Safety Lost (Killing the Dead Book 3) (8 page)

I left my soiled clothing on the floor of the changing room and rejoined Emma and Julie. I disliked leaving the mess behind but I had other things to think about, namely who I would have to kill to be able to leave this place.

Excitement at the prospect of violence and death rising, I followed along behind Julie as she led the way through the Outlet Store.

Chapter 10

The rest of the day passed slowly. I sat with the others in the cafe and listened as Alan tried to charm Candice. John sat with his beady eyes staring hungrily at Candice and it was easy to imagine him eager for a new bed mate, willing or not. I was ostensibly ignored and that suited me fine.

Akhtar had been instructed to check all the entry points to ensure they were secure and Beth had gone with him. The hammer which looked to be my only weapon was with my rucksack in the crafts section of the store, where Emma and I would be spending the night. I had no idea where Candice was staying.

Beth and Akhtar returned as the light began to fade and immediately set to helping Julie light some candles before heading into the kitchen to start preparing food with John following along behind. I noticed that Beth had several new bruises.

When the meal was ready, plain pasta with a tomato sauce, I ate slowly as I considered my options. Ideally I would leave in the night without any fanfare but if Julie was willing to come along then I would need to wait for her. Candice could stay and rot for all I cared, she had shown herself to be unreliable and the way she was lapping up the attention was pitiful.

After the meal was cleared away we sat and drank some tepid tea while we listened to Alan regale us all with tales of his former life. When Emma yawned widely I seized the opportunity to make my escape.

“Well thank you for the pleasant afternoon and the wonderful meal, but I think I shall get the little one to bed.” I said with my most pleasant smile.

“No problems. What time are you leaving us tomorrow?” Alan asked.

“Oh, sometime after it gets light if that is ok with you?”

“That is absolutely fine” Alan replied with a fake smile that didn’t touch his eyes. I recognised the smile. I had used one like it many times before myself.

“I’ll take you back to your sleeping place” Julie said as she picked up a candle.

Alan watched as we walked from the room and I was sure his gaze fell more than once to Emma. We followed Julie along the corridor and into the craft section in silence.

“Here” Julie said as she handed me a sharp bread knife. “I don’t think they noticed.” She added with a fearful look over her shoulder as though afraid we had been followed.

“We need to leave as soon as possible, before they wake would be best.” I said with a look towards Emma as she wrapped herself in her coat and settled down beside the rucksacks.

“It’s my turn with John tonight so I can’t go anywhere till he’s asleep” Julie said. “They will notice if I try and leave before it’s light.”

“Fine, I shall be ready to leave first thing in the morning but if you can get away before then...” I left the sentence unfinished and she nodded. I could tell she was scared, I was intimately aware of how someone looked when terrified.

Julie left and I moved across the room to sit beside Emma. She was warm beside me and curled up much like the puppies I had seen in pictures and on TV. I felt a curious sense of peace as I sat in the darkness beside the child and I settled down to wait for morning.

Sometime around midnight the first shadow entered the room. A large bulky frame moving slowly as he tried to stay quiet. He was followed by the shape that could only be Alan. They each carried a weapon in their hands as they moved across the room to the sleeping space, though it was too dark to see what type of weapon.

When I was sure that a third shape wasn’t following them I stood up from where I had been crouched beside the door, partially hidden by a shelving unit and stalked along behind them. As they neared the sleeping place I stepped up behind the burly shape of Akhtar and stabbed the bread knife into his neck.

His yell of pain and surprise woke Emma who screamed which provided enough of a distraction to Alan that I had the time to swiftly pull the knife from Akhtar’s neck and feel the warm spurt of blood against my hand before turning my attention to him.

He lashed out with his weapon and pain exploded as I felt something solid and heavy strike my shoulder as I tried to duck and I was knocked to the floor. With knife still in hand I stabbed the blade into his ankle and with a scream he fell beside me.

I pulled the knife blade from his ankle and scrambled on top of him. He reached for his weapon but stopped as I placed the blade against his cheek and just beneath his eye.

“Where is John?” I demanded.

“In the cafe with the others” Alan sputtered.

“Good to know” I said and ran the knife across his throat, the sharp blade cutting easily through his flesh.

With Alan dying almost quietly I picked up his weapon and found it to be a crowbar. I hefted it in my hands as I crossed to where Akhtar lay on the ground mewling and trying desperately to stem the blood leaking from his neck. I crushed his skull with one swing of the heavy crowbar before crossing over to the screaming child.

It took several long minutes to quieten her and after I had done, I was forced to take her with me as I walked along to the cafe.

As I approached I saw light spilling out onto the concourse and I slowed my pace. I could hear angry words coming from within, they must have heard all the screaming and yelling and I hoped they believed it was me that had been killed.

I whispered to Emma that she needed to be quiet or the bad people would hear and she clamped her mouth shut. I gave her a smile that she couldn’t see in the darkness and admired her willingness to at least try. I placed her on the floor and told her she needed to wait by the door for a moment.

She shook her head emphatically ‘no’ and I realised that I would have a problem. With a sigh I let her take my left hand as I had the crowbar clenched in my right, before I led her towards the open door.

Inside the room the three women sat at the table and John leant against the counter a large butcher knife in his hand. There was an air of fear and despair in the room and I guessed that was coming from the women as they kept casting their gaze towards John.

“What the fu...” John began as I released Emma’s hand and dashed across the room to swipe him hard across the ribs with the crowbar. He gave a yell of pain and dropped the knife. My next blow caught his arm and I heard bone crack before he screamed. A final strike to his temple and he fell quiet.

“Oh my god!” Beth yelled.

“Shut up.” I said coldly and was gratified when they all stopped speaking. I picked up Emma and told her how brave she had been. She nodded and buried her head into my shoulder. It occurred to me that it had perhaps not been the best idea to kill so many people in front of her, but quickly dismissed the idea as she would have to get used to the kill or be killed mentality sooner or later.

“Gather your things if you still want to leave” I told Julie who nodded and ran out of the room. I stood silently and watched the two women who still sat teary eyed at the table as I waited.

Julie returned after ten minutes and I saw that she had dressed warmly and carried a backpack of her own. “I’ll get some food” she said and disappeared into the kitchen. When she came out the backpack was bulging and she paused long enough to pick up a candle.

“Let’s go” I said and walked out of the cafe without a backward glance.

“Why are we leaving now?” Julie asked as the crying and yelling began behind us.

“All the noise will have attracted attention. We have no guarantee that we will be able to get out now, let alone in the morning.” I said.

“I didn’t know what they were planning” she said after a short pause.

“If I thought you had known then you would be dead too.” I replied and we continued walking along in silence.

We reached the end of the concourse and Julie led the way into one of the shops. “This one has a fire exit at the back hopefully it won’t have any undead outside it.” She said.

The shop was full of baggage and accessories for travel. It wasn’t as big as the outdoor section had been and we were soon standing beside a metal door marked ‘exit’ in large letters. Julie paused with her hand on the locking bar and looked at me.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

“Sure but put out the candle first.”

“Oh, sorry.” She said and blew out the flame before pressing down on the locking bar and pushing open the door.

When nothing burst through the doorway attempting to eat us, I lowered the crowbar and cautiously stepped outside. The night air was cold and it was raining but I couldn’t see anything moving out in the darkness.

“Ok then, lead the way” I told her.

Julie set off slowly, keeping to the side of the building. I wasn’t complaining as Emma was heavy and I suspected she had fallen asleep.

She stopped at the corner of the building and peered around it before looking back at me. “I can see some shapes but can’t really make out much. I think it’s undead though and they are headed towards the front of the building” she said in a whisper.

I nodded and whispered back, “They are likely going to try and get in through the front entrance. I doubt the barricade will last too long.”

“Oh god, we should warn them.”

“No point. Come on, we need to leave now while we can and find somewhere to wait until morning.” I said firmly.

“If we cross the road here, there’s a housing estate. I used to drive past all the time on the way to work and most of them have garages or sheds.”

“That will do until morning.” I told her, “Let’s go.”

Chapter 11

Julie was sat with her back against the stack of cardboard boxes that lined the back wall of the garage. Emma was curled up in a ball next to her. I stretched and pulled open the side door.

“Where are you going?” Julie asked quietly.

“I want to see if the house has anything useful before we go” I said and then added “Watch Emma and wait here.”

Frost covered the ground and every time I breathed out, a fine mist formed. The morning air was crisp and the sky was clear. Beyond the garden I could see the pale edifice of the outlet store rising above the trees.

With a grin at the reminder of the last night’s violence I crossed the garden to the back door of the two floor semi-detached house, whose garage we had taken refuge in.

I could see nothing moving in any of the gardens around me and a quick glance toward the street revealed it to be empty. I tried the door handle and found it to be locked so put the crowbar to good use.

A sharp crack sounded loudly as the door broke open and I flinched at the noise. I was not quite the accomplished housebreaker that I would need to be to survive. I waited several minutes to ensure no zombies had heard and were on their way to eat me.

When it seemed that all was clear I pushed open the door and entered the house. I moved from room to room, checking each for any threat and when I was sure that the house was empty I started searching for anything of use.

It wasn’t a bad haul at all. I found several bottles of water and some chocolate bars for Emma. We had plenty of food that had been taken from the Cafe kitchens and I didn’t want to overburden us since it looked likely that we would be walking. A first aid kit was the most useful find and I carried my finds out to the garage and the girls.

Emma was awake and rubbing at her eyes as I entered the garage and I passed over the chocolate to Julie.

“Thanks.” She said as she opened the first and passed it to Emma.

“Don’t thank me yet. I doubt we will be able to visit a dentist anytime soon so let’s hope you don’t get a cavity” I said with a grin.

My pleasant mood seemed to put her at ease and she chattered quietly as she ate her chocolate. Emma ate hers silently and when she was finished informed us in a whisper that she needed to use the bathroom.

“The house is clear, you can both go up and get cleaned up and then we will get on our way” I told Julie who nodded and taking Emma’s hand, led her into the house. When they returned I had the rucksacks ready by the back door.
      

We set off cautiously with a wary gaze kept on the houses around us. The roads seemed clear of the undead and we saw few vehicles that would be any use to us. Beyond the street where we had spent the night it was all fields and trees and I started to relax a little as we passed the last house.

The Forest of Bowland was approximately ten miles from the outlet store and if we had followed the road, even on foot it would have only taken a few hours. Forced to walk cross country, trying to avoid roads and farm houses with a young child in tow, it took quite a bit longer.

Rest stops were taken frequently. Emma was too young to sustain a long march in rough terrain and neither Julie nor I had been eating a healthy and balanced diet. I was finding it harder than I had expected to keep going and was as happy to rest as the others were.

Throughout the day I would hear the occasional dog barking as we passed within hearing of a farm house and I could see some birds flying here and there, but we saw little sign of people. No planes flew overhead and no cars were moving on the roads that we could see in the distance.

“We are going to need to find somewhere to spend the night soon.” I said to Julie in the late afternoon.

“I’m not entirely sure but I think there’s a village coming up” she replied breathlessly.

“That may not be the best place to look.”

“It’s a tiny place, less than a thousand people live there. It’s built up where two main roads intersect so it could still have people there.” Julie said.

I grunted and nodded and we continued on in silence. Emma still had hold of my hand and I was more dragging her at points rather than leading. I actually hoped that the village had no zombies as I was far too tired to do anything about them.

True to form my luck was bad. The village lay in ruins. Almost half the houses were burnt out shells and cars and trucks had been used to form barricades across the roads leading in and out of the village. Hundreds of corpses filled the streets and the stench was overwhelming.