Thirteen Roses Book One: Before: An Apocalyptic Zombie Saga (30 page)

He raced down the corridor to a glass fire door. Through that and down the stairs inside, he arrived in the basement, which was either a great idea or the worst he'd ever had. Actually, coming to the hotel was probably the worst, but this might follow a close second.
 

It was dimly lit and quiet, and he rested against the wall. He couldn't get the image out of his head, of her pale tongue licking the soft grey matter. He slid down and covered his head with his hands. Did he really deserve this? All he'd done was cheat on his wife and lie to the person he was cheating with. Millions of people did it every day. So where were they? Why was he the only one stuck in London surrounded by the grossest zombies known to man?

Perhaps there were others. He didn't know for sure he was the only one still alive. If there were others, they'd be hiding the same as him, so of course they'd be difficult to find. Maybe some of them would be women. He thought about Steph. Maybe she was still alive.

His heart leapt. How hadn't he thought of this before? Maybe there were lots of people still alive, all hiding in their basements and ducked down below their windows. He could bang on doors until someone opened one. There was no way he was the only one deserving of this, no way at all.
 

He had to get out of the hotel. He had to find Steph. She was still alive, she had to be, and she'd sort everything. And a blow job would put so much right.
 

He returned to the stairs and crept up them and out the fire door. He was walking with purpose now and had his breath back. His head thumped and his stomach rumbled but he could do this.
 

He entered the corridor in which he'd left the zombies and paused. The sound of eating, wet and crunchy reached him and his hunger fled. He tiptoed until he saw her, bent low over the body of her companion. He crept closer still and she sat up sharply. He gasped and almost dropped the fire extinguisher. She looked at him with dark, sunken eyes and he braced his feet. Then she bent and put her face back in the guts of the other receptionist.
 

He stared for a moment, waiting for his brain to catch up or do something other than scream. When he decided it was pretty much stuck on a loop, he set his feet apart, raised the extinguisher and brought it down as hard as he could on the back of her head.
 

Most of her skull mixed and mingled with the guts just beneath it, and he ran before he could see any more. He kept running all the way to the exit before he stopped and looked at the extinguisher. It wasn't a bad weapon, but it was pretty heavy and he didn't like the idea of lugging it all the way down Regent Street.
 

He looked around the lobby and spotted the umbrella pot. The umbrellas looked too flimsy, but there were two walking sticks in there. One had the thick rubber end and was next to useless, but the other was more of a tapered stick, with a sharpish end and a comfortable handle. He could stab with that, through eyes and mouths, and his mind just kept on screaming.
 

He grabbed it and set off, through the exit and down onto the street. Nothing had changed. The sun was dipping and he'd half expected the zombies to head home once work was over, but still they meandered this way and that.
 

Within moments of his arrival on the street, those closest to him turned and their growling rose in volume. He set off, running at a pace he thought he could maintain. He put one hand to his chest, reliving for a second the horrible feeling of being stuck in London with pneumonia, barely able to breath and having to rest every five seconds.
 

Now, though, he had energy and he had a reason, and it carried him rapidly down Regent Street. Oxford Circus was predictably busy and he slowed as he reached it. There had been arguments; here and there were gatherings of feasting zombies, pulling apart their comrades. As far as continuation of the species went, these guys weren't the smartest. Not that they needed to worry, there were hundreds just in this small space. And he had to get through them.
 

He banged his hand against his forehead as he finally looked at the cars and buses in various states of repair littering the street. Some were ploughed into shop fronts, others against lamp posts. A few were stopped in the street, with no visible signs of damage. With a silent shout of joy, he rushed across to a BMW slewed sideways across the road. The door was open and the keys hung in the ignition.
 

He jumped in and noted with relief that the engine was switched off. The driver had gotten long enough to get out and run before he, or she, was zombiefied. Unless they were still alive. Unless they were one of the lucky ones like him.
 

He turned the key and giggled as the engine roared to life. Every zombie in a twenty foot radius turned to stare at him, and he hastily yanked the door shut and checked the windows. He slipped it into first and pulled away. And stalled. He cursed, thumped the wheel and turned the key. The car grumbled and he went cold, then it sparked up again.
 

He was more careful this time, pulling around the car in front and weaving slowly between the others. He'd gone maybe fifty feet when the first zombie threw itself on the bonnet. He stamped on the brakes and it slid off and landed on the floor in front of the car. With his lips pulled back from his teeth, he put his foot down. It sounded like driving over dead branches, only with damp ground beneath. His stomach turned over.
 

He accelerated, weaving as carefully as he could without going too slowly. Within a couple of minutes, Piccadilly Circus came into view and he allowed himself a moment of triumph. He was going to make it. The junction was rammed and he took to the pavement, scattering zombies this way and that. It was like being in a Bourne movie. He giggled and put his foot down, screeching back onto the road and stamping on the accelerator before hauling it round a bus.
 

A woman stood in the middle of the road. Blood streamed from her face and shoulders, and without thinking he hauled on the wheel. The car shot sideways, mounted the curb and slammed straight into the base of the Statue of Eros. His head hit the wheel and the world span and began to go black.
 

He glanced over his shoulder at the woman and saw the tell-tale skin and eyes. She was a zombie. It was just a zombie. The next moment she was swamped by her greedy compatriots.

David tried to get his seatbelt off, but his hands were thick and clumsy and the world was still spinning. His arms refused to do what he told them. He stared at the door for what felt like hours until he finally found the locking mechanism. He pushed it and heard the satisfying thunk of the car locking. Then the world went black.
 

Alex - Saturday: 5 Days to Plague Day

Lisa was pretty. Ever so slightly lopsided and with a slightly larger nose than he'd like, but pretty nonetheless. Kali, on the other hand, was beautiful. She was the colour of chocolate and had a face that was perfectly symmetrical. Her smile seemed to promise things, and despite the crisp Indian accent, they were things he thought he'd probably never even imagined. She had eyes the colour of night. He'd thought they were brown to start with, then the light had caught them and they'd glowed so dark blue they were almost black. And her body...

Luke grabbed her arm, snarling as he dragged her towards the church.
 

'There'll be clothes in there, find some and put them on.'

Kali's eyes widened, searching Luke's face as though she would find the answer there to why he was being such a dick. Alex almost reassured her that he was always this way, but he had the feeling the two of them had known one another far longer than he had.
 

They raced into the church, which was disappointingly ordinary inside, and found something for Kali to wear in a duffel bag hanging on a set of hooks. She took the robe off and dropped it on the floor, entirely unselfconscious about being naked in front of the two men. She even turned to Luke with a look that made Alex shiver and said, 'Sara sends her regards. She misses you.'

Luke turned away and Alex, blushing red, did the same, but not before catching her eye. She gave him that smile again and he stopped turning, unable to take his eyes off her. She kept smiling, taking a long while to pull the t-shirt over her head. Even with it on, her figure was on display and his face grew hotter. She finished getting dressed slowly, not taking her eyes off his.
 

Luke cleared his throat and grabbed Alex's arm. He pulled him away across the church and smiled. It wasn't his normal smile, nor the evil look he seemed to enjoy so much. This was a forced smile, dragged up from somewhere, but reluctant and overworked.
 

'What's wrong?'

Luke stared, eyebrows rising and then he let go and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths. His face relaxed, and when he opened them, his eyes bored into Alex. 'Is that better?'

'I don't know. You look better, sure, but--'

'I'm fine. There's nothing wrong. Kali over there is a succubus. You'd do well to steer clear of her. She is very sexy and very beautiful and will happily ensnare you with the sole motivation of eating your soul. Your only consolation will be that the last few minutes of your life will be very pleasurable.'

Alex grinned and Luke shook his head. 'That isn't as nice as it sounds. Trust me, someone doing anything to your soul is bad enough. Eating it is on the outer limits of what you can handle before your brain goes pop.'

'I wasn't grinning about that, I haven't heard the word succubus in years, not since I played
Dungeons and Dragons.
'

Maybe he should ask Kali whether Luke had a mental issue or something. He turned to walk over to her and Luke's hand wrapped around his wrist. 'When will you start believing? You saw what I did to those soldiers'

'And believe you me, it was impressive. But the whole god thing and now succubus? I mean, really?'

Luke smiled more naturally this time. 'I really will enjoy watching your face when it hits you. When you can no longer deny it, it's going to be so much fun.'

Luke shoved his arm away and stalked across the church. Kali was clothed now, though managing to look even more alluring in a tight t-shirt and tight jeans and just tight everything. That she had no underwear on made it even worse. Alex gritted his teeth. He needed to focus on the cure, on the formulae. There were so many things he had to remember that weren't on the board. Pages of stuff he hadn't thought Luke needed to hear.

The crazy man grabbed Kali by the arm and dragged her across the church towards the altar. She struggled for a brief moment, but something he said stilled her. Alex rushed over. Why was he being so unpleasant? He couldn't believe he was still wondering that, but Luke had just rescued her, so that had to count for something. Why rescue her and drag her about like she was worthless?

As he grew closer he heard what they were saying.

'The Father didn't send you, don't lie to me. Who sent you?'

The smallest of worry lines marred Kali's forehead, but made her no less stunning. If anything, the addition of humanity made her even more desirable.
 

'It was him. He was worried about your behaviour here so far, he--'

'So who's watching me? If you've seen my behaviour, who else has?'

She cast her eyes to the ground and looked up at Luke through long dark lashes. 'Everyone. There's a screen in the Dome. It's on all the time so you can just go and watch it.'

Luke burst out laughing. 'So I'm the entertainment. Where has the Father gone?'

'He's still at the Do-- oww!'

Luke slammed his hand across her cheek and let go of her wrist. She dropped to the floor, knees making a dull thump that chased her cry of pain around the church.
 

'The Father wouldn't put up a screen. He wouldn't make this a spectator sport, not for you or anyone else. Who did this?'

She looked down again, shaking her head. Luke knelt beside her and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. Alex stepped closer. 'Look, Luke, surely we can do this nicely, you don't need to hurt her.'

Luke waved his hand in dismissal and Alex hesitated.
 

'Who did this?'

Kali's mouth stayed shut. Luke stared at her for a moment and Alex caught a glimpse of his face. His eyes flared, golden light spilling from the edges and his mouth was so tight his lips all but vanished. Alex took a step back as Luke surged to his feet and turned. 'You want proof? You want to be enlightened?'

He hauled Kali up by the arm and dragged her over the altar and past it, to where a huge golden cross towered above them. Kali writhed and whined and the sound wasn't entirely human.

'I don't want proof. Whatever you're doing, stop it, I don't want proof.'

Luke turned back, sneer on his face. 'This isn't about you. I just thought you might be interested.'

Without another word, he spun back, grabbed Kali by both arms and lifted her, slamming her against the cross. The moment she touched it a hissing sound filled the church and she screamed. Smoke rose from her back and she struggled and kicked. He gagged as a smell like burning hair filled his nostrils.
 

Luke held her there, every muscle tense. The hissing grew louder and Alex backed away as her face changed. The beauty was gone, just like that, replaced with red scales and a nose almost flat to her face. Her eyes shifted, melting from the front of her face out to the sides, and her mouth grew wider and wider.
 

He put his hand over his mouth, gasping as she changed completely. She looked like a lizard, the colour of blood and five feet tall. Her jaws extended and she snapped at Luke. He wagged his finger in front of her. 'Uh, uh, none of that. You are here now, corporeal and entirely present, and either I get my answers or I break your neck, understood?'

The soft melody of her voice had become a deep croak. 'Take me off this damned cross.'