Black Death (TNN)

The Black Army

Carly climbed back down from the tree. "It's a bloody death trap," the group found themselves outside Whitfield. The small village near London was teeming with Black Army soldiers.

" This whole plan was a stupid idea. There's no cure, let's just leave it at that and get out," said Beth.

" What does the rest say?" asked Reece. "I mean, I'm interested to know if there is a cure. But I don't want to walk into a spider's web."

Slow footsteps echoed through an old mansion. The heavy equipment rattled with every step. But the man was not impressed. He climbed the stairs until he finally arrived in the master bedroom of the house.

As he walked into the room, he was greeted by cigarette smoke. The smoke was heavy in the air. By the room's fireplace, he saw a woman. Her legs crossed, one hand holding her cigarette, the other a book that she was reading.

"We've found a group of survivors outside Whitfield."

The woman did not lift her eyes from the book. "You're bothering me for this trivial news?"

" It's the group that raided one of our outposts."

All Carly heard were footsteps. They sounded like high heels on a wooden floor. They must be in a building. But where exactly she couldn't tell, the bag over her head prevented her from seeing.

Her hands were tied. The black army attack was so fast. They were just about to leave the area when they walked right into an ambush.

With a jerk, the bag was torn from her head. It took Carly a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light. They were in a large entrance hall of an old villa. Max and Reece were kneeling next to her on each side. Next to Max was Beth and Sorscha.

A woman stood in front of the group. With jet black hair with white streaks in it. She was wearing a thick black fur coat. Right next to her stood a tall man in dark armour and helmet. On his chest was the symbol of a red spider.

There were soldiers dressed in black throughout the room.

Reece recognised the woman immediately, even though it must be almost twenty years since he had last seen her.

"Hello," she said with a grin and a dangerously soft voice.

"Janice..." Reece murmured.

Her dark eyes fixed on him immediately. "Reece Knight. What a surprise. Who would have thought we'd ever see each other again. How are Roger and Autumn?"

Reece's gaze immediately darkened.

" Oh... Both dead? Sorry, I didn't mean to rub salt into the wound..." Janice now fixed her gaze on the young man in the group. " Is that your son? He is, right? He looks an awful lot like you. Where's his mum?... Dead too? Oh, what an awkward situation, and of course, really tragic."

"What do you want from us!" shouted Carly.

"Me? You attacked my men in the forest."

"After your men attacked our home!" Reece hissed.

Janice grinned slightly and lit a cigarette. "We can pass the buck to each other now, but it doesn't really matter." She began to scan everyone in the group. "You would fit in well with my army."

Sorscha had enough. She knew these games because she had played them once herself. "Enough with this intimidation. You're making a fool of yourself, and you can save yourself the lie you're telling your men that there's a cure!"

Janice took a puff. "I was waiting for you to finally say something. You've been staring me up and down the whole time as if you wanted to rip my heart out. I know who you are. Sorscha Doyle. The terror of London. The founder of the Ratcatchers. But that was all a long time ago. I mean, people change, right?"

" What the hell...," Sorscha muttered, how did she know all this? She looked at Beth. But her wife only gave her a questioning look in return.

"And for the cure," Janice continued. "You're right. I don't have one, but I have the key to one. You must know that when the apocalypse began, I was lucky enough to live in a well-secured mansion. I was able to survive carefree for a long time. But even there, the resources ran out at some point." She took one last drag from her cigarettes before dropping them on the floor and exiting. "My luck ran out one day, and I was surrounded by the undead, with no weapon and no way out."

"But you still managed to escape. So what has that to do with anything?" said Sorscha.

"I found a way out, but only after I was bitten."

"What?!" exclaimed Carly.

"That's a lie. Nobody survives a bite," spoke Beth in disbelief.

But Janice just grinned and took off her coat.

"Oh my God," whispered Reece.

There, on her arms where countless bite marks. "I have learnt that day that I am immune... I want to have a little talk in private," her gaze focussed on Sorscha. Two soldiers grabbed her and pulled her away, followed by Janice.

Beth watched after them anxiously as the tall soldier with the spider on his chest crouched down in front of her. "Hello, Beth," he slowly took off his helmet.

"... Liam..."