Safety Lost (Killing the Dead Book 3) (21 page)

“It will be on the other side” he yelled back.

I wiped some of the freezing water from my rapidly numbing face and shaded my eyes with my hand in an attempt to keep the rain out of my eyes as I got a good look at the boat and island. Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance.

Something was not right about the whole scene. If the boat had been abandoned then either the boat was rendered useless or the people driving it had been killed. No matter what had happened it would be worth being careful.
      

“Be careful and be on your guard” I said to Lily as I leaned close, loud enough for her to hear but not so loud as to be made out by the others. She nodded once and grasped her axe with a determined expression.

I pulled my combat knife from its sheath. It wasn’t much, but I had some skill with a knife and it was better than nothing.

With a wary glance at the newcomers I waited as they rowed us closer to the boat.

Chapter 29

The rowboat got as close to the shore as it was going to before Matthew climbed out and stood in the freezing water to hold the boat steady. The two newcomers pulled in the oars and picked up their shotguns before climbing out of the boat and wading to shore.

I kept a wary gaze on the island and the newcomers as Lily entered the water with an involuntary shudder. The trees were bare of leaves but were so close together that their entwined branches blocked out most of the light, leaving darkness amongst the brambles and thick weeds that grew between.

Lily had reached the shore and I was out of the boat and into the water before I even registered how cold it was. I let out a gasp as the freezing lake water reached past my knees. As I had suspected the rocks just beneath the surface were sharp and presented awkward footing as I helped haul the rowboat towards the shore.

With much grunting we managed to pull the boat onto the loose dirt and grass. The heavy rain was fast becoming a full blown storm and the thunder was much closer. The flash of lightning seemed overly bright for the late morning.

“So what now?” Lily called to Matthew who was standing on the grass and staring at the boat.

“The door is open” He pointed at a dark gap in the windows of the boat. “We need to go in, carefully.”

“Send one of the new guys” I had to yell over the sound of the storm.

“Why the hell should we go first?” Shaun demanded.

“You have the guns” I replied with a smirk and received a glare back.

“Well someone needs to go before we all freeze” Lily said with a noticeable shiver. “If you guys are all too scared, I’ll go.”

“Screw you bitch” Gary snarled. “I’ll bloody go.”

The boat had two lines leading from it. The front line, led off into the trees while the rear line fell into the water which I assumed had an anchor attached. Because of this, the boat was held fairly securely in the water a metre or so off shore.

Gary was standing at the water’s edge as he tried to get a look inside the boats interior from the open hatch. He raised his shotgun and with a final glance back at the rest of us, he stepped into the water. He was halfway to the open hatch, with the water almost to his waist when he screamed.

He swung his shotgun down and fired both barrels into the water, the sound clear and loud even over the storm. He then turned and scrambled for the relative safety of the shore.

“What the hell happened?” Matthew demanded as we ran to join Gary where he lay panting and desperately trying to reload his gun.

“Something grabbed my ankle” Gary yelled shrilly.

“Are you sure it wasn’t just a branch or a rock?” I asked with a smirk.

“I know what it fucking was.” Gary shouted almost hysterically.

“Well where is it?” I asked with a look towards the water.

“It’s still in there. If you don’t believe me, you go in and look for yourself.” He said as he finally managed to reload his shotgun.

With another smirk at Gary who was staring fearfully into the water with his gun raised, I borrowed Lily’s axe before wading out into the lake.

I swung the axe through the water before me before taking each step. If anything was lurking beneath the dark waters I wanted to hit it before it caught hold of me. I was all too aware of what it felt like to have one of the undead attack you in the water and thoughts of the river Calder surfaced.

The fire axe had a long handle and a sharp bladed head with a spike that protruded from the back. It was the spike that connected with something beneath the waves and as I pulled, it pulled back.

“Something definitely here” I called back to the others as I tried to raise the axe head above the surface of the water. With a bit of effort I managed to pull the axe up and brought a hand with it.

The hand was moving slowly and despite my pulling, I couldn’t bring any more of the zombie above the surface. Something was holding it below the water and I realised that it was trapped. I pulled the spike free of the hand and watched it sink back into the water.

As the hand was connected to an arm that seemed to be connected to a body below the waves, I could approximate where the zombie lay. I raised the axe high before swinging it down into the water.

It took several attempts before I felt the axe connect with something other than rock. I swung a few more times at the unseen zombie before using the axe to hook the arm again. This time as I pulled at it, I had no resistance.

“I think its dead.” I shouted back to shore and was answered by the sound of a gunshot.

Shouting and more gunshots followed as I turned towards the shore to see dozens of the creatures staggering out of the trees as Matthew and the newcomers fired upon them.

Lily with no weapon of her own since I had her axe was stood upon the shore watching helpless as the zombies advanced.

I waded through the water and thrust the axe into her hands.

“Get on the boat” I yelled as I pulled my knife from its sheath.

Without wasting any time she splashed through the water towards the boat as I followed along hoping that I had actually killed the zombie and that it was the only one.

She was at the boat and pulling herself gracefully up and into the hatch before I was halfway there. She disappeared inside and I heard her yell as I grasped the side of the boats hatch.

I pulled myself up and half fell, climbed through the hatch into the darkness of the boats interior.

“Lily?” I called.

“I’m ok.” She called back. “There was a live zombie in here. I took care of it” she added with pride in her voice.

“You are sure it was just one?”

“As sure as I can be at the moment. Where are the others?” she asked.

“On their way by the looks of it” I said after a quick look through the hatch.

The newcomers were in full retreat as they waded towards the boat. Matthew fired one last shot that I didn’t see hit anything before he too entered the water. The zombies were at the water’s edge moments later and stopped in their tracks, seemingly hesitant to enter.

“That’s strange” I said as I stared through the window at the undead clustered on the shore.

“What is?”

“Them... why are they just standing there?” I said and she looked across at me with puzzlement plain on her face.

“Does it matter?” she asked.

“Yes it does.” I muttered to myself, too low to be heard over the sound of the heavy rain hitting the roof of the cabin we were in.

“We can figure it out another time” She said as the newcomers pulled themselves through the hatch with Matthew following behind.

I took a long look around the cabins interior while Lily brushed past the newcomers to help Matthew over the side of the boat.

The cabin had two rows of fabric covered seats with a fairly hideous pattern that was covered liberally with blood and other substance’s, filled both sides of the boat. Each seat could sit two or three average sized people and each side held a dozen seats. The front of the boat had a chair and instrument panel for the pilot and the entrance we had clambered through.

While the rest of the people got themselves calmed down from their encounter on the beach I wandered down the length of the boat towards the back.

A basic kitchen complete with sink and large drum for heating water for drinks filled one side, while on the other was an enclosed toilet with a sliding door to preserve the dignity of anyone using it. Set into the very back of the boat was a set of double windows that opened outwards.

My inspection of the boat complete, I rejoined the others as they stood by the hatch staring out at the clustered undead standing in the rain.

“Well it certainly looks like you had fun” I said to Lily with a glance at the corpse of a woman that was sprawled across one of the back seats with a bloody hole in her skull.

“It seems to be getting easier to kill them.” She said with a sad smile. “I didn’t even hesitate this time.”

“Why would you hesitate?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter” she said with a gentle pat on my arm. “What do you think we should do now?”

“Not a clue” I said cheerfully as I looked out at the zombies.

Chapter 30

Matthew and Lily were standing at the back of the cabin looking down at the exposed engine and talking quietly. The two newcomers were standing by the open hatch and alternating between glaring at the zombies and me.

I sat halfway down the cabin on one of the cleaner seats and listened to the pitter-patter of the rain on the roof as I thumbed through the safety guide for the boat. It wasn’t very interesting reading but it was all I had been able to find. We had been on the boat for thirty minutes and I was cold, wet and bored. The zombies hadn’t made a move into the water yet and despite the glares, the two newcomers hadn’t tried to kill me.

With a sigh I stood up and walked down the aisle between the seats towards Lily. I found the motion of walking on a boat that was rocking in rough water quite pleasant.

“So how are things?” I asked Lily as she glanced up at my arrival.

“The engine has fuel and seems sound so I don’t think the boat stopped because of mechanical problems.” She said.

“So we could move it back towards camp?” Matthew asked hopefully.

“I don’t see why not.” She said, “It looks like we have a fair bit of fuel.”

“That’s some wonderful news. Finally.” Matthew enthused.

“Oh its good news, I just wish we knew what happened.”

“This boat was probably used for sightseeing, right?” I said, “Then it likely had people on here when things went bad and at least one of them had to be infected.”

“Possibly” Lily agreed thoughtfully.

“They tied up here while they waited for help. Someone turned and started biting the other people who panicked and fled onto the island. The zombies followed and ended up spread throughout this little island where they waited until the sound of a gun brought them running.” I finished proudly.

“What about the one in the water?”

“Plenty of rocks in the water, it wouldn’t be hard to get your foot trapped and end up submerged.” I said.

“But to get to the island they would have to have crossed the water and you can see that they don’t seem to want to do that.” Lily said with a nod towards the crowded shore.

“I have been thinking about that.” I said, “Remember the river Calder?”

“How could I forget” she said with a shudder.

“They were crowded together on the bridge and the sheer number of them probably pushed some of them into the water. Once in, they can’t stand or swim so either float or sink and get carried along by the current.” I said, “That likely happened here. They were pursuing the fleeing people and didn’t even see the water as they fell out of the hatchway.”

“Well that makes sense. I suppose.” Lily said, “Though it doesn’t really help us at the moment.”

“What do you mean?” Matthew asked.

“We need a key to start the boat and I am betting it is in the pocket of one of those things on the shore.” She said.

“Really?” I said with a laugh, “You can’t hotwire it like you did those cars?”

“I have no idea how to hotwire a boat” She said crossly, “I can do a car and I know the basics of an engine but that’s it.”

“Well then, it looks like we will have to clear them out.” I said with a grin.

“That may be harder than you think” Matthew said. “I have less than half a dozen bullets left for my rifle.”

“What about those two?” I asked with a nod towards Gary and Shaun.

“They have four shells apiece.” Matthew said.

“So that’s what... the potential to kill fifteen of them.” I said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, then it’s down to my axe” Lily added.

I crossed to the window and peered out through the rain slicked glass. I counted roughly forty zombies clustered on the shore and I swore quietly.

“Ok then. We kill as many as we can with your guns and then see what our options look like.” I said to Matthew.

“We could always take the rowboat and head back to camp. We can come back with more people then.” Lily suggested and Matthew immediately shook his head.

“No chance of rowing back to the camp safely in this weather.” He said.

“We could wait?”

“This storm could last all day” Matthew said, “We have no idea what is happening back at the camp and those undead we saw back at the dock have me worried.”

“Why?”

“So many of them within walking distance when they heard the shots likely means that there’s more of them in the woods. The camp could be under attack from them as we speak.” Matthew said.

“Then why didn’t you say something earlier?” Lily demanded. “We could have gone straight back and warned them.”

“And what then?” Matthew snapped, “We would still be stuck there, we need this boat to get people to safety.”

“Where would safety be?” I asked.

“I don’t know yet but at least if we can get everyone on this boat we will have options.”

“Then I suggest you get shooting.” I said before Lily could continue to argue with him.

“I’ll go and tell the others.” Matthew said before he left me standing alone with Lily.