by Smith, I. J.
“Ben, you’re an asshole!” she simply stated.
Laughter broke out in the room once again, Sarah took Raven’s hand and together they left the room and headed for the kitchen.
In the kitchen, people sat around a large wooden table. Knives, large bars of metal, and hammers were laid out upon the table. There were a few young children in the kitchen, along with a woman who stood making sandwiches. The children were waiting for the woman to hand them the sandwiches.
“We’ve got a new friend!” Sarah announced, as she entered the kitchen with Raven.
A man with long greasy hair, a scar across his face and wearing a black leather jacket approached Sarah and Raven.
“Sarah, where the hell have you been?” he asked.
“Aww, did you worry about me?” Sarah replied.
Sarah stroked his face as she smiled.
“It’s not safe out there!” he replied.
“Raven, meet Randy. The poor bastard works here and was leaving when all hell broke loose,” Sarah said, introducing them.
Raven smiled and nodded her head as Sarah walked to the table, putting her machete on the table.
“Do we have some ointment and bandages?” Sarah asked.
The woman making the sandwiches stopped and opened a side cabinet pulling out a first aid box.
Raven looked at the woman holding the first aid box. She was a slim, naturally pretty woman and had long dreadlocked brown hair. She wore jeans and a t-shirt, and was walking around barefoot.
Sarah took the first aid kit from the woman, “Raven, this is Rain!” she told her.
Raven looked puzzled. “Rain?” she asked.
“Yeah, as in the wet stuff that falls from the sky,” Sarah replied.
Rain smiled. “I’m a free spirit!” she laughed.
The kids began to run around the kitchen. “Now stop it, we have work to do,” Rain told the kids.
Raven sat down in a kitchen chair, as Sarah went to work patching up her foot.
“We have plenty of clean clothes and trainers’ upstairs. Randy go fetch her some!” Rain ordered him.
Randy rolled his eyes. “What size shoes?” he asked.
“Err, a six please,” Raven replied in a mousey voice.
“I see you’re a Doctor!” Rain said to Raven.
Raven looked down at her scrubs, “Oh, no, I’m just a nurse!” she replied.
Rain burst out laughing. “So, you do all the work then!” she stated.
Sarah started laughing also, Raven was feeling even safer and began laughing with them.
Rain held out a plate of sandwiches and a glass of milk, “Here sweetie, you eat this and build your strength up.” Rain told her.
“Thank you, so much!” Raven quickly replied.
Sarah let go of Raven’s foot, “There. Not perfect, but better than nothing!” she said.
Raven smiled as she looked at the badly tied bandage on her foot.
Randy re-appeared with fresh clothes and a pair of white trainers.
“You can get changed in there,” Randy said, pointing to a small laundry room.
Raven stood up and went into the laundry room, to get changed.
As Raven was changing, a loud banging noise echoed out. Sarah burst into the laundry room.
“Come on, we need to go now!” Sarah said in a panic.
Quickly pushing the trainers on, Raven rushed out, with Sarah to join the rest of the people.
Sarah was bolting the main door to the kitchen, gunshots echoed out.
“Oh, who is that shooting?” Raven asked.
“Soldiers!” Rain replied as she hurried the children through the back door.
Raven looked worried, “Why would soldiers be shooting?” she asked.
Randy grabbed her arm, “They are shooting people, I don’t really wanna stop to ask why,” he told her as he dragged her out the door.
Sarah was about to follow them, when the door suddenly shattered into a thousand pieces, bullets smashed through the door and bounced around the room. A large bald man pushed his hand inside the shattered door to open the bolt. Sarah grabbed the machete and swung it at the man’s arm, cutting his hand clean off. Blood sprayed throughout the air, and another man started firing his gun again, this time Sarah ran through the back door.
Randy had guided everyone across the golf course and back towards the water’s edge. There was a small dock, and at the end of it a small boat.
“Quickly, get on board!” he told Raven.
Randy stood and watched for Sarah.
“COME ON!” Randy shouted at Sarah.
“GO!” Sarah shouted.
Randy stood his ground, then in the distance he could see soldiers chasing Sarah. Randy rushed to the boat and started the engine. Sarah ran along the dock and jumped on board, a moment later bullets flew through the air. Everyone ducked down as Randy pulled the throttle to full speed and sped off.
Safely down the water way, Raven looked at helicopters and jets that flew overhead, she was shocked to see Gosport burning, bombs were being dropped on a once peaceful town.
“Oh my God!” Raven said, sadly.
“I don’t think God is interested,” Sarah replied.
With Randy at the controls, the boat continued to speed down the waterway.
CHAPTER THREE
WAR ZONE
The white speed-boat was speeding through the water. Randy stood, steering the boat along the water way. Rain was sitting with the three children, the kids looked scared. Raven and Sarah sat at the back of the boat talking.
“What the hell was that back there?” Raven asked.
Sarah looked seriously at Raven. “What was the last thing you saw?” Sarah asked in reply.
“I was with a police officer, we were heading out of Gosport, but as we were headed past the bridge the soldiers stopped us. Before we knew it, they were firing their weapons and those dead things attacked,” Raven said with a shaky voice.
Raven took a deep breath and continued, “He...The police officer died, the only way to escape was to jump into the water,” Raven finished.
Sarah took her hand and gave a small smile, “Well, you did the right thing. Last night the soldiers were overrun by the dead, soon after the soldiers started shooting everyone. I guess they could not tell the difference between the living and the dead!” Sarah told her.
Raven shook her head in disgrace. “It’s a joke!” she replied.
The boat continued speeding down the waterway; towards the inlet that would take them to the open sea. Suddenly, Randy slowed the boat down. Sarah and Raven rushed to join him.
“Why are we slowing down?” Sarah asked.
“Because of that!” Randy said, pointing straight ahead.
Looking ahead they could see the danger, a large navy ship sat in the middle of the inlet, blocking any boats from passing.
They watched as several boats attempted to pass the ship, when a voice on a loudspeaker echoed through the air.
“STOP! YOU ARE FORBIDDEN TO PASS! TURN BACK!” A voice ordered from the ship.
With the boats ignoring the warning, a second warning was issued.
“STOP! THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!” The voice continued.
The boats continued to move forward, when suddenly a series of loud cannon shots sounded out. They watched as the boats were fired upon, the shells ripping through the boats like they were nothing but paper. No one survived.
“We need to get out of here!” Sarah screeched.
“WHERE?” Randy shouted.
Raven moved forward to Randy, “We need to get back on land, so get us over to the shore. The Explosion museum is close to here, it has large metal gates. We can hide there for now,” she told Randy.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Sarah asked.
Raven looked at the kids and then turned back to Sarah. “It’s safer than staying here. I have lived in Gosport my entire life. It is the only place we can head too,” Raven replied.
Sarah
looked at Randy and nodded her head, indicating to him to do what Raven suggested.
Randy steered the boat towards the shoreline, he got as close as he could to allow everyone to climb off. Randy had no choice but to abandon the boat and leave it to drift away. He stood watching as the boat floated off.
Sarah led the way as the group disappeared into the bushes that surrounded the shore.
As they moved away and towards the Explosion museum, they found themselves suddenly confronted by two soldiers.
“DON’T MOVE!” A male voice shouted.
Both soldiers stood pointing their guns directly at them.
Holding her machete, Sarah shouted, “FUCK OFF!”
Rain had to hold Sarah back who was only too happy to attack the soldiers.
Raven grabbed Sarah too, “I got this,” she whispered to her.
Raven turned to the soldiers, “Please, you don’t have to do this. I am sure we can arrange something,” she said with a smile.
One of the soldiers started to lower his gun.
“What you got in mind?” he asked.
Raven moved towards the soldiers, suddenly she took her shirt off, revealing her perfectly shaped breasts.
“Fuck yeah!” one of the soldiers shouted.
She approached them, placing her arms around one of them. She started kissing the man, Sarah watched in disgust. Suddenly the soldier screamed out, Raven bit through his lip. The soldier pushed himself away; Raven spat a lump of flesh from her mouth. Blood ran down her body, the other soldier raised his gun again. Raven rushed him, kicking him hard in the groin. The soldier fell to the ground screaming in pain. Raven grabbed his gun and pointed at the soldiers, Sarah grabbed the second gun and joined her.
“If you follow us we will fucking kill you!” Sarah ordered them.
Putting her shirt back on, Raven walked away with the others.
“You are one mean bitch!” Sarah told Raven.
“You have no idea!” Raven replied.
The group continued their journey to the museum.
CHAPTER FOUR
EXPLOSION
The small group made their way carefully towards the museum. Raven led the way; Sarah was impressed by what she had seen from her so far.
“That was quick thinking back there!” Sarah said.
Raven glanced at Sarah, “Men are easy to control, they think with their dicks!” she replied.
Sarah broke out laughing.
Rain and Randy still stayed close to the children, Rain took it upon herself to protect them. As they passed a large group of bushes, a young boy rushed to pick a pretty red flower from the grass. Suddenly a hand grabbed a young girl; everyone turned to look as she screamed. A zombie appeared through the bush, its eyes were dead and it pushed the girl to the ground attempting to bite her. Sarah and Raven rushed over to help, Sarah driving her machete through its head. As the zombie slumped to the ground, the girl kept crying.
“You need to keep her quiet!” Raven told them.
“TOO LATE!” Randy shouted.
Raven and Sarah turned to see a small horde of zombies approaching them.
“SHIT! WE’VE GOT TO RUN!” Raven shouted.
Randy picked up a child, Raven grabbed a child and Rain also grabbed a child. Sarah led the way with her machete at the ready and they all ran as fast as their legs could take them.
As they, the groaning of the zombies chasing them kept them moving. Sarah still carried the gun she took from the soldiers; she let the others pass her. Stopping she raised the gun, aiming it at the oncoming zombies. Without fear she began to fire, bullets flew into the zombies, smashing through their bodies. Flesh and blood exploded from the bodies. Sarah emptied the gun, dropped it on the ground and ran to catch up with the others.
Raven stood holding a child; standing outside a large metal gate. It was chained and locked around the gateway.
“SHIT!” Raven screamed out.
Rain rushed to the gate.
“CLIMB!” She told the child.
Raven pushed another other child up, Randy quickly followed, pushing the child he carried up. Rain and Randy quickly scaled the gate and rushed over the top in time to help the children down.
Raven stood with her gun, ready and waiting for Sarah to join them. As Sarah rushed towards them, Raven shouted, “GET OVER THE GATE NOW!”
Raven stepped forward and began shooting to cover Sarah, but there were too many zombies coming at them.
Suddenly a male voice shouted behind them.
“Quickly in here!” he told them.
Sarah could see a young man undoing the lock on the gate and gesturing for them to hurry inside.
Raven and Sarah rushed through the gates, but a zombie managed to grab Raven’s arm and tried to bite her. She attempted to push it away, but was unable to. Eventually several more zombies appeared all shoving against the still opened gate.
Sarah swung her machete, chopping off the arm of the zombie holding Raven.
The rest of the zombies pushed their way through the gate, the young man was attempted to push it shut, but found he was face to face with them. Suddenly he felt a bite into his shoulder, and screamed as the zombie tore the flesh from his body.
As the young man was screaming in pain, Raven moved to help him but felt herself pulled back by Sarah.
“IT’S TOO LATE!” Sarah shouted.
Rain, Randy and the children were running towards the main entrance of the museum.
Sarah grabbed Raven’s hand and pulled her along, rushing to catch up to the others.
The zombies followed, but the group managed to get inside and lock the doors before they reached them.
CHAPTER FIVE
HELP US!
Everyone stood inside a large hall, Raven looked at the older woman with gratitude. Sarah walked around looking at the dozens of children sitting on the floor playing games. A tear came to her eye. She was thinking to herself how innocent they looked, unaware of what was going on outside.
A little girl with long red hair sat on the floor playing with a small teddy bear. Sarah crouched down beside her.
“Hi, what’s his name?” Sarah asked, pointing to the teddy.
The girl gave a wide smile, she had a tooth missing and with the prettiest voice replied, “This is Bob, and he is my friend.”
Sarah had to hold back her tears.
“My name is Ally,” The young girl said.
“I’m Sarah and it’s lovely to meet you!” Sarah replied.
The old woman began speaking to Rain. “The kids are welcome to go play. We have some food and juice over there on the table.”
With a smile, Rain thanked the woman and took the kids to get something to eat and drink.
Sarah re-joined Raven and Randy.
“Thank you for your help,” Raven told the old woman.
“I am Raven, and this is Sarah and Randy,” Raven added.
“I’m Joyce,” the old woman replied.
Raven looked around making sure no children could hear them.
“You’re the only adult here?” Raven asked.
Joyce with a tired look on her face, she sat down on a nearby chair.
“There were more of us, but one by one they left. There was a Caretaker, but he went out to let you through the gates,” Joyce replied.
“I’m so sorry,” Randy said.
“Just one day ago we were here for a school trip. Now, I don’t know what is happening!” Joyce said with a shaky voice.
Sarah glanced at Raven, unsure what to say. Sarah was shocked when Raven spoke.
“Shit. The world has gone to shit! Yesterday I was a nurse, I was a healer. Then the dead came back to life and tried to eat me. Then, the soldiers who are meant to protect us tried to kill me. Today, I woke up in mud, more soldiers tried to kill me, and I watched as the Military bombed my home town and destroyed any boat attempting to leave!” Raven spoke in angrily.
Joyce looked at Raven in shock.
“OH!”
Joyce simply uttered.
Joyce looked around the hall and started to cry.
“I don’t know what to do!” she said, with tears rolling down her face.
Sarah looked determined.
“We will keep these kids safe. We will keep them fed, and we will give them a future!” Sarah replied firmly.
The sudden sound of smashing glass echoed out and then banging and groaning against the heavy front door began. Children began to scream in fear.
“We need to get everyone out, now!” Sarah said firmly.
Randy was quick to react, “And go where?” he asked.
Raven remained quiet while they argued. She looked lost in thought.
“The bus. You’re on a school trip, so there must be a bus?” Raven asked.
Joyce looked up, “Yes, on the other side of the building. But we have no driver!” Joyce replied.
Randy stopped arguing with Sarah.
“I can drive it!” Randy stated.
Raven smiled, “Then we have a plan!” she replied.
With the bashing against the doors getting louder, they wasted no time gathering the food and drink and grouping the children together.
Sarah stood at the rear end of the hall, in front of two double fire exit doors, gripping her machete firmly.
Randy had pulled a metal pipe from the wall to use as a weapon. Raven helped Joyce and Rain to keep the children calm.
“OK! ARE WE READY?” Sarah shouted out.
Raven stood behind all the children, Randy handed her a metal pole to use.
Joyce joined Sarah at the front, to lead them all to the bus.
“In case anything happens, I wanted to say thank you!” Joyce told Sarah.
Sarah smiled and glanced around at the children, she took notice of Ally standing their gripping Bob the teddy bear.
“LET’S GO!” Sarah shouted.
The doors flew open and the sun shined in, the bus was parked at the far end of the car park.
Sarah led the way and rushed outside with the others following her. The gates were now wide open and a swarm of zombies came toward them. A fat man with dead eyes and his arm missing rushed at Sarah.