Thirteen Roses Book Five: Home: A Paranormal Zombie Saga (7 page)

The lady took him down a side corridor and through a door into a hotel suite. They walked straight through the small antechamber and paused in front of another door.
 

‘They are… they’re changed. Be prepared, this isn’t something you’ll be ready to see.’

He could see them already. Az had a picture in his mind, of bellies swollen beyond what was natural. But he nodded and looked suitably concerned, so she led him in. There was a double bed upon which one women lay on her back. A quilt lay over her legs, but her bump was exposed and despite the picture in his mind, he still gasped.
 

Red, pulsing veins ran across her belly like the lightning that cut the night sky outside the window. Her face was pale and sweaty, and she scowled as he entered.
 

‘What’s he doing here?’

Her voice sounded stretched as well, thin and ready to snap. Dave approached the bedside, reaching for her hand. She snatched it away and stared at him. Her eyes were wild, glaring one minute and spinning in circles the next.
 

‘I’m here to help.’

‘You’re here from the devil. This is his fault.’

‘It is, that’s right. I need to take proof back to the other ladies so they will believe he is evil and come here to join you.’

Her eyes focused and bore into him. He held his breath, waiting for her to call him out. But she wouldn’t, no more than the lady who had brought her here would. They wanted him to be telling the truth. They wanted Luke brought low, and their righteous condemnation to be justified.
 

The ladies back at the hospital who had driven him out would be feeling something similar. But they had a dead body to point at. These women had nothing, not until Az arrived. Dave smiled and reached for her hand. She took it and squeezed hard. He turned the smile on the woman who had led him in.
 

‘Could you leave us, just for a minute?’

She nodded and scooted from the room. He leant closer and tried the smile again. ‘You bear a child. It is a very special child and it cannot be cared for here. I can care for it, and for you, if you come with me.’

She nodded, her lips slightly parted. Her eyes had completely focused now and her breathing had eased. He thought she was going to kiss him for a moment and he’d have welcomed it, though he didn’t know why. Then she lay back and gestured to her bump.
 

‘I can’t move, not with this.’

‘I’ll help. Come on.’

He lifted the covers off her legs and she twisted sideways. He helped her stand and she groaned, dropping her head into her chest and bending at the waist.
 

‘I can’t, I can’t move.’

‘You must move. We must get you to safety.’

‘Why isn’t it safe here?’

‘There are too many people here. They won’t understand the specialness of your child, they won’t know how to treat him.’

‘It’s a boy?’

He nodded, though he had no idea. It felt right, though. He grabbed a bathrobe off the back of the door and helped her slip it on. The rain still battered the windows and he stared across the city, trying to spot the theatre. How were they going to get there without getting soaked? He wasn’t even convinced they’d get there without her giving birth.
 

This was his destiny. He needed to stop doubting and get on with it. The future lay ahead and it was a future he’d spent centuries planning. There could be no doubt now.
 

He put his arm around her and she leant heavy on him as he led her back into the lounge area. The lady outside gasped and he smiled at her and nodded. ‘You may accompany us, to care for her, if you wish.’

The lady beamed and opened the other door. The woman inside was in the same state and responded just as well to his gentle coercion. Soon the four of them stepped out into the corridor, Dave between them and his helper on the far side, supporting the weaker as best she could.
 

They made slow progress down the corridor, stopping every few steps to take long breaths and wipe sweat from foreheads. The lifts were in sight when he heard a throat being cleared behind him. It was a sound he recognised, filled with phlegm and, he saw as he turned, blood. Jackson filled the corridor. His left hand trailed flesh blood on the carpet and his mouth was covered in it.
   

Krystal

The hospital lay ahead and she’d never been happier to see it. She rode right up to the doorway and, as it hissed open, pulled in. There was a zombie writhing on the floor and it took her a moment to realise there was someone beneath it.
 

She yelped and scrambled off the bike, drawing her sword in the same motion. She couldn’t swing too wide for fear of hitting the person below. They were struggling, so still alive at least. She skipped around the creature, draw the sword back, and drove it point-first through its temple. It erupted from the other side in a spray of blood. The spattering on the floor mingled with the storm so she wasn’t sure what was rain and what was blood.
 

She hauled the sword out as the body sagged, then grabbed the zombie by the shoulder and heaved it away. Alex lay beneath and she gasped. His face was covered in a mixture of blood and sick. The moment he was freed, he rolled onto his side and spat what looked a pair of fingers onto the floor of the hospital.
 

Then he puked until he was bucking like a cat, spitting bile onto the floor. She stepped away, wrinkling her nose, and wiped her sword on the corpse. Finally Alex got onto his hands and knees.
 

‘Hey, you alright?’ Krystal asked, trying not to smile.

His eyes told her a very different story to the ‘yeah’ he mumbled between bile-soaked lips. He rose to his feet like an old man and she patted him on the shoulder. ‘Hey, could be worse. At least we’re back.’

He nodded, trying a smile that looked entirely fake. ‘Ready to go?’

‘Go? Bloody hell, go where?’

‘We’re leaving, now.’ Bayleigh said as she stepped in through the door, accompanied by the rain. Krystal thought Alex was going to hug her. It would have been about time, but instead he walked straight past and out into the rain. He tipped his head back and let the water stream into his mouth. Bayleigh watched him for a second, then gave her a look. She mimed puking and pointed at the fingers, half-hidden beneath the pile of sick. Bayleigh covered her mouth and turned away.
 

‘Why’re we leaving now?’

‘Alex called me. The devices have run out. It’s not safe here.’

‘Oh crap. Well, we got the van, so let’s go, I suppose.’

‘They’re waiting for you.’ Alex said as he stomped back in. ‘Give Luke a call and he’ll bring them down.’ He was still pale, but the rain had washed some of the blood off and left him shaking and wet. She patted his shoulder and got him sat down. His smile was closer to real this time.
 

Bayleigh talked for a moment on the phone before slipping it into her pocket.
 

‘I’m going up to help them out. You two stay and guard, right?’

Krystal nodded, drawing her sword and taking up her station by the door. Alex stayed where he was as Bayleigh dashed up the stairs. There was silence for a few moments and Krystal sagged a little. How much longer was it going to be before she got sleep?
 

She’d have to ride through the bloody rain again until they reached somewhere ‘safe.’ She winced and rolled her shoulders. She’d do it because she had to, but if she couldn’t spend at least one day in the next three lying on a bed, heck, lying on the floor, doing nothing, she was gonna get in Luke’s face.
 

‘How do you do it?’

‘Huh?’

‘How do you do it?’ Alex looked lost and sheepish. ‘When they’re coming at you, how do you attack them?’

‘Normally I start with a long swing, something to keep them at bay. Then I just go for the head—’

‘I don’t mean like that. I just mean… how are you not scared?’

She burst out laughing, resting one hand on her hip and letting the tip of her sword rest on the floor. ‘You think I’m not scared?’

‘Well, not enough that you run away or freeze up.’

‘Is that what happened, you know, with ‘fingers guy’?’ He blanched and looked away. She grinned, unable to stop herself, and shook her head. ‘Sorry, that was harsh. I don’t know.’

‘You don’t know?’

‘I just don’t. I’ve seen friends beaten crapless by the police. I mean, with boots and truncheons till they couldn’t stand. I’ve seen the same thing done by football fans and other homeless people. I’ve gone four days without eating a single thing. I’ve slept out when it’s so cold I didn’t expect to wake up and when I did I wasn’t sure I wanted to.’ Krystal took a deep breath. She hadn’t thought about any of this. ‘Compared to all that, zombies are still pretty fucking horrible, but I can deal with them.’

He raised his eyebrows and she shrugged. ‘They aren’t malicious, you know? They aren’t doing it because they hate me or think I’m scum or somehow less than them. They’re attacking because they’re hungry. I get that.’

Alex chuckled slowly. ‘I know what you mean, but still. They aren’t right.’

‘Neither are you. Look at you. Young guy, straight out of university. Different life, you could be my big brother. Why are you even here? What terrible decision did you have to make?’

He went pale and shook his head, waving a finger out the front door. ‘We need to keep watch.’

Her ears pricked up and she tried not to look too interested. This was a story she’d been waiting to hear. ‘Come on, there’s no one coming. What happened?’

He shrugged and looked at the floor, kicking one foot against the other. She felt older than him for a moment. It was only a moment, though. When his face rose and she saw his eyes, she thought maybe he’d had a tough choice too.
 

‘I made it.’

‘Made what?’

‘The plague.’

He went so quiet she almost asked him to repeat himself. Then it sank in and she bit her lip so hard it bled. ‘What?’

‘The plague. It was my uni research project. The weaponising of this particular disease strain. I figured out turning it into a chemical weapon was the best route to go.’

‘So what, you tested it?’

‘Of course not. The government came and took it from me.’

‘So what happened?’

‘The soldiers of God stole it from them. Luke and I spent the week before it all kicked off trying to get it back.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us?’

He looked away and she glared at the top of his head.
 

‘What would you have said?’ He asked.
 

‘The same thing I’m saying now. You stupid bastard.’

He nodded and kept looking at the floor. She didn’t know what else to say. There wasn’t anything else to say. This was all his fault. If he hadn’t made the plague, all of this wouldn’t have happened. She ran at him and thumped him with her fists, slamming them against his chest. He made no effort to stop her and when she looked into his eyes she saw the tears collected there.
 

She should probably feel sorry for him. He was the reason everyone he loved was dead. She didn’t, though.
 

How could he do it? How could anyone do what he’d done? Why did anyone make weapons, especially ones like this, the chemical things that killed children? She slapped him. The sound was loud in the reception area and she blinked, shaking her stinging hand.
 

Finally she stepped back and glared at him. Without him… she’d still be on the streets. She’d be begging with no future in sight. She wouldn’t be able to fight and use a sword. She’d never have met Bayleigh or Luke. She peered through the door into the rain. Where would she be tonight?

Everyone would want a bunk, so she’d have been fighting to get into a hostel. Chances were, she’d be under a bridge getting wet. No one gave money when it was pissing it down so she’d be hungry as well. A zombie lurched past the doors and she watched it go, its head swinging like a cow’s. It was pathetic and sad, but scary?
 

She was about to try and say some of what she was thinking when she heard voices. Luke stood at the top of the stairs, the first ladies already coming down them. A few carried jackets but for the most part they were wearing jumpers and jogging trousers. They’d be soaked. They didn’t want a truck load full of wet people.
 

‘Alex, can you drive?’ He nodded, still not making eye contact. ‘Can you get the truck? Just back it up as close as you can.’

He looked from her to the ladies, then outside. He blinked, apparently getting what she was saying, and crept towards the door.
 

‘D’you need me to come with you?’

He looked out into the rain, squinting. He looked back at her and his eyes made her shiver. She could be as angry as she wanted, it wouldn’t put a dent in how he felt about himself. He shook his head and stepped out into the rain.
 

The first of the ladies reached her and she stopped them. They listened to her, standing nervously in a circle. They were listening to her. It might be the sword, but it was everything else, too, and that was another reason she shouldn’t be as pissed at him as she was.
 

Bayleigh arrived and stood by the door. The beeping of the reversing van got everyone galvanised and the moment it stopped, Bayleigh hauled open the back door and started guiding the women on board. Krystal watched them, counting in her head. They were missing one. In a couple of minutes it was just her and Luke by the door.
 

He gave her a nod, equal to equal, and she nearly laughed. ‘We’re missing one.’

He shook his head.

‘Where’s Sophie?’

He shook his head again and another pair of anguished eyes were turned on her. She thought she’d had a bad day, but maybe not as bad as some.
 

‘I’ll bring the bike, yeah? Where are we going?’

‘We’ll head out on the M40 and stop somewhere outside the M25. Not too far, we need to be able to get back here quick.’