The Undead | Day 25 [The Heat]

by Haywood, RR

  Then I glanced right and caught sight of an infected female standing in the middle of a few more next to some old shipping containers. She was different to the others. I could see it in her eyes. That spark of intelligence. She was definitely the CP.

  Books! Take her. I’ll keep these off.

  He set off as I emptied my magazine at the bigger horde just as they started charging at me. I got a few down then slung my rifle and pulled my machete out to go hands on. Slicing into necks and legs with a glance back to Booker slamming into the bodyguards protecting the CP.

  It got intense AF. One of them bit my arm and another got into my shoulder. It hurt like hell, but I got them off and stamped on a head then cut into another neck just as I saw Booker lunging at the CP, but they went out of sight around the end of a container.

  That’s when I heard the explosion coming from the pier and saw the mushroom cloud fireball rolling up.

  Then maybe a few seconds after that the infected all went slow and I killed the rest then staggered back to gasp air for a few seconds before I ran over towards the containers.

  BOOKS? I yelled out. I heard him saying something and got round the container to see him rolling onto his back away from the decapitated CP next to him on the grass. She was young too. Like twenty or something. It was fucking grim. Especially with her clothes all ripped off and her breasts and vagina all exposed. It made me feel wrong to see it. Like she was human again or something.

  Fucking bitch bit my shoulder, Books said, rubbing at a bite near his neck but then Reginald was calling up for more help.

  Chaps! I’ve got the second CP in sight. It’s behind a large hanger just north of the control tower.

  I’ll get it! Tappy said into the radio as we set off running and I glanced to the decapitated head of the CP and saw the fresh blood on her mouth where she’d bitten Books.

  Charlotte

  The fireball that went up from the pier and the fuel truck was something else. I was hugging the tarmac and truly thinking I was about to die.

  Then I cried out at someone stamping on my hand and flipped over to see the pier engulfed in flames and the bridge now collapsed with thick black smoke pouring into the air. We must have killed thousands. But it didn’t slow the horde.

  It was hopeless. Utterly hopeless, until Mads or Books must have finally got their kill as suddenly all around me infected stopped charging and became instantly slow. It was astonishing and for a second, I thought to cheer until I realised it was only one of the hordes. The other one was still going for the north terminal.

  That’s when I started to rise and got slammed into by a big male that took my off my feet face down into the road. I felt the tarmac graze my face and arms and flipped over to get my knife into his neck. But he was very thickset, and I had to stab him several times until I finally got the artery and a face full of blood. I got out from underneath him as another one ran into me. A scrawny woman that I managed to flip over, but then another hit me from behind and I went sprawling again. It was awful. They weren’t attacking, but just running and I was in the way, and with the smoke and the heat hazes it was hard to see.

  That’s when I realised I was on my own.

  ‘Chaps! I’ve got the second CP in sight. It’s behind a large hanger just north of the control tower,’ Reginald said

  ‘I’ll get it!’ Tappy said as I spun around and tried to see Clarence or Nick, or Cookey and Blowers. I shouted out for them, but the noise was still so bad I couldn’t hear if they shouted back.

  Reginald

  We’d killed at least three or four thousand in that explosion. Maybe more. But against forty thousand? It wasn’t anywhere near enough.

  Then I spotted another cluster of stationary infected on the far side of a set of hangars out of sight of Joan.

  I called it in while unable to see any of the team on the ground because of the smoke and the heat hazes.

  I’ll get it! Tappy then said into the radio as I spotted the Saxon already driving that way.

  ‘Control to north side. The survivors are not moving. They have to evacuate.’

  ‘North side. We’ll see to it,’ Henry responded as I felt the van sway and tilt and heard the bangs increasing as Jess kicked at the doors. She sounded angry, but to me she was always angry, and very fearsome too.

  ‘Marcy! Check the horse’ I called. I waited for her to reply and was about to open the door when Tappy transmitted.

  ‘I can see them! Give me two minutes.’

  I saw her driving into the gap between the buildings but because of the smoke I couldn’t follow her progress and lost sight of the Saxon. I called up and urged Tappy to find and kill the CP, then a moment later the other horde ceased their charge and I sat back with a blast of air.

  We’d gained a moment of respite. Enough for me to check on the blasted horse as the kicks were becoming harder and the van was rocking rather violently.

  However, the second I stood up to open the door, the first horde re-animated and re-commenced their charge. But they didn’t charge for the north terminal.

  They went for the team on the ground.

  Diary of Natasha Drinkwater

  Yeah. Right. So er, not my thing doing diary stuff. I’m not a girlie girl like that. I mean it’s cool if anyone else wants to do one, but I’d rather change an oil filter than write my emotions down. That’s how I cope.

  But Paula said we should record it if weird shit happens. Like if it’s something totally different.

  Anyway. So during the battle, Reggie shouted up that he had the next CP behind some hangers and I called up and said I’ll go get it.

  It wasn’t that far and when we started getting closer, I spotted this thick cluster of infected in this narrow area between the hangars and this long warehouse style building. And there’s a lot of them, right. I mean infected. I knew Mads and Books had taken one of the CP’s out, which made half of the zomboids go still, and so I figured some of the ones at the back of that hanger were all sluggish and dribbly.

  Anywho. So we drove in and I’m giving the Saxon a nice burst of speed then stomping on the brake for a hard turn slide. The old shake’n’bake with that big old ass slapping them down. And it’s working, right? We get a whole load of them down, but that smoke was coming across and I couldn’t see where the CP was.

  ‘Is it dead yet?’ I asked over the radio. But Reggie said not yet, and he was like Hurry up, Tappy. Get on and kill it. Or you know, however he says it with his posh voice.

  And I’m like, ‘Fuck it,’ cos honestly, I just couldn’t see. Plus, the windscreen was all caked in dead flies and bugs, and bits of dead people too.

  So I told Meredith we had to find it and we stopped and got out and I’m walking along shooting zombies in the head and trying not to cough from the smoke.

  Meredith is out too, and I could hear her snarling and biting things and I got about halfway along when I spotted this group of bodies off to the side. Half of them were still alive, but with broken legs or whatever. I went over and shot a couple of them then I saw another one looking at me. And honestly. It gave me the willies. It was so different. Zomboids aren’t people. They don’t have intelligence, but this one did, and it looked right into my eyes.

  ‘One race,’ it said.

  ‘Fair one,’ I said and shot it in the head, then literally a second later all of the zomboids were sluggish and slow and I was like, ‘Fuck yes. Winner winner chicken dinner.’

  But that’s when the other horde came back to life and man, they were ramped up to shit. I don’t know what had changed, but I turned around and saw them charging in and they were fast and mean and snarling. I shot a few, then, this big female took me off my feet and slammed me into the back of the hanger so hard it broke my nose. There was blood spraying out everywhere, and I could feel teeth on my back, and nails raking down my cheeks.

  But my rifle was tangled up on the sling and there were too many infected piling into me. Like bang bang bang. All of them coming in.
And I could hear Meredith snarling but I’m going down, and it was like the night when it first happened, and I was at home with my mum and dad and my brothers and my sister. I was asleep and they all got turned and attacked me. I ended up knifing them all to death when the rage was triggered inside.

  I did it then and went batshit crazy and had my knife out stabbing anything I could reach, and all the blood and gore were going in my eyes and in my mouth and I knew I was fucked.

  Dave

  I was running with Mr Howie to get away from the smoke and heat coming from the pier. We’d killed thousands, but many more were running back towards the north terminal.

  I could not see the Saxon or any of the team. Mr Howie was shouting for them. I shouted too. I have a very loud voice, but they did not hear me.

  Then we heard Tappy say she was going to kill the next CP and Mr Howie stopped and grabbed my arm.

  We have to keep them focussed on us,’ Mr Howie said. ‘How do we do that?’

  ‘We’re not a big enough threat, Mr Howie.’

  Mr Howie looked at me with a strange expression. ‘How many did we just kill? Roughly, Dave. Roughly how many?’

  I said it could be between three and five thousand.

  ‘F*ck,’ Mr Howie said. ‘Okay. We need to go bigger.’

  I understood this. Mr Howie wanted to blow more things up so the infected would focus on us instead of the survivors.

  ‘Big, Dave. It has to be big. As big as you can.’

  ‘Yes, Mr Howie.’

  ‘Which way?’ he asked me. I pointed and we started running but the infected were running against us. I shot many of them in the head as I could see in my mind which ones were going to be in my way.

  Then they all stopped.

  ‘Tappy’s done it!’ Mr Howie shouted. We ran faster for a few seconds but then the other horde found a new CP and they all started charging again. But I think Mr Howie had now got their attention because they didn’t charge for the north terminal. They charged at us.

  Carmen

  We’d killed thousands, but it didn’t make a blind bit of difference, because when the smoke cleared enough, we could still see tens of thousands of them pouring across the airfield towards us.

  The bridge had snapped off leaving a small chunk jutting out. But that meant the hordes would then go for the next piers, and those didn’t have a nice bridge to blow up.

  Those piers were connected to the north terminal.

  On top of that. The smoke and heat and chemical fumes were pouring in through the broken bridge and making us all cough as we fell back towards the last barricade.

  I think we all lost track for a moment in that chaos, but then we saw half of the infected go still and figured Mads and Books had dropped the CP.

  I knew Tappy was going for the other one. But we were still coughing and clearing our eyes and picking ourselves up from the mini nuke that Dave set off when he blew the fuel truck.

  Then a moment or two later the other horde went still.

  ‘Well done, Tappy,’ Paula croaked as we shared a look for a second.

  A second and no more, because that’s when the first horde found a new CP and started charging again. Except they didn’t go for us. They went for Howie and his team.

  Reginald

  It appeared that Howie had now triggered the fury of the second horde, because they came back and started charging at him. Which also meant they charged at Charlie, and Danny and Mo, and Blowers, Cookey and Nick, and Clarence.

  I had to get them all together. It was the only hope they had and so while Jess was getting increasingly angry and kicking so hard I had to hold onto my desk I tried to form a plan.

  ‘Joan,’ I said into the radio. ‘Guide them together. Tappy, you need to pick them up. TAPPY! DO YOU READ ME?’

  Natasha

  So I’m thrashing and bucking and I can hear Reggie going nuts on the radio and everyone is shouting but the smoke is still pouring across and I’m buried under the bodies. It was too hot. I couldn’t breathe. I was still stabbing them, but my arm was getting wedged down and I couldn’t get the knife up anymore. Then I dropped it and I’m trying to bite at the fuckers, but the only one I could reach with my mouth was already dead and all I was doing was biting a dead guy.

  Charlotte

  They turned on me the second they came back. I’d just got back to my feet and was picking the grit from my face and calling for the others when the first horde howled and charged. Then I was running backwards and dragging my axe overhead from my bag and taking a head off. But more were coming in. More than I could fight. I took a few down. A male then a female. Then a teenager and a kid, but it was relentless.

  I span around and caught sight of the tower as a big female lunged at me then flew back off her feet with her head blowing out as I gasped and offered a fast prayer to Joanie on overwatch.

  ‘Charlie. Fifty yards to your right. Danny and Mo,’ Joan said.

  I set off through the chaos and it felt like I was back on the hockey pitch. Dodging and weaving on a run for the goal. Then I saw the Danny and Mo back-to-back.

  ‘YOU TWO! WITH ME NOW!’ I shouted out as I ran in and clubbed a female down going for Danny as Joan shot another one to my right. ‘Stay at my back. Joanie, where’s Blowers?’

  ‘Go left. No, the other left. That’s it. Run that way. Sergeant Blowers. You have Charlie, Danny and Mo coming in on your six.’

  ‘Roger that.’

  I set off with Danny and Mo at my back. It was hard going though. Especially with so many coming at us, and I could still hear Reginald shouting for Tappy who wasn’t responding.

  Reginald

  The damned van was rocking so violently I couldn’t risk standing up. The monitor was shaking and the thuds coming from Jess kicking her doors was deafening. But I had to keep looking for the CP’s and do what I could to guide them out of danger, and I was desperately worried about Tappy, because the Saxon was our greatest asset on the ground.

  If we lost that we’d lose the battle.

  Natasha

  Honestly. I was about to die. I couldn’t get air in. I couldn’t move.

  I think I kind of accepted it because I started to wish I’d told Nick that I loved him. I wished we could have grown old together and have babies. I wished we’d had time for me to ask Charlie what was wrong cos she’d been upset all day. I wished so many things and all of them were quick. Like these images flashing in my mind, but the most powerful one was my dad. Tappy Drinkwater. The greatest man I ever knew. I wished I could see him again. It made me angry, but I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t get free, and all this blood was going down my throat and I was drowning while being crushed.

  Charlotte

  ‘Not far, Charlie. Just a bit more.’ Joan said as we fought on, but the compression increased and the infected coming against us got worse until all we could do was fight and walk instead of run and gain ground.

  It was all so fast, and I was also worried because Tappy was still not responding and there was no word from Mr Howie, or Dave, and I couldn’t see Clarence. Then I swung out to take a female down. I got her in the neck and as she went down her hand slapped me across the face with her ring cutting my cheek down to the bone, and in that second’s worth of distraction I was taken down.

  Reginald

  Charlie went down and I felt the whole van lift on one side from Jess slamming her body side to side into the trailer. I fell over my desk and sent all my books and maps across the floor. Then the other side lifted and again I was thrown. I feared she would tip us over or kill herself and I had no doubt she could sense the danger and fear Charlie was in.

  I had no other choice and so I threw myself at the sliding door and got it open enough to fall out and run to the back of the trailer. Good lord I was terrified. Jess scared the hell out of me. But I darted forward and kicked at one of the bolts then shouted out from the pain in my toe, but the bolt held firm and so I had to go back and prise it open then run around and
do the other one.

  At which point the ramp pretty much flew off the hinges and a very wild eyed and mouth-frothing Jess came out. Clearly furious that she’d been held inside for so long. She even came at me. I swear that she did. She used her head to knock me down at the same time as she kicked both of her back legs into the side of my van. Then she was off. Galloping away and I scampered back into the safety of my van.

  Which was no longer safe as Jess had buckled the sliding door. I pushed it to then checked the monitor and nearly wept at the awful sight of Danny and Mo now down on the ground with Charlie. All of them getting swamped. Blowers, Cookey and Nick were trying to reach them, but the onslaught they faced was just too great. There really was no other choice and so I grabbed the radio.

  ‘Howie! Detonate! You have to detonate!’

  Natasha

  I knew I was dying when I heard Karma Chameleon by Culture Club playing in my head.

  Dad loved it. He’d sing it all the time. I grew up learning how to take engines apart while singing that song.

  I heard it then. The jaunty harmonica intro and Boy George’s awesome voice. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I was drowning in blood and being crushed to death at the same time, but at least I was going out listening to my dad’s favourite song.

  Reginald

  ‘Charlie is down! Danny and Mo are down! Howie. You have to detonate! THEY NEED THE HIVE MIND!’

  I broke off as I saw Nick, Cookey and Blowers give a surge of furious energy and break through the final few lines to reach Charlie, Danny and Mo.

  Oh my gosh it gave me a surge of hope that those three lads were still up and fighting. The unkillable Sergeant Blowers. The forever smiling Cookey, and Nick with his dashing looks and strong arms. It was going to be okay. They would save the day, and all would be well.