Cold Open.

“Damien! Why on earth did you buy that thing?” Damien’s wife complained.

“To protect us. To look after us. Isn’t it… marvellous?”

“It’s a fucking zombie in our front garden!” she hissed angrily.

“Tethered. It’s secure,” he said trying to cuddle her.

“Get off me. It’s scary. What if it comes free? Then what? Those things eat kids you know. They’re not like vampuras who don’t. They just gnash and chomp away at anything.”

“But vampuras are killing kids now, it’s all over social media now. Haven’t you seen?”

“Please don’t believe everything you read on social media Damien!” she moaned, slapping her forehead in exasperation.

“And, and … It won’t come free. It’s a ten foot metal chain, see.” He pointed out of the window at it. It was in a tall dog house booth type thing, the sort of box that a Queen’s Guard will stand in outside Kensington Palace. “And it’s supposed to eat anything. It’s to protect us from the vampuras who may now be coming for our kids.”

“And if you’ll wait here with me for a minute, I’ll show you how it works.”

“Why?”

“Just see,” he assured again, putting his arm around his wife. She didn’t shake him off this time.

After the minute had gone, a car pulled down the lane leading to the house. It stopped outside the garden wall.

“Oh Damien…”

“Just watch honey.”

The guy got out of the car and opened the gate.

“Damien,” she said sternly. “That’s our pizza delivery guy.”

“But watch what’ll happen…” he said, buzzing with a warped enthusiasm.

“No way! You’re going to get him killed!” She shoved Damien’s arm off her shoulders and ran to the door.

“No, baby! Don’t!” But it was too late.

She had already ran to the front door, opened it and stepped barefoot into the garden.

The guard pet zombie had already sensed the pizza delivery guy and made its way out to attack him, but the arrival of Damien’s wife, who was now closest, made it lunge towards her instead.

Damien was out of the door by the time that the zombie was tangled up with his wife as she screamed. The pizza delivery guy wasn’t sticking around, and had thrown the pizza box in the air and jumped the wall without even tackling the gate.

“Noooooooooo!” Damien yelled as his recent purchase gnawed away through his wife’s throat.

It wasn’t meant to kill her.

Chapter Sixteen.

“Um, you’ll most likely be aware, it’s not been in the press yet but if you have friends in the Georgia Green Division, then you… you’ll be aware that poor Miranda Iden was killed last night on her way to her shift,” Alistair announced, with a sombre tone. He looked around at the group, and returned to his paper in front of him. “It was a vampura attack, I can confirm. She was just bitten, and there was no reanimation.”

“There’s some consolation then,” Bridget muttered.

Henry caught Alistair’s stare as he continued to speak. “The er… funeral will be next week, apparently. There’s um… there’s no obligations to be there, but if you knew Miranda then I’m sure your presence would be appreciated.” Alistair looked at Henry again. “But if you can’t be there then that’s alright too.”

Henry appreciated Alistair. The thought of having to do another funeral was a bit much for Henry to handle right now. It bought back the memories of his brother’s funeral, which in turn bought back the guilt and the horror of selfishly having sacrificed him to a vampura dog just to save his own ass in a moment of blind panic. Going to this Miranda’s funeral was just too much and the saving grace was that he didn’t know her.

“Meanwhile, it’s business as usual for us tonight…” Alistair said, changing the subject and moving on.

“Business as usual?” David called out, interrupting. “I wished it was business as usual. It’s dead quiet out there now, if you pardon the pun. It has been for a while.”

“Yes, quite,” Alistair agreed. “It is true that vampuras are a little bit scarce out there at the moment.”

“Which is a good thing,” Nadheera said.

“Quite,” Alistair agreed again. “Our job is to wipe out vampuras. But it’s not ‘dead’ out there because we’ve done our job, or because the vampuras have all gone and there is less of them. It’s thought that they’re in hiding. They’ve retreated for now. They’re scared. Funnily enough, evil is scared.” Alistair chuckled in disbelief. “They’re not feeding because our blood tastes bad. They don’t even bite now in case they spawn more of those gnashers. We’re seeing Vamp Mamas not able to even continue the vampura line any more. They’re just as scared of the monsters that the Pellisgriseo Convampura Virus mutation has created as we are. They’re out there going thirsty, where they’ll soon die out. Livestock from farms around here has all dried up. We’ve seen that for ourselves. After the blood bank battle, they also know it’s impossible to even get the good stuff in there. But our work’s not done. Not by a long shot. There’s not going to be a unit set up to fight the gnashers. That’s now our job. And those vampuras who are out there determined to survive, they’ll adapt. Change the way they attack. Change who they attack.”

“Kids,” Lana said, remembering what she saw a little of at the farm house. “They don’t even bite them now. They just stab and drain the blood from them. It’s heart breaking and nightmarish and horrendous.” She shuddered and Henry, who was sat next to her, placed a comforting hand on her forearm.

“Quite,” Alistair said, again. “So our job is not done. It’s quiet out there, but there’s still work to be done. Our presence is just as much needed out there. More than anything. Alright?”

The team nodded defiantly, as if they were just at that moment about to go into battle themselves.

“So, our pairings tonight. Let’s get out there and do what we do best. Lana, you’re with me. Nadheera and Callum together. Henry with David, Zoe and Bridget will be the final pair. Stanley will be back tomorrow.”

The group all got up to find their partners for that night.

“Henry,” Alistair said. “Don’t rush off yet. Can I have a quick word please?”

Henry gave David a nod that did the job of communicating, ‘I’ll meet you outside’. “Yessir.”

The two walked to a more private side of the pavilion hall, which was clearing out anyway. “I just wanted to check that you’re ok? I was a bit conscious that the news of Miranda’s death might bring up some memories, so if you need some time that’s ok. We’ve not had a Nasscie death since your brother.”

Henry gratefully smiled at his leader. “Thanks Cap, but I’ll be ok. I appreciate you thinking of me. I won’t lie… it did bring back some feelings, but nothing I can’t shake off.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Henry did his best to smile and convey that he was indeed ok. But he just wanted to get out of there.

“Ok, well off you go. Have a safe shift.”

Henry smiled and jogged across the hall, to the doors and outside to find David. His partner for the night was out there waiting, but Henry just ran past around the back of the pavilion building.

“Oi, where are y-”

Henry started to throw up into a bush on the side of the building. David stopped when he heard, saw… and smelt what was going on.

“Are you alright mate?” he asked Henry when he stopped emptying painting the greenery with orange.

Henry stood up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Yeah… sorry.”

“Don’t be. Do you need to go home?”

“No, no. I’m good. I just needed to get… that out of me,” Henry assured.

David looked at him concerned. “You sure? I don’t want to get sick off you.”

“Well then we shouldn’t spend our night kissing,” Henry managed to tease, as he began to feel more normal.

David stomped his foot on the ground, pretending to throw a strop. “Oh man, I’m gutted.” They both laughed.

“Let’s go,” Henry said.

“What did the Captain want?” David asked as they started walking up the drive.

“See if I was alright in light of Miranda’s death.”

“Oh.” He looked at Henry. “And are you? Is that what the sick was about?”

“I am alright. And no. Don’t worry about the throw up. I’m good.”

“But you’re going to need a breath mint or two,” stated David.

“Oh yeah definitely. And then we can snog?” David playfully shoved Henry and they made Cooper & Brooks their first port of call.

***

Henry ran into the supermarket for the bottle of water while David waited outside. It was a cool night after the amount of rain they had had during the day, with a slight breeze that made wearing their layers of leather a bit more bearable.

“Are you sure you didn’t want one?” Henry asked as he found David out in the carpark under some bright lights.

“…No thanks.” David looked a bit distracted by something he was reading that Henry couldn’t quite see.

“What’s that?”

David didn’t answer straight away, instead still focused on what he was reading.

“Hello, Earth to David…”

“Sorry man. I was just reading this.” David gave Henry a copy of what he was reading. “I found it underneath the windscreen wipers of that Range Rover there,” he said, pointing at the matt black Range Rover.

Henry read it. NEED TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY? YOUR FAMILY? YOURSELF? PRIVATE AUCTION FOR GUARD GNASHERS. TEXT ‘AUCTION’ TO 955132 FOR POSTCODE OF LOCATION OF AUCTION. TONIGHT ONLY. BRING ££££.

“Auction for guard gnashers?” Henry asked out loud, trying to understand what it was he was reading. “I don’t think I get it…”

“I think it’s pretty much as it says on the leaflet mate…” David said.

“So there’s an auction for zombie guard pets? Happening tonight?”

“Shall we text it?” David asked, with a glint in his eye. “Find out what the craic is for ourselves? It could be big.”

“It could be dangerous,” Henry cautioned.

“Yes, but also big,” repeated David.

“Ok, text it. See what happens.”

“And if it gives us the willies, then we can call the others,” David assured.

“Fine.”

David got his phone out and typed out ‘AUCTION’ and then the number. The phone made the whooshing sound to say when it had gone.

Henry looked at David with anticipation.

Then the reply came. Henry felt a wave of nervous excitement wash over him as he leaned in to see the reply on the message.

It was a postcode.

Then another came through just underneath it. TELL NO ONE.

Henry got his phone out and opened up the Maps app. “Read me out the postcode and I’ll look it up.” After a second or two the screen showed the area the postcode matched to. “Is that the industrial area? On Midlock Hill?”

“Yeah it is. I’ll call us a taxi.”

***

The taxi dropped them off a few streets away. They had no intention of going in through the front door. The industrial area was a warren of streets and warehouses where car services and MOTs took place, bathroom and kitchen showrooms based themselves and packing and shipping companies dispatched lorries worth of merchandise out across the country.

It didn’t take long to work out which warehouse unit was the destination for the auction. It was the one with all the big, fancy, expensive cars parked out the front.

“This is for the fat cats with the money,” Henry muttered.

“The only ones stupid enough to want to bid for a zombie guard pet thing…” agreed David.

“How are we going to get in?” Henry asked.

“I don’t know… A side exit?”

The pair skulked in the shadows of trees and the other industrial warehouses down the road to the one in question. On the main, tall sliding doors, which were closed, stood two burly bouncers.

“We want to avoid them,” David whispered.

“No shit,” Henry said as they tip toed round the side. The warehouse was not joined to by other buildings, it was just surrounded by car park, which wasn’t guarded by anyone. That was also because there were no other doors round the back to guard.

“Hmm…” David said under his breath. He was looking around on the floor and in the bushes. When he found what he was looking for, he bent down to pick it up.

“A brick? Are you kidding?” Henry hissed.

“No, the building’s open, so there’ll be no alarm. Maybe. The action’s all in there man, we have to do this to get in.”

“Fiiiine,” Henry conceded. David took off his jacket and wrapped the brick in it. Henry took his off and held it up in front of their faces, as David threw his leather encased brick into a dark window. It smashed and the pair paused, waiting to hear if they had alerted anyone to their presence. Nothing.

David slid the rock along the bottom of the window pane, taking out the dangerous shards sticking up so that they could make it in safely and David went first. He was keen, Henry thought, who followed in. They both put their jackets back on and did them up again. The room they had found themselves in was simply an office, and the door was luckily open.

It opened into a corridor which lit up as it detected their movement. They paused and waited again, listening for anything that could give them away. All they could hear was the noise of someone shouting on a microphone. Saying numbers, going up. The auction was happening.

Henry pointed in the direction it seemed to be coming from and the pair went towards it. The corridor ended with a door. It was the only way through, but there was no way of knowing what was behind it.

“We’ve come this far,” Henry whispered, accepting the fact that they were there now and were at the point of no return. He couldn’t deny himself, it was exciting as hell, and to hear the auction happening, made him pleased that they had found something worthwhile.

David pushed on the door a little bit and it gave way. He peeked through, and Henry crouched to peek through under him. There was a big crowd of about a hundred people, stood about fifty metres away with their backs to them at the door. The warehouse space was massive. As wide as it was high. The group were all facing the something in the middle of them. Temporary spot lights on stands had been erected at four points, all pointing down to something in the middle of the group.

The boys closed the door softly to regroup.

“I saw some stairs going up to a walkway that would give us a better view of everything,” David said.

“I saw it too,” Henry said.

“Shall we?”

“What the fuck are you doing here?” A gruff, angry voice said behind Henry and David. The two looked at each other and then slowly towards the voice.

“We’re obviously lost. Do you know where the auction is being held?” David said.

“Get here now!” The man growled.

David and Henry pushed through the doors and ran into the open space.

“STOP!” the man shouted after them and the disturbance caused everyone to turn around. Henry almost shit his pants. Cornered between an angry big guy and a crowd of a hundred, they had no where to go.

“We are the Neighbourhood Ancillary Stakers Corp.!” David shouted. “We’re shutting this thing down! The police are coming!”

Henry looked at him, alarmed. And then at the big guy. They hadn’t even told anyone they were coming here. It was a bluff. A risky bluff.

And it paid off.

The crowd gasped and panicked, running for the closed doors that weren’t opening quick enough for them. For all they knew, the police were already outside. There was clattering and crashing as one of the light stands fell.

The angry guy, torn between the dispersing stampede that was now happening and accosting the two Nasscies, chose to go towards the doors.

David pulled Henry’s arm and they ran to where the crowd were are looking at moments before.

There was a big bull pen of sorts that had been put together with dozens of completely naked zombies penned in. Each one had been spray painted on it’s chest with a number. Like cattle at a cattle market.

Well, they had been penned in, but the fallen light and the fleeing crowd had knocked some of the barriers of the pen down and they were stumbling their way out through the gap. Stumbling towards the crowd of auction goers who were still waiting for the doors to open.

“Shit, there’s too many of them for us,” David muttered.

“We can draw them back into the pen?” Henry suggested. The doors had now began to open, but not enough for the crowd to completely leave. And how long would it be before they realised that the police weren’t coming and they’d been duped?

Someone screamed and Henry saw someone being attacked from behind by a zombie.

“Shit!” Henry shouted.

David hurdled the barrier to get into the pen and started clapping his hands and yelling, trying to get the attention of the gnashers.

Henry dashed towards the zombie killing the woman and pierced the back of its head with the metal end of his stake. The zombie went lifeless, but the woman’s screams continued.

“Someone help her,” Henry urged, leaving her to help David encourage the zombies back towards David, which was already working a little.

“Take out that one if you can!” David shouted, pointing to one that didn’t seem to be following the others. Henry identified another which wasn’t behaving like it needed to and took it out. It was like herding cats, and through the chaos of what was happening at the doors, Henry and David worked together to secure the naked zombies back in the barriers.

“It’s time you got out now!” Henry warned as he was getting ready to pick up the downed barrier to close it off again. He waited for David to be free before raising it up and connecting it to the barriers either side of it.

The crowd had so far mostly dispersed from the warehouse. One of the bouncers was stood over the deceased woman and the zombie that had bitten her.

He looked up at the boys. “You fucks, what have you done?”

“We’ve not done anything,” David said. “Except for rescue everyone!”

“If you hadn’t have said what you did, we wouldn’t be in this mess.” Henry watched as David bravely stood up to the guy.

“You can believe that if you want,” David said. “But what you were doing here is wrong.”

Sirens started sounding in the background which seemed to scare the bouncer. “This isn’t over,” he threatened.

“Oh but it is,” Henry said smugly, feeling buoyed by David’s confidence and his own adrenaline surging through him.

The man shook his head and ran off towards the doors like everyone else had.

“I’ll call Alistair. Let him know what happened,” Henry said.

“And I’ll talk to the police,” David decided. “We make a good team,” he said smiling.

“That was never in doubt. But I want back up the next time we storm a zombie auction.”