by R J Murray
The door swung inwards, just enough for him to poke his head through. He looked at each of them and gestured with a jerk of his head for them to follow him.
Terri shared a look with Elise then swung the rifle over her shoulder and picked up the ammo boxes. Elise gathered the other two rifles without needing to be asked and she flashed her a strained smile of thanks before they crept out of the room after Jacob.
He led them down the hall and then turned left into another corridor. At the end of that one, he pushed open a door and gestured them through. They went cautiously, unsurprised to find all of the others in there waiting. She scanned the faces, heart sinking as she realised Clive wasn’t with them.
“He’s alright, lass,” Jacob said softly before she could speak. “He’s downstairs, hidden behind the bar. Out of sight but unable to get up here without them seeing.”
She breathed a soft sigh of relief and said, “How do we get him up here then?”
“We don’t for the moment.” He held up one hand to forestall her protests. “Hold now. Let me finish.”
She nodded, an abrupt gesture. She would listen but unless he gave her a clear idea of what they were going to do to rescue him, she’d do it herself.
“Now, we’re all up here and by my count, we’re looking at eighty or more of them down there.”
“Where they from?” Derrick asked. “You finished off most of them in t’town, when we found them two numpties.”
“There are plenty in the town trapped in their homes and more on the motorway a few miles beyond that. Throw in the resorts, lodges and the rest and it just means there’s lots of them about.”
“Aye, but…”
“It doesn’t matter,” Martin snapped. “What does is that they’re out there.”
“Why not just shoot them?” One of the snowboarders said in his bored American drawl. “Nine of us and plenty of ammo. Not like they’ll shoot back or hide.”
“True enough,” Jacob said. “They have no fear or at least, no comprehension of danger to themselves. But as soon as we started shooting they would go into a frenzy. They’d break in here before we could get them all and we’d be in more danger then.”
“If they break in, they’ll find Clive,” Terri said, her voice firm. “That isn’t happening.”
“So what do we do then?”
“We load up and we leave.”
Jacob waved his hands for silence as the jumbled noise of everyone talking at once threatened to rise to a level where the infected would be able to hear. As silence fell, he cocked his head, listening for sounds they’d be heard and only when sure did he continue.
“The trucks down below in the car park, right?” Several heads were nodded in agreement. “So we can’t get to that even if we could squeeze everyone in.”
His gaze lingered on the two snowboarders as he said that, just for a moment but long enough for Terri to notice and wonder. She looked at the others but saw no indication that anyone else had noticed any strangeness.
“So we’re gonna have to hoof it,” he continued. “Through the forest and away from the town.”
“Where to though?” Alan asked.
“I saw which direction that military copter was going. I suggest we head that way and maybe find someone who can help us.”
“What makes you think anyone’s left to help?” Martin asked with a sneer. “That helicopter could have been full of people fleeing for all we know.”
“It would take more than three weeks for everything to fall apart totally,” Jacob said, giving him a stern look. “I trust in the readiness of the troops and their ability to defend people.”
“Like they did in the town,” he replied. “Like they did with all those poor bastards out there in the snow?”
“Bigger cities will be the priority,” Jacob said without rancour. “Some of the outlying towns and villages will be low priority. A resort town like that one.” He shrugged and said, “Very low priority.”
“What about Clive?” Terri asked.
“There’s a dumb-waiter,” Mandy said.
Even dressed in just jeans and a thick coat, she was a knockout and she knew it. Her smile widened whenever any of the men looked her way.
“What the hell’s a dumb-waiter?”
“It’s a small elevator for food,” Jacob said. “Kitchen staff load it up and it’s raised to this floor. Serving staff can then deliver it right to someone’s room without having to carry it through the lounge and up the stairs.”
“We can climb down it,” Mandy said with a smile that faded as her eyes flicked to Derrick. “Most of us can.”
“Those who go down can fill bags with food for everyone,” Jacob said before the red-faced Derrick could reply. “A few of us will stay up here. When ready, we make a distraction and draw them all around to the front of the lodge. Then everyone slips out of the back.”
“How will that help those who make the distraction?” Terri asked. “How do they get out?”
“Once everyone’s out back and safe, they can swing around and take them out from behind.”
There was silence in the room as everyone digested what had been said. It was clear they all had to agree else it wouldn’t work.
“Why not just stay?” Martin asked. “Hide away up here till they get bored and wander off or freeze to death?”
“No guarantee they will,” Jacob said quietly. “Even if they do. How long till more of them wander by? How long till a group arrives before we realise they’re coming and catch us by surprise?”
He looked around at the group, eyes meeting each of theirs in turn.
“I hoped this place was remote enough that we’d have time to secure it. I was wrong.”
“Who stays and makes the diversion?” Martin asked.
“Them two,” Jacob said with a nod to the snowboarders. “And me.”
“No fucking way, man,” Adam said.
“Yer outta yer mind,” Deke added. “No way.”
“You’re young and fit,” Jacob said, the corners of his mouth rising slightly. “We can secure the doors to buy some time and climb down over the balcony if needed. You’ll be fast enough to outpace them if they chase us. If you can keep up with me anyway.”
“You can fuck right off,” Adam said. “Not happening.”
“Fair enough. I’ll ask one of the girls to do it then. See if they have bigger balls than you two.”
He had them and everyone knew it. Adam’s face turned beet red and Deke swore softly to himself. They were full of pride and arrogant to boot. There was no way they were going to let themselves be humiliated by a girl.
“That’s fine,” Terri said, knowing an extra prompt was needed. “Me and Elise will stay with you if they’re too scared to do it.”
“Screw you, bitch,” Deke snapped.
“Nah, we’ll do it,” Adam said. “And when we meet up you can suck my dick.”
“No thanks, I prefer man size ones,” Terri replied and his face darkened as low laughter rose from the others.
“It’s settled then,” Jacob said, cutting off any further arguments. “The rest of you gather your stuff together. When ready, start climbing down.”
With that, the gathered people started moving. Slowly filing out of the room to go and gather whatever belongings they were going to take with them. Jacob watched them go, a satisfied smile on his face that widened when his eyes flicked to the two snowboarders.
He looked up, eyes meeting Terri’s and he winked at her before turning and heading out the door.
Chapter 14
Clive couldn’t stop his hands from trembling. No matter how he tried, they just wouldn’t stop. He was glad there was no one around to see. He jumped, his body giving a little jerk, as another thump came on the window.
They were out there and didn’t seem inclined to move on. He wasn’t sure if they even knew anyone was inside but it seemed like they weren’t going to leave until they knew. He hated how scared he felt. How weak. How utterl
y, bladder loosening, leg shaking, terrified he was.
He’d always been a strong man. Biggest boy in school, played rugby for the district and popular to boot. He’d had friends and lovers aplenty but no one that he’d actually been close to until Terri. She’d been the one to break through the defences he’d raised around himself and gotten to actually know him.
For the longest time; since before the cancer that had taken his mother or the booze, his father, he’d felt alone. With her, he wasn’t anymore and the idea of losing her filled him with dread. The idea that for all his strength, he couldn’t protect her, was one that almost overwhelmed him.
He’d always been strong, always been bigger than the other kids in school, but he’d never been a bully. He’d used his strength to stand up for others and though he loathed fighting, he’d do it if needed. He wasn’t a killer though and that fact that he’d had to hurt those poor infected people was bad enough. Killing them was just alien. But to do so was the only way to really protect Terri.
The door rattled and he sucked in a deep breath. He edged closer to the end of the bar and peeked around the side of it. The infected woman was pressed up against the glass of the door, a weeping hole where he left breast had been and blood streaming down her belly.
Her eyes seemed to meet his for a moment and then her knees buckled as she collapsed to the terraced decking. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out and her hands clawed weakly at the glass.
It couldn’t have been long since she’d been infected. There was no way that she could have survived long with such a wound in her chest. At least, he thought that was the case.
Behind her, more of the infected came into view. Men and women, moving closer to her, heedless of the cold or the snow. Their hands reached for her, fingers pulling at her body, teeth biting down on her skin and tearing bloody gobbets of flesh free.
Her eyes were open, stuck to his as the others tore at her, devouring her flesh. Her arm moved weakly, not to fight them off but to bang ineffectually at the glass as though trying to tell them he was in there.
He stared back at her, looking deeply into her eyes and seeing a total absence of humanity there. There was no empathy, no compassion, no fear or hate, just a hunger. A thin wail escaped her lips as her stomach was ripped open, her entrails spilling out, steaming in the cold air.
Clive looked away, biting down on the sleeve of his coat to stifle his own scream of despair at what he’d seen. The infected were not men and women, not anymore. They were monsters who cared nothing for themselves or others, they just wanted to feed, to hurt, to kill.
“Psst!” The too loud hiss came from the kitchen and he swiftly wiped at his eyes lest his tears be seen and looked for who had made the sound.
“Terri?” he said, voice filled with hope that what he was seeing was real. “How?”
She shoved open the door a little further and gestured for him to come towards her. He glanced back around the side of the bar and swallowed hard, pushing down the urge to vomit before pulling his head back. The infected there were busy feeding and not paying attention to anything inside the building. He gripped the rucksacks tight and crawled across the floor towards her.
He passed the bags through the small gap she made in the door and then followed through, turning sideways so that she didn’t need to open them further. As soon as the door closed behind him, he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace. His body trembled and not from desire as he sought to push the dark images he had seen from his mind.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m here, baby, I’m here.”
A loud crash sounded from the other side of the door and he jumped, a chill spreading through him as another came after. Martin pushed past him and stared through the small round windows in the door, his gun in his hand.
“They’re fighting,” he said softly. “A whole group of them fighting over the best bits of meat.”
“Your deer?” Alan asked and swallowed hard when the older man shook his head.
“What’re you all doing?” Clive asked hoarsely as he looked around the room. “How did you all get down here?”
“Dumb-waiter,” Terri said with a nod to the far wall where a hatch stood open.
“Jacob and those two kids?” Clive asked as he did a mental check of the people there. He winced as another crash sounded, a body hitting the glass door and licked his lips. “Derrick?”
“Too fat to climb down,” Mandy said with a sensual smile formed by her red painted lips, not at all perturbed by the noise of the danger Derrick would be in. “He will have to use the stairs.”
“We’re leaving,” Terri said when she saw his confusion. “Packing bags with food and slipping out the back way as soon as they start their distraction.”
“Who?”
“Jacob and the others.“
“Better get packing,” Alan said as several empty bags were dropped down the dumb-waiter shaft.
He stuck his head inside and looked up, giving a thumbs up sign to whoever was up there emptying bags and tossing them down before picking up those bags and passing them around. For several minutes there was silence as the storeroom was raided, tins and packets of foods and sauces being stuffed into bags. Each person then lifting them in one hand and weighing them in their mind, deciding whether they could risk adding more and how much it would slow them down.
Alan came out of the storeroom, his arms full of tins and Clive watched in horror as a glass jar of sauce slipped from his hand. Time seemed to slow as it fell, tumbling end over end, a look of alarm crossing Alan’s face.
It shattered loudly, the sound filling the room and seeming to echo in their ears as they stood, silent and unmoving, each of them listening for sounds that they had been heard.
A howl split the air, more animal sounding than human and the doors rattled as bodies shoved at them. Clive rushed to the kitchen doors, staring through the small windows, horrified to see a frenzied mass of blood smeared bodies battering at the glass.
It wouldn’t hold. Couldn’t possibly hold, not against them, against their fury and rage-filled desire to get inside. His eye’s met Terri’s, seeing his fear reflected there and he had just a moment to mouth those words to her that he’d said so often before.
“I love you.”
The sound of glass shattering filled the building and her eyes widened as her hands tightened on the rifle, then all hell broke loose.
Chapter 15
Derrick grunted as he took another step down the stairs, crouching down as best he could considering his size. His large stomach meant that wasn’t far. His hands gripped the shotgun he carried, single-barrelled and pump action with an extra large trigger guard to accommodate his thick fingers.
Sweat formed beads on his forehead and he ached to wipe it away but feared taking his hands from the gun for a moment. He licked his lips and squinted as he tried to see beneath the lip of the ceiling.
The problem was, he realised, that if he moved far enough down to see the main entrance doors that were opposite the bottom step, he would be far enough down to be seen. That wasn’t acceptable. He was a large man and would make a big meal for those infected out there, and he was damned sure that wouldn’t happen.
His jacket felt too tight, the puffy material too warm and far too constricting. Not that he would be able to run far if he had to anyway. He knew what others thought when they saw him and he made no apologies for his size. He was a big man with a big appetite.
Some called him greedy, and he was, but it was that desire for more that had enabled him to build a small fortune. While others were out getting laid and forming relationships, he’s spent his time working.
Women had shown little interest in him and that made it easier to ignore them and focus on his job. With no relationship, no girlfriend to buy things for, to take on dates or even set up house with, all of his money had stayed his own. He’d lived with his mother and saved on rent, soon having a small pile of money that he had nothing to spe
nd on. Instead, he’d started investing it.
Five years on, he’d bought his first house and rented it out to students who didn’t care so much if it wasn’t quite up to standard. They were there temporarily and too drunk to notice the sagging floorboards and tendency for mould to collect in the corners.
After the first had come a second, then a third. Before he really knew it, he had a dozen houses all bringing in more money than he was spending on them and his bank balance grew along with his girth.
He was thirty when he paid for his first prostitute. She’d been ordered online from a website like the fast food he loved to eat and she had arrived at the house, slim and pretty, dressed to impress. She’d taken one look at him and he’d seen a look in her eyes that he’d never wanted to see again.
She’d needed a half a bottle of wine before she mounted him and had been unable to keep the boredom from her eyes as he pawed at her heavy breasts. It was two more years before he’d been able to bring himself to order another and only then after making sure they knew exactly what they were getting.
It was never quite right though. Never enough and by the age of forty he had given up on them entirely and had found a new pursuit. Hunting. He travelled the world, visiting exotic places and shooting any animal he could get a licence to hunt. That feeling when he pulled the trigger, some harmless creature in his sights, was powerful and one he had never experienced anywhere else. He was addicted to it as much as to his food.
Standing there on the steps, waiting for his friend Jacob to start a distraction so that he could scurry down the stairs and into the kitchen with the others, he was glad. He’d never had a family, no wife or children to worry about like the others did. All he had to worry about was himself and that was something he could do.
He gripped his shotgun that little bit tighter and sucked in a deep breath, resisting the urge to check his watch. Any moment, Jacob would start the diversion and he would move as fast as his bulk allowed. Any moment.
The large man flinched as a crash echoed through the kitchen and fresh sweat broke out on his skin as the first bodies hit the main doors. He stood there, unable to move, paralyzed by fear as the glass doors shattered and the infected piled through.