Family Matters: Season 2 Book 3 (Killing the Dead 9) (3 page)

“Just you and me then mate,” Gregg said with a grin and I shook my head then spoke as his smile faltered.

“One person will have as much chance as two, possibly more so because I will only need to look out for myself.”

“Screw you,” he said with a rising heat. “She’s my friend too.”

“You can’t go alone,” Cass interrupted before I could speak. “I understand what you’re trying to do. I really do. But you need someone with you.”

“Why?”

“What happens if you get hurt?” she countered. “Speed is of the essence and two of you means that if one falls, the other can still make it back.”

“Three,” Gabriel said from the doorway. All eyes turned to him as he stepped into the room from the corridor, a tall, attractive woman beside him.

“You’re not coming,” I said flatly.

“Oh I think I am laddie,” he said with that infectious grin I hated so much. “Tell him sis.”

“I’ve cleaned the wound as best I can,” Evelyn said. Her voice was mellow and she ran her hand through her dark shoulder length hair, a habit she’d had as a child when she was thinking. “I’ll try and bring the fever under control but whatever was used to stab her wasn’t clean. There’s a definite bacterial infection started there and without proper supplies and care, she won’t make it. I’m sorry.”

She paused and her eyes met mine. I recognised the understanding I saw there and something else besides. “If you really want to try and get those supplies then I’ll get a list but the more who go, the more you can bring back and we need a lot.”

I opened my mouth to tell her that I didn’t care what she wanted, just what Lily needed but Cass caught my eye and shook her head. “That’s fine, three will be ok,” she said as I fumed silently.

“She already gave me the list anyway,” Gabe said and I glowered at him to little effect.

“Then this is happening,” Cass said with a long exhalation of breath before looking to me. “Look after my brother.”

“Look after Lily,” I countered and she managed a fairly feeble smile.

“You know I will.”

A huge hand caught my shoulder and I was swung around to be engulfed in a bear-like embrace from Pat. “Be safe and come back to us pal.”

“Erk!” I managed as he gripped me tightly. When he released me, he turned away quickly with one hand wiping at his eyes.

As the rest of them made their goodbyes and I waited impatiently to leave, Evelyn crossed the room towards me. I paused and stuck my hands in my pockets as she neared and looked away.

“It’s good to see you Ryan,” she said.

“It is?”

“Of course,” she said and smiled as I looked up to her. “When you get back, we need to talk.”

“About what?”

“You’re different,” she said and her eyes narrowed. “Everything I thought I knew about you told me that couldn’t happen. I’d really like to understand it.”

I shrugged, unable to think of anything to say. Hoping that the conversation would end but she continued anyway.

“She is the cause of it, I’m sure of that at least.” I shrugged again and turned away but her hand caught my arm. “It’s a good thing.”

“Time will tell,” I said as I looked back at her and grinned. Her eyes widened and she released my arm as she stepped back. Whatever she saw in my eyes was enough to shut her up.

“You going to see mum and dad before you go again?” she asked as I walked away from her towards the door. I didn’t bother to look back again as I answered.

“No.”
 

Chapter 4 – Ryan

The urge to leave immediately was strong but I forced myself to wait for the others to gather themselves together. I strode through the hallways of the half-ruined castle, back towards the boat that had brought us across the moat and kept my hands well away from my knife.

I wanted, no I needed to kill someone. If I wasn’t careful then I would end up doing something rash that would mean no matter the outcome, I would lose Lily in one way or another. Of course the most worrying of all was that I had changed enough that such things mattered to me.

As a way to distract myself, I ran a mental checklist of my belongings that I would be taking with me. I still had my backpack which contained a two-litre bottle of water, some food rations, spare clothing and bits of odds and ends. It still had plenty of space for anything I picked up from the hospital but if needed, I had no issue with ditching everything to make space for the medicines she needed.

My waterproof jacket was thick enough to provide an extra second or so of protection should a zombie bite down on my arm. It was also warm and provided some padding at the shoulder beneath the straps of my backpack to prevent chafing.

Jeans, walking boots, the claw bladed knife Lily had given to me and of course my steel combat knife comprised the rest of my stuff. It wasn’t much by anyone's standards, even mine and I had never been especially materialistic. It was enough though in this new world.

“She coming with you?” the older man who had rowed us across the moat earlier asked. I followed his gaze and found Jinx sat on her haunches behind me, tongue lolling. I shrugged and turned back to him.

“Guess so.”

“Just the two of you then?” he asked.

“Couple more on the way,” I said as I looked at him properly for the first time.

He was busy preparing the inflatable dinghy to ensure it was ready for another trip across the water. His clothing, while worn, was well mended and clean. He had a faint stubble on his chin as though he had shaved several hours earlier and his eyes were clear.

“Where you off to?”

“Why do you want to know?” I asked, suspicion evident in my voice judging by the way he shook his head and waved.

“No offence lad, just passing the time with some idle chatter.”

“Dumfries,” I said after a moment's thought. “Anything I should be aware of?”

“Nay lad, just the usual.” He scratched idly at his nose as he thought and nodded to himself. “Follow the road from here to the river, it turns north towards the town and will take you straight there. Biggest problem will be Glencaple.”

“My grandparents lived there,” I said. “My… family were there when the world fell, I assumed it was infested with the undead now.”

“Oh aye, some of them on and off, but a few families decided to stay there and hold out. They’ve turned it into an armed camp.”

“Dangerous to outsiders?”

“Not so much. If you leave them be, they’ll leave you,” he scratched his head and shrugged wide shoulders. “They’ve no interest in leaving the village so we’ve had no problems so long as we stay away.”

“They know you’re here?”

“Oh aye, we asked them to come with us when we left.”

“Then they are a threat to your sanctuary,” I said with a frown forming. “When they run low on supplies or need something you have… they’ll come for you.”

“Nay lad, nay. They’re good folk, just wanted to stay in their homes until this is over.”

“It won’t be over. You realise that right?”

The older man shrugged and I had the faint impression that he disagreed but was uncomfortable with arguing. I almost sighed as I realised exactly how much I had relied on Lily to interpret this sort of thing for me.

With nothing else to be said, we waited in silence until Gabe and Gregg came out of the rear doors to the castle's main – and only fully intact – building. Their faces were set, expressions grim and they looked for all the world as though they were walking to their deaths. Which, to be fair, they likely were.

“Ready?” I asked and Gregg nodded as he shifted his weight restlessly.

There was nothing else to be said and in silence, we climbed into the inflatable dinghy. It was a squeeze with the four of us and I was forced to have the dog sat on my lap. She at least seemed to be enjoying herself, her tail wagging as she panted.

We climbed from the boat when it reached the banking and Gabriel shared a few words of thanks with the man who had rowed us across while I stared out at the surrounding trees and considered options.

The splash of oars hitting water sounded and the others climbed the bank to join me. Gregg opened his mouth as though to speak but instead shook his head and muttered something beneath his breath before waiting quietly. Gabriel had no such patience.

“What’re we waiting for?”

“Assessing potential threat,” I said, my voice cold. “You’ve done little to secure this place.”

“What’s to secure? It’s a bloody castle.”

“These woods,” I said with a tilt of my head to indicate the thick trees that surrounded the castle on two sides. “Have undead wandering them. At least one of your people is dead in there and that wouldn’t have happened if you’d cleared them out or taken basic precautions.”

“Here now, you can’t just turn up and tell us we’re doing everything wrong.”

“I’m honestly surprised you’ve survived this long,” I said as I looked back over my shoulder at the ruined rear wall. “A toddler could break into that place and slaughter you all.”

“Aye well you’d know about that kind of thing wouldn’t you?” he snapped back. “We’ve tried to maintain some of our humanity.”

“And what does that mean exactly?” I asked with one eyebrow raised sardonically.

“Does it matter?” Gregg interrupted. “We’re wasting daylight.”

I held up one hand to silence him as I stared at my brother. “Can we rely on you to fight when required? To kill the undead and even the living?”

He blanched and he grimaced but he nodded. “I’ll fight the undead and do what I need to do to save a life. If we meet a living threat… I’ll not take a life if I can avoid it.”

“As I thought,” I said with a sneer and turned away.

We set out walking around the edges of the forest and north towards the road. Once past the trees, it was open grassland for two hundred metres and then a scraggly hedge barely four foot high with plenty of gaps in its length.

The road was barely wide enough to fit two cars going in opposite directions and had nothing but a shallow grass verge at either side. In most places, that grass verge had been driven over and had been churned up by tyres, leaving muddy gouges full of rain water.

In silence, we followed the road, each lost in our own thoughts. Every so often in the distance, across the fields, we would see an occasional zombie making its slow plodding way to whatever destination its withered and rotting brain had in mind. Not worth the effort to chase down and kill.

As the road turned north we passed the entrance to a camp site and I glanced at my brother who shrugged in return. “Was closed for the winter, nothing there of use. We checked.”

I gave it one last look and then turned back to the road and continued on my way. The day was wearing on and if we were lucky we’d reach Dumfries before darkness fell. That way we could scout the hospital and plan out what we were going to do.

While I had every intention of getting the medicines we needed as quickly as possible, trying to do so at night or while facing a horde of the undead would likely result in my death and then Lily’s. I had no intention of that happening.

The road north was flanked by open fields on the right and on our left, trees provided a screen before the stinking salt marsh and mudflats beyond that led all the way to the river. Occasionally through the gaps in the trees, I would see a struggling figure stuck in the mud. It didn’t bear mentioning and I ignored them.

By mid-afternoon, the distance between the road and the River Nith narrowed until it was barely a dozen metres. That’s when we came upon the village of Glencaple.

Chapter 5 – Ryan

The road that led through town was lined on the right by the empty homes of the former inhabitants. Several smaller roads branched off to the right, leading to more streets of empty homes. Abandoned cars and personal belongings littered the road, evidence of flight.

“Things happened fast here,” Gabriel said softly. I glanced at him and was surprised to see a look of sorrow on his face as he looked over the buildings with their broken windows and dark stained walls.

“You were here then?” Gregg asked.

“Oh aye laddie, we were in a house up past the hotel and out towards the school,” he pointed roughly north-east and grimaced. “All the wee kiddies were at school like, when the first person must have turned.”

“What happened?”

I shook my head at the stupidity of the question. It was clear what had happened, the same as everywhere else. Someone turned and bit another, then another and before you knew it the world had fallen and everyone you knew was dead. Jinx looked up at me, and she at least seemed to understand what a stupid question it was.

“All the parents rushed to pick up the little ones from school,” Gabriel said and looked away. “They were all there, crowded together trying to get their wee ones when someone got attacked. It was all over for them then.”

“Ah mate, I’m so sorry,” Gregg said as he reached out to my brother. A gesture that was accepted with a grateful nod.

“Spread through the village quickly after that and those of us who could, well we ran.”

“What made you think of the castle?” I asked, genuinely curious for the first time.

“Dad did,” he said. “When we first saw the news and figured things were getting bad, he told us we needed to plan for the worst and we all talked about what we’d do.”

I reached for my knife as we walked along the road, only half listening as a sound caught my attention in the distance. Laughter.

“He spoke to a few neighbours like, had them sort of thinking he was nuts but when it all went mad, they were ready,” Gabriel continued, blissfully unaware of any threat.

We came even with the white-walled hotel that sat at the halfway point between the north and south ends of the village. It was likely one of the larger buildings and on the opposite side of the road were a tea room and shop for tourists to browse through.

It also sat at the point where the road curved to the right around its northern end, splitting to head eastwards and north out of the village. I paused at the edge of the building and waved the others to silence as I peered around the corner.

Two men lounged beside the road. Both young, barely into their twenties with jeans and warm jackets on. One had a shaven head with a round face and a baseball bat of some light coloured wood casually slung over his shoulder, while the other wore a black woollen cap and carried a cricket bat.