“That should hold them back for a while” He said as he tied the final knot.
“I suggest we make an immediate exit” The professor advised.
I wasn’t about to argue. We all pulled on our heavy backpacks. “Christ, what on earth is in here?” I whispered. I looked over to Nick, he was busy getting his fishing gear in order.
I rolled my eyes. Typical. We needed a quick getaway and he refused to let go of his prized possessions.
We followed George down the long winding passageway. The smell was certainly more pleasant down here then it was up there.
The further into the tunnel system we went, the more my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The area all around us was filled with damp. The weather hadn’t been kind to us lately.
Water fell from the ceiling forming small puddles down the centre of our path.
“George where are we going?” I asked after we had been walking for a while.
“We’re nearly there, don’t worry” Came George’s simple reply.
“Where is there?” Lacey asked slightly annoyed. She was starting to get agitated. We all were. We had lost everything. Even more importantly, had lost two of our own. We had narrowly escaped from the infected, and our base was now completely overrun.
“Isles Woods of course” George exclaimed, as if we should have known.
I stopped. “Why are we going into the woods?” I asked.
It was the Corporals turn to respond. “It’s the only exit out of the base”
“Ok, let’s just get there, I’m exhausted.” I moaned. That day took everything out of me. Now my adrenaline had worn off my body had started to ache all over. My head was starting to pound with the dehydration and my shoulder was throbbing where yet again, I had been feeling the effects of the kickback from my rifle.
We traipsed deeper into the tunnel, as the puddles started to get bigger and bigger as we went along. My feet were starting to hurt.
“I don’t know how much further I can carry on” I groaned. “My feet are killing me, my heads banging and this backpack is too heavy”
It was taking its toll on Lacey as well. “This is carrying on forever guys” she moaned.
“There’s an opening just up ahead” George pointed out. “Can you feel that breeze? It’s the fresh air coming through”
He led us down a narrow passage. I could see a faint light creeping out from the end of the tunnel.
“Finally” I huffed. I stopped as I neared the end slowing down my pace. It was indeed an exit into the woods. But it had caved in. Only a small muddy crawlspace could be seen at the top of the opening, leading out into the daylight.
Great. Just what I wanted to see. Nothing was straight forward. We threw our bags down as I sat on the floor near the exit.
“I don’t suppose there’s another exit somewhere?” I asked, trying to be optimistic.
“I’m sorry this is the only one” George told us. “I had no idea it had caved in. Saying that, I haven’t been here for years.”
Well he failed to mention that when we started our little journey. But we had no option. Nick and Paul went over to the opening and pulled some of the mud and debris back.
“We can all fit through there, it’s fine!” Paul said.
Lacey glared at him. I joined in the staring contest. We had no extra clothes, no hot shower waiting for us. We would get covered in dirt and grime and god knows what was on the other side of that wall.
As we all sat there, contemplating our next move. The familiar rustling sound could be heard in the distance. Eugh, rats! I had almost forgotten they were there. I hadn’t seen them along our journey; they must have been startled by the new people taking over their home.
I suppose that was a good enough excuse as any to get moving. Leon was the first to try it out. He pulled himself up and crawled through the small space. As soon as he was out Nick handed him his backpack.
“All clear” he shouted back to us.
Lacey and I stayed towards the back, we figured the boys could widen the opening for us, leaving more space for us to push through.
I felt sorry for the Professor, his stereotypical white lab coat was going to be ruined after this. It was already showing signs of wear from our earlier ordeal.
Finally it was our turn, the surge of rats coming towards us certainly made us pick up our pace. We scrambled towards our small exit and pushed ourselves though. I looked back to the Corporal, who was the last one out.
Rats flowed towards him like a wave crashing down. There were hundreds of them, what were they running from?
It didn’t take me long to find the answer. The Corporals torchlight made its way down the long dark passageway we had just come from.
There in front of us, limping towards us was the Sergeant.
He was all banged up, he looked as if he had just come out of a bar fight. Blood trickled down from his forehead as he struggled towards us.
The rats beneath us were going mental, they were swirling all around the Corporals feet, trying to get away. The Corporal tried to make his way forward wading through the army of rats.
“Sergeant, is that you? Are you ok?” The Corporal shouted.
The Sergeant pulled his head up slowly. He looked quizzically at the Corporal. He bore his teeth and let out an almighty screech.
He was infected. He sprinted towards the Corporal as the Corporal scrambled over the rats trying to get out. He pulled himself up into the crawlspace and made his way through.
The Sergeant grabbed onto his boot as we all tried to pull the Corporal out.
The Corporal managed to kick his way free as we all fell into a pile at the bottom of the opening.
The Sergeant was now half way through the opening.
We scrambled trying to get up as the Sergeant snarled hungrily.
From out of nowhere, George stood at the top of the opening and smashed down a large heavy rock straight onto the Sergeants head.
The Sergeant instantly went limp. We heard the crunch as his skull caved in. Blood seeped through from under the rock, trailing down the opening.
The Corporal fell to his knees and sobbed. I had never thought it possible. The Corporal was as strong willed as the Sergeant was. But he was broken. We all were. We had lost so much in such a short space of time.
I looked around each person. Signs of exhaustion were present, along with fear, uncertainty and sadness.
We no longer had the security of the base. Our leader was dead, along with Josh one of our protectors.
Andy had vanished along with Duckface.
I thought of Duckface and I scowled. She had betrayed us all. There was no doubt in my mind that she had unlocked the main base, and set the horde of undead hurtling towards our safe house. She would have done it out of spite.
She knew Andy wouldn’t have her if she was the last woman on earth, so she seemed determined to make that happen.
I had no idea where either of them had gone. But I hoped to god she was still alive. If I ever saw her again, I’d kill her myself. First off, for setting the infected free, secondly for stealing my car. More importantly, for murdering the Sergeant and Josh. I was holding her completely and utterly responsible. Had she not opened the main base or left the gate wide open, we wouldn’t be in this mess. She was the most vindictive, evil, heartless bitch I had ever laid eyes on. And I vowed to myself I’d make sure she got what was coming to her. Whatever the cost.
I looked around my new surroundings. We were in the middle of the woods. Leaves lined the floor around us as mud and water pushed through from the woodland floor. The mud was thick, with every step I took it tried to consume me, pulling my feet further to the floor.
I started to shiver, it was freezing. Although the trees provided some shelter, the chilling breeze was still able to cut through the trees blowing past us, in an attempt to freeze dry the mud which stuck to our whole bodies.
What the hell would we do now? We had lost our base, and everything inside it. We we
re completely on our own. We had no food, no water and no shelter.
The sun was starting to set. We had no idea where we were going to go. With no protection and no car there wasn’t anywhere we could go, apart from deeper into the woodland.
I thought back to the events that inevitably brought us to this. The weeks we spent trapped in the apartment. The time we spent at the base. We never thought it at the time, but we were living in luxury. Ok, so none of us had a fresh home cooked meal for months. But we had a warm bed to go to each night, and we always had a roof over our heads. The danger of the infected was minimal. Yes we have a few close calls, but we were easily able to escape.
Looking around the woodland in front of me, I started to appreciate what we had before. I had no idea how we were going to survive our new conditions.
The infected were a bigger threat than ever. But they weren’t our only set back. We would have to work harder than ever, just to stay alive, to survive in the outside world.
None of us knew where our path would take us, or where we would end up. This really was the beginning of the end.
E Virus
The Diary of a Modern Day Girl
Book 2
The Path of Destruction
Coming Soon
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About the Author
Where to start? Well, being an author was something I never dreamed of. I love to read, but I don't do it very often. I used to when I was younger; growing up I wanted to be just like Matilda - powers and all.
As I grew up my interests changed. I was much more interested in going out with friends, dating and working. Clothes and especially shoes became way more important, as you can tell from my front cover!
So I'm not a complete bookworm. I had an idea for a story one day, and I decided to try my hand at writing. I'm hoping I've done a good job and you will all like what you read! It's not as easy as it looks, I understand first-hand the pain of writers block, and spending that much time in front of a computer that your eyes go funny.
When I spoke to my friends and family and told them I was writing a book, after a few raised eyebrows they were nothing but supportive. They pushed me to carry on and were so excited to read my first book.
I live with my Boyfriend Mike in a lovely little apartment on the outskirts of Wilmslow. The area around where we live inspired the locations in my first instalment. The characters are loosely based on the types of people I've observed throughout the years.
Well, the first book is out there, and I'm eager to make a start on the next!
E Virus: The Diary of a Modern Day Girl (The Beginning of the End) Page 19