by Jessica Ward
"Guys, come and have a look at this." Nick shouted from outside. It was his turn to drive.
"What is it?" I asked as I peered out the door.
It didn't take me long to find out. Opening up in front of us were row upon row of houses.
Each house had its own pier. Small rowing boats floated above the surface of the water, tied to the small piers, the property of the homeowners.
A small narrow boat sat docked in front of a particularly large house on the corner. We looked around us. We couldn't hear a single sound. Only the running engine of our narrow boats.
"I think we should stop here." George yelled from behind.
He was right. With our new hungry recruits, our food resource was depleting a lot faster than expected. We all needed gas for the boats, this seemed a good a place as any to stock up.
Ryan took the helm and steered us to the pier. George followed and stopped his boat behind the small abandoned boat. He peered inside and gave us the thumbs up.
Ryan quickly cut the engine, and him and Leon jumped off the boat. Jared followed behind them.
"No mate, you stay here for now." Leon told him.
"We won't be too long, just need to make sure the area is secured." Ryan added, stopping him in his tracks.
"I can help though." Jared pressed. He was eager to tag along.
"No, not until we're sure it's safe." Ryan replied firmly.
They turned and carried on up the garden path as a small hill led to the house. The rest of us stayed on the boat, as Jared stood outside on the pier, he was starting to sulk.
"Are you sure you don't want to come back inside?" Lacey asked.
"No, I'm fine." Jared replied; his voice completely toneless.
He kept his head down and started to kick the small stones beneath his feet. Typical teenage behaviour.
A few minutes later, Ryan and Leon returned. Reporting back that the area was all clear, we all stepped out the boats.
Jared lagged behind the rest of the group. He was still upset he couldn't go with Ryan and Leon. He didn't yet understand; it was for his own safety. Then again, I don't think any teenagers truly understand what is best for them, until they get a bit older.
Jared, Sarah and Nathan had all lived sheltered lives through the infection. They were lucky they had managed to secure somewhere safe. They hadn't been on the run as we had, and they hadn't had any real experiences with the infected. I don't think they were truly aware of how dangerous the infected could be.
We followed the path up to the main house. Leon and Ryan had already managed to find a way in. We entered through the back door. The door led into an old-fashioned kitchen. It didn't look as if it had been decorated since the 1970's.
The tiled splash back walls were a deep orange. Some of the tiles had already faded over time. The chipboard type wooden cupboards were full of empty Tupperware containers. The faint smell of moth balls hit us as we delved deeper into the house.
This home obviously belonged to an old couple. Family photos littered the fridge door.
Photos of grandchildren in various stages of life dominated each room.
Lacey and the Professor stayed in the kitchen. Their job was to collect as many usable supplies as possible.
Lacey went straight to work. She pulled plates, cutlery, mugs and glasses from the cupboards and packed them into a bag.
She then set to work on the food, pulling out cereals, tins and frozen goods. The Professor did the same. The good news was that this couple seemed well prepared. Upon opening the pantry, Lacey was able to find a full sack of potatoes, all in relatively good condition.
We divided them up between the boats and took the full lot with us.
I pressed on with Sarah; it was our job to find anything else that might be of use to us.
We decided to work from the top, and make our way to the bottom. Ryan and Leon had already checked each and every room for us, just to be on the safe side.
I started in the bathroom, as Sarah made her way to the bedroom. I packed as much toilet paper as I could carry, living without toilet paper isn't exactly convenient, unfortunately, I learnt that the hard way; from our time spent in the woods.
I grabbed towels, shampoos, soaps, anything I could get my hands on. Sarah came out with a similar haul.
"Where did you get that from?" I asked as she came out the bedroom with her arms full of toiletries.
"There's an en-suite." She replied.
"Great, let's get all this back to the boat." I told her. "But don't let Lola know about the shampoos, just give them the men's shower gel." I added. I had already shared with Sarah, the reasons behind our hatred for Duckface.
Sarah had already taken an instant dislike to Duckface. Sarah didn't like the way Duckface looked her up and down in disgust. When she shared her feelings with me, I knew what she meant. It wasn't fair on the poor girl; she was only 15 years old. Duckface would get what was coming to her, sooner or later.
"I've got a better idea." Sarah grinned.
"Oh yeah, whats that?" I asked.
"Why don't we give her the conditioner, but add a little something to the mix?" She beamed. She was holding up a tube of hair removal cream.
This girl was a genius. I couldn't help but laugh. That was exactly what Duckface needed to bring her down a peg or two. The hair removal cream would seep into her hair in the shower, and dissolve half her hair in the process. It was brilliant.
"Yes! Sarah that is amazing." I told her.
We quickly dumped our findings on the floor and grabbed a bottle of conditioner and the hair removal cream.
We poured half the remaining conditioner into another bottle. There was no point wasting it; we would use it for our boat.
Sarah unscrewed the tube and squeezed the remaining cream into the conditioner bottle. Once our conditioner/hair removal concoction was ready, we screwed the caps back on and binned the evidence.
We agreed that it was best Sarah give the hair products to Duckface, considering Lacey, and I refused to go near her, it seemed the most sensible option.
Duckface had stayed in the boat whilst this was all going on. She wasn't the most helpful at the best of times.
As Sarah went to hand Duckface her 'peace offering' I went to find Lacey. I knew this would make her day. We had both wanted so much, to get our hands on her, but we knew right now, any effort would be futile. Any chance to make her life a little more uncomfortable was fine by us.
"Is everybody ready?" George asked us, as he made his way back from the front of the house.
Whilst all this was going on, George took watch. He made his way through the side of the house and stood out by himself.
"I think so." Paul responded as he lifted the last of the supplies into the boat.
"Good, the infected are not far away." George responded coldly.
"How can you tell?" Nathan enquired.
"I can hear them." George replied. "When they are close by, the howl to one another. They communicate, and they tell the others where the food is." George added.
"And where is the food?" Nathan asked inquisitively.
"We are the food." George answered. There was no emotion in his voice whatsoever.
Nathan backed away; he quickly climbed into the boat and went back inside.
Ryan glared over at George, George simply turned his back and made his way back to his boat.
A few minutes later, Sarah came running back, just as we were undoing the ropes.
She got back not a moment too soon. As I glanced towards the house, the first of the infected made an appearance. George was right, they were close by.
They broke down the wooden side gate, as crowds gathered in the garden, sprinting towards us. With new gas canisters in tow Ryan started the engine, we were about to make a swift exit, when the first of the infected climbed onto our boat.
Nick and Paul grasped the door, preventing the infected from getting in. Leon ran to the back of the boat, a baseball bat in hand
. He climbed on top of the boat in an attempt to fend the infected off.
The infected had seen him coming. They scrambled to get up onto the roof of our boat, keen to get to Leon.
Ryan backed the boat away as he shouted for me to take the helm. I ran out and took Ryan's position as he climbed on top of the boat, providing Leon with some much needed back up. Splashes went off all around us, as the boys knocked the infected into the water.
Leon and Ryan were outnumbered. There were seven of the infected aboard our boat. Luckily, none had made it inside.
Both Ryan and Leon worked together in perfect harmony. It didn't take them long to rid the boat of our unwanted visitors. The infected put up a scarily good fight.
The way they moved, they were much more human than I had ever seen them. They did not contain a shred of humanity, whatever was in their eyes, was much darker, almost demonic looking. Those dead eyes I recalled boring into me, just weren't there anymore. Instead, their eyes were black. Like those of a hungry hyena.
They looked possessed. I suppose in a way they were. Whatever was taking over their bodies, wasn't supposed to be there. I watched them flap about in the water. They knew they had been defeated, and that they wouldn't be getting their next meal from our bodies.
We had won another round. And I was starting to get less and less confident. We had been lucky up until now. Sooner or later our luck would run out.
We set off, back on our journey. Everyone was busy unpacking the new supplies. I went and sat in the seating area, reflecting on the world around me.
The boat was starting to get severely overcrowded. Every single surface in the boat was taken up by something. Dirty dishes piled up in the small sink; bags and clothes covered the worktops along with all our other supplies.
Skateboards cluttered the floors; we were constantly moving them, they were starting to become a serious trip hazard.
I pulled up the thin net curtain and gazed out the window. We had left the infected far behind. More houses opened up; a few infected homeowners wandered the gardens, but none seemed to have a clear path.
As the houses started to lessen, luscious green fields opened up again; we continued our journey through the countryside. I blocked out the hustle and bustle going on around me as I stared into the fields.
As I looked closely, towards the field full of white sheep, a horrifying sight befell my eyes.
Crowds of the infected gathered around sheep carcasses, they grabbed and pulled at the sheep's innards as they greedily shoveled intestines and internal organs into their mouths.
I saw those sheep not already dead, being chased by the fast movers. As soon as the terrified sheep were cornered, the infected descended on them, practically eating them alive.
I saw abandoned carcasses, nothing but wool and bone, discarded in the middle of the field, surrounded in blood.
We passed the field as we delved deeper into the countryside. The infected were nowhere to be seen; none had ventured past their small town, so once again, we were alone.
I sat for hours, watching the greenery around me. After a few hours, we settled down. We were all back to normal again. We ate dinner together, as any quirky family does. We talked amongst ourselves, and we settled down for the night. Or so we thought.
Chapter 18 – The Mansion House
As we approached another housing area, our boat started to shudder.
Ryan called over to George, who advised we had just about run out of fuel. Great.
We had no choice but to pull in at the nearest house and find some fuel. Lucky for us, each house along this street seemed to have a boat of some sort, docked in a similar pier as to that we had previously encountered.
These homes, however, seemed a lot grander than the previous set of houses we had passed.
As we pulled into the nearest house, we looked up in awe as the grand mansion came into view. It stood three storeys tall. A brick wall snaked it's way around the vicinity standing at least eight feet high.
As we looked into the garden, sun loungers lined a lush outdoor pool; the bright blue water looked so inviting, even in the cold weather.
Just past the pool stood a stainless steel BBQ complete with gas burners, grill and a rotary blade. Next to the BBQ a stone baked oven intricately tiled to give the outdoor space a Moroccan feel.
These homeowners clearly designed the house with no expense spared.
Leon, Ryan and George made their way together to the back of the house. The whole place was spotless, bi-folding doors from floor to ceiling showed the open plan living space inside. They tried the doors with no avail. They went out of sight as they sneaked around the front of the house. The rest of us hung back, we kept close to the boats, just in case a quick getaway was needed.
We were starting to become accustomed to this new routine, whenever we stopped off somewhere, we followed the same plan. It seemed to work for us thus far, we had learnt the hard way, to stay alert at all times.
"This place is amazing." Sarah said as she took in our new surroundings.
"Can't we just stay here?" Nathan asked.
"I don't know. maybe." I answered. It wasn't really up to me; we had to do what was best for the whole group, even if some members needed to take a long walk off a short pier.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, we don't even know if it's safe yet." Lacey told them.
After a few minutes, the boys appeared in front of the bi-folding doors. They had found a way in.
Leon was fiddling with the doors as Ryan and George roamed around the house. We watched them through the various windows of the house, walk from room to room, making sure the area was once again secured.
We made our way past the pool and up to the doors, just as Leon had found the release. We entered into our new surroundings, and we gazed around the luxurious living space.
All the walls had been painted brilliant white. The pine floorboards beneath our feet were waxed to perfection, and the wood itself was clearly of the highest quality.
The modern furniture gave the space a real contemporary feel. A black and white sectional sofa stood in the centre of the room, made from the finest Italian leather, this sofa even had an in-built lighting system, illuminating the built in side table beyond the arm.
The white gloss, block shaped coffee table stood central to the sofa. The in-built drawers blended in so seamlessly; you could only make them out on close inspection.
A white shag pile rug divided the seating area from the 90" LED screen. It was one of the biggest TV's I had ever seen. Just below the TV a sky box and PlayStation 4 had been built into the wall.
As I ventured further into the house, I came across the kitchen. A huge island sat in the middle of the room. The pine flooring continued into the kitchen area, adding colour to the monotone theme. All the counters were a bright white marble. Each cupboard and drawer was a high-gloss black.
A stainless steel range cooker stood central to the room; this was emphasised by the black glass, wall mounted cooker hood. Lined with five LED lights; the hood curved over the range cooker making the cooker the focal point of the minimalistic, contemporary kitchen.
We were once again, surrounded in luxury.
Duckface and Andy were the last ones to appear. They always kept a safe distance from the rest of the group. That was just how the rest of us liked it. Well, truth be told, we would rather they not be here in the first place, but this caused some divide within the group. We were now being forced to tolerate them. As great as Andy was, he had made the downright foolish decision to stay by her side as he chose to ignore her unforgivable behaviour back on the base.
Her greedy little eyes lit up, as she took in the high-end interiors. I glanced her way as I glared at her. As soon as she saw me she looked away, unable to look me in the eye.
With that, I followed the rest of the group checking out each room.
There were six bedrooms in total. Each had its own en suite. The bathrooms were tiled from top to bott
om, all with walk in monsoon showers. The bigger en-suites also had a large jacuzzi, deep fill baths, all with central taps. Each bathroom even had it's own TV built into the wall; I was amazed by each and every room I stepped into.
The bedrooms were beautifully designed. Some had four-poster beds, others had large leather headboards, they were all super king size beds.
Towards the front of the house, was a grand dining room and another living area. This one had much more comfortable looking seating. Another gigantic wall mounted TV hung on the wall. Whoever lived here, certainly liked to watch TV. I did wonder where the homeowners were, but people who could afford a lifestyle like this, didn't usually have just one property.
Judging from the signed deeds on a property in Palma de Mallorca, which were lying on the dining room table, these homeowners must have taken one of the last flights out to catch some last minute sun in the Balearic Islands.
We regrouped in the dining area as we figured out our plan of action. For the first time in a long time, Ryan led the discussion.
"We have done a sweep of the area, this whole house is secure. Even if the infected were to find us, they would have a job getting in. The gates are secure, and I have disabled the gate entrance." Ryan glared at Duckface as he said the last part.
Ryan continued. "It's getting dark, so I suggest we at least spend one night here. In the morning, I will lead a small team out on the search for more fuel. Personally, I don't see any reason as to why we can't stay here, at least for a few days. Does anybody have any objections?" Ryan asked.
As the Sergeant was, Ryan was a natural born leader. George, on the other hand, had started to act more as a dictator, and it didn't go down well within the group.
"I agree, but I do think we need to set down some ground rules." George piped up.
"Such as?" Ryan questioned.
"Such as, no one is to leave the area alone. If anyone goes out, we go out in teams." George replied.
Ryan agreed, for as much as we had all started to take a dislike to George, he did have a point. He was just very old fashioned, and he was set in his ways.
"Ok, we shall also continue what we did on the base, for those of you that remember." Ryan added. "We will each take watch, preferably in groups of two." Ryan finished.