by G G Garcia
“How do you know all that?” Henry asked her.
“Maxwell showed me yesterday, while you were sleeping.” A small smile emerged under her nose and she added, “He did say I’m gonna teach you a lesson that might save your life one day.”
“I’m quite happy to take a step back,” said Paul, relief all over his face.
“Right then.” Henry nodded at Demi. “Ready when you are.”
Chapter Sixty-Six
Demi and Henry opened the living room door once Paul and Craig had moved the couch, and decided to check the rooms on the first floor before going downstairs.
Minutes had passed and once it was confirmed that the bathroom and the three bedrooms were vacant, they focused their attention on the ground floor. Henry led the way downstairs and Demi was only a yard behind him. Once they reached the ground floor, they walked away from the toilets and the broken window, and checked out the left part of the lounge first. Even at this stage, Henry was certain that the place was clear. He told Demi to wait outside the kitchen as he went inside, but was soon out under a minute.
“Now what?” Demi asked.
Henry could see that Demi didn’t look calm holding the gun at all, despite her showing off her knowledge of it upstairs, and Henry was convinced that if any shooting needed to take place, then he would be doing most of it.
“The toilets next,” he said, and then we can block up the window. But I’ll warn you ... there’re five bodies in the gents’ toilets. Two of them are Maxwell and Tony and it’s not pleasant to see.”
Demi felt a little patronised and responded by being defensive. “I’ve seen it before, Henry. I saw your own sister, my best friend, being eaten only two days ago.”
Henry gulped and took her response well, although a small part of him wanted to pistol-whip her for her cheek for mentioning the death of his sister. The pair of them checked the ladies’ toilets and then went to the gents’. Demi stepped inside and could see four bodies, but not Tony’s.
Sensing her confusion, Henry told Demi that Tony was in the cubicle, opposite the body of Maxwell.
She carefully stepped over the bodies, trying to make contact with the blood, and turned to her left to see Tony. He was slumped on the floor and half of his face was missing and his throat had been torn out. She placed her free hand over her mouth and felt like crying. She could feel her stomach doing somersaults and out of nowhere she bent over and threw up, vomiting over Maxwell’s dead body.
“For fuck’s sake, Demi,” Henry cussed, and couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.
“I’m sorry,” Demi cried and wiped her mouth. “It took me by surprise.”
“Took you by surprise?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ve just thrown up over my best friend’s dead body.”
“I said I’m sorry.”
“Right,” Henry huffed, annoyed with Demi. “Let’s get that window blocked off, eh?”
“What with?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Henry headed for the toilet door and Demi followed him out into the lounge area of the pub.
Henry looked around and was struggling for ideas how to block the window off.
“We’ll stack the tables up.” Henry paused and rubbed his head in thought. He continued, “It won’t be perfect and it won’t stop them from getting in, if they want to, but at least we’ll hear them coming in once those tables collapse.”
Henry popped his head out of the window and could see the area was clear. He then tucked his handgun into the front of his jeans, and suggested to Demi that she should do the same after she had put the thing on safety.
“Now what?” she asked.
“You give me a hand with these tables. And then we get everybody to move all the food upstairs.”
“Okay.”
Once the tables were stacked, Demi ran upstairs and told everyone that they were moving the food upstairs. When everyone was on the ground floor, Henry gave out the orders and told Paul that they were going to get the supplies from the basement from behind the bar. Lisa, Mel and Craig were told to get the food out of the kitchens and the cellar by the main door.
“And what the fuck is Demi gonna do?” Lisa had her hands on her hips, glaring at Henry. “Do her nails while we do all the lifting?”
“She’s staying in the bar,” Henry explained to Lisa. “If any surprises pop up, she’ll inform us.”
“Why her?” Lisa moaned. “Can’t I do that? My arthritis is playing up.”
“No.” Henry shook his head. “Demi and I are the only ones that know how to use a gun.”
“A fucking joke, if you ask me,” Lisa huffed. “You’ve only been here five minutes and you’re already dishing out the orders.”
“Come on, Lisa.” Mel grabbed her arm, but she wasn’t budging. “Let’s start. You’re starting to hurt my ears.”
Henry agreed and said, “Mine too.”
“Idiot,” Lisa snapped.
“The exercise will do you good anyway. It might burn off a bit of blubber.” Henry spoke and released a laugh as soon as he had finished the sentence.
“Are you gonna let him speak to me like that?” Lisa nudged Mel in the side.
“Um...” Mel looked over at Henry. He was a mean looking man with a history of violence, standing with a Glock 17 in his right hand. “Yeah, I am.”
Chapter Sixty-Seven
The moving of the supplies to the first floor took nearly forty minutes. Henry had decided to dump everything in the kitchen. Once it was achieved, there was hardly any room to move in the kitchen, but at least the bedrooms and living room were still spacious. Lisa was still annoyed with her husband and Henry, and had been quiet for the last half an hour. They all sat in the living room and most were exhausted. Lisa was the only one standing. It was nearly nine in the evening and the darkness was creeping up, however, it was still light enough to see outside on this late summer evening, despite the stars appearing like sprinkled glitter.
Lisa continued to gaze out and she began to think about Gail. Her eyes widened as they looked down and onto the road. The frame of a little boy appeared in her vision and she placed her hand over her mouth.
Poor little soul. How did he become alone? Was his parents attacked recently? Is he from the village of Little Haywood from up the road? How did he get here?
The little boy looked to the ground and then looked back up at the window. He looked confused and cocked his head to one side. Lisa waved at the boy, but there was no response.
She turned to the people of the living room and said, “We need to get outside. There’s a little boy.”
“A little boy?” Mel walked over to his wife and said, “What are you talking about?”
Mel peered out of the window and could see the little face looking up at him. The boy then dropped his head and ran towards the pub, disappearing from Mel’s view. A second later, a thud could be heard from downstairs.
“What the fuck is that?” Henry was about to leave the room, but Demi pulled him back and told him not to leave.
Mel and Lisa looked at each other in horror and both knew it was the little boy throwing himself at the window, trying to get in. He was infected. This was their fault. The thuds had stopped and they guessed that the little boy had either knocked himself out or had killed himself trying to get inside the pub.
“I can hear something,” said Craig. This time Craig Shepherd went over to the window and said to no one in particular, “You need to take a look at this.”
Henry and Paul went over and peered out onto the road. There was a deathly silence and they continued to stare and could see a crowd gathering, in their dozens, below them. They didn’t know if that was all of them. There could have been more at the side and behind. The only thing that snapped the men out of their self-hypnosis was the sound of glass shattering downstairs. Another window had gone through.
“What the fuck was that?” Demi cried.
“The Savs are outside,�
� Henry announced.
“Who?” Mel and Lisa asked simultaneously.
“He means the IOs,” said Craig.
Henry turned to Mel, Demi and Craig. “Grab the couch.”
“What?” Demi looked perplexed.
“There’re dozens of them outside. We need to push that thing down the stairs. It won’t block the stairs off completely, but it’d be an obstacle they’d have to climb over to get to us.”
Craig and Henry began to drag the couch, with Paul pushing behind. They stood the couch up, once it was out on the landing, and walked it to the top of the stairs. The three men then lay the couch down and pushed it down the stairs. It slid down and only stopped once it reached the bottom.
“They’ll be able to climb over it, mate,” Craig said. “Or under it. We’ll need to think of something else.”
“What like?” Henry asked.
Craig asked Henry to quickly follow him into the back bedroom that looked over the car park. Paul went with them and all three could see that the place was clear. It appeared that the majority of the IOs were trying to get in from the other side of the pub, where the little boy was trying to get in earlier.
“If you give me the keys to your car,” Craig said to Henry. “I could drive out and sound the horn. They’ll follow me and it’ll take the IOs away from the pub, and also give you guys a chance to board the windows up.”
“Well now Paul's car is fucked, it'll have to be mine.” Henry sighed.
“And how the fuck are ya gonna get to the Audi if those IOs are downstairs?” Paul asked, smirking at Craig’s ridiculous idea.
“I climb out of this window.” Craig then pointed to the side, to his right, “and I slide down that drainpipe to the car park.”
“I don’t know.” Henry shook his head.
“The last time ya took someone’s car ya fucked off,” Paul laughed. “Seriously, though, ya could die out there.”
Craig nodded in agreement, and said, “Better than waiting and all of us dying in here.”
Paul wasn’t sure. He looked lost in deliberation, gazed at the floor, and began to pick his itchy ear with his finger.
“We better hurry up,” said Craig. The entrance to the car park might be blocked with those freaks by the time you come to a decision, and I don’t wanna have to damage Henry’s car to get out.”
“What do you think?” Henry looked at Paul for a response.
“I don’t know where this bravery has suddenly come from,” Paul said to his friend. “It’s a good idea, but I think I should do it.”
“My idea. My gig, mate.” Craig looked at the pair of them. “Make a decision.”
They began to hear noises from downstairs. Whatever decision they made, they were going to have to hurry up about it.
“Fuck it.” Henry put his hands in his pocket and pulled out his keys. He handed them to Craig. “If you don’t come back, regardless whether you’ve managed to move those Savs, I’ll hunt you down.”
“I’ll be back,” said Craig, opening the bedroom window. “I promise.”
Henry and Paul watched as Craig exited the window and nervously and awkwardly slid down the drainpipe. He was steeped in paranoia and constantly looked below him, making sure there were no surprises waiting for him. Once his feet touched the floor, Craig ran towards the Audi and unlocked Henry’s car. Once they saw the young man get inside, the two men shut the window and made their way back to the living room, across the landing. On their way, they took a glance to the right, down the stairs, and thankfully could see no IOs making their way up. Not yet.
They entered the living room and could see glum faces staring at them.
“There’s none of the IOs at the back,” Paul told them.
“So now what?” Lisa asked Paul and Henry.
“We keep this door closed and block it off,” said Henry. “Let’s hope we hear the sound of my Audi’s horn soon.”
Henry and Paul began to move the cabinet against the door and then pushed the armchair against it.
“If they get through that, if Craig’s plan doesn’t work,” Henry said, “then we’re gonna have to fight.”
Henry looked around and could see everyone was carrying a knife. Even Lisa was carrying, and even Henry and Demi had a blade in their pockets, despite carrying guns. Once the bullets dried up, then that was it. It was difficult in this world, or at least the area they were in, to find food and water, so bullets were going to be extremely difficult to come by. Henry used to get his stash of weapons from a guy called Billy Duncan. He was a guy from Wolverhampton. The place was about fifteen miles away, phones weren’t working anymore, and Billy Duncan was probably dead anyway, Henry thought.
Paul went over to the window and looked down to see the dozens of IOs outside. Some were standing still, doing nothing, whilst others were climbing through the windows that had already been smashed through.
Paul looked to his right, where the area was free of the infected, hoping that he’d be able to see Craig and the Audi exiting the car park and eventually driving up Rugeley Road with the horn blaring.
“Any minute now,” Paul said under his breath. “Any minute now. Come on, Craig.”
Chapter Sixty-Eight
The first thing Craig did when he got inside Henry’s Audi was lock the doors and then placed his knife on the passenger seat. He started the engine and paused from moving. He held out his hands and was annoyed at himself that he was shaking so much. Craig’s eyes began to fill and he allowed himself to cry. He decided to get it out of the way before he moved away in the vehicle. He wiped his eyes and began to compose himself.
He thought about his parents, his mum especially, and widened his eyes and cleared his throat. He gave himself a few words of encouragement, took off the parking brake, and pulled away without putting on his seatbelt. He didn’t know what was out there, but at least it looked like the exit of the car park was clear.
Craig crept the vehicle towards the exit, but brought it to a stop once three IOs appeared. His body filled with panic and was unsure whether to drive through the three of them. Henry didn’t want his vehicle damaged, but surely the overall goal was to move the infected away from outside and inside the pub.
“Come on, mate,” he snapped at himself. “Grow some fucking balls.”
He stared out of the windscreen, and the three IOs were still and staring back. This continued for seconds, and then one of the three, a female teenager, ran at the vehicle, snarling.
“Fuck it.”
Craig pulled the car away, quickly going through the gears, and winced as the vehicle was a second away from making impact with the three bodies.
The Audi hit the female, and Craig smacked his head at the side of the car, against the window, as the wheels went over her. He stamped his foot on the accelerator, and the engine screamed out, and hit the other two as he was coming out of the car park and onto the Wolseley Road. His head was thrown forwards as the vehicle made impact, and this time both bodies went onto the bonnet and Craig was temporarily blinded.
He lost control of the vehicle and he was thrown forwards in his seat and then back again. The vehicle came to a halt and at first he thought he had broken his neck. He rubbed the back of his neck, whilst wincing, and then realised the vehicle had come to a stop. He had veered off the road and hit a tree. The Audi was by the two mini roundabouts, and wasn’t far from the entrance of the garden centre. He carefully turned around and still could see the pub, then moved more to look out of the back window and cried at what he could see.
Dozens of IOs were running towards the car from the pub, although not all of them, and the young man shook his head at what was occurring. Craig desperately tried to start the vehicle, but it refused to go.
Every window of the Audi was being slapped as the IOs surrounded it, and Craig screamed out, knowing that he was finished.
“God, no!” he cried. “This can’t be happening!”
The sound was deafening and the frightened young ma
n placed his hands over his ears as cracks in the passenger window began to appear. Wherever he looked there was a sea of faces, and he could see their menacing bloodshot eyes as they growled and gnashed, desperate to get in. Craig gulped and took his hands off of his ears and picked up the knife that had fallen off the passenger seat and was on the floor. He held the blade with his shaky hand and jumped when the passenger window caved in. Arms reached inside and Craig cried out and began stabbing at any hand that got near him.
He kept on stabbing and managed to embed the blade straight through a hand of an infected male in his sixties, but released his grip on the knife as he jumped when the window at his side shattered.
Arms came into the car and half a dozen hands grabbed at Craig’s hair, ears, and one hand was around his throat, the nails digging in. Craig screamed out and tried to wrestle his way out of the grips of the infected, but his struggle was fruitless.
Craig was being slowly pulled out of the car and bites occurred on his cheeks, his left ear, and they even tried to bite the top of his head when his body was halfway out of the vehicle, and his back was cut by the loose bit of glass still in the window as they continued to drag him.
The terrified young man continued to kick out and thrash his arms, but he was outnumbered by over twenty to one, especially now that most of the IOs were around the driver’s side, aware that a raw bloody meal was available.
Craig continued to be pulled and could feel more bites to his face and the back of his legs felt the sharp glass of the window slicing him. Once his whole body was out of the car, he hit the ground with a thump and could see the dozens of faces above him, all getting closer for a bite. Craig knew what was coming and curled himself into a ball.
Seconds had passed and he cried out as his right ear was chewed off, his eyes were gouged out, and two sets of teeth tore into his throat. Blood spewed onto the ground and the young man was dead by the time his meaty tongue was pulled out and began to be chewed on. Thankfully, he never witnessed his own disembowelment, and was left alone a minute after his heart had stopped beating.