From Despair to Where

by Oliver Smith

  As James finished talking the other members of the supply run team started to come through the open barn door, Jack waved to Scott, who nodded, and smiled at Arthur, but the rest of the group were strangers to him. Eight men, including Scott and Arthur sat around the table, four of the team were on watch so didn’t make the meeting and wouldn’t be coming on the run, they were also scheduled to be on lookout during the following day’s raid; protecting the village from invasion.

  James started the meeting immediately after the last of the men sat down, “Right, I want to make this quick, you can all get acquainted with Jack and Lucy after the meeting, for now, I have a plan that I want to run by you.

  “Jack, you know where City Electrical Factors and the Plumb Centre is in Ripon; Lucy, basically they are on the outskirts of Ripon and I don’t know if you know Ripon, but it’s a small city, but it’s swarming with the dead. The two places we need to go to should be easily accessible as they’re on the bypass and, thankfully, in secure premises, so once we’re in we should have some time to get what we need. I’ll show you on the map.

  “Anyway, enough of the layout, you all know it well and I think my plan will work. The priorities of the mission are fucking simple. One, nobody dies, two; we protect Arthur at all costs and three, we get everything we need and get back as quickly as possible”

  James was interrupted by Arthur, “I’ll be fine, you guys look after yourselves.”

  “Look Arthur, our community is reliant on your knowledge, we like you, but it’s not your rosy personality we want to protect, it’s your knowledge. Knowledge is power, now more than ever, so we need to keep you in the land of the living. No arguments.”

  Arthur looked at his feet and seemed embarrassed.

  James continued laying out his plan, “So, first things first, we need to draw the dead away from both City Electrical Factors and the Plumb Centre and I have the perfect idea for that.”

  James lifted a dust sheet off two long cylindrical tubes that were attached to simple control panels and gas canisters, “These are automated scarecrows. Basically, they use gas to make a loud explosion and are designed to scare birds away. We can use these two machines and put them at opposite ends of the road, about a mile or two apart and set them to fire at random intervals. They are loud and should draw the dead away, I’m sure of it. What do you two think?” James looked at Jack and Lucy.

  Lucy answered, “They sound perfect. The dead are certainly attracted to noise; we shouted to get their attention when we were out there and it worked, they came after us.”

  “Good. The next part of the plan is to take three vans, we need the space to carry the equipment and us. We’ll drive the vans in a line with the scarecrows in the middle van, we drive the vans to two spots.” James pointed at two areas on the map, “We open the back doors, unload the scarecrows and set them to go. The front and back van will park close to protect me as I set them.

  “Once the scarecrows are set, we’re going to go down Littlethorpe Lane and wait for an hour to ensure the dead have time to be drawn away. I’m sure our vans are going to attract attention, so we need to lay low and wait for the scarecrows to do their work.

  “We’ll hit City Electrical Factors first. We’re going to go in from the main road, the unit is behind a wire fence, so we’ll have to cut our way in. We’ll park the vans in a V shape to form a barrier around the hole in the fence and make our way in. I’m sure there will be a few of the dead in the industrial park so this is where we’ll have to get our hands dirty. We need to fight quietly though so hand weapons only, guns should only be used as a last resort, they are too damn loud.

  “I’m sure we’ll have to break into the unit, but once we’re in we need Arthur to be quick and get what’s on the list.

  “We leave the way we came and then head off to the Plumb Centre. I’m hoping this will be easier for us. The place is surrounded by a tall steal fence. I don’t know if the gate is open, but we’ll break in if we need to, once in, we’ll use the vans to barricade the gate. It should be easy pickings when we’re inside, again we might have to get our hands dirty, but there shouldn’t be too many inside.

  “Once we have everything we need we’ll have to pick up the scarecrows as we’ll need to use them again for other runs. This is where it gets tricky and I can only see one possibility and I’m not that big a fan of this part of the plan. One of the vans will act as a diversion, we’ll drive up to the furthest away and get the dead’s attention and slowly drive down the main road drawing them to follow, the van will continue past the other scarecrow and do the same again. One other van will follow, some distance behind, and pick up the scarecrows. The last remaining van, with Arthur and the essential equipment, will head straight back to the village after the Plumb Centre.

  “That’s it, I think I’ve covered everything. Any questions?” James looked at everyone in the eye and waited.

  The barn was silent as the group digested the information relayed to them, Scott was first to speak, “Sounds like a good plan. Nice one James. What time do we go?”

  “8am sharp. The vans are ready and fuelled and in position outside of the village.” James was quick in response, “Any other questions?”

  There were none, the plan was well thought out and the consensus agreed.

  -

  Jack woke at 5am the following morning halfway through a familiar nightmare, he shook the pieces of the broken dream out of his head and sat up and looked at Lucy. Just the sight of her calmed his nerves, but he was still feeling trepidation at the day’s plans. They didn’t have far to go, they should be able to do everything in a few hours, but if he was honest with himself, he didn’t want Lucy out there and he didn’t want himself out there either. He was keeping these thoughts to himself and wasn’t prepared to rock the boat with Lucy anymore, he had no control over her, and rightly so, but that didn’t mean he was happy about the risks they were taking.

  8am came and both Lucy and Jack were ready, they had their weapons, Lucy’s bat, and Jack’s hammer. Lucy felt good with her bat and liked having it back in her possession. Jack not so much with the hammer. Magda had called to the house half-an-hour earlier and taken Chloe to her house, ready for school. The girl had gone willingly, and it seemed that behind the battle-axe exterior, the old woman was gentle and had a caring heart that Chloe saw and liked.

  Jack and Lucy didn’t wait for James this time; they made their way to the barn and found the rest of the group carrying equipment to the vans parked a couple of hundred metres up the road. The vans were loaded with the scarecrows, bolt and wire cutters and a number of guns, Jack recognised the pump action shotguns and rifle from their find; what now seemed like an age ago.

  Jack and Lucy were in the first van with a man named Tommy, James, and Scott in the second van and the other raiders rode in the last van protecting Arthur. Each van had a handheld radio and James relayed a message to Jack to lead the team the back way to Ripon through a village called Sharow. James explained to Jack that they had cleared the road with the tractor to ensure a clear route into Ripon a few days earlier.

  As Jack approached the small city, he drove up to the first of many roundabouts on the bypass and the dead were visible, not in huge numbers, but the closer they got to the centre, more started arriving on the scene, through streets, gardens, from every direction. James radioed to turn left at the second roundabout and to stop, leaving space for the three vans.

  Jack pulled to a stop and the dead were waiting, looking in the mirrors he saw the second and third van pull up as the dead approached. Hands, faces and bodies soon started to strike the side of the van and time seemed to slow down as the banging and moaning intensified, drawing more of the dead from their hiding places. Jack saw the second van’s back doors open and watched as the third van inched closer to ensure no gaps allowed the dead to attack James as he set up the scarecrow. A horn sounded from the van behind to signal it was time to move shortly before James’ wild radio commands, obvious
ly shook up from being just a sheet of metal away from hungry mouths. Jack put the van into first and edged forwards, carefully pushing past the dead, he knew better than to cause damage through recklessness.

  The second scarecrow drop was another smooth operation with Lucy, Jack, and Tommy all commenting about the perfection of James’ plan. Tension still filled the air as the dead were swarming with purpose around every corner. They let James’ van overtake them after successfully dropping the scarecrows and let him lead the way to Littlethorpe Lane. As the van went past, Jack heard the first explosion and relaxed a little, after initial confusion, when he realised it was the noise of the scarecrows doing their work.

  The three vans pulled to a stop down the single-track road and they waited. They could hear the bangs of the scarecrows, set to go off at five-minute intervals. It was a frustrating wait as they had no way of knowing if the plan was working. Time seemed to stop as the hour passed painfully slowly with ten men and Lucy stood around keeping look out for anything lurking behind the bushes.

  An alarm sounded on James’ watch which signalled that it was time to move, the group were quick to get back in the vans, eager to get the mission over with and return to the sanctuary of the community.

  “You ready?” Lucy asked James exhaling as she asked the question.

  “As I’ll ever be.” Jack said without humour.

  Driving in silence, Jack staring at the van ahead, the baseball bat and hammer rested on the middle seat, jolting with the bumps in the road as if willing themselves into action. There were five people in the leading van, a larger group, including Arthur, to keep him safe. Tommy, Lucy and Jack travelled in the middle van, with James, Scott and a man named Patrick bringing up the rear, they were to act as protection, while the first two groups got through the City Electrical fence, before making their way in. Jack worried that his own incompetence would put the group at risk, but battled valiantly to keep his doubts at bay.

  As the group made their way back to the bypass, they saw that the large numbers of dead that had been following the vans had now disbursed with only a handful still visible. The turning from the narrow lane was close to City Electrical Factors and the first van quickly pulled up to the fence, Jack parked behind and the third completed the vehicle blockade. Everyone disembarked the vans quickly and started working in silence. Keeping noise down was key, although the dead in the small industrial park didn’t follow the same rules. Upon seeing the 11 people approaching the fence, the dead worked their way over and started to pull on the wire and shake the noisy metal interlinks whilst moaning for their share of the flesh. Scott stepped forward and pulled a large hunting knife from a sheath on his belt, he signalled to one of the other guys who did the same. The two men tied cloth over their mouths and noses and with efficient speed, penetrated each of the dead’s skulls with their knives, dropping them with stomach churning gore and a wet squelch with each stab. Jack had to look away, he wanted to vomit, Lucy stood and watched seemingly unmoved by the horrifying scenes.

  Once the dead were taken care of, Patrick began to work with a pair of large bolt cutters. Within no time, the fence was cut enough to enable the group to get through one at a time, clambering over the limp bodies of the true dead.

  Upon entering the small industrial park, which only contained four units, James was quick to issue orders, “Scott, Tommy, you two go to the other side and make sure the gates are shut. You four”, pointing at Lucy, Jack and two men that stood with them, “Circle Arthur and make sure he stays safe.” Arthur pulled his face and began to speak, but James was quick to combat this, “No arguments Arthur, this is my watch, do as I say, you can boss me around when we’re helping you with the facilities.

  “The rest of us will ensure this place is clear before letting Arthur in to pick up his electrical supplies. Everyone clear?”

  The group nodded in unison and Scott and Tommy ran to the other side of the industrial park but were quick to return. Scott turned to James, “There ain’t no gate, it’s open. Never was a gate.”

  “Shit, I was sure this place was secure. Okay, Scott and Tommy, you guys stay out here and look after Arthur with these guys then. It’s probably best to stay out of sight so hide behind one of the skips over there until we signal you.

  “John, Patrick, Eddie, you guys follow me, we’ll fucking secure this place for Arthur’s looting spree.”

  The four men went into the unit through the trade counter. Luckily for everyone, the door was open. The unit consisted of a trade counter, a back office with facilities, a warehouse with the electrical supplies organised throughout rows of racking, and finally a large loading bay. The trade counter was quiet and the electric bell to signal a customer entering remained silent as the door swung open.

  Whispering to his team, James told Patrick and Eddie to check the loading bay while he and John would go and check the rest of the building. The pairs split up, but Patrick and Eddie joined James and John almost immediately finding the door to the loading bay locked, they searched the offices and warehouse, it was empty, eerily quiet and very dark, only their torches providing illumination. Patrick and Eddie found another door leading to the loading bay which was unlocked and quietly tip-toed in. They searched the back of the building where more shelves held further electrical supplies, again there was nothing. Moving to the front of the loading bay, they shone their torches and saw the coast clear. Patrick called out to the other two still looking through the shelves of the warehouse, when suddenly there was a noise. A loud thud sounded and then a crack, the torch Patrick was holding fell to the floor with a crash, shining its light on to the bare breezeblock wall. Eddie called out, “Patrick?” But no answer came, only the garbled sound of something that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He ran to the torch to pick it up, but stood on something wet and squelchy, he slipped falling to the floor knocking the torch so that it spun on the floor. The circling light briefly lit up the scene before falling to a halt on a large set of roller shutters. He knew his eyes hadn’t misled him during the brief light, Patrick was dead, his head caved in on the concrete floor and on top of him, one of the dead, its teeth had torn through Patrick’s throat and was gnawing away strings of ligament and flesh, it wasn’t clear how this had happened, the room was clear.

  Eddie panicked and tried to get to his feet, but a hand grabbed his ankle, he screamed and kicked frantically in the dark, but kicked out at thin air. The moaning increased as the dead creature moved from its feeding to the living pray. Eddie couldn’t see, but the dead sensed and didn’t need any further motivation, it lurched forwards and bit into Eddie’s leg. He felt the pain shoot through his body and wriggled free, finally managing to kick the creature in the head and crawl away.

  James and John came running, but it was too late, Patrick was dead, and Eddie was bitten. James swung the torch light to the body and saw Eddie backing away into the corner. He saw the dead thing crawling to its feet and without a moment’s hesitation darted towards it and struck it with a short-handled axe, powerfully smashing through the skull and destroying the brain. It fell to the floor with the axe still lodged in place. James lifted the light and shone it on Eddie and saw that he was bitten on the lower leg, “Oh Eddie. No Eddie.”

  “It’s okay James. I can be with Emily now, it’s okay, just leave me here.” Eddie was remarkably calm, shock was setting in.

  “We can save you Eddie, let us take your leg off, it might not have spread. We can take you to the Doc, you can survive.” James was desperately looking for ways to save the man he had once despised in the old world, but had now become quite fond of.

  “Fuck James, that’s going to hurt. Fuck it. Do it.” Eddie saw a glimmer of hope at the chance of survival.

  Turning to John, James said quickly, “Go outside, get everyone in the office, we’ll need a few people to help with Eddie. Then go to the van and get the Axe.” John made off quickly, James shouted after him, “Just be fucking careful!”

  James
and Eddie waited in silence, James knew that time was against them and surveyed the loading bay, shinning the torch, he saw that it had a mezzanine floor. The dead creature must have been up there and fallen onto Patrick, it looked as though Patrick had taken the full force of the fall and smashed his skull on the hard floor. It was of little comfort that Patrick would have felt no pain, Patrick was dead, and he was a good man.

  A few minutes later, John came rushing in with the axe, closely followed by Jack, Lucy, and Scott. Eddie was already lying down, staring into the air in dreaded anticipation of the axe amputating his leg. Scott got down on his knee and tied a belt around Eddie’s thigh, “This’ll stop the blood.”

  It seemed as though there was an unspoken understanding between everyone, Lucy and John had knelt either side of Eddie, ready to steady him. James took hold of the axe and glanced at Eddie, who had two torches on him. Eddie gave him a nod and James brought the axe up and with all his might severed the leg just below the knee. The blood rushed out quickly and Scott pulled the belt tighter. The sound of Eddie screaming through the bit between his teeth and the sight of the leg coming away would stay with them all for the rest of their lives.

  The plan had changed, Lucy and Scott lifted Eddie, blood was still coming out at a rate of knots. James looked at them and said with urgency and a grave face, “Get him back now, go straight to the Doc, we’ll do the other run and meet you back.”

  Lucy, Scott, and John carried Eddie as quickly as they could out of the building. Jack was left there with James, he wanted to go with Lucy, but knew his protests were selfish and would be met with scorn from all parties. He was part of this mission which had turned sour very quickly and they had to get the supplies.