Killing the Dead (Books 4-6) Read online

  Killing the Dead: Hope Abandoned

  By Richard Murray

  Copyright 2014 Richard Murray

  All Rights Reserved

  All Characters are a work of Fiction.

  Any resemblance to real persons

  Living or dead is purely coincidental

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my family and friends, for their support and help and a big thank you to my best mate Simon for his proofreading of this book.

  Chapter 1

  Lily had a comforting heat that I could feel as she pressed her body close to mine beneath the thick woollen blankets that we were wrapped in. I stared out of the window into the darkness and listened to the wind blow as the boat rocked in the water of the lake.

  I shifted my weight slightly on the firm padded seat, one of the dozen seats that were set in a row down each side of the boat. Lily made a small sound as I moved and pressed her body closer, her bare skin was slowly warming and I was uncomfortably aware of the fact that we were both sitting in just our underwear.

  The people around me were huddled together on the rows of seats. Their bodies close as they tried to share warmth. Few of them were talking, though several were openly weeping for the loved ones they had lost when the camp had been overrun.

  Julie and Claire had gathered all of the children together and were watching over them. The children at least were still dressed as they had been brought safely across to the boat before the zombies had reached the camp, so they had not been forced to swim to the boat as many of us had. They had also missed out on the horror of seeing the people around them slaughtered.

  Rachel, Candice and Beth were all sharing a seat and a few blankets towards the front of the boat. They were talking quietly and would throw the occasional glance my way when they thought I wasn’t watching. Candice and Rachel were doing most of the talking, Beth sat quietly.

  She looked a little paler than she should and in the dim light provided by the candles someone had thought to bring, I could see that she was sweating. I couldn’t help the grin that came as I thought of the infection that was working its way through her system, the infection I had given her when I scratched her skin with my blood stained weapon as she lay in a drug fuelled stupor back at the camp. My grip tightened on my knife as I prepared to end her when she turned.

  Howard and Matthew were standing together beside the hatch and speaking quietly, no doubt discussing their options in the wake of the disaster at the camp. They would soon come to the conclusion that we were royally screwed, as I had.

  We had no food or clean water and nearly all of our weapons had been left back on the shore as we swam to safety. A shore that was currently bustling with activity as the undead gathered and moaned along the water’s edge.

  The boat at least had fuel but we were towards the south end of Lake Windermere with few options on where to go. The nearest town, Windermere had several thousand people protected by a few hundred soldiers who had already made it clear that they could not take in any new refugees.

  Add to that the hordes of Zombies that were travelling from the east and were pretty much everywhere, meant that we could perhaps keep travelling west until we reached the coast and hope for some miracle to happen before then. It was unlikely.

  No, England was too small and had far too many zombies to allow anywhere to be safe for long. We had found that out the hard way as we were forced from place to place. Every single time that we found somewhere that we felt could be a place of safety, soon became a place of death.

  I had already decided to speak to Lily and the rest of our group in the morning. It was time to leave England. Perhaps the mountains and highlands of Scotland would prove to be safer, or we could find a small island somewhere off the coast and make a home.

  Not that it would be much use to me. I would soon grow bored and would find my fingers itching as they reached for my knife. The people around me would become little more than my victims and my promise to Lily would be broken. I was a killer and I needed the chaos of the apocalypse to keep my blood lust sated.

  My mind went back to the two newcomers that I had killed such a short time ago. Shaun and Gary had been intending to kill me at some point, so I had felt justified in killing them first. The feel of the knife as it cut into their flesh gave me a feeling that was as close to happiness as I could ever have.

  A low murmur came from the front rows as Jim and his small group of people prayed quietly. Utterly useless people, all they seemed capable of doing was praying to their god for help that would never come.

  As I looked around the boat I did a quick head count and realised just how much trouble we were in. We had eight children of various ages and five people in Jim’s group. Beth would soon be dead which left Rachel and Candice, neither of whom could be considered reliable or useful.

  Julie and Claire were useful and Cass, Gregg and Pat had all proven themselves capable and worthy of my admiration. Howard was a poor leader and seemingly incapable of making the right decision though Matthew was at least capable, being an ex-policeman meant I would need to keep my distance.

  With seven more people that I didn’t really know very well, along with Lily and myself we had a grand total of thirty two people, soon to be thirty one when Beth turned and I got to kill her. Of those thirty one people I could count on just those few of my original group to be of use to me.

  Thirty one people with no supplies and no home to call their own. Thirty one people that Lily wouldn’t abandon, thirty one people that she would want to save, to help. Thirty one people that I would be forced to help, at least until I managed to cut down the number enough or persuaded Lily to leave.

  It was of course very unlikely that I would be able to persuade her to leave them and even I am not monster enough to abandon the children to their fate. No, I would have to protect them and ensure they stayed alive. It would be a monumental task and if I wanted to keep both Lily and myself alive then I would have to keep the rest of them alive too.

  I glanced down at Lily as she slept and thought again about how dangerous she was to me. She had started out as merely someone who could be of use to me and at some point during our time together I had found myself liking her. Admiring her and perhaps even caring about her though I found that last part hard to admit even just to myself.

  Caring for others was a weakness that I had never had. I was the killer, the monster without morals or a conscience and I despised people as nothing more than potential victims for me. I brushed aside an errant strand of her dark hair that had fallen across her face and admitted that perhaps not all people were potential victims.

  Lily opened her eyes and blinked them rapidly as she tried to rouse herself fully. I glanced away quickly so that she wouldn’t notice me staring at her.

  “What time is it?” she asked quietly as though afraid of waking the others.

  “I’m afraid that I have no idea.” I replied just as quietly since I wanted the peace and privacy to remain unbroken, “I would guess the early hours of the morning at least. Dawn shouldn’t be too far away.”

  She seemed reluctant to move from my side and in truth I was pleased about that. She knew what I was and she didn’t recoil at my touch.

  “I’ve been thinking...” I began, only to be cut off by a quick snort of laughter from her.

  “When are you ever not thinking?” she asked with a furtive glance around the cabin, embarrassed that she may have woken the others. “So what have you been thinking about now?”

  “Our current situation is dire to say the least.” I said in a low voice, “We are lacking food or weapons and have no medical supplies at all, which considerin
g we are all sitting here freezing... is not good.”

  “Yeah, I know. I’ll speak to Howard and find out what his plan is.” Lily said and I saw the frown once again furrow her brow.

  “I doubt he will have anything useful to say.”

  “Well what do you suggest?” She asked and I could feel her frown directed towards me.

  “My first suggestion would be to head towards Windermere and see if they can spare any supplies. I doubt that they will have anything to spare, but I vaguely recall that there was a privately owned island in the lake near the town.” I glanced at her and held her gaze.

  “We should leave everyone there and then a few of us, perhaps you and me and Cass, Gregg and Pat can head out and see what we can scavenge.” I finished and was gratified to see the confused expression on her face.

  “I will admit that I’m surprised that you aren’t suggesting we leave everyone behind.” She admitted.

  “No one wants to be predictable” I said glibly and was rewarded with a slight upturn of her lips as she fought back the smile. “Besides, I knew you wouldn’t leave them so I guess that I’m stuck with them too.” I added.

  “Sometimes you surprise me” she said with a laugh and a wide smile as she pressed herself closer to me. “I’m glad you don’t want to abandon us.”

  “We need to keep an eye on Beth,” I said.

  “Why?” Lily asked with a knowing grin at my abrupt change of subject.

  “I think she’s infected.”

  “What? Are you sure?” Lily asked in alarm.

  “Look at her,” I said with a nod of the head towards where she sat, face flushed with a thick sheen of sweat on her skin that was visible even in the dim light.

  “Oh no.” Lily said with a look of profound sorrow, “I’m so sick of people dying.”

  “I’ll deal with her,” I said and she looked to me and shook her head.

  “Not yet, she might be immune like Cass. I’ll go and warn Matthew and Howard, they can restrain her until we know for sure.”

  With the decision made, Lily wasted no time in pushing herself to her feet and keeping one blanket wrapped firmly around herself, she made her unsteady way down the cabin towards Howard and Matthew.

  She paused briefly as she passed Beth and reached out to lay a hand tentatively on her shoulder. When she received no response she moved swiftly to the group’s leaders and spoke to them urgently.

  I watched with amusement as they argued about what to do about her. I didn’t need to hear the words they were saying to know that they couldn’t come to a simple decision.

  Lily was no doubt arguing for securing Beth safely and assessing the situation while Matthew would just want her off of the boat immediately. Howard wouldn’t be able to make a decision and would be dithering.

  A quick glance towards Beth showed her to be slumped in her seat, almost unnaturally still and I unsheathed the combat knife that I had managed to keep attached to my belt as I swam through the lake.

  I had only a brief moment to remember that the last time the knife had been unsheathed; it had been to shower Beth in the blood of the man rutting with her as she lay insensate from the drugs Candice had provided.

  Howard was leading the way towards Beth with an annoyed Matthew walking behind him and Lily trailing in the rear. I stood and let the blanket fall away, knife held firmly.

  The cold air caused a shiver to pass through my body as I started down the cabin towards Beth. Howard and Matthew were standing at Beth’s side and hadn’t noticed me. Lily gave me a questioning look and I waved her back.

  Matthew cursed as Howard screamed and Beth let out a guttural growl before sinking her teeth into the soft flesh of Howards arm. Her fingers dug into his skin as she sought a firm grip and I crossed the last few feet of cabin and thrust my knife into the back of Beth’s skull.

  The cabin was filled with the screams of the children and adults as they were rudely woken by the cries of Howard as his still chubby face crumpled and the tears fell.

  Matthew was looking at me in shock as I casually pulled the knife from Beth’s skull and wiped it clean on blanket that was still wrapped around her body.

  “What the fuck just happened?” Rachel yelled as she pushed herself away from Beth’s remains.

  “She turned and bit Howard.” Lily said quickly and I gave her an appreciative smile.

  It was hard enough keeping a stern demeanour as the adrenaline surged through my body. I bit down on my tongue to stop myself laughing with joy at the taking of a life and turned away from the people around me.

  “What about Howard?” someone said.

  “Get me something to wrap his arm and we’ll secure him at the back of the boat” Lily said loudly to be heard over the rising voices of the people in the cabin. I glanced back and saw Matthew staring at me. I met his gaze and he turned away and hauled Howard to his feet.

  I left them to minister to the dying Howard and pulled the blanket around my shoulders before slipping the knife back into its sheath. I saw Gregg and Pat lift the remains of Beth and carry her to the hatch. She was soon tossed out into the lake.

  Another shiver as the cold wind blew through the cabin until the hatch was closed once more. The shrieks of the children were grating and I went back to staring out of the window at the darkness as I tried my best to ignore them.

  Chapter 2

  The roar of the engine starting roused me from my restless slumber and I blinked at the bright light that was shining in through the cabin windows.

  “Hey, you’re awake.” Lily said and I turned my head to see her sat beside me as she sorted through the still wet garments that had been dumped unceremoniously on the floor.

  “Yeah, what’s going on?”

  “We need to get dressed and moving about.” She said, “It won’t be pleasant these clothes are still cold and wet.”

  “Why bother then? It is kind of warm in these blankets.”

  “We’re headed north.” She said with a nod towards Matthew who seemed to be steering the boat, “Whatever we find there, we need to be ready.”

  “I suppose so.” I agreed as I gingerly took the damp clothing she passed to me.

  “The people here are scared and hungry” Lily said in a low voice, “We need to find some food and somewhere we can get everyone safe and warm as soon as possible.”

  “That’s fair enough I suppose.” I agreed as I stood and let the blanket fall from my shoulders.

  There’s nothing worse, in my opinion, than pulling on wet clothing over cold flesh. The clothes I had taken from the outlet store where I had met Julie had proven to be remarkably sturdy and had survived the numerous encounters with the undead and my impromptu swim surprisingly well. I was just glad that I had chosen cargo pants and not jeans.

  As I pulled on my jacket and attached the combat knife’s sheath to my belt, I glanced across at Lily and saw her grimace as she struggled to pull her own still wet jeans on and I turned away before she saw my smile.

  The cabin was hardly a hive of activity. The majority of the survivors were huddled in their seats staring despondently out of the windows or talking quietly amongst themselves. The children especially seemed subdued and a worried looking Julie was hovering over them protectively.

  A low whimper came from the back of the cabin and I glanced over to see Howard on the floor beside the cupboards that were set beneath the counter of the very basic kitchen. His skin was pale and covered in a slick sheen of sweat. Someone had seen fit to secure his hands and feet with what looked to be strips of cloth.

  “He’s still alive then.” I said.

  “For now, I think he’ll turn though.” Lily said.

  “So who does that leave in charge?”

  “Matthew I guess.” Lily sighed and looked around the cabin, “We don’t have enough people left to justify having a council of leaders like we had at the camp.”

  “That’s a good thing,” I pointed ou
t, “When it’s the end of the world, you need a single leader and not a committee.”

  “Perhaps.” She agreed, “For now though we just need to concentrate on finding some food and a place to stay that won’t be overrun by bloody zombies.”

  Lily went towards the front of the cabin to speak with Matthew while I stayed back and watched Howard quietly. I was sure that he would turn at some point and I wouldn’t pass up any chance to kill.

  I toyed idly with my knife as we made our slow way northwards and alternated between staring out of the window and at Howard as he lay whimpering at the back of the boat.

  The heavy clouds that covered the sky indicated that we hadn’t seen the last of the previous night’s storm and the world beyond the cabin windows looked wet and miserable. I could see little life from the shore.

  It was the perfect setting for the introspection and brooding which I was partial to even during the more pleasant periods in my life. At times such as this, when the whole world seemed to be blanketed in despair it would be easy to lose myself somewhere in the darker recesses of my mind.

  I needed a kill, not a zombie or a life and death struggle for survival type of kill but the quiet and meticulously planned murder of a living person. It seemed so long since that first day where Lily had interrupted my practised ritual of death and brought the end of the world to my door.

  With a deep sigh I shook my head in an effort to clear away the dark mood that I could feel clouding my mind and pushed myself to my feet before walking forward along the narrow aisle between the rows of seats to join Lily and Matthew.

  “Hey,” Lily said with a smile that I tried to return, “You ok?” she asked.

  “I’m fine.” I said perhaps more curt than I should have been. “Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to see if we can get any help from the people at Windermere and maybe check out that island you mentioned.” Lily said.

  “Ok.”

  She gave me a concerned look and opened her mouth to speak but I turned towards the front window and she fell silent. I was being rude and abrupt but I couldn’t bring myself to care overly much.