Day Zed - Box Set: Volumes I and II

by Charles Smith

  That all happened a few hours ago, and not long after that: Leonard, Penny, Morgan and Kathy all left to go to the secret place, just up the road whilst the rest of us waited. It was a good time for the rest of us to take a break, and now I’ve had a little rest, I now feel fully energised and a bit embarrassed that I’ve been such a grouch over the last few hours.

  Something very strange has happened to Jin-Lee, she doesn’t really talk to any of us, since Heather died. She isn’t rude to us and answers, if we ask her a question. Daddy told me that they all think that she might be having a breakdown; what is a breakdown? Is it like when a car stops working? Does a person just stop working like that? She is so bad now that we all have to keep reminding her to eat and drink; she was already skinny, but now she looks ill. I feel sorry for Jackson, he is so lovely and kind, he didn’t deserve to be used. Jin-Lee doesn’t talk to him now, and I sometimes catch her looking at him funny; it’s as if she blames him for Heather dying, but it was no one’s fault, it was an accident that could have happened to any one of us.

  For every bit of bad news we have, we seem to get good news and Daddy has just told me the best ever news. I’m going to be a big sister; Daddy can’t tell me whether I’m going to have a brother or a sister, but to be honest, I don’t care which it is. Daddy laughed when I clapped my hands together in sheer joy. It’s funny but I think this is the happiest Daddy has been for a long time; even though zombies have taken over the world and we have to keep running to survive. All I can tell you is that I have to be good, and not do anymore of that dangerous stuff, otherwise I won’t be around to babysit. I guess that means I will have to go a bit mad and start thinking more like an adult; I hope my brain can take it? Oh dam, Daddy has just told me to put the journal down and come and get some dinner. Is it dinner time already? Why haven’t the others come back yet? They should have been back ages ago. I’ll go have my dinner and then come back and write some more later.

  Oh no, more dam bad news I’m afraid. The others have retuned, about ten minutes ago, and things went wrong. Penny’s father tripped over when they left here earlier, and fell to the floor. When the poor man landed, he must have put his damaged hand out to protect himself, and he put his hand down in some dried zombie blood, out in the street outside. He didn’t realise at first, until his arm began to throb, but he had gone and gotten himself infected, when the dried blood mixed with the cut on his hand. Morgan told us that just ten minutes after Leonard had put his hand down into in the dry blood, he had started to feel ill. It didn’t matter what Penny could do for him as the virus took hold of him; first he sweated and was really hot, which made him feel sick, and then he lost all of his energy and kept wanting to fall asleep. After three hours Leonard stopped breathing and died from the infection.

  I ran straight over to Penny to check she was okay. We could see that she had cried, and I can’t blame her, I don’t know what I would do if Daddy was to die. She told us that she had sat and talked with him for the first hour of his sickness, before he fell unconscious. Leonard had told Penny how strong she was and how proud she had made him; that had made her cry. Her Daddy asked her to promise him that she wouldn’t get too upset; it was time for him to go, he was tired and old and longed to be back with her mother. At first Penny had tried to refuse his request, she was being naughty by not listening to her father, just like I do sometimes. In the end though she had promised him what he had asked of her, and shed one final tear for him. Shortly after she had made her promise, Leonard had fallen asleep and didn’t wake up again.

  When Leonard died it was Penny who had waited for him to wake return as a bad person; Morgan and Kathy had both offered to put him back to sleep, but Penny had refused. I definitely don’t think I could be that brave. Penny has now gone over to the corner and is talking in private with Jackson, we are all going to leave her alone for now, as she has been through enough.

  Tomorrow is all planned; we will leave here and escape to the river. When the tide is in we will inflate our dingy so that it can float and go back to where we started from. Morgan told us that before Leonard fell ill, he had managed to speak with the person on the radio, and they promised him that they will send help to stop General Harper. I’m now going to go to sleep, when I wake in the morning I will be another day nearer to being a sister. If Daddy has a little boy, I can suggest we call him Leonard; Penny would like that. I do hope that she will be okay? Goodnight.

  Love Sister Shanice

  X

  The River Thames, London, 29th July, 11:42 GMT

  Making their way up the river had been relatively easy. The group had only encountered small pockets of zombies along the short walk, and had dispatched them easily enough. For most of the group it had been the first time they saw the thousands of cadavers that were embedded in the silt of the Thames. When they had arrived at the river edge the tide was still coming in and stretched out far in front of them; for as far as the eye could see there was river full of heads. On their arrival at the scene the river had been about five feet deep, completely submerging the trapped zombie’s bodies.

  It began to make sense of why some of the areas in the capital were quiet. In areas such as these, survivors must have fled into the water, and the zombies that chased them had followed; either that or the brainless monsters had followed each other into the clay like mud that trapped them. Despite Penny and Shanice telling them all of the sea of undead beforehand, none had really believed the story. The group had to wait on a jetty for the tide to rise high enough, ensuring the zombies couldn’t wrestle their boat from the water. They had watched as the many heads snapped and snarled at them, until the water engulfed them. Shanice had laughed as the water filled their mouths and that had made a comical gargling sound until the last of the heads had disappeared below the surface.

  Happy that the zombies were submerged enough to offer no threat from the rising water, Morgan and Jackson unzipped the large black duffle bag that they had been carrying. A quick pull of the two thick rope cords began inflating the boat. To Shanice it all seemed like one big magic trick; she was in total awe of how the orange plastic could rapidly turn itself into a fully functioning dingy. Jackson pulled the four short oars form the bottom of the bag, kept one for himself and then sought volunteers from amongst them, to take possession of the other three.

  The plan for the group was to row back towards Tower Bridge, as the area hadn’t been overrun with the undead when they had arrived there before. From there they would attempt to walk to Liverpool Street Station, and that would allow them to then escape the city along the train tracks. As Jackson, Gerard, Morgan and Kathy rowed the boat across the surface they were all aware that speed was of the essence; being out in the open and at the mercy of General Harpers men worried them.

  For Shanice it was once again an adventure to savour, not so long ago she could just make out the tallest of the capital’s landmarks from her bedroom window, Now the landmarks were up close as the group rowed past them. To the little girl it felt like each building was close enough to touch, and she wanted to know what each one was named. With Gerard busy rowing the task of identifying the buildings fell to Letitia. “That one, that one.” Shanice cried as she frantically pointed at the brown cream striped building to her right. “That’s where all the spies work. It’s the headquarters for M-I-Six.” “You mean like James Bond? I thought he was made up for the movies?” Letitia giggled at Shanice, “Yes he is made up, but other people who do the same job worked there.”

  Even though it had only just turned noon the heat of the summer sun was stifling. The four rowers were already pouring of sweat from their efforts of rowing the boat across the water. Each had to keep sipping at their water canteens in order to keep themselves hydrated. “I know that one.” Shanice pointed out to the left. “That’s Big Ben.” She eagerly added. By the time the boat went underneath London Bridge the rowers were in need of a rest. Penny switched over from Kathy, and Jin-Lee was cajoled into taking over from Gerard
; the young girl had regressed to the point that she just sat staring into space and not even Shanice had been able to lift her from her depressed state.

  They quickly arrived at their destination of Tower Bridge, at just after two in the afternoon. The sun bore down on them as they moored the boat to the small jetty. They moved as one, up the incline, spying the entrance of the underground station in front of them. “It will probably be easier getting to the station through the underground.” Kathy suggested to Morgan. “After them leaving us without weapons last time, I can’t risk taking us back in there.” Morgan replied. Kathy didn’t protest; deep down she knew he was right about the survivors being untrustworthy. “Okay what now?” She asked her partner. “We move forward as planned, up through Houndsditch and then onto Liverpool Street.” Morgan was quick to answer. “What if it’s swamped with them Jay?” His face grew more serious, “If we can’t fight our way through, we may have to enter Aldgate Station and hope Phillip hasn’t started branching out along that line yet.” Kathy turned to the others, “Okay as we discussed earlier, we stay together, and don’t fire your guns unless it is absolutely necessary.”

  They began to move along the street with: Kathy, Morgan and Jackson leading, they methodically moved forwards. The three soldiers dealt with a few lone zombies along their route with efficient ease. They soon came to an abrupt halt at Aldgate; the road before them was once again littered with mostly abandoned cars. Slow awkward movement coming from the inside of a few of the vehicles told them all that the moving inhabitants were no longer human. On the other side of the line of cars, all around Aldgate Station the area was filled with the undead. “Jay we can’t get through that lot.” Kathy whispered as they all cowered behind the nearest abandoned vehicle. “Even worse than that we can’t go down into the station. The entrance is open and it’s teaming with them.” Morgan replied. “So what now Jay? Do we go back?” Morgan shook his head, “No we go forward.” The soldier surprised all of them with his answer as he stood and then looked along the zombie filled road, “I can see a way through, but you’re not going to like it.”

  Most of them thought Morgan’s plan sounded suicidal, but Gerard agreed with the soldier’s logic. The traffic had been at a complete standstill in the area at the time as people had tried to flee. With all the roads blocked and pandemonium spreading, some had driven onto the pavements in a last-ditch attempt at making an escape. For as far as the eye could see the vehicles were now bumper to bumper on both the footpaths and the roads. Morgan wanted to use the stationary cars as a makeshift bridge, and attempt to walk down the centre of it, where theoretically the obstructed zombies couldn’t reach them. The only danger that the soldier could think of was a gap in the stationary traffic; he knew as soon as they climbed up onto the makeshift bridge that they would be spotted, but what other option did they have?

  When everyone agreed that they were ready Morgan leapt up onto the bonnet of the first car, and slowly began making his way along the line of deserted vehicles. With the rest of the group back on top of the first car, they watched in trepidation as Morgan made it easily across the long line of cars, stopping just short of the station entrance. The noise from the undead was overbearing and it grew in intensity every minute. All it took was for one of them to spot the soldier as he strolled across the river of stranded cars, its moans soon alerted the others to Morgan’s presence. The zombies seemed to now pour forth from everywhere; their urge to feed, drawing them out from their hiding places. As Morgan had hoped the outer line of cars acted as a barrier, preventing them from coming too close and being able to reach him. He watched as they jostled for position along the narrow laneways afforded to them, outside of the outer cars; he had been right and his plan would get them to just outside of the station.

  The group waited for Morgan to traverse his way back to them. Gerard found it quite ironic that Morgan looked happy whilst walking past an army of undead. The zombie’s cries and howls had reached an unnerving crescendo that brought even more out from the shadows that had been hiding them. That same noise now surrounded the group in every direction, for miles; Gerard wondered if there were many survivors left above ground at all.

  Each of them took their time cross the seemingly endless line of stranded cars; none of them were too enamoured by the thought of falling off into carnivorous wall of howling zombies that stood watching them on either side. When they finally reached the end of Houndsditch they took the opportunity to sip at their canteens, as each and every one of them was parched. Before them lay Liverpool Street and once again they were faced with walking across a sea of multi-coloured car rooftops. Some of the cars had mounted the station concourse, right outside of the station so they traversed the short distance to the front of the large station in no time at all.

  The line of cars ended just ten feet from the glass entrance, which led down to the massive open concourse and its nineteen platforms. Unfortunately between the glass entrance and the group, now stood a wall of howling and snarling zombies that were trying to reach out to them. There was no way that any of them would be able to break through a horde of that size; it would mean certain death or at the least infection, for any that tried. Morgan stood perplexed, he couldn’t believe they had made it this far, only to then be thwarted by such a small gap. He began looking up and down the front of the building, in the hope that a solution to their problem would jump out at him.

  Shouting from behind him, snapped Morgan’s attention from the front of the building, and as he turned around he saw Jin-Lee moving down the last line of cars. The rest of the group tried in vain to call the young woman back, but she ignored their calls. Morgan wondered if the young girl had a death wish, as she ran along the outer line. He watched in despair as the zombies outstretched hands reached out towards her. The first two gaps between the stationary vehicles had been no problem for Jin-Lee and she had vaulted them like a Gazelle, and the third he would have made easily if the zombie’s outstretched hand hadn’t of caught her. Morgan winced as he helplessly watched Jin-Lee tumble to the roof of the next car, her mid-rift hitting the metal roof first, before the rest of her body came to a bone crunching crash. With the wind apparently knocked out of her and her senses dulled, she didn’t realise that one of her legs overhung the little French car she now lay on top of. It wasn’t until the nearest two zombies sunk their teeth into her outstretched calf muscle that she realised the predicament she was in.

  Morgan shuddered as more of the undead clutched at the girls leg, and bit into it. Levelling his gun at Jin-Lee’s head he was about to take the shot and put her out of her misery, when somehow she found the strength to spring free of the cadaver’s grip. Where she found the strength, he didn’t know as he could clearly see the amount of blood that was escaping from the open wounds in her leg. The soldier watched in awe as she rolled off the top of the car and into the road, she then immediately moved along to the builders van just two vehicles along from where she had been bitten. Jin-Lee rushed to door and flung it open, after climbing inside, she hurriedly pulled the door closed behind her. When Morgan heard the engine of the van turn over, he instantly realised her intentions had always been to make it to the van, never to end her suffering.

  After two weeks of the vehicles being abandoned, Morgan wondered how many of their batteries had died; he prayed that the works van with its open back would start. The first three attempts of Jin-Lees to start the van just resulted in clicking and the momentary spluttering of the engine trying to turn over. On her fourth attempt the engine again spluttered into life, but this time she was ready and began pumping the accelerator pedal to bring it into full life. With the van now working Jin-Lee began reversing and moving forward by bumping the bumper into the two vehicles that blocked her path. Every impact shot stabbing pains up her injured leg and she grimaced as she continued ramming the two stationary cars, slowly forcing a bigger gap to manoeuvre the bulky works van. It took fifteen minutes of ramming her vehicle backwards and forwards until she wa
s able to fully pull the van out and drive directly underneath the huge glass canopy. It had required every ounce of energy that Jin-Lee possessed and when she was happy that she had managed her task she collapsed against the steering wheel exhausted. The horn of the van blared out and mixed with the roars of the undead. The ones that had been lucky when the van missed them now helplessly banged at the sides of the van. Morgan frowned as the cadavers swarmed around the vehicle; from where he stood he knew there was no way of rescuing the girl, and after being bitten so many times she didn’t have much time left.

  He looked over to his waiting friends, now there were just seven of them left, including himself. Why did this new world have to keep taking lives? Why wasn’t it happy with the countless lives it had already claimed? With a heavy heart he beckoned his friends over and then helped to lift each of them up from the back of the work vans flat bed and up onto the glass domed roof of the station entrance. Kathy climbed in through the second floor window and when she was happy that it was safe, she ushered in the others. All that remained on the glass roof was Jackson; he was waiting to help lift Morgan up from the flat bed. He watched as Morgan fired a single shot into the back of the work van, the small window mounted into the rear of the cab exploded as the bullet struck it, “Thank you Jin-Lee.” His words were spoken softly as a single tear rolled down Morgan’s cheek.

  The soldier stood and grasped Jackson waiting, outstretched hand. With Jackson’s help he climbed up onto the roof, neither of the men spoke to one another. They both climbed through the open window and joined up with the others.

  Mount Buller, Victoria, Australia, 31st July, 7:09 GMT

  To ensure the worldwide spread of the deadly Day Zed virus, Biocorp had released a second strain of the sinister vials that had originally infected all of Britain’s airports. The vials were released just hours after those in the West. It had been of no surprise to Jim Douglas that the virus had the same prolific infection rate, and spread across the cities and amongst the fleeing survivors at an alarming speed. Within hours: Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong and China found themselves fighting a losing battle in their attempts to contain the infection. Although the cities and the towns were decimated the weather was on the survivor’s side and ultimately helped the small villages, by slowing down the travelling time of the deadly plague.