Killing the Dead (Books 4-6)

by Murray, Richard

  “Not really.” I said.

  “Seriously. Nothing? What about music?” Gregg asked.

  “I’ve never understood music.” I admitted. “Sure, I heard it in various places and could even manage a few bars here and there but it was just background noise, nothing I would choose to spend time with.”

  “Friends, family, job... heck even a pet.” Cass said.

  “No.”

  “That’s so sad,” she said and I wondered why.

  “This must be the happiest you’ve ever been then.” Gregg said with a laugh. “Chaos and terror, probably the first interesting thing that you’ve ever found.”

  “You could be right.” I agreed in the hope that they would change the subject.

  Lily, perhaps sensing my discomfort asked Gregg a question about music before anyone else could speak and I settled back down into my pleasant silence as I listened to the others talk and waited patiently for the time to sleep.

  My mind drifted to how exactly I would kill those people at the apartments who needed to die. Rachel, Candice, Jason and Matthew were all definite targets and any of the new people who tried to stop me.

  Toby, if he had survived would likely be upset with me but I had no real need to kill him unless he insisted on bringing up his suspicions about Brett with Lily. Then I would end him without a second thought.

  The first and most important thing to do would be to watch and assess them all, see what they were doing and find the best possible times to arrange their deaths.

  Chapter 18

  The next day was busier than usual. We were a small group of people in an area that was rapidly filling with zombies, a psychotic enemy who knew where we lived (or at least I assumed Toby would have told her) and fresh winter snows.

  Gregg, Cass, Lily and Pat went back to Hawkshead to gather more supplies and replace the ones that had been used to try and fix my much dented skull. Alicia still needed to recover much of her strength and so helped Phillip and his granddaughter around the house.

  I was under strict instructions to rest and recover which left me with guard duty only. As tempted as I was to head out to spy on Rachel and the others, my head and ribs hurt quite a bit and it was very cold with fresh snow falling for most of the day, so I didn’t bother. Besides I would need my strength if I wanted to be able to kill some people efficiently.

  Since guarding a house in the middle of winter, during a snowstorm soon becomes incredibly boring, I began to look around for something to do.

  After an hour of counting and organising tins and packets of food, I was still terribly bored and no longer had even the dull task of counting tins to occupy me.

  I gathered all the knives that I could find in the kitchen and organised them according to size and usefulness when killing living creatures if required, before sharpening each in turn. I started of course with my combat knife that had regrettably picked up a number of nicks from overuse.

  Once I had finished with all of the sharpening and had each blade wonderfully sharp it hadn’t even approached noon and I found myself wandering through the rooms of Phillip’s house in search of some entertainment.

  The only books I could find were religious texts of one kind or another and I had little interest in those. The TV, DVD player and other electrical items were all useless without power and the housework had been completed quite efficiently by Alicia.

  I found myself standing by the front window of the house and staring out at the snow. The sky had cleared and a small amount of sunlight was actually managing to shine down upon the white coated landscape.

  “Are you and Lily married?” Alicia asked, and I glanced over to her, slightly annoyed that I hadn’t noticed her arrival.

  “No.”

  “Boyfriend and Girlfriend then?”

  “Something like that.” I said absently and she nodded.

  “My boyfriend’s probably dead.”

  “More than likely, most people are.” I agreed.

  “Aren’t you worried about her?” She asked with a serious look upon her face, “Going out there and being in danger when you’re stuck here.”

  “Why would I be worried?” I asked, “She is more than capable of defending herself and others and I have little doubt that she’ll return.”

  “That’s weird.” Alicia said as her face twisted into a look of puzzlement, “How can you not be worried?”

  “I know her.” I said after a moment’s thought, “I have been with her since the beginning of all this and I have no doubt that she’s a survivor. My energies are better spent on thinking about other things.”

  “Like what?” she asked and I paused as I was about to answer.

  A black speck had been crossing the sky, growing larger as it moved towards us while I watched and I realised I may have found something interesting after all.

  “Like that.” I said with a nod towards the small plane that was fast approaching.

  While Alicia gaped, I dashed to the front door and flung it open to stand out in the snow, one hand shading my eyes as I watched the plane. It appeared to be in trouble.

  The drone of the engine could be heard and it wasn’t a healthy sound, full of sputtering stops and coughs as the plane descended. It wasn’t going to able to land anywhere close by but judging the approach, it would come down somewhere in the hills behind Phillip’s house... well either that or fly directly into the side of one of the mountains further north anyway.

  It being the first plane I had seen in quite some time, I was understandably eager to speak with the occupants. I gave Alicia some brief instructions about securing the house behind me until Lily and the others came back, before throwing on my coat and setting off after it.

  I hadn’t gone far before the distant sound of it coming down amongst trees could be heard. The problem was that I couldn’t be sure exactly where or how far as sound carried oddly in the hills.

  Determined to find the wreckage I pushed on through the knee high snow, across the field and then puffing and panting up the steep slope of a hill. I paused briefly at the top and looked back at the house that had a small, thin wisp of smoke rising from the chimney. With nothing moving in any direction around it, I considered them safe enough to push on.

  My breath was misting before me as I descended the hill into a wooded valley and up the even steeper side of the next.

  Despite the cold and the snow that was tiresome to wade through, I was still glad that it was winter. No troublesome insects or stinging nettles, no overgrown underbrush to push through and the landscape had a serene and above all peaceful feeling to it.

  I could see no plume of smoke rising ahead of me which was a good sign that the plane had made it down without bursting into flames. There was still no guarantee that the occupants would be alive but they could still have items that I could loot.

  Eventually after two and a half hours of walking I crested a hill to find the first signs of wreckage amongst the trees.

  Broken branches littered the ground alongside scattered debris that could only have come from the plane and the wide tracks of a group of what I guessed would be the undead.

  I hurried ahead, walking along the tracks that had already been made for ease and broke from beneath the trees in time to see two zombies pull a screaming man from the shattered wreckage and bite down on his exposed skin.

  Another two zombies were attempting to get into the downed plane from the opposite side and I rushed forward, knife in hand to sink it hilt deep into the back of the skull of the closest zombie. I yanked out the blade and struck out at the next, catching it above the ear.

  I left the man to scream as the other two zombies noticed my presence and came around the plane towards me. I crouched low and as the first came towards me, I leapt against it to knock it back into the other.

  We all went down in a heap and I rolled over the struggling undead to land in the snow beside them with just seconds to set my feet before stabbing
down into the skull of one of the zombies as it tried to rise.

  The next received a kick to the head and then my boot on its throat to hold it down while I plunged my knife blade through its eye and into the brain.

  All was still aside from the man screaming and writhing in pain. He was missing at least one finger and part of his nose with no doubt at all that he would be infected.

  There was always a chance that he could be immune to the infection, after all Cass was and it was highly unlikely that she would be the only person in the world who didn’t turn but his screaming was annoying and would attract other undead.

  I knelt beside him and thrust my knife up beneath his chin and through the soft palette at the top of his mouth to reach the brain. Ending his wailing and ensuring that he wouldn’t rise again. A much better fate than wandering the hills as one of the undead.

  Once I had cleaned my knife I went through his pockets and finding little of interest, inspected the plane or what was left of it.

  The plane was of a type that I actually recognised having once tracked a potential victim to an air show. I had even made polite conversation and listened to him as he enthusiastically spoke about the planes. All the while I considered how best to kill him.

  It was a fairly common plane, one of the most common in fact. A Cessna single engine, fixed wing, four seater aircraft. The wings were set high, extending out above the cabin though little of the wings actually remained attached to this particular plane.

  The wheels had snapped off and the main fuselage appeared to be leaking something from the engine which I assumed to be fuel. I could see movement inside the cabin and I knocked politely on the door before opening it.

  Another man sat behind the pilot’s seat, he was big and mean looking with a cut to his forehead that was leaking blood all down his face. He appeared unconscious and had no visible weapon so I turned my attention to the woman.

  She was apparently the pilot and was trying to pull herself from the chair. With little effort I was able to grab her beneath the arms and pull her from the plane, unmindful of her sharp squeal of pain.

  I laid her down beside the dead bodies and let her catch her breath. She blinked rapidly at me and looked around with more than a little panic.

  “Where am I? Where’re George and Harry?” She asked.

  “Lake district, one’s dead and the other’s unconscious.” I replied and she wailed until I added, “You need to be quiet before you attract more zombies.”

  “Sorry... oh god I hurt.”

  “Where were you going and where are you from?” I asked as I eyed the leaking fluid, “And is that going to blow up?”

  “What?” She asked before looking at where I was pointing. “It might, we need to move away.”

  “Answer my questions first.” I said, as I watched her struggle to rise, she appeared to be favouring one leg other the other and I suspected it might be broken.

  “Shrewsbury and we were flying to Scotland.” She snapped.

  “Why?”

  “Heard on the radio, the navy have landed and set up a safe zone.” She said before she winced once more in pain.

  I watched her struggle to sit and realised that injured or not, I would need to get her back to the others. I sighed and helped her to rise before she limped across to the tree line, her weight resting on me.

  “My friend...” She said and I glanced back at the plane.

  “The unconscious one?”

  “Yes, you need to get him out too.”

  “Why?”

  “What?” she asked and I wondered if she had damaged her hearing in the crash.

  “I said why?” A little louder.

  “You can’t leave him.” She said.

  “Well I can’t carry you both can I?” I said, “Not to mention anything you have in there that we could use.”

  “You can have whatever you want, just get my friend out please.” she begged and I gave an exaggerated sigh before heading back to the plane.

  Realistically I should have just told her he was dead in the first place since Lily would likely be annoyed if I dragged this woman back and she happened to mention I abandoned her friend. It was my own fault really.

  Fortunately the man was stirring in his seat though he looked a little dazed and confused. I managed to persuade him that I was a friend and that he needed to leave the plane. It took a little persuasion and some help to keep him upright but I soon had him leant against a tree beside the woman.

  “Anything in there worth risking my life for?” I asked with a nod towards the plane.

  “Two bags, blue duffel and red backpack.” she said. “Get those and the rest of the stuff can be left.”

  I returned once more to the plane and managed to locate the bags she mentioned while keeping a wary eye on the leaking fluid that was making a nice puddle in the snow. I picked up the bags, grunting a little at the weight and went back to the man and woman.

  “Can you walk?” I asked her and she shook her head, “What about you?” I asked the man who blinked once but nodded.

  “Great, you take one of the bags too.” I said as I thrust the duffel bag at him.

  He picked up the duffel and climbed to his feet while I put my arms through the backpack straps and settled the weight against my back before helping the woman to her feet.

  With her arm slung over my shoulder and most of her weight resting against me, I led us back the way I had first come.

  I had considered it hard work before but with the added weight of the woman and the backpack, I was soon gasping for breath.

  We were passing through a strand of beech trees at the top of a hill when I heard a cough from ahead of us. Since zombies didn’t cough I could only assume it was someone I didn’t want to meet. I ducked behind a tree and indicated the man do the same while I deposited the woman on the ground with a whispered instruction to stay silent.

  Then I saw them, three people walking through the trees. Two men and a woman and while they were too far to be sure, the woman had red hair tied back in a pony tail. They were coming from an opposite direction to the one I had arrived by and so hadn’t yet seen my tracks in the snow though it wouldn’t be long.

  They each carried a club, the ends stained dark from use. I considered my options, my head was still sore and the cut on my cheek was a constant ache. I’d had one full meal in the last few days and I was hardly in the best condition to walk the hills let alone fight.

  Besides which, my hunting grounds had always been urban and I had fared poorly stalking my prey in more natural environs. As much as I wanted to kill her, three of them versus one of me just weren’t safe odds.

  I watched them though as they passed, no doubt they had seen the same plane that I had. I snickered as I thought of their reactions when they found nothing but corpses at the crash site.

  As soon as they were out of sight, I pulled the woman to her feet and we made our slow, halting way back to Phillip’s house.

  Chapter 19

  We made it back to Phillip’s house just after night had fallen and I was met by an angry mob that had once been my friends.

  I introduced them to the man and woman which distracted them long enough for me to slip inside the house before they became really worked up. I knew they’d all congregate in the living room so I went to clean up in the bathroom to buy a little more time.

  Lily was waiting as I walked out of the bathroom and I stopped at her angry glare.

  “What do you think you were doing?” she demanded.

  “I saw the plane was going to crash and realised that I didn’t have time to wait for the rest of you to return, so set off to check it out.” I had almost said ‘to look for survivors,’ a simple lie that I would have used with anyone who didn’t know me the way she did.

  “Did you even consider how dangerous it was?”

  “Not really.” I admitted.

  “You’re a selfish idiot, you know
that?” Lily snapped and I shrugged, I could hardly deny it.

  “I saw Rachel and two men headed towards the wreck when I was on the way back.” I said hoping to distract her.

  “That doesn’t matter.” Lily hissed as she moved closer to me in a way that I found oddly threatening “I don’t care about Rachel or anyone else, I just care about you.”

  She was standing right before me, her eyes smouldered with a rage she was trying hard to keep under control and I began to think that perhaps I had been in the wrong.

  “Sorry.” I said.

  “No you aren’t.” she sighed, the rage draining away. “Promise me that you’ll try to remember that I will worry before you run off and do something stupid.”

  “Sure.” I agreed, eager to avoid further argument.

  “Then let’s see what your new friends have to say.” she said before adding, “I’m surprised you brought them back with you.”

  “I thought you’d want me to.” I said and received a faint smile from her.

  “Well that’s one thing you did right today at least.” she said.

  In the living room, Cass was doing her best to check over the man who still looked dazed while Becky (who had insisted on introducing herself to me on the walk back,) sat on the sofa with her leg propped up on some cushions.

  Pat and Gregg had the bags open and were pulling things out to be arranged on the floor around them as Phillip and the other two girls looked on.

  “What was so important about these bags?” I asked.

  “Some personal items,” Becky said. “As well as maps, some food and water, medical supplies, compass and...”

  “What the hell?” Gregg said as he pulled out a metal case that had an infectious diseases label stuck to the front.

  “That.” Becky finished.

  “What is it?” Lily asked curiously.

  “It’s something that I hope will help.” Becky said with a mysterious smile that annoyed the hell out of me.

  “Considering you are dependent on us for help, perhaps you would care to elaborate.” I said and she nodded.

  “Of course. Where to begin though.” She sighed and nodded to the case that Gregg had gingerly placed on the floor beside him.