George (Book 2): The Long Road Ahead

by Scarlet Le Clair

  “See you again. I hope.”

  We watched them drive away until the dust settled. I was excited to be with my friends again. Even though not all of us that had escaped Duncan’s crew was here I had the most important ones. I vowed that one day when this was all over that I would go back and visit my family. My heart ached for leaving them behind, along with my precious album of family photos.

  I gave Nia Billy’s dog tags, she didn’t say anything, just hugged me tightly and got into the back of the car. I hopped in too, a little excited for the journey ahead.

  There was excited chatter from everyone. We didn’t want to have left camp three and some of our friends behind. I was going to miss Kandace, Annabelle and nurse Amy the most. Annabelle, the doctor, had chosen to stay behind to help those who needed her there. For that we were sad but for the adventure ahead, the journey into the unknown, of what we would discover next, we were all tremendously happy and excited.

  We got to the place that John had led us to after three days, not trusting to drive in the dark. We would pull over then take it in turns to sleep, there were also a lot more road blocks along the route. Set up by the military to try to control the situation, now long abandoned.

  We had travelled miles across the country and still had not seen another living person. There were plenty of undead, however these ones seemed even slower than the others.

  The place looked amazing, thick, high fences covered in barbed wire. Two exits; one East and one West. Massive gates on wheels, covered in hard wooden boards.

  We drove around it three times to check out the security, there were a few shamblers around but otherwise all was quiet.

  We stopped our cars at the West gate just next to the security cabin. Nia was driving our jeep; we had been taking it in turns to drive, each of us exhausted by knowing that we had to keep moving as far away as possible from camp three.

  Will radioed the cars behind “keep your engines running for now, John can you come and join us up front? Over”

  Quiet static returned, Will slipped it back into his shirt pocket. Today he wore what were once dark denim jeans but were now quite faded, a black shirt, and black boots.

  John joined us in front of the gate and knocked on it loudly. Will and I kept an eye out for zombies.

  Nobody replied, John pulled at the latch on the gate but it didn’t open.

  “It’s padlocked from the other side, I may be able to get a bolt cutter through.” He ran to his truck and back to us quickly. He looked excited, I smiled at him.

  “always wanted to try it” he explained sheepishly.

  There was a satisfying clunk as the chain broke and then the clatter as it swung down along the inside of the gate. He looked smug and grabbed hold of the gate, pulling it open with two hands. It was on wheels but extremely large and heavy and so it took some effort. Normally it would run on electric, now it ran on man power.

  John was putting all his energy into opening it as Will checked out our surroundings. Neither of them saw the gun.

  “Duck!” I screamed.

  Both of them used to training now hit the deck quickly as I ducked behind the fence as a bullet whizzed past us.

  “I don’t want no trouble, turn around and leave. Or I will shoot” a gruff sounding voice called out, it was followed by a sickly cough and the gate being heaved closed again. We all looked at each other in shock. We should have expected the response we got but we had thought we would have been welcomed with open arms. My heart was pounding from the shock of the gun firing at us.

  “I’ll take care of this” John boldly walked up to the closed gate and banged hard on it three times. He reminded me of the wolf from the three pigs story; I just hoped that he didn’t end up in a stew.

  Chapter 13

  “I’m looking for Mick. He told me if I was ever in trouble to come here. My name is John, is Mick here?”

  “John? John Simmons?” the voice returned.

  “Yep that’s me. Can you tell Mick that I’m here?”

  “Come on in son” we heard the gate open further. Followed by another coughing fit.

  John got up and walked through the gate with a wide grin on his face. “Mick, you old coot, you nearly shot me!”

  “Eh, wouldn’t have killed ya. Can’t be too careful these days.” He grinned, still wheezing.

  “Can we come in? all of us?” John gesture to the three cars behind me.

  “Yeah bring your folks in, there’s only me here” Mick was racked by another coughing fit that nearly brought him to his knees.

  “Mick” John was worried. He held up his old friend as Will called in the rest of our people. The car and two trucks parked just inside the gate.

  Mick was sat in one of four golf carts by the first house that we could see. John handed him his water bottle.

  One by one our people got out of their cars or trucks. We stood still and looked around, amazed. There seemed to be a whole town inside these walls. It was a beautiful and serene place. So quiet.

  “Where’s everyone else?” John asked Mick, looking around.

  “Nobody here but me. Shit hit the fan on the weekend when I was on duty” he stopped to take a deep breath.

  I could hear the wheeze from where I stood. I looked pointedly at ben and he hurried towards Mick with his medical bag in hand.

  Whilst he saw to Mick, John came to explain to us.

  “This is a movie set, Mick there was head of security. Once this place is locked down tight its locked down. So maybe we will be safe here for a while.”

  “sounds amazing”

  I was excited, I couldn’t wait to have a look around. I remember there being a huge fuss about this movie to be filmed in the Welsh mountains. A huge Hollywood star was coming over and only the best security would do.

  Will pulled the gate closed. I could see him huffing and puffing as he pulled the heavy gate across. Just went to show how strong Mick was.

  Ben came over to talk with John to advise him on Micks health.

  “Hey this is fantastic” Nia came up behind us and twirled in a circle, looking at the stunning old houses that lined the street.

  “Only a few of the houses, the town hall and the Police station are real buildings. Most of the stuff inside are just props. I’ve been staying in the first house there.” Mick paused and looked towards us, taking a few deep breaths. It still sounded ragged though, and caused him to cough uncontrollably.

  I looked to Ben who was still talking with John. It wasn’t looking good. There was a lot of head shaking and frowning.

  “Feel…Free… to. Look…around… anything you need” he was getting worse.

  “I’m going to take Mick indoors with Ben. You guys go look around. We can stay as long as we want.” John and Lewis placed their arms around Mick and took him into the house he had made his own. The rest of us broke off into small groups to look around our fake town.

  I was with Nia and Will, Mr and Mrs Snow followed behind slowly. We walked from one end to the other. It was a huge place that mimicked a real town. It had a real park which now had our handful of children in. The Snow’s decided to sit on the bench and watch the children play. Revelling in their laughter. For the first time in months the children were allowed to act like children.

  There was also a mini golf course. I hoped that one day soon I could get in a few rounds.

  My golden find for the day was far across the set, close to the left-hand wall. Three huge trailers. The ones that the stars can rest in when they are not filming. I was so excited look inside that I grabbed Nia by the hand and practically dragged her along. Will jogged to keep up with us.

  I tried the door of the first trailer but it was locked, I made a mental note to ask Mick if he had keys to it later.

  The second trailer door swung right open nearly knocking me off the metal steps I used to reach it. I stuck my head in quickly then back out, I couldn’t hear anything or smell any decay. The door to the bedrooms and bathroom was closed. I s
tepped inside, knife ready and moved about slowly but loudly. Still nothing returned, all was quiet.

  “Seems safe so far” I called out to Nia and Will who had waited outside.

  “always wanted one of these” Nia entered first followed by Will.

  “Then m’lady this shall be yours” I smiled and gave a small bow.

  Will knocked at the bedroom door and listened. “You ready” he looked at me.

  “Yep” I nodded.

  He opened the door that led to the bedrooms and bathroom. All of which had their doors wide open. He went first checking out each room as I followed.

  “Wow” it was amazing.

  There was a double bedroom, a bunk bed room and one family sized bathroom.

  “Oh my god. It’s hers!!” Nia was in the double bedroom looking inside the sliding glass doored wardrobe. She was referring to the huge Hollywood starlet that was lead in the film. Beautiful and expensive clothes and shoes filled the whole of the wardrobe space.

  “Knock Knock, any one home” Adam called out sticking his head through the door.

  “Come in man” I called. He had Amelia with him holding her hand.

  “Me, you have to come and see this” Nia Squealed still inside the bedroom.

  Amelia went into the bedroom following the sound of Nia’s silvery voice. And then ensued the excited chatter.

  Adam looked at Will and I confused. “Don’t even ask man” I laughed.

  We sat at the table in the living area/kitchenette and chatted away as the girls put on a fashion show for us. They looked so happy. For the first time in ages Nia’s face had a little colour to it and she was beaming. As was Amelia.

  Will and Adam went to check out the other two trailers that neighboured this one. I went through the cupboards in the kitchen and found two cupboards full of protein shakes and bars. I made the mistake of opening the fridge and nearly vomited at the smell and sight of the rotten food within. Well at least we had the shakes and bars that we could share out.

  Adam and Will came back in through the doors each eating a bar like the ones I had found. They placed three on the table, one for me and each of the girls.

  “There’s cupboards full of this next door and a small fridge in the bedroom filled with bottled water.” Adam grinned.

  “I have a crazy idea…” Will started. Looking between the four of us.

  “What?” I enquired, Will had an excited look on his face also. I don’t think I’d ever seen a look like that on his face before.

  “What if us five take this trailer? Adam and Amelia can take the double, Nia and I in the bunks and you George out here? We can get the Snows to move in next door as its all on one level and smaller than this one.” He was so animated that we all got swept up in the excitement of having a beautiful, safe home. One where we may be able to grow old and hopefully outlive the zombies.

  We exchanged hugs and each of us had wide grins on our faces. We decide that Will and Nia would go immediately and find the Snow’s to show them the trailer and that Adam, Amelia and I would go and ask Mick if it was ok that we have the trailers to stay in.

  Adam and Amelia walked on ahead, Nia and Will in the middle and I trailed behind. Watching my friends, happy, laughing and joking. The familiar painful feeling returned to my chest as I thought of the people we had lost along the way. My family, Billy, the Captain and the rest. It was too painful to think about and I knew that if I carried on this train of thought that it would cripple me for days. Right now, my friends needed me to be alert and stay on track. If we were to make this our new home then we needed to get more information from Mick; food and water supplies, how secure the place was etc. We needed to talk to the other members in our group to see how they felt about staying here.

  So instead of dwelling in my feelings I buried them deep and focused on the fences that surrounded the entire area. We still had not checked the inside where they did most of the filming due to the weather in Wales being wet for most of the year.

  Nia and Will broke off right to go and talk to the Snow’s where they still sat, watching the children play in the park area. Heidi and Andrew Price were also sat adjacent to the Snow’s watching their children.

  I jogged a little to catch up with Adam and Amelia and the three of us approached Micks house together.

  Before we could knock the door, it opened and we were faced with a tearful John.

  “He’s sick” he explained.

  “Mick?” Amelia asked confused.

  “Yeah, cancer. Said he was diagnosed before the outbreak and the last few weeks he’s been getting worse. Ben has offered some pills to help him but he refused. Says we need to keep them” John staggered and Adam led him to a porch swing.

  “What did you guys need?” John asked after a moment of trying to compose himself.

  “We uh, found three trailers. One that will sleep six and another will sleep four. We wondered if the snows could have the one and if Adam and I along with George, Nia and Will could take the bigger one?” Amelia asked.

  “We also wanted to know about food rations and water. We don’t have a lot left from what we brought from camp” I chipped in, sorry to be adding more questions and stress but we needed these decisions made as soon as possible.

  John nodded, he looked tired.

  “Take the Trailers, there’s only Mick been living here and this is his place” John raised his hand to the house behind him. “Ben, Lewis, Cory and I will be staying here with Mick incase he gets any worse. Can you gather everyone in the house next door and I’ll bring over some plans that Mick gave me?”

  “Yep, I’m on it” I smiled and started to walk back towards the park, that’s where I had seen the most of our people had gathered.

  “Hey all, can you meet at house number two asap?”

  People nodded and started to walk back towards the main entrance where the houses were situated.

  I did another lap around the perimeter just in case I had missed anyone. I couldn’t wait to see inside the building that held various sets.

  When I entered the second house I was met by happy smiling faces, all chattering away, ecstatic about this new place.

  John, Lewis and Cory entered the room, Cory went to play with the Prices kids who sent them outside to play.

  “Right then, thanks everyone for coming” John spoke up, laying some plans on the huge dining room table.

  The room got quiet very quickly. Everyone eager to hear what he had to say.

  “Right, up until now, Mick was the only person staying at this place. He says that he’s seen the odd zombie here and there but nothing he couldn’t handle. The fences and gates were fortified to keep out fans and stalkers when the actors were here. There are three huge Winnebago’s and three real houses. Each house has four bedrooms. We have the food that we brought and Mick says that there’s a food van here which has cases of water and dried fruit packets. He isn’t sure but he thinks that the food van has gas bottles to run the stove but he doesn’t know if there is gas left in any of them. There is also a fully functioning well here for fresh water.” He smiled widely at the last part.

  This was an amazing find, a well. No more looking for water. We could keep the crates of water for when we went on supply runs etc.

  “Ok, we can have some dinner together tonight and discuss who wants to live where and wait until morning to work out our rations. Is that ok with everyone?” Will asked.

  They all nodded one by one, Mr and Mrs Snow hugged each other tightly. I smiled at Nia, hopefully this would be our forever home. I wouldn’t allow myself get my hopes up though, I’d thought that about our camp and look how that turned out.

  Later that night we all had dinner together as Will had suggested. We pulled extra chairs and another table into the second house from the third house. It was the best night that I’d had in a while. In fact I think it was the best night that any of us had had in a long time.

  We had fruit that Nia and Will had brought from camp, that was
our starters. For our main we had some dried military meals and for dessert we each had a half a protein bar. The children had half a chocolate breakfast bar each. It was a lively evening with plenty of smiles and laughter.

  Whilst the children played in the large back garden, us adults had a level headed, fair discussion on who was going to live where.

  It was agreed that John, Lewis, Ben and Cory would stay at Micks place to keep an eye on him, Mr and Mrs Snow would take the smaller Winnebago with Maddy and Amber.

  Nia, Will, Adam, Amelia and Myself would be in the larger Winnebago.

  Heidi, Andrew and their kids would take the second house that we were having dinner in.

  Brian and Sheila were going to take the third smaller trailer.

  With the Prices permission, I took a wander around the house whilst everyone else played a game of eye spy with the kids. The house was all open plan. It had a large living area and dining room all fully furnished in plush, expensive furniture and accessories in cream and gold. The kitchen had grey cupboards and black counter tops and a double fridge which of course was no good to us now.

  Upstairs there were four bedrooms, each with huge king-sized beds in them and two of which had en suite bathrooms. All covered in what looked like expensive bedding all in shades of White and Grey with accessories of lemon, lime and orange throughout. What a way to live, I walked out onto the balcony through the glass double doors in the master bedroom and sat on the white metal chair out there.

  It looked out over the front of the house, I could see the park from where I was. It was quiet and peaceful, aside from the laughter and the voices of my friends down below. In this setting, it was easy to forget the horrors that lay outside these gates.

  I must have been sat up there around twenty minutes when the hushed voices of Andrew and Heidi Price got louder, floating up the stairs.