Devouring The Dead (Book 2): Nemesis (8 page)

Lazarus let out a long sigh and drew up another chair to sit down beside Tim. “Why where they so open with each other? I mean I know we’re long-time
allies, but still, these are...tense times to say the least. They must be on a war footing. How come they were so...
trusting
?”

“That’s what I thought at first too, sir.
McCulloch told Samson that effectively the chain of command had broken down. With the governments collapsed and the military broken, then the infrastructure of their operations was compromised. He said normal protocol would be for radio silence, but and I quote, ‘This is war. Fuck protocols. We are leaderless. Britain is under attack and we have to act before she is lost.’

“
Samson said they would stand side to side with McCulloch and they started to talk about formulating some sort of plan, some way of attacking the infection and killing the dead. They began to suggest meeting somewhere, perhaps in the Caribbean where they could replenish stocks from a small military base and meet. Then the reception started to die out and I came here to tell you.”

Lazarus looked at Tim’s scribbled notes. “Did they say anything about what the infection is or
how
they might fight back?”

“No, not that I
heard, sir.”

They sat in silence f
or five minutes and Tim began to wonder if he should leave before Lazarus spoke again.

“Tim, I assume you haven’t told anyone else about this?” Lazarus swept his hands through his thick black hair.

Tim shook his head. “Nobody, not even Walker.”

“Good. I’ll fill Walker in. You’ve done
well, Tim. Don’t tell anyone else about this though. If rumours start going around the Mount about the US Navy riding into town, we’ll have anarchy. No, we need to keep this under our hat for now and get organised. I want you to rest tonight. Go get Ed, will you? He can take over radio duties from you for the rest of the night.

“We’re going to need some things from town. W
e’ll send a scouting party out in the morning. You can be a part of it if you like, Tim. You’ve done well and I know you wanted to get out ‘in the field,’ so to speak. I’ll send Walker to wake you at 0700, all right?”

“Yes sir, absolutely.” Tim left the castle, excited about the prospect of go
ing onto the mainland tomorrow.

Lazarus returned to his bedroom in deep thought.
Keisha lay on the bed groaning. A huge overhead candelabrum lit the room.

“Shut up, I need to think,” he said casting Tim’s notes onto a desk. He rested against the desk, pondering how best to use this information. So they weren’t alone. Some remnants of the old world still lived
; a throwback to the good old days, when the Empire ruled the waves and man would die for King and Country. It was quite amazing. He had not expected to hear such news, especially so long after the infection. There was no doubt, who ruled the kingdom now and that was the zombies, apart from
Lazarus’
kingdom, that is.

“Let me go, let me go!” Keisha began to shout and tug on the ropes causing the bed to shake and creak.

“Very well,” said Lazarus. “I’m sick of you now anyway. I have far more important things to consider.”

He pulled a knife from the desk drawer and strode over to Keisha. She smiled at him as he held the knife over her, pleased he was finally going to cut the ties that bound her to the bed. He was human after all.
After so much humiliation and degradation, she never thought he would finally let her go. Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about freedom.

Lazarus plunged the knife into her throat and blood spurted out over his face and shirt. Keisha’s body struggled
, but as her bright blood spread over the stained sheets, she was helpless as she began to die, choking on her own blood, unable to draw one more breath. When she was dead, Lazarus cut the ropes from her arms and picked her up. He scooped up her body and carried it over to a window. He put her down for a moment while he opened it. Rain and wind forced the windows back against the outside wall and he picked her up. With casual ease, he threw her from the window and watched satisfactorily as her lifeless body flailed through the storm onto the rocks below. Her body smashed onto the granite boulders below the castle and into the roaring waves of the ocean, drifting quickly out of sight beneath the churning water and white foam.

* * * *

Jackson stood in the master bedroom, peering through the curtains carefully. It had the largest windows and he shared it with Harry. It offered a view over the whole street. The house sat up on a slight ridge and therefore elevated above the others on the street. Behind it were fields of crops, now growing abundantly, unharvested and untouched by human hand or by mechanical intervention.

They found the house by chance a few days ago, looking for somewhere to stay. Its occupants had clearly left and it was unusual in that it had no doors at street level. The only access was down a gated driveway from the main street and into a garage which had internal access to the building. They had been able to come and go with relative ease. The few zombies that managed to follow the van to the garage could not get to the house and over the night eventually stumbled away. They could not see, smell or sense the living and so lost interest.

The house had four bedrooms and plenty of space.  Christina and Cat shared one room, Jess and Rosa another, Tom and Laurent the third, and Jackson and Harry the master bedroom. Moira was happy with the sofa and preferred the privacy it gave her. Despite the protestations of the others, she would not relinquish her solitude for a night in a shared bed with anyone.

Harry entered the room. “Jackson, what’s going on, I hear Tom’s not back yet?”

It was dark outside now, approaching nine thirty. They had all reluctantly eaten Harry and Moira’s bounty upon their return. Jess wanted to wait, to go looking for Tom and Laurent, but had agreed it was better to eat than wait indefinitely. She had eaten only half the amount the others had.

“I’m trying not to worry for now,” said Jackson. “On th
e plus side, there’s nothing else out there. The street’s empty.”

Harry took a look. Aside from a few cars parked up by the side
of the road, it was all quiet. They knew all the houses might not be empty, but they didn’t risk going where they didn’t need to. The road was wet and shiny from the rain and the wind was blowing a gale.

“Jess suggested we go looking for them
, but I think we’re better off waiting,” said Jackson to Harry.

“It could be nothing more than a bit of engine trouble. No need to panic yet,” said Harry.

Jackson left the window and sat down on a chest full of clothes left behind by the home owners. “How did you go today?”

“Not bad. Moira found some grub as you know and I just handed over all the medicinal stuff I could find to Christina. I think some of it will be useful, especially for Cat. She’s looking more and more tired these days.”

“Poor girl, carrying a baby around with her is hard work. She’s not really eating the right stuff, but what can we do?”

Harry sat down on the bed opposite Jackson. They hadn’t bothe
red lighting any candles or torches, preferring to save them as much as possible. They sat in the gloomy room together and talked.

“Moira still handling herself well?” asked Jackson.

“Sure is. We have to remember she kept herself alive out there for a long time before we bumped into her. She can handle herself.”

“And you? How are you
doing, Harry?”

“I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, given the circumstances and with Benzo passing, you know, no one would blame you if you needed to take it easy. I can go out there and do the runs with Moira if you want me to. You can stay inside and just keep watch, help the girls,” said Jackson.

“
Seriously, Jackson, thanks, but no. I’m better off out there, doing something. I never was one for sitting on my laurels. I think about Benzo a lot. I’m glad I got to say goodbye to him, that’s more than most can say. I think about all my family, but there’s no point dwelling on it too much. We’ve all lost someone.”

“True,” said Jackson p
laying with his wedding band, “Very true.”

Suddenly,
the room was lit up with a bright white light.

“That’s the van!” shouted
Harry jumping up. He and Jackson peered through the curtains and sure enough the van was hurtling down the driveway at high speed. They could see Tom driving, but the figure next to him looked strange, not like Laurent. There were people in the backseat too, although how many they couldn’t tell.

“Looks like Tom’s brought visitors,” said Jackson. “Come
on, we’d better get down there.”

Harry and Jackson ran out of the bedroom and downstairs into the lounge. The others were all
sitting together, looking at an A-Z of the area they had found.

“Tom’s back,” said Harry. He and Jackson continued running through another doorway and down the stairwell to the garage.

Jess jumped up. “Is he okay? Is Laurent with him?”

“I’m sure they’ll both be fine,” said Christina. “Tom’s got us through quite a few scrapes just
fine, hasn’t he? He knows what he’s doing, Jess.”

Rosa had gone over to the lounge window and opened a chink in the middle. She looked out over the
driveway as the van drove into the garage.

“
Oh fuck,” she said quietly.

Behind the van the driveway was filling up with the dead. Hundreds and hundreds of zombies were running after the van, lurching violently against one another like a cresting wave, pouring and fighting over each other to get ahead and reach the van.

“Holy fuck-a-doodle-do,” said Rosa as the garage door swung shut. A horde of zombies immediately piled up against it, hammering at it, trying to break it down and force their way in. More and more of them kept coming, filling the driveway completely. Some at the back were burning, despite the rain, and the wind carried the smell of burning flesh to her.

CHAPTER SIX

Glenda look
ed around the strange new house, clutching her husband’s hand tightly. There was a calendar on the wall, hanging from a hook beside a corkboard full of curled up postcards and faded business cards. A date was marked on the calendar, circled in big red ink: ‘Jack’s 21
st.
’ A post it note had been tacked onto the board beneath it, upon which someone had scribbled: ‘Buy Jack a BIG present!’ followed by a smiley face. The rest of the room was dark. They had blown out the candles in an attempt to hide, hoping the zombies that followed them would dissipate. They hadn’t.

She wondered who Jack was and what he would think of them sitting on their sofa and drinking their wine. She had drunk
a large glass already and was still worried about their new situation. Their home and business of thirty years had gone up in smoke and they were forced to leave everything behind. She had the clothes on her back and that was all. The man, who had saved them, Tom, was currently in discussion with two older men in the corner, whispering in the shadows. She didn't like it. She didn’t know these men. What if they weren’t as friendly as they seemed or what if they were plotting against her, Daniel, and Heidi?

“Did you hear
that, Glenda?” asked Daniel.

“
Sorry, love, I was, um...what did you say?” Glenda took a large gulp of cool wine and tried to relax. There were four women sitting across from her and Daniel, and she had already forgotten their names.

“Christ
ina here says Cat is pregnant. Nearly six months, would you believe? That’s why they were out in the van, looking for a hospital. It’s lucky they came across us, don’t you think? My goodness.”

“Very lucky from what I hear
,” said Christina. “Glenda, are you sure you’re okay? You’re quite safe here.”

Glenda cast a look at the window
, but of course, she couldn’t see anything through the thick red curtains. Christina could sense the woman’s understandable concern. Her husband, Daniel, seemed less worried, understanding they were in as good a position as they could be for the time being. Glenda had said almost nothing since arriving. Daniel however had hung on Christina’s every word. It had been quite some time since they had met anyone else living.

“What about..?” Glenda paused. “What about them? The dead ones? What if they get in here...what if..?”

“They won’t.” A tall pale woman came downstairs. Through the curtains a sliver of moonlight shone and Glenda saw a flash of red hair. “I’ve been watching from upstairs. They can’t get in. Not for a good while anyway. It’ll take them forever to batter down that door. Even then, they have to get through another two doors to get up here.”

“And you are?” asked Daniel.

The red headed woman strode past them into the kitchen and came back a moment later with a drink. She ignored everyone and went straight to the curtains where she parted them slightly with lean fingers. She remained there, watching the dead outside funnel down the driveway, some still burning. From the faint light, Daniel could see her face was set tight, her eyes locked rigidly on whatever she was watching outside. Her thin lips were pursed together and she took only small sips from whatever drink she had made herself.

“
Is she all right?” asked Daniel quietly.

“Moira’s
just fine,” said Christina. “She’s quiet, but...”

“I’m not much of a storyteller,” said Moira sitting down quietly
on a chair by the window. She seemed absent, as though her thoughts were elsewhere. She sat with her hands clasped in front of her and refused to be drawn any further.

“
She’s fine,” said Jessica, making sure Moira wasn’t listening. “Look, I know she takes a bit of getting used to. Moira’s an introvert, but you’ll soon find that reassuring. She keeps herself to herself, but if you’re in a corner, you’d be glad to have her on your side. We picked her up a couple of weeks ago.”

“Do you mind if we ask how? I
mean, how do you all know each other?” said Heidi. She was sat beside her parents and could not contain her curiosity any longer. Occasionally, she would glance over at Tom, but he seemed deep in conversation with some other men. The old man who had been in their garden, Leonard, was asleep upstairs.

Caterina yawned loudly. “Sorry
, but I’m beat. I’m going up. We are safe here tonight, aren’t we, Christina?”

“Good night,” Christina said giving Caterina a quick kiss. “We’ll be fine. I’ll be up soon.”

“I might go too,” said Rosa. The room was getting fuller by the minute and she didn’t want to be around for the introductions, or having to face explaining her relationship with Jessica to someone new. “See you all in the morning.”

As she disappeared up the
stairs, Jessica turned around and patted Rosa on the arm as she passed. “I’ll be up in a sec, Rosa.”

Glenda caught her husband’s disapproving eye. She
doubted that he would say anything, but she also knew how he would be feeling. He grew up in a very traditional household with a stay at home mother, 2.4 children, and attended Sunday school without fail every week. He cleared his throat and Glenda worried that he might make a scene. She had to hear who these people were before Daniel said something that might get them thrown back out onto the street. The wine gave her the confidence to speak and she took a large gulp.

“Christina, tell me, what’s going on? Who are you all?”

“Well, myself, Jessica here, Rosa, Caterina, Tom, Harry and Jackson all met some time ago. Moira only joined us recently. We bumped into her in a house, what, a week ago?”

“Yeah,” continued Jessica. “We literally bumped into her. This was somewhere near
the edge of Southampton, I think. Me and Rosa were looking for food and we went into a house that we thought was empty. We were lucky really. We didn’t check it out properly first and if there had been one of the infected in there...well, we’d have been in big trouble. We just walked into this big house. The front door was open and there she was. She nearly took my head off. She had a crowbar and swung for me thinking I was one of the dead. I screamed and she missed, thankfully, taking out a chunk of plaster on the wall instead of me. That was it really. My screaming brought the real dead though so we scarpered. We couldn’t just leave her on her own, so she came with us.”

Moira gave up on the window an
d came over to Jessica’s side. “I’m not all that bad, am I? I’m still pretty handy with a crowbar.”

Christina laughed. “When you haven’t got your head buried in a book!”

“Oh, that reminds me, I found a new one today I haven’t read before. I think I might go to bed and read for a bit.” She put her glass down on the coffee table and Glenda noticed it was only water.

“
Well, pleased to meet you, Moira,” Glenda said.

“You too. Glenda and Daniel, right? Try to rest up tonight. And, er, Heidi? You too.”

They expected her to go upstairs, but Moira went back to the window and lay on the floor beneath it. She took a paperback out from a bag and let it sit just beneath the curtains so she could read from the light outside.

Jessica
could see that Heidi kept glancing over at Tom when she thought nobody was looking and wondered what her situation was. Heidi was certainly good looking. A typical ‘Saturday night’ girl was what her friends would have described her as. Heidi was slim, blonde and young. She must’ve had a lot of attention before the end of the world. Her eyes were large and inquisitive and her light blonde hair draped over her shoulders. She had not said much yet, but from her looks and voice, Jessica guessed she must be about eighteen or nineteen. She had obviously not been wearing many clothes when Tom rescued her and her family. Heidi wore a small pair of shorts and a red vest top with thin straps that showed off smooth skin.

“Heidi, I’m going up to bed
in a minute, but in the morning, I’ll sort you out with some clothes, okay?” Jessica wasn’t sure what reaction she would get, and was trying hard not to shoehorn her into a type or category before she had even talked to her.

“Hmm? Oh
yeah, thanks. We didn’t get chance to pack or anything, you know, it was all so...fast. I haven’t even got a hairbrush with me.”

Jessica
nodded and then took a step toward her bedroom. She hesitated on the stairs as Daniel spoke.

“
So where do we all stay tonight? I’m guessing there aren’t enough beds to go around?”

“You’ll find some blankets in the cupboard over there. I’m afraid you’re going to have to bunk down in here for tonight. We’ll reassess in the morning I’m sure,” said Christina.

“Thanks, thank you very much,” said Glenda yawning. “Daniel, do you think we can try to sleep tonight? I’m exhausted.”

“All
right, love,” he said kissing her head. “Thank you, Christina.” He held out his hand and they shook.

Christina tried not to laugh at the formality of it all. Daniel and Glenda proceeded to the linen cupboard and made themselves a bed in a corner
of the room. As they lay down, Christina could hear them whispering to themselves and she hoped they would sleep. In the last few hours, they had seen their home burnt down and been attacked by zombies. Now they were in a strange house full of strangers. It would be a miracle if they slept at all.

“So,” said Heidi who was still
sitting on the sofa opposite Christina, “I guess I’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight. S’all right, I’ve slept in worse places.” She realised that actually made it sound as if she slept around and blushed.

“Say, where is your mother from, I mean, originally? I thought she had a bit of an
accent, but I couldn’t place it?” asked Christina.

“
Salzburg. She moved over here years ago with Dad. He was on holiday there and they got married and ended up moving over here. I think she’s been here longer now than Austria.”

“Wow
, I love Austria,” said Laurent. He appeared out of the darkness and Heidi jumped. “Pardon, I didn’t mean to startle you. I couldn’t help but overhear you. I’m Laurent.”

“
Of course, I remember from the van. Where are you from, Laurent? You don’t sound like you’re from around here.”

“
The city of love, of course, Paris. Have you been?” Laurent sat down beside Heidi.

“Um, no, not yet.” Laurent seemed like a nice man
. He was dressed in jeans and a polo shirt. He had curly hair and a pointy nose. He seemed very enthusiastic when he spoke, which Heidi found a little odd under the circumstances. In the van on the way here there had been no time for anything apart from getting to safety as fast as possible.

Jessica had been standing on the stairway the whole time and something about Heidi irritated her.
“Not yet?” said Jessica to Heidi. “When do you think you’re going to go? I don’t think you’ll be going anytime soon. I think you’ve left it a bit late now.”

He
idi missed the sarcastic tone in Jessica’s voice.

“Oui, Paris is my home
, but I do not think that I shall be seeing her again soon,” said Laurent wistfully.

“Why not
?” asked Heidi glancing over at Tom. He and the other men had stopped talking and were coming over to the sofa. “One day, maybe, when this gets sorted out, they’ll get the trains back up and running. We could go together, all of us. The Eurostar is super-fast, like…”

“Heidi, how aware
are
you of what’s going on in the world?” said Jessica leaning forward over the bannister. “Have you been living under a rock? Have you just spent the last three weeks reading ‘Bimbo’ magazine or something?” Jessica stared at her and Heidi felt like she was being scrutinised. She blushed again.

“Okay, okay,” said Laurent, “let’s remember
, Jess, that this is a very unique situation here. If you hadn’t run into me, you wouldn’t know any better either, would you?”

J
essica shrugged and stood up. “I’m tired. See you tomorrow, Laurent.” She trudged off upstairs and Heidi looked at Laurent.

“I don’t think she likes me.”

Laurent drew in breath and let it exhale slowly. “Heidi, don’t worry, she is just worried. I’m sure it’s nothing personal. There are lots of things to think about now. With you and your parents joining us our food and water supplies are going to be strained. We don’t have enough beds as it is. And now we have to contend with those monsters outside.”

Harry sat down beside Laurent
. Tom and Jackson plonked themselves down opposite on cushions they had arranged on the floor around the sofa.

“We haven’t seen them in such large numbers since we left the city,” said Harry. “I’m not sure they’ll be gone before sunrise
this time. A few we can handle. They disperse, they thin out, and we can take care of them. But this many? It’s dangerous.”

“I think we might have to come up with a new plan,” said Tom. “Since we left London we’ve managed, just, but we’re running out of time.”

“You were in London?” Heidi was amazed. “But...but I had a friend there who said London was destroyed, and that no one got out. She was in Epsom and said the infection basically just swept through London so fast that no one got out. I’m not sure if she got out. I haven’t heard from her since. I suppose there’s no way of knowing, is there? Did you really all come from London?”