by Jessica Ward
Andy and George were now climbing out of their narrowboat. Duckface was nowhere to be seen, she stayed hidden away in the boat. She was the most hated out of the lot, and she knew it.
I stood back on dry land, for the first time in days and stretched as I took in our new surroundings. I walked up to the first building in front of us when I heard a familiar howl in the distance.
Great, we had hardly been there two minutes, and the infected were already hot on our tail. Before I even had a chance to turn around and head back to the boat, the rest of the group came running towards me.
"Whats going on?" I asked as the rest of the group approached.
Nick was the first to reach me; he grabbed my arm pulled me forward.
"Just run" he shouted.
I looked behind me. We were being chased by a group of fast movers. They had come out of nowhere and were now only a few yards from us.
They snarled and howled as they sprinted towards us; blood splattered down their fronts, pouring out their mouths as they ran.
We ran around the big warehouse building as we found the entrance. Leon and Ryan were the first to the entrance. They yanked at the doors, but they were locked in place.
As we rounded the corner, the infected started to spill out from around the other buildings. They had us well and truly surrounded.
Big burly construction men, now riddled with infection surrounded us. Their high vis jackets covered in remnants of their last meal. They snarled at us as they slowed their pace, surrounding us from all sides. We had been backed into a corner, our backs against the locked doors.
The fast movers had herded us into a trap. They snarled and barked like ravenous wild pack animals.
As time went on, and the infected gained more and more control, it became clear that the humanity had been stripped from these creatures. There were now at least 20 of them, surrounding us from all sides, rapidly closing in.
We were trapped. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. I truly felt as if I was looking death straight in the eye.
All of a sudden, just as the infected seemed about to pounce, we heard a loud thud against the door behind us. Three teenagers appeared. They scrambled with the locks and opened the doors. Our whole group fell into the building as the infected descended.
We quickly scrambled out of the way as the teenagers, accompanied by Leon and Ryan pushed the door closed. The infected pushed hard against the door; the sign of yet more fresh meat only added to their hunger.
As the rest of the group got up, me included, we threw ourselves against the door. We eventually pushed the door to as the teenagers locked the door and pushed an old skateboard through the bars.
We all took a quick step back as the infected banged on the glass doors.
"Is that going to hold?" Ryan asked the kids.
The tallest one answered. "Yeah, they haven't been able to get through yet." he took a brave step forward and looked around. "There's usually more of them, we'll be fine." he finished.
"Where are we?" I asked, looking around the entranceway to the warehouse.
"Bones" A small girl answered, as if I should know what that means.
"I'm sorry where?" Lacey asked. She seemed as confused as I was.
"Dude, its a skatepark." The girl finished rolling her eyes.
She was a small pale girl, no older than fifteen. Thick eyeliner covered her eyes. She was dressed in an ACDC black top and baggy denim jeans. Her hair was jet black; her mousy brown natural hair colour was starting to come through at the roots. Her black Vans were planted firmly on her skateboard, which was clearly her pride and joy.
"OK, how many of you are there?" Ryan said taking charge.
"Just us three" The tall boy answered.
He seemed a bit older than the girl. Dressed in a grey beanie hat and white top, at least two sizes too big for him, with equally baggy jeans and white Nike trainers he motioned for us to follow. He hopped onto his skateboard as he skated down a narrow corridor just as the warehouse opened up.
Chapter 15 – The New Recruits
We looked out onto a mass of plywood hills. The outer walls of the dark skatepark were covered in intricately designed graffiti. The third teenager, a short skinny boy threw his skateboard down onto the concrete floor and skated towards the various ramps, unfazed by our sudden arrival.
"How long have you been here?" Ryan asked the tall boy.
The boy shrugged. "Dunno, as long as those things took over I suppose." Came his cool response.
"OK, and how long might that be?" Ryan pressed.
"I don't know. Couple weeks maybe?" He answered.
We all stood around, not quite sure what to do. How had these kids stayed here that long? I was amazed at how the infected didn't seem to faze them in the slightest. How had they remained so cool?
"What's your name mate?" Nick asked the boy.
"Jared" he answered. "That's Sarah, and the dude on the ramp is Nathan." he finished.
"OK Jared, how have you guys managed to stay here for so long?" Leon asked.
"Not sure, we just came here when it all started kicking off. Things were pretty bad around our end, so we came for a skate to let off some steam. Those things blocked our way out. We just stayed here ever since." Jared told us.
"By the sounds of it you did the right thing." I told him. "It's not great out there, that's for sure." I added.
The boy looked at me and nodded.
"Well, you can't stay here forever, sooner or later we're all going to run out of food and water." George piped up.
We looked over to the smashed up vending machine in the corner of the room. It wasn't hard to figure out; that's how they kept themselves fed. A diet of crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks wasn't going to do them any good, but they were teenagers. Even before this whole chaotic mess began, that was probably all they lived off.
"How long are you staying?" Sarah asked. She obviously wasn't that keen on newcomers.
"Not long, hopefully." Lacey replied. She wasn't exactly keen on teenagers at the best of times. It wasn't their fault; it wasn't that long ago we were their age, looking back at how we were back then, still makes me cringe. I had already been there, done that and got the postcard. I was a rebellious teenager; I snuck out the house, even climbed out of bathroom windows to go to parties. I got drunk... A lot. I did nothing but argued with my mum, I always thought I knew best. Turns out I was wrong, I was a complete nightmare growing up, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
"Can we come with you, when you go?" Jared asked hopefully.
Duckface screwed her face up. She stayed attached to Andy this whole time. She never spoke a word. I don't think she dared.
Sensing her reluctance he spoke "It doesn't matter if not, I just don't think we can stay here much longer. Like you said, we'll be running low soon." he added looking over to the vending machine.
"No, of course, you can come with us." Ryan assured him.
"After all, you pulled us out of quite a bad spot earlier. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be here talking to you now." Ryan finished.
I smiled. I could see the Corporal in his eyes. He was doing exactly what the Sergeant would have wanted. Never leave a man behind, that was his motto. No matter who they were or where they came from, the Sergeant just wanted to help people.
"Eugh, enough of the love fest, I'm going for a skate." Sarah rolled her eyes in a typical teenage fashion. With that, she was on her way.
"I don't think she plays well with others." Lacey whispered to me.
"Shes alright, you just have to get to know her first." Jared told us.
I had already warmed to Jared. For his young age, he seemed to have his head screwed on. I had no problem at all with any of them joining us. It would be nice having some fresh faces and some new company. It would mean we would have to rearrange ourselves a little. They couldn't all fit on our boat. I felt sorry for those who would end up sharing a boat with Duckface. That is if we could even find a way to g
et back to the boats.
"We need to discuss a plan of action." George told Ryan, almost reading my mind.
Even George could sense that Ryan was stepping back into his leadership role. George had quickly changed his tune after being taken down a peg or two in our last encounter.
"I knew those boats were too good to be true." the Professor sighed. He took a seat on a low-level plywood ramp, closest to the entrance way we remained loitering in.
Jared stayed with the rest of us. Eager to talk to each of us and find out a bit more about us all. He seemed to enjoy being in new company, he actually seemed rather enthusiastic. The same couldn't be said for the other two. Sarah and Nathan sat on top of the tallest ramp, well away from the rest of us. They stared over at us from time to time, but made no real efforts to speak to us. Jared seemed to be their ringleader, they left him to do all the talking.
"I don't suppose there's another way out of here?" Leon asked, eyeing up the large warehouse.
"There's a back door, it's an emergency exit. We tried it a while ago, but it's locked." Jared explained.
"Is there not a spare key behind reception then I take it." George asked. A slight tone of impatience seeped through in his voice. Clearly, he too wasn't overly impressed with the presence of teenagers.
"Oh. I don't know. We didn't check." Jared mumbled.
"Typical." George snorted as he went to join the Professor.
Ryan stopped him midway. "Leave them alone George, they're only kids for God's sake" he defended.
George simply stopped for a few seconds and carried on walking. He didn't even bother to acknowledge Ryan. He was sulking. As I looked over to him, I couldn't help but think these kids were acting a lot more grown up than he was. After all, they had managed to keep themselves alive all this time. As far as I was concerned, that was an achievement in itself.
"Right, first things first. Leon, check behind the reception desk, let's see if we can find some keys." Ryan ordered. He was starting to sound like his old self.
"Yes boss." Leon replied grinning.
Jared hopped on his skateboard and went to join his friends. Lacey and I sat against the cold stone wall as we watched the kids play on their skateboards. They were really good. They flew up and around the various ramps flipping their skateboards from time to time. They were obviously very talented. I was amazed by how skilfully they kept control. They were very balanced; you could tell they were in complete control, and they were fast. They'd easily outrun even the fastest infected on those things. I could tell quickly they would come in useful.
I watched the small girl Sarah. She was the most talented out of the lot. She used her small and nimble frame to her advantage; she weaved in and out of the boys, putting them both to shame. She held herself very elegantly, I felt as if I could watch her all day.
For such a punk rock indie chic, a definite tomboy, she had a very elegant form, almost like one of a ballerina. I knew then; there was a lot more to her than met the eye. She was very frosty to our group, but who could blame her. These random strangers turn up, and all of a sudden the rest of her friends are planning to leave with them. It must have been very confusing and unsettling for a young girl to take in.
I turned my attention to the smaller boy Nathan. He seemed to have two left feet. He seemed the most clumsy. There was no doubt about it; he was as equally talented as the rest. Although, he always seemed to be the one to trip up and fall. There were a few times I had seen him take a rather nasty fall; I had just been about to run over to him and make sure he was ok, but each time, without fail, he pulled himself up and got straight back onto his board. I saw his frustration each time.
He was so angry with himself, kicking the ground and at times launching his board. But each time he still picked his board up from the floor and tried again. I guessed he must still be going through a growth spurt. His pale skin was covered in pimples. He had jet black long hair all straightened and pushed to one side. It was that long I was surprised he could see where he was going. All in all, they looked a right bunch of misfits. But they were our misfits now.
"Got some keys" Leon shouted as he ran over to us. He had been gone a while; the keys must have been harder to find than George had anticipated, however, I doubt he would have seen it that way. The way he had pushed Ryan and Leon aside in the office, he acted as if they were both completely incompetent.
"Great, thanks mate." Ryan replied. "Jared, where's that door lad? Let's see if it's the right one" he added.
Within seconds, Jared was back with the group. On his skateboard, he was the fastest of them all. He used his strength to propel himself forward, as one of the oldest he was clearly the most experienced skater.
"I'll show you" he offered.
"It's fine mate, just point us in the right direction and we'll take it from there." Leon told the young boy.
Jared nodded and pointed out the back entrance. "It's just over there" he replied.
He was pointing in the far corner of the room. A huge ramp was blocking the view. I glanced over to the other side of the room. Andy and Duckface were sat in a corner completely isolated from the rest of us. They knew they weren't welcome, and I think Andy had quickly figured out he wasn't in our good books.
To be fair to the guy, he didn't once complain. He accepted it straight away and didn't argue. Not like he would have a leg to stand on even if he did. I still couldn't understand how he had still sided with her after he found out all she had done.
He was a hard one to figure out. He wasn't exactly on the best terms with Duckface when he left the base. What changed? I think I knew the answer. She was the so called 'miracle cure' in all this. I still wasn't convinced. No matter what the Professor said, she was still an evil, self-centred and manipulative little cow. Nothing was going to change that.
"It works" Ryan said as they jogged over to us. "Coast's clear for now, I suggest we make a move before it's too late" he added.
Jared quickly skated over to us. "What, are we going now? All of us?" He asked Ryan.
Ryan turned to him and smiled. "Yes, all of us. Are you ready? I'm going to need your help." Ryan responded.
We had formulated a plan. Whilst the coast was clear for now, we knew it wouldn't be long before the infected saw us and carried on with their relentless pursual. Leon was to stay behind with Jared and distract them, long enough for us to sneak out the back and get to the boats. As soon as we were out, we would close the door.
That's when Leon and Jared came into play. They would unlock the door and sprint (or skate in Jared's case) though the warehouse and out the other side. They would then close the door behind them, locking the infected inside. With them on the inside and us on the outside, we would be safe.
A large crowd was now gathering at the front. "It's now or never." Ryan speculated.
With that, we got into position. The kids rounded up with us as we readied ourselves for a quick exit. We all stood by the back entrance, minus Leon and Jared, as Ryan pushed open the door, for the last time.
Ryan was the first out; he sprinted to the boats followed by Sarah and Nathan on their boards. The rest of us flew out next. We all ran as fast as our legs could carry us. I was nearly at the boat when I heard the door slam shut. That was Leon and Jared's cue.
My heart was pounding. Adrenaline was running through me. As soon as we got to the boats we quickly untied the mooring lines, the gas canisters would just have to wait. We hopped onto the boat as we saw the back entrance door open.
Jared flew out and hurriedly closed the door. With one swift movement, he locked the door. I saw the crowd of infected behind him in those brief seconds. There were a lot more than I originally thought there would be. Jared had closed the door in the nick of time as I saw a high vis infected man, a former construction worker almost breach the door. Sheer panic ran through me at that moment. He was inches away from Jared.
As Jared poured out of the doorway, his skateboard went flying. He ignored it as he concentr
ated on the important task at hand.
I looked towards Jared. The encounter had shaken him up. He had truly skated as if his life depended on it. He put his hands to his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.
I looked around him. Where's Leon? I thought. He had been right next to Jared when we left, but there was no sign of him anywhere.
My heart sank. If he wasn't here with us, then he must be inside with them. There was nothing we could do; it was too late.
I looked over to Ryan. He would be devastated. He had only just started to get back to his normal self. Leon was his closest friend. To an extent he was his only friend. How was he going to cope with another devastating loss?
Tears welled up in my eyes. Leon was a good man. He was still young for Christ sake. He had given his life so that we could carry on. He was a true, noble soldier.
Ryan put his hand to his head. I could tell he was as worried as I was. We all stood there, not knowing what to do or say, we had lost one of our best men. He was one of the boys. Our boys. We were like family, in fact, we were family. We were all we had left.
Jared came walking over to us, for the first time he kept his board in his hands.
"What happened?" Ryan asked solemnly.
"I don't know. He was right behind me, he shouted for me to go. He told me not to wait." Jared said, tears ran down his face.
"I thought he was right behind me and that he would be ok. He was right there every time I looked behind me." His voice broke. He burst into tears.
"It's ok mate." Ryan tried to comfort him. I could see tears starting to well up in his eyes. "You did as he said. You did nothing wrong." He pulled Jared into his chest as patted him on the back.
"It's ok." He whispered soothingly. We all crowded round, teary-eyed, we joined the group hug.
"What's everyone so upset about?" A voice called in the distance.
We looked up. Standing in front of us, panting like a dog, was Leon.
We quickly disbursed and ran over to him. Ryan got there first. He pulled him into his arms and gave him the biggest man hug I had ever seen.