“Yeah, but they have their own family to look out for.”
We had just finished our tea when there was a knock on the front door. I opened it to find Kevin and the nurse, Kate, standing in front of me, with no sign of Mary.
“Well, we’ll be off now. Your wife has stayed with Linda, and said she will be back later and will tell you about Christine,” said Kevin.
“Kevin, Kate, what I wanted to say is that you are quite welcome to stay in the house next door. It’s very dangerous to be on your own, and as you can see we have managed to close this part of our street off from the infected.”
“Yes, I also noticed the bodies lying along the main road and the remains of burnt bodies on that small green we passed, but I must try to find my wife first. What do you think, Kate?”
“It would be better in a group, I suppose.”
“OK, James. We’ll go and collect our partners and then come back,” said Kevin.
“Good. Just two things. Bring back with you anything useful like food and drink, torches and batteries. And you’d better take these,” I added, handing Kevin the tactical Ruger and two 25-round magazines.
Kevin looked taken aback, but I gave him and Kate a demonstration on how the Ruger functioned and how to load the magazines.
“Kevin, two more things, sorry. First, the infected die a lot quicker if you shoot them in the head, and second, I suggest you get back here before nightfall. Some very nasty dogs roam the streets at night and they’re a lot better than you at seeing in the dark, hearing and smelling.”
I handed him a box of 100 rounds of .22 ammo.
“Best of luck, both of you,” I said. “I hope you find your partners, and we’ll see you again soon. I’ll move the Micra so you can get out.”
Kevin and Kate said goodbye as they got into the BMW. Moving the Micra, I watched them disappear from sight as they turned right into Connor way, thinking that they might not survive the day. As a doctor, he should be saving lives, not extinguishing them.
As usual, John and I checked our weapons over and reloaded the magazines while we waited for Mary to return from Linda’s. John started up the generator so we could check the television channels for any further news, but again Fox News seemed to be the only English-language channel on air, with the same pre-recorded broadcast. There was also a German channel that seemed to be live, and fortunately Josephine could speak German and managed to translate most of what the broadcaster said. It appeared that Germany and the rest of Europe was in the same position as the UK. They also were working on a vaccine or cure, but it would be months before anything useful was accomplished. While the generator was running, we took the opportunity to charge the mobile phones and make another cup of tea, as Mary returned.
“How is Christine?” I asked.
“She’s much better already,” she replied.
“Good. Time we had something to eat. Do you want a coffee?”
With Josephine and John helping, I made drinks and a few sandwiches, and by the time we had finished our beverages it was nearly 3.00 pm. I then dozed off for an hour. When I woke, John had shut down the generator, and we all walked over to Linda’s to find out how the little one was doing, taking Sheba with us thinking she would be able to play in the garden with the children.
Elizabeth opened the door, and we found Brian and Linda in the living room, while the two young girls were playing football in the garden with Jack. Mary let Sheba loose as she started pulling on her lead, getting excited at the prospect of playing with them. Mary returned to the living room while Elizabeth went into the garden to join in the fun.
Mary and I sat on the sofa while Linda and Brian occupied the armchairs.
“I see Christine seems to have made a full recovery already,” I said.
“Yeah, it’s amazing how children seem to be at death’s door one minute and back to normal the next,” replied Linda.
“That was a bit of luck coming across a doctor like that,” said Brian.
I told them Kevin and Kate’s story, with Mary interrupting every other sentence, and that they might be back later. We must have talked for at least an hour before Ruth and Tom joined us with their two children and, soon after, Miles’s two, Martin and Ziggy, arrived on the scene. They both went into the garden and joined the other children, with Sheba being the main attraction.
We adults had started to discuss our move to Culver Farm when a car horn broke the silence in the street.
“Brian, grab your gun,” I said, realising that John and I had not brought our weapons with us.
Brian picked up the shotgun and handed the Ruger to John with two full 25-round magazines. They led the way out of the front door, with Tom and me at the rear. The silver BMW had come to a halt just the other side of the barricade. Kevin sat in the driver’s seat with Kate at his side, their faces a mask of anguish. Kate was covered in red spots, while Kevin’s face had a large red smear on the right cheek.
“I’ll get the keys to the Micra,” said Mary, who had followed us out and was standing directly behind Tom and me.
“Wait a minute, guys – let’s check them out first,” said John.
We all moved through the barricade so we could see Kevin and Kate more clearly through the windscreen, the question being: were their eyes white or red? Kate’s were wide open, as though in deep shock, but white, while Kevin looked as if he had seen a ghost, but his eyes were also white.
“They’re OK,” announced John.
I turned to see Mary approaching the barricade with the car keys.
“OK, Mary, let them through,” I said.
The seven of us returned to Linda’s house, Mary being last after she had returned the Micra back to the barricade. Brian led Kate and Kevin to the bathroom upstairs so they could wash their faces, while the rest of us waited for them in the living room.
Kate entered the room first, looking a bit more relaxed.
“So, what happened? Did you find your partners?” asked Tom.
“Yes and no,” answered Kate.
“What does that mean?” asked Mary.
Linda gave Kate a cup of tea and offered her the armchair. She was still overcome with emotion but, once settled, she started to tell her story. There was still no sign of Kevin.
“We had no problem reaching Hatfield Peverel. When we reached the top of the hill, there were so many dismembered bodies lying in the road that Kevin had to slow down as he tried to pick a path through them. I couldn’t believe the number of crows that flew away as we approached the station turning, and there were also wild dogs and cats pulling lumps of flesh from the decomposing bodies, and rats running from corpse to corpse, hoping to get a better meal. The dogs and cats took no notice of them.
Kevin went to my house first – I live just off Church Road. We finally arrived after dodging a number of bodies, and my husband’s car was missing. He always parks the car at Chelmsford station and takes the train to Liverpool Street, as he works nearby. Our front door was still double-locked, so my husband had not returned to the house in – what is it? – nearly two weeks since the infection began.”
We all nodded in agreement, eagerly waiting for Kate to continue. John and I looked into each other’s eyes, thinking of the CCTV clip from Chelmsford station that we had seen on television, showing the carnage that occurred when the train opened its doors. It was hardly surprising that her husband had not come home. Kate was about to continue when Kevin entered the room, still looking physically shaken.
“You OK, Kevin?” I asked.
“No,” he replied curtly.
“Please, sit down,” said Brian as he rose from the other armchair. Once Kevin had seated himself, Linda passed him the waiting cup of tea. The room went strangely silent as Kevin started to sip it.
“Kevin, I’m telling them what happened on our trip to Hatfield Peverel,” said Kate.
“OK, then … err, where was I? Yes, when I went into the house it was just as I had left it two weeks earlier. I started to look around, collecting food and any other useful items as I did so. When Kevin shouted out that we had to go, he sounded very insistent, so I went back to the front door, holding two carrier bags of supplies. That was when I saw the fifteen infected people not very far away, ambling towards us.
“I just managed to reach the car before they did, and threw my bags on the back seat. I had just closed the door as they started to bang on the back and side windows. By now, I can tell you, I was scared shitless – excuse my expression. Kevin hit the gas and ploughed through them, causing them to scatter, and sending two of them sprawling into the middle of the road. Then he went back to Church Road and continued to his own house on the outskirts of the village, heading towards Maldon.
“Just before we arrived at his house, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. We passed six infected people eating a dead person on the pavement about a hundred yards from Kevin’s house.
“His wife’s car was still in the driveway and the front door was wide open. He asked me to wait in the car while he went in to check the house but, not wanting to be left on my own, I accompanied him. This time Kevin had the rifle to hand, and cautiously approached the front door, with me close behind. As we reached the door, Kevin shouted his wife’s name and then waited just outside, I assume to see if anything came out. Well, it did – a very large rat, which I didn’t expect, making me jump and letting out a small cry in surprise. Fortunately, nothing else came our way and Kevin went through the front doorway and I followed him in.
“The place was a complete mess. There was blood on the floor and walls, and when we reached the kitchen there were scraps of food scattered over the floor, being eaten by rats. There were also three large kitchen knives, covered in blood, so someone had put up a hell of a fight. But there were no bodies anywhere. The rats started to panic, squealing and running between our legs as they tried to find their nearest escape route. That was time for me to leave and let Kevin continue to search by himself. I stood just outside the front door while Kevin checked the bedrooms.
“Looking towards Maldon, the road had only a few bodies and vermin as it entered the countryside. I turned my attention back towards Hatfield Peverel, where the vermin had resumed feeding on the rotting corpses after being disturbed by us earlier. I could also see the six infected, and apparently they had lost interest in the body they had been feeding on and were just milling around. Starting to get more nervous than I already was, I shouted to Kevin and peered into the hallway waiting for a reply. After what seemed like ages in my nervous state, he called back that he was on his way. I was feeling a bit easier. I looked back into Hatfield Peverel, fortunately just in time to see the six infected making rapid progress towards me. I shouted – it was probably more of a scream – to Kevin that the infected were coming. He arrived at my side as the infected were about the same distance from the car as we were. We both ran for the car, Kevin pressing the remote as he went.
“There were four men and two women – one in her thirties, I guess, wearing a red top, the other much older and in a yellow top – the strange thing is they looked vaguely similar apart from their ages. Kevin told me to get in the car, but the infected had already reached the driver’s side. Kevin opened fire, but I think he panicked because his first two shots missed. His third shot hit the closest man in the neck, severing his jugular vein and causing blood to squirt from the wound in pulsating jets in our direction. Kevin then seemed to calm down, shooting each of the other infected twice in the head from about, I don’t know, five yards or less.” Kate looked towards Kevin, who nodded his agreement. “Then Kevin jumped in the driver’s seat and we got out of there just in time, as another thirty or so infected appeared from a side street behind us. Kevin had tears running down his face as he pulled away. I suppose, being a doctor, you’ve been trained to save lives, not take them,” said Kate, looking at Kevin.
“No, Kate – that wasn’t the reason,” said Kevin.
“What was it, then?” asked Kate as tears started to run down Kevin’s face again.
“The woman in the red top was my wife and the older women was her mother,” Kevin replied.
Emotional spasms racked his body as he started to cry uncontrollably. The rest of us in the room fell completely silent. There was nothing we could say or do to alleviate his pain.
Kevin’s emotional state was making us uncomfortable. John finally broke the silence.
“Kate, would you like to see the house you’ll be staying in?” he asked.
“Yes, please.”
“Yeah, we can unload the BMW at the same time,” I said, heading for the front door.
“I’ll help,” added Brian.
John led the way, with me and the rest of the adults close behind, leaving Kevin alone to recover from his traumatic experience. Mary, Josephine, Linda and Ruth showed Kate around the house next door while we men unloaded the doctor’s car and put the supplies on the kitchen floor. Once finished, we waited in the living room, which was considerably larger than ours as the previous owners had extended it. The ladies returned from touring the bedrooms upstairs, and Mary went into the kitchen to discover the stack of plastic bags we had left there.
“Kate, would you like some help with your things?” asked Mary.
“We can all help,” said Ruth.
“I must admit I could do with some company,” replied Kate.
This was the men’s cue to leave the ladies alone. We all left the house to find Miles, Bill and Mat talking in the middle of the close.
“Hi, James – what’s happened?” asked Miles. Maria, Lucy and Rose and their children joined our congregation.
John and I recounted how we had found Kevin and Kate at the surgery and with Brian and Tom’s help we repeated Kate’s story. We had just finished the tale when Kevin joined us. John introduced Kevin to the others and then we told him about our planned move to Culver Farm. He was apprehensive at first, but once we told him our reasons – the main one being that we could grow our own food – he came round to our way of thinking in the end. We talked amongst ourselves for over an hour, sharing our experiences with Kevin.
Maria started to ask questions about our move to the farm. I had a feeling things were about to get complicated. A good time to leave, I thought.
“OK, guys, let’s find out why the ladies are taking so long,” I said. “Kevin, it’s about time you saw your new residence.”
“Yes, James, lead the way,” replied Kevin.
We said goodbye to the others and left Miles, Bill and Mat and their families in the centre of the road. My son and two sons-in-law walked back to number 37, with Kevin and me bringing up the rear. We found our ladies sitting in the living room with drinks in their hands. Brian was the first to speak.
“Have you finished?” he asked.
“We finished half an hour ago,” Linda said. “We’ve been telling our stories to Kate from a woman’s point of view.”
“So, is that different from a man’s?” I asked.
“Oh yes, definitely,” replied Mary. Time to shut up, James, I thought.
“Time to check on the children – I’ll see you all later,” said Linda. “You coming, Brian?”
“Yes, time to leave Kevin and Kate to sort themselves out.”
“Tom, it’s time for us to go and collect our two as well,” announced Ruth.
“OK, guys – see you all later,” concurred Tom.
“I think we should go, too,” I said. “I’ve had enough excitement for one day. Kevin, Kate, let us know if you need anything.”
“Yeah, let’s go and get something to eat, Josephine,” said John.
We left K
evin and Kate to their own devices and returned to our house, waving to Miles and the other residents of the close, as they were still talking to each other in the middle of the road as we got home.
“Hold on, James – I’m just going over to Linda’s,” said Mary.
“Don’t you want a drink and something to eat?”
“Won’t be long – I thought it might be a good idea to collect Sheba, that’s all,” she said, smiling at me.
“Good thinking!” I had totally forgotten about the dog.
John and Josephine made the food and drinks while I made myself comfortable in the armchair, and within five minutes I must have fallen asleep because the next recollection was of Mary shaking me.
“I’m back,” she was saying. “Your tea and eats are ready, James.”
Mary didn’t like me to relax too often, let alone fall asleep. Personally, I think this applies to all women and their husbands, and one day I may find out why.
After finishing our food and drink, we talked about the day’s events. We didn’t think it a good idea to start the generator again so late in the day, so John tried his radio at 10.00 pm instead. We all went to bed an hour later, and even Sheba looked totally knackered – playing with the children for a few hours had been unaccustomed exercise for her.
I lay in bed trying to fall asleep, listening to Mary snoring ever so quietly. Outside, the night seemed strangely silent – there were no more distant screams or shouts, not even the occasional squeal of a rat or bark of a dog. Only the eerie hoot of an owl broke the silence, then another followed by a few more. That’s why the rats are so quiet, I thought as I drifted off into a deep sleep.
Day Eleven
Thursday 22 May 2014
The rain drummed against the bedroom window in waves as gusts of wind increased in intensity. As I woke, I turned over to look outside and saw sheets of rain moving rapidly across the glistening tarmac. The clock showed it was 7.30 am. Mary must have detected my movement, and began to stir.
“What’s that noise?” she asked, still half asleep.
Infected- The Beginning Page 31
