They both ran away from the creature and quickly veered left, back to the main road. Once they got to the road, they ran the few yards to reach the car; they jumped in, and Paul frantically searched for his keys.
"Oh, don't do this to me." He patted every pocket he had and realised that he may have lost the keys during the scuffle.
No hammer! No car keys!
"For fuck's sake!" Paul punched the steering wheel.
"Daddy," Kyle cried. "You're scaring me."
Paul turned to his son. "I'm gonna have to go back. As soon as I leave, lock the doors."
"Daddy, don't leave me!"
"I'll be one minute. You lock one door and they all lock. Okay, big chap?"
Kyle nodded, reluctantly, tears running out of his green eyes and down his plump cheeks that were scattered with freckles.
Paul left the car again, waited for the click to confirm that Kyle had locked the doors, then ran straight through the woods and right at the ghoul this time. With every ounce of anger he had in him, Paul front-kicked the beast into the mid-riff. It flew back a few yards and then Paul took the hammer from the floor and rained four blows into its skull, bludgeoning it to death.
The front of its head was brutally damaged, and the remaining two blows had smashed into the diseased brain. In shock, he looked at the hammer to see a small amount of contaminated brain debris hanging off the flat end. No blood flew back at him during the attack, and Paul wasn't sure that this was because of luck, or because the body wasn't alive anymore and the blood wasn't oxygenated, which meant that the blood inside the beast was probably thicker and less likely to spurt. He had no idea.
The damage to the head created black treacle-like fluid that poured out of the large wound, and Paul was surprised that he wasn't feeling nauseous.
Was he now getting used to this macabre world already? Or was his strength and bravery present because he had his boy to think of?
Paul then scanned the area of the woods, looking for his car keys. It was impossible to see through the long grass, but he ruffled through it as well as the long bracken.
A faint scream made Paul twist his neck, and he gasped as he saw three of the things surrounding the car. He was twenty yards away, but he could still see Kyle banging on the inside window with both palms of his hands, urging his dad to hurry up, terror scrawled across his red face and tears streaming out of his terrified eyes. There was another two walking up the road, and it appeared they had come from the hut, from the other side of the road. But what were they doing in there?
"Kyle!" Paul screamed. "Kyle!"
Paul's yells were not distracting the beings as they continued to slam their hands against the windows of the car, desperate to get in, desperate to rip the little boy to bloody shreds.
Grabbing the hammer, Paul ran at the car and could hear more rustling in the trees to the left of him. He couldn't see anything at first, but as he progressed towards the car to the edge of the woods, he could see a large man to the side of him running with a shotgun. The experience was beyond surreal, but Paul tried to focus on keeping his son safe. Then, suddenly, the man called out to Paul. "Go to the other side of the road and I'll distract them. Then get your boy."
How does he know I have a boy?
Paul didn't have time for questions. He emerged out of the woods, went past his car and ran across the other side of the road and began waving and hollering, trying to entice the three ghouls away from the car. All three turned, collectively, and shambled their way towards Paul.
"Get my boy!" Paul yelled at the strange man, who now stood motionless by the front of the car.
"Not yet!" the man snapped. He looked like he knew what he was doing. The man gestured to the boy in the vehicle to calm down, then turned to see the other two advancing ghouls walking towards the car, while Paul continued backing away from the other three heading his way.
"Keep walking," the man bellowed. "It's too dangerous to take all three out."
"Hurry up and do something!" begged Paul.
Paul could now see that the dark-haired man was quite muscular, and he guessed that he was trying to keep the two freaks away from the other three fiends to make their demise a little easier, rather than having to take out five, one after the other.
The strange man casually strolled towards the two ghouls. With the butt of the gun he put both fiends down. Once they were lying on the road, the large man pummelled them both with four strikes each to the head. Paul watched from afar as their heads caved in and almost cracked open like bloody Easter eggs, producing dark gunk all over the road. Seeing this, he immediately thought about the barbaric way Daisy was killed by the Murphy family.
The man then ran over towards Paul, where the other three were slowly walking over to him. Hearing his footsteps, one of the creatures turned away from Paul and stumbled towards the large man, leaving the other two, with his arms outstretched.
The man held the gun, and this time it was being held the right way, and he squeezed the trigger. The loud bang made Paul jump and saw the blast take half of the creature's head away. Dark blood, skull and brain matter flew behind and scattered all over the road while the victim dropped to its knees and fell face down on the tarmac, with the remainder of its brain slipping out of the gaping hole of its bloody cranium.
Both ghouls now had turned around, with their backs to Paul, and were now both meandering in the man's direction after hearing the blast.
While their backs were turned to Paul, he took the opportunity to smash his hammer, claw-ways, into the head of the one in the blood-soaked pink blouse. The female collapsed in a heap, taking the hammer with it that was still buried into the skull.
The stranger then turned the gun round again, butt-ways, and smacked the remaining one in its face, knocking it over. It was enough to kill it.
"Where the fuck did they come from?" He turned to Paul.
Paul shrugged his shoulders; he had no answer. "Me and my son just pulled in for a toilet break, we—"
"We need to get the fuck out of here." The man then pointed at the barn and another seven shambled out. They were a few minutes away. "I don't have the cartridges or the energy to sort these cocks out. Where're you headed?"
Paul couldn't give the man an answer. " I don't know, we—"
"Fine," the man snapped. "I've got a cabin a mile away from here; if you give me a ride, I'll let you and your boy stay for the night."
"A mile away?" Paul was baffled. "How come you're so far out?"
The man cracked a smile. "Food. Plenty of mushrooms and berries are in these woods." The man pointed at Paul's Mazda. "You get in your car and I'll go back for my bag in the woods."
"Why did you help us?"
The man glared at Paul, as if he had just asked him the dumbest ever question. "You've got a boy. I couldn't just leave you two. I saw you both in the woods." The man held up his hands. "It's okay, I'm no pervert or nothing. I heard noises, then saw you scuffling with one of them. I have a cabin in the woods, and a woman waiting for me. In hindsight, I should have brought my handgun."
Paul couldn't believe it. He has a handgun?
The stranger ran into the woods, and returned a minute later, holding a bag in his left hand and the shotgun in his right.
Paul told the stranger that he had dropped his car keys somewhere in the woods.
"I'll stay here until you've found them," the man said, and looked at the seven members of the dead stumbling towards them from afar. "Hurry up. You've got about two minutes."
Paul told Kyle what he was doing and jogged away into the greenery. He was only in the woods for a matter of seconds before returning with the keys in his hand. Both men got into the front of the car and Paul gave Kyle a gentle pat on his legs. "Well done. You were really brave."
Kyle was relieved that his daddy was back and before he could ask about the new man, he introduced himself to Paul as Bentley Drummle.
"Bentley Drummle?" Paul had confusion on his face, as if he had hear
d that name before. "Wasn't that a character in Great Expectations?"
The stranger shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea what Paul was talking about.
Paul pulled away, and as they passed the barn they could clearly see another three inside it. The other seven were too slow to get to the car and by the time the vehicle had disappeared around the windy, country lane, the ghouls had only reached as far as the middle of the road, opposite the barn.
Bentley blew out his cheeks, and shook his head. "No wonder there were loads in there. They were feeding on some poor soul."
After a few minutes had passed, Bentley pointed up ahead and asked Paul to pull in. Once Paul pulled the car into a spacious part of the woods, both men and Kyle began walking. Bentley assured Paul his car would be safe, and he believed him.
Paul and Bentley began to strike up a conversation, and Paul's companion told him that he had been predicting this situation for years. Even way back, when scientists started cloning, he was aware that medical science had gone too far, and feared what else scientists were going to tamper with, and possibly fuck up.
At the time, the media had no idea where this virus had originated, although there were nods towards the biomedical centre in Newcastle. This made the situation even more frustrating, but Bentley was certain that it could only be something that occurred in a laboratory, possibly a research centre, and the first victim came from within that centre.
Bentley was what some people would call a prepper. He was somebody who was waiting and prepared for this kind of situation. Although people back in the old world may have thought that Bentley Drummle was insane, it was he who was now having the last laugh—although he never seemed smug about the situation. But what bothered Paul was why this so-called prepper was without a car. This was a subject he was going to ask about at a later date, as now, he was relieved to be in a positive situation.
When they got near the cabin in the woods, Paul seemed impressed. At around twenty yards away from the place, in all directions, the shack was surrounded by barbed wire to stop intruders. The wire had been wrapped around tree trunks to achieve this, and they left a foot gap around the bottom for Bentley to crawl in and out. Paul was surprised when Bentley had told him that not one ghoul had come from the woods and had approached the cabin so far.
Paul could see a pot of soup bubbling on a stove that seemed to be powered by one of the many gas canisters that Bentley possessed. Waiting at the cabin was Bentley's partner, Laura Davies.
She wasn't Paul's type; she had long ginger hair and was thin. Bentley introduced the pair of them to Laura; she was very welcoming and seemed pleased to have extra company. Paul told Bentley about the gallons of water and tins in the boot of his car, and Bentley told him that he would get them later on.
Paul explained to Laura what he and Kyle had gone through and promised that they would only stay one night, if that was acceptable. They all had soup, and then the exhausted father and son retired early to a room that was shown to them by Laura.
Chapter Thirty Five
"It's okay," a young voice called out.
Karen Bradley twisted her neck to find that it was young David Watkins in the back of the car that had given her the fright.
"What the hell are you doing?" Karen screamed.
"I'm sorry," the fifteen-year-old cried. "I wanted to come with you, but I knew you'd say no."
Karen lowered her head and rested it on the steering wheel for a while. She took a few deep breaths before making her next comment, trying to lower her rapid heartbeat. "What the hell do you wanna come out here for? You're just a kid."
"I wanted to do something worthwhile." explained David. "Harry is the only friend I have left. I wanted to..."
"What?"
David looked lost in deliberation, and eventually shook his head. "I don't really know."
"I can't go back now. You better not get in the way," warned Karen, and then took a look in the back of the car and investigated further. "You haven't even brought anything with you."
"What like?"
"Food. A weapon."
"I thought we were just picking them up?"
"I don't know what's happened yet." Karen sighed, then slammed her hands on the steering wheel in anger. "Sit back."
Karen fired the engine and pulled away. She turned left at a junction and saw two cars that appeared to have crashed into one another. She never bothered to look if there was anything inside the vehicles and drove on. She looked into her rear-view mirror and stared at David Watkins who was shaking and nibbling on the skin at the side of his fingers.
She muttered quietly, "Stupid little prick." She drove for a further minute and then suddenly slowed down, and cursed, "Cocksuckers!"
"What is it?" David Watkins questioned.
"Have a look for yourself."
David leaned forward from the back and squinted his eyes to see four members of the dead, stumbling around the middle of the road. The sound of the engine had alerted them, and slowly, one by one, they headed for the car.
"Can you ram them?" David was now beginning to panic.
"Probably, but we'd damage the vehicle. I don't fancy being on foot."
Karen switched the engine off and opened the driver's door.
"What the fuck are you doing?" David bawled.
"I'm going to talk some sense into them." Karen released a smile, but it soon disappeared that her cruel joke was something that Vincent Kindl would have said.
"What?"
"Just sit back and try not to shit yourself."
Karen shut the door and walked forwards to see the four beings more clearly. They were all female, and were dressed in laddered stockings, L-plates stuck on their chests, and were dressed in pink clothing. The first one that approached Karen was wearing a long necklace, and attached to the necklace was a chocolate in the shape of a penis. She had no idea how these women had ended up in the middle of the countryside, but it appeared that, as human beings and before the apocalypse, they were on a hen night.
Karen took out her machete, while David watched from inside the car, and took out the beast with one strike down the centre of the skull. As soon as she pulled the blade out, the creature fell in a heap.
The other three shambled towards Karen collectively, and she knew that taking three out in such a short space of time was going to be hard work as well as dangerous. She went round the back of the car.
It worked out better than she had planned.
Two of the creatures went around the car one way, and the other went another. They had been separated, and Karen headed towards the one on its own. She held the blade with her right hand and rammed it into the skull of the second member of the now defunct hen party.
This time Karen went to the front of the car and allowed the two Snatchers from the back to head towards her, away from the car. Karen took a step forwards and swung her blade on two occasion. From the back of the car David watched in awe as he saw this young girl take off the top half of the heads of these diseased fiends.
As soon as the two creatures dropped to the floor, David opened his door and stepped out of the vehicle. He asked, "You okay?"
Karen nodded, and couldn't give the young man a verbal answer as she was out of breath. Eventually she panted, "Let's get going." She walked past David and was about to get in the front car, but turned around and glared at David Watkins who was standing over the first victim, staring at the thing.
"Come on!" called Karen. She then sighed impatiently and walked in David's direction. "What the hell are you looking at?"
"She looks quite nice," said David, almost as if he was in a trance. He tried to imagine what the creature used to look like when it was human, when it was breathing, and when it was warm.
"What?" Karen was unsure whether he was joking or not.
"No...I meant when she was normal—she looked like she could have been a good-looking person."
"You are one fucked up kid."
David pointed at the cr
eature. "But don't you think she has a pretty face."
"Are we really having this conversation?" Karen couldn't believe what she was hearing and was unsure whether to give young David a slap. "What's pretty about her? Is it her blue skin? Her dried-in blood around her chin? Or is it her beautiful, mysterious dead milky eyes that do it for you?"
"What I meant was—"
"Is it the slice down the middle of her face? Do you two want some alone-time?"
"Of course not." David didn't realise that Karen was being sardonic, and protested, "I was just saying."
"Look." Karen placed her hands on her hips and tried to swallow her anger. "Let me put this bluntly."
"Wh-what is it?" stammered David, and looked at Karen.
"Get in the fucking car!"
*
The hour was nearly up and all members of Vincent's crew were frightened, hungry and dehydrated. Their hearts thumped faster once one of the doors to the hangar opened, and in walked Gavin and his sister. Vince didn't know which one was worse: Gavin, or the sister. He remembered a story Jack Slade had told him about the sister walking up to a family man and stabbing him to death while the beaten man lay on the floor, in the middle of a street.
"I'll tell them where we stay," said Pickle. "Fuck it."
"No you won't." Shaz was fretful but resolute. "If they go to the camp you're putting dozens of lives at risk. And what do you think they're gonna do when they see Karen? The same woman that broke that bitch's nose."
"She's right," admitted Vince. "We can't say anything. And even if they do, they'll kill us anyway."
"I wonder where they're from," Pickle said.
"Jack told me that they were hanging around Etching hill." Vince spoke with his throat as dry as it had ever been. "That's the other side of town."
"Anyway," Pickle whispered as the two siblings were near, "let's see what happens. It's Shaz's turn to answer their question. Maybe they'll give Shaz a break."
"Like they gave Harry a break," Shaz responded.
"On your feet," Gavin barked.
Eventually the three stood up and were guided, rather roughly, on their way back outside. Pickle felt for Shaz. She was putting on a brave face but the tears flowed.
Snatchers: Volume Two (The Zombie Apocalypse Series Box Set--Books 4-6) Page 42
