The infected was an old looking man with wispy white hair. He was stick thin and had lost the lower half of his jaw and most of his throat. That was why I hadn’t heard anything behind me. Using the crowbar like a bat, I swung and caught the infected in the temple with the hooked end. It lodged into the side of his head and came out through his left eye bursting the eye like it was a squashed grape. The black brain matter and green slime ran from the eye socket. The infected didn’t fall but kept on coming and I could hear the moans of other infected as they drew closer.
Pulling on the crowbar, the old infected lurched in that direction. I pushed and the infected stumbled backwards. Running quickly around the infected and pulling at the same time, the infected lost its balance and as it fell, there was a satisfying crunch sound as the crowbar tore loose and ripped off half of its face and skull. The infected fell and I threw open the truck door. Spirit bounded up and into the passenger seat. I threw the crowbar into the footwell and climbed into the driver’s seat.
Chapter Four
Breathing hard, I started the engine and pulled slowly out of the carpark. I kept the speed down and slowly edged out of the small village. I turned the fog lamps on as I slowly picked up speed. The road slowly weaved its way into the countryside and away from the pub and Matthew.
The sun managed to burn off the fog by midday, and, as per usual, when it had, the day turned out to be one of those days with blue skies and no clouds.
I was following an old army service map and headed slowly toward Hull. I didn’t want to go all the way in to the city itself but I wanted to find somewhere on the river that had a small boat I could use to get back to where we had rescued Jane and her group.
As I drove, I wondered what I would have done with Matthew. I felt like I had a huge weight on my soul because of what had happened in the pub. We ate in the cab because I didn’t feel safe getting out of it. I turned on the radio.
“Jake calling from the bunker.” An old voice called over the speaker.
I sat there with a dumb smile on my face, listening.
“Jake calling from the bunker. Is anyone listening?”
My thumb hovered over the talk button.
“Jake calling from…..”
“Hi, Jake!” I said with my thumb pressed firmly on the plastic.
“Erm….Hello?” Came the reply.
I decided to see if he knew it was me and asked “So what’s the bunker?”
There was a silence before the reply came back “It’s a safe haven for survivors.”
I was wanting so much to laugh.
“Erm… Can I ask are you the government?” Jake’s old voiced asked.
“No. I suppose you could say I’m a sort of lone wolf at the moment.” I said.
My sides were hurting so much from trying not to laugh. I could just imagine the way Jake’s feet would have hit the floor after hearing a reply to his broadcast. Then the worst thing in the world happened.
“Is that you, Marc?” A female voice that I knew all too well came out of the speaker.
To say my balls shrivelled up was an understatement. Instantly the laughter dried up and I thought ‘Oh shit!’
“Marc, we know that it’s you. This is the only frequency that can reach that FUCKING RADIO YOU HAVE!” Amy screamed out of the speaker.
I really did try to think up something to say but all I could come out with was “Hi, Amy. How are you?”
“WHAT? WHAT TH…..” and I heard voices and furniture getting moved with force.
I was really beginning to think that even if I did survive, heading back to the bunker might actually end up being worse than trying to take down Benton.
“Marc, what the fuck are you doing?” Came a low rumbling voice from the radio.
Bloody hell. They must have had everyone hanging around the radio room just in case I ever answered.
“Hey, Chris, is anyone getting any work done?” I asked.
“Yeah, things are going well here. Why don’t you come back and have a look-see?” He said.
“To tell you the truth, I'd rather chance it out here than have to chance it with Amy at the moment.” I replied.
“Well, you did sort of fuck that up. Honestly, mate, what are you trying to prove?”
I sighed and said “I’m not trying to prove anything. are going to be a threat to us every day. So I thought I would find the fuckers and kill them.”
There was a small amount of silence before there was an answer.
“Look, mate, we can deal with that when the time comes but you have to admit that this is a bit like a suicide run. Don’t you?” Chris asked.
“Probably, but someone has to make them pay for all this.” I said, waving my arm inside the cab and gesturing to the outside world. Of course they couldn’t see me but I felt better for doing it.
“I agree, but it doesn’t have to be you, and if it does, then you don’t have to do it alone.” He said sighing.
I stared out the windscreen at the green fields over the hedge I had parked beside. They stretched out for miles and the sun was catching them every now and then cast light here and there.
“You still there, Marc?”
“Yeah, mate, still here.”
“Are you coming back?”
“No, and I’ll tell you why…” and I told them about finding out what Benton had planned and what had happened with Matthew.
“So someone has to try and end this madness and it has to be me because I was the one who let that fucking animal out of the lab.” I said, trying hold back the tears.
“Look Mar…” Chris had started to say but I turned the radio off and sat with my dog in the sunlight crying about everything that had happened.
Wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my jacket, I sniffed back the last few tears and looked outside of the cab and saw how low the sun was in the sky. I needed to find somewhere to lay up. The last place I wanted to sleep was in the cab of the truck.
I started the engine and pulled out onto the road and headed towards Hull again. Spirit jumped up out of the footwell and onto the passenger seat and watched the fields pass by. We made good time and had made it to the outskirts of Hull just as the sun was setting. The unlucky thing was there were no houses, only large industrial buildings. I drove into the parking area of a large office type building. There were a few cars scattered around it. Some appeared to have had their owners pulled forcibly from them. Blood splattered the walls of the building near the doors.
I sat looking at the doors for a while before deciding that this would have to do for the night. I opened the door and stepped out into the parking area. Pulling the crowbar out, I stood listening to the wind whipping between the buildings around me. I shivered at the sound because it reminded me of the low moans that Matthew had made when he became infected. Pulling the rucksack and rifle out, I waited for Spirit to jump out. She sat on the passenger seat and looked at me.
“Look, this is the best we can hope for. It’s getting dark and I am not wanting to head into the city.” I said to her.
She huffed and slowly climbed over on to the driver’s seat and jumped down.
“See, not so bad!” I said and watched as she stepped up to the front tire and pissed against the wheel.
I suppose that meant she wasn’t happy with our accommodations for the night.
I shrugged the rucksack on and headed for the main doors. Spirit followed behind with the nails clicking on the tarmac. The doors leading inside the building were half glass and half metal. One of the handles had dried blood smeared down it and there was a small pool of black on the step below it. I reached for the other door and pulled on the handle.
The door rattled in its frame locked and I quickly looked round over my shoulders hoping that I hadn’t alerted any of the infected. Pulling my sleeve over my hand I tried the other door and it opened. I sighed and pulled the door open enough that Spirit and I could slip through. Once inside, I looked around trying to find a way to make the doors se
cure.
I stood in a small reception area and there was large leather couches on either side of the room. In the center was a desk that had a single chair behind it. Behind the desk were two doors; one marked employees only and the other had toilet. I dropped my rucksack and went to check behind the desk.
Holding the crowbar with both hands, I crept up to the desk and looked behind. Finding nothing but a telephone and a few pens, I decided that I could probably drag one of the couches over and wedge it in front of the main doors. Spirit had climbed up on to the other couch and lay there with her head on her paws watching me huff and puff as I dragged the couch over and shoved against the doors. I might not keep anything out for long but it might give us some breathing room to escape.
My attention was now the two doors leading out of the reception area. I chose the lesser of two evils and headed for the door marked with toilet. Holding the crowbar in one hand and pushing on the door it opened into a small, single toilet and hand basin. Spirit had lifted her head to look at me and then lowered it again and closed her eyes.
“Fat lot of use you are!” I said.
Her ears flicked and lay flat. I suppose that meant for me to get fucked. I grinned and crossed the short distance to the other door the one marked employees only. This time I stood and listened for any noise coming from the other side of the door. I was really beginning to hate the quiet in this building. Pushing the door with my free hand, I swung open on a small corridor with four doors. Two of them were on my left and one on the right. The last door was directly opposite the one I had opened. I could make out dark streaks down the walls toward that door and I knew that it was the last place I wanted to go at the moment.
Chapter Five
I turned to look at Spirit and said “Are you coming or not?”
She lifted her head and yawned and then slowly jumped down from the couch with a slight humph.
“Hey, it’s not like I am putting my life on the line for your hairy arse.” I said, looking down at her.
She yawned again and licked my hand.
Smiling, I ruffled her fur and headed into the short corridor. Spirit stayed close to my leg. I stopped at the first door on the left and listened. All I could hear was the soft panting of Spirit next to my leg. I tried the door handle and pushed the door open.
Inside was a small office with a window that looked out at a brick wall. The desk had a computer and monitor and the other usual small office stuff. The chair back was facing the door and I was instantly wary because all the horror films I had ever seen there had been either a killer sitting in the chair waiting to pounce or a dead body. I edged along the side of the desk. Using my foot, I pushed the chair and I turned round. The chair was empty and I let go the breath that I had been holding.
Turning back to the doorway, I saw Spirit sitting there with and expression on her doggy face that said ‘Dumbass’
“Look, you keep going on like that and you’ll get nothing to eat tonight.” I said, walking back out of the small office.
She let out a small woof and turned her back on me and headed to the next door and sat down waiting for me.
Again, I pushed at the door but this time it didn’t move. Trying the handle I could tell that someone had locked this door. Heading to the last door on the left I heard a clatter. I turned to look at Spirit and then at the door we had just walked away from. I didn’t like this and I don’t think that Spirit liked it either because her tail was down.
Crouching down, I slid along the wall and into the corner so I was facing the door and the rest of the hallway. I must have crouched in that shadowy corner for about ten minutes and nothing came out of the room or down the hallway. Spirit sat beside me and watched the door and her head never moved the whole time.
When it became clear that nothing was going to happen, I decided that I wasn’t really in a hurry to check out the rest of the building and I could secure the reception in the same way that I had secured the front doors, by pushing something in front of the door. With Spirit in tow, I headed back into the reception and then went about shoving the desk and then the other couch in front of the door leading to the hallway.
Grabbing the seat cushions off the couches, I spread them out on the floor so that I had something to sleep on and not the cold floor. Opening two MRE packs, I fed a beef stroganoff to Spirit and I had a vegetable mush that was some sort of soup.
With my sleeping bag laid over the cushions, I climbed inside and tried to fall asleep. Spirit lay her head on my chest and curled her body in close and I was glad for her warmth.
The nights had started to get colder and the days had that sharpness that comes with the change from summer to autumn. Especially here in the North East of England. What I wouldn’t have given to have been somewhere with a bit more warmth when all this had started. But saying that if I had been elsewhere, would this have happened at all?
Then I remembered that this was what Benton had wanted to happen in the first place. Maybe not exactly, but the outcome had to be the same. A low rumble from Spirit pulled me from my thoughts and I opened my eyes. The daft mutt was fucking snoring! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. A dog that snored, now that was something that I had never heard of happening before. I shook my head and closed my eyes and this time I wasn’t disturbed by any thoughts and fell asleep with Spirit snoring on my chest.
Morning came and I woke to Spirit thoroughly cleaning my face with her large rough tongue. Pushing her head away, I wiped the dog drool off my face with arm of my jacket.
“Ok, Ok!” I said, pushing her away as she tried to close in for another lick.
Climbing out of the sleeping bag I stretched and then rubbed my face and noticed that my cheeks and chin had grown quite a bit of stubble. Looking around the reception it looked as though nothing had been moved or touched.
Pulling on the rest of my gear I knocked over my rucksack and the radio fell out onto the floor. Looking at it, I tried not to think of Amy and the others. I mean the whole point of me doing this was to try and keep them safe. The last thing I wanted to do was give up and return with my tail between my legs and have the company come and wipe us all out one day. Picking the radio up off the floor, I shoved it to the bottom of the rucksack and hoped that with it being at the bottom I might forget about it.
Pulling out a couple of breakfast bars and two bottles of water, I ate one bar and gave the other to Spirit. Looking around, I saw an empty fruit bowl on a side table, emptying one of the bottles of water into it. I set it down in front of Spirit who, with that large tongue, lapped it up.
Sitting on the edge of the couch that was against the front doors I drank my bottle of water and watched as Spirit finished hers and lay down on the floor. Looking over my shoulder, I could see outside through the safety glass. Where yesterday had started with a really deep thick fog, today had started with a bright blue sky and high wispy clouds, nothing seemed out of place and outside that I could see. I sat up and let my legs dangle off the couch. Grabbing my boots, I started to pull them on when I noticed that Spirit wasn’t anywhere in sight.
“Spirit, here girl.” I called out.
I waited a few seconds and shouted for her again. Standing up, I stamped my boots and looked round. I could hear a low growling coming from behind the reception desk.
I walked over to the desk and said “Spirit! You ok girl?” looking over the desk and seeing her looking at the door to the corridor with her tail between her legs and her ears plastered to her head. She turned her head and quickly looked at me before turning back to the door and continued her growling at the door. I was puzzled because we had been through that door last night and there had been nothing out of the ordinary through there that we had been able to see.
I leaned over to give Spirit’s fur a rub, her head quickly turned and she snapped at my hand.
“Whoa! What the fuck has got your fur in a twist?” I asked, quickly pulling my hand away.
She turned back to the door and resume
d her growling at the door. I walked over to the door and she let out a single sharp bark. I turned to look at her and she resumed her growling. She must have sensed something on the other side of the door. There were two choices; I could investigate and hope that there wasn’t anything there, or I could pack my gear and head out to the truck and get away.
Let’s just say that my intelligence must have taken a beating since the infected came on the scene. I walked over to the door and started to push the couch out of the way when Spirit ran across the room and started to pull on my pant leg with her mouth. This time I did what she wanted and back away from the door. Turning my back to the door, I started back to my rucksack when I heard a thud and turned to see the door pushing against the couch. Running to where I slept, I grabbed my stuff and shoved it into the rucksack. The sleeping bag I just rolled up into a bag and fastened it to the rucksack.
Spirit was near the front door whining to be out and the couch was still against the door. Dropping the rucksack near the couch, I shoved hard against the couch, feeling the muscles in my legs and arms straining against the heavy couch. The feet of the couch scrapped against the carpet pulling it into furrows. There was another thud against the door behind me and I shoved harder.
There was just enough room for me to get through when I heard a loud bang from behind me. I turned to look and saw the couch that had been in front of the other door on its side. Grabbing the rucksack, I pushed the door open and clambered past with Spirit weaving through my legs. I was lucky the stupid dog didn’t trip me up. Just as I squeezed through, I risked a look back and saw a large hand gripping the edge of the door and a loud grunting sound. The hand looked to be at least twice the size of mine. I decided that I really didn’t want to find out what the body on the end of that arm looked like. I ran into the car park and stopped dead.
Suicide Run (The Infected Book 5) Page 3
