Beth looked where he was pointing and saw a dark shape coming down the hill towards them. For a moment, she was startled enough to think that it might be a zombie, but they were moving too quickly. She stared at the figure and tried to make them out.
“It looks like Rachel,” Noel said.
Rachel had been spending less time with the children recently. There was nothing that she could do to help them and, Beth thought, seeing them grow weak was especially painful for her.
“It is Rachel,” he said.
She was running towards the camp, more quickly than she should have been able, considering that she was as hungry as the rest of them. Perhaps more so because, Beth was sure, she had been giving her rations to the children for days now.
Rachel was too far away for Beth to see her expression, but nobody ran like that for no reason. It was either good news or bad and, considering how things had been going recently, Beth was certain it was the latter.
* * * * *
She climbed down the rocks and jumped the last couple of feet to the dusty ground. Noel came down close behind her. They didn’t talk but hurried towards Rachel as quickly as their failing bodies would allow.
Other people turned and looked at them with vague, unfocused expressions. One of the first things that had gone when the food had started to run out was curiosity. Some days Beth felt like they were already zombies.
They met Rachel by the pit where a few people were gathered, trying to warm themselves on the remains of a fire that hadn’t been lit for two days. She was breathless, and her face was red. For a moment, she just looked at them with her mouth wide as she gasped for air.
Beth put a hand on her back and rubbed between her shoulders.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Take your time.”
Rachel shook her head. The expression on her face told Beth that she had been right and that this wasn’t going to be good news.
“Breath,” she said. “It’s going to be okay.”
Rachel licked her chapped lips, and Beth wondered if she had been giving her water to the children as well. Other people had begun to gather around them, but they hung back as if they were afraid that just hearing what she had to say would endanger them.
“Here,” Noel said. He held out a bottle of water and Rachel took it. “Take it easy.”
She sipped the water, and the camp held its breath. Beth thought that she could already guess what she was going to tell them. What else could it be?
“Thank you,” Rachel said, and she handed the bottle back to Noel. She wiped her mouth, and Beth started to wonder whether she was ever going to reveal what had happened.
“Are you okay?” Beth said.
Rachel started to nod and then shook her head as if she had just remembered what had caused her to come running down the hill in the first place. “They’re coming.”
Beth already knew the answer, but she asked the question anyway. “Who? Who’s coming?”
“Zombies,” Rachel said. “Hundreds of them.”
Nobody gasped or screamed which, Beth thought, was a good indication of how close to the end they all were. Once upon a time, the thought of a hundred zombies would have sent them into a state of panic, and she would have spent the rest of the day trying to calm them down.
“Tell me what happened,” Beth said.
“I was up on the hills, just walking,” Rachel said. She looked around guiltily as if someone was going to accuse her of abandoning the children, but they hadn’t reacted to the news about the zombies, and they didn’t react to that. “I saw them coming through the fields. They’re coming this way.”
“Are you sure?” Beth said. “I mean, were they definitely coming towards us?”
“I’m sure,” Rachel said. “They’re coming this way.”
Rachel didn’t have much more news than that. There were ‘at least a hundred zombies’ but maybe more and they were about a mile away. They weren’t moving quickly, but even they would be able to cover the distance in less than an hour.
* * * * *
Beth helped Rachel to sit on one of the rocks that surrounded the pit. There were other people around her, and no one seemed to be going anywhere. She walked away, but she didn’t get far before she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Where are you going?” Noel said.
Beth turned back to look at him. What did he expect her to say? He wanted her to have a solution, she could appreciate that, but, as far as she could see, there wasn’t one. She shook her head. “I need to find Dawn.”
“We have to get out of here,” he said.
She nodded and then she shook her head. “They might not make it here. We don’t know what they’re doing.”
“But Rachel said.”
“I know what Rachel said, but what am I supposed to do Noel?”
He opened and closed his mouth, but no words came out. She was momentarily gratified to have driven him to silence, but then she remembered that he was right. They had to do something, but what?
“I’m going to find Dawn,” she said. “I’m not doing anything until I have her.”
He nodded but still didn’t speak. Beth took a final look at him (was it her final look?) and then turned and walked away.
She passed other people who were making their way towards the pit, drawn, no doubt, by the noise that they had been making. She looked at them, and they stared back at her with blank expressions that might have been sympathetic or hate filled, it was impossible to tell the two apart now.
Dawn was sitting at the edge of the clearing. She looked up as Beth approached but didn’t say anything. Beth sat down beside her, and they both stared down the hill in silence.
It looked as if the whole camp had gathered around Rachel. There was still no panic and Beth couldn’t decide whether that was a good thing or not. If people panicked then they would be more difficult to control, but the fact that they weren’t suggested they had already given up.
“They’re coming, aren’t they?” Dawn said.
Beth nodded.
“Are we leaving?”
It seemed like the obvious thing to do, but was it the sensible thing? “They might change direction before they get here.”
“They might not.”
They knew that there were zombies coming from one direction but what about the others? Leaving the campsite might mean walking straight into the path of another group of zombies, and none of them were in a state to fight. If they left, then they didn’t know what they would be facing. At least if they stayed, there was a chance that the zombies might change course.
“What are we going to do?” Dawn said. There was no emotion in her voice, and it hurt Beth to think that she had given up as well. This wasn’t what she had wanted. If Dale had still been with them, then it would have been different. He would have known what to do.
Beth reached for Dawn’s hand, but she didn’t know whether she was offering, or seeking, comfort. She laced her fingers between her sisters and they sat together looking down at the camp and the people who were drifting away from Rachel as if she hadn’t brought her terrible news.
* * * * *
They gathered around the pit to wait for news. Noel had volunteered to go up the hill to check on the progress of the zombies and, as much as Beth hadn’t wanted him to, she hadn’t been prepared to send someone else in his place.
A few muttered voices filled the air, and she was uncomfortably aware of how many people were looking at her. They expected her to have a solution, but she had never led them to believe that would be the case. She hadn’t wanted to be their leader. That had been Dale’s job. Since he had gone the only thing she cared about was keeping Dawn safe and, she realised, she hadn’t been doing a very good job of that.
She looked up at the sound of leaves bristling and saw him before the others. Noel wasn’t running (could he if he needed to?) but he was walking towards them, quickly enough that she was scared he might trip and fall and break something.
&
nbsp; Beth let go of Dawn’s hand and walked towards him. He was out of breath, but he could still talk.
“Did you see them?” she said.
Noel nodded. “Rachel’s right. There’s more than a hundred of them. They’re at the forest now.”
“Shit,” she said.
“Beth, we have to go.”
She felt a hand touch her arm and turned to see Dawn there. “What’s happening?”
“Beth, we don’t have much time. We have to go.”
She nodded but the old fear that there were worse things waiting for them out there came back to her. She felt as if she couldn’t move her legs.
Beth knew that he was right. That the only logical thing to do was gather everyone and get out of the camp, but where would they go? There were zombies everywhere and maybe they were just kidding themselves if they thought they could outrun them.
“Beth!” Noel said.
She squeezed Dawn’s hand. Why was she the one who had to make this decision? She wasn’t cut out for this. She wasn’t a leader, she didn’t want to be responsible for people.
“Beth, are we going or not?” Noel said.
They would all stay if she told them to. They didn’t have the ability to make the decision for themselves. If she let them, then they would stay right where they were and not raise a finger to protect themselves when the zombies came.
“Beth!” Noel said.
Even Noel wouldn’t run on his own. Whatever he thought, he seemed to have taken it upon himself to be some kind of mentor to her. She didn’t want that, though, she just needed a friend.
At the top of the hill, the branches began to rustle. When she looked up, she saw the first of them coming through. They were too far away to see clearly, and they weren’t moving quickly. Their skin had the familiar decayed look.
The first zombie stumbled forwards, and it looked as if it might fall. Its eyes were glazed like marbles, and it didn’t seem to see them.
If she’d had more time… she shook the thought away. It was useless to dwell on that now. The chance to run had passed and their options were close to none. Beth looked away from the ragged zombie at the top of the hill and into the faces of the people who had decided she was responsible for their lives. Whether she wanted to be, or not, she realized, she didn’t have any choice now.
* * * * *
A second zombie appeared. More decayed and gruesome than the last. Even from a distance Beth could see that half of its face was hanging off, the bones and cavities beneath the skin clearly visible.
She turned away.
“Beth?” Dawn said.
They were all looking at her now, no one was speaking. She turned away from them and looked around the clearing as if an answer would appear to her there.
And then, by some miracle, it did.
“Into the cave,” she said.
“What?” Noel said.
“What?” Dawn said.
She didn’t have time to discuss it. A third zombie had appeared at the top of the hill, and more were going to follow. If they stayed where they were then they would be caught and killed and then there would be even more zombies in the world.
Beth grabbed hold of Dawn’s hand and dragged her away from the pit. She was vaguely aware that others were following them, but that didn’t matter now. It was just her and Dawn that she cared about, if the rest of them came as well, then so be it. But she wasn’t going to risk her sister’s life to save them.
The cave was far away from the pit and well-hidden, so she thought that the zombies wouldn’t see them go in. With luck, they would assume (if they were capable of such complex thought) that they had kept running, right through the other side of the forest.
“Get inside,” Beth said. She practically threw Dawn into the entrance and then turned around to see who else was coming. It looked like everyone, but she couldn’t be sure, and she didn’t relax until she saw Noel hobbling along towards them.
He stopped when he reached her, and the others went in around them.
“Are you sure about this?” Noel said.
Beth started to shake her head. How could she be sure? A hundred zombies were about to enter the camp, and the only thing she could think to do was hide in a cave and hope not to be found. But that wasn’t what Noel wanted to hear. That wasn’t what any of them wanted to hear.
She nodded. “I’m sure,” she said. “Now get inside.”
“After you,” he said.
Beth looked at him and considered arguing, but now she could hear the moan of the zombies as they crashed through the forest and into the camp. Instead, she gave Noel a stern look and then ducked down and went into the cave to hide with the rest of them.
CHAPTER SIX
The food in the compound wasn’t much, but the thought of it made Emma’s stomach growl so loudly that, for a moment, she thought that a zombie had snuck up on her. She wheeled around and grabbed her rifle. There was nobody there, of course there wasn’t, but she didn’t lower her weapon immediately.
She stared along the wall. The nearest light was from the inner compound where everyone who wasn’t on duty would be. Tucked up in their warm rooms, maybe at the bar drinking, certainly eating. She lowered her weapon slowly and turned back to the forest. The ground was fifty feet below her and hidden beneath the trees. It wasn’t clear what she was supposed to be able to see, but she had been a soldier for long enough to know not to question orders.
At least she wasn’t one of the unlucky sons of bitches who was actually down there. At least not tonight.
She checked her watch. Still fifteen minutes before her relief came. At least thirty before she could be sitting in the canteen eating something fried and greasy.
Somewhere to her left and right, there were other soldiers on the wall, but she couldn’t see either of them and didn’t know who they were. It was a lonely job and, most of the time, boring. She couldn’t see to read and wouldn’t have been allowed to even if she could.
Emma had been at Eastern Bridge for more than a year and a soldier for five years before that. As far as she knew, there was nothing else left. They were the last survivors, and that was a thought she tried not to dwell on too often.
She had been working on the wall for the last three months and, in that time, nothing had happened. Not that she wanted it to, but a change might have been good. A little excitement to break up the routine.
“Yo Em!”
His voice was startlingly loud, but she should have expected it. He did the same thing every time they crossed shifts so she was forced to believe that he enjoyed her reaction.
She turned and smiled at him.
“How’s it going?” he said, swinging the rifle off his shoulder and leaning it beside hers.
“You’re late,” she said.
He shrugged and pulled a creased and wrinkled joint out of his pocket. Of course smoking was forbidden on the wall, but what were they going to do? Court Marshal him? He held it up. “You want some?”
Emma shook her head. She was already starving, the only thing she could think about was chips and a warm bed.
“Suit yourself,” he said and then lit the joint with an exaggerated turn of his wrist. The sweet smoke filled the air, and Emma grabbed her rifle before she could change her mind.
“Enjoy,” she said.
Rick gave her a thumbs up and turned away, humming an old show tune to himself.
* * * * *
She climbed down the steel ladder that was bolted to the wall. Still in the dark, but within spitting distance of hot food and a warm bed, she found her last reserves of energy. Once she had reached the ground, she hurried past the small farm towards the inner buildings.
Once she was closer, she began to hear music and a few raised voices. The compound was home to a lot of people, and only a minority of them were on duty at any given time, particularly after dark.
Her mouth began to water at the thought of dinner but, before she made it to the building, the music s
topped, and a moment later all of the lights went off. For a second she could only hear the animals in the farmyard, and then the klaxon began to whale.
In an instant, her training took over. All thought of food and warmth was forgotten, and the only important thing was to find out what was going on. She turned back to the wall, but there was nothing amiss there.
She had never needed to use her radio while she’d been on the wall but like a good soldier, she wore it every day and made sure it was charged. She switched it on and thumbed through the frequencies until she found the one she was looking for.
The chatter of worried voices cut through the static, and she raised the radio to her mouth.
“This is Harris, come in.”
The chatter died suddenly, and a moment later a worried sounding man spoke. “Harris, this is Sergeant Parker, do you read me?”
“Loud and clear Sergeant, what’s the status?”
Silence. She didn’t know Sergeant Parker, but she imagined a short, balding man who was now talking to his superiors asking whether it was okay to answer her question. They didn’t have a secure channel so anyone could be listening.
“There’s been an incident,” Sergeant Parker said.
She sighed, it seemed she wasn’t going to get a straight answer out of him. Emma looked towards the nearest building, expecting to see soldiers come flooding out to deal with the “incident”, but there was no one there and she couldn’t hear anything above the sound of the klaxon. “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me what kind of incident?” she said.
Another pause, more permissions requested and negotiated. She waited. “An incident on Level-C,” he said.
Emma realised that she was gripping the radio tightly enough to cause her pain. Although the Sergeant wouldn’t tell her what had happened, he had told her something. Level-C was the third basement level. She didn’t have the clearance to go there herself, but she had heard about the place. In a community as small as this one people talked, and nothing could stay completely secret.
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