Wiping her face, Ellen swung her legs over the side of the bed and nodded, looking confused. “Why? What time is it? Doctor Grice said I can’t leave until we finish the study in a couple of days.”
Owen sighed. “He’s not going to let you leave, Ellen.”
“But he…”
“Tommy is waiting and I told him I would bring you right to him now. Can you stand?”
“Yes, but, I don’t get it.” She paused and yawned. “I’m sleepy. Why do I have to see him now?”
“He told me to tell you I know Marla is alive; that you’d trust me then.”
Ellen looked Owen squarely in the eye and then it dawned on her that she might be able to. Perhaps he didn’t trust Doctor Grice either, but how did Tommy come into it? She rubbed her forehead, feeling tired. The alternative was to stay here. If they were caught, the worst thing she could imagine happening was ending up back in this room again. The doctor wouldn’t harm her, his prize guinea pig. The decision was a no-brainer. “I need my clothes,” she stated simply.
He tugged her rucksack out from under the bed where he had hidden it behind the valance. “It’s all here. Hurry, because I don’t know when Rita will be back. She’s on her break.”
When Owen turned his back, Ellen put on a pair of socks, black leggings and a long, black T-shirt, followed by her green and white trainers. Fastening the rucksack, she slung it over her shoulder. “Are all my belongings in here?” she asked.
“Yes. I borrowed your key. I got Tommy to help me, so most of the things you came here with are in there. He has your sister’s things.”
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because I don’t like what’s happening here.”
She nodded and looked him in the eye. “Thank you, Owen.”
“Sure, but we really have to go now.”
He opened the door slowly and peeked out down the corridor. Seeing no one, he stepped out and held the door for Ellen, who closed it without making a sound. She pushed her damp hair behind her ears and looked around. Her breath stuck in her throat. Owen led the way towards the stairs and she trailed him quietly. As he opened the stairwell exit, there came a scraping as the lift jolted to life, moving upwards. Without pause he closed the door, leaving them in darkness.
“I’m not turning on the light,” he whispered. “Your eyes will get used to it and I don’t want anyone to see us. We’re heading to the fourth floor cos it’s the first one with no soldiers.”
“Where do we go from there?”
“Come on.”
Holding on to the centre rail with her left hand, Ellen turned with it, shuffling forwards to find the first step of the flight down. However much she squinted, her eyes failed to make out anything in the dark. Bumping into Owen, she wavered and he grasped her hand to steady her for a moment. Then she let go, determined to make her way independently and not be a burden. As her foot hit thin air, Ellen stumbled slightly, weighed down by the rucksack on her back, and she gripped the rail until she found solidity. It was slow going until both of her feet rested on even ground. Regaining her composure, she wandered forwards slowly in the pitch black.
She felt Owen’s hand take hers again as he moved forwards, reaching out for where he believed the door to be. “The things I do,” he mumbled and Ellen smiled, knowing the joke was for her benefit. Finding a handle, Owen pulled it towards them. Light blazed and Ellen automatically closed her eyes. Squinting, she followed him into the brightly lit corridor. At the farthest end a group of three men were standing and talking while in the middle a child sat on the carpet playing with something. The door behind him was open. Ellen looked at Owen in expectation. He walked confidently, she following, and strode swiftly towards a room three doors down. Removing a key, he opened it.
“What’s in there?” she asked.
“Empty,” he whispered, gesturing her towards it. Once they were inside, he locked the door, pocketed the key and pointed to the other side of the room. “Window!”
Ellen hurried towards it and looked out into the fading sunlight. The dark was coming, bringing them with it. How many she could only guess, but she assumed they had increased in number since she was last out there, lost. Turning to face her companion, she asked, “Where are we going exactly?”
“We’re leaving Haven,” he responded. “They won’t let you leave here of your own accord, as you’ve probably started to realise.”
“But when the sleep tests are over in a few days, they’ll let me go…”
Owen shook his head. “They’re never going to let you go. It’s in your file and I’ve read it – the other secret one that Grice has on you. He lied to you. This is a government project, Ellen. The word comes from high up, but there’s no time for this. I can fill you in later. Right now we have to get out.” He opened the window and leaned out.
She followed his eyes to the ground. “But we’re four floors up.”
“That’s why I have a rope,” he replied, taking a length out of the wardrobe and unfurling it to the ground. He then secured it to the window.
“You’re joking?”
“They won’t let you walk out the door, so come on. No one knows I have the keys to this room, but we don’t have time to debate this. Once Rita finds you gone and the photo I stuck over the camera, that’s it. All the guards will be looking for you.”
Ellen frowned, deciding not to ask him to explain about the photo right now, and took a deep breath.
“Give me your bag,” he said. “I’ll carry it.”
“You’re not coming?”
“Yes, I am, but the only thing I need to take is myself. I’ve got a wallet full of photos and that’s all I need. Now go down first. I’m going to hold the rope in case my tying skills are crap.”
Under any other circumstances Ellen would have laughed, but instead she took in the scene below. “What if the guards come? There must be some down there.”
“Not at this time and not there. I planned this with Tommy and the others, but we couldn’t put you at risk by telling you. Come on, time is passing.”
Nodding, Ellen passed Owen her bag and raised herself up on to the windowsill. Swinging her legs out, she gripped the rope and lowered her body down. For some inane reason she thought how her junior school PE teacher would have been proud. She had always been one of the last to be picked for any team, but here she was showing a natural deftness for rope climbing. In no time at all her feet hit solid ground and she backed against the wall. She watched Owen clamber down.
“What about the rope?” she asked when he was standing beside her.
“Have to leave it.” He gestured for her to move behind him as he crept forwards to spy around the corner of the wall. Several guards moved there, between the building and the fence. He hoped one of them was Marcus, as planned, but where was Tommy? Owen imagined his mouth to be as parched as the desert. There was no time for delay. A piercing wail cut through the silence and Ellen jumped. “What the hell?”
“Fire alarm,” Owen responded. “A distraction. All planned. The guards are moving. I see them heading away from the fence and towards the building. There’s just one now – Marcus. They’ve all gone inside, except for him. Great.”
“What are we waiting for?” she asked. “We’re sitting du–”
“Me!”
Ellen gasped as Tommy walked into view, carrying two rucksacks, one of which she recognised as her sister’s. Bob kept to his heel, being surprisingly quiet. Marcus followed behind.
“The others are leaving now. Ready?” Tommy asked. “Sorry, Ellen, but we couldn’t tell you any of this because of the dream monitoring, in case they had a way to–”
“Read my mind?” She looked at him, incredulous.
Tommy shrugged. “We weren’t sure. Marla is waiting. This is the day she planned, so we have to go today.”
“Marla…?”
Owen nodded. “Tommy, we can’t just stand here. Rita didn’t come back and the rope is hanging.”
“I hear you,” he answered. “Come on, all the guards went inside after the alarm, except for those who are with us. I just carried on walking around and told them I couldn’t go in cos the noise would freak out Bob.”
“What about Barney and Ruth?” asked Ellen.
“With my ex-wife and son. We’ll see them soon,” Tommy replied. “Come on. No time.”
Ellen, Owen and Marcus followed him along the side of the building, staying close to the brick wall and keeping an eye on the fence. The piercing alarm cancelled out all other sounds, and they kept moving lest it stop as suddenly as it had started. Ahead, all of the facility’s vehicles waited, offering themselves up for choice, but there was small chance of starting one without being seen or heard. Tommy led the way between them, using their steel frames as cover. From his position he could make out three guards standing by the main entrance plus two on the right-hand side and three others to the left. The latter three he recognised: Elliott, Ian and John. But where were Sylvia, Leroy and Martinez?
Tommy removed his SIG Sauer handgun from his rucksack and passed it to Ellen, followed by the Remington pump-action shotgun; the same weapons he’d brought with him to Haven. Knowing Owen had never fired a gun in his life, he did not bother the young man with his other reserves. Next he removed a grenade and gripped it in his left hand. Soon the orderly trail of vehicles ended and all that lay between them and freedom was a vast amount of concrete, with five of Caballero’s guards blocking their escape and their friends at the side.
Where were the others? Tommy looked towards some other vehicles parked a distance away and wondered if they were hidden behind them. There was no way of knowing and no time to wait. He strode out of hiding, holding the grenade high in the air. Straight away the guards at the gate and those to the right took a step towards him and levelled their guns.
“Don’t shoot,” he yelled, “or I’ll blow us all up. I have nothing to lose, so don’t try me. This girl is Ellen. Doctor Grice wouldn’t want any harm to come to her, or your secret government project would be over, no?”
The three guards glanced at one another while the two others standing by the fence took a few steps. “No further,” Tommy shouted.
Across the gravel behind them came the fast crunch of footsteps: Billy and Eric, Doug and Leah, all armed and dressed in the uniform of the Haven guards. Behind them were Peggy and Harold, followed by Martinez. A few seconds later, Leroy appeared with Ash, Barney and Hanna who was carrying Ruth. Everyone had brought a bag of belongings. When Tommy noticed Ash, the boy went to run towards him, but Leroy nudged him back. Tommy nodded in his son’s direction.
Martinez, Doug and Leah strode swiftly towards the particular Vector for which they had keys and climbed into the front. Peggy and Harold got into the back. Marcus ran towards one of two Land Rovers and jumped inside while Leroy led his group to the other.
“You need to let us go through or I’m going to pull the plug on this thing,” Tommy shouted as Bob began to bark.
“You wouldn’t,” stated one of the guards. “What would be the point?”
“Try me.”
Shouts from the entrance of the building made everyone turn around. About a dozen or so guards exited in time with the alarm falling silent. Rita, Doctor Grice and Caballero walked at the front of the group, which included Sylvia. She astonished them all by not stopping and strolling away to join Tommy. Caballero shouted after her, but she did not pause. The doctor could be seen arguing with the commander about something, but it was impossible for Tommy’s group to overhear the conversation.
At length, Caballero looked towards the guards at the gate with anger written on his face. “Let them go,” he shouted. “They’re all armed and I don’t want a bloodbath here. Don’t harm that girl, Ellen.”
With some hesitation the men reluctantly lowered their weapons and opened the metal exit doors. Elliott, Ian and John then left the other members of the guard looking flabbergasted as they hurried to join the escapees. Caballero turned to argue with the doctor again while more of his soldiers spilled out of the facility.
“Time to go,” said Tommy, before telling Owen, Ellen, Sylvia, Ian, Elliott and John to get into the back of the Vector. Keeping the grenade raised in the air, he coolly climbed into the front of the Land Rover beside Marcus, followed by Eric and Billy, who kept their guns fixed on the guards.
***
The Vector shot down Marlborough Road. In his mirror, Martinez caught sight of a Panther truck tailing them. For some reason he hadn’t been able to fathom at the time, the Land Rover had taken a detour down an unlit lane. Now he was glad of it.
“Can you see who’s driving?” asked Leah. “I can’t see Marcus and Tommy anywhere.”
Martinez shook his head as he put his foot down, forcing the vehicle to accelerate. “They went the other way, but no, I can’t see. I’d hate to think.”
“We can’t go to the meeting place,” said Doug, who was seated between them. “It’s too dangerous. Whoever it is will follow.”
Martinez sighed as he checked the road behind him. “Something tells me they’re not going to give up tailing us, so do you have any idea where I should drive because my knowledge of this area is pretty sketchy.”
“Keep going,” Doug suggested with a shrug.
“This thing has a full tank, so that’s good. We’ll hit the A338 in a second. We could head in the opposite direction towards Shipton Bellinger. That will take us into Amesbury. Maybe we can lose them there?”
“No,” argued Doug firmly. “No way we can go to Amesbury. That’s where we live – we can’t give them any clues that we’re staying there or they’ll take the place apart looking for us.”
Martinez hit the steering wheel. “Okay, anyone got any other bright ideas or that bloody useful thing we call a map?”
Leah hurriedly checked the compartments and pulled one out. “We’re in luck, yes. There’s some gum too. Want any?”
“Great. Normally there’s a flashlight or two as well, and some general stuff for the guards heading out,” said Martinez. “Gum, yes. Hell, they’re going faster. Guess I better too,” he added, putting his foot down again. The vehicle lurched and speeded up.
***
In the back of the Vector, Ellen tried to soothe Peggy. Harold had his arm around his wife’s shoulders and Ellen could see that she was trying hard not to cry. “It will be alright,” he said.
“When will it ever be alright again?” she asked. “Out here, with those dead creatures. But we deserve that after what we did.”
“Peggy, don’t do this, please,” urged Harold. “Don’t upset yourself. You did nothing wrong. We did nothing wrong. Things happened… beyond our control.”
Peggy glanced away.
“We keep going faster,” Owen remarked. “Makes me think there are soldiers following us.”
“Could be,” said Ellen, but she was distracted by Peggy’s words.
“Don’t worry,” said Ian, checking the guns he had managed to bring in his backpack. “We’re ready for them. There’s no way I’m going back to Haven.”
“Haven, my ass,” added Sylvia, leaning forwards in her chair. “We’re going to get out of this.”
“I’ve never used a gun in my life,” Owen admitted, “but I’m willing to try… to help.”
Ian looked up at him. “No worries, man, you won’t need to, but take this one, just in case. It’s loaded. That’s the safety and you use it like this.” The guy gave a demonstration before handing it over to a surprised looking Owen. “Make sense?”
“Sure,” he answered uneasily as he weighed the Glock in both hands.
“Sound.”
“That’s my sister’s favourite gun,” Ellen remarked. “She was really particular about it.”
“We’ll see her soon,” said Sylvia. “You’ll see.”
“Hope so.” Ellen hugged Peggy. Harold pressed his lips together, seeming deep in thought. Ellen would not allow herself to consider what might happen next.
Every time the Vector increased speed, she felt her heart leap into her throat. When it happened again, she offered a small smile to Owen who looked as nervous as she felt.
Unexpectedly, the vehicle lurched heavily, jolting everyone, who automatically felt for their seatbelts. Ian, who had not secured his, slid on to the floor. Looking embarrassed, he dragged himself back up. “What the hell was that?”
***
“Jesus!” gasped Martinez as he put his foot on the brakes sharply. In front of them, stretching back as far as the eye could see, forming a river of heaving, stinking grey, streamed the dead, and they were heading towards them. “Do I try to drive through them?” he asked, clutching his forehead. “Or should I turn around?”
“I’m getting into the gunner position,” Doug informed him, “so I can see how close they really are.”
He shifted while Leah stared out at the zombies, feeling like someone had just wandered over her grave and reversed. “I’ve never seen so many together… in one place. How is it possible for so many?”
“I’ve seen it,” Martinez replied, “but I’ve never been the filling in a sandwich like this before. Those grim fuckers move slow, but that Panther doesn’t, so I really need to know what to do, guys. I could turn around, but we need to decide fast. Like now.”
Leah checked the side mirror. “Shit.”
“The soldiers are closing in,” remarked Doug. “Do I shoot?”
Martinez sighed as he drove forward. “They’re our people. How can we shoot them?”
“Your own people,” Leah corrected him, “and they might try to kill us.”
“Or try to take us back…”
“Yeah and then what?” asked Leah. “You really wanna find out what they’ll do to us? Chop us up in the basement for dinner maybe?”
I Dream of Zombies (Book 2): Haven Page 33
