Arriving at Bill’s barricade, John removed the table that allowed us to enter Bill’s domain. Arriving at his front door, the curtains were closed, as before. John gently tapped on the door, and it was opened immediately. Bill stood in front of us.
“You made it, then,” he said. “When you said you were going to Maldon, Rose and I didn’t know if you would survive.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Bill,” said John.
“Hi Bill, are you both ready?” I asked.
“Yes, been ready for hours. Come in,” Bill replied.
We went into the living room, in the middle of which was a pile of boxes and carrier bags. Rose entered from the kitchen.
“Hi James, John. I think we have everything we need,” she said.
John and I looked at each other.
“I hope you have a big enough car for this lot,” I said.
“Well, no – we only have a Peugeot 106, but I was hoping you could help us out,” replied Bill.
“Looks like we’re going to need the truck,” commented John.
“OK – John and I will get the truck, if you can start loading as much as possible into the 106,” I said.
“We shouldn’t be too long,” John added.
“OK, see you in about fifteen minutes?” said Bill.
John and I left and went back through the barricade.
“Dad, leave the barricade open – we won’t be long,” suggested John, as I was about put the table back into position. We continued on our way, checking around every corner and in all directions. As we passed the green, the crows and rats were still feeding contentedly, but there were also four medium-size dogs picking their way through the corpses – fortunately too preoccupied to take any notice of us.
Mary opened the front door as we approached.
“That was quick – where are Bill and Rose?” she asked.
“They’re still at home – we need the truck to collect all their gear,” said John.
“And for you to move the Micra so we can get it out,” I added with a smile.
“OK, I’ll get the keys,” said Mary as she went inside.
John and I waited in the truck for Mary to remove the Micra from the barricade, after which she came over to us.
“I’ll leave it open till you get back with Bill and Rose,” she said.
“OK, see you soon, my love,” I replied.
John negotiated the truck through barricade and the remaining bodies in the road, sending a flock of crows into the air. Turning right into the cul-de-sac, we heard a scream that appeared to come from beyond Bill’s barricade. John increased speed to cover the last hundred yards, pulling up sharply at the entrance. Bill had his back to his front door, wheeling his trusty shovel in the air as he confronted six very large dogs that had decided he was going to be their next meal. John and I jumped out of the truck with guns in hand.
“John, take them out!” I shouted, not wishing to use my shotgun as they were too close to Bill.
Instinctively I looked around for any further danger and saw four more dogs approaching from behind – they had followed the truck. They were only 20 yards away when they started to growl, led by an Irish Wolfhound the size of a small pony. It ran directly at me, and by the time I took aim it was only five yards away. It leaped at me just as I fired, and its head exploded as the force of 2¼ ounces of BB shot hit it at 1,400 feet per second, but the dog’s momentum carried it forward, the rest of its body hitting me in the chest and knocking me over, covering me in bits of bone and flesh and blood spatter. My left arm was pinned under the dog’s enormous weight.
The other three dogs were also very close now. Managing to lift the shotgun with my free arm but not being able to aim, I fired at least five shots in the general direction of the fast-approaching animals. On the last shot the shotgun barrel was embedded in the fur of a black Alsatian, causing an enormous hole to appear in the animal’s side as it exploded outwards. I must have lain there for a few seconds recovering from my experience, vaguely noticing the crack, crack, crack! of the Ruger in the background. I could not move as half my body was still pinned down by the sheer weight of the Irish Wolfhound, and I was beginning to panic as I didn’t know if there were more dogs ready to attack us.
“What are you doing down there, Dad?” said John, suddenly appearing next to me, with Bill at his side.
“You OK, James? You look a real mess,” added Bill.
“I’m just great! Can you get this flipping dog off me?” I said, starting to sound a bit irritated.
John and Bill removed the animal with some difficulty and I staggered to my feet, pretending to be fully recovered.
“So, have you loaded your car and John’s truck?” I enquired.
“You trying to be funny, Dad? I used a complete magazine of twenty-five to finish off those six dogs,” replied John.
“Well, I nearly filled the car up before the dogs turned up,” added Bill. “It might be a good idea, James, if you keep watch while John, Rose and I load the rest of the stuff, as you’re in such a mess – Rose won’t be impressed if you come into the house like that!”
I then took note of my appearance and started to pluck clumps of fur and other bloodied pieces from my clothes. John and Bill went back to the house while I waited at the entrance to the barricade feeding shells into the shotgun’s magazine, hoping nothing else was going to ruin my day. Bill, John and Rose made several trips to the truck, eventually filling it, and then Bill and Rose got into their car and John arrived at my side.
“Dad, we have to open the barricade up a bit more so they can get their car out,” John said.
“OK, let’s do it,” I said, pleased to be doing something.
John and I moved another table and a few chairs to create a gap of about eight feet. Bill had manoeuvred his car so he was ready to drive through when we heard the sound of shotguns and Rugers being fired. John and I looked at each other.
“Let’s go!” I said.
John started the engine and we set off, with Bill following close behind.
“Oh shit!” exclaimed John as we approached the entrance to the green.
“Bloody hell!” I added.
There were at least 30 infected heading towards our barricade and evidently quite a few more in our close that we could not see. More shots rang out, this time sounding like a barrage as more of our neighbours opened fire.
“John, we can’t go around the detached house, we’d be in the line of fire,” I said as a spent shotgun ball hit the side of the truck after coming through at least two fences. I jumped out and ran round the back of the truck to the driver’s side, indicating to Bill to reverse. John was now standing by the driver’s door, and we could hear the lead whistling through air just before it hit the houses opposite our close and the occasional tinkling of glass as another window pane was removed. Fortunately, the infected were moving away from us when we opened fire and they fell to the ground as small holes appeared in their heads if hit by the Ruger, or the back of their heads turning into a bloody mess if hit by the shotgun. John and I turned our attention to the infected coming across the green, as the others disappeared behind the detached house only to be downed by our neighbours. We soon took care of the last few, and the close was then filled with a deathly silence – no birds were making any sound and the rats had disappeared. The only movement was the last twitches of the dying infected that lay on the ground in front us.
I waved at Bill as John and I climbed back into the truck and continued on our way.
John sounded the horn as he was about to turn left around the detached house, which was a good idea as we didn’t want any trigger-happy neighbours trying to shoot us. There were 20 or 30 infected lying dead in front of the barricade and at least another ten inside our close. John and I had to move a few bodies with the help of Miles and Mat before we could
pass through. Once inside the barricade, John stopped in a clear part of the road, with Bill pulling up at the rear. As we got out of the truck most of the close’s residents came to join us. Miles was the first to speak.
“What happened to you, James?” he asked, seeing the blood spatters all over my clothes and face.
“Had a run-in with a very large dog,” I replied simply.
Bill had now joined us.
“Bill, you can have number 29 or 37,” I said.
“Oh, let’s go and have a look – come on, Bill,” said Rose enthusiastically, and they set off.
“You may need to break a window to get into number 29,” added Miles.
“No, you won’t – I have their spare key,” said Lucy.
Thank God for small mercies, I thought.
“We need to move these bodies so the children don’t have to look at them,” said Brian, “and there will be so many rats around come morning if we don’t.”
“OK, I’ll get the wheelbarrow,” said Mat, heading for his side gate.
“God almighty, James! What happened to you?” asked Mary.
“It’s OK – it isn’t my blood!” I replied.
Josephine was now standing at John’s side.
“You’d better come with me, so I can clean you up,” said Mary. “You can also tell me what happened.”
“Yes, John, tell us what happened,” Josephine added.
“OK, guys and girls – the boss has spoken, so I’ll see you later,” I said, following Mary to our house as instructed.
Once inside I took off my clothes and washed off the blood, and Mary washed my hair, picking out the lumps of dog flesh. After I had put on fresh clothes Mary made some tea and we sat in the armchairs as I told her what had happened.
Tom, Ruth and their two children arrived.
“Have you managed to sort the house out yet?” I asked.
“Yeah, we’re nearly there. Just a question of finding out where everything is,” replied Ruth.
“James, I need you to show me how these guns work,” said Tom. “I felt quite useless when the infected entered the close.”
I spent the next half-hour showing Tom and Ruth how to load and operate the Ruger and the pump-action shotgun. It was now 7.00 pm and we only had a couple of hours before it would be dark.
“Tom, you come with me and we’ll see how the others are doing with their body removal exercise and if Bill and Rose have managed to move into a house yet – and bring your shotgun,” I said.
All the bodies had been removed from the close, so Tom and I walked through our barricade into the open road to find that the bodies there had been removed as well. Tom and I helped to stack all the bodies into a neat pile on the green, including the bodies from our first fire that had not burnt completely. We eventually congregated at the edge of the green.
“Do you think we should move the bodies along the rest of our road?” I asked, directed at everybody in the group.
“Yes, they are starting to smell and there will be fewer vermin about if we can remove them,” said Brian.
Miles and Mat nodded in agreement and Tom went with the flow. Half an hour later we had moved the bodies to the green, only leaving a few bits and pieces behind. By this time, we were all feeling a bit nauseous. John arrived as we completed our grisly task.
“There’s still some petrol left from last time. I’ll go and get the can,” he said.
“Where have you been, John?” I said, as John started to move away.
“Just finished helping Bill and Rose get settled into number 29.”
“OK, so you missed all the fun, then,” Miles commented mischievously.
John smiled as he walked away to get the petrol. The light was starting to fade rapidly by the time he returned. He emptied the remainder of the petrol over our pile of corpses and set light to it. The initial flicker turned into a roaring inferno as the petrol ignited. We all stood in silence as the flames took hold.
“Time to go – it’s getting dark and we need to check our barricade is secure,” said Miles.
We didn’t need any coaxing as we headed back together to our close. Arriving in the cul-de-sac, Mary, Ruth and Josephine came out to greet us. Mary handed me the Micra keys, and I dutifully moved the car back into position. By the time I had rejoined our little group, Linda was also there with her two oldest children, Elizabeth and Jack, along with Lucy and Mat’s wife Sara.
“Anybody fancy a trip to ASDA tomorrow? I suggest we get as much as possible before everything disappears,” said Miles.
“Yeah, good idea – we still need a few things,” added Linda.
“If we go in force it would be much safer,” said Brian.
“OK, we’ll leave at, say, ten o’clock – agreed?” I said.
Everybody nodded their approval.
“That’s a done deal, then,” said Tom.
We made small talk outside for at least half an hour before we decided we could not see well enough in the fading light, although there was now an orange glow in the sky from our funeral pyre. After saying goodnight, we all returned to our respective residences.
Once inside, Josephine made the tea while Mary prepared some sandwiches, and John and I checked the guns over and reloaded the magazines. We then made our usual tour of the house, making sure everything was secure. John tried the radio, as it was now approaching 10.00 pm. We ate our sandwiches in silence while John fiddled with the tuning button, all of us listening out for any current message – but there was only static for a good five minutes. Then John managed to get a French station, but unfortunately none of us could understand a word, apart from “oui”, that is. Finally, John picked up an emergency broadcast in English.
This is a recorded message and will be updated at 10.00 pm every day as required. Power will not be restored in the foreseeable future due to staff shortages. We recommend you stay in your own homes where possible, lock all windows and doors, and above all do not make any loud noises.
It has also come to our attention that a number of dogs have turned feral. This means they are reverting back to their original instincts, similar to a wolf, and hunting in packs. If you do have to go out, do not go alone, and take a weapon with you. This can also be used to defend yourself against infected people. If there are any corpses near you, please remove them to a safe distance or burn them, to avoid them attracting dogs, birds and, as has been reported, an abnormally large number of rats.
We are currently trying to develop a vaccine to prevent the disease and treatments for people infected. If any person has information that may assist us in this work, please try to contact our research facility at Unit 12 in Cambridge Science Park. An example would be a person who has been bitten by an infected individual but shows no symptoms of the disease.
The next bulletin will be at 10.00 pm tomorrow.
The radio signal then went back to static.
“I’ve never seen anybody bitten that hasn’t been infected,” said Mary.
We continued to make small talk for an hour before deciding it was time for bed.
Mary and I lay in bed but found it hard to sleep due to the absence of the usual background sounds. We could only hear the occasional squeal of a rat, the bark and growl of a dog, and the persistent crackling of the fire, which caused our curtains to shimmer in the reflection of its eerie orange glow.
Day Seven
Sunday 18 May 2014
Mary and I were woken by a distant thumping, followed by a shout.
“Mum, Dad – are you awake yet? It’s eight o’clock.”
Mary was the first to react, and I was still trying to comprehend what was happening as she started to shake me.
“James, something has happened – wake up!” said Mary urgently, as she looked out of the bedroom window. “It’s Linda.”
Mary put her dre
ssing gown on, and as she was about to leave the room she turned to look at me.
“Get yourself dressed, James.”
I reluctantly extricated myself from the bed and started to get dressed as I heard the front door open and Mary inviting Linda into the house.
Once dressed, I went downstairs to find them in the kitchen talking, a pot of water starting to boil on the gas cooker. Good – tea is on the way, I thought.
“OK, what’s happened now?” I asked.
“We have an emergency – we’ve run out of toilet paper,” replied Linda.
“Jesus Christ, Linda! You mean to tell me that you banged on our door, shouted and woke your mum and me up, all because you’ve run out of flipping toilet paper?”
“Well, yes. Do you have any spare?” Linda replied evenly.
John appeared in the kitchen doorway.
“What’s happened? Did we miss anything?” he asked.
“No, John, you didn’t – it was a false alarm,” I replied.
“Is everything alright?” asked Josephine as she arrived at John’s shoulder.
“Linda has run out of toilet paper,” replied Mary.
“Really?” said Josephine, looking a bit surprised. John said nothing and looked at the ceiling.
There was a knock on the front door.
“I’ll get it,” said Josephine.
I noticed that the pot of water was starting to boil, so I made the tea.
Brian and Josephine came into the kitchen.
“Everything is OK. I found five rolls in one of the wall cupboards,” said Brian.
“I cannot believe this,” remarked John.
“So, who would you like a drink?” I asked, making five teas and Mary’s habitual decaf coffee in fulfilment of the orders.
The ladies sat together in the kitchen while the men retired to the comfort of the armchairs and sofa in the living room. I was not seated long before there was a tap on the window. A muffled voice came from outside.
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