Burden of Survival Read online

  “What about the undead?” he asked.

  “What about them?”

  “Does it do anything for you when you kill them?”

  “Not really,” I said. “The stupid ones are boring. There’s no challenge to it and even when I find a group so big I can’t possibly win, it only adds a little bit of joy.”

  “What about these newer ones?” he asked. “The ones you killed back at the hotel have improved your mood.”

  “They were different,” I agreed.

  “Is it the challenge?” he asked. “Or a sex thing? What is it about killing people that you like so much?”

  I sighed as I glanced at him. He seemed to actually want to understand and help me but it was so tiresome having to explain myself.

  “Not sexual,” I said. “In fact sex has never been a part of it for me. That’s not something I’ve ever thought about while killing.”

  “What then?”

  “It makes me feel alive,” I said softly.

  “Alive?”

  “Aye, connected to someone or something better.”

  He shook his head and frowned. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear but it was the truth. The world was a pitiful, painful place to be until I killed and then I felt at peace.

  Anything else he might had said was interrupted by Gabby falling back to join us. She wore a look of disgust but kept her tone even.

  “There’s a farm coming up soon,” she said. “James told me it should be empty but I’d appreciate you two moving on ahead and checking it out.”

  “Sure,” Gregg said. I had no objection so stayed silent which she took as assent.

  We pushed our way through the villagers and as soon as we were at the head of the group we set off at a jog down the trail. It wasn’t long before we could see the farm and a distant road beyond it screened by tall trees.

  The lack of light was a problem as we entered the stand of trees which caused us to slow our pace and ready our weapons. We climbed a stile, little more than two thick planks to provide steps over the timber fence, then the trail turned north along the edge of the farms property.

  Since we were headed to the farm we walked through the damp grass and old leaves that covered the ground beneath the trees and cautiously headed to the farm house.

  Before we were even out of the trees we could hear them, the mournful moans of the undead. We paused at the edge of the treeline, out of sight of anyone looking our way and peered through the undergrowth towards the farm.

  “Shit,” Gregg said quietly, barely above a whisper.

  I had to agree. At least a hundred zombies were spread out over the fields that surrounded the farmhouse. They were all in various states of decay, a few of them fresh enough to be recent kills. Most were standing still, staring into space waiting for something to grab their attention. Others were moving slowly with their usual stumbling gait.

  Too many for us to effectively fight and just getting their attention would likely cause such a ruckus it would alert any others in the surrounding area. It was a minor miracle that they weren’t in the trees with us.

  Of course, life being what it is that was when the sound of a twig snapping sounded nearby. We both swung around with weapons raised as the bush to the side of us rustled as something pushed through it.

  Chapter 22

  Lily

  Marcus had largely ignored me for the rest of the day, leaving me to the task of ensuring everyone was doing their jobs and reassuring them that things would be ok. Will had barely been able to look at me after the incident in the storeroom.

  I understood why but I refused to be embarrassed by what had happened. He’d wanted to humiliate me in front of another person and that was reason enough for me to hold my head high and refuse to let him beat me.

  Two of his men had been set to watch over the people cooking in the kitchen. They’d stared at me with disinterest when I’d tried to talk to them and bluntly refused to answer questions. I’d received a warning shove when I’d pressed too hard.

  By the time the food was finished cooking, everyone remaining on the island was in the main living room of the roundhouse. The three women who had been cooking the meal brought a variety of pots in and set them on tables beside the wall.

  When all the pots were in, the armed men instructed us all to sit and wait for Marcus to make his arrival. He left us waiting for ten minutes as the food cooled, the scents filling the room. More than one person looked to me for instruction. I just gestured for them to wait, no need to enrage him.

  “Well now, look at you all. My loyal subjects,” Marcus said as he waltzed into the room with Amy following. “Lucas dear boy, is this everyone?”

  “Yes boss,” a burly fellow with arms as thick as my thighs said. He was one of the men holding an assault rifle.

  “Oh jolly good,” Marcus said. He looked over the food, inspecting each pot before he turned back to face the gathered people. “Who’s hungry?”

  When no one spoke his face darkened and he repeated the question. I led the others in a chorus of ‘ayes.’

  “Well then, you’ve each worked for half a day since our arrival, so you will receive a half portion of food,” he said.

  I frowned at that since he had already insisted on cutting the portions in half, doing that again would leave little for any of us to actually eat. We followed instructions though and lined up to be given a bowl and a single serving of rice and assorted vegetables.

  We sat in silence and ate as he watched us, eyes lingering on this person or that. Thankfully no one complained though that was hard when he handed full bowls to each of his men. All too soon the food was done and we waited for Marcus and his men to finish eating.

  “Well that was quite pleasant,” he said as he set down his bowl and wiped his mouth with exaggerated motions. “Now then, is anyone still hungry?”

  A few hands rose hesitantly into the air but most had the sense to stay still. Becky caught my eye and I saw fear reflected there.

  “Just a few of you, well that’s enough,” Marcus said. “You have the option of earning some extra food.”

  The people around me exchanged looks of confusion and doubt. They knew something was off and they were merely waiting for the other shoe to drop. As loath as I was to incur more of his wrath, someone needed to speak for my people.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  “Glad you asked,” he said with a grin. “Each of my companions has been on the road for a long time. Food was difficult to find but more so was companionship.”

  I didn’t like where this was going and I could tell that many of the people around me felt the same way.

  “Now I did say that none of my men would force themselves on any of you,” he said. “They do however, have needs.”

  He looked around, taking time to see each face in the crowd and by the wide smile on his face he was enjoying it.

  “Anyone who wishes to earn some extra food can do so,” he said. “Simply stand up and offer yourself to my men. You don’t have to be a woman either, Amy has needs too and some of my fellows won’t care.”

  No one stood and his smile, if possible, widened. For some reason he wanted there to be no volunteers and that scared me.

  “Disappointing,” he said. “Get some sleep. Tomorrow we have a busy day planned and you’ll need your energy. When I ask tomorrow night you may feel differently.”

  I didn’t like the way his assembled men laughed at that and the look he shared with Amy was unpleasant. If he planned to work everyone hard with such little food, it would leave us exhausted and wouldn’t take many days like that before people started dying.

  As a group we settled into our blankets as the lights went out. We were under no illusions that we were free to move around. The doors were locked and we’d have nowhere to go even if we could get out.

  A hand touched my shoulder and I tensed but it was only Becky, she leaned in close beside me to whis
per in my ear.

  “We need to do something.”

  “I know,” I said in a quiet whisper.

  “This will only get worse,” she said. “I’ve met his kind before when doing my research. Total sociopath, he has zero empathy and from what I’ve seen he’s a twisted son of a bitch who gets off on power.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean he likes to dominate people. It’s too easy to just force us to do what he wants, he’ll leave us no choice. He’ll beat us down so badly that we’ll be asking to fuck his men just for a little extra food and that’ll excite him.”

  Her words had the ring of truth to them and I thought back to the incident in the storeroom. He’d wanted me to submit to him and then become violent when I showed defiance. He said he’d break me and that terrified me more than I wanted to admit.

  “Where the hell’s your pet killer?” she asked. “We could use him about now.”

  “I expected them back today,” I said. “Tomorrow at the latest. Toby is out there too but I hope he saw what was happening and is with Cass and the others.”

  “What if they aren’t coming back?”

  “They are,” I said firmly. “I know Ryan and the others. They’ll be back.”

  “I hope so,” she said. “We need help and if they don’t come back then we’d better get used to being that madman’s toys.”

  As much as I wanted to curl up into a ball and wait for Ryan to come and rescue me, I couldn’t wait for that. If – God forbid – something had happened to them, then I was the only one who was left to protect my people.

  Somewhere above us a woman began to scream. It took a few seconds for me to realise it was Amy. People around me shifted as the sounds roused them and nearby someone started quietly crying.

  I could feel Becky’s eyes on the back of my neck. That could be one of us soon I thought and knew she was thinking the same.

  “She’s being punished because none of you stood up,” someone said in the darkness. I thought the voice belonged to Lucas. “It’ll be worse tomorrow.”

  A door closed and I could hear heavy steps on the stairs. He was going up to join his friends. I shuddered at what they were doing to the poor girl upstairs. The threat of what tomorrow would bring hung heavy over us all.

  He was letting us know that tomorrow, if no one stood up then we would be responsible for what happened. I wasn’t sure I could stand by and watch someone hurt while I could stop it. I ached for Ryan to be with me, to hold me. I’d be safe with him.

  That wasn’t possible though, I’d sent him away to what may well have been his death and doomed everyone here. If he’d been here, what would he have done?

  I smiled as the answer to that came immediately. He wouldn’t have waited around, he’d have done something straight away. He’d have killed them all. He wasn’t here so it was up to me. I’d do what he’d taught me to do and kill them.

  Chapter 23

  Ryan

  The zombie lunged at Gregg as it broke through the thick bush, branches snapping audibly. He swung his metal bar and connected solidly with its neck, knocking it off balance but not stopping it.

  My knife sank up to the hilt into its eye socket before Gregg could get a second swing and I caught it as it fell. I stood still, listening intently for sounds that would indicate we’d been noticed.

  “It’s clear,” Gregg said quietly as he peered through the screen of bushes.

  I let the corpse sink slowly to the ground and pulled my knife free before wiping it on the damp grass.

  “You didn’t need to kill it,” Gregg said. “I’d have got it.”

  “No time to wait though,” I said.

  He seemed put out even though I’d just saved his life but considering the mass of undead just a short distance away, I was in even less of a mood to discuss his hurt feelings than I would normally have been.

  The zombies weren’t headed our way and in fact, most of them weren’t headed anywhere. Those few that were moving were heading northwards. I guessed these were overspill from Coniston to the south.

  “We should tell the others,” I said. “No point bringing them down this way. No chance of clearing this place.”

  Gregg nodded and immediately set off back the way we’d come. Our pace was slower than I’d preferred and overly cautious but considering we’d just met one zombie, it was likely there were others nearby.

  The first of the villagers were coming down the trail as we reached the stile. We waved them to silence as we clambered over and jogged to meet them. James broke away from his people and followed along as we went to Gabby and Pat at the rear.

  “Problem?” Pat asked. His face bore the strain of carrying his burden and he wiped sweat from his face with his free hand.

  “Whole bunch of zombies,” Gregg said. “All over the farm.”

  “Damn,” Gabby said before turning to James. “Any suggestions?”

  “Not a lot of choice,” he said. “We travel south then we’ll just hit Coniston and likely meet any others coming this way. East is obviously the farm which leaves continuing north and swinging around.”

  “We’re already looking at cross country walking,” Gabby said. “If we go north we can maybe follow the road but that’ll just lead us to the top of Lake Windermere.”

  “Best suggestion is to go north a little way and then cut east,” I said. “We’ve been gone from the island long enough.”

  I also didn’t fancy marching north and trying to protect thirty or so children and old people against any zombies we’d meet. I just wanted to get them back as quickly as possible so that I could be rid of them.

  Admittedly in the back of my mind I knew that Lily would be worrying about us and that raft of zombies raised questions I wanted answers to. The longer we were out here the more chance I had of missing out on killing whoever was behind it.

  “Agreed,” Gabby said. “We know the town at the top of the lake was overrun. The last thing we need is to get caught between two groups. We can follow the road just long enough to get clear of those zombies around the farm and then cut east.”

  With the route agreed, I led Gregg back to the front of the party. We’d set out a little way ahead of the others and ensure that the larger group would run into no surprises. It also meant that I didn’t have to stay so close to so many strangers.

  The wind picked up as we walked north, pulling at our clothes and bringing with it a light rain that steadily grew heavier as the evening progressed. It wasn’t long before we were hunched over with our collars up and arms wrapped around ourselves as we pushed through the driving rain.

  Visibility was truly lost. With the moon obscured by the rain clouds and the rain lashing at our faces, we could barely see anything close by, let alone any threat that may be headed our way.

  Forced to stop and wait for the others, we crouched by the wall that ran along the side of the road and tried to ignore the rain and wind as best we could. We couldn’t see anything coming but the weather would also confuse any zombies so I was confident we wouldn’t be attacked.

  In short time the villagers caught up with us, almost walking straight past us in the darkness until I caught James’ sleeve as he passed. His alarmed squawk was irritatingly audible over the storm. In the darkness I couldn’t see his face clearly but I imagined he looked embarrassed.

  A brief huddled conversation with Gabby ensued and it was agreed. We couldn’t carry on. The options then were simple. Stay on the road and wait for the storm to pass or head away from the road into the trees and hope to remain hidden.

  The road was just too dangerous, any zombies could find us in the darkness just by walking along it. Into the trees it was.

  With rain soaking through my clothes I helped herd the slow moving villagers over the old stone wall and through the open area beyond. Most of them held hands as much for comfort as to ensure no one was lost in the darkness.

  As soon as we were
beneath the trees, the deluge was lessened by the protective umbrella of branches above. Much of the rain still got through but the worst of it was kept off, as was the wind. The villagers stopped and huddled against the tree trunks, exhausted and terrified.

  Seeing that there would be no chance of moving them further in, Gabby spoke briefly with James before finding me in the darkness. It wasn’t hard, I was as far from the group as possible. Gregg a short distance away, barely more than a shadow in the darkness.

  “Looks like we’re here for the night,” she said loudly to be heard over the howling wind.

  “How’s Jenny doing?” Gregg asked.

  “Not good,” was the only reply.

  “We need to set someone to watch for danger,” I said. “I’ll go first.”

  “You will?”

  “Do you really think you could sleep at the moment?” I asked with a grin that she couldn’t see. “Between the storm and the threat of zombies… well, I have no intention of sleeping.”

  “Fair point,” she said with a sigh. “We spread out then. You watch the road, Gregg you and me, we’ll watch the south.”

  “What about Pat?” Gregg asked.

  “He’ll keep an eye on Jenny.”

  I wondered if he’d get the chance to kill her while I was watching the darkness hoping to see some kind of movement before it was too late. I’d be annoyed if he got to do it and I missed out.

  The others moved away and I settled down in a crouch beside a tall old sycamore tree and peered out into the darkness towards the road. Not that I could see anything.

  Solitary minutes turned to hours as I waited and watched. The storm slowed and the wind dropped to the point where it no longer tore at you but caressed you with its frigid touch. My boredom continued to grow.

  Around midnight, or what I at least assumed was around that time, the clouds gave way and finally let the light of the full moon shine down on us. As it did I remained still, barely breathing as I saw the mass of undead that filled the road and even the open space between us.

  Murmured voices could be heard behind me and I wanted very much to slice open the throat of whichever idiot was speaking. The undead though, seemed not to hear and continued on their journey, moving slowly with short stumbling steps.