Seasons of Z (Book 3): Dead Summer Read online

  “I'm a doctor,” River replied, “And I can go back and fetch the van and my supplies.”

  Alice smiled as she handed the keys to her.

  “That's great, just what we need! Would you be willing to open up the medical centre? We don't have a doctor. The lady who's been helping us is a paramedic.”

  “I would love to help!” River told her.

  “Great,” Alice said again, “We do like people who stay to contribute and I think your contribution will be enough to cover everyone. We really need a doctor in town. I'll see you again soon, enjoy your new home.”

  As Alice walked away, River handed the keys to Joy.

  “I'm going back to fetch the van.”

  “We need the car too,” Sage reminded her.

  “I'll do it,” Alex added, “I left my bike outside the gates.”

  Then he walked off with River, heading back the way they had come in as Joy stood at the gate of the big, red brick house with white nets at the windows. Roses were in bloom in the garden. It was a lovely house, and big enough for all of them. She unlocked the gate and went in as Mickey and Chris followed. Sage hung back, still thinking about what Alice had just said. It seemed too much to hope for, but she had to ask...

  Sage hurried across the street, catching up with Alice as she pulled a creased photograph from her jeans, showing it to her.

  “I realise this is a long shot, but you said you had a paramedic here, and she's a paramedic, she said she would head for the coast if she could and I've been searching for her for months. Is this her, your paramedic?”

  It wasn't the first time she had showed this picture of Bess to a stranger, and she was ready for her to shake her head and say sorry, but no. A short distance up the quiet road, she heard Poppy said Yay as Joy unlocked the door, then Sage glanced back to see Poppy run in as Joy carried Angel inside and Mickey and Chris followed. Sage didn't doubt she would soon be joining them, because Alice would say, she didn't recognise the woman in the picture. Everyone had said that, why should this time be any different? Then she looked back at her and noticed she was smiling as she looked at the picture, and she nodded her head. Sage felt her eyes burn with tears as she looked at her in disbelief.

  “You know her?”

  Alice nodded as she smiled warmly.

  “This is Bess, our paramedic,” she replied, “And you must be Sage, her Sage! You're all she ever talks about!”

  A tear ran down her face as she looked at her in surprise: Bess was alive, she was here? It felt like a dream come true and she didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry or both, but she did know she wanted to find her right away.

  “Where is she?” Sage asked as her voice choked with emotion.

  “Follow the path to the sea wall, keep going until you reach the end of the promenade. She's fishing on the pier, Sage.”

  “The pier?”

  Alice nodded.

  Sage blinked, felt a tear run down her face and brushed it away with the back of her hand. So much was racing through her mind, the long nightmare since this journey had begun, the times she had feared she wouldn't make it this far - but through it all, she had never given up on Bess. Maybe she had come close to giving up on herself a few times, but Bess? No, she had always clung to the hope she was alive. And she was here, she was safe, she was fishing on the pier...

  “Thanks...I have to go!”

  It was all she could say as she laughed and cried at the same time, then turned away and hurried across the empty street, breaking into a run as she made for the field and the sea wall in the distance.

  The others had made their way into the house, closing the door and looking around a light painted hallway where a large mirror hung on the wall. A deep red rug covered the entrance, the floor was polished wood and somewhere, a clock was ticking peacefully. This place was large, well furnished and at one glance, it was clear the apocalypse had not touched it. There was a phone left with the receiver off its cradle, and the brass hooks on the wall had no coats on it. Doors were left open, there was a mouldering cup of what had once been hot soup that had long ago grown mouldy in the front room. Clearly who ever had lived here had left in a hurry, no doubt grabbing what they could and heading off to a hopefully find a place of safety back in winter.

  Joy was free to briefly explore after handing Angel back to Mickey. She saw family pictures on a table in the front room, a couple in their late thirties and two kids aged around eight and ten. She hoped they had got out, and were not among the rotting bodies trapped in cars on the highway. She ran a hand hand over the back of a white leather sofa, then crossed a rug patterned in cream and grey swirls and looked out the window at the front garden. A clock chimed the hour, it was on the wall and still keeping perfect time. This place was immaculate, the area was secured and it truly felt as if they had finally found a safe place at last, a place where they could stay and maybe even rebuild their lives. Chris had a hand on the door frame as he stood there, missing River and her usual commentary to describe the surroundings.

  “What's it like in here?” he asked.

  “It's bloody perfect!” Joy said with a smile, then she remembered Mickey had offered to take Angel upstairs, and her smile faded as she thought about that bite to her arm.

  “I'd better look in on Angel,” she told him, and as she left the room, he went inside, took cautious steps forward, following the shapes and shadows before his eyes, then found the sofa and sat down. Joy was right. This place was perfect. It smelled clean and this was the most comfortable sofa he had sat on since the dead had started eating the living.

  Poppy was outside. There was a patio, then a wide lawn area, and at the bottom of the garden was a pool. She had run up to it, then looked down into dark, murky water where dead leaves floated and scum marked the waterline clinging to what had once been clean white tiles. She walked around the pool, pausing at the edge to lean closer, looking at her reflection in dark water.

  Something moved within. She frowned, wondering if there might be fish in it... Could there be fish? It looked like a pond now, maybe someone had put fish into it... Something was looking up at her from the dark depths. She saw eyes, two wide eyes almost completely white, and they looked small, or maybe what ever was down there, was far down... was this the deep end?

  “Are you a big fish?” she whispered, leaning over further still.

  The sun was shining down, filtering light through the dark water. And something was definitely moving down there, a shadow looming that got bigger as she walked alongside the pool and then looked down again... was the big fish following her? She was standing near the steps now, steps that led into the shallow end of the pool. She held on to the metal rail that felt warm under summer sun, then kicked off her shoes and looked back at the house. She didn't know where Sage was, and guessed her sister was in the house with the others... they wouldn't know she had gone into the pool, she wasn't going to swim in it, just paddle and maybe, find that big fish...

  The water was warm as the sun shone down. Dead leaves swirled around her ankles, then she held on to the rail, taking a step down, then another and another. She was getting wet now, so she raised the hem of her skirt and took another step down. The sun shone on to her feet on the tiled step, beyond it, the floor fell away as the depth increased.

  “Where are you, fish?” she said as she looked into the murky water.

  She had suddenly realised, this water smelled bad. Now she was in it, that smell was getting stronger. It was nasty. It didn't smell like a pond, more like something had died in here... And beneath the surface, the rotting remains of a zombie in rags with half its face blown off and a body riddled with bullets snaked along the floor of the pool, slowly rising, clawing at tiles with dead hands as one leg trailed behind it. The rest of the lower body was gone, torn away by a grenade blast back in winter. Its guts trailed out from a rip in its belly, the guts were water boated and dragging like an anchor as the zombie slowly crawled towards the scent of warm flesh. And it was hungry, so very hungry – and now, its living prey was in sight as Poppy stood there with her legs visible under the murky waterline...

  Upstairs, Joy had gone down the upper hall and found Mickey and Angel. He had placed her on the bed in what had clearly been a very nicely decorated child's room. The bed was covered in soft, deep quilted fabric in a shade of pink. The curtains at the window matched the shade, and the nets were shimmering in the sunlight and decorated with lilac butterflies. This room had everything a child needed – from the storage space in the bedroom furniture that lined one wall, to the soft rug and the desk area with a lap top and stationary and over the other side of the room, a TV was mounted on the wall. There was an elaborately decorated dolls house by the window, too. This room was perfect for Angel, Joy thought, and she looked on as Mickey sat on the edge of the bed, now Angel was on top of the covers and he carefully draped his coat over her to keep her warm as she shivered and gave a small whine as he carefully turned her arm over, making sure nothing touched that deep bite that had now stopped bleeding.

  “I don't have any kids of my own,” Mickey said to her, “But, I'm going to try and help you, Angel. I'm so glad you're going to be okay. I thought that bite was going to kill you,” he paused, looking down at the unconscious child as he spoke quietly to her, “And I thought about how I'd never had kids of my own, never had a family to raise... That was selfish, thinking about me when I should have worried about you, but I'm a selfish person. I'm trying not to be. I have Joy and I think the two of us might be looking after you from now on - I hope so, I can't promise I'll be a father, I don't know how to do that - but I'm not too old to learn...”

  Joy entered the room. Mickey glanced around at her and she smiled.

  “Yes, we are going to look after t
his little girl,” she promised him, “And don't you dare think you'd make a bad job of being a father! You're already doing everything right, Mickey! You defended her before I even spoke up back in the car! I wish I'd said something sooner, but I was so sure she was going to turn. But not you, it didn't matter to you – all you wanted to do was protect her and that's what parents do, they protect their kids. I think you'll be better at this than you realise.”

  Mickey smiled back at her.

  “I think I'm learning already, Joy.”

  She joined him, looking down at Angel, who was sleeping then stirring as she frowned, the shivering was decreasing now and she seemed to be in less pain.

  “I'll have River clean her arm up just to be sure there's no infection,” she told him, “But she's getting better already – I can tell.”

  “Maybe we're going to be alright,” Mickey said to her, “I mean, the three of us - and the others. Perhaps this place really is everything it seems to be, some kind of happy ending for all of us.”

  And then the moment was shattered by a piercing scream from the garden. Joy rushed to the window and looked out in horror as a rotting corpse broke the surface of the pool and dragged Poppy under.

  Chapter 2

  “What's going on?”

  As Mickey said that he got up, but Joy had already raced to the door.

  “It's got Poppy!” she yelled, and then she ran for the stairs, weapon in hand as Mickey hurried after her.

  Downstairs, Chris was by the open patio door, listening helplessly, unable to negotiate the water and the creature as Poppy cried for help. By now River was back after moving the vehicles, and she had stood at the side of the pool, grabbing a fallen branch from below the tall, over hanging tree that leaned over the fence. She turned the sharp end towards the swirl in the water, stabbing downward as she saw the zombie move sluggishly, weighted down by its own trailing, water engorged organs. She thrust the branch downward again, pinning the creature by its guts as it gave a roar silenced by water, its bony hand reaching again for Poppy's leg as she struggled below the surface, her hair billowing out as she kicked and turned and bubbles escaped from her mouth.

  Suddenly there was a second reflection beside River as Joy stood beside her, gun in a two handed grip. She fired off shots into the water, hitting the creature as dark blood began to cloud the murky depths and Poppy broke the surface with a gasp, splashing about desperately as she reached for the edge of the pool. Joy grabbed her hand, pulled her to the side and hauled her from the water. Poppy rolled over, soaking wet and stinking like that filthy pool as she sobbed and coughed and gasped for air.

  “Poppy, what the hell were you thinking?” River exclaimed as she knelt beside her.

  Poppy had a badly bruised ankle, and minor scratches from the struggle – her leg would hurt for a few days, but where the creature had grabbed her, it had been hampered by its own trailing guts and the weight of the water as he struggled. She would be okay, thankfully. But this had been close, too close. The times this child had almost been bitten had seen her have a lucky escape every time – and this time, she had almost not made it through as that zombie had pulled her under...

  “She's got a scratch!” Joy said in alarm as Poppy sat up and coughed again, then gave another sob.

  “I thought it was a fish! I didn't know it was a zombie!” Poppy said tearfully.

  River helped her up, keeping an arm around the frightened child as they turned for the house.

  “Let's get you cleaned up, Poppy,” she glanced back at Joy and Mickey as he looked on in horror.

  “It's just a scratch, it's superficial – she won't be infected by that. My main concern is that filthy water. Someone needs to tell Alice and Devan they didn't check this place thoroughly enough!”

  As she led Poppy inside, Alex ran into the garden. He had just parked his bike outside when the shots had been fired and he had seen Poppy dripping wet and terrified as River led her inside, now he hurried over to the pool and looked to the others in alarm.

  “What happened?”

  “There was a zombie in the pool. It almost got Poppy.”

  Joy was still shaken up and it showed. Her face was pale and she was trembling as she put her gun away. Chris had gone back inside to look for Sage, who he was sure should be back by now – where had she got to while her sister had almost drowned? It wasn't like Sage to let her out of her sight, not in new territory... As Chris called for Sage, River was busy helping Poppy get cleaned up. And outside, as they stood around the poolside, Mickey's face darkened with rage.

  “They put us in a so called safe place, with a fucking zombie at the bottom of the pool?”

  “In their defence, they did say not to touch the pool,” Alex pointed out.

  “Only because it hadn't been cleaned!” Mickey fumed, then he looked about the garden, spying a hook on the end of a long pole on the other side of the pool area.

  “Joy, I need you to stay with Angel, she needs one of us there when she wakes,” he turned away and went around the pool and grabbed the hook, then he looked across the water at Alex, “I'll need a hand with this. I'm giving those fuckers their zombie back!”

  Joy stared at him.

  “They just gave us a place to live, Mickey!”

  “A place with a zombie in the pool. Sage almost didn't have a sister five minutes ago. They said it was safe! Maybe this is what they need to see, to encourage tighter checks on so called empty, safe places!”

  “Anyone can miss a zombie in a deep pool!” she exclaimed as Mickey plunged the hook into the water and his weak hand trembled as he struggled to drag the weight of the dead thing on the end of the hook. Alex reached for the pole too and together, they hauled the zombie along the bottom of the pool and towards the steps as Joy looked on in disbelief.

  “We've just arrived! You can't go shoving a dead zombie in their faces!”

  “Poppy could have been killed,” Mickey replied.

  He and Alex tugged on the hook, and the snared dead zombie slithered up the steps and rolled to the poolside with a wet thud. Joy looked away in disgust as water bloated guts glistened in the sunshine, freshly speared by the tree branch.

  “You're not going to take it over to Devan and Alice,” Joy said, shaking her head, “That's not fair, Mickey.”

  “No, I'm not taking it over to them,” Mickey replied as he handed the pole to Alex, who laid it carefully beside the waters edge next to the dead zombie, “I'm going to bring them over here, so they can see what was lurking! What could have eventually got out and got into the house, maybe while we were sleeping!”

  “Can we be nice about this, at least be a little polite?” Joy asked, and Alex laughed as he shook his head.

  “Nice, about a rotting zombie in the pool...”

  “Don't tell me you agree with this, Alex?”

  “I don't blame them Joy, they thought the house was secure,” Alex replied, “But, Mickey has a point - it could have got in.”

  Mickey had opened up a shed that stood a short distance away across the lawn, and pulled out a roll of plastic sheeting.

  “We can wrap it in this.”

  Joy shot them both a disapproving look.

  “This is no way to treat the people who took us in!”

  “I'm thinking of safety,” Mickey replied.

  Joy walked off back towards the house to check on Angel, and also to check on Poppy - now they had two kids hurt and both were a source of worry. She went inside and called to Sage, but all she heard was Chris replying from the front room:

  “She's not here yet, I don't know where she went...”

  They stood there as the summer sun beat down on the poolside, making the stink from the speared, trailing zombie guts intensify. Alex gagged and turned away, coughed and then as the wind changed, caught a hint of fresh sea air that saved him from adding vomit to the murky and now bloodied pool.