The Infected (Book 4): Wrecked

by Justin Gowland

  “Get the others.” I said and ran back down to see if Max was still in the room.

  I crouched down and looked quickly inside, but Max had gone. I ran across the room and jumping over the two large infected as I went. Skidding to a stop at the hatchway I looked out onto the landing. I could hear Max’s footsteps hammering on the stairs heading down. Pulling a grenade loose, I pulled the pin and dropped it over the rail before diving back inside the room. My back felt the whomp of the grenade going off followed by the loud bang. Climbing to my feet, I saw Amy followed by Kathy, Jane and Foxton at the rear enter the room.

  “Did you just use a grenade?” Amy shouted.

  Grinning, I just nodded.

  Smiling, she said “You can be such a fucking kid sometimes.”

  “Come on, let’s get going. The infected are bound to have heard that.” I said, heading back out onto the landing.

  Leading them down the steps, we came to the door leading outside. Again, it was open, but the difference this time was that there were bloody handprints on the frame. I only hoped that I had managed to cause Max some damage with the grenade. Pulling the goggles off my head, I stuffed them into the small bag on my webbing. Lifting my rifle, I stepped outside. I heard a bang and fell to the floor, but as I did, I felt a tug on my left shoulder and my arm went limp. Instinctively, I rolled and heard a ricochet off the floor where I had been. Amy was out firing and sprayed towards where she thought the shots had been coming from. I had spotted Max as I rolled on the floor. Hs face was streaked with green slime and blood. Amy’s shots hadn’t done much but make him hide, but one shot must have been the luckiest shot in the world ever, because a cable near to where Max had been stood suddenly whipped loose and tore through the crates where Max had been hiding. It must have torn through Max like hot knife through butter, because the next thing I saw was his head flipping through the air and over the side of the ship.

  I tried to push myself up but my left arm didn’t want to help. Rolling onto my back, I saw Kathy and Jane rush over to help sit me up.

  Chapter Nine

  “Shit, Marc, you’ve been shot.” Foxton said, pulling his shirt off and pushing it against my shoulder.

  So that was what being shot felt like and I fucking hated it. With everyone’s help, they got me standing. There was no way I was going to be able to fire my rifle so I pulled out my pistol.

  “Foxton, take my rifle and cover the rear.” I said, passing him my rifle.

  We edged around the super structure and headed along the gangway. Looking over the front of the ship I could see the infected slowly heading in our direction. I pulled another grenade and lobbed it in amongst the containers. A few body parts went flying as it went off, but it did little to slow the tide of infected. Our saving grace was the fact that we could move faster than they could. Reaching the other side of the gangway, we quickly found the ladder. Sending Amy over first, then Kathy and Jane. Foxton and I were the last two on the ship.

  “Get going, Foxton.” I said.

  He grimaced and said “Not a fucking chance. You next.”

  “Listen, I’m not going to be able to climb down that ladder with a busted arm. What I need you to do is go down and get Amy to move the boat away from the ship.” I said.

  “What the fuck for?” He asked.

  I smiled my craziest smile and said “I’m going to jump.”

  His eyes went wide and he said “You’ll kill yourself.”

  “I doubt it, but I will need a quick pick up because I won’t be able to stay afloat very long.” I replied, pulling my webbing and harness off and passing them to him.

  “You’re off your rocker, mate, but I’ll see you later.” He said as he climbed over the rail.

  I watched as he climbed down the ladder. I turned to see three infected coming toward me. Now, one-handed shooting was never my strong suit but I needed to slow them down till the others had moved the boat. Firing at their legs, I managed to only use half a mag to put them on the floor. They were still crawling toward me but I had a little breathing room. I heard the boat's engine start and the sound of it moving away. Looking over the side, I saw Amy pull the boat about twenty meters away. Sticking my pistol in my belt, I pulled myself slowly over the rail. Now, I will admit that the thought did cross my mind that I may die, but I also knew this was the only way off the ship alive. Saying a few words to God, I leapt off the side and plummeted toward the water below. Trying to keep my legs together, I hit the water and it felt like I had hit a very cold, very wet brick wall. I felt the water close over my head and I started to sink into the dark water.

  I woke up coughing in the single bedroom on the boat. Looking around, I saw Amy sitting on the floor with her eyes closed. I tried to reach out and found that my left arm was taped to my side. Then I remembered being shot and my jump from the side of the ship.

  “Hi, Amy.” I said, my voice sounding rough.

  Her eyes slowly opened and she smiled.

  “You fucking idiot.” She said, climbing to her knees.

  I smiled. “Love you, too.”

  She laughed and kissed me and I felt the warmth spread from my lips and into my ruined shoulder.

  “Okay, doc, give it to me straight; am I going to lose the arm?” I asked.

  “No, but it just missed the artery and lodged in the muscle. Jane and Kathy managed to get it out without too much damage being done except for the damage the actual bullet did.” She said, climbing up to sit on the edge of the bunk.

  “How is everyone?” I asked.

  “Chris nearly dove in the water after you when he saw you jump. Foxton managed to beat him to it, though, and dove in to pull you out. You know how you said he was an arsehole?” She asked.

  “I think I can remember saying something along those lines.” I said.

  “Well, he has had nothing but high praise for you since we rescued them. Chris filled them in on the bunker and they can’t believe how much you have done since Jane and Foxton left you.”

  “Yeah, well.” I said.

  She smiled and placed warm hand on the side of my face. I turned my head into her hand.

  “Kathy knows how to steer the boat and we’re on our way toward open water. We’ll cast anchor before we head out there and rest up for the night then head up the coast in the morning. The only problem we might have is the infected at Hornsea.” She said.

  “Hopefully they’ve all fallen into the marina.” I said, as I winced against the pain from my shoulder.

  “Maybe. Anyway, better go check on the others.” She said, leaning forward and kissing me on the cheek.

  I lay back and tried to close my eyes but the pain from my shoulder kept pulling me back awake. Because there was very little that I could do for the time being, my mind turned back to Max and how he had easily betrayed his friends. Was Bentons Reach that good? The other thing that came to mind was Foxton. He had been quite happy to throw his lot in with them back at the beginning. So what had changed? Was he going to get to the bunker and betray us all? Questions like these flooded through my mind as I lay on the bunk looking at the ceiling.

  A knock on the door had me come out of my stupor.

  “Yeah?” I shouted, wincing.

  The door opened and Jane came in and stood looking down at me.

  “I thought I’d come down and see how you are.” She said.

  “I’m okay. The shoulder is a little fucked but I should be ok. Amy said you did a good job getting the bullet out.” I said, smiling.

  “It was caught up in the top layers of muscle so was easy to pull out.” She said, rubbing her hands together.

  I tried to sit up a little but the pain was too much and I laid back down, before saying, “What’s the matter?”

  “I’m sorry about Max. I didn’t know that he was going to do that.” She said with tears in her eyes.

  “Look, you didn’t know he was a traitorous little shit. It’s that ex-boss of yours who is the problem.” I said.

  �
��I thought we were working toward a vaccine and it turns out I had been helping them to make the infection worse.” She cried.

  “Seriously, Jane, you can’t be held at fault for those fuckers.” I said.

  “If I had just stayed with you, then this wouldn’t have happened.”

  I sighed and said “Look, Jane, I have been doing daft stuff since leaving your parents' house. I gather Chris told you most of what we’ve done?”

  She stood there and nodded.

  I patted the edge of the bed and said, “Sit down.”

  Jane slowly walked over and sat gently on the edge of the bed. Looking at the floor, I could see tears fall to the floor in little splatters.

  I placed a hand on her arm and said, “When you helped me escape the lab, I was thankful that I had found a friend like you. But when we were at your parents' you then decided that you wanted to go back, and I will admit that I was slightly pissed off. Then I met Chris and Jay. I helped them and ended up at the bunker. I helped save some groups and we lost Jay in the process which hurt Chris and me. Then you send out a call for help and I came to repay our debt. So to tell you the truth, in the long run, you have nothing to be sorry for.” I said.

  She burst into tears and sat on the edge of the bunk shaking with each sob. There was another knock and Foxton looked around the edge of the door.

  “You okay?” He asked.

  I nodded and said “Yeah, I think she’s a little upset with everything that has happened today.”

  He nodded and came in and crouched in front of Jane and said “Come on, Jane, let’s get you some rest.”

  He slowly pulled on her hands so that she stood up. She followed him out of the room and he closed the door. Even with his subtle show of kindness, I still didn’t trust Foxton. I suppose I was being overly cautious, but I would rather be that than dead.

  Closing my eyes, I managed to fall asleep.

  A large booming knock on my door woke me up and I turned my head toward the door and saw Chris looking down at me with that daft grin on his face.

  “You really do need to learn how to duck!” He said.

  “Get fucked.” I said, laughing.

  “Amy asked me to come down and tell you that we’re near Hornsea. Should be there in about two hours.” He said, walking into the room and leaning against the wall.

  “Really? I just fell asleep.” I said

  “Dude, you’ve been asleep since late yesterday afternoon.”

  I tried to sit up and found that my shoulder still hurt but not as bad as it had the previous day. Swinging my legs over the edge of the bunk, I tried standing. The boat wasn’t moving as bad as it had been on the trip down to Hull and I think the pain in my shoulder gave me something to concentrate on other than the movement of the boat. Chris moved out of the way of the door and followed behind me as I headed toward the stairs to the bar. Climbing the stairs was the hardest part of my walk. Walking into the bar, I could see Spirit hiding under the table again.

  I sat down in one of the chairs and she crept out and laid her head on my lap. Stroking her, I watched the coast go by outside of the window. Chris sat in the chair straight across from me and looked out the window as well. We must have sat like that for an hour before anything happened.

  “Where the fuck did that come from?” I looked up and saw Foxton standing near the bar looking over to where Chris, Spirit and I were sat. Trust it to be Foxton that spoils the pleasant mood for us.

  “She’s not an it!” I said.

  “Okay, then where the hell did she come from?” Foxton said, walking slowly across the room.

  “Spirit has been on board all the time. Did you not tell them about her?” I asked, looking over at Chris.

  He just grinned and shrugged his shoulders “Must have forgot.”

  “Forgot, my arse.” I said, smiling.

  I think Chris was hoping that Foxton would get his hand bitten or face chewed off, because the nearer he got to me the more Spirit growled. When he was finally a few feet away, her ears went back and she let out a single loud bark.

  “Whoa, what the fuck?!” He said, as he stumbled back a few steps.

  “I guess she doesn’t like you.” Chris said, grinning even more.

  Spirit laid her head back down on my lap, while watching Foxton through narrowed eyes.

  Foxton was trying to get his composure back and said “Amy said we should be in Hornsea soon. She asked me to come and check on you both.”

  “Tell her I’m up and about and if Kathy could handle steering, could she come down for a quick word.” I said.

  “Sure.” Foxton said leaving the bar and heading upstairs.

  I sat there thinking of everything that had happened over the last few days and I still couldn’t think of a good reason to trust Foxton. Looking over at Chris, I could see that he was waiting for me to ask something.

  “Chris, do you think there’s something off about Foxton?” I asked him.

  He sat there and lifted his unbroken arm up to his face and rubbed the stubble with his hand.

  “Tell you the truth, he does seem to give off the vibe that he is hiding something.” He said, looking off into the distance.

  I felt the same but I wanted to ask he and Amy their opinions. I was just about to say something when Amy walked into the bar.

  “Hi, Marc. Good to see you’re up and about.” She said.

  I watched as she walked over and smiled.

  “You can get any idea of that out of your mind. I’m still pissed off at you.” She said, bending down to kiss my forehead.

  “Nothing like that crossed my mind, at least not many times.” I said, grinning.

  Chris just let out a short laugh.

  “You called me down just so you could have smutty thoughts?” She asked.

  “No, but it was an added bonus. I wanted to know if you thought there was something off about Foxton, after what happened yesterday?” I replied.

  She stood thinking for a few seconds before saying “Tell you the truth, I thought there was something strange about all of them. Jane is hiding something and so is Foxton. Kathy, on the other hand, seems a little too dim to be an assistant of any kind.”

  “Bugger.” I said, hitting the arm of the chair with my good hand.

  Chris leaned forward and asked “What do you want to do?”

  I sat back in my chair and said “I’m open to suggestions!”

  Amy crouched down beside my chair and stroked Spirit for a while before saying “We need a way to make sure the bunker is safe. There is a way but they might not like the idea.”

  “Okay, what is it?” I asked.

  “We blindfold them when we get near to home. That way they won’t know exactly where it is. But like I said, I don’t think they are going to like it much, Amy answered.

  “Fuck them, if they don’t like it. We’ll leave them in Hornsea.” Chris said.

  It was actually a smart idea. The only thing they could say was no, and if they did, they’d get left in Hornsea.

  “Okay, we’ll go with the blindfolds.” I said.

  Amy stood up and said “I need to head back up to the wheelhouse and make sure Kathy hasn’t taken us past the marina.”

  Chapter Ten

  So that’s what the room with the steering wheel was called. Amy had been so pissed off with what had happened in Hornsea, I didn’t dare ask her. Oh, well. You live and learn. Amy headed out of the bar and Spirit laid down on the floor between Chris and me. After a few minutes we could feel the boat turn and we looked out the window and saw the marina. I stood up and made my way over to the side windows and looked out toward the dock. There were one or two infected lurching up and down the dock and I could see the A.P.C. near to the road. The engine noise changed and I could feel the boat slowing as we got nearer to the dock. The infected looked up at the boat as it scraped along the dock. The engine noise stopped and Chris stood up. Beside the rear doors was our gear neatly piled up against the wall.

 
I bent down and grabbed my pistol and headed out through the bar doors and out onto the deck. There were three infected on the dock and the usual low moan that always seemed to issue from their dead mouths.

  I raised my arm to shoot when Chris came over and leapt over the side and onto the dock. Walking slowly toward the first infected, he dodged to the side and lashed out with his foot, catching the infected in the hip pushing it off the side and into the water, where it slowly sank out of sight. Chris continued his walk and did the same with the other infected before walking back down to the boat.

  He stood and looked at me and said, “Sorted.”

  Raising my good hand, I saw him flinch because I still had the pistol in it.

  “Shit, forgot I had that. Give me a second.” I said.

  I passed the pistol to my other hand and felt my shoulder tug with the extra weight. Raising my now gunless hand I flipped my middle finger at him and went back inside. I could hear him laughing as I put my pistol back. Spirit walked past me and jumped over the rail and onto the deck. I swear that dog looked happy about being on dry land again. Amy and the others came down the stairs and into the bar. They all picked up what they could carry and left to climb off the boat. Being the last one off, I gave it a friendly pat. I have to admit if I had to go on a boat again, I hoped it wasn’t for a long time.

  Getting onto the dock was quite hard with my busted shoulder and there was no way that I was going to try and do what Chris had done. In the end, I must have taken twice as long as everyone else and I had the sound of Chris laughing his head off at me. We headed up to the A.P.C., and as we got closer, we could see that it had been covered in black and green handprints from the horde of infected that had chased us from Hornsea. Loading up didn’t take long but deciding on who was doing the driving did. Chris was upset that he couldn’t drive his favourite toy, so grudgingly let Amy drive whilst he sat in the passenger seat. I sat near the front with Spirit between my legs, whilst Jane, Kathy and Foxton sat near the rear doors. Before we pulled away, Chris broached the subject of the blindfolds, and to mine and Amy’s surprise, they agreed to wear them. We said that we did it for all our new arrivals and that the others would be happier if they did the same.