Zed Days (Book 3): Zed Days III

by Harland, Nick

  It was Sheila, one of the gardeners, that spoke up first, ‘We’ve got a couple of pretty good garden sprayers with hand pumps that on the right setting will spray a line of fluid a good five or six feet when the pressure is full. I assume the chlorine won’t melt the containers or tubing as they’re supposed to hold some pretty nasty chemicals for spraying weeds, but I could be wrong.’

  Jim carried on, ‘That’s not bad, and we can find quite a lot of safety gear like goggles and masks in the factory, but the further away you are when you spray it the better. I personally wouldn’t want to be only five or six feet away from a charging horde with only a spray hose to protect me, but I guess spraying it from a car would be better.

  Bill chimed in next, ‘I think we might need to think bigger. If we can find barrels of this stuff, let’s use them. I have a couple of decent air compressors I use on the cars. With some tinkering I might be able to turn them into chlorine cannons that should have a decent range and could be roof mounted and operated from inside the car. What I’m thinking would be easily damaged if Zed gets to it, but with a decent reservoir on top and some decent tubing, we should be able to hook something up.’

  There were an assortment of approving nods and expletives from the crowd. I would have joined them but felt I needed to demonstrate a little more control, ‘That’s awesome Bill thanks. I think that’s a priority once you’ve fixed up Lulu, she’s still the best we have.’

  Chris spoke up next and his suggestion was unexpected, ‘I agree with everything that’s been said but I think we’re missing a trick. We’re trying to plan for surviving a surprise attack from the Hybrid but I think we should be planning one on her. Bob and I want to go out right now, tonight, while we still have some idea where she was at least, and we want to find her. I’ll need one of the radios, a sidearm and ammo, one of the rifles in case we get lucky, and a night scope. We figure we’ll need to find some mountain bikes to make it easier to move around and that two people being careful at night, not trying to kill or scavenge, shouldn’t attract attention. I know they’re getting smarter and faster, but most of them are still far from alert. If our intent is only to observe, we can always run if it gets hairy. If we find her we can follow her, but I suspect she’ll want to consolidate her position too; so she may not move around too much.’

  All eyes’s turned to me and Eve smiled and raised her eyebrows while most of the others looked scared at the thought of being out at night. Thinking past my emotions I said, ‘That’s ballsy and not a little risky, but it’s also a fantastic idea. I think we’ve dismantled all the bikes we had and like you say, this one’s time sensitive. I’ll…’

  Eve interrupted, ‘What Brad means to say is, I’ll come with you in Mary and take you to the bike shop. The area should still be relatively clear, we did some pretty serious damage there in the early days. I’ll show you a safe house near there as well. Then I’ll drop you as close to the supermarket as we dare and come back. Brad needs to stay here and carry on this conversation.’

  I couldn’t resist rolling my eyes but I nodded and Chris, Bob, and Eve left immediately to get ready. I looked back at the crowd and a shy hand went up from one of the newest women whose name I didn’t know. I nodded at her, ‘You, sorry, I don’t know you’re name.’

  ‘My name’s Isabelle and I think we should be laying a trap for her. If you think she’ll want to attack us if she finds us, we should make her think she has, then lead her into a trap. We could set up a fake base somewhere and turn it into a death trap. Maybe rig it up to set on fire and burn down really quickly or something. We could make sure we have an escape route, lead a horde in to chase us and then burn them all, or collapse the building on them or something. It might not get her if she’s careful, but it could kill a horde.’

  I thought about and it didn’t seem like an easy thing to set up, and the risks seemed endless, but it was definitely worth thinking about, ‘That’s a good idea, I just don’t know how or where we’d pull it off and we’d have to be damn sure we couldn’t get trapped ourselves. I’d worry she might guess it was a trap and that it would backfire, but we should think about it and share any ideas.’

  There were no more ideas so I bought the meeting to a close. I was already feeling Eve’s absence, ‘Well that’s a good start and we have loads to do now. Jim, I need you to tell me where we can find chemicals and safety gear and we need to consider when or if it’s safe to go back to the factory base, or if we can get the chemicals elsewhere without the kind of fight it took to take the factory.’

  Chapter Twelve – Let’s stay positive shall we

  I hung around the communal area talking to Jim, and Esme left to talk to Andrea. It was a little risky going back to the factory to get protective gear and chemicals, but Jim didn’t know for certain where else we’d get them. Ben, Izzy and a couple of others also hung around and agreed that for the time being at least, everyone should be staying at the caravan base again. It took a while to readjust the sleeping arrangements, but with the extra food we had we didn’t need to go back to the factory for that at least. Everyone agreed the factory base was still good as a backup if the caravan base fell, and having it well stocked was useful.

  Esme was absent all evening but I waited patiently as I knew she wanted to keep me away from Andrea. Eventually Eve got back, ‘Well, they’re all set and having had time think about it, the whole stealth thing is a good idea if you’ve got the balls. There are still wandering Zeds and Zeds in houses. A small team whose only purpose was to kill, rather than scavenge, could pick off one or two here and there and probably kill ten of more in a day, perhaps twenty. Without scavenging as the goal, they can run the moment things get hairy, but could cherry pick food if they have the time.’

  ‘Imagine three of four teams going out every night, or even day, for a week. That could be a hundred less Zeds. They could note houses they’d cleared and work on making safe areas and safe houses where a little food and water could be stored.’

  I held my hand up to stop her, ‘I have two words for you, Beefcakes and Sprinters. The idea is great, and I imagine the three of us could rack up some pretty significant numbers when you’re back to fighting strength, but groups of two or three are too easy for even one freak to fuck up. All it takes is one member to fall, and although the other one or two could probably kill the freak, provided there’s just one, it takes time and makes noise, especially if a gun is used. Then you’re off to the races with a small horde you’re suddenly hand to hand with and you don’t have time to escape.’

  Eve signed, ‘Buzz kill. I know you’re right, but you’re a pretty effective early warning system for freaks and we have to clear the area around us anyway, so I think we should still experiment a little with nocturnal killing sprees.’

  I nodded, ‘I know, but you need at least another week without straining yourself at all if that’s going to heal properly. If you keep overdoing it it’s only going to take longer. One of the guys can join Esme and I. The other two can join a couple of others and do the same. I think car noise screws the whole point so I think we need more bikes. What was the bike shop like?’

  Eve shook her head, ‘We found two hybrid bikes, ironically enough, but the rest buckle as soon they even see a curb. We need proper mountain bikes. There were quite a few in the camping store…’

  I nodded, ‘Yes I know. There’s the hole in the barrier that leads directly to the road now. It’s possible she’s relocated and taken her horde with her, but she knows we wanted stuff from there so she might have left us some surprises. She might also assume we’re too smart to go back there. Fuck, second guessing this bitch is going to do my nut in, she’s worse than Dylan.’

  Eve winced for a moment at mention of her ex then put her hand on my thigh, ‘I was just at the camping shop dropping off Chris and Bob and although we didn’t look inside, it was quiet enough outside. I say we go right now and see if we can run off with a few bikes. We could take the pickup. It wouldn’t take any time t
o throw a few bikes in the back and we can scarper if it looks hot. Before you say anything, I can stay in the truck and be your little baby driver. I think we should take two hockey guys as well, for safety, and so if we can only make one trip in and out we can still score three or more bikes.’

  I nodded and headed off to find Track and Tom. Eve went to find Esme. We radioed Chris as we left who said they had only taken a quick look as they passed by, but that the camping shop looked empty. We left the base, headlights off, cruising as quietly as we could. We had the other night scope and I asked Esme, ‘How’s Andrea?’

  Esme replied, ‘I didn’t see her, only the Talker, but I’m going to step up my efforts. I think it’s even more important now. If we can bring her out and she can feel and control them like we think, she could save all our lives. I definitely saw her that time. I saw her smile. It wasn’t the Talker, it was her.’

  Eve replied for me, ‘We know, we believe you, and you should spend as much time as you can with her. I figure the more input she gets the quicker it could happen.’

  Esme’s head was bowed, ‘I know, and I’m just talking to her now, not the Talker.’

  It didn’t take long to get to the camping shop and Eve stopped outside on the dual carriage way next to the hole in the barrier and turned around, ready for a quick escape. I looked in with the night vision binoculars and just like Chis had said, it looked empty. That didn’t mean there weren’t some hiding inside though. The road seemed clear and I took a moment to think about Imran and the plough only a couple of miles up the road. Esme sensed my regret and put her hand on my shoulder, ‘It’s not ok, but there was nothing you could do, there was nothing any of us could do. It was his choice and he’s a hero.’

  We got out and it was strange seeing Track and Tom out of their usual hockey gear. They still had the body protection but had ditched the arm and leg pads to make them more nimble. Bob had ditched the whole lot when he’d gone with Chris. They had also both opted to get some practice in with spiked baseball bats as their hockey sticks weren’t as easy to carry on a bike and they all liked the plan of night time killing sprees.

  Eve whispered, ‘Be careful’, as we got out of the car and snuck towards the shop. It was very open plan and although there were some tall shelves at the back, it wasn’t easy place to hide in. Most of the shelves ran front to back so we could see down the isles from the front of the store. We slowly opened the double doors both in an out of the shop and propped them open. Bill may not have been as good as I was at the big picture, but he was great at the detail if it called for making something. He’d made a few simple wooden wedges for door propping; a quick escape was the difference between life and death.

  The bikes were on the left as we headed in and it still looked quiet. I sort of wished we’d brought Mutt with us for sniffing out any hidings Zed’s, but he wasn’t the best at running away so it was still the right decision. We snuck over to the bikes and all was going well until we found our surprise. There weren’t very many, and there weren’t any freaks or I would have felt them, but they were waring fucking cycle helmets. I wondered if the Hybrid had a sense of humour and had smiled when she’d left them behind for us.

  I made the instant decision to fight. There were about twenty of them, but with the lack of hiding places some were coming from the other side of the shop. All of us were experienced fighters and there was only a certain amount of room between the isles of bikes for them to get to us. We had a few seconds warning and Track was inspired, he grabbed a bike and threw it at the closest ones. Then Tom threw another and Esme threw a couple behind us so it was harder to reach us. It would also be hard for us to run, but we were still much more nimble then they were.

  The first line of Zeds fell over as the bike laded in front of them and it gave us time. Track and Tom finished them as the second line hit. They were getting smart all by themselves and some headed around behind us so I lined up next to Esme. She grabbed another bike and shoved it’s front wheel at me, ‘A little help.’

  She started to swing the bike and I quickly got the message. When the first line headed for us we threw the bike with our combined strength and it hit the first two directly in the chest, flooring them. They fell tangled up in the bike, halting the progress of the ones behind them. I grabbed another bike from the rack, ‘Again, that was fun.’

  Esme had time to roll her eyes but helped me anyway. We hit the next two before they could climb over their fallen comrades. With the barriers we’d created it was all over a few minutes later but we had wasted several bikes none of us were prepared to untangle from the gore around them. The cycle helmets had made things harder but face and neck shots still did the trick, even if they were a little more unpleasant. We seemed to have time, so we picked the most expensive bikes we could find and managed to get eight in the back of the pickup, though we needed quite a lot of rope to secure them and we didn’t make it easy to disentangle and unload. I wasn’t surprised there weren’t any cycle helmets left in the shop, but we grabbed a few bags of the most expensive walking shoes and clothes we could find on the way out.

  We were going to go back for camping gas and stoves, but after loading up the bags Eve whispered, ‘Hybrid Patrol.’

  I grabbed the binoculars and there was a decent sized horde of maybe fifty Zeds marching down the dual carriageway towards us. Some had helmets and carried weapons and as they got a little closer I concentrated. I felt some tingles and figured there must be a Talker with them to organise the dumber ones. We cut our losses and drove back to base, happy with our haul.

  The bikes had shifted around in the back and were a nightmare to unload, but that wasn’t our problem. We gave the clothes and shoes to the quartermaster, or rather dumped them on and around her desk. Organising supplies and rationing had become a full time job.

  We went straight to bed, and to sleep, and Esme said to Eve before we did, ‘You really need to let that wound heal properly baby. I know it’s a bind, but we need you at your best, both in here and out there. So no waking us up in the middle of the night and dangling those luscious boobs of yours in our faces.’

  Eve mumbled something neither of us made out but we assumed there was swearing and unpleasantness.

  We heard back from Chris and Bob the next evening. The Hybrid had posted hordes at each end of the long road the shopping estate sprawled along. With the river running parallel on one side and only major roads leading into the area, it made it impossible to access it by vehicle without hitting a horde.

  He said it was difficult even with a bike and they had had to retreat to the factory to sleep. He figured the Hybrid must be somewhere on the shopping estate, but he didn’t know where and of course, without having seen her, he couldn’t guarantee it. She’d made sure there were only large groups of Zeds so there was no picking off stragglers and they hadn’t dared go inside any shops in case of ambush. More worryingly, he’d seen a couple of Zeds strategically placed on roof tops.

  We knew the Talkers could communicate over at least an audible distance, but they seemed not to have to rely entirely on sound to do so. I thought back to our encounters with Talkers and talked it through with Ben, Track, Bill, Jim and of course Esme and Eve, ‘At the airport the Talker gave specific instructions for the Zed’s to jump over the side of the stairs. When they attacked the base we all noticed the frenzy of the attack eased when we killed the Talker. I wonder if they can only insight the most basic instructions and feelings, like, ‘KILL’ using what we’ve hypothesised are pheromones or something. I think to give more specific instructions they have to talk like the rest of us, otherwise they probably wouldn’t bother.’

  Track carried on my train of thought, ‘That means the Hybrid or Talkers must be able to talk to their hordes to control them properly. That does assume the Hybrid doesn’t have some more advanced way of communicating with the hordes she’s leaving around the place though.’

  Esme carried on, ‘We know she’s smart and she’s locking down the sh
opping estate, but there is only one of her and she can’t be everywhere. We assume she’s still on the estate, but If I were her and I really wanted to piss us off, I’d be travelling around as quickly as I could organising hordes with Talkers leading them and giving them helmets and weapons.’

  Eve nodded, ‘I agree with Esme. If I was her, that’s what I’d do too. We know they’re developing and that because of that there might be more Talkers as time goes by, and that even the Talkers might get slowly smarter over time. They can call Zeds to them to form a horde, so I see lots of organised hordes with Talkers leading them in our future.’

  I added, ‘But she’ll still probably leave ambushes for us as well.’

  Bill interrupted, ‘The maths doesn’t quite work out does it. She can’t gather hordes to guard roads and have them lying in wait in shops and still leave any in houses. If she’s gathering hordes together as she seems to be, there must be more and more empty houses we can scavenge from. She can’t be everywhere at once. What’s more, she has to have more on her mind that just us. She must also be using time and resources to secure her future. They appear to have a plan to stay and we know they need food. Although we know the Talkers can eat the brains of ones they know will never develop, that can’t be the long term plan. She said they’ve been around for hundreds of years so they must have a long term strategy.’

  ‘I remember you telling me about the Docs vision of a future where the earth was transformed into a big farm for fresh meat, as that’s all they eat. We don’t know if they can re-produce or just plan to live for a very long time, but either way they can’t eat each other forever. They’re going to need to capture and farm animals and the longer they wait the less live animals there will be. The smart ones are going to have stop the shamblers eating any animals that are still left, and that’s gets and less and less by the day.’