by Thomas Hall
She nodded and he saw her realise the same thing.
He took her hands in his. They were already cold. They stood in silence for a moment and enjoyed the feeling of this small victory.
‘Do you think we should go back to the village?’ Dale said.
Beth shook her head. ‘It doesn’t really change anything, does it? They’re still looking for you.’
‘Then we should send everyone else back,’ Dale said. ‘It might be safer for them. Some of their families might still be alive.’
‘For how long though?’ she said. ‘You know what’s coming. If we send anyone back we’re giving up.’
Dale squeezed her hands. On the horizon the first rays of blue light were parting the dark clouds. He could see frost on the ground. The night was almost over. If they lived to see another one maybe everything would be better. It would certainly be different.
He heard the distant rumble of an engine and turned to look. He couldn’t see anything. A second and a third engine joined it. He still couldn’t see the vehicles but they were coming from the village. His breath caught in his throat.
‘They’re coming this way,’ Beth said.
Dale nodded.
They both turned back to look at the house.
‘Will it be safe?’ she said.
Dale thought about the zombies that were already approaching from the forest. It had never been safe. The last thing they wanted though was to be caught in the middle of a fight between whatever was left of the army and the massive zombie hoard.
‘I don’t know,’ he said.
‘If you think it’s safer to go we can go,’ she said.
‘I don’t know.’
‘We need to decide,’ she said. Her voice was filling with panic.
‘I know.’
‘Well what should we do?’ She let go of his hands and they fell back to his side.
It would be daylight in a few hours. He didn’t want to travel in the light where they would be visible from miles away. On the other hand, they would also be able to see for miles around and maybe they would see anything approaching them. He didn’t know. The decision was paralysing.
‘Dale?’ Beth said, her voice as sharp as the bitter cold.
‘We should go,’ he said. As soon as the words were out he felt both relief and regret. He had known they wouldn’t be able to stay since he had seen the zombies. He had known it would be a mistake to leave for just as long. But doing nothing was a decision as well and at least they stood a fighting chance if they were on the move.
Beth was already at the door. He followed her back into the house.
Everybody moaned. They didn’t want to leave. They were tired and it was difficult to blame them. Dale and Beth had made the decision not to tell the children about the zombies because they didn’t want to frighten them. Dale wondered if there was a point of absolute fear where it was impossible to feel any more regardless of what new horror appeared.
It took less than ten minutes to get everyone up and out of the house.
‘I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me why we’re leaving all of a sudden?’ Rachel said as she passed him at the front door.
‘It’s not safe here,’ Dale said. He didn’t think he could explain to her why he thought it would be any safer on the road, even if he tried. Rachel had kept the children alive by staying in the school. It wasn’t in her nature to fight.
She shook her head and walked down the steps to join the children. Nathan closed the door behind her and felt the strange urge to lock it. How long had it been since he’d had to lock a house when he’d left? It was the thought of the family upstairs that did it. Some part of him couldn’t stand the idea of the zombies getting in and finding them. Disturbing their final resting place. He didn’t have a key so it made no difference what he felt.
He joined Beth at the front of the group. Dawn was standing beside her. They were waiting for him. The sound of the engines was louder now. He could see distant lights approaching and imagined that he could also hear one of the officers shouting orders. It was his imagination but he thought he could hear his name.
Dale took Beth’s free hand and led them away from the house, away from the zombies and away from the soldiers.
The cold had a weight to it. He could feel it in every breath he took. It seemed to settle on his lungs. Some of the kids were complaining that they hadn’t had a chance to sleep.
They travelled across the outskirts of the village. The direct route into the forest would have been the quickest way to leave but that would have meant heading straight towards the zombies.
None of the adults spoke.
The sky continued to lighten in the distance. Dale could see further and further ahead. The long grey path wound between broken houses and cars that were mostly rust. They passed a burned out building that looked as if it had been a mill once upon a time. In the front garden there was an old pickup truck that looked as if it was being swallowed by the long grass. The fact that the fire that had destroyed the house hadn’t spread further was evidence that there had been a civilisation here, even after the zombies had come.
He glanced at Beth. She was looking ahead. Her jaw set in solid determination. He knew she felt responsible for the group but he also knew that she was equal to it. He considered giving her the gun but he didn’t think she knew how to shoot.
The sound of the engines was their walking music. The soldiers were getting closer as well, it felt as if they were being followed. Some of the kids had begun to ask questions about the soldiers. Some of the adults had suggested that they stop and join with whoever was driving the vehicles. Dale could see the logic in that but if they did so it would be without him.
The best that he could say about the engines was that they drowned out the sound of the zombies. Without discussing it he began to walk more quickly and the others followed.
An hour later Dale realised that the engines were no longer drowning out the sound of the zombies. Ahead he could see the ruins that he and Beth had visited together in happier times.
One of the children began to cry and then another. He began to regret his decision to leave the safety of the house. Or at least to bring everyone with him. He could still hear the engines, there was no question now about whether or not they were being followed.
‘Hold on,’ Dale said.
They stopped.
‘What is it?’ Beth said.
He didn’t dare look at her. He could hear the concern in her voice and didn’t want to see it on her face as well. If he told her to stay there she wouldn’t do it. He pointed towards the ruins.
‘Is it a zombie?’ Dawn said.
Dale heard Beth tell her to be quiet.
They watched and the zombie disappeared. Dale followed it as it ran across the field in the direction of the forest. It was unsettling to realise that they had fresh ones in the pack. It would have been a big enough challenge to survive against the sheer numbers if they had speed as well it might be impossible.
‘What do we do?’ Beth said.
Dale shook his head. Behind them the engines had stopped. He thought that if he turned around he would see whatever remained of the army there, waiting to see what he would do.
‘Dale?’ Beth said. He felt her hand on his arm. ‘What are we doing?’
The ruins might have been ten years old or they might have been a thousand. It was impossible to say but they wouldn’t provide much in the way of protection. There was open field beyond it and they would be able to run but the army had motor vehicles and the zombies had fresh meat.
Finally he turned to look at Beth. ‘We’re going to have to fight,’ he said.
‘There’s too many,’ she said.
He knew that she was right. ‘It’s okay,’ he said. He knew that it wasn’t. ‘If we can take out the fast moving one’s we can run from the rest.’
‘Dale, the children…’
‘I know.’ He turned back to the ruins. ‘There might be some
where for them to hide.’
‘But shouldn’t we run–‘
‘It’s too late for that.’
She didn’t question him further. He knew that she would do whatever he asked her to do. She believed in him even when he didn’t believe in himself.
They gathered the children together into a tight group and led them towards the ruins. Dale drew his gun and a couple of the younger ones gasped. He felt their confidence in him grow and only he knew that it was misplaced. If one of them got out of this alive it would be a miracle.
There were more than a dozen buildings spread out over a few hundred metres. The ground was rocky and uneven. He thought that it might have been a castle once. It was now light enough that he could see the colour of the stone and the impurities of it.
They managed to find a building that was solid enough to climb. Rachel led the children up into a chamber that was no bigger than his room at the hospital had been. They were cramped and uncomfortable but it was the best chance they had of staying alive.
‘What now?’ Beth said once she had seen Dawn up the narrow passage with the rest of the children.
Dale looked at the adults who had stayed behind. They weren’t much to take on the biggest zombie hoard he had ever seen. At Gerard’s insistence Valery had gone up the tower with the children which left him, Oscar, Noel, Beth and Dale. They had one gun between them and about ten thousand zombies on the way. Not to mention the soldiers who would kill all of them to get to Dale.
The others didn’t know how to fire a gun so Dale thought it would put them at greater risk to give it to them. They picked up sharp rocks from the ground. He could see them shaking. The familiar dread of what was about to happen. They hadn’t been trained for this. It seemed selfish to expect them to fight.
He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. Six bullets left. He could kill the first six zombies but then the gun was useless. After that he would need to find a rock as well.
He considered running away. By himself he might be able to survive but he would be sentencing the others to certain death. He considered not fighting at all and just letting the zombies catch him, but that wasn’t what he had been trained to do.
Dale opened his eyes and saw Beth smiling at him. ‘Are you okay?’ she said.
‘No,’ he said.
‘Good. Me too.’
He walked towards her and took her hand. There was nothing to say. They both knew they were probably going to die. Or worse. He wanted to take her away from this place. He had never wanted to get her killed.
There zombies emerged from the forest. Dale didn’t recognise any of them.
He let go of Beth’s hand and aimed his gun. He squeezed the trigger three times and scored three head shots. The zombies dropped to the floor like sacks of sand. For a moment they were alone again. Three bullets left.
A heartbeat passed and then there were more. Too many to count this time. They began to swarm around the five of them, cutting off their exits quickly and then moving closer. Dale stepped past Oscar and took out two more that were approaching Gerard. One bullet left.
He could already see that there were too many of them. Any hope that he’d harboured of surviving the encounter vanished. He had one bullet left and he considered putting it in his own head and ending his experience with life.
Beth yelped in surprise. Dale turned. Three zombies approached her. He watched her swing the rock and take out one. She kicked another to the ground and bent over it to deliver the killing blow. He realised that she hadn’t noticed the third.
He took a step towards her and with his final bullet he took out the zombie sneaking up on her from behind. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away. She turned and looked at him.
‘Stay close to me,’ he said.
Beth nodded.
He put the gun back in his pocket. It was useless now but he might be able to find bullets for it again later. If there was a later. More zombies came towards them out of the forest.
There were plenty of rocks on the ground. He bent and picked one up. The weight of it in his hand wasn’t reassuring. He would have to get close enough to use it which increased the risk of being bitten.
He swung and caught a zombie teenager around the side of the head. It was a glancing blow and the zombie stumbled away but didn’t drop. A moment later it was coming again. Its arms out revealing the remains of tattoos. It came at him again and this time Dale didn’t miss.
The zombie dropped and Dale grabbed Beth’s hand. He dragged her over the body. The floor was quickly filling up but no matter how many they killed more kept coming.
Oscar screamed.
Dale looked over and saw him surrounded by a dozen or more zombies. His arms were swinging, his head tilted towards the sky. Dale started to move towards him but Beth held him back.
‘You can’t help him now,’ she said.
Dale took out another zombie and watched the group swallow Oscar up. He flung his arms in the air like a drowning man and gasped for his final breath. Then he was gone.
The anger made him clumsy but still dangerous. Dale moved forwards. He wasn’t sure where he was going but he wanted to take down as many zombies as he could before they finally got him. He swung his arm and in every direction he hit something. He lost track of Beth in the chaos.
He knew that killing them wouldn’t make up for losing Oscar. Zombies had no concept of the individual. The group wouldn’t suffer if he killed a thousand of them. But he didn’t care. Everybody that he saw on the ground was a minor victory and the more he killed the better he felt.
Hands grabbed at his ankles. He stamped on fingers and felt bones crack beneath his boots. He began to feel as if he was making progress but he doubted they had even met one tenth of the zombies they had seen sweeping through the forest.
He heard someone shouting his name. He turned and saw Beth on the other side of the clearing. She was surrounded but fighting. He started to run. It wasn’t too late to save her.
Three zombies stepped into his path. He climbed over a fourth and took them out with the rock. A fifth appeared out of the crowd and he felt it grab his arm. He turned on his heel and struck it in the middle of the face. Blood and puss oozed out but it continued to look at him for a long moment before it dropped.
He fought his way through the group to join Beth. She glanced at him but showed no sign of relief that he was there.
‘The kids,’ she said.
Dale turned. He couldn’t tell which tower they were in. Then he saw a group of zombies surrounding one broken building and knew that they were there.
‘Come on,’ he said and grabbed her arm.
She pulled it away. ‘You go. I’ll be okay.’
He looked at the zombies approaching her and at the bloody rock in her hand. A dozen bodies lay at her feet and he realised that she would be okay. She had killed more than anyone else that day and, although he was surprised, he was also glad.
Dale leaned over and kissed her. She kissed him back without taking her eyes off the zombies.
He pushed two zombies out of the way to break away from the group. Once they were on the ground he caved in their heads to save Beth the trouble.
The zombies at the base of the tower were clambering over one another to try and get up. He could hear the children screaming and crying above the sound of the undead moans.
He dropped them from behind. One at a time. None of them seemed to realise he was there and it was slow but easy work. His arm ached by the end of it.
When he turned around he saw more of them coming. More than he could hope to fight. He considered getting the kids out but they were defenceless and they wouldn’t stand a chance, even if there was anywhere better for them to go.
He looked around for Noel and Gerard but they were nowhere to be seen. Every zombie that he could see seemed to be making its slow shuffling way towards the tower. He was surrounded and, once he went under, the kids would be easy pickings.
The gunfire surp
rised him. Even though he had known the army was there somewhere. Despite knowing who was shooting it came as a relief to know that they weren’t on their own.
Most of the zombies turned towards the sound. Some of them kept coming towards him. A small explosion on the other side of the ruins killed more zombies in one go than they had managed the entire time with their rocks.
He felt something on his arm and turned towards a zombie. He caved in its skull before looking down and seeing the blood on his arm.
Beth was fighting her way towards him. She scrambled over the piles of bodies that blocked the way. He heard somebody screaming but he couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
There was more gunfire and another explosion. The ruins were clearing. He could see Noel and Gerrard, looking exhausted and limping, making their way towards him.
He killed another zombie and then another. He could see the army now. Their numbers were reduced but they were well armed. They were coming towards the tower as well.
Beth reached him. He turned and saw her expression. She looked hollow. Her mouth opened and closed as if she was shouting at him but he couldn’t hear what she was saying. His ears were ringing, his attention elsewhere.
Somebody else was shouting. He could hear them but not see them. The words didn’t seem to make any sense. He couldn’t put them together properly.
He looked for a friendly face. Somebody who could explain what was going on to him and then he saw more soldiers. Their guns were raised but, for now, there were no zombies left for them to shoot.
‘He’s bit!’ somebody shouted.
‘Stay back he’s bit!’
Dale turned towards Beth. She was crying. He looked down at his arm again and realised that the blood was his own. That they were talking about him.
‘No it’s okay,’ he tried to say but his voice came out small and hollow. He realised that it really wasn’t okay.
The others had stepped back. He saw that they were scared of him. Of what he would become. They didn’t know what he already was.
He stepped away from the tower. His arm throbbed but it wouldn’t kill him. There wasn’t time to explain it to them and they wouldn’t believe him anyway. He looked from Beth to Noel to Gerard and he knew what they were thinking: how long did they have before he turned into a zombie and which one of them would kill him if he did?
