Bad Blood (Battle of the Undead Book 1) by Nicky Peacock Page B

“He was on chemo, and with no access to the right medications and equipment, well, he has a few days at most.”
    I could have ripped her throat out. Not only had she told Danny, but also now everyone knew for sure—he was a liability.

    Chapter Nine
     
    We formed a plan. We were to go out and find a suitable bus, bring it back to the pub, load up, and make our way north. Josh had been a vigilant sight-seer and had remembered seeing a decent-sized Double-Decker outside the planetarium. It was designed for tourist rides through the city and could hold a large amount of people. We would drive across the country picking up as many survivors as we could. Tracy was in charge of getting everyone packed up and ready to move for when we pulled up. Five of us were going out—me, Nicholas, Josh, Green, and Satan—he really needed a walk to do his business, and there’d be no time for it later.
    It was an unsettling atmosphere between the five of us. Satan was the type of dog who didn’t take well to other adult males —too much testosterone maybe? Whatever the reason, he trotted out glued to my leg. Josh was within grabbing distance, and the other two were up front where I could keep an eye on them.
    “Were the streets this quiet before, Brianna?” Nicholas shot a quizzical look back at me.
    I ignored him.
    “Britannia, were the streets like this before?” he asked again.
    “Kind of, but before there were at least some zombies around,” I replied.
    “Are they nocturnal or something?” asked Green.
    It was dusk, but I’d seen zombies out during the day. “I don’t think so.”
    “Alpha zombie?” Josh kept his eye on the sight through his gun. He was scanning rooftops as if zombie snipers might be lying in wait for us.
    “It could be the alpha. Perhaps it has the power to call them to him?”
    Damn Nicholas and his good ideas! It was possible, certainly not improbable, that in their instinctual brains, zombies had an imprint of a power hierarchy . They felt a pull when they needed to build up a horde. The question was, if they weren’t here, where was the horde? Even the moans in the distance were silent. Had all the zombies packed up and gone on holiday?
    We ran toward the Planetarium. Once there, Josh and Green broke onto the locked bus. I’d like to meet the driver who thought that his time was best spent locking his bus rather than gaining a couple of feet between him and a hungry undead throng.
    The two soldiers then set about hot wiring the bus with their ill-gotten skills.
    “Useful, aren’t they?” Nicholas watched as they twisted wires and worked in unison.
    “Don’t be such a patronizing git,” I replied, not looking at him.
    “I was only remarking. It’s good how they can work so efficiently together, yet —”
    “Hate one another’s guts?”
    “You finished my sentence. That’s what old married couples do.” Nicholas looked wistful, so I punched him in the face.
    He reeled for a second then smiled. “It’s wrong to show love with violence.”
    “Violence is how I show stomach-wrenching disgust.”
    It was then that we both heard a sort of crying noise behind us. Nicholas turned and walked toward the buildings. I followed, my hands dancing on the hilts of my scythes.
    “What was that?” Nicholas stared at the Planetarium.
    Satan trotted behind us then barked. I followed his line of sight to Madame Tussauds, the building next door.
    “Someone is in there,” I said.
    “An alive someone , perhaps?”
    “Hard to say until we push you into them. If they bite you, we’ll know they’re zombies.” I smiled at Nicholas, and he grunted.
    “Everything okay?” Josh called from the bus.
    “I need to check out the building.” I motioned to where Satan was all but pointing.
    “We need more gas,” Green yelled.
    “I beg your pardon?” Nicholas turned to him.
    “Petrol, Nicholas, they need more petrol for the bus. We should—” I heard the noise again. This time, it was a muffled yet