Thirteen Roses Book Four: Alone: A Paranormal Zombie Saga (10 page)

‘Yeah, well, you know, apart from the obvious.’

‘Well yeah, zombies and all that.’

Alex blinked and felt sweat pop out on his forehead. They hadn’t told Ed. He’d been in here the entire time. ‘God, Ed, you don’t know. One of the ladies was murdered.’

He thought to keep his eyes on Dave’s face and was rewarded by a look of complete stunned surprise. There was no chance it was acting. The guy didn’t even express his own feelings anymore, let along fake ones. He really didn’t know.
 

Ed was pale and shaking his head. ‘What happened?’

Alex spared as many of the details as he could and kept it short. When he’d finished, Ed’s first question was whether it could have been a zombie. Dave’s were whether it could have been Jackson. Alex hadn’t gone there, maybe because he was so convinced it was Dave, but now he had no choice.
 

‘Yeah. I don’t think it was a zombie, there was nothing eaten. But Jackson? Yes, I suppose so.’

The three of them exchanged looks. When the door slammed open they all jumped. Bayleigh stared at Dave, then at Alex, who shrugged. ‘I don’t think so. He didn’t know.’

She stalked across the room and grabbed Dave’s hand. He watched her, frowning in confusion as she inspected his nails. Alex got a look and saw the lack of damage and blood beneath them. He didn’t do it, which meant it had to be Jackson. It had to be.

‘We wait.’ Alex said. ‘He comes back with the devices and we take him.’

Ed snorted. ‘You take him how? He’s bigger that all of us put together.’

‘Dave could handle him.’

Dave had remained silent until now, but he looked at him with those weird flat eyes and shook his head. ‘I know what you said about the zombies, but I can’t just switch it on. I don’t even know what it is. I don’t know what it feels like.’

‘How can you not know?’

When Dave spoke again, there was something odd about his voice. It was almost as though he was trying to sound like someone who was sad might sound. But he was trying instead of just being. There was no real emotion there, but his voice cracked in all the right places, and Alex found himself rethinking things again.
 

‘I don’t know what anything feels like. It’s all gone.’

Alex and Bayleigh shared a look and Alex nodded to the door. They excused themselves and headed out. When they reached the door, Bayleigh hesitated. ‘Um, Ed, I think one of the ladies wants to speak to you.’

It was as poor an attempt as Alex had ever heard, but if Dave realised, he didn’t show it. He raised a hand in farewell to Ed and leant back in his chair. Alex pulled the door closed and dragged the others down the corridor. ‘It could still be him. I know he seems innocent, but I think he’s acting.’

‘I don’t know what he’s doing. I don’t have a clue anymore. I was so sure it was him, but now…’

‘Ed, how long have you guys been talking?’

‘Dunno, half hour maybe.’

‘He didn’t get very long to clean himself up if he did do it.’ Alex said.
 

Bayleigh shook her head. ‘It depends how long the body was there.’

‘Not long. She was still warm.’

Bayleigh looked at the floor, blinking furiously. Alex patted her shoulder, aware of how shallow a gesture it was but not having anything better.
 

She rubbed her eyes. ‘So he got cleaned up in record time and can add being an amazing actor to his freaky new persona?’

‘It’s that or Jackson came back out the tunnel after I left, made it up to the ward with no one noticing, killed the woman and got back downstairs, covered in blood, again with no one noticing.’

Ed raised a hand. ‘Unless…’ They waited for him to speak. ‘Unless one of the other ladies did it.’

‘Why do you think that?’

Alex nodded. Bayleigh was good with him, always giving him her attention and not ignoring what he said. And in this instance, Alex thought he might have a point.
 

‘I heard two of them talking.’

Alex and Bayleigh leant closer at the same time and Ed gave them an uneasy look. ‘It wasn’t much, I just heard one saying they needed to take someone out of action while they got out. But I don’t know who they were taking out of action or anything really.’

Alex put his hand to his brow and massaged it. His head hurt. ‘Let me just check. The words they used were ‘take someone out of action.’

‘Well not exactly. They said something like ‘she’s gonna do it because she likes sex.’ His cheeks went red and he looked at the floor. ‘Didn’t want to mention it because of, you know…’

Alex patted him on the shoulder, a gesture for all occasions it appeared, and made eye contact with Bayleigh. Ed hadn’t known about the open blouse. So now there were three suspects, and he hadn’t the first idea what to do with any of them.
 

Jackson

He slipped through the darkness, God’s messenger following his calling. That he was on his way to speak to a demon was making him less comfortable than he would have liked. But he couldn’t deny they both had the same goal in mind. Saving the ladies and bringing life back to God’s Earth. That was the only thing worth focusing on and he hadn’t seen much of it from Luke.
 

Luke was all about getting safe. Getting himself safe and anyone who wanted to come along. It was like rescuing the hostages had fulfilled his duty and now he just wanted the quiet life. But what was he going to do, impregnate every one of them? They needed variety. He wasn’t a scientist like Alex, but even he knew if all the kids came from the same father, the next generation would be screwed up.
 

So what was Luke going to do? Take them out to the country and keep them there until they were old and dried up? Jackson sneered in the darkness. The conflict within was lessening with every step he took. They needed to repopulate and there was no other way to do it than use every man here and every woman. If Luke had his way, Earth was doomed.
 

He wasn’t working with the demon. He was just keeping up to date, keeping their footsteps aligned so they reached the same destination. He sneered again, this time at his own words, words that sounded fancy but meant nothing. He’d never used those kind of words before. It was probably his bible reading. He’d finished it this morning and felt considerably wiser than he had. There were passages he recognised, things Mam had read to him, but there was plenty he didn’t.
 

The old testament was brutal. It made him realise his methods were justified. What he was doing was way nicer than half the stuff the people who came before did. He was a saint compared to some of that stuff.
 

He emerged into the cavern and paused. The lights were dim, only a couple of torches still alight, which suited him just fine. He crept around the wall until the shadows joined it to the cathedral then sneaked around it until he reached the entrance.
 

Jackson peered in. The church was silent and empty, the only light cast by the torches that sent flickers through the stained glass. He slipped through the door and down one side of the pews, staying deep in the shadows. He drew level with the machine and paused. A huge cross hung above the altar and, though he knew he wouldn’t answer, he sat at the end of the pew and prayed.
 

He prayed and prayed and waited and prayed a bit more. He heard nothing, but God trusted him. He knew that. He shifted and stood, knees cracking.
 

‘No one answering?’

He jumped and looked sideways at Az. How had the hell did he do that? ‘Didn’t see you there.’

‘People often say that. Normally it’s just after they’ve murdered someone. Murdered anyone recently, Jackson?’

He shook his head. He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be talking to Az. He was a demon, the incarnation of evil on Earth. But he didn’t know how to do God’s work without help, and God wasn’t speaking to him.
 

‘Yeah, he must be busy.’ Jackson said.

‘Hmm?’

‘God. He must be busy.’

‘He’s always busy, but if you listen hard, you can still hear him. His answers are in the world around you. You can hear him speak in the trees and in the wind, in the roar of the sea and the silence of the mountains.’

‘Really?’

‘Nah, I’m just shitting you. He’s a lazy bastard and no mistake.’

Jackson’s hands tightened into fists and his lip curled. He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be listening to this
thing
talk about God like that. ‘Respect your betters.’

Az chuckled a deep rumble that came from his gut. ‘If I have any betters, I’ve yet to meet them. Don’t get me wrong, he’s got plenty more power than me and a touch more experience, too, but I’m down here having a ball, and he’s trying to manage a realm in revolt.’

‘What?’

‘Oh nothing, don’t let it worry you. He’s busy, let’s leave it at that. Now, what can I do for you?’

‘How do you know I came here for you?’

‘Why else would you come?’

Jackson felt the devices crammed in his pocket and kept his mouth closed. The demon leant closer and Jackson shifted on the pew, but glared back at him. He’d never met anyone he had to look up to, but Az towered above him even when they were sitting. Jackson stood and leant against the stone pillar that met the end of the pews.
 

‘I don’t know what to do. The ladies, some of the ladies, want to leave Luke.’

Az clapped his hands together, fierce smile spreading across his savage face. He waved for Jackson to continue. ‘They wanted to come back here, but I’m not delivering them into the hands of anyone, not you or the soldiers. But then…’

His fists were clenched so tight his wrists ached. ‘But then, without the soldiers, who’s going to fuck them? I can’t do it all by myself, the next generation’ll be mutants.’

Az nodded, deep lines forming on his forehead over a mouth pursed in thought. ‘I’m glad you’ve thought about this. What have you suggested to them?’

‘I’ve said I’ll take them somewhere else. We’ll find somewhere safe and away from everyone.’

‘And then you’ll have your fun.’

Jackson snarled, cheeks heating up as he shook his head. ‘That’s what I just said. I can’t, not if we’re going to repopulate.’

‘That does leave you in a quandary, doesn’t it.’

Az leant back, steepling his fingers and resting one massive leg on the other as he stared up at the cross. ‘This, you know, is the biggest joke of all.’ He nodded at the cross. ‘This whole son of god thing. You know who the real son of god is?’

Jackson growled. Az went on as though he hadn’t. ‘Lucifer. He’s the real son, but Christians didn’t like the idea of a wayward son, so they invented some other rubbish to make them feel better. Same with lots of the others too. People stealing other people’s heads and such. All a crock.’

Jackson stalked away across the cathedral, not caring whether Az was watching. He knelt beside the machine, found the hanging plugs and plugged in his devices. Moments later they buzzed and he pulled them out and shoved them in his pocket.
 

Az still stared up at the cross, eyebrows together as he frowned. Jackson was halfway up the aisle when Az spoke. ‘I’ll bring them to you.’

Jackson paused, one foot half raised. He set it down and stared up at the dome. It was beautiful, even in miniature. Nothing close to the majesty of God, but still. He’d never thought about beautiful before. Beautiful was a fine pair of tits on the woman kneeling in front of you. Beautiful was cash in large amounts. God was teaching him all the time. Just because he didn’t speak to him out loud didn’t mean he wasn’t learning.
 

Jackson turned back to the demon. He acted all tough but there was truth, hidden in his words and behind his sneer. He stomped back to the front pew and lowered himself onto it.
 

‘Who will you bring?’

‘I’ll bring soldiers. Not all of them, just those I can rely on not to blab to Etienne and the others. They can take turns, it won’t take long. We can do it in secret.’ Az nodded and brought his eyes around to stare at Jackson. ‘Can you do that? Can you be secret?’
 

‘I’m here, aren’t I?’

‘And does anyone know you’re here?’

‘They think I’m charging the devices.’

‘Okay, then.’ Az paused, his eyes fixed on Jackson’s. ‘Tell me, how is Dave doing?’

‘Alright. Dunno. He’s quiet.’

‘But nothing weird happening?’

‘Nah.’

‘Mmm.’

‘How will you know where I’ve gone?’

‘I’ll find you, don’t worry about that. But Jackson, stay in the city, yeah? Don’t go gallivanting around the countryside. I don’t like the country.’

Jackson nodded and rose from the pew. There was a burning in his gut and he didn’t know whether it was nerves at the reality before him or a loathing for the creature sat on the bench. Was he betraying God? God had created demons, hadn’t he? Az was his creature, just the same as the rest. He shook his head and didn’t look back until he left the cathedral.
 

He slipped back into the ward and replaced the devices. It was quieter than when he left. He would get the other devices and get it done, but he wanted to speak with Harriet and check they were still coming with him. He grabbed the other two devices, shoved them in his pocket and went in search of her.
 

He spotted her figure long before he saw her face and paused for a moment. She’d be his. She had child-bearing hips and tits he couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into. It was as though she heard him thinking, because she turned from the two ladies she was chatting with to stare at him. She might have seen him flush as she swayed over, but he didn’t care. If it had just been the two of them, he’d have got his dick out there and then and showed her what she was missing.
 

‘Jackson. Where have you been?’

‘Charging the devices, getting ready to leave. Are you ready?’

She bit her lip in a way that made him stiffen, and nodded. ‘We are. Where are we going?’

‘That’s what we gonna talk about. We’ll stay in London. There’s food here and everything else we need. How many of you are there?’