Outbreaks

by T. L. Frost

  “Right then.” Said Sarah to herself as she looked around for signs of movement “You can do this.”

  It was a quick run across the road and Sarah made it unseen. Moving along the row of closed buildings filled with flashing slot machines, she came to a corner of the park where a side road joined the coast road. She quickly looked around, seeing the open gate and nothing else. Taking a deep breath she went in. The place looked strange deserted, before it had always been filled with people, couples holding hands, noisy children shouting for candy-floss, the sounds of the rides filling the air. It was all silent now, only the slot-machines in the background making any noise. Some shutters were down, none of the cafes or fast food places had opened. Sarah gripped her crowbar in frustration.

  “There must be somewhere…” Then she spotted a Hot-Dog cart.

  The picture of a large hot dog in a bun, smothered in mustard looking faded and unappetising but right now she wasn’t feeling very fussy. She managed to get the crowbar in behind the padlock on the cart, it came off with a loud ‘ping’ as it hit the ground and Sarah looked around quickly. Breathing a sigh of relief she opened the cart, taking out packs of buns and vacuum packed hot dogs. There was a bag in the cart and she filled this, adding cans of fizzy drinks, then picking up her crowbar again she stood and turned, to see a zombie rushing in through the main gates towards her.

  “Oh bugger!” She said, dropping the bag.

  The zombie charged forwards, arms outstretched, mouth open as it snarled, teeth bared. Sarah waited as it came at her, crowbar gripped in both hands and held high, judging the moment, and when it was almost upon her, claw-like hands reaching out, she stepped to the side, bringing the crowbar around in a vicious, two-handed swing. It hit the side of the zombie’s head with a loud cracking sound and the creature went down, tumbling forwards under its own momentum, blood and gore spilling from a large wound in the side of its head. Sarah leaned forward, hands on her thighs trying not to vomit at the sight. Then the zombie moved, arms reaching out as it tried to pull itself up. Sarah watched in amazement and horror as it got half way up, looking around, its head caved in and gore dripping from the wound. One of its hands grasped the bag of hot dogs.

  “That’s mine!” Said Sarah, gritting her teeth and rushing forward.

  She hit the zombie again and again, smashing its shoulders and head, one of its arms broke under the blows as it reached for Sarah. It fell back twitching and Sarah dropped to her knees beside it, driving the end of her crowbar through its head, so hard that it rang with a metallic sound as it came through the other side, hitting the ground. Then Sarah stood, taking a few shallow breaths and vomited. She looked down at what was left of the zombie, not a pretty sight but she felt a wave of relief flow through her, the fear of the last two days draining away. With a nod of satisfaction she gripped her crowbar, picked up the bag of food and left.

  Chapter 5

  The coast had always been a favourite place of Jim’s. Though not the busy, tourist filled places with the flashing lights and noisy pubs and clubs. He liked the quieter, less well known stretches, not popular with most tourists because of their wilder, rocky shoreline, no smooth sandy beaches to sun bathe or build sand castles. He was camped near one now, a small inaccessible spot surrounded by cliffs but high enough to avoid the tide. His small camp fire made from drift wood hidden from view from anybody who wasn’t at sea. Moans and occasional screams could be heard in the distance as he heated some food over the fire, throwing in some mussels he had picked up during the days walk. It had been slow going over the rough terrain, but Jim was ok with that, he was in no hurry if it meant he could avoid those ‘things’ out there.

  After what had happened at the platform, he had been careful to stay out of sight. Travelling past the rows of homes on his way to the coast had been a nightmare, screams of terror suddenly bursting out in the distance or nearby. He had seen dead people, or what remained of them, their bodies literally torn apart, blood and pieces of flesh all around, limbs scattered. Walking through a small deserted park, he had heard someone shouting for help. Going to the edge of the area he had seen a man run out of a side street onto the main road, terror in his eyes as he stopped to catch his breath, Jim had been about to shout out when a large group of zombies ran into sight right behind the man, moving fast. The man had looked up and started running, his eyes fixing on Jim’s, but he had only made it a few steps before the creatures caught him. They clawed at him, dragging him down before swarming all over him. Jim had moved back into the park, the man’s screams sounding behind him briefly. After that Jim had been even more careful, eventually reaching the coast. He was planning on heading north, away from the city and towns, he had travelled around Northumberland before and knew the quieter, more remote areas. He thought maybe he could head west after that, the mountainous, less populated areas of the Lake District looked like a good idea. He had always loved that place.

  The next morning Jim woke as the sun started to rise. The small fire was still smouldering and he threw on some more of the damp driftwood, blowing on the flames to bring it back to life before placing his small camping kettle next to it, ‘Can’t start the day without a proper cuppa’ he thought as he stood, stretching his back. A night sat leaning against the cliff face and broken sleep had left it stiff and a little sore.

  “I’m getting too old for this.” He said as he massaged his aching back with his knuckles.

  The stony beach just below looked quiet and Jim looked around as he drank his tea. The way ahead looked clear but he was coming close to the beaches favoured by tourists, which meant more people, which meant more zombies, but there was no choice. At least the going would be easier he thought. He packed his things and poured sea water on the fire, extinguishing it. A loud thud sounded behind him and he spun around, just in front of him on the rocky beach was a zombie, legs broken, bones smashed after falling from the top of the cliff. Jim breathed out a sigh of relief, it could hardly move, though its grey, expressionless eyes turned to stare at him, mouth opening and closing. Then another fell right next to it, Jim jumped back.

  “What the hell?!” He said, surprised.

  Then another fell, and another. Jim grabbed his things, moving along the cliff face as another fell onto the small pile of broken bodies. Its fall had been broken by the others and with only one leg broken, it hobbled after Jim, slow but determined. Jim swung his hiking stick, cracking it against the zombie’s head, watching it spin and fall back into the pile of writhing, broken bodies. Then it pushed itself up and came at him again, slowly, dragging its broken leg. Jim turned and ran as well as he could over the rough, rocky beach. Looking back and up, he could see more zombies on top of the cliff, the fence there holding them back as smoke and steam rose from his almost extinguished fire. Then one of them toppled forward over the fence, spinning through the air until it hit the growing pile. Jim kept as close to the cliff as possible until he was out of sight. He didn’t light any more fires after that.

  Chapter 6

  The neighbourhood had really gone downhill lately, thought Sarah as she ran down the road, a group of shambling, grey zombies chasing her. The machines of the arcades were all silent and dark now as she passed them, the power had gone off a few days ago. She had been looking for more supplies after the hot dogs were all gone, but while trying to break into a locked shop, she had been spotted by one of the zombies, it had let out a blood curdling scream and then charged at her, she didn’t have time to think and as it came forward she had stabbed the end of her crowbar into its face, hitting it in the eye, the tip of the metal bar going deep. It had dropped like a stone as Sarah twisted, pushing it away, its own weight pulling it clear. She had watched then, looking all around, making sure it was alone and just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, other screams came, they were close.

  “Bugger it!” She swore, then took off at a run.

  She kept to the road, heading away from the screams, not wanting to lead any zombies b
ack to the little beach hut. Zombies had come running out of buildings and side streets as she ran, gathering behind her in a mob, moans and screams coming from them as they chased her. She needed to get out of sight and looked desperately around for somewhere safe. Ahead of her was a hotel, a grand old building overlooking the sea front, in the middle of being renovated, surrounded by scaffolding and signs ‘Opening this summer! Modern luxury and stylish surroundings!’ Its main door was half open and Sarah headed for it. Crashing through into the lobby, the place looked deserted, piles of building materials, scaffolding, timber and boxes were piled there, the sounds of running feet and moans got louder as she quickly looked around. A central staircase headed upwards towards a balcony overlooking the lobby. Sarah got behind a pile of scaffolding and pushed, the metal pieces falling in front of the doors with loud crashes and metallic bangs, she winced at the noise then ran for the stairs. Going up swiftly, she ran around the balcony, looking back at the doors, they were mostly blocked but two or three zombies were crawling over the others to get in. Sarah turned and headed down a corridor, finding some stairs and heading up to the top floor. She could hear moans from the zombies which had made it inside, their feet slapping on the bare wooden boards of the unfinished hotel. Going down a corridor, she picked a door at random, it was unlocked and she let herself in. It was a large room with a good view of the sea, boxes of tiles were stacked neatly in one corner and Sarah grabbed some, piling them behind the door. A loud bang knocked the top box off as the door shook, then another shaking the door again, moved the boxes a little, opening the door to let a grasping arm inside, dark, dried blood covering it up to the elbow.

  “Fuck you!” Screamed Sarah as she smashed the arm with her crowbar.

  The arm withdrew, then the door shook again as the zombies attacked it, moans from the corridor outside intensifying as it opened a little more. Sarah looked around, the windows were open and she could see the scaffolding out there, moving from the door, she climbed outside just as the door burst inwards. She ran along the walkway of the scaffolding, the zombies crawling through the windows and following, they were almost upon her, tireless and unrelenting, she couldn’t outrun them much longer. Ahead there was a break in the scaffolding, a corner post at either side of it, part of the walkway missing. With a last burst of speed she avoided the grasping hands of the chasers, hooking the curved end of her crowbar around a corner post and spinning out into open air, her knuckles were white as she gripped the handle, desperation giving extra strength. She spun outwards, away from the building, the chasers following, running after, their hands grasping at nothing as they plummeted over the edge. Sarah spun around, the crowbar sliding down the pole as she swung towards the building below, her feet hitting the stone of the building. She was breathing hard, holding on with all her strength, the dried blood on the crowbar’s handle giving it a good grip, but still she started slowly sliding down.

  “Oh great.” She said looking down.

  Below her was the entrance to the hotel, the mob of zombies that had chased her stood there looking up, arms reaching, moans and screams rising to fever pitch as they saw her. There was nothing between her and the mob, the pole her crowbar was hooked onto looked slippery and her grip was failing. She looked around for an escape. Then a hand reached down from the scaffolding walkway, Sarah jerked away instinctively.

  “Here girl, give me your hand!” Came a man’s voice.

  The man grabbed one of Sarah’s wrists and she let go of the crowbar, grabbing his wrist as he pulled her upwards. With a grunt he dragged her back onto the walkway before standing up and picking up a wooden hiking stick.

  “Thanks.” Said Sarah breathlessly “Thought I was a goner there.”

  The man nodded.

  “I’m Jim.” He said “I think we should get the hell out of here before they manage to get inside.” And he nodded down to the mob of zombies battering at the hotel’s door.

  “Good idea Jim, I’m Sarah.” She said as Jim turned to go “Just a second!”

  Sarah knelt down, reaching over the side of the walkway, coming back up with her crowbar.

  “Can’t forget this.” She said “Lead the way Jim.”

  Jim went around the walkway to the rear of the building. A series of ladders went down and they quickly reached the ground, looking around.

  “Try not to make any more noise.” Said Jim with a hint of a smile “There may still be one or two of them that didn’t hear you trashing the hotel.”

  “Ok.” Replied Sarah “No need for the sarcasm.”

  Chapter 7

  They travelled quickly through the back streets. Always angling towards the sea front, putting distance between themselves and the hotel. When the screams of the zombies were far off, they checked along the coast road.

  “Looks clear.” Said Jim and he raced across, eyes darting left and right.

  Sarah followed, feeling suddenly exposed away from the rows of buildings but they soon made it to beach, racing down an access ramp for boats and finding a sheltered spot to rest.

  “Thanks again Jim.” Said Sarah gratefully sitting down with her back to the sea wall, the calm waves lapping against the beach giving it a peaceful feeling “Lucky you were there.”

  Jim nodded “Yeah, thought I’d found a nice quiet spot for the night until I saw you running down the street with a pack of those things behind you.”

  “Hmm, they do make a bit of a racket when they get excited.” Said Sarah, resting her head back, eyes closed.

  “Not exactly quiet yourself.” Said Jim “I thought I’d have a heart attack when you ran through the door and all that crashing started.”

  “Oh that, I was trying to block the door, those piles of metal scaffolding looked like a good idea at the time.” She said.

  “Sounded like you were ringing a load of bells.” Said Jim searching through his pack “Then I heard you come racing down the corridor where I had a room. Stuck my head out of the window and there you were, racing along the walkway with a couple of them things after you.”

  “Almost got me too.” Said Sarah opening her eyes “Was a close call.”

  “When you jumped out from the walkway, swinging on that crowbar of yours I thought you’d had it for sure.” Jim said shaking his head “Never seen anything like that before.” And he chuckled at the memory.

  “Yeah, who knew all those years of athletics competitions would come in so handy?” Sarah replied smiling.

  They rested for a while then, Jim shared a chocolate bar he had.

  “Only a few packs of freeze-dried meals after that so I hope you’re not hungry.” Said Jim “Too dangerous to build a fire for cooking.”

  Sarah nodded “We need to find somewhere to stay, it will be getting dark soon.”

  “Better get moving then.” Said Jim standing and pulling on his pack.

  They headed further up the coast, trying to stay on the beach but eventually they came to some rocky cliffs, the sea crashing against them. A set of narrow stone steps led up from the beach and they followed these, Jim leading the way until he was almost at the top.

  “Perfect.” He said, signalling Sarah to join him.

  The steps led up to a path around the tops of the cliffs. The space there was filled with static caravans.

  “Looks empty.” Said Sarah quietly “Not many holiday makers hung around when the flu hit.”

  Jim nodded agreement, looking around the small caravan site he couldn’t see any signs of zombies. The caravans were all closed and locked, they moved up to the path and circled the area, at the far side was a small stone building ‘Happy Holiday Homes - to Let’ a sign said, ‘Reception’ said another sign above a door. The door was closed, beside it a window had been smashed, broken pieces of glass littering the ground, dried blood on the frame. Moving forward quietly Jim looked in through the window, the small office was empty, he nodded to Sarah and she tried the door, it was unlocked. The back of the office had another door, already open, they found a sma
ll toilet and a kitchen/storeroom.

  “See if you can find anything useful.” Said Jim “I’ll keep a lookout.”

  Sarah started going through the cupboards of the small kitchen. Jim Went to the office, finding a map of the site, the caravans numbered and next to it rows of keys also numbered.

  “It’s our lucky day.” Said Sarah smiling as she waved a box of teabags and a large tin of biscuits.

  Jim smiled holding up some keys “I picked one with a sea view.”

  Putting the keys in his pocket he let Sarah stuff the tea and biscuits into his pack. The caravan was back along the cliff-top path and they quickly found it, near the centre, looking out over the sea. Jim smiled and took out the keys. As he approached the door there came a low moan and from the side, a zombie walked into view, stopping and looking around, its grey eyes fixing on Jim. It started moving forward, mouth opening, head tilting back. Jim dropped the keys, raising his hiking stick as Sarah rushed past him, crowbar raised pointed end first and jammed it into the zombie’s mouth. It staggered back under the blow, teeth biting at the metal as Sarah pushed it against the fence at the top of the cliffs. Jim raced to join her, the point of his hiking stick hitting the zombie’s chest.

  “Push!” He said.

  Together they forced it back, over the fence until it fell over backwards, landing on the strip of ground behind it and as it rose Jim gave it a final push with his stick, sending it toppling over the cliff, spinning through the air to hit the rocks at the bottom and be swept away by the sea. Jim leaned on his stick, looking around.

  “I don’t know about you.” He said “But I could do with a nice cup of tea right now.”