Thirteen Roses Book Three: Beyond: A Paranormal Zombie Saga (12 page)

They had taken the ladies! They’d moved them somewhere while they were at the hospital. The thought of the ladies not being here brought sweat to his forehead and made his hands shake. He rushed through to the first bed and let out a long breath. She lay there, chest rising and falling slowly beneath the sheets. He thought of what else lay beneath and his breathing quickened.
 

The gas mask was very much in place. Dammit. He would wake her up. She could get out through the tunnel and tell the others what he was doing. This was the best way, quiet and sneaky. Once the gas masks were off, the soldiers would be guarding them. It was now or never.
 

He shook her, gently at first then more aggressively, holding her by the shoulders and making her hair flick back and forth. She didn’t stir.
 

He hissed in her ear. ‘Wake up, damn you, wake up.’
 

Nothing.
 

He raised a clenched fist and stared at it, bathed in pale light that shone down through the top of the tent. What was he going to do?

He would carry her. He could carry her down into the cavern. They could wake her there, away from the danger. He slipped his hands between her and the bed, feeling the warm skin covered by a thin layer of clothing. He resisted the urge to squeeze, and lifted her from the bed instead. A beeping sounded for a brief moment, then it exploded around him, howling like a fire alarm.
 

He dropped her onto the bed, covering his head, but the sound continued. He grabbed her again and pushed through the sheets.
 

‘Put her back.’

The voice was like something out of a movie trailer. Jackson stopped short and stared at the creature before him. He was huge, a couple of feet taller than Jackson, and covered in thick red hair. His face looked like a bull had shacked up with a human and produced him. Horns sprouted from his head and, although everything in him screamed it wasn’t true, he knew he faced a demon.
 

If God existed, then the devil did too, so maybe demons did.
 

Who was he kidding, there was no maybe about it. This was a demon. The thing smiled at him, displaying a row of teeth the size of his fist, and Jackson took a step back.
 

‘Put her down.’

‘I’m taking her away.’

‘I wouldn’t advise that. They used this crazy shit when they put her under so she wouldn’t waste away. Apparently they need to inject something to wake her up again or she’ll die.’

Jackson stared at eyes that were the colour of sunset. He had no way of knowing whether it was lying or not, no way at all. ‘You lying to me?’

The demon chuckled. When he smiled this time he reminded Jackson of a politician. ‘Now why would you think I’d lie to you?’

‘You’re a demon.’ His voice shook. He snarled and gripped the woman tighter.
 

‘I am. My name is Az. And you’re Jackson. They don’t trust you, you know.’

‘Demons lie.’

‘Indeed we do. We also cheat and steal and kill people, often in horrible ways. However, this one time, I’m doing none of those things. And it might surprise you to know that I want every one of those women very much alive.’

‘Why? Why do you want anyone alive?’

‘Do you have any idea how bored I am? Has Luke told you what we do for a job? I get one person at a time to screw with, one person a day. Have you any idea how tiresome that is?’

He was telling the truth. He was so blase with his evil, so unbothered by his own sin. Jackson didn’t know what to say. What do you say to an demon who’s complaining of being bored? Then something he’d said earlier sunk in.
 

‘What do you mean they don’t trust me?’

‘Luke and the others. None of them trust you. They think at any moment you could revert to your old self and start abusing children.’

‘I never abused them. It was a business. I never abused them.’

‘Sorry, my mistake.’ The demon looked vaguely contrite, in the same way he looked trustworthy. ‘You kidnapped children and sold them into slavery or abuse. A huge and vital difference.’

He was taking the piss. A bloody demon was mocking him. He growled and took a step forwards, then stopped. He couldn’t punch him, he had the sodding hostage in his arms. The demon rocked back on his heels and folded his arms.
 

‘It’s not important. You think those goodie-two shoes will make the distinction? The point is, you’re hanging out with a bunch of people who don’t trust you and don’t like you.’

‘And you care because?’

‘I thought you might like to join me, instead.’

Bayleigh

She should be helping. She had the sword strapped to her waist. She’d killed zombies before and she could do it again. She looked down at the pale figure in her arms and all her brave thoughts trickled away. She pulled the bottle out of her pack and dribbled water over his lips. His tongue flicked out and gathered it in, just as he’d done for the last day. When was he going to wake up?
 

She should help, but she couldn’t leave him. He was going to die if he didn’t eat something soon. She would leave and he’d wake up and there’d be no one here he trusted. Except Krystal was here and Bayleigh was being stupid. But she needed to look after him. She had to look after him. She leant down to listen to his chest, just as she’d done every five minutes since Jackson put him in her arms.
 

Her eyes grew wet. She knew where this was coming from and she hated it. She hated that when she looked at Ed she saw Dad. Dad was dead twice over and there was no guilt in that. She glanced at Luke. He’d done it and she hadn’t ever thanked him. It wasn’t something you thanked someone for. Would Dad have had the chance to thank him, if he’d gone somewhere after he died? If there was a God then was there a Heaven as well? It made sense. It made her head spin. From atheism to complete faith in a fortnight. It was like she’d done the Alpha course.
 

Dad would want to thank him, no doubt there. So why did she feel guilty?
 

‘Where’s Jackson?’

 
Her head jerked up as Luke strode back into the cathedral. ‘Where’s Jackson?’

She shook her head in time with Krystal and David. Alex was crouched beside the machine and showed no sign of having heard anything.
 

‘Dammit, he’s gone up there already.’

‘Are you sure?’ she asked.
 

‘Well, where else is he? He is the ‘Chosen One’ after all.’ The contempt lay heavy in his tone. ‘I better get up there.’

‘NO. No, I’ll go.’ What was she doing? Why was she stopping Luke from doing something he was obviously good at? ‘I’m quiet and I’ll be less of a threat.’

Luke shook his head but she was already laying Ed on the pew beside her. Krystal scrambled to sit and put his head on her lap. Luke came over and looked down at him. ‘We need to do something.’

‘About him? I could have told you that yesterday.’ Bayleigh replied.
 

‘So why didn’t you?’

‘I was asleep, in case you didn’t notice. He’s going to die if he doesn’t wake up soon.’

‘Why is he asleep?’

‘How the hell am I supposed to know?’ She stopped just short of shouting. ‘I’m not a bloody doctor, none of us are.’

‘Fine, fine, alright. Sorry. What can we do?’

‘How old are you, Luke?’

He looked at her, head cocked to one side. Either he’d never been asked or he didn’t remember.

‘I don’t know. Old, I suppose. Why?’

‘I just thought if you’d been alive for thousands of years you’d have a better idea of what’s wrong with him than we would, you know?’

‘I observe. But my observations are limited. I see only what’s relevant for my job. I don’t get to watch doctors working or read books. I see a snapshot, nothing more.’

‘Didn’t that get frustrating?’

His brows came together. ‘It should have. It did before I fell. But not since he brought me back. I’ve been content to do my job as well as I can.’

‘Not any more.’

‘No. That’s strange, though.’ His frown grew deeper and he growled. ‘I’m beginning to wonder whether there’s anything about my past life I actually knew.’

Bayleigh knelt beside Ed and stroked his face. A thought struck her but she hesitated. It wasn’t an idea she liked in any way. She stood and looked over at David and Alex. ‘None of us knows how to help him. But someone up there does.’

She nodded to the ceiling and David immediately shook his head. ‘We don’t trust them, not ever. Believe me, they’re nutters.’

She couldn’t help staring at him and realised the others were doing the same. He blushed. ‘Look, I know I’m a bit damaged, but they don’t. They think they’re doing the right thing. We don’t trust them.’

‘So what, we just let Ed die?’

‘I don’t know, I’m not saying that, I’m just saying…’ He threw his hands up and stomped away down one of the pews. Alex came closer and stared down at Ed. ‘It may the only thing we can do. We don’t have to trust them, just use their medical knowledge.’

‘But how do we do that without giving ourselves up?’

‘Maybe that’s what we should do.’ They both stared at Luke and he shrugged. ‘They won’t kill us. They want to find out why we’re alive and they won’t through science, because there’s no scientific reason. So they can prod and poke us and get nowhere. Meanwhile, they can be fixing Ed.’

‘Fixing?’

‘You know, making him better.’

Alex shook his head. ‘What if they decide they don’t want to keep all of us alive?’

‘We tell them we know the reason we’re alive.’

‘That’s when the torture starts.’ David stared at him coldly across the pews. ‘It’s almost like you want us to get killed. As soon as they think we know something, they’ll torture us until we tell them. Didn’t you listen to what I told you?’

‘Alright, so you stay down here with Krystal. The two of you can hide out for a day or two. Me, Bayleigh and Alex will go up with Ed.’

‘You can’t take Bayleigh up there, you can’t.’ Krystal stood, resting Ed’s head gently onto the bench. ‘I get taking Ed there, that makes sense. But you can’t take Bayleigh. She’s a woman.’

Bayleigh joined the others in looking at her with a frown of confusion. Krystal sighed and shook her head. ‘There are a bunch of women up there, right?’

They all nodded.
 

‘Why are they there?’

‘To begin a new human race…’ Luke trailed off. ‘Fair point. Fine, Bayleigh stays here.’

‘What, what?’

‘Bayleigh, without putting too fine a point on it, you’re good breeding stock.’

She blushed as her face set on fire and turned away. They’d… she didn’t want to go there, but she couldn’t avoid it. They would use her and make her pregnant. She clenched her fist and bit her knuckles. ‘They won’t, not if we tell them I’m infected.’

‘But you’re not.’

Her head sagged. There had to be a way round it. She didn’t want to stay down here. She wanted to go with Ed and look after him. She could deny her need to care as much as she liked, but she wanted to care for Ed. And she didn’t want him to be crippled or damaged. She wanted to take him to them and get him better. Alex interrupted her circling thoughts.
 

‘We need something. David’s right. If we just go up there like this, they’ll strap us down and torture us.’ His face broke out in a smile and he turned away. ‘I think I might… give me a minute.’

Bayleigh skipped from foot to foot. Krystal sat back down and cradled Ed’s head, stroking his lank hair from his eyes. Bayleigh glanced up and saw Luke staring at her. It was the sort of intense look that had always made her squirm, even when it came from Ali. She dropped her eyes again, and when she looked up, he had a faint smile on his lips. Her cheeks heated up and she stared at the floor, trying not to scuff her shoe on the stone.
 

She heaved a sigh of relief when Alex rose from beside the machine and held something aloft with a triumphant shout. ‘This is it. This is, I think, integral to the machine working properly.’

‘So?’

‘So we hide this. Or maybe Krystal and David take it somewhere. We go up there and tell them we have it and won’t leave until they sort Ed out.’

Bayleigh let out a low whistle and exchanged a look with Luke. The angel was nodding, a different sort of smile on his face. ‘Brilliant. We do it.’

‘That’s it? We don’t talk about it?’ she asked.

Luke turned to her and she saw a little of what she thought David and Jackson had once seen. His eyes were fire, the colour of ice beneath a dying sun, and froze her words in her throat.
 

‘We don’t have time. And I’m sick of being questioned.’

Where the hell had that come from? One minute he’s being awkward and innocent, the next he’s a megalomaniac. She shook her head and backed away, then stopped, surprising herself with her words. ‘You should get used to being questioned. Cos I don’t give a toss who you are. If I don’t like what you’re suggesting, I’m going to say so.’

She thought he was going to hit her. But he pressed his lips together and nodded and even managed to turn the corners of his mouth up. ‘Understood. Sorry. Ed’s life means a lot to me, that’s all.’

Alex snorted and flushed when she looked at him. What was going on with that? She shook her head again. ‘So we’re sure this will work?’

‘Absolutely. They’ve been very casual so far, but I think that might change if we take away their protection. They don’t have that many soldiers and the tent is no defence at all. They could move the hostages into the secret tunnels, but it would take too long.’

David returned from his glowering position and took the box from Alex. It was about the size of a Rubik's cube and had a number of ports as well a short lead coming out. ‘You’re sure this is important? Because you’re going to look really stupid if they come down to check and it doesn’t matter.’

Alex scrunched up his face and took the box. He studied it before handing it back to David. ‘I’m about 95% confident, something like. Is that alright?’

He was asking Luke and her and she shrugged. It didn’t make any difference because Luke was making the decisions anyway.