“What about Harry, Dad?” asked John.
“Harry can have the other shotgun.”
The four new arrivals went into Tesco together. John and I picked up the shotguns, then searched the bodies for cartridges. There were about 60 altogether, all shot size three in a 2¾-inch case – not too bad if you could get close. Still, they were better than normal bird shot.
Maria, Liz and Harry had finished loading their vehicle and came over to us, Maria pushing the empty trolley.
“Harry, you wait here while Liz and I have a look in the Co-op,” said Maria, heading towards the store with Liz in tow.
“Good idea, see you soon,” said Harry, sounding quite pleased that he was not asked to go. He was a man after my own heart – I detested shopping and left it to Mary most of the time.
“Harry, we have something for you,” said John, picking up one of the double-barrelled shotguns.
John showed Harry how the gun functioned and let him try it himself before handing him 40 of the 60 cartridges.
“Dad, do you think those shots will attract any infected?” asked John.
“Should be OK. We haven’t seen any around since we arrived in Maldon,” I replied.
“I’ll just hurry Tom, Ruth and Maria along,” Brian said, leaving us and heading for the Co-op.
“I’ll check on the other four in Tesco,” Harry said, ensuring the shotgun was loaded as he walked towards the shop.
John and I continued to survey the area while we waited for the others. We could hear Harry shouting into the Tesco store, and within a few minutes our four new acquaintances arrived, the two men each pushing a completely full trolley.
“That’s it – we’re done,” said the overweight IT man, who seemed to the spokesman for the group.
“Have you got transport?” I asked.
“No, but we only have to walk through the business park.”
“OK, but you’d better take these,” I said, handing him the double-barrelled shotgun and the remaining cartridges. “Do you know how to use it?”
“Karl does,” he replied, indicating his much slimmer and taller college. He passed the shotgun and ammunition to Karl, while the taller woman took control of the trolley.
“May see you again – ’bye,” their spokesman said as he led the group past the Co-op and out of sight into the business park.
“Where’s my wife?” asked Harry.
“You know women – they do like their shopping, and now it’s free they can get hold of whatever they want,” I said.
“Poor Tom is probably getting dragged around the shop several times,” added John, “and Brian’s probably wishing he never went to collect them.”
A scream pierced the silence as John finished his sentence, followed by a shouted warning in a man’s voice. Then boom, boom! came from a shotgun, and more screams and shouts. Then we heard someone shout “Run!”. John and I looked at each other, but Harry was the first to move towards the now panic-stricken voice, which was coming from the business park.
“Harry, stop!” shouted John.
As Harry turned to look at us, John pointed ahead and slightly to his right towards the roundabout and the roads leading off towards Colchester and the Heybridge basin. I followed John’s gaze and saw 50 or 60 infected approaching us.
“What’s going on?” shouted Brian, who had appeared at the Co-op entrance. “Oh, my God – behind you!” he added, with an air of panic starting to enter his voice.
John and I turned to see many more infected approaching from the Maldon end of the main road.
“I’ll get the others,” Brian continued, as John and I turned back to look at him, but he had already disappeared back into the shop. Then Karl and the overweight man, minus his trolley, reappeared from behind the Co-op. Karl fired another two shots at whatever was coming from the business park, and at the sound of his shots the infected coming from Heybridge turned towards him. The overweight man ran towards them in blind panic, taking no notice of where he was going. Karl was moving backwards, frantically trying to reload the shotgun.
Too late, the overweight man realised the error of his ways, as the first infected sank his teeth into his neck and another bit into his opposite shoulder. A young girl then bit into his arm, and he collapsed to the ground screaming in pain as blood started to pour from his neck and arm and another two infected fell on top of him. The remaining infected headed for Karl, who was oblivious to the drama unfolding behind him. John tried to shout a warning but it was lost in the booming sound of the shotgun as Karl fired again at the infected approaching from the business park. Karl started to reload, still moving backwards as he did so, but just as he took aim to fire again the infected from Heybridge reached him. The first of them bit into his shoulder as he fired, sending the shot harmlessly into the air. He turned, pulling himself away from his assailant, and at point-blank range shot him in the head, causing it to explode and sending brain matter and skull fragments in all directions.
The next to approach him was a woman apparently in her mid-thirties, and, swinging the now-empty shotgun, he hit her full in the face with the butt, sending her tumbling sideways before she hit the ground. Two more male infected had now reached Karl and he managed to poke one in the face with the barrels, which did slow him down, but the other grabbed him and bit him in the other shoulder. Karl lost his balance and fell to the ground with the infected still clinging to him, as the other male recovered and joined in the fray, biting him in the arm. Karl was now screaming in pain as more infected fell on top of him.
Brian had now reappeared at the Co-op entrance with Tom behind him pushing a trolley, followed by Ruth and Maria also pushing a trolley, with Liz in the rear.
“Come on – run!” shouted Harry.
Brian left the entrance first as John shouted a warning “Behind you!”. Brian turned to see the infected, which were now only 20 yards from him. Fortunately, they were still preoccupied with Karl and his friend, so he waved to the others to go, Tom leading with Ruth and Maria with their trolley close behind. But as the trolley wheels started to rattle across the car park, a number of infected looked up, trying to locate this new sound. The infected from the business park direction came into view at the same time and turned towards us, together with a number of infected that had approached from Heybridge. Harry ran to Brian’s aid to protect his wife. Brian then opened fire with the semi-auto shotgun, and as Harry reached his side he also fired. Tom and Ruth had now reached the back of the truck.
“Get the stuff loaded!” I shouted to them as John and I moved forward to take up defensive positions.
Harry managed to fire another two rounds as Brian emptied his magazine and started to reload.
“Brian, Harry, fall back!” shouted John.
They didn’t need any further encouragement, and both turned and headed back to our position. Harry headed for his own vehicle, while shouting a warning.
“There are more of them coming from your right!” he called as he took up position by his own vehicle ten yards from us, trying to protect Maria and Liz as they stowed their supplies in the car. I looked to my right to see another group of infected starting to step over the small fence that separated the car park from the main road. Now Brian had joined us, John and I could shoot without the fear of hitting him or Harry by mistake. John fired first, dropping an older man with two shots to the head. The closest infected were only 20 yards away when I opened fire with the shotgun, each shot knocking me back a step from the recoil generated by the 3.5-inch BB 12-bore shells. At such short range, they had a devastating effect and the head of the nearest infected man exploded; a young woman was next and a teenage boy was my third victim.
John continued to take them down as Brian reloaded his empty magazine. But the infected kept coming. My magazine was now empty, but fortunately Brian was now ready to take over. I started to reload the magazine, lo
oking towards Harry while doing so. The infected were getting very close to his car, and with only two shots available Harry could not keep up with the flow of infected. He just managed to load the shotgun as a large, well-built man started to move around his car towards Maria and Liz. Not six feet away, he fired in desperation, removing the back of the man’s head. Another at a similar distance was heading towards him and Harry’s second shot hit a tall woman in the throat, which left her head hanging by a couple of pieces of flesh, causing it to roll to one side of her body as she collapsed to the ground.
Realising the danger, I moved to Harry’s side with my shotgun fully loaded and opened fire on the three infected that were just the other side of Harry’s car. Firing three shots in quick succession, bits of flesh and bone took to the air mixed with a fine spray of blood, but another two were approaching from the right, apparently trying to go around the car. Maria and Liz were now frantically throwing supplies onto the back seat, unaware of the danger, and I fired two more shots, sending both the infected to the ground.
Turning back towards Harry, I could see two infected moving around the front of the car. Harry had just loaded the shotgun, but too late, as the first of the two reached him.
“Watch out, Harry!” I shouted, firing at the second, the main blast hitting him in the ear. I had fired from so close that a three-inch diameter hole appeared in his head, enabling me to see daylight from the other side as he fell to the ground.
The other infected grabbed Harry by the shoulders. With his shotgun between them, Harry tried to push him off, but gave up as he was taller and extremely well-built. Harry pulled him forward, catching him off-guard and causing him to stumble forward – at which moment Harry used a well-placed foot to push him to the ground, giving Harry enough time to bring the shotgun into play. As the infected attempted to get up, Harry fired, hitting him in the chest, and he fell backwards. Harry fired again, this time removing the top of the head.
I had fired the last shot in my magazine, and started to reload, as Maria turned towards us and screamed, “Let’s go, I’ve finished!”.
Liz had already climbed into the back seat with their supplies and shut the passenger door.
“Maria, behind you!” I shouted.
A teenage girl was only six feet from Maria as she turned to look. Maria pushed the now-empty trolley towards her would-be attacker, using it as a barrier, and they started go round in circles, Maria desperately trying to keep the trolley between them. With the shotgun only half-loaded, I cocked it. Loading a shell into the chamber, I tried to take aim at the teenager but the two were moving so fast that there was a good chance I would shoot Maria instead. An infected man and woman were also very close to Maria, so I shot them instead.
I could hear Harry’s shots ring out as he tried to keep at bay the infected coming from our left, oblivious to the drama unfolding behind him with his wife as the protagonist. I could see that Maria was now beginning to get tired and a bit dizzy. Taking the five or six steps to where they were circulating, I struck the girl in the head with the shotgun, causing her to let go of the trolley and to stagger sideways long enough for me to point and shoot. I hit the teenager in the shoulder, and she spun round and fell to the ground, but she soon recovered, even though her left arm was only partially attached and the wound was causing her to bleed profusely. To my amazement, she got to her feet and headed straight for me. The shotgun was already pointing in her direction so I squeezed the trigger, this time taking aim at her head. But the only sound that came from the gun was a click! – it was empty. I backed away, fumbling in my pocket for a shell. As my back came into contact with the rear of Harry’s car, I managed to let off another shot and the teenage girl fell at my feet, with the back of her head missing.
Brian had now joined us.
“We’re ready to go, James, are you?” he asked urgently.
“Yes,” was all I could say, still getting over my scary moment.
Maria had managed to get into her car, slamming the door behind her and visibly shaken by her experience.
Infected were still climbing over the small fence into the car park, but John and Brian had depleted those coming from the business park and Heybridge directions.
“We need your help here, Brian!” I called as the infected had nearly reached Harry’s car.
Harry fired his two shots and Brian started to empty his magazine into the oncoming infected.
“Harry, get your car started. Let’s get out of here!” I shouted.
Harry needed no encouragement and jumped into the driver’s seat.
Brian fired his last shots as I finished loading the shotgun. After firing five shots, eliminating the closest infected, I turned to see Tom and Ruth climb into their vehicle. John had now finished off the infected coming from my left.
“OK, John – get the truck started,” I said.
Brian had now reloaded his gun and proceeded to drop the infected in front of him, with me adding my last three shells to the carnage we had now created.
Hearing the truck’s diesel engine burst into life, I shouted, “Let’s go, Brian!”
“Look, there are more coming from the business park!” I shouted to no one in particular as I started feeding shells into the shotgun’s magazine once again. Brian had already got into the truck, so I moved to the disabled parking area as John backed out, leaving the vehicle pointing at the car park exit with the passenger door open. After firing at the two closest infected, I got into the passenger seat and slammed the door. John moved forward slightly and stopped so the other two could line up behind us.
“Let’s go, John!” Brian shouted.
Three infected were blocking our path as John accelerated. The first was Karl’s “girlfriend” – the tall lady who could have been a model. She had been bitten on the shoulder and neck, and there was a large piece of flesh hanging from one arm. Her eyes glowed red as John hit her square on, sending her slim body into the air and eventually finishing up amongst the parked cars. The next contact was Karl himself. We could not tell where he had been bitten as he was completely covered in blood; the only difference seemed to be the bright red of his eyes. He came into contact with the nearside front wing, which sent him spinning towards the Co-op entrance, breaking his leg.
John swung the truck right and then right again, which brought us onto the main road heading towards Maldon town centre. I checked behind us to ensure Tom and Ruth were close, but Harry had turned in the opposite direction towards Heybridge, sounding his horn as he did so. The remaining infected tried to follow us, climbing back over the small fence, but we had already passed them as they reached the road.
Starting back the way we had come, John turned left at the roundabout onto the Maldon bypass, then picking up the A414 towards Chelmsford. Driving through open countryside, the road was devoid of abandoned cars, corpses and – more importantly – infected people, until we started to climb the steep hill on the outskirts of Danbury. At first there were only a few bodies in the road and the occasional abandoned car, causing John to slow down as he navigated through the carnage, scavenging crows and a few gulls picking at rotting corpses. John had managed to navigate through the increasing devastation to the traffic lights at the top of the hill, but it was now beginning to look like a war zone. Not only were the birds having a field day, but we could also see the small dark outlines of rats running from body to body. The road declined steeply and sharp left, and there was a further incline into the centre of Danbury, with neighbourhood shops on the right and Danbury Park on our left. Unfortunately, the road was completely blocked by a number of abandoned cars, and bodies lying between them, halfway up the incline. John came to a halt, with Tom close behind.
“OK, we’ve got to move something,” John announced.
“We might be able to move that black Ford Focus,” added Brian.
“If we can get the handbrake off it should roll do
wn the hill easily,” I said.
Before leaving the relative safety of the truck, we looked around for any sign of life and apart from the usual vermin it all appeared to be clear.
“Let’s move the truck out of the way first,” John said as he selected reverse gear. Looking behind, he noticed Tom was very close.
“OK, I’ll tell Tom the plan,” I said, getting out of the truck with shotgun in hand. Approaching Tom’s car, I indicated for him to wind down his window.
“The road’s blocked, Tom. We’re going to try to move the black Focus, but need to move both our cars out of the way, and hopefully it will just run down the hill.”
“I’ll come and help,” Tom replied.
I moved to one side as Tom drove his car onto the grass verge.
I started to take more notice of the surroundings. Some of the cars at the side of the road appeared to have bullet holes in them, and the bodies that lay between them were all shot, rather than being stabbed or the more usual way of dispatch – cracking open the skull. I noticed a woman hanging out of the door of a Vauxhall Astra, and took a closer look. There appeared to be a bullet hole in the windscreen, and she had been hit in the chest. I lifted her head to see her eyes – they were normal. She had not been infected at all, and her body showed only slight deterioration, indicating that she had only died one or two days before, if that.
Tom and John had now parked their vehicles off the road and were walking towards me with Brian.
“I think we’d better get out of here ASAP. What do you make of that?” I said, pointing towards the dead women.
All three had a closer look.
“She wasn’t infected,” said John eventually after inspecting the scene.
“Christ, I don’t like this!” said Tom, starting to take a keener interest in his surroundings.
“Let’s get this car moved, and quick,” Brian added.
The four of us began to move towards the black Ford with renewed purpose. To our amazement, its driver was still sitting behind the steering wheel with his seat belt on. That was when we noticed a small hole in the windscreen. On closer inspection, a bullet had hit the driver between the eyes, passing through his head and the headrest, and had disappeared into the back seat. Whatever killed him obviously had considerably more power than a .22LR round as in John’s Ruger.
Infected- The Beginning Page 20
