When There's No More Room in Hell 3

by Luke Duffy

Steve took a nervous glance over his shoulder, peering into the darkness behind him and searching for the creeping death that he was sure he could feel descending upon them. He looked across at Lee, his friend's face looking deathly pale and haunting in the glow of his torchlight.

  Lee pointed his rifle into the store and cast its beam through the wide entrance. In the darkness, the layers of frost coating everything in sight twinkled as the light of Lee's torch reflected from it, appearing like a fine layer of sparkling dust. His shaft of light illuminated a number of frozen, grotesque statues in the aisles; their forms looked like strangely placed and disfigured mannequins to an unsuspecting eye.

  Steve checked his watch, the face of it glowing green as he pushed in the button on the side. He was hoping that his watch would inform them it was time to head back to the vehicles, saving him the trouble of having to justify to Lee why he did not want to go into the store.

  He saw the time, but his brain did not register it. Instead, his eyes saw something else.

  "Jesus," he grumbled to himself.

  "What?" Lee turned to his friend; shining his light in Steve's face and making him wince. "What's up?"

  Steve waved his hand and Lee lowered the light. He looked back at his watch and shrugged.

  "It's nearly Christmas, and none of us has even noticed."

  Back at the vehicles, Marcus and Carl were already busy bundling their goods into the rear of the two Range Rovers. The rear compartments were already bulging and filled, almost to the point of bursting, with the winter clothing and camping equipment that they had liberated during their looting.

  They looked up at the sound of the squeaking and rattling wheels of the shopping cart as Lee and Steve approached.

  "What you got there?" Marcus asked, studying the piles of plastic bags that Steve carried in his arms and over his shoulders.

  "Allsorts," Steve replied in a strained voice as he dumped the bags on the ground at the rear of the second vehicle.

  "Looks like more than just cans of peaches and pears to me, bro."

  Steve nodded as he watched his brother begin to rummage through the items that he had taken from within the shopping arcade.

  Marcus looked up in confusion and annoyance as he began pulling out children's toys, board games, perfume gift-sets and piles of clothing and pyjamas of all sizes.

  "What the fuck, Steve?" Marcus frowned, holding up a set of women's black lace lingerie. "You become a 'cross-dresser' now?"

  Steve shrugged.

  "It’s not for me. It's for Helen. It's nearly Christmas and I thought…"

  "You thought what, Steve, that you would do a little Christmas shopping? While we're off ram-raiding 'outdoor clothing' and 'camping' stores, grabbing sleeping bags, gas stoves, cold weather gear…you were busy browsing the knickers section in Matalan?"

  "It was 'British Home Stores'…"

  "Shut the fuck up, Gorman," Marcus spat as he turned and glared at Lee, cutting him off in mid-sentence.

  Marcus' face was red with anger, and his eyes bore a hole through Lee's face as he scowled at him. Lee looked away nervously, as if he was staring at an enraged animal about to attack.

  Steve noted the fury and disappointment in Marcus' tone, and was about to reply with the argument that the survivors back at the Safari Park needed a break from the harsh realities of the new world.

  "Shit," Carl suddenly gasped, indifferent to the ferocity of Marcus' appearance as he stood looking at the date on his own watch.

  "I had no idea. My wife will kill me if I don’t get her anything this year. I fucked up and forgot our anniversary in January, so here’s my chance to make amends. Where did you get the sexy knickers, Steve?"

  Marcus turned as Carl began to walk away in the direction of the arcade. He was about to say something when Steve and Lee suddenly tottered off to join him and collect more loot.

  "Brandy, we need brandy too," he could hear Carl saying as they walked away from him.

  "You can't have Christmas without brandy."

  Marcus leant against the rear door of the Range Rover, shaking his head in disbelief as he sensed that his patrol had begun to fall apart around him, as every one of them decided to go on a shopping spree.

  "Fucking civvies," he grumbled, brushing his hand over his hair and smiling to himself in resignation.

  He glanced at the street around him, eyeing the shattered windows and broken doors. Nothing moved and the dead remained frozen in place. He checked his watch and nodded to himself. They still had four hours before nightfall.

  "Fucking civvies," he said, shaking his head.

  He turned and broke into a jog, following in the wake of the others as they disappeared into the arcade.

  'Jenny would look good in some of that underwear', he thought to himself as he caught up with Steve, Lee and Carl.

  23

  "So," Jennifer began as she stepped closer to the helicopter, her shoulders hunched in her thick jacket as she protected her neck from the harsh cold. "Are you two going to be staying here, at the park?"

  Kelly turned around and looked out from the passenger compartment of the aircraft. The large wrench that she carried in her hands glistened with oil and she dropped it onto the floor, where it landed with a heavy clunk. She wiped her hands on a cloth and smiled at Jennifer as she began to climb out from the door.

  "I don’t see why not," she said, studying the other woman's face for her reaction. "I mean, that’s if you will have us and nobody objects."

  Jennifer smiled and pulled a small hip flask from her pocket. She unscrewed the cap and took a generous gulp before offering it to Kelly.

  "I've no objections," she said as Kelly took a swig of the spiced rum, "you’ve brought plenty to the table so far. This helicopter," Jennifer continued as she approached, and run the palm of her hand over the green painted metal of the aircraft's superstructure. "It's proven itself already. I mean, Stu and the others, they would be dead now if it wasn’t for you and Joey in this helicopter."

  Kelly nodded and looked up at the long rotor blades. "Yeah, she's old but there's still life in her."

  "I'm glad you're staying," Jennifer turned to face her. "I know that Marcus can be a little scary at times, but he's a good man and will do anything to protect the people he cares about."

  "You're referring to that Stephanie woman?"

  "Yeah," Jennifer nodded. "Helen told me all about it. I know it must seem barbaric to you, but my husband was doing what he thought was best for the rest of us. He couldn’t take any chances. You do understand that?"

  Kelly nodded. "Yeah, I understand it now, but I will admit it freaked me out when I saw it and I wasn’t expecting it."

  "We're a family here, Kelly, and if you're part of our family, then Marcus will be just as savage in order to protect you and Joey."

  "That’s good to know," Kelly smiled.

  "Anyway," Jennifer leaned in close with a glimmer in her eye and a hint of a whisper in her voice. "There's far too much testosterone around here and we need more of us girls to show them who's boss."

  As the sun began to dip below the horizon, the survivors gathered in the foyer of the house, as they did every evening. Marcus and the others had still not arrived and people were beginning to get concerned.

  "I'm sure there's nothing to worry about," Gary consoled Jennifer, "they're probably just busy getting as much stuff as they can, while they have the chance."

  "The dead are still frozen," Claire added. "I was down at the gate with Jake just an hour ago and there's no sign of them thawing out, yet."

  "You want us to go and look for them?" Kelly asked as she turned to Stu.

  He shook his head.

  "No, it's getting dark and we can't risk losing the heli as well."

  He looked up at Jennifer who stared back at him in anger. Stu realised his mistake and began to backtrack as he stumbled over his own words.

  "I mean," he said in an attempt to correct his slip of the tongue. "I mean…well, I do
n’t mean that Marcus is lost, or that anything has happened to him. I just meant that…"

  "It's okay, Stu," Jennifer sighed, "I know what you meant."

  Stu glanced across at Kelly, sheepishly. She smiled back at him and she saw the discomfort he felt from his mistake.

  Karen entered the foyer from the kitchen, with Sarah and the other children close on her heels. Her hands were wrapped in towels, tightly gripping a large steaming pan that she held out before her.

  "Come on," she announced in her booming, but soothing, voice, "grab your spoons and dig in."

  She placed the hot cauldron on the table and turned to Sarah.

  "Go and get the bread, sweetheart. Be careful though, it's still hot."

  "Bread?" Jake asked as he took a great interest in the hot steaming silver pan sitting in the centre of the table. "What we having?"

  "Yes, bread," Replied Karen, impatiently. "The children and I have been baking bread all afternoon, and that is hot-pot," she pointed at the container. "Now make yourself useful, young man, and fetch the bowls from the kitchen."

  Gary raised himself from the couch, rubbing his hands gleefully as he approached the large dining table.

  "Oh, Karen's famous hot-pot."

  He stopped suddenly and turned to look at Karen in confusion.

  "Uh, where did you get the meat?"

  Karen stared at him, her face turning red and her glare burned deep into her husband's eyes as she glowered at him.

  "Uh…" she looked about, checking who was paying attention to her and making sure that none of the children had heard the question.

  "You stupid old goat," she hissed at Gary as she leaned in close to him. "Where do you bloody well think I got the meat from?"

  Gary suddenly understood and looked at his wife in horror.

  "No, Karen," he said in disbelief and nodded at the steaming mixture of meat and vegetables in the large pan. "Please tell me that isn't from…"

  Sophie noticed the drama that was about to unfold and jumped to the rescue, leaving Stu, Kelly, Jennifer, and the others distracted, talking about something completely different from the contents of Karen's hot-pot.

  She pushed into the narrow space between Karen and Gary and began placing spoons in front of each of the closest chairs around the table, smiling absentmindedly and humming a tune to herself. She stepped to her left as Gary opened his mouth to say something, and she brought her heel down, deliberately stomping on his foot to silence him from asking any more questions.

  He pulled away from her with an inaudible yelp and raised his foot, grasping it in his hand as he stared at her with uncertainty.

  "Sophie, you just…"

  "Gary," she leaned across to him, but kept her attention focussed on the place settings around the table. "Shut up and be quiet."

  She fixed him with a look, leaving him in no doubt about how serious he should take her.

  "In case you haven't noticed," she continued in a lecturing tone, "Tesco and Morrison's are shut and we have a lot of hungry mouths to feed around here."

  She gestured over her shoulder at the people sat around, talking in the foyer. Gary looked at them and saw the children as they emerged from the kitchen, carrying the trays of bread that they had helped Karen to make.

  "I love the animals here, just as much as you do," Sophie continued as the older man turned to face her again. "But when one of them dies, just like the old gazelle did this morning, it would be a shame, and a waste, not to eat them."

  She paused and allowed Gary to let her words soak in.

  He glanced at the pot, then to the people in the foyer, and then to the scolding face of his wife as she stood with her arms folded and her chest pushed out. Finally, he looked back at Sophie.

  "You're right," he nodded as he turned to Karen. "Sorry, love, I just get so attached to these animals and forget what's going on at times."

  Karen's face softened and she held out her hands, her fingers folding around the palms of her husband's as she smiled at him.

  "It's okay, but you're still a silly old goat."

  Marcus finally arrived as the remainder of the survivors finished their meal. The relief in many of the faces seated around the table was clear as they watched the four men begin, sweating profusely and dragging in all of the items that they had looted from the town.

  Although they had originally intended to be back before darkness had fallen, Marcus and the others decided that they should take advantage of the sub-zero temperature, and the lull in the battle against the hordes of dead.

  Marcus, Steve, Lee, and Carl, ransacked every store that they came across. They loaded their vehicles with their booty of essential and non-essential goods. Steve argued that everything they liberated from the abandoned town was essential, on account of the fact that receiving unexpected gifts and comforts would be a great boost to the morale of the people surviving within the walls of the Safari Park. A fact that Marcus finally came to understand and agree on, after a moment of reflection.

  Once the two Range Rovers were filled to the point of bursting, they moved to the large car park close to the college buildings. It had taken them some time before they found exactly what they were looking for, but with the dead rendered immobile and posing no immediate threat, they had taken advantage of their newfound luxury of time as they checked each vehicle to see if it met their needs.

  Finally, with all their loot in tow, they left the built-up area with the two Range Rovers and another two large people carriers. Altogether, in the four vehicles, Marcus estimated that they had enough space to move every member of the group, split between them and crammed into the vehicles, should the need arise.

  "What's all this?" Stu asked as he looked down at the piles of clothing and equipment.

  His eyes fell on the other items, things that were clearly not critical to their continued survival.

  Marcus winked and smiled at him.

  "Christmas presents."

  Over the following days, Stu organized the work teams, and each day they travelled through the fields and out onto the country lane where the four vehicles waited. The two Range Rovers and people carriers were reinforced and strengthened to protect the living passengers from the dead. Grilles and wire mesh were attached to the windows for added protection and, once the work was completed, the vehicles were left to the north of the park, tucked away in a lay-by and stocked with food, fuel and equipment.

  Every two days a patrol was sent out to them to check that they were still in working order and able to start. As part of the patrol's duties, they began clearing a path that ran through the centre of the overgrown fields.

  At first, Stu and his work teams cleared all the long grass in a narrow channel, ripping up the tangles of weeds that grew close to the ground and threatened to ensnare anyone that ran into them. It took a lot of work and a lot of sweating and cursing as the work parties attacked the frozen ground with shovels and picks, flattening the miniature hillocks and filling in the deep ruts and holes.

  Once the path was completed, stakes were placed in the ground at five metre intervals along the line of the track, with a length of rope attaching each to the next to help guide the survivors should they need to evacuate the house during dark hours.

  A ladder, made of rope and wood, was constructed and placed against the cliff wall for people to scale, rather than having to try to descend the sheer rock face, which would inevitably lead to accidents and broken bones, even deaths.

  Marcus wanted nothing left to chance and insisted on all eventualities being prepared for. Their equipment, weapons and ammunition were continually checked for serviceability and adjusted as new items were added to their loads. Map studies of roads and built-up areas along their intended route to their new location, far to the north, were carried out on a daily basis to the point where everyone knew the names, directions and distances of the roads and towns without having to check their maps.

  Each member of the group was taken through the procedures of
evacuation from the house and towards the vehicles to the north of the park. They practiced scaling the cliff and navigating through the fields, using the handrail made from ropes as Marcus observed and timed the drills.

  Steve, Jake, Helen, Kieran, and Carl, were all nominated to be group leaders, having survivors allocated to them that they were responsible for during an evacuation. It was their job to ensure that the people under their care were guided from the house, through the fields and placed into the vehicles, while Marcus, Stu, Lee, Jim, and Hussein were the protection force, covering their retreat.

  The drills were practiced and adjusted continuously, tweaked to perfection to ensure that no one was left behind and they could escape at short notice.

  The primary plan, however, was to evacuate most of the group, including all of the children, by helicopter. The remainder would head north in the vehicles and meet up at a rally point that Marcus had specified from the map.

  All was set and they were prepared for any eventuality.

  Suggestions were made that they should take advantage of the weather and make the move as soon as possible, but Marcus argued that it would be too dangerous to go ahead without being fully prepared. If a thaw suddenly hit, the road team could find themselves in trouble without the correct equipment, personnel and preparation in place to deal with it.

  The harsh cold continued as the people of the house celebrated the birth of Christ and exchanged presents, while the dead remained frozen at the gates, locked in a perpetual state of immobility.

  On Christmas Eve, a banquet was organised with drink and games that lasted late into the night as the survivors forgot, for a short time, that the world they had once known had ended, and now millions of walking corpses roamed the earth, ravaging all who fell into their path.

  It was never completely from their minds, though, and many, in between drinks and laughs, kept a watchful eye on the thermometer hanging in the hallway.

  The next morning, as the children thundered down the stairs with excitement, and as many of the adults struggled to stem the pounding in their heads caused by the flowing alcohol from the night before, they were greeted by a blanket of brilliant white covering the entire land outside the windows of the foyer.