Killing the Dead (Season 2 | Book 2): Dark and Deadly Land by Richard Murray Page A

the feeling was almost indescribable as I lay there.
    The bed moved beneath me as he slid beneath the sheets and we lay in the darkness in silence. His arm circled my waist and I shifted backwards to press up against him, our bodies fitting together as though made for each other.
    “We should sleep,” he said quietly. Each word almost whispered into my ear, his breath hot on my skin.
    “Not yet,” I said as I turned over to face him. He was just a shape in the darkness and without any real features but he was there.
    The loss our hosts had shared was a tiny pinprick compared to the loss felt across the world but when I had heard their story something had stirred deep within me. For so long I had pushed aside any thought of those I had left behind, my mum and dad, a sister and even my boyfriend. All people I had loved and lost to the undead.
    Such a loss would have, should have, broken me. It hadn’t because I’d had someone to depend on, someone who had protected me in the beginning when I so very badly needed it. Someone I had come to love with all of my being and who I believe, loved me in return. Even if he didn’t know it himself.
    I reached up to run one finger along his arm, feeling the firm muscle beneath and more, the strength in him that went beyond that. He’d kept me whole in body and mind when the zombies had come and for that, I owed him everything. More than that, I trusted him in a way I’d not done with other partners I’d had.
    He believed in me, he stuck to his promise and that was slowly destroying him. When I looked into his eyes he was an open book, his soul writ plain before me and I saw the pain, the loneliness and how he was trying to understand the changes that were happening to him.
    Our end was coming, I knew that. Deny it though I might and fight it I would with all of my being, but he had been firm. He couldn’t fully change who he was any more than I could and for us to be together, one of us would have to lose themselves to the other and it would destroy us both.
    For now, I could be with him, hold him and be held in turn. My lips met his and I gave myself over to him while I still could.
     

Chapter 7 - Ryan
    My first truly peaceful sleep for a number of days was broken by the incessant barking of canines. I gave up on the idea of staying asleep and opened my eyes to find daylight streaming through the half open curtains and Lily was gone.
    No signs of a struggle and no blood indicated she had left voluntarily. Her clothes were gone and my knife still hung from the belt I had looped over the bed post. I sighed and sat up, stretching to relieve the kinks in tired muscles before I went in search of the bathroom.
    By the time I had relieved myself and taken a wonderfully hot shower with the type of water pressure I had been missing for several months, I was ready to face the world. I dressed quickly in my less than clean clothing and went in search of the others.
    The house was empty and I stepped out into the yard to be greeted by bright sunlight and the sight of Gregg running around after a small furry creature that was the source of the racket. He saw me and waved before throwing a bright red ball for the dog to chase.       
    In the light of day, I could see that the buildings were all arranged in a rough semi-circle with a road that led north through the hills. The holiday cottages backed onto a small lake and a short distance away was a dock with a rowboat tied up.
    Cows and sheep wandered the fields and I caught sight of a chicken coop behind the main house. Directly to my right was a second barn that contained vehicles and tools rather than the animals we had seen in the other.
    A battered old range rover was visible through the doors with the bonnet raised to allow access for the old farmer and Lily. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled brightly before turning back to listen to Jonathan as he spoke.
    I left her to it since my knowledge of vehicles was that they tended