Thirteen Roses Book Five: Home: A Paranormal Zombie Saga

by Cairns, Michael

  ‘Krystal, come take a look.’

  Krystal scrambled through and stood below her, looking up. ‘What is it?’

  Bayleigh lifted the first gun and handed it down. Krystal hefted it in both hands and whistled. ‘Not bad.’

  ‘I’d say. There’s maybe twenty five up here, bulletproof vests and some more gas masks and, ooh, there are some nice-looking knives as well.’

  She grabbed another of the guns and stretched across the netting to bag one of the knives. She climbed down and they examined their haul. The guns were big and heavy and looked lethal in a very blunt, argumentative way. She didn’t like guns, but these would be useful.

  The knife, on the other hand, was lovely. Enclosed in a leather sheath, it was a single-sided blade, horribly sharp and nearly as long as her forearm. She waved it experimentally side to side and Krystal shifted down the bench away from her.

  ‘Easy now.’

  Bayleigh flashed her a grin and slide it back into the sheath. The thumps were growing quieter. Now they were both out of sight the zombies should lose interest pretty quickly. She waited until the sounds were gone before peeking back through the partition door. The zombies were ambling aimlessly about the courtyard.

  Some were being drawn back to the horde that gathered outside the cathedral, but others had lost their focus and returned to their mindless travels. She peered at the other truck. The soldier was doubled up and when he straightened, she saw at once the change in his eyes. It was close now.

  ‘Krystal, come get ready.’

  They sat together in the front, trying not to hold their breath as they watched a fellow human become one of the creatures they were fighting. Bayleigh longed for nothing more than to turn away, but they had to time it right. Her legs were cramping up and she knew she was tense, but she couldn’t relax.

  The soldier slumped forward, face hitting the wheel.

  ‘Shit, he’s not going to do it, he’s waited too—’

  The soldier sat up and grasped his gun. The door on his side creaked open, he slipped from the seat, and staggered away from the van. They heard his weak cry from where they sat before he opened fire.

  The back row of zombies was torn apart. Every bullet smashed bone and ripped great holes in flesh. The soldier took ragged steps towards the cathedral, never pausing in his firing. The zombies were giving him their full attention now as they surged towards him. More and more of them dropped to the floor and for a second Bayleigh thought he would stay on his feet until they piled up around him.

  One came around the side and she saw its hand grab his ear. It was a clumsy hold but the plague was already running through his veins and the ear came away in a burst of blood. The firing faltered and the other zombies closed in. One hand thrust skywards for a brief moment, then teeth closed over it and dragged it down.

  The zombies tore him apart. Some were on their hands and knees, lapping at the blood and guts spread around the floor by their machine-gunned comrades.

  Bayleigh started the truck and slipped it into first. Stalling would be a bad idea at this stage. She rolled it forwards and to the side until she almost touched the other truck. There was a two truck wall between the zombies and Krystal’s bike. The girl gave her the thumbs up and slipped from the cab, pushing the door shut behind her.

  Bayleigh held her breath, watching Krystal tiptoe towards her bike. She should be fine, there should be no problems.

  She groaned and rubbed her face. No problems except the three zombie-shaped ones that had just appeared round the back of the soldier’s van. Krystal reached her bike and it roared into life.

  Bayleigh knew what she was thinking as Krystal rode directly away from the van. The gap left was the perfect size so Bayleigh put her foot down and drive straight through. The zombies had a moment to stare before they were crushed beneath the truck. With a whoop, she hauled the truck around and headed down Fleet Street.

  Her heart hammered in her chest and she thumped the wheel. They’d done it.

  Where was Krystal?

  She stopped just short of slamming the brakes on, peering in both wing mirrors while keeping one eye on the road. The cars were thick here so she headed for the pavement. As she did Krystal came into view, racing along as close to the buildings as she could get. She had her sword in her hand and her bob flew about in the wind.

  Bayleigh grinned and let her come through the gap, then pulled in behind her. The pavement wasn’t that wide but she could keep the speed up. The first time a car was too close, she dragged the van over and bounced it into the side of the shop. The glass window shattered and she dragged concrete and bricks in her wake, but the truck barely slowed.

  She glanced in the rear view and a lump filled her throat. Down the side of the cathedral was another gang of zombies. They were gathered beneath what looked like a huge wooden cross, hanging from one side of the cathedral and a street lamp. Tied to the cross was someone in a white robe.

  She couldn’t see it clearly and for that she was thankful, but she could see the way his arms swung and the emptiness where his hands should be. She could see the same stumps where his legs ended. She swallowed and looked forwards, blinking away the tears and the nausea.

  Krystal led the way, taking them off The Strand and north towards the hospital. They’d left the main road when the sky exploded and the first drops of rain became a downpour. Krystal slowed straight away, halving her speed, and Bayleigh stamped on the brakes. The back of the truck slewed and Bayleigh shoved the brake even harder.

  It was completely the wrong thing to do and she knew that even before she went into the spin. Through the front window she saw Krystal heading away and screamed at her. Then the side of the van came around and for a moment she watched the shops rush past. She heard something hit the side of the van, a distant thud through the rain she was pretty certain was a zombie.

  The van turned completely and she stared back the way she had come. The wheel was spinning through her hands and she had to let it go as it burnt the skin from her palms. The truck kept spinning and she was back sideways again, seeing the other side of the street. When she came back forwards for the second time, she grabbed for the wheel.

  The first attempt got her fingers bashed by the spokes. On the second try she got hold of it and held on. She vaguely remembered how to get out of a skid but the knowledge was buried deep beneath a mixture of panic and nausea, so she clung onto the wheel as she went round for a second time.

  The truck turned through most of another complete spin, slowing all the time. Soon she could see straight up the street through the left window and spotted Krystal coming back towards her. She was moving slow and weaving carefully. The zombies she could see through the rain seemed unphased by the downpour, trudging unhurriedly along. A few had spotted the spinning van and watched it as they might a game of football.

  The truck stopped, lurching as the tires gripped the road. She clung to the wheel, waiting for it to roll over. Then the wheels slammed back to the wet tarmac.

  She was safe. She wasn’t safe, but she was alive. And the engine was still running. She lifted her hands from the wheel and stared at them while they shook.

  She would wait a minute. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she screamed and jumped. The seat belt kept her firmly in her seat and she groaned as she dug for her phone.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Where are you?’ It was Alex.

  ‘Coming. Just having a bit of trouble. Everything alright?’

  ‘Do you have a bus?’

  ‘Something better.’

  ‘Okay, get here right now.’

  ‘What’s wrong, what’s happened?’

  ‘The devices have run out. We have to leave now.’

  Alex

  He hit the end button and slid the phone back into his pocket. Luke was still on his knees beside Sophie. He wasn’t crying, just staring at the body. The zombie, minus its head, lay beside her. Either he hadn’t heard Alex make the call, or he didn’t care, beca
use he was making no effort to get up.

  Alex didn’t want to be the one to tell him to get up. He didn’t want to go anywhere near the body. And he definitely didn’t want to check whether she was dead and have to do what was necessary if she wasn’t.

  So instead he went the other way into the main room. There were five entrances to the sodding place and he went to each, locking them where possible and ordering the ladies to block them where it wasn’t.

  He received questions at every door and each time shook his head and snapped at them to get on with it. There were only a handful of ladies in here. The rest were sleeping, unguarded and vulnerable. He shivered and ignored the sweat that sprung up beneath his arms.

  He raced out of the room and started banging on doors, shouting at them to wake. At any other time he’d have loved what happened next. One by one the doors opened to reveal attractive young women in next to nothing staring at him with sleep-lazy eyes. This time, though, all he could see was Sophie as her throat got torn out.

  ‘Get up, get into the main room. Do it now, stay together.’

  He didn’t add for them to pack. There was no packing, not now. Now it was run as fast as you can, and we’ll find clothes later. The entire circuit took all of three minutes before he was back at their private room. Ed stood at the door, eyes fixed on Luke. When Alex stopped beside him, the boy raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Were they together?’ Ed asked.

  ‘I don’t know. I need to talk to him.’

  Ed said nothing and Alex sighed. If Bayleigh was here, she’d do it, but she’d sounded like she had other things to think about. He didn’t know, in truth, whether the devices had run out, but couldn’t think of a more likely reason for a zombie to be inside the field.

  That gave him an excuse to avoid the talk with Luke for another minute or two. He wound his way through as the ladies wandered to the main room. Some still wore their night dresses and he sent them back to get dressed.

  He found the first device. It was silent, the lights dead. The second was the same. Out of juice. They’d talked yesterday about heading down the tunnel and filling them, but somehow it got lost between the searches for Dave and the bus. And the truth was, none of them wanted to go back to St Paul’s. The chance of being captured and not returning was far too great.

  He shoved the devices deep in his pocket and headed back. Luke hadn’t moved. Alex let out a long breath. He knelt beside Luke and lifted her wrist. She was cold.

  ‘Is she?’

  Luke turned his head like it was made of stone, slow and ponderous, towards him.

  ‘Is she what?’

  This wasn’t going to be easy. ‘Is she a zombie?’

  ‘I don’t know. I don’t think so. I think she’s dead.’

  He didn’t want to point out that was the same thing. If they were out of here before she rose, they need never know, and maybe it was better that way. He looked at her lips, twisted in pain and not all like she’d been in life, and lowered his head. He couldn’t leave her to come to life.

  ‘We have to go.’

  ‘Mm.’

  ‘Luke, we have to go.’

  Again with the slow movement. ‘Where?’

  ‘Come on, please. We’re heading out to the country.’

  ‘Now?’

  ‘If not now, when? The devices have run out. That’s how it got in here. It’s not safe here anymore.’

  Luke blinked and his shoulders rose. He nodded, slowly at first, then with more intent. ‘Yes, of course. You’re right. Is Bayleigh back?’

  ‘I just called her and they’re on their way.’

  Luke stood, forcing Alex to stand with him. ‘Do they have a bus?’

  ‘She said they’ve got something better. Not sure what that means.’

  ‘Right.’ Luke looked down at the corpse and his eyes went for a second. Then he blinked and patted Alex on the shoulder. ‘Thanks. Well done. Where are the ladies?’

  ‘Got them gathering in the main room. We’ve blocked up all the doors.’

  ‘We’ll need to clear a corridor to the front door.’

  ‘Maybe you could speak to them quick, just let them know what’s going on?’

  Luke nodded and headed for the main room. Alex watched him, staying put. Luke glanced back and if he had any idea what Alex was about to do, he didn’t show it.

  Alex swallowed and pulled the knife from his back pocket. It was like dissecting a specimen, nothing more. He’d done this on frogs and rats lots of times, it was no different.

  He swallowed. No different at all.

  He moved fast with shaking hands. The knife went in just below her ear and straight through her brain, up and across. He wiggled it around, squirming at the feeling, then pulled it back out.

  He wiped the blade clean on the zombie’s corpse and stepped away. He got three steps before he dropped to his knees and vomited. As he wiped the bile from his lips he looked up to see Ed watching silently from the door of the private room.

  ‘You should be in the main room.’ Alex croaked.

  ‘Are you alright?’

  ‘Yeah, I’ll be fine, just give me a minute.’

  Ed nodded, doubt written all over his face, but didn’t leave the doorway. Alex pushed himself up, swallowing and sniffing. He blew his nose and headed away from the corpse. As he passed Ed, the boy slipped a hand into his and squeezed. Alex jumped and almost pulled away. Instead, he squeezed it in return and they walked together into the main room.

  Luke set him doing a head count. He did it twice before realising they were going to be one short. He gave him the nod and Luke raised his hands for silence.

  ‘We’re leaving now. Our protection has come to an end. The circumstances aren’t ideal. It’s raining heavily, it’s dark, and we don’t yet know what transport we have. But we have transport. In a few minutes, we’ll need you to leave here, head straight downstairs, and through the front door. You can’t bring anything. You can’t hang around, or mess around. We go as a group, we go together and we don’t stop until every one of us is on the transport. Everyone happy?’

  It was an incongruous thing to say at the best of times but now it felt like a mockery. Half the ladies still hadn’t realised who was dead or indeed that someone was dead, and Alex hoped it stayed that way until they were in the transport.

  Luke headed into the crowd and emerged a few moments later with three of the ladies. He introduced them with names Alex forgot seconds later, and led the four of them out of the main room. He stopped just outside and gathered them in a circle.

  ‘What I’d like is a nice safe run to the transport. But that’s impossible. We’re going to head down there now and see how many zombies we’re looking at and how easy it’ll be to get through them. Everyone alright with that?’

  The three girls nodded, sharing similarly determined expressions. Alex rested his hand on his knife and gave the same. Luke set off at a trot, jogging away from the non-existent field towards the main corridor. He ran out into it and was taken out immediately by a zombie charging into view.

  All four of them were on it, Alex slamming his knife into the creature’s back as it shifted. The girls carried knives as well and within two seconds there were two thrusting out of its head. It thudded onto the floor and Luke scrambled up, brushing himself down. He blinked and Alex spotted the same blank look he’d worn a few minutes earlier kneeling beside Sophie’s corpse.

  ‘Thank you. Wasn’t expecting that.’

  They moved slower, facing outwards from a central point. They gained the stairs without further upset and gazed down into the reception. There were four zombies he could see, but there were plenty of places they could be hiding. Still, four they could manage.

  Luke led them down and they spread out. Alex sneaked behind the reception desk and found the pole that still rested against it. He came out feeling, if not confident, then ready. The zombies were making a beeline for Luke, as though he was somehow nicer smelling than them. It meant the nearest
to Alex was already half turned away from him.

  He swung, putting his weight behind it, and smiled in satisfaction as the pole sunk deep into its skull. He held on tight as the corpse collapsed. He watched two of the women fight together. One engaged the zombie head on, fending its claws away with her knife. The other went around behind it and buried her own blade in the back of his skull. It sunk in deep and another corpse struck the floor.

  The other two were down and Alex rested the pole over his shoulder. He was getting better at this. The girls were looking happier, though struggling to keep their eyes off the corpses. Luke nudged one with his foot.

  ‘This is it. This is what we’re fighting. Get used to it.’

  The ladies nodded grimly. Alex peered through the front doors and they hissed open. He stepped away as the rain came flooding in to soak the front mat. The street lamps looked like they were floating, pools of light adrift in a sea of darkness. In the strained illumination the zombies looked almost human, drunks and students ambling home after a long night on the town.

  Of Bayleigh and Krystal there was no sign. Alex stepped back until the door closed and jumped as he backed into Luke. ‘Easy.’ The angel said, ‘Are you alright to stay here and kill anything that comes in?’

  Alex glanced at the ladies, all watching him with that same awe he’d thought reserved for Luke. He nodded, swallowing and hoping the fear wasn’t as obvious on his face as it was in his shaking hands. Shaking everything in fact. The four of them set off up the stairs, leaving him alone in reception.

  He drew his knife. He wasn’t sure he could swing the pole effectively with only one hand but he felt better having them both ready. He chose a spot in the middle of reception, with space all around him, and set himself facing the doors.

  There was no reason anything should come in. There was no reason they should be interested at all. They didn’t know he was here. He shifted from foot to foot, hands clenching and unclenching on the handles of his weapons. They didn’t know he was here.

  The doors opened. His heart lurched like he’d missed the last step at the bottom of the stairs and he almost dropped the pole.