His hand moved slowly, gently, as he stroked our daughter's hair. She stared up at him with rapt attention as though she was realising for the very first time that there was someone who thought like she did.
“Soon,” his voice was barely above a whisper and all in the room had to strain to hear. “You find a pleasure in the act of taking a life. It is something that you can control and when you do, the world shifts into focus for the first time. You start to see all of those things that people speak about with such pleasure.”
“For a time.” He breathed a soft sigh. “That pleasure soon fades and the darkness returns, shrouding you, suffocating you with its presence as it denies you the light that you found when killing another, a light that all other people find naturally.”
“So, you kill again. Eventually, the only real pleasure you find comes as you take a life.” His eyes moved, flicking towards me and capturing my gaze as my heart missed a beat. “Until you find someone that can bring a little of their own light and chase away that darkness.”
I closed my eyes so that he didn’t see my tears. For him, I knew, that was an incredible admission of vulnerability and love for me.
“Angelina is not like you,” he continued. “She is like me and I will help her to find the light without taking the life of an innocent. She needs to understand that difference, to learn it now so that she does not spend as many years lost and alone as I did.”
“Bloody hell, mate. That was almost beautiful.”
“You too, chase away the darkness, my friend.”
“Okay, I think we need to change the subject before I actually start bloody crying.”
His laughter eased the tension and the others joined in, chuckling softly, politely, as they digested what they had just been told. Cass, her anger cooled, pursed her lips and looked away.
“Fine, I get it.” Her attention turned back to me. “I’ll head back to the island with Pat. It’s time I found somewhere safer for her anyway.”
That hurt more than it should have and I wanted to scream at her that Angelina would never hurt Pat, but I couldn’t. When all was said and done, I couldn’t possibly know if she would or not.
“Okay. The supply boats will be coming in a couple of weeks. You can head back then.”
“Until then, I’ll-“
“Oh fuck!” Charlie cut her off, waving her arms.
“What is it?”
“Drone’s just gone over the sawmill. It’s on fire!”
Isaac paled and darted from the room as I just stared in shock. Ryan had been right.
He, in turn, didn’t say ‘I told you so’ and he didn’t need to. Instead, he glanced once at Samuel and jerked his head towards the door. With a low bow, Samuel hurried after Isaac and I knew he would be gathering his cultists.
“We should go too,” I said, but Ryan shook his head.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because they will either be long gone by the time we get there or it is just another distraction and they will be attacking here as soon as all the guards have rushed off.”
“Then what the hell do we do?” Cass snapped, eyes widening in alarm.
“Prepare to fight,” was all Ryan said with a grin.
Chapter 15
Black smoke rose above the hill behind the village and while everyone stood gaping, I kept my gaze on the half-finished wall. If an attack were to come, it would be from the south. I was sure of that.
South, where the trees crowded the river that ran down from the hills and out towards the sea. Barely a hundred metres from our wall, there could be any number of raiders hidden in that thick foliage and very little in the way of defences to protect the village.
Workers outnumbered the fighters by almost four to one and the majority of those workers would run rather than fight. Most of those fighters had spread out around the village or, by the looks of things, had run off towards the fire leaving the rest of the village practically unguarded.
Anyone with an ounce of sense would attack with as much fire and fury as they could muster, which is why I was more than a little perturbed as the minutes dragged on and no attack appeared.
I stalked the perimeter of the village, hoping to find some sign of the enemy, but to little avail. Minutes became hours and soon enough the light began to fade. Scowling and, I could admit to myself, sulking more than a little, I headed back into the house.
Angelina was waiting by the door, eager face searching me for signs of violence. I couldn’t help my smile at that, for she had as much an appetite for it as I had. While most parents would be horrified by such a thing, I could not be further from that.
“They didn’t come?”
Her shoulders sunk and she hung her head, disappointed by the lack of an enemy scaling our walls ready to slaughter us where we stood. A low chuckle escaped me and I gently turned her and led her further into the house.
Cass was in the living area with Pat and Gabriel, the two children cuddled up beside her on the couch with Jinx lying sleeping on the rug before the fire. She cast a dark look my way as I passed on by and she was soon forgotten as I stopped by the dining room table.
“Sit.”
Her lower lip stuck out, practically quivering with disappointment and I wondered idly if I looked much the same when things didn’t go my way.
Probably.
She placed both her elbows on the table and leant forward, cupping her chin in her hands and watching me, eyes hooded and dark. For a moment, back in the clearing, I had seen a glimpse of the future killer that she would be.
Some children likely had those same dark impulses but they faded over time, losing their intensity to the point where they could pass for pretty much any other child. Either that or they grew up confused and lost, not knowing what those urges were and found solace in poor life choices instead.
Perhaps that first junkie I had killed had been such a child. Turning to drugs to find something to cling to in a world that didn’t make sense and ultimately finding his end, there in that room with nothing but me and the knife I held for his final moments.
“You weren’t scared of those people that wanted to hurt us?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Her shoulders moved as she made the tiniest of shrugs and her eyes flicked away, just for a moment before they came back to rest on me. She didn’t understand why, any more than I would have at her age. Nor could she put into words those feelings she lacked.
Yes, she was like me, I was sure of it.
“Did the blood upset you?”
“No.” A pause, then, “it was good.”
“Why good?”
Another soft shrug and I settled back in my chair, watching her. She was young, perhaps too young, but the world was not a safe place and there was no guarantee that I would be around as she grew and matured.
She would need to learn to use a knife, to kill with it. Her small size and her age would be a bonus for her should anyone come for her. They would dismiss her as a possible threat and she could easily get close enough to strike.
It didn’t take brute force to kill someone. A sharp knife and knowing where to cut was all that was needed, along with the will to make that cut, to take a life. Something that I didn’t doubt that she would lack.
“Wait here.”
I left her in the dining room and moved quickly to the room I shared with Lily. The bed, still unmade after the morning's dalliance, was ignored as I made straight for the nightstand beside it. There I kept the small collection of knives and other assorted weapons that I had been gathering.
The item I was looking for wasn’t hard to find and I was soon back in the dining room, standing beside my daughter who watched me with something akin to curiosity on her face.
“This knife.” I held out the blade. Short, barely four inches in length and curved like the talon of some ancient beast, was wickedly sharp. “Keep it on you at all times and only draw it when you are going to us
e it. Understand.”
Eyes wide, she nodded her head quickly.
“Good. Pay attention now.” I touched the tip of the knife against my throat. “This is the carotid artery. Cut through it and they will bleed out quickly.”
She stared hard at the place I had indicated as though attempting to commit it to memory. After a moment, her head bobbed once more to indicate she had it. I moved the knife down, tapping first the inside of my wrist and then the top of my inner thigh.
“You cut deep into the wrists and you sever an artery. They will die, though it will be hard to accomplish unless you come upon them when they are asleep.” Again, another nod. “Most who you will need to use this knife on will be attacking you. They will throw you to the ground and they will hurt you.”
My chest felt heavy and I paused. There was something intrinsically wrong with that. I knew rapists were out there, of course, and I would kill them when given a chance. The thought of my daughter experiencing such an assault had the darkness boiling up inside of me to the point that I wanted to break the promise that I had made to Lily to stay and instead, walk back to Birmingham where I could kill each and every person in the place.
That couldn’t happen though. I was a father, I had responsibilities and as Lily had rightfully said, there was no guarantee that I would come back the next time. I could not leave my family defenceless. No, I had to stay. I had to teach them to protect themselves for when I could not.
“As they hurt you, there will come a moment when you will be able to reach down and cut deep into their thigh. There is a thick artery that passes through the groin and if you cut it, they will die quickly.”
The image that flashed into my mind at that was not one I cared to recall. Another young girl, one injured and dying, body wracked with pain. I had cut that very artery to give her peace and she had been the first child that I had killed. She was still the only child I had killed directly, though many more had likely died in the Genpact bases.
“If you use this knife for anything other than protecting yourself on your family, I will take it from you. Do you understand that?”
“Yes.”
“Good. If you do as I tell you, then I will show you how to really use it and when it is time, you will kill with it.”
Her smile was answer enough and I reached out to tenderly touch her cheek. My daughter, someone I never imagined would ever exist. While I could not say for sure what it was that I felt towards my children, I knew that I had a fierce desire to protect them and they brought me something like the happiness I suspected others felt all the time.
It was weird.
“You should go rest now.”
“I want to wait up.”
“In case the attack comes?”
“Yes.”
“If it happens, you will wake and your job will be to protect the people in this house. Your brother especially.”
Her lips twisted as she shook her head.
“He’s a baby.”
“No, his strength is different to yours, but there is strength there. When the world turns against you, he will be your shield. He will protect you from the greatest danger you will face. Yourself.”
I glanced at the window and the darkness beyond. If an attack was to come, it would be when they thought everyone slept. Though I could be wrong again, as I had been when expecting them to attack earlier.
“Go,” I instructed. “Rest and be ready for danger should it arrive.”
She didn’t ask for a hug nor did she even wish me a good night. With knife clutched tightly in her small hand, she pushed off of the chair and left the room without even a backwards glance. I couldn’t help but smile for she was so very easily recognisable to me.
One day she would be a killer. That was going to happen, no matter what her mother might hope. It was as inevitable for her as it had been for me. Death called to her and she found beauty if the crimson patterns made as blood spilt upon the ground. In the transient beauty of a body absent all life, staring into nothingness as all you could do was wonder at what they might see as they passed through the darkness beyond.
Or even if they saw anything at all.
Yes, she would be a killer, and all being well, I would teach her to be a great one. But first, there were other problems to deal with and chief amongst those was the raiders attacking the village.
Or rather, not as the case seemed to be. They appeared content to pick at us, killing quickly and vanishing. It was not lost on me that those were much the same tactics I had used. That was an irony I would be sure to remark upon as I killed them.
But first I needed to find them.
Chapter 16
Bodies lay scattered about on the ground, bloody wounds visible even through the billowing smoke. Eighteen workers had been at the sawmill when it was attacked and not a one of them had survived.
“We need to get that fire under control!” Isaac called, before directing his small band of troopers fan out.
“Leave it.”
There was no way we could control it. Surrounded by the felled trees waiting to be cut into timber, with sawdust spread all around, the stone-built building had plenty of fuel surrounding it for the fire to feed on.
We had no fire engines, no water to pump through hoses. No, all we could do was stand and watch the damned place burn to the ground. If we were lucky, the fire wouldn’t spread. One benefit of being where we were was that there had been precious little chance for the surrounding woods to dry out.
“Think we have a survivor!” a young trooper called excitedly and my stomach lurched.
“No!” He didn’t hear me as he ran over to offer aid. The body that was moving was jerking and twitching as though suffering a fit. “He’s not alive!”
The troopers surprised face was turned to me as the zombie lunged at him, teeth tearing into the soft flesh of his cheek. His scream briefly drowned out the crackle of the burning lumber and I swore softly.
A crossbow bolt smashed through the side of his skull and he was down, the zombie oblivious, continuing to tear at his flesh. Isaac, reloading his crossbow, began to call out orders for the troopers to stay back and shoot anything that moved.
My knife was in my hand but I felt ridiculously exposed all of a sudden and couldn’t help but think back to the ambush on the road. The black-garbed cultists spreading out around the area helped lessen that fear and for the first time in a while, I was grateful for the bodyguards that followed me everywhere.
The flames reached hungrily for the wood, smoke filling the air and making it difficult to breathe or see. A shouted command was enough to have everyone fall back, along the road that led back to the village.
Faces blackened, clothes reeking of wood smoke, and eyes red-rimmed. The men and women coughed and hacked, sucking in the fresh air. Isaac, face grim, approached and I smiled apologetically as I hawked and spat blackened phlegm to the weed-choked road surface.
“We’re fucked.”
“I know.”
“The only damn reason we chose this place was because of that sawmill! We can’t rebuild, not without tools and materials we don’t have.”
“I know.” More emphasis that time as he wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. “We’ll discuss it when we get back.”
He gave a curt nod of his head in acknowledgement and turned to harangue his troopers. Squads were formed and they set off in groups of five to patrol the immediate area. Samuel, watched me in silence, waiting for a command.
“Back to the village,” I said. No need to send all the fighters away.
We trudged back in silence and it was dark by the time we returned. The village was still standing with no signs of attack, which was encouraging. Lanterns had been lit and placed on window ledges to provide some light for those who needed to be out after dark.
Isaac followed me to the house and as the cultists took up their guard positions outside, Samuel came in. I lead them straight to the dining room, where we found Ch
arlie hunched over her keyboard tapping furiously on the keys as Ryan leant against the wall behind her, watching the screen.
“What’s going on?”
“Satellites gone dark.” Her tone was distracted as she kept on typing. “About twenty minutes ago, just went dead.”
That was a concern as it was our main mean of keeping watch over the parasites and the raiders in Birmingham. Without it, we had lost a large advantage and a shiver ran down my spine at the thought of what could be headed our way without us knowing about it.
“Any idea why?”
“Could have just malfunctioned, not like there’s any maintenance work going on up there.” She paused, stopping her typing for the briefest of moments to glance back at us. “I don’t think it did.”
“Then what?”
“Genpact gave us access, they could have simply taken that access away.”
“Why would they do that?” Cass asked, walking in to join us. “They need us to keep them supplied and we have the vaccine too. They need that as much as they need the viral agent.”
“They know we have a vaccine and a weapon that will kill the parasites?” Ryan asked, arching one brow as he smirked, shaking his head. “That was a stupid thing to share with them.”
Her already frosty demeanour chilled even further if such a thing was possible as she crossed her arms and glared at him.
“We are trying to rebuild a world worth fighting for! We can’t go around killing everyone and keeping secrets. That just makes enemies.”
“Don’t,” I said, holding up a hand to forestall the argument that was brewing. I looked at my friend. “See if you can contact them and ask them about the satellite. You’ve been building a rapport with them so they might be willing to talk.”
“I will,” she said. “You’ll see that they are on our side.”
“Aye, maybe contact the island too.”
We all looked at him and he laughed, low and cold, a darkness in his eyes that made me shiver.
Killing The Dead | Book 23 | Come The End Page 10