A couple of larger than normal groups of undead forced us to divert from our preferred route and head more easterly than north which was taking a great deal longer than I had expected. We had already passed the midpoint of the day and it was looking less and less likely that we would be back at the boat before nightfall.
Past a snow covered bowling green and countless homes we travelled, my feet were becoming numb from trudging through the snow and I was starting to think less of food and more of dry clothes and a warm fire when we reached the north eastern shopping district.
At some point during the chaos a single decker bus had tried to make its way through the people thronging the street and failed. It was wedged sideways across both lanes of the road and it was full of the undead and blocking our way.
It seemed that fire had raged through the bus along with the surrounding vehicles and buildings. Charred remnants of civilisation surrounded us, the acrid stench of burnt lives thankfully masked by the fallen snow.
Shattered windows and scattered debris were all that remained of the shops and anything they may have contained had long since been taken. The covering of snow hid far too much from view and a number of suspicious looking mounds around the bus were a concern.
We stood and stared at that bus for several long seconds as we each weighed our options silently. I couldn’t speak for the others but I was cold and tired and turning back wasn’t appealing at all.
“Could we go over it?” Gregg asked quietly.
“Risky.” Pat said, “Once they notice us they’ll smash through the windows to get to us.”
“Well in that case we head back and look for another way around or we see if we can get through these shops.” Gregg said, with a gesture to the shells of buildings at either side of us.
“Are they safe?” Cass asked and her brother shrugged.
“One way to find out.” He replied with a wide smile that showed his teeth and inspired no confidence, before leading the way through the closest doorway.
Chapter 12
The stone and brick shells of the buildings seemed sturdy enough if somewhat charred. One fortunate aspect of using stone for the building materials rather than wood I guessed.
It seemed to my untrained eye that whatever had caused the conflagration had started on the street outside the buildings, blowing the majority of the glass from the windows inside the building. The flames had followed and the surrounding shops being filled with fairly flammable items, the fire had spread.
Inside the first building the ceiling had collapsed and covered the floor in plasterboard and various items from the second floor. It was a mess and we soon realised that we wouldn’t make it through so retreated back outside.
The next building had been a small bakery, the kind that did sandwiches and pastries for people on their lunch. It had little on the shop floor that would actually burn, though its painted interior walls had blackened and all manner of debris covered the chipped fake tiles that covered the floor. The counters were singed but the open kitchen area where most of the baking would have been done was in better condition than I would have expected.
With all of the ingredients for their baking and sandwiches generally kept in the large fridges that filled one side of the room, we found nothing edible despite several minutes poking around by Gregg.
We left the bakery through a back door into a weed choked alleyway that led along the backs of all the shops in that row. A small blue car had been abandoned at the far end of the alleyway where it led out onto the main road, its driver side door was still open and I guessed that the driver had climbed out to see what was blocking their access to the road and never returned.
“Where do we go now?” Cass asked with a heavy weariness that we all shared.
“Keep heading north I guess.” Lily said with a look to the overcast sky. “Hopefully we can swing back towards the lake before it gets dark or starts to snow again.”
“Ah man you just had to jinx it.” Gregg laughed.
“Jinx what?”
“You should know never to say something like that. It’s guaranteed to snow now.”
“Well if it does, feel free to blame me.” Lily said with an impish smile of her own.
Having found a way around the obstruction in the road on the other side of the buildings without us having had to turn back, the mood of the group seemed to have improved for everyone but Dale, though even he had stopped weeping and was just walking along with head bowed.
Despite that though, it was hard to forget that we were currently in a town that had been overrun by the undead and voices were kept low as we carried on walking through the snow.
By the time we reached the end of the alleyway we were back to being cautious. Pat peered around the corner before gesturing us forward and we were barely out of the alley before we had to duck down beside the abandoned cars as a group of zombies turned into the road.
My knees were aching as I crouched down whilst trying to avoid actually sitting in the snow itself. I pressed my back against the cars back door and listened to the sounds of the zombies passing.
I had long since stopped noticing the smell that generally preceded the undeads appearance since the entire town seemed to be blanketed in a general odour of rot and decay but the sound they made still grated.
From where I crouched I could see down the full length of the alley and by that small blue car at the end, I caught a glimpse of more zombies passing.
I tugged urgently on Lily’s jacket and pointed down the alley where a couple of zombies were staggering past the car, one of them catching itself on the door that swung closed with a bang that was audible even where we were.
She cringed at the sound of the door slamming and her eyes widened as the noise brought more of the undead into the alley from that far end. I risked a quick look over the side of the car and saw that none of the zombies passing us had heard it.
“We need to move.” I hissed in as loud a whisper as I dared and she nodded.
I watched with concern as Cass pulled Dale along. He was barely making any effort to do much of anything he wasn’t told directly to do.
We crept along the pavement away from the junction where the bus had blocked the road. Pat was leading once again and he had just reached the final car and was peering carefully around the corner before he whipped his head around and gestured us frantically to stop.
“There’s more of them coming along the road.” He said quietly as we all gathered together.
“So that’s ahead of us, behind us in the alley and right alongside us...” Gregg said, “We’re so fucked.”
“What’re our options?” Cass asked.
“We can make a run for it.” Lily said, “We’re faster than them in the snow but we’re all exhausted and they’re tireless. Our other option is to hope that one of the buildings on this side of the road is unlocked and we can get in without being noticed.”
I followed her gaze to the buildings surrounding us. A mix of shops that started at the far end of the street almost to where we were. Most of them were in poor condition with shattered windows and broken doors either from being looted or from the undead breaking in. Hardly the best places to lay low.
Restaurant, Gift Shop, Estate Agent, Florist... all had large store windows that seemed to fill the width of the building. Even if the doors were unlocked and could be secured the shattered windows would prove no barrier. Our choices were depressingly limited and time was most definitely not on our side.
Things were looking grim and even I could see how concerned the rest of my group were. It was looking ever more likely that we would have to run for it and hope for the best.
I knew that if nothing else I could and would sacrifice Dale to slow the zombies down while the rest of us escaped, the difficult part would be doing it in such a way that the others didn’t realise it was intentional.
“Hssst” came from the direction of the estate agents and
I looked across to see a pale face staring out at us and gesturing.
“What? Who’s that?” Gregg said.
“No idea, but they look like a chance to get out of this.” Lily said, “Let’s go.”
She led the way back towards the estate agents and after a quick look over the side of the car to make sure we weren’t likely to be noticed by the large pack of zombies making their way along the opposite side of the road from us, she scampered through the open doorway and with little choice, the rest of us followed.
As Cass pulled her unresponsive charge along behind her the moans of the undead grew in volume and I knew that we’d been seen. The others were already inside and I gave up any pretence of stealth and ran for it.
I risked a glance over my shoulder as I barrelled through the doorway and saw the pack of zombies pushing through the gaps between the cars as they crossed the road towards us. The ones furthest ahead hadn’t yet realised what was happening and were still carrying on the way they had been.
The estate agent’s had a half dozen or so desks with computers and chairs, a couple of filing cabinets and a photocopier at the far end of the office. Nothing that was immediately useful to block the way in the short time I had before the undead were at the door, so I abandoned any idea of making a barrier and followed the group through a door at the back of the office.
As I ran through the back doorway at full speed, which to be fair wasn’t that impressive, the stranger slammed the door shut behind me and turned a torch on to light the room we were in.
“Help me block this off.” he instructed and both Pat and Gregg eagerly stepped forward to help move a couple of filing cabinets against the door.
I made no pretence of offering help but leant against the wall and tried to will the trembling in my arms and legs to stop. Even that short burst of energy had seemed to wipe out any reserves my still healing body had.
“Thank you.” Lily said and the stranger nodded tersely.
“No worries.”
“Is there another way out of here?” Cass asked nervously as she peered into the shadowy corners of the room.
I took a moment to look around myself and was less than impressed with our hiding place. Filing cabinets filled one wall and a couple of aluminium tables with matching chairs sat against the opposite wall. A sink was set into a worktop with a kettle and containers for tea, coffee and sugar next to it.
The door shook as the first zombie hit it and Pat and Gregg each took a nervous step back. More thuds and thumps followed as the undead tried their best to batter their way past the barrier. By the sound they were throwing their full bodies against the door and not just their fists.
“That should hold it.” Our taciturn rescuer said with satisfaction as he watched the door move open less than an inch before stopping. “Follow me.”
He moved to the far end of the room and reached down to grasp the handle of a trapdoor before pulling it open.
“A secret room?” Gregg said with delight.
“No, just a cellar.” The stranger said before shining his torch down into the hole, “Head on down and I’ll secure it behind us.”
The rest of my group seemed inclined to trust the stranger but since I had no real reason to, I followed them warily with one hand on the knife sheathed at my belt. I passed him by and carefully descended the stairs.
While it was cold outside in the snow, the cellar seemed even colder. Dust lay thick over the floor and old cobwebs covered the wooden beams that made up the ceiling. As I reached the bottom of the stairs and joined my huddled friends, the stranger came down himself after pausing to pull closed the trapdoor.
Without a word he pushed past us and crossed the empty cellar towards what appeared to be a blanket nailed against the wall. I watched curiously as he pulled it aside and stepped through a hole in the wall as he gestured us to follow.
I felt a hand take my own and I glanced across at Lily who gave me a nervous smile and a squeeze of my hand. I allowed a smile in return before setting off after our rescuer.
We moved through the next three cellars in silence. Each had a rough opening carved into opposite walls, each with heavy blankets nailed over the opening. I guessed the cellars were used by the various businesses in the buildings above and unlike the first; these others had been used to store all manner of things.
I passed dozens of cardboard boxes, old equipment, Christmas decorations that would be used to decorate the shops during the holiday period. If I had more light to work with my curiosity would have been piqued enough to look closer but with just the one torch, we had no choice but to follow along.
As we crossed the fourth cellar the stranger pulled aside the blanket that covered the entrance to the next and light and sound spilled out. He turned off his torch and once more gestured us through.
With a nervous smile she shared with me alone and a tight grip on my hand, Lily led the way through the hole in the wall.
Chapter 13
Someone had tried to make this new cellar into something resembling a living room. A comfortable brown leather couch was set against one wall and a large multi-coloured rug filled the centre of the floor with countless cushions spread around it.
In one corner blankets and quilts had been gathered into a pile while in another stacks of bottled water and tins of food were organised into neat groups. Brightly coloured cloth had been nailed to the cellar walls and the ancient spider webs that had infested the previous cellars were absent.
The air was thick with the smells that accompanied a group of people living together in a too confined space with limited facilities and the light was provided by three lanterns set around the room on boxes.
As the rest of our group filed into the cellar behind us I was uncomfortably aware of the half dozen sets of eyes that were looking us over appraisingly. I can honestly say that I really didn’t appreciate it.
A young woman approached us with a warm and inviting smile sitting easily beneath a mop of curly brown hair. She looked pale and dark rings circled her eyes but other than that she gave off an air of cheery optimism that I found immensely irritating.
“Hi.” She said brightly and extended her hand towards me.
“Hey,” Lily said with a nudge to my ribs with her elbow when I refused to take the proffered hand.
“Hi.” I grunted and watched with amusement as her smile faltered when she realised I had no interest in shaking her hand.
“I’m Gabby.” She said to Lily, “Welcome to our little home.”
“Thanks, your friend rescued us in the nick of time.” Lily said warmly as she shook Gabby’s hand.
“Glad we could help.” Gabby beamed, “What on earth were you doing wandering around out there for anyway?”
I let my attention wander as Lily first made introductions and filled in the new group about our situation. I was confident she wouldn’t provide anything that would put us in danger.
One of the lanterns caught my eye as it started to flicker and the light dimmed noticeably. A dark skinned youth swore and crossed to it to pick it up and I watched as he flicked out a handle from the body of the lantern and started winding.
“Pretty cool huh?” asked a plain looking young woman whose name I couldn’t recall.
“I would imagine it’s better than the candles we’ve had to deal with.” I admitted.
“Yeah, Toby brought them. He used them when he went camping.”
“Toby?”
“Yeah the guy who brought you here.” The young woman said, her dark curls bouncing as she nodded her head enthusiastically in the direction of our rescuer who was standing quietly by the entrance. “About a minute of winding will get you 20 minutes of light.”
“How long have you been here?” I asked curiously.
“Nearly two months now.”
“So long?”
“Yeah, Gabby and Toby found this place when they needed somewhere to hide and over time they found the re
st of us.” She said.
“Whose idea was it to tunnel through to the other cellars?”
“Gabby all the way. She’s the one with all the bright ideas.”
I turned back to the conversation that Lily was having with the leader of this new group and began to pay a little more attention. Anyone who had been living in the overrun town safely for two months was someone who could be useful or perhaps dangerous.
“So that’s how we found ourselves here.” Lily finished.
“Oh that must have been terrible. You have to stay the night at least before you try and make it back to your group.” Gabby insisted. “You can make yourselves comfortable, we have plenty of spare blankets and we have food to spare.”
“That’s very generous of you.” Lily said smiling.
“Just because the worlds gone to hell, doesn’t mean we have to be any less civilised.” Gabby replied and Lily shared a smile of understanding with her before glancing at me as if to say ‘see.’
I made a show of rolling my eyes and she grinned.
Toby caught the attention of Gabby and raised his eyebrows at her, she in turn nodded and he turned and went back through the hole in the wall. They had evidently been working together long enough that they understood one another.
The rest of my group sank wearily to the floor and gratefully accepted the offered blankets. I chose to sit with my back against the wall outside the main group of people, where I could watch and not be required to participate.
Gabby’s group seemed eager to ask questions about conditions beyond the town and Lily in turn asked questions about the location of possible places in the town that we would find useful.
It was both interesting and amusing to see Lily and Gabby talk to each other, one would ask a question and the other would answer and follow up with a question of their own. They seemed to be assessing each other and as the time moved on they both liked what they saw in the other.
Killing the Dead (Books 4-6) Page 22
