by Jessica Ward
“Well, you do it then, old man” Leon hit back, clearly insulted by Georges outburst.
“Oh, get out of my way” George demanded brushing them off.
He grabbed the map and turned to leave as he spotted the same key safe I had. He went over to the wall, pushing the body further into the desk. We all squealed as the body made contact with the desk, squelching and cracking as the bones fell apart slightly.
George quickly pulled the safe from the wall. He handed it to Ryan as hemoved the dead body, yet again.
I couldn’t bear it anymore I stepped back outside; I didn’t think my stomach could cope anymore.
George searched the whole desk pushing the body aside as he went along as if it was just an old coat. He didn’t seem bothered by it at all.
Nick, Ryan and Leon stepped back outside after a few minutes.
“Doesn’t look like there’s a key to the safe.” Leon said as he filled the rest of us in.
“What do you think happened in there?” Lacey asked.
She brought up a good point. We had seen loads of dead bodies before, but the ones we had seen infected were a little more animated than this one.
“I have no idea” Ryan answered. “Must have been suicide” he shrugged.
George stepped out with a map in hand. “Let’s go back to the boat; we’ve got what we needed. Besides the tea will be ready by now” he said walking back towards the boat.
“You go ahead, we’ll catch up to you” I replied.
George raised his eyebrows and carried on walking. George was becoming a hard one to figure out. He was tough; I give him that. But I just didn’t know what to make of him. There was a lot more to him than he was letting on.
The Sergeant was the type of person who always put others first. His whole demeanour commanded respect. But he had earned that respect. He was firm but fair. He had a good heart, and he always did what was best for us. I never doubted the Sergeant, not even for a second.
There was no comparison between the Sergeant and George. As thankful as I was that George had kept us relatively safe, I was starting to question his leadership skills. The way he snapped at Leon shocked me. I thought about how careless he had been with the corpse. Ok, it repulsed each and every one of us. But it was once a human being. He definitely didn’t show any respect for the dead. But then again did we?
I looked over to the boys who were conversing in a small group. How was what George did, any different to the way the boys behaved; purposely driving through puddles, soaking the infected, just for the fun of it. The infected man did nothing to provoke any of us, he simply existed. I knew that if that infected man had of been someone we knew in life, the boys wouldn't have even thought of driving through that puddle.
None of it was sitting well with me at all. I sat down next to Lacey to gather my thoughts.
“Are you ok hun?” She asked; she had a worried look on her face.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Head just feels like a bit of a shed at the moment” I told her.
She nodded in agreement. “I know what you mean, I feel the same.”
She didn’t press anymore and we just sat in silence for a few minutes, taking in the scenery around us.
The water was still, the whole area around us was quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the water lapping against the boats. I watched the water as the wind gently breezed through, rippling the surface of the water in its path.
The sky above us was grey. Clouds filled the sky, blotting out what remaining sunshine we had left.
Lacey was the first to get up. “Come on, let’s go back inside, it’s getting cold and we don’t want to keep the Professor waiting.”
I pulled myself up. The boys were now by the pier looking out onto the marina. We headed down the path to the boat. Upon seeing Lacey and I turn to make our way inside, the boys followed suit. I couldn’t help but think the only reason they stayed out was purely to keep an eye on us.
Lacey and I were just about to make our way down the steps when we heard the voices. We froze for a few seconds, trying to listen.
I turned to Lacey as I saw the anger in her face swell.
“No, it can’t be?” I asked her; I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
She glared into the boat and shook her head. She was shaking with anger. I had never seen her this mad. She switched her gaze to the boys who were closing the gap between us and the boat.
She pushed forward and stormed into the boat. I ran after her.
“What the fuck is this?” Lacey screamed as soon as she entered the living area. I was a few paces behind.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I thought I was just hearing things at first, but there they were. How they had the nerve to show up was beyond me.
There in front of us stood Andy and Duckface. Lacey was shaking with anger; I wasn’t too far behind her.
They both turned to us and stared. Duckface cowered behind Andy; she daren’t look us in the eye.
She was extremely thin, her pale complexion even more prominent as neck bones protruded through her skin. She obviously still had access to make up as her lips were painted dark pink and her eyebrows drawn on, a deep brown. All in all, it wasn’t a flattering look. She had clearly lost a lot of weight; she looked easily breakable, but as far as I was concerned, that was a good thing.
Andy stood in front of her, as if protecting her from the rest of us. The Professor stood in the kitchen, clearly wishing to stay well out of it.
“How dare you even think about coming back” Lacey spat.
Andy looked shocked and horrified.
“Look Lacey, I’m sorry I left you all, but I just wanted to find the rest of my family. Surely you can understand that. I didn’t know the infected would take over the base” He babbled on trying to explain his actions.
By this time, the rest of the boys had also piled in. They stood right behind us; none of them said a thing. Just like Lacey and I, they glared at our new visitors.
“It’s not you that we have an issue with Andy. Yeah, you left, and it was a shitty thing to do. But it was nothing compared to what that creature did to us” I said pointing over to Duckface.
She edged closer to Andy. She knew we wouldn’t back down.
“I don’t understand?” Andy said turning to Duckface.
“Why don’t you ask her?” Ryan suggested, through gritted teeth.
I looked behind me. I had never seen him this angry. I could tell his blood was boiling. His fists clenched and the skin around his knuckles paled.
“Lola, what have you done?” Andy asked confused.
Lacey laughed sarcastically. “Ha, so you haven’t told him. What a surprise. You make me sick. Go on, tell him how you sneaked off and let the infected into the base. Tell him how if it weren't for you The Sergeant and Josh would still be alive. Tell him how you left us all to die.”
I looked Andy dead in the eye. “Lacey’s right. She did leave us all to die.” I told him sternly.
Ryan couldn’t contain his anger any longer. “If it wasn’t for you Josh and the Sergeant would still be alive. It's because of you they're dead” he shouted at her.
George stood up. “That’s enough” he bellowed.
“No George, it’s not enough.” I said forcefully.
“How dare you, young lady. I will decide when it’s enough!” George shouted back.
I couldn’t believe he said what he did. I snapped, the Sergeant never spoke to anyone that way, what gave him the right?
“I’d like to see you try.” I threatened.
“Don’t you dare speak to her like that” Ryan stuck up for me. He squared right up to George. George didn’t back down.
“I will speak to her however I feel necessary” he replied matter of fact.
“I’ve had enough of this” Leon announced. With that, he grabbed the cricket bat and left the boat.
“We were doing perfectly fine before you turned up” I spat at Duckface, turning my attenti
on to the matter at hand.
“We don’t want you here, go and crawl back under the hole you came from” Lacey shouted.
“Guys, calm down, please” Andy begged.
“No, it’s too late for that now mate!” Nick told him.
“It may not be that simple” the Professor interjected.
“Oh, it really is Professor” Lacey turned to Andy and Duckface. “Leave, NOW” she ordered.
“Look, I know you're all really mad but..” Andy started.
“Mad? That doesn’t even begin to describe what we’re feeling” I hit back.
That’s when the argument well and truly broke out. Everyone was shouting at each other; Andy tried to calm the situation down, but we were having none of it. Rightly so, I couldn’t even bear being in the same room as that vindictive, evil creature. I was ready to throw her overboard.
Duckface started to cry. That wound Lacey up even more. “Oh, shut up you utter piece of shit. No one cares anymore. Cry all you want it won’t change things. Nothing will.” She yelled.
“Excuse me” the Professor raised his voice slightly over the noise. No-one listened.
“Excuse me” he repeated. Still no one listened. We were all too busy getting out what we wanted to say. Everyone wanted the last word.
“CAN I PLEASE INTERJECT” the Professor bellowed. Silence followed. We all looked towards the Professor.
At the same time, we heard a smash from outside the boat. Leon stepped back in, the now broken key safe in his hands.
The Professor held his hand up in order to silence us all before we had a chance to start again.
“Ladies, Gentleman. It is not as simple as it seems. What I was trying to say earlier, was that there seems to be a new development.” He looked around the room, making sure we were all listening.
“Whilst I agree Lola’s actions were unforgivable, we have to look at the bigger picture.” He continued.
The Professor walked over to Lola and guided her out from her hiding place behind Andy. He held her arm up for us all to see.
There, on her arm, were the remains of a bite mark. It looked as if it had been there a while; it was already starting to scab. But there, clear as day, were teeth marks etched into her skin. The bruising around the wound clearly showed that it was a bite, of some magnitude.
“She’s infected” Lacey gasped.
“No, she’s not. She should be, but she isn’t showing any of the signs and symptoms” the Professor told the rest of us.
Andy stepped forward. “It’s true, she said she was bitten shortly after she left the base. Her blood could be the cure.” he told us. “That’s why we came back. We saw your note, and that’s why we came looking for you in the hope the Professor was still alive” Andy finished.
I raised an eyebrow. How the hell could she be the cure for anything? It didn’t make any sense. Regardless of if she was the cure or not, I still wanted her out of my sight. Luckily Leon had come up with the solution.
He threw a boat key over to Andy. “There you go. You’re not staying here with us. Take that boat, and you can follow behind” he told them. Andy nodded.
“I suggest you go with them too.” Ryan told George firmly. He spoke in such a way, even George knew not to defy him. He spoke like the Corporal. We all nodded glaring at the three of them.
“The key is for the boat just next to us. You haven't got far to go” Leon finished. There was no emotion in his voice whatsoever.
The outcasts were just about to leave when we heard a screech in the distance.
“Let’s go” George turned to them. “I suggest we do so before we attract anymore unwanted attention. The instructions for the boat are on the counter” he finished. With that they left.
Chapter 13 – Exiled
Ryan and Leon headed over to the kitchen to view the instructions. They glanced over it, and went to get the boat started.
The screeching and howling, coming from the infected was now getting closer and closer.
Lacey and I sat down in the living area whilst Nick and Paul went to help the others start the engine. The Professor was about to put the kettle back on when he turned to us.
“On second thoughts, I think we could do with something a little stronger" he said walking over to his backpack.
He pulled out a bottle of champagne, the same one he had commandeered from Adlington Hall, and unscrewed the metal top revealing the cork underneath.
“I know this is not the time to celebrate. But I think we could all do with something a little stronger than tea.”
He was certainly right about that. Lacey and I were still reeling from Andy and Duckface’s sudden reappearance.
“I cannot believe she had the nerve, showing up like this!” Lacey started.
“I hate her just as much as you do. Should have thrown her overboard” I sighed.
“She’s lucky I didn’t drop her where she stood” Lacey replied.
“Girls, calm down. She is out of your hair for now. I do need to stress how important her blood could be. If she can provide a cure there could be a small chance we could put an end to all this.” The Professor sounded hopeful.
I wasn’t so sure; it just seemed too farfetched that she could somehow be the cure in all of this. Besides, we had no idea where she was or what she was doing since she left. Something just wasn’t adding up.
The Professor handed us each a glass of champagne. He had found some glass tumblers in one of the cupboards. It wasn’t exactly the champagne flutes we were used to drinking out of, but after what we had been through, we barely even noticed.
“I can’t believe Andy though, how could he go running back to her so quickly?” I asked them both.
“I don’t know, he’s a fool. She isn’t doing him any favours, but if that’s the path he’s chosen then we can’t do anymore.” Lacey shrugged.
“Love makes us weak, it causes us all to do stupid things every once in a while” the Professor advised.
“Yeah, I know, but really? After all she’s done?” I asked.
The Professor shook his head. “As they say, love is blind.”
We all felt the boat starting to move. The boys had pulled away the mooring lines, and we were now starting to drift. As George had originally suggested, we were going to follow the Shropshire Union Canal onto the Shropshire Main Line a few miles down.
Both boats had cast off just in time. A small crowd of fast movers were approaching the jetty. Following a few yards behind, the rest followed. They howled and screeched as they crowded around the vacant boats we had left behind.
An undead mixture of men, women and children of all different shapes and sizes converged on the small jetty.
Their expressions were fierce and predatory. No longer wielding expressionless faces, we knew we were in trouble. They clawed the air, full of desperation, anticipating their next meal.
The infected closest to us attempted to jump, they must have thought they could make it. We were only a few yards away from the jetty, and slowly pulling away farther.
The crowd disbursed slightly, as a few unfortunate members hit the water in an unsuccessful attempt to get to us.
The infected thrashed around in the water, refusing to give up on their prey. They had only just managed to stay afloat, lucky for us, they hadn’t yet learnt to swim.
We backed up further as Ryan turned the boat around, in the direction of our new path.
The boat pushed forward as we headed towards the bridge. Lacey and I made our way outside to see what all the commotion was about.
The infected were crowding the different jetty’s following us in a vain attempt to grasp their next meal. They were tightly packed in together, making various sounds. Screeching and howling filled the soundwaves, deafening us, even from inside the boat.
“We may have a problem” Leon shouted to us.
“What’s that?” I asked over the sound of the engine running at full capacity.
“We need to pass through
that lock” he shouted back pointing to the bridge.
“What the hell is a lock?” I asked Lacey, she looked at me none the wiser.
“It’s not important; all you need to know is we need to pass through it, and it means some of us need to get out the boat” Ryan answered.
“Oh great, and how do you suggest we do that with these things on our tail?” I asked.
“We have no choice” Ryan replied. “It’s ok if we can get through quick enough. They might not have the time to figure out how to get to us. Then we can distract them so the others can get through” he finished.
“Ok.” I replied. If we had to do it, we would just have to find a way.
“So remind me again, why do we have to get out?” Lacey asked.
Nick was the first to respond. “You see those black wooden gates?” he asked.
“Yeah." she shouted over standing on her tiptoes, looking over the boat.
“Well, we need to wind that lever over there to open the gate so the boat can get through. Then we need to close the gate and wait for the water to fill up. From there, we need to wind the gate at the other side so we can get out" he explained.
It seemed simple enough, but near impossible, given the fact that the infected were directly outside of us, desperate to climb on board.
Still, we neared the lock. Ryan shouted over for Leon to take the helm. As soon as the boat closed in on the lock Ryan leaped out the boat and ran up the small stone steps leading to the lever.
Lacey and I looked over to the infected to make sure they weren’t closing in. Nick and Paul jumped out the boats on either side, armed with the blunt objects they had found earlier. They were ready to defend the boat.
The Professor wandered out with the bottle of champagne in hand.
“How are we doing chaps?” he asked, “Are we ready to set sail?”
Lacey and I looked at one another.
“Professor, are you drunk already?” I asked bewildered.
“No, no, I’m just emptying my weapon ready for action” he replied holding up the nearly empty bottle.
We left Ryan to deal with the Professor and peered out of the boat on either side of the bank.
