Infected

by Michael I. Rolfe

  He woke with a headache and tried to go back to sleep but sensed a presence hovering over him, he opened one of his eyes blinked away the sleep and swivelled it towards the presence, it was Polly, who was stood beside him and staring. “What can I do for you young lady?” asked Dan gruffly, “Grandma says that I am to fetch you for breakfast.” said the young girl in a matter of fact way. “Thank you, please tell your Grandma that I shall be there directly.” replied Dan quietly. Polly was still staring down at Dan as she shouted at the top of her voice “Grandma, Uncle Daniel says that he will be there directly!” Dan winced as her high-pitched voice pierced through his skull and stabbed at his brain. The Infected that had settled down overnight when there were no further sounds coming from inside the garage started to clamour and bang against the roller shutter, Dan reclosed his eye, massaged his temples and said out loud again “Some days you just can’t win!”

  An “All Day Breakfast” from cans was served by June and Polly whilst analgesic administered by Pamela ensured that Dan was ready to face the new day, and the task of clearing the Infected from the area around the building.

  They had planned what there were going to do down to the last detail, then they had rehearsed until everyone knew their own task and everyone else’s, so now they were as ready as they could be! They were all standing by in their allotted places and were ready to go. Pamela was stood with a rifle covering the roller shutters at the front of the garage whilst Frank stood by waiting to open them. The 4x4 was facing the exit ready to go with Amanda at the wheel, Peter was in the passenger seat and Kevin in the back. Dan and Salim were waiting just inside the rear door of the garage whilst the rest of the group were on the roof, but they were keeping low and out of sight. Dan gave Pamela a signal and she shouted up the stairs “Okay, start!” The group on the roof were all at the back of the building, they stood up together and called out to the Infected at the rear of the building attracting their attention, once they had it they move along the edge of the low wall that was around the edge of the flat roof and made their way as a group toward the front of the building, the Infected followed leaving the rear of the building clear, Tom kept low and made his way back to the rear to double check that it was still clear then ran downstairs and shouted “Rear is clear go, go, go!” Dan and Salim slipped out of the door and Tom secured it behind them. Dan had his SA80 rifle slung over his back and his sword was at the ready, while Salim carried his own rifle and a radio he also had Dan’s L115A3 sniper rifle slung on his back. They quietly moved away from the building over the fields in a wide arc and then moved back closer to the road half a mile away from the garage. “Keep looking behind.” said Dan when they had the garage in sight. Salim gave Dan the sniper rifle, then turned to face the opposite direction to make sure they were not surprised by anything from the rear. From their position, Dan would have a clear field of fire across the front of the garage, he put his sword on its sling on his back and laid his SA80 assault rifle on the ground to his right then took up a firing position with the L115A3 sniper rifle and fed an 8.59mm round into the breech. Dan took a few breaths to steady himself then quietly said “Ready.”

  The previous evening Dan had guessed there were about thirty Infected outside the garage, but those thirty had attracted others overnight and the number now gathered outside the building had multiplied to more than fifty. This confirmed to Dan that what they were about to do was vital, the Infected had to be cleared and cleared now or there would just be too many to deal with!

  Salim spoke in to the radio “We are ready!” Everyone in the garage had taken cover in case a stray bullet entered the building, so there was a brief pause before Pam’s voice came back over the radio “We are good to go, tell Dan to fire when ready.” Salim took up his rifle ready to fire at anything that came at them from the rear “They are ready.” He whispered. “I’m ready, they are ready, but are you ready?” asked Dan “No, but fire anyway.” replied Salim, then jumped at the report of the rifle.

  One, counted Dan as the head of an Infected head disintegrated in a red mist, 2, 3, 4 and he kept firing and counting. At first there was no movement from the Infected as they crowded around the garage, they were still intent on getting to their quarry behind the walls, their frustration was palpable as they were driven to attack, but the walls were impenetrable to them and their frustration was mounting. They were working themselves into a frenzy, the fact that some of their number were dropping to the ground with half their heads blown away did not register, they did however hear the loud bang that followed just after one of their number fell.

  A few of the Infected, those furthest away from the garage walls, were attracted by the sound and walked uncertainly towards it, unsure of what it was but some instinct was telling them to investigate. They made easy targets and dropped to the ground before they had walked more than twenty paces, “15 down.” noted Dan. The Infected nearest to the building were not so easily distracted from their goal of getting at the occupants of the garage and this was a problem because Dan could note shoot directly at them for fear of hitting the vehicles parked outside one of which was a large tanker filled with volatile fuel, the only other shot available was to move his location and then shoot directly at the garage but Dan knew that the rounds could easily pass through the walls of the building and hit someone inside so that was not an option. “Looks like we will have to get their attention like this.” Said Dan as he stepped from his concealed position and walked into the centre of the road, then shouted at the Infected, this had the desired effect but caused Salim more than a little disquiet.

  As one, the remaining Infected spun around, and seeing a human instantly sprinted in its direction. Dan fired into them as they came on but whereas before the targets had been still and he was getting a hit rate of one round one kill, now not every shot was striking home and the Infected were rushing towards him, but still he fired taking down the ones he could. The distance was narrowing and when the first of the Infected were 300 metres away Dan looked beyond them, the last of the Infected had left the garage and all were now running towards him, “Time to run.” said Dan in a matter of fact way. He ran to the nearest tree and hung the sniper rifle from a branch then picked up his assault rifle and fired off a 30-round magazine in short, controlled bursts at the leading infected, reloaded, then he and Salim ran as fast as they could along the road and away from the enraged mob.

  The word came from the roof that the forecourt was clear, Amanda started the 4x4s engine and once it was running smoothly Frank pulled hard on the roller shutter chain, as soon as the shutter was fully open the 4x4 shot out of the garage and Frank quickly re-secured the entrance. Amanda drove to the road sweeper and stopped just long enough for Kevin and Peter to climb out, she then locked the doors and drove fast after Dan and Salim.

  Amanda’s task was simple. Reach Dan and Salim before the Infected could catch and rip the two men apart, she drove as Dan had instructed, and she remembered his words as she drove “Drive fast, but under control, avoided hitting the Infected if you can but do not hesitate to run them over if you have to!” she drove fast, easily out pacing the Infected. Some heard the 4x4s racing engine and turned to attack, but she held her nerve and sent them flying from the bull bars. At first the Infected were spread out and it was easy to get by without hitting too many, but she was soon in amongst the main pack running along the road and her resolve started to wane when they turned to attack, throwing themselves at her vehicle without any fear. Initially she was going at a speed sufficient to barge through them but the 4x4 was slowing down as the number of impacts increased, then a body went under the vehicle and she was thrown about in her seat so that her foot came off the throttle and the car immediately slowed down. She started to panic when the first of the Infected managed to climb onto, and then stay on top of the vehicle, peering in at her. The Infected was male, with a face contorted with rage as it tried to rip the grill that covered the windscreen away. Amanda refused to be dominated by it, so she d
irected a torrent of abuse in its direction and Amanda being Amanda this tirade made her feel so much better. She looked into its eyes, trying to use her own force of will to get it to move, it was as she was looking directly in to its eyes that a sense familiarity struck her. She had seen these eyes before, but she could not quite place where. She shook her head, now was not the time to try and place where and when she had seen those eyes, she was now fighting for her life, more of the Infected were getting on top of the 4x4 as its speed diminished and she knew now that she was in real trouble.

  Peter then jumped out of the 4x4, slammed his own door and shouted to Amanda “Lock the doors!” he stayed just long enough to make sure she did before he turned and climbed up on to the roof of the road sweeper. Kevin clambered up into the cab of the sweeper and reached out for the steering wheel, then paused in confusion, it was missing. Peter hammered on the roof “Let’s go!” he shouted, Kevin was about to say, “But there is no steering wheel!” when out of the corner of his eye he saw a wheel and all the other controls required to operate the lorry. Realising that the vehicle was left hand drive he shuffled his bulk across the seats until he was behind the wheel and started the engine, selected forward gear and shot off in pursuit of the 4x4.

  The 4x4 had overtaken the slower Infected even before the road sweeper started to roll, and even once Kevin got the sweeper moving the 4x4 was still pulling away. Peter wanted to bang on the roof again and shout to Kevin to get a move on, but he knew that it would serve no purpose other than to stress Kevin out, so Peter exercised great will power and restrained himself. From his position atop of the cab, Peter could see Amanda drive into the centre of the pack of Infected and he was worried for her but for a few seconds he looked beyond the 4x4 and the main pack of Infected and he could see that the leading group of hunters were gaining on Dan and Salim, “Shit!” he said out loud, then he refocused his attention on Amanda’s 4x4 “Oh shit!” he said again, her car had stopped and the Infected were crawling all over it!

  The road sweeper was now only a few seconds from where Amanda had stopped but the car could not be seen, it was buried under a scrum of Infected, Peter shouted for Kevin to stop but he did not even slow down, driving straight into the mass of Infected at 40mph and with hardly a check in its speed. Peter had the pressure washer ready and sprayed the seething mass of Infected as he went by, the effect was like pouring salt on a slug as the Infected just seemed to dissolve away. Peter watched over his shoulder as the 4x4 was left behind, and he banged down on the roof of the cab with his foot and was shouting “Stop. Stop, go back!” but the lorry accelerated away. The 4x4 moved forward, slowly, but was quickly brought to a halt and then covered once more by the clamouring mob.

  Kevin felt safe in the cab of the road sweeper and once he was behind the wheel and with the engine started his confidence soared, for the first time since the start of the outbreak he felt in control. Before his job as Supermarket Manager he had been a Heavy Goods Vehicle driver, so he felt at home in the cab of this relatively small truck, putting it in gear and pulling away smoothly in pursuit of the 4x4. From his elevated position in the cab he could see the 4x4 running into the centre of the pack of Infected, he could also see that Dan and Salim were in trouble as the Infected were catching them up. Kevin knew the 4x4 was secure, even with the Infected crawling all over it Amanda would be safe for a while, but Dan and Salim were exposed so they had to take priority. Kevin moved rapidly up through the gears and the truck accelerated towards the stricken 4x4, he did not hesitate, he drove straight into the crush. His foot stayed firmly on the accelerator and he hardly blinked as he smashed his way through the mass of ex-humanity, emerging and continuing the chase. Even over the screaming of the engine and the howling of the beasts Kevin heard and ignored Peter’s banging and requests to stop. He could understand Peter natural concern and desire to save the woman he loved, but Kevin knew that Dan and Salim’s need was greater, and he continued onwards, taking out any running creature that he could on the way.

  Dan and Salim were spent, they had been sprinting along the road for five minutes and could no longer keep up the pace, they stopped and turned to face the oncoming threat. There was one tall Infected that was way out in front of the others, it was thirty metres away and it was coming on fast. “Allow me.” wheezed Salim as he aimed at the heart of the Infected, the muzzle of the rifle was swaying wildly with every breath Salim took but he fired and hoped for the best. The shot missed but made a grove in the road in front of its target, he fired again, this time had more luck, hitting the right lower midriff and effectively preforming an appendectomy. But still the beast came on (minus its appendix which had been blown out of its back), still breathing wildly Sal fired and missed again. “I don’t want to worry you, but it’s getting rather close.” said Dan in a matter of fact way. Salim grimaced and fired three more shots one of which hit its arm but did little to slow it up. The Infected was almost on top of Salim when he fired his last shot, the round went through its throat, severed the spinal column and dropping him instantly, he slid and rolled, coming to a stop at Salim’s feet. “Good shooting, you can pick any prize from the bottom shelf.” joked Dan. Salim was trying to think of a witty replay, but the time for banter was fast running out as the remaining Infected would soon be upon them. Both men lifted their rifles ready to fire but as they did so the road sweeper hurtled into view, and they held their fire for fear of hitting the truck or it occupants. Dan casually remarked “I’m not sure how this is going to pan out with our friend Kevin at the wheel, perhaps we should run again?” but both men stood where they were and watched the show.

  The truck did not slow down, Kevin kept his foot firmly planted on the accelerator and gently swerved to and fro across the road colliding with the remaining Infected as he went. The Infected did not even see him coming, they had seen that Dan and Salim had stopped running and sensing their advantage they were moving in for the kill. The road sweeper ran in to the legs of the running Infected and they disappeared under the lorry. Peter was holding on to the safety rail and riding on the swaying cab roof like a Roman charioteer. The last of the Infected went down under the truck and the speeding vehicle shot past with Peter shouting something that was drowned out by the revving engine and lost in the wind. “The boy done good! It looks like we have finally found something that Kevin can excel at.” said Dan as they watched the truck turning around. As the truck drew closer Dan held his thumb out like a hitchhiker begging a lift. The lorry screeched to a halt, and as Dan opened the door he joked “Don’t you know how dangerous it is to pick up hitchhikers?” Peter shouted down from the roof “Stop messing about. Amanda is trapped in the 4x4 with Infected crawling all over it, we have to get to her before they do!” Recognising the tone of voice, and the urgency, they both clambered up the side of the truck and Dan banged on the metal panel work, shouting “Go, go, go!”

  The sunlight was almost blocked out by the number of Infected that were crawling over the 4x4 and noise was terrible, she could hear the roof panels buckling above her head and the sound the Infected made was insane. Amanda had kept a lid on her fear, but panic was starting to creep in now “No fucking way I am going to let you bastards make me cry!” she shouted out loud, but the tears were already flowing down her face, she wiped them away and said to herself “Stop it, you are not done yet!” The engine had stalled so she restarted it and tried to drive forward but the Infected were too tightly packed around the vehicle and the engine stalled again, she tried to reverse but with the same results, she was stuck she could not help herself and she knew that she would have to wait for help to arrive and this made her very angry, and it was the anger that help her keep it together. She started to shout at the Infected with a mixture of frustration and anger “You wait until I get out of here I’m going to kill every one of you fuckers!” she was starting to rave, and she knew it, but she did not care, it was better that crying!

  A little light crept through the top of the windscreen, then suddenl
y sunlight flooded through the windows, Amanda did not know what had happened, but she welcomed the light, then her spirits soared when she noticed water flooding over the windscreen. “Payback time!” she shouted with glee as she restarted the engine, selected first gear and drove the 4x4 forward.

  With the water keeping the Infected away from the road sweeper and the three men shooting from the roof. The remaining Infected were dropping like flies, Amanda was driving the 4x4 around in circles like a mad woman mowing down anything that moved. Dan was watching her go and said, “Remind me not to piss her off!”

  The last of the Infected was down and the 4x4 screeched to a halt next to the road sweeper, the door burst open and Amanda ran towards Peter who had already jumped to the ground to embrace her. “Cover them!” said Dan to Salim.

  “If you two young love birds have quite finished, I think we should start Phase Two of our plan.” said Dan. Salim called back to the garage on the radio and said, “We are all okay, begin Phase two.”

  The garage was situated on a straight bit of road way out in the countryside and backed on to fields, so far, all the Infected that had come into the proximity of the building had done so by taking the easiest route which was by walking along the road, not one had come via the fields. With this in mind, and now that the Infected around the garage had been culled, the group of survivors decided to extend the perimeter by establishing roadblocks one hundred metres in each direction, this was only made possible by the fact that they now had the people to man the new positions. Most of the Infected had come from the direction of the more heavily populated area that were to the east, so this roadblock was the first to be established and had the radio to remain in contact with the main group in the garage. The second position to the west was set up next and they kept in contact with the garage by a system of string, a bell, and a simple code. Once the newly extended perimeter was secured, Dan retrieved the sniper rifle from where it was hanging in the tree, then he and the others cleared the bodies of the fallen Infected using a tractor and trailer that Peter had collected from a local farm. Each body was stabbed through the head by Dan before he would allow it to be lifted onto the flatbed of the trailer, fifty-seven bodies were counted, then driven away and dumped three miles from the garage.