“Recognise this?” Grout asked before dropping it to the ground. The rattle echoed between the walls. “Of course, you do. It belonged to my younger brother. You met him back on the dual carriageway a few days ago. You took it after you murdered him, remember?” The kids stood in silence. It had been murder for self-protection, but Bucky somehow believed this clown would not accept that. Another scream bellowed from the distant end of the building.
Grout stood there ignoring the carnage. “Now, I know my brother was something of an ass. I knew it for years, but the fact remained that he was still my brother, my only flesh and blood after Day Zero occurred. Now, well, I have a bunch of morons who can’t take care of a handful of zombies even with a goddamn gun!” he shouted, wanting his men to listen. “So, the fact remains that one of you has to suffer the same fate as my brother did.” Bucky closed his eyes.
They stood in silence again. Finally, he turned and looked toward his friends. They peered back. “Now, it’s not going to be easy, that’s why I’m gonna let you four make the decision. Someone dies, the rest come with me. Simple. Make a decision, you don’t have much time. If we get to a point where no decision is made, I’ll kill you all. Now, I’m a busy man. I need to be gone. Tell me, who is it going to be? You have thirty seconds.”
Bucky looked at them. Aaron shook his head. Johnny looked away. Tears welled in Lacey’s eyes.
“I’ll go,” she whispered.
“What? You can’t!” Bucky replied.
She pointed to her leg. “The bitch got me good. I can’t walk. I’m gonna slow the rest of you down.”
“Correction, my dear. They’re not going anywhere. They’re coming with me,” Grout stated. “Don’t let that influence your decision.”
“Take me,” Lacey ordered, hobbling away from the group.
“Lacey!” Johnny said.
Lacey stood defiant in front of the clown. “Come on, you ugly asshole. Do it. Put me down right now.”
Grout grinned. “As you wish.” He lifted the double barrel shotgun and placed it against her forehead. “Shit happens,” he said to her.
“Damn right it does. Here, I brought you a present.”
Grout lowered the gun. Seth appeared behind him, pressing a revolver into the base of the clown’s neck. He had been covered in blood. Streams ran down from his hair and across his face. The gangster dropped a white object at Grout’s feet. It turned on impact, facing the kids. The blue clown had been beheaded.
“Smiler, my resident zombie assassin did this, and you know something? I had to kill that poor freak. He went for me, after all I did for him, you know, feeding him, keeping him safe. I killed my own creation because a group of uninvited street entertainers showed up at my party and pissed in the punch bowl. You clowns are unbelievable. What did you think was gonna happen, marching in here with your knives? Have you never heard of that saying, you know? The one that goes, never bring a knife to a gunfight?”
Grout grimaced. “I thought the tank would intimidate you.”
Seth chuckled. “Christ almighty. You had a tank and what? Parked it outside before you broke in? Why the hell didn’t you ram raid the front? I guess common sense is not your strong point?” Grout snorted. The attack on his intelligence had not sat well. “Why don’t you let me tell you what your little stunt has caused for my business. I was on course to make a million pounds from the game I had running until you idiots showed up. I was made. After this evening, I’d have been jetting off to the south of France with all that money sat in my bank account. I was going to enjoy life, you know? Go straight. Spend my days relaxing in some chateau in the countryside. You screwed it up for me, man, you really did.”
“I don’t give a toss about your money or you,” Grout snarled. His head exploded. Blood and tissue splattered across Lacey. Seth pushed the fallen body to the side then pointed the gun toward Bucky.
“That was an amazing game. I’ll give credit where credit is due. You played it out well and kept us entertained. You’ve done more than any adult we threw into this situation and for that you have my respect. Including you, moron,” he said, addressing Bucky. “You got knocked down twice and twice you stood up. You used sound to your advantage instead of avoiding it. I’ve never seen anyone play the way you did. You kids are strong and I’m impressed. I wish I’d have been like you back when I was in my teens. Maybe I wouldn’t have turned into the rotten bastard you see before you now.”
The White Witch screamed, hammering the scythe down into Seth’s skull. He shook and jolted as blood spurted from his head. Bucky watched as Seth’s eyes rolled back and he dropped the gun.
“Now’s our chance!” Bucky shouted. Aaron and Johnny rushed across to help Lacey. Bucky smashed the remainder of the door with a kick before revealing an escape route out and into the dying sky outside. “Look! The wasteland! The school!” They could see the silhouette of their school standing against the sky some half a mile away. “Come on!”
The White Witch knelt and started to dine on Seth’s body. The kids stepped out of the factory and onto the grass.
“Shit, no boots,” Aaron complained. “How are we going to get across the field like this?”
“Just shut up and go,” Johnny ordered.
The four of them ran into the long grass and onto the waste land, taking the final stretch of their destination.
Lacey bounded across the uneven field carried by the two boys. She pushed away with her good leg as they power marched through the open
