“Anything like this happens again, and you’re out.”
Gordon thought Lloyd’s comment was genuine, but was still disappointed that Marvin had been given another chance.
Gordon rose to his feet and left the caravan in silence.
Chapter Twenty
Thursday 14th June
It had been a restless night for both Joan and Gordon who had slept in the same bed, and their sleep had been disturbed the more when they heard fighter jets roaring from above.
Well, it sounded like fighter jets to the pair of them. What else could it be?
Gordon was the first to leave the bed and shuffled his feet out of the bedroom. He entered the dusky area of the small hall that led to the kitchen and living room area of their small place.
He sat down and sighed, thinking that maybe this was a day to laze around and maybe get a few more hours of sleep. Nothing else needed done, he thought. Lloyd and Marvin had returned with a lot of food, enough to keep them going for at least a week, and there were plenty of liquids to keep them hydrated.
Lloyd did say that they had to abandon the supermarket trip early, because a few Runners showed up, so maybe another trip to Stanhope was on the cards. Gordon hoped not.
He had thought about he and Joan going their separate ways and leaving the three Dickinson after what she had told him, but he had changed his mind. Marvin was a cunt, but Gordon was certain he'd cover his back if ever they were in a situation where a group of Runners were attacking them.
He then thought about the things Marvin would say and do.
Why does he do it? To get a reaction? If so, why does he want to get a reaction? Is he bored?
As frightening as this situation was, there was also a lot of sitting around involved, so, yes, maybe Marvin was just bored.
He threw his head back and closed his stinging eyes. He didn't know why he got out of bed in the first place. He needed a few more hours, at least, so that he could function for the rest of the day.
He rubbed the back of his neck and yawned, but stopped suddenly in mid-yawn when he heard a thud at the side of the caravan.
“What the fuck was that?” he whispered to an empty room.
He slowly pulled the curtains back and could see Lloyd's caravan opposite. Lloyd was in the window, also peering out, so Gordon gave the man a wave as a way of saying good morning. Lloyd shook his head and pointed to his left. Gordon looked in the direction that Lloyd was pointing and gasped.
*
Lloyd Dickinson sat up and rubbed his clammy head. He had had a nightmare. In the dream he was being chased by a group of Runners, eight in all, but the eight infected were his family members, past and present. One of them was his aunt who had passed seven years ago, his uncle, his mother, a few cousins and Marvin and Junior.
He sat up and swung his legs to the side of the bed, preparing himself to get to his feet. His head was feeling heavy and knew it was down to dehydration. He decided to leave the room and grab himself a bottle of coke, not the best drink for dehydration, and headed for the kitchen cupboard where a lot of the bottled drinks were kept.
He took a bottle of coke and drank the whole thing within a minute, producing a long belch afterwards. He crept back down the hallway, towards his room, and peered in to Junior's room. He was still sound asleep.
Lloyd went back to the kitchen and tried a swig of water this time, and headed for the living room area of the caravan. He peered out of the left side of the window and sighed when he saw the state of the black jeep. It was still mobile, but another run-in with the infected whilst on the road could be the end of the line for the jeep.
He released the curtain and went over to the other side of the caravan and pulled the curtains back and looked out.
“Oh shit.”
He spotted Runners moving around the site and wondered where the fuck they came from? He heard planes above him earlier on when he was in bed. Were these things in a village and heard the planes and tried to follow the noise? Or was it something else that brought them to the camp?
Whatever it was ... they were here, and Lloyd was unsure whether waiting for them to leave or removing them by force was the best option.
He released a groan and then spotted Gordon in his window, looking out and staring outside, but it looked like he hadn't spotted the infected just yet. Gordon's eyes finally clocked Lloyd and he gave Lloyd a wave. Lloyd shook his head and pointed in the direction of the Runners. He could see the shock on Gordon's face and then the man disappeared from the window.
Chapter Twenty One
Lloyd crept back to the bedroom area and entered Marvin's room. He was sound asleep, on top of the sheets and fully-clothed. Lloyd approached with caution and gently touched Marvin’s leg and began to shake him, trying to wake him up.
Marvin's eyes opened and the first thing he said to Lloyd, once he spotted him, was, “What the fuck's happening?”
“There's a few of them out there,” Lloyd whispered. “Come and take a look, but be quiet. I don't want Junior to see this just yet. He'll freak, man.”
Marvin sat up and began to rub his face. “Can't we just have a day without any hassle?”
“Well, we did have a few days of quiet after we left Blanchland,” said Lloyd.
“Okay,” Marvin sighed. “Can't we have a week with no hassle?”
“Just come and take a look, man, before the boy wakes up.”
Marvin stood to his feet and began to follow his brother to the living room.
“Take a look,” Lloyd urged.
Marvin peered out and cussed, “For fuck's sake.” He could see eight of them.
“And they're the ones that we can see,” said Lloyd. “I don't know if there're any others scattered about.”
“What are these cunts doing here?” Marvin groaned. “We've been quiet as fuck since we got here.”
“I have no idea. There were planes earlier, so maybe they followed the noise … or something.” Lloyd was unsure.
“So, what’s the plan?”
Lloyd pondered for a few seconds before answering, “We should stay put and hope they go away. It's not as if we need to be anywhere today, and we're okay for food and stuff.”
Marvin nodded and moved away to go to the kitchen and try another window. He wanted to see roughly how many could be on the site and how many were around their caravan.
“You better tell Junior what's going on,” said Marvin. “If you don't, he'll get up and stomp around the place without a care in the world. You know what he's like.”
“I wasn't going to bother. Not yet.”
“Look, if you stop him from looking out of the window, which we all do every morning when we wake up, or stop him from going outside, he's gonna twig that something's wrong anyway.”
“You're right.” Lloyd raised his head and puffed out his lips with an anxious breath. “I'll go and wake him up now and tell him what's going on.” Lloyd headed to the room and took a quick look over his shoulder to see Marvin gazing out of the window.
“Make sure they don't see you, man,” Lloyd said softly.
Marvin sarcastically saluted his little brother.
Lloyd approached Junior's bedroom door and opened it slowly.
Junior was already dressed, apart from his shoes, and looked crestfallen.
“You okay, son?” his father asked him.
“Do you think they’ll get in?” Junior began to rub his eyes and stifled a yawn.
“Who?”
Junior sighed and nodded towards the small window in his room.
“Oh.” Lloyd lowered his head. “You saw them?”
“One of them banged off the side of the caravan, so I had a look out.”
“Look, Junior.” Lloyd sat down on the end of the bed. “It'll be fine. We just need to keep quiet until they go away.”
“And if they don't go away?”
“Why would they stay? There's nothing for them here.”
“Take a look outside, dad. They don't
seem to be in any rush to leave, do they? They could have been here for hours, since the early hours of the morning.”
Junior looked out and could see the Runners, ironically, walking around the area, unsure what to do and where to go. It was as if they were all drunk and their bearings were all to cock.
“I'm going back to sleep,” Junior announced, already bored of what he was seeing, and headed for his bed to go for another lie down.
“Keep quiet,” Lloyd hissed at his son as Junior bounced on the bed, trying to get comfy.
“Er ... of course,” was Junior's sarcastic response.
As soon as Lloyd left his son alone, Junior peered out of the window again, but there were no Runners in his vision. He glared at the opposite caravan and wondered if the room at the end was where Joan was sleeping.
What was she wearing? Did her and Gordon fuck last night?
The fourteen-year-old was getting a twinge in his groin just thinking about Joan. Not the best looking woman in the world, Junior thought. She was no Michelle Keegan or Jessica Alba, but she was the only woman around at the moment.
The youngster glared at the window, still unsure if Joan actually slept in that room, and waited for movement. Any kind of movement. He would welcome anything. A flash of her bra, a breast, or even a quick glimpse of her face to start him off so he could begin his wank.
He glared for a while and put his hands down his pants and felt his flaccid penis, sighing.
“Fuck it.”
He kept the curtains pulled back and told himself that he'd give it two more minutes and then try a lie down. His two minutes were up, and was about to release the curtain and have a lie down in the dusky room, but a figure appeared from around the corner of Gordon and Joan's caravan.
It was a Runner.
The infected human had clocked Junior straightaway and both were now involved in a staring contest.
“Oh God, “ Junior said with clenched teeth and began to cry. “Please don't attack me.”
The Runner was a big built man in his forties, and Junior knew that the infect being was capable of running through the caravan and into his room, after a few attempts, and the noise itself could attract more around the area.
The caravans weren't built to a high standard. Most were made with timber or with an aluminium frame with cladding riveted to the exterior, and had thin ply sheeting on the interior, with insulation shoved inbetween.
Junior continued to glare at the Runner, too frightened to move or call out for his dad, but he knew he had to move sometime. He couldn't stay there forever.
The staring continued and Junior gulped once more, saying under his breath, “Fuck off. Please, fuck off.”
Chapter Twenty Two
Joan's eyes opened after a few gentle shoves from Gordon. She looked up to the man who was sitting at the side of the bed and could tell by his face that something was wrong.
She groaned, “What is it?”
“You have to see this,” Gordon said softly.
“Er ... okay.” Joan sat up and began to rub her eyes. “I don’t like the sound of this.”
“You need to be quiet.”
“It's a Runner, isn't it?”
“Well, kind of.”
Joan looked puzzled. “Kind of? It either is or it isn't.”
“Well, it is,” said Gordon. “But there's more than one.”
“Shit.”
Joan got to her feet and put on her clothes that had been thrown in the corner of the bedroom the night before. Gordon urged the woman to follow him and she did; now both of them were in the living room.
They could see seven of them scattered round the site. Both Joan and Gordon shook with fear and knew if they were so much as spotted or created a noise...
They continued to peer from behind the nettings and Joan suddenly gasped, forcing Gordon to ask what was wrong.
“There's one of them there,” she said.
“Where?”
She pointed to her left and the pair of them could see that there was one infected being, standing on its own, staring at Lloyd's caravan.
“What is it looking at?” Joan asked Gordon, but he couldn't give her an answer, not right away.
He glared for a little longer and could see that the curtains in one of Lloyd's bedrooms was slightly pulled back.
“Oh shit,” Gordon said. “I don't know who it is, but one of our guys has been spotted.”
“Christ.” Joan could now see for herself. “Now what?”
“Fuck knows,” Gordon sighed. “Go and get your knife.”
“I've already got it.”
Gordon couldn't take his eyes off the lone Runner that was stationary, despite the other seven to his right, and had a bad feeling about this situation.
Joan placed her head against Gordon's and sighed. They both stood and stared at the uncomfortable scene and no words left their mouths for a few minutes. Whoever was in the window and had the curtains pulled to the side, couldn't stand there forever. Both were dreading the outcome of this.
“I wish it would just fuck off,” Joan whispered.
“Me too.”
“I wonder who's behind that curtain.”
“I'm guessing … Lloyd or Junior.”
They could see that the lone Runner suddenly twitched its neck and began to snarl.
The person behind the curtain must have had a fright on seeing this as the curtains moved a little, making both Gordon and Joan gasp. Gordon moved away from the window for a second and grabbed his hammer that was sitting on the table.
The infected being then threw its leg back and ran at the window of the caravan.
*
Junior was dying to call out to his dad. He was frightened to death and knew any kind of movement could result in the caravan being attacked.
“Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off.”
He assessed the size of the infected man and knew he stood a good chance of getting in. These caravans weren't made to withstand such trauma.
Junior Dickinson could hear Marvin and Lloyd whispering to each other in the living room and was desperate to move away. Maybe if he ever-so-slowly put the curtain back to how it was before, a centimetre every ten seconds, perhaps, he might be able to get away with it.
The Runner suddenly twitched, making Junior gasp with fright and almost letting go of the curtain, making it move a little. The youngster froze as the infected threw its leg back and then ran towards the caravan, towards him.
Chapter Twenty Three
The burly Runner threw itself at Junior's window, making the boy scream out for his dad. It bounced off of the caravan and hit the ground after an unsuccessful first attempt. It picked itself up and tried again.
By the time it ran at the window a second time, Lloyd had burst into the room, grabbed Junior and dragged him to the living room. Now the other seven infected were stirring from the commotion coming from the caravan, and all began to twitch and glare at the living room part of Lloyd's caravan. Marvin was peering out and was witnessing their change in behaviour.
“There's gonna be trouble,” he said, and pulled out his knife.
Lloyd took a quick look, then moved away from the window and handed a frightened Junior a knife. Lloyd was clasping his crowbar and was ready.
More banging came from Junior’s room. This thing wasn’t going to give up. It was going to get in … eventually.
Lloyd grabbed his son and told him that he'll take care of the Runner before the other seven came in. Before they had a chance to leave, the caravan was being attacked from three sides but the plastic windows were holding and Marvin and Lloyd knew that to get in they'd have to come through the caravan itself.
With the noise and the amount of bodies throwing themselves at the caravan, Lloyd didn't think it'd take long.
A crash was heard from Lloyd's right and he quickly twisted his neck and realised that the individual that was attacking Junior's room was through. Not only that, but it had now made a gateway for the oth
er seven to get in.
“Ready, Marvin?” Lloyd yelled, gearing himself up for the fight.
“I'm ready.” Marvin held his knife up and told Junior to get behind the pair of them.
Junior was behind his dad and uncle and could see, with the gap inbetween them, that the big Runner had now left his bedroom and was in the hallway. Junior could see its bloodshot infected eyes from where he was cowering, and the Runner growled once and then ran at his dad and his Uncle Marvin.
“I've got it,” Lloyd said.
It only took the infected thing two seconds to reach where Lloyd was standing and was given a strike to the side of its head with the crowbar. It fell to the floor, but it was alive and trying to get to its feet. Lloyd was about to smash its brains in, but Marvin bent down and stabbed the infected man in the chest, three times in the heart area.
Marvin stood up straight, the fresh blood running off the blade, and said, “One down, seven to go.”
They could hear noises coming from Junior’s bedroom and the caravan rocked a little.
“They're getting in,” Junior cried.
“Good,” said Marvin. “I'm tired of this waiting bollocks.”
Two more Runners, both males, ran out of the teenager's bedroom and headed straight to the living room and towards Marvin and Lloyd.
Lloyd lashed out and a single strike was enough to put the first one down, whilst the other ran at Marvin. Marvin grappled with the other one before ramming his blade in the side of its throat, severing the carotid artery. He pushed the Runner away as blood poured out at an alarming rate, and now the pair off them waited for the rest.
Three more turned up, two males and a female. One was behind the other, and the one in front growled and lunged for Lloyd. Lloyd brought his bar back and used it as a spear as he rammed it into the forehead of the Runner. It fell, and the one behind received the same treatment from Lloyd. The remaining one on the left, a female, lunged at Marvin, making Junior shriek in fright.
Marvin brought his foot off the floor and planted it in the infected's midriff by front-kicking the female thing. It fell over, and then Marvin fell to his knees and stuck his blade in its stomach, stabbing it multiple times until it stopped writhing around on the floor. His blade and his hands were covered in blood, but before he could wipe his hands, they could hear yells and a scuffle coming from outside, then silence.
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