* * * * *
The winter seemed to have lasted forever, but she hadn’t gotten used to the shock of stepping out into the cold. It felt as if all of the moisture on her face had suddenly frozen and every expression was tinged with pain. Russell seemed to show no discomfort as she followed him onto the street.
The only people who she saw were the bikers, standing together, leaning against their machines and talking. They stopped when she appeared and watched her walk towards them. Although there was no one else on the street she saw plenty of curtains twitching and knew that she was being watched. It was a sensation that she was becoming used to.
“It’s just down here,” Russell said
She saw his fingers twitching around the handle of his pistol, but he hadn’t drawn it yet. Whatever had happened clearly hadn’t been violent, but it was enough to make him nervous.
At the end of the street she went to carry on walking but he reached out and grabbed her arm. She spun around and was about to tell him off, but then she saw what the Townies had done.
In five-foot-high red letters they had spray painted the side of the end house. She couldn’t work out when they’d had a chance to do it, but that really wasn’t the point now:
YOU’RE NOT WELCOME HERE
And then below it:
LEAVE BEFORE WE MAKE YOU
She stared at the writing for a long time. Russell didn’t hurry her. As far as attacks went it was a minor one, but still threatening. She didn’t blame people for being scared.
“What do you think?” Russell said.
Beth shook her head; she didn’t know what to make of it. Clearly it was a threat, but she had met the Townies and, despite having been kidnapped by them, she didn’t feel like they were really capable of ‘making’ them do anything. Why else would they have stood by and done nothing while the zombies ran through their town?
“We need to do something,” he said.
She nodded but couldn’t think of anything to do that wouldn’t be a gross over-reaction.
“I need to think about it,” Beth said.
“Well don’t think for too long,” he said. “People want answers. They want to know what you’re going to do.”
She nodded again and she wasn’t sure whether the numbness she felt was the weather or something else. “Make sure everyone’s at Kathy’s house tonight. I’ll have something by then.”
“What are you going to do?” he said.
“I’ve got no idea,” she said and then she walked away.
Beth spent the rest of the day walking through the town by herself. She had no doubt that she was being watched, probably by both sides, wanting to know what she was going to do, but she still didn’t have an answer. The very fact that the Townies had managed to get so close to them without being discovered was cause for some alarm, but she still couldn’t believe they would be violent.
She considered going to see Margaret again, but what had really changed? She could offer to share the food they had found, a peace offering of sorts, but the old woman had made it clear that they weren’t having any problems on that front.
In the end she wandered the streets until the first sign of darkness, then she began to make her way back to the convoy with no better idea what she was going to say to them than she’d had when Russell had first shown her the sign.
* * * * *
The house wasn’t big and, it seemed, they had forgotten how to live so closely together. The children were sitting on the floor around Kathy’s feet and there were people spilling out into the corridor.
They fell silent when she stood in front of them. They were her responsibility but she didn’t know what to do. The one conclusion she had come to was that she didn’t actually know the scope of the threat.
She cleared her throat.
Beth had never liked talking in front of people and certainly not as an ‘authority’ figure. In Harmony she had cringed every time her grandfather had addressed people and she could feel herself doing the same now.
“You’ve all seen the graffiti,” she said. “Last week I met the leader of the group which I assume is responsible. They live on the other side of town.”
There were a few mutters of surprise at that and she decided that keeping it a secret had been a mistake.
“They want us to leave, as I’m sure you’ve gathered. But I don’t believe they’re a threat. While we came in and dealt with the zombies they were hiding.”
She caught Russell’s eye and he nodded at her to continue.
“I believe that we have nothing to fear from these people and that we should stay. If the worst thing they can do is write on a wall, then let them do it. We’ve been through much worse.”
It was as simple as that, she realised. The reason she couldn’t come up with a plan was because there didn’t need to be one. The Townies weren’t a threat, so they didn’t have to do anything at all.
“We’ll double the night watch and no one is to leave the street without checking in with me or Russell first. There’s no need to worry, but we can take sensible precautions. Even if the Townies weren’t here then it would be foolish to go walking around without telling anyone. The weather is getting worse and we don’t want anyone to slip and break anything.”
That really was the truth of it, she thought. The Townies weren’t a threat, but that didn’t mean there weren’t threats. The streets were icy and the buildings hadn’t been maintained. Things were going to start breaking and she didn’t want it to be her people. Maybe, in the Spring, they would have to consider moving somewhere more remote, but now they were settled and she wasn’t going to give that up because of a few harsh words written on a wall.
She spoke a little longer about the town and they shared information about it. She answered some questions, but they were mundane things, day to day survival and what they were going to do about keeping warm. It reassured her, that no one asked more about the Townies. Her people were made of sterner stuff than that.
When the meeting was over people stuck around. The house was warm and Kathy had given hot drinks to everyone. Beth left the front of the room and made her way over to Russell who was standing with Matilda and Colette.
“You did good,” he said.
Colette touched her arm and smiled.
“We need someone else on watch tonight,” she said. “Who was on the rota?”
“I’ll take it,” Russell said. “We’ll organise the shifts tomorrow.”
“Are you sure?” she said.
“Course I’m sure,” Russell said. “We need to show everyone that we’ve got this under control.”
Beth nodded.
She looked around the room and saw Dawn sitting with Rachel and David. Beth smiled when her sister looked up and then turned back to Russell.
“I’m going home,” she said. “Make sure everyone gets back safely?”
“Course,” Russell said.
She slunk away and managed to get to the door without anyone approaching her. She took a look back at the room full of people and told herself that the meeting itself was evidence that they didn’t have anything to fear: if the Townies had been capable of a violent attack then now would have been the time to do it, while they were all gathered together in one place.
* * * * *
Beth closed the door behind her and stepped down onto the street.
There were no lights other than those in the house behind her and the distant moon and stars. She could hear movement and, when she looked, saw Noel.
“How did it go?” he said. He was dressed in a thick coat and padded trousers, a semi-automatic machine gun hung around his neck. She still remembered the meek man who had barely been able to fight to save his life and she felt guilty for having played a part in changing him so dramatically.
“Good,” she said. “Russell’s going to join you tonight.”
“I don’t need— “
“It’s two people every night now,” she said, cutting him off. He was
still defensive about his perceived ability to work, but she had no doubts that he would do a fine job.
“I suppose that makes sense,” he said. “Is everyone still inside?”
She nodded. “Make sure they get home safely?”
“Of course,” he said and hefted his gun a little.
“Including me?”
Beth could just about see his smile in the darkness. “Come on then.”
They walked slowly along the ice covered path. There was little noise in the town at the best of times, but now it was perfectly silent. It would have been easy to believe that there was nothing beyond the street, no other world out there. Of course Beth was used to silence. She had spent many nights on the road with the convoy, but this was different somehow. Here it felt imposing.
They stopped outside her house. Beth looked up the steps and saw a small object outside her door. It was about the size of a shoe box and, for a moment, she could only think of one word: bomb.
“Did you see anyone around?” she whispered.
“No one,” he said. “There hasn’t been anyone here.”
The evidence argued against that, but she couldn’t be too hard on him, after all, she had failed to notice the people painting graffiti on a house at the end of the street.
“Wait here,” she said.
If he argued, she didn’t hear him.
Beth climbed the icy steps and almost slipped on the third one because she was so intent on the box in front of her. When she got to the top she was able to see that it was, in fact, a shoe box. It was impossible to tell what colour it was, but she could just about make out the scrawl of the Clarks logo.
“What is it?” Noel said.
She jumped a little and wanted to tell him to keep quiet. Instead she ignored him and bent a little closer.
She couldn’t hear anything when she put her ear against the box, but that didn’t mean much because she had no idea whether bombs actually made a sound. She sat back and regarded it for a moment, not sure what the best course of action was, but wanting to do something before the others left Kathy’s house and she had to explain to them what she had found.
Cautiously she reached out for the box.
“Be careful!” Noel hissed.
She carefully lifted the lid, braced to be blown backwards, perhaps killed before she hit the ground.
There were no wires and no sticks.
Inside the box there was a piece of paper. After looking at it with surprise for a moment, Beth reached in and took it.
It was too dark to read, but she could see that there was writing on the paper. Not a lot, but enough that she knew it wasn’t just another piece of graffiti, it was actual communication.
“What is it?” Noel said.
“It’s a letter,” Beth said, without turning to look at him.
“What?”
“It’s a letter,” she said. “Someone sent me a letter.”
“Why didn’t they just put it through the letter box?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked at the piece of paper and turned it over. The communication was all on one side.
There was a sudden noise behind her and she turned to see people coming out of Kathy’s house. She had expected them to stay longer.
Beth stood up and turned to Noel. “Make sure they get home safely,” she said.
“Beth, the letter?”
“It’s fine,” she said. “I’ll let you know what it says.”
She could see that he was torn between wanting to be there for her and following the orders that she had given him. In the end it was the orders that won.
“Let me know if you need anything?” he said.
“Of course,” Beth said.
He turned away and she watched him go. Then she picked up the shoe box and letter and carried them into the house
She switched on her battery-powered lantern and sat on her bed. Any moment now she would hear Dawn coming in and she didn’t want to have to explain what had happened until she knew what the letter said. Until then she would only be guessing anyway.
She bent over the letter and saw that it was much shorter than it had appeared:
Beth,
I told you to leave and you haven’t.
You have until mid-day tomorrow.
Your people aren’t welcome here. We will not share Carningsby with you.
Leave now before we make you.
M
She read the letter three times before setting it aside. The message was clear, but she didn’t know what to do with it. Nothing had changed, the Townies still wanted them out and this was another threat about the consequences of not going.
The door opened downstairs and she heard Dawn coming in.
“Beth are you here?” her sister called.
“I’m upstairs,” she called back.
Beth expected to hear her coming up the stairs, but she didn’t. She relaxed a little and read the letter again.
What exactly could the Townies do if they stayed?
The threat was so ambiguous that it was difficult to be scared by it. She didn’t know what to do but, one thing was clear, she needed to talk to someone.
* * * * *
The darkness was so complete that she had trouble seeing anyone out there. If Noel hadn’t been coming towards her then she might not have found him at all.
“Is everything okay?” he whispered.
She nodded and carefully climbed down the stairs. “Where’s Russell?”
“At the other end,” Noel said, indicating the opposite direction along the street to the one he’d come down.
“Thanks,” Beth said and walked away from him towards.
She smelled the smoke from his cigarette long before she saw the glowing orange light and the black outline of his figure. He had turned towards her, but made no move to come closer and meet her halfway.
“You’re supposed to be getting some rest,” he said.
She held out the piece of paper with Margaret’s message on it. He looked at her questioningly and then pulled a small Mag-light out of his breast pocket and switched it on.
Beth waited for him to finish and give his opinion, but instead he asked for hers.
She shook her head. “They want us gone.”
“But we’re not going though, are we?”
Beth considered it, just as she had done earlier that day. Had the letter actually changed anything? It was just another threat and, as far as she could see, the only skill that the Townies possessed that should worry her, was the ability to sneak onto the street without being seen.
“No, we’re not,” she said.
Russell nodded and she watched him screw the sheet of paper up in one fist. He handed it back to her and she could feel the warmth from his hand.
“Go home, get some rest. We’ll discuss this in the morning, okay?”
Beth nodded.
He turned away from her to continue his vigil. She watched him for a moment and then left.
* * * * *
She woke before sunrise and lay in her bed feeling Dawn beside her.
After a while she climbed out of bed and went downstairs. She made three cups of coffee, put on her coat and took them outside.
Russell and Noel were standing beside the empty caravans, talking and smoking. They looked up when she walked over and thanked her when she handed them a cup of coffee each.
“How was it?” she said.
“Nothing to report,” Russell said. “A quiet night.”
She nodded.
“You’re still worried about the letter?” Russell said.
She shook her head but she was too transparent to get away with the lie.
“We’ve got six hours before their deadline,” Russell said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Maybe,” she said. She wondered if, even now, the Townies were preparing themselves. Six hours wasn’t a long time to move everyone out of the houses and back into the caravans. They woul
dn’t need to wait until mid-day to realise that the convoy wasn’t going anywhere.
“Don’t worry,” Russell said. “We’ll be ready for them if they try anything.”
They drank their coffee together in silence. There was no more to be said on the subject. When they were done Beth took the cups and went back inside.
* * * * *
At eleven o’clock they gathered everyone in Kathy’s house again. Beth hadn’t kept the letter a secret, but no one had voiced an objection to staying. They believed her when she told them there wasn’t any danger, they trusted her.
She stood at the bottom of the stairs with Russell, Noel, Darrel and the other bikers. They were all armed and watching the street.
“What time is it?” Beth asked. She wished that she still had a watch.
“Quarter past eleven,” Russell said.
She nodded and they continued to wait.
Time seemed to move more slowly. It felt as if noon would never arrive.
And then it was there. The hour arrived and she saw the others visibly tense. She felt it herself. The expectation that something they hadn’t considered was about to happen, the possibility that they were all about to come under attack from an enemy that she had underestimated.
Nothing happened.
It continued to not happen for another five minutes, then six. After ten minutes she began to relax. Perhaps there had been nothing to the threat after all and now they would be able to go on living in the town knowing that the Townies were full of hot air.
The first projectile hit the truck and the sound clanged and echoed along the street.
Suddenly everyone was on the ground, face first, scrambling to get their guns into position so they could return fire. Only Beth remained on her feet.
The second projectile landed harmlessly in a snow drift and most of them weren’t even aware of it. The third hit a caravan and made a dull thud and a dent.
Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3): Absolute Zero Page 10
