Dead End

by Monroe, Kady

Jenny shuddered each time they viewed a motor that showed signs of violence. There were many of them. In amongst it all, the deceased walked aimlessly until they heard the two vehicles approaching. Matt tried to avoid them, but occasionally, one would come too close and get whacked by the van.

  Matt followed the signposts for M1 North. Within a few minutes, they were driving along the Motorways on-ramp. It too had its share of obstructions. Jenny noticed a motorbike lying on its side near the middle of the lane. A skid mark showed the path the rider had travelled when he ran into trouble. The point at which he had been dragged along with his fallen bike was clearly marked with a lengthy bronze stain. However, only the bike remained now. Its owner was gone. Just as they were leaving it behind, the heavens opened and rain lashed down. Mother nature is cleaning up the mess, Jenny thought sadly.

  The motorway wasn’t as bad as she expected. There weren’t as many wrecks as she thought there would be, and zombies were few and far between. For half an hour they made good progress and everyone in the van relaxed, settling in for the journey.

  That little respite got cut short when they saw they were approaching a large group of zombies, divided over both carriageways. Something definitely had the dead’s attention as some of them didn’t react to the sound of the van. Instead, they were moaning loudly and shuffling in the other direction.

  Matt didn’t slow down. He ploughed into any he couldn’t avoid, sending them rolling like skittles. Not far up ahead, Jenny noticed a man on the other side of the crash barrier. He was struggling to run. The abler of the dead weren’t far behind him. Jenny could see the survivor was running out of steam, each step appeared to be a heavy burden for him. She looked towards Matt but before she could say anything, he said,

  “Yes. I got it. Get in the back and open the door. Grab the overhead handle and hang on while I brake.”

  She hurried to the door and got a tight grip on the safety handle bolted to the van’s metalwork, then hauled the sliding door open. The rain and wind assaulted her immediately.

  Squinting her eyes and peering out, she could see they were coming up to the man. Now they were closer, she got the impression he was not a young person. She watched in alarm as he stumbled and fell forward, giving the zombies behind him more time to close the distance between them. He got himself up, but nearly fell over again with exhaustion. Whoever he was, he hadn’t noticed the van yet, his attention on the road in front of him. Matt pulled the van alongside the crash-barrier opposite the guy. It was only then he seemed to realise he had living company.

  Jenny jumped from the van shouting at him, “Come on, get in.”

  He stumbled towards the central reservation. Jenny rushed to the barrier and jumped over, grabbing him and slinging one of his arms around her neck. She helped the frightened man over the barrier as three of the dead shambled to the metal fence, with hands reaching out to catch their prey. Jenny dragged the man to the van. He seemed shell-shocked as Matt grabbed his sodden coat and hauled him forward. The man fell face first onto the floor, only half in the van. It was lucky his head hit the mattress or he might have suffered a broken nose. Jack was sitting close to the side door holding the broom. He was ready to hit anything that tried to enter. He dropped it and grabbed the man’s trouser leg and pulled while Jenny shoved the other leg.

  Finally, they had the newcomer boarded, swiftly followed by Jenny. She slammed the door shut just as one of the moaning zombies fell over the railing, pushed in the jostle from the others behind it. Matt hustled to the driver’s seat and started the van moving again. A thump from the tail end told them they were leaving the zombie behind.

  The new passenger was lying down, struggling for breath. Jenny had to take a minute to let her pulse settle as well.

  “Is he bitten?” Matt asked, “Check him, make sure he’s not bitten.”

  Jenny and Jack rolled the guy over. He was an older black man. She guessed his age to be around the early fifties. He tried to talk, but he hadn’t caught his breath yet and his teeth were chattering.

  “I, I… m, not...”

  “Shh” Jenny said, “I just need to check you out,”

  “B, bitten,” he managed to say.

  Jenny inspected him for wounds and found none. He was pretty dirty though and soaked through.

  “I can’t see any damage,” she declared, then added, “Let’s take this soaking coat off you.”

  “Th... Thank... you,”

  Jenny helped him to sit up. His breathing was getting easier, but he shivered uncontrollably. She undid the buttons on his muddy woollen coat and slid it off him. Jack was ready with a blanket from the bedding pile. She took it and wrapped it around the new guy. She asked,

  “Do you think you can stand up? We’ll get you in the passenger seat so you can warm up.”

  He looked her in the eyes and nodded.

  Matt slowed the van to a stop and put on the handbrake.

  “It’s clear outside, so let’s get this guy sorted,” he said.

  He moved to the back and helped manoeuvre the man to the front.

  A sudden thumping on the door made everyone jump, but then Sophie called out,

  “It’s me. Open the door.”

  Once inside she asked,

  “Who’s he? He’s not infected, is he?

  “We don’t know his name yet, and no, he’s not infected. We already checked for bites.”

  Sophie eyed the newcomer suspiciously,

  “Jack, maybe you should join me and mum in the car.”

  The man, still shaking, turned in his seat.

  “I’m C... Clive… O... Okolo.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Clive,” Jenny said. Pointing to each of the group she told him their names. She realised she didn’t know the surnames of Matt and Sophie and her mum. She added that Maggie was in the other vehicle.

  “Well?” Sophie said to Jack.

  “I’m staying here,” he told her.

  “Ok, but don’t let him bite you,” she said with another wary glance at Clive.

  “You better go,” Matt said to Sophie, “we’ve got company on the way.”

  “Ok, be careful,” she said as she jumped out the door and glided it shut. Jenny locked it behind her.

  Jack handed a towel to Jenny,

  “You’re soaked.”

  “Thanks,” she replied, taking it and undoing her ponytail. She slipped the elastic over her wrist to keep it safe while her hair dried. Then she removed her bag from over her shoulder, dropped it on the floor and took her coat off. She hung it up to dry-out along with Clive’s one, on the corner of the shelves unit. Picking up a bottle of water, she handed it over to the man.

  “Thank you,” he said. His voice was much steadier now.

  “So, where were you running from? Did you break down on the motorway?” she asked him.

  “No. Yes. No, I mean, I was on another road when the car conked out. I was there for hours, but then I needed to answer a call of nature...”

  Jenny nodded and added,

  “And the dead showed up?”

  “Yes. They were near the car and I couldn’t get back in.”

  “So what happened next?” Jack asked.

  “They didn’t see me. I thought I could lie low and wait for them to move on,” he paused, remembering,

  “but then another one came from a different direction and saw me. Once it moaned the rest were alerted, and I had to run.”

  “How did you end up on the motorway?” Jenny asked.

  “I had no idea I was so close to it,” he said, “I was running, and the next thing I knew, I was tumbling down the embankment.”

  That would explain why his clothes are so dirty, Jenny thought.

  “Were you hurt in the fall?” she asked him.

  “No, thankfully I’m well padded,” he said patting his stomach and grinning, “but thanks for asking.”

  Jenny smiled back. She decided she liked Clive and thought he looked similar to a younger version of Morgan Free
man... If Morgan Freeman was shorter and more rotund that is.

  “Did the zombies fall down as well?” Jack asked.

  “Yes, some of them did, but there were a few already on the motorway when I... ah, dropped in.”

  “No offence,” Jack said, “but that couldn’t have been long before we showed up. You don’t look like a marathon runner to me.”

  Clive laughed, “Oh, you’ve got that right. Another minute and I would have been dinner if it weren’t for you all. And I’ll say again, thank you.”

  “No problem,” Jack said with a grin.

  Matt was doing his normal stoic thing and kept his eyes on the road.

  Clive stayed in the passenger seat for a while, warming up, drying off and grateful for the food they gave him. He told them he didn’t have any supplies in the car. He was in the district on a short break and was on his way home to the Lake District when the world went pear-shaped. Clive informed them how he ran into trouble with the dead and had to veer off his planned route. The car’s GPS unit had failed, and he became lost. Then to top it all off, the car broke down in the middle of the countryside.

  It sounded to Jenny like it had been a worrying and lonely journey for him. And just as she had thought, he admitted he was so focused on trying to run, he wasn’t aware of the van until they were side-by-side with him.

  Jack took the lead in conveying the group’s story to Clive. Jenny noticed he left out the part about going to his house, and some parts he embellished, making Sophie, Matt and Jenny sound like either master criminals or superheroes. Those bits made her smile, even though she didn’t consider herself to be either of those things.

  Clive looked pleased to hear they were going North.

  “As far as Lancashire,” Matt said.

  “That’s where your home-town is?” Clive asked.

  “It’s where my dad lives,” he flatly replied.

  “Well, I appreciate that I can travel with you that far. I can find transport and continue my journey from there.”

  Matt nodded, not committing himself to travelling any further than he had planned.

  “Well,” said Clive, “Would you good people mind if I rested in the back? I haven’t slept much since all this started.”

  “No, of course not,” Jenny replied, “go ahead.”

  “Here man, you can have the mattress,” Jack said, “we have some other cushions here that I can sit on.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Uh-huh, course, it’s all yours.”

  Jack didn’t want to get in the passenger seat, so Jenny claimed it. The warm air from the heater would help her dry out.

  She hated seeing the encompassing carnage, but with nothing else to do, she stared out the window. And for a while, became lost in her own thoughts. She wondered what had happened to Ruth’s granddaughter, Zara. Had the girl made it to safety? She would have to ask Jack and Sophie if they knew her.

  Matt dragged her back to the present,

  “It suits you,” he said,

  “Huh?”

  “Your hair down. It suits you.”

  “Oh,” she replied, “Thanks.”

  Avoiding Matt’s gaze, she felt her face go red. She retrieved the band from her wrist and quickly secured her dry hair, back into a ponytail.

  Fifteen minutes later, they came to a major pile-up. The wreckage was scattered across all the carriageways. Jenny couldn’t even guess how many vehicles were involved and a lot of them had burnt out. Some were crushed under larger vehicles, others mangled from impacts, and much more were on their sides or roofs. Glass and metal had scattered haphazardly. She even saw one car that seemed to have someone else’s wheel lying halfway inside the smashed windscreen. The acrid smell of burnt rubber hung in the air.

  Distributed in the maze of twisted metal, she observed bodies. Some looked like they had died in the pile-up, while others seemed to have met their end in the same way, but had then been fed on. At least they hadn’t risen again.

  Anyone unlucky enough to have been injured and survived, were most likely attacked and turned. Her stomach flipped at the thought, more so, at the sight of some of the horrifically mutilated walking amidst the wreckage, plus those who were lurching towards the van.

  It was the same on the opposite carriageway. The motorway was impassable. They would have to turn around and go back to the last exit.

  CHAPTER 15

  Jenny wasn’t surprised how wrong it felt to be driving south on the northbound carriageway of a motorway. But she still kept expecting to see other vehicles rushing towards them. She was glad when Matt reached junction 36 and drove the wrong way up the slip road. It wasn’t until they reached the top and saw multiple signposts that Jenny realised they hadn’t made as good progress as she had thought. She guessed that was probably down to obstacles in the road and the unknown which had kept Matt’s speed down.

  Matt selected the turn-off for the A616 heading towards the town of Stocksbridge.

  “Maybe it’s just as well we’re off the motorway,” Matt said, “we would have been heading straight into some heavily populated areas.”

  Jenny noticed the signs had also included a route to Manchester from the road they had joined.

  “We’re not going anywhere near Manchester are we?” she asked.

  “No. I’m hoping we can go around it.”

  “What’s up with Manchester, apart from it’s probably full of zombies?” Jack asked.

  Matt replied, “Jenny heard a rumour about it being quarantined.”

  “When was this?”

  Matt glanced at Jenny for her to answer.

  “In the early hours of Sunday morning,” she said, “probably at least twelve hours before our outbreak started.”

  “Whoa,” Jack said, “and nobody thought to let people know.”

  “Nope,” Matt said.

  “Yeah, well, I’m with Jenny then, let’s not do Manchester.”

  “I’ll try my best,” Matt replied.

  They continued on the A616. Jenny felt relieved when she noticed the road they were on wouldn’t take them into the town of Stocksbridge. She’d seen enough for one day and didn’t want to see another town in ruins.

  The van passed a reservoir which was on their left-hand side when they saw the first flash of lightning. A few seconds later it was accompanied by a loud rumble of thunder. Outside, the rain was lashing down harder and Matt had the windscreen wipers working at maximum speed.

  Another flash of lightning lit up the foreboding sky. Matt said, looking in his wing-mirror,

  “Maggie’s flashing her headlights, she wants us to stop.”

  He complied and Jenny opened the sliding door. There was no sign of anything unusual. She watched as Maggie got out, unfolding an orange and pink umbrella. Jenny wondered where that came from as she hadn’t noticed it when she’d been in the car. The woman got herself ensconced under the fabric and ran towards the van. Another rumble of thunder shook the air as Maggie arrived. She jumped in and shook the umbrella vigorously outside.

  “What’s up?” Jack asked.

  She ignored him and directed her attention to Jenny.

  “I think it’s about time we stop for the day. Sophie and I are both hungry and tired,” she said, “and this storm is awful. It’s getting darker by the minute.”

  She looked at Matt and declared,

  “I’m not driving in the dark.”

  “Fine,” Matt replied wearily, “we’ll find somewhere to hold up for the night.”

  “Oh... Good,” she replied, surprised that she had got her way without a fight.

  “Ok then,” she said, turning to the door, but then stopped to look at the sleeping man on the mattress. She whispered loud enough for them all to hear,

  “Is he Ok?”

  “Yes,” Jenny replied, “but he’s exhausted.”

  Maggie stared at Clive’s back for a moment, then conspiratorially whispered,

  “Are you sure he’s sleeping? He’s not sick or anyt
hing is he? He could be in a coma or something... you know… turning…”

  Everyone’s gaze turned to Clive. Jack scooted back a bit. Anxious glances exchanged between the three van passengers. Of course he’s not infected Jenny thought, and said,

  “No, he’s alright, I checked him for wounds, plus we all talked to him for ages, and he’s fine.”

  She got nods of agreement from Matt and Jack.

  “Ok, it’s your funeral if he wakes up... different,” Maggie said as she resumed opening her umbrella before checking outside. Satisfied it was clear, she jumped out and ran back to the car. Shaking his head, Jack said,

  “That woman could stir trouble in Holy water.”

  As they pulled away, the road ahead was clear. But large dark puddles were continuing to grow in the downpour. Matt steered to the middle of the road to avoid them. While they drove, the van was assaulted by the lashing rain and buffeted by the strengthening wind.

  After a while, they spotted a small petrol station on the right. Its forecourt was devoid of vehicles, the interior building dim. The two petrol pumps stood like forgotten sentries beneath the station’s canopy. Another pump for diesel was situated off to the side of the building, along with a facility to add air to tyres and also a power-wash bay.

  “Might be a good chance to gather supplies,” Matt said, “We’re running low on water.”

  “And a can-opener,” Jack piped up.

  He guided the van onto the forecourt and parked between the pumps and the building. He kept the engine running and allowed enough space on either side of the vehicle for easy access in and out. Maggie had pulled in behind them. Everyone stayed where they were for over a minute, watching and listening. Jenny tried to peer into the shop, but it was so dark in there, she couldn’t tell if anyone was roaming around the aisles or cash desk.