On Kumiko’s left, other infected were coming. The closest had only one arm, but its mouth was wide open and ready to take a chunk from the first slab of flesh it could find. A queue trailed away behind it, half a dozen ready to take its place. Further back, a hundred others had their interest aroused.
Kumiko sprinted across the oval, adjusting her speed and line to avoid the wandering infected and the leftover remains of those that had become food. The smell was terrible; twice she began to wretch when she accidentally started breathing through her nose again. She glanced back at Dan a third time, desperate to ensure he had not fallen over. He ran hard, arms and legs pumping, face red, followed by the infected woman, but the gap to Kumiko had lengthened. When she spun front on, the path ahead had closed up, and suddenly Kumiko couldn’t find a clear way through. She darted left, then right, and realised the only route was over the top of a thing feeding on its knees in the hollow chest of another.
Leaping high, she thought the idea had been clever until she landed in a divot—one of those inconspicuous holes in every field you never see until your foot is in it. Her ankle twisted left, and she lost all strength in her leg. She fell hard on her elbow, crying out as her cheek thudded against the grass.
The familiar voice surfaced. This is it. You’re dead. But she wouldn’t listen to it. Somewhere at the rear, Dan called out for her to get up. That was the plan. The infected nearby stirred, closing in, and further away, the clumsy foot shuffle of the dead sounded. She had to get up. Kumiko shook her head to clear it and climbed to a sitting position. Nothing wanted to work… pain in her ankle, pain in her head, pain in her elbow.
Ahead, perhaps forty yards away, the entrance gates loomed. One of the men slipped through them and was coming towards her, holding a gun. Maybe he would save her. But it was all too hard. She wasn’t sure she had the fight left to push on.
A set of teeth sank into her leg. She’d never had anyone bite her before and was surprised by the sharp pain. She rolled sideways onto her back, clutching her lower leg, and momentarily pulled it free. Two infected crawled for her. Kumiko spun onto her belly and wriggled forward using her elbows, but it felt as though she was moving through quicksand.
A heavy weight fell on her lower body. She tried to shake her way free, but the thing was on her other leg, and another crouched beside had pinned her left arm. She screamed. A second bite—from where, she did not know—on her other leg, spelt the beginning of the end. Her free right arm clubbed at the attacker, but it did not move, tolerating the hits in favour of fresh blood. Kumiko gritted her teeth and summoned all her strength to force them off her, but their weight was too much. She lay back, wondering why Dan was not helping.
She managed to pull her left arm free and rolled over again, hot sun beating down on her face. She tried to open her eyes, but the brightness held them shut. Then a shadow came across her and Kumiko looked up to see the infected woman kneel beside her. Even in the bright heat, those black eyes were cold, evil. The other infected moved off her, and she started to roll, but the woman reached out and grabbed Kumiko’s throat, locking her down. It looked at her face, knowing, examining.
In Kumiko’s mind, the voice came for a final time, and she knew it had been right; she had been right. For a split second, she wondered if it had been one of those self-fulfilling prophecies.
Then, darkness.
8
Mac and the others watched as Kumiko and Dan dropped from the roof and ran across the oval towards a patchy sea of the infected. Not far behind was the aggressive woman they had the seen the day before—different to the others—and Mac suspected the partner of the one he had killed as it attacked Jim under the car outside the office building.
Kumiko led the way, running hard in a zigzag pattern to avoid the oncoming attackers. They were slow and staggered in their attack, and she seemed to be handling the challenge well. At first, it was difficult to see her and Dan in between the number of wandering infected. As more began walking towards the fleeing pair, Mac suspected he would have to get involved, and it might just be that he and the shotgun were the only things that stood between death and their freedom.
“Look after the kids,” Mac said to Shelli. “Take them to the car. You still got the keys to the Nissan?” Shelli nodded. “We take that. Be ready for quick getaway. I can see this thing getting messy.” Smitty and Shelli simultaneously pulled the children closer. Mac loaded several shells into the Stevens shotgun.
“She’s gone down, mate,” Smitty said.
Mac snapped his head up and narrowed his gaze. He couldn’t find Kumiko in the midst of the infected, although she had to be there. Moving towards the gate, he narrowed his focus, eyes on the place in the middle of the oval where she had fallen.
Mac unfurled the chain around the gates, slipped inside, and pulled them closed again. Then he was off, running towards her, slightly bent over, hands locked around the gun in a tactical position. He wished he had his M4 or even a good handgun that would give him a precise shot at closer range, but the shotgun would have to do.
He couldn’t see Dan. Mac drew within thirty yards, and Kumiko came into view. She lay on the ground with the infected thing over her. Even at a distance, its exaggerated body, all muscle, stood out. There was a good chance Kumiko was dead, but that wouldn’t stop Mac trying. He halted, braced himself, and drew the infected woman into his sights. Her body covered Kumiko. Mac pulled the trigger, and the weapon exploded with a crack. The pellets within the shell did their trick, peppering both the infected woman and the others surrounding her. The woman fell back; the others ceased their efforts on Kumiko and looked up towards Mac.
As they climbed to their feet, Mac ran forward again and dropped onto one knee. His prime objective was to get Kumiko and Dan clear. He took two shells out of his pocket, ready for a reload. The woman had moved in behind the other infected to protect herself, and followed them forward.
Mac dropped the closest infected with a headshot, and it crumpled to the grass. He reloaded and did the same to the second. Others closed in from left and right; he couldn’t fire on them or he’d run out of ammo. Mac directed the weapon at the woman and fired. It struck her in the shoulder, and she flung around, falling onto one knee. Mac snapped the shotgun open and began to reload.
Further back, Dan stumbled towards where Kumiko lay, calling out her name.
“No, Dan!” Mac shouted. Nothing he found would be good for him.
Dan wasn’t listening. He lurched towards Kumiko and fell on the ground beside her, crawling for her life. The infected woman, who had retreated from Mac’s firing, paused now, considering whether to risk a gunshot for the sake of another kill. Mac fired another shell at her, but she was quicker than he had expected, and stepped aside in what must have been the precise moment to avoid most of the buckshot. She took several slow steps backwards out of range.
Mac reached Dan. “We gotta go, mate.”
With his head on Kumiko’s stomach, Dan sobbed. Her lifeless eyes stared off into the distance. Blood had soaked into her shirt, covering most of the upper half of her body. Mac felt the sting of regret. He had not known her well, but she had seemed like a good kid. Dan had one of her hands in his, holding it tight. Mac put a hand on his shoulder, scanning the area for infected. They were close; in ten seconds they’d have their hands full. The infected woman had moved further back, still eyeing them off in anticipation of her next move. Mac appealed to the only thing that can sometimes work in such a situation.
“She wouldn’t want you to give up, mate.” Mac didn’t think his motivational attempt would work. Finally, though, Dan stirred, lifting his head and looking around as though seeing the situation from a different perspective. Mac pulled his t-shirt. “Let’s go.”
Slowly, Dan stood, and then they were running backwards, moving away from the converging infected. Mac had to smack a few heads with the butt of the shotgun to clear a path, refusing to use any more shells unless life or death was on the line. Dan stu
mbled along, Mac having to grab his arm to keep him upright several times.
They reached the gate without incident. Mac’s concern that the infected woman would follow seemed unfounded. Smitty opened it for them, then quickly locked it up. A handful of infected had followed the duo to the boundary fence and now pressed their bodies against the wire, clawing skeletal fingers through the links, eyes bulging, black tongues lolling from diseased mouths.
Mac was relieved to see Shelli behind the wheel of the big white Nissan, idling nearby with the kids peering at him through the back seat window. Mac gave them a thumbs up, and they responded with their own, smiles a little crooked and uncertain.
Dan stood in the centre of the driveway outside the school gates, looking back at the oval. Smitty glanced over at Mac.
“You bastards!” Dan screamed.
He ran at the fence and gripped it between his fingers, shaking the wire. Two infected came towards it. His fingers slipped out of the loops, and he slammed his fists against the holes.
“FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!”
The impassive faces of the infected pressed their cheeks against the wire, their mouths opening and closing. Fists clenched at his side, Dan continued screaming at them.
Mac put a hand around his shoulders and tried to guide Dan towards the car. He shrugged the hand off and started for the gates. Smitty stepped casually over and stood in front of Dan, barring his way.
“Get out of the way,” Dan said, stopping before Smitty.
“Nope. Can’t do that, bud.”
“I know you’re in pain, my friend,” Mac said when Dan turned towards him. “We all are. But you going back in there isn’t going to solve anything.”
“What if she’s alive? Maybe she was just unconscious.”
Mac shook his head. “Nah, mate. She’s not. We both know that.”
Dan looked back to the oval. For a moment, his mind drifted away somewhere, and he stood staring into the distance. Finally, he turned, head down, and strode towards the other side of the road. Smitty and Mac exchanged a glance; Mac nodded. Only when Dan was far enough away, did Mac leave his position.
“What about Jim? He seemed adamant on staying.”
Smitty peered back at the admin building. “He did. We should give him a little longer, see if he’s changed his mind.”
“Not too long, though,” Mac said. “Standing around here isn’t safe for anyone.”
Mac peered back towards the oval. The infected were drifting about again. He tried to locate the aggressive woman but was unable to identify her near the area where Kumiko was lost. For a moment, he thought he saw Kumiko wandering amongst the others. He shook his head and looked again, but the masses had mingled and they all looked the same. Perhaps it was better not to see that, for some things couldn’t be unseen.
9
Even before Kumiko had been attacked and killed by the aggressive infected woman, Jim had made the decision to leave the school. Mac’s words had not left him. If he ended up dead, he’d never have any chance of finding his girls again.
He went out the admin building door, which had been smashed open when the horde had attacked first thing, and was surprised there were no infected there. They had been drawn to the other side of the oval, of course—drawn first to Mac and Smitty and the kids who had run for their lives, and now drawn to Dan and, sadly, Kumiko. Jim sent silent thanks to them all then climbed down the stairs and hurried towards his white Ford Territory SUV waiting patiently for his return.
He unlocked the vehicle, tossed his old shotgun and a bag of supplies in, then slipped into the driver’s seat, gently closing the door to avoid drawing attention. He turned on the engine and was glad for the relative silence. Still, the closest ones heard the motor or noticed the movement as Jim backed out and turned the car down the long driveway. He took it slow enough to keep the engine low and let gravity do its thing.
A breakaway group of infected that had chased Mac and the others assembled at the gate, poking their fingers and tongues through the fence in desperation to get at those on the outside. As Jim arrived, Mac lifted the shotgun and dropped the three infected hovering where the two gates met. He and Smitty each pushed a side open, knocking one or two more over with the backside of the gates in the process. That made space for Jim to drive through and out onto Yan Yean Road. As the car rolled through the permitter line, he felt a mix of nervousness and sadness.
Jim brought the Territory to a stop in a furrow off the edge of the crumbling bitumen and slid out of the car. Mac and Smitty had closed the gate and now the infected they’d knocked over opening it were back up against the wire with their slimy faces and gulping mouths. Dan was also at the fence, hands on his head.
Mac approached Jim, his back turned to Dan. Quietly, he said, “You see what happened to her?” Jim nodded. “Poor kid,” Mac turned back to the place where Kumiko had gone down. He nodded towards Dan. “He’s feeling it, too.”
“Kid lost his grandmother. She lived across the road from the school. He went back but never found her.”
Jim walked to Dan and put a hand on his shoulder. There were tears in Dan’s eyes and the pain in his twisted features was palpable. It tugged at Jim’s heart. He imagined losing one of the girls, and that familiar knot of terror he had been feeling since they were first born manifested in the pit of his stomach.
He took a step forward and really looked at the school for the first time with an outsider’s view. It was not the safe haven he had desperately wanted it to become. The sick and dead wandered, both inside and outside the building. One that had cut its arm on shattered glass from a window, lay flapping like a bird with a broken wing as its friends feasted on the rest of its body. They were hideous, immoral things. Jim could never have conceived in his life such poisonous beings would ever exist.
A larger group had gathered near the centre of the oval. Somewhere in there was Kumiko, and just what was happening to her now was too much for Jim to envisage. It was over. His dream of building a place of refuge had been crushed. His failure was complete. His wife had left him and taken the kids. He’d tried to set up a place to help people, and it had failed spectacularly, with more than one death. He felt like he had been swallowed up by uselessness.
“We have to leave, Jim,” Mac said, standing next to him. “We can’t stay here. You can’t stay here.”
Jim thought about the sign he’d made and placed on the roundabout on Yan Yean Road. He’d have to take it down. Otherwise, it would place more people at risk. “I know. I think I knew when you told me earlier; it just took a while for me to admit it to myself.”
“You put in an outstanding effort, mate, no doubt about it.”
A shrill ring sounded from Jim. His pocket began to vibrate, and it took him a moment to realise his phone was ringing.
“Networks must be back up,” Mac said hopefully. “Who are you with?”
“Telstra,” Jim said as he snatched the phone out of his pocket and pressed it to his ear. “Hello?” The others watched expectantly.
“Dad, it’s Steph.” Her voice was emotional. She’d been crying.
“Steph? Jesus, are you okay?”
“Dad, we’re in trouble. They’ve cornered us. We need to get out of the park. We’re not going to make—”
“Calm down, Steph, calm down.” Jim began to walk in a circle. “Is your sister with you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Good.”
“What about your mother?””
Steph started crying again. “She got bitten. We don’t know where she is.”
Shit. The idea struck Jim like a bolt to the chest. “It’s all right… we’ll work it out. Are you both safe?”
“We’re hiding in the recreation room. There’s a few other people with us. We have to get out of the park, though—the place is covered with the infected.”
“Listen to me, Steph. Where are you? Tell me exactly where you are. I’ll come and get you.”
“We’re in Hamilton,
Dad. On the other side of the Central Highlands.”
Jim closed his eyes and let his head rock back. Hamilton was a two-and-half to three-hour drive directly south. What if they couldn’t hold on for that long? What if—
“That’s okay. I just need you to hold on until I get there, all right?”
“Okay.” Her crying had turned to sobs. “Okay, Dad. But we might have to leave the park.”
“Do what you have to do to stay alive, you hear me? And Steph, look after your sister, too. Stay together. Now the phones sometimes don’t work, so don’t panic if you can’t get through. I’ll try to touch base along the way.”
“Okay, Dad. Please hurry.”
“I will. Love you. Give your sister my love.” Steph reciprocated Jim’s words and then Jim hung up.
“Good news?” Mac asked.
“Yes—well, not so good for my ex-wife.” He felt a deep stirring of emotions that she had been bitten. Despite all that had happened with their relationship, Jim still loved the woman, and he wanted no harm to befall her. “She’s been bitten, apparently. But my two daughters are safe for now. I have to leave straight away.”
“Understand,” Mac said. “Let me give you some shells for that shotgun.”
Dan walked towards the gate with the golf club in hand. “I’m going in.”
“Dan?” Jim said, stepping closer. “You can’t.”
“Yes I can. I’m going to kill that fucker that killed her.” He reached the gate and started unlooping the chain. The infected on the other side began to open their mouth, revealing swollen tongues and bloody teeth. “I’ll kill it.”
Jim reached Dan and put an arm on his shoulder. Dan shrugged it off. The chain fell onto the ground and Dan started to open the left gate.
“No,” Jim said, and tackled him around the waist. “I need your help.”
Jim began dragging Dan backwards. They fell onto the gravel driveway. Dan threw his elbows out, trying to break free. Jim, despite his thin build, would not let go. Dan writhed and Jim lost the grip of one arm. One elbow struck Jim in the face, and his head rocked back. Dan broke loose and climbed to his knees. Jim ignored the pain and crawled after him. Dan stood.
Invasion of the Dead (Book 5): Resolve Page 6
