The park was large and on a slight incline. There was a children’s play area inside a fence, a large pond with a bandstand next to it, and many benches, trees, and plenty of open space. Around three sides were housing, and one side had a main road, with a public toilet and a large train station.
One thing was there that was out of place – the crashed helicopter. It had churned up a large trench, leading to the bandstand, which the twisted hull leaned against. All around it was naked, dead bodies. Blood and gore was everywhere.
Noah crouched behind a small silver Fiat Punto.
He could see where the military was, mainly because it was surrounded by a frenzy of naked creatures. Noah was just deciding how he would approach, or even get to them to let him know he was there, when two things happened simultaneously; the white lorry turned a corner, and an almighty explosion blew fire and dense smoke out of the windows on the bottom two floors of the building.
15
Red, Betty, and Lennie
Newton Abbot, In a House on King Street
11:59 AM GMT
Red ran into the room, not knowing what to expect.
Lennie sat on the couch, protecting the small terrier by hugging it, while rocking back and forth. The dog was whimpering with its head buried under Lennie’s arm.
The cause for the smashed window was arms thrashing around, trying to get at the warm bodies inside. It looked like a twenty-something woman, with short black hair. She screamed and grunted while trying to force her way in through the splintered wood and fragmented glass of the window.
Without thinking, Red ran forward swinging the golf club with all her might, similar to using a baseball bat. The end connected with the middle of the woman’s forehead; the sound it made was like dropping a watermelon onto a slab of concrete. The naked female shot backwards into the street, landing on her back. Blood pooled around her deformed head. She did not move again.
Screams echoed up and down the street, as more naked creatures headed towards the commotion.
Red pulled the curtains shut, hoping to bide them some time.
There are so many of them all at once, Red thought. For the last week or so, I thought it was quiet because everyone was hiding, waiting for rescue. But in fact, they were already infected, and slowly changing in their own homes.
Red swung around. “Lennie, stand up. Go to the kitchen,” she shouted.
The giant of a man did not move he just rocked back and forth with his eyes shut tight. The little dog’s tail wagged with the sound of a human voice.
“Lennie, move right now.”
The man opened his eyes and looked up, as if registering Red for the first time.
“Lennie take the dog into the kitchen. It needs your help.”
This seemed to wake the man up. He stood, turned, and headed down the hallway, while muttering, “Protect little doggy.”
It sounded like a few creatures were fighting outside, but Red dared not open the curtains.
She quietly closed the front room door and looked around for something to wedge it shut. She noticed a dog lead on a coat hook. She wrapped the lead around a banister rail, then through the hoop and then pulled as hard as she could, and managed to wrap the lead around the front room door handle, and click the link closed over the rigid lead. She then ducked under the line and moved down the hall to the kitchen.
Betty stood over Lennie, checking he was all right. The little dog stared around, wide-eyed at the strangers in its home.
“One smashed the front room window. There is a few outside, fighting among themselves. Or possibly eating the one I just knocked out,” Red said as she moved around the table. She checked outside. The yard was empty. There was no way Lennie or Betty would be able to climb the ten-foot wall.
“Don’t worry dear,” Betty said. “Noah will be back soon with those men with the guns. They will save us.” She gave a toothless smile, to reassure Red, as she used a big wooden spoon to stir whatever was in the pot.
A ringing timer went off.
“Turn that off,” Red said while trying to dash to the timer to stop its ringing.
“Oh, just another ten minutes and dinner will be ready,” Betty said as she moved over and switched off the timer.
I don’t think Betty is playing with a full deck of cards; Red thought. How can she be so calm? She looked at Lennie as he rocked back and forth, while stroking the small dog.
Just then, a guttural scream echoed throughout the house as the creatures started to pour into the front room. The door rocked as bodies slammed against it. The dog lead held. Then the front door started to shift, knocking the furniture over that Red had piled against it, as arms reached in, smearing blood over the wallpaper and door.
Red pulled the curtain on the back door aside and swung the door open. She looked up at the roof of the kitchen, which was an extension from the main part of the house. It was flat with a railing around it.
“Upstairs,” Red said as she ran back in.
“What was that?” Betty questioned.
“Both of you, upstairs now. I have a plan,” Red said.
Neither of them moved.
“Lennie, go upstairs, and take the bags with you,” Red repeated.
Lennie looked over to Betty, while he stayed seated, stroking the dog.
“It’s okay Lennie, do as Red tells you,” Betty said while wrapping the blankets back over her shoulders.
“Shame,” she muttered, as she left the food on the stove.
Lennie held Charlie under one arm, while swinging Noah’s bag onto his back, he then picked up his and Reds in the other large hand.
Betty led the way along the hall. It was a struggle for Lennie to crawl under the stretched dog lead, but he managed it.
The creature’s blood covered arms flailed around faster through the gap in the front door, when they heard movement. Their screams intensified.
The door leading to the front room shook from the multiple impacts. The sound of furniture smashing resounded from the closed room.
Red watched Betty and Lennie make their way up the stairs, and then she moved over to the stove. She turned the gas off, so the flame went out, and then turned on all four-gas hobs and the oven. Gas hissed into the kitchen.
Red started rummaging through the draws. She found what she was looking for. She pulled a chair over and wedged it against the table, and put the electric gas lighter on the floor, and with some duct-tape, she found in the same draw, she taped it to the floor, rammed up against the chair so it would not slide backwards.
Perfect, Red thought, as she grabbed a carrier bag off the side and tossed what was on the table into it. She then squeezed through the gap in the door, and pulled the kitchen door shut. She then ducked under the dog lead, swung around the banister post, and sprinted up the stairs two at a time, while avoiding the gap next to the front door. One creature was halfway through, crawling down over the piled up chairs and telephone table.
Lennie and Betty were in the master bedroom. Lennie crinkled his nose up against the rancid, pungent smell.
“Over here,” Red said as she barged between them and ripped the curtains to one side. Dust motes filled the room. There was a double door leading out onto a small patio built on top of the kitchen extension. With a kick, the doors swung open.
It started raining hard.
Red opened the bag she was carrying. Inside was her filtration mask and goggles, along with spare goggles for Lennie and Betty. She put hers on.
“Here,” she said, while passing the largest goggles to Lennie, then another to Betty.
“Pull your jumpers up, to cover over your mouth and nose,” she instructed.
They both slipped on the goggles and pulled their clothing up to cover the lower half of their face.
“Good, now quickly, outside,” she said.
“Poor devils,” Betty muttered as she looked down at the three corpses under the blanket.
“There isn’t much time,” Red shouted.
“Out!” Red screamed, and she pushed Betty outside. Lennie stumbled after them.
The patio had wobbly concrete slabs, made slippery by the rain, with a small metal bistro table and two chairs that the rain pinged off. A few plant pots filled the corners.
“Over the rail, onto the roof next door,” Red shouted, as her red hair plastered to her face.
The roof joined to the house extension next door. However, the other roof had no patio, just a tiled apex. There was a dip of about four feet down.
Lennie tossed the bags over, then, while still holding onto the dog, swung a leg over. Once he was on the sloping roof, he had no choice but to put the terrier down, while he reached over and lifted his grandmother over.
Red swung her legs over and ducked down below the roofline, and rested her back against the wall.
“You might wanna duck down too,” she stated.
Lennie held onto Charlie as he crouched next to Betty.
Red could hear an explosion in the distance. It sounded louder, and different from when the bodies popped. She gave it scant attention; she would have an explosion of her own within seconds, to contend with.
They could hear some creatures running straight up the stairs. Others ran along the hallway, slamming into the kitchen door. The door flew open and hit the electric lighter, which was tapped to the tiled floor. A small flame sparked to life, igniting the gas that filled the kitchen.
The blast incinerated the naked bodies and blew their dusty remains back along the hallway. The fireball filled the corridor, running into the front room and up the stairs; consuming everything in its path.
16
Doctor Lazaro and the Squad
Dentist Clinic
Courtney Park, Newton Abbot
12:07 PM GMT
The whole dentist building shook. The sound was deafening. Thick smoke and dust poured up the stairs, filling the top floor. The building settled, with large cracks running along the upper-level walls. The two floors below collapsed onto themselves, due to the charges placed by Echo. Small, isolated fires burned in the remains of the lower levels.
“Everybody okay?” the Captain asked through the gasmasks communication device. Thick dust swirled around him, making it difficult to see anyone.
A series of affirmative answers returned, stating everyone was fine, apart from their ringing ears.
“If we give it a minute, most of the concrete dust will settle, due to its weight,” Echo announced.
Even as she said it, they could see the heavy, grey dust starting to slowly fall like a thick fog.
There was no more animalistic screaming coming from anywhere in the house. The blast momentarily took care of the mob of eaters.
“Is our exit ready Echo?” the Captain asked.
“Yes sir. I blew the hole at the same time as the main blast.”
“Then let’s move out. I’m sure this has sent out a calling card to every creature within miles.”
The Captain waited for Echo to lead the way. She swung the door open, making dust swirl across the ground and back up into the air.
They walked down a short flight of stairs, from the high tower room, down onto a landing. The stairway leading down to the next level was gone, having collapsed down along with the two floors below. All that could be seen was smoke and rubble, with an odd piece of wood sticking out here and there, along with a dentist’s chair and the remains of a light unit. There was no longer any color to anything; it was all grey due to the concrete dust.
Echo walked past the remains of a door, which was all twisted and splintered. In the room, adjoining the house next door was a gaping hole – their exit.
They filed through into the top level of the house next door, straight into a large bedroom. The bed was pushed up against the far wall, and the rest of the furniture was reduced to splinters due to the explosives used to create the hole. The bed sheets were burning, along with the curtains and some of the carpet over in the far corner. Everything was also covered in a thick film of grey dust.
They all moved through the room and down some stairs to the next floor down.
The Captain removed a small walkie-talkie from his pocket. “Coco, are you there, over.”
“Reading you loud and clear Captain. I take it you’re in the next house, as arranged if you came under attack. Over.”
“Roger that, Coco.”
“We have just pulled onto the road surrounding the park. Over.” The air filled with static for a moment. “I have a visual on the house. Move to the east-facing window on the first floor. Over.”
“Roger that, Coco.” The Captain placed the walkie-talkie back into his pocket.
“Coco and the others have returned with our transport outta here,” he stated.
They followed him into a medium-size bedroom. It looked like it was a spare room, for visitors. It had a magazine feel to it, as if to impress those who came to visit. The effect was wasted on the people who just walked in.
Echo walked backwards at the rear, in case the house was occupied and a naked creature came charging at them.
The Captain placed the container on the ground and moved over to the large bay window. He could see a large white removal's lorry heading around the circumference of the park, racing through the torrent of rain.
In addition, there was a multitude of naked creatures heading in the direction of the sound of the explosion, and the rising column of dense smoke. There must have been at least fifty or so charging in their direction, with more appearing from adjoining roads and houses as he watched. They looked like they had just been pulled from a shipwreck, naked and soaking wet. A few skidded and fell on the wet grass, and like feral animals, they scurried to regain their footing.
The white lorry cut the corner of the park, bumping over the curb and across the grass. Some of the naked creatures changed direction, heading for the lorry when they saw it. The lorry hit two head on, as they ran directly at the moving vehicle, as if being able to stop its momentum. They disappeared under the front tyres with an explosion of blood and guts.
“Help me with this,” the Captain said.
Jimmy, who was stood closest, helped lift the firmly wedged sash window. Below was a large bay window, with a small area covered in beaten lead. Jimmy got out first, and the containers of ammo and equipment was passed to him. Then Bull passed Melanie through. She stood, leaning against the wall, covering her sensitive eyes from the dull sun. There was not room for anyone else; they would file out when the lorry arrived. The rain soaked them within seconds.
The lorry did not seem to slow down as it mounted the curb and smashed through a low wooden fence, and then rip its way through some flowerbeds, and up onto the short front lawn. The lorry skidded to a halt, scraping along the lower bay window.
They now had a large white platform to climb onto.
Jimmy climbed across, through the pouring rain onto the slippery surface that was echoing a tattoo of sound from the downpour.
Bodies slammed into the sides of the truck, jumping, trying to reach the meat above.
Coco, Trev and Franco did not bother lowering the windows to fire at them, there was just too many and would be a waste of ammo.
Everyone was now on the lorry’s roof, squatting down as low as possible, spreading out their weight.
Coco had thought of everything; a rope was tossed from one window, then over the roof, and back through the passenger side, and then tied down. Those on the roof had something to hold onto.
Just as the Captain slammed his hand on the roof, to announce they were all on, a screaming drew their attention back to the window they had just climbed out of.
A naked male ran through the bedroom. He could have climbed through a broken window, which shattered during the explosion, or he could have been in the house all along. He dived through the open
window, hitting Rogers and Spice, wrapping his arms around both, while sinking his deformed teeth into Rogers’ neck. All three tumbled over the side of the lorry, into the throng of creatures below. It became a feeding frenzy – like chum thrown to circling sharks.
Unaware that two of them had fallen off the roof, the lorry revved and pulled away, crushing creatures as it moved.
Everything happened so fast.
The Captain twisted and pulled his gun from its holster. As the truck skidded along the gardens, knocking down fences before bumping back onto the road, the Captain took aim and fired, first to clear some of the naked creatures that were ripping into them, then just another two shots, one through Spices forehead, and one through the back of Rogers’ head.
17
Noah
Newton Abbot
Courtney Park
12:14 PM GMT
Noah was crouched in the bushes watching the creatures run past. He could see the white lorry mount the curb and cut across the garden. He witnessed the soldier’s climb on the roof, and two of them being knocked off. The lorry then drove off in the opposite direction, away from him.
I will never be able to catch up with them; he thought. Especially with all the naked creatures chasing them. Then he had a crazy idea.
What the hell am I doing, he reasoned, as he stood in the pouring rain, behind a bush, stripping off his clothing. He knew it was a risk removing the gasmask, but he had no choice.
He heard a dull explosion from the direction of where he left Red and the others. He ignored it. Not everything that happens has to have something to do with them, he thought.
The screaming intensified as the lorry revved and drove off down the road.
Noah concentrated on the moment at hand.
If I cut across the park, I may be able to reach the lorry in time.
He was shaking due to the rain and the cold and being stark naked. He left his clothes in a wet pile, and rested the golf club on top. He pushed his hands into the mud and smeared it over his face and in his hair and over his pasty white body.
The Sixth Extinction 2: An Apocalyptic Tale of Survival. (Part Two: Ruin.) Page 5
