She was convinced, however, that it was only a matter of time before they began stumbling their way up, following her trail. She still didn't understand too much about them; the only information she had was what she briefly saw on the television. She wasn't aware if they followed movement, or if they could actually pick up a scent the way animals did. She didn't have the answer, but she was aware there was a brook up ahead and that the first thing she was going to do was walk in it.
The two reasons she wanted to do this was to cool her body down—she was perspiring heavily and had no water on her. The other reason was to throw off a possible scent in case their instincts told them to enter further into the woods. Of course, she was unsure whether this would do any good and if it would slow down their progression, but she thought it couldn't do any harm. She had seen it many times in the movies before, where the bloodhounds were chasing the escaped prisoner, so she thought that it was worth a shot.
She went by a huge tree and pushed the branches back, and once she got onto the clear, dirt path, she saw two figures standing ten yards from her. She broke down when she saw her father and her step-sister, Kelly, holding hands and welcoming Karen with a warm smile.
That was the only part of the dream that never actually happened in reality, and before the dream could progress, and before Karen could ask the two of them why they were standing in the middle of the woods and were not back at home in Glasgow, barricaded in, trying to survive, she released a yelp as she quickly came out of her dream.
She was disorientated and shot up to find a hand on her shoulder.
Chapter Nine
"I thought you said it was near." asked Jack. "We should have been there hours ago."
Vince stopped walking and put his hands on his hips. "There're too many trees. I can't get my bearings."
Jack mockingly snickered, "Too many trees? We're in the woods." Jack then puffed out a breath of annoyance. "I'm sure we passed the same place twice. It's as if we've gone round in a circle."
"It's hard to tell when you don't have a compass, or you can't see the sun." Vince then began to scratch his behind, through his trousers. "My arse is itching off."
Jack was annoyed. He had spent a few days in the woods, and it almost killed him, until he came across the factory and was taken in by Johnny after climbing the fence onto the grounds. "You do realise we're gonna have to sleep in here tonight, don't you?" The last thing Jack wanted, was another night in the woods, but his body needed rest. "I'm exhausted and you look dead on your feet. We can try again tomorrow."
Vince turned and stared at Jack as if he had lost his mind. "Sleep? In here?"
"Yes. We don't have much of a choice."
"You nervous?" asked Vince.
Jack nodded honestly. "Yeah, but I've done this before, on my own."
"So how did you sleep? Did you sleep?"
"Exhaustion usually wins in the end," explained Jack, and began chewing the dead skin on his little finger. "I once fell asleep in the woods for nine hours. I had no one to watch my back as I tried to keep awake for as long as I could, for fear of being eaten."
Vince shook his head. "Fuck that. I would have climbed a tree or something."
"I thought about it." Jack smiled and added, "But if you fall out and break a bone, you're in trouble. You break a bone these days, you're as good as fucked because of the defunct hospitals, especially if it's your leg. Shit," Jack guffawed, "even appendicitis can probably kill us now."
"I'm not looking forward to my next toothache."
"A pair off pliers will sort that out." Jack began to laugh, but Vince shuddered at the thought of it, and thought about the things he used to take for granted.
"But those thing don't come into the woods, right? There's nothing here for them."
"True," Jack nodded, "but you still come across the odd one."
"They're all fucking odd, Jack."
Laughed Jack, "We'll be fine tonight. We'll just take turns on watch. At least we're here to watch each other's back. And we haven't come across a single one yet, have we?"
"I suppose." Vince was unsure, and the thought of sleeping in the woods irked him a little, but he was trying to stay cool. It was only him and Jack; he didn't have much of an audience left, but he still wanted to look serene under pressure. He took a look in Jack's way and the forty-nine-year-old could see that Jack knew he was nervous.
Was being nervous a sign of weakness? It was just a normal human response, wasn't it? Vince was just a forklift driver over a month ago, so why did he feel the need to be the tough guy?
Said Jack, "I'll let you go for a sleep first. Four hours each."
"I'm not sure I'd be able to sleep at all," admitted Vince.
"What's the matter? You feel a little vulnerable without your camp and your shotgun?" There was no mocking with Jack, he was also nervous. It was a genuine question, and Vince knew this by the sound of Jack's voice.
"This is the first time I've done this. So, yes, if I'm being honest, my bum is a little bit squeaky at the moment." Vince then sighed and looked around the area they were in. "I still can't believe we haven't come across any stray branches."
"Well, we did."
"Yeah, but not ones thick enough to take one of those things down."
"Right, I'll go first then," said Jack. "By the time it's your turn it'll be after five in the morning."
Vince agreed with no reluctance, as he felt he was too spooked to try and drop off anyway. He stared at Jack, and saw him lean his head back against the trunk of the tree and close his eyes.
Three minutes later he was asleep.
*
Jack's eyes quickly widened, reacting to the shaking of his body. He gaped at Vince, then looked around to confirm that he was in the woods, and the realisation of the hospital disaster and why he was sleeping in the woods in the first place had hit him.
Jack asked, "What is it?"
"I think I heard something. In fact, I know I heard something." It was clear that Vince was a little anxious, and Jack slowly stood his aching legs up. He looked at the watch that Vince had gave him back at the camp, and cussed. "Fuck's sake, I've only been out for about an hour. Where was this noise?"
Vince pointed. "Up ahead."
Jack inspected the ground for rocks or anything else that could cave a head in, but it was impossible to see. It was after two in the morning, the trees were hiding most of the light that the sky had to offer, and Jack's eyes were still sticky and he had to give them a vigorous rub to achieve better vision.
Both men's ears pricked up when a rustle in the trees was heard up ahead. They glared at one another, uncertain what their next move should be. Jack scanned around the dusky area they were in, anticipating the silhouette, or silhouettes, of creatures that could come stumbling their way. They waited patiently, but nothing came.
Jack turned to Vince. "Maybe it was just an animal."
"Maybe." Vince shrugged his shoulders. "Let's wait a few more minutes."
Whispered Jack, "I'm not going to go back to sleep now, and neither will you. I suggest we keep on walking. We can kind of see in front of us, and it's only going to get lighter."
Vince's look told Jack that he was unsure of Jack's plan, and would rather wait until it became clearer. Vince held out his hand. "After you."
With no hesitation, Jack walked on and Vince followed behind. It appeared to Jack that with a gun in his hand, Vince could be as vicious as they come, he proved that by gunning down Johnny Jefferson after he was bit, and he wasn't shy when it came to putting down the Rotters. But Jack thought that if you stick forty-nine-year-old Vince Kindl in alien territory, in the middle of the woods, with no weapon, it appeared that he was no different from anyone else. He was frightened, and because of Jack's experience of staying in the woods for days, it seemed that the leadership role had been given to Jack, even though Vince was supposed to be the one who knew where they were going.
The sound was heard again, which made both men stop in the
ir tracks. Jack crouched down and waited for whatever was behind the huge shrubs, straight in front of them, to come out.
Vince didn't understand why Jack crouched. Maybe it was to make himself look smaller, more invisible, but he did the same and both men held their breath as if they were certain that whatever was behind the shrubs was eventually going to appear.
Another rustle could be heard, speeding up the hearts of both men, and Vince could feel a sneeze coming on. As his nose began experiencing the familiar tickling sensation, he blocked both nostrils off with his hand and tried to muffle the sneeze as best as he could. In normal circumstances, it was something he could have got away with. But in the suffocating silence, the small noise was still produced and a large entity darted out of the shrubs, causing both men to yell out in fright.
Their eyes followed the four-legged creature that shot off into the trees to their right, and then they both looked at one another, relieved, but also a tad embarrassed of their reaction.
"Fuck me," laughed Vince. "You nearly filled your pants there, Jackie Boy."
"I filled my pants?" Jack looked confused. "You screamed like a girl."
"You screamed a lot louder than me. Anyway, I had a pain in my calf with all that crouching."
"Pussy."
"Whatever, but when we get back to the camp, I won't tell anyone you crapped yourself over a deer. It was a deer, wasn't it?"
Jack nodded, and spoke with a more seriousness in his voice. "I think we have bigger things to worry about when we get back to the camp, Vince."
Vince lowered his head. "I know. We need to think of a story on how we lost the two trucks, as well as Claire and Paul."
Jack shook his head and placed his hand on Vince's shoulder. "No story; we tell them the truth."
"But how can they accept me as a leader if I've fucked up?"
"You didn't mess up. We got jumped by armed men. It happens. So stop trying to protect this hard reputation that you don't even have, and tell them the fucking truth. Jesus, you're worse than a politician."
Vince smacked Jack's hand off of his shoulder, gritted his teeth and snarled, only a yard from his face, "I could hit you right now."
Jack smiled and never blinked as both men were face-to-face. "Go ahead. But I can give as good as I get."
Vince glared at Jack, but no words left his mouth.
Jack laughed, "Let's find this cabin before I die of thirst."
Chapter Ten
"For fuck's sake. I nearly shat myself!" yelled Karen.
She rubbed her eyes and saw that it was Harry Branston that had woken her. He was now staring at her and shaking his head. She looked around, still confused, and once realisation kicked in, she said, "Oops, I must have nodded off."
If Pickle was angry, he never showed it to Karen. He sat down next to her and gazed out from the top of the hill, under the dark blue sky of the early Sunday morning. "It's not the best decision yer ever had, but what's done is done."
Karen tried to explain, feeling a little silly, "It wasn't my intention to nod off. I couldn't sleep, so I left the place and decided to get some air. I was all wound up with everything that has been happening. I must have been more tired than I thought."
Pickle added, "I woke up myself when I heard Shaz talking in her sleep. When I saw the gate was left slightly ajar, I went out and saw this familiar human shape lying on the grass."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. But let's keep this to ourselves. I don't want to worry Wolf by telling him that yer slept on the hill while leaving the gate wide open. Not too sure he'll like that too much. It's our secret." He nudged Karen playfully, and could see that Karen had something on her mind. It was dark, but it wasn't dark enough to hide the angst on her face. "What is it?"
It seemed to take an age for Karen to give her good friend an answer. She gulped and spoke nervously as if she was a teenager about to tell her father something serious. "I'm....pregnant."
"Took yer long enough," Pickle cackled.
"What?"
"I already know. Wolf told me yesterday; I was waiting on yer telling me."
"You knew?"
"Yes."
Karen then felt awful that Pickle wasn't the first to know. After what they had both gone through, it seemed disrespectful that an old man they hardly knew had this information before him. Karen tried to explain, "I didn't tell Wolf, he guessed. I was going to tell you, but with you all beaten up and losing your finger..."
"He tells me yer don't want it."
Sighed Karen, "I don't know what I want." She could feel herself getting emotional and wondered if it was her hormones making her feel this way. "Like Wolf said, I suppose it's the only part of Gary I have left."
"I'll look after yer." Pickle threw his arm around her and kissed her cheek.
Feeling that she was ready to cry, Karen asked, "Will you?"
"I'll make sure nothing hurts yer."
"I don't want you to be one of these people who starts nagging at me when I pick something up, or if we run into one of those things and I need to take it out."
"While we're up here, I think our Snatcher-slaying days have diminished. With your pregnancy, this temporarily safe cabin, it feels as if it was planned."
"By God?"
"I know yer don't believe, but, yeah, why not?" Pickle then sighed, "Of course, if people start making their way up here..."
Ignoring his last remark, Karen cussed, "Fuck, I'm dreading childbirth."
Pickle began to laugh and brought Karen closer to him.
Karen continued, "I'm serious. No morphine. No epidural. I've seen women on every drug under the sun and still use words that would make your toes curl. And what if I lose too much blood? I could actually die in childbirth. God, it's like the fucking dark ages. I'm gonna be lying on my back, blood everywhere, biting on one of Wolf's wooden spoons."
Pickle thought that Karen's rant was rather funny, but he could tell by her face that she wasn't joking at all. She was genuinely scared. He said with calm in his voice, "We've got months before that day arrives. Me and Shaz can get a vehicle and go on a run, get some medical stuff they use for childbirth. What would I need?"
"Fuck, I don't know. I'm a nurse, not a midwife." Karen began to think for a few seconds, and then said, "Sterile and non-sterile gloves. Probably need stuff to clean and wrap the instruments, torch, sharps container, bottle of alcohol, forceps, thermometer, cord clamp cutter. I suppose you're right. We have plenty of time for that."
"Yes we do." Pickle stopped staring at Karen and looked back out at the view. He took a deep breath in, enjoying his fourth week of freedom from prison, despite the chaos that was around them.
Karen released a short laugh, that was sarcastic more than anything else, and she spoke with negativity in her voice. "Don't worry about it; I might not even make it in a few more months."
"Yes yer will." There was a little anger in Pickle's voice, and she immediately regretted her self-pitying remark. "Don't start thinking like that."
"I would like to stay here the night," said Karen. "Wanna snuggle me? It's cold, but we can hug one another."
"Yer insane." Pickle then thought that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Nothing could get up the hill; he had seen them crawl stairs before, back in the house they had to flee in Hazelslade, but it depended on the incline. As proved over the weeks, the hill was too much for them, and the only thing he would need to worry about was the insects that lived in the ground.
"I'm sick of that cabin. I just want to sleep somewhere different tonight. This hill is proved to be safe, and even if one of those things could get up, we'd hear it anyway."
"Fine." Pickle stood to his feet.
"Where're you going?" she asked.
"I'm gonna get a blanket. I'm also gonna bolt the gate from the inside and climb over. If Wolf sees that the gate has been left unlocked, he won't be too happy."
Pickle began to walk to the cabin area and turned around. "I'll be two minutes."
&
nbsp; "Okay." Karen yelled to him, "But if you start snoring, I'll punch your cock."
"Charming."
Chapter Eleven
It was getting lighter and the two exhausted men trudged through the greenery, now with their tired feet scraping through the area, and as Jack looked ahead, he raised a smile and slapped Vince on the chest.
Vince, who was walking by the side of Jack snapped out of his daydream and yawned. "What am I looking at?"
"The trees seem to be thinning out."
Vince asked, bemused, "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, we're either coming to the end of the woods, or there's a road up ahead."
"At last." Vince bent down and picked up a club, but immediately dropped it once his hands touched the dark, sticky stuff attached to it. "Ew."
"Already been used?"
Vince nodded. "Someone has been here. But why leave the club?"
"Maybe they were armed to their teeth. Maybe the loss of the club was hardly an inconvenience for them." Jack walked over and said, "If you don't want it, I'll take it."
Jack picked the club up, and then dropped it himself once he saw most of it was covered in blood. "On second thoughts."
"There must be a body around."
Vince and Jack could now hear the sound of flies buzzing, and Vince pointed to his left. Both men peeked at a pair of legs lying in the bracken, and Jack was the first to take a walk over. He pulled some of the bracken away which disturbed the dozens of flies, to reveal a Rotter with its head smashed in—a familiar sight for the forty-year-old. It was in sports attire and used to be a male human being. Jack lifted his T-shirt over his nose. They both looked at the maggot-ridden face and Vince asked, "I wonder what happened to the assassin of this thing?"
Jack never answered and lifted his head as if he could hear something. "I hear running water, Vince."
Snatchers: Volume Two (The Zombie Apocalypse Series Box Set--Books 4-6) Page 5