Savage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel (19 page)

D
amien stared out at the fires on the
shore and fought the urge to throw up over the side.  If he’d eaten
recently, he probably would have.  What he’d just witnessed was beyond
belief.  Even though he’d known it was coming, Samuel’s actions itched at
his soul.  Damien had naively hoped that Frank would persuade his son to
stay his hand, but it appeared that the captain was without mercy. 
He
destroyed the pier and killed everyone.  Just to kill one man!

It’s my fault.  If I’d just brought back that
goddamn cripple….  Now people are dead because of me.  A child is
dead because of me. 

Damien gripped the gunwale and squeezed so hard that
the bones in his hand creaked.  His body shuddered and he was unable to
blink.  The fires shimmered on the water and lit up the night.  The
inferno held his gaze, unwilling to let him look away from what he’d
done. 
What Samuel
did.
  I need to stop
blaming myself.  I didn’t have the power here, Samuel did.

But I could have done something.  Anything….

“Do you still need convincing of what Samuel is?”

Damien didn’t turn around.  He knew Harry’s voice
well enough to recognise it.  “I should have killed your friend the first
chance I got.  I should never have flinched.”

Harry joined him at edge.  “What do you mean?”

“I mean I had a clear shot at his head but I flinched
at the last second.  Now I wish I’d pulled the trigger without thinking
about it.”

“You’re not a murderer,” said Harry.  “That’s a
good thing.”

Damien snorted.  “I killed two men less than
twenty-four hours ago.  Fox and Birch.”

Harry said nothing.

“If Samuel finds out I killed both men he sent with me
to the pier, he’ll have me killed.  He already knows I killed Birch, but
at least then I had reason.  He won’t ignore me killing Fox.”

“Why did you kill Fox?  He seemed harmless enough
the few times I spoke with him.”

“To protect
you
, you bloody dickhead.  Fox
would have told Samuel everything that Tim had said, about how you two were
involved together.  He’ll still find out one way or another, though. 
We’re both screwed.”

Harry nodded and looked serious.  “All the more
reason to listen to what I’ve told you.  Samuel Raymeady is evil, a
monster.  He needs to be stopped before more things like this
happen.  Those people on the pier are burning alive because of the casual
orders Samuel gives from the comfy chair in his chambers.  He’s craven,
unwilling to bloody his own hands.  He must be stopped.  The people
on this boat are already brainwashed, but it’s not too late to do
something.  We can
st
-”

“Stop!” Damien hissed.  “Just…
stop
. 
Samuel isn’t evil.  There is no good or evil.  There’s just
people.  And people are weak or they are strong, they are selfish or they
are dead.  I’m not interested in staging a coup just so some other bully
can take control later on down the road.  People like Samuel Raymeady have
always controlled the human race, because the rest of us don’t want to make the
tough decisions.  If he’s willing to take on all of the lost souls of the
fleet, then he’s entitled to do as he pleases.  Taking innocent lives is
just part of the gig, survival of the fittest.  Thousands of years of history
have taught us that.”

“There is no history,” Harry said angrily.  “The
history books were erased when the dead rose to eat the living.  Mankind
has started anew and none of the old mistakes need be repeated.  If the
human race is resurrected on the back of a man like Samuel Raymeady, then we
might as well have died.  What are we even living for, if not to do things
better this time around?”

Damien closed his eyes for a second and tried to
ignore the stench of burning wafting from the shore.  Even if he agreed
with Harry and wanted to do something, there was nothing he
could
do.  The people of the fleet were happy to follow Samuel.  They had
watched the pier burn and not one of the ships had broken away from the
fleet.  Not one single person had headed for the mainland to help those
who may still be alive.  Nobody cared.  People only wanted what was
best for them.

“You have to do something, Damien.”

“Why do I?  Why do I have to do anything? 
Why don’t you go and plant a sodding bomb like your friend, Tim.”

Harry looked away and sighed.

Damien shook his head.
  Please, don’t tell
me….
  “You have, haven’t you?  Harry, if you’ve done something,
un-do it now.  I won’t watch while they string you up and turn you into a
figurehead for the
Kirkland
’s bow.”

“Then don’t watch.”

Anger took a hold of Damien and before he was able to
stop himself he backhanded Harry across the face.  A couple of civilians
playing cards a few metres down the deck looked up to see the ruckus, but they
quickly lowered their heads when they saw who was involved.  Damien stared
at his friend and saw the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. 
“H-Harry, I’m sorry.”

Harry wiped the blood away with his sleeve. 
“Don’t apologise.  Just do what’s right.  Show me that what I saw in
you years ago was right.  You’re the man people should be following, not
Samuel.”  He pointed at the burning pier.  “If you’re half the man I
think you are, you won’t let any more innocent people die.  The world is
what we make it, Damien, so don’t tell me to just fucking live with it! 
If you won’t do something, I will.”  Harry turned and walked away. 

Damien went to hurry after him, but another man
quickly blocked his path.  It was petty officer Dunn.  “I don’t have
time,” Damien snapped at the weasel-faced man. 
My best friend might
have set a bomb somewhere on this ship and right now he seems pissed off enough
to trigger it.

“The captain wishes to speak with you.”

Damien shoved Dunn out of his way.  “Later.”

“No, now!”  Dunn placed a hand on Damien’s
shoulder, which was the man’s first mistake.  The second mistake was not
ducking when Damien turned and head butted him.  Dunn squealed as he hit
the floor.  Damien was about to grab him up off the ground and send him on
his way when he realised he was surrounded.  Four other crewmen pressed in
on him in a semi-circle.  Each of them glared at him like zoo wardens
about to tackle a lion.  Damien raised his spear and placed a hand on the
hilt of his sword.

Dunn climbed up off the ground, cursing and spitting
blood.  He scowled at Damien.  “The captain would see you now,” he
growled.  “It is a matter of importance and he has demanded to see you
immediately.  If you won’t come then he has authorised me to use force.”

“Going to hit my head with your face again, are you?”

Dunn snarled.  “There are five of us.  As
much as you may fancy yourself as some post-apocalyptic warrior, you’re still
just one man.”

“Bruce Lee was one man.”

“Bruce Lee isn’t here.”

Damien couldn’t argue with the statement.  “Fine,
I give up.  I’ll come with you.”

Dunn smiled like a well-fed cat. 
“Wonderful.  You’re not as
stu
-”  

Damien head butted him again.  Immediately the
other crewmen grabbed Damien by the arms and restrained him.  From on the
floor, Dunn bawled, clutching at his ruined nose.  “You said you’d come
with me.”

“I didn’t say voluntarily.”

“Take him to the captain,” Dunn screamed at the other
men.  “The sooner he gets what’s coming to him, the better.”

“A
re you okay,
father
? 
You seem aggravated.”

Frank looked at his son and for a moment saw only a
monster.  He had to grit his teeth to picture the sweet boy he’d raised in
the countryside of Worcestershire.  “I…I don’t know why we fired on the
pier.”

Samuel seemed confused.  “But it was you who gave
the order.”

No I did not.  I told the gunnery sergeant to
‘miss’.  I told him to ‘miss’.  I don’t understand what
happened. 
“I…I….”

Samuel spoke over him.  “I gave you the order to
pass on to the gunnery sergeant, so why the surprise?  If you did not
agree with my orders, then perhaps you should have mentioned it at the time.”

I thought I could handle it back then.  My plan
was to avoid this.  How did it happen? 
Frank
could say nothing
.
  Words were failing him.

“I must admit,” said Samuel, “I was concerned that the
gunnery sergeant might refuse you.  Not all men possess the steel to fire
upon a defenceless enemy.”  Frank grimaced. 
Innocent
people, not enemies.
 
“So I sent for the man myself, to
reconfirm my orders.”

Frank’s eyes widened.  He looked at Samuel and
tried to read his thoughts.  It was as impossible as ever. 
He
spoke to the gunnery sergeant?  Did the man say anything about the orders
I gave him?  He must have.

Samuel picked up some papers from his desk and
shuffled them carefully.  “It’s a good thing I did speak to him, father,
because the man had his orders all wrong.  He had it in his head to fire a
warning shot.  Imbecile.”

Frank laughed and wished he didn’t sound so
guilty.  “I-
I’m
sure he misunderstood me.”

“Of course he did.  I didn’t think for one minute
that you would undermine me, father.  Not after having owned my trust for
so many years.”

“No, Samuel.  Of course not.”

“If you were to betray me, I would be so hurt that I
would probably do something quite dreadful.”  He laughed heartily. 
“My, I would probably do something unbelievably bad.  I dare not even
imagine.  I’m just glad that you would never do that to me.  You’re
the only man in this world I trust.  Nobody else do I listen to but the
man who raised me after so much tragedy had befallen me as a boy.  I owe
you a great deal, Frank.  I will repay my debt to you, one day.  You
will get what you deserve.”

Frank swallowed and remained silent. 
I’m sure
we all get what we deserve in the end.

There was a buzz at the door.  Samuel pressed a
button on his desk and the hatch door released.  Petty officer Dunn
stepped
through,
backed by four crewmen and a
struggling Roman.  Samuel stood up from behind his desk and for once moved
around in front of it.  His lanky legs and long arms were like iron pipes
either side of him as he waited to hear from his men.

Dunn was bleeding from the nose and sported a black
eye.  He sounded in pain as he spoke.   “He resisted arrest, but
I got him here, sir.”

Samuel disregarded Dunn and kept his dark eyes fixed
on Roman.  His lips parted and his upper teeth showed through like a
hungry wolf. 

Roman stared right back at him.

Frank shifted uncomfortably.  Whatever was
happening, Samuel hadn’t informed him about it.  It was unusual for him to
keep things from him and it made Frank worry. 
He doesn’t trust
me? 
What made him worry even more was that the two guns that Samuel
kept mounted on the wall behind his desk were gone. 
Why has he taken
them down?  Does he feel in danger, or is he planning on shooting someone.

Samuel told the four crewmen to leave, but allowed
Dunn, Roman, and Frank to stay.  He, himself, remained standing in front
of his desk, clutching his hands together.  “Roman,” he eventually said,
speaking the word softly, almost pityingly.  “Roman, Roman, Roman, ROMAN,
ROMAN…ROMAN!”  In his fury, Samuel seemed to have grown by a foot. 
He towered over Roman so much that the usually implacable man took a step
backwards.  Even Frank edged towards the wall. 
I’ve never seen
Samuel this angry.  He’s losing control of himself.

Roman went to speak but was unable to.  Samuel
backhanded him across the face so hard that blood appeared on the man’s
cheek.  Despite the force of the blow, Roman remained standing in
place.  Petty officer Dunn smirked from the back of the room.  Frank
winced. 
A leader should not strike his followers.  Justice needs
a calm hand.

Samuel took a breath and suddenly seemed calm
again.  “I apologise,” he said.  “But treachery puts me in the
foulest of moods.” 

Roman said nothing.  The blood on his cheek
dribbled down onto his jawbone. 

“Do you have nothing to say?” Samuel asked.

Roman shrugged.  “Do you have any beer?”

Samuel struck Roman again.  Again Roman remained
standing in place.  “You insolent wretch.  You stood before me and
told me Fox and Birch died in unavoidable circumstances.  You lied to my
face after all I have given you.  After all I have done for you
cockroaches and I am still defied at every turn.”

Frank kept quiet in the corner, yet hung on every word
with interest.  He was unaware what information Samuel was acting
on. 
I knew Roman was lying, but I never said anything about it to
anyone.  Who’s been speaking to Samuel?

“
Dunno
what you’re talking about, mate,” Roman said.  Frank had noticed that the
man’s speech patterns would change whenever he lost his cool. 
He tries
to hide the fact he’s an uneducated thug.

Samuel shook his head and laughed resignedly. 
“You killed Birch, you admitted it, but you lied about killing Fox, didn’t
you?  A member of the fleet saw you dump the body.”

A look of understanding came over Roman, almost as if
he had known about the witness.  Frank sighed.  The revelation didn’t
shock him, but he knew that what happened next would not be pretty.

“You do not seem surprised,” said Samuel.  “You
knew there was a witness?”

“The witness spoke with Roman on the aft deck,” said
Dunn.  “I noticed the exchange and investigated.  The man’s name is
Hugo Alban.  He told me that he reported seeing a body dumped at sea, from
a yacht he saw leaving the pier.”

“Well,” said Samuel.  “That could only be the
yacht I sent you ashore in.  Quite condemning.  That this lawful
citizen gave his story to the very culprit of the crime is ironic, don’t you
think?  Good thing petty officer Dunn was there to see justice prevail.”

“I am honoured to serve the fleet,” said Dunn like a
trained parrot.  Frank did not like the man.  He was a sycophant with
an agenda, always ready to clutch a man’s hand in friendship, but let go of it
over a cliff.  Roman turned and glared at Dunn with a baleful grin on his
face.  Dunn stepped back towards the hatch door, all of his swagger
suddenly melting. 

Samuel folded his long, bony arms across his chest and
let out a breath.  The room filled with a pungent odour.  “I am
disappointed in you, Roman.  I thought you were a man of worth, but you’re
nothing but a Judas.  You are a murderer and a traitor.”

“You’re the murderer,” Roman spat.  “You killed
all those people on the pier, and for what? 
To keep Tim
quiet?
  To stop him telling everyone that it was you who released
the infection which killed billions of people.”

Frank balked.  Of all the things he’d heard said
of his adopted son, that was the most audacious.  Many theories existed
about the rise of the dead, from meteorites to God’s wrath, but to place the
blame on a single man was absurd. 
Samuel is just an easy target for
blame.

Samuel cackled so hard that his pale cheeks went
red.  “You believe such nonsense?  Officer Dunn, do you think I have
the power to raise the dead?”

Dunn was in hysterics.  Between belly laughs he
shook his head and said “no.”

“You had the money and power to raise the dead,” said
Roman.  “If anyone could be responsible for the plague that ended the
world, it’s a man like you; a man with endless resources and no
conscience.  There was a little girl living on that pier, I told you, and
you fired at them anyway.  You’re a monster.”

“They were enemies of the fleet.”

“They were innocent.  You’re the only enemy of
the fleet.”

Frank swallowed.  As much as he dismissed claims
that Samuel caused the end of the world, he thought his actions toward the pier
were unnecessarily cruel.  He wanted to speak in Samuel’s defence but
found himself unable to.  Perhaps when things blew over he could find time
to explain to his son the error of his ways. 
He’s just young. 
Where are those guns he took from the wall?  Why does he need them?

“The captain was doing what he had to for the good of
the fleet,” said Dunn, but nobody paid any attention to the man.  Roman
and Samuel were focused only on each other.

“The people on that pier got what they deserved,” said
Samuel.  “They were given the option of friendship, but they chose
defiance.  They left me with no option.  The same way you, Roman,
have left me no option but to sentence you for the murders of Birch and Fox. 
You will be put to death at noon tomorrow.  I hope you serve as an example
to all others who find murder acceptable.  To think I had such high hopes
for you.”

Frank sighed.  He hated to see any man put to
death, but murder was murder.  Roman had always concerned him and it
appeared that it was with good reason.  The man was a loose cannon and
murder demanded the harshest sentence.  Samuel’s judgement was fair.

Roman stood silently in front of Samuel.  The
news of his pending execution seemed not to bother him in the slightest.

“Did you hear me?” said Samuel.  He took a step
towards Roman so that the two men were almost nose-to-nose.

Roman brought his spear arm up and drove it towards
Samuel’s thin waist.  Frank was too slow to react and too far away. 
Oh, Jesus, God, no.
 

The shaft of metal moved quickly. 

Samuel twisted to one side. 

The spear missed its target and stabbed thin
air. 

Samuel grabbed the wooden shaft and shoved the metal
tip down on his desk.  Then he snapped it in two with his other hand.
 The spear tip skittered across the desk and Roman lost his balance.
 Frank rushed forward and grabbed him in an arm lock, while Dunn hurried
forward to help him.

As Roman struggled, Samuel shook his head pityingly. 
“Stupid, stupid, stupid.  I was going to give you a quick death, a
beheading, but now I might just tie you up from the stern and leave you to
starve to death.”

“Do whatever the fuck you want,” spat Roman. 
“You’re a dead man.  I promise you.”

Samuel grinned.  “I’ll die when I’m ready, not
when you decide.  That’s the difference between you and I, Roman.  I
have the power over life and death.  Frank, take him to the brig.”

  Frank yanked Roman by his arm and swung him
around.  As he did so, Roman head butted petty officer Dunn right in the
face, re-breaking his nose.  The man fell to the floor bellowing. 
Frank stepped over the crying officer and led Roman away.  In his gut he
had the horrible feeling that everything was beginning to fall apart.