Killing the Dead (Season 2 | Book 2): Dark and Deadly Land Read Free Page A

things that allowed me to love him. Without those quirks, he would be a monster, but for whatever reason he wasn’t quite there.
    Gregg nudged me and pointed to the back door of the house with his chin. “He’s here.”
    He walked through the doorway and out into the sunshine, raising one hand to shade his eyes for a moment as he took a cautious look around. A search for danger or potential enemies that he did even in the midst of our island where, until recently, no danger had ever come.
    His dark hair was in need of a trim and several days’ growth covered his chin. His eyes were the pale blue of summer skies and were usually kept guarded as though afraid of anyone seeing beyond them to the man who hid behind that charming and quiet exterior.
    Satisfied that no danger was nearby his eyes fell on the two of us and I like to think that the smile that formed was for me more than Gregg. He came towards us across the damp mud and grass, each step placed with care. Every time I watched him walk, his movements reminded me of a tiger I’d once seen on a nature documentary as it stalked its prey. Powerful and full of danger, muscles coiled as though ready to spring into action at any moment.
    A shiver ran through me. I could easily imagine how terrifying it would be to have someone like him hunting you and I couldn’t help but wonder if the danger was part of what attracted me to him.
    “All done mate?” Gregg asked as Ryan joined us at the wall. He nodded sharply, one simple movement that said so much and I shivered again at what I read there.
    His gaze caught mine and I detected a hint of, not quite concern but more curiosity as he noticed my reaction. I forced my lips into a smile and tried not to see the darkness that lurked behind his eyes.
    “Everything okay out here?” he asked, his voice low but somehow demanding a response.
    “It’s fine,” I said. “Been a rough few days is all.”
    “They… erm… did they turn?” Gregg asked.
    “Yes.”
    No more than that, just a single word that said they’d turned into zombies and he’d killed them for the second time.
    “So if we eat meat from animals that have eaten infected flesh,” I began. “We’re not going to turn into a zombie unless we die?”
    “Seems that way,” Ryan answered with a smile. “Perhaps given more time and a steady diet of the meat they would have turned anyway. I would suggest we keep a limit on how much we consume at any one time.”
    “Maybe the navy scientists will have answers,” Gregg said with a great deal more hope than I could muster.
    “If they’re even there,” I said.
    “You have doubts?”
    “Of course I have doubts,” I said. “Becky thinks they were landing in Scotland but that was months ago. Anything could have happened since then.”
    “Not to mention that a great many undead seem to be moving across the country,” Ryan added. “How many millions of them will the navy have had to face up there?”
    “I guess we’ll find out soon,” I said with a smile as I released Gregg’s hand and pushed myself up from the wall. “We should head back to the island, we’ll be moving out tomorrow.”
    “So soon?”
    “Afraid so. Becky is keen to get moving and to be honest, the supplies at the island are low. Those few survivors from Coniston don’t come near to making up for the number we lost to Marcus’s group but still, the sooner we can get some help the better.”
    “You think that’ll happen?” Gregg asked as he moved away from the wall. He very carefully avoided looking at Ryan. A fact that had been noticed and was likely the cause of the wry smile on his face.
    “No,” Ryan said and I looked at him sharply.
    “What do you mean no?”
    “If the Navy are indeed there then they will have been under siege for the past few months at worst. At best, they will have had hundreds of thousands, if not millions of refugees to care for. I highly doubt we will be welcomed.”
    “We need to do