“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking. I thought we’d be okay this way,” she said as another RAM smashed against the armoured body of the vehicle.
“Jesus,” said Lucy as she spun the wheel, thrust the gear stick into position and reversed into the curb, making the vehicle shudder and stall.
“Arrrggghhh!” screamed Samantha as two creatures smashed against her door, threatening to shatter the strengthened glass. “Lucy, hurry!” she yelled as another, then another reached them and started pounding against the bonnet, trying to claw their way in. “Lucy!” she screamed again and began to start crying. It was dark, but they could see more fast approaching silhouettes as the headlights cast a radius of ghoulish light.
“Shut up, Samantha!” yelled Lucy, as she turned the key again. The engine coughed then roared as Lucy pressed hard on the accelerator. A line of deathly horror masks gave her a shadowy greeting as she looked up. More and more of them appeared as the ambulance became surrounded. Thudding fists, heads and bodies, guttural growls that grumbled through the thick glass, all filled the ambulance with a spine-tingling dirge that made Lucy want to take all her oxycodone tablets at once. She put her left foot down on the clutch, engaged first gear, put her right on the accelerator and slowly, the wheels began to turn. The movement of the heavy vehicle meant nothing to the vicious creatures attempting to gain entry. They continued to hit, body-check and claw until the ambulance had gained enough speed to shake off the last of them.
The odd RAM ran out from a garden or side street as the ambulance sped along, but there was nothing like the massing they had just experienced. Samantha dabbed away her tears with her cuff. “I’m sorry,” she said, sniffing.
“No, I’m sorry,” replied Lucy. “This is a shitty nightmare, we’re both stressed. I really hope you’re right about this.”
“About what?” asked Samantha.
“About this journey. Because we’re heading straight into Hell.”
“Well, I suppose we’ll find out soon, won’t we?” she replied.
Lucy looked across at her. “Wait a minute, a little while back, this guy was the second coming.”
“I don’t know anything anymore.”
Lucy continued until they were back at the bus stop where they had parked earlier. She pulled on the handbrake and turned towards Samantha. “Listen. Before we head back into the city, I need to know it’s going to be worth it. Take a breath Samantha, and tell me that the idea of heading to Mike’s hinged on more than him having a cute ass.” Samantha opened the door and climbed out of the ambulance. “Hey, where are you going?” asked Lucy, unbuckling her seatbelt and following her.
The young nurse placed her hands on the cold stone of the wall and watched as a green firework display began to light up the sky more with each moment that passed. “Oh my God,” she said distantly.
This was really it, thought Lucy.
Lucy came to join her, searching the shadows. “This is a really dumb idea, sweetie, we should head back into the ambulance.”
Samantha carried on speaking, almost as if Lucy wasn’t there. “Mike is all about honour. He always was. Family and honour. My sister was always popular with guys, she’s had a few boyfriends, nothing serious, but when she had to break up with Mike, she was devastated. Nobody had ever had that effect on her. He’s special. If we go to him for help, he won’t let us down,” she said, and then turned towards Lucy. “When I saw him yesterday, he was the same man he’d always been.
“I hope you’re right, because this is a big gamble we’re taking,” replied Lucy.
“Wherever we head, it’s going to be a gamble,” said Samantha and walked back to the ambulance.
Lucy took one last look towards the flare lit sky, and climbed back into the ambulance. “Okay,” she said, “Let’s do this, buckle up.”
The ambulance moved off once again. They were both grateful for the quiet drive to the ring road, because the green tinge of the sky to their right was a constant reminder of what they were driving into. The traffic lights hadn’t been in operation for weeks, Lucy carefully crossed the carriage way to reach the other side and put her foot down. The ambulance picked up speed passing football fields, schools, a long abandoned service station, but thankfully, no RAMs. Then Lucy caught a flash in the corner of her eye. She looked more carefully in the wing mirror.
Then Samantha saw it too. “Oh no!” she said. “Is it them? Is it the raiders?”
“You’re seeing what I’m seeing, Samantha,” replied Lucy. “There’s no way of telling from this distance.”
The headlights were getting larger, as the distance between the two vehicles narrowed. Lucy put her foot down further on the accelerator, but it made just a marginal difference. This other vehicle was blazing a trail towards them.
“Oh shit! Shit! Shit!” said Samantha, squeezing the ceiling grab handle.
“Why won’t this piece of shit go any faster?” asked Lucy looking at the speedometer. The needle was registering eighty, but still the vehicle behind was getting closer, and fast.
The full beam of the headlights was nearly blinding as the reflection lit up the cab of the ambulance.
“What are we going to do?” asked Samantha.
“Hold tight, if they come up alongside, I’ll ram them. This baby is armour plated, if nothing else we can win a nudging match,” said Lucy.
The souped-up VW Golf pulled alongside them, and Lucy readied herself to smash the ambulance into their side, but then it accelerated even more, and sped past them. Its powerful beams and rear lights disappeared into the distance and Samantha and Lucy were in shock for a moment, but then they both let out a nervous laugh, then a bigger one and an even bigger one. They realised the situation had got to them both.
The occupants in the Golf were probably just like them, desperately trying to find safety when there appeared to be none.
“Okay,” said Samantha, we stay straight on across the next roundabout, and the one after that, then we turn left into Green Flare City.”
Lucy just nodded. The bright green skies told her terror had come to Leeds, and she was about to drive straight into it. She followed Samantha’s instructions and the wide ring road gradually became lined with houses instead of fields. She could see RAMs in the periphery of the headlights’ beams, but they had found prey. Poor unfortunates who had tried to make a run to their cars or a run to their neighbours; not wanting to face the terror alone.
A RAM ran out in front of her, she didn’t have time to react, and the creature’s body flew into the air and crumpled in a pile of broken limbs at the side of the road. She looked in the wing mirror to see it, and smashed into another, then another, she swerved to miss a fourth.
“What are you swerving for?” asked Samantha.
“I don’t want to find out that one of those things has been dragged underneath us when we park up. The fewer we hit, the less the risk,” replied Lucy.
“Okay, turn! Turn!” said Samantha.
Lucy hit the brake and turned left causing the ambulance to tilt a little, but she corrected it quickly. The skies above them were lit up by new flares all the time. She saw one launch from a street parallel to them. Another RAM rushed out, she speeded up again as it leapt, and its face smashed against the side of Samantha’s window.
Samantha let out a scream and started shaking again. “This is too much. This isn’t a good idea. We should get out of here.” Another RAM jumped at the ambulance, this time on Lucy’s side, and Samantha let out another frightened scream.
“Where now?” asked Lucy. When she got no response, she looked across at Samantha. “Hey!” she shouted, “Where now?”
Samantha brought her head up. “It...it’s the next right,” she said.
Lucy barely slowed down to take the turn, smashing into another creature as it ran across the road. “Where?”
“About two hundred metres down this road,” replied Samantha.
Lucy switched the headlights off and took her foot
from the accelerator in an attempt to create as little noise or light disturbance as possible. Two more RAMs came at them head on, this time she didn’t try to avoid them. There were cars parked on either side of the road and the last thing she needed was to crash the ambulance. She plowed over them and let out a relieved breath when she saw the two bodies lying still on the road.
“There,” said Samantha, pointing. Lucy pulled up, unbuckled her belt, then Samantha’s before rushing around to the passenger side, opening it up and pulling Samantha out.
“Samantha, you need to pull yourself together, c’mon,” said Lucy, recognising the tall, solid garden gate from the day before. She took the younger woman’s hand and pulled her into the garden, levering the gate closed behind them. The pair of them scanned the green tinged garden, there was no sign of movement.
They walked up to the door. Lucy knocked frantically on the hard wood. After a few seconds, there was no answer, so she knocked even harder, immediately checking her surrounds to see if any creatures had been alerted by the noise.
“Please tell me they’re here, please God,” muttered Samantha.
Lucy banged on the door again, she had nothing to lose. If they didn’t get in, they were going to be dead anyway.
“WHO THE HELL IS IT?” demanded a voice from behind the door.
“Mike… Mike, please let us in, It’s Samantha and Lucy. The door immediately swung open, and the two women stumbled in.
Lucy went to sit on the stairs as the heavy wooden door closed behind them. They’d made it. At the very least, they weren’t going to die alone on the streets. At the most, if this man was all Samantha made out he was, they may just have a slim hope.
THE BEGINNING
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, last, always and forever, I want to thank my wonderful wife, Tina. Without her, all my stories would just be a bunch of strange voices in my head.
I want to thank the members of my fan club. I honestly couldn't wish for a more friendly, loyal, and supportive group of people to share my books with.
Of course... the professionals. Roma Gray - a wonderful editor and friend. She is great to work with, and makes the impossible possible. And the amazing Christian Bentulan - he is always great to work with and I am in awe of his abilities.
And finally... A massive thank you to all of you. Even after three books, I still find it difficult to believe that people want to spend their time reading my work. It is as magical as it is humbling. Thank you all.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
I really hope you enjoyed this book and would be very grateful if you took a minute to leave a review on Amazon.
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Other books by Christopher Artinian:
Safe Haven: Rise of the RAMs
Safe Haven: Realm of the Raiders
Safe Haven: Reap of the Righteous
Anthologies featuring short stories by Christopher Artinian
Undead Worlds: A Reanimated Writers Anthology
Featuring: Before Safe Haven: Losing the Battle by Christopher Artinian
Tales from Zombie Road: The Long Haul Anthology
Featuring: Condemned by Christopher Artinian
Treasured Chests: A Zombie Anthology for Breast Cancer Care
Featuring: Last Light by Christopher Artinian
CHRISTOPHER ARTINIAN
Christopher Artinian was born and raised in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Wanting to escape life in a big city and concentrate more on working to live than living to work, he and his family moved to the Outer Hebrides in the north-west of Scotland in 2004.
He released his debut novel, Safe Haven: Rise of the Rams in February 2017. This was the first instalment of a post-apocalyptic zombie trilogy. Book two, Safe Haven: Realm of the Raiders continues the fast moving and often terrifying story and book three, Reap of the Righteous concludes the first chapter in the gripping saga. With two new Safe Haven stories in production, fans can rest assured that Mike and his family are going to be around for some time to come.
In October 2017, he won the prestigious Zombie Book of the Month Award for Rise of the RAMs. In December 2017 he was also awarded with the prestigious, "Best New Author" prize by the Reanimated Writers group. In addition, Safe Haven won the "Best Series" award in the popular Good Morning Zompoc members poll.
For fans of the Safe Haven books, a standalone short story featuring one of the main Safe Haven characters was published as part of an anthology (Undead Worlds). Christopher was also featured in the Treasured Chests anthology and another of his stories, "Condemned" was released in the Zombie Road anthology.
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
CHRISTOPHER ARTINIAN
Before Safe Haven_Lucy Page 7
