Search for Safety: Killing the Dead Book Two (18 page)

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 front 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 rotting 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.”

“There’s a bridge over a wide river coming up” Lily said thoughtfully. “If we can get ahead a bit and block it behind us that should give us time to lose them.”

“Block it with what?”

“Another car maybe?”

“Stop here” I said as she mounted the kerb to drive around a van.

“What for?” she asked as the car came to a halt.

“I’m going to check that van” I said and opened my door. I was out of the car before she could say anything and I moved quickly to check the van door.

It opened at the first try and I climbed in after a quick look inside to ensure it wasn’t occupied.

“Hurry up” Lily called anxiously.

“The keys were still in the ignition and I turned them eagerly. No response. I tried again and then once more before swearing and jumping out of the van.

“Battery’s dead” I called, “I’ll have to try another.”

I could hear the zombies coming closer as I ran to the next car, one that looked wide enough to at least partially block a bridge.

A black people carrier sat with doors open and suitcases strapped to a roof rack. I pulled open the door and climbed in. Whoever had been driving the car had decided to abandon it and I hoped that they had bothered to turn the engine off first.