Zed Days [Book 1]

by Nick Harland

Eve found me doing it and said, ‘That’s a nice thought. What happened to some people are just sadistic bastards and some of them might still be alive and loving it?’

  I thought about it for a second and said, ‘Bill.’

  Eve came close and slipped her hands over my bum, I returned the favour. I was intimately familiar with her bum by now and its soft heart shaped perfection had almost converted me from a boob man to a bum man. Had her breasts not also been so damn luscious I think I would have been a convert. She said, ‘And that’s why I love you.’ Then she kissed me and as I felt the softness of the inside of her lip’s a familiar current arced through me and I tensed.

  It was late by the time we were done but we had much more fuel and were all feeling very happy with ourselves. Bill even found some paracetamol in the dealers office draw for his inevitable headache. The icing on the cake was a water cooler with a half-full bottle on top and two full bottles stored in a cupboard. We put the whole damn thing in Lulu, not just the bottles, because…what the hell.

  Then it was time to go home and we were all happy to do so. I wasn’t sure if Bill was more happy to have his custom 5 litre world killer, or if I was more happy to reverse up a bit then drop the accelerator and crash though an enormous plate glass window like they do in the action movies. Either way it was a good day.

  We got home safely, locked up, unloaded, and then had a celebratory meal of canned chicken Korma, bagged rice, and vodka and coke. Before bed we went through the gear and each chose a helmet we would wear whilst at work.

  It was nice to feel good for a while but with the lights out the reality of our situation was difficult to ignore. Eve also seemed less certain than usual and snuggled in close, ‘It was a good day but they are only going to get harder. Our luck can’t last forever. I don’t pretend to have any chance of fixing this thing but I want to know more about what the hell happened to the world. These things aren’t dead, they’re alive, just not in any way we’ve encountered before. Tomorrow I want to go to my old lab and find a microscope and stuff. Who knows, it’s got a clean room for dealing with particularly nasty viruses, we might even find a survivor or two.’

  I held her close and whispered in her ear, ‘Of course, that’s a good idea. Today our lesson was mechanics 101, tomorrow…science.’

  I’m almost sure she whispered ‘I love you’ in reply but sleep took me and held me until morning.

  Chapter Sixteen – Science

  We had breakfast and discussed the plan for the day. Bill had enough work to keep him busy for a week and despite his brave encounter with the Beefcake he was better off keeping the home fires burning. The main decision was whether to take Lulu, which meant Bill couldn’t work on the Zombie plough, or take the other V8 and not have the raised suspension and huge Zed munching tyres. We left it to Bill to decide.

  He said, ‘I want you guys to come home safe but Lulu could do with some maintenance and her suspension won’t last forever if you keep abusing her like you have. Give me a couple of hours and I’ll hook up some ugly but secure bull bars on the front of the V8 and maybe even some bars you can drop manually from the side to kneecap Zeds you drive close to. It will be a mash up compared to what I have planned for Lulu, but it will be better than nothing.

  We left Bill to it with the donor car and as water was always going to be an issue we went back to my flat in Lulu to retrieve the stuff I’d left. It was a little way to travel but we knew the route and the state of the roads on the way that, a few days ago at least, had been relatively clear. Eve also wanted to check on the plants and give them some water. We had had a little rain the night before so I hoped they would be ok. We would have to plan another proper trip to dig them up and transport them. I also wanted to grab a bike or two so we could re-create Seven. I was getting used to the pry bar but it was heavy and I wanted Eve to keep Seven.

  The trip was uneventful, the odd wandering Zed and a small hoard we avoided. It was strange to return to the flat, even though it was less then two weeks since it happened and half that time since I’d left it. We went to the old base first as the hill was steep and the water containers weren’t really purpose built. The line of bodies piled high against the fence and the ones still dangling from the top of it, apart from being gruesome, gave us both flashbacks. I thought how naive I had been thinking it would make a good base.

  We unlocked the gates but left them open and Lulu outside. The plants were doing ok. It was still early spring and intermittently cold so they hadn’t dried out too fast, though I doubted they were growing well either. Eve used some water on the young tomatoes and salad leaved and whispered her promises to come back and collect them soon.

  Eve looked up at the camper van parked below the radio tower and said, ‘Should we take it back, it’s newer than the ones back at base?’

  I stood beside her and looked up at the camper too. It brought back some happy memories of the nights we’d spent in it. I said, ‘No. I know now this was never going to be a decent base but it’s still got a decent perimeter and is vaguely out of the way. It’s useful to have stuff here in case of emergencies, including the camper. After initial survival and base building comes preparing and stocking a fall back base, and this is it. When we come back to get the plants we should bring a few things with us so if we ever have to abandon the caravan shop and run, we have somewhere to go.’

  Eve reached across and held my hand, ‘That’s a scary thought but of course you’re right. We should bring back a halfway decent car and enough supplies for at least a few days, maybe a weapon or too as well.’

  I nodded, ‘Ok. Right now though, it’s time to go get some water.’

  We left the gates closed but not locked and the keys in the camper. Without anything moving on the roads and a slight slope from the roundabout to my flat, even with various stationary cars to avoid, we made it close to the flat without having to turn the engine on. A two-ton car has a lot of momentum.

  There were no Zeds around so we got out, weapons in hand, and Mutt was on the lookout as always. Eve looked at the pizza shop critically, ‘So this is where you were hiding your humanity and sexual potential?’

  I smirked and we started loading the remaining water containers into Lulu. After lugging the water Eve noticed the small chemist just the other side of the cut. She said, ‘I know it’s likely to be the Zeds that get us but I’d hate to die of an infection or something silly. We should grab what we can and yes, before you say it, I know that names of the main drugs and antibiotics we need. We might not get sick imminently but we are likely to need wound dressings and painkillers at some point so we might as well get it organised now.’

  I nodded, ‘Ok, it’s about time I suppose, shoot out the window and we’ll get to it. Someone managed to lock it when it all kicked off.’

  Eve shot the window and I finished the job with Seven so we could get through. I collected all the stuff from the shop like dressings, bandages and toiletries and Eve went behind the counter and started rifling through the drugs. It didn’t take long to clear it out of what we needed. We attracted six local Zeds smashing the window and Eve said, ‘I could do without this and even with Mutt here six is a risk.’ Then she drew a gun and shot three of them. One each wasn’t a problem. We waited just inside the shop and they couldn’t run because they had to climb through the window. We took them as they were clambering though.

  When we were done my nightmare came true, Eve wanted to see my flat. We walked upstairs and I couldn’t stop myself blushing as she walked in. I was thankful the mattress and sheets were gone but there was no hiding my previous life style choices. There were still alcopop bottles scattered around from the bender and of course my computer rig. She turned to me and said, ‘I wasn’t always a trophy wife you know and from my experience, women who have affluent parents don’t end up as trophy wives because they can see through the glamour. I’ve seen my fair share of bedsits while I was a degree student and you’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.’ Then she smirked, ‘W
ell not much anyway.’

  I still didn’t want to be there and replied, ‘Let’s go, this isn’t my life anymore and we need to get back to Bill. We still have a microscope to find.’

  We walked down the stairs and from the angle coming back down the hall I could see Lucy’s body shoved face down in the corner of the Pizza shop. With the time that had past it was in pretty bad shape and the smell was rife. Despite everything I’d been though I froze and my hands went clammy. Eve looked around when I disappeared from her side and concern crossed her face when she looked back and saw me. She hurried back to me and held my hands, ‘What’s wrong?’

  Then she looked into the shop and followed my eyes. I said, ‘It’s ok, just a flashback or something, I’m fine.’

  Eve hugged me and stroked the back of my head, ‘It’s not ok, none of it is. You’re entitled to feel what you feel, scared, sorry, sad. I was all talk and full of fear when you found me remember. I hadn’t even left the house. Being like this doesn’t mean you’re weak, it just means you’re still human.’

  ‘I’ve got an idea. It’s not sensible, but it’s an idea. We have very little we can offer her in the form of dignity but there is one thing. After we’ve grabbed a bike and are ready to run for it why don’t we turn the gas on the ovens on, set light to a load of pizza boxes just inside the door, shut it, and run. It’ll be her funeral pier. There should still be some pressure in the gas pipes.’

  I took my head from her shoulder and looked into her eye’s, ‘And that’s why I love you. That’s a nice plan, reckless and crazy, but genuinely nice. I’d like to think someone would do the same for us if they found us.’

  We got the boxes and everything ready and Eve waited by the ovens. I grabbed another titanium bike and called to Eve. As I was ramming the bike into the back of Lulu Eve jumped into the drivers seat and said, ‘Hurry, I can see some coming and there’s gonna be fireworks.’

  I shut the tailgate and followed Mutt into the passenger seat. I could see a stream of Zeds coming from down the cut that must have decided it was time to leave home and had heard us. Eve accelerated off but about fifty feet down the road I said, ‘Stop!’ and she squealed to a halt looking around for the danger.

  I said, ‘Its ok, I just want to see this. I also want to see what fire does to these bastards. We haven’t tried it yet and might be missing a trick.’

  Eve replied, ‘Ok, but I’m not waiting for a hoard of burning Zeds to surround Lulu.’

  Just as she was finishing her sentence when the pizza shop blew. It wasn’t like the movies as their can’t have been that much gas pressure but it was definitely loud and enough to set the place on fire. I saw a brief fireball hit the half glass front door and even saw a flash upstairs in my flat window but there was no flying glass. The Zeds streaming from the cut were only distracted for a few seconds before starting to walk towards us again, only a couple going to bang against my old front door.

  Eve said, ‘Are we done? If you want to play with burning Zeds you need an accelerant, but you’re right, it’s something to try.’

  I replied, ‘Yes we’re done, but you need to turn around.’

  ‘What the fuck?’

  ‘I heard you make some promises to those plants and if we drive that way we might have another hoard to deal with when we come back. They will head in the direction we go and end up close to the old base and our emergency back-up.’

  Eve replied, ‘Ok that makes sense, I know a route around.’

  We were quick enough to avoid having to drive through the whole horde but to avoid it we had to take a roundabout route through the housing estate behind the strip of shops and back to the road. The streets were busy and they were all heading for the noise until they saw us. It was a bit scary how many there were now they weren’t all hiding inside. We had to drive through several Zeds but they weren’t gathered into a hoard so we didn’t have to bash through them so much as push them over and let the knobbly tyres do the rest. We got back home safe and Bill was waiting.

  We could see the V8 waiting for us as we drove up and Bill opened the gate. He was right, it was ugly, but I was also sure what he had done would help. We got out of Lulu and he said, ‘I was just starting to get worried, we could do with long range walkie-talkies at some point. How did it go?’

  Eve replied, ‘It was ok. We caused an explosion in a pizza shop to give a girl her dignity which was interesting, but we have the water and a bike so we can make a Seven Mk II.’

  Bill smiled a brief ineffectual smile and said, ‘Ok, I’m not even going to ask.’ Looking at the V8 he added, ‘What do you think?’

  We looked around the Range Rover. It had some roughly cut metal plates that looked like bits of bonnet that had been hammered into a rough arch covering the top half of the front tyres. There was a rough metal cage made from lengths of rusting tube steel covering the front grill and more surrounding the windscreen with some metal mesh covering it. It wouldn’t be good for visibility but I guess we’d been lucky not to have broken the screen on Lulu yet, and might well have done so if she hadn’t been raised. The screen was bullet proof but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t crack with repeated trauma. On the front were more bits of bonnet joined to metal tubing that formed a rough triangular plough shape.

  Eve said, ‘All this in a couple of hours, that’s pretty good going. I was only expecting bull bars.’

  Bill said, ‘I killed a couple of leisure batteries running the cutting blade for the steel and it was a challenge to leave it so messy, but it should work ok.’

  I asked, ‘You mentioned some knee cap bars.’

  Bill took a moment to decode the lout speak then said, ‘No time I’m afraid. It’s not an easy thing to do without risking buckling the wing and affecting the cage and wheel arches. You don’t need a tyre blowing because the arch is rubbing against it, even if they are run flat. I will rig something up for Lulu though, don’t worry.’

  We unloaded Lulu and had a quick snack before heading off again. Eve let me drive and not having the extra height and huge tyres made me feel much more vulnerable. The visibility through the mesh covered screen wasn’t too bad after I got used to it. We both knew that despite the modifications we wouldn’t be using the car as a Zombie killing machine and had to be careful. Our mission was a microscope, nothing more.

  It took almost an hour to drive around the town and out towards the high-class industrial estate by the river. It wasn’t the kind of estate with dirty garages and stinking laundry buildings. It had a medical centre, a sport centre, some electronics firms, and a few research facility buildings associated with the local university. In theory it wasn’t a very busy place as most of the businesses didn’t have walk in customers and there were only a few small shops. The various firms based there were more high tech and Eve said they didn’t have that many employees.

  Unfortunately the research buildings would be the busiest places because as well as staff there could be quite a few students. There were Zeds on the roads and in the carparks and driving in drew attention from quite a large area. Our first job was to work out how to clear the outside so we could get inside. We could always run to get inside the building and try and barricade the door but without knowing how many were inside we didn’t need to restrict our escape options. With the bastards opening doors now, it was more difficult.

  Eve looked around and said, ‘They aren’t grouped together and there can’t be more than thirty so even if I have to use both clips we’ll be fine. Let’s go hand to hand and if I have to mop up then so be it. You have Seven this time as you’ll be doing most of the heavy lifting. I’ll help where I can and be ready with the guns if any bunch up.’

  I nodded and found a spot between two large cars parked close together and Eve covered my back so we would only face one at a time. Mutt was a law unto himself and we would see him pounce from the cover of a car and attack a straggling Zed from time to time. If he didn’t manage to down it or others came he would move on a repeat the process.
He didn’t finish many but he was a good distraction and several were worse for wear by the time they got to us.

  Things went well until we both had three of four bodies piled up in front of us, then they had a height advantage when they clambered over the bodies so we had to fight our way out. Eve said, ‘Duck!’ and shot the closest four Zeds to allow us to change positions. We moved across the carpark and backed up against a large van. We managed another couple each hand to hand but then they bunched up and it was too risky. Eve finished most of the rest with her guns and when there were only three left we took one each, Mutt finishing some unfinished business with one of them.

  The research building looked bland and functional and the plain double half-glass doors and lack of large windows didn’t seem in keeping with the buildings purpose. Eve explained it had originally been built as low cost offices when area was being developed, but by the time they development was finished it didn’t really fit in. The university bought it at a discount and remodelled it. Eve’s voice trailed off at the end of the explanation and I smiled and nodded sarcastically. Eve said, ‘I’m showing my age aren’t I. This is one of those, “I remember when this was all fields” things isn’t it?’

  I grinned some more and said, ‘There are times I’m definitely 22 so I don’t see why you shouldn’t be 39 sometimes. You have the body and mind of a sex goddess and gods are generally ageless, so who cares.’

  Eve stepped towards me pouting her lips and running her hands down her hips. She said, ‘I can live with ageless sex goddess, and for being so kind, you shall have a little treat.’

  Then she did the remove her bra from under her top thing. Lifting her arms high in the air and wiggling so her breasts jiggled under her t-shirt she said, ‘Mistresses nipples haven’t been kissed in hours. I wonder if there is anyone around who can remedy the situation.’

  I didn’t waste any time and within a minute she was pressing my head against her then pushing her nipples together so I could suck them both at the same time. I started to get carried away, fumbling at her jeans, but she grabbed my hair and pulled me away from her, holding me roughly, ‘Now now, I said a little treat, not a full supper. You should know by now that the best things come to those who wait.’