by Stevens, GJ
Without reply and leaving the rifle in the footwell, I pulled the driver’s door open, jumped to the tarmac and strode towards the gates.
24
JESSICA
I watched as he headed from the minibus with the length between his strides announcing his answer.
He didn’t know what he’d committed to, but he knew something was up with me. He knew to be scared of being so close, but I couldn’t bring myself to give him the straight answers; these people could be the ones to help Alex when I no longer could.
I didn’t think he saw my building rage as I was about to let myself go and stop the creature from taking Paul’s life, with no thought to whether I could hold back and not carry forward the destruction, felling them both before I calmed. But the moment passed. His look made me force the feeling away. His look forced me to control myself.
The scrape of metal pulled me from the questions I was about to ask; instead, I looked to the creatures going crazy with desire as Logan slid the bolt across the gates and pulled each open just in time to miss the fingers clawing out. I couldn’t help thinking he’d given up, or how he had lasted this long by taking such stupid risks.
With the driver’s door still wide, he slowed to a jog half way on his journey back to the van, his concentration on the floor, not wanting to trip and never get back up again.
I pictured his fall, but he was back through the door before I finished thinking about how I would react.
Would I have rushed out and scooped him up whilst fending off the pack? Or would I have slid over to the driver’s seat, slamming the door and putting him out of his misery under the wheels?
I shuddered at the thought, revelling in the relief I got from my revulsion.
My thoughts caught, and I looked to Logan.
He heard the high voice too and stopped, our gaze locking.
I pointed to his side and he hurried to slam the door closed, sealing us from the crowd about to engulf us.
“You heard that?” he said, as his foot landed heavily on the accelerator before the minibus surged forward.
I nodded, not wanting to voice my reply; not wanting to say I’d heard the call and the dog barking not so far away.
Something had to have happened at the church and thoughts sprung of Alex running with Shadow taking the lead, calling out for his master.
Logan stared ahead. With his brow furrowed, I guessed his thoughts were much the same. If they were running, then what had happened to Cassie? Had that woman been right all along?
Had Cassie turned to rage around the church in search of her first feed?
25
LOGAN
Cassie was my only thought as the dead slammed against the metalwork, their bodies disappearing, crushed underneath the tyres. Despite the slap of limbs against the panels, I didn’t let the barrage slow our course for fear Cassie had turned without the chance to say goodbye.
Glancing to the mirror with the junction just ahead, what remained of the crowd followed along the tree-lined lane. I sped, leaning into the corner and joined the wider road toward the village.
With the tyres silencing their squeal as I straightened the wheel, I saw the village square and Shadow racing around the corner. My search fixed on those following, leaning forward to get a better view of who they used to be and what they had since become.
To the blur of movement, I slammed on the brakes, throwing us forward as I yanked the steering wheel to the left to avoid the dog racing in our direction.
We ground to a halt with the bonnet in the hedge and a camouflage of greens through the windscreen.
Dazed by the pace of events and not sure if I’d diverted the turn in time, for a split second I couldn’t bring myself to twist to the right and look down the road.
Shadow’s bark forced me to look, his claws scratching at the door as he rose to his back legs, steaming the window of the sliding door with his breath.
Leaping out of my seat, I jumped in the back and slid the door wide, watching as he bounded in, jumping up in greeting before turning back to the figures following to bark in their direction.
Beth led the chase our way, the oldest winning the race, but I couldn’t quite tell who or what came from behind.
Glancing to the driver’s seat and the rifle in the footwell, I hesitated, unsure if I should grab the gun or rush out to help those still alive. Clutching at the barrel as the pause passed, I swung it around and searched through the scope pointed down the road.
The view settled on Alex with her arm around someone. Cassie.
The barrel drifted toward the road as I jumped from the minibus, the sky seeming to brighten.
Beth rushed past, her breath racing as she clambered up the rise to take a seat. Another of the women, as far as I could tell, lagged by quite a way.
I caught the effort on Cassie’s face; she seemed barely awake.
Swinging the rifle back up, I centred the crosshair on the woman running at their backs, but despite steadying my aim, I struggled to make out her features for the blood covering her face. But I could at least see her slack-jawed expression.
Her name wouldn’t fix in my head, but as she neared, I could tell she was the woman who’d been so against our stay. So against Cassie laying up to give her time to recuperate.
Further movement caught my attention at the bloodied woman’s back and distracted my growing anger. I didn’t know the people following her. I didn’t know their names, but their slow, dogged walk and wound-covered bodies told me the chance to get to know them had gone.
Dropping the rifle to point out from my hip, I looked to Alex.
“Are you okay?” I said, hurrying the words out.
She nodded. “We’re fine. We’re both fine,” she said, and I raised the rifle’s sight back to my eye as those already in the minibus helped Cassie up the step.
Mandy. Her name popped into my head with just a few strides remaining until she reached us, but to the frantic call of my name, I backed up the step and inside whilst looking to Mandy’s blood-smeared expression as she reached out to the door, which someone shoved closed in front of my face.
The crowd continued in its dogged path towards us.
With the smeared blood contrasting against Mandy’s pallid skin, her balled fists blotched scarlet to the glass and to a screamed call from close at my back, I twisted around, catching sight of the group from the school nearly on us.
Leaping into the driver’s seat, I noticed Jess had moved to the back and I revved the engine hard, slamming the gear into reverse, but before I could let the clutch out, Mandy’s pleading voice cut through the adrenaline.
“I’m not bitten. Fucking let me in.”
26
Mandy’s shrill voice pulled me back to the church and the moment she had looked me in the eye and told me Cassie had to leave.
With my foot heavy on the accelerator and the engine racing, I kept my hand hovering over the gearstick. But I couldn’t move away; instead, I turned, looking to her wide-eyed terror with the creatures growing near.
Pulling up her sleeves, she bared her arms, holding them up to the smeared windows.
“I’m not bitten. Let me in.”
No one moved to open the side door as the raised voices continued to call. I heard Paul’s name and its panicked repeat as I turned to see Beth looking around the seats to see if she’d missed him at first glance.
“What happened?” I shouted, cutting through the calls.
Beth silenced her shout, but Mandy continued to bang her fists at the glass and as I turned toward her, she moved to the passenger door, trying the handle.
“Don’t let her in,” Beth called with high-pitched venom in her voice, as Mandy rushed back to the sliding door.
Glancing to Mandy’s back, I watched as she turned around, following my look to the masses only two car lengths away.
Twisting back, Mandy ripped open her blouse, sending the buttons pinging against the metal body and pulling the material high to
expose her pale skin and the sturdy white bra streaked with blood. “I’m not fucking bitten.”
“Do you see a bite?” I shouted, rushing the words into the jumble of voices in the back.
Alex called to let her in, only for Beth to shout her down whilst snapping for us to move.
Although I couldn’t see a wound, the blood must have come from somewhere. I’d made the wrong choice before and I vowed not to do the same again.
“What happened?” I shouted again, louder than any of the two women, but I knew there was no time left to find out. We had to let her in or leave her to die.
“Let her in,” I called to the back and watched as Beth jumped from her seat, pushing her hand to the black handle, but the door didn’t open.
“Let her in,” I shouted again, but Beth didn’t flinch. I twisted to Jess in the back, but she didn’t offer any help.
Hitting the clutch and pushing the gearstick into reverse, I leaned over to the front passenger door and pushed my hand to my handle just as Beth called.
“What the hell are you doing?”
Mandy’s blood-caked face lit as the door opened, and she thrust herself forward, leaping through the doorway and over the front seats into the back, leaving the door wide.
Just as the first of the creatures arrived, I hammered the accelerator with my foot and let the clutch out. As we jolted backwards, shouts called from behind at the sight of hands at the edge of the open door and the creature dragged with us.
Slamming on the brakes just before we hit the trees on the other side of the road, the minibus stopped and the chaos paused. But the door still hung wide open, and the creature had somehow kept its grip.
I stared for a moment, locking eyes with its thick, cloudy whites, and watched the woman in her later years in a pale blue nightdress as she bared her teeth.
The calls from the back pulled me out from my daze and I looked beyond, where tens, if not hundreds more walked doggedly, ready to trample over her to get to us.
Pushing the gearstick into first, I hammered the accelerator a second time, listening to the roar of the engine as I twisted the wheel to the right.
The door came away from her grip and for the first time I looked through the windscreen and recognised faces, features at least, from the school gates as they slipped beneath the bonnet, rocking the minibus from side to side with their weight pushing the door shut.
Past the worst of the crowds, I kept our speed as we headed along the clear, narrow road under the dark canopy.
With my breath running hard, I tuned out the cacophony of calls behind me, focusing instead on the road and taking only the quickest of glances in the mirrors to make sure we’d left the crowd behind and Mandy hadn’t turned into the monster we feared.
“Is she bitten?” I called, but when no coherent reply came and with a long view of the single-track road ahead and hedgerows either side like walls of protection, I slowed the minibus.
Leaving the engine running, I jumped to the tarmac and took a slow walk around the van whilst trying not to take any notice of the sorry sight of the white paintwork.
Beth unlocked the side door as I arrived to slide it wide and all eyes turned to Mandy on the first row of seats, her arms wrapping the remains of her shirt around her torso as if shielding herself from the cold.
A flush of panic rose when I couldn’t immediately see Cassie, but the space next to Alex brought reassurance enough that she was okay.
Glancing the way we’d come, I waited, listening to the calm air whilst taking reassurance I could only smell the slightest of odours calling on the chill breeze. For a moment I wondered if we were doomed to the stench for the rest of our days.
Refocusing, I stared at Mandy, forcing myself to look past the gory mask across her face and raised my foot to the step before offering my hand out with a gesture for her to come forward.
“Step out a moment,” I said, keeping my gaze fixed. “We need to check you over properly.”
Shaking her head, she glanced to Beth’s scowl.
“Get out,” Beth shouted, cutting through the calm.
Mandy didn’t flinch at the words; instead, she tightened her arms around herself and sunk further to the opposite side of the minibus.
Beth’s face flared with anger, but as I pushed my palm out toward her, she relaxed back in her seat, giving a slow shallow nod. I turned back to Mandy and stood back to the road with my hand offered out again before speaking in a calm voice.
“If you’re bitten,” I said, watching as she shook her head before I’d finished. “If,” I repeated, slower this time. “If you’re bitten, then you can still come with us for a bit. If not, we can all calm down and we’ll get you some clothes. Okay?”
Catching a strong waft of sewerage in the air, I hesitated as I examined Mandy’s clear eyes. With a slow breath, I pushed down the urge of my racing adrenaline.
“Please.”
After a brief pause, Mandy dropped her grip from around herself to show her blood-soaked shirt.
Forcing myself to keep calm, she stepped forward as she glared my way. I leaned toward her outstretched hand, but as we touched, I felt a grip around my leg and I looked to the road and a bloodied, clawed hand grabbing my leg with a battered head pulling from under the van, snapping its teeth toward my ankle.
27
When the creature hadn’t already sunk its rancid teeth, I focused on its slow crawl, realising it must have tangled underneath the minibus. With my heart racing, I leaned back, tugging my leg to pull as far away from the mouth as possible, whilst trying not to fall back and give it the opportunity to doom me to the same fate as Paul.
Confused calls came from inside the minibus. A scream rose from Beth as she stared at Mandy, looking as if she’d attacked me. I heard Cassie’s weak call, asking what had happened, and watched as Alex and Jess followed my wide-eyed glare down to my feet as they realised something else was going on.
I wanted to kick out with my other foot, but it would have meant standing still and giving it a chance to pull my other to its mouth.
Unable to break from its powerful grip, it gave a sudden jolt, dragging my foot closer. Bracing for pain, instead the pressure eased, and I opened my eyes to the sight of Jess’s trainer stamping down on its head for a second time.
When the grip didn’t completely release, I watched Jess hold the minibus door as she dropped to the road before taking aim and refocusing her attack.
With flayed flesh slapping to the paint and to the gut-wrenching crack of its skull, the grip finally relaxed.
“Where...?” is all Jess said between breaths as she turned to me and then back down to my leg. “Are you bitten?”
Stepping back and pulling up the leg of my jeans, I took a long look at my leg from every angle. “No,” I said, before repeating twice more, then lowered myself to the road to check nothing more lurked underneath.
Stepping back to the side door, I watched as Mandy held firm in her seat with her bloodied arms wrapped around her chest.
Jess spoke before I could. “She’s not bitten,” she said, and climbed past me to take her spot the other side of Alex.
Slowly nodding, I held my gaze on Mandy from a distance, but despite not being able to see every detail, somehow I knew Jess had been right.
Keen to get away from this place, I jumped back in the minibus, sliding the passenger door shut before speeding us along the road.
After a short distance, the wheels rolled over the corpse as it released from the underside and I called out to no one in particular. “I’m heading north.”
When nothing but nods came from behind, I let the speed build.
“What happened back at the church?”
No one replied.
“Is Cassie okay?”
“I’m fine,” came her weak voice, and Alex nodded without delay; I remembered the conversation with Jess. She’d been wrong. I was sure they cured Cassie.
Alex’s voice cut through my thoughts. “I was
checking on Cassie. I didn’t know where the others were, but I heard their whispers.”
I looked between Beth and Mandy in the mirror as Alex spoke.
“There was an almighty scream. I’m surprised you didn’t hear it from where you were.”
I glanced to Jess, but she didn’t acknowledge the look.
“Then we heard someone falling down the metal steps.”
“They’re a death trap,” Beth cut in. “I said all along. Harry. He fell. He was up the tower with Stacey. By the time I’d arrived, I found him at the bottom of the steps. He’d bent both his arms the wrong way, and I shouted for Stacey to get away from him. It was obvious he was dead. We all knew what could happen next, but Stacey was so distraught and kept apologising like she’d made him fall.”
“Harry turned?” I said and looked at the rear-view mirror.
“No. He wasn’t moving. There was no way he could have been bitten,” Beth said.
“When Mandy saw Harry’s blood on Stacey’s arm, she started shouting that she’d been bitten,” Alex said, her voice soft as she turned down to where Cassie slumped.
Beth closed her eyes as I flashed her a look in the mirror.
“This one,” Beth said, raising her hand to point at Mandy, “panics, screaming the place down and throws stuff at Stacey. Mandy went crazy.”
I looked to Mandy as she scowled back at Beth.
“She attacked Stacey, and Stacey defended herself, but slipped on a candle Mandy threw. She hit her head, knocking her out cold. We’re all staring in disbelief, but at least the commotion was over. Mandy’s all for killing her there and then, but we don’t agree.”
Beth looked to Alex, who nodded back.
“So she runs off and brings back a metal bar from Paul’s work area and before we can stop her, she’s going at Stacey. But Stacey’s not dead. She wakes up. She’s alive. Not one of those things. We tried to stop Mandy but by now Stacey is lying motionless on the floor, covered in blood. Mandy’s killed her. There’s so much screaming, most of it from Mandy and then Stacey soon wakes up and her eyes are different. Like those creatures.”
