Burden of Survival: Killing the Dead : Season Two (19 page)

At some point either the water or the gas would give out and we’d have to find some other way of cleansing ourselves but for now, while the pressure was low, we did have some water from the taps.

I was halfway through mopping the wooden flooring when I noticed I was being watched. Marcus stood in the doorway, a smile on his face as he watched me work. It seemed the best course of action would be to ignore him so I continued as though he wasn’t there.

The splash of water as it hit the floor made me jerk my head up and in his direction. His smile widened as he zipped up his trousers and pointed at the puddle on the floor at his feet.

“Clean that up,” he said.

My hand tightened on the mop handle as without a word I crossed to where he was and mopped up the stinking puddle. He watched me with that same look of amusement as I worked and when I was finished he walked away without speaking.

Disgusted with what I’d just had to clean up I took the bucket outside to empty into one of the drains. While doing that I took the time to watch over my people.

The previous night’s storm had brought down a number of smaller branches and littered the grounds with debris that was being cleared by one group. Another was setting to the trees with hand axes under the watchful gaze of Lucas.

They seemed to be taking down some thick branches and smaller trees entirely. I couldn’t tell exactly why they were doing that but I guessed they had a reason.

A third group was working in the gardens, getting everything ready for planting and the fourth were out on the boats fishing. All seemed in order and I turned to go back inside when someone yelled. That was followed by a cry of pain and I looked back to see one of Marcus’s men standing over a young man.

I took three steps towards them when a hand circled my arm. I glanced back in annoyance and received a warning shake of the head from Becky. Her right eye had a darkening bruise around it and her lower lip was swollen and broken.

“What happened?” I asked.

“They’re being rough,” was all she said. “If you fight back it gets worse.”

“Why’re they doing this?”

She shrugged. “Showing us whose boss is my best guess.”

“Damn them,” I said as I clutched the handle of the bucket tightly. I needed to lash out at someone, something. Anything I could direct my fury at.

“Harry’s gone,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. He’s gone, I don’t know where.”

“You think he left?”

“No idea,” she said. “He wants to get to Scotland so if he thought we weren’t going, he might have set off on his own.”

“I need a weapon,” I said. “See if you can find anything I can use.”

“Why? You can’t fight them.”

“We’re going to have to. No one’s coming to rescue us.”

“They’ve taken everything that could be used,” she said. “Annalise has knives but she’s watched over closely when cooking.”

“Anything that can be used as a weapon,” I said. “It only needs to be used once and then I’ll have one of their weapons.”

“I’ll see what I can find,” she said with a sigh.

“And I’ll keep an eye out for Harry,” I said. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

I left her there and went back inside. I couldn’t do anything to stop the beatings and the best way I could help my people would be to kill the bastards as soon as I could. I refilled my bucket and set about finishing up the cleaning.

After the floor was clean another of Marcus’s men wandered by. He saw the floor was finished and with a grin he instructed me to clean the bathrooms. With a resigned sigh I filled my bucket once again and set to.

With seventy people in a house designed for a great many fewer, no matter how careful you are the lavatories end up in an unpleasant state. The roundhouse had three bathrooms. One on the ground floor, one on the next floor up and the third en suite to the master bedroom.

I finished the first two and went to clean the en suite. Of course Marcus had taken the master bedroom as his own but fortunately he wasn’t there. The bathroom door was closed and I knocked once. When no one answered I pushed open the door and went inside.

“What the fuck do you want?” Amy asked.

She was sitting in the half filled bath. It was clear to see why she was sitting up and not laying back because her entire back was an inflamed mass of bruises and welts. She stared at me defiantly as my eyes filled with tears.

“I asked what you wanted,” she snapped.

“Was told to clean the bathrooms,” I said.

“Do it then,” she said dismissively.

“Do you need anything for your injuries?” I asked.
Other than getting away from those sick bastards.

“Leave me alone.”

“You don’t have to put up with this,” I said in a rush. “I can help you.”

“Piss off bitch,” she said. “This is none of your business.”

I opened my mouth to say something, anything that would help but she looked at me. Just once, just looked, nothing else and I saw the same madness in her gaze that I’d seen in his. She wanted me to ask, she wanted me to offer sympathy so she could laugh at me and dismiss my need to help her.

“You’re as broken as he is,” I said instead.

She just laughed and in that sound was the madness I’d seen in her eyes. I swallowed what I’d been about to say and set about the task of cleaning the room. For the next thirty minutes I ignored her and she ignored me as I scrubbed.

When I was finished I left without a word and headed back downstairs. I hadn’t realised how late it had been getting but by the time I’d emptied the bucket and put it away beneath the cupboard, people were filing back into the house.

Each of them looked exhausted and defeated and it broke my heart to see that in such a short time. Several bore bruises or small cuts from where they had been struck and several refused to meet my eyes. Lucas came in and instructed everyone to sit which we did once again.

One of the men shoved my neatly folded blankets and sleeping bags onto the floor to make way for the heated pots of food that Annalise and her helpers brought in. Then we got to sit and wait once again for Marcus to make his appearance.

When he came down the stairs, he wasn’t alone. Harry followed behind him with a rifle slung over one shoulder. I glanced back to see a look of shock and horror pass over Becky’s face before she stilled it.

“It’s been a long hard day for you,” Marcus said as he joined us. “A long hard day but several of you were chastised for not working hard enough.”

His face darkened as he glanced around the room and few met his gaze.

“Those who were chastised will not be eating today,” he said. His voice was full of gloating and I desperately hoped no one would challenge him about it. “The rest of you will receive half of what you did yesterday.”

“Why?” I asked and he smiled at my question. He’d wanted someone to ask.

“Because you’re being punished for your companions letting you down. We are a community here and as such we share the rewards of our hard work so too must we share the punishments of those who let us down.”

My fists curled in anger and I forced myself to stillness as I told myself that a response was exactly what he wanted.

“Now one of you,” he continued. “One of you has had the good sense to join with us. He will eat a full portion today.”

Harry’s lips curved in a smile as he crossed his arms over his chest and stood up straighter, apparently proud of his betrayal.

“You see, he understands the new order here,” Marcus said. “You can embrace the changes and prosper or you can fight against it and slowly starve.”

When no response came from the seated people he gestured us up and towards the table. Those with bruises and fresh cuts remained where they were while the rest of us received a tiny portion of food.

Julie, the wife of one of the men with fresh bruises, offered a spoonful of her food to her husband and Marcus saw.

“No,” he said. He gestured to Harry who nodded once and strode through the seated people to the couple. He backhanded Julie across the face and pulled her husband Mark to his feet.

“I said that those who had been chastised were not to eat,” Marcus said. “This is your own fault.”

With no need for further instructions, Harry began beating the poor man. Vicious strikes to Mark’s face as he struck him again and again. Blood sprayed and the people around them shuffled as far away as they could in the crowded room.

Eventually the beating stopped and Mark was left to fall face down onto the floor, his blood spreading out around him.

“Until I say otherwise that man will not eat,” Marcus said. “Neither will the woman who tried to share her food with him. If either refuse their tasks they will be killed. Am I clear?”

Several sobs could be heard amongst the chorused assents of the crowd. The madman nodded, apparently pleased with the response. He gestured for food to be handed out to his men and Harry was the first in line to receive a full bowl.

We got to watch with rumbling bellies as he and his men ate slowly. No one dared to help Mark as he lay bleeding, or his sobbing wife. When they had finished their meal, Marcus stood and once again addressed the room.

“I have the same offer for you today as yesterday,” he said. “If anyone wishes to earn some extra food they need only stand and come forward.”

No one moved though I saw more than one look of indecision on the faces of the gathered people. Marcus apparently saw the same as his smile grew.

“What about you?” he called to Julie. “The only way you will eat at all, will be if you entertain my men.”

Julie shook her head as she cradled her husband. His breathing was shallow and bubbles formed in the blood that covered his nose and mouth.

“Not even for medical aid for your man?” Marcus called his voice jeering. “What a poor mate you are.”

He seemed to look right at me as he smiled.

“Get some sleep, you’ve a lot of work to do tomorrow,” Marcus said.

With those words lingering in our heads he left the room, his men following after. Lucas sent one lewd look my way before following. The door closed with a click and I sprang to my feet.

“Get some water and some cloth,” I instructed the man nearest me. “We need to help Mark.”

He ran to the kitchen as I pushed through the crowd to get to the injured man. I caught Becky’s eye as I passed and she patted her coat pocket. I smiled grimly. G
ood, it’s time to make them pay.

Chapter 25

Ryan

I ducked beneath a clumsy lunge and shoulder barged the zombie out of my way. It fell to the ground at my feet, arms flailing at my trembling legs as I leapt over it and continued my flight.

The moans of the undead seemed to be all around me as the horde spread outwards in pursuit of the villagers and my friends. It still surprised me that I felt a speck of concern for their welfare, not that I could do much to help with the majority of the zombies between us.

My foot snagged against a root and I felt a jolt run through me as I hit the muddy ground. I cursed as I climbed wearily back to my feet as pain radiated out of my left knee. With little choice, I gritted my teeth and set off again.

A glance back over my shoulder showed the shadowed form of countless zombies following in my wake. They slipped often in the mud and collided with the trees in the darkness but they were tireless and relentless. I, on the other hand, was very much exhausted.

Mangled claws that had once been hands reached for me as a zombie rounded a tree beside me. I struck out with my knife and caught it a glancing blow to the face, my blade rebounding from the hard bone of its forehead.

I swore loudly at the weariness that had robbed my limbs of their strength and apparently my ability to aim my blade. The zombie, perhaps sensing my weariness, grabbed at my arm and pulled. With profound distaste my head shot forward to strike it directly in the face and I felt blood and slimy flesh splatter beneath my forehead.

The zombie fell back, its face a barely recognisable mess as the next reached for me. I kicked the foul creature’s legs out from under it and swore loudly at the burst of pain from my knee as the zombie fell before the others who stumbled right over it.

With all of them down in a heap I left them there and carried on my running, not sparing the time to finish them off. I wiped at the stinking mess that coated my forehead and offered thanks to every deity I could recall, that I hadn’t split my own skin and become infected.

Ahead of me the ground dipped and I had to slow my pace to edge sideways down the slippery slope of mud and leaf mulch. My feet splashed the water in the deep puddle at the bottom of the slope and fresh mud coated my boots.

A dozen paces and then I was pulling myself up other side, hands grasping at weeds and grass to aid my ascent as my boots struggled in the mud. Behind me the zombies made their own descent down the slope, falling and tumbling over one another. I hoped it would give me some time to get ahead.

When I reached the top of the slope I set off running without looking back. My lungs were struggling to keep up with the pace and I found myself gasping for air as an ache in my side heralded the start of a stitch.

The only bonus was that the sky was lightening with dawn which made it a little easier to see where I was going. The nightmare flight through the woods and fields with the zombies chasing me had been especially arduous with the darkness.

Fortunately as the storm had ended it the moon had come out from behind the clouds and the wind had settled a little. Enough for me to get by at least, though I had no idea what had happened to the others.

At some point after the wall had collapsed, releasing the entirety of the horde into that small space between our resting place and the road, I’d been separated from Pat. Lost in the violence and the almost pleasurable slaughter of the overwhelming number of undead, I hadn’t noticed until too late.

With the risk of being surrounded and killed or perhaps turned into one of the mindless creatures, I did the only sensible thing I could. I ran.

My flight took me north-west and then when the ground began to rise into steep rock faces and hills, I angled back to the east. Since I knew that if anyone survived then that is the way they would go as well as the fact that Lily lay in that direction, it was the only real way I could go. All the way the relentless horde followed me.