“You doubt me?”
“Of course not!” He was quick to say. “But, we lost almost an entire Fist. Perhaps, you should take several with you.”
“No,” I said. “One Fist will be enough.”
It would make it interesting at least. The more of the black-garbed people there were around me, the less actual killing I got to do. They had some strange notion that they should deal with the undead so that I didn’t have to bother myself with them.
“As you command,” Samuel said wearily, apparently giving up.
I had no doubt he would send some others to follow along behind us. He would, of course, order them to hang back and only join the fray if they felt I was in danger, but it still irked me that they would be there.
For some reason, being in charge, wasn’t as much fun as I’d expected it to be. My followers had this annoying habit of worrying and fussing over me. Loyalty was one thing, but when my subordinates decided they knew best and found ways to work around my orders… well, it was a sign of my lack of experience.
I needed someone who understood people. Someone who could ensure things were run the right way and left me free to go about my business and kill as many of the undead as I could. Lately, even the occasional evening rite where I got to kill someone, wasn’t enough to maintain my interest.
“Ah, the soldiers?” Samuel asked as I turned to leave and I bit back a reply.
“What of them?” I said instead. Since Lily had left, I had little interest in the rest of them.
“Their leader is being rather vocal about meeting with you.”
“Tell them…” I grinned as a sudden thought came to me. “Tell them they can talk with me as we patrol.”
Samuel’s voice took on a surprised tone as he said, “you want them to go with you?”
“Sure, why not? Might be fun and will let me see what sort of soldiers they are churning out.”
“Then I must insist that you take more of our people.”
“You insist?” I allowed my voice to become cold and hard as I turned my gaze on him. He flinched and looked away before bowing low.
“As you command, My Lord Death.”
Ah, formality, a sure sign that he was upset with me. I couldn’t help but wonder if it would be sooner rather than later that he made his move. He already practically ran my merry little band of zombie killing minions, and it wouldn’t take much to martyr me and take full control.
He headed back into the building to gather those soldiers and I watched his back thoughtfully as he went. I was already cautious, or at least as cautious as I cared to be, but since I didn’t exactly want to make it easy for him, I would have to be a little more so.
While I waited, I planned the route in my mind. I was familiar with most of the area around our base since I had spent the last few months moving from street to street as we swept them clean of the undead.
To the south-west was the River Clyde, as effective a barrier to the undead as there could ever be. Directly south was that narrower river that connected to the Clyde, the River Kelvin. That river went east for about half a kilometre and then north for a little more than that, before it turned west, meeting up with another wide river that carried on for several kilometres before it connected once more with the River Clyde.
We were, in effect, surrounded by a large moat. Perhaps twelve bridges in total crossed those rivers and each of them had been destroyed by the army as they fled the city. The Clyde Tunnel, that went beneath the river had been collapsed and that left the subway as the only way to reach the other parts of the city without getting your feet wet.
In the few months we’d been here, we’d systematically wiped out as many of the undead as we could. Sure, the houses and office buildings, the manufactories and even many abandoned vehicles, all still contained the undead, but the streets had been cleared for much of the area.
There were still groups wandering out there. Though, fewer shamblers than before. It was the Ferals that were the problem and we hadn’t made much of a dent in the other sections of the city at all. We’d also yet to do anything about the hospital and the university, which were, unfortunately, in our section of the city.
Still, that was a problem for another day. My goal at that moment was to ensure we could walk the streets unhindered. When we found refugees, the last thing we needed was to fight a running battle through the city as we went to Lou’s place.
“What’s going on?” someone asked loudly, breaking into my thoughts.
I glanced back, a frown forming as I noted the loudmouthed irritant walking imperiously towards us, his group of uniformed men, close behind. Only two of them had guns, the rest had those pointed weapons.
“You wish to speak with me? Then you will have to do it as we walk.”
“Walk where?”
“Into the city,” I said. “Some Ferals are in the area and we need to deal with them.”
“Why are you doing that? Send your people to do it and let’s sit down like civilised men and discuss things properly.”
“Haven’t you heard?” I asked with a laugh. “Civilisation is gone. If you want to talk, you better do it as we walk.”
Without waiting for a response, I set off, my small group of followers falling in behind me. It didn’t take long for me to hear the muttering of the soldiers behind me as they raced to catch up. Their leader, joined me at the head of the group matched my pace with ease.
We had a direct route to our destination, straight up the B808 Road that ran in a general north-easterly direction and passed right alongside the block of buildings we called home. There was little of interest on that road, just endless rows of abandoned vehicles and piled bodies of the dead.
It had been packed with fleeing people when the soldiers detonated their bombs, destroying the bridges and trapping them. They’d likely died cursing those same soldiers as the undead tore them apart.
“You’ve been busy,” the officer said with what I took to be grudging respect in his voice. Could have as easily been disdain though, it was hard to tell.
“Keeps us occupied.”
“How much area have you cleared?”
“A reasonable amount,” I replied, watching him from the corner of my eye.
“Would you be willing to show me on a map?” he asked and I grunted before turning my head to stare directly at him.
“Tell me what it is you want. Be precise, be truthful and be upfront with me or go away.”
His face turned a little purple and his hands clenched into fists, but he didn’t immediately respond. Whatever he wanted then was worth more to him than any insult to his ego.
“Food,” he said finally. “Bottled water, medicine as well as clothing and blankets.”
“Not much then,” I said. “Just the same thing everyone else wants.”
“We have twenty thousand people on limited rations,” he snapped back in response. “We can only get so much fish from the sea and when winter’s fully upon us, people will starve and freeze to death.”
It was clear that I couldn’t exactly tell him that I didn’t really care, not since my whole supposed purpose was to help people survive, but something about him just rubbed me the wrong way.
“Say that I could get you some of what you want,” I said with a smirk. “What do I get in return?”
“What do you want?” he asked through teeth that were clenched so tight I expected they’d shatter.
“That’s the thing,” I said. “We already have ample food and supplies for the winter. We have our weapons and our mission to keep us occupied.”
“Then what else do you need?”
Lily, was the first thing that popped into my head and almost stumbled over a discarded bag that lay on the pavement, so startled was I by it. No idea why her name had come to mind.
“Nothing,” I said. “Nothing you can give me at any rate.”
“Then you’ll show us where to locate the things we need?”
“Perhaps,” I said and fell silent, m
y mind turning over the strange occurrence that had just happened.
I would give them what they wanted. There was no doubt at all about that, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t do it in my own time. If for no other reason than to annoy the irritating man staring at me with a beet red face as his anger clawed at him.
My time in the world was limited. I knew that. Any day soon, I would be killed by a zombie or a raider, though more likely by an ambitious underling. I had no problem with that. The only people I genuinely cared about, I had left. The one person who seemed to have loved me was gone from my life.
There was little doubt she would remain gone too. The rite she had seen me perform and the way she had looked as she realised what type of group I had built, told me that much at least. No, I just had my purpose and I had little need for help with that.
“A radio,” I said and the officer looked at me with surprise.
“What?”
“I will need a radio station set up so that I can contact you. Medical supplies and training for some of my people.”
All too often the people we found were hurt and my own people did survive their encounters with wounds that required attention.
“Confirmation that you will continue to take any people we find.”
“That’s all?” he asked incredulously. “We’d have given you that anyway.”
“Then we have an agreement,” I said. “We’ll show you where the warehouses full of food are located.”
He stopped dead in his tracks, mouth hanging open as he stared at me.
“Warehouses?” he asked weakly.
“Yes, there are several, all full to bursting with food that was never distributed before the city fell.”
“We thought you’d have scavenged some foodstuffs from the shops and homes, but didn’t expect any warehouses would remain untouched by looters.”
I gave a slight shrug, not sure what to say to that other than, “the city fell fast.”
He was about to respond but I cut him off, one of my loyal minions pointing ahead with a four-fingered hand.
“We’re here.”
Chapter 16 - Lily
We arrived back at the buildings occupied by Lou and his people without any real complications. It had clearly been a waste of time for Ryan’s acolytes to travel with us. Nevertheless, I was grateful for it as it had given me a chance to learn a little more about them.
“Are you heading back?” I asked the only one who had spoken and she shook her head.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“We are to escort you back when you are ready.”
He thought I’d be coming back? I honestly didn’t know if I was going to or not. There was an undeniable pull, a need to see him again, to finish our conversation, but ultimately it was up to the Admiral.
“Well, maybe hang back for now,” I said as we crossed the open space before the building.
Someone up there had clearly seen us coming and the aluminium cage was already descending. It would be at the bottom before we were.
In just a short time we were at the top of the building and being greeted by Lou. He eyed the acolytes warily and smiled a greeting to me.
“Successful mission, I take it?”
“It was different,” I said with a glance at the black-garbed followers. “We need to make a report but haven’t been able to raise the fleet.”
“Ah.. no,” he hesitated a moment and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he hunched his shoulders. “Thing is, there’s been a bit of a problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’m not quite in the loop,” he said. “But somethings gone wrong in the shipyard.”
He led us across the rooftops as questions swirled in my head. I turned to Mark but he already has his head down, listening in to his radio. His face was pale and that surely couldn’t be a good sign.
“What is it, Mark?”
“Sorry, ma’am,” he said holding up one finger. “One minute.”
A burst of static came from his radio and he grimaced as he looked up, head shaking from side to side.
“Four squads.”
“What?”
“They’ve lost four squads so far.”
Twenty-Eight people! If they included the pilots of their small craft. How the hell could they lose so many in a day?
“The hell’s going on?” Gregg asked before I could.
“Unsure,” Mark replied. “Admirals on his way with more troops.”
“Wait, the Admiral is coming here?” I said and he nodded grimly. “Crap! Things can’t be good.”
“The first of my people went on the boat yesterday,” Lou said. “It’s due back anytime now. We were waiting for its arrival when I got word about your approach.”
“Should we go across and help, lass?” Ray asked.
“No, we wait for orders.”
It didn’t matter how much I wanted to rush over there and see what help I could be. I was part of the CDF now and that meant there was a command structure and rules.
Gunshots echoed across the water and I looked across the rooftop to the immense buildings and warehouses of the shipyard on the other side of the river. Lou grunted softly.
“Been hearing them all night. A burst of gunfire, then silence.”
Panicked voices sounded from the radio, men and women all trying to speak at once, voices demanding to know what had happened. One spoke clearly above the others.
“Charlie-One-Eight is down, I repeat, Charlie-One-Eight is down.”
Another squad gone. That put the number of dead to thirty-five and perilously close to a third of the force we had brought with us.
“What the hell is killing them?” I asked the group of people, not really expecting an answer.
“Reaper,” Lou said and I glanced his way.
“The hell is a Reaper?”
“No idea, but I heard the captain of the boat on the radio to your fleet. When he told them what was happening, that’s what one of them said. Soon as he did, they told him the Admiral was coming.”
I’d heard the rumours of course. Hell, everyone in the Fleet had heard the rumours. They were carried to us by terrified refugees who spoke of creatures that wiped out entire enclaves of survivors.
We’d discounted them as little more than the panicked ravings of a brutalized people. It was thought that they’d come across the Ferals for the first time and exaggerated what they had seen.
Some of the others though, the higher ranks, they’d shared a look when others had laughed it off and quickly squashed any rumours whenever they came across them. That, I suspected, meant that the rumours were not so far-fetched.
“Reaper,” I said softly.
Jinx whined, low and barely audible but strange for a dog that was usually so quiet. She was staring out across the water, nose twitching as though she had caught a scent on the wind.
“What is it?” I asked her as I crouched down, staring out across the river.
There was a flash of movement, soon gone and far too quick for me to make out what it had been at such a distance, but I had the uncanny thought that someone or something had been watching us.
“Orders, ma’am?” Lars said, his hand on his sidearm.
“We wait for the Admiral.”
As much as I wanted to rush over there, I wasn’t going to risk my squad or any of the others already there, by barging in half-cocked.
We stayed on the rooftop, each of us lost in our own thoughts as we listened to the radio for updates from the squads over in the shipyard. They’d done the best thing they could and retreated to one of the larger buildings that they could secure. It only cost them one more squad in doing so.
Something out there was tearing those people apart. Seemingly without being seen. It could be one creature or a whole group of them. Whatever the hell it was, I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to face it.
Now’s the time when I need Ryan, I thought to myself. He would have been acros
s the river already, knife in hand as he hunted down whatever it was. I eyed the four black-garbed acolytes thoughtfully.
“You sure you want to stay?”
“Our orders were clear. We remain,” the talkative acolyte said.
“Your funeral,” I replied with a shrug.
She didn’t respond and I went back to brooding. It wasn’t long before Gregg settled down beside me and leant in, his voice low.
“We gonna talk about what we saw back there?”
“Not really.”
“You don’t think we should? That was weird shit.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. It was the understatement of the year.
“In a century, if anyone is still here, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the main bloody religion,” I said to him, my voice so low that I doubted anyone but he could hear it. “Whether he’s done it on purpose or not, it’s happened and I think it’s starting to take on a life of its own.”
“What do you mean?”
“They are starting to talk about him as if he’s not just a man,” I said. “They believe he’s a God of Death, or Death itself. I doubt you could persuade them otherwise, even if he stood before them and stated for a fact that he wasn’t.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah.”
“Cass will be pissed at him for that. She’s not overly religious, but she has faith.”
“Yeah, well, with any luck news of this won’t get out. So far there are two squads that know about it. We need to keep it that way.”
He nodded his head in agreement, chewing absently on a fingernail which was a decidedly stupid thing to do considering the sort of crap that got under them these days. I pulled his hand gently away from his mouth and he grinned.
“Sorry,” he said then paused before adding, “was good to see him again though.”
“Yeah, it was.”
He patted me gently on the knee and pushed himself up, brushing off his fatigues as he stared down at the water.
“Boat’s coming in.”
“Finally.”
“Holy hell,” he said as he raised one hand to shade his eye. “They’re coming prepared.”
The boat pulled up on the opposite bank of the river, so we had Lou lower us down the side of the building and used our own small craft that had been tied up there, to ferry my squad and the ever-present acolytes across to the other side.
Killing the Dead (Book 12): Fear the Reaper Page 10