The Zombie Saga (Book 2): Burn The Dead (Purge) (15 page)

It’s
2:07 a.m.

Can’t quite believe I
dozed off. Never thought I could, what with everything going on. Must be
drained I guess, mind and body shutting down, recharging for the next horrific
thing.

Josh is sleeping, half the
wedding dress draped over his body, his head resting on Amelia’s thigh. She’s
wide-awake, still sitting upright. Don’t know how she’s managed to stay like
that without her back aching. Must be her age.

I sit up on the beam and
stretch my arms up high, releasing the tension in my back and shoulders. “You
okay, Amelia?” I ask, softly.

She just nods.

“How long has he been
out?” I ask.

“A few hours”

“Good. Let’s hope he
sleeps a little longer. He needs it.”

She nods. “Yeah.”

I can tell she’s
struggling to cope, despite her brave, hardened expression. She’s tough but not
tough enough not to crack under such pressure. Not really sure how to deal with
her. Should I leave her in silence? Or should I distract her with idle
chitchat?

I don’t do silence.

“So tell me about Michael
and Juliet,” I say. “What were they like?”

She shrugs. “They were all
right.”

“Better than the last
family?”

“I
suppose
,” she
replies, a glint of suspicion in her eyes.

“How come?”

“Look, Cath, I know what
you’re trying to do but there’s no need. I’m not a kid. I don’t need you to
take my mind off anything.”

“But it’s good. For both
of us. We could use the distraction.”

She shakes her head,
scowling. “
No
, we don’t. I’d rather have my mind
on
the
situation. The last time I took my eye off the ball, my
dead
foster mum
took a bite out of my brother.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” I
reassure her. “If anything, it was mine. I should have made sure that
living-room was sealed off properly.”

“With what?”

“I don’t know.
Anything
.
Or at least stayed downstairs, guarding it. Instead of lying on a bloody bed.”

“None of this was your
doing,” Amelia says with conviction. “How could it be? You were the one who
locked Juliet in the bedroom. You were the one who got the antiviral for Josh.
And if it weren’t for you then those Necs down there would have been up that
ladder in a second. Josh was the one who left the bedroom door unlocked—
and
I was the one who let the rotten bastards into the house.
”

“Look, if it weren’t for
you and your brother, I’d be another dead body, crawling around your garden. I
owe you both my life. So whatever
mistakes
you think you’ve made
tonight—I’m pretty sure we’re all even. All right?”

Amelia falls silent.

“How about we go back to
my distracting plan,” I say with a slight smile. “You’re really beginning to
put a dampener on my evening. I was in a good mood before your started bumping your
gums.”

Amelia fights off a small
grin, but I see it, buried beneath the dread, the horror, the claustrophobia of
the attic. “You’re crazy.”

“And you’re a lunatic,” I
say, lying back on the beam again, hands behind my head. “That’s why we get
along so bloody well.”

I close my eyes, but I can
tell she’s still smiling.

* * *

The attic has been silent
for the past few minutes, apart from the weak sound of footsteps and moans
below.

I hear a squeak. Opening
my eyes, I turn to see Amelia walking across the wood to the far corner of the
roof, using the high beams for balance. “What are you doing?” I whisper. “Get
back here. It’s not safe to walk around.”

“I’m looking for a way out
of this attic.”

“What are you talking
about? The only way out is down through the hatch.”

“Maybe we can break
through the roof, and then crawl along the tiles.”

“Are you mad? There’s no
way through. And even if there were, where the hell would we go? We’ll be stuck
on a bloody roof. We’d be worse off.”

She starts to pull away
some of the felt lining above her. “We could crawl along the roof, maybe climb
down onto the neighbour’s conservatory.” She tugs hard, and a long strip comes
away, dropping dust and debris all over her hair and shoulders. “And then we
could drop into the garden and get the hell out of here.”

I stand up on the beam,
ready to stop her. “Amelia, come back over here. It’s a stupid idea. You’ll end
up getting yourself killed.”

“What’s a stupid idea?”
Josh asks as he sits up, his eyes half-shut, still not fully awake.

“Your sister thinks we
should break through the roof and climb down the side of the house.”

“It’s not a stupid idea,”
she says. “The house is not that big, and next door’s conservatory is not that
far. We could do it.”

“Amelia, please, come back
over here,” I plead. “You’re making too much noise. They’ll hear you.”

“Who cares if they do? You
said yourself that they can’t get us up here.”

“Yes, but as long as they
know someone’s up here, the longer they’re likely to hang around.”

“
Tough
. I’m doing
this. My house. My rules.”

“Can
I
help?” Josh
asks, standing up on the wedding dress.

“Stay put, Josh,” I say.
“It’s not—”

But before my words of
warning leave my lips, I watch in horror as he steps on the weak flooring
between the beams. His entire body rips through the floor and disappears out of
sight.

“Oh, fucking hell!” I
shout. “
Joooooosh!
”

Amelia races to the gaping
hole, I quickly join her, staring at the bedroom, at least three metres down.
With the kitchen knife still sticking out of her eye, Juliet looks up at us,
her remaining eye drawn to the sound of my voice, and then to Josh as he lies
on the floor, motionless, next to the double bed, pieces of ceiling plaster and
broken wood on top of him.

Without a thought, I drop
down into the hole, managing to land on the bed. As soon as my feet hit the
mattress I feel my knee dislocate. I cry out in agony as I plunge off the bed,
onto the carpet, just inches from Josh. In a split second Juliet is on me,
blood and black tar oozing from her teeth. Grabbing her wrists, I try to push
her off me. But she won’t budge. All I can see is the horrid sight of her
snapping jaws as they near me. And then I see Amelia, hanging from the hole in
the ceiling, about to leap down to save her brother.

“No, Amelia!” I scream.
“Stay up there! I need you to pull him up!” Every word that leaves my mouth
brings Juliet closer.

And closer.

Amelia remains suspended
for a moment, but then pulls herself back up into the attic.

Pressing my good knee into
Juliet’s stomach, I manage to lift her slightly off. And then, with every ounce
of strength left, I thrust her body to the side. With both wrists still secure,
and with the use of just one leg, I crawl to my feet. The pain in my knee is
excruciating, but I still drive my boot into her throat, and hold it there,
pulling as hard as I can on her arms. First I hear her neck snap, then both her
shoulders pop out of their sockets. I keep pressing my foot into her throat
until the skin around her neck begins to split.

I don’t know what the plan
is. I know I can’t choke her. I know if her arms come off she’s still the same
threat. But I can’t stop myself. I want to hurt her somehow. I don’t care that
she’s already dead—she needs to suffer.

They all need to
suffer.

Every last one of the
rotten fuckers!

Blood starts to pool
around my foot. But Juliet’s eye is still very much open. “Why can’t you just
die
you fucking bitch?”

The room is spinning. I
think I’m going to pass out. Need to stop.

No. Not until she’s
nothing more than a stain!

Need to keep him safe.

The sound of deathly
shrieks and heavy fists beating on the bedroom door pulls me out of my frenzy.

“Josh!” I hear Amelia
scream. “Wake up! Please! You have to get up.”

I see movement on the
floor. It’s Josh; he’s stirring. “Come on, Josh!” I hiss, knowing full well
that my voice will bring about even more attention from the landing. “Wake up!”

He turns to me. There’s a
large gash on his forehead and blood is running down his face. His eyes open
and straightaway he sees Juliet, her throat and jaw crushed beyond recognition.
Screaming in terror, he scrambles away from her, his back against the bedside
cabinet.

“Josh!” Amelia cries from
above. “Get on the bed and I’ll pull you up!”

Clearly disorientated, he
takes in the events of the room—his restrained foster mother, the hole in the
ceiling, and the bedroom door about to come off its hinges.

“Move, Josh!” I yell.
“They’re coming! Get on the fucking bed!”

Too terrified even to cry,
he leaps onto the mattress and reaches up to his sister’s arm. But it’s too far,
his fingers are about a foot away.

“Jump!” she yells. “Come
on!”

Fragments of broken wood
fly off the doorframe. The lock is seconds from shattering.

Josh jumps, but merely
brushes his fingers along her open palm. He starts to panic, tears of frustration—of
horror as more wood sprays onto the carpet.

I let go of Juliet’s arms,
and I pull my boot away from the mush where her neck used to be. But she’s
still very much alive, snapping her broken jaw with what remains of her teeth.
Need
to hold the door shut
. I try to move but she grabs my boot with both hands.
My legs give way. I cry out in pain, but I still keep crawling, using the bed
to steer me.

“Come on, Josh!” Amelia
shouts. “You’re nearly there!”

Each leap brings him
closer and closer to his sister’s grasp.

I can’t shake my leg from
Juliet’s vice-like hold, so I drag my body along the carpet towards the door,
towing her behind me.

“
I can’t do it!
”
Josh cries, failing yet another attempt. “
It’s too high!
”

I reach back and start to
pry Juliet’s fingers from me, but her nails have clamped on too tight.

“
They’re almost in!
”
Josh bellows as several Nec arms worm their way through the small gap between
the door and the frame. “
They’re gonna get me!
”

“No they’re not, bro!” his
sister shouts. “Forget about them! They’re just dumb cows in a field! Remember!
They’re nothing! Focus on me!”

“
I can’t do it!
”

“Yes, you can! You’re my
brother! And you can do
anything!
Foster kids never give up! And we’re
not scared of
no one!
”

He tries again, managing
to grab a finger, but he slips back down immediately.

I quickly untie the lace
of my boot and wrench my foot out, freeing me from Juliet’s clutches.

The lock flies off and the
door bursts open.

“Oh, shit!” Amelia cries.
“They’re in!”

A stampede of Necs storms
the bedroom, fighting to squeeze through the doorway. I crawl onto the bed,
moments before they reach it. Somehow I stand, taking Josh by the waist and
picking his tiny body up just as a Nec bites into my exposed foot. I don’t feel
the pain as its teeth rip through my sock, sinking into my flesh, or the
despair as another rotter bites into my neck, spraying blood over the quilt.
All I feel is a sense of relief as I watch Amelia pull her brother up into the
attic, safe, away from the monsters.

Away from me.

Unable to stand any
longer, I fall backwards with the heft of Necs all around me. The back of my
head slams onto the floor, but I stay fixated on the horde of creatures,
scrambling to take another chunk out of me. But I won’t let them eat. They can
infect me; they can even have a taste. But that’s all. I’m nobody’s food.

If you want this free
dinner, you’re gonna have to work for it!

Using the bed, I pull
myself back onto my feet. I push my thumbs into the eye sockets of the first
Nec, blinding it. Throwing a hard punch, I demolish the jaw of another. And
another. I can no longer hear their roars, their cries of hunger. As I limp and
fight through the dead, I catch the odd glimpse of Amelia staring down in
horror from the ceiling, screaming something inaudible, with her sobbing
brother at her side. I’m out of the bedroom, onto the landing. I have nothing
left to throw at them. My arms are numb; my knee has stopped functioning. I
don’t feel anything when I collapse, headfirst down the stairs, taking several
Necs with me.

At the bottom, all I can
focus on is the attic hatch.
Please let them be okay.