by Wood, J N
‘What’s happening?’ Beth asked as I passed Max into her outstretched hands.
I was about to answer when a high pitched screeching sounded. I quickly stood up, painfully banging the back of my head on the inside of the car. With both my hands rubbing my head, I watched as the Mazda spun around, still careering towards the jeep. A deafening crash rang out as the back of it connected with the front of the jeep. The back wheels of the Mazda left the ground as it violently twisted and spun in the opposite direction. The jeep mirrored the Mazda, spinning around in the opposite direction. Shards of metal, plastic and glass flew in every direction.
‘Jesus fucking Christ,’ I muttered.
‘Alison, what are you doing?’ Sandra whispered close to me, as metal and tyres crashed into the road in the distance.
I felt a hand shove me out of the way, towards the front of the car.
‘Get in and drive!’ Sandra shouted, her demeanour changing within seconds.
I dragged my eyes away from the spectacular and devastating collision still happening in the distance, to see Sandra heaving Seth into the back of the car. She spun around to face me, tears in her eyes.
‘We have to go Chris,’ she shouted. ‘There’s another vehicle. Ali is trying to save us.’
I didn’t bother looking for the other vehicle, presumably another army jeep. I quickly slipped into the driver’s seat and turned the engine on.
Save us? Fucking save us? I get what she’s doing, but that’s a bit fucking extreme isn’t it? She might have just killed herself and Theo. If the army caught us they might just put us into one of the camps.
The last door closed and I put my foot down. Pete groaned as he was pressed against the rear windscreen. The Golf didn’t like this amount of people inside it. It wasn’t giving me a great deal of power.
‘The other jeep has stopped next to Ali and Theo’s car,’ Theo said, his voice a few octaves higher than normal.
‘What’s going on?’ one of the boys screamed.
‘Take the next right,’ Jack quickly said.
‘What happened to Ali and Theo?’ Beth asked.
‘It’s just a visitor centre Jack,’ I said, ignoring Beth’s question. ‘They might see us turn.’
‘Just take it,’ Jack shouted.
‘Mommy,’ all three of the boys seemed to cry in unison.
We were going too fast to take the corner comfortably, so everyone groaned, pressed against the side of the car, or the person next to them. In the distance, two yellow barriers blocked our path to the visitor centre’s building.
‘Well?’ I asked Jack.
‘Just before those trees,’ Jack shouted, pointing to a section of woodland to the left of the barriers. ‘There’s a road. Drive down there and find somewhere to hide.’
‘What do you mean?’ Find somewhere to hide. Hide where?’ I slowed down so the turn would be more bearable for everybody.
‘In the woods somewhere,’ Jack said. ‘We need to go back on foot and make sure Ali and Theo are okay.’
‘Yes,’ Sandra said, trying and failing to keep her voice calm. ‘We need to go back.’
I drove slowly along the dirt track for about a minute, before an opening in the trees appeared on our right. I slammed on the brake, the car skidding a few feet on the loose stones under the tyres. I reversed us into the gap. We weren’t visible from the main road, but if anyone came looking for us in the woods we would be easy to spot.
‘This will have to do,’ Jack said, peering out through his window at the minimal cover the trees were giving us.
‘Let’s go,’ Sandra said, opening one of the back doors.
‘You should stay with the boys,’ Pete told her.
‘Ali is my sister,’ Sandra said.
‘Sandra,’ Pete said, and then flicked his eyes down towards the kids, sat on Sandra’s, Beth’s and Roy’s laps. All three of them looked terrified. Their eyes seemed to have doubled in size.
Sandra slumped into her seat in resignation.
‘Okay,’ Jack said. ‘Just me and Chris go and find out what they’re doing.’
‘No,’ Pete said defiantly. ‘I’m coming too.’
‘Okay. Just the three of us,’ Jack agreed. ‘Chris, grab your binoculars.’
‘Can someone let me out please?’ Pete asked.
I picked up The Smasher, wedged between the car door and my seat. ‘Hang on a sec Pete. I’ll let you out.’
‘You won’t need your bat,’ Jack said. ‘There aren’t any zombies here.’
‘I never leave the house without it,’ I told him, and climbed out of the car.
The roof of the visitor centre was visible through the trees. The three of us ran towards it. My eyes were constantly looking for camouflage clad soldiers appearing from behind the branches.
‘There’s a hill behind the visitor centre,’ Jack said. ‘We should be able to see them from up there.’
We ran around the back of the visitor centre, keeping one eye constantly on the road, making sure we were out of sight. When we were halfway up the hill, we found a gap in the bushes. I raised the binoculars to my eyes, panning across from where we’d turned onto the 5A and eventually finding the site of the crash.
I let out a long sigh of relief when I spotted Ali and Theo. They were both down on their knees outside the Mazda, their hands behind their heads. Three people stood guard, their rifles aimed at our friends. If they were soldiers, they weren’t the camouflage wearing type. They were wearing bright yellow body suits. Everything was covered, including their heads.
‘What is it Chris?’ Pete asked impatiently. ‘What’s happening?’
I passed him the binoculars, thinking it would be easier and quicker for him to just look for himself.
‘Oh thank God for that,’ Pete said, sounding relieved. ‘They look okay. Definitely alive at least.’ He passed the binoculars over to Jack. He’d been waving his hand at Pete for the last twenty seconds.
‘I can’t see the other jeep that was there before,’ Jack said, moving the binoculars from left to right. ‘Nope, not there. Do you think they followed us?’
‘Fuck knows,’ I replied. ‘Maybe they took their injured back or something.’
‘The Mazda and military jeep are completely fucked,’ Jack said, still peering through the binoculars. ‘I’m amazed Ali and Theo are able to support themselves. There’s not much left of the back end of their car.’
A white box van appeared on the road to our right, coming from the direction we were planning on going. On the side of the van there was a large orange and black biological hazard logo.
‘Well,’ I said. ‘It’s pretty obvious what that van transports.’
‘Yep,’ Jack agreed. ‘It got some kind of hazardous substance logo on the side of it.’
‘Thanks Jack,’ I said. ‘We can see that without the binoculars. That’s why I made the comment about it being pretty obvious.’
Jack lowered the binoculars to take a look unaided. ‘Oh yeah,’ he muttered.
The van pulled up alongside Ali and Theo, blocking them from sight.
‘What’s happening Jack?’ Pete asked.
‘Not sure. I can’t see them at the moment. The back doors of the van have just opened. The yellow guys with guns are stepping backwards. Oh, hang on. Ali and Theo are on their feet. They seem to be walking okay. Theo has a bit of a limp. They’re going to the back of the van. Yep, they both went in the back of the van.’ Jack passed the binoculars back to Pete, who instantly raised them to his eyes.
‘What do we do now?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Jack said. ‘Follow them somehow?’
‘The van has turned around,’ Pete said. ‘It’s going back the way it came.’
‘It can’t have come from far away,’ Jack said. ‘It’s not been that long. Wherever they came from must be really close actually. What’s it been? Fifteen minutes?’
‘Yeah maybe,’ I replied.
We watched the van drive around the
bend and disappear behind the trees.
‘The three yellow people are just walking back towards Merritt,’ Pete said. ‘You’d think someone would come and pick them up?’
‘Let’s get back to the car,’ Jack suggested.
‘Where do you think they’re taking them?’ Pete asked as we made our way around the visitor centre again and back into the woodland.
‘Don’t know mate,’ I said. ‘Hopefully to one of the internment camps.’
‘What does that mean?’ Pete asked. ‘We need to get them back.’
‘Quiet,’ Jack hissed, ducking down and sidestepping so he was up against a tree. ‘Hide.’
I crouched down and spun around, looking for whatever spooked Jack. ‘What?’ I asked him. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘By the car,’ he whispered.
I slowly raised my head, inch by inch I got higher and higher.
‘Stay down,’ Jack suddenly said, making me immediately drop back down. I noticed Pete doing the same.
‘I can’t see anything,’ I told Jack.
‘There are two, maybe three of those yellow people around our car,’ Jack said, a panic stricken expression on his face.
‘Did they see us?’ I asked.
‘Don’t think so,’ he replied.
‘Did you see any of our lot down there?’ I asked.
Jack shook his head. He started to take a series of deep breaths, before slowly turning to face me. ‘Right,’ he said. ‘I’m going to go and get Beth.’ He pushed himself off the tree at his back and slowly stood up.
I grabbed his arm and dragged him back down. 'What the fuck? Let’s get a better look at what’s happening first.’
He pulled his hand away and started to stand up again. ‘No, I have to get her.’
‘I can’t see them,’ Pete said. ‘They’re not in the car.’
‘Where are they?’ Jack asked, lowering himself down and peering through the branches.
‘Jack,’ Pete said, frustration creeping into his voice. ‘I don’t know. I can’t see them.’
‘Fuck,’ Jack whispered, slamming the palms of his hands into the ground. ‘I shouldn’t have left her.’ Beads of sweat were quickly forming and rolling down his forehead.
‘Calm down Jack. Just give us one minute,’ I said, and turned to Pete. ‘Are you okay?’
I don’t want him panicking and trying to run off as well.
Pete’s head was moving from side to side, trying to get a better angle, his attention entirely focussed on finding the rest of our group.
‘Pete, are you okay?’ I asked again.
He glanced at me and gave a brisk nod.
‘Right, okay,’ I said. ‘We need a plan.’
Fuck. What the fuck do we do?
Chapter 5: Hand in Hand
A sharp stinging pain and a loud thud suddenly filled my head, making me flinch and close my eyes. Both the pain and the noise were really close to my ear. It also sounded like something landed on the ground next to me. I instantly raised my hand and rubbed the side of my head. There was a small stone on the ground by my right knee. It looked out of place, like it didn’t belong there.
A lump was already beginning to form just above my ear.
Did that stone just hit me?
Pete was crouched down to my right. I stared at him, whilst rubbing my ever increasing lump. I was just about to ask why he’d thrown a fucking stone at me, when movement over his shoulder drew my attention. I leaned back to see Roy, about twenty or thirty feet away, lying flat on the ground and waving at me.
Only a few trees occupied the space between us, and very little underbrush.
‘What the fuck Roy?’ I mouthed, pointing at my head.
He just shrugged his shoulders, looking apologetic.
‘Meet back at visitor centre,’ I mouthed, pointing towards the red roof tiles of the visitor centre, visible through the gaps in the trees.
Roy glanced over to where I was pointing and then back at me. He smiled and gave me a thumbs-up, before crawling backwards on his hands and knees.
‘We’re leaving,’ I said to Jack and Pete. ‘Roy’s gonna meet us at the visitor centre.’
‘What do you mean, Roy’s gonna meet us at the visitor centre?’ Jack questioned, doing a terrible impression of me.
‘I just saw him over there,’ I said, pointing to the empty space Roy had recently occupied.
‘Where?’ Jack asked, his eyes quickly scanning the area to our right.
‘He’s gone now,’ I told him.
‘Why the fuck didn’t you tell us he was here?’ Jack asked.
‘No time,’ I said. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
‘Just Roy or everybody?’ Pete asked.
‘Only Roy,’ I replied. ‘Hopefully everybody else is hiding. If we stay in line behind these trees, the yellow people won’t see us.’
‘Why didn’t you ask Roy about everyone else?’ Jack asked.
‘Because of what’s happening Jack,’ I replied. ‘There are yellow people with guns chasing us. I didn’t really have time for a full conversation.’
‘Sorry to fucking repeat myself, but why didn’t you tell us he was here?’ Jack asked.
‘Why don’t we just go and fucking meet them?’ I retorted.
‘Okay,’ Jack said. ‘You’re bleeding by the way.’ He pointed at the side of my head and then started crawling back the way we’d come.
I touched my head, my fingertips coming back red. ‘I know. Roy threw a fucking rock at my head.’ I started following him, patting Pete on the back as I passed him. ‘Roy was smiling,’ I whispered. ‘If that makes you feel any better. He’d have a looked a lot more pissed off if they’d all been captured.’
After a few seconds of crawling, I paused to let Pete pass me. I slowly turned around and crept to my left, just enough so I could see our car.
The yellow people can’t have seen us. They didn’t seem to be following us. It was only a matter of time before they did start searching the area though.
First Ali and Theo are captured, and then we lose our fucking transport. I can’t remember seeing any vehicles around the visitor centre either.
We’re well and truly fucked.
No change there then.
‘Once we meet up with them,’ I said, as all three of us ducked under a fallen tree. ‘We need to head straight off.’
‘How?’ Jack asked. ‘They’ve got our car.’
‘On foot,’ I replied. ‘We’ve got no choice. They’ll be searching for us.’
‘We need to go in the same direction they took Theo and Alison,’ Pete said, sounding out of breath.
‘Yeah we will,’ I told him. ‘We’ll try and find them.’
‘I’m going to hand myself in to whichever camp they’re being taken to,’ Pete said.
Jack and I exchanged a very brief but concerned glance.
We could see the visitor centre clearly now. Nobody was in sight. Also, there were definitely no cars. A quick glance behind me showed we were at least out of sight of the yellow people.
‘They’ll be hiding around the other side,’ I said, trying to reassure Jack and Pete.
I really hope they’re all there.
Jack suddenly set off running, repeating Beth’s name as loudly as he dared. We caught him up just as he made the far side of the centre and started to turn the corner. I knew Beth was there by Jack’s reaction. He stopped and rocked his head backwards, letting out a long slow breath. Then he disappeared around the corner.
They were all there, hidden behind a small row of trees at the front of the building.
‘Roy was keeping a lookout on the road,’ Beth was explaining to Jack. ‘When he saw those people coming he got us all out of the car. We hid further up the hill amongst the trees. Then he went back to get you.’
‘Yeah thanks Roy,’ I said, pointing at the bloody lump above my ear.
‘What did you see?’ Sandra hurriedly asked us.
‘Alison and Theo looked okay,’
Pete quickly answered. ‘They got taken away in some kind of biohazard van.’ He paused to glance at Jack and I. ‘We think they’ve taken them to one of the internment camps.’
‘It can’t be far away,’ I added. ‘It didn’t take long for the van to get to them. Right now though, we have to move.’
Sandra turned to the three kids. They looked terrified as usual.
They’re gonna be so fucked up by the end of this nightmare.
‘Boys,’ she said. ‘We need to run and catch up with your Aunt Alison and Uncle Theo. If you get tired we will carry you.’
‘Jack,’ I said, turning to face him. ‘Map.’
‘Already on it,’ he replied, using his thumb and forefinger to zoom out of the map on his phone. ‘The best way is to loop around our car and get back to the 5A.’ He pointed behind us. ‘We need to go up that hill unfortunately.’
Sandra stared up at the tree covered hill. ‘It’ll probably be best to carry the boys straight away,’ she said. ‘They would struggle to run up that.’
‘I can do it Mom,’ Seth said.
‘I know you can honey,’ Sandra told him. ‘But just this once we need to save your legs for when we get to the other side of the hill. Are you okay to go with your Uncle Roy?’
Seth lifted his face up to a smiling Roy, almost losing his balance and falling backwards. He looked unsure of the tall man at first, but then slowly started to nod his head.
‘Okay,’ Sandra said. ‘Jonah, you go with Uncle Chris. Okay?’
Jonah stared at me wide eyed. ‘He drop me in the car Mommy.’
Sandra swivelled her head to look, her brow furrowed.
‘It wasn’t that bad,’ I said. ‘I kind of threw him into the car, which I suppose sounds worse. We really need to go. We don’t have time for this.’
‘He won’t do it again,’ Sandra said, picking up a squirming Jonah and placing him in my hands.
I leaned my face away from Jonah’s and asked him, ‘Piggy back?’
He nodded so I let him climb around me until he was on my back, his arms around my neck.
‘Hold on tight mate,’ I told him. ‘I’ll hold your legs so you won’t fall.’
He was so small he could barely get his feet around me. I grabbed his ankles, still clinging onto The Smasher in my right hand.