Pet From Hell (Infected Series Book 1)

by Justin Gowland

  “That and the fact you don’t trust us.”

  “What! I didn’t say….” I started to say.

  “Whoa don’t worry about it. I would have had the same thoughts if I was in your shoes. To tell you the truth if we had wanted we could have got you up here took all your stuff and threw you over the side to those things down there. So here we are three people trying to survive, with one slim hope. I for one would like to go and find out if that place is safe and secure. Hopefully there are other survivors there but even if there are infected in there, we could clear it out room by room and then we could find other survivors and make that place a home whilst these things rot.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Everything he said did make a kind of sense and the thought of having a really secure place to live in ignited a small hope inside of me.

  “Ok we’ll see if this bunker is still secure and we can take it from there.” I said.

  Picking up my sleeping bag I rolled it out and lay down on the roof.

  A small rumble of laughter came from where Chris was lying and he said “Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

  Lying on my back looking at the stars my eyes started to close, I could still see the points of light behind my lids and then the darkness of sleep stole me away.

  Waking up to the sound of gun shots is never a good thing and I am sure I pissed myself a little. My eyes shot open and the bright daylight blinded me for a short time. Sitting up I hooded my eyes with my hand and looked round to see Jay stood with his rifle at his shoulder shooting over the side of the roof.

  “What the fuck?” I shouted above the crack of the rifle.

  He turned round and grinned at me.

  “Well good morning sunshine, nice to see you awake.”

  “Jay, what the fuck is going on mate?” I said standing up.

  “Distraction.” Was all that he said, turning to fire some rounds at the crowd of infected.

  Walking over I looked to see a large crowd of infected bashing against the fence below and from the looks of things there were more of them out there than there was yesterday. Jay had managed to put quite a few down and the pile at the foot of the fence must have been two or three feet deep. This gave the infected something to stand on.

  “What did you mean distraction?” I asked as I watched Jay switch out mags.

  “Well first off Chris went out early this morning before the sun came up to get some gear for you. He said that you needed it because of the shit stuff that you came here with. That and we needed another rifle and some more ammo plus a few other toys and those were his words not mine.” He said lifting the rifle to his shoulder and dropping two infected with two shots.

  I had to admit after looking at their gear I found mine to be somewhat rubbish. I walked over to the other side of the roof and had look over the edge and saw a large figure moving past the trees that I had hidden in the day before. It paused at the edge before making the small run to the back gate. Opening it I saw Chris carrying what looked like a couple of rucksacks and a rifle. When he turned I think he saw me but I wasn’t sure, he closed the gate and ran to the side the side door and disappeared from sight. It wasn’t long before Jay and I heard the sound of someone climbing the ladder and then saw Chris’ head pop up through the opening.

  “Marc a little hand here mate these are fucking heavy.” He said.

  Running over I grabbed the strap of a rucksack, pulled and I nearly put my back out. What the fuck did he have in these things? Pulling it out and on to the roof, I managed to get it away from the opening as Chris climbed out with the other rucksack and the rifle. You could tell he had been running for quite a while because the sweat was streaming off him and his BDU’s where soaked under his arms and on his back.

  “Well that was a bit tense.” He said.

  “What do you mean tense? Where have you been?” I asked carrying the heavy rucksack across the roof.

  “There are a fucking boat load of them out there and I was trying to keep out of their way. We first off you’re welcome, and secondly we are going to have to leave either today or at the latest tomorrow morning.”

  Jay turned round to face Chris letting his rifle hang on its sling “Why?” he asked.

  “You know the barracks on the other side of town?” Chris asked him.

  “Yeah, my mate Jimmy is stationed there.”

  “Well this infection had got them all and they were stacked ten deep behind the fence the last time I was over that way. Well the fence has failed and they are streaming out in all directions, but the majority of them are heading this way.”

  “Aww, shit.” Jay replied.

  I just looked at Chris and asked “How many?”

  “Let’s just say that fence down there isn’t going to last very long.”

  He came across and passed me the rifle and then bent to go through the rucksack I had carried across. After a short while I had two sets of BDU’s, a set of webbing, eight full magazines and a better sleeping bag with bed roll. As I got changed into a set of BDU, Chris walked to the edge of the roof and looked down at the infected.

  “Jay, check to see if the back is still clear will you.” He asked.

  “There’s only a couple of them out there that I can see.” Jay shouted.

  “Chris how about we head for my car and drive out. It has got to be faster than walking out on foot.” I said.

  “The thing about taking the car is, that it makes noise, but if we are walking then we can sneak past them. The other thing that worries me about using the car is that we could get trapped in it.”

  To be honest I hadn’t thought of that and I had only seen a few of the infected at a time, I suppose had lulled me into a sense of safety. Well that was until I got here and saw the crowds at the fence.

  “Look if it makes you feel any better I have an idea. There is a vehicle depot on the way out of the Garrison we could pick up something there.” Chris said.

  I nodded and went back to filling my new rucksack with the stuff I had brought with me and the new gear that Chris had managed to get me on his scavenging run. For the next hour we talked about what life had been like for us before the infection. We all had similar tales to tell and they didn’t differ too much except that Jay and Chris had stayed in the Army whilst I had left.

  “Ok, I think we need to get a move on lads, I think I can hear that lot from the other barracks coming.” Chris said holding up a hand to stop our conversation.

  I strained my hearing and I could just make out some quiet moans floating on the air. How the hell he had heard them I don’t know, but I stood anyway and lifted the rifle up swinging the sling over my shoulder. Chris lifted his gear and headed for the ladder leading down into the building. I followed with Jay bringing up the rear of our group. We climbed down and walked through the darkened hallways to the side door that took us outside.

  Chris stopped just before opening the door and said “Head straight for the gate and once it is open head for the tree line. Meet up about twenty meters inside it, head east for about three miles until we hit a small road, we cross that to get to the vehicle depot. Whatever you do try not to use your rifles it will only pull them our way. I’ll use one of the axe Marc brought if we need to clear one or two, but if there are any more just run. We clear?”

  I nodded, then realised it was too dark for him to see and said “Yes.”

  “Crystal.” Jay whispered.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The door slowly opened and the light blinded us for a few seconds. Then we were out running for the gate, Chris was storming ahead and had the gate opened by the time Jay and I had reached it. We ran straight through and Chris followed us leaving the gate open. I was starting to slow down. I couldn’t remember the last time that I had run with a rucksack on. My breath was coming out in gasps and my legs were burning from the exertion, but I knew I had to keep going. Jay passed me and disappeared into the tree line raising his rifle as he went in. Chris had caught up with m
e and slowed to run beside me as we hit the gloom of the trees. Off to the side I heard the snap of a twig and threw my self forward, just as a grey hand grasped at where I had just been. There was a whistle and then a sound that reminded me of when a butcher throws meat on to a slab. A body of a woman landed beside my head with the axe I had given Chris imbedded in her temple. That green liquid oozing round the wound and leaking down over her face covering it.

  A boot appeared from out of my line of sight and stood on her head. What happened next made my stomach do cartwheels. The sound of the axe being pulled from her skull was like nothing I have ever heard before, it was like the crunching sound that you get when you walk on broken ice and the slurping, sucking sound that’s made when you pull a boot out of thick mud. The blade of the axe as it was pulled free was covered in blood, grey bits of gore, the green slime and flecks of white bone.

  Rolling to look the other way a hand came into view followed by a rumbling whisper “Marc get the fuck up mate. We have company in here with us.”

  I thought ‘No shit Sherlock!’ but Chris had just saved my life and I didn’t think it was the right thing to say. I pulled on his arm as he helped me to my feet and I looked round. That’s when I noticed that Jay wasn’t there.

  “Where’s Jay?” I whispered.

  “Not too sure.” He replied.

  Out of the gloom a figure came running toward us. I started to raise my rifle when Chris put one of his large hands on it and pushed it down.

  “It’s Jay.” He said.

  Jay slowed down to a walk and then stopped just in front of Chris.

  “I went on ahead to get the lay of the land. They seem to be sticking to the edge of the tree line, so it might be an idea to move further into the trees.” He said.

  It was darker further back, did that make a difference to the infected? That was something to think about later when I had more time.

  We moved another ten or so meters into the trees and slowly moved eastward toward the vehicle depot. There were a few times that the light came through the trees and we saw the shambling figures moving along the tree line. An age seemed to pass as we made our way quietly through the trees. It was about midday when we stopped for something to eat.

  “Is it me or are they staying in the light areas?” I said.

  “I’ve been thinking about that.” Chris said “Jay and I did notice when we were on the roof that they calmed down when the sun goes down, they seemed to make less noise anyway. It might mean that they only have good enough vision to hunt during the day.”

  “Yeah, they make less of a racket on a night.” Jay chipped in.

  “Come on we’re about half way there let’s get a move on.” Chris said standing up.

  After a few hours we came to the small road that separated the trees from the fence of the vehicle depot. As far as we could see there were no infected nearby, taking our time we crossed over the road to the fence. Following the fence round we came to the gated entrance to the depot, it had been left open and I could see shadows moving between the buildings and vehicles.

  I tapped Chris on the shoulder and pointed toward the movement and he nodded his head. Jay moved inside and went to one knee with his rifle up looking for any attack. I just shook my head and went in after him and stood looking around. Chris just walked past both of us holding the axe over one shoulder and looking like he didn’t have a care in the world. He headed for nearest building and we followed as quietly as possible. The door was open and we could hear movement inside.

  “What we doing buddy?” Jay whispered.

  “The last time I needed to get a vehicle, I got the keys from the clerk in here. It sounds like there is someone or something in there so I’ll go first. I’ll try and take them out with the axe, but if we have to try and keep the shooting to a minimum.” Chris said and slid in through the doorway.

  Jay followed and I came in last and closed the door behind us, I didn’t feel like having anything coming up behind us. There was a dull light coming through the windows. The main reception was a small room divided down the middle by a counter. The other side had two desks facing the counter a door behind them and a couple of filing cabinets on either side of the door. The desk on the right was still occupied with the corpse of a woman, she was slumped over the desk and most of her insides where on the floor between her feet. I think I could hazard a guess as to what had killed her. Chris opened the hatch through to the other side and went and nudged her with the axe handle. Her head rolled round on the desk before falling to the floor, her neck had been chewed right though and you could see the white bone of her spine sticking out of her shoulders.

  I felt my stomach roll and I managed to get to a corner of the room before I threw up, splattering my boots and the wall with bile and undigested food. Jay’s face lost all of its colour and I am sure he might have puked as well, but from the other side of the door between the cabinets came a thundering of fists on the wood.

  Looking at the door Chris says “Jay get on the other side and cover me, Marc can you cover us from the other side of the counter.”

  I wipe the puke from my mouth with my sleeve, before charging my rifle and flicking the safety off my rifle I lean over the counter pointing my rifle at the door, but kept my finger of the trigger. The last thing I wanted was to accidently shoot either Chris or Jay.

  Chris put his hand on the door handle and shoved hard against what was on the other side. Chris stood back away from the door and lifted the axe up to strike at whatever came out. We didn’t have to wait too long before two of the infected lurched through the opening. Chris dodged round one of the desks leading them further into the room. Jay stepped up behind the last of them through the door and brought the stock of the rifle down on its head with a crack. It stumbled forward and crashed into the remains of the female at the desk, pushing her to the floor. Chris had done an over hand strike and nearly split his attackers head in half, green slime and blood fell to the floor with a splatter. Jay was holding a chair over his head and was bringing it down on the his targets head over and over again spraying brains and gore all over himself and the floor.

  “Jay, mate I think it’s dead.” I said.

  He looked at me and for a second I saw a hatred in his eyes that made me shrink back from him, then the look was gone. He stood up and looked over to Chris who was cleaning the axe head on the uniform of the infected he had killed. I stood up and flicked the safety back on and walked through the hatch opening. The light was starting to fade quickly and I could tell that night was quickly closing and we hadn’t even left Caterrick yet.

  “Let’s see what is in the other room.” Chris said.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I followed them into the room and saw total devastation, everything that could be smashed in the room was. We spent the next ten minutes searching through the broken furniture looking for the key to the key press in the outer room. It was dark by the time we found the key and went looking for a set of keys.

  I cleared my throat and said “I think it’s getting to late to go find a vehicle. How about we bed down in here tonight? It’s secure and we’ve already cleared it out, so we don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “That’s not a bad idea to tell the truth.” Chris said rubbing his face with one hand.

  Making sure the door was locked from the inside we set about eating cold rations and drinking water from a sink we found in the office toilet. Making sure the blinds on the windows were closed, we settled into our sleeping bags for an early night.

  “Chris you sure we don’t need to set up a guard duty or anything?” Jay asked.

  “Nah, if anything we are secure enough in here and it’s nice to sleep in doors for a change.” He replied from somewhere to my left.

  I just closed my eyes and let my mind relax, listening to Chris and Jay fall asleep. The fact that the infected didn’t seem to like darkness made me feel a little more secure than I would have given the situation we were in. I lay there
trying to sleep but every time I closed my eyes I had Jays’ face appear out of the darkness with that look of anger in his eyes. I knew that he had issues with me because of who I had worked for and how this infection had started. Yeah if I hadn’t opened that fucking door then maybe the cat wouldn’t have escaped, but that was a mistake anyone could have made. I suppose that I would have to try and make it up to them somehow. Chris seemed to have accepted me into their small team, but I had a feeling that it would take longer to sway Jay. The other thing on my mind was where we were heading, the bunker sounded good, but what was it going to be like and who was going to be there. I decided to that in the morning it might be better to have a word with Chris and find out a little more info on the bunker. With those thoughts floating through my tired brain I dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

  Waking up I found Chris shaking my shoulder. I was about to say good morning when he raised a finger to his lips and then pointed at the window. I slowly stood up and crept at a half crouch and peered through a small gap between the blinds and the window sill. I near stumbled and fell. Outside the spaces between the vehicles and buildings were packed with the infected staggering around in circles. They never stopped moving but there was so many out there it looked like they were stood still. The moan that they made set my teeth on edge. Turning round I saw Jay and Chris packing their gear away, so I walked over and started to pack, taking my time because as far as I could see we weren’t going to be going anywhere soon.

  “What we doing?” I asked.

  Jay looked up at me and said “We’re still on for getting a vehicle today. We just have to figure out a way to get those fuckers out of here.”

  “Look we need one of the A.P.Cs (Armoured Personnel Carrier) or possibly one of the armoured Land Rovers. If we stand any chance of making it to the bunker. Now the A.P.C doesn’t need any keys but uses a shit load of fuel. Whereas the Land Rover is light and doesn’t use half as much fuel.” Chris said.