Thirteen Roses Book Five: Home: A Paranormal Zombie Saga (2 page)

Az chuckled and shook his head. ‘All of me’s the homicidal killer part. Sorry to disappoint. Still, better than being a looney, hey.’

 
It wasn’t a question, and when he flexed his huge fists, Dave decided the conversation was at an end. He nodded, as though he liked what he’d been told, and wiped the rain from his face.
 

‘Good storm. I like a good storm.’ Az said.

‘What’s my job?’

‘Excellent question. First things first, I have an announcement to make.’ Az cleared his throat. ‘I’m going to be a father.’ He beamed and the look was as alien on his face as the zombies that crawled around, far below them.
 

‘I have two children on the way. Their mothers are being looked after by Jackson. Unless he’s pavement pizza by now, at which point they aren’t being looked after by anyone. You have a safe place here, yes?’

Dave nodded.
 

‘Excellent. Go get them and bring them here. The births will be in the next day or two so you don’t have long.’

‘Why not take them to St Paul’s? Isn’t it safer there?’

‘You’d think that. Since the women left there’s been a reshuffle at the cathedral. Etienne’s still alive, but I’m not sure how well he’s feeling. The soldiers got a bit pissed and took over. It’s a bit of a mess there, to be honest. We’ve got a few on side, enough to keep them locked down and not going around shooting anyone. But for the most part, they’re only interested in staying alive and figuring out how to screw all those beautiful young women. It’s really not the best place to take them.’

Dave rubbed his head. ‘Why me?’

‘Because you’re my helper. And because you are a part of me now and have the same instincts. I need someone for whom the safety of the children is everything. You are that person, Dave. Are you ready?’

He wasn’t. He wasn’t anywhere near ready. And how the hell was he supposed to do it?

‘Where are they?’

Az turned and pointed across the city. ‘Top floor of the Shard. Get going, you don’t have long.’

Krystal

She was relaxed. She didn’t think she’d relaxed properly in all the time since the plague began. But leaning against the metal of the bus with the cloudy sky above, her eyes were sliding closed. She had work to do, but there was something lovely about her little oasis. The growling came from all around as zombies beat futilely against the sides of the bus, but they were far below and she was safe up here.
 

‘Krystal, what the hell are you doing?’

She groaned and sat up. Bayleigh’s head poked out through the trapdoor and she glared at Krystal.
 

‘Just relaxing for a second.’

‘Right, because now’s the best time to relax.’

‘When is the right time to relax? We’ve done bugger all for four days except look at buses and look for Dave. So why shouldn’t I take a breather?’

Bayleigh boosted herself up through the trapdoor and sat on the roof. She looked around before her eyes met Krystal’s again. ‘What do you think?’

‘Of what, the bus? Yeah, it’s alright. They’re all the same. Everyone can fit, engine sounds good, and the tank’s full. Why is it any different from the last eight?’

Bayleigh shook her head and glanced around again. She looked angry and Krystal couldn’t figure out why. None of them had died or been attacked in the last few days. The ladies were talking to them again and everyone was getting on as well as could be expected after being crammed into a tiny space for over a week.
 

What was she expecting to find? An armoured London bus perhaps, with machine guns poking out the windows. Krystal snorted and Bayleigh glared at her.
 

‘What are you looking for?’

‘I don’t know. Something that feels safe?’

‘Nowhere’s gonna feel safe, Bay.’

Bayleigh wrinkled up her nose. ‘Safer than this, then.’

‘I’m feeling right safe, thanks all the same. In fact, I was just having a doze.’ Krystal lay back and folded her hands behind her head. There was a pregnant silence in which she could feel Bayleigh staring at her. Then there was a long sigh and Krystal grinned to herself.
 

‘Can we look at just one more?’

It was her turn to sigh. She sat up. ‘Only if you can tell me why. What will the next bus have that this one doesn’t?’

‘Maybe we’re looking for the wrong vehicle.’

‘That sounds more reasonable. What do you want?’

‘Something with armour and guns and spinning blades.’

Krystal giggled and shook her head. ‘You know, I thought you might be thinking that. You used to sell sandwiches, now you’re this weapons junkie.’

‘I just don’t feel right taking fifty unarmed women out in a bus covered in windows.’

‘And no machine guns, right?’

‘Exactly.’

They shared a grin and Krystal spun on her butt to look out over Trafalgar Square. ‘What about the trucks?’

‘What trucks?’

‘Those bastard soldiers’ trucks. If they’re still hiding inside St Paul’s, couldn’t we just sneak up and grab one. They looked pretty well armoured.’

‘Didn’t Jackson blow them up?’

‘He blew one up. There were at least three others and they looked fine.’

‘Can we fit everyone in one of them?’

‘Why don’t we go find out?’

Bayleigh scowled, eyebrows twitching. Then she nodded. ‘Okay, that sounds like a plan. But we go as carefully as we can.’

Krystal slid past her and straight through the open hatch, throwing her words back as she went. ‘Have you ever seen me be anything but careful?’

If there was an answer, she didn’t hear it as she pounded down the aisle of the bus. Her bike was leant up outside and she hit the bottom deck with one hand on the hilt of her sword. The zombies were still surrounding them. Getting onto busses unseen was tricky when you arrived on a motorbike. They’d have to ride double again to get away.
 

But at least they were going somewhere. She was so bored of doing the same thing over and over again. This idea might be crazy, but it might just be genius. Bayleigh joined her on the bottom deck.
 

‘Same as last time?’

Bayleigh nodded and moved to the centre doors. The emergency open button was just above them and she pressed it. The bus hissed and the doors swung aside. The zombies lurched on, dragging others with them. They waited as long as they could before they opened the front doors. The zombies weren’t gone entirely, but there was space now, enough for Krystal to straddle her bike without getting bitten.

The one zombie near enough to cause problems reacted badly to having its jaw hacked off with a sword and he growled and flapped his arms a bit. Unfortunately for him, he also sprayed enough blood to encourage three of his fellows to fall on him. The first stuck its face straight into his half a mouth and emerged moments later with his tongue flapping from between its teeth.
 

She didn’t wait to see the rest. Bayleigh jumped on the back and they were off, veering side to side as they cut through the traffic. It was strange, how little anything had changed. They’d been through so much in the last nine days, yet out here, everything was the same. There were still zombies trapped in their cars, fists bloody from banging on the windows. There was more rubbish, dragged here by the wind and dumped in corners. But it wasn’t any more than she’d seen on a Sunday morning, after the Saturday night piss up laid waste to London.
 

They fled the square and charged up The Strand, using the entire street to maintain a decent speed. Soon it narrowed into Fleet street and Krystal slowed the bike. Bayleigh jumped off and raced away, moving faster than Krystal. She moved with such grace, Krystal could happily watch her and not even think about her own driving.
 

Fortunately, the street was quiet for zombies. Most of them came into view as the spire of St Paul’s appeared. They were gathered around the cathedral, closer than they had been before. Bayleigh came around in a circle and ran alongside.
 

‘Thought we’d need to sneak up, but doesn’t look like any soldiers are out here.’

Krystal nodded her agreement and eased around a car before they came back together. The street opened up to the huge courtyard that stood before the cathedral. The zombies were four and five deep, in a massive ring around the church. It was like they knew the people who’d made them were inside. They were halfway up the steps and on the left hand side they were actually touching the wall.
 

The vans stood where they had been parked. Even the blackened wreck hadn’t moved. Krystal eased off the throttle, hoping against hope they could get to the trucks without being noticed by the hordes. Her luck was in as she pulled up behind the truck, out of sight of the cathedral and the zombies.
 

Bayleigh joined her moments later and they high-fived. Bayleigh tried the door and it opened. With an amazed smile on her face she climbed up into the cab. Then she stopped, her body stiffening. Was there a zombie in there? She was about to ask when someone spoke.
 

‘I know who you are. Are you here to kill me?’

Krystal backed away, taking slow, silent steps. She reached the corner of the truck and peered round it. The back was flat save a small step halfway between the door and the floor. The zombies were all facing the other way. It was easy, just a few short steps and she’d be in.
 

Her hands shook. Just a few short steps. But there were so many zombies. She had to help Bayleigh and it had to be now. She took a deep breath and moved slow, trying to emulate the grace she’d been admiring only a few moments earlier. She reached the door and pulled the handle. Nothing. It didn’t budge. She turned it the other way and tried again. Same deal.
 

She hissed through her teeth, trying to get back behind the van with the same calm, slow movements. Her eyes roved constantly over the zombies, waiting for just one to turn and see her. Her heart thumped in her ears, drowning out any sound her trainers might be making on the concrete. Then her back met the corner of the van and she slipped around it.
 

She pressed against the cold metal and finally let her breath out, spots appearing before her eyes. She slid up towards the cab, ears twitching.
 

‘You’re welcome to one. Just not mine.’

‘Are the others open as well? Are there keys in them?’

‘Don’t know, don’t care. Now get out or I will shoot you.’

‘Who are you?’

‘Already told you. It doesn’t matter.’

‘Why are you out here?’

‘Get out of my truck.’

‘We can help you.’

There was silence and Krystal nearly filled it by ranting at Bayleigh. They had enough to worry about without inviting others along. The guy clearly had an issue, with all sorts of things.
 

‘You can’t help me.’

Bayleigh gasped and Krystal’s curiosity get the better of her. She peeked over the top of Bayleigh’s leg and into the truck. The soldier, still dressed in his uniform, was showing Bayleigh something on his arm.
 

‘Why aren’t you dead yet? My friend, when she got bitten, she—’

Krystal squeezed Bayleigh’s leg. She jumped, glanced down at her, and smiled. The soldier noticed and looked over the top, gun coming first. Krystal stared past the barrel at the man holding it. He looked awful. His eyes were sunken and he was covered in sweat. He grunted at Krystal and sat back in his seat. She checked for zombies while he talked.
 

‘Magic. Etienne got one of the grey robes to do something and it made it go away. But only for a few days. I felt it coming back yesterday. I can’t endanger the others, I can’t.’

‘Can’t Etienne do more mojo?’

The soldier coughed and his cheeks reddened. ‘Etienne’s not really in a fit state for doing much magic.’

Bayleigh exchanged a look with Krystal, eyebrows raised. ‘How come? What happened to him?’

The soldier turned away, staring at the cathedral. His voice was quieter and doubtful. ‘We took over. They’ve done nothing but ruin the world and… we didn’t know what was happening, not really. They told us about the ladies, and what we’d be doing, but they left out the details of the plague.’

He shook his head and turned back. ‘We weren’t putting up with that. So we took over. Some of the grey robes tried some magic so we shot them. The rest are tied up. Etienne…’

‘Yes?’

‘Some of the guys thought he needed to be taught a lesson.’

‘So?’

The soldier nodded to the cathedral and waved with his hand. ‘Round the side.’

She didn’t want to see whatever was round the side. In fact, there was nothing she wanted to see less. She rubbed her face and did another zombie check. ‘Any chance we can do something? Little uncomfortable out here.’

Bayleigh shifted in her seat and nodded. ‘Well, look, are you sure we can’t do anything?’

‘Like what?’

‘We could… you know, make sure you go before you change.’

He laughed and shook his head. The sound came out croaky and he waved his gun before him. ‘Too late for that. I’m well on the way. But I’ve got my gun and I’m taking as many of those bastards with me as I can.’

‘So when will that be?’

His eyes bored into her. ‘You’re asking me when I’m going to kill myself so you can steal my truck.’

Bayleigh blushed, even her ears going red, and looked at her hands. Krystal stuck her head up. ‘No offence, but it’s way safer for us to use this one instead of running around seeing if the others are open. And if you’re going to die anyway, why not?’

He blinked a couple of times and shook his head. She thought it was in disbelief rather than any real disagreement. Then he stopped shaking and started nodding. ‘Yeah, true. Only thing is, the only people we hate more than the robes are you lot. If you hadn’t arrived, we’d all be dick deep in beautiful women. So you can fuck right off.’

He turned away and stared out the window. Bayleigh had jumped at the change in his voice and now she slipped from the van to stand beside Krystal.