Zone Zero: Redemption (Book 2 of 3)

Chapter 27

We search through other nearby houses for survivors but the more we search the more the dread and sinking feeling sets in.

I can still smell the awful aroma as it stings my nostrils and makes me feel queasy. I can't quite place the stench or where it is coming from but as we near the centre of the village it becomes stronger. More pungent and over powering.

We round the corner to the town centre when we stop dead in our tracks at the sight before us.

A pile of dead bodies stacked as tall as a two storey house sits in the centre of the meeting area. The bodies have been doused in flammable petrol and set ablaze. That is the stench that I have been smelling. Burning flesh and hair of people I once called friends and family.

I drop to my knees at the sight and close my eyes tightly, hoping and praying that Logan, Jade and their baby are not part of this towering inferno.

I begin to weep for the lives lost here all because of me. If it weren't for me, then Cail would never have found this place.

"It wasn't your fault." Alex whispers in my ear before helping me to my feet.

I wipe my tears on my sleeve and let myself fall into him.

How can he say that this isn't my fault? If it weren't for me, Cail wouldn't have come here trying to find my family and he wouldn't have had everyone killed.

"The sun will be up in a few minutes. We need to get you somewhere safe for the day. How about we head back to your old place?"

"No!" I answer abruptly. "I can't go back there now."

Alex thinks for a moment before taking my hand and leading me to the town hall, a public building where Samson and his family lived.

We head down a set of stairs and into a large basement before he pushes aside a shelf to reveal a trap door.

"I came here many years ago and a vampire I met showed me this place. It's a tunnel that leads directly to the sea. Tunnels were built underneath certain parts of Malta centuries ago but not all of them were discovered by the general public, although locals always knew of them."

We climb down a rickety wooden ladder and are suddenly in the darkness of a long narrow corridor.

We begin our journey, trekking deeper inside when I hear something.

"Did you hear that?" I ask before straining my ears to listen carefully.

Alex begins looking around in the darkness, trying to hear for the sound if it happens again.

We slowly venture forward being as quiet as possible, straining our ears for any further sounds when suddenly we hear it again. It sounds like footsteps in the distance along with a whimper.

Alex takes the lead and we begin heading down the tunnel faster than before. Something is down here with us and we need to know what.

I hear the noises again and realise that is a person. It sounds like a scared whimper or sorts but softer and higher pitched. It doesnt sound like it is coming from an adult but from someone smaller.

It's a child. I say mentally both to myself and to Alex.

We both know that our search for sanctuary has turned into a rescue mission.

Maybe the child is hiding in here hurt and lost. But how on earth did he or she even get down here to begin with?

We have trekked over a kilometre down into the tunnels but still have found nothing when the tunnels start to widen into small pockets on each side. Each pocket could stand four grown men easily and seem to be getting larger.