Death Plague Omnibus [Four Zombie Novels] (56 page)

He’s called Leonardo. It’s his gift, his influence, that has allowed me to speak in this way. Leonardo wants you to see him in his splendour.

My eyes felt as though they belonged to somebody else. How else could I explain the fact that I only saw a very attractive, thickly muscled young man down there? Yet my terror had increased a hundredfold.

He wasn’t fully human, that much I’d already seen. Stood up, I guessed he would have topped eight foot easily. What set him apart from everything else were his extra appendages. The creature had four arms which he used with expertise in pulling apart the now dead hunter.

Linda joined me at the edge. Her fingers wormed around my hand. “Isn’t he beautiful? You can now see why The Keeper fell in love with him.” She looked over her shoulder. “We need to go.”

Whatever malaise the thing down there had inflicted on us had obviously gone judging from the speed Brian was running towards us. Not that I gave a shit. This clown was about to meet the same fate as his pal. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on. I pushed Linda away and jumped up, taking three steps towards Brian. “Come on then, fuckpot, give it your best shot.” My twisted grin fell right off my face when the bastard swerved to the right and made a beeline towards the other two humans. Linda’s husband saw him coming and managed to move out of the way, only for Brian to grab hold of the son one more time. This time the hunter wasn’t going to be gentle. He curled his fist and slammed it into his side. Even from where I stood the sound of the boy’s ribs sounded thunderous.

The minds of the other hunters all snapped awake at the same time. They didn’t hear the boy cry out, but they did feel his agony. Dozens of hungry mouths began to drool. Brian couldn’t care less about the others, he didn’t even care about me approaching him. His blood was up. The thought of feeding filled every part of his being. His opened his mouth wide.

I had no chance of reaching them before those lethal jaws ended the human’s life. “Brian, don’t do it!” I dropped to the floor, scooped up a hand-sized stone, and threw the missile at the hunter. The resulting heavy meaty thud as the stone bounced off the hunter’s forehead was like music to my ears.

“Oh no! Colin, we’re trapped.”

I had already seen the other hunters, their black eyes drilling holes of hate into my head. Linda’s heart stopping in terror slimed its way along my spine, wanting me to join in with the panic coursing through the three human’s systems. I shook off her oppressive blanket of terror and stood up, idly brushing off the dust.

“Are we cut off, Linda?” I asked, keeping my voice level, a difficult task considering all of the hunter’s minds were only focused on ripping me apart. They hadn’t even spared a thought for the humans; as far as they were concerned, they didn’t matter.

“Linda, answer me! I need to know where we’re supposed to go.”

The woman clung onto her family, shaking like a tree in a storm. She just about managed to nod towards a ramshackle barn behind the last of the tents. I now saw why the woman believed we were doomed. There were over ten hunters between us and apparent salvation.

Are you still blocking my signature, Linda?

Of course I’m not. What’s the fucking point now? We’ve failed.

Block them, block them right now.

I strolled over to Brian and waited, standing my ground, watching the others cautiously approach. Had I gotten through to the woman? I had no way of knowing. I daren’t look back. Any movement like that would be like lighting to blue touch paper. I’d soon find out. “So many bodies!” I shouted. “I just don’t know where to start.” I forced out a harsh laugh. “Tell you what, if you bugger off right now I promise not to kill all of you.”

The resulting blast of chuckles and amusement coming from them all stopped the hunters in their tracks. They stayed a respectful distance from me and the dazed hunter. It gave me enough time to lift Brian to his feet. I sensed the confusion coming from the hunter. I could well understand his confusion. I’d be confused too if my assailant suddenly decided to play the Good Samaritan.

Not that I was. “You ready, Linda?” I still dare not take my gaze from the horde of ravenous hunters, knowing full well that my time was running out.

“What for?”

I fastened both hands onto Brian’s wrist. “For this.” The hunter had no time to prepare himself as I jumped back and pulled him with me. I dragged him to the lip and stopped dead, then swung him around. Brian cried out as he found the ground below his feet disappear.

All the hunters surged forward, screaming as one mass. I had expected that to happen, just as I expected the next event. Judging from the cascade of violence that crashed through my mind, our friend below was already expecting Brian to land near him. Even though I knew it would happen, the shock of the connection still knocked me to the floor. Unlike the other hunters, though, I was able to get back to my feet. I ran over to Linda and grabbed her hand. “We only have a few seconds!” I shouted.

She nodded and pushed the other humans forward, skirting past all the hunters lying on the floor, screaming and shaking.

“Now you know,” I hissed, running past them. “Now you fucking well know.” I raced over to the barn and pushed a pile of old wooden pallets that was blocking the first door I could see. I leaned back while the three humans ran inside.

“This better not be a dead end, Linda! Believe me, now that the hunters have seen their enemy, you can bet your life that the fuckers will be after us first.”

She shook her head. “Look through the doorway, Colin. For fucks sake, just take a look!”

I slowly turned around, “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I gasped. Just a few metres from where we were, this building just ceased to be. At some time in the recent past, an explosion must have levelled this part of the town. Only this thick stone front remained.

Linda pulled me towards her. “You saved his life, Colin.” The other two humans moved closer and embraced me. “The Keeper was right about you,” she said. “You do care.”

“Yeah, great,” I muttered, pushing their paws off my skin. “Let’s save the congratulations until after we’re away from those fucking hunters, okay?”

Linda grinned. “You're right, Colin.” She walked over to another pallet. She and the other humans each grabbed a side and dragged it back. “There you go.”

I peered over and found myself looking at a black pit. “Where does it go?”

“Straight to the heart of the town,” she said. “Straight to your sister.”

Chapter Twelve

Learning to adapt

After my last experience in the railway tunnel I was understandably reluctant to enter that hole, but I knew the consequences of staying here. The others had already descended after Linda had reassured me that our pursuers had no idea that this tunnel even existed.

I slid the pallet back over the hole and followed the humans down, climbing deeper and deeper. I only stopped when I heard the other hunter’s thoughts passing over our escape hatch. How the hell none of them had even thought of moving the pallet was beyond me, but I decided not to question fate. I needed all the luck I could get.

This not so forgotten hole gave me the first indication as to how old this place actually was. I mean, just who used stone wells back before the Rising, apart from to throw coins in? By the looks of it, its purpose had changed to suit the new inhabitants of this town. Steel pitons and thick shards of hard wood had been wedged into the large stone cracks, making it relatively easy to climb up and down the interior.

I stopped climbing down and turned my head until the others came into view. The other three were almost at the bottom. It concerned me that none of them seemed all that bothered about travelling in the pitch black. Hell, anything could have been waiting for them down there. There wasn't anything there, but that wasn't the point. How could they be so trusting? This place made even me uneasy, and I could see. My vision wasn't great, but I could at least see movement. I sighed, and continued my journey down, trying to work out why my mind was throwing up such idiotic thoughts. Like it really mattered. For all I knew, the humans could have installed a bunch of traps or alarms to warn them that their secret refuge had been discovered.

“Are you okay up there, Colin?”

I grunted back, hearing the familiar unease but not bothering to reply to her concerned inquiry. It bothered me at how these three humans had managed to worm themselves into my life. It bothered me more that I think I was beginning to have feelings for Linda, feeling that shouldn't exist between us. For fucks sake, the bitch was supposed to be food. God, how I hated these complications.

How long would it be before that husband got it into his head that I was going to be a competitor? Hell, for all I knew he could have even reached that stage a long time ago. The woman hasn't exactly been subtle in her affections. More complications. I predicted that this wasn’t going to go away either, and not just because of the human’s behaviour.

“Colin?”

That trickle of unease flowing from the woman now turned into a torrent. For crying out loud, Linda already had a man; couldn't she be satisfied with that one?

“Colin, get down here!”

I made the mistake of turning away from her upturned face and staring at where we came in. A disk of dazzling white light seared into my brain. All rational thoughts left me, and all that mattered was stopping that blinding light. I let go of whatever I held so I could slap my hands over my face.

I plummeted, screaming, hearing the laughter from two hunters bouncing around the inside of my skull. The last thing I heard before oblivion claimed me was Linda yelling my name.

****

I blinked away the hot dust and covered my eyes, watching the last of today's light vanish behind the high walls that surrounded this shitty city. One by one, the searchlights blinked on, their beams sweeping past the empty streets and shops. The fuckers were looking for either me or the other hunter trapped in here.

The other one had already gone to ground, and knowing my fucked up luck, probably somewhere on the other side of the city. Far enough for me not to sense the bastard, but close enough to watch those lights pick me out! Two of them were already making their way up the high street, and like a plum, my feet were still firmly planted on the pavement while the twin beams sped towards me.

I dived through the open doorway, rolled across the fungus covered carpet, and lay still beside a wire postcard stand. The beams moved past the shop and vanished. I wasn't sure what pissed me off the most, the fact that after two days I still hadn't evaded the other hunter, or that I'd been stupid enough to let those filthy humans trap me in here.

My clothes stunk of rot now. I got to my feet, shrugged off my jacket, and sighed heavily, watching one of the beams make its way back along the pavement. I couldn't care less about the humans picking me out. Even if they did possess the rifles, which I doubted, those blind fucks wouldn't be able to shoot me at this distance anyway. What concerned me more was that other hunter finding out my position.

“You've got yourself into a bit of a pickle here, my lad.”

A ghost of a smile spread across my face at the thought of my dad saying those words to me back when I was a kid.

It was actually rather pleasant to have nostalgic thoughts from before the Big Event. Those thoughts were getting few and far between nowadays. Since being alone, I only really thought in red. I kicked away some of the rotten carpet, sat cross-legged on the bare floorboards, and attempted to calm down my feelings. Thinking about my dad when he was still alive did help somewhat.

Being alone was not good for my health, and it certainly wasn’t good for my state of mind. Since hitting the road in search of my sister, I will admit that it’s been a chore not to follow my dark urges. Even the rare thoughts from my past didn’t help that much anymore.

That other hunter, the one that I foolishly pursued into this dangerous place, was supposed to be my salvation. Apparently this joker knew exactly where Danielle had gone. Right now though, I couldn’t shake the horrible feeling that the other one hadn’t even entered this town. I mean, I would have been able to sense him by now surely? Okay, I’ll admit that my senses weren’t as keen as they used to be, but even so, the presence of one of my kind should be a piece of cake to spot. I could sense the low murmurings of the human minds, so by rights, the hunter’s mind should stick out like one of their frigging spotlights.

Speak of the devil, there they went once more, sweeping across the dark road. Christ, this felt like the set from a prison break movie. Perhaps I needed to approach this from another angle? After all, I’d already been here for two days. Did I really want to be here in another two days? No, bollocks to that; what if the hunter’s information was wrong? What if my sister was in danger? Two day could be too late.

I stood up, watching those searchlights repeat the same pattern. Well, it’s obvious that the humans on that wall knew where I was. “Yes, I need to approach this from a new angle.”

If I want to move forward, then it’s obvious that those two humans had to die. It meant that I’d have to break my oath. What else could I do, though? I needed to find my sister. Christ knows how the poor girl was coping without him. “We must have done something bad in our life.”

My senses went from sleep mode straight to full alert, but it was way too late to react.

“You really are one fucked up young man,” slimed a deep voice into my left ear. A powerful set of arms had already encircled my body, pinning my own arms against my sides. There was no way that I’d be able to move. I wanted to weep, to cry out, whilst cursing my stupidity. I already knew that my lack of feeding had decreased my enhanced senses, so why the fuck hadn’t I checked out this place before letting down my defences? “Let me go. I’m no threat to you,” I mumbled.

“And you associate the two why exactly, Colin? I have no intention of releasing you, even though I already know you’re about as harmful as a fucking teddy bear.” My unknown assailant sighed. “You really are a disgrace to our species. I’d be more wary of a sick kitten than I would be of you.” He sighed again. “You may call me Julius.”

“Please.”

“Now you beg? Even kittens possess some small amount of self-respect.” The other hunter released me. He clamped his hands on my shoulder and spun me around. “Not so long ago we wouldn’t have conversing, such as it is. Oh, no, my friend. As you may know, the days of comradeship went the way of the ark. These are strange times though, and one must adapt to the new circumstances.”

This had to be the lowest point of my life. I’d just been terrorised by a middle-aged, slightly stooped man with a paunch and just a few wisps of light brown hair sticking to his otherwise bald head. The man looked about as dangerous as, well, a kitten. It wasn’t until he stopped sizing me up and looked into my eyes when I truly found how looks could be so deceiving.

Oh fuck! His vortex eyes pulled me inside. I fell to my knees. My jaw muscles worked overtime, struggling to open my mouth so I could shriek out and plead for him to let me go.

“Oh, my word, now I never expected to find that in there.”

His mental probe slid inside, pushing past every one of my hastily erected barriers with ease. I was in the company of a giant, and he had me at his mercy, and yet for the first time, I felt just an inkling of comradeship with the other hunter, something that I never experienced before. The hunter blinked, severing the connection.

My blurred vision, slowly coalesced, and I found myself still on my knees, only now, the other hunter had joined me on the floor. He sat opposite me, cross-legged. His eyes had lost their initial power, and for that I was so glad. I never wanted to experience anything like that again. Even so, I could still sense that brooding power in there.

“She really has bound you tight. I’m not sure whether to pity you or be jealous.” Julius smiled thinly. “I think I’ll go for pity. It feels like the safer option.” He paused and licked his lips. “The chances are that what I’m about to tell you won’t stay up there.” He tapped the side of his head. “Your sister has made damn sure of that. I’ve never met anyone with a Teflon brain before, and there’s me thinking that nothing interesting was going to happen to me today.”

I straightened my back and dared to glare at him when he mentioned my sister. “Wait, rewind to that bit about my sister.” The two searchlights passed the front of the shop, and just for that moment I almost wished that those two humans really would leave the safety of their wall and come down here. I’d soon show this other hunter just how much of a kitten I was.

“Hold your horses, Colin. I know this is pointless, but I’d urge you to hold your horses and not get too excited. It won’t stick in there. Still, what the hell, it’s not like I have anything better to do, at least not for the moment.” He leaned forward. Colin, your sister, is just like you, like us, I mean. She’s a hunter, and a damned powerful one.”

I sat there, my muscles locked as the middle-aged man stopped to scratch his nose.

“It’s like this, my new friend. Your very dangerous sister left you alone in that room for one good reason.” His lips stretched wide. “Great fleas have little fleas upon their back to bite ‘em. And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.” 

He placed both his hands on my shoulders. “Colin, the humans are the lesser fleas and we are little fleas. I believe you saw the destruction caused in your home town?”

I found enough strength to nod.

“That’s your great flea, Colin. They will consume anything and everything, and that includes us, and if you continue to look for her, the only remnant of you left will be dust. This is the reason, Colin. Do you understand?”

I shook my head. As far as I could tell, this guy was talking in gibberish.

The other hunter then scared the hell out of me by giggling; it was such an effeminate sound. He leaned forward, and I found myself falling into those twin volcanoes one more time. I couldn’t stop myself from crying out in fear.

“Hush, you big baby, and open your bloody eyes. Come on, hurry up, you don’t want to miss this.”

Reluctantly, I did as he bid.

“There you go, that wasn’t too difficult was it?”

The musty confines of the derelict shop had gone. I found myself high in the night sky looking down at dozens of white light trails criss-crossing the land. The lights rarely intersected, but when they did, they joined, resulting in a brief flash of red light. More often than not, just one white light departed that short-lived spark. “Pretty. I don’t know what I’m looking at though.”

“You’re watching us, Colin. The lights are the essence of all hunters as they roam across the land, looking in vain for fresh meat.”

“There are so many! I had no idea.”

“You are looking at our birth, Colin. This is twenty years ago.”

The image blinked out, then returned. Only this time, all I saw were two spots of white light. The spot directly below me had several lines of white meandering away; it looked a little bit like a glowing spider. I then noticed one more spot close to it, this one glowed a dark red.

“This is what it looked like right now. That red spot is me and you. Don’t worry. Both lights will continue to glow when we go our separate ways. Your sister is but a day’s walk from here, Colin. She and around forty other hunters have found their way to one of only two settlements left in this part of the world.”

“I had no idea I was so close.” It took effort not to feel relieved. I wanted to smile, I’d done it, and I had found her. “So, all the hunters are now in the two settlements?”

“You still don’t see it do you? The white spots are the greater fleas.”