After The Zombies | Novel | Not Human Read online

  He began to dress. Grace reached down to pick up her clothes.

  'Not you,' Donna said. 'She's got one in her lower back,' she called out to Ethan and Alan. They both rushed towards Donna and Grace. Ethan took out a small knife from his back pocket, before Luke ran after them, still topless and clutching his t shirt.

  'Don't touch her,' he demanded still knowing that his gun was tucked away in his bag and he had nothing to hand to convincingly threaten them with.

  'Relax, we're not going to kill your girl. We're just going to get the tracker out,' Ethan announced.

  Luke stood behind Grace and yelled at Donna to show him the supposed tracker. She pointed to Grace's lower back. The area looked slightly different from the rest of her skin and there seemed to be something under the surface. Luke suddenly became aware he had been staring too long. He averted his eyes, which fell to her backside for a second, but realised he shouldn't stare at that either.

  'Sorry,' he mumbled, looking intently at a nearby patch of grass instead.

  'What is it, Luke?' Grace's bottom lip trembled, as her voice gave away the threat of tears.

  'Grace, it's okay,' Luke said.

  'I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt,' Ethan said. 'Luke, you might want to hold her hand, maybe try to distract her.'

  Luke stood in front of Grace, took hold of her hand and stared into her eyes, which also helped him not to gawp at her bare body, like the pervert he suddenly felt he was. They had changed in front of each other before, but in front of other people it seemed different somehow.

  'Just get it out of me,' Grace pleaded to Ethan.

  'He will, Sweetheart,' Luke assured her. 'Squeeze my hand and keep your eyes on me. It's okay. It's going to be...'

  Grace let out a scream of pain as the knife cut through her skin. After what felt like longer than it really was, Ethan told her the tracker was out.

  'You can stop squeezing my hand now,' Luke told her.

  'I'm sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I?' She let go of Luke's hand.

  'It was nothing compared to you having that tracker cut out. You were really brave,' he coaxed.

  Alan handed Grace her clothes and gave Luke some wet wipes to clean up the blood running down Grace's back. Luke took the wipes and dabbed them against her back, then ushered her behind a tree so she could dress, in what they both recognised as a pointless attempt to protect her modesty.

  Chapter Three

  'Where's Giggles?' Alan asked Luke.

  'I don't know,' he admitted. Alan and Ethan had discussed finding an animal to kill and eat, then they wanted to give Luke some target practice to make sure he could handle himself against the infected. The lesson had taken over an hour.

  'You need to keep a better eye on your girl out here,' Ethan stated.

  Luke didn't correct him that Grace wasn't his girl, not yet. The situation was still complicated. He decided to let their new friends think of him and Grace as a couple. If the brothers thought Grace was available, they might try to drag her into a weird time share relationship — like the one they appeared to have with Donna.

  Luke stepped outside to look for Grace. Five minutes later, he found her sitting against a large tree. He knelt in the grass next to her.

  'Our new allies aren't making you feel too uneasy, are they? I understand. Alan's a scary-looking guy, but I reckon you could take Donna in a fight, probably Ethan too.'

  'I guess it's a little weird, for so long it was only the two of us.'

  Luke didn't like to remind her that only the two of them had consisted of them spending their days in different rooms and their nights at opposite ends of the basement. She seemed to realise what he must be thinking.

  'I'm sorry I was so distant. I struggled after losing Mark and now...'

  'Now what?'

  'I was being tracked, possibly since the hospital. That means it’s my fault they found us and blew up the house.'

  'It’s not your fault,' Luke told her.

  'I'm to blame for Mark's death too. He wanted to protect me, so he smashed his arm through that rust bucket to get me away from the soldiers and the infected.'

  'He did that because he loved you,' Luke explained.

  'Well he shouldn't have. I didn't love him anymore. Not like that, because I loved you. I still do.'

  Luke leaned forward to kiss Grace, but she stood up quickly. 'No,' she told him.

  'No?' Luke questioned. 'I love you and you just said you love me.'

  That's exactly why we can't go there. Bad things happen to people who love me. I couldn't stand it if I lost you as well.'

  Grace walked away — leaving Luke sitting on the grass alone.

  He stayed there for a while, wondering how Grace's reasoning could make any kind of sense to her, as he also tried to make sense of it for himself. Then he heard a gunshot, followed by another. He jumped to his feet and raced in the direction of the sounds. Ethan and Alan fired shots at the infected. Luke guessed there might be around fifty of them approaching.

  'Shit,' he muttered.

  He heard the sounds of fighting. He witnessed a few of the infected fall, but couldn't see Grace anywhere. He tried to tell himself that he couldn't see Donna either and maybe they were together fighting off the horde, but still alive. He regretted leaving his bag which contained his weapons, before he had gone to find Grace. He spotted the bag outside the caravan, but there was no way he could get to it without becoming an afternoon snack for the infected. He grabbed one of them as what used to be a man also stumbled in his direction. Luke was still unarmed, but had caught the creature by surprise. The thing had probably expected to be chowing down on him by that point. Luke kicked the other infected to the ground, so that it landed on its back. He turned his attention back to the one he still had a hold on. He pushed it onto the ground, away from its undead friend. Luke fell with it, then repeatedly smashed the creature's head against the gravel, until its brains were splattered and baking underneath the afternoon sun. Luke picked up a log and smashed it down on the head of the other creature as it was getting to its feet. It stumbled back down. He hit it once more before it fell back down and lay completely still in its own blood. Luke didn't have time to feel anything as three more approached him.

  'Fuck,' Luke yelled, knowing he wouldn't have time to dispose of them all individually in the same way.

  'Luke,' Grace's voice called out.

  He looked up at the welcome sight of her still alive. She threw him a gun. He noticed she had an axe similar to the one he gave her when they first met.

  Grace began hacking through heads while Luke shot some of the infected in the head. More advanced towards them, but the whole process seemed familiar to Grace. She could tell it was the same for Luke. Neither particularly enjoyed killing the things which were once human, but it beat dying.

  'That was...,' Luke began, after all the infected were sprawled across the ground.

  'Like riding a bike,' Grace finished for him.

  'Nice axe,' he noted.

  'Yeah, Ethan gave it to me earlier. I got Alan to cut it down, so it’s like the one you gave me.'

  'You remember that?' Luke asked, knowing he shouldn’t read too much into it.

  'A girl doesn't forget her first axe,' Grace retorted with a grin spreading across her face.

  Luke wondered if he should be worried about Grace and her odd sense of humour, in the face of their serious situation. He told himself, it could be her way of dealing with it all. She had been through a lot more than most people. It had to be affecting her.

  'Are you two okay? Nobody got bitten?' Donna questioned.

  'We're fine,' Luke replied. 'No bites.'

  'We'll all need to strip and check each other.'

  'Seriously?' Luke asked.

  'I don't make jokes about checking for zombie bites.' Donna's expression was serious.

  'Grace and I will check each other,' Luke reasoned.

  'I don't think so. For all I know, you might cover for each other. The rest
of us wouldn't know it, until we wake up at 3am with one or both of you munching on our faces.'

  'Fine, let's get this over with,' Grace snapped.

  After everyone was satisfied that nobody had been bitten, Alan suggested taking Luke with him to hunt for rabbits or anything else they might find.

  While they were gone, Donna returned to their caravan to get some sleep, saying that she hadn't slept the previous night. Ethan sat down next to Grace inside the caravan.

  'Aren't you going to join her?' Grace asked.

  'It's not one of my days,' he responded.

  'So that's what you and your brother do? Take it in turns.'

  'It's not as weird as it sounds. Donna was my girlfriend before...everything, but Alan's got needs and a temper. I let him share. Not that I really have a choice about it all.'

  'Doesn't Donna mind?'

  'He's never forced himself on her, she'd tell me something like that. It's more about survival. I could take Donna and leave, but Alan's physically stronger than the both of us put together. We need him.'

  'So, it's purely tactical, letting him timeshare with your girlfriend.' Grace let out a small laugh. 'Sorry, I'm not so used to people these days.'

  'He's still my brother, but if you're asking, would I be letting my brother screw my girlfriend if the world wasn't so fucked up? Probably not.'

  'Do you think it is?'

  'What?'

  'The world, is it all fucked up?'

  'We came from London and it’s all gone to shit between here and there. It's hard to imagine anywhere being like it used to be.'

  'Have you ever thought about trying to get a boat and going somewhere? There's got to be boats that people aren't using now, because they're not people anymore.' Another short giggle escaped from Grace's mouth. 'Sorry,' she apologised again.

  'I did think about that,' Ethan admitted. 'Even if we could figure out how to work a boat; Alan wouldn't go and like I said, we need him.

  'Well, we're going to have to find somewhere more secure than a caravan. Luke and I were in a really secure house, and that was blown to pieces. It's not just the infected we've got to worry about.'

  'You really don't like calling them zombies, do you?' Ethan asked.

  'It’s Luke's pet peeve, I guess it rubbed off on me. He once told me, the word zombie reminds him of something people would dress up as for a fancy-dress party. So maybe it makes him feel like they're still human underneath all that and he can't kill them, not while he thinks there's a chance for them.'

  'Hey,' Luke's voice interrupted. Grace looked up to see him and Alan enter the caravan.

  'Looks like your boyfriend caught us some dinner.' Ethan pointed to the dead animal Luke was dangling.

  'What is that?' Grace asked. She squinted, not recognising the dead creature in its bloody state.

  'Rabbit,' Alan told her.

  'What does it taste like?' Grace questioned.

  'You've never eaten rabbit before?'

  'I had a pet rabbit once. I never ate it.'

  'It’s good, and it's when you come across people who eat people that you've really got to start worrying,' Ethan warned.

  Grace looked at him to see if he was joking, but his expression didn't change from serious.

  'Is my brother talking about cannibals again?' Alan asked.

  'It's going to happen eventually,' Ethan insisted. 'Just think about it, food will run out or go off to the point it's not remotely edible, no more is being produced and there are no more working farms. Humans are fresh meat.'

  Alan rolled his eyes, as though he and Ethan had already had the same conversation a thousand times before. Donna emerged from her room looking dishevelled, but still annoyingly pretty.

  'It's not people eating people I've got to worry about. It's toothpaste. I ran out last week and my teeth already hurt.'

  'You should have said, we've got some. You can have mine. I'll share Graces. That's okay, isn't it?' Luke asked.

  Grace nodded.

  'Thank you, you're a life saver.' Alan chimed in. 'Now I think of it though, some things might be better without teeth.'

  Ethan glared at him for just a second, but nobody except Grace noticed it.

  'Can you cook that for us?' Ethan asked Donna, pointing to the rabbit Luke was holding.

  Donna took the rabbit from Luke, then hurried outside. Ethan and Alan followed her, to start a fire to cook the rabbit.

  'Are you okay?' Luke asked Grace.

  'Just cold,' Grace responded. It had grown dark and without the sun beaming through the window, it was much cooler.

  Luke took off his jacket and wrapped it around Grace.

  'Is that better?' he asked, leaving his arm around her shoulders.

  Grace nodded silently. She knew she should move away rather than encourage him, but it felt nice to be so close to him.

  'You're not worried about having to eat people or people trying to eat you, are you?'

  Grace shook her head, leaning into him slightly. 'Not right now, I'm more concerned about our sleeping arrangements. Not just because it'll be cramped in here.'

  'It's not very secure,' Luke said.

  'Exactly.'

  'We can take the floor wherever there is space and take turns to sleep, if they don't already do that,' Luke said.

  'Okay,' Grace agreed.

  'Even if I can't be with you, I'm still going to do everything I can to keep you safe,' Luke pointed out.

  'But...' Grace began.

  Luke shook his head. 'No, you might choose to push me away, but you can't stop me from looking out for you.'

  Grace turned her head to look at his arm wrapped around her shoulder. 'I'm not pushing you away now,' she said.

  Luke turned so that he was facing Grace. She lifted her head to look at him. He moved his hand from her shoulder to her face. He looked at her as though trying to make a decision, then leant towards her. Grace closed her eyes and decided in a moment of weakness that she would let him kiss her.

  'Sorry,' Alan interrupted, as he entered the caravan. The sound of birds squawking could be heard from outside. 'I just came to tell you; we take shifts sleeping. If you two love birds want to get some sleep, I'll wake you when it's your turn.'

  Chapter Four

  'Grace, Luke.' Alan's voice jolted them both awake.

  Grace sat up. Her eyes darted around the room until she recalled where she was.

  'What?' Luke asked, still half asleep.

  'Your turn for guard duty and as it's my night with Donna, if you hear screams don't panic. It'll just be me fucking her brains out.' Alan turned and entered the small cabin style bedroom, not giving either of them time to respond.

  'He's...classy,' Luke commented.

  'Imagine if he really did fuck her brains out. I don't think that would be a good thing,' Grace thought out loud.

  Luke looked at her for a moment then agreed, 'no, I don't suppose it would be.'

  'So, I guess we're on watch,' Graced noted.

  Luke nodded, then leant against Grace, resting his head on her shoulder.

  'What are you doing?'

  'We used to sit together all the time.'

  'You know that's not what I meant. I can't give you what you want and this isn't fair to either of us.'

  'No,' Luke snapped, 'this isn't fair to me. You're the one calling all the shots here. You say you have feelings for me, but we can't be together because I'll get hurt or killed. What you don't realise is, not being together isn't going to change anything. It won't change how I feel, whatever will or won't happen to me, or if I die...' Luke stopped as screams penetrated the otherwise quietness of the night.

  'That's not Alan fucking Donna's brains out. It's coming from outside,' Grace stated. She grabbed Luke's gun, handing it to him.

  'Maybe they won't come in here,' Luke reasoned.

  'Even if they don't, someone might need our help out there. Besides, it's our watch,' she argued as though that explained the need to go outside and risk death
. Before he could try to convince Grace to stay inside, she flung open the door and ran outside.

  'Of course it's possible you could be the reason I die,' Luke muttered before following her.

  It was dark, but there was a half-moon offering some light. Luke could make out Grace slamming her axe into the head of one of the infected. He shot at the ones approaching him. Their walk — more like a stagger — was distinctive enough to determine they weren't human anymore.

  'Wait,' a woman's voice pleaded. 'I'm not one of them. I'm still human. They killed everyone else,' she cried.

  Luke stood in front of the woman, with his back to her and resumed shooting.

  'Grace,' he called out, but didn't get a response.

  Is Grace your friend? With the blonde hair?'

  Luke spun around to face the woman. 'Yes, did you see her?'

  'She killed some of those things, then chased after one. That was weird because it was moving faster than the others, much faster.'

  'Shit,' Luke exclaimed. 'Go into that caravan and if anyone comes out of their rooms and asks you what you're doing there, tell them what happened.'

  'What are you going to do?'

  'I'm going after Grace.' Luke turned and ran towards the direction she had pointed. 'Grace, Grace,' he continued to yell, not caring if anyone or anything else heard. He had to find her. What was she thinking running off like that and how the hell do you chase the infected? They weren't exactly renowned for their athleticism. The woman's words came back to him, faster than the others. What did that mean? More government experiments? Why couldn't they just leave it alone? It seemed obvious that every time the government got involved, things only got worse. Luke spotted something on the ground — glimmering in the moonlight. He stopped running and knelt. He realised it was Grace's axe covered in blood, which he told himself was from slicing through heads. He stood and looked around, calling out her name again.

  'Keep your voice down, you'll fucking wake the dead, or bring them here anyway,' Alan hissed from behind him.

  'I have to find Grace, something's happened to her,' Luke's voice was panicked.

  'If something's happened to her, finding her is the last thing you want to do. Unless you want to be the one to shoot her in the head?'