Marvin stood up, panting like a dog, heart galloping at an alarming pace. He could see that his attacker was a blonde female, slim figure, in her twenties, and had definitely turned. The bloodshot eyes were always a giveaway.
Her uniform suggested that she worked here. Possibly the manager.
Marvin clocked his knife by her feet and thought that maybe he was going to have to kill her with his bare hands. Shame, he thought. She was quite a looker.
She snarled, eyes narrowed, and ran at Marvin Dickinson. He threw a punch her way, but missed. He then grabbed her hair and tried to yank her head back before she ripped open his throat, but she was stronger than he thought. He pulled as hard as he could and both of them fell to the floor.
She had managed to get on top of him, but he grabbed both of her breasts and pushed, stopping her from lowering herself down and having a bite. He released one hand from her breast, his right hand, and took a swing at her. His punch hit her at the side of her face, but she shrugged it off, so he tried again. She shook her head in a daze and Marvin palmed her underneath the chin before throwing her off of him.
He had her now. Any panic that he once had was gone.
He ran over to retrieve his knife whilst she tried to get to her feet. He took a short run and booted her in the stomach, forcing her to drop to the floor on her front. He then gazed at her, thought for a second, then grabbed her trousers and pulled them down. She tried to get up once more, still gnashing and snarling, but Marvin punched her at the back of the head, making her face bounce off the floor and breaking her nose.
"You wanna play? Do you?" he screamed. "Is that what you want?"
He punched her at the back of the head once more.
"I'd never be able to get someone like you in the old world."
Marvin took his own trousers off and ripped off the infected woman's panties. He grabbed her hips and pulled them up. He was now erect and forced himself inside her.
She was dry, but he had had worse.
With her arse in the air and his hands tight on her hips, she was going nowhere, although she did move her head from side to side, constantly growling.
Dazed, she struggled, but Marvin was pounding away, enjoying every second of this. He was getting close and threw his head back and moaned, "You fucking dirty slut! You dirty fucking cunt! You ready for this?"
He groaned as he came, and continued fucking her until he became soft.
He quickly pulled his trousers up, dripping into his pants, and stood to his feet. He booted her in the stomach one more time as she tried to get to her feet again, then Marvin pulled her head back, reached for the knife in his pocket and dragged it across her throat.
She bled out quickly, and he decided to get out of there before his shoes were stained with her crimson that was flooding the small room.
He went to open the door to the office and looked up at a window he hadn't noticed before. He thought he had saw something ... or someone. Was someone watching him? Maybe it was his imagination.
He wiped his brow and looked up at the small window again that was six feet from the floor. He cursed himself. He never noticed a window in the shed before when he was outside. If he had known, if he had checked the outside properly, he would have had a look in before going inside.
Oh well, he thought. No harm done.
He shook his head and chuckled at what he had just done. He turned and looked at the body before leaving.
He laughed, "Thanks for the fuck, darling."
Chapter Thirty Two
Gordon Burns pulled the jeep up outside the caravan that Lloyd had chosen. The back of the vehicle had two 47kg canisters in it, which both Marvin and Gordon struggled with, and there was also a couple of 19kg ones.
Marvin suggested going back for the rest in the morning.
"What's up with you?" Marvin turned to Gordon. "You haven't said a word for ages."
Gordon shook his head and turned the engine off. "Nothing."
"I'll explain about the Jory thing later, if that's what's bothering you."
Gordon never responded. His silence wasn't about Jory. He never looked at Marvin. He couldn't look at Marvin. Not now.
Marvin sighed with impatience, "I know we're not best mates—"
"And never will be."
Marvin guffawed at Gordon's cheeky comment. He had no idea what he had done or said to upset the man, and frankly didn't care. Both men left the vehicle, took out the canisters and placed them inside the caravan whilst Junior was in the toilet. Junior left the toilet and sat on the couch, in the living room.
"Did you see my dad?" the youngster asked his uncle.
Gordon left the caravan and decided to stand outside, leaving Marvin to answer Junior.
"We saw him and Joan as we came back from the shed. Looked like they only had a few left to check. I think the place is clear." Marvin then thought about the female Runner in the office. Maybe she was the only one on the grounds. He had no idea how she had ended up in that office. Maybe she was thrown in there after getting bitten.
Fuck knows.
"I've got gas," Marvin announced.
"Really?" Junior perked up.
"Yeah, listen." Marvin lifted left leg up and released a loud fart.
Unimpressed, and not in the mood for flatulence jokes, Junior said, "Have you really got gas, or not?"
Marvin nodded. "The shed is full of canisters, but some are empty. We brought back two big ones and two smaller ones ... for now."
"That's great."
"I also killed a Runner."
"What?"
Noticing the panic on Junior's face, Marvin smiled thinly. "Relax. It was just the one. It was in the shed. Must be the only one on site."
*
Outside, Gordon stood against the side of the caravan and could see Joan and Lloyd coming towards him.
"Okay?" Gordon called out.
"All clear." Joan was the first to respond. "Not one."
Lloyd ran his fingers over his bald head and said, "We're gonna check out the caravans properly, tomorrow. See if there's food. We just gave them a quick once over, with some of them we just looked in the windows. Couldn't get inside."
"At least we'll sleep well tonight," said Gordon.
Joan smiled. "I hope so."
"How did you get on at the shed, man?" Lloyd gazed at Gordon. He looked tired. They were all tired.
"Okay." Gordon gulped and took in a deep breath. "We brought a few canisters back with us, and there's plenty more in the shed."
Lloyd nodded. "Good. We can get the rest tomorrow. We'll stay in that caravan tonight. Then tomorrow we can get the gas, the leftover food from what's in the others, and you can get a place of your own, if you want. It's the first night. After what happened in Blanchland, I think Junior will feel safer with us all in one place."
Gordon disagreed, but said, "Sounds good. Let's hope this place lasts longer than a few days."
"Obviously Junior stays with me, but if the rest of you want a place to yourselves, that's fine. But pick one that's near this one. Keep together."
Both Joan and Gordon said okay at the same time.
Lloyd reached for the caravan's door and turned to Gordon. "You coming inside?"
"In a bit." Gordon wiped his clammy hands on his black shirt. Joan could sense that there was something wrong.
"What about you?" Lloyd asked Joan.
She smiled. "Soon. I'm gonna get some air."
Lloyd looked at the pair of them with suspicion. He wasn't stupid. What was going on? What was the secret?
He sighed, "Okay," and disappeared in the caravan.
Joan went over to Gordon and put her arm around him. "You look jittery. You alright?"
"Not here." Gordon strolled away from the caravan and Joan walked by his side. They went round the back of another trailer and Gordon shook his head; he looked like he was ready to burst into tears.
"What is it?" said Joan, trying to speed things up. "Look, if it's about what happe
ned to Kelly..."
"It's Marvin."
"Oh, what's he done now," she laughed.
"You'll stop laughing after I tell you this."
Joan had already stopped. "Seriously. What is it?"
The sound of an engine was heard, which made Gordon jump.
Seeing this, Joan appeased the man. "Relax. It's probably Lloyd. Maybe he's going to check the place once more before we turn in."
Gordon thought before he made his announcement, rubbing the stubble on his face. "We need to get rid of Marvin."
With zero hesitation, Joan responded, "I'm not sure Lloyd will be up for that, do you?"
"He didn't see what I did."
There was nervousness on Joan's face. She ran her fingers through her brown shoulder-length hair. She pulled a face. The hair needed a damn good wash. She didn't want to ask, but she had to. "What did you see?"
"When me and Marvin went to the shed, he went to check the place out and insisted that I stayed in the jeep and kept the engine running."
"Makes sense, especially with those things about."
"He was taking ages, so I went inside but couldn't see him."
"Okay, I'm listening." Joan had no idea where this story was going.
"Then I went round the back and saw a window. I climbed up and peered in. Marvin..."
Joan could see Gordon's reluctance to continue with the story, so she urged him, "Go on."
"There was a Runner in some room at the end of the shed, looked like an office. Marvin and this female Runner were having a fight, she must have taken him by surprise or something. Must have been the only one on the camp."
"Gordon," Joan interjected.
"What?"
"You're waffling. Get on with it."
"Anyway, next thing I saw was Marvin..." Gordon couldn't find the words. "He was having sex with this Runner."
"What?" Joan didn't know whether to laugh or not. Was Gordon going mad?
"No. He wasn't having sex," Gordon corrected himself, "he was raping the Runner. After he had finished, he cut her throat. I then sprinted back to the jeep, and sat in the driver's seat in complete shock. This was before we threw some canisters in the back."
Joan stayed silent for a few seconds, wondering if she had heard right. "Let's go over this. You and Marvin go to check out gas canisters. You wait in the jeep, then go inside. Then you go back outside and check the window to see what's taking him so long. You see him shagging a Runner, then kills it once he's finished?"
"That's right." Gordon nodded. "Then I ran back to the jeep. Sounds mad, doesn't it?"
"I've heard some fucked up stories in my time..."
"When he returned, he acted like nothing had happened."
Joan dropped her head in her hands, trying to take it all in. Neither one of them liked Marvin, but this was messed up, even by his standards.
"If we tell Lloyd," Joan began. "Marvin might deny it. He could just tell his brother that he came across a Runner and killed it. Simple. He could turn it against us. He could persuade Lloyd that you had made the rape story up to oust him out, to make him look dangerous and sick."
"Just before I ran back, he was reaching for the door."
"And?"
"He left the woman face-down with nothing on her bottom half. Her trousers were thrown to the side and her knickers looked to have been ripped off."
"Let's try and leave this until tomorrow," Joan suggested. "Tomorrow morning, you insist that Lloyd goes with you to get the rest of the gas. Tell him what you told me, then take him to the office you were talking about."
"What if Marvin cleans his mess up before then?"
"Why would he do that? As far as he was concerned, he wasn't seen."
Gordon put his hands on his head, clasping them together, and groaned, changing the subject, "How on earth did this happen?"
"What?" Joan wasn't sure if he was still talking about Marvin or not. "The infection?"
Gordon nodded.
"Maybe we'll never find out for sure." Joan placed her hand on his cheek, leaned over and kissed him. "I'm going inside."
"Okay. I'll be in later. Need to get my head straight."
"Maybe tomorrow we should opt to share a caravan." Joan smiled and winked at Gordon. "We can continue what we started at the hotel."
Gordon smirked. "That sounds good to me."
Joan left Gordon alone and made the short journey back.
Gordon Burns sighed and sat on the doorstep of one of the vacant accommodations. He leaned over and glared at the ground. His tears were blurring his vision and dropped out of his eyes like a dripping tap, hitting his shoes.
He continued to sob for another minute and then dried his eyes with the palms of his hands. He cleared his throat and got to his unsteady feet. Before he could move, he heard a faint noise, like an explosion, and it sounded like it came from a mile or so away.
"What the..?"
There was no point Gordon trying to guess what the noise was. He had no clue. It could have been the military. It could have been an accident.
His weary feet went over to the caravan and could see, through the window, the backs of Lloyd, Joan and Junior in the living room of the caravan.
But no Marvin. And no jeep either.
Bastard! It looked like Marvin had decided to go back to the shed, probably to clean up what had happened in the office. But why?
He shuddered at what he had witnessed earlier. Dirty sick fucker.
Fuck it. He had made a decision. I'm moving to my own caravan now. I don't want to sleep under the same roof as Marvin Dickinson.
He was sure that Joan would go with him, if he asked. He was unhappy that Lloyd wanted to wait until tomorrow anyway. Just because Junior would feel safe? Selfish bastard. Fuck Junior!
He looked up at the heavens and released a breath out. He knew he was luckier than most. He was certainly luckier than Sue Hart, Stripy John and the Hortons. And not forgetting Kelly Bronson.
Gordon thought about Jory. Marvin still hadn't told the group why he had killed him. I have my reasons was all they had got out of him. Maybe he would tell them tonight. The guy was out of control.
Gordon took the four steps to the main door as slow as he could, had one more look around, then opened the door. He stepped inside, went into the living room and sat next to Joan. Lloyd and Junior were at the other end of the couch.
Joan looked at Gordon and said, "Marvin has gone back to the shed."
"Has he now?" Gordon looked unimpressed.
"He's gone to pick up a few more of the gas canisters," said Lloyd. "Saves us a bit of time tomorrow. He insisted."
Gordon rubbed his head and heard the jeep pull up outside. "Relax," said Gordon to Lloyd, noticing that he was about to get to his feet. "I'll give him a hand to bring the stuff in."
"Thanks, man."
Gordon left the place and shut the door behind him as Marvin was getting out of the jeep.
"You seem quite keen on helping all of a sudden," Gordon remarked, walking over to Marvin.
"Always like to help," Marvin chuckled. "I'm a true Christian, Gordon. You know that."
"It's just that ... I thought we were going to wait until tomorrow."
Marvin opened the boot, placed the canisters on the ground and shut the door.
"Come on!" Marvin snapped, then looked at the caravan to see if anybody was looking. "Out with it."
Gordon began grinding his teeth. "I don't know what you mean."
"Gordon, life was short enough before all of this. Now it's a lot fucking shorter. You now have to live your life like it's your last day."
"Marvin, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Marvin took a step forward, so that he was inches away from Gordon's face. His action was threatening, but Gordon refused to back down. "Apart from money and cars, what's the things in this world that a man needs?"
Gordon exhaled noisily, refusing to answer him.
Marvin continued, "Sex and alcohol."
/> "Where are you going with this?"
"You saw me in that office, in the shed, didn't you?" Marvin revealed a slow and wide smile, turning Gordon's stomach.
Gordon didn't answer, but his gulp was a giveaway.
"Before I left, I thought I had seen someone in the window, but put it down to my imagination. But with your silent treatment on the way back, I gathered that it was you. You don't like me, so I'm guessing that you were gonna grass to Lloyd about me." Marvin then began to laugh and put on a fake, whiny voice, badly impersonating Gordon. "Lloyd, Lloyd. Marvin's a naughty boy. He fucked a Runner, and if you don't believe me you can check her out in the shed. Her pants and trousers have been taken off."
"You're a sick cunt." Gordon spoke with the rage building, saliva leaving the corner of his mouth.
"Took me a while to realise, but I went back down there and grabbed a few canisters and moved the girl to a more ... let's say ... respectable position. Even put her trousers back on without getting any blood on me."
Gordon moved away, heading back to the caravan.
Marvin grabbed his shoulder, forcing Gordon to turn around. "Hear me out," said Marvin. "I'm a big believer in safer in numbers. We're stronger when there's more of us. That's our best chance of surviving. I know you don't like me, but I wouldn't do anything bad to anyone in our group."
"I don't believe you. The way you treated Kelly—"
"Seriously. I'll watch your back, if you'll watch mine."
"I'm touched."
"I'm just trying to have a little fun before my time's up."
"You finished?"
Marvin nodded.
Gordon silently helped Marvin to put the canisters in the dining area of the caravan, and once it was done, Gordon announced that he was going to lie in one of the rooms for a while.
"You okay?" asked Joan.
Gordon nodded. "Fine. Just need a rest for a few minutes."
Gordon Burns went into one of the smallest bedrooms he had ever been in, and struggled to find room to get his shoes off. Once he did, he climbed on the bed and lay on his back.
He thought about what relatives he had left, back at his original home in Staffordshire, then began to think about his work colleagues in Gretna. He hoped they were like him: struggling, but still alive and not infected. It'd be good to see them again. He loved some of his work colleagues more than he loved some of his family members.
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