Star Drawn Saga (Book 1): Death Among The Dead: A Zombie Novel (28 page)

‘Left or right?’ she suddenly said, coming to a stop where the path branched in two.

‘Right,’ Kai replied, thinking that the left hand path would take them closer to the castle and the intrusion of unwanted company. ‘We should go r…right.’

‘Right it is,’ smiled Fran, stepping onto the sun-dappled trail to her right.

For a few minutes they walked in silence, the tall trees either side of them silent sentinels as they made their way along the unknown path to an unknown destination. Just when Kai could stand the silence no more, Fran let out a small gasp. For within two steps the trees around them seemed to fall away, relinquishing their hold on the sky above them and opened up to reveal a small clifftop area, untamed and overgrown with tall grasses and wildflowers.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Fran whispered looking out over the ledge of blooming colour to the deep emeralds and blues of the ocean beyond.

‘Yes,’ Kai simply replied, stepping forward to stand by her side and fully take in the vista that had unexpectedly opened up before them.

Despite the majesty of the view, Kai could not help but think it paled in comparison with the exquisite movement of Fran’s thumb against the skin on his hand.

‘Why couldn’t it have been different here?’ sighed Fran, brushing the blood red petals of a wild poppy blowing back and forth in the wind by her side. ‘I mean, why did these people have to be such lunatics? This place could’ve been so perfect…’

‘We’ll be okay,’ Kai interrupted, gently squeezing her hand; afraid she may let go at any moment.

‘Yeah, but for how long?’ she softly replied, turning to look back at Kai.

Seeing in her eyes the usually hidden need for an answer, any answer, Kai opened his mouth to speak. But the uncertainty and deadly reality of their lives simply rushed forward to fill the void of his silence, strangling any words of comfort before he could speak them; and in this silence he realised he could say nothing that would make this right, nothing that would calm the fear that lurked within Fran’s worried stare. Suddenly, as if his limbs moved of their own accord, Kai found himself stepping forward, closing the gap between them and gently pulling Fran’s hand to his chest.

‘We’ll be okay,’ he repeated, his whispered and noticeably un-stammered words almost lost upon the wind.

For a few seconds Fran simply stared back at him, relishing the feel of his fingers encircling hers and the strong drumming of his heartbeat against the back of her hand and then, despite her reservations and insecurities, she found herself leaning forward, her head tilting upward slightly, to brush her lips softly against his. For the briefest of moments the world and the horrors that dwelt within it melted away and Fran and Kai were left untouched and untainted, momentarily free of the nightmare that had become their lives.

‘Sorry,’ Fran murmured, reluctantly pulling her mouth away from Kai’s to look embarrassingly at her feet, ‘I shouldn’t have…’

‘Fran,’ Kai softly whispered, the word instantly halting her apology.

Moving his free hand up to gently touch her face, Kai used the very tips of his fingers to trace across her soft cheek and along the delicate line of her jaw. With wonder he marvelled at the feel of Fran’s skin beneath his caress until with barest of pressure he tilted her chin upwards again, forcing her to look at him.

‘Kai,’ murmured Fran, barely breathing as she felt herself searching for the secrets held deep within the obsidian blackness of his eyes.

And then suddenly his lips met hers again. Soft and tentative at first, their kisses grew as their passion and need for each other slowly consumed them. They revelled in the exquisite and seemingly endless exploration of each other’s mouths, until Fran, with a pang of disappointment and confusion, felt Kai at last began to gently pull away. Yet no sooner had the emotion flared within her than Kai was moving his mouth to the flesh of her neck, chasing away any uncertainty to send new shivers of pleasure and desire coursing through her. With her eyes closed, Fran tilted her head back, eager to expose as much of her neck to Kai’s attention as she could, desperate for him to know and pay tribute to each and every part of her.

‘Kai,’ she gasped, as his hand slipped to the base of her spine and urgently pulled her closer to him.

With a growing need to feel the touch of his skin on hers, Fran forced her hands to Kai’s chest and despite her shaking fingers, began to frantically unbutton his shirt.

‘Come on, come on,’ she said, the words almost becoming a growl as she struggled with one of the buttons.

‘Let me,’ offered Kai, reluctantly abandoning her neck to tug urgently at bottom of his shirt before starting to pull it over his head.

With his head momentarily tented within the fabric of the shirt, Fran’s eyes drifted to pale skin of Kai’s flat exposed stomach and the line of soft dark hair trailing from his belly button down past the waistband of his trousers. With her hands moving almost by compulsion rather than by any guidance on her part, she reached out and hesitantly brushed her finger tips against the creamy flesh of Kai’s stomach, sending an uncontrollable shiver shooting through him.

‘Ticklish?’ she smiled, and with a ‘pop’ she released the top button of his jeans causing Kai to falter in his fight to remove his shirt.

‘Fran, I…’ he began to reply, at last freeing himself of the troublesome garment.

‘I was joking,’ interrupted Fran, smiling mischievously as she used the two fingers she had hooked into his button fly to pull him a fraction closer. ‘But now that you mention it.’

‘Don’t!’ laughed Kai, twisting his waist sharply away from Fran just as she merrily danced the fingers of her free hand along his side.

‘Okay, okay,’ chuckled Fran, slowly sliding one hand across the smooth skin of his chest while deftly popping free the second button of the fly with the other. ‘But now,’ she continued, looking playfully up at Kai, his dark eyes sparkling with anticipation, ‘I’m feeling very overdressed… it’s my turn.’

With her hand slipping languidly from his chest she moved to unfasten the buttons of the blue striped men’s shirt that she wore.

‘N… no wait,’ whispered Kai, his stammer briefly returning as he stilled the feverish workings of her fingers. ‘Please… let me.’

With her hands slowly falling to her sides, Fran gave herself over to the desires of the beautiful young man standing before her and as, with a soft kiss, he gently lowered her to lie among the wildflowers, she at last thought the world could still be a beautiful place full of promise and hope, if only for a few stolen moments.

***

Chapter 3: Back to the daily grind.

Something dark and troubling stalked the shadows of Fran’s mind while she slept. It demanded its presence be known, acknowledged even, yet hid itself just beyond recognition. She reached out again and again, desperate to catch this invader of her dreams, yet each time it would simply crumple to nothing like ash between her fingers, its secrets all too secure. Eventually, tinged with an unknown anxiety, she relinquished her tenuous hold on her dreams and as her eyelids fluttered open, she looked across at Kai lying next to her. 

Almost instantly, a soft and relaxed smile spread across Fran’s lips and as she watched the rhythmic rise and fall of his naked chest she listened to comforting sound of his gentle snoring. Languidly she reached across to touch him, the tips of her fingers barely making contact while she traced the path of a thin blue vein that branched across the pale skin of his shoulder to disappear into the flesh of his armpit. She longed to feel his arms about her again, holding her close to him, his mouth hungrily finding hers, yet even lying next to him watching him sleep she felt a warm contentment within her. What would happen to them in the days or months to come she didn’t know, but in this moment, the crushed wildflowers beneath them baring testament to their passionate love making, she knew she was at last happy.

Pushing herself slowly up on one elbow so not to disturb him, Fran tilted her head back to look up at the high canopy of leaves just behind her. As she watched, a soft breeze wove its way through the trees, gently rustling the uppermost leaves just enough to cause the dappling sunlight filtering through to dance and play along the narrow overgrown path they had taken. She sighed at the beauty of it all, realising she had thought moments like this were a thing of the past, of her past anyway and was so glad to have been proved wrong.

Turning back to Kai, she saw that a bright red ladybird had landed on his chest and was merrily making its way across his ribs, pausing to test its wings every few steps.

‘Sorry, girl,’ she whispered, placing her finger in the bug’s path to carefully remove it, ‘this one’s mine.’

After a few tentative steps the ladybird at last relinquished her claim to Kai’s body and then as Fran lifted her away she arched open her spotted shell, revealing her delicate lacy wings beneath and with a buzz took flight.

‘Bye,’ she mumbled, smiling to herself as the small insect disappeared amid the wall of wildflowers surrounding them.

Beside her Kai briefly stirred in his sleep and with a few incomprehensible words escaping his lips, his hand reached out to find her. Making contact just long enough to reassuringly run his fingers softly across the skin of her bare shoulder, his hand then limply fell to the crook of her elbow, trapping a finger among the crumpled folds of her shirt sleeve. Slowly and as gently as she could Fran freed Kai’s finger and pulled the errant sleeve of her shirt back over her shoulder.

‘Hey,’ said Kai, his voice soft and still breathy from sleep.

‘Sorry,’ smiled Fran, placing a hand on Kai’s stomach, ‘I did try not to wake you.’

‘That’s o…okay,’ he replied, extending his arms over his head to stretch the lingering sleep from his relaxed muscles. ‘W…what time is it anyway?’

‘Erm… not sure,’ she began to say, already knowing that her watch had been ruined the day before during her very wet crossing from the mainland, ‘but from the position of the sun, I’d say we’ve slept for a few hours at least, so it must be at least…’

Whatever Fran was about to say was suddenly cut short by the all too familiar sound of a scream, a scream filled with terror, panic and death.

‘No!’ gasped Fran, her eyes wide with fear as she looked at Kai. ‘Not here!’

***

Twenty minutes earlier Jane had stood on the harbour wall looking out to sea. With her arms folded and chewing absentmindedly at the inside of her lip, her thoughts fought to align themselves into some semblance of order. She knew she had done the right thing to have at last had it out with Dave but to say his reaction to their conversation had been unexpected was underplaying it in the extreme. In fact once she had finished talking, to be met with only a painfully sad silence was certainly not the scene she had played out in her mind again and again over the last nine years. And when he had simply pulled her fiercely into his arms, promising everything would be alright, Jane had felt her love for him instantly multiplying tenfold.

Looking down at Riley, his legs dangling over the lip of the harbour wall as he happily tried to fish for crabs, Jane couldn’t help but smile to herself. No matter what was to happen in the coming weeks, months and years, she knew Dave was now with her. She knew he would stay with them and that in a world ripped apart by the Dead, they alone would have each other and their small family would remain whole.

‘It’s going to be alright,’ she sighed quietly to herself, closing her eyes to bask in the warmth of the afternoon sun.

‘What?’ asked Riley, turning his head to look up at her.

‘It’s not what, it’s pardon,’ she corrected, briefly opening one eye to look at him before closing it again.

‘Okay… Pardon?’ said Riley, a little exasperated by his mother’s prompting. After all, what did it matter how you spoke when the Dead could be eating your guts at any moment.

‘Oh, nothing… it doesn’t matter,’ she replied, keeping her eyes closed as the warmth on her face melted away any lingering tension or apprehension she held within her. ‘I was just thinking how nice it is here… relaxing.’

‘Erm… yeah,’ agreed Riley, his attention instantly returning to the far more important task at hand, his crab fishing.

As if to instantly belittle her statement a pair of seagulls began to screech wildly somewhere on the island behind her, their cries causing her relaxed brow to crease in annoyance.

‘Mum,’ said Riley, the word barely a whisper.

‘Hmm?’ she replied, trying her best to blot out the sharp calls of the seabirds presumably fighting over some fishy titbit.

‘Mum!’ repeated Riley, something urgent suddenly creeping into the word enough to cause Jane to abandon her sun worship and open her eyes to look at him.

‘What?’ she began to asked, her words faltering when she saw the all too familiar look of fear dancing in her child’s eyes. ‘Riley, what’s the matter?’

‘We need to find Dad, Mum,’ he simply whispered in reply. ‘We need to find him, now!’

‘Riley, what’s…’ Jane began to say, dropping to one knee to take her son’s suddenly cold hands in hers, while behind her the gulls continued in their ear-splitting chorus.

Only this time Jane realised there was something wrong with their calls; something so very wrong and terrifying that it astounded her that she hadn’t noticed it before. Then, in an explosive instant, a horrific thought took form in her mind and with ice suddenly running though her veins, Jane knew no seabird was responsible for these tortured cries. This was a sound she had heard before and she recognised this sound for what it was, the sound from an all too human voice box; a voice box tearing while its owner endured unimaginable pain. For this was the song of death that accompanied the Dead, a horrific ballad that brought terror to all unfortunate enough to hear it and it meant only one thing, the Dead had found them.

‘Mum!’ urged Riley again, snapping Jane from the nightmare scenes she painted for herself in her mind’s eye. ‘We need to find Dad.’

‘No,’ Jane whispered, her gaze already darting along curve of the harbour wall to the row of small cottages that huddled so close together it was as if they were trying not to be noticed. ‘We need to find somewhere to hide.’

Jane knew the score. With only the small penknife Frank had lent Riley to cut up the bait as their only weapon, they were as good as defenceless. This and the fact they were in a landscape she was still unfamiliar with, Jane knew the chances of them lasting more than five minutes out in the open or even finding Dave, assuming she had a clue where to start looking, which she didn’t, were slim to say the least.

‘Come on,’ she said, urgently pulling Riley to his feet before snatching the penknife from the ground to clutch it tightly in her hand, ‘we’re going to get in one of those cottages… didn’t Rod say his was the one with the blue door?’

‘Erm… yeah, I think so,’ he replied, instinctively moving closer to his mother, as if her very presence could protect him from the Dead that clearly now roamed the island, ‘but what about Dad?’

Looking nervously at her son, Jane knew there were no words of comfort she could offer him, at least none he would believe, so she simply took his hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly.

‘We can only hope he’s found somewhere safe,’ she said, her words as much for her own comfort as for Riley’s. ‘But right now we’re sitting ducks here, we need to get inside before we’re seen.’

Any small comfort her words had managed to conjure up instantly vanished as another strangled screamed suddenly echoed from somewhere unseen but terrifyingly closer than before.

‘Shit!’ Jane gasped, the cry abruptly forcing her feet to move. ‘Riley, run!’

With the sound of their pounding footsteps punctuated with the intermittent yet ominous screams echoing across the island, Jane felt a wave of relief suddenly flood over her when she saw the front door to one of the cottages slowly begin to open. But as a hand abruptly appeared from the shadows, only to slap hard against the wooden door frame she felt her feet falter beneath her. Thankfully, it was only when Rod had managed to use this grip to awkwardly pull himself forward into the light, that she realised his laboured movements were simply down to his injured leg rather than anything more sinister.

‘Thank God!’ she panted, as she sprinted down the final arm of the harbour wall to the quay side and the cottages that offered her and her son some hope to survive the next few hours.

For a moment Rod paused, his free hand instinctively grabbing the crowbar by his side to protect himself from the two figures running towards him. It was only as they got to the end of the harbour wall that he could see Jane and her son were panicked but still very much alive.

‘Hurry, get inside!’ he called, urgently waving them onward towards him.

Still at least twenty metres from the sanctuary of Rod’s open door, Jane happened to glance past the other cottages to her left and down to where the cobbled road disappeared round the corner. What she saw made her stomach plummet and an overwhelming fear tighten about her heart; for there, sprinting towards her and Riley, with thei
r
own sense of bloody urgency urging them forward, were two of the Dead. Whether she had been introduced to the pair when they had been alive, Jane could not remember but she knew it didn’t matter now. Who they had once been, their names, their loves, their histories, this meant nothing; they were simply the Dead and with that they now had only one purpose to their existence and that was to feed. Beside her she heard a small but terrified wail escape from Riley lips as he too saw the cadaverous fiends speeding to cut off their escape.

‘Mum!’ Riley cried, unable to tear his eyes from the bloody and savage vision racing towards them.

‘I know!’ she simply shrieked, her hand tightening about his as she tried to pull him along even faster.

Even from the brief glance she managed to get of the two cadavers charging towards them Jane could tell that the one out in front was likely to be the most dangerous of the hungry pair. Taller, with long arms and as well built as anyone could be on the meagre rations an apocalypse forced upon its survivors, the Dead man’s neck and torso had been reduced to a mess of tattered bloody flesh. After tearing out his throat, whoever the man’s killer had been had then gone on to hungrily rip strips of flesh from his chest until the unfortunate soul had then died from blood loss or chronic shock, releasing him from his unimaginable torment. From that moment onward the Dead man’s killer had but a few moments before something within the body slowly reanimated the lifeless corpse, ultimately causing the flesh  to no longer register as ‘food’ within the murderous cadaver’s brain.

In contrast the Dead man’s compatriot, who may or may not have been his killer, was a considerably shorter man and dressed in blood splattered denim overalls, it was clear his own baptism into the world of the Dead had been no peaceful crossover either. With a large chunk of his cheek missing, his torn muscle and savaged skin flapped sickeningly as he ran; unnaturally exposing the teeth and bone of his jaw while a glistening blood covered tongue roamed hungrily about his gaping maw. Yet it was not the size of this Dead man that made him less of a threat than the tall cadaver, but more the simple fact that the blood drenched trouser leg of his overalls also told of a savaged calf muscle, savaged so seriously as to hinder his ability to keep pace.

‘
Please! Please! Please!
’ Jane screamed over and over again in her head, begging a deity she doubted even existed to grant at least her son a glimmer of mercy and let him reach the open door in time.

Yet with each frantic step she took the taller Dead man with his longer strides shortened the distance between them and ultimately the odds of her and Riley’s survival. Whether this wild corpse had noticed Rod in the door, or vice versa, Jane didn’t know but unless the fisherman moved aside to let them in it wouldn’t matter for already it looked unlikely that she would be spared a collision with the bloody claw-like hands reaching out to her.