Outbreak

by A L Carter

  "Ah bollocks, do you think we should chase them down Ronnie?" He asked.

  They both had dirt bikes and they could easily catch them up.

  "Not without the bosses say so, you know he doesn't like us going too far of the route," he warned.

  "Maybe your right man, but I could call it in that's for sure," Damien replied picking up his radio.

  "Damien to base got two strangers turned off the Ashby road into Ravenstone village please advise action over?" he informed over the radio.

  "No contact advised, just report back to base after recon over," a voice came back.

  "Will do over," he said putting the radio away.

  "That Tommy always pussies out," he fumed.

  "Oh well let's get going I'm hoping to get cabbaged tonight," Ronnie declared.

  With that, they both mounted their bikes and continued their usual recon route around Coalville.

  Tommy put down the radio after speaking with Jarred, knowing he had disappointed him. But he didn’t care, Jarred like most of Mick’s gang was a thug and a meth head. Before the apocalypse, he had enjoyed working for Mick and would rather have him as a friend than an enemy. But things had got steadily worse and he thought back to where things began to change after Mick’s mam died. He, Mouse, Dave and an agonized Desmond looked at Mick in anticipation what would he do next. Having just killed the only person he loved in this world, would he go on the rampage and attack them next? Mick was now an unknown element and therefore unpredictable.

  "Right then lads looks like this is only going to get worse and I doubt the government or pigs are going to be much use, especially by that twat Cooper's effort earlier so we're going to get tooled up and take this town for ourselves," Mick said in a commanding voice.

  There were several nods of agreement, Mick then looked at Desmond, "Unfortunately Desmond you won't be a part of that future for reasons I'm sure you understand, Dave you know what to do."

  Dave looked shocked like a deer in the headlights, "You want me to wait until he changes then kill him?"

  Desmond fought his restraints screaming and thrashing completely terrified.

  "I haven't the time for waiting, waiting gets people killed and if you can't handle that then maybe you’re too soft and of no use to me?" He threatened.

  "Okay fine, do we have any weapons," he conceded.

  "As it so happens I do," he revealed.

  Half an hour later they returned from the garden all of them except Mick covered in dirt and carrying two large military looking crates. Desmond had managed to climb off the sofa and was proceeding to make a slow agonizing escape across the floor. This was ignored for now as they put down the crates and examined the contents. The lads gazed at the contents in awe, shocked and impressed, to say the least.

  "I always thought they'd be a time when this stuff would come in handy, but I was expecting more along the lines of rival gangs," Mick informed them.

  "Mick how long you been hoarding this lot," Tommy asked raising his eyebrows.

  "Maybe 4-5 years, at first I kept it under my bed but that became a bit risky after all there's enough here to get me put away for life," he explained.

  The lads took time to study the general contents of the crate's which were full to the brim. One crate was full of what appeared to be ammunition boxes along with numerous handheld weapons like machetes, swords, large knives and axes. The second crate was full of guns machine guns, shotguns and pistols. Some were old WW2 stuff but this didn't negate its effectiveness, but some were more modern looking. A true evaluation of the contents of the crate couldn't be made until they were emptied but on first glance, it looked like they could start a small war with it.

  Moaning came from the hallway and they all turned to look at the sorry figure of Desmond who had made it to the front door.

  "Dave picks a hand weapon, we don't want to be wasting bullet's or drawing attention to ourselves just yet," he said coldly.

  Dave knew that there was no backing out of this any hesitation would be considered a weakness. He picked up a hefty looking single-handed axe and hoped that it would do the job in one blow. Heading towards the front door Desmond had managed to stand up and was trying to unlock it.

  He closed the distance fast axe raised knowing only a head injury would suffice to guarantee his death remained final and he brought down the axe with a heavy hand, “You fucking bastard."

  He didn't know where the words came from but it made him feel better. The blow, however, glanced off but not without taking a bloody chunk of the scalp with it. Desmond screamed and fell onto his back, hands held up in self-defence one hand missing its fingers after the last time he tried this.

  "Please man, don't do it," the defeated man begged.

  This enraged Dave how dare he, he had no choice after all, "You cunt."

  Dave brought the axe down again which knocked the hands apart and landed in the man’s face, buried deep into the eye socket. Desmond went limp and blood spilt down his face. Dave suspected that the man wasn't dead yet so he pulled the axe free by putting his foot on his chest, making a wet sucking sound on the way out. The eyeball also followed, he brought down the axe down again splitting the skull wide open exposing the brain cavity. He stepped back to avoid the blood splatter, suddenly aware of the infection risk. But he was not finished yet, strangely he realised that he was beginning to enjoy it, the total power over a man and the ability to take their life away. Most of the work already done he proceeded to stomp the man's brains into the hallway carpet.

  Mick clapped his hands together and roared with laughter, "Well I didn't think you had it in you Dave but you proved me wrong."

  Mouse looked on silent, as usual, normally he followed his boss without question and he understood the action that had just be taken. But the coldness and the fun taking seemed to be going too far, to a loyal friend that they had all known since high school. Mouse thought he should have been offered more respect than that. But maybe he was thinking too deeply. Mick had just lost his mother for fuck's sake; he needed to give him the benefit of the doubt. He had always looked up to Mick trusting him to always make the right decision and always had the utmost respect for the boss. Unlike the others, he did not fear him and never expected his protection. Perhaps he was just preparing them for this tough new world, yes that was it, along with the grief of losing his mam.

  Tommy looked on hiding his shock and horror at the recent events, Mick terrified him more than ever now. But he laughed along with him anyway continuing that guise. Even when they were younger he had purposely befriended the giant thug thinking that it would be safer that way with the added bonus of his protection. Dave however now revelled in the power of his newfound violent side and basked in the current praise he was receiving. Only Mouse remains silent but there was nothing new there.

  Over the next few weeks, they managed to build up a small army of known junkies, pushers and survivors. Offering a simple choice of either joining their ranks with all the benefits this brought. This being protection, weapons, food, drugs and female entertainment. The other choice was death, which surprisingly enough nobody opted for. They had even built a makeshift safety area using vehicles, posts and barbed wire. This being a clever but simple solution offered by Dave, who was, of course, a fan of the zombie genre and seen this done in the TV show The Walking Dead and games like Dying Light. They used this method to cordon off a section of the town, picking a section of the shopping precinct and part of a side street which offered housing for them as well as above some of the shops. The precinct was the easiest to block off leaving a large area they could utilize with plenty of supplies on offer. Clearing the area of reanimated corpses was not easy of course, resulting in some expected deaths of their new recruits. Mick would not let any of these newbies access anything but hand weapons until they had proven themselves. After all, he did not want them wasting ammunition in a blind panic or worse still hitting him or his closest gang members. But eventually the task was completed an
d they had their safe haven. He even had signs put up at the two available entrance’s which read; BOSS TOWN ALL MUST SURRENDER THEIR WEAPONS OR DIE.

  Chapter 23

  A tough road

  The going was easier now they were onto country roads for a bit until eventually, they met up with the A50 near Ashby and it got worse again especially near the island where you turned off for Tesco but once passed it got better again with fewer vehicles and zombies gathering. But every time they got near a denser populated area, where people had lived in life, now lived in death. These were slow sections of driving if it got too bad, or they couldn't get through then Max would offer an alternative route, sometimes through small villages and sometimes off-road sections. She enjoyed the off-road sections. Eventually, they had done over thirty miles of the planned journey.

  "Aren't we supposed to divert soon to pick up a library?" She reminded.

  "Seems that your paying attention, it's in a couple of miles through a small town, so it going get tough again, but we've also got the archery store on the over side which leads us back onto the A50," he said.

  "Okay got it," she said enjoying the adventure.

  Two miles later they approached a roundabout, which as expected was busy with vehicles and unwelcome zombies.

  "Okay go left and best mount the pavement," he suggested.

  She did as directed; there were no road laws now, unless there were zombie rozzers, smiling to herself. There were some tight squeezes but it was getting done.

  "Turn right here," he prompted.

  The road got a bit better, then 500 metres later she saw the library, the car park only had one car in it. She pulled up near the entrance and for a change, there were no zombies in sight. They both exited the vehicle leaving Dinah in the vehicle. She had brought her hammer and he had the bow and crowbar.

  "Nobody ever goes to the library any more," he stated, referring to the empty car park.

  She was already at the door, which swung inwards without resistance and he followed her in. Once inside the fairly large library, Max indicated that he check the right-hand side. So she went to the left-hand side, with the lone car in the car park this might indicate the someone might be present. It was not long before Marie found her and her name was Barbara. She knew this because of name badge pinned to her blouse, she was the chief librarian and also a zombie. Marie quickly dispatched her, a skull destroying blow to the top of the head and the body fell lifeless to the floor.

  Max watched from afar an arrow notched ready, but help wasn't needed. He didn't doubt that she could handle herself but he was just being protective. It would be better though when she was covered in some sort of body armour, something better than the jacket she wore at present. He went over and secured the front entrance now the area was clear and approached Marie.

  "Right I suppose we better get browsing and I don't want anything stupid like knitting okay," he warned.

  "I'll try not to," she grinned.

  Half an hour later they both met up at the table and sat at a chair as laid out their books of choice.

  His selection was as follows;

  ADVANCED WARFARE STRATEGIES OLD AND NEW

  THE ENGLISH LONGBOW

  SURVIVAL IN ANY ENVIRONMENT

  FIELD MEDIC

  ADVANCED BOOK OF MEDICINE

  BRITISH ARMY WEAPONRY

  SWORD FIGHTING

  BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU

  ADVANCED ENGINEERING

  Her choices were as follows;

  COMPLETE GUIDE TO FARMING

  BIG BOOK OF FISHING

  BOAT MAINTENANCE

  NAVIGATION AND SAILING

  BUILD A LOG CABIN

  ENGLISH WILDLIFE

  WILD FAUNA AND MUSHROOMS

  COMPLETE MASSAGE AND REFLEXOLOGY

  BUILD A HOT TUB

  They swapped books considering each other's choices which were quite amusing.

  "Typical most of yours are to do with fighting," she laughed.

  "Well it's not all fighting there's some useful stuff in there," he said defensively. "Anyway, it seems somebody's after a foot rub, then a nice soak in a hot tub and then a sailing trip."

  "Well, maybe but if things get too bad we might have to consider shore's a new," she suggested.

  He thought about this for a moment, maybe they should cut their losses right now and find a nice secluded island.

  While he was speed reading, Marie had brought Dinah in and they all had something to eat as well. He had conceded that her choices did after all make sense and a little pampering couldn't hurt. She also wanted him to teach her things like fishing so she could contribute more. For now, though he prioritized things that were more prevalent to now and within an hour and a half he had read;

  ADVANCED WARFARE

  FIELD MEDIC

  AND BRITISH ARMY WEAPONRY

  All these books were lengthy and very comprehensive, and as before every detail sunk in and was stored away, but having an instant recall at any time. For instance, now he could identify any military weapon and know all its operating procedures, strip it down, resemble and clean. Admittedly he hadn't done this in practice yet but was confident that he would soon be proficient. They just had to obtain the weapons first. Bagging up the books minus the ones he had just read and set off again.

  Marie was back in the driving seat which was slow going, on the pavement and the on the road again. Once or twice things got a bit crowded and she had push zombies and vehicles aside. As much as she loved the Defender they really needed something more heavy duty in the world they now lived. Soon they reached a more industrial area which meant that they were close to Archery World.

  Finally, they arrived at the archery store, surprisingly the zombies were thin on the ground, and there were lots of bodies though. Max, however, knew something was wrong and they were in danger.

  "Backup," he instructed.

  "What's wrong, we're here now aren't we?" Marie protested

  "I think there's a sniper, now move," he informed.

  "Oh shit," she replied slamming the car into reverse narrowly missing a parked car recovered with a pretty decent j turn.

  "Good, now round the back of that building," he said. "Just here."

  He grabbed the bow and exited the vehicle, "wait here."

  She had no time to protest as he was gone so fast. Luckily there weren't many zombies so he just dodged them until he found what he was looking for. A building far enough away to be out of easy range and with a wall that was easily scalable, the bricks sticking out at easy interval's. He quickly scaled the wall and pulled himself on top but kept low. It was a flat-roofed building with ducting units sticking up at intervals, moving on his belly until he reached one to use for cover. Now he was able to stand up to look. He took the bow and quiver of his back. Now he peered around the vent in order to find his target.

  Where had they gone the fuckers, he was sure that he was about to get them. If they had gotten out of the land rover he could have got them. Rick was an excellent shot with a crossbow and didn't miss much. He had worked at the store for just over two years since he was seventeen and always practised during breaks and slow times. Brain the owner used to moan because he should have been in the shop ready to serve people. Well, that old bastard got it, in the end, didn't he? When the trouble all started he stocked up on food and water, then brought all the shutters down making it like a fortress. Plenty of people came trying to get in, they were after the weapons. But he and Brian would have none of it, they stood up on the roof shooting anyone that got close. Rick loved it, target practice all day but more fun with people especially the ones that begged, asking for weapons. Brian used to give them a chance and told them to fuck off. While he just shot them not wanting to miss out on all the fun. One time when Brian had given a man and chance to turn around and leave Rick had shot the man in both legs so he could watch him get eaten by the infected. Brian had called him an evil bastard for that. Rick's reply was to put a bolt in Brian's face. Wel
l, the man was a pussy and he ate to much of the food. He bet they had food in the land rover, a man and a woman. He would kill the man outright and injure the woman, which meant that he could use her for his amusement. The last one was still in the store, but she was dead now, she had slowly bled to death from the wound. Pity but fun while it lasted. Then a thought crossed his mind, maybe he should eat them when he had finished humping them. They looked tasty enough, not the men though that would be just weird. Well, it was good enough for the zombies. Come on you fuckers where are you?

  Max had got him in sight 200 metres away, a tall skinny youth not even in his twenties yet and complete with a face full of acne. He could kill the boy out right now, but this troubled him. Undoubtedly he had killed a lot of zombies and maybe even other survivors trying to loot the store. But that was just it, he was probably just a terrified young boy trying to survive in a mad world. Should he take pity on the lad even though he could be wrong about him? Max let his arrow fly and it found its mark.

  Rick's mouth watered what a good idea a fuck and meal in one. He chuckled to himself sounding just like Beavis and Butthead. And to think in school they had considered him to be dim. Those teachers that pretended to be caring saying things like 'he just needs more time' and 'he's probably gifted elsewhere'. They were just taking the piss, but who was having the last laugh now? I bet they were all dead now. He could imagine the self-righteous bastards trying to reason with a zombie, giving his Beavis laugh. Suddenly he felt white hot pain in his right hand forcing him to drop the crossbow. He looked down at the arrow deeply embedded into his hand, realisation coming to him. Then he started to scream like a girl.