Dead Days: Season 3 (Books 13-18) (43 page)

Jim cleared his throat. “I…‌I think it’s a little too late for that already. This‌—‌this Cameron. You said he expressed an interest in what was behind the wall?”

“Just sounded like a bullshit threat to me,” Harry said. “Trying to save his own skin now all his mates have fallen.”

Pedro thought back to the incident on the motorway a few days ago. The brutality he’d shown towards those men, hats over their faces just like this Cameron. “Their group might be bigger,” he said. “On…‌on the motorway. A small altercation we had. People dressed similarly to this Cameron guy. We might…‌They might be bigger. That’s all I’m saying.”

Jim Hall shook his head, like Pedro was a kid who’d just got shitty results in his science exam or something. “So we might just have engaged ourselves in a full-blown conflict.”

“I’m not saying that,” Pedro said. “I mean, these dudes are obviously weaker than us or they wouldn’t be looking at this place and hoping for a piece of the pie. I just think…‌I think there could be more of ‘em. And I think we could take ‘em. Take ‘em and get Dom. I don’t think they’ll kill him. He’s leverage. But it’d have to be a few of us. If there’s a few of them, there has to be a few of us.”

Jim Hall’s eyelids twitched. “And how do you propose we find this Cameron?”

A silence. A silence, but for Chloë’s panting, her crying.

“I think I know where he’s gone,” Jordanna said.

There was an even bigger silence now.

“He talked about a supply tent or something. Over at…‌at Trafford.”

Jim tutted. Tutted and turned around.

“Okay. Okay so he’s gone to Shelter 48. Right. That’s progress. That’s‌—‌”

The door behind Jim opened. Standing there was a man in a white coat similar to the nurses. He had thick dark hair and a distinctive monobrow. But mostly, Pedro noticed the look on his eyes. The look of shock.

“I won’t rest until he’s dead,” Tamara said.

Pedro didn’t quite turn around from Jim Hall and this labcoat guy. The labbie whispered things to Jim. Whispered things‌—‌things that were making Jim whisper back, angrily or excitedly, he couldn’t tell.

“Make that two of us,” Jordanna said. She rose from the floor and walked over to Chloë, who was sitting up with a load of white bandages across her face. “Okay chick?”

Chloë wiped the blood-soaked tears from her eyes. Nodded her head. “He…‌He broke my mum’s necklace. My mum’s necklace that was supposed to be for her Christmas.”

“Don’t worry,” Jordanna said, kissing her head. “I’ll break more than a necklace when I get my hands on that shit again.”

Pedro wanted to join in but he noticed the labbie and Jim Hall walk out the door. Jim stopped, turned around. His face was completely pale, but he had a vibrancy to his eyes, like he’d just watched a cracking porno.

“I’ll…‌Please bear with me,” he said, trying to keep the formality in his voice.

And then he took a left and disappeared out of the door.

“So when’re we going out to nail this twat?” Jordanna asked, looking at Harry.

Harry, who was twitchy as they got, walked over to her and shrugged. “I…‌maybe later. Maybe tomorrow. It depends‌—‌”

“Later,” Tamara said. Her eyes were glassy, staring into nowhere. “As soon as we can.”

Pedro stepped towards the open door. Now that Harry was twitching his way into a conversation with Jordanna, Pedro took his opportunity to find out where Jim had gone, find out why he looked so damned shocked. He was through with secrets. And if this place was such a democracy, he was going to make sure he was on a level playing field for once.

He reached the door. Turned around. Harry was grinning at Jordanna, who kept glancing at Pedro as if she was on the same wavelength as him, encouraging him to creep on out.

So he did.

He stepped out onto the pavement. There weren’t many people around this part of town‌—‌he could hear laughter somewhere around a corner of shops, smell turkey and gravy…‌it made his stomach churn. What he’d give for a bit of that right now.

But there were other things at hand.

He walked down the road. Squinted ahead, trying to see where Jim had gone.

It didn’t take him long to find it.

A metal door that led into a pretty shitty looking building was ajar. Pedro reached for it. Looked over his shoulder just to check no one was looking.

No. He was clear. All clear.

He pressed against the door and was met by a cloud of shitty stink.

Jim Hall sneaking off into a shitty stinking scruffy little building? If that wasn’t off, he wasn’t sure what was.

He stepped through this door. Stepped through and found himself walking down a pitch black passageway. He could hear voices straight ahead. Voices echoing against the walls, just like his footsteps echoed against the tiles.

As he got closer and closer to the voices, the shitty smell only got more intense. So intense that he had to cover his mouth and his nose, breathe into his coat, which didn’t smell a whole lot better.

He stopped when he reached a door. Another door, another door partly open. There was a little light seeping through it. And behind it, he could hear voices. Definitely Jim Hall’s voice, and someone else’s too. He squinted. Tried to listen.

“… awake…‌”

“… know what this means…‌”

He couldn’t fully comprehend any of their words.

So he took in a deep breath of the nasty-smelling air and pressed on this second door.

When he crept inside, the first thing he noticed was Jim and the dark-haired labbie standing by a window in the middle of this room. This room that was white-tiled, so much cleaner and more inviting than the rest of the corridor he’d come down. The smell, too. It wasn’t as strong in here. It’d completely gone, replaced by an overpowering medicinal smell.

Which made Pedro think they were hiding something.

He crept through the door. Tried to keep his footsteps as quiet as he could as he moved into this dimly-lit room, so much cleaner than the rest of the place. He wanted to see what was behind that window. What was putting a smile on Jim’s face, making him so excited.

He got further into the room. Further into the room, trying his best not to make a sound, every step as quiet as possible. If he could get in and out without being caught, great. If he got caught, well shit‌—‌he’d had a good run anyway.

He squinted at the window. Tried to see what was behind it, what was under the bright light.

And then he saw it.

At first, he didn’t understand. He couldn’t wrap his head around what he was seeing. Fuck‌—‌he must’ve knocked his head. Knocked it and sent himself batshit crazy.

He blinked a few times. Stared at this figure behind the glass. At this figure with the pale, dead skin. With the bandages wrapped around his legs.

With the dead eyes.

The dead eyes that looked right at him.

Riley’s dead eyes.

Pedro scuffled forward. Jim Hall and the labbie’s smiles dropped. They spun around. Spun and stared at Pedro, then looked at each other again, then back at each other.

“Pedro, you shouldn’t be‌—‌”

“My friend,” he said, his heart pounding, his skin burning as he approached the glass. Riley was a creature. He was dead. But then why the fuck was he in here? “You‌—‌Riley. That’s my…‌that was my friend. What the fuck are you doing‌—‌”

“Pedro?”

The voice made Pedro stop dead in his tracks. The impossible voice. Completely impossible, because he was dead. He had the dead eyes, the dead skin, and bandages wrapped around his legs. Wrapped around his bites.

But he was looking at Pedro, not through him.

He was looking
at
him.

He was alive.

But he…‌he couldn’t be.

Pedro turned to Jim. “What the fuck is this? What‌—‌my friend. Is he…‌what is he? Is he dead or is he…‌what’s going on?”

Jim Hall’s smile grew wider than Pedro had ever seen it before. Pedro’s mind spun, his heart raced, as he tried to get his head around what was happening, tried to understand.

“We’ve done it,” Jim Hall said, glassy look in his eyes, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Done what?” Pedro asked.

Jim wiped away his tears with his sleeve.

“We’ve…‌We’ve done it. We’ve cured him. We’ve cured an infected.”

Want More Dead Days?

The full fourth season of Dead Days is now available. To read the fourth season and continue Riley’s journey, click here to get started:
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About the Author

Ryan Casey is the author of over a dozen novels and a highly successful serial. He primarily writes post apocalyptic fiction, and also has a series of mystery novels. Across all genres, Casey's work is renowned for its dark, page-turning suspense, unforgettably complex characters, and knockout twists.

Casey lives in the United Kingdom. He has a BA degree in English with Creative Writing from the University of Birmingham, and has been writing stories for as long as he can remember. In his spare time, he enjoys American serial television, is a slave to Pitchfork’s Best New Music section, and wastes far too much of his life playing Football Manager games.

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About this Book

In October 2013, a chaotic infection spread across Britain, turning the majority of the population into bloodthirsty zombies.

The weak fell. Many of the strong fell, too. The only survivors were those willing to sink to the most brutal depths of humanity in order to further their own existence.

Dead Days is the story of a group of those survivors.

Season Three of the thrilling, suspenseful series picks up right from Season Two’s stunning cliffhanger. The group is separated, but bound by their destination: Manchester Living Zone, a mythical safe haven many miles away.

But every character face a very different threat. Riley must battle through a harrowing tunnel with a man who claims he is the key to everything. Pedro and his new friends are forced to fight their way down a motorway, in order to protect the boy who might secure a future for the planet. And Chloë discovers the dangers of solitude, as she sinks further and further into the realms of darkness…

Who will reach Manchester? Who will survive?

And is survival even worth it in this terrifying new world?

There will be blood. There will be tears. In the Dead Days, nobody is safe.

With fast-paced zombie action and gripping character scenarios, Dead Days is a truly unmissable serial adventure. Download the complete season three now. You’ll be hooked on every word, right until the jaw-dropping final page…

Copyright

Dead Days Season Three

by Ryan Casey

Published August 2014 by Higher Bank Books

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your preferred retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 Ryan Casey

Table of Contents

EPISODE THIRTEEN

Prologue

Chapter One: Riley

Chapter Two: Pedro

Chapter Three: Chloë

Chapter Four: Riley

Chapter Five: Pedro

Chapter Six: Chloë

Chapter Seven: Riley

Chapter Eight: Chloë

Chapter Nine: Pedro

Chapter Ten: Riley

Chapter Eleven: Chloë

EPISODE FOURTEEN

Prologue

Chapter One: Pedro

Chapter Two: Chloë

Chapter Three: Riley

Chapter Four: Pedro

Chapter Five: Chloë

Chapter Six: Riley

Chapter Seven: Pedro

Chapter Eight: Chloë

Chapter Nine: Riley

Chapter Ten: Chloë

Chapter Eleven: Riley

EPISODE FIFTEEN

Prologue

Chapter One: Riley

Chapter Two: Pedro

Chapter Three: Chloë

Chapter Four: Riley

Chapter Five: Pedro

Chapter Six: Chloë

Chapter Seven: Riley

Chapter Eight: Pedro

Chapter Nine: Chloë

Chapter Ten: Pedro

Chapter Eleven: Riley