“Not the issue. Just get across here for God’s sake!”
Mila turned around and started moving faster over the bridge. The wood shifted and shrieked beneath her feet, and suddenly the white wake of the churning river was the last thing on her mind. The feverish growls of the infected creatures raced on the air towards her and she realised she had to make a bold move or they would be upon her before she reached the other side. She leapt over the gap, fully intending to run the last few feet, but the plank gave way with a thundering crack.
“Aaaggghhh!” Mila screamed as she plummeted into the river before disappearing momentarily beneath the surface.
Robyn just stood there, too shocked to move. Her friend did not resurface for several seconds, and when she did, it was minus the heavy rucksack. Mila’s head bobbed as the water carried her downstream. The first of the beasts began to charge across the narrow bridge, immediately followed by the second and the third. Mila was not the focus of their attention anymore as they made a beeline towards Robyn, whose feet were still firmly planted on the ground.
Robyn remained frozen to the spot. Her mouth had dropped open as she stared at the advancing monsters. She turned to watch her friend being washed away at frightening speed then looked back towards the beasts as one by one their heavy feet made the wood splinter before giving way completely. They all splashed into the river, their growls continuing as they spun and turned and twisted in the white wake.
“Oh shiiit!” Robyn screamed, flipping off her rucksack and starting to sprint downstream.
“Help!” Mila yelled as she disappeared around a bend.
Robyn continued to run flat out, but it was no good, the water was carrying her friend faster than she could keep up. The three creatures continued to struggle, not understanding what was happening or how to deal with it, only conscious of the fact there were still two pink-fleshed meals waiting to be seized.
“Mila, try to grab on to something!” Robyn cried as she ran around a wide outcrop of bushes. Even as the words left her mouth, she knew it was a waste of time. There was nothing to grasp on to. The banks on both sides were high and wide. There were no large boulders. If there were, they were well beneath the surface and the non-stop rain from the last few days had made them unattainable.
Robyn vaulted over another smaller thicket and then another. The more she followed the river, the more overgrown her path was becoming. If she didn’t reach her friend soon, the obstacles on the riverbank would ensure that she disappeared from her view for good. Just then, her heart sank even further.
Two more infected, attracted by the shouts and screams, appeared from the trees ahead of her. This just gets better and better. Robyn reached around for her two swords but did not slow her pace. The creatures ran towards her at the same time. “Aaarrrggghhh!” She leapt like a panther, withdrawing the swords from their scabbards and bringing them both down simultaneously. There was a stereophonic crack as the blades disappeared into both beasts’ skulls at the same time. They collapsed to the ground, and Robyn tugged hard, pulling the swords free without missing a beat. She carried on running, casting a quick glance down to the river.
The other three monsters were still being carried at alarming speed by the fast waters. Robyn curved around another bend to see a straight section of around a hundred metres. Mila was still twenty metres or so ahead, hopelessly trying to swim to the side, but every time she looked like she was getting somewhere, the strong current dragged her back towards the middle of the raging river.
“Robyyynnn!” Mila’s head disappeared beneath the wake again, and Robyn’s heart stopped. This was no good; no matter how fast she sprinted, she was not gaining enough. She dropped the swords. Freeing herself from their weight immediately gave her extra pace, but she knew that if she encountered another creature, the only thing she had was her knife.
Mila’s head bobbed up again. Robyn could only guess her foot had got caught on something because she had moved very little from the position she had first gone under, and now the three creatures were noticeably closer to her.
Robyn continued to race. Sweat was pouring down her back and her face. Her chest was heaving and hurting with the exertion, but she carried on. Now, without the swords weighing her down, she was gradually gaining. Inch by inch, foot by foot.
She drew level with Mila as the river narrowed a little, making the water flow even faster. I really need a branch or something. She spotted one, just to her left. It was a little shorter but a little thicker than the javelins she and Wren used to carry. She deviated without losing her rhythm and swooped down, grasping it firmly in her fist; at exactly the same time, another beast appeared from the trees in front of her.
“Oh crap!” It started towards Robyn, its chilling growls were drowned out by the sound of the river. If she slowed to fight this creature, she would lose the advantage she had worked so hard to gain. She thrust the long branch out as if it was a lance and she was a jousting knight. Undeterred, it continued.
At the last second, she darted to the left and smashed the broken tip of the bough into the beast’s body. It flew back, stumbling down the bank, and almost in slow motion tipped over the edge, falling into the gushing waters.
“Aaagh!” Mila’s stifled scream could just be heard as her head went below the surface once again.
“Crap.” Robyn had known the beast would fall into the water, but she had hoped it would have taken a little more time, that there would be more of a gap between it and her friend. “Crap! Crap! Crap!”
The confused monster thrashed and swirled as it frantically tried to right itself. It was just three metres away from Mila, but for the moment, at least, it was oblivious to the fact as it faced the wrong direction and kept dipping beneath the surface. The other three creatures were ten to fifteen metres behind, none of them understanding how to negotiate this wet, weaving wall of pure power they were being carried on.
Another bend loomed up ahead, and Robyn realised if she didn’t make her move soon, the extra weight of the branch she was carrying would lose her the slight advantage she had gained. She stretched it out, like one huge extension of her arm. She could feel her bicep straining under the pressure.
“I … can’t … reach!” Mila cried, her mouth dipping below the surface between each word. Robyn withdrew the branch; the wind resistance was slowing her down. She reeled it back in and ran with it like a Neanderthal huntress sprinting with her spear. She pointed it in front of her, parting the forest air until she was a few metres past Mila. Robyn stopped at the bend, extending the branch with both her hands, leaning over the edge of the bank.
“You’re going to have to grab it. This is going to be our only chance,” Robyn shouted as she looked towards the four creatures cascading through the wild, white wake towards her friend.
Mila bobbed under the surface again. If I manage to grab that, Robyn probably won’t be able to take my weight, she’ll fall in too. If I don’t reach for it, my one last chance will have gone.
The end of the branch loomed ever closer and an even greater panic gripped Mila as her own indecision suddenly became her biggest enemy. She wanted to cry. This was it. Everything came down to the next—three, two, one.
She thrust her hand up, and her fingers closed around the rough bark of the branch. For a second, the water continued to carry her, but Robyn dug both feet in hard. Rather than pulling her up, she steered her towards the embankment.
“Grab on to something. Anything!” Robyn yelled.
A tree root stuck out from the eroded soil a few inches above her and Mila grasped it with her free hand. She held on tight as the four creatures approached. Their arms reached, their fingers hooked and clawed as the fresh meat tantalised them.
“Please don’t let go,” Mila screamed.
“I’m not going to let—Aagghh!”
The branch suddenly weighed heavy in Mila’s hand as it dropped, bouncing on the edge of the bank. She released it, and it fell into the water, disappearing
beneath the surface. Mila let out a shriek and immediately clutched the exposed root with her other hand as well.
✽ ✽ ✽
All of Robyn’s attention had been directed towards rescuing her friend. It was surprise as much as horror that made her scream when something blurred into her field of vision. She turned and in that split second lost her grip on the long branch. Her hand jutted out to catch it, but she was too late, and even if she wasn’t, she would need both hands free to defend herself against the two beasts charging along the riverbank in her direction.
She heard Mila scream, but in that fraction of a second, she could do nothing to help her. Robyn pulled the hunting knife from her belt and waited.
The growls of the creatures increased in volume as they got nearer and Robyn did all she could to focus. So much was going on. So many possibilities, most of them bad. Was Mila already dead? Was that the scream she had heard?
“Robyyynnn!” another frightened shout filled the air, drowning the sound of the beasts and the river for the time being.
“Infected! Hang on, Mila!”
The first monster had a good two metres’ lead on the second. Its mouth was encrusted with a red/brown coating of dried blood from its last kill. Its once white T-shirt told a gory tale, but as it raised its arms towards Robyn, none of that mattered. Focus.
The creature took one final stride then launched.
✽ ✽ ✽
Infected? There were more infected? Where the hell had they all come from?
“Aaarrrggghhh!” The hand of the first beast brushed Mila’s jacket as it rode the fast current. There was a brief respite to the chilling depths of the river as she lost control of her bladder. The humiliation of being reduced to nothing more than a frightened child was not a primary concern though, as the other three figures hurtled in her direction with their legs and arms flailing wildly. The Tasmanian Devil cartoon inexplicably flashed into her mind as the creatures spun and dipped and bounced.
She closed her eyes and pushed her face into the muddy bank. In a few seconds, they would either be past her or they would be on her. Her eyes flicked open again as there was an almighty splash. She caught sight of a figure entering the water head first. Then she heard another scream from above just as a hand clawed at her jacket.
✽ ✽ ✽
Robyn did not know where she had found the strength from, but her rugby-style shoulder barge knocked the pouncing creature firmly off course. It made a loud, satisfying “sploosh!” as it bombed into the river.
The second beast towered over Robyn. Its hands stretched towards her, and she instantly knew she would not be able to dispatch this monster the same way. She dived towards its feet, rolling into a ball, and let out a grunt of pain as the beast’s shin made contact with her rib cage. She turned to see the creature go sprawling on the ground. It immediately began to scramble to its feet, but Robyn was quicker. She dived again but this time landed on the monster’s back. It collapsed to the wet earth once more, and before it had time to recover, Robyn had plunged her knife up through the base of its skull. The beast instantly fell still.
✽ ✽ ✽
Mila could feel the root slowly starting to shift as the extra weight of the creature dragged her. The other two had gone past, they were drifting to oblivion in the rapids, but the one that had grabbed her jacket was sticking to her like a limpet. For the time being, it could not get its second hand on her; that would almost certainly be the end.
“Robyyynnn!” Mila dared not shake or twist. More of the root was becoming visible each second as the soil around it ebbed further away.
Suddenly a head popped over the edge of the bank. “Oh shit!” Robyn screamed before disappearing again just as quickly.
A few seconds later, she reappeared, but now she was standing and holding something black above her. Robyn threw the watermelon-sized boulder at the beast’s head. The impact made Mila judder and scream as even more of the root came free, but the creature finally released its grip on her jacket and vanished in a red swirl.
Robyn watched for a short while before finally coming to her senses. She looked around for another suitable branch and a moment later was heaving Mila further up the bank.
Mila frantically scrambled away from the edge and remained there trying to get her breath back.
“I had to let my rucksack go,” she said, almost in tears.
“You’ve got your swords though.”
“But the sleeping bag, the camp stove, the food. It’s all gone.”
“We’ll share a sleeping bag. We’ve got food in my rucksack, and we can make a campfire. When we can’t, we’ll eat it cold,” Robyn said, offering her hand to help her friend up.
Mila climbed to her feet and flung her arms around Robyn then burst out crying. “I thought I was going to die.”
“But you didn’t.”
They held each other for a few minutes then slowly retraced their steps along the riverbank. Robyn picked up her scabbards and strapped them to her back then they continued to the rucksack.
“We should take it in turns to carry this.”
“Hey, you’re not going to get an argument from me on that one,” Robyn replied, smiling.
“Thank you, Robyn.”
“You don’t need to thank me. We’re friends. That’s what we do, we look out for each other.”
chapter 20
They headed away from the river and were walking for no more than a couple of minutes before Mila stopped. “Scheisse!”
“What? What is it?”
“The map and the compass. They were in the rucksack.”
“Ah!”
“We are screwed.”
“No. We just need to rethink.”
“How are you remaining so positive? Look at us, Robyn. We are in the middle of nowhere. We have lost half of our supplies, we—” Robyn burst out laughing. “What are you laughing at?” Mila asked angrily.
“I’ve just realised I’ve turned into my sister. She’s finally won, and she’s not with me to see it.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Wren was always the positive one. I was always the one full of doom and gloom. I suppose nearly dying of pneumonia made me change my outlook a bit. We should be grateful for what we have, not fret over the things we don’t have. We’ll always figure out a way.”
“Oh, yes. Positivity will surely help us out of the middle of a giant forest with no compass and no map. Let us all be positive and go around with idiotic smiles on our faces. At least we will die looking like idiots as well then.” Robyn laughed again. “I’m glad you find this amusing.”
“I told you before. Ideas aren’t really my strong suit, but…”
“Let’s hear it, but what?”
“Why don’t we head back to the river and follow it to the road? We’re on the north side now. If we carry on walking, we’ll hit that Braemar place at some point and, who knows, we might find another compass and map there.”
“That … is actually a good idea.”
“Before that, though, we need to find somewhere safe for five minutes to get you out of those wet clothes and into some fresh ones, otherwise it’s going to be your turn to get pneumonia.”
They headed up a rocky incline and stopped on a small plateau. There was no way down but the way they had come up, and both of them kept a keen eye on their surroundings. Mila stripped off and dried herself with a towel. She placed all her wet clothes into a garbage bag then put on a fresh outfit. She pulled out the leather jacket. “I’m sorry. I will have to reclaim this for a while.”
“Wait,” Robyn said, taking off her thick North Face jacket. “This will help get your body temperature back up.”
“Thank you,” Mila said, sliding it on.
Robyn put the leather jacket on, slid the swords and the rucksack back onto her shoulders, and the pair of them resumed their journey. The riverbank had crumbled away in several places due to the increased volume of water from the storm, so they gave it as
wide a berth as they could just to be on the safe side.
They had not been walking long when they caught sight of something unusual to their left. “What the hell is a fence doing in the middle of a massive forest?” Robyn asked.
Robyn and Mila looked at one another with shared confusion before following the fence. It was fairly primitive, made up of six lengths of barbed wire running from the ground to just above shoulder height. It was securely pinned into position using fencing staples, the pines that were used as fence posts were not something even the strongest zombies could force over.
It went on for fifty metres before turning a sharp corner. They continued to follow it around and only then did they understand what it was. They peered beyond the barbed wire and through the trees to a clearing. The odd tent was still standing, but most had been scattered thanks to the howling winds from the previous days.
“Where did everybody go do you think?”
They carried on walking and saw the bodies of infected that had got caught on the wiring and subsequently speared.
Robyn shuffled to a stop. “I think I’ve just figured out where everybody went.”
Mila followed Robyn’s gaze and saw the fallen tree that had demolished a big section of fencing. “Of all the crappy luck.”
“Well, I guess this explains where all the infected that we ran into came from.”
They cautiously stepped over the fallen barbed wire and entered the camp. There were dozens of tents that had been blown against the fence on the opposite side. Rucksacks, holdalls, makeshift barbecues and a hundred different personal possessions carpeted the ground.
“Maybe we can find a compass and map here and maybe some more food.”
“Err … isn’t that grave robbing … kind of?”
“Everything you and I have picked up since this whole disaster began has been stealing from the dead. At one time, everything had an owner.”
“I suppose,” Robyn admitted, sadly.
They both began to search through the scattered remnants. “This is good and bad.”
“What do you mean?”
The End of Everything (Book 7): The End of Everything Page 14
