“It all looks quiet,” Robyn whispered.
“Let us just watch a little longer.”
They remained there like statues for three full minutes before running across to the van in a low crouch. They looked towards the farmhouse to see the door was firmly closed.
“Should we knock or something?” Robyn asked.
“A place like this will have more than one vehicle. This might be our only chance.”
“You mean steal it?”
“Do you want to find your sister?”
“Yeah, course I do.”
“Then trust me.” Mila opened the passenger door and climbed inside, immediately scooching over to the driver’s seat. Robyn kept watch. “Scheisse! No keys.”
“Let’s knock on the door, see if anybody answers. If they don’t, we go in for a look around. If they do, then at least we won’t get our heads blown off by some pissed-off crofter with a shotgun.”
Mila slid across to the passenger seat and was about to climb down when her eyes caught movement. “I think maybe the owners of this place do not care whether we take the van or not.”
Robyn turned to see a pair of creatures running through the neighbouring field towards them. Mila jumped down, and the two of them reached around for their swords. “Okay, I’ll take the woman, you take—”
Robyn’s words were cut off by an almost deafening crack. A fraction of a second later, the head of one of the creatures exploded in a spray of red mist. Before the echo had diminished, another shot boomed, making the second figure collapse to the ground. Robyn and Mila looked towards one another. Their eyes were wide, and each could feel the other’s panic.
The reverberations finally ended and laughter erupted from what sounded like the entrance to the farmyard.
“I told you. That’s two packets of fags you owe me. Come on, cough up.” It was a man’s voice. He had a southern accent, certainly not a local.
“Screw you. You said you’d get the other one before the first one hit the ground.” The second voice was deeper, rougher, someone who’d smoked sixty a day all their life then used a cheese grater on their tonsils every night before bed.
“I did.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“You calling me a liar? I fu—”
“Pay ’im, Jefferson. We don’t welch on bets in this squad,” ordered someone else.
Muted congratulations could be heard, followed by more laughter.
“Oh shit! We’re in real trouble,” Robyn whispered.
“Right, I told you it was worth checking those tractors out. There must be at least twenty gallons of red diesel in the pair of them. So, let’s get this place emptied, get those drained, and we can head back knowing we’ve earned our keep for another day,” said the man who had demanded that Jefferson pay up. There was a pause of a few seconds. “Well, don’t just stand around with your dicks in your hands, move it!”
“I’ll reverse the truck up to the door,” said the man who had fired the gun.
“Craaap!” whispered Robyn.
“Quick,” Mila said, staying low and starting to run. Robyn followed her lead, and the pair of them ducked around the side of the house.
“This is really, really bad,” Robyn whispered as she peeked around the corner just in time to see someone climbing into the driver’s side of the cab. “We’re trapped. Whichever way we go, they’re going to see us.”
The engine of the box van started, and the pair became glued to the spot, each reaching out for the other’s hand as the rear of the white van came into view during its reverse manoeuvre. It kept on coming, and both of them squeezed even tighter. The cab was almost level with them when it finally stopped, and the driver put a full lock on the wheel, turning it the other way before reversing it up to the door.
“I think I just peed my pants,” Mila said.
“Be grateful it’s just pee you’ve got to worry about. What the hell are we going to do? Swords might be okay for killing the infected, but when your enemy’s got guns, the odds change a bit.”
“Try to stay calm.”
“Oh yeah, that’s going to happen.”
The van stopped reversing, and the roller shutter door clattered as it was thrown upwards. “Right, snap to it,” the chief said. There was the sound of men barging through the entrance of the house; then they heard the cab door open and close. “Hey, Snape, how about a couple of those ciggies?”
“Fair enough. I don’t suppose I’d have seen them if you hadn’t have been around. He’s a little shite is Jefferson.”
“You’re preaching to the choir. Have you got a match?”
“Jesus, do you want me to smoke it for you as well?”
“Sarky little git.” Robyn and Mila glared at each other as they heard the sound of a match being struck just a few feet away. They even caught a smell of it in the air. “Right, hop to it, I don’t want to be here all day.”
“What are you going to be doing?”
“Well, I’m management, aren’t I? Now piss off and let me enjoy my fag.”
Robyn and Mila heard one set of footsteps leaving as the first items were loaded onto the van. A plume of blue smoke appeared from around the corner of the house. They were literally a couple of feet away from the leader of the group.
“Cullen, will you tell this daft bastard we don’t need another TV?”
The girls heard the figure closest to them let out a long sigh. “Jesus! I can’t even have five minutes peace, it’s like dealing with a bunch of school kids. There are like four places in the whole town big enough to have a TV that size and they’ve already got TVs and spares. Put it back.”
“I was going to put this in my caravan,” the voice replied.
“That thing’s almost as wide as your caravan, and I’m not going to waste valuable space in the van with something like that. Now put it back, Harker.” There was a sound of shuffling feet and the man standing near them let out another long breath. “Like bloody kids,” he whispered again to himself then stepped into view.
For the time being, he was still looking into the distance, across the open fields, and he did not notice the two young women whose bodies were pressed tight against the side wall of the house. He brought the cigarette up to his lips and took another long, exaggerated suck. As he turned back around, he let the deadly blue smoke escape his lungs once more then froze. He stared at Robyn and Mila, and they stared back at him. For a moment, all three of them froze.
chapter 11
The moment seemed to last for an age. For Cullen it was one of surprise, disbelief almost. For Robyn and Mila, it was one of horror and indecision. Then it happened. The cigarette fell from Cullen’s fingers as his hand reached for his sidearm. Mila remained frozen, still unable to believe it was happening. Robyn had come up against these people before though. She understood the risks of getting caught, she understood the true terror that awaited them if they did nothing.
Before Cullen had the chance to grab his weapon or raise the alarm, the katana blade was flashing down through the air. The loud noise of the coconut crack ricocheted around the farmyard and Cullen crumpled. Robyn heaved the blade back out, grabbed Mila’s wrist and the pair broke cover. The rest of the men were inside the house as the women sprinted across the farmyard. Robyn knew if they ran into the fields, they would be picked off as easily as the two zombies had been brought down earlier on. The tree-lined track and the road beyond would offer them some cover, some small chance of escaping with their lives. But they had revealed themselves now, and that meant there would be no respite.
They reached the entrance to the farmyard just as two men made a boisterous exit from the house. Robyn turned and locked eyes with one of them who had the same shocked look on his face as the man she had killed.
“Cullen,” the other one shouted, dropping the box he was carrying and running towards the fallen man. The first man grabbed his pistol and fired, but so panicked was the shot that it went nowhere near the two women. It provided
enough of an impetus for Robyn and Mila to speed up, however.
They sprinted down the track as angry and desperate shouts rose into the air behind them. The sound of feet pounding across the courtyard made Robyn realise that everything came down to split-second decisions. She and Mila veered and vaulted a small hedgerow; both of them stumbled, landing flat on the warm earth before scrambling back to their feet. “Come on!” Robyn ordered. They continued to sprint, the hedgerow giving them some shielding at least.
“Where are they?” called one voice.
“They were just here,” yelled another.
“Shit, they’re there. How the hell did they get over there?”
“How should I know? Just get them. I’m getting the van.”
A flurry of shots shaved branches and leaves from the bushes close to the two girls as they continued to sprint.
“Aaarrrggghhh!” A scream of pain made both women turn to see a well-built man had tried to hurdle the leafy barrier only to land almost upside down.
“Quick,” Robyn said, taking Mila’s hand once again. The edge of the field was just metres away. More shots rang out, but the gradual downward slope meant the hedge to their left was giving them even more cover. The real danger was from the man on the ground. If he gathered himself before they were out of this field and onto the road, he could easily get a clear shot at them both. “Now.”
They launched at the same time. The thorny branches clawed at them as they flew, neither even considering the landing as the sound of gunfire filled the air behind them. Their eyes widened as the long drop to the overgrown grassy verge loomed.
“Scheisse!” Mila screamed, only just managing to bring her foot up to avoid landing flat on her face. She went sprawling past the soft grass and onto the tarmac road. The exposed skin of her hands and wrist vanished beneath pools of blood as she let out a scream of agony.
Robyn shifted in mid-air, bringing both legs up and doing her best to do a parachute landing. It didn’t work. Her knees buckled onto the verge, and she collapsed sideways, rolling down into a small drainage ditch. Whatever pain they were in was immediately forgotten as they heard the whirring sound of a van engine.
“Shit! Come on!” Robyn said, scrambling back to her feet and helping her friend up too. They looked left, neither the van nor the men had emerged from the farm track yet. “Quick!” They squeezed through the thick bushes lining the other side of the road. Twigs and branches pulled at their clothing and their hair doing everything they could to slow their progress. They emerged into a field of tall grass and, as inviting as the woods on the other side looked, they both knew they did not have enough of a lead to make a dash for it. They continued to sprint alongside the tall hedgerow, capitalising on the confusion as the van and men finally appeared at the end of the road with no apparent idea of where the two girls had disappeared to.
They had sprinted another thirty metres before a voice shouted, “They’re in that field over there, you idiots!”
Robyn risked a quick look behind her. She couldn’t figure out who had spotted them, but her guess was the man who had pursued them into the first field was still in a position elevated enough to see their bobbing heads. “Come on. If we don’t make it to the trees now, we never will.”
The roar of the engine as it accelerated made the adrenaline in them pulse, and both women turned and started to sprint as fast as they could through the tall grass to the trees. They were twenty metres away from the edge of the woodland when more shots rang out. They each dived to the ground simultaneously. Bullets whizzed above them, and the sound of thudding feet over the dry earth ticked in their heads like a giant doomsday clock. “It’s useless, Robyn,” Mila whispered as more shouting voices bled into the field.
“Screw that. We don’t give up; we never give up. Now crawl!”
The firing continued in their general direction, but while they were partially hidden in the tall waving green and yellow grass, they stood some chance at least. The shouting voices drifted ever closer. Fifteen metres to the trees.
“I will cause a diversion; you try to make a run—”
“I swear, Mila, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to slap you silly.” Ten metres.
“Movement! There!” yelled a voice.
Five metres. No more time. “Run!” Robyn grabbed Mila’s wrist, pulling her to her feet. They did not look behind them, they charged towards the woods. A flurry of gunfire commenced, and both women held their breath, expecting to see bloody explosions from their chests or stomachs as bullets entered them. Zero.
They hit the tree line, more grateful than ever for the shadowy embrace of the forest. Bark and wood chips splintered in front of them as bullets whistled by. “Where now?” Mila cried.
“Just keep running. Zigzag through the trees as much as you can. Block their aim.”
The two women increased their speed, weaving in and out of the pines, hurdling bushes and thickets as the volume then the frequency of the gunfire began to die down. They could still hear the men shouting, but it too was getting quieter as the forest became denser. Robyn and Mila carried on, flat out. They were beyond tired. Their lungs hurt, their legs hurt, and that was to mention nothing of the injuries they had sustained when they had hurdled the hedgerow, but for now they played through the pain. The voices finally died away to nothing, but they still continued, weaving and waning through the trees.
“Stop. I need to stop,” Mila said, bending over and placing her hands on her thighs as she greedily sucked in huge breaths.
Robyn halted too. “Okay. Maybe we can take a few seconds.” She leant up against a tree and wiped the thick sheen of sweat from her forehead.
“I thought… I thought we were going to die.”
“Trust me, death would be preferable to what would happen if they caught us.”
“So, what now?”
Robyn walked across to Mila, took hold of her arm and pulled her upright. “We carry on, for a while at least.”
“We are getting farther away from everything.”
“That’s a good thing. They’re going to be on high alert. It wouldn’t surprise me if they get backup to look for us. You don’t know these people like I do, they’re ruthless, unrelenting.”
“But—”
“But nothing, Mila. We’ve got supplies to last us a couple of days, you said so yourself. This is an emergency. This isn’t like taking a wrong turn and getting a bit lost, or the compass breaking, this is life or death … literally.”
The two women carried on walking despite their weariness. “I’ve never been involved in killing someone before.”
“What are you talking about?” Robyn asked. “You’ve killed loads.”
“No, I mean a living, breathing human being who bleeds real blood.”
“Yeah, well, I wish I could say the same, but I’ve killed plenty.”
“What is it like?”
“What?”
“What is it like to take a life like that?”
“You do know you’re a bit weird sometimes, don’t you?”
Mila looked a little hurt. “I’m sorry, it’s just—”
“Look, it’s not something I like to think about. But every time I’ve done it, it’s been them or me, or them or my sister. Maybe I should feel worse than I do. I know Wren used to freak out about it a bit, but at the end of the day, I’m not going to lose sleep over some lowlife who doesn’t have a problem killing anyone, including children.”
Mila’s eyes widened a little. “I am glad I am your friend and not your enemy.”
They carried on walking for a few more minutes when Robyn jarred to a halt. “Shh!” she said, causing Mila to stop in her tracks too.
“What?”
“I can hear voices.”
“You are imagining it, Robyn.” There was half a smile on Mila’s face as she raised her head to listen, but the smile disappeared in an instant. “I don’t understand. Why would they follow us so far into the forest?”
“I don’t know, but I’m not going to hang around and find out.”
Chapter 12
The last half-mile of the journey had been up an ever-steepening incline. Robyn and Mila were both exhausted, but they shared the same theory, that the more inhospitable and difficult the terrain, the less likely it was that their pursuers would continue the chase. They eventually came to a small clearing. In the centre was a trunk, which appeared to have been felled by a lightning strike. They both plonked down on it and just sat there, staring through the trees in the direction they had come from.
“Surely there is no way they would come this far.” Mila looked at her watch. “We have been travelling over ninety minutes. We have not gone in a straight line. We have crossed streams. We must have lost them.”
Robyn remained silent for a moment, listening to the sounds around her. They stayed there for another ten minutes just peering into the shadows. “Okay. I think you’re right. We should be safe now.”
“So, do we head back?”
“No way.”
“What then? We can’t stay up here forever.”
“Oh man, if you’re looking to me for a plan, we’re really screwed,” Robyn said. “Can you figure out where we are?”
“I should be able to,” Mila said, slipping the rucksack from her shoulders and grabbing the map. She laid it out flat on the huge log and traced lines with her finger from the farm that they had only narrowly escaped from. “We travelled a long way.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Those things are like voodoo to me.”
“Come look, I will show you.”
“Na-ah! My dad tried to show me once, we ended up not speaking for three days. I’ll just take your word for it.”
“What if anything ever happens to me?”
The End of Everything (Book 7): The End of Everything Page 8