Thirteen Roses Book Three: Beyond: A Paranormal Zombie Saga (14 page)

Krystal hissed and thumped her hands on her knees. She rose and peered back around the curve before setting off around the dome. He waited patiently until she arrived back from the other direction. She looked at him, up to the window, and back at him. She frowned. ‘You’re too big.’

‘For what?’

She neglected to answer and instead poked her head through the window. Then she turned her body and looked up. His mouth dropped open as her entire body followed her head. He pushed himself up and swore as his head hit the ceiling. He stuck it through the arch and looked up. She was perched atop the dome, crouched with her hands pressed against the stone.
 

‘Coming up?’

He looked down and groaned. The edge of the dome was almost vertical, dropping beneath him to the roof of the cathedral. The drop was far enough to break both his legs but not kill him. They could just leave him there to die. He swallowed and pulled his head back in. The soldiers’ shouts were drawing nearer.
 

He was the wind. He couldn’t be hurt by a simple fall. He giggled. He wasn’t the wind, he was an ill man. Thanks to Luke. That decided it. He had to survive this and save the others because he was going to kill Luke. No one else but him.
 

He put his arms through the window first, wincing as the stone took a layer of skin off them. He followed with his head and once his shoulders squeezed through, he knew he could do it. Krystal guided him. ‘Put your hands above the window. No, you need to turn your body over. Yeah, that’s it. Now, pull yourself out.’

He pulled. Nothing happened. He pulled harder, lifted his feet off the ground and slowly but surely eased through the window. His hips ground against the stone as well but finally only his legs remained. He put one hand higher, to find something to cling to, but there was nothing but smooth stone.
 

‘Take my hand. You need to get your feet on the window ledge.’

He grabbed the hand she offered and pulled. She shouted as he hauled her straight off the roof. She tumbled past him and his arm twisted as she clung on. His body spun around and he found himself staring down at her as she hung beneath him, legs kicking in space.
   

Alex

He couldn’t believe he was doing this. He didn’t much want to be the hero. He didn’t at all want to be the hero. His guilt at creating the plague went only so far and certainly didn’t stretch to being led into what was, in all likelihood, a painful and meaningless death. Not that any death had a great deal of meaning. Those sorts of things were reserved for books and the parents of soldiers.
 

He sighed and shook his head. The whole of last week had been like this, being led by Luke into stupid situations. Meeting God had been the highpoint, but since then there’d been little to recommend it as a lifestyle choice.
 

He hated being passive. And he had been. He’d made the occasional contribution, like the stupid plan they were enacting right now, but it meant little in the big scheme of things. The truth was, Luke was leading them all around. The question was, what was he aiming to achieve? He was keeping them alive so he could get home, but there had to be more than that.
 

He wanted to speak to Az. He knew that. And now that Seph guy was involved, he’d want to speak to him too. But what would the outcome be? And how would it affect him and Bayleigh and the others? He watched Luke stride ahead through the cavern, carrying Ed like he weighed nothing. He was changing. He had changed, just in the last few days. But he was still apart from them, still different in ways Alex couldn’t even begin to describe. His strength was just one facet of it.

They reached the stairs and he took a deep breath. He could do this. He didn’t want to, but he could. Luke had Ed over his shoulder, slung in a way that looked incredibly uncomfortable but was the probably the best he could do. Bayleigh’s face creased up and he watched her for a minute before he started climbing.
 

She was pretty. Not stunning or anything, but pretty in a very English sort of a way. Her smile was what he really liked, though. There was a slim chance that at some point in the future he’d see more of it. Her whole face lit up and her eyes gleamed like she believed in things the rest of the world couldn’t see. Her face climbed out of view and he watched her arse through her jeans. That was a pretty good view, too.
 

Deep down he knew he should be mourning Lisa. He wondered why he couldn’t. It was possible he still didn’t believe she was dead. There had been no funeral, no body. Did you see the body when someone died? He didn’t know anyone that had died. Even his grandparents were still healthy and happy.
 

Were. They had been healthy and happy. Now they were probably eating the Robertsons next door over some dispute about the roses.
 

He knew they were dead. He knew she was dead, but he still couldn’t mourn. Perhaps he needed space. They talked about that in books, about people needing space. They said some people mourn for years and didn’t even know they were mourning. But if he was mourning surely he wouldn’t find the sight of Bayleigh’s arse arousing.
 

He pulled himself up the first step and focused on the climb. It was difficult enough that he couldn’t think of anything else. It went quickly this time and his hand found the flat of the shelf long before he expected it. They stood high above the cavern for a moment before Luke set off into the tunnel.
 

Alex came last and, without the distraction of the climb, found his eyes wandering back to Bayleigh. She swayed unconsciously, her hips waking all sorts of things within him he really wasn’t ready for. She had a habit of flicking the hair out of her face as well, every minute or so her hand coming up to brush it away. It was both infuriating and fascinating and the journey to the door was quicker as well.
 

Luke disappeared through the wall and they followed, stopping just outside the tunnel. Luke exchanged looks with both of them. ‘No sneaking around this time. Does it feel strange to not be worrying about being seen?’

Alex nodded enthusiastically and looked around for somewhere to hide. Bayleigh shrugged. ‘I still can’t believe we’re having to hide from the only other humans alive in England. What a bloody ludicrous state of affairs.’

‘Ah, but then, you aren’t alive as we are.’ All three of them jumped at the voice and spun to see Etienne strolling through the cathedral towards them. ‘You see, our lives are blessed by the Lord. We are here because he has chosen us. You are here because he has shunned you. You are so far from his light he didn’t even notice you when the plague came.’

Luke stepped forward and cleared his throat. Alex recognised the tone in his voice as soon as he said the first word. ‘Tell me, Etienne, what’s your worst nightmare?’
 

Alex ducked his head, screwing his eyes up. The robed man shrugged and cocked his head to one side. ‘That’s an interesting question, though I don’t see what it has to do with your isolation from God. I suppose it would be being separated from my Lord.’

Luke’s face was pale and he shook his head. ‘What, what?’ He turned to Alex and Bayleigh, eyes questioning, but Alex could only shrug in response. Luke cleared his throat and coughed, then took Ed down from his shoulders. He cleared his throat a second time and started to speak. He broke off before he got a word out and stared at Etienne, forehead marred by a deep frown.
 

‘Who are you?’

‘I am Etienne. I am one of the Five. I’m so glad we’re finally having this conversation properly. Who are you?’

‘My name is Luke, first son to the Father. Why aren’t you living your nightmare?’

‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand.’

Luke stepped forward and grabbed Etienne’s throat with one hand, balancing Ed over his other arm. Bayleigh rushed over and took Ed, glaring at Luke. But he ignored it entirely, his eyes burning as he stared at Etienne.
 

‘My soldiers are all around us. I haven’t called them because I know you are too smart to kill me. But they will have no such compunction should they consider me to be in danger.’

He returned Luke’s glare and Alex watched his friend shrink and diminish. In the end, it was his eyes that dropped first to stare at the floor between them. It wasn’t the most auspicious start to blackmailing them. Not that Luke looked interested in the plan any more.
 

Alex stepped forward. ‘We have a problem.’

Etienne turned his perfectly curved eyebrows towards him and smiled. ‘And who are you?’

‘My name is Alex. I’m a scientist.’

Etienne’s face changed entirely, eyebrows racing up and a huge smile spreading across his face. ‘You’re the vessel, aren’t you? All of this is thanks to you.’ He crossed the space between them and grabbed Alex by the arms, shaking him like an enthusiastic older uncle. ‘I cannot ever thank you, not properly, but thank you nonetheless.’

‘Alex, what does he mean?’

Bayleigh’s voice was horribly steady and calm. Alex glanced at her. Her eyes were turned down to Ed but she looked up at him and he flinched. When he turned back, Etienne’s smile had changed. ‘She doesn’t know. None of them know. How splendid. Well, young lady, the plague that we released into the atmosphere only a few short days ago was designed and created by none other than young Alex here. He is what you might call something of a prodigy.’

‘Only I’m not, because someone tampered with my design. Someone gave me the formula that worked. I didn’t know it.’

‘Are you saying you were trying to make something else and someone screwed with it?’

He looked at Bayleigh again, hating the hope in her voice. He shook his head. ‘I was trying weaponise a plague that made people into zombies. It would have been the weapon you never had to fire.’

‘Like nuclear bombs, right? Cos the people of Hiroshima were relieved that was the weapon you never had to fire.’

Alex flushed and turned back to Etienne. The man had an infuriating look on his face that made him very punchable. Alex had never punched anyone in his entire life, but he could start now. He’d never killed anyone and he had at least one zombie to his name. He shuddered. It was so easy to forget about them in the safety of the cathedral.
 

‘That isn’t important. What’s important is Ed.’ He gestured to the body in Bayleigh’s arms. ‘His leg is badly broken. You have medical staff. We want one of them to help him. Your best person.’

Etienne stared at him for a moment, eyes wide, then burst out laughing. ‘What a splendid joke. Pray tell me, why would we do that?’

Alex tried to smile confidently. It probably made him look like he had constipation, but it would have to do. ‘You should do that because we have a rather vital piece of your machine downstairs. Any moment now it’s going to stop working, and all of your fancy boxes will be worthless.’

Etienne’s eyes narrowed. It was the only sign he was freaked out by what Alex said. He wouldn’t want to play poker against him.
 

‘How do you know that’s what the machine is for?’

‘Because we have one of the devices as well. We don’t have that with us either, so don’t even bother asking.’

Luke stepped beside him and he risked a sideways glance. The angel’s eyes were still cold but he looked more in control. Still, his jaws were clenched and his words were squeezed out through his teeth. ‘You will care for the boy or we will sentence every person in this cathedral to death.’

Etienne looked from one of them to the other. Then he peered around them at Bayleigh. ‘Would you?’ He stepped past Alex and approached her. ‘Would you really let them stop the machine working and let the zombies in?’

Alex almost took a step back when she looked up from Ed. Her eyes were closer in appearance to Luke’s that he’d thought they could be and carried even more contempt. ‘If you don’t help Ed, I’ll laugh as the zombies come and fuck you over.’

That stopped Etienne in his tracks and for the first time, Alex saw something other than smug confidence on his face. He turned away from Bayleigh and opened his mouth. He closed it without speaking and marched away across the cathedral, signalling for them to follow. They exchanged looks, unwilling to believe it would be that simple.
 

‘Do we follow?’

‘Do we have any choice?’

They hurried after him and caught up just as he stormed through the wall and into the white corridor. He led them into one of the rooms that looked like a doctor’s surgery, the walls covered in anatomical charts and lined with shelves of medical books. There were machines scattered around the bed and it was there that Bayleigh gently placed Ed.
 

Etienne pulled a radio from within his robes and, in a voice Alex would describe as stroppy, demanded to be attended by the doctor.
 

‘He will come and look at what is wrong. In the meantime, my soldiers will check your claim. I’m sure I don’t need to explain what will happen if you’ve lied to me.’

He stalked from the chamber without looking back. Bayleigh watched him go before she turned to Alex and Luke. ‘I can’t figure him out. We’re in the heart of the enemy stronghold and he’s just left us alone. What’s to stop us finding out all their secrets?’

Luke chuckled. ‘
You
don’t get them? I thought I was the one struggling with human nature. He said he was one of the five. So there are four others and him who have just killed the vast majority of the population of the Earth. He’s arrogant, Bayleigh. So arrogant he can’t even imagine us getting the better of him. As far as he’s concerned, we aren’t leaving.’

Jackson

Jackson chuckled and shook his head. ‘Join you? I nearly made that mistake once already with the tossers who’re running this thing. Why would I make it again?’

‘Because I’m not the tossers you’re talking about. And because I have a direct link to God.’

Jackson stopped laughing. The woman in his arms was growing heavier and he looked around for a place to put her. The alarm stopped, his ears ringing in the sudden silence.