The Bitter End (23 page)

Peter explained what happened to the people, they were told that it was their destiny to become Omega but first they had to build the temple. That is what he called the dam. It was like a spell fell over the people and they followed him. Those that didn't either escaped like they had or were punished, as Margaret had been.

"It's because they're tired of running," said David, dismissing his brothers theory that the people were under a spell. "If we could speak to them we could make them understand."

But Ben had see his mother and the way she had acted and he knew that Peter was right, they were under a spell and the only way to break it was to kill Kirsty. She had sired Nicholas, she was in charge.

They slept and they rested. They sent word back to the Robinson Crusoe and through the night weapons and supplies were ferried back to the Resistance camp. When Ben woke he was with Mary again.

She sat beside him, holding his hands in hers, sweet tears running down her cheeks. It took him a moment to understand that he wasn't dreaming and that she was really there with him.

"Mary," he said because nothing else came to mind. "The boys?"

She nodded. "They're here too."

He felt a wave of relief crash against rocks of hate for the people who had made him believe his family was gone. He reached for her and they held each other close.

Morning came and she brought him breakfast. They ate while still in their sleeping bags, side by side on the hard earth. They didn't speak, there was nothing that needed to be said. They were together again, everything else was inconsequential.

They gathered in the field. The dark still hung above them but they were lit by dozens of lamps. More than a hundred of them had gathered. The weapons they had brought from the tower had been handed out. Ben stood beside Daniel, beside Peter and David.

He had said goodbye to Mary again for what he promised himself was the last time. Whatever happened next that part of his life was finished. He hadn't even seen the boys because he didn't think he would be able to go if he did. He would see them when the sun rose, if it ever did.

The plan was simple: they would storm the dam and fight their way to Kirsty and The General. They would avoid killing anyone else if it was at all possible. Ben had a feeling it would not be.

They made no attempt to hide themselves as they filed through the thick bushes that separated the field from the riverbank. There was no way they would have been able to keep more than a hundred people from being seen.
 

The air was warm and fetid, dank and sticky. Ben walked

(marched)

beside Daniel just behind the brothers. It was a short journey but long enough for the world to change. He had never been a soldier, had never even played at it as a child, but like it or not he was going to war. After days on the move and with little restful sleep he should have been exhausted but an excitement burned in his chest and he could not deny an eagerness to fire the beautifully crafted crossbow. He wondered if all soldiers felt like this.

The brainwashed villagers clung to the scaffolding around the dam. Most of them did not even look at them as they lined up along the river bank though. One did. They were too far away for Ben to make out a face but, while the others continued their labour, he climbed off and ran in the direction of the palace.

Peter held up a hand and they stopped, waited. If they could get Kirsty and Nicholas to come to them it would be better, fighting them on their own turf would be more difficult but they would do it if they had to.

They waited in silence. The black wings above continued to flap and the tools continued to bang and cut but none of the Resistance spoke. They held their collective breath and they waited.

And they waited.

"They aren't coming," said Daniel.

"Give it time," said Peter without turning to look at him. So they continued to wait.

It got warmer so that it became a chore just to stand up. Ben could feel the sweat on his face and running down the back of his neck. They continued to wait.

Hours seemed to pass. The sky remained black and noisy. Eventually they saw movement at the top of the structure.

A black cloud moved across the surface like a swarm of insects. It hugged the stone structure and changed shape, narrowing to move between objects, rising higher when the dam did. It descended the steps towards them, like a bruise with faces in it. Ben watched it come towards them, a ghostly ghastly shape. He held his ground and he held his breath.

It stopped before them and changed its shape again, becoming tall and narrow and then splitting into two distinct clouds which themselves began to solidify and eventually came out as Nicholas and Kirsty. When they appeared from the cloud they found that they had one hundred sharpened wooden weapons aimed directly at them.

"We haven't come to fight you," said Kirsty addressing the crowd.

Ben alternated between her and Nicholas. Her because she was the most dangerous of the pair, him because he didn't know if he could shoot something that looked like a little girl, even if she was a vamp.
 

"We want to help you but if you don't want our help we won't force you."

Did she realise they were outnumbered? She had to know that she wasn't in a position to strike bargains. "Let our people go then," said Peter.

She smiled. "Your people have chosen this life. They don't want to go with you."

"They're brainwashed," said Peter. "Either you let them go or we’ll kill you."

Her smile widened. "And I thought we were supposed to be the monsters. Very well. Here are your people."

The sounds of construction had stopped. Suddenly every face had turned towards them and one by one they started to move. They climbed down from the scaffolding, some dropping into the water, others simply letting go and dropping from whatever height they happened to be at, landing in piles on the hard ground. Ben could hear bones cracking and breaking. He turned to look and saw the people he had known all of his life shuffling and shambling towards them. He realised they hadn't just been brainwashed.

"What have you done to them?" he said.

But Kirsty and Nicholas had gone.

He turned to Daniel who seemed to be as surprised as he was. "They're like zombies or something," he said, as much to himself as to Ben.

There wasn't long to think, the one’s who had been closest were reaching them now. Ben remembered the vamps gone wrong at the tower, the way they had responded to Gabriel's instruction. They had been decomposing as if already dead. Was that what was in store for these people, his friends?

He raised his crossbow and aimed at someone he didn't recognise. An old man who walked as if he had a broken knee. Ben thought about what he was about to do but it seemed like the only way to be sure; he squeezed the trigger and the wooden bolt shot through the air and imbedded itself in the man's left shoulder.

The old man stumbled back but didn't seem to notice the pain. After a moment he kept coming, his face a blank rigour. Ben decided, he had no choice really, that these people were not people at all. They were vamps gone wrong or zombies or whatever you wanted to call them, but they weren't his friends.

"Aim for the head," he shouted.

As if they had known it all along but had needed someone else to make it okay they started to fire. The air was filled with the whooshing of deadly wood, flying almost silently through the air. Some of the shots found their targets but most went wide. The zombies kept coming.

Ben fired off a few more arrows and brought down four. He looked around, needed to see where Nicholas and Kirsty had gone, and saw the door to the palace up above closing.

"Dan," he said.

His friend looked up.

"This way," he ran towards the stairs. Dan was followed by Kris, Anthony, Joel and his boys. This was all of their fight now.

Up the narrow stairs and along the narrow path at the top. Down below they were winning the fight, or at least beating it into a stalemate that would last until they ran out of bullets and arrows. As long as the kept the zombies away from the camp it would be okay. Once Nicholas and Kirsty were dead they could leave.

They walked towards the door and the two guards stepped together to block it. Without breaking their pace Ben raised his crossbow and put a bolt through one of their heads and Daniel through the other. The two giants fell to the floor and they stepped around them.

There was no time to think now, no time to stop and wonder if this was the right thing to do. Ben realised that they were out of options and they needed to be quick because if the zombies or the vamps got to the camp

(Mary)

then what would be the point. Dying here or dying there without them, it wouldn't make a difference.

The throne room was empty. It continued to stink of rotting meat, shit and vomit but that smell seemed like victory now. But where were they?

"We need to split up," he said. "Dan, you go with Joel and Kris. Martin, Alex, you come with me."

Nobody argued, nobody seemed surprised that he had suddenly taken charge. Perhaps they realised that he had more at stake in this fight than any of them did, perhaps they were just glad the responsibility of deciding what to do wasn't theirs. Ben didn't question it, it felt right.

He led Martin and Alex behind the throne. A zombie waited for them there, its arms outstretched ready to grab the first person it saw. For one terrible moment Ben thought that it was his own mum but he put a bullet through its head and when it dropped to the floor he saw that it was another old man. They kept going.

The palace was filled with tunnels that went down into the dam. Narrow spaces that it seemed impossible Nicholas would be able to fit through in his new form. But he was the man who had appeared before them in a cloud of smoke so it seemed reasonable to believe he could fit through any gap. It certainly didn't rule it out.

There were more zombies but they were easy to kill now that he no longer thought of them as people. They weren't his friends or neighbours, they were creatures like the vamps who wanted to kill him. Better he kill them first then.

Three, four, five more zombies and an equal number of staircases. He was moving more quickly now, he couldn't afford to waste time because he needed to get out of the dam as quickly as possible so that he could get back to Mary and the boys. So that they could get on their boat and start their new life on the river.

Eventually the stairs opened on a long narrow room. The ceiling was twice his height. He guessed it was about half-way down the dam and he seemed to be able to feel the pressure of the water on the other side of the heavy walls. For a moment there was silence.

He led the boys further into the room, slowly now, the only thing moving quickly was the beat of his heart. Something was different about this room. It felt as if he was being watched and he wondered if the boys felt it as well. Something was off, something wasn't right.

Ben was still surprised enough to jump a step back when the thing fell from the ceiling. It roared loudly enough to shake the walls and he had a momentary vision of the water breaking through and washing them all away. He was surprised to realise that, if it killed the vamps and spared the rest, even if it meant his own death, he might be okay with it.

"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME" said Nicholas. "WHY DID YOU COME BACK?"

Ben looked up at him, despite the height of the ceiling Nicholas couldn't stand fully upright. He said nothing.

"THIS ISN'T YOUR FIGHT" he said.

The two boys stood behind him, waiting for a signal from him for what they should do. He was sorely tempted to lay into Nicholas, he was supposed to look after these people and look what had happened. But what was the point; he wouldn't get the answers he wanted and every second he delayed was more time for the zombies outside to advance on the camp.

Ben raised his crossbow and felt, rather than saw, the boys raise their own weapons.

"ANSWER ME" roared Nicholas.

He answered him with cold wood. Three shots were fired and two of them went directly into the heart. Nicholas, the General, the King, roared anger across the room but didn't go down. He swiped across them and Ben managed to step back, as did Martin, but Alex was caught by the giant hand that seemed to grow in size as it struck him.

The boy was flung across the room and hit the wall with a sickening moist crack. He hung their for a moment and then slid off. Even in the darkness Ben could see that his nose was broken and several of his teeth hung crookedly from his mouth. But somehow he got up.

They fired again and they reloaded and fired again. Their bullets and arrows pierced the leathery hide of the creature that had once been Nicholas, his brother in-law but never his friend. He roared and cried and the building around them trembled. He tried to fight back but Ben saw that he was dying now, he was weak and desperate.

A final volley of shots brought Nicholas to the ground and in death his body shrank back to its normal size. Ben stepped forwards while Martin tended to his brothers wounds.

"I never like you Nicholas," he said, standing over the body with his bow aimed at the head. "But I'm sorry it had to end like this." He pulled the trigger and a final arrow put him out of any misery he was still in.