Zed Days [Book 1]

by Nick Harland

  Much to my disappointment Eve put her bra back on before reloading and going inside. It was back to business but my face still felt warm from being pressed against her and I was still uncomfortable; there were worse things. Apart from one Zed in the main corridor the open area downstairs was empty. I think some at least had gone outside at some point. Eve directed us towards some stairs to the second floor where the microbiology lab was. Mutt went first, nose and eyes on alert. The wide corridor upstairs had several doors leading off it, the first was open and filled with two lines of computers and four Zeds. Mutt charged in before I could stop him and we were forced to follow. Eve shot one and killing one each had become almost matter of fact.

  She said the lab was in a large room at the end of the hall. The doors between us and the lab were shut so we snuck by hoping not to attract attention. The lab had double glass doors and what I saw inside looked like something out of a movie; I suppose they had to get their idea’s from somewhere. There were workstations at intervals around the edge of the room, some with microscopes others with computers. There were several large stainless steel tables with what looked to me like chemistry equipment on, but the dominating feature was a square glass room in the centre of the area with a workstation, some cupboards with glass doors, and a large stainless steel table with some equipment and a microscope on.

  I suppose I should also mention the more organic contents. There were four dead Zeds, two dead half eaten people, and inside the glass room in the centre, two apparently living people… just. The live people were sat on the floor of the glass room slumped up against the wall facing us. They both wore full white, lab style overalls, but their hoods were off. One looked quite young, perhaps even younger than me, and had shiny neat brown hair cut into a short bob. She had a metal test tube stand resting on her limp hand as a makeshift weapon. The other looked much older and had longer brown hair. Neither of them looked very well at all.

  Chapter Seventeen – Old Friends

  Eve and I looked at each other and walked into the room and up to the glass doors of the square room inside. Eve pressed her face against the glass and said, ‘My god, it’s Andrea, I swear it is.’

  She tried the door but it wouldn’t open. She banged against the glass with her fist and shouted, ‘Andrea’.

  The vacant expression on the one I assumed was Andrea’s face seemed to focus then show recognition. She slumped onto her side on the plastic coated floor and dragged herself unceremoniously towards the door. She made two attempts to reach up for the door release knob before hitting it and collapsing on her face.

  Eve tried to door again and managed to get her fingers in a small gap that had opened up between the door and pillar it closed against. It was stiff but we managed to pull it open. The smell that met us was nasty to say the least but Eve threw herself onto the floor next to Andrea and turned her gently over. Her face was dry and dangerously pale and her lips were cracked. Her eyes squinted to stay focussed and I thought she would lose consciousness. She croaked in a small thin voice, ‘Water.’

  Eve turned to me, ‘We have to save them. I doubt they’ve eaten in a while and they are obviously dangerously dehydrated. I know we don’t like to split up but I need you to go to the car and get our food and water supplies.’ Then she handed me one of her guns, ‘Take this and don’t hesitate to use it. Come back quick and safe.’

  I bent down to kiss her and although she returned it there was no feeling in it. I said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a few minutes.’

  I tried to move quickly and quietly down the hall to the stairs, I didn’t want Zeds coming from any of the other rooms and threatening Eve. Mutt followed me. We met a Zed wandering up the stairs that I kicked in the face, sending him flying backwards to land at the bottom of the stairs. Mutt appeared to treat the act as a game and enthusiastically jumped the last six steps to land on the Zeds chest before doing his rip your throat out routine. Not having time for Mutt to finish the job his way I finished it with Seven, much to Mutt’s consternation. I got to the car and back easily but two Zeds spotted me and started to make their way across the carpark. I didn’t want to leave Eve so I just ignored them and went back into the building.

  I was about to go in when I noticed Mutt wasn’t with me, then I spotted him jumping onto a car bonnet and from there onto one of the Zeds shambling in our direction. I knew he could take care of himself and seemed to need to prove himself, so I left him to it. For about thirty seconds going up the stairs I was alone, no Mutt and no Eve; it felt strange. I knew she was just meters away but I had to fight a sudden panic none the less. I had been alone when it happened and didn’t know how I had held it together, necessity I guess, but I didn’t want to be alone in it ever again. It’s hard to describe the depth of the feeling that flowed through me and made me feel sick but I knew one way or another I would make sure I was never alone in it again. I would either have Eve with me or I would fight until I died.

  I reached Eve and opened the rucksack we always travelled with. It had enough food and water for at least three days, just in case. Eve was sat on her knees with Andrea’s head on her lap, tears rolling down her cheeks. She took the water from me and held it gently to Andrea’s lips while nodding her head towards the younger survivor.

  I crouched next to the other person still slumped against the glass wall. She was definitely young. She was slim build and I suppose some would call her pretty, but right then she was pale, her skin and lips were dry and cracked, and she stank as bad as Andrea did. I guess they had both become too unwell to bother going to the toilet elsewhere. Her brown eye’s flickered open and she focussed on me for a moment before they flickered closed again. I held a bottle of water to her lips and she managed a few sips. I felt her forehead and she was burning up.

  I looked across at Eve who read the concern on my face, ‘I know, it’s bad, open the window or smash it if you have to. We need to get them out of this room and into the main lab, they need air. Close the door and barricade it first, we’re going to be a while. I’m not leaving them and we can’t try and move them yet.’

  I nodded and looked at the girl. I thought of her as a girl at the time, even though she probably wasn’t that much younger than me. I wouldn’t like to think anyone would think of me as a boy; it’s just what came to my mind at the time.

  Most of the workstations looked fixed in place. One of the stainless steel tables looked like I could move it but it had loads of stuff on it. I moved everything off it as quickly and quietly as I could and was about to start dragging it towards the door when I thought of Mutt. I looked down the hallway and saw him coming up the stairs, goo still dripping from his muzzle. Before he reached me one of the doors off the hallway opened and three Zeds came out. One headed for Mutt and the other two came towards me. Not having the time or patience for a fight I used Eve’s gun and waited until they were so close I didn’t miss. I still missed the first shot, which buried itself in the wall behind. I still hadn’t had much practice, especially with Eve’s guns, but the next two shots found there mark. I let Mutt finish his this time and needed to wait and see if we had attracted anymore anyway. It appeared not.

  Having to shoot for the head is strange, the default is to try and aim for the middle of the forehead like in the movies. This is a small target though and it’s very easy miss and aim high. When you reconceptualise the entire exercise and shoot for the face it’s suddenly much easier. The problem is getting over the inbuilt hesitation to shoot anything, even a Zed, in the face. It’s kinda weird thinking about it. Society makes violent movies and shows horror and torture, but when you think about it the expression is always, ‘Shot in the head.’ Even with all the violence and things we willingly expose ourselves to we still don’t like to think of people being shot in the face. I assume if you’re reading this you’ve somehow survived the apocalypse and will be familiar. It’s enough to say that deliberately having to aim for the centre of the face is harder, psychologically, than it sounds, but I
digress.

  Mutt came into the lab and I shut the door and dragged the big metal table across it. We were safe for the time being but our circumstances were not ideal. Eve nodded for me to go back to the girl and I picked up the water I had left by her, helped her hold her head up, and gave her a few more sips. Then Eve said, ‘Help me with her.’

  Eve bent over Andrea holding her under the arm, I held her other arm and we dragged her out into the main part of the lab. Then we did the same for the girl. I opened the windows but only the top parts opened and it didn’t help much, it was hot in the room. Eve grabbed a couple of the white lab all in ones and covered Andrea and the girl before nodding at me. As there was really no way to manage noise reduction I picked up a sturdy looking chair and threw it through the main window. It was exactly as noisy as expected and I would have enjoyed it under different circumstances. I used a lab coat to push all the glass that came inside against the wall and out of the way. Being on the second floor the draft was steady and strong and the room felt cooler almost immediately.

  Eve sat between Andrea and the girl and I grabbed the rucksack with the supplies and said, ‘What now?’

  Eve still looked very upset but wasn’t crying anymore, she said ‘Now we wait. We help them drink whenever we can and when they come round we feed them. I did some survivalist basic medical training but it was all wounds and broken ankles. I have no idea how long it will take or even if we’re too late. They’re both pretty hot and I know with severe dehydration the blood thickens and clots can happen. It’s too early to tell if they have suffered any other damage but Andrea managed to move and speak which is encouraging. I would hope we could get them back to base by the end of tomorrow maybe. They must have had some food around or they’d be thinner.’

  I looked across at her tried to smile encouragingly, ‘I hope so, Bill’s gonna do his nut. We need to add those long range walkie-talkies to the priorities list.’

  Eve smiled back and said, ‘Thanks for this, I know you don’t have to, you don’t know either of them.’

  I was taken aback by what she said and for a moment I had to reconsider what she thought of me, and our relationship. I was stressed by it all and her words made me angry when they probably shouldn’t have. I knew my tone was harsh but I couldn’t stop it, ‘What do you mean, of course I have to, what do you think I would do otherwise, walk away? I don’t have to know someone to try and save them, I’m not doing you a favour by helping. I can’t believe you said that, fuck!’

  Eve looked like she’d been punched in the stomach and went pale. The tears she had been holding back started to roll down her face again. She stuttered, ‘I’m, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean. I know you wouldn’t walk away. I don’t know why I said that, I didn’t mean it, I didn’t mean to hurt you.’

  My stomach turned to see her upset and to know I’d caused it. I shuffled across the floor to sit in front of her. She looked down as I went to hug her but accepted my embrace. I should have thought before I’d spoken and I knew it. I knew she didn’t mean it and I knew where it had come from, I said, ‘I’m sorry for being harsh, it’s ok, you just took me by surprise and we’re both stressed by all this. I know you didn’t men it and that it came from somewhere else, from before. It’s me that should be sorry.’

  Eve nuzzled in and put her arms around me but didn’t lift her head from my shoulder, ‘You’re so understanding and I’m so fucked up. It’s been so long since I thought or was made to feel I deserved anything it’s really hard to believe things come without a price. He never did anything that didn’t benefit him in some way, even if it was just to make him look good. He donated the electron microscope to this place shortly after we first met. I thought he was being so generous. I was so stupid.’

  ‘Andrea was the lead lab technician here and she warned me about him back then, but I didn’t listen. She looked after me and kept me going through the slog to the end of my PhD. She was kind of a mother figure for me and some others who did work on our PhD’s here. I’m not sure how many of us would have made it if it weren’t for her. I can’t believe she’s still alive and that I have the chance to repay her for everything she did for me.’

  Then she looked up at me and said, ‘Thank you. Not for staying or helping or anything, just for being you.’

  I smiled back and saw a smile cross Andrea’s face too. I looked down at Andrea and Eve saw it too. Then she bent over to hug her, ‘I’m so glad I found you. Don’t try and talk or anything we’ve got food and water and you’re safe now, we’re going to save you.’

  Andrea weakly put her arm up to stroke Eve’s head before letting it fall down next to mine. Then she crawled her hand onto mine and held it weakly. Eve sat up and looked at her holding my hand, her brow furrowing in confusion. Andrea opened her cracked mouth and croaked, ‘Good choice, better late than never.’

  Eve smiled, started to cry again, and put her hand over Andrea’s and mine. Sniffing she looked at me then back at Andrea and said, ‘I know, thanks. He’s a lout, but he’s perfect.’

  I was a bit overwhelmed and could feel myself blushing. Andrea saved us both the awkward moment by saying, ‘How’s Esme?’

  I felt Esme’s head and she was still hot but in the cool late afternoon wind she seemed to be cooling down. Her eye’s opened and she smiled weakly before closing them again. I gave her some more water and said, ‘I think she’s going to be ok.’

  By the time it was dark Esme and Andrea were sat up and eating as well as drinking. A small hoard of zombies had gathered around the bottom of the building where I had thrown the chair out of the window but none had come knocking on the door to the lab. I had an idea. I went to sit in front of Andrea and Eve, who hadn’t left her side, and said, ‘This place must have chemicals and stuff. We’ve been meaning to see how fire affects them. It’s all brick down there so I don’t think there’s any chance of a fire spreading.’ Andrea raised an eyebrow and I added, ‘All in the name of science of course.’

  Eve couldn’t help but snigger and looked at Andrea and said, ‘Like I said he’s a lout but you’re going to learn to trust him, he’s usually right. We’ve been fighting these things hand to hand by crushing their skulls, running them over, letting Mutt messily decapitate them, and shooting them. It all works but none of it’s easy when there are a lot of them. We could use another crowd control weapon in our arsenal and we haven’t tried fire yet.’

  Andrea replied, ‘That all sounds truly horrid. It almost makes fire sound better.’ Pointing she said, ‘In that cupboard there are several bottles of ethanol. You will need to be careful, some paper towels shoved in the top should work but the fumes are as bad as petrol so make sure the rag makes a decent seal and don’t hang around.’

  I was on my feet before she’d finished her sentence. There were about ten bottles and they were quite large which made me smile. I grabbed a load of large paper towels and went to the smashed window. Eve joined me a few seconds later with a lighter and another bottle. I undid the lid to the bottle and resisted the urge to pretend to drink some. I shoved a couple of towels into the top and nodded at Eve. The bottle was full so it was already starting to absorb up the paper towel when Eve lit it. I quickly dropped the bottle out of the window and Eve and I peeped over the side to watch.

  The ethanol bomb smashed and the fluid ignited exactly as I had hoped. It was virtually dark so it was a bit of a show. The Zeds started wailing which was strange, they occasionally gurgled or groaned as we hit them but they had never wailed. They also swung their arms around and started to moved away from the burning area. Eve quickly undid the lid to the other bottle and shook it over the edge. The first bottle had set several Zeds on fire but it was mainly their lower halves. By the time Eve finished emptying the bottle several were fully engulfed and this heightened their reaction. They ran off flailing their arms, still wailing.

  Eve looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. It’s like they feel it, it’s horrid.’
>
  She wasn’t wrong and I felt it too. If they were still alive, in some very strange way, and if they were becoming more aware of themselves, what we had just done was horrific. The last thing we needed when it was them or us was to question killing them though. We watched in silence as the burning figures ran into the night. Most went around the building so we couldn’t see them but one stayed in sight then slowed down, fell over, and was still.

  A few days earlier Eve and I might have smiled and kissed to our success but then we met each other’s eyes and didn’t know what to say. I spoke first, ‘It’s them or us and this is a war for the survival of mankind. We can’t start questioning ourselves.’

  Eve nodded and we both knew I was right, but in that moment, neither of us felt it.

  Esme called out in a high pitched croaky voice, ‘How did it go?’

  We went over and sat down in front of Andrea and Esme. Eve said, ‘It worked, we saw one fall over and not get up and you must have heard them wailing. They ran around and flapped their arms. They’ve never done that before. It’s like they could feel it.’

  I looked at Andrea for a reaction but I couldn’t have guessed what came out of her mouth if I’d had a million years. It stunned Eve and I into silence and I think there was some gawping. She said, ‘Serves the alien bastards right for invading our planet.’

  Chapter Eighteen – Aliens!

  Andrea’s announcement left me speechless, Eve recovered first and said, ‘You looked at some samples before the power went out didn’t you. That’s why we came, to grab the Phenom Pro-X so we could look at some. What did you see, what did the analysis show? How do you know they’re aliens?’