Search for Safety: Killing the Dead Book Two Page 14

  “Shut up.” I snarled at him, “That town has, what? About a hundred thousand people and most of them are likely dead by now but you think you can drive through them all and remain unscathed.”

  “John can you give us a minute?” Lily asked as she grabbed my arm firmly and pulled me towards the door. She led me down the hall and into another bedroom, this one was smaller and the bed had no coverings on it.

  “I told you that this would happen.” She said calmly, “I told you that those people are my family now and I would die to protect them. I am doing this.”

  “But why?” I demanded, “Why waste your life risking it when you have so little chance of success?”

  “Because I care about them.” Lily said sadly. “I told you once that I thought that you would leave when things got too tough and you had to choose between yourself and the rest of us.”

  “Goddammit Lily!” I had to struggle to keep from shouting at her, “It’s pointless to try when you don’t have a chance. I won’t throw my life away for no good reason.”

  “You don’t have to.” She said softly. “This is our time to part ways I guess. I wish you luck Ryan.” She smiled and I saw tears in her eyes. “I owe you so much more than I can ever repay. I wish you well.”

  Lily leaned in and her lips touched my cheek for the briefest moment, her scent filled my senses. She smelled of stale sweat and the dust and grime of a month fleeing from the undead and I so very desperately wanted to stop her and her foolish idea.

  I watched as she walked from the room, she didn’t look back. For the first time in my life I was struggling with my instincts. I had so few people in my entire life that I had actually cared about. I had always been unable to become close to anyone.

  Now it seemed that during the ending of the world I had finally found someone I actually liked enough that I didn’t want to kill them and they were going to throw their life away on the slimmest of chances.

  It was so pointless and such a waste of the time and effort I had put into trying to fit into a group that had the chance to help keep me alive during this whole mess. I would have to start with a whole new group, I would need to find new people and start all over again with persuading them that I was just any other survivor.

  Several minutes of swearing and one firm kick of the bed frame had just made my ankle ache and my mood was worsening rapidly. I stalked from the room and down the stairs. The zombies would still be walking along past the front of the house so I left through the back door and crossed the enclosed garden.

  With a final look back at the house and a faint hope that Lily would have changed her mind, I climbed the back fence and dropped into the next garden.

  Chapter 17

  I stomped across the garden and through the side gate that led to the front of the house. I paused momentarily at the corner of the house to ensure I wouldn’t be walking into a hundred undead. The road was relatively clear, a couple of zombies were heading towards the end of the road to join with the mass of undead that I could see passing.

  At the other end of the small road was a dead end, I was in a cul-de-sac, a dozen houses lined both sides of the street. Curtains were drawn in some of the windows, doors open on some of the houses and closed on others.

  The whole cul-de-sac had an abandoned feel to it. No lights turning on as the nights grew darker, no smoke rising from chimneys and no family pets making their presence known. A car was parked halfway down the road and I cautiously approached, careful to not attract notice of the zombies passing the end of the road.

  None of the doors would open to my tentative pulls and I resisted the urge to lash out and smash a window. It would do little but draw the attention of the passing undead and it was Lily who had the knowledge of how to hotwire a car.

  I shied away from thoughts of Lily and looked at the houses around me. I would need a car if I wanted to keep heading north and away from the idiotic people who were determined to die in this town.

  The houses in the cul-de-sac didn’t have garages so I would either have to move further into the built up area and risk meeting the undead, or I could check the houses around me for keys to the car that I was standing beside.

  With little desire to wander further into zombie infested areas, I opted for the latter option. I chose the house that the car was parked beside as being the most likely place to look and walked over to the front door.

  Of course the door was locked because nothing was going to be made any easier for me. I couldn’t force the door open with so many undead wandering past. If I made any noise that attracted them, I would be done for. Instead of striking the door and forcing my way in, I headed to the back of the property.

  The back garden was paved with concrete block paving from one end to the other. A raised flower bed sat in the centre with a number of different plants neatly arranged to form an aesthetically pleasing view from the wooden benches that had been placed around the edges of the garden.

  An expensive looking barbecue grill stood in one corner and I could easily imagine that the owners of this garden had been social people who held gatherings and parties often. They were the sort of people who would have irritated me because they would have been missed and I would not have been able to choose them as my victims.

  I realised that I would have to go back to my habit of thinking of potential victims and people who would be of use to me. I had become used to not having to concern myself with that so much lately. The people who had been in my group had been useful to me.

  Pat had proven competent several times. I had grown used to his willingness to help out. Gregg was new to the group but he had already been useful and both he and his sister were willing to work hard when the time came.

  Thinking of the group would be no help with finding the keys to the car. I checked the backdoor to see if it was unlocked and was disappointed. The door had a wooden frame and the bottom half had a solid wood panel, while the top half had four glass rectangles set into the wood.

  Nothing seemed to be moving inside the house and I could see that the backdoor key was still in the lock. I was already irritated and in no mood to be thwarted by a locked door, I smashed the closest glass panel to the handle.

  The sound of the glass breaking and then falling to the kitchen floor sounded far too loud. I paused, motionless as I waited to see if anything had been alerted by my impetuous decision to break the glass.

  After several tense minutes of waiting with no apparent danger appearing, I reached through the glass and turned the key in the lock and then opened the door.

  I stepped into the kitchen, careful to avoid the broken glass that lay on the floor and kept my hatchet ready. One door led from the room and it was closed, so I spent a few minutes searching through the kitchen.

  The cupboards were mostly empty, the few foodstuffs I found would be useless without something to cook them on. I was far from a great cook at the best of times and I doubted trying to prepare a meal over a cooking fire would be a learning experience.

  Of course, Claire was an excellent cook and she seemed to genuinely enjoy preparing food for the group, a traitorous part of my mind whispered. I swore and threw the packet of pasta I had been holding, across the room.

  I was feeling a definite need for violence and I stormed into the next room with a sincere hope that I would find a couple of zombies.

  My luck ran true to form and the room was empty aside from a comfortable three seater sofa set. An impressive looking bookshelf filled one wall and I was tempted to spend more than a little time browsing through the selection of books before I reminded myself that I was looking for car keys.

  A few coats hung from hooks beside the front door and a set of shoes and a pair of rubber boots lay on the floor. Beside them was a small table that had just enough room on its surface to hold a telephone and a bowl that contained a couple of sets of keys.

  One of the sets of keys was definitely for a car while the other held the keys for what I guessed to be the fr
ont door. I pocketed the car keys and decided that I may as well check out the upstairs rooms as well.

  In the bathroom was a medicine cabinet that held a number of packs of painkillers and more importantly a pack of razors that hadn’t been opened. I pocketed both the razors and the painkillers and the part used toothpaste. I had no desire to use someone else’s toothbrush and resolved to find a new one for myself.

  The house had two more rooms to check. The first was a master bedroom and contained a bed, dresser and wardrobe. The wardrobe doors were open and many of the clothes were on the floor, the rest were in an open suitcase that sat on the bed.

  Finding little of interest besides the clothes which were too small for me, I left to check the final room. I opened the door onto a Child’s bedroom. A single bed with a bedspread that was covered in horses and half a dozen posters of horses covered the walls.

  It was pointless looking for clothes but I did pick up a stuffed blue bear that I thought Maggie would like, before I remembered that I wouldn’t be seeing her again. She and the others would likely be dead before morning.

  I sat on the edge of the bed and stared down at the stuffed bear in my hands. I had no reason to risk myself for those people, no matter how useful they could be to me or had been to me. The fact was that I had no need to risk my own life. I could find other people to work with.

  Lily would be hard to replace though that small insistent voice kept saying. “She is useful and nothing else” I said to quieten the voice.

  She was useful and she also knew that I was a murderer and though she didn’t like that fact, she did at least accept it. She had trusted me and I in turn had become used to having her around. It was hard to admit even to myself but I did actually like her.

  It was hard to find people that I liked and harder still to find ones who liked me back. She was perhaps my first real friend and for the first time in my life I was having doubts about walking away.

  I couldn’t understand why though. Without Lily and her rules I wouldn’t have to be concerned about who I killed. I could go back to killing anyone and everyone that I met if that so pleased me. I swore and pushed myself to my feet feeling a twinge in my ankle as it protested being overused. It had been useful to have a nurse to look at it.

  The zombies were likely passed by now and it was time for me to leave. I headed downstairs and left by the backdoor. The daylight had faded and darkness had arrived, bringing with it a greater than ever need to be cautious of what may lurk in the shadows. A quick glance to ensure I had no unwelcome guests wandering around the cul-de-sac and then I went to try the car keys.

  For once things were going my way. The doors unlocked and I pulled open the driver side one and sat inside. I realised that I was still holding the stuffed bear and tossed it onto the passenger seat before closing the door and putting the key in the ignition.

  I checked once again that the road that led past the cul-de-sac was empty before starting the engine. I drove slowly towards the junction and let the car roll to a stop. A look in both directions showed a few straggling zombies either side but the vast majority had disappeared from view.

  A few of the zombies to my right had noticed the car and were trying to speed up to reach me though the ones to the left hadn’t yet. I set off to the left and clipped a zombie with the corner of my bumper. I smiled as I saw it land awkwardly and some of my dark mood faded.

  My speed wasn’t great enough to do any real damage and I saw the zombie struggling to rise through the rear view mirror. I followed the road as it turned to the left again at the corner and drove straight over a zombie that had been walking along the road.

  The car rose and then fell as the wheels rode over the zombie. I pulled the car to a stop and climbed out with my hatchet at the ready. A number of zombies had noticed my presence and were making their way clumsily towards me.

  I was certainly in the mood to kill something and these would do. I swung at the closest and was rewarded with a crunching of bone and the zombie fell to the floor. The next undead tried to make a clumsy lunge towards me and I stepped back a pace as it stumbled past me. A chop of the hatchet and the creature was dead.

  Irritation and anger gave way slowly as the zombies died around me. I dodged between and around them. I ducked and struck rapidly, blow upon blow striking the undead. These zombies were the slow ones, the most damaged and were easily despatched.

  No real joy could be found in the killing of these shambling corpses. It was as much fun as chopping wood and about as dangerous. In a short time the threat was gone and I was left feeling empty and unsatisfied.

  “Ryan?” Lily said with a question in her voice. I gazed across at her in the open doorway. John leant against the wall behind her, pale and tired looking.

  “Just get in the car if you want to make it back to the clubhouse tonight.” I said as I sat back down in the driver’s seat.

  Chapter 18

  “New friend?” Lily asked as she climbed into the passenger seat and picked up the stuffed bear. John sat in the back seat and leaned his head back with his eyes closed. I couldn’t be sure if he was tired or dying but I would leave that for Louise to sort out.

  “I thought Maggie would like it.” I said as I started the engine and tried to ignore the smile on Lily’s face.

  We couldn’t go back the way I had first arrived by because of the large number of undead that were heading that way, so I turned the car around and went back down the road.

  It was slow going to start with, the trailing zombies became effective speed bumps, forcing us to drive slowly or risk damage to the car. I checked the fuel gauge and saw that it showed well over half a tank, so at least that wouldn’t be a problem.

  As we drove into more built up areas, the number of cars and abandoned belongings that filled the road grew exponentially. On more than one occasion it was just simpler to drive along the pavement rather than around the vehicles that were blocking the road.

  The houses around us gave way to newsagents, hairdressers and take-out shops. The passing of the large horde of zombies looked to have picked up most of the undead in the area and the few we could see were stuck inside buildings.

  Nearly an hour after we had set off, we were approaching the edge of the town. “This is taking too long” Lily said.

  “It can’t be helped” I told her. “It’s likely about to get worse as well” I said with a sigh.

  “Won’t the town centre be clear if all of those others passed through?” Lily asked.

  “The hospital is a different direction to the way we are going. I doubt any of those we saw were from anywhere other than the edge of town.”

  I slowed the car before coming to a complete stop beside a bus stop. “What are you doing?” Lily asked as I got out of the car.

  “Swop seats” I told her, “You need to drive.”

  “Why?”

  “If someone needs to get out of the car for any reason, I am best suited for it” I said, “Besides, you’re a better driver than I am.”

  “Well I can agree with that at least” she said as she slid across to the driver’s side. I climbed into the passenger seat and made sure that my hatchet was to hand.

  Lily started the car and set off driving. She was certainly more adept at manoeuvring around the abandoned cars and baggage than I.

  The houses began to give way to flats and shops. Industrial buildings and businesses of all types filled the sides of the road. The burnt remnant of an office block stood opposite a church that had its doors open and seeming to welcome the ever present zombies.

  Traffic filled the roads and more than one street we had to avoid because we simply couldn’t get through the abandoned vehicles. A double decker bus had mounted the pavement with the driver still sat at the wheel in death.

  Rot and decay seemed to surround us. The streets were covered with the dark stains of violence. Bodies still lay bloated and rotting, people who had died and not returned as a zombie. Here and there I saw the ro
tting remains of a dog or a cat and even some horses that would have belonged to the police.

  Birds remains were scattered everywhere as were the rats. When the zombies could reach a bird or rat they would sink their teeth into the small bodies and rip the flesh off their fragile bones. As soon as the vermin were dead, they were dropped to the floor and the zombies would search for another to kill.

  Pale lifeless faces turned towards us as we passed through and the moans rose from damaged throats. We had gathered quite a number who were trailing along behind us, moving as fast as their damaged bodies would allow as they attempted to catch us.

  The front of the car was gaining ever more scratches and dents as Lily drove through groups of zombies. They fell to the side scratching and clawing at the car as it passed or bounced off of the front and then beneath the car.

  One zombie with half a face already gone, managed to stay on the bonnet and hammer its broken hands against the windshield. I rolled down my window and leaned out far enough that I could hit it repeatedly with my hatchet until it fell from the bonnet.

  Dark crimson blood had splashed the cracked windshield and added to the difficulty Lily faced in navigating the dark streets.

  “I never thought I would miss streetlamps” Lily muttered as she clipped another zombie that had appeared from the darkness between two cars.

  “Yes I know what you mean” I said as I leant out of the window and swiped at a zombie that was coming entirely too close to the car as we slowed to try and drive around an overturned van.

  The number of zombies was increasing and they were coming at us from all directions. More than once we were in danger of being surrounded but Lily managed to keep us moving and on track.

  We were passing a number of bars and restaurants and the group of zombies trailing behind us was growing larger.

  “How long till we are out of the town?” I asked Lily.

  “A few minutes, we are almost there. Why?”

  “We can’t bring all these along with us” I said, with a gesture at the trailing horde. “We need to find a way to ditch them.”