by Nick Harland
I answered, ‘It’s much safer in cars but they will still try and open doors or even smash windows. We only need as many cars as it takes to transport us all. Mary, our Range Rover, will lead the way with the person who said they knew a way around the dual carriage way by the football stadium. The cars will go next and Eve and I will follow in the truck. Obviously we need to find the sturdiest cars we can and ones where the brakes aren’t completely bound on. If we run into any trouble let us deal with it and just stay in the cars. We’re headed to the big caravan sales place on the industrial estate on the other side of town. After what’s happened, we just want to get back as quickly as we can.’
We made our way to the car park and started pressing buttons on key fobs. After a while we ended up with three usable SUV’s and a Monde estate. We headed off with Eve, Mutt and I in the truck taking up the rear. Despite the losses, it was a good feeling to be part of a convoy of people we had saved, people we could help and get to know, people who could help us in return.
Shortly after we set off Eve turned to me and said, ‘For a moment back their I thought that was it.’
I put my hand on her thigh and replied, ‘Me too. It wasn’t a nice feeling but somehow I was ok with it.’
Before I could say anymore Eve replied, ‘I know, it’s weird. We live with the threat of death every day and we fight with all our strength to avoid it, but it’s not easy. I don’t want it, and I want to be with you, and Esme, but the thought of not having to fight anymore isn’t so bad. It helped that we were fighting to save so many people, it felt good, different from just scavenging.’
I knew what she meant and said, ‘Yup, it was, but we’re going to need to be scavenging a lot from now on and it will be a little while before any of the others can help. It’s strange, but apart from getting the keys for the camper van we haven’t done any house scavenging. It’s got to be easier than the rest of the stuff we’ve done. We can’t be doing stuff like this and shopping centres every day or eventually our luck’s going to run out.’
Eve replied, ‘I know. It will get easier and we’ll be together for it. It might not feel like it, but the three of us are pretty hard ass Zed killers now and we have a hard ass dog. Two or three, or even four of five Zeds in a house isn’t much of a threat anymore. Everyone has tins of food and every house will have water. No more grand plans for a bit, we can survive without drama for a while at least. More importantly though, we can have lots more nights like the other night to keep us relaxed and motivated.’
I interrupted, ‘How are we going to do that with all the people around?’
Eve giggled, ‘Exactly the same way as we did before. If it makes you more comfortable we can try and locate them in the other part of the main building. We can say it’s safer further from the door but it will only be a matter of time before people find out, and so what if they do. Maybe it will encourage them to let go and hook up themselves if they want to.’
I smiled at Eve’s irrepressible attitude towards sex and replied, ‘Who knows, maybe they will.’
Chapter Four – Deep Cover
We had promised to get back to base as quickly as we could but as we were working our way slowly through backroads to avoid the stadium Esme was on the radio, ‘Gill says there is a news agents one road away that sells lots of food as well. It can’t be anywhere near as hard to scavenge as we’ve had so far and it seems a shame to pass it by when we might not be back for a while.’
Eve smiled and I replied, ‘Ok, stop the convoy and go and check it out in Mary, if it looks ok we’ll join you.’
The convoy came to a halt and we saw Esme get out and talk to the following cars, then get back into Mary and drive around the corner. A minute later the radio hissed, ‘It looks clear outside at least, are you coming?’
I replied, ‘Ok we’re coming, wait for us.’
I turned to Eve and said, ‘You ready?’
Eve replied, ‘You know I am.’
We got out of the truck but left the doors open and the keys in the ignition. Mutt followed us as usual. We spoke to the other four cars as we walked by to let them know what was happening. We turned the corner and Mary was parked a block down the street and we could see the shop. There were no Zeds but there were ten or so houses on either side of the street between us and Mary.
We had no idea what the Zed’s plans were, apart from killing us. We had no idea what a Zed in a house would do three weeks after it had turned, especially now they were developing. Would they lie in wait endlessly for a hapless survivor, or would they eventually seek others out, but to what end? It didn’t look like all of them could talk, at least not yet, but it was obvious from the airport they could understand simple instructions.
Eve stopped when she saw I had frozen at the top of the street, ‘What is it?’
I stared down the street and tried to make light of how I was feeling, which was scared, ‘My Zombie sense is tingling. This is like some canyon in an old western with cliffs on either side, the perfect place for an ambush. Even if there are only two per house, if they all charged when we were half way down the street, that would be that.’
Eve stood beside me, ‘Now I’m tingling as well. I guess you’re right to be cautious. Why don’t we go into one house and see what happens. It wouldn’t be the worst thing to scavenge from the houses while we’re here.’
I nodded and we headed for the nearest house on the right. They were two up two down terraced houses; it wasn’t an affluent neighbourhood. Eve approached the front door and I looked through the window that had dirty nets hanging in it. Mutt stood at the ready behind us. It was shady in the street and it was hard to see inside, but I definitely saw some movement. I whispered, ‘Movement inside. I think it went into the hall.’
Eve tried the front door which was locked, then she squatted down and looked through the letter box, ‘There you are you ugly bastard, coming out to play?’
Eve almost fell backwards as a Zed crashed into the door and then we saw the handle moving. Eve got her balance and backed up next to me. We heard a key turn and the door flew open. Mutt jumped at the Zed, taking it by surprise. Then we saw and heard the door handle move next door. I glanced over my shoulder and it was same for the three houses behind us.
I shouted, ‘Run’, but Eve didn’t need telling. I shouted ‘Mutt come’, and ran after Eve. As we turned the corner I glanced behind us again and there were six Zeds chasing us and others emerging from further down the street. As I turned back I heard Mary squeal into action and I shouted to Eve, ‘Roof of the Q3.’
Eve changed course and jumped onto the bonnet and then onto the roof of the first car in the convoy, which was the Q3. It was the largest of the SUV’s and had a high roof. I followed Eve and yelled at the passenger window, ‘Stay put’ before joining Eve on the roof.
The Zeds were only a few seconds behind us and crashed into the side of the Q3 grabbing at our ankles. Eve and I started swinging and Eve dropped one quickly. I missed first time, hitting a defending arm, then one of the passengers forced open the door for a moment distracting it. As it looked down I hit it and it fell. Two others were close behind and we saw Mary come into view hitting a Zed as she did. Mutt was running around causing a distraction, biting and dodging when he needed to. As the next Zeds hit the side of the car the passengers forced open the door just as they hit, staggering them a little, and this time we both finished them quickly. I saw Mary wheel spin forwards again, a Zed on its bonnet.
Mutt had jumped the other Zed coming towards us so we jumped off the car, staying close to each other, and headed back to the street. Mary had shaken off the Zed on its bonnet and was in the process of squishing it. There were three more Zeds in the street who charged when they saw us. We prepared to meet them and I saw Esme get out of Mary and run towards us. A second before the Zeds grabbed at us she wolf whistled and two of the Zeds turned to look. Eve and I dodged the Zeds as Esme had shown us but the third one, who was slightly behind the other two, grabbed Eve
as she went past the first, spinning her around and towards it. My heart stopped to see the unexpected force make her drop Seven, but I had my own Zed to deal with.
Esme’s distraction gave me a spit second and I used it well, dropping the Zed who I had deflected past me. As I span around to help Eve Mutt crashed into the Zed Eve had deflected but ended up in my way. I watched as the Zed who still had hold of Eve pulled her forcefully towards it, its mouth ready to bite. Eve was smart though. She let herself be pulled in, then dipped her head and head-butted the Zed in the face with the cycle helmet she was wearing as she met it. Once gain I was glad of our helmet policy. The Zed reeled backwards and I held my hand up in front of my face as Esme hit it with previously unseen fury in the side of the head, spraying me in goo and almost taking the Zeds head off.
As quickly as it had started it was over. Eve stepped forwards and grabbed me and Esme in a hug whispering, ‘I’ll thank you both later.’
We released ourselves from the hug and turned to see the captain approach us with his weapon in his hand. Unable to resist any longer I nodded my head towards the strangely shaped metal in his hand and said, ‘What is that anyway?’
The captain said, ‘Part of one of the seats. We found a hacksaw. It took ages but eventually we got it free.’
Eve patted me on the bum and said, ‘There are more important matters to attend to. The houses should be empty now and we didn’t go through all that to leave the food and water in them. One of us will come with four of you into each house to double check they’re safe, then you guys can pick them clean. We need anything and everything useful, tools, weapons, supplies, clothes, everything. Fill the cars with it. Then we’ll do the same with the shop.
The next hour was thankfully quiet, but busy. The survivors emptied the houses and we emptied the shop into the back of Mary. It was a good haul. It was a shame, but poorer neighbourhoods had more cans and longer lasting packaged or processed food than richer ones. We re-filled most of the water bottles with the water that was left in the pipes and anyone that could, changed clothes and went to the toilet. It was getting dark by the time we had finished and we were all tired. We knew the rest of the rout back to base shouldn’t be too bad when we got back onto the dual carriage way. Before we split off to get back into the vehicles Bill said, ‘Andrea’s getting hot, we should hurry.’
We got back to base as quickly as we could and it was dark by the time we did. I opened the gates and we got all the vehicles inside. Everyone was too tired to unload the cars and we all went inside. Before we went inside the captain caught Eve, Esme and I, ‘I know you have things to deal with. This place is everything we could hope for and we’re all really tired. Let us sort ourselves out tonight and we’ll leave you alone. We can talk in the morning.’
As he moved off Bill said, ‘Take the vans in the second half of the building, they will be easier for me to sort out tomorrow. I’ll come with you and sort out at least a few toilets for you all.’ He winked at us before walking off.
Eve ginned at me and I felt myself blushing. Esme said, ‘He really doesn’t miss much does he. I’m glad. I don’t like secrets.’
With Bill’s help the survivors sorted themselves out and we helped Andrea to the couches and sat down. There was an awkward silence which Andrea broke, ‘I know something’s going on and I know I’m ill. I’ve had a look at my leg and the wound is going greyish in the middle. The same colour as their blood. How long do I have?’
Eve hugged her and said, ‘We don’t know, but not long. Before you even suggest it we’re not going to kill you. We don’t….’
Andrea interrupted her loudly, ‘Too bloody right you’re not going to kill me. You’re going to study me and as I develop you’re going to try and reach me. You’re going to try and find me inside whatever it is that’s going to take me over. I’m going to tell you things about me and you’re going to tell me them every day and remind me of who I am. You’re going to take samples. I think only the smart ones becomes Talkers and although I was only a lab tech I could have written any of the PhD’s I oversaw the tests for.’
‘I’ll start talking in a few weeks and you’re going to ignore the alien and talk to me, the real me, the me you know, every day. I’m going to hide myself, keep myself safe. I know it’s unlikely, but maybe we can talk again someday. I’ll have insider knowledge about them and their plans and I can tell you. Don’t think of this as losing me, think about it as sending me deep undercover. Now take me to the cage, I’m hot and there’s a noise in my head, almost like a chattering, they’re coming for me.’
Bill scooped up Andrea from the couch and tears streamed down his face as he carried her to the cage, she rested her head on his shoulder and whispered in his ear. We followed silently, holding sweaty hands. We each hugger her before she walked into the cage and sat down in the corner, we had moved the dead Zeds out but the floor was still a mess. She closed her eyes and we could see the strain on her face and the sweat pour from her as she smiled and forced out the words, ‘See..you..soon.’
When she opened her eyes they were pale. As she exhaled and looked around, she groaned. She looked at us, and the cage, before letting her head lol to her chest. She didn’t move again. I put my arm around Esme and Eve and said, ‘She’s undercover now and there is nothing more we can do. She wouldn’t want us to stand here crying, so we’re not going to. Tomorrow will be a safe day but it’s still going to be busy, let’s go to bed.’
As we walked to the back door, trying not to turn around and look at Andrea again, Esme said, ‘Can I..’
Before she finished Eve said, ‘I insist. Life is short. Tomorrow it could be any or all of us. None of us should be lonely or apart in whatever time we have left. It’s not a big bed for three, but personally I’d rather wake up cramped than alone and you shouldn’t have to if you don’t want to.’
We only snuggled before dropping off to sleep but I was woken later by Esme’s hand rubbing me between my legs. Even before I opened my eyes I could hear heavy breathing and kissing sounds. I opened my eyes to see Eve knelt over Esme, her perfect big breast dangling over Esme’s willing mouth. As I stirred, Esme removed her hand and grabbed Eve’s breast squeezing it as she moved to suck the other one. Eve turned to face me, her curvy form hazy in the dark making her even more sexy than usual, ‘Take those boxers off and bring yourself over here. You know I like something in my mouth while Esme’s kissing me. Then we can do some of the things we talked about earlier.’
There was a sucking popping noise as Esme removed herself from one of Eve’s breasts. Getting her breath she said, ‘Have you guys been talking about me, I do hope so, anyone care to share?’
Eve smiled and leaned back to kiss Esme before saying, ‘We did more than talk. While we were driving to the airport I watched Brad touch himself while he was telling me about all the thing’s he’d like to do with us. I gave him a hand when I could and I was there for him at the end.’
Esme giggled, ‘You guys are unstoppable. I want to watch too, now do as Eve said and get yourself over here.’
It turned out to be a good night after all.
Chapter Five – Skill Set
We got a little sleep between reacquainting ourselves with each other and having to get up. Bill didn’t seem uncomfortable at all when he said good morning to us as we filed out of the van, but I was glad it was only him in the communal area. By the time he’d boiled a load of water for tea and coffee some of the others began to appear and Bill helped them find camping chairs from a display platform above the accessories shop area. Within half an hour almost everyone was gathered. Lots of the survivors still looked pale and unwell and it was evident not everyone had had the chance or energy to shower.
The captain came over and crouched in front of us. He spoke softly and looked sad, ‘Helen who was bitten decided she wanted to make the final decision about her life, rather than have that choice taken away from her. We did have someone with her last night but she must have found a Stanley
knife shortly after we arrived and smuggled it into bed with her. She was gone before anyone woke up. I hope you don’t mind, but a couple of the others who knew her best are burying her out in the back and I’m afraid the van’s bed is a mess.’
Eve hugged Esme who rested her head on her shoulder. I said, ‘I’m sorry, of course you should deal with her properly. I suppose it was her choice and although it wasn’t Andrea’s, none of us really know what we’d do if it was us. Don’t worry about the van, there are loads. We’ll organise moving it to a corner so no one has to look at it.’
By the time we’d finished our tea and Bill had served everyone some baked beans, the two who had been digging the grave came back inside and gratefully accepted the last of the beans. It was speech time and Eve whispered, ‘Remember, no one needs a speech. Just be honest and say what you think, you won’t go wrong if you don’t think about it too much and follow your heart.’
I stood up and all eyes turned to me. It was one thing having Eve, Esme and Bill look to me, but it was quite another having a room full of people. I swallowed hard and went my gut. I couldn’t think about what to say because it was bugging me that I’d already forgotten the name of the woman who had just been buried. I did what Eve suggested and I said what came to my head. I looked at the two who had buried her and asked, ‘I’m sorry, what was her name again, it feels awful that I don’t know.’
One of them, a man who must have been in his early thirties, said, ‘It was Helen, her name was Helen. She had been visiting friends in Spain. She was a journalist and had almost finished her first novel.’
I took a moment and said, ‘Thank you. There is nothing I can say that makes any of this ok, so I’m not going to try. We lost three people since yesterday and until yesterday we hadn’t lost anyone. You’re all safe now though and I have no intention of losing anyone else for a while. I don’t know what the future holds and I don’t need to say that life is dangerous now. What I do need to say is that we’re together in this and that I only have one goal, and that’s to survive. We’ve made a good start but as the Zeds are getting smarter it’s getting harder. That’s why we sought you out, because we need your help as much as you need ours. We’ve survived so far but we had a very lucky start and most of that luck has run out.’
