Infected Series (Book 1): Mission: New York (6 page)

Simon quickly called the meeting to order after the coffee had been drunk, and they had the lights on, but the windows had been covered with heavy blankets to keep light out. That had been another idea of Judith's, she had reasoned that if light shone out, and then people might come searching for help and food. She knew they were a small group, and that they had to look after themselves first before anyone else. The people that were now gathered around Simon looked at him in shock and dismay when he explained the circumstances behind the two new additions to the group, and also explained why the man had been brought back here. Their shocked faces said it all as they studied the man with utter revulsion at the things he had done to the girls. Dawson had been called on to give evidence of her discovery of the man, and she had gone into greater detail about the condition the two sisters had been in when she had found them. They were huddled next to Dawson the whole time, nodding at the tale the whole time, and had started weeping softly again at the mention of the abuse they had undergone at the hands of him. Their faces also proved without a doubt that it had all been true, the sordid tale of their capture. Simon had then asked everyone to vote on punishments, and the group had erupted; everyone talking out loud, some crying. Finally they decided to use one of two methods; either kill him outright, or send him out into the madness, and let him fend for himself naked. That was when Simon mentioned the fact that if he was let go; there was a possibility he could survive and get into a group where he could bide his time, and do the same again. Again an eruption of opinions, and looks were thrown in the direction of the trussed man; and a lot of those looks were not at all friendly. The group had eventually settled on a particular punishment, but it would be a long painful death for the man; a death that had last been used at the turn of the twentieth century. He was to be hanged, but not from a height, he was to be hanged with his toes just touching the street, so he could try lift himself up off the road a bit; to try and possibly alleviate his suffering. It would be an absolutely horrible way to die, by slow strangulation.

Chapter Eleven

The man looked at the crowd as they decided his fate, knowing that he was not going to survive this, and his heart already blackened by his dark tormented soul; he resigned himself to his fate. He knew he could try screaming and shouting, but what help would that bring. Nothing. Stoically he listened to them as they judged him, His thoughts twisting and remembering the look of terror on the sisters faces as he had tied them up, then used his fingers to shove into their body cavities; how he had pinched and sucked their nipples. How he had licked their naked bodies and nearly raped them. He had planned to do so much with them, and if time had allowed; he would have driven the poor girls insane eventually. He felt himself harden at the thought of their naked bodies, and he felt a sexual charge through his body. The trousers hid his erection, but it was apparent that he was thinking of the two girls. He leered at them, and licked his lips, enjoying the way he had used his tongue, used it to violate their intimate areas; how they had tasted. The thing that was really spurring him on was the way they were so helpless; that he had been able to use their bodies, and having no remorse. His stringy hair was hanging over his eyes as they gleamed with vicious intent; wishing that he could have one last attempt at those two delicious sweet ripe plums. His mind was already twisted by evil, his psyche damaged from years of alcohol and drug abuse; so much so that he really did not have anything to lose as he struggled against his bonds. Nobody was looking his way at all, and he finally felt the rope fray enough that he could wriggle his left hand free. He quietly gasped, realising that he was almost free, and maybe he could take one of the little bitches with him.

He never realised that someone had been watching him the whole time. She had hidden earlier up in the roof. Nobody had really missed her at all; Judith did not like her, and she scowled at the thought of Judith lording it over her. She had had enough, and just wanted to get out, to try and make her own way out there. She knew it would not be easy, but if she had a gun then she could protect herself surely? She had been woken by the hubbub of everyone arguing about the man and she realised that she had missed everything that had happened. She looked puzzled at the tied up man, and then heard the reason why he had been tied up like a turkey. Her eyes changed; the emotion draining out of them then. She remembered. Her decision was easy to make, and disgustedly she watched as he stared at someone in the crowd, and watched his erection tent his trousers. She growled softly, not letting her voice travel; as she realised what he was. She had been raped as a girl, and she saw the signs of lust and evil. The bonds holding him started to fray, and she saw that he was reaching over to untie the other arm; then he would be free. That made her mind up as she sighted along the barrel, breathed in and squeezed the trigger. The man's head exploded, the bullet travelled through the crown of his head, through his torso and out into the floor. She realised that she had just given herself away; and no escape would be forthcoming now. She climbed down out of the air duct, and swore loudly as she landed on her feet. The smoking gun in her hand was still hot.

The shot stopped everyone arguing immediately, and they all looked at the prisoner, who had been shot from above. Ella climbed out of the vent above where the man had been tied up, and everyone looked at her in amazement. Ella looked at everybody in confusion, as she saw their mouths moving, but nothing was coming out. Her ears were ringing loudly and she realised that she had been deafened temporarily; that was why she heard nothing. Everyone crowded around her then; some clapping her back, some stayed back. Simon strode up to her, grabbing her arm and then realised she could not hear his questions. He calmed down, and walked her over to the counter where he sat her down, and grabbed a notebook and a pen.

Writing out what he wanted to say, Simon had to think carefully about where this conversation would lead. 'Why did you shoot him?' 'Where did you get the gun?' 'Why were you in the ducts?'

She read then started to speak, but decided to write down her replies as she could not gauge how loud she was talking. She read the questions again, and her responses were: 'He was going to get free, and he was not going to rape anyone else again.'

Simon read the answer and his eyebrows shot up, realising that she had heard about the girls. He nodded and then pointed at the second question, waiting while she scribbled her answer: 'I had the gun earlier when you guys found me, I just did not tell you I had it. I am sorry.'

Simon nodded again, and pointed at the third question: 'I was thinking of getting out of here, and was going to slip out when you were all asleep.'

Again Simon looked at her questioningly. He grabbed the pen and scribbled: 'Elaborate'

She sighed, taking the paper from him and wrote down one name: 'Judith'

Nodding in comprehension Simon also realised that he had not been wrong; the animosity between the two had been palpable during the day. He sighed and wrote down on the notepad: What is it about Judith that is causing friction?'

Writing quickly, she scribbled: 'She thinks that I am after you. I am not after you but I do like you. Not in that way though. I like girls. I think Judith is HOT!'

She saw Simon laugh, watched as his chest rose and fell, his shoulders following suit, then he started to really belly laugh. He was doubled up like that for a few minutes, and everyone was wondering what was going on. He wiped away a tear from his eyes as he struggled to get himself back under control.

She watched as he took the notebook and scribbled on it just to clarify: 'You like girls, and you like Judith?'

She nodded, and pretended to make a kissing motion in the air, and then looked over at Judith pointedly. Her smile grew; and she blew a kiss at Judith, who gasped and blushed a deep scarlet. She walked over and looked at Simon. He had erupted into another fit of giggles, shaking his head trying to stop laughing, but he just carried on.

Judith looked down at the notebook, and saw her name there along with the last entry: 'I like Judith' and she drew a heart behind the name. Judith gasped and looked at Ella in fascination. Ella smiled at her, and winked. Simon erupted again as he saw the lascivious wink directed at Judith who had blushed again.

Judith took the notebook and wrote there carefully: 'Maybe..... I have been known to have a fling with a girl before.' and she drew a big kiss after her sentence. Judith glared at Simon; the bent over, and took Ella's cheeks, and planted a passionate kiss on her lips. They broke apart and both smiled; then looked at Simon and winked. That stopped Simon laughing; and the look of utter incredulity on his face made Judith and Ella laugh uproariously at his expression; hugged each other tightly, and shook hands. They got up together, and Judith, still holding her hand, led Ella to the counter to make her a nice coffee.

Chapter Twelve

Now that the tension had been broken between them, Judith was now trying to make up for her earlier rudeness to Ella. Judith just looked at the girl, and smiled at her. She winked a slow seductive wink, and sipped her coffee. Ella saw the wink, and laughed. She shook her head; looking at Judith again with a new found respect.  She knew that Simon had just been fooled by a real woman. Judith's acting had been spot on, and had made Simon think that he was on the losing end. They both looked over at where Simon still sat, stunned by what he had just seen, and looked over at the two of them as they stood there, sipping coffee. Both of them waved, and blew a kiss in his direction. The rest of the group had seen this little bit of action and had gathered that there had been a shifting of hostilities within the two women.

The group were all muttering, looking at the body lying there on the floor, crumpled and the blood seeping onto the floor. Simon eventually stood, and walked over to a few people in the group and asked them to help him remove and tidy up after the body had been moved. The small group quickly got the body and wrapped it up in a couple of the tablecloths, and used another to try soak up all of the blood. Simon had then wondered about the body, and how they could get it out without exposing them to danger. Among themselves the group had managed to drag the sheet covered body into a corner for now; but knew that it would need to be removed completely. In a few days it would start to really smell and they could easily pick up disease from the body of the dead man. He looked over at the two girls now scribbling furiously on the notepad they had liberated from Simon; they had become friends or similar. Shaking his head he spoke to the small group, and they had suggested placing the body in the Prius and sending the body out with someone to get it away from the Shop. Simon had eagerly nodded his assent, and they had approached George to see if he would go out and dispose of the body. They dragged the body toward the back loading door to try getting it inside the car. After they had taken all the supplies out of the car, they had moved it to the back, where the loading door was, and had managed to get it out of the way.

Simon made sure that there were people standing with guns at the ready; just in case there was something out there. He had then grabbed one end, and George the other end, and opened the door cautiously.

Nothing was skulking out there to attack them, and they hastily got the body of the man into the back of the Prius. George asked Simon to head out with him as trying to manhandle the body out alone would be difficult. That was when Dawson came over and said she would be joining them as well. She explained briefly that she wanted to get a feel for the city, and see if there were any major clumps of infected around. After grabbing coats and jackets; making sure they had enough ammunition for the AR-15's they would be taking; they climbed into the car. Simon saw Judith heading in his direction with Ella in tow. Judith bent down and pressed her lips to Simon's ear, and whispered; 'We will be waiting for your return, Stud.' She giggled and stood up, then went back inside the shop. His face lit up like a Neon sign.

George saw the look on Simon's face and grinned then laughed, smacking Simon on the shoulder, and chuckled again. Dawson had also laughed out loud at the performance, and nodded quietly to herself. George started the car up; switched the lights on and drove out of the alley behind the shop. He looked at Simon and asked where they should head for. Simon had looked flustered at George then had pointed toward the docks. They headed out toward the docks, which were only a few blocks away and should be easily accessible if nobody was around. They drove silently, using the electric motors to drive the car onward, the lights splashing on the bodies scattered ahead of them. As they passed Simon looked pensively out the window at them, and wondered how long it would take before the shop would not be so safe to hide out in. He was thinking of the diseases; the rats that would soon be feasting on the bodies and the dangers that the bodies would pose. Dawson tapped him on the shoulder and said quietly to him that they had arrived. They looked at the gate that was open, and proceeded cautiously toward the one of the piers sticking out into the dark water. The sky was slightly cloudy with a thin sliver of a moon in the sky that did not really do much to light anything up. Harsh glare emitted from the lights as they approached the start of a pier. Here there were relatively few bodies, and Simon wondered if there had been many people inside the fenced off dockyard that morning. He hoped that there was not a large contingent of the infected hiding out ready to attack them at the first opportunity. George drove out slowly onto the Pier, and stopped about half way down. He looked at the boat that was anchored there and turned to Simon saying that he thought this would be good enough to put the dead man into the water. The three of them climbed out and Simon helped George with the body; while Dawson watched for any movement. Moving quickly but silently they dispatched the body into the water, and watched as it hit the water and sank slowly out of sight. There would be no flesh left soon Simon mused; the fish and crabs would see to that soon enough. They got back into the car, and slowly drove off with their lights on, tracing their route back to the shop. Fortunately there were no surprises for them on the way back, and they made it safely back indoors to where they were safe.