustain us. If we could even grow anything with the cold weather.

  I held back a sigh and looked out across the water. One of the destroyers was there, sitting alongside the submarine. People moved about on its surface and I managed a slight smile. That was one piece of good news at least.

  Commander Lowery and his people hadn’t been lying, or at least that is what Admiral Stuart had determined. They had been sent on the mission they claimed and they had ample data and logs to back up their story.

  They had also been able to pinpoint all of the nuclear power stations and var
ious facilities that they had been able to secure and lockdown, along with those they hadn’t. They’d given an estimate how long each of the power stations had lasted before they had begun to meltdown and a rough idea of the areas that had been hit by nukes.

  With that data and some old weather charts, the admiral was reasonably sure that his people could work out some more details about the change in weather, such as how long it would last and how cold it might get.

  Then, of course, there was the spread of radiation. Wind patterns could blow all kinds of radioactive hell around the world and I wanted to know how much of a danger that was to us. Especially for those of us who were pregnant.

  “My Lady,” Lisa said quietly. “We should be moving on.”

  I turned to look at her shrouded face, only the eyes visible and those full of concern for me and I smiled.

  “Thank you. Yes, please, lead on.”

  My bodyguards surrounded me in a loose square, each of them staring out at the people as we passed them by. They took their duties seriously and I was pretty sure there was no chance of my being attacked with the Dead guarding me.

  The people we passed offered smiles and nods of greeting to my escort. One woman held her baby close with tears in her eyes as she watched us walk by. It was clear that their sacrifice and bravery had not gone unnoticed.

  That pleased me a great deal and not just because they were Ryan’s followers, but because they deserved the praise. I’d been more than a little leery of them when I had first found out what Ryan had been up to.

  Over time though, I had come to the realisation that those who joined the Dead, were willingly sacrificing themselves to save everyone else. It was a monumental thing to do and utterly deserving of thanks.

  Ryan, however, had created them for his own ends and I was pretty sure the saving people was just a happy coincidence. I smiled at that thought but it soon faded as I worried once more about where he was.

  It had been too long since I’d spoken to him. Though Charlie had told me of his call and the small community they had found, I hadn’t spoken with him.