by Monroe, Kady
Jenny breathed a sigh of relief, she couldn’t wait to get out of this estate. Another T-junction was coming up, and as the two vehicles approached it Maggie said,
“Why’s he turning right? He should have gone left to reach the road out of town,”
“I don’t know, maybe he’s got his left and right mixed up,” Jenny replied. But as they reached the turning, it became clear why Matt changed direction. They saw two crashed cars blocking the left-hand turn.
Both women took a moment to survey the damaged vehicles. Then taken by surprise, they both let out a cry when a body slammed into the driver’s side door. It was an infected man. His ghostly silver eyes glared with rage. He let out a guttural scream and raised a fist, slamming it into Maggie’s window, attempting to punch through the glass. The sound of crunching bones was horrific, but the man registered no pain.
He had cracked the window, leaving blood and skin there, and was drawing his fist back to strike again. Maggie panicked and stamped on the accelerator. The car shot forward with a squeal of tyres, racing straight towards the building facing the junction.
Jenny screamed and raised her arms to protect her head as Maggie tried to brake while turning the steering wheel right. Jenny bumped around in her seat as the car’s back end mounted the pavement. She had the sickening thought the car might tip onto its side. Instead, the rear left-side hit the wall with a screech of scraping metal. Maggie jumped on the accelerator again, chasing after the van which had started braking.
Once more, Jenny protected her head, expecting the force of impacting into the back of the vehicle in front. Matt noticed the car speeding toward him and sped the van up. Maggie eased-off the accelerator for a moment, but after a quick inspection in the rear-view mirror, she pressed down on it again. Thankfully not as hard as she had before. Jenny turned in her seat and looked out the back window. She saw the infected man chasing after them, but the car was too fast for him to catch.
A mile further down the road, Matt rolled the van to a stop in a quiet spot. Maggie parked the car, then quickly got out and threw up.
CHAPTER 11
The group stayed by the verge for a while. There was no sign of the dead or infected. But Jenny and Maggie nervously watched the road they had just travelled. When the others established that neither of the two women was hurt, they inspected the car. It had superficial damage and didn’t look so expensive anymore, but otherwise, it was okay. Matt wiped the mess off the driver’s side window.
“Are you sure you still want to drive your car?” Sophie asked her mum.
“Of course. I got a fright that’s all. It was stupid of me to panic. It won’t happen again.”
“I was scared too,” Jenny admitted, “he came out of nowhere.”
“Well, now we know the infected are still around during the day,” Sophie said.
“If that lot are still roaming about, then let’s not hang around here all day,” Jack said.
There were nods of agreement.
The discussion changed as they planned a new route out of town. They settled on a path taking them onto roads which avoided as much built-up or residential places as possible.
“I need to pee before we leave,” Sophie declared.
“I’ll go with you,” Maggie replied.
Sitting in the van’s open slide door with his feet dangling, Jack warned,
“Don’t go far and keep watch over each other,”
“We will,” Sophie shot back, as she and her mother headed for a clump of bushes a little farther up the road.
Matt watched them walking for a moment, then lit a cigarette and asked Jenny,
“Are you sure you’re Ok? You could jump in the van with us if you like.”
“Thanks,” she replied, “but I’ll go with Maggie.”
He frowned, then said,
“I’m worried she’s going to panic again and get you both hurt.”
“It wasn’t just her. I panicked too, and that didn’t help.” she paused and shrugged, “besides, like I already said, we can’t leave her to travel on her own.”
“She could get in the van with the rest of us.”
“Two vehicles are better than one. That’s what we agreed.”
“Yeah, and one vehicle smashed up, and two people dead will really do us a lot of good.”
“So suddenly you’re the best driver in the world?”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that.”
Jenny knew what he meant. She also worried about Maggie driving under stress. She sighed and let her shoulders slump.
“I know, sorry Matt, it’s just that we got distracted at the junction and we paid the price,” she said, “I don’t think either of us will forget that in a hurry.”
“I still think it’s a bad idea for her to be driving,” Matt replied, “and you can’t say for certain she won’t do it again. Are you really willing to take the risk?”
“Look, I’ll ask her when she comes back if she wants to leave the car, Ok?”
Matt narrowed his eyes,
“You don’t think she will. Do you?”
“Nope.”
“So if she takes the car, you’ll still go with her?”
“Yes.”
Matt stared at her for a few seconds, then asked,
“Have you always been this stubborn?” but before she could reply, he turned and walked back towards the van, muttering loud enough for her to hear,
“Fine. It’s your life. Do what you want.”
Jenny was about to go after him when Sophie and Maggie returned. She looked over to Matt who was now leaning against the van bonnet. He was watching her with a scowl.
Jenny kept her promise and drew Maggie to one side.
“That was quite a scare we had earlier,” she said, “how do you feel about driving now?”
“I’m Ok about it,” Maggie replied.
“You can tell me if you’re not, it’s Ok you know,” Jenny said, “We could always travel in the van.”
“If you want to go in the van, then go. I’m keeping my car.”
“Maggie, it might be safer if we all travel together.”
“And I’ve told you I’m keeping my car. It’s the last thing left from my normal life.”
“That’s not true,” Jenny said quietly, “you have Sophie, she’s more valuable than a car, and she’s worried about you.”
“Sophie, really?” she said raising her eyebrows, “She won’t even get in the car, she’s chosen you lot over me!”
Jenny was annoyed,
“So you’re driving the car to spite your daughter because she made a decision, and you didn’t come out on top?”
Before continuing, Jenny sighed and glanced at the van where the others were waiting and watching. She kept her voice firm and quiet as she said,
“Grow up Maggie. You should be grateful that you still have your family. She’s alive and unharmed. Jack’s dad isn’t, and Matt doesn’t know what’s happened to his father. Out of all of us, you’re the lucky one.”
Maggie took a step closer to Jenny,
“I am not spiteful or childish. Despite what you think, which, by the way, I don’t give a damn about, I’m keeping the car because we might need it. If something happens to that van, Sophie will still have a way to escape.”
With that, she turned and stomped back to the van, declaring,
“Isn’t it about time we got going?”
Jenny looked at Matt and shrugged. He turned away and said,
“You heard the lady. Let’s go.”
Maggie and Sophie hugged before the group returned to their vehicles.
When Jenny got back in the car, she shivered. The temperature outside was low. But even with the car heater blowing warm air, she continued to feel chilled for some time. Maggie ignored her.
Jenny watched the scenery go by, spotting the dead shambling here and there. But nowhere near as bad as it had been at Meadow Hills. She saw no sign of any infected.
The roads were surprisingly clear. Even
though the route they took, would take longer to get out of Lillington, they were making good progress. Still, the lack of any sign of normal life disturbed her. They had seen no one else driving, or faces at the windows of buildings. It was almost as if the living population had vanished overnight. What if it’s like this everywhere, she thought?
Maggie was quiet, her eyes darting between the tail end of the van and her rear-view mirror. She hadn’t spoken one word to Jenny since they got in the car. Jenny decided it was a good thing and refrained from speaking too.
They were near the edge of town when the van slowly braked and came to a stop.
“What now?” Maggie said while glancing at the immediate area. Jenny was anxiously doing the same.
Matt got out of the van and hurried to them as Maggie rolled down her window.
“There’s another unmanned road-block up ahead,” he told them, “we’re going to have to double back. See if we can find a track like last time.”
“Can’t we move it or go around?” Maggie asked.
“No. Someone’s put concrete blocks down.”
“Ok,” she replied, “lead on then.”
They watched as Matt ran to the van and did a three-point-turn. When the transit was out of the way, the women could see the grey blocks for themselves. There were three of them lined up across the width of the two lanes. Pedestrians and cyclists would get through the gaps between the concrete, but anything bigger wouldn’t. Jenny estimated that each block was probably three-feet high and just as thick. Just as Matt mentioned. Too big and heavy to move. Whoever put them there must have used a crane to place them. Untamed hedgerows lined the side of the road. Jenny got an irregular view of an old wire fence running through the growth. No one was going around that way either. She wondered how many other vehicles had got this far and found their escape route cut-off.
The group travelled half-a-mile back down the road before Matt drew to a stop. There was a track on the right, barred by an old wooden gate and a rusty padlock. Matt edged the van into the turn-off and used it to bump the gate, pushing forward gently. The padlock stayed in place, but after a bit of pressure, the hinges on the gate gave way. Matt got out of the van and picked up the gate, moving it clear of the track.
They set off again along a bumpy track. Jenny and Maggie both bounced around in their seats like laundry in a tumble-dryer. To each side of them lay weed-filled open fields.
Jenny saw a copse of large trees further ahead. Rows of hedgerows skirted a few of the fields as windbreaks, but mostly there was nothing else to see.
Matt tried his best to keep a straight course, but the dirt track had many turns and side-tracks. Jenny half expected to find themselves at another dead end, an entrance to a field, perhaps. But as luck would have it, they reached another gate blocking the way to the main road.
Jenny couldn’t see much of the barrier as the van blocked the view. She watched Matt get out. This time he carried a screwdriver. The land around them was flat and she could see no one, so she got out of the car to join him. The gate was newer than the previous version, but it was also padlocked. Matt set to work, unscrewing the hinges, starting on the bottom one.
“Need any help?” she asked as the others also exited their vehicles.
“No. I’m fine, this won’t take more than two minutes.”
Maggie joined them and asked,
“Any idea where we are?”
Jenny shook her head but Matt replied,
“I think we’re somewhere North West of Lillington. When we get on the road, I’ll look out for signposts.”
Matt made short work of the hinges. He had the second one finished in minutes and then heaved the gate to the side. Everyone returned to their vehicles. The van turned left onto the road and Matt kept his speed down. Within a minute, they saw a signpost giving information on the locations coming up on the road. Jenny recognised most of them.
About a mile further on, the van took a right turn, following a sign for the M1. Jenny wondered if they were going to the motorway, and if it would be clear. If it was, then it would certainly speed up their journey north.
“Can you smell that?” Maggie asked.
It was the first thing she had said to Jenny since the argument about the car. Jenny sniffed.
“I can smell smoke, is there something wrong with the car?”
“No, I don’t think so. It’s coming from outside.”
The acrid odour was getting stronger.
“Look,” Maggie said and pointed,
“There’s a cloud of smoke rising above the trees further down the road.”
She was right. A grey cloud was drifting lazily upwards ahead. Jenny realised they had passed a sign recently saying three miles to Harton.
“There’s a town nearby,” she told Maggie, “something could be on fire there.”
As they travelled along the grey tarmac, the smell got stronger. The smoke wafted around the vehicles as they drove and swirled in their wake. Visibility in front of them dropped as it drifted in denser flows across the road. Both vehicles reduced their speed to a crawl, unsure of what lay ahead. Jenny saw a sign-post that simply read Harton, marking the town’s boundary.
Within a minute they reached the first buildings. The breeze had blown the smoke off in another direction, giving everyone a clear line of vision. Jenny soon realised it wasn’t a town at all, but a small village. Two quaint little cottages sat on either side of the road. Each with its own quintessential English garden out front. Even in winter, Jenny could imagine how beautiful they would be in bloom, with beautiful roses, shrubs and trellised wisteria and ivy.
Jenny stopped her imaginings, when another smell assaulted her senses, one which she was familiar with. Burning flesh. As the smoke cleared, they could see further ahead into a nightmare. Most of the houses further into the village had burnt down, and were smouldering, although flames were still burning here and there. What was worse though, was the corpses wandering around. Many had been caught in the flames. Their skin seared, cracked, peeling, and blistered. Clothes had melted onto their bodies and hair had been burned off.
In front, the van sped up. Maggie pursued. Jenny glimpsed a crowd of people before the van ploughed into them. The dead went flying with sickening thumps. Maggie kept up with the van which was clearing a path through the village’s main street. Jenny worried that the amount of moaning bodies would bring both vehicles to a standstill. Then she became apprehensive of debris from the damaged buildings blocking the road. She jolted back to the present when she got jostled in her seat as the car drove over something. Glancing at Maggie, she saw the woman’s grimace and concluded they had just run-over something awful.
Within a minute they had cleared the crowd. Jenny peered over her shoulder and saw bodies on the ground. Some of which were already trying to get themselves back up again.
Then the smoke swallowed the sight.
Matt slowed the van down and they drove on for another half-mile before he drew to a stop on a lonely stretch of road. Jenny watched him exit the van and run around the front of it. Judging by the quick glance she got of his face, he was going to throw-up.
After a quick look around, Maggie and Jenny got out. The side door of the van opened too and Sophie jumped out and crossed to her mum for a hug.
“Oh my God, that was gross,” she declared, “Did you see them?”
“Yes,” Maggie replied, “Those poor people.”
“You should have heard it when they hit the van,” Jack said, leaning out of the sliding door. His face was pale. “Makes me feel like puking too.”
Matt returned from the other side of the transit, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. Avoiding making eye contact with anyone, he reached into the van and drew out a bottle of water. He took a quick drink, then spat it out again. His next mouthful was a longer gulp. When he finished, he replaced the bottle and went to inspect the front of the van.
“Is the van Ok?” Jenny asked walking over to join him, �
��I’m not sure we should stop here long, we’re not far from that village. There could be more of them wandering about out here.”
She looked anxiously at the dense undergrowth and tree thickets lining this part of the road. They obscured everything beyond them. She shivered and hugged herself.
The front of the transit was a mess. It was smeared with black, dark brown fluids, and skin. Jenny didn’t even want to think about the human detritus caught in the van’s front grill, headlights, and bumper. The number-plate was unreadable due to the muck on it too.
Jenny repeated her question,
“Is the van Ok to drive?”
“Yeah, it is at the moment, but I better clear some of this gunk off,” Matt replied, “Don’t want it clogging up air-flow or the engine.”
He left her and went into the back of the van, returning a moment later with a long screwdriver and a pair of heavy work gloves.
“This should do the job,” he said, waving the screwdriver around. While he worked, Sophie and Maggie kept watch. They were just as uneasy as Jenny.
From somewhere in the trees, came a moan which was answered by another. Jenny couldn’t determine where the sounds were coming from.
“Hurry up, Matt,” she whispered.
Before he could reply, a half-burned body stumbled out of the undergrowth near him. Matt was gagging and still trying to clear the van’s chrome grill when his arm was grabbed from behind. He yelled out in alarm and tried to pull free, dropping the screwdriver. His efforts to escape only brought the reeking zombie closer to the rest of the group. Matt wrestled his arm back and forward in an attempt to shake the thing off, but it wouldn’t let go. However, its persistently snapping teeth kept missing the mark on the arm in its grip. When its efforts proved fruitless, it lunged for Matt’s face instead.
