Dead World Rising

by Katerina Petrova

  Ten minutes later I pulled up next to the harbour, Jade was just starting to come round so I dosed her again. Thankfully for me she wasn't heavy to drag, I pulled her down to where the beams stood that held the harbour up. I took the rope out of the backpack I had, I could feel my pulse racing and heart beating furiously. I never thought revenge would be this easy, they were stupid. How could they trust people so easily, how had they not known the true feelings I hid? I tied her up, making sure the ropes were tight. The tide was out at the moment, but as soon as it came it, she would die. Knowing that she would die alone and afraid, gave me great satisfaction.

  'Wake up,' I shouted at her.

  I wanted her to know why she was here, I need the pleasure of her knowing that it was me. I gave her a good hard slap, which seemed to do the trick.

  'What? Izzy, where am I?' She asked looking disorientated.

  'It didn't take much did it? To trick you, to make you think I was alright,' I laughed at her.

  She tried to move, once she realised what I'd done to her, a look of fear crossed her face. 'Why, Izzy?'

  'I lost my best friend because of you, and now I'll make you suffer,' I told her fiercely.

  'But I didn't,-'

  'You got to go with Maggie, I had to stay behind. If I could've gone with her, I could have saved her,' I growled letting the anger, and the hate take me over.

  'That wasn't my fault,' she said pleadingly.

  'Oh but it was, your little friend became queen didn't she, my friend got raped, tortured, beaten bloody.'

  'I tried to stop it, but I couldn't,' she cried.

  'Well you didn't try hard enough. Do you know how she died?' I asked knowing the answer.

  'No.' 'One of her captors turned, he ripped her stomach open, tore at her unborn baby. She had to watch as her baby was eaten right in front of her. Do you have any idea how much pain she was in, how much she screamed and cried!? How she begged for death!?' I shouted, tears spilling down my face.

  The look on Jade's face was one of complete horror and sadness, it didn't matter. I would ensure that she suffered, like I had suffered.

  'I'm so sorry,' she wailed. 'Sorry isn't good enough, she's dead. You and your people are still alive, you get to live with your family, while I've lost mine. How do you expect me to live seeing your face everyday, knowing that my friend is dead because of you?'

  I let the anger overtake me, I hit her and I kept hitting her. I couldn't control myself, the image of Hayley screaming as her baby was torn apart wouldn't leave my mind. I screamed, I cried and I shouted as I laid into her. Not even my now aching knuckles or sore arms could stop me, I needed Jade to hurt to feel even a fraction of what Hayley had lived through.

  I stood for a moment, just looking at her battered face. Fresh blood poured from her nose, her face was mangled and while I wanted nothing more than to wrap my hands around her throat and feel as her life force faded away, I knew that the best revenge was to leave her to the sea. She had talked about being at one with nature, now she would be.

  Jade would die never knowing if her family were alright, she die without ever seeing them again. While I felt that in many ways, they too were to blame for my friends death, I could not harm them. It was Frankie who rescued me from Dave's clutches and almost died in the process, she kept us all together. It was Finn who fought so valiantly, I knew his sister from being with Dave's men and I could not do to her what Jade had done to me. The same for Jensen, while I wanted nothing more than to slit his sister's throat he had fought long and hard to get her back.

  When he thought she was dead, he was a broken boy again, I could not put him through the agony I felt. Even Tamara, while she was one of those who wanted to give up when Jade came back I still had a lot of respect for her. She and Finn were so brave when Jensen was injured after he fell through the hole in the church. Killing Jade would hurt them enough, I could be satisfied with just her death.

  I gave her another hard punch in the face, feeling strong and powerful as the realisation that she was at my mercy sunk in.

  'I'm sorry,' was all she could keep saying.

  I had to get going, the others would wonder where I was. While I doubted they would find out what I did, I needed time to prepare for pretending to be sad when they found her body.

  'I'm going to let mother nature have you, just like you always wanted,' I told her smiling.

  'Izzy please, we can work this out,' she said trying to keep calm.

  'No we can't, your death will be my freedom. I just wish I could stick around long enough to see it,' I replied as I walked away. I turned and walked away, listening to her scream as I did. I had longed for such revenge, but never thought it would be this easy. I knew now that the hard part had just begun, convincing the others to give up on looking for her would be a trial. Still I smiled, justice had been done, my friends death avenged.

  Chapter 13

  Nathaniel

  God damn it, first those bitches at the castle thwarted our plans and now the other group had shown up just when we were about to get hold of the two from the castle. We'd kept an eye on the castle, waited for the right time and followed them all the way here. We'd lost our women, our home, everything we'd built. I wouldn't let it go, they'd taken my girl. The others thought I wanted to help them rebuild, when in truth I just wanted Maggie back. I knew she wouldn't be able to live among her people again, she was too far gone. She needed me, like I needed her. We'd even found the cannibal's that lived in Scotland, our agreement was that they help us get out revenge and our women back, in return they could eat whoever else they wanted.

  'Retreat men!' I shouted in the midst of battle. There were too many dead ones for us to fight, we had to come up with another plan. I fled back to car not knowing what else to do, we would drive to our hiding spot near the castle. We'd wait for them to return, and then we'd strike. Maddox jumped into the front passenger seat, along with three of my men. We didn't wait for the others to get in their cars, as I drove off I did see one of the cannibal's get a ride from my people. As we drove towards the castle, Maddox had an idea.

  'I've been looking on the maps, I've seen an army base a few hours from here. If we take the weapons we'll have all we need to take out those in Thurso,' he said smiling.

  'First we need to get back to the hideout,' I told him.

  'Wait a minute, since they're all here why don't we take the castle,' Cyrus suggested. I thought about it and he was right, as far as we knew only two of them lived in the castle now. No one else should be there when we got back, I'd seen them reinforcing the place so we would be untouchable there.

  'Good thinking, let's go,' I replied, feeling confident for the first time since we'd lost our home.

  The battle in our home was still fresh in my mind, I saw her being taken but I could do nothing to stop it. My poor Maggie, my queen. I had to get her back, I just had to.

  I hadn't felt so helpless since I was a child, when my father died. Before I knew it, images of my previous life flashed before my eyes. I was ten when he died, my father was an amazing man. He took care of me, when my mother was on her drinking benders. He bore the brunt of her temper so I didn't have to, every week he'd house new bruises and injuries. He worked, cooked, cleaned and took care of me. How he did it all I'll never know, he was my hero. The day he died would always stick in my mind.

  My mother was a tiny woman, slender and pretty, with white blond hair and the same piercing blue eyes as me. She came from Poland when she was a teenager, she met my father a few years later. You would not guess she was foreign, her English was damn near perfect.

  My father told me she was always a little troubled, though she would never speak of her life before. It was not until she fell pregnant with me, that her true nature started to show. It was little things at first, she'd lose her temper over. But as her pregnancy progressed, her violent nature worsened. I only knew all this, because I found his journal years later. Even through all my mothers attacks, he kept on loving
her.

  The day he died I tried my hardest to help, I didn't know what he'd done to incur her wrath, but she truly lost it that day. Our house was larger than almost any I'd seen, we lived in the upper-middle class area of Hull in East Yorkshire. They were sat on the balcony, enjoying a rare happy moment. My mother drank her wine, my father had her laughing. I listened from behind the door, smiling, thinking how happy they sounded for once.

  But from one moment to the next, things switched. She picked up the flower pot, and threw it at his head. He dodged, trying to calm her down. I was not ashamed to say, I let the tears fall. I watched silently as she beat him, in all the years I could remember, he never hit her back. I remember running out, begging her to stop. It was as though she were in a trance, she didn't seem to hear me or even notice that I was there.

  'Mum, stop!' I shouted, begging her. I pulled on her clothes, trying to get her to stop. It was then that she noticed me, the look in her eyes terrified me. She looked at me as though I were the devil, how could a mother look at her child with such hatred? She swung for me, but missed. My father held her back, screaming at me to run.

  'I won't leave you, I can't see her hurt you any more,' I told him, tears streaming down my face.

  'Just go son, you can't help her,' he cried. Before I could take a step, she'd gotten loose from his grasp. All it took, was one push. Time seemed to speed up, I ran to him but it was too late. Over the balcony he went, screaming, flailing. I grabbed his hand, trying helplessly to hold on, but a ten year old boy couldn't hold a grown man. I begged my mum to help, but all she did was laugh. It was a bone chilling laugh, that didn't belong to her.

  'Dad, no,' I cried as he fell out of my grasp. I watched helplessly as he fell, I saw him crash into his car, blood spilling from his head. I raced downstairs leaving my mother alone, I ran to his side but it was too late. I'll never forget, the look on his dead face, his eyes frozen in terror. My dad had done everything to help my mum, he'd been there all through her illness. All through her violent attacks, he'd never given up. I never got to know, what illness plagued my mum, dad never wrote it down.

  That was when my dark side was born, never again did my mother strike me. Each time she tried, I beat her. She would cry and wail, but I'd lost all love for her the day she murdered my father.

  'How can you hurt your own mother,' she spat one day. 'You may have given birth to me, but your not my mother,' I spat back at her coldly. In the years that followed I became someone I hated, but I had to in order to survive. By the age of eighteen I had become a somewhat famous drug dealer in my city, that's where I met Maddox and my wife. Maddox and I started off as rivals, but when I fell for his sister that all changed. Her name was Ebony, she was as tall and dark as Maddox and equally as volatile. I found it strange that more than once Maddox suggested I give her a good beating. I never wanted to hurt her, I loved her. But when she defied me in front of my people, I had no choice.

  I remember the day I asked her to marry me, things had been going great for months on end. I'd taken her away to Norway, we'd stayed in a heated igloo so we could see the northern lights. We'd spent the day walking in the snow, we'd had a romantic meal sitting looking outside as the sky grew darker. She looked stunning her sky blue halter neck dress, its clung to her curves and revealed her busty cleavage. Her long curly black hair, cascaded down her back. Those dark eyes showed the joy and happiness as we sat and laughed.

  'This is beautiful,' she said smiling.

  'There's a reason I brought you here,' I told her nervously.

  I felt nervous, as in love with her as I was, I still felt nervous about asking the question.

  'Oh, and what's that?' She asked lovingly. I got down on one knee and opened the white box to reveal, a white gold ring, a beautiful emerald sat in the middle, diamonds were encrusted around it. I saw the look of joy and happiness on her face, no doubt I had surprised her.

  'I know our lives aren't easy, we've had some rough times. But I love you, you're everything I ever wanted, and I can't imagine my life without you. Will you marry me?' I asked nervously.

  She flung her arms around me, screaming yes as she did. I kissed her hard, feeling my heart swell.

  'I love you,' I said lovingly.

  'And I love you, more than anything,' she cried with joy. When my mother died, she moved in with me. Shortly after that when I was twenty-four we got married. We never had kids, our lives were too dangerous to bring children into them. Yet the times when life was good, she was my world. She made me laugh, smile and feel loved in a way I'd never known before. Our lives were damn near perfection, until the day when death came for her. I was twenty-six, she was only twenty-four. It was a drug deal gone wrong, we pulled up to the meeting place never suspecting a thing.

  I was delivering to a guy called Dante, usually I let my men do the deals but this time I had to go. I'd been at war with his brother for some time, Shakeel wanted to run things in my city but I'd taken out most of his men. He went on the run, while his brother bowed to me. He swore he would obey, and for months he did. We had no trouble with either him or any of his brothers remaining men. I always made the deals with him, it was a show of trust.

  'You're late,' I told him as I got out the car.

  'Sorry man, family troubles you know,' he replied, stoned. Dante was mixed race boy, barely eighteen at the time. He was already addicted to most things, crack was his favourite though and I always gave him a good deal. He was a tall lad, skinny as hell and cocky as they came, but he knew his place.

  'That brother of yours back is he?' I asked.

  'Yeah, he's causing all kids of shit with my lot. My mama threatened to throw his ass out, but Pop wouldn't hear of it,' he told me.

  'Well just as long as he doesn't cause any trouble for me,' I replied sternly.

  'Don't worry I told him if he did, he'd have me and my boys to deal with.'

  'Nathaniel, it's a trap!' Ebony shouted. I didn't see what she meant until it was too late. Shakeel had been hiding inside an abandoned car, I didn't even have time to react, let alone stop him. He had tried to shoot me, but Ebony ran in the way. She was hit, but I didn't have time to help her. I grabbed the gun I kept hidden in my belt. I shot Shakeel first, making his death quick. He fell to the floor, with a bullet in his head. Dante was on his knees, begging for mercy.

  'I didn't know he was here, I swear man I didn't know!' He cried.

  'You should have known,' I growled as I shot him. I shot him in stomach, letting him die slowly. I ran over to Ebony, she had been shot in the heart, she was already dead. I cradled her in my arms, crying. My wife was gone, I called Maddox and told him what happened and he came, driving like a maniac in his car. I was still there twenty minutes later, bawling like a baby just holding her.

  Maddox saw my tear stained face, he was the only person who could share my grief. But he was a totally different animal than me, in all the years I'd known him, he outdid me on his brutality of women. He thought nothing of raping them, or even killing them. He'd already gone through two girlfriends by killing them. I always wondered why the girls he picked, were either street walkers or druggies that had run away from home. He told me once, it was because no one would miss them if he killed them. I'd helped him bury their bodies, their only crimes were falling in love with him, and speaking out of turn.

  A beating was one thing, I could never kill a woman just for that. Yet at that moment as he saw his sisters lifeless body, he wailed like a little boy. It was then that we saw our first person come back to life. She twitched, convulsed, I saw the black veins on her. They spread like a disease all over her body, we got up and jumped back feeling confused at what we were seeing.

  'It's just like the news, they were reporting people coming back,' Maddox said. 'I thought that was bullshit,' I told him. But as we watched her eyes open, we saw the blackness in them. We knew the news was telling the truth, I'd seen enough zombie films to know what to do. I took my gun and raised it, pausing for a moment just h
oping that we were wrong. She got up, staggered towards us growling. My hands shook as I aimed for her head, Maddox stood there, tears in his eyes as I shot his little sister in the head. She fell to the ground with a thud, she no longer moved or made a sound.

  'My baby sister, she's gone,' he wailed.

  'I know, but now we've got more important things to take care of,' I told him fiercely. As we got up to walk away I heard growling coming from where Dante had been sprawled on the floor. I saw him rise as well, I felt nothing as I raised my gun once more to end that miserable bastards undead existence. There was one thing we could, and that was to put our pain aside, for that day, that moment, was when our apocalypse began.

  I shook the memories from my head, I would not lose another love. Maggie was the only other woman I'd ever loved, and I sure as shit wasn't going to lose her. Not even to her own family. We approached the castle to find it empty, just like Cyrus predicted. He got out and opened the wooden gates, as we drove in I felt a strong sense of victory. We may not have won the battle, but we sure as hell took their home, just like they'd taken ours. The rest of my men followed us in their cars, I saw that most of them had come back. Only a few were missing, I told them to leave a few of the cars in front of the gate. That way the other people couldn't get pass so easily.

  'Come on men, lets see what we've got,' I said happily. We explored the castle to find it empty of people, but full of things we needed. The food supply was low, but we could easily get more. There were some old fashioned weapons on the walls, plenty of rooms for us to sleep in. The grounds had been reinforced with fencing around the lake, I smiled thinking that this place would just nicely.