I waited for nearly ten minutes in the cold while I debated endlessly with myself about leaving without her, but then I knew that she would follow after me and the last thing I wanted was for her to be out lost in the snow.
When she eventually returned she was carrying a torch in one hand and her claw hammer in the other, with an empty rucksack on her back.
“You look a great deal more prepared than me.” I said and she grinned impishly.
“The others think we’re being stupid but are too hungry to put up much of a fight.”
“Surprised the torch works after so long without electric, figured they’d have used it by now.” I said with a tilt of the head to the family inside the house.
“Too scared to show light at night.” Lily said, “Thought it might attract zombies or thieves.”
“They weren’t wrong.” I said. “Where to, the hotel or nearby houses?”
“Hotel, shouldn’t have had many people there and it’s not far.” Lily said.
I shrugged and led the way towards the road, the snowfall had finally slowed and the clouds were showing gaps that allowed a little moonlight to illuminate the snow giving the world an almost ethereal feel.
We walked through a landscape that seemed to be made entirely of ice and shadow and five minutes into the journey I realised just how stupid an idea it had been but that need to lash out and kill something drove me on.
After a brief and frustratingly uneventful walk we came to the hotel, a grand old building that sat atop a small hill that overlooked the lake.
It was an undeniably attractive building to look at in the moonlight with the Tudor style gables beneath the dual pitched roof that nestled beneath a blanket of pristine snow. Dark ivy climbed the walls and surrounded the doors and windows, while a terraced garden was set with tables and chairs for outside dining.
I would be surprised if it held any less than twenty rooms for guests and from where we stood watching the building carefully, I could just about make out an impressively large dining room with wide windows and glass panelled doors. Access wouldn’t be a problem.
With no discernible movement to be seen we moved forwards, towards the grand old building as we made sure to keep close to the hedge that lined the driveway.
The front door to the hotel was open with fresh blown snow covering the entranceway beyond. I glanced at Lily as she switched on the torch and pointed it through the door. When nothing immediately responded to the light I led the way inside.
A number of bodies lay on the floor of the reception area, each one with their skull caved in. Thick, dark blood covered the floor and elegant chairs that once would have been used by guests.
My grip tightened on the handle of my knife, with numerous doors leading from the reception area and a set of stairs right beside it, a threat could appear from anywhere.
All was silent though and that suggested that any zombies or people may have already moved on. I decided to forgo the usual search of the rooms and went straight for the dining room which would be adjacent to the kitchen and ideally have some food.
As we entered the dining room, the smell hit us first. That all too familiar mixture of blood and other bodily fluids that were released upon death and it didn’t take long to discover the source.
The dining room was in disarray with tables overturned and wooden chairs smashed or spread around the room as though thrown about in a rage. Broken shards of ceramic that had once been plates and bowls crunched beneath our feet with every step.
Lily swung the torch beam around the room, pausing on each of the bodies that were lying torn and broken around the room. A fight had taken place, between the living and the undead and in the shattered fragments that I could see in the half light of Lily’s torch, I couldn’t tell which side had been the victor.
I stepped gingerly over and around bodies as I crossed the room towards the double set of doors that led into the kitchen. Each of the doors was made of plain wood with just a porthole type window in each to allow anyone passing through to see that the way was clear.
It took a considerable shove to open the doors and I discovered the reason for that was the corpse behind them. A young man with a meat cleaver still stuck firmly in the centre of his head.
The kitchen was somewhat more ordered than the last two rooms we had been in and aside from the dead body by the doors, it was empty apart from a great many open tins and packets that had just been left on any available surface.
No doubt a once bustling kitchen it was outfitted with an impressive array of appliances along with pans, dishes and a set of remarkably sharp knives that caught my attention immediately. Sadly food was the priority but I did resolve to return for the knives at some point.
Since the walk in freezer had likely been without power for some considerable time, we decided against opening it and instead investigated the pantry.
It seemed that someone had been hiding out in the hotel for quite a while before one of their number turned or some zombies found the place. The pantry was almost bare.
I could understand why the four 2.7 kg tins of prunes had been left alone but I was happy to find two 3 kg tins of vegetable soup.
Lily passed me her rucksack and I put in the two tins of soup first and followed that with a tin of apricot halves, simply because I hadn’t had any fruit for a while and I figured we’d all need a bit of variation in our diet.
A pack of breadsticks and a half empty bag of white rice filled the rucksack and gave it considerable heft.
“What was that sound?” Lily whispered from the doorway as she swung her torch around towards the kitchen.
I frowned though she couldn’t see it in the darkness.
“What sound?” I asked.
“That sound.” She whispered and my frown deepened.
“I can’t hear...” I began before I heard it too.
It was faint but it was there, a soft scraping of something being dragged across the floor. The squeak of a table leg against the wooden boards of the dining room as it was moved to one side. Something or someone was trying to move stealthily through the dining room.
I looked at Lily and she raised her hammer as I nodded reassuringly. Then all hell broke loose.
Chapter 22
They burst through the double doors and came straight for us in the darkness. In the light from Lily’s torch we could see their greying flesh and sunken eyes, gore stained hands and mouths agape and hungry for our flesh.
I went to meet them in the narrow space between the work units and the ovens, my knife light in my hands and seemingly eager to sink itself into their waiting bodies.
The first zombie swayed away from my lunge and hissed at me before I caught it with my elbow, breaking its nose with an audible crunch and spraying thick red blood everywhere. My second blow sank the knife into the side of its head and it went still.
Lily was busying fighting a zombie of her own as I turned to the next a short woman still in dressed in her housekeeping uniform. As the zombie leapt at me I ducked to the right only to collide with the worktop and knock a pile of empty tins to the floor with a crash.
The once female zombie didn’t give me chance to recover before she latched onto my back and did her best to bite through the thick collar of my jacket. I slammed myself backwards against the ovens, crushing the zombie between. It didn’t deter it.
I reversed my hold on the knife and stabbed back over my shoulder, then again with blood spraying over my head and neck and once again before I finally managed to sink the blade into its brain and end its miserable existence.
Lily had killed the zombie she had been fighting and she dropped her hammer and crossed to me, taking my face in one hand and turning it towards the light of her torch.
“We need to wash this now.” She said as she pulled me to my feet and led me across to the sinks.
The water, though shockingly cold was running at least and she wiped away the worse bef
ore peeling away the gauze pad that was taped to my cheek, protecting the wound made by Alicia.
“What do you think?” I asked and she tutted as she wiped roughly at my skin.
“I think we got it before anything seeped through the gauze.” Lily said.
“Glad to hear it.”
“You should be, now let’s get out of here before more of them turn up.” Lily said.
I picked up the rucksack and swung it onto my bag, the weight anything but comfortable. We avoided the devastated dining room and exited through a door at the far end of the kitchen, coming out of the building beside some heavy metal dumpsters.
The zombies that had attacked us had tried to surprise us by approaching quietly and then rushing in for the kill in animalistic behaviour that I wasn’t used to them displaying. They were definitely not the shambling variety and if they were becoming more common I would have to decide on a name other than ‘fresher.’
We reached the house that held the rest of our group without incident and were greeted warmly when we handed over the rucksack with the tins of food. It wouldn’t make the most extravagant meal ever but it would certainly help ease the hunger of the gathered people.
A fire had been lit in the family room and while Lily and Cass discussed the best options for heating the soup, I settled down against the wall and enjoyed the warmth as it seeped into my tired bones.
I let the sound of the chatter from my friends and the other members of my group, float around me as I slowly allowed myself to relax and enjoy the peace that came from killing. A peace that I apparently could even find after the killing of just a zombie.
Heavy curtains had been drawn to keep any light from seeping out into the darkness and advertising our presence to anyone who cared to look. William and his wife had apparently relaxed enough to bring their children out of hiding and the boy and girl both sat close to their parents.
My thoughts turned towards the next few days and what needed to be done. The first priority would no doubt be getting everyone safely located on the island; it wouldn’t be too off the mark to assume that that William and his family would be invited to join us.
Once we had established ourselves we could turn our attention to Rachel and her group. Lily could have her talk with Matthew and either with or without his help, I would be able to turn my attention to Rachel, Candice and likely Jason along with any other fool who had fallen beneath their spell.
It would be a great deal of fun and I amused myself by thinking of all the wonderfully painful ways I could kill them.
“You’re looking happier.” Lily said and I started from my reverie.
“I am?”
“Yep.” she said as she handed over a bowl and spoon, “Thought you might be hungry too.”
The vegetable soup had a pleasant odour and I received the bowl thankfully. I had to force myself to eat slowly as I wasn’t sure how long it would be before we had another hot meal. Lily sank gracefully down beside me to sit with legs crossed as she slowly ate her own food.
We sat in comfortable silence as we ate and aside from William and his family who ate like the starved people they were, everyone else seemed to be enjoying the peaceful meal.
Even Pat who was being fed by Cass a spoonful of soup at a time didn’t seem overly annoyed about it.
All too soon the food was finished and talk turned to settling in for the night. I grew bored but Lily had her arm linked with mine and her head rested on my shoulder, so I endured as best I could.
“About this morning...” Lily said in a voice barely above a whisper.
“What about it?”
“I didn’t mean... that is to say that... oh sod it, I care a great deal for you.” Lily said and I glanced at her to see a deep blush colouring her cheeks.
“Right?”
“That’s all you have to say?” Lily said with exasperation.
“This is all new to me, I have no idea what I’m supposed to say.” I replied with growing confusion. I had the strangest feeling that I was missing a great deal of meaning in the conversation.
“You aren’t making this easy.” Lily muttered.
“Sorry.”
“I think I love you. There I said it.” Lily said with the colour in her cheeks deepening before she finished in a rush. “You don’t have to say it to me, you don’t have to say anything. I know how hard this sort of thing is for you but I needed you to know, to get it all out into the open.”
Lily was looking everywhere but at me and I had the vaguest feeling that she was embarrassed. We were far enough away from everyone else and she had been speaking quietly so as not to be overheard so I didn’t think the embarrassment was from the others hearing which meant it was to do with what she had said.
She had said that I needn’t reply but I thought that I should say something, the problem being, what? The concept of love was alien to me and I knew only pain and rage, fear and desire. Love was born of need, or compassion and empathy. None of which had any meaning for me.
“I don’t understand.” I said and raised a hand to interrupt Lily before she spoke. “Let me finish please.”
“Emotion is something distant to me and I either feel it very weakly or not at all.” I began. “This has never been a problem for me and in fact, if I had the same feelings as other people did then I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy myself so much when I killed people.”
The words seemed difficult to find and like a fish out of water I was left gasping and flopping around as I sought the right words.
“Death has never meant much to me for life had no real meaning and I cared for no one, not even myself.” I paused and inhaled a deep breath, “That was until I met you.”
Lily finally looked at me with something indefinable shining in her ever so beautiful eyes.
“You are the first person I’ve been unable to picture killing.” I said, “It may sound strange to you but it is a monumental thing for me. Not only could I not kill you, I would do everything I could to keep you alive.”
“The only thing that has ever given me real pleasure was killing, that was until I met you. When I am with you the world is a less painful place and the desire to kill sits quieter within me. I enjoy your company and I want to be with you...” I trailed off as I struggled to find the words.
“That makes a sort of strange sense.” Lily said as she moved around so that she was sat on her knees facing me. She was smiling at least.
“I can’t say I love you because I don’t understand what that means but with you, I actually want to understand.” I said.
Her smile widened and she appeared happier, I wasn’t sure why but I could only hope that I had said something right.
She leaned in and her arms wrapped around me in an embrace that I returned, her mouth sought mine and for a small while, we were lost in heat and passion. The world fell away and if for just a moment or two I felt something beyond a desire for death and violence, it was not unpleasant.
Chapter 23
The long walk through the fresh fallen snow was made a little better due to the close presence of Lily who seemed as comfortable with my silence as she was with the small talk of our friends.
William had two boats for use on the lake. The first was a pleasure craft with outboard motor and all kinds of bells and whistles that were no use at all for us to approach the island stealthily. The second was the more common wooden rowboat with a set of oars that would glide silently through the water.
Becky and Pat had been given the option of sitting in the boat as it was rowed by Harry towards the island. With their injuries it was the best option and also helpful that Pat could direct them to the house where we had left a bit of a mess that would require cleaning up. The rest of us walked.
The idea of course being that when we reached a point opposite the northernmost part of the island, Harry would be waiting and he would begin ferrying the rest of us across. We could then begin the clean up and
consider our options for finding food and everything else we’d need.
I couldn’t help but feel a sense of urgency. I wanted to waste no time before I was able to confront Rachel and end her life, before I could allow myself free reign and slay everyone who would dare to raise a weapon against me, before I could ensure that Lily was once again in charge of the people at the apartments.
If nothing else my time with all the people I shared the apocalypse with had taught me one thing. The vast majority of people were idiots who needed someone capable to tell them what to do. Lily would be that person because their decision to allow Matthew and by default Rachel, to lead them was a disaster.
“Ryan...” Lily said.
“I see them.”
Two zombies were walking along the road ahead of us and I guessed they must have passed us by in the night. I increased my pace, pleased to note Lily doing the same.
She struck first and her hammer cracked against the head of the closest zombie which fell to its knees with the force of the blow, a second broke through the skull and ended its un-life. Lily flashed me a grin of triumph and I smiled appreciatively in return before turning my attention to the second.
It had turned when it heard the hammer connect with its companion and raised its ruined voice in anger as it lurched towards me. I experienced a momentary pang of dismay that it was a shambler before I stepped to the side and stabbed it through the temple with my knife. It fell without another sound.
“That was easy.” I said and Lily’s smile widened.
“These slow ones are barely a threat anymore unless they’re in a large group.”
“Plenty of those around.” I said. “We haven’t met many yet, but we will.”
“Pessimist.” she teased as we waited for the rest of our group to catch up.
The rest of the journey was incredibly boring with nothing else that required killing and we soon left the road as it curved away from the lake side.
A short walk through the wooded undergrowth and we found Harry sitting patiently in the rowboat just a little ways out into the water. As soon as he saw us he started rowing in to shore.
Killing the Dead (Books 4-6) Page 42