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Authors: Richard Murray
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him.
“The thing is,” she said. “After speaking with your friends, I learned that you all met up in a refugee centre in that same town I was getting set to visit before it all turned to crap.”
“Coincidence,” I muttered.
“Possibly,” she agreed. “A hell of a coincidence though. Especially when you hear the other tales being told about your boyfriend.”
“Get to the point,” I snapped.
She looked at me, eyebrows raised in exaggerated surprise.
“The point darling, is that I think I found the serial killer.”
“Good luck finding any police to listen to you,” I said as I pushed myself to my feet and brushed off the seat of my pants.
“Oh no,” Becky said. “You misunderstand. I don’t want to see him brought to justice, far from it. I want to warn you.”
“Warn me?”
“Yes,” she said with a look of pure malicious joy. “Haven’t you noticed he’s getting bored?”
Chapter 9
Ryan
The mud stuck to my hiking boots and coated the lower part of my jeans. I couldn’t help but look back on my life before the apocalypse where I’d led a neat and ordered existence.
Pat seemed indifferent to the mud as he tied up the boat on the lakeshore, his movements not hampered by the large rucksack he carried on his back. He had a faraway look and faint smile as he worked. Greggs’ grin stretched from ear to ear and I guessed he’d been told about his sisters’ condition too.
Jenny was standing close by and tried to keep her face expressionless. For some reason she seemed to be trying to emulate me. I couldn’t complain, she’d proven useful and was fast becoming adept at slaying the zombies we encountered. When it came to live people though, she still showed reticence.
The final member of our party was Gabby. She was irritatingly chipper more often than not and though she claimed she’d not known her loyal hound Toby had been sent to kill me by Rachel, I wasn’t so certain.
“It’s about eight miles or so to Coniston so we should be there before it gets dark,” Gabby said.
“That’s if we follow the road,” Gregg said pointedly. “That’s likely not the safest route though.”
“Why not?”
“Have you forgotten the zombies?”
“We’ll see them coming and can leave the road if needed,” she protested.
I caught Pat’s eye and he nodded in understanding before moving to stand between Gabby and me. With her distracted I set off at a brisk pace towards the road.
Once there, I clambered over the moss covered drystone wall and began to climb the hill. It was steep but not so steep as to leave me winded. One of the few benefits of my post apocalypse life was the chance to do a great deal of cardio. I was in better shape than I’d ever been.
Jenny followed along behind, her hand on the carving knife handle sticking through her belt and head turning constantly as she searched the undergrowth for any signs of a threat. I nodded approvingly, if she was going to stick near me then it was good to know she wasn’t going to get me killed by being stupid.
The faint sounds of Gabby and Gregg’s argument could still be heard as I crested the hill and crouched down beside a birch tree. I breathed in deeply, senses alert for the stench of death that accompanied the zombies.
From my vantage point I could just make out the road winding through the trees a short distance away and beyond that, the small cluster of houses that made up the village of Near Sawrey. We could bypass those houses, they’d been picked clean by us long ago anyway.
Some way beyond that village was the smaller lake of Esthwaite water. We’d need to go around it to the north, through the town of Hawkshead. Another place we’d picked over quite completely over the winter months.
The road from Hawkshead led straight through to Coniston though and that would be the quickest way. I hesitated at the thought of using it though. Even if we walked the road until we reached Hawkshead, it made sense to duck into the
“The thing is,” she said. “After speaking with your friends, I learned that you all met up in a refugee centre in that same town I was getting set to visit before it all turned to crap.”
“Coincidence,” I muttered.
“Possibly,” she agreed. “A hell of a coincidence though. Especially when you hear the other tales being told about your boyfriend.”
“Get to the point,” I snapped.
She looked at me, eyebrows raised in exaggerated surprise.
“The point darling, is that I think I found the serial killer.”
“Good luck finding any police to listen to you,” I said as I pushed myself to my feet and brushed off the seat of my pants.
“Oh no,” Becky said. “You misunderstand. I don’t want to see him brought to justice, far from it. I want to warn you.”
“Warn me?”
“Yes,” she said with a look of pure malicious joy. “Haven’t you noticed he’s getting bored?”
Chapter 9
Ryan
The mud stuck to my hiking boots and coated the lower part of my jeans. I couldn’t help but look back on my life before the apocalypse where I’d led a neat and ordered existence.
Pat seemed indifferent to the mud as he tied up the boat on the lakeshore, his movements not hampered by the large rucksack he carried on his back. He had a faraway look and faint smile as he worked. Greggs’ grin stretched from ear to ear and I guessed he’d been told about his sisters’ condition too.
Jenny was standing close by and tried to keep her face expressionless. For some reason she seemed to be trying to emulate me. I couldn’t complain, she’d proven useful and was fast becoming adept at slaying the zombies we encountered. When it came to live people though, she still showed reticence.
The final member of our party was Gabby. She was irritatingly chipper more often than not and though she claimed she’d not known her loyal hound Toby had been sent to kill me by Rachel, I wasn’t so certain.
“It’s about eight miles or so to Coniston so we should be there before it gets dark,” Gabby said.
“That’s if we follow the road,” Gregg said pointedly. “That’s likely not the safest route though.”
“Why not?”
“Have you forgotten the zombies?”
“We’ll see them coming and can leave the road if needed,” she protested.
I caught Pat’s eye and he nodded in understanding before moving to stand between Gabby and me. With her distracted I set off at a brisk pace towards the road.
Once there, I clambered over the moss covered drystone wall and began to climb the hill. It was steep but not so steep as to leave me winded. One of the few benefits of my post apocalypse life was the chance to do a great deal of cardio. I was in better shape than I’d ever been.
Jenny followed along behind, her hand on the carving knife handle sticking through her belt and head turning constantly as she searched the undergrowth for any signs of a threat. I nodded approvingly, if she was going to stick near me then it was good to know she wasn’t going to get me killed by being stupid.
The faint sounds of Gabby and Gregg’s argument could still be heard as I crested the hill and crouched down beside a birch tree. I breathed in deeply, senses alert for the stench of death that accompanied the zombies.
From my vantage point I could just make out the road winding through the trees a short distance away and beyond that, the small cluster of houses that made up the village of Near Sawrey. We could bypass those houses, they’d been picked clean by us long ago anyway.
Some way beyond that village was the smaller lake of Esthwaite water. We’d need to go around it to the north, through the town of Hawkshead. Another place we’d picked over quite completely over the winter months.
The road from Hawkshead led straight through to Coniston though and that would be the quickest way. I hesitated at the thought of using it though. Even if we walked the road until we reached Hawkshead, it made sense to duck into the
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