All she could do was nod as they too ran out of the church and clung to their parents. Bob pushed his way past them into the church, calling his son’s name.
“Dad!” Bob heard a young voice shout, and he ran into the church to disappear from view.
The group of four still standing outside began smiling at each other. They’d done what they’d promised and helped to reunite their two new friends with their families, or sadly in Bob’s case, only his son. As the emotions of the reunion receded, more people emerged from the church, blinking in the bright sunlight.
Most recoiled in shock at the sight of their former friends and neighbours who now lay mutilated all around them, and stared in open-eyed wonder at the four armour-clad, blood-splattered men who had saved them. Jim, and Bob, still holding his son, Josh’s hand, walked over to them. Jim spoke first.
“I can never repay you for what you’ve done. Thank you so much.”
“It’s not a problem. If we can’t help each other out at a time like this, then there’s no hope for us all.” Ian paused and looked sadly at Bob, “I’m sorry about your wife and daughter, Bob.”
“No, I understand now. There was nothing any of us could have done. Josh has told me what happened, and we’ll just have to deal with it. They’re not going to come back to us now, but at least I still have my son and I have to be grateful for that.” He gave him a hug.
“He was very brave and when he saw what had happened to his Mom and sister, he hid in his room for a while until he decided to run to Jim’s house for help. It was him that encouraged them to go to the church as the safest place to go, so he saved them all.”
Josh was about ten and was staring at the armour-clad men in front of him.
“Are you real knights?” Geoff and Ian laughed.
“Yes, lad, I suppose we are now. We are the new zombie knights.”
“Do you have a castle?” Ian and Geoff stopped laughing and stared at the boy.
“A castle?” Ian said ponderingly.
“Now that is a great idea. What could be a better place to head to than a castle? We are knights, after all… Sir Ian, I like the sound of that…”
Geoff interrupted his musing.
“Can we survive the next few days first, mate? There’ll be time for your illusions of grandeur later, you idiot.” Dave joined them.
“Did I really hear you scream ‘Die again you fucker’ before you split the last one in two?” Ian looked confused.
“Did I?”
“Yes!” everyone chorused.
“Sorry about that, I guess I got carried away with the moment.” Changing the subject rapidly, he asked, “How long do you think the others will be?”
“At the speed they were going, it would take them a good half hour to reach the main road,” said Bob.
“The way back is longer, but I suppose they would be travelling faster to get away from them, so about an hour, I reckon,” answered Jim.
Dave looked at his watch.
“It’s already well into the afternoon. I think we should plan to stay around here tonight and head off first thing in the morning. We don’t want to fight those things at night, and if we hit any delays, which I strongly suspect we might, we won’t make our house before dark.”
Ian and Geoff agreed. Jon, who didn’t know where they were heading, said he was happy to follow their decisions for now. He continued, waving his arm in the direction of the villagers, “I wonder what these folks plan to do first. They probably haven’t got much of a clue after just being locked up in the church for most of the day. Why don’t we see if we can help them while we’re waiting for the others to return?” They all agreed it was a good idea and called Jim and Bob over to them.
There were fifteen villagers, including Jim and Bob, who had managed to reach the sanctuary of the church. They were all still looking shocked and were standing near the perceived safety of the big church doors, trying to avoid looking at the ghastly remains of their former neighbours lying in heaps around them. Ian took the lead in the conversation.
“I’m not sure what you’re planning to do, but looking at the time, we think it will be better if we stay around here for the night. What can we do to help you? What do you think you’ll do? Stay together or split up and go your own ways?”
“I was just beginning to think about that myself,” Jim said, “We have to look after ourselves now and by leading those things away, you’ve given us at least a small window to get things sorted. Can you all come with me now while I talk to everyone else? You’ve got more of an idea what’s going on than all of us, so you can answer any questions. Don’t worry, though, I know we’re under time pressure, so I’ll keep it brief.” He walked over to the villagers and got their attention.
“Everyone, I’ll keep this brief, because we’ve got a lot to do. Most of you know Bob and me, so you know we’re straight talkers. I can’t tell you why, but from what I’ve witnessed and learnt from others, I can confirm that we’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.” He waved his arm behind him.
“These guys saved your lives, not Bob and me. Our paths crossed only a few hours ago and, without hesitation, they volunteered to come and help us find our families.” At the mention of family, tears started to pour down Bob’s face again.
“I’ve been lucky; my family were alive. Bob as you know, was not so lucky. All of us here will have lost many relatives and friends today, as we believe this epidemic is not just national, but global. That means that for the foreseeable future, if not forever, we can expect no help from anyone. We’re on our own.
Now thanks to our new friends, we have no zombies here, but we don’t know if they’ll come back or if others will find us. You have choices to make. I imagine some of you will have seen one of the many zombie series on television, so you’ll know the basics of what we need to do.
I recommend that we all stay here and work together to get through this. But I will understand if you have loved ones you want to try to get to.” He paused.
“You only have a few minutes to decide, because we have a lot to do.” He turned towards Ian and his friends. “Right, guys. Am I right in thinking that the church is going to be the best place for us to shelter, and that what we need to do now is to gather up as much food and equipment as we can, and get it secured inside?”
“Yes, spot on. Just make sure everyone grabs some sort of weapon as well. While you’re doing that, we’ll keep a look-out and try to make the church more secure. We’ve talked about and planned for this many times, so once you find out who is staying or going, we can make sure you’re on the right track.”
Jim turned and spoke and asked if everyone had reached a decision.
Four of the villagers had family they wanted to go to and had decided to leave. Two were an elderly couple, who still looked bemused by the whole experience, and they wanted to go to their daughter’s house about ten miles away. The other two were tourists who just happened to be driving through the village when they got caught up in the events, and they wanted to get home now they had a chance.
The tourists said a hasty goodbye and quickly jumped into their car, which they had abandoned just outside the pub, and drove away. Jon volunteered to escort the elderly couple back to their house and give them a hand loading up their car with stuff they might need, but not think to take themselves.
That left Jim and his family, Bob and Josh, the Vicar, Dave who they had first seen on the steeple, a middle-aged couple and the young barman from the pub.
They all knew each other, and Jim quickly issued instructions, telling them to go back to their houses and start bringing back all of the food they had in their cupboards. The barman said the pub had a well-stocked store room, so Ian asked Dave to go and give him a hand bringing over what he could.
Geoff went to retrieve the van from outside Bob’s house and, then he and Ian checked the security situation at the church. The church itself was very secure. Every door including the few small side ones was made
of heavy wood and had locking bars that would make them impenetrable. The windows were over eight feet from the ground, so they would not be a problem.
The church itself was surrounded by a five-foot-high stone wall, but the modern need for vehicular access meant that it had a few wide gaps leading to the graveyard, which if blocked, would make it all a lot safer. The traditional lynch gate on the pedestrian entrance had a gate that could easily be locked shut, so the two friends pondered the best way to block the gaps in the wall.
Using cars was the obvious answer, so they went to check if they could move any of the ones scattered around the village nearby. They found a few close by that could be moved and started to push them to where they would be needed, but they didn’t push them fully into place as they wanted to allow the van with Marc, Simon and Jamie in to park close to the church when it got back.
As time moved on, they became increasingly worried about what was taking their friends so long. Ian wanted to take the van to go and look for them, but was persuaded by Dave that splitting up any more would be dangerous, and they had to trust in their friends’ ability to take care of themselves.
Ian reluctantly agreed and returned to help carry the armloads of supplies that the rest of the villagers were fervently bringing to the church.
Eventually an engine could be heard in the distance.
“That doesn’t sound like a van. Grab your weapons just in case,” Geoff commanded. All work stopped, and everyone looked towards the direction the sound was coming from.
A single-decker passenger bus drove slowly into the village centre. It was covered in dents and streaks of blood. An armless and legless torso with its head stuck in the front grill was being dragged along, leaving a train of its entrails stretching back under the bus.
“It’s them,” shouted Ian when he recognised Jamie sitting in the driving seat, pumping his fist like an overexcited trucker. Simon and Marc were sitting in the front row of seats, also waving madly. Dave waved and, directed him to head to the roadway that led though the graveyard to the front of the church.
As he pulled up, the doors opened and with a hiss of hydraulics, Jamie shouted, “Tickets, please,” with a big grin on his face. He shut the engine off and all three filed out of the bus. They looked exhausted and their chainmail and weapons were streaked with blood and gore.
“What happened to you guys?” Ian asked.
“Don’t worry about us for now,” Jamie replied, “Who was in the church?”
They were all overjoyed to find out that Josh, Bob’s son, had made it and that Jim’s family were miraculously all okay. Everyone stopped to listen to their story.
It had taken a long time to lead the zombies to the main road. They were hampered by the fact they kept coming across more of them.
The van wasn’t going fast enough to knock them out of the way, and they were forced to keep getting out and dispatching the ones blocking the road. There were a few dicey moments when the zombies who were following got too close, and Jamie and Simon had to run up the road, hacking through the ones in front to allow the van to dart forwards to give them time to get in safely.
Once they reached the main road it was thankfully clear, and they were able to speed up, and soon were out of sight of them. The road that Jim had told them to take was easy to find and they were making good time along it until they came across the bus. The destination signs on the front of the bus informed them it was the X79 and its final destination was Bristol. It was stationary, with its engine still running.
As they approached the bus, the reason why it was there became evident. All the passengers of the bus had turned. The bloody handprints on the windows, and the gore that could be seen splashed around the inside told a story that would never be fully explained, as all the witnesses were now part of the problem they faced.
There was no way past the bus and no way to move it without entering it and facing the terrors within. The occupants of the bus had now noticed the arrival of a fresh meal outside, and had gathered at the front, trying to walk through the large front window, their hands leaving red smears as they pawed ineffectually at the toughened glass.
The group of three quickly came up with a plan. If they opened the door using the emergency handle located just by it, the zombies within would be funnelled through it in single file. If they surrounded it on all three sides, it should be a simple job of killing them one at a time as they staggered off.
Not being able to come up with a better plan, and knowing that time was moving on, the three of them prepared themselves.
Marc positioned himself facing the door with his pike, while Simon and Jamie stood either side with their sword and axe respectively.
Simon yanked the emergency handle and the door hissed slowly open. The movement and noise, as expected, attracted the former passengers and they moved towards it. When the lead one reached the entrance, Marc thrust his pike through its eye socket, ending its short zombie career instantly. As he withdrew the pike, the zombie fell in a heap, creating an obstacle the ones behind struggled to negotiate. A few more thrusts from Marc created a small wall of bodies that made Simon and Jamie’s job easier, as the zombies behind fell against it and began to crawl over them.
The exposed necks and heads made easy targets as they appeared and in no time, the way was blocked completely by a wall of mangled and chewed carcasses, all either decapitated by Jamie’s and Simon’s arcing downward swings, or with their skulls completely smashed in. Realising they had been too efficient, and that about five of them were still trapped in the bus, they had no option but to start dragging corpses out of the way to give them room to try and reach those trapped. With Marc and Simon avoiding the outstretched arms of the ones still within the bus, they kept clearing the way enough for them to start crawling over the grizzly pile. With each swing, Jamie became more proficient in the best place to hit the exposed heads and necks to ensure a first-time kill, and the remainders were easily put down.
The decision for them to take the bus was an easy and logical one to make.
The bus, with its higher ground clearance, heavier weight and more power, made a better vehicle to use than a van. It had plenty of space to house the contents of the van and would also give them the capacity to take more survivors and supplies if they came across them.
The only argument they had when everything of use was transferred across from the van was who was going to drive it. Jamie won the game of rock, paper, scissors they played as the way of picking the driver,
They left the macabre pile of intertwined bodies next to an abandoned van with the key still in the ignition. It might confuse anyone who happened to come across it, but they hoped that as the world had turned upside down in the last twenty-four hours, all they would be grateful for was a working van.
The remains of the zombie attached to the front of the bus was the only one they encountered for the rest of the journey. They didn’t realise it was stuck in the front grill, thinking they had knocked it down and run over it.
Ian quickly brought them up to date on the revised plan of staying in the village for the night, and he got them to continue helping the remaining villagers gather as much as they could before darkness fell.
They now numbered eighteen.
Chapter twelve
With the light fading and the all the churchyard entrances either secured shut or blocked with cars, the Vicar dropped the heavy locking bar on the front door and stood aside as pews were stacked against it for good measure. Lit by the flickering light of candles and a few lanterns, the eleven villagers and seven knights slumped exhausted on pews or on the floor.
“What now?” asked Simon, unbuckling his arm and leg protectors and struggling out of his heavy chain Hauberk.
“Well, once I’m out of my kit,” Ian replied, “we need to get some food down our necks and plan what we’re going to do tomorrow. Whose turn is it to cook? And can someone pass me a can of beer? I’m parched and after the day we’ve had, I believ
e we all need a few drinks to calm ourselves down.”
Ian’s little speech roused everyone, and his friends started to remove their amour while the villagers, probably glad of the chance to take their minds off the reality of their world, began to organise food and who was going to prepare what.
A few camping stoves were lit, and Geoff and the Vicar volunteered to cook. They poured the contents of various tins into a few saucepans and created a delicious smelling concoction.
Before everyone tucked into the meal, the Vicar called for silence and asked everyone to join him in prayer, saying that whatever everyone’s beliefs were on the ungodly day they’d just lived through, the only thing a lot of people would have left was their faith. He added that if they could all ask for some guidance, good would always prevail over evil in the end.
Heads remained bowed long after he had finished, as his congregation pondered on his words and thought about their family and friends who he had beseeched God to help.
Simon was usually the first to argue about religion and how he believed that it was another way of controlling the population, and how it had become irrelevant in the modern world they lived in. He, however, said the loudest Amen and kept his head bowed longer than everyone else. Ian couldn’t help ribbing him.
“Oi, shitty pants, you’re not telling me you’ve changed from being the group’s most ardent atheist?” Simon was quiet for a moment.
“What the Vicar said got me thinking. When we first met them and that one had walked up the length of my sword and knocked me over, you know what?
The first thought that went through my mind was ‘God help me.’ I know there’s the saying ‘There are no atheists in fox holes’, and I would have laughed at anyone before, but why would my first thought be about something I don’t believe exists? It’s really got me thinking.” He then laughed.
“And before any of you say it, yes, my second thought was ‘Oh fuck, I’ve shit myself.’” The vicar had heard the exchange and he went to sit next to Simon and soon they were engaged in a lively discussion about religion and beliefs while they ate their food.
Zombie Castle Box Set [Books 1-3] Page 28
