Marla tried to smile, but felt too shaken up. The after-effects of adrenalin were still surging through her, causing her hands to tremble. She pushed the butt of her gun into her jean pocket. Turning to where Nick was standing, she found him studying her with interest. He had not replied to Sid’s question. “Thank you,” she said. “I don’t know how long I would have lasted out there. I imagine not very…”
“My pleasure,” Nick replied in a well-spoken voice.
“I remember your accent being different the last time we met,” said Marla, curious.
“Ah, I put that on for the soldier boys,” he explained. “I usually pretend to be drunk and not too with it. That way people leave me alone when I’m checking the streets, although you didn’t,” he added.
She smiled. “No, I guess not. I wanted to save you, but it seems you saved me.”
“So you owe me one,” Nick continued. “Come on, I don’t like staying in this room too long with them outside. I like to be up high.”
He led the way out of the room and into a corridor. The windows were covered with metal and there were two doors with big bolts across them and more grills. In the centre a metal, spiral staircase went up and ended at a trap door in the high ceiling.
“It’s like Fort Knox in here,” Marla remarked.
Sid nodded. “We need it. This first door leads out on to the main supermarket floor. The glass doors are all covered by metal shutters – you know, the type you pull down. We’ve boarded up all of the windows too. All the doors are secure, like these ones. It has to be like that. When we got here, we had to clear the whole area. It was full of zombies.”
“That must have been tough,” she said.
“That’s an understatement,” Brian answered. “We lost a friend too.”
Marla nodded. “Sorry.”
Nick pointed to the staircase. “We put this in ourselves. We don’t use a lot of the building and sealed much of it off. This section, the main floor and upstairs we use. These stairs are the only way up. We figured the zombies wouldn’t be able to get up them too quickly. Bastards might even get stuck,” he added with a dry laugh. “We can hope.” He made his way up and knocked three times quickly and three times slowly on the trap door. “That’s the code here.”
The trap door opened and a female face stared down at them. “Hey, Nick, I see we have a newcomer,” she said and then disappeared from view. Marla followed Nick up through the hole, and then Sid and Brian stepped up behind her. The slightly built, blonde-haired woman secured the entrance with no fewer than eight bolts. “You can’t be too careful,” she explained, noticing Marla’s interest.
“That’s for sure. I’m Marla.”
“I’m Ana. It’s good to meet you.”
Marla smiled and looked around warily. The room they were in looked to have once been an office. A few desks and chairs were dotted around, and notice boards covered in papers and notes lined the walls. There was also a map of the area and she walked towards it slowly. There were some red dots, blue dots and green dots marked on it. Nick approached her and said, “The red ones are the dangerous spots – places that are chock full of zombies. Green ones are okay – we’ve cleared those areas or found them empty. Of course, that might change as we can’t secure all of the buildings. Blue areas are in between. We try to avoid the red. It was one of the red zones that I followed you into.”
She looked at him, surprised. “You followed me?”
He nodded. “I heard the truck. We try to patrol the area around here during the day. Now and then we head out in teams to try to find survivors, but keep a low profile when the soldiers are about.”
“Why is that?”
“We don’t trust them,” Brian told her.
“How come?” asked Marla.
“We’ve heard stuff,” Sid cut in.
“Like what?”
“Mixture – some good and some ain’t so much,” Sid replied. “We’ve one guy here who escaped from there. Kris.”
“From Haven?”
“Yeah, and he said people were disappearing from there. His brother went missing after he disagreed with some commander there and he thought something was wrong in that place. But he vanished before Kris got the whole story. They were both members of the guard, so this one day, Kris just walked off while out on patrol. As far as they know, he’s dead, and he wants to keep it that way.”
Marla breathed in heavily. “Did you see what happened to me?”
“No, I couldn’t tell from where I was. I did see that you were left behind, but I couldn’t see you properly. But I followed in case you were on your own. I didn’t want to freak you out, in case you were meeting people or had a safe place to go to, but when I saw you heading into the red zone, I knew you were on your own and lost. So I came looking.”
“Lucky you did. I was tied up in the back of that truck and just left here. They did actually give me my gun, but that’s it.”
“Why did they dump you out here?” Ana asked her.
Marla looked in her direction. The woman was sitting down now, as was Sid and Brian. “I started looking into things basically. It’s a long story, but…”
Ana rose and held up her hands. “Hey, don’t tell me. Where are our manners, Nick? This girl needs a hot bath and some rest. Seriously, she’s been through an ordeal today and it’s getting late.”
Marla smiled and shrugged. “I’m fine, really, but can I wash? I’ve been wearing these clothes for days and I imagine I still have blood all over me, and…”
“That you do,” Ana told her. “I have some clothes that might fit you, or else the other girls might. But I think you should just go to bed. There’s plenty of time for us to talk and I can clean your things for you. Have you slept at all, Marla?”
“Sort of. I was in a cell, so…”
“A prison cell?” gasped Ana.
Marla nodded. “But I didn’t do anything.”
“You don’t have to do much at Haven to be in the wrong,” said Nick. “You’re right, Ana, as usual. Just relax and get some rest, Marla. You can meet everyone in the morning. You’re welcome here as long as you want to stay. My gut instinct about you is good and my instincts are usually right, and you can trust us.” He nodded towards the only door in the room, which was secured with the now familiar metal panels and bolts.
Marla noticed how the windows were covered by grills as well. “How long have you been here?” she asked.
“Since the beginning,” Brian replied.
Nick opened the door, and waited for Marla and Ana to walk through before passing it to Brian. He then led the way down a white-painted corridor with metal-grilled windows on the right-hand side. They passed four wooden doors and he opened the fourth one at the end. Turning, he said, “This is the living room. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” said Marla as the two men disappeared into the room beyond.
“Okay,” Ana told her, “I’ll show you the bathroom. We still have water here and electric, and everything, so if you want you can run a small bath. One bedroom is used by the guys, one by the girls and the other one is used by a couple and her children. You’ll meet them all later though.”
Saturday, 17
Marla woke feeling refreshed and eager to meet the other people who were living in the building. Although she felt a little wary, she instinctively trusted Nick and Ana. She dressed in the new underwear, and second-hand black jeans and tiger-emblazoned black T-shirt that Ana had given her. Combing her hair and tying it back, Marla thought wistfully of her sister and Tommy. It was no use getting upset, she told herself as she sat down on the bottom bunk to tie the bootlaces of her black DMs. A solution would present itself eventually, she hoped.
Taking a deep breath, she left the bedroom and wandered towards the living room. Conversations could be heard before she opened the door and entered the room, which, presumably, was a former staffroom as it was fitted out with kitchen facilities, but there was also a huge dining table and chair
s, and three sofas. She noticed a radio as well, and a now obsolete television set. It was actually facing the wall and being used to put mugs on. Four men sat at the table playing cards while two women were cooking, another three men were sitting on two of the sofas talking, and two children were fussing a tiny black and white cat on the floor.
Nick stood up. “This is Marla,” he announced. “I found her on her own. She was at Haven.”
“Bad luck!” said the bald-headed man who had been playing cards. He leaned back in his chair. “I was there for a while.”
“This is Kris,” Nick explained. “Sid was telling you about him.”
“Nothing bad, I hope,” Kris joked.
“Would you like a drink?” one of the women asked Marla. Her bright purple hair was the first thing that Marla noticed. It contrasted strongly to her green eyes, and she was dressed in dungarees, a yellow T-shirt and big boots. She had a bright smile and Marla guessed her to be in her mid-thirties. The other woman beside her was slightly older, with black, cropped hair and brown eyes. The leggings and black T-shirt she wore drew attention to her slim figure.
Marla smiled back. “I’d love one. Do you have coffee?”
The woman’s smile broadened. “Do we have coffee? Well, we have every kind – latte, cappuccino, slim, fat, Kenyan, Colombian… everything. The supermarket is full!”
Marla laughed at last. “I forgot. Well, a latte please. Do you have biscuits by any chance?” she added.
“Do I have biscuits?! Of course! I’ll put a mixture on a plate for you. My name is Freya and those two girls over there are my daughters, Poppy and Emily. Jack, the chap sitting over there on the sofa with the long black hair, is my toyboy!”
Jack laughed and the other woman nudged Freya, who answered, “Well, he is! I can brag about these things.”
“Welcome, Marla,” said Kris, turning around again. “Don’t mind us guys as we continue our game.”
“Sit down,” Nick urged her, gesturing towards the empty sofa. “Make yourself at home. You are welcome to stay here for as long as you like.”
“Thanks. How many of you live here?” she asked, sitting down.
“This is it,” he replied. “There were more of us in the beginning. We have rules now and we don’t take any chances. The number one rule is not to go out alone.”
“But he doesn’t follow that one,” said Ana, sitting down beside Marla. “I tell him off for this all the time.”
Nick shrugged. “I know. It’s a bad habit, but I don’t let anyone else.”
Marla glanced up as Freya walked over with the latte in a purple mug and handed it to her, along with a plate of assorted biscuits. Marla balanced it in her lap. Freya sat down on the floor opposite her and crossed her legs. The woman with the dark hair did the same and was immediately joined by the cat. She stroked its head and introduced herself as Leah. Marla smiled as she munched on a chocolate digestive biscuit, savouring the taste and the sugar rush, which woke her senses.
“What is your story, Marla, if you don’t mind me asking?” asked the Japanese guy sitting on the nearest sofa, who had not spoken as yet. The other two men studied her; one she now knew to be called Jack and the other was older, perhaps in his fifties with curly grey hair.
“Maybe she’s too tired, Masayuki,” suggested Freya, protectively.
The man nodded.
“No, I don’t mind,” Marla replied. “I guess I’ll be telling you at some point and it might as well be now. My name’s Marla and I travelled to Haven with my sister, Ellen, and friend, Tommy, and a couple we met along the way, and two children we saved as well. Oh, and there was Tommy’s dog too,” she added, looking at the cat, as if it might recognise the word. She noticed the men seated at the table had stopped playing and were listening. Taking a sip of her coffee, she warmed both of her hands around the mug. “We were on our own travelling around for quite a while and we saw how everything changed…”
“Where did you start from?” asked Leah.
“London… and it was bad. Is it okay to speak in front of the girls?” asked Marla, looking at them, even though they seemed preoccupied with drawing.
Freya nodded. “They’ve seen everything, unfortunately.”
Marla bit her lip. “Okay, well we got the coach from London with the other people fleeing the city. They started to seal it off and quarantine it. Everyone had to go by coach to evacuee places; safe places. I think a lot of people got stuck in London though. When we got to the place we were meant to go to, it was up in flames. It had been overrun…”
“Where?” asked Nick.
“Erm, it was in Norwich,” Marla replied and he nodded. “Then we waited for the army to come and get us, but they took too long, so we found a car and went back to Tommy’s place in London because we had left weapons there.”
“Weapons?” queried Kris, sounding surprised.
“Yeah, I used to be in the army and so was Tommy.”
Kris raised his eyebrows. “Nice one.”
“Anyway, we got them and his dog, and travelled back out to the coach. At this point we saw more of the dead-lookers…”
“Dead-lookers?” Leah asked, giggling slightly.
“Yeah, the zombie word just makes me think of all those movies I used to watch, but didn’t believe,” Marla continued as everyone nodded. “So, at that point, London was being sealed off. The centre was a no-go area and we saw loads of dead-lookers everywhere. When we got back to the coach it was gone, but one of our friends left a note, telling us to find Haven and where it was. Anyway, I won’t bore you with all the details, but stuff happened, as you can imagine, and we ended up travelling by barge down the canal from Staines.”
“Was that safer than going by road?” asked the grey-haired man who was listening intently. “I’m Harrison by the way, but everyone calls me Harris.”
“He’s an English professor,” Freya cut in.
“Hello, Harris,” said Marla. “Yeah, it was, but we soon discovered the dead-lookers would rather drown themselves in trying to reach our boat than leave us alone. They would sniff us out and try to reach us, whatever the obstacle.”
“We found that too, but under different circumstances,” Harris replied, closing his book.
“The worst thing that happened to us on the canal, ironically, was when we ran into a gang. We were lucky to get out of that situation. They tried to kill us. We were actually saved by the dead-lookers in the end. A mass of them caused a distraction. It was crazy. You couldn’t make it up. At this point we were travelling with an older couple and two kids. When we finally reached Pewsey, we expected to find normality, but it was just like London. Eventually, we found Haven and we thought we were safe.” Marla paused and took a long drink of her coffee.
“That’s what I thought,” Kris piped up. “I lost my brother there. He disappeared. They told me he had been killed out on patrol, but I didn’t believe them. I went back and checked the entire area where they claimed he was last seen. No body, no clothes, no nothing. I didn’t believe them, man. I never trusted that bastard Caballero, and my brother kept disagreeing with his second-in-command, Will Acre. He was out with him when he went missing.”
Marla swallowed. “Will Acre tried to get me killed.”
“No way!”
“Yeah, and he almost did it. Tommy told me Caballero launched an enquiry into what happened to me and that Acre was sent to a secure unit somewhere, but that’s rubbish cos I saw him later. I didn’t trust Caballero at first, but then I thought he was on our side. There are things there that… ah, I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve heard of people going missing and they are experimenting on people… torturing them. I saw it with my own eyes and that’s how I ended up here. There’s a scientist too, who became a friend, but he turned out to be behind everything. He was even experimenting on himself. Just thinking about it gives me the shivers. Maybe they were always watching me. I don’t know…”
“That’s terrible,” said Ana. “I’m sorry
this happened to you.”
“There’s something fucked up going on there,” stated Nick. “That place, it gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it. You’re best out of it and here. You can trust us. We trust each other.”
Everyone nodded and gave murmurs of agreement.
“These guys, you can trust them all, seriously,” Nick continued. “I know you don’t know us from Adam, but we’ve got this far by sticking together. These other card-playing guys are Terrell, Jim and Doug, though we sometimes call him DD for short.”
“That makes him sound like a burger,” joked Leah.
Nick laughed. “I guess. His last name is Davis, Marla, so that’s why. We’re missing one other person, Ethan, but he was having a kip and I didn’t want to wake him.”
Marla nodded and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you all and thanks for taking me in. I might have to work on my trust thing a bit after what I’ve seen, but thank you. I consider myself lucky to be here.”
Week 16
Sunday, 18
Marla wandered out of the women’s bedroom and into the main living area to find everyone else, with the exception of Freya and her children, already there and eating breakfast. “Toast, eggs, beans, mushrooms, cereal or porridge?” asked Harris from his position by the stove. Ana stood by him, eating a slice of bread.
Marla smiled, slightly amused at the sight of the bookish-looking English professor preparing breakfast. “He does great eggs,” said Ana between munches, “but I make the best porridge.”
“Says who?” asked Harris, nudging her in the ribs and making her squeal. Ana moved away, switched on the kettle and offered, “Tea or coffee?”
“Erm, coffee please, eggs and toast.”
“How do you like them?” asked Harris, wiping his hands on the apron tied around his waist. It was emblazoned with the image of a rather well-endowed topless woman and his neck blended into the space where her head would be.
Marla smirked and shrugged. “Eggs I’m easy, toast buttered if you have it, and coffee strong with milk, no sugar. But as long as it’s wet I’m usually happy.”
I Dream of Zombies (Book 2): Haven Page 26
