Day Zed - Box Set: Volumes I and II

by Charles Smith

  Shanice’s Journal, Victoria Station, London, 26th July, 6:15 GMT

  Yesterday we lost another two of our friends. We didn’t get much time to get to know Sam, but he seemed like a nice man and Heather really liked him. Poor Heather, she has been with us from the very start of out adventure. We will all miss her and her best friend Jin-Lee hasn’t stopped crying since my dad came back and told us all what had happened. It felt like ages that we sat and waited in the underground entrance; waiting for all of our friends to come back safely.

  Daddy told us the bad news and then let us cry, he didn’t make us leave straightaway to meet the others. After a while we made our way upstairs and met up with the rest. Losing Sam and Heather has really affected Kathy and she is blaming herself for their deaths. Out of all of us Kathy has changed the most; when I first met her she acted more like a man, and never showed she could be soft. Now she is no different from the other women, and it is good to know that she cares so much about all of us, I just feel sorry for her that she is blaming herself.

  We all camped in the ladies toilets last night. At first we complained, but when Morgan explained to us that the barriers at the entrance meant that we would all be safe for the night, we had to accept it. I just can’t believe that people had to pay to use the toilet at a station. Some of the group were unhappy that Kathy wouldn’t let us break into some of the stores inside the station. We were told it was too dangerous and that it is what happened to Sam and Heather. None of us were allowed upstairs at all, they didn’t tell us why, but I think that is where our friends died; well for a short while anyway.

  It’s now very early in the morning and we should be leaving soon, according to the adults the journey to Battersea should only take us a couple of hours to walk. When they told me that the bunker is next to the famous dog rescue shelter, I nearly flipped. I might have got just a little too excited as Daddy was quick to tell me that he doubted anyone would have stayed behind and fed the animals when the virus broke out. If they haven’t been fed then I guess that means that they have all died, what a cruel world we now live in.

  Before we head out Kathy is trying to tell us that we need a good breakfast. Jin-Lee did try to tell her that she wasn’t hungry, and couldn’t possibly eat, but Kathy wouldn’t listen to her. Usually we have something to eat from a tin, or one of the army ration packs from our bags, today we are going to be spoilt as Jackson and Morgan broke into one of the food places, ignoring Kathy’s protests and found a big carton of soup we can have. As soon as we finish eating we will be leaving and Kathy is telling me to put the journal down, so when we stop a little later I will write some more.

  12:06pm

  Wow it’s so hot, especially as we are so high above the crowded streets below. It only took us two hours to walk here from the station this morning. We were lucky that the train tracks are higher than the streets; the zombies couldn’t see us and we kept quiet, so that we didn’t alert them. London used to be such a beautiful place, before the zombies were made; now they are trapped in certain places, standing around, moaning and stinking the city out. It is so sad to see how many of them there are; not so long ago they were like us, they were alive.

  We are now camped on a big bridge right in front of the old power station. Below us the streets are filled with the undead, and just the other side of the bridge we can see the dogs home. Morgan and Jackson went ahead of us to check if it safe to go down there; they have been gone for nearly an hour now and I hope everything is okay.

  I wonder what we will do next after our mission is completed. None of the grown- ups have spoken about where we go after. I hope that we can find somewhere safe, and somewhere to live, as I am tired of us having to keep moving around from one place to another. There must be somewhere out there? Somewhere where the bad people cannot get us? The last two days I have even gone back to praying; I have asked God to protect us and asked him to send the zombies to hell. I know that he doesn’t always listen, but feel he must in this case, as this world belongs to us, not the monsters that have taken it over the last few weeks.

  Wait a minute? Morgan and Jackson are on their way back, and they are not alone; there are two other men with them. The rest of the group have spotted them, and are now all taking turns to share the binoculars to look at the strangers as they walk towards us. I will wait until they get here; it’s not like we are going to know them, unless………it’s the boy’s dad and Penny’s father. At least I would be able to keep my promise; the only way for sure to be certain is watch Penny. She is just about to look through the binoculars, this is exciting, oh my God, Penny looked and then started to cry and now she has run off in the direction of the four men. I’m sorry, I’ve got to go and keep my promise. Daddy is watching me like a Hawk; if I run off after Penny I think I will get told off. I’ll just have to wait, they’ll be here shortly. Bye for now.

  Love Princess Shanice X

  Battersea Dogs Home, London, 26th July, 13:19 GMT

  The group watched as Penny ran along the length of the rail bridge and threw herself into the arms of the elder stranger. They embraced for some time, happy to just be holding one another. The older man looked frail, even from a distance it was clearly visible that the man was in need of a good meal. The other three men continued to move forward towards the group and left the father and daughter behind to give them some space. As Morgan and Jackson reached the halfway point on their return over the bridge, Shanice decided to take the chance and take off; she just couldn’t wait any longer.

  By now Penny had moved her head away from her father’s chest and glanced back at the three men being met by an excited Shanice. She smiled as she turned back to face her father. “I didn’t think I would ever see you again Dad.” She said with relief. “I know Pen, I thought you would be safely holed up in that bunker.” “I couldn’t stay there Dad, not knowing you were out here.” Leonard Thomas sighed, “Now that’s silly Pen.” “I couldn’t help it Dad, where is Mum?” Leonard dropped his gaze to the floor for a split second, and then slowly shook his head a couple of times, before returning his gaze directly at Penny, “Sorry Pen, Mum didn’t make it.” Penny began to cry and placed her head back into her father’s chest, trying to console herself. As Leonard stroked his daughters head he told her, “I know it’s no consolation Pen, but your mother died peacefully in her sleep.” Penny stopped sobbing, and looked up into her fathers tired eyes, “Was she bitten Dad?” Again Leonard shook his head, “No Pen. What your mother saw on the way to the Westminster shelter was enough to disturb her. That despair deepened as we listened to military broadcasts on the radio. When news of the Government shelter falling and the safe zone collapsing reached us, it destroyed her, she took an overdose of old wartime medical supplies that evening.” There was no emotion in her father’s statement; years of answering difficult questions to the press has suppressed Leonard Thomas from showing any emotion. Once a politician, always a politician Penny thought to herself as she put an arm around her frail father’s shoulder, “Come on Dad, come and meet the others.” She affectionately said to him as she led him off.

  Shanice had been busy whilst Penny caught up with her father, as soon as she had reached the three men she had instantly quizzed the stranger, “Are you Dan and James’s Dad?” When he told the little girl that he was indeed the brother’s father, it had tipped Shanice into overdrive and all Jonathon Myers could do was listen. During Shanice’s high speed tale of her promise, along with the boy’s whereabouts, and how they had got there, Morgan and Jackson just laughed. They had already warned the police officer that he would have his ears literally chewed off by the easily excitable Shanice. Only after Shanice had stopped to take in valuable oxygen did Jonathon speak to her, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for keeping your promise to my boys.” Shanice started to blush, “That’s alright Mister it was my pleasure.” Jonathon smiled back at Shanice, and she felt the warmness of his smile deepen her blush, “Now Leonard has all of you to look after him, I will
be going to collect them.” “Oh you have made today, one of my best ever days.” Shanice giggled. “It couldn’t have happened without your help Shanice.” Jonathon told her and then bent down to kiss her on the cheek. Morgan slipped off his pack and handed it to the boy’s father, “You’ll be needing that Buddy.” The soldier said as he passed over the rucksack. “Thanks Jay, but only if you’re sure?” Jonathon asked. “One hundred percent sure, please take it.” “You’re sure the other won’t mind if I make a move now?” Morgan just laughed at his question, “You’ve two boys waiting for you in a shelter. I think all of us might just be able to understand that.”

  As they reached the rest of the group the policeman didn’t stop; he simply said hello to each of them and continued walking, in the direction they had just come from. Shanice raced to the back of the group and called out, “Good luck Mister, say hello to the boys for me.” Jonathon didn’t turn back, he instead raised his arm in a wave and shouted back, “Don’t worry I will.”

  By the time Penny and her father caught up with the rest of them, Jonathon Myers had already become a dot on the landscape. The nurse introduced Leonard to each and every one of the group, one by one. When she had finished her father squeezed her hand; it was a telling squeeze, she realised her father had noticed Dave wasn’t with them. She had been taught from a young age that her father wouldn’t show weakness in public; this was his way of saying to her that he was sorry for the loss of her friend. Would she tell him in private that they had mistakenly become more than friends? She didn’t think so, he would only frown upon such behaviour; she loved her father, but was the first to admit that he could be a pompous arsehole with his sometimes prehistoric beliefs, for now she was just happy to have him back in her life.

  Morgan was quick to move the group on. He informed them that they would take shelter inside the dog’s home, and when there they would come up with a plan for getting inside the bunker the next day. He chose not to tell them that Leonard and Jonathon had already witnessed two other bunker teams failing to retrieve the coveted launch codes; that news could wait until they were safely inside. The group moved along at a slow pace, accommodating for Leonard’s state of poor health, they talked openly of the joy of finding the boy’s father; as a unit they hadn’t been this upbeat since their first few days at the docks. Morgan hoped that their uplifted spirits would remain in place, until later in the evening, and then he would have to tell them about the other two groups. Apart from Jin-Lee, everyone was so upbeat and involved in jovial banter that no one noticed that they were being watched.

  The group were led into the building by Leonard, he waited for the last of them to enter, before closing the door and then locking it behind them. He decided to forgo any questions that would have naturally been asked, by telling the group, “The keys were left in the door when we got here.” A few of the group nodded in acknowledgement, accepting Leonard’s explanation. “Are there any dogs left here?” Shanice raced forward, quizzing Leonard at the same time. “No I’m afraid not Shanice. Whoever left the keys were kind enough to let the animals go free too.” “Oh dam.” The little girl cursed. “Shanice watch your mouth.” Gerard was quick to chastise her. “I’m sorry.” She said and hung her head at the same time. Penny move to the little girl, “Just think Honey, if they were left locked up in their cages, they would have starved. At least they’ve got a better chance fending for themselves.” Penny’s statement seem to placate her and she hurried off to investigate the rest of the downstairs area of the home.

  Everyone settled down in the reception area and set about making the white-washed room their home for the evening. The fact that the dog’s home was secure and there wasn’t a zombie in plain sight allowed the group to let their guards down. Only two of the group weren’t quite ready to rest; Morgan and Kathy insisted upon doing a secure sweep of the building, just to be sure.

  On their search of the rooms they found nothing of any concern. A thin layer of dust covered nearly every surface throughout the animal sanctuary, proving that it had been vacated for some time, and a survivor had not stumbled upon the building by chance since the outbreak. The only areas where the dust was disturbed was down on the ground floor and that was down to Leonard and Jonathon. The last room the pair searched, was at the back of the first floor. A sign on the front of the door told them that it would have been the homes manager that used the office. The furnishings inside the office were plain. Several pictures of dogs and cats were hung on the neutrally painted walls. A dry-wipe board that was affixed to the wall contained a list of the various animals that had been in their care at the time of the outbreak. All that sat on the desk at the rear of the office was a computer and a photo frame. Kathy scooped up the frame and stared at what was obviously a family photo of the manager, his wife and their two children; all four of them smiled back at the soldier. “Do you think they are still alive?” She asked, as she showed the picture to Morgan. All he could do to answer her was shrug as an answer, something that after Kathy’s constant ridicule about his habit, and it was something he was trying to stop. “Don’t know babe, but I hope so.”

  Morgan strode over to his lover a soon as he saw tears begin to well up in her eyes. He affectionately placed his hands onto her cheeks and stared into her beautiful eyes, “What’s wrong Kath?” He tenderly asked her. In between sobs she sputtered out a reply, “What right have I got to live, over them?” “Over who babe?” “Sam and Heather. We shouldn’t have split up.” Morgan steadily shook his head, “You can’t blame yourself for that Kath. They ran out of luck, that’s all. We are all on borrowed time at the moment. Even if you had of been with them, you’d have probably been trapped as well.” She blinked away fresh tears, “You don’t know that for sure Jay.” “No I don’t, but then nor do you.” He replied, and as he did he leant forward and kissed her on the lips. The kiss triggered off an urgency and hunger within Kathy that she hadn’t felt since her ordeal at Tower Hill. She responded, kissing Morgan back, and as her tongue delved into Morgan’s mouth she began to wrestle with the belt on his trousers, until she freed him. As her hand worked up and down his shaft Morgan tugged at her military issue trousers, they gave up their last piece of resistance until they slid down around her slender legs, she wasn’t wearing any underwear, so he instantly hoisted her upwards until her legs wrapped around his waist. When Morgan entered her, she moaned in delight, lust took over and pleasure and eagerness got the better of them both as they climaxed together.

  “Eueew.” Moaned Shanice, from the corner of the room, it startled both of them. Neither of them had noticed the little girl creep in on them, whilst they were in the middle of having sex. Both of the soldiers’ quickly wrestled their clothes back on. “We are so sorry Honey, we didn’t see you there.” Apologised Kathy. “You grown-ups are disgusting. I caught Daddy and Letitia doing exactly the same thing a minute ago, and came up here to hide.” She replied as she stormed out of the open doorway, slamming the door behind her. Embarrassment turned to laughter as soon as soon as the door closed, and it had clicked back into place in its frame. Morgan kissed Kathy on her head and said, “We better get back downstairs and face the music. They both laughed.

  As the pair reached the bottom of the stairs they found it unnerving to find nearly everyone watching them with wry smiles on their faces; Shanice had already been busy. A sudden wave of embarrassment caught in Kathy’s cheeks, which instantly made Penny and Jackson laugh. Trying to ease the difficulty of the situation Morgan addressed everyone in the room, “Okay calm down. We need to sit down and discuss the bunker ahead of tomorrow.” He said as the pair walked into the middle of the room, and then sat down. The rest of the group quickly followed suit, and then once they had calmed down Morgan asked Leonard to repeat what he had told Morgan earlier.

  The older man stood and after many years of practicing how to address the public, took control of the floor with ease. “Yesterday two groups, two separate groups attempted in vain to acquire the launch codes fo
r nuclear strike capabilities. The first group of four entered early in the morning, and as they have not returned, we can be safe to assume they are dead. The second group then attempted to gain entry sometime around noon, but after shooting off several rounds of ammunition they quickly ran back outside empty handed, and wedged the door leading to the bunker closed.”

  Rather than interrupt Leonard, Kathy chose to raise her hand and waited until Leonard urged her to speak. “Why do you think General Harper is so keen to get hold of these codes? Surely every country is suffering the same fate as our own, and can’t be a threat to us.” “You’re correct in your assumption Kathy. Every country has been obliterated by the virus. The simple answer is that he doesn’t want to bomb other countries.” Leonard replied with little sign of any emotion. “He wouldn’t dare use them on his own country would he?” “Think about it dear. General Harper is sitting out at sea in charge of what is left of the countries forces and a stockpile of food. The only way he can eradicate the virus is to destroy everything.” Kathy couldn’t believe what she was hearing, “That’s crazy. No one could live on the land with radiation levels through the roof for at least thirty years.” Leonard found Kathy’s last comment amusing, “Trust me the General is prepared to wait.” He told her with a smirk upon his face.

  Battersea Dogs Home, London, 26th July, 23:29 GMT

  Despite several attempts to doze off in a natural sleep over the past couple of hours Shanice had decided that once all the adults were sound asleep that she would creep up into one of the unoccupied offices upstairs, and gaze out into the night, until her eyes finally grew tired and forced her into sleep. The last two members of the group to retire had been Kathy and Morgan, and they had finally made their way, half an hour ago up to the same office that Shanice had interrupted them in, earlier in the day. The little girl lay quietly, with her eyes open and fixated upon the ceiling above her. She listened intently for any noises that could come from a still awake adult, but there was none. After a few minutes she sighed with relief that she hadn’t heard anything move. Shanice decided to wait a further ten minutes, just to be sure, before attempting to tip-toe through the lobby and up the stairs, she didn’t mind it gave her time to think about her good friend Jin-Lee, she was worried about her.