“Ok” Lily spoke quickly, cutting off an angry retort from Rachel. “We are trying to decide what to do. Should we stay here, or perhaps find somewhere else?”
“Oh.” I paused a moment to gather my thoughts. I had already been considering this anyway. There was no guarantee that everyone would agree with my reasoning, but hopefully at least Lily would. She was as much a driving force behind our little group as anyone.
“I actually think we need to keep moving, ideally north and not south.” I said.
“Why?” Lily asked.
“Well look at it this way. London and Birmingham, both major cities to the south have nearly ten million residents between them and their outlying boroughs. Not every one of those people will be a zombie, but enough will be to ensure that it would be a death sentence going anywhere near them.
Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester have easily a million people between them and they are close enough, all of those people who became zombies will be heading in all directions before too long, looking for food. If we stay here or go south, we will have far too many undead to handle.” I looked around the group; they were at least all listening to my words.
“So what do you suggest?” asked Pat.
“We load up the van with whatever supplies we can scavenge and head away from here. We stay on the back roads, avoid large towns and cities and go north. Perhaps to the coast, if we find a boat we can head out to one of the smaller islands that are close by and use it as a base. Though it will probably be best to find somewhere to hide out for the winter and try for an island in the spring.”
“It’s as good a plan as any” said Lily with a sigh, “But what about those ones out there? We can’t go anywhere until they are gone.”
“If someone can get to the van and drive slowly away, they should start to follow. The van can draw them away from here, while everyone else gathers together anything useful. Then it can make its way around the reservoir and pick us up.”
“I can do that” Pat volunteered.
“Fine by me. I will wait till you draw most of them away and clear out any stragglers.” I told him.
“Unless anyone else has anything to add, I think that’s the best suggestion we have” Lily spoke to the group. When she was sure no one had anything to say, she started issuing instructions. “Right then, Claire. You and Maggie gather whatever food is worth bringing, also some pots and containers. Rachel you gather up some bedding, pillows and blankets. I will collect all the clothes I can find. Ryan...”
“I will be outside clearing away any zombies” I interrupted.
“Don’t do anything stupid. Be careful” She said sternly. I flashed a quick grin in her direction and left the room with Pat following behind.
At the bottom of the stairs I outlined a brief plan of action for Pat. The majority of the zombies were in the garden of the house next door so he should be able to make it to the van without any real problems. I reached out and unlocked the door. I glanced at Pat; he looked nervous but gave me a quick nod. I pulled the door open and he stepped through.
I closed the door behind him and immediately went through to the living room to stand behind the curtains and peek through the gap. I got there in time to see Pat leap the garden wall and pull open the door to the van. One of the benefits of an apocalypse, you can leave your vehicle unlocked as the chances of someone stealing it are slim when the majority of the population are dead.
The van roared to life causing an almost immediate wave of sound from the massed undead as they moved as rapidly as they could towards the sound of potential food. Pat waited until the last possible moment before setting off slowly along the road and away from the houses. I waited as patiently as I could for the van to head out of sight with a trailing group of zombies following before I left the window.
From the sound of activity coming from upstairs I figured the rest of the group knew that it was time to get ready so I slipped out of the front door without a word. I did feel somewhat protective of my little group, but being around people all the time was exhausting. I was genuinely looking forward to being outside alone for a while.
I cautiously approached the elderly man’s house. The garden was a mess with plants trampled and a variety of disturbing looking fluids spattered around. The large front windows were cracked and smeared liberally with dark blood. The door was hanging from the frame on just one hinge and covered in as much foulness as the window and garden combined. I saw no zombies but to be sure, I made a quick circuit of the houses before heading into the old man’s home.
The dead man’s house was dark and as lacking in electricity as the house next door where we had been for such a short time. The layout was much the same, though the furnishings were older to suit the tastes of an elderly occupant. Blood and grime was smeared everywhere. I ignored the upstairs for now and moved into the living room.
Like the entrance way, the living room was empty but a thumping coming from the closed kitchen door gave me reason to pause. I had no idea how many would be in the kitchen, but the food it contained would be useful so I needed to go in. The door opened into the kitchen so the zombie that was pushing against it was unintentionally preventing its own exit. I readied my hatchet and approached the door.
As the thumping was reasonably regular I suspected it was only one zombie that had become trapped in the kitchen. I gave the door a tentative push. It opened less than an inch before slamming shut as the creature behind the door banged against it once more. I waited a moment, counting the seconds between thumps and timing a firm kick just right, so that the door slammed into the zombie as it was moving away.
The door opened about a foot wide this time, more than enough space for me to work with. I threw myself against the door smiling at the idea that I was doing, just the same as the zombie on the other side. The door opened wider, the zombie pushed further backwards into the kitchen.
In life the zombie would likely have been considered pretty. She had short blonde hair, a pretty face and plenty of flesh on display in her low cut dress. Of course that much flesh on display was not a good thing when confronted by zombies. They had plenty of places to bite and tear her flesh that left large holes with bone showing through. With most of her throat missing she couldn’t make much noise as she saw me and reached out with broken and bloody hands.
I swung the hatchet fast and hard towards her skull, managing to hit her high on the forehead. Bone gave way beneath the blade with a crunch and whatever light may have been behind the zombies eyes was surely snuffed as she collapsed to the ground. I quickly glanced around the kitchen to ensure no other creatures lay in wait before heading upstairs.
The house contained no more undead. I combed the rooms quickly for any threats and finding none, began a more thorough search for anything that may be of use. A call from the front of the house reminded me that I should perhaps let the others know that the house was clear.
An annoyed Lily was waiting at the front door holding a large carving knife as I came down the stairs. I quietly confirmed the house was empty and she called Rachel over to help ransack the kitchen. The house had little else of value for our current situation though it did have a small wind up radio which we were happy to find.
Pat returned as we were finishing piling up our looted items by the front door of the house we had sought refuge in. He reported that all went well and the zombies were likely still wandering around the other side of the reservoir. We soon had the loot in the van and we all climbed in, Pat remained in the driver’s seat with Rachel beside him. Claire and Lily made a nest of blankets for the rest of us and we settled in for the journey north.
Chapter 4
The immediate problems we faced with travelling north would of course be the town we had already fled once and following that the larger cities of Leeds and Bradford. If we could get past those safely then we could head north to Skipton and beyond that the Yorkshire Dales national park.
I had visited the place years before and remembered e
nough to think that it may be a good place for us to lose ourselves for a bit. The dales consist of plenty of hills, forests and deep valleys cut by rivers spread over nearly seven hundred square miles. With scattered hamlets and some small towns we could find somewhere secure to last out the winter with places close by to scavenge for food and equipment that would help us survive this apocalypse.
At the very least we would be away from some of the larger cities and the main roads that would be the easiest way for hordes of undead to travel along. I quietly suggested all of this to Lily and Claire who seemed quite taken with the idea and after a short conversation with Pat and Rachel it was agreed that we would at least try.
Pat assured us that he would let us know if he reached any problems with driving us past the more built up areas. Since I had little interest in watching him navigate the abandoned cars and corpses moving or otherwise, I lay back and tried to get comfortable. Maggie had succumbed to sleep, curled up on her side lying next to Claire and Lily who were chatting.
I had little to add to any small talk and so closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep so they wouldn’t feel any particular need to include me. Despite my lack of interest in whatever they had to say, the van was small and I couldn’t help but overhear them talking. Before long they started to speak about their lives and I started to pay attention and opened my eyes a little.
Claire was speaking about her job, “I worked as a cook in a pub for a few years. Then I got pregnant with Maggie” she said with a fond look at her daughter. “After that I couldn’t work the long hours that the job demanded so I quit and became a full time mum.”
“Yeah I was working in a bar as well just before this. My boyfriend was training to be a doctor and worked at the local hospital.” Lily paused and Claire took her hand and made small comforting sounds, speaking softly. “It’s ok. We hadn’t even been together that long but it was still a shock, knowing that he likely died.”
“I think everyone here will have lost loved ones. I don’t know what happened to my parents. I hope they headed to their place in the Lake District.” Claire said.
“Maybe when we finally get somewhere safe we can travel north and find them.” Lily offered.
“Yes maybe,” Claire replied with a quiet doubt filling her voice. “What about you, any family you want to find?”
“No. My parents passed away a few years ago. I have friends that I would like to know are ok, but I wouldn’t have the first idea where to find them now.”
“I wonder if the others have family and friends they want to try and reach. Perhaps we should ask them when we get the chance. What do you think?”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Lily said with a smile, “For now though we really need to concentrate on getting somewhere safe and finding more food and just things we can use.” She laughed and added “I personally would kill for a decent hairbrush right now.”
“Oh I know that feeling. Poor Maggie will be screaming when I finally take a brush to her hair, it’s just so tangled already.“
“We should make a list of all the things we need. I started one back at the farmhouse but it was left behind along with most of the other stuff when we had to run.”
“I’m not sure how much use a list would be anyway” said Claire her usual cheerful smile fading, “It isn’t like we can just nip out to the shops and get what we want.”
“We will figure something out. If nothing else the guys have been out once looking for supplies, I am sure they will want to try again.”
“God! I don’t know if I will be able to ask them to get some things for me” Claire said with a laugh.
“Nonsense, if you can’t ask for feminine products during an apocalypse without embarrassment then when can you?” Lily asked with a laugh of her own and they both descended into giggles.
“I wonder what women did back before all that stuff was invented” said Claire when he giggling subsided.
“No idea. Perhaps some of those books Ryan got will tell us.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about those. What did he get?”
“I haven’t had the chance to look with one thing and another, now they are buried under the stuff from the house. When we stop we can dig some out.” Lily said waving one hand in towards the front of the van and the piled up belongings.
“It was a good idea to get them. He does seem to have a firm idea of what to do sometimes. Do you think he was one of those survivalist types?” Claire asked Lily with a quick glance towards me to check if I were sleeping.
I resisted the urge to open my eyes fully. I was not at all comfortable with people asking questions about me. “No. I don’t think he was a survivalist” Lily said after a pause that seemed too long to my suspicious self.
“Well what about his fighting? You saw him back at the farm. He killed those people without a thought.” Claire’s voice lowered to just barely audible from my position. “You have to admit we don’t know that much about him.” I had to work to relax my muscles as they tensed up, if Lily divulged my secret here I would have to leave. If Claire was suspicious enough I might actually have to kill her.
“I know enough. I know he has saved us all several times and he is just practical. He doesn’t worry about the past or think about what has happened. He just looks at ways of solving our problems.” Lily said equally quietly. “It’s a good thing. I don’t think he had much in the way of family to worry about when all this happened, so it was easier for him to let go of the past.” She smiled at Claire, “Whatever the reasons, we wouldn’t be here without him and I think that says enough about his character for me.”
Claire nodded slowly as she thought about Lily’s words. “Perhaps you’re right.” She said, adding hopefully “Perhaps he was in the army, they could have trained him.”
“It’s possible” Lily replied, “Either way, if he is a private person we should leave him be.”
Claire agreed and the talk turned back to less dangerous things. I tried to relax a little. Lily had diverted Claire for now. I would have to be careful though with what I did and said around the others. I lay quietly listening to the girls chatter away and tried to come up with a way to appear less suspicious, while still being able to keep myself alive.
I was roused from my thoughts when the van came to a halt. “Guys you should look at this” called Pat. Lily and Claire both climbed over the piled belongings to look out the windshield, whilst I was left at the back straining to see over their shoulders.
“What are we looking at?” Claire asked.
“Opportunity” was all Pat would say. Rachel just shook her head and shrugged her shoulders to indicate she didn’t know what he meant. I finally managed a look through the windshield and thought I knew what Pat intended.
He had parked the van in the centre of a country road that would have barely fit two cars at the best of times. To our right were fields full of green grass and dotted with sheep grazing quietly. Rough stone walls adorned with moss bordered the roads and fields.
To our left was a group of houses. Five houses in total sitting in a row, with the end of the closest house beside the road. Each of the houses had a large garden full of flowers and shrubs, I could clearly see that the furthest house had a large tree and beneath it a sturdy wooden shed, the kind of shed that would hold any number of tools we could use.
I could see no immediate threats, no family pets or people either alive or dead. The houses were all dark, several had curtains drawn and their doors were all closed.
“You ladies will have to start thinking like scavengers.” I said, “This is a great place to find some supplies.”
“Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to look” Claire offered.
“Check the houses first though” said Lily with her no nonsense tone of voice, “If anyone is alive in those houses, we leave them be.”
“Of course.” Pat said, “We’ll only take things no one is using.”
“Best suggestion is that we split up” I said, looking
around the group. “We can go through the houses quicker that way.”
“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” asked Claire.
“Yes, so I suggest Pat and Rachel start at one end, Lily and I will take the other. Stay in pairs and keep an eye out for any threats, if you see any zombies in the houses, leave them.”
“What about me and Maggie? She isn’t going into those houses.” Said Claire firmly, crossing her arms.
“No, you and Maggie stay in the van. If anyone finds anything, they bring it out to you and you stack it up in here.” I reassured her, “Sound good?”
No one seemed to have a better plan so I opened the back door of the van and climbed out. I picked up my hatchet on the way and tested the edge, it would need sharpening soon.
“So what are we looking for?” asked Pat.
“Food, anything that won’t spoil, clothes that might fit, first aid items, camping gear would be useful.” said Lily, as she joined me on the road her carving knife from the last house clutched firmly in one hand.
“Basically anything we can use to survive a bit longer, food and bottled water would be first though” I added, “Oh and coats. We could all use some.”
Pat and Rachel indicated they would take the house nearest the road, so Lily and I followed the dirt path that linked the gardens until we reached the house at the far end. It was cold but thankfully not raining at the moment so we could listen for anything stumbling around and had a clear view around us as we walked, alert for any danger.
Our first house was the one with the shed. I indicated that Lily should go and knock on the door as I peered through the windows at the darkened interior. I could see no movement and the double glazing on the window prevented me from hearing if anything moved within when Lily banged loudly on the door.
No one answered the door and I could see no one inside, I glanced across at Lily as she tried the door, a small frown appearing as she discovered it was locked. Her gaze met mine and she shrugged her shoulders, as if to say what now?
Search for Safety: Killing the Dead Book Two Page 3
