Thirteen Roses Book Two: After: A Paranormal Zombie Saga (10 page)

'Well, that's a shame, because I--'

'HEED ME BOY OR I WILL ENSURE YOU SPEND THE REST OF YOUR DAYS HERE.'

Alex flew back as though a great wind had smashed into him. He landed on his arse and rolled head over heels down the path. He came to rest against one of the trees, head and shoulders thumping. He stared back to the wall and saw Luke still standing, bent almost double against the onslaught.
 

The Father's voice carried clearly despite the distance. 'Alex, I am sorry. That was not intended for you.'

The Father raised a hand and Alex was back in his place, standing a few feet from him. He gave him a kindly smile and patted his shoulder. 'Forgive me, sometimes I forget who I'm speaking to.'

He turned back to Luke. 'If someone is involved in your time here, would it not behove you to tell me? If they are meddling to bring about the apocalypse, I need to know.'

'What will happen to them?'

'Come now, Luci, you know better than to ask that. You've experienced it first hand, why would you need to ask?'

'Call me nosy. A lot's changed since my time. Humour me, what will happen?'

The Father sighed and sat back on the wall, adjusting his loin cloth. 'They will be banished—'

'What, sent here, or below?'

'I don't, in truth, know. My first instinct is below, as it always is, but coming here might be a better choice this time around.'

Alex didn't know he was going to speak until he heard his voice. 'Sorry, can I just check something? Are you saying that whoever is doing something wrong gets the choice between going to hell or Earth? Like that's a tough decision?'

He waited for the Father to do the scary voice thing again but instead he smiled warmly and patted the wall beside him. 'Come, sit down. Earth is a place of many wonders, true, but for beings such as Luci here, it is also a place of great danger. When I send one of them here, they are made mortal, killable, you see?'

Alex nodded.
 

'Hell is unpleasant—'

'Boring.'

'Thank you, Luci. Yes, boring as well. But he or she will live forever there, or at least until I forget why they're there and grant them a release.'

'Like you did with Luke.'

'No, not really. I never forgot what he did. I just decided to give him a second chance.' The Father sighed and shook his head. 'First son syndrome, I'm afraid.'

'You're so full of shit.'

'And thank you again, Luci. You see, this is what he gets away with.'

Alex wanted to cover his head with his hands and sing 'la la la' until everything went away. He was chatting to God, and the crazy old bastard was talking about Luke like a wayward son. He really needed to read his Bible, because he couldn't remember any of this stuff.
 

The Father's frown returned and he looked back up at Luke. 'So tell me, beloved son of mine, who sent Kali to Earth.'

Luke hesitated again and Alex covered his ears, tucking his head into his chest. Finally Luke nodded. 'She said it was Az.'

'Az? Isn't he your friend?'

Luke looked surprised for just a moment before he shrugged. 'In a way.'

'In the sort of a way that involves betraying you and dooming the human race to the most hideous plague ever released on Earth?'

'Yeah, something like that.'

The Father rested his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. His voice was muffled. 'Are you telling me you cannot stop this plague?'

'I don't think I can.' He sounded regretful and oddly quiet. Alex glanced up at him. Luke stared at the Father, brows drawn together, hands held over his stomach. The Father raised his head and Alex jumped. His eyes had changed, becoming dark. The storm was rising.
 

'This is Az's fault. I sent you to Earth because I knew you could do what needed to be done. I wasted centuries of reconditioning to make it happen and it has all been for naught. Damn him. DAMN HIM.'

The sound bounced around the trees as leaves fell like snow. Luke wasn't ready this time and staggered back. Alex's ears popped again and all he could hear was the echo of the Father's voice, over and over again. He swallowed a bunch of times and a little came back, though it sounded more like the sea than anything distinct, the constant susurrus of the water on the rocks far below.
 

The Father was standing, scowling at something. Alex blinked and opened his mouth. A figure had appeared, lying face down on the stone a few metres away. It was huge, nine or ten feet tall and covered in red hair. All three of them watched as it dragged itself to its feet.
 

Its face was slightly more ordinary, looking very much like a human with an extended jaw and a horn poking up either side of its ears. Alex glanced at Luke. The angel was rubbing his head just beside his ear and staring at the ground. The red-haired being straightened, looked around and froze, shaking his head as he caught sight of the Father.
 

He paced across the stone and knelt before him, touching his head to the Father's foot.
 

'You may kneel and grovel all you like, Az. I wish to know why you sent a succubus to Earth without my say so.'

Alex had never considered himself a good judge of character. But the moment Az raised his head, he knew he was lying. Which was strange, because if his best guess was anywhere near right, this guy was a demon. And he thought that demons, compared to anyone else, would be good liars.
 

'I haven't sent anyone to Earth in centuries, Father. Which succubus is it that you speak of?'

Luke turned away and Alex almost gasped. His face was drawn and he was blinking as though he was about to cry. Their eyes met and he scowled fiercely at him. He mouthed 'this is your fault,' and while Alex was desperate to ask exactly what was his fault, he turned away instead, back to the Father.
 

'Don't lie to me, Az. You are well aware of how futile that is. And you are also aware of the repercussions. Tell me.'

There was silence, deep and threatening, and Alex wished more than anything that he was somewhere else, somewhere as far away as possible.
 

'I sent Kali to check on Luke.'

'To check on him?'

More silence. Az was trembling, his fists pressed into the stone. His voice had been loud and firm to start but now he barely whispered. 'I sent Kali to interfere with his work.'

The Father nodded. Just how much did he know already? There was an air of the showman about this, as though he was trying to prove a point. Alex thought back to his comments about Luke being his first son. Maybe this was one of those awkward learning moments.

'You sent Kali to ensure the plague would be released. You have doomed the vast majority of those on Earth to a fate worse than death. I am interested as to your motivations, Az.'

'My motivations are my own and I cannot and will not be compelled to share them with you. I understand I am to be punished. Send me below and be done with it.'

The demon surged to his feet, thrusting his healthily sized chin at the Father and folding his hands behind his back. The Father shook his head and sighed. 'You will not be travelling to hell. Since you have chosen to reshape the Earth it seems only fitting that you become part of its new order.'

Az held out his hands in supplication, already falling to his knees. He was speaking but Alex couldn't hear his voice. The demon faded from view and the last the scientist saw of him was his hands covering his ample face.
 

'He will not be best pleased with you.' The Father said.
 

'I know. I shouldn't have told you.'

'You had no choice, my son. Perhaps he can be of use.'

'So the plague is going to happen?'

'I cannot stop it. It is not for me to meddle in that way. If you cannot stop it then the human race is doomed.'

'So I'll be alone.'

'Not quite. You'll have Az.'

The Father cracked a smile and Alex almost laughed. Then the import of what the Father said sunk in.
 

'Hang on, what do you mean? I can't die.'

The Father gave him a smile like he was a doctor passing on bad news. 'Of all the people in the world who could understand the illogic of that statement, it is you.'

'Why would you send me back there?' Luke butted in. 'Why would you leave me there once the plague occurs? I can come back to the Flights and work again.'

The Father seemed to consider it, rocking his head from side to side. 'That is true. But somehow I don't feel you are ready yet.' He smiled slyly. 'How about this? I cannot let the entire human race die. What would you all do for jobs? I will give you some companions with whom to share your time. In fact, I will give you more than that. Keep your companions alive until the human race begins again and I will allow you back in the Flights.
 

'Who?'

The Father looked at Alex and smiled again. 'How about your subjects from the last week? They were an interesting bunch. A nice mix of men and women, at least one of whom you damaged to quite an extent. The adulterer should be fun to have around. We won't mention the child-snatcher.'

Luke's face fell but Alex let out a breath he'd barely realised he was holding. 'So I'm not going to die?'

The Father nodded. 'No, you shall live. Life will not be easy, though. You may wish you had died, more than once in the coming days. Now, you might like to see this.'

The Father turned away. He beckoned to them and they joined him peering over the wall. The sea was hidden beneath clouds and on the surface of those clouds the world appeared, turning slowly. The picture zoomed in again and again, like on Google Maps, until London floated on the clouds.
   

Closer still and they were looking down on the Houses of Parliament. The sun was out and the streets were busy, and into the middle of them drove four trucks that Alex recognised all too well. Soldiers of god wearing gas masks poured from them to form a ring around the truck that held the formula.
 

Another man fiddled with something on the side of the truck then smoke began to jet out from a port on the top. Within seconds, the people closest to the truck stiffened, and fell.
 

David

Some small part of him expected the zombies to break apart as he neared them and form a path through which he could dash.
 

They didn't.
 

He veered to one side, still wondering why they weren't parting before the wind, and came around the side of the pack. There were zombies there as well and one grabbed his sleeve.
 

He kept running though he was jerked to one side, and broke free, staggering to get his balance back. Another stood tall right before him and he put his elbows up. He slammed into the zombie's chest and his elbows broke through the shell-like skin and into the soft warmth beneath. The impact knocked the zombie back and David kept running.
 

He could run forever. He would never stop and they would never catch him.
 

He was the wind.

He was invincible.
 

A hand caught his leg and he went flying. His palms struck the concrete first and he yelped as the skin was stripped from them. He was wrenched back to his childhood, to a school trip.
 

They'd all been running down the side of a mountain and he'd been giggling and giggling and gasping, when his feet got tangled up. His entire world had lurched and his breath stopped in his lungs at the point he realised there was no way of stopping. He'd been shaky for hours and his face had looked like something out of Frankenstein for the next two weeks.
 

The rest of him hit the pavement and the pain in his hands suddenly meant very little. The breath was knocked from him and he rolled, holding his hands in to his chest. His eyes stayed open and he saw zombies' faces flash past as though he was on a fairground ride. The faces slowed, and he had all of a second to realise he was lying on the ground, surrounded by the things.
 

Then he was up and running, hip screaming out in pain and his back a dull ache. He stared at his palms and the blood streaming from them, and had the vaguest sense this was a bad thing. They were everywhere, flailing and waving in their feeble attempts to catch him.
 

The sound of breaking glass and metal overwhelmed the moans of the zombies and he watched the bus slam straight through the crowd at the front of the burning shop, then lurch into the front of the next one along. The sight of so many zombies crushed or splattered filled his heart and he grinned, shouting in harmony with the screeching as the bus came to a stop.
 

If he could just reach it. That's all he needed. There was a human in there, someone who didn't have the sunken eyes and the urge to eat him. If he could just reach the bus.

He put on a burst of speed, his feet leaving the concrete almost before they touched it. The zombies blurred past and he was laughing again. He was the wind. And he was at the bus. A huge black man sat behind the wheel, an axe gripped in one hand and in that moment their eyes met. David thought he might burst into tears, but the look the guy gave him stopped him short.
 

The man was right. This was no time for softness. There was still someone in the shop. He should get on the bus and between them they could work out how to save the person. David ran around the front of the bus to the door and stopped. The bus was parked tight against the next shop front. Parked with its doors pressed again the glass window. He couldn't get on the bus.
 

David waved frantically at him and the driver reacted. The engine started up and the bus moved, screeching as it lost contact with the shop front. The zombies closed in, three of them in no way bothered by the several tons of metal coming rapidly nearer. The recent death of their fellows clearly hadn't registered, and still didn't, even when the driver jumped the bus forwards and knocked one off its feet.