“Coming up,” he replied, breaking a couple of eggs into a bowl.
“You can sit here. I’ve finished anyway,” offered Terrell, picking up his plate and mug, and backing away from the table. With a nod, he walked over to the sink and proceeded to wash up.
Very organised, thought Marla, and everyone seemed to get along. She took Terrell’s empty place, feeling slightly awkward and the odd woman out. Her eyes darted towards Leah, who was seated on the sofa, but she was engrossed in conversation with Jim.
“How did you sleep?” asked Nick who was seated opposite, to Marla’s relief.
“Great,” she replied. “Thanks again for… well, rescuing me, the damsel in distress.”
A huge grin lit up his face, making his eyes sparkle for a moment. “My pleasure. Glad to have you here.”
Marla peeked at the other men who carried on eating despite obviously listening. She wondered if they felt the same or if anyone had complained about her being here, another mouth to feed. She couldn’t blame them if they had; how did anyone know whom to trust?
“Here you go,” Ana said warmly as a mug of coffee appeared in front of Marla. She then stood behind her, and Marla wondered if it was to offer some kind of moral support.
“You want my seat?” asked Doug.
“Only if you’ve finished,” Ana told him.
“Sure.” Standing up, he pulled the chair out for her, and walked over to the sink to wash up his plate and cup.
“It’s good to have another woman about the place,” said Ana. “We’re kind of outnumbered here.”
Marla smiled. “Thank you. I mean thanks to all of you for letting me stay. I know you don’t know me…”
“Well, trust is earned,” said Kris. He stared at her for a moment with his striking blue eyes. “You just need to earn it.”
She swallowed and forced another smile. “Sure. I intend to.”
The man gave no answer, but proceeded to eat his beans. Marla glanced at Nick who raised an eyebrow. “Well, we’re heading out on a run tomorrow. Fancy it, even though you’ve just got here?”
She nodded. “I’d be glad to help. What’s your plan?”
“Well, we’re fine food-wise here, as you can imagine, yet there are some things we need. A pharmacy is on our list soon, but we’re thinking of checking out one of the warehouses. We want to secure this place a bit better, so we need to get some items for that. We usually take it in turns to go out.”
“Do you drive?”
“No, not unless we have to, because of the noise it makes,” said Nick. “Best to walk and drag stuff here on a trolley. If there’s any trouble, we just dump what we find and go back for it later. The zombies aren’t gonna steal our shopping! We use a car if we’re heading outside of town though.”
“Makes sense. What do you want to get?”
“Well, this place is pretty good. This supermarket has CCTV, fire sprinklers and an alarm system, though it’s turned off because of the noise. I want to get some kind of metal ladder that we can drop down the side of the building, so if we needed to exit from up here, we can. At the moment there is no way of getting out. We can get on to the roof and then we’re stuck. Brian and Sid were asking about some more grilles for some windows, and then maybe more roller shutters. Not all of the big windows have them in the supermarket. The entrance and exits do, but not the windows, which we boarded up. We need to do something about that. We’ve been lucky so far.”
“Can you fit them?”
Brian laughed. “Me and Sid can fit anything. Plus Terrell’s an electrician and Jim’s a mechanic.”
Marla smiled. “You’re a pretty handy bunch.”
“So, what’s your magic power, Marla?” asked Masayuki. “I’m a chef, but I don’t get a look-in at breakfast time, as you can see.”
“But your cooking is so fancy,” joked Ana. “Little colourful portions…”
“It’s not quantity but quality that is important,” he answered. “If you went to Japan you would fall in love with the food there – there’s sushi to die for.”
“I miss sushi,” Ana admitted. “Mmm, I could handle some right now.”
Masayuki laughed and took a sip of his tea. “If we ever find raw fish I will make you some.”
“That’s a deal.”
“So, what is it?” asked Brian. “Your skill, if you have one.”
“I can shoot and kill those things with a knife,” Marla replied. “I was in the army for a while.”
Kris’ interest peaked and he put down his fork. “You said that yesterday. How long?”
“Years.”
“Why did you leave?”
“Unfair decision,” Marla replied bluntly. “I don’t really like to talk about it.”
“And you joined the guard at the facility, like me?”
She nodded. “I did, unlucky me. But anyway, I can handle myself and I don’t scare easy.”
Nick chuckled. “So you’re up for tomorrow then? I’ll sort you out with some ammo for that gun of yours. That’s another thing we need to decide soon – getting more ammo from somewhere.”
“Yep, I’m ready. Like he said, trust is earned,” said Marla as Harris laid her breakfast on the table. “That looks great, thanks. I’m famished.” As she picked up her knife and fork, she felt Kris watching her, but she ignored it and listened to Ana swapping food stories with Masayuki.
Monday, 19
Nick, Kris, Marla, Jack, Ethan, Brian, Doug and Leah followed Sid towards the exit. Sid pulled up the metal shutters and unbolted the door. After giving his brother, Brian, a bear hug, he moved aside to allow the group to leave.
“Let’s move quickly and keep your senses sharp,” said Nick. “We’re not taking any chances, so if we don’t manage this today, there are always other days. Nothing is that urgent.”
“He always says that,” whispered Leah to Marla, who nodded.
Nick led the way between some houses and on to James Road, which Marla recognised from before. From there they headed up Holders Road and ducked down the narrow alleyway behind some warehouses. Marla recalled her earlier visit and her eyes widened, checking for dead-lookers as she gripped her gun. When the alley ended, Nick turned and strode towards the nearest warehouse. The group followed quietly.
Luckily, the area was desolate. A few cars were parked haphazardly, one with its doors wide open, and some empty trolleys loitered about. Marla closed in on Leah. Nick led them to the rear of the building, which faced the alleyway, although wire fencing separated the two. When they came to a padlocked door, Doug removed a pair of cutters from his backpack and cut the chain, after which Brian placed the broken parts quietly on the ground.
“Careful,” whispered Nick as he slowly opened the door. Inside was as black as pitch. No windows, Marla concluded as she watched Nick waltz in. The man had balls, she’d give him that. Kris headed in afterwards, closely followed by Brian and Doug.
“We’ll wait here and guard the door,” said Jack, nodding to Ethan. “We’ll let you know if there’s any trouble,” he added.
Marla frowned. “How?”
“He has a walkie-talkie,” Leah explained. “Nick has one too.”
“Okay,” said Marla as she followed her inside the building. Behind them, Jack closed the door and leaned against it.
Doug shone his flashlight, illuminating what appeared to be a storeroom. Boxes were piled up on rows of black shelving units. Shadows danced along the walls as the light shifted. Nick pointed towards a door straight ahead. Everyone waited with their weapons ready while he turned the handle. The door opened with a barely audible creak and drew back to expose an area bathed in complete darkness. Doug stepped forwards, waving his torch around. At the same time, Kris took out his own flashlight to double the glare. The group moved into the corridor, which stretched in both directions.
“Eeeny meeny?” whispered Kris.
“Right… if in doubt go right,” said Nick.
“Does that always work?” aske
d Marla, remembering how she’d used that logic in the basement.
Nick smiled. “Most of the time.” He walked down the corridor, but Kris briskly overtook him before he reached the door at the end. Turning the handle, Kris pushed the door open and stepped through, swishing his flashlight. Nick trailed him, and the others followed suit with Leah and Marla last. They found themselves on the shop floor.
“Time to find a proper light,” Nick suggested, turning to examine the wall. In that split second three dead men staggered towards them, hands grasping and dripping blood from fresh, gaping wounds. Their hideous groans snapped the quiet. Muffled footsteps from further back gave the impression of more. Kris stabbed his knife through the forehead of his nearest foe and it collapsed to the ground. As he pulled it back out and blood splurted across his legs, Doug smashed in the skull of the second one with his bolt cutters. Marla grimaced slightly at the blunt force that made the bones crack. Kris spun to stab the third man through the forehead and the body hit the floor. No one fired a bullet.
Marla watched Kris tug his weapon back out of the corpse. He had neither paused nor flinched.
“Nice one,” Doug told him as he wiped his bolt cutters clean on the shirt of the creature on the ground.
Marla glanced back at Nick, but he was searching along the wall. He pressed a switch and the closest quarter of the warehouse lit up. “I heard more,” said Marla, pointing in the direction of footsteps.
“Let’s check it out then,” suggested Leah, walking forwards with her shotgun drawn. Kris followed closely behind her while Doug put his bolt cutters back in his bag.
“We try not to use our guns because ammunition is so precious and the sound carries,” Nick told Marla when the others had all walked ahead. “Plus some of the guys like to show off.”
“You mean Kris?”
Nick nodded. “But if anyone gets in trouble, he’s the first there. I sense you’re wary of him, but you can trust him.”
“Thanks. I can see he’s tough,” she replied and then hurried to catch up with the rest.
The warehouse was a maze of green metal shelving units and signs bearing code numbers and letters. They created walkways and seemingly never-ending corridors of goods. Above, the corrugated roof rose upwards in a giant triangle, blocking out the sun. Marla had never wished for a skylight quite so much. A shot rang out as she caught up with Leah. Ahead, she could make out the backs of Doug, Brian and Kris.
“However, sometimes we have to use our guns,” Nick whispered as he walked past, and Marla followed with Leah by her side.
Checking to the left and right, and back again, they made their way across the warehouse. Every so often they heard a gun release followed by a bump on the ground. Someone reached a switch because the rest of the warehouse lit up, accompanied by a wave of eerie wails. Hopefully not too many, thought Marla, though she doubted having to deal with any dead-lookers as the three amigos seemed to be doing well enough on their own.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Leah said softly, “but I see it as a great way to save ammo.”
Marla grinned. “Sometimes seeing no action is a good thing.”
An explosion of bullets silenced the women, who ran to catch up with Nick. The rows of green shelves ended and they emerged into a wide, open space with doors at either end. Ahead was the main entrance of the warehouse, secured with metal roll-down doors.
Marla skidded as she noticed pools of blood on the tiled floor, narrowly missing them. “What the…?” To the left she saw something move in her peripheral vision. It blurred and vanished from sight. To her right, Leah was running and she took off after her. Around the next corner the shots became louder. Skidding again, Marla watched Kris knife the skulls of two dead-lookers while Doug shot at some others. Behind them, two double doors hung off their hinges. Whatever lay beyond them was full of those things.
“Why not go back?” she called out to Nick.
“We need this stuff,” he replied as he fired with precision at the foreheads of the dead.
Marla checked the position of Brian in between the other two men and Nick, and moved forwards to join him. From there she could see across the warehouse in the direction of the blurred movement of earlier, but nothing disturbed the emptiness. Raising her Glock, she fired at the creatures to the right of Kris as they emerged from the doorway, careful to use as few bullets as possible. One by one, she watched them fall. It was like a routine shoot ‘em-up arcade game. They staggered out slowly, shifting from one foot to the other, staring vacantly, groaning or wailing, some with their arms hanging loose, some raised, but they each collapsed in the same way, not taking many steps forward before they stopped, this time forever.
The mass kept on coming though, undeterred by the many that fell. Running out of bullets, Marla paused to reload. Nick concentrated on the dead emerging from the left as Kris carried on plunging his knife into the heads of those who strayed too close while Doug fired. The two tough guys made a good team, thought Marla randomly, as she raised her gun once more.
A crackle made her glance sideways to see Nick put his walkie-talkie to his ear. He sighed and raised his hand in the air. “Dead at the exit,” he shouted. “Ethan says we need to get out of here.”
Doug turned sharply. “What about the security doors?”
“Not today,” Nick responded. “Our safety is more important. Let’s go. Now!”
“Fuck!” Kris shot the nearest zombie and turned tail to follow Doug down the nearest aisle. Leah and Marla ran down the adjacent one, with Brian and Nick following. At the end, Leah turned the corner and came face to face with one of the dead. She gasped, but stopped herself from crying out. Bloody bile spilled from its gaping mouth into pools on the floor. It staggered forwards, but the muscles of its legs were too wasted away to enable much movement and she shot it through the head. Rotten brains catapulted out of the back, splattering the sign for screws behind it.
“Well, he’s screwed,” remarked Doug as he appeared in front of them with Kris who sighed.
“Exit!” said Nick, hurrying across the warehouse floor.
Marla guessed her saviour would not be able to run as fast as the others if it became necessary, so she chose to stay close to him in case. Kris and Doug took the lead, pushing the pace, while Brian followed last, surveying the building for more of the dead. As they passed an aisle, Marla caught a full view of them. She paused. Their grey, lifeless forms crowded the entire space, pushing together in their hunger. They banged into the shelving units, giving no reaction. She half expected the units to collapse, even though they were laden down with goods.
As Marla ran, she noticed Kris pick up the end of a long box and nod to Doug, who grasped the other end. Nick shouted at them to leave it, but they paid him no heed and hurried towards the exit. In the distance she could see Ethan standing by the door. Where was Jack? A scraping echo caught Marla’s attention; to the right another line of dead-lookers headed their way. “They’re coming from the other side,” she said, and Nick sighed in reply.
They ran towards the exit where Doug and Kris had already disappeared from sight. Brian slowed down until Leah and Nick had passed him. Marla waited with Brian, watching the waft of bodies drifting towards them, their stench beginning to overwhelm the place. Then he nodded to her and they ran through the door that Ethan held open. He slammed it shut and urged them to make haste.
“What happened?” asked Marla, breathing heavily.
“Just run,” he replied. “There’s nothing to lock this.”
Marla shot down the corridor and entered the storage room from earlier where the rest of the group were waiting. Jack was standing in front of the exit door or rather he was leaning against it, and their predicament became apparent. A sharp noise made her turn and she realised it was Ethan bolting the door to the corridor. Thank goodness for a simple bolt.
“We’re surrounded,” stated Nick. “There’s a fence straight across the way outside, but there are no gaps in it, so we ca
n run either left or right. Jack and Ethan saw zombies coming from the right. They’re just outside this door. We can either sit here and wait it out or fight our way out. What’s it to be, people? Raise your hands if you’re in favour of staying here.”
Brian and Leah stuck their hands up. Ethan moved away from the door and approached his friends. “I don’t think that’s a good idea as I can hear them coming down the corridor,” he told them softly. “We have to go.”
Marla noticed how everyone looked more dismayed than afraid; they were used to this. “What if one of us creates a diversion and then the rest of us can get out?” she suggested.
“This ain’t the movies,” Kris retorted. “Or are you telling us you’re bionic?”
“Nothing of the sort,” she replied, scowling, “but I volunteer. You helped me.”
“I’m faster,” said Jack.
“What makes you think that?”
“I won competition after competition, so I’m going,” he insisted, checking his gun. “This is full. Nick, is that okay with you?”
“Can anyone climb that fence?” asked Leah, “because no one will be able to run either way if both ways are blocked. They can come from both directions, you know.”
“I can,” Jack answered. “Trust me.”
“Did you learn that in competitions?” asked Marla.
“Nope – from when I started getting in trouble with the cops. Now, are you all with me?”
Nick shook his head and sighed. “Can’t think of a better idea, so yes, but you know that fence is pretty high?”
“I can only try.”
Nick nodded without saying a word.
“How do we do this… exactly?” asked Kris.
Jack scratched his head. “We open the door, you shoot at whatever is there until I can get a clean run, and then I go, taking them with me.”
“That’s suicide,” mumbled Leah. “You can’t let him do that, Nick.”
“If we stay here, we’re all going to die anyway,” Jack replied.
I Dream of Zombies (Book 2): Haven Page 27
