“Not bad, considering yer don’t do dummy runs for this kind o’ shit. I’m impressed.”
“Well, maybe we should start doing so.”
The gate opened and Pickle sarcastically saluted the annoyed guard as he slowly drove by. The van parked up and Drake stood outside, waiting for Pickle to get out.
Branston jumped out and said, “Like the new wheels?”
“I do.” Drake nodded with a smile. “An armoured vehicle. We could use it for runs and even use it as a main barrier to block the entrance instead of using that flimsy fence. I’ll have to think about it.”
“Anyway, we got David back, in case yer were wonderin’.”
“Oh, yeah.” Drake laughed. “I knew you were out for some reason. Forgot about that little shit.”
Pickle went to the back of the van as Karen and Vince stepped out of the passenger side, and opened up the back. Stephanie and David stepped out and raised their hands over their eyes as the glare hit them.
“Welcome back, son.” Drake folded his arms and stood up straight, wearing a slight smirk. “Enjoy your little break?”
“I’m sorry.” David’s head dipped and gently quivered as he could feel the eyes of the leader glaring at him. “I had no choice.”
Drake smiled thinly and looked at Pickle who gave Drake a look, asking him to go easy on the scared young man. Drake nodded.
Drake rubbed his head and moaned, “People can’t just leave when they want. I’m running a camp here, son, not a circus.”
“It won’t happen again. Sorry.” David stood shamefaced, like a child being reprimanded by its headteacher.
“How you got past my guards, I don’t know. I’m more annoyed with those cunts, to be perfectly honest with you.”
David confessed. “One was sleeping. That made things a little easier.”
“Really?” Drake’s eyes widened in surprise. “Care to point out later on which one?”
David shook his head. “I’d rather not say.”
“I thought you’d say that,” Drake sighed. “Welcome back anyway, and don’t do it again, otherwise you’ll be getting a boot in the balls.” He walked away, leaving the four of them by the van. “Sometime tomorrow,” Drake said to Pickle, “one of our guys will be taking a trip to the nearest homestore. Try and get a barbecue or two.”
“I’ll go,” said Pickle.
“I thought you’d say that,” Drake laughed. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Pickle told Drake that he would park the van by the rest of the vehicles, and Drake responded with a single nod as he walked away.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Stephen and Craig watched as Mildred sneaked around the house. It looked like she was checking out the outside before going in, and the two men looked on as she finally tried the door and entered the farmhouse.
“She’s brave,” Craig groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. “I’ll give her that.”
Stephen shook his head and released an exaggerated groan.
“What’s wrong?” Craig snapped.
“What’s she’s doing is dumb, chap,” Stephen bleated, and then folded his arms like a petulant child.
“You don’t like her, do you?”
“That obvious?”
Craig smiled and placed his hand on Stephen’s shoulder. “I think she’ll be a good addition to the camp.”
“You’re only saying that, chap, because she’s good looking.”
“Is she? I never noticed.” Craig smiled and nudged Stephen. “So you think she’s good looking, eh?”
“Piss off, Craig.” Stephen grunted and then cleared his throat. “You’re being a dick now.”
“Maybe.” Craig nodded. “I still think she’d be a good addition. She’s brave, she’s not shy, and she seems a bit of a character.”
“If you say so.” Stephen was defeated and didn’t have the energy to discuss Mildred any longer. “Now what do we do?”
“We wait.” Craig turned his hockey stick around and used it as a staff to prop himself up. “The trouble is I’m in two minds whether I want people to be inside.”
“What do you mean, chap?”
“If there’re people inside, she walks, and to tell you the truth I like her. I wanna take her back with us.”
“What about the barn, chap?”
“We’ll check that later. I really do want this woman coming back to Stafford with us.”
“Why?” Stephen grunted and twisted his neck. “I don’t get it. She’s a pain in the arse.”
“She'll grow on you."
“No, she won’t.”
“Is there anything else that’s bothering you about her?”
Stephen never responded to Craig’s comment. In truth, he didn’t like her and thought she had a potty mouth on her. Karen had her moments, but this Mildred took it to a new level.
It seemed to have taken an age, but the door to the farmhouse opened and Mildred stepped out, stood in the doorway with a smile stretched over her face, and her bag in her right hand.
She stepped out and left the door ajar and a Snatcher stumbled out of the door. “That’s all that was inside!” She called over and pointed at the creature that stumbled out and was a few yards in front of her.
Craig and Stephen made their way over as the dead being fell over, hitting its face on the ground, then tried to get up again. It did, but quickly fell to the ground once more. Stephen noticed the shoelaces of the dead individual were tied together.
“You did that?” he asked.
Mildred giggled and said, “I never get tired of it. It cheers me up whenever I get bored.”
She turned her bat round, walked over to the ghoul and stabbed the dead being in the back of the head with the spike at the end. She remained standing over the Snatcher and eventually pulled out the spike that was attached to her bat.
Stephen gulped and said, “You’ve got a screw loose.”
“And you need to lighten up, chubs. Your attitude is really starting to get on my nerves.”
“Stop calling me names, ch—” Stephen had to stop himself from calling Mildred ‘chap.’
“That’s enough.” Craig decided to jump in and pointed at the Snatcher. “Definitely nothing else inside, apart from that on the floor?”
“No,” she said. “No food either.”
Stephen revealed a smirk and twitched before saying, “So I suppose you’ll be leaving us then.”
“No.” Mildred narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“Remember the bet?”
“I said if there’re no humans inside, I come back with you.” She pointed at the dead creature. “That’s not human, so it looks like you’re stuck with me, Stevie Boy.”
Craig believed Mildred’s story about the farmhouse being devoid of food and human life, and decided to make an early trip back to Stafford without checking on the house for himself. He was bringing one individual back. That was a good enough start.
“Shall we check out the barn before we go, chaps?” Stephen asked both individuals.
“Might as well.” Craig swung the stick and rested it on his shoulder as all three headed for the barn, walking through the long grass.
Stephen was lagging behind and seemed to be distracted by a wasp that wouldn’t leave him alone.
Mildred turned around and could see Stephen ducking and trying to swat the pest with both hands, and was jumping around like a loony.
“How did that muppet get this far?” she said to Craig.
Craig never answered the woman. He stood and stared at Stephen and shook his head.
A clunking sound could be heard by the ears of Mildred and Craig, which was followed by a high-pitched scream by Stephen. Craig knew straightaway what was the matter and told Stephen to remain standing. Craig ran over to the distressed man and could see that he had stood on an animal trap.
These traps were illegal, back in the old world, but farmers would use them if it meant getting rid of vermin. Maybe the trap or traps were set
up after the announcement by the owner to reduce the risk to the house being attacked. Maybe the whole field was littered with the things.
Mildred began to walk over to Craig and he told her to watch where she stepped. He bent down and tried to prise the metal jaws back as the tears streamed down Stephen’s eyes due to the white-hot pain.
“Hold on there, pal,” Craig said to the pained man. “I’ll get you out of this.”
“I think I’m gonna pass out, chap.” Rowley was sweating and the tears from the pain continued to stream down his cheeks.
Craig gritted his teeth and had pulled the jaws back as wide as he could. “There. Lift your foot out.”
Stephen did as he was told and fell to the floor. Craig lifted him and told Mildred to take his hockey stick. He told her that he was getting Stephen inside the house to rest his legs and possibly strap him up.
She looked round at the barn and said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“We don’t have a choice!”
“But—”
“Come on!”
“Okay,” she sighed.
All three entered the house and Mildred was the one that shut the door. Craig got Stephen to sit on the couch and brought a chair from the dining table over to rest his foot on. Craig wanted to take Stephen’s boot and sock off to assess the damage and told him so, which didn’t go down well.
“Try and find some sheets,” Craig said to Mildred. “I’ve got a feeling his ankle may be broken. Won’t know until we get back and Karen has a look at it.”
Mildred disappeared upstairs whilst Craig untied Stephen’s laces in preparation of removing the boot. He had them as loose as he could and warned Stephen that he was going to experience some pain.
He quickly took the boot off and, predictably, Stephen cried out. His sock was covered in blood where the teeth of the trap had sank in, and Craig wasn’t sure if there was any point taking the sock off. The wound couldn’t be washed as there was no water. The best thing they could do was to get him back to the hospital, give him painkillers and get him strapped up.
“Nothing I can do for you here,” Craig admitted to his male companion. “The best thing for us to do is get straight back to Stafford.”
“I can’t move, chap!” Stephen cried. “I can’t do it.”
“You’re gonna have to.”
The sound of rushing feet could be heard from upstairs and Mildred’s feet could be heard galloping down the stairs to the ground floor.
“Found some sheets.” She threw them at Craig. “And these.”
Craig could see she was holding a packet of Solpadol. He had taken these before and had to take some on a night to help him sleep after having a large tooth removed after a visit to the dentist. The tablets practically knocked him out for the night.
“Great,” he said. “He can take two of them. We have no ice, so we need to do something.”
He grabbed the sheet and began to wrap it around Stephen’s foot, making the man scream out.
“In fact, give him three.”
“With pleasure,” Mildred huffed. “He’s doing my flaps in.”
Craig took his bag off and helped Stephen take his off. There was water inside with some nibbles and Burns advised everybody to save them for later. Craig told Stephen to take the pills off Mildred and take the cup of water, in which he did.
“Now what?” Mildred asked.
“I don’t know. We should really head back to the hospital with him like this.”
“There’s a small village not far from here called Gnosall,” Mildred informed both men, although Stephen wasn’t in the right frame of mind to take the information in. “There must be someone there that could help us, or even have transport to take us back to the camp.”
“Okay. We’ll do that, but later. I’ve got a feeling we’ll be here a while,” he said.
“Why?”
Craig pointed at Stephen who was in no state to walk. The pills were kicking in already and the man looked inebriated. “Park your feet up, Mildred. He’s gonna be out of the game for the next couple of hours.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Karen Bradley lay down on her bed in the ward she shared with six others and closed her eyes. She guessed it was around three in the afternoon, but her body was telling her she needed a power nap.
She heard people walking by the ward, but it never stopped her from drifting away.
Somebody could be heard clearing their throats and the twenty-three-year-old opened her eyes. She turned her head and could see a young man called Darren looking into the ward. She didn’t know his second name, but she had heard Drake call him Double D a few times, an obvious nickname, but she didn’t know how he had gotten such a bizarre nickname. He was a handsome man and seemed a bit shy whenever he spoke.
“You okay, Darren?”
“Yeah.” He dipped his head and seemed hesitant to say anything. “Sorry to disturb you.”
“That’s okay.” She sat up and rubbed her eyes. God, he’s adorable.
“Drake told me to get you.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.” Darren cleared his throat and added, “I have to help you get this medical room organised.”
“He wants some kind of clinic set up,” she said. “He told me there has been two accidental overdoses in the last couple of weeks.”
“That’s right.” Darren nodded. “One guy helped himself to a bottle of paracetamol for his headache. He took ten in a short time and was unwell. Turned out he was just dehydrated.”
Karen got off the bed and looked down to see that she hadn’t taken her boots off earlier. She ran her fingers through her hair and moaned, “I feel like shit.”
“You look great,” Darren said, and then immediately blushed.
“Okay.” Karen yawned and was wondering why Darren was still standing there. “I know where Drake usually hangs about. I can make my own way.”
“I think he wants me to be present,” said Darren. “Because I’m going to help you set the room up.”
“Where is he?” she asked Darren. “The usual? My old staff room?”
Darren smiled and nodded. “He kind of uses it as his office nowadays.”
“Let’s go then.”
They both made the short walk to the staff room where Karen used to take her breaks, whenever she could, and was the first to knock the door of the place that now seemed to be Drake’s office. There were whispers that sometimes he would sleep there.
Karen knocked the door and the voice behind it told them both to enter. Karen stepped in first and a nervous Darren wasn’t far behind.
Drake was sitting at the table on one of the plastic chairs and asked Darren, “Born in a barn, Double D?”
“No.” Darren looked confused. “Why?”
“Shut the fucking door.”
Karen brushed her dark hair behind her ears and said, “Right, so what’s the plan?”
“Ward 22 is where I want you to get this place ... this ... clinic set up,” Drake spoke as the two of them remained on their feet.
“Okay.” Karen nodded, knowing that the ward was on the ground floor, at the end of the Accident and Emergency building.
“You’re gonna need a book.” Drake said. “You’ll need the names of everybody that stays here. That’ll be a start.”
“Nah, bollocks to that.” Karen shook her head and sniffed hard, making Drake wince with disgust. “I’ll just make a file on people once they turn up to be looked at. Gonna need a stethoscope, as well as other stuff.”
“And how are we gonna do that?”
“The building that has been abandoned,” Karen began. “Has it been checked thoroughly?”
“No.” Drake shook his head slowly. “But we can get that done.”
“Good.” Karen nodded once. “I want to be there when it happens. I know what I need. As well as a stethoscope, I’ll probably need a first aid couch, a trolley, crutches, whatever first aid kits are lying about, wheelchairs—”
>
“Wheelchairs?”
“Some of your guys and girls who go out on runs may never return; some might turn up injured.”
Drake nodded in agreement and smiled with admiration for the young woman. “Wheelchairs, couches... So there might be a few things to lift?”
Karen dipped her head. “It’ll take ten to twenty minutes to check the building. Ten people should do it, including myself.”
“Okay. We have torches. We also have dynamo torches as well, but they make a right cunty racket, but if the building is dead clear then that shouldn’t matter.”
“That’s all I can think of at the moment,” said Karen.
“Okay.” Drake clapped his hands together, making Darren jump. “Double D, get eight more bodies and come back here as soon as you can.”
“Will do.” Darren quickly left, leaving Drake and Karen alone together.
“Sit down.” Drake pointed to a chair opposite him.
Karen did as he instructed and looked around the room with a smile.
He could see her drifting away as she scanned the room, and said to her, “Brings back memories, being back here, eh?”
“A little.” She nodded.
Her old life seemed like a hundred years ago, lived by somebody else.
It was all very bizarre.
She was staying in a place that used to be her place of work and even Pickle had revisited a place that was his home for a while, although his return to the prison didn’t seem to affect him and make him too nostalgic.
“So...” Drake paused, unsure how to say the next sentence. “How’s things been since...?”
“Since...?” Karen elevated her eyebrows and cocked her head to one side, waiting for Drake to finish off what he had started. He was taking too long, so she decided to help him. “Since my miscarriage?”
He nodded gently and smirked. “Just concerned for my guys’ welfare. And gals, of course.”
“I’m fine.”
“You sure?” Drake folded his arms and added, “It’s not an easy thing to get over.”
“Get over?” Karen looked confused and annoyed at the same time. “It was only a week or two ago. Karen had to think and realised she didn’t know what day it was.
Snatchers Box Set | Vol. 5 | Books 13-15 Page 13
