‘Ah now that’s a shame that is,’ Alf says walking in to shake his head. ‘Guess that makes three overnight then,’ he adds with a sad tut before peering closer at the body. ‘Here, that’s my rope he’s used. I was going to use that today I was…’
‘Right,’ Lilly says, struggling with the surreal reality for a second.
‘Ah well. Done now. You hang on a jiffy, pardon the pun, and I’ll get my barrow and some sheets up here. Actually, I might be able to use that rope after all,’ Alf adds, stepping closer to stare up at the noose. ‘He’s only tied it on hasn’t he.’
‘I reckon he has,’ Kyle says. ‘He’s not cut it anywhere.’
‘No, I don’t think he has,’ Alf says. ‘Good rope that.’
‘I can see,’ Kyle says.
‘We do need more rope if we see any,’ Alf says, looking at Lilly.
‘Right. Yes. Of course. More rope.’
‘Always need good rope,’ Alf adds, tutting again. ‘I’ll get that barrow then…’
‘Give me a hand cutting him down first,’ Kyle says.
‘Don’t cut that rope now, just untie it from the top.’
‘Take his legs then and ease the weight off,’ Kyle says.
‘Right you are, Kyle. Hurry up now though. He don’t smell so good if you catch my meaning.’
‘Aye I do. Don’t let him shit on ye.’
‘I’m trying not to,’ Alf says as Lilly watches on, as equally mesmerised as she is appalled. ‘Have you done it yet?’
‘Does it look like I’ve done it yet?’ Kyle asks, grunting as he works at the knot on the light fitting. ‘I’ll have to cut it.’
‘It’s good rope. Don’t cut it.’
‘I’ll get ye more rope for the love of god, he’s too heavy and making the knot all tight.’
‘I’ll push him up a bit more,’ Alf says with a grunt.
‘Should I help?’ Lilly asks, moving in to grab the legs of a corpse to push up with Alf while Kyle works at the top and the smell hits worse. The close proximity to it making her eyes water and her throat pinch with a pre-cursor to vomiting. ‘What do you need the rope for, Alf?’ she asks, trying to distract herself.
‘To tie the bodies in the sheets…’
‘Are ye being serious ye daft bugger?’ Kyle snaps. ‘Ye want the rope to use on the body it’s attached to? Are ye drunk, Alf?’
‘It’s good rope!’
‘I’m cutting the bloody rope.’
‘I think I will vomit,’ Lilly says.
‘Cut it cleanly so it doesn’t fray,’ Alf says.
‘I’m cutting it cleanly…’
‘Did that man do a poo?’ Amna asks from the doorway, staring in awe with Rajesh, Milly and Billy.
‘Go on and get out,’ Kyle shouts as Lilly tries to shout too but pukes instead as the body drops. A literal dead weight coming down and Kyle winces at not giving warning as Lilly tumbles with a shit and now vomit covered body landing on top of her while Sam and Pea drag the entranced kids out.
‘That knife is sharp,’ Kyle says, staring at his blade. ‘Went right through that rope it did…are you alright there, Lilly?’
‘I’m fine!’ Lilly calls, scrabbling out from under the body already stiff with rigor mortis and her own clothes now soaked in shit, piss and puke. ‘Fine. I am fine…great,’ she looks at the body then at Alf already checking the rope and Kyle still marvelling at his blade. ‘I think I shall go outside,’ she announces, sucking clean air in as she steps through the door and spots the four kids still trying to peer in at the body ‘You four are in trouble…’ she says sternly, pointing a wet finger at them.
‘They run fast,’ Lenski says. ‘Subi she yell and I yell and they run…they are like goats. They run like goats…’
‘Goats,’ Lilly mutters, finding a hose to use to rinse the goo from her hands and clothes. ‘You four come here, right now,’ she adds, turning to glare at them. ‘I mean it. Over here now. Amna, that means you too. You do not run if you are told to stop. Do you understand? All four of you are on punishment and will stay in the reading tent until I say otherwise. Have you had breakfast? Go and have breakfast and wash your hands and faces. Yes? Got it? Say yes Lilly.’
‘Yes, Lilly,’ four small voices grumble as Subi leads the kids away past Norman, a middle aged man with a hawkish nose standing nearby who woke suddenly to the yells of Lilly and Kyle running past and everyone surging up. Mothers and fathers grabbing their children. Men and women rushing in all directions in pure panic and Norman scrabbled to his feet, his heart jack-hammering in his chest. He heard the woman screaming and saw the people with guns all aiming for that one point and instead of running away with everyone else he found himself going towards the point of danger but without knowing why.
Now he looks to the woman screaming as Sam and Pea try to offer comfort, but she seems locked in a cycle of pure anguish. Her eyes not focussing, and he watches the veins push from her neck and her face flushing deep red. Her voice starts to crack too as the scream changes from that of pain to an unpleasant tone that is hard to hear. Like nails on a chalkboard. A noise that pushes into his head and makes him tense inside.
‘Shush, it’s okay, you’re okay…’ Pea at her side giving soothing words to no effect.
‘Love, you’ve got to stop screaming,’ Sam says, her tone firmer than Pea’s but the screeches go on. The woman on her knees. Her children dead. Her husband now dead. Everything she ever had in life is now gone in the most awful ways and so her mind fractures, breaking apart.
Kyle looms in the door, a frown on his face at the woman. Lilly winces and Norman spots Joan stiffening and reads the sympathy is lessening by the second. He turns to see children crying and fear spreading through the fort from the awful noises.
‘Jesus, love, stop screaming,’ Sam says, her voice now harder.
‘Hey come on, shush now,’ Pea says.
But it goes on. Repeating over and over. The sound becoming less human and more animalistic.
‘Enough of this,’ Lenski snaps. ‘Is more people here…’
The woman pays her no heed but keeps going. Not hearing anything. Not seeing anything. She starts clawing at her own face, digging her nails into her cheeks.
‘Hey, no…stop that,’ Pea says, trying to take hold of her hands but the woman tenses and screeches harder, driving her nails into her own flesh, drawing blood that pours down her face. ‘HEY NOW…’
Lilly moves in, Pea, Sam and Lenski too with Kyle. All of them trying to grab the woman’s hands but she fights hard, thrashing and kicking, lashing out with a hand that knocks Pea flying before getting a foot into Sam’s gut.
‘She’s got the strength of the devil in her,’ Kyle grunts, trying to hold a wrist as the woman bucks and heaves, pulling him down on top while all the time screeching that awful noise and in the midst of that loss of her mind she spots the pistol on Lilly’s belt and makes a lunge for it, not knowing why, not knowing reason or coherent thought. Seeing only the gun.
‘LILLY!’ Kyle shouts as Lilly tries twisting away. A flimsy safety strap holding the pistol within the holster the only thing preventing the woman from yanking it free and she tugs hard, surging into Lilly to drive her back, still screaming and fighting wild. Kicking and lashing out with her other hand, smashing her knuckles into Kyle’s mouth, splitting his upper lip.
Everything a blur. An explosion of escalation and Norman snatches a glimpse of Joan moving next to the desperate fight, her rifle aim locked on the woman’s head as she tracks and readies to end it should the woman get the gun free. Lilly hitting at the woman’s arm, Kyle bleeding and grappling. Lenski taking kicks to the arms and shoulders as they roll over in the dirt.
‘YOU...GET IN AND HELP,’ Joan snaps, using her left hand to point quickly at Norman. A blink, a balk and he darts forward, hesitant and fearful then a second later he’s amongst the scrap. Feeling the heat of the bodies about him and Kyle’s head butting against his own. A snag. A ping and the safety cord snaps,
freeing the gun from the holster.
‘SHE’S GOT IT,’ Kyle roars. Norman senses the urgency and grips harder, throwing himself in to use his body weight to crush her arm as the woman starts plucking the trigger. The safety on but in this melee, it could so easily get knocked off. ‘HOLD HER HAND DOWN,’ Kyle shouts. Norman tries harder as Lenski lands on his back, adding her own weight. A dull crack. A bone breaking but the woman still pays no heed, screaming and tugging at the trigger.
‘HOLD HER,’ a fresh voice. Female and strong. A rush at the side and Norman feels someone leaning over his head. ‘Keep her down…I’ll get a sedative in her…okay, going in now…it takes a few seconds…hold her…’
‘SHIT!’ someone screams out at the fresh surge of energy as the woman thrashes so hard she starts lifting Norman, Lenski and Kyle all trying to pin her body down as Lilly fights to keep the gun aimed away from people. Sam lands in the fray. Pea too. Joan still holding aim should the situation worsen.
‘GIVE HER MORE,’ Lilly yells.
‘I AM,’ Ann shouts in reply, readying the syringe as Norman struggles to draw air from the press of bodies on top of him. ‘GOING IN…’
Then it comes with a sound they all hear and the dull click of a pistol safety switch turning off.
‘JOAN!’ Lilly cries out as the woman squeezes the trigger on the pistol, sending a round bouncing off the ground. The danger of death now immediate. The danger of a round ricocheting into a child and Joan moves forward to get clean aim.
‘No! She’s going…’ Ann says urgently. ‘Hold on…don’t shoot her…’
They all feel it. The sudden lessening of strength and energy. They hold on for dear life, waiting for the motions to grow still. Lilly’s hands gripping the wrist holding the gun until she sees the knuckles turning from white to pink in the woman’s hand and she moves fast, wrenching the gun free to roll clear, clicking the safety back on. ‘Got it,’ she gasps.
‘Jesus,’ Sam says, rolling off as the others starts to disentangle and Norman goes last. A strong hand on his arm pulling him off as Kyle rolls him clear before sagging at his side. All of them gasping for air as Ann moves the woman into the recovery position.
‘I think her arm might be broken,’ Norman says between hard breaths, feeling like his insides have been re-arranged.
Ann nods but doesn’t reply. Her own face flushed. Her medical bag open at the side. Two empty used syringes lying on the ground. Kyle’s mouth bleeding. Pea rubbing her face. Sam grimacing at the pain in her belly. Lenski’s shoulders and arms kicked and sore. Everyone stunned at the speed it all happened and the sky only now showing the first rays of daylight.
‘I got the rope off that fella…’ Alf says from the doorway to the rooms as Norman hears the groans coming from everyone around him.
Chapter Two
Day Twenty One
‘I think here will do,’ Kyle says.
Lilly cuts the engine on the small boat, bringing forth a silence broken only by the waves gently slapping the hull. She moves to the feet of the first body bound in sheets and after a nod from Kyle they heave the body over.
‘Into thy hands dear lord. We commend the soul of thy servant departed, now called unto eternal rest and we commit this body to the deep…’
Two more bodies go over the side and she watches as they slide down into the deep waters where they’ll sink to rest on the seabed.
‘Beautiful morning,’ Kyle remarks quietly after completing his prayer.
‘It is,’ she says. Admiring the view of the sunrise bathing the land once more in light, banishing the shadows of darkness and they both stare to the gypsy camp that has grown overnight.
Lilly stood on the high fort walls last night watching them for a long time. Hearing the metallic clangs and voices calling out. Watching the lights glow as the camp got bigger.
‘Perhaps now is the right time for us to talk openly,’ Lilly says.
Kyle nods, figuring this is why Lilly said they should take the bodies out together.
‘I was considering if it should be you and Joan in charge. You are older, experienced and people look to you as a figure of authority. I can help of course, Sam, Pea and Lenski the same. What do you think?’
‘Oh, I try not to think too much. Gets me in trouble…but aye, there’s some logic in what you say,’ he trails off, watching her closely for a second. ‘Leading is a funny thing. Some can be taught, trained as it were. Others just have that ability. Mr Howie for instance. People will always follow him. I can see it in Blowers too. Henry had that ability. He was in charge in my old team. He once talked a whole bar full of bikers into helping him rescue me and Frank. Of course, we neither wanted nor needed rescuing, but that’s a different story. George could lead and plan when needed, but me and Frank? We were never leaders. We were doers. Carmen’s the same. She’s a cracking section head so she is. Aye, we all are really. We can lead for the task or objective, but it’s not our natural way. There was another member of our team too. He did comms, intel, a lot of the background work. He gave instructions and briefed us, but he was never a leader…’
He falls silent, thinking about Howard and Howie. Thinking about Dave and all of them and that Henry will have the team bedded down somewhere waiting for the first month to pass as per protocol, but then something isn’t right. If Howard, or any of them knew Howie was the one fighting back, they’d be here now. He guesses one of two things, either they didn’t make it through the first day of absolute hell, or they’re in complete isolation.
‘But I’m not going to lead, Lilly. Nor will Joan. That is your path,’ Kyle says into the silence.
‘I am only sixteen…’
‘Aye. Tell me, do you want me to lead? Be honest now…’
She pauses, caught out by the question.
‘Let me ask you this instead, what needs doing today. Answer quickly,’ he urges, his voice a bit harder.
‘We need to clear those buildings,’ she says, pointing to the bay.
‘Why?’
‘The infected can hide behind them…’
‘And?’
‘And because they block the view. I can’t see beyond them. I want the whole bay flattened but that means we have to empty the houses first and get the contents into the fort…’
‘Why?’ he cuts in.
‘Kyle. I appreciate the…’
‘Why?’
‘So I can put the wall in…’
‘Why do you want to put a wall in?’
‘To enclose the bay so we have control over the flow of anyone coming towards us. Kyle, look, I don’t know you, but you are clearly trained and…’
‘Pah! Training is overrated. Frank and I always said wits and guile will get you through most scrapes. Don’t fret now, Lilly. I can see you disliking the fact I’m are not doing as you wish which is one of the reasons why you need to lead here. Do you know what Henry did when someone wouldn’t do what he wanted?’
‘I don’t know who Henry is,’ she replies before cocking her head over and breaking into a smile at his comical expression. ‘What would Henry do?’
‘Nothing at all! He’d smile his polite smile and be as passive as you like.’
‘How does that work?’ she asks.
‘It doesn’t. But he’d also then call me and Frank to go and make them do what he wanted. He’s a canny man is Henry. You’d like him a lot…and I’m not going to lead, but, I will be your right hand man and give you what guidance I can. Something tells me our paths are already chosen for us…’
Silence again. Both of them thinking while also simply enjoying the beautiful view and the serenity of the moment before another gruelling day starts.
‘There is a connection between you and Mr Howie. I’ve worked that out.’
‘Have you now?’
‘I have. Mr Howie says aye all the time. I didn’t know anyone else that said that until I met you. You say it too, and now because you say it lots of other people here are saying it. Which makes me
think Mr Howie was either in contact with you before this, or someone connects you both…I’m guessing the latter.’
Kyle has been to many places and seen many things in his long life, but right then he feels genuine surprise and remembers what Reginald said. Lilly is a most incredible young woman. She is ruthless, capable and highly intelligent. You’d do well not to underestimate her.
‘It was Howie’s father,’ he says quietly. ‘We worked together.’
‘Howie’s father was called Howard,’ Lilly says, looking at him. ‘You said you worked for Henry. You, George, Frank and then later Carmen joined you. You said before that someone else handled comms and intelligence, but you didn’t say who at the time. I’m guessing that was Howard. Howie’s father.’
‘Jesus,’ he says, glancing at her. ‘I’m never playing poker with you. Are you sure you’re not related to Henry?’
‘I don’t know. You haven’t said who Henry is.’
‘Ach, good point. Do you want to know?’
‘Do I need to know?’
‘You might need to know.’
‘Then tell me when that happens. My brain is somewhat occupied right now.’
‘Right you are, we’ll do that,’ he says.
‘Three questions,’ Lilly asks. ‘Does Howie know his father did these things, because he’s never mentioned it. And my second question is did you know Dave before this?’
‘Right. No, Howie does not appear to know what his father did, and yes, I knew Dave, or rather, I knew who Dave was and I saw him working, but Dave never saw me. I was freelance by then and mostly covert. What was the third question?’
‘Did you know this was going to happen?’
‘No,’ he says honestly. ‘Henry sent me a message six months ago saying something was coming, but that was it…’
‘I see,’ she says, thinking for a second. ‘Good luck,’ she adds, starting the engine on the boat again.
‘Good luck with what?’ he asks.
The Undead (Book 23): The Fort Page 2