Thirteen Roses Book Five: Home: A Paranormal Zombie Saga by Michael Cairns

He twisted, shifting the snapping zombie off him and onto the bridge. It thudded beside him, flapping about to get closer and take a chunk out of his shoulder. He rose to his knees, sat back on his haunches, and went to work with the arms he still clutched in both hands.  
    He beat it around the head until the bones at the end of the arms were white and exposed in the rain. Then he smashed those bones into its face until it stopped moving. He dropped the arms and rose to his feet. There were more zombies coming, but his eyes returned to the lady.  
    She wasn’t screaming any more. Her head hung down, sopping wet hair covering her face. The blood around her was so thick the rain was doing little to wash it away. And the baby was almost here. The mist was still there but he felt it change, felt the blood haze leave him and something else take over. He raced across and fell on his knees.  
    The baby slipped from her and fell into his arms. It was covered in thin, red fur and stared up at him with strange, slitted eyes. It was far larger than a new born baby had any right to be and it lay in his arms, still and peaceful. The rain washed the blood from his face, rain that mingled with his tears.  
    Then the baby opened its mouth and its scream filled the London night.  
     

Bayleigh

    ‘We’re going back for her.’ Bayleigh said.
    Luke nodded, but refused to meet her eyes. Alex shook his head, lips pressed flat. ‘We can’t. Luke knows we can’t.’
    ‘I don’t care what either of you knows. We’re going back.’
    Bayleigh got the truck moving and had it half turned before Luke put his hands on her arm. ‘Stop. Not all of us.’
    He took a deep breath. ‘Alex, take the truck and head out on the A40. You’ve got the satnav, you know where you’re going. You can text us once you’ve found somewhere. Bayleigh, you and I will take the artic and head back. It’ll be easier with that, anyway.’
    Bayleigh nodded. He was seeing sense. Of course, he had a very good reason to go back for her, but they’d left two of them behind already, so he could just as easily have shrugged and gone on. She glanced at him as he climbed down. She wasn’t sure that was true anymore. He’d changed, again, and for the better.  
    Her hands shook as she climbed out. She couldn’t stop picturing Krystal, huddled in a corner as the zombies closed in. She was strong and knew how to fight, but she’d only been doing it a week. Who knew what would happen when she discovered she was truly alone.  
    She clambered up into the huge cab, marveling at how high up they were.  
    ‘You can drive.’ Luke said as he climbed up after her.  
    Her eyebrows shot up. ‘Don’t you want to?’
    ‘I know your style is interesting, but I still feel more comfortable with you behind the wheel.’
    ‘That’s so kind. What does interesting mean?’
    He gave her a sheepish grin and she put her foot down. The artic lurched away and smashed straight through the barrier as she turned and headed down the hill. She wasn’t worried about hitting other cars now and took great pleasure in smashing them out the way as they descended.  
    The trip back seemed far quicker and maybe it was due to the lack of ladies in the back. She could handle responsibility, but having all of them crammed in had made even the slightest corner nerve wracking. One wrong move and she could have killed them all.  
    She retraced their route as best she could, but it was so difficult to see anything through the storm. They could have driven past Krystal’s corpse a hundred times and not spotted her.  
    Her stomach filled with a heavy ball that threatened to stop her altogether. She’d done her best to keep watch, but with the rain battering down and the huge truck to keep control of, she could have missed Krystal even if she’d been standing by the road with a big sign in her hands.  
    ‘Where is she?’
    Luke shrugged and she bit her lip before bursting out. ‘What do you