The Road Trip At The End Box Set

by J N Wood

  ‘Are they in Norwich?’

  ‘My mum is. My sister lives in London. I think I’ll check on them and then get myself a boat, something like this.’ He gestured to the helm’s dashboard. ‘Then I’ll sail back to Canada.’

  ‘To be with Elena?’ I asked.

  ‘Yeah, why not? And because, like you say, Canada is still the same.’

  ‘I think you should go for it. Good for you mate. Do you think you’ll be able to sail it on your own?’

  ‘I can only try. I’ll see if anyone wants to come with me. Javier has been a good teacher though. What about you? What are going to do?’

  ‘Find Joanne. After that I’ll go to Middlesbrough to find my parents.’

  ‘What do you think we’re going to find in Europe?’ Roy asked. ‘Zombies everywhere? Or Chinese and Russian soldiers killing everyone?’

  ‘Fuck knows.’

  ‘Is that a boat?’ Roy said, pointing behind me.

  I pushed myself away the side of the Penelope’s hull and spun around, trying to find what he was pointing at. There was another boat on the horizon, seemingly travelling in the same direction as us.

  ‘I’ll go and get the others,’ I told him, and walked over to the stairs.

  Half an hour had passed and Javier was still peering through his binoculars at the new boat.

  ‘She is angled towards us slightly,’ he said. ‘We might get close when we cross paths.’

  ‘Do you think it is more pirates?’ Aurelie asked.

  ‘Not this far out,’ Javier answered. ‘Probably just people like us, trying to get home. I’ll keep a watch on them.’

  Javier was right. We were going to get close, very close by the looks of it. A couple of hours passed with all six of us in the cockpit, staring at the boat. We could make out the people on aboard, and even exchanged a few waves.

  ‘Should we try and contact them on the radio?’ Elena said.

  ‘No,’ Javier replied. ‘Wait for them to contact us.’

  An hour had passed and they hadn’t contacted us. They were however sailing alongside us, about one hundred feet away and gradually closing the gap.

  Five people were stood in their cockpit area, one of them at the helm. We tried shouting to them, but the sound of our yacht forcing her way through the ocean drowned out our voices. Javier was adamant we weren’t slowing down, just in case they did turn out to be very friendly looking pirates.

  I suppose they could turn nasty at any second.

  ‘Let them get close enough so we can communicate,’ Elena said to her brother. ‘If they get too close, change course.’

  ‘Si,’ Javier replied. ‘That is what I was thinking. If you see any weapons get down below.’

  We’d been trying to talk but only heard the odd word, so it was impossible to have a conversation. Now that we were about twenty feet away, we could finally understand what they were saying.

  ‘Bonjour, hello,’ one of the women called out. ‘We are French. Where are you from?’

  Benoit started shouting back in French. I managed to translate two of the words, England and Spain, but that was it.

  When they’d finished, Benoit turned back us. ‘They are going to Normandy. They set off from Florida two weeks ago.’

  ‘We set off from Canada two weeks ago,’ I said. ‘How have they got to this point at the same time as us? Are we really slow or something?’

  ‘We had to navigate a very long river,’ Javier told me.

  ‘Yeah but still,’ I said. ‘Florida? That’s fucking miles away.’

  ‘Quiet Chris,’ Aurelie said, then turned and also starting shouting over to them in French. After a brief exchange, she said to us, ‘They have plenty of supplies. They asked if we were okay. I told them yes.’ She looked to Javier. ‘That is correct isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes we’re good,’ Javier said.

  The Frenchies had another little chat with the new people, and then we all waved as they passed behind us, bouncing up and down over our wake.

  ‘What did they say?’ Roy asked.

  ‘We just asked if they knew anything of France,’ Benoit replied.

  ‘They did not,’ Aurelie glumly said.

  ‘You’re going to the South of France aren’t you?’ I asked them.

  They stood together, arms around each other and watching the boat sail away from us.

  ‘Oui,’ Aurelie answered.

  ‘So it’d be pointless going with them?’ I asked.

  ‘Are you trying to get rid of us Christophe?’ Benoit asked with a smile.

  ‘No of course not Benny Boy. Just saying.’

  ‘It is probably a similar distance to Mont-de-Marsan,’ Benoit said. ‘But we do not know them. They might not have wanted us with them.’

  ‘Good,’ I said. ‘Stay with us then.’

  ‘They’ve got a very nice yacht,’ Javier noted.

  ‘Looks the same as this one,’ I said.

  The Spaniard laughed and shook his head. ‘No. My Penelope is beautiful.’ He looked over to the other yacht, moving away from us. ‘But she is stunning.’

  They look exactly the same to me.

  DAY FIFTY

  Chapter 19: Murder

  Spain was in sight. It was early morning when we first spotted it, meaning we would be making landfall at mid-day, prime zombie wandering time back in America.

  After a long argument about what we should do, I lost. We were to set off straight away. I just asked that we be careful.

  Javier and Elena were so excited they were almost bouncing off the walls. That was one of the main reasons we weren’t waiting until it was dark. All I felt were nerves and fear, afraid of what we were about to find.

  My theory is whatever is happening in Spain, will probably be very similar to England’s fate.

  I could tell the Frenchies were also feeling apprehensive. I think Roy was just happy because Elena was so happy.

  As we approached A Coruna, Javier pointed out the Tower of Hercules to us, a large brick tower up on a hill. It was the only building up there, surrounded by grass.

  We lowered the sails and turned the engine on. I was against this course of action as well, for fear the noise may attract unwanted attention, but Javier was insistent. His excuse was that he didn’t know the waters around here.

  We slowly moved around the large tower, not seeing anybody on land. Keeping close to the coast, we followed it around a bend and entered a large cove, immediately spotting the masts of various boats moored up on our right. Javier changed course slightly and aimed for the masts.

  The buildings of A Coruna came into view when we entered the cove. It was eerily quiet in the streets, with no movement at all.

  Fucking hell. This doesn’t look good.

  Javier and Elena had grown very quiet, not finding Spain how they hoped it would be.

  When we were amongst the many moored up boats, Javier turned the engine off and used our momentum to find us a mooring spot.

  Everything we were planning on taking with us had already been packed and was ready to go, piled up at the back of the cockpit.

  An old decaying smell filled my nostrils.

  While Javier and Elena unreeled ropes and started to secure the Penelope to the jetty, the rest of us were putting on backpacks. I unhooked my baseball bat. I’d missed the feel of The Smasher in my hands.

  I turned Jack’s phone on and waited. I’d only turned it on a few times on the boat, knowing there would be no signal, but checking anyway.

  The screen lit up, the word searching flashed up in the top left. After twenty seconds it stopped flashing and the words No Service replaced it.

  ‘Anything?’ Roy asked.

  I shook my head. ‘Nope, not a fucking thing.’

  ‘Keep checking,’ he said. ‘You never know.’

  Javier and Elena were rushing around us. Javier was muttering something to himself under his breath.

  ‘Hey Spaniards,’ I said. ‘Just remember we don’t know what’s happenin
g here. So just be careful. Let’s take it slowly.’

  ‘Yes we know Christophe,’ Javier replied, and then continued to rush around.

  ‘Can you smell that Chris?’ Roy asked out of the corner of his mouth.

  ‘Yep, smells like dead things,’ I whispered.

  Once the Penelope was secured we walked along the jetty, the smell getting stronger. Roy held one of his machetes in his right hand, Elena had the other one. Javier was carrying his hand gun, and Benoit had his AR-15.

  Hopefully he didn’t waste all of his rounds like I did.

  Worryingly, Aurelie was unarmed.

  ‘Keep an eye out for zombies,’ I whispered.

  I remembered the first few days after the virus hit in America. The streets were empty, and the only people we saw were hiding in their homes. So far A Coruna looks exactly the same as the towns in Colorado. Although Spain smells like everyone died a while ago.

  There was a large white building near the waterfront. As we moved closer we realised it was the hospital. The smell was becoming stronger as we walked.

  ‘The horrible smell must be coming from in there,’ Roy said. ‘That’s good, because I thought the whole town was going to be dead.’

  ‘Me too,’ I told him.

  We kept to the edges of the buildings, following the road that ran alongside the coast. The smell wasn’t getting weaker the further away we got from the hospital.

  We froze when we spotted a few mounds of clothing in the road up ahead.

  ‘They’re not moving,’ Javier said.

  ‘They might not be people,’ Aurelie suggested.

  Nobody said another word. We just crept up to the mounds, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

  I noticed Aurelie held a knife in her hand now.

  Benoit stepped up to the first body shaped mound. It was definitely a person. The head was hidden under a coat. He poked at its middle with the barrel of his gun. Nothing happened so he moved the barrel up and pulled the coat back.

  The movement disturbed thousands of blue, almost iridescent flies. The sunlight glinted on each individual body. They swarmed around Benoit as he swiped at them with his gun. Aurelie grabbed the back of his coat and dragged him backwards, away from the fat insects. They soon gave up on the Frenchman and started returning to the dead body on the road.

  Keeping my distance, I looked down at what Benoit had exposed. It was the remnants of somebody’s face, most of it eroded away or eaten. I couldn’t imagine flies eating that much of a face though.

  ‘Hola,’ Elena shouted, startling me.

  The side street next to us exploded with a scattering of birds. The sound of hundreds, if not thousands of cawing crows filled the air. The street was in the shade, but thousands of bodies filled the entire road, once covered by the birds disrupted by Elena.

  ‘Elena,’ I scolded. ‘Quiet.’

  ‘Please don’t say they are all dead bodies,’ she said, staring down the street.

  ‘Yes I think they are,’ I replied. ‘But stay quiet. Just remember the zombies.’

  ‘It does not look like there any zombies here Chris,’ Javier said.

  ‘It looks that way, but we don’t know that,’ I said. ‘We’re in Spain. They could be having a siesta.’

  ‘That’s not as stupid as it sounds,’ Roy quickly interjected. ‘Zombies do carry on with human sleeping patterns.’

  ‘That is bullshit,’ Javier said. ‘And we don’t have siesta at…’ He glanced down at his watch. ‘At twenty minutes past twelve.’

  ‘Just assume they are here,’ I said. ‘If they’re not, I’ll be happy to hear you say you told me so.’

  We continued down the road, the number of prone bodies increasing as we walked. We didn’t stop to look at any more of them. The vast majority were not covered so they were unfortunately easy to see, and therefore open to the elements. The bodies were incredibly gaunt and the skin shrivelled, almost like it was loosely draped over the bones beneath. It was hard to tell if they’d been zombies or not. Some did have parts of their flesh missing, but they’d decomposed a lot.

  ‘Let’s get cars and get out of here,’ Elena said. ‘This place is dead.’

  Roy’s expression changed instantly. He was fully aware that meant we would be splitting up, the Spanish siblings going to Valladolid, while the rest of us head for France.

  ‘Yes,’ Aurelie agreed. ‘There is nothing here.’

  ‘There are some cars over there,’ Benoit said, pointing to a car park visible through a very leafy park on our left.

  ‘Can anyone hot wire a car?’ I asked.

  They all said no, including Roy.

  ‘I know you can’t Roy,’ I told him. ‘In that case we need a car with the keys. We took one from a car showroom in America. We might be better off doing that here. At least it’ll be more reliable.’

  ‘Yes you are right,’ Elena said. ‘Spanish men do not take care of their cars. They crash them all the time.’

  ‘That is not true,’ Javier said, shaking his head. ‘But you are probably correct Christophe. Let’s find a showroom.’

  ‘Do you know of any?’ I asked him.

  Javier sighed and looked down the closest street. ‘No. I’ve only been here once. We need to search. Let’s find a street with only a few bodies.’

  ‘Shall we split up?’ Benoit asked.

  ‘No,’ the rest of us replied in unison.

  ‘Stay together,’ Elena said.

  So we left the open and relatively safe coastal road, and entered the small claustrophobia inducing streets of A Coruna. At least the one we chose only had a few of the decomposing bodies, sparsely spread out across the pebbled road.

  Tables and chairs were still set out in front of the bars and restaurants. The balconies above us were empty, with no movement in the windows. As far as I could tell, not a single curtain twitched.

  Elena walked ahead of us, spinning around to look up at the windows. ‘I’m really asking you now,’ she said. ‘Where is everyone that is not dead?’

  ‘Evacuated?’ Aurelie suggested. ‘Like parts of Canada.’

  ‘Why would they evacuate the coastal towns?’ Elena asked.

  ‘I do not know Elena,’ Aurelie replied. ‘I am sorry.’

  Elena stopped suddenly and pointed down one of the side streets. ‘Cars,’ she exclaimed with a big smile, the first one I’d seen on her face since arriving.

  We rushed towards her as she focussed on Roy. He smiled back at her beaming face.

  I stopped when a loud thwack and a whoosh echoed around us, immediately followed by a splattering noise.

  Roy’s feet faltered. His face was no longer smiling. It was now full of horror. Javier screamed his sister’s name. I turned back to Elena. A large red patch was on the ground in front of her. Javier sprinted past me, still shouting her name. I looked up to Elena’s face as she staggered slightly. Her jaw was slack. Blood was dripping from it and running down her neck. There was now a huge bloody mess of a hole where her left eye had been. She fell to her knees just before Javier reached her. He grabbed her under the arms and started dragging her back to us.

  That’s when I started moving, managing to unfreeze my legs.

  My arms involuntarily shot up when I heard another loud thwack and a whoosh.

  Javier cried out as his insides exploded out from a large red hole just below his right arm. He slumped over his very still sister. A long, wheezing breath escaped him.

  I grabbed Roy as he rushed past me, stopping him from going any further. I was trying to look in every direction, my brain struggling to catch up with the ongoing events. All I knew was I had to stop Roy from stepping in front of that side street.

  ‘No Roy,’ I screamed. He struggled to escape my grip. ‘Please Roy.’ He grabbed my hands and tried to prise them away from him. I held on tighter. ‘You can’t do anything.’

  We both ducked down when gunshots erupted next to us. Roy wasn’t pulling away as much as I turned to see Benoit, down on one
knee and leaning over to his right.

  He was firing the AR-15 in short bursts down the side street, moving the gun and taking aim before pulling the trigger again. He stopped firing and locked eyes with me. ‘Stay clear of the street. The shooter is down there.’ Then he moved his face back down to the gun and continued firing, just single shots now. A few seconds later he stopped and ran back to us. He grabbed Roy’s other shoulder and helped me drag him away from our dead friends.

  Two more dead friends.

  Aurelie was staring at the Spanish siblings’ bodies, another horrifying addition to the many mounds we’d seen today.

  Benoit shouted something in French to his wife. She snapped out of her stupor, locking teary eyes with her husband. A brisk nod of her head and she was back us. We jogged away from the terrible scene behind us, dragging a devastated Roy between us.

  We quickly reached the end of the street and entered the park on the side of the road, hoping the trees would give us cover if we were followed.

  ‘Who did that?’ Aurelie sobbed. ‘Why would anyone do that?’

  ‘I do not know,’ Benoit said.

  Roy was no longer struggling to get away from us, but he was far from a willing participant. It felt like if I let go of him, he’d collapse to the ground.

  There were some buildings on the other side of the park, over by the water. ‘Benoit,’ I said. ‘Let’s hide somewhere over there.’ I nodded towards the water. ‘I think we could do with a breather.’ I think he knew I meant Roy needed to sit down, before he passed out.

  We walked past three buildings before we stopped, just in case the murdering fucker did follow us. We sat Roy down under the shade of some trees, leaning against a wall. Aurelie handed him a bottle of water and told him to drink. She unscrewed the cap and held it to his mouth before he obeyed.

  Benoit paced up and down, his gun up, whispering something in French.

  I stared at the ground, struggling to comprehend what just happened.

  Chapter 20: Nice Watch

  ‘Who do you think did that?’ I asked Benoit, once we were out of earshot of the other two. Aurelie was sat next to Roy, her arm around his shoulders. Roy’s eyes were fixed on the bottle of water in his hands.