Journal of the Living

by John Moralee

  “Ben knows what he’s doing,” she said. “He’ll get it out.”

  I loved her confidence in me – but I was nervous. Doctors swear upon the Hippocratic Oath. Do no harm. I wasn’t a doctor. What if I made things worse?

  Very carefully, I widened the hole so I could feel inside for the bullet. That increased the amount of blood coming out. Angela gasped as my fingers probed. I swore to myself. I couldn’t feel the bullet. It had gone too deep. There was no way of finding it without an x-ray. And even then I wouldn’t know what I was looking at. All I could do was sterilise the damaged tissue and stitch her back up, hoping she’d stop bleeding when her blood clotted. I covered her wound with a gauze pad and left her to rest. She didn’t look well, though. I’d seen zombies in better health. It was entirely possible the bullet had missed her organs and done only minor damage that could heal itself. Possible? Yeah. Likely? No.

  We’d just have to wait and see.

  ENTRY NINE

  We hid in the school all night, while outside the zombies attacked the gang. I could hear rapid gunfire at first – but it lessened as more of the gang died, ran out of ammo, or fled the town. For hours I feared someone would try to break into the school, bringing the horde of zombies with them, but the message Hayley had sprayed on the doors seemed to do the trick. Of course, that message would only deter humans. Zombies would not read it. If anyone of them got inside, we would be in serious trouble, so I patrolled the classrooms with my crossbow and machetes until it was dawn.

  By then it was disturbingly quiet outside. Peering through the windows, I could see nothing moving. The town looked deserted, though I knew the zombies had to be somewhere.

  I returned to the staff room, where Hayley and Jason were guarding the unconscious Angela. Angela was not looking better. She was feverish and talking to someone in her sleep called Ryan. It was weird – but I felt jealous of Ryan. Had he been her boyfriend before Day One? He was probably dead now. I sighed. I was really worried about Angela’s condition. I’d given her some antibiotics – but they wouldn’t fix her bullet wound. he really needed to see a proper doctor – not an ex-banker with a basic knowledge of first aid.

  I’d gone on-line to see if I could find someone able to treat her – but my messages had been unanswered. There were not many people with electricity and internet connectivity in England. The Pure Bloods had grabbed most of the doctors, forcing them to work for them. Angela’s condition was definitely getting worse – but I had no skills to help her.

  The only person I knew with the medical skills to save her was Sadie, who was back at our camp with Neal. Sadie had been a nurse before Day One. She could help – but only if we could get out of this godforsaken town.

  I spoke to Hayley and Jason. “Okay – I’m going to sneak up on the roof to do a recon.” I loved saying things like that. It made me feel like I’d been in the Army. “I’ll keep in contact on the walkie-talkie.”

  I left Hayley looking after Angela. Her older brother Jason took over the patrolling in the long corridor running the length of the school’s main building.

  “Ben, do you think Angela’s going to die?”

  “Not if I can help it,” I said.

  “She looks bad.”

  “I know – but Sadie might be able to do something.”

  “What if she can’t?” he said.

  “We’ll deal with that after we’ve got her out of this town.”

  I climbed the stairs to the flat roof, where I stayed low and scanned the area through my binoculars. The sun was just poking up over the hills, revealing the extent of the damage done to the town during the night.

  It wasn’t good. There were dozens of zombies on the High Street, which had been razed to the ground by the fire started by the gang. Their van filled with our supplies had gone. So had the other cars. A couple of bikes were still there near the pub – but we’d never get to them without killing fifty flesh-eaters. We couldn’t transport Angela on a bike, anyway. We needed a car or van to get her out of there.

  Thick smoke covered much of the town as the contents of the furniture store continued to smoulder, producing the kind of black noxious cloud you’d see after an oil rig exploded. Other buildings were still burning because the gang members had been foolishly tossing Molotov cocktails at the zombies. They’d managed to turn a few zombies into burnt meat – but the sheer number of undead had overwhelmed them. Some had been bitten and turned. I could see them shuffling around, moaning, on the hunt for the living, including their former colleagues.

  Fresh zombies like them were ten times faster and more dangerous than the older ones that had come out of the garage.

  Speaking of which, I could see our van parked where I’d abandoned it. It looked undamaged by the fires – but it wouldn’t go any where unless I could fix the leak and get some petrol. A better option would be to find another vehicle with some petrol in its tank.

  I moved across the roof for a better look in the other direction – only to hear a noise like a man grunting. A pair of hands suddenly appeared grasping hold of the roof’s gutter. A hairy head appeared. I aimed my crossbow as a young man, aged about nineteen, hauled himself onto the roof, where he collapsed, laughing with relief. He was wearing biker leathers. I’d seen him before with the rest of the gang. He didn’t know I was watching him as he leaned over the roof and called down to the zombies chasing him. “Hah! You didn’t get me! Can’t get me now, can you, you brain-eating freaks? You’re too stupid to climb the drainpipe, aren’t you? Hah!”

  A low moan from below answered him. The man was smiling until he moved his head and saw me with my crossbow trained on him. Then his face fell. “Whoa! Don’t shoot! I’m not a zombie.”

  “I know that. You’re worse. You’re with that gang. You tried to kill me and my friends.” My crossbow was aimed at his chest. I considered shooting him as payback for Angela. It was hard resisting the bloodlust.

  “No, no. Not me. I was with those other guys – but I never hurt nobody. I was forced into joining them by my brother. Luke said we had to join them to stay alive. We had no idea they’d make us hurt other people. They were psychos. I’m not like them, sir. I swear! Please don’t kill me! Please!”

  I could have released a bolt to kill him – but I was reluctant. I saw the fear in his eyes. That fear was genuine. He was afraid of me. That made me feel like I was the bad guy. It made me hesitate. “What’s your name?”

  “William – but friends call me Billy.”

  “William, are you armed?”

  “No, sir. I – uh – I lost my weapons.”

  “If I frisk you and find anything on you, I’ll throw you off this roof to let the zoms feed on you,” I said. “So, I’ll ask you again. Do not lie. Are you armed, William?”

  “I have a couple of small knives,” he admitted. “And a screwdriver.”

  “Nothing else?”

  “No.”

  “Take them out slowly. Toss them over here.”

  One of his knives was in his leather jacket. The other was in his belt with a long-handled screwdriver. He threw them across the roof to me. I added them to my arsenal. “That’s all, Billy? No more?”

  “No more,” he said. “I swear it on my life.”

  “You are swearing it on your life,” I said. “Lie down on your belly with your hands on the back of your head.”

  He did it. I put my knee on his back while I frisked him. I found some powerful painkillers and other pills in his pockets – but no other weapons. I tied his hands behind his back with nylon rope before taking my knee off him. His hands were firmly secured behind his back when I let him sit up.

  “How many of your gang are still here?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve been hiding in a building most of the time. I think they’re all dead. Undead. Whatever.”

  “Where’s your brother?”

  “He’s with Quinn.”

  “Who’s Quinn?”

  “He’s the leader.”

  �
��The guy in the black suit?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where are they?”

  “I saw them drive off in the van during the night. Leaving me to die. I can’t believe my own flesh-and-blood abandoned me.” There were tears on Billy’s cheeks. “Looks like Luke cares more about being in Quinn’s good books than rescuing his own brother. He doesn’t care about me. He’s Quinn’s number two now your friend killed Mitchell. Me, I’m just a loser. They didn’t even try to rescue me. Luke betrayed me.”

  I left him feeling sorry for himself to check out the far side of the school. There were a dozen zombies down there. They snarled when they saw me. They clawed at the wall, trying to climb it with their bare hands, dragging their fingers over the bricks in a vain effort climb the side of the building like really amateur rock-climbers. None had the brains to climb up the iron drainpipe. That was good. I didn’t want the them climbing onto the roof. We were safe up there – for now.

  Unfortunately, the noises they were making were attracting more zombies within hearing range. They were forming a small crowd as they headed towards the back of the school. hey’d find a way into the building eventually through the rear exit. I was tempted to shoot them with my crossbow – but I’d never retrieve my bolts with so many of them coming. Each bolt was too precious to lose. I might need them in an emergency. I glared at my captor.

  “You’ve attracted the zombies to our hiding place,” I said. “I should kill you for that!”

  “I’m sorry!” he said. He sobbed pathetically. “Please don’t kill me. Look, sir, I can help you.”

  “How can you help me?”

  “You want to get out of here quickly?”

  “Of course,” I said. “How can you help with that?”

  “I found a car. It’s got a fully-charged battery and a full tank of petrol. I was going to use it to escape – but the zombies showed up before I could hot-wire it. Me and Luke are good at that. We used to steal cars on the estate when we … Sir, I’ll show you where it is if you promise to take me with you. I don’t want to get turned into one of them, sir. Just let me come with you until we’re out of this place, sir. Please!”

  “Where’s the car?”

  “It’s behind the supermarket. In the car park. A sweet red Audi. It’d take me only a minute to get it started. Unfortunately the place is swarming with the undead. Well – it was. Looks like most of them followed me when I ran away. We could probably get back to it with no problems if we go around those freaks. I’m really sorry about attracting them, sir.”

  “Stop calling me ‘sir’, Billy. I’m Ben. Listen, Billy, I’ll promise not to kill you if you help us get out friend out of here, okay? You help me, I’ll let you live. Deal?”

  He nodded eagerly. “Deal.”

  ENTRY TEN

  I didn’t trust Billy one bit – but my car-stealing skills were not on his level. I couldn’t hot-wire a car like they do in the old movies. Gone in sixty seconds? Not if I tried doing it. Gone in several days, more like. Modern cars had too many electronics to just cut some wires under the dash to circumvent the ignition switch. I needed Billy for now – but I would not take my eyes off him. He would have said anything to avoid being chucked off the roof. I grabbed Billy and led him down the stairs into the school.

  Jason wasn’t happy to see I had a prisoner. He aimed his crossbow. “What’s going on, Ben?”

  “I found him climbing up a drainpipe,” I said. “Escaping a whole bunch of zombies. They’re now outside, thanks to him.”

  “Great,” the teenager said. “You tied him up, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “But he’s going to help us. Right, Billy? You are going to hot-wire the car?”

  Billy nodded. “I’m good at stealing cars.”

  He sounded proud of it. In this new lawless and lethal world, it was a useful skill.

  Better than my degree in Economics.

  What use was that?

  Keeping Billy’s hands tied behind his back, I directed him into the staff room where Hayley was looking after Angela. Angela was awake – but very weak. Her face was white. The bandages over her wounded back were dark with dried blood. She glowered at Billy. He looked down at his feet.

  “You caught one?” she said.

  “He’s agreed to get us a car. It’s at the supermarket. Do you feel up to walking?”

  “I’ll try.” Angela attempted to sit up – but she slumped back down on the couch, wincing with pain. “Just give me a minute. I’ll try again.”

  “No,” I said. “Rest. I don’t want you opening that wound, Angela.”

  We formulated a plan. Three of us would go for the car – me, Billy and one of the kids - while one person stayed to protect Angela. Jason volunteered to go with me – but I didn’t like the idea of Hayley on her own, fighting the zombies at the school. It was better if she came with me and her brother remained with Angela. Jason wasn’t happy about his sister going with me to get the car – but I needed him to protect Angela and I needed someone to watch my back when I was with Billy, so she would have to be my back-up. Jason and Angela would meet us at the front entrance after we had the car – but they’d stay locked in the building until I contacted them on the walkie-talkie. Since Angela could not walk, I needed to find some way for Jason move her by herself. I found the answer in a classroom – a steel trolley. Jason and I carefully lifted her onto it. Jason could push it along the corridor when the time came. Unfortunately, the pain of moving made Angela pass out. When she returned to consciousness, I gave her my air gun as protection. She would have to stay there alone for now because our plan required Jason up on the roof, providing assistance with our escape from the school.

  I spoke to Hayley out of earshot of Billy. “We’re going to have to trust Billy for the moment – but we need to be ready for anything. We’ll have to watch each other’s backs around him. He’s unarmed – but he’s one of them. This whole thing could be a set-up. He could have been ordered to lure us out. So watch him. And be prepared to shoot him if necessary – but only if necessary. I intend to let him go if he does help us. A deal’s a deal. You ready, Hayley?”

  “I’m ready,” she said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Jason, Billy and Hayley followed me into the corridor, which had been quiet during the night, but now it was filled with the sound of banging. The zombies were outside the front and rear entrances, having being attracted to the school by our intruder. Jason and I blocked the rear entrance with a dozen tables and chairs to slow them down if they did breach the building – but we couldn’t do that for the front one. That would be Jason and Angela’s escape route. The door was held shut with a sturdy lock and chain, rattling as the zombies pushed against it. I just had to hope and pray none of them got inside before we got back with the car.

  The four of us ascended to the roof. The air smelled of ash and stung my eyes as smoke drifted from the High Street. The supermarket was visible about a quarter of a mile away. We looked for a way down from the roof that didn’t involve a battle with the undead – but they were all around the building now. That was why we needed Jason. He made some noise and waved his arms for attention to attract the zombies while we hid and waited. The moment the area below was clear, I lowered Hayley onto a large recycling bin next to the wall. She dropped down to the ground and took up a defensive position with her nail gun. Meanwhile Jason was making a racket. There were no zombies near us thanks to his distraction.

  “You next,” I told Billy. “Climb down now.”

  “No way. The zombies will get me. I’m not doing it with my hands tied. You’ll have to untie me first. I can’t climb down like this.”

  I pulled out one of his knives. He flinched like he expected me to cut his throat – but I cut his wrists loose. “Don’t waste any more time, Billy. Move it!”

  Billy lowered himself onto the bin. He jumped down onto the ground as I followed. Hayley kept her crossbow on Billy the whole time. The hard look on her small face left me in no
doubt that she’d shoot him if he did anything remotely suspicious. Billy held up his hands and stayed very still. I aimed my crossbow at him once I was on the ground.

  “You lead the way,” I said.

  “Unarmed? You’re kidding, right?”

  “We’ll protect you,” Hayley said. “Just move it or I’ll shoot you with a nail. It’ll really hurt.”

  It was almost funny that a little girl was talking like that to a man like Billy, which was probably why he didn’t complain again. “Okay – I’ll do whatever you want. Just no nails, okay?”

  Hayley glared at him – but she nodded.

  “Go down that street as we planned,” I said. “It’s clear at the moment. We can’t wait any loner. Move it.”

  “This is mental,” Billy said, but he did what I ordered. I had my crossbow aimed at his back in case he decided to run. I wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him in the back like one of his pals had done to Angela. The three of us moved away from the side of the school out into the open, trying to remain undetected by making no noise and moving slowly so we didn’t catch the eye of a zombie – they were more likely to notice us if we moved quickly and non-zombie-like - but we didn’t get to the street opposite before we were seen by some of the zombies around the rear of the school. One moaned and lurched in our direction. It was too slow to ever catch us – but other zombies among the crowd pushed the slow one aside and sprinted after us. They were fresh ones. Billy’s gang. They moved like living humans. A stealthy escape wasn’t possible. They were running after us.

  “Run, run, run!” I said, though the words were not needed. Hayley and Billy were already running down the street.

  From the rooftop Jason started shouting even louder – desperately trying to keep their attention on him – but the zombies were suddenly more interested us, the three Happy Meals they could see on the street.