He raised an eyebrow, “I’m forty”
“Exactly” she shook her head, “I’m appalled”
“Me too” he threw her a grin, then opened his door and got out to stand on the side of the road, hands gently brushing the broken glass from his Forestry Commission uniform, grimacing as he found that sections of it were still wet from his unexpected tumble into the river in the woods.
Satisfied it was all clear, he turned his head, studying the road about him in both directions and then the fields either side of them, a sense of calm opening up deep inside him as he saw no sign of any more of the white-skinned creatures.
Shifting his position, he glanced to the south, watching the sunlight glint of a city at the bottom of the rise upon which they were parked, sighing as the wind suddenly swirled about him, caressing his long beard, and he reached up, unfastening the bandana about his head to let his dark brown dreadlocks fall about his features.
He turned as he heard the drivers door opening, nodding at Bella as she moved over to stand beside him, the pair of them staring out over the scenery for a moment in silence and then Victor spoke, “Is that Thames?”
“Yeah” she raised an arm, pointing, “The hospital is at the west end of it, if we follow this road we come in at the rear, so we don’t actually touch the city roads that much”
“Like Durham hospital?” he raised an eyebrow.
Once more, the silver-haired woman nodded at him, “Yeah, they are quite similar”
Another silence settled over them for a moment, the wind whipping up slightly and Victor gave a shiver, drawing a wince from Bella, “I should have let you change into some of my grandads clothes…I didn’t think”
“It’s fine” he forced a smile, lifting his chin against the breeze, letting it caress his beard once more as he closed his eyes, smiling as somewhere above a bird cried out on the wing.
“My Grandad was like your friend”
“What?” he opened his eyes, turning to look at the former soldier, “I don’t understand”
She sighed, the escape of air seeming to take the fight from her as her shoulders slumped, a hand rising to rub at her eyes, “I am so fucking tired”
Victor nodded, not daring to speak, as she stood staring down at the grass beneath their feet for a moment and then met his gaze again, “Last night my grandad took sick…well, not sick as such but really tired, he got really sweaty, and just crashed out on the sofa in the living room. We tried to wake him, but nothing worked. I suggested calling the local doctor, but gran said to just let him sleep it off. He hated doctors, did grandad”
Victor smiled as she spoke the last part, seeing the same expression upon her features for a moment before she winced, head shaking as she looked away to stare off at the vast expanse of the North Pennines to the west, her voice grim as she continued, “Then I woke up today and he was in the living room…one of them…I didn’t recognise him at first with no hair…and that white, cracked skin…he tried to kill us both, he broke my grans left arm and she ran off…the dogs were biting him but he didn’t seem to care…he was just so angry…so angry”
Victor nodded, knowing what had come next but she continued anyway, her words cascading from her now as if the gate had been opened and there was no stopping them, “I grabbed his gun…I tried to stop him…to warn him off but…I shot him…I managed to reload the gun and then gran…she came running in…the same…bald…white skin”
She gave a shaky sigh and looked down at the ground, her hands grasping to her knees as she bent and vomited, and stepping closer, Victor began to gently rub her back, “It’s ok, get it all up”
Several minutes passed by, the two of them locked in that act of companionship, strangers an hour ago, now bonded by survival and madness.
With a sigh, she rose, the back of her left-hand wiping across her mouth, and Victor winced, his eyes searching hers, “Are you OK, now?”
Bella gave a weary grin, nodding, “Sorry, not usually one for puking”
He shook his head, forcing a smile, “I think considering the day we are having its allowed”
They stood studying each other for a moment, and then Bella turned her face towards, the Land Rover, “I reckon we let the dogs out for piss and then get to the hospital”
Victor nodded, picturing Emily and Eric, “Yeah, we need to find these kids some relatives”
“They haven’t got any” she turned back to him.
“What?”
She nodded, her expression grim, “Before I came to find you in the woods, after they had come running into our farmyard, I asked where their parents were…the little one, Eric, told me that their grandad had just died”
Victor grimaced, “Yeah, heart attack, I was there”
“Damn”
“Parents?” he raised an eyebrow and she shook her head, her voice grim, as she replied to him.
“Dead, traffic accident”
Letting out a shaky sigh, Victor turned to study the Land Rover, “The poor little bastards”
“Yeah”
He winced at her reply, seeing how she was staring at the vehicle, “Listen, I am sure that Moonshine is going to be OK, he isn’t going to turn into one of those things”
She nodded, her eyes meeting his, “If he does?”
Victor turned away from her, studying the marine blue Land Rover for a moment, an image of his friend entering his mind, then he sighed, nodding as he spoke, “I’ll take care of him”
Chapter Twenty Three
“Where the fuck are you going?” the sneered voice of the overweight cleaner made Lauren turn her head to stare back along the corridor at the woman as she stood beside the security guard and the ginger man with the curved knife.
Catching the inside of her right cheek between her back teeth she held the gaze of the woman for a moment, resisting the urge to tell her to fuck off. She, Alice, Jiyaa and Brandon had emerged back out into the corridor just moments before to find the trio standing on one side while Geri had been further down upon the other side, crouching beside Jennifer as she sat on the floor sobbing uncontrollably into her cupped hands.
Without pausing, Lauren had walked straight past, leading Brandon by the hand, her face turning to the Scots woman, “We need to go now”
“What is it?” the woman had risen from where she had been crouching beside Jennifer, her head shaking as she had glanced at Alice, “Tell me”
“There are people in there, in an operating theatre, that have been killed by one of these ghouls” the brown-haired woman had stated as she reached Geri, Jiyaa beside her, “Maybe by more than one, we need to get off this floor before it or they find us!”
“Ah fuck” the Scots woman had grimaced, turning to glance back at Jennifer, “Come on, hen”
“No” the black woman had met her gaze, staring through tear filled eyes, “I am with my husband”
“Are you fuck!” the ginger man had grimaced, drawing the gaze of everyone in the corridor, and another pained sob from the black woman. Yet instead of appearing concerned, the ginger man, Peter, had grimaced, the knife rising to point at her, “You stay the fuck away from me…you’ve been bitten…I’m not getting infected by you!”
“Peter!” the woman had made it to her hands and knees, shrugging the comforting hand of Geri from her shoulder as she stared over at her husband, “Please, I love you!”
“Do you…do you really?” his voice had been filled with acid, his features turning crimson as he stared back at her, the veins in his forehead seeming to pulse, “Is that why we are here today…because you love me so very much!”
“Peter!” she had sobbed again, and he had given a bitter laugh, his head shaking as he had turned to glance at everyone else in the corridor, sneering.
“We are only here today because my darling fucking wife is a slut…she has been fucking my brother haven’t you…and now she is pregnant by him…my own fucking brother…tell them, dear”
The black woman had given a so
b, one hand clasped to her eyes, the other reaching out towards her husband, “Please…you forgave me…you said that we could make it work…”
“Forgave you?” his laugh had been bitter, his head shaking slowly as he stared at her, “As if I ever could…you disgust me…”
With a piteous howl, the woman had collapsed to the floor of the corridor, arms wrapping about her face as she had sobbed, the sound more animal than human as it had echoed down the corridor, and wincing, Lauren had begun leading Brandon away; Alice, Jiyaa and a reluctant looking Geri following behind until the cleaner had spoken and Lauren had stopped to answer.
Sighing heavily, she held the gaze of the pig-faced woman, voice even, “We are getting out of here”
Much to her surprise, as she had begun to walk once more, the cleaner had turned to the security guard, “We should go with them Nick, if they are getting out of here we should go with them”
He grunted, head shaking slightly as Lauren turned to stare back at the pair, a look of hatred shooting her way and then he nodded, “Sure, I was about to suggest we do that anyway”
“Course ye were” the voice of Geri sounded, literally dripping with sarcasm, and as the guard flicked a glare in the direction of the Scots woman, Lauren sighed and continued walking, vaguely aware of the others following behind.
Reaching the end of the long corridor that they had been on, she peered around its end, ears straining as she listened for any possible sign of trouble and then edged out, her heart pounding as she began to move past the various doors, fully expecting a ghoul to burst out from within.
Yet somehow, despite her concerns the group reached the other end of the corridor unharmed, and taking another steadying breath, she glanced around the edge of the next corner, relaxing again as she found that the corridor was clear, eyes widening as she saw the sign for the stairs.
Turning back, she met the gaze of the others as they gathered behind her, brow furrowing as she saw that the security guard was now carrying what looked like a wooden mop handle, perhaps from the cupboard where Tina had been hiding.
She frowned suddenly as the absence of one of their number registered with her, “Where’s the woman, Jennifer?”
“Who cares” the reply came from the ginger man and Lauren grimaced, her head shaking slowly.
“She is your wife”
“Was” he grimaced, then gave a smirk, his hungry gaze drifting up and down her athletic form, “I am taking auditions for a replacement if you are interested in applying”
The young nurse winced at his words, feeling physically sick as his gaze began to roam her form once more, then Geri snapped, drawing his attention, “What tha fuck is wrong with ye, eh?”
“Fuck off” he wiggled the knife at her, “I’ve had enough of women telling me what to do”
“One of us needs to go back for her” Alice sighed, meeting the gaze of Lauren, “We can’t leave her”
“Well, its not going to be me, or Nick” the nasal voice of Tina stated, surprising no-one with her words, and sighing, Geri gave a shrug, nodding.
“Ah’ll go”
“See you then” Peter gave a sneer, chuckling as if to himself and Lauren felt her stomach knot as she saw the mania in the ginger man’s wide eyes.
He had snapped. One hundred per cent snapped.
“We’ll wait for you” Alice told Geri, glancing at Lauren for confirmation, “Right?”
The nurse nodded, a strange feeling washing over her as she suddenly realised that she was the youngest one present and yet everyone was looking to her as if she was some kind of leader.
“Ah won’t be long!” Geri took a step in the direction that they had just come then gave a grunt of surprise as in the distance, Jennifer suddenly came staggering into view, “Oh look, here she is…”
The words of the admin trailed off to a curse, as the four white-skinned figures came charging around the corner behind the wide-eyed black woman, snarling and grunting in excitement.
“Go, go, go!” Lauren shouted, turning to charge around the corner, dragging a whimpering Brandon behind her, the cries of her companions loud as they saw the threat and followed suit.
Heart pounding hard in her chest, Lauren reached the double door to the stairwell, and charged through, leading her charge behind her and paused, unsure for a moment which way to run before choosing the stairs leading down, the door clattering behind her as the others began to charge through. Reaching the halfway landing to the floor below, she paused, turning to glance back behind her, relief touching her as she saw that Alice and Jiyaa were just behind them upon the stairs, the brown-haired woman leading the Indian by the hand, the screaming figure of Tina charging down behind them, hands in the air, the security guard trying to pass her on the stairs, his mop handle still clasped in his hands. The doors crashed once more, and in charged Geri, closely followed by Peter and then the sobbing, hysterical figure of Jennifer, the black woman collapsing at the top of the stairwell on her hands and knees, vomiting violently, one hand reaching for the legs of her husband. As the Scots woman began to charge down the stairs behind Nick and Tina, urging the others on in her thick accent, the black woman suddenly rose beside her husband, her hands balling into fists as she finally lost her temper with him, her lips drawn back as she snarled, “You fucking bastard…you fucking bastard, I hate you so…”
“Get the fuck off me!” he snarled, and Lauren cried out as she saw him thrust out with the blade that he was holding, the weapon sinking deep into the black woman’s chest, once, twice, three times, and she grunted, her body jerking.
With a snarl, he spun, heaving her form over the railing, the black woman’s arms and legs flailing as she fell, her scream of sudden terror loud in the stairwell. There was a sickening crack as some part of her body bounced heavily off the stairs beside where Nick, Tina and Geri were descending and her scream as cut short, her body seeming to go limp as she fell through the centre of the stairs before landing with a thud far below.
For a moment, Peter met the gaze of Lauren over the railing, a cold smile upon his lips, and then he was charging down the stairs, knife in hand.
Almost at once the doors crashed open again to reveal the four ghouls that had been pursuing Jennifer, their guttural snarls and screeches of excitement loud, sending Brandon into a fit of screams, and it was all Lauren could do to keep him moving and not drop to the floor in fear.
They reached the landing of the third floor and charged on, Lauren not daring to look back, and in just moments they were on the midway landing to the second floor and past it, nearing the second-floor landing. She flinched as a woman cried out, and heart in her mouth, suddenly overcome with concern that it might be Alice or Jiyaa, Lauren turned, watching in shock as she saw the pair right behind her and Brandon, while on the mid-way landing, Tina and Nick lay in a heap upon the floor, the cleaner face down on the floor, the security guard atop her, one hand still clasping to the mop handle.
As Lauren watched, Geri reached the pair, picking her way past them and then glanced back, urging them on despite their former arguments, “Will ye fucking move it!”
With a grunt, Nick pushed himself up, and staggered down towards the Scots woman, blinking in shock, blood running from a cut above his right eyebrow where his head had struck the floor, and behind him Tina made it to her feet, only to cry out in shock and pain as Peter charged past, body checking her into the wall.
Off balance and stunned, she toppled sideways and fell to one knee, her eyes wide as she reached out a hand towards where the guard stood staring back up at her, “Nick…babe…”
“Fuck off!” he muttered, his voice grim, as he turned and ran, charging past Lauren, Brandon, Alice, Jiyaa and Geri, the ginger man close on his heels, leering at Lauren as he raced past her.
The ghouls suddenly reached the midway landing where Tina was crouched with a storm of snarls and grunts, their white-skinned forms grasping at her in excitement, tearing the clothes from her form as they bit and
tore with their teeth, arterial blood spraying high up the walls.
With a soft curse, Lauren began to run once more, charging headlong down the stairs and the other four went with her, trying to ignore the screams or terror and agony that followed them.
Chapter Twenty Four
“What the fuck” the words slipped from the lips of Victor before he had even realised that he had spoken, his head shaking as he stared out of the windscreen of the Land Rover, his throat tight.
As they had driven closer to the fledgling city of Thames, both he and Bella had taken turns cursing, hands raising to point our various smoke plumes that were rising in the distance, and the former soldier had slowed the Land Rover as they began to encounter cars abandoned at strange angles in the road ahead and in the other lane, some crashed into others, some embedded in fences, thick smoke rising from their engines.
Now they were parked on the entrance to the hospital that it seemed like they had travelled one hundred miles to reach, having spent what felt an eternity weaving the Land Rover in and out of the abandoned and crashed vehicles. Ahead of them two bloody bodies lay in the road, a blonde woman lying face down, naked except for the skirt rucked up around her thighs, and an overweight black man lying on his back; his face and naked chest a bloody ruin, both cavities filled with blood and gore, their contents long gone.
Letting out a shaky breath, Victor half-turned his head, calling to Emily and Eric, “Don’t look out of the vehicle, do you understand me?”
There was a grunt of confirmation and he winced, his grey eyes rising to study the hospital that towered over them, the six floor structure clean and well kept were it not for numerous broken windows that lined each of the levels, smoke coming from several on the fourth floor.
“What do you think?” Bella’s voice was tight as she turned to glance at him, “Shall we go?”
“Where to?” his voice was grim, his head shaking as he met her gaze, “Where else is there?”
She winced at his words, nodding, and began to drive onwards, following the curving road then stopped at the entrance to the car park as they found a car angled to the side, embedded in the mechanism that raised the gate to allow access.
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