Infected

by Michael I. Rolfe

  “Amanda, Tom stay here!” shouted Dan then he followed Peter and Salim as they raced in the direction of the shouting, Salim got to Kevin just as the last of the water spluttered from the extinguisher, Peter and then Dan arrived just after him. The erstwhile Trish had been held at bay by the water and this only added to her rage, but now the water had stopped spraying she sprinted forward, intent on ripping Kevin apart. Peter threw his rifle into the firing position, but Dan stopped him from firing, the Infected was almost on Kevin when it was hit by two bullets and thrown to the side, crashing into shelves stacked with tinned goods, but it did not go down, it came on again but this time a single shot to the head put it down and it moved no more.

  Salim had fired all three shots and had killed Trish, but his face reflected the horror that he felt at having to do so, he turned around, looked at Dan and Peter and said, “I’ll tell the others what has happened.” then he walked slowly away. Peter asked Dan “Why did you stop me from shooting?” Dan replied “you saw Salim’s face, he feels awful about having to shoot Trish, and he might not have been able to forgive us if one of us had shot her. The amalgamation of our two groups is in the early stage and is too fragile to have one of us kill one of them, even if they are infected, it had to be Salim who did it.” Peter thought about it, then nodded.

  Kevin was starting to stand up and Dan asked him “What the hell were you two doing out here?” Kevin answered, “Trish came alone, I followed to keep an eye on her, but I was too late.” He pointed at the Infected whose head he had caved in with the fire extinguisher, “That thing got to her first!” “You, did that? I did not know you had it in you, well done!” said Dan. Kevin replied “Yes, I did kill it, but it was too late, the last thing Trish said was that she was dying for a cigarette.” “Well,” said Dan “it just goes to show you that smoking really is bad for you!”

  Peter covered Trish’s body, then after calling Amanda on the radio to let her and Tom know what had happened, the three off them joined Salim and the others in the canteen. Helen and Heather were crying and although he was trying to hide it young Lee had tears in his eyes too. Salim said to the group “Let’s get on with clearing the store and then get out of here.” Everyone nodded then Salim looked towards Dan and said, “How do you want to work this?” Dan said, “Let’s join Amanda and Tom in the compound so we are all together, then we can work out a plan.”

  For the people that had been confined within the canteen for weeks it was great to be outside in the fresh air, they blinked in the sunlight and shielded their eyes as they emerged in to the compound. Lee stared at the bodies that had been pulled to the periphery of the yard and Salim said “It’s okay. They can’t hurt you now” Dan chivvied them up, “Are we all ready to go to work so we can get out of here?” They all nodded so Dan continued “Right. Peter see if you can get those delivery trucks working and give them a good check over, make sure they have fuel etc. Amanda, you stay here and cover him. The rest of us will start stripping the store, Salim and I will cover you with the rifles while you grab what you can and start loading the lorries.” He handed Kevin a list and said, “This is a list of what we need in order of priority, you lead the way, we keep going until all the working lorries are full, or we run out of stock, let’s go!”

  Dan was keen to leave the supermarket for three reasons, one they had been away from Pamela and the others at the garage for a while now, two they had made a lot of noise while they were clearing the infected, he was sure that this would attract other Infected, in fact as he looked beyond the gates he could see them gathering, some were reaching through the gates but the gates were strong and would hold but there was no point tempting fate so Dan asked Peter to park a lorry in front of them to screen the compound as soon as he could. The third reason was that Dan wondered who else would be attracted by noise, he knew there was at least one other group out there and he did not want to meet up with them until he had amalgamated and trained the new additions to his own group. Just before he stepped back in to the store he said to Amanda “Keep on top of the road sweeper cab and have your rifle and the jet washer ready in case there are any problems. And, keep an eye on your lover boy over there!” as he pointed toward Peter.

  The Lorries were of the small type used by supermarkets to do home deliveries, it took two hours to load the three trucks that Peter had managed to start and once the road sweepers rear pod was also full it was getting dark. Dan wanted to get going, as it would be foolish to stay longer than was necessary, so he assigned people to each vehicle. Peter and Amanda with their rifles and a radio would lead in the road sweeper, the delivery Lorries would follow with Kevin driving the first with Helen as his passenger, Tom would be in lorry number two on his own, while Heather would drive number three with young Lee in the passenger seat. Dan and Salim were in the 4x4 with their rifles and the other radio bringing up the rear, offering support and protection to the other vehicles, but first they would have to break out of the compound.

  The noise from beyond the gates had steadily become louder and when Peter moved the lorry that was screening the compound from the outside it revealed hundreds of Infected packed against the gates, they could not get in, but Dan’s group were seemingly trapped.

  While the others sat in the vehicles ready to depart, Dan, Peter and Salim had a quick meeting to plan the breakout. “We need to get moving as soon as we can, the longer we stay here the more Infected will turn up.” said Dan, Peter and Salim nodded their agreement. Dan said “Right, Peter you and Amanda clear the area round the gate with the water jet, as soon as its clear enough, Salim you open the gate, then jump in the 4x4 and we will ram our way through.

  Dan went to each vehicle in turn to give the occupants their instructions “Keep the doors locked and windows fully closed, keep close to the lorry in front while we are breaking out of the compound, but once we are on the open road leave a 15 metre gap, we will be traveling at around 25MPH. If someone… or something, gets in your way don’t stop, you drive through it! If you have a problem, have to stop or become separated, don’t get out of the vehicle, stay where you are, we will find you.”

  Dan made sure that all the engines were running then gave Peter the signal to clear the Infected from the gate, and as the water was plied towards them, they recoiled away from it, and the gate. As Salim was going to open the gate and would be the one that was exposed once it was open, Dan let him decide when enough of the infected had been cleared. Salim did not wait long, he was conscious that they may well need the diminishing water supply at some stage on the journey, so he unlocked and pulled the gate open, relying on Peter to keep the Infected away. As soon as the gate was open he turned to sprint towards Dan, but the 4x4 materialised at his side, colliding with and neutralising a more persistent Infected that was intent on getting up close and personal with him. Salim jumped into the car, slammed and locked the door, and was thrown back in his seat as Dan accelerated into the throng of perverted humanity that was now surging forward. The 4x4 smashed into their ranks to clear a route, Amanda was driving the road sweeper while Peter stationed himself on the roof with rifle and water jet spray ready to bring them bear if the need arose and she lost no time in following Dan through the gate, and the rest of the Lorries following in quick succession as the Infected swept towards them.

  Along with other social skills, the Infected had forgotten the “green cross code”, had no concept of fear as far a road traffic was concerned, having only one objective, to attack the occupants of the vehicles that were now speeding towards them. Bodies were flying from the 4x4 bull-bars as Dan drove into them, other were crushed under the wheels of the following lorries and they screamed out in pain, like mad dogs injured in a fight, but still more surged back in from the wake of the preceding vehicle to meet a bloody end under the wheels of the next. An Infected hit by the first lorry fell to the floor into the path the next, it’s head disintegrating in a crimson explosion, teeth scattered in all directions like white mice fleeing from a cat.r />
  One ran in front of Heather and Lee’s lorry, she stamped down on the accelerator and rammed into them, hurling them away like rag dolls in a tornado, others were run down and ripped limb from limb as they were crushed between the underside of the heavily laden truck and the tarmac surface of the road, emerging like raw meat at the rear of the speeding lorry. Another ran headlong into the front of Heather’s truck, they saw the skull crushed before the body was whipped away, leaving cracks in the windscreen, not unlike a blood smeared spiders web. Heather heard Lee shouting out over the roar of the engine, the howling of the Infected and the continuous sound of the impacts “It’s like playing Grand Theft Auto!” She looked at him, blankly “You know, the video game.” he said “Oh?” said Heather, none the wiser.

  As the convoy crossed the car park and clear of the compound, the mass of Infected thinned out and speed of the vehicles increased. Dan signalled Amanda to head to the exit and on to the open road while he swept the 4x4 in a wide arc, colliding with a few wayward Infected, then, as he used the windscreen wipers to clear away their blood he said, “I just love doing the weekly shop!” and followed Heather and Lee in the last lorry through the exit.

  Because of the danger and excitement of the breakout, Amanda’s system was full of adrenalin, and she was driving too fast, well above the 25mph stipulated by Dan. The speed he stipulated was slow for several reasons, he did not want to risk anyone having an accident, he knew how hard it was to keep a convoy together and he did not want the lead vehicle to run headlong into trouble at speed. The radio crackled into life and Amanda and Peter got the message, “Slow down!” A more sedate pace was established and after a few minutes everyone in the convoy started to relax.

  As they were travelling along, the new additions to the group saw for the first time the devastation that had been wrought on the wider world by the outbreak of the infection. They stared wide eyed at overturned and burnt out cars, mutilated bodies decaying by the sides of the road, each new horror they witnessed brought gasps of disbelief. They saw a scorched field and a massive elongated scar caused by the wreck of a commercial airliner that had tried unsuccessfully to make an emergency landing, the hold had been ripped out on the initial impact and the passenger’s luggage formed a breadcrumb trail leading to the final resting place of the massive aircraft. And everywhere there were the Infected, who, on seeing the convoy initiated their frenzied attacks, repeated time and again as they progressed along the road. “Keep your speed steady.” cautioned Dan over the radio as he noticed the speed creeping up again. The further they went from the superstore and into the countryside, the less they encountered the Infected.

  It was fully dark when Dan called ahead to Peter and Amanda and asked them to pull over and stop the convoy. Once they were all stopped he told them to wait whilst he and Salim drove back the way they had come to make sure they were not being followed. Satisfied that they were alone, Dan drove back to the head of the convoy, parked, then walked along the line of vehicles. He checked that all was well, told each of the crews that they were only half an hour away from the garage, and that from this point on they would be driving with the headlights off and at a slow speed so as not to draw attention to themselves.

  Frank was on guard on top of the garage roof when he heard the vehicles approaching, calling down into the building to warn everyone that something was happening. They all waited with nervous anticipation, hoping that it was not a hostile group, and were relieved when the road sweeper pulled up on to the forecourt, then Amanda and Peter jumped out.

  Everyone was happy to see each other, and there were excited conversations outside on the forecourt, Dan strode up and encouraged everyone into the garage and closed the doors. Introductions were made, the party from the supermarket were relieved to see that what they had been told was true, and that they were now part of an enlarged and friendly group. Then the hum of speculation and conversation was brought to an abrupt end by loud banging on the roller shutter doors and someone shouting in a weaken voice “Please help me!” …

  The Search for Stone Cold

  Major Alan Brown with his Patrols Platoon and two helicopters had been searching for Stone Cold for a week but to no avail. However, the time had not been wasted as they had found ten more survivors in three small groups. When found they were all in a bad way, and very relieved to be rescued, and sent to the haven of Porton Down.

  Not everyone was pleased to see Major Brown’s troops, one group of well-armed individuals operating from pick-up trucks parked in a remote farm yard fired on one of the helicopters as they approached to offer help. The chopper did not return fire, their orders were to offer aid if required, they were not forcing anyone to join them. However, their target, Stone Cold, may had been with them so while the second helicopter gave top cover, the first dropped off Major Brown and eight Paratroopers to investigate. Realising that they were out gunned, the hostile group reluctantly submitted to questioning. The group was made up of five men, there were no women amongst them which the Major found a little odd. He recognised these men for what they were, and what they were, was a bunch of cut throats. The leader, a large brute of a man, calling himself “John Smith”, a name the Major thought unlikely to be genuine but as he had no way of verifying the identity of anyone, he let it pass. Significantly, what he was sure about was that Stone Cold was not amongst them.

  “Mr. Smith” said that his group were living on the road and scavenging for what they needed, again the Major doubted this was true, but the situation was tense and interrogating these armed and dangerous men was not part of his mission. He did not like leaving this aggressive group to roam free, with weapons and equipment which had obviously been taken from the bodies of dead soldiers. As they were not willing to take up the offer of sanctuary, and any attempt to forcibly disarm them could result in a fire fight, he would leave them to their own devices, there was no point in risking the lives of his men on an action that that he was not even sure he had the authority to enforce. He was sure that sooner or later he, his men, or another group of survivors would come into conflict with this bunch. Before he withdrew he asked the uncooperative “Mr. Smith” if he had seen a man matching Stone Colds description and mentioned where he was last seen. For just the briefest second there was a hard look that came over Smiths face, a look of recognition and hatred, but then the expression was quickly masked to be replaced by a false look of sincerity along with the reply “No, we have not seen anyone else, but if we do see the man you are looking for would you like me to give him a message?” “No thank you.” the Major replied, before signalling to his men to withdraw.

  John Smith watched the helicopters disappearing in the distance and as the sound of their engines faded he spat on the ground and said “Prick!” His mind then turned to the recent past and his altercation with the man that the army were looking for, a clash that Smith was very lucky to have survived! On the day of the outbreak, John Smith, ironically this was his real name, had been locked in the back of a prison transport with five other men on route to serve a long jail term, when the vehicle had crashed for no apparent reason. Smith and the five others had been trapped in the back of the transport for hours before they finally managed to break out. Once they were out of the transport they found blood all over the drivers cab and the guards were missing. The five escapees now made natural bedfellows, like recognising like, they joined together and holed up in a house on the edge of a village and soon discovered that the world had gone to shit. After a week or so, and realising that in was very unlikely that the authorities would be looking for them, and probably, would never be able to do so, Smith and another convict called Bill Monday had gained enough confidence to venture out to look for food. It was not long before the pair encountered the Infected, Smith only managing to get away by pushing Bill, his erstwhile friend, into the clutches of the frenzied mob then running like hell. Smith’s luck held, and he found a house to hide in, things were looking even better when he realised that the hou
se was occupied by a good-looking woman, a woman that he intended to have his way with whether she liked it or not. He remembered that the bitch expressed her displeasure at the intrusion and his unwarranted advance by laying him out cold with a bat. When he came around he was hogtied and face to face with a man with dead eyes, the same man that Smith now believed that the Army was looking for. Smith’s humiliation and anger was acute as he remembered the way the man with cold dead eyes, had used him as a decoy to draw the Infected away in order that he and that frigid bitch could make their getaway. He recalled the terror he felt as he ran with hands still bound behind his back and the relief when he made it back to the hideout to be cut free by his fellow convicts. Smith recalled the story he had told the others, blaming Bills Monday’s death on the man with the dead eyes, and how he had persuaded them to seek revenge on him, should they ever come across him. So now the Army were looking for the same man, Smith did not know why they were wanting him but fervently hoped they wanted him dead, because Mr. John Smith certainly did!

  John Smith was a tall heavy built man sporting a nose that had been broken in the past, the nose was a result of someone taking offence to the way Mr. Smith was throwing his not inconsiderable weight around, this was a confrontation that Smith had lost so he had chosen to forget it. He preferred to think of himself as a skull fracturing, eye blacking, nose punching, rib cracking, arm twisting, knee capping and leg braking hard man of the underworld and indeed this was not far from the truth. But Mr. John Smith relied on his size and bulk to subdue his victims rather that any skill or natural fighting ability. Smith had emerged as the group’s leader not because of any innate leadership ability, but because of his sheer size and his standing within the criminal fraternity.