Читать онлайн "Work. Rest. Repeat. A Post-Apocalyptic Detective Novel" - Tayell Frank - RuLit

“And what about me?” Ely asked, still kneeling.

“The workers will think you’re leading them,” Vauxhall said. “You just won an election. You fought the killers that had been terrorising the Tower, and in doing so you discovered the truth. You’ll lead them out here.”

“And then where?” he reached down to his boot, and palmed the spring powered bolt gun.

“And that’s why you’ll be the leader in name only,” Vauxhall continued. “I’ve found a spot, somewhere not far. There are buildings there that we can use. I’d hoped that—”

In one smooth motion, Ely stood and raised his arm, pointing the bolt gun at Arthur. He pulled the trigger. The bolt flew out with barely a sound. The old man collapsed. Ely turned. Vauxhall’s arm came up, a pistol in her hand. She fired. Ely was hit. As the force of the impact spun him around his finger tightened on the trigger. The bolt flew.

Expecting another shot, he twisted his head. If he was going to die, he wanted the last thing he saw to be the sky. There was no second shot. Vauxhall was down, but not dead. The bolt had hit her in the thigh. The pistol lay on the ground three feet from her, and she was crawling towards it.

Ely staggered over to her, bent, and picked up the gun. She didn’t seem to notice him for a moment. He found the catch, and ejected the magazine. He nodded.

“Ely, please, you can’t.”

“You killed them in their sleep,” he said. “Not just the Greenes, but everyone. They always died in their sleep. I suppose it was Arthur who changed the archives, made it look as if that was how people had always died. I thought that was normal. Why would I think any differently?”

He replaced the magazine.

“Please. Don’t. It would be murder,” Vauxhall pleaded.

“No, it wouldn’t. Didn’t you hear what the Chancellor said? The sentence for the killer was death.”

Ely pulled the trigger, twice. He glanced over at Arthur. The bolt had lodged in the man’s chest. He was dead.

The gun was heavy in his hand. He wanted to drop it, but he knew that he would need it in the days to come. He glanced at his shoulder. He had no idea how severe the wound was, nor what he could do about it. He limped a short way from the bodies, to a slightly larger grass covered mound. He sat down.

Time passed.

“I’ve a bandage if you want one.” It was Robin. She stood in the doorway to the Tower, two children behind her.

“It’s over,” Ely said.

“Yes, it is.” She walked out of the shadows. The two children followed. They weren’t the Greenes. Another pair came out, and another. And then he saw Simon and Beatrice Greene.

“You’re taking all the children?” he asked.

“Who else will care for them?” she replied.

Ely nodded.

“Here.” She knelt beside him, took out a bandage and wrapped it around his shoulder.

“It’s not really more than a graze. Your arm doesn’t seem to be broken,” she said. “But then again, it might be. Keep the wound clean. Maybe you’ll live. Maybe you’ll die anyway. Death comes to us all, it’s how you live that counts.”

She stood up and beckoned for the children to follow her. There was quite a crowd of them now. Ely thought he could see some taller figures lurking in the shadows just inside the door.

“We’re heading south,” she said. “Follow us or don’t. It’s your choice, Ely.”

Robin led the children away, leaving Ely alone. He sat for a while, just listening as terrified youthful murmurs turned to excited chatter which then faded into the distance.

He glanced down the road, then up at the Tower. He had a choice. He had to decide what to do next. But it wasn’t really any choice at all. He was the Constable. He had to keep the people safe.

The End.

Other titles:

Surviving The Evacuation:

Book 0.5: Zombies vs The Living Dead

Book 1: London

Book 2: Wasteland

Book 3: Family

Book 4: Unsafe Haven

Book 5: Reunion

Book 6: Harvest

Book 7: Home

Undead Britain (In the charity anthology, ‘At Hell’s Gates 1’)