Free Dead Winter: A gripping crime thriller full of suspense by Jack Parker Page B

I was sure this time.
     
    Something, or someone was watching us.
     
    It couldn't have been a figment of my imagination, something was definitely up there. Though for all I knew, I could have been going insane; more than enough had happened for that. But I felt strangely fine with everything that had happened over the last few days.
     
    I had to be honest though; I missed my crummy, little apartment on the ninth floor. I missed John's house already too, anything that wasn't the bitterly chilly world out here.
     
    It could be worse though, I thought to myself as we entered the alleyways that lead through the block of stores to the left of the fuel-tanker.
     
    "I've always hated alleyways, man." said Dave, sighing to himself as he gripped the handle of his cleaver a little tighter.
     
    "Why? They're mighty convenient." John sang, keeping an eye out for danger as we slowly paced through the first alley, step-by-step.
     
    The light was sparse in these alleyways, shadows played tricks with my eyes as I crept slowly towards the corner. I thought I saw something smeared across the wall, but it was too dark to tell.
     
    "They're just.. creepy, y'know?" said Dave in response.
     
    He was right, there was something about dark alleyways that really filled me with a sense of dread. You never knew if you'd be fine or get stabbed while walking through one in this city.
     
    "I guess I see what you're getting at." John said, clearly still a little confused as to what was wrong with alleyways.
     
    There was a large dumpster blocking the rest of the alleyway, though it looked small enough to simply climb over, just like the cars before. One by one, we clambered over it and dropped down onto the alleyway beyond.
     
    How much longer do I have to walk in the dark?
     
    From around the corner came another infected, crawling across the floor towards us. John didn't seem to want to kill it this time, as he motioned for someone else to perform the action of ending a life. I thought it strange.
     
    Sighing, I stepped forwards with cleaver in hand and stared down at the infected woman, who kept trying to get to her feet but seemed unable to. Our eyes met for a moment in the faint winter light before the woman shrieked at me, quickening her pace towards me.
     
    Kneeling down on the ground, I raised the cleaver into the air and brought it down onto the head of the infected like a guillotine; she ceased movement immediately, letting out a brief sigh of pain as her arms went limp.
     
    I just couldn't get used to ending a life, it always left me feeling sick. Though I suppose it wasn't something a person should have to deal with.
     
    "Not so hard, is it?" John chimed darkly, clearly amused at my reaction to killing a person. His complete disregard for life irked me some. I doubted deep down in my heart that I would be able to end the life of someone who wasn't infected.
     
    I stood up and brushed the dirt from my trousers before looking at the corner of the alleyway ahead, there was light sifting through from what seemed like the exit. We slowly made our way towards it.
     
    Turning the last corner, a sickening sight fell upon our eyes. There was a corpse slumped against the wall, but that wasn't all. It was missing its head, which lay in the melting snow to its side; blood merged with the water on the ground to create an eerie, pink solution.
     
    For a moment, I thought I saw John's eyes light up in the strangest of ways as he examined the scene. Something was on his mind and it became clear as a smirk crept across this face as he pointed to the wall above the corpse, where writing was visible. I felt my heart sink as I read it.
     
    'The Executioner'
     
    It had clearly been spray-painted on the wall by somebody, and my mind raced back to weeks before this had even began and a realisation dawned upon me.
     
    We had to leave, NOW.
     

Chapter Nine
     
     
     
    Day Six (26th December – 10:20AM)
     
    This couldn't be real. Not