July 11th
The morning was just as gloomy as the one that had greeted them the day before. The clouds were almost black, and the rain came down at a moderate rate. Karen peered out from the window and had been awake for an hour. She was still dressed in the clothes that she had slept in: long blue socks, shorts, a green T-shirt that she had had on for days, wrapped with a smelly dressing gown. It wasn't her best look, but in the caravans it was cold on a night since the temperature had dropped a few days ago.
She walked along the cold floor, and slipped her feet into a pair of pink slippers her granny would have been embarrassed to be seen in. She then headed for the door, despite the falling rain, and opened it. She sat at the edge of the living room carpet and plonked her feet on the first step.
She gazed out, rubbing her tummy, and saw a young man with his hood up, walking by. "You not talkin' to me?" Karen teased.
The young man lifted his hood and began to snicker. "I'm sorry, Karen," David Watkins responded. "I was in a world of my own."
"Where're you off to?"
"Vince wants me to patrol the hedge?" He looked at his watch. "It's nearly eight."
"You seen Pickle?"
David shrugged his shoulders and puffed out his bottom lip. "I think he's being put on the barrier today."
"Oh."
"What about what Vince did yesterday evening?" David perked up, and there seemed to be excitement in his voice. "I can't believe he came back with all that food."
"Calm down." Karen huffed, "It's not as if he single-handedly killed the rest of those cocksuckers. He mowed most of them down with the HGV, so I heard."
"Still..."
Karen could see the admiration the young man had for Vincent Kindl, and it was making her sick.
David said, "You don't like him, do you?"
"He allowed your friend to die just days ago, with that stupid test of his. Why do you admire this man?" Karen waited impatiently for an answer, but once three seconds were up, she added, "Most of the hard work had been done. He just went in there, came back, and is now taking all the glory. Just remember where he was before I turned up."
"We."
"What?"
"You said: I turned up. I was there as well."
"Right." Karen didn't have the heart to tell David that he was about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike, so refrained from hurting the fifteen-year-old's feelings. All he did was cry, whine, and throw up.
"It's freezing in here," whined Sharon Bailey from behind Karen.
"You're awake then."
Shaz was also dressed in a dressing gown, and sat next to Karen. They huddled together and Karen explained that she needed some air.
Karen looked at David with suspicion. "Aren't you going to be late?"
"Er...yeah." He stood staring at both women that were cuddling with one another, and stood motionless with his mouth opened.
Karen pointed at David and said with a smirk, "I hope you're not having sexual thoughts about us two."
"No," he protested furiously. "Of course not."
"If you go back to your caravan and smash one out with the image of me and Shaz, I'll know."
Young David blushed and put his hood back up. "I'll see you later," he spoke as he shuffled his way to the edge of the camp.
"You're a cruel bitch, Karen Bradley," Shaz laughed hard, tears were forming in her eyes. "That poor boy."
"At least it's got you laughing again." Karen placed her arm around her good friend. "So it was worth it. Come on. Let's get out of the rain."
*
"Where are you going, Branston?"
Pickle turned around as soon as Vince's voice bellowed from behind him, and could see that the man was joking.
"Just seeing how the father and young boy are doin'." Pickle peered into one of the windows of the caravan to see that the living room was empty. "Must be still asleep."
"Remember you're on the barrier in a few minutes."
Pickle nodded, and as Vince began to walk away Pickle snickered, "Oh, by the way. Well done on yesterday evening. Great job." Pickle began to clap and Vince started to laugh.
Vince lowered his head, almost shamefully. "I did tell the residents that Karen did the groundwork."
"Groundwork?" Pickle looked aghast. "She saved our lives. And yer lapped up the admiration when yer arrived back last night."
"Trust me." Vince smiled. "They'll all know by the end of the day."
"They certainly will," Pickle said. "I'll make sure o' it."
A man by the name of Lee Johnson walked by, and Vince called him over. Lee was a young man in his twenties, with dark features. He strolled over, and began speaking about something that was alien to Vince. "We're gonna get a guy to drive over to the Ash Tree, see if Colin's okay."
Vince looked confused, and then peeked at Pickle who also had no idea what the young man was waffling on about.
"Didn't you know?" asked Lee, clocking their puzzled faces.
"Know what?" Vince was growing impatient.
"Colin was due back ten minutes ago." Lee shook his head. "Jesus, the communication in this place is awful. I sent Dave to go and tell you."
Another individual emerged from behind the caravan. He seemed to have been running, and the sweat glistened on his forehead. The man was called David Chatting.
"Vince!" Dave called out, with what little breath he had left.
"It's okay." Vince held his hand up. "I already know. Fuck me, I really do miss the text message."
Vince announced that he'd check it out himself, stormed off and was called after by Pickle. "Yer want me to come with yer?"
"I'll go myself." Vince stopped in his tracks and stared at the three men. "He's probably asleep. If he is, then he's in big trouble."
"And if he's not?" asked Lee Johnson.
"Then he's probably dead," Vince said coldly, making both Lee and David's frames shiver with fright. "Then we're all in trouble."
Pickle smiled, thinking that Vince was being melodramatic. Vince turned his back and stormed towards the barrier.
"Wait up!" yelled Pickle. "I'll come with yer, whether yer want me to or not."
"Get your machete ready." Vince spoke.
"If yer think we'll need them," Pickle said, trying to catch Vince up, "then we should take more men."
"We'll see what the situation's like when we get to the top of the hill. We'll get a good view from there."
Once he passed the Spode Cottage and arrived at the barrier, Vince ordered the guards to move the HGV back. They did as they were instructed and Vince pointed at a yellow Ford Focus. "That'll do."
Both Pickle and Vince got in. The car pulled away and headed for the top of the road. The car stopped suddenly once it reached it, and both men stepped out.
"You have binoculars?" Pickle asked.
Vince shook his head, almost embarrassed that it was something he didn't possess.
"I can see four figures by his car. They must be Snatchers." Pickle stood with his hand above his eyebrows, trying to get a better look. "Maybe he's fallen asleep. I can't see if the doors are open."
"Colin's usually reliable." Vince sighed, "It's not like him to mess up. Let's go down and check it out."
Chapter Fifty Three
Karen Bradley strolled towards the barrier and looked at each HGV. There was only one guard standing on the cab of each truck, and she knew that if ever they were attacked by a dozen individuals, all carrying a weapon of some sort, the camp would struggle to cope with it.
She could see a man, she didn't recognise, on the truck from the right. To the left was the white-haired man that she had decided that she didn't like. Earlier, she had tried Pickle's caravan and had taken a walk around the camp, but there was no sign of him. The barrier was the last place she could think of.
She knew he wasn't in the Spode Cottage. So where was he?
Karen jumped a little when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, expecting it to be Shaz, but was stari
ng at the handsome Lee Johnson instead.
"Looking for your friend?" He smiled. Karen thought that he looked like a Hollywood actor she used to have a crush on. She was then suddenly plagued with guilt when she thought of her deceased fiancé.
"Yeah." She brushed her hair behind her ears and added, "Do you know where he is?"
"I think he went out with Vince."
"Again!" Karen snapped. "Fuck me. Have those two got a death wish or something?"
"Relax," chortled Lee. "They haven't gone far. One of the guards are late, so they've driven down to the Ash Tree to see what the hold up is."
"It takes two of them to do that?"
Lee looked around, as if he was weary of individuals nearby that could eavesdrop. "We're alive, but it's a boring place to live. I love leaving the camp. I'll do anything for a change of scenery, even if it's for just ten minutes."
Although she never responded verbally, Karen agreed with Lee's statement.
"I have a bad feeling," Karen confessed.
"Women's intuition?" Lee lightly mocked.
"I'll go and see if they're okay." Without warning, she climbed up the HGV's cab. She opened the door, climbed in, and popped out the other side before Lee had a chance to react.
"Wait!" Lee called after her, then decided to follow, performing the same method. Once both Karen and Lee were at the other side, they were beginning to get some funny looks from the white-haired man.
Ignoring the guard above her, Karen yelled at Lee, "Go back. I'm not asking you to come with me."
"I want to." Lee smiled. "But I'm going to be in trouble...again, thanks to you."
"I'll go on my own."
"No you won't. And we're certainly not going on foot." Lee shook his head, and told the white-haired man to pull the HGV back so he could get through the gap and drive out the pick-up truck.
Reluctantly, and surprisingly, he did what he was told. They both went through the gap of the barrier and walked towards the pick-up truck. As soon as Lee and Karen jumped into the vehicle, they pulled away and headed for the peak of the hill. The HGV was pulled forward by a guard as soon as they both left.
"You do realise I'm only doing this shit because I like you," Lee declared.
Karen did know, but feigned surprise when he told her. "Thanks, but I don't think a man is what I need after losing my fiancé and finding out I'm pregnant."
"Fair enough," Lee laughed.
"You men are unbelievable." Karen laughed and shook her head. "Don't you males ever think about anything else?"
"I'm sorry. But the last time I was inside a woman was back in April."
"Who was the lucky girl?" Karen sarcastically spoke.
"The Statue of Liberty," Lee chuckled. "I was in New York for the week."
"You're worse than Vince." Karen smiled, and took a quick peek at the dark-haired, young man. He was good-looking, and even if she had been a single lady before the start of the apocalypse, she still wouldn't go near him. The last thing she needed was to lose someone she was in love with. She loved Pickle like a brother and remembered, a week back, how she felt when she thought he was dead. It was an awful feeling, and wasn't something that was good for her unborn.
No. Two friends was enough.
She loved Shaz and Pickle, and was convinced that everybody else that she loved in the old world was dead. She was convinced that her friends and colleagues were no more. Her mother, and her father and stepsister, Kelly, who both lived in Glasgow, had all perished as far as Karen was concerned.
As soon as Lee stopped the vehicle at the peak of the hill, they both got out and could see Vince's vehicle in the distance. A few of the dead had surrounded Colin's vehicle that was in front of Vince's stationary car.
Lee took a quick look around him and said to Karen, "You wait here."
"Fuck off!" She jumped into the passenger seat before Lee could speed off, and shut the passenger door.
He looked at Karen and sighed with a smile. "You're something else," he said.
He moved away and although the one minute journey would soon be over, the ten second silence between the pair of them seemed like an eternity to Lee. He asked, "So have you heard any of Vince's chat-up lines. He's quite a character."
Their vehicle was heading for the Ash Tree area where Pickle and Vince were, and the camp could no longer be seen in the rear-view mirror.
"A character?" Karen said. "I suppose that's one way of putting it."
"He doesn't mean any harm. I think he does it for a laugh."
"Really?" Karen sarcastically responded. "Well, I didn't think those kind of lines worked in the real world."
"I remember he went up to Sheila from number two and asked if he could read her T-shirt in Braille."
"Why would anyone think that was funny?" Karen shook her head with a grimace on her face.
The vehicle was beginning to slow down and Lee took a gander at Karen. "I bet he's used a few on you. "
"Oh yeah," Karen sighed. "He told me that he'd like to passionately kiss me on my lips, then move up to my belly button."
"I like it."
"He did tell my friend, Shaz, that he'd like to use her thighs as earmuffs."
"Now, that's funny."
*
Vince and Pickle could see that there was seven of the dead trying to get inside Colin's vehicle. The doors to his car were shut, and they had no idea if Colin was alive or dead.
"I don't know what is happening." Vince said aloud. He pulled the vehicle ten yards behind Colin's, attracting no attention whatsoever from the dead, and both men left the vehicle.
The first Snatcher that noticed their presence was something that used to be a ten-year-old boy. Because children were weaker than adults, Pickle had always guessed that the reason why he'd never seen many youngsters as these creatures was because they had been devoured and were too weak to fight back, especially if they were attacked by more than one of them.
Pickle was slightly sidetracked by the low sound of an engine. He quickly looked over his shoulder, and could see a red pick-up truck heading towards them. "Looks like your lads are gonna be giving us a hand," he remarked.
Vince huffed, "There's no need. We can handle these fuckers."
Vince swiped at the back of the heads of the dead that were banging on Colin's car, and Pickle took care of the ten-year-old. The driver's side of Colin's vehicle was saturated in dark blood as Vince violently hacked at the skulls like a maniac. Pickle went for a more controlled method. As soon as the young Snatcher got near, he swiped its legs and rammed his machete through its eyes, penetrating the brain. Its skull opened up, and it bled out thick blood that began to pool around its head.
Vince was exhausted after killing most of them. He had his hands on his knees, his machete now in his belt, and was out of breath from his short burst of exercise. The remaining two stumbled in Pickle's direction, but something could be seen in the corner of Pickle's eye.
Another three beasts had shambled out of the shrubbery, to their left, and all three were covered in blood, as if they had just been feasting on some pour soul in, or behind, the shrubbery.
"Vince!" Pickle pointed behind him, and at this point the red pick-up truck had arrived and out stepped Lee Johnson and Karen Bradley.
Pickle swiped at his two admirers and both skulls were halved and both bodies dropped to the floor in a bloody heap. An exhausted Vince turned to come face-to-face with the three creatures and used the last of his strength to hack into the right side of the skull of one of them, but he was finding it a struggle to free his blade after it dropped to the floor. Lee Johnson ran over to help out, but all he had was a knife, and began stabbing at the second creature while Pickle also ran to their assistance. Before Karen could do anything, Pickle pointed at her and snapped, "Don't yer fuckin' move!"
The two remaining Snatchers were both heavy males, and it appeared to Karen that neither one of them had lost their strength since they had reanimated. With both of the things dressed in
sportswear that now were bloody rags, one grabbed Lee Johnson by the hair and pulled him to the floor. Pickle swung his machete, but could only sever an arm from the elbow down. He was also grabbed, and Karen helplessly watched as Lee Johnson took a bite to the side of his neck. He screamed out and pushed the thing away. Vince had finally removed his machete and took out Lee's attacker. The blade went straight down the middle of its head, and the creature fell to the floor with the blade still embedded into its face.
Pickle finally got the better of the remaining one and side-kicked it twice, hitting each knee. It stumbled forward and fell to the floor, face-down. Pickle stood over the struggling thing and hacked at the back of its skull half a dozen times. Exhausted, he looked around at the carnage and fell onto his backside.
Vince was drenched in sweat and out of breath. He comforted Lee, but the young man was putting on a brave face and smiled at Vince, but Vince could see sadness behind that smile. Lee knew he was finished.
"Come with me." Vince walked Lee to the red pick-up truck, and helped him in the back. The bite to the side of Lee's neck wasn't bleeding heavily, and it didn't appear to be deep, but it was still a bite. It was enough!
Vince then stumbled past the debris of mutilated bodies and went over to Colin's means of transport. He opened the passenger door and knew straight away that something sinister had taken place.
Vince called Pickle and Karen over; they both took a look inside. Colin's head was leaning back, his clothes were soaked in his blood, and his throat had been torn out.
"What happened?" asked Karen.
Vince looked around and shook his head. He pointed at Colin's corpse and guessed, "He must have been attacked and clambered back into his car." Vince became frustrated and confused. "I don't get it. Did he fall asleep? What was he doing outside?"
"Maybe he was taking a piss." Pickle spoke up.
Vince nodded. "Maybe."
"What about him?" Pickle pointed at the pick-up truck, and was referring to Lee Johnson.
Vince never answered. He walked over to the truck and placed his hand on Lee's shoulder. "How are you holding up, pal?"
Snatchers: Volume Two (The Zombie Apocalypse Series Box Set--Books 4-6) Page 52
