Pet From Hell (Infected Series Book 1)

by Justin Gowland

  Chris looked like someone had smacked him in the face and then said “You know I am such a fucking idiot. If there aren’t any infected outside the fire door, then we could all leave that way.”

  Jay headed to the fire door and we heard it quietly open. Chris and I headed over to the office, while he went to have a look at the fire door, I looked in on the women. They were all huddled on the floor as far from the door as possible.

  I knelt down in the doorway and said “Look we might have found a way out of here. Once we get away and find a safe enough place, you’re free to head out on your own. Just to let you know before you make that decision. The three of us were heading toward a bunker that is supposed to be secure. It was built for this sort of thing in mind. The only thing is we don’t know if anyone is in there or that if there is they will let us inside.”

  “Are you sure it’s there?” Tracy asked.

  “Chris has seen the location before and he thinks that because this thing hit us so quickly no one would have made it there.” I said.

  Chris appeared next to me and said “It’s clear out there at the moment, but I don’t know how long before the infected head this way. So let’s get a move on.” And he turned back into the darkness.

  I stood and followed. I could hear the women shuffling and standing behind me. Getting to the door I saw Chris stood waiting for me.

  “Marc when you get outside take the left side, Jay has the right. I’ll lead the women out, there’s an alley straight across from the door. We’ll head down there and circle back round to the A.P.C, load up and leave. When the last of the women have past Jay will go next and you can be rear guard. You ok with that?” He said.

  “Fine, let’s get out of here.” I said slipping out the doorway to the left and knelt covering my side of the building.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  I heard a murmured conversation from inside the garage. Then Chris with the women in tow left the building and headed toward the alley. Tracy was the last woman to leave and Jay fell in behind her. I gave myself a count of five before following the. I let my rifle drop on its sling and pulled the long crowbar from my belt. I reasoned that if I needed to I could drop an infected without having to make too much noise. Keeping enough distance between myself and Jay, we slowly circled round in a wide circle toward where we parked the A.P.C. Moving between the industrial units was quite easy. I think most of the infected in the area had headed over to the bikers compound and the garage. I heard a moan come from a side alley as the main group past it by.

  With the space between Jay and myself, I was well placed to see the shambling form detach from the shadows and stumble into the street. I could roughly tell it was a man by the size and shape. It looked like he had an arm ripped off at the elbow. He must have been one of the fresher kills because I could see something which I assumed was blood dripping from the torn arm. Taking my time I slowly snuck up behind the infected and brought my crowbar down on the back of his head. Only to be surprised with a clunk sound and the infected staggering forward only to turn round and stumble toward me. I could see a rough beard, eyes hidden behind large eyebrows. Quickly I reversed the crowbar so that I had the straight end pointing forward. The infected growled and with outstretched arms went to grab me. Ducking down his hands just missed grabbing my head, pushing up from my knees I pushed the crowbar under and through his jaw. I pushed upward with what strength I had and it slowly pierced the roof of the infected mouth, as his hands tried to claw at me. I can feel the blood and other slime from the rotten brain slowly run down my arm as I pushed the crowbar further into the head of the infected. I could feel some resistance inside its head. Giving the crowbar a wiggle it dropped to the floor and didn’t move again.

  Looking up I noticed the others had disappeared and I didn’t know which way they had turned. Fucking great I’m lost with a boat load of flesh eating infected nearby. Taking my time I headed in the direction which I had seen the group headed. Getting to a junction I looked both ways but there was no sight of them. I was busy trying to figure out which I direction to head in when quite a few moans slowly came from one side of the junction. It might be a good idea to head in the opposite direction to the moans. So turning to the right I quickened my pace. The clouds had parted and the moon lit the street a lot better. Seeing nothing shambling or crawling toward me, I started to run. My gear started to rattle and jingle, and I was scared that it would pull more infected toward me. There was no reason to make any more noise than was need. Looking down each alley and side street, I couldn’t see our group even with the extra light from the moon.

  Pulling up short of the next junction, I really did need to find somewhere to lay up and search for them in the morning. In the dark I didn’t have a clue where I should be heading even with the moonlight. Looking round I saw a small unit that looked like it might serve my needs till morning. Heading over the junction to the door. I tried the handle and found it locked. Bloody great, lost and nowhere nearby to hide till morning. Heading down the alley to the back of the building I noticed my salvation at the back. A ladder stretched up the rear to the roof. Climbing up I peered over the edge to make sure I had no surprises. Nothing stood out as out of place so I pulled myself up on to the roof and stood up. Looking round there where a few air conditioning units and two skylights, but nothing else for which I was grateful for.

  I settled down between the air conditioning units, sitting with my back to one of them. I was lucky that the night was still quite mild. The surface of the roof wasn’t very comfortable to sit on and I knew lying down on it would be even more uncomfortable, so sitting was the less of two evils. The rest of the night passed slowly and without any further incident. As the sky lightened I stood up and looked round to see if I could spot where the A.P.C was parked. I could just make out the bikers compound in the distance and the garage. Near the edge of the industrial estate I could hear the rumble of an engine. Looking in the direction the sound was coming from I tried to figure out a way to get there by turning the fewest corners. After setting the route in my mind I climbed down the ladder and headed off. Still taking my time I moved from one junction to the next. The noise of the engine got louder as I followed the route I had set in my mind. Turning the last corner I saw the A.P.C in the centre of a car park, with Jay stood on the top.

  Seeing me come round the corner he waved at me and then climbed down inside. The engine revved and started to move toward me, I ran out away from the side of the building and Chris pulled the A.P.C. beside me. I went to the back door and pulled it open to see the four women and Jay looking out at me. I climbed inside and headed to the passenger seat and sat down.

  Chris looked across at me before pulling away.

  “Where did you disappear to last night?” His deep voice rumbled.

  “Well I decided to go and see your girlfriend.” I said.

  “Funny fucker.” He said laughing.

  “An infected cut in between Jay and me. So I had to deal with it, but by the time it was down you had disappeared round one of the corners. I tried to catch up but I couldn’t find which way you went. So I ended up spending the night on the roof of some small unit.” I said.

  Jay stuck his head in between the seats and asked “So how did you find us this morning?”

  “I heard the engine and headed toward it.”

  “See I told you that he would find us if we started the engine.” Jay said to Chris.

  “Ok, don’t dislocate your shoulder patting yourself on the back.” Chris said smiling “But it is good to see you Marc. The women were a bit scared something had happened to you.”

  I just smiled because I didn’t think it was the women who were scared something had happened to me, but men are all about acting tough so I didn’t say anything.

  We headed out of the industrial park before I asked “So what we doing now?”

  Chris was silent for a few minutes before saying “The ladies in the back have asked if they can come with us to the
bunker. Jay and I agreed, but you have a say in this as well.”

  “Look its ok with me. I think they are safer with us than by themselves.” I said looking over my shoulder at the women huddled at the far end of the cabin.

  Each of them were filthy and their hair hung limply down around their faces. Each seemed to be in their mid to late twenties, but with the dirt on them I couldn’t be sure. Tracy looked up at me and gave a small smile before lowering her head again.

  Turning round I watched as Chris pulled us back on to the ring road and set off southward again. We passed the petrol station where we had our first run in with the bikers and I could see shit bag and his infected friend still lying in the car park. We had to slow a few times to push vehicles out of the way or to run over small packs of infected but we made pretty good time. Coming to the last junction of the ring road Chris guided the A.P.C. up the off ramp. Turning on to a small ‘B’ road we made good time till we hit the site of a large accident. A lorry had overturned and dragged its trailer about thirty feet. The cars in front mustn’t have been able to slow down enough because there was a pile up of about twenty cars. One in the centre of the mess must have caught alight, because the nearly all the cars and part of the trailer were burnt to a crisp.

  Every car seemed to have someone burnt up inside. We managed to use the A.P.C to shove the trailer enough for us to scrape by and I mean scrape by. Chris must have caught the back end of the trailer as we passed and dug a groove into the armour on the side. The groove started just after the passenger window and went all the way to the rear bulkhead. Jay opened the roof hatch and the smell of smoke and burnt meat wafted inside, making a few of the women retch.

  “Jay will you shut that fucking hatch the smell is making my eyes water.” Chris yelled.

  “I was just trying to get some fresh air in here.” Jay replied sullenly.

  “Jay mate you could have waited till we were on the other side of this accident.” I said.

  “Yeah, that might have made more sense.” He said climbing up to pull the hatch closed.

  Looking over at Chris he turned and mouthed ‘We’ll talk about it later.’ I nodded and turned to watch the hedges flow past our large vehicle.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Not long after midday we stopped to stretch our legs and have some food. Passing the women the last of the bottled water and some of the remaining MRE’s. I then went looking for Chris and found him looking out over some fields toward York. Even from this side you could see the devastation the fires had caused.

  Clearing my throat I said “How much further?”

  Turning round he said “Might get there by tonight, but I would be happier if we went there during daylight hours.”

  “Ok, so we find somewhere to park up for the night and head there in the morning.”

  “Yeah, it makes better sense.” He replied.

  Looked at Chris and I had a feeling he wanted to say something but didn’t know how to.

  “Chris, what’s the matter?”

  “It’s Jay, he should have been looking out for you last night and by the time we knew you had gone it was too late. He should have known better and then there was opening the hatch this morning. I know not much to worry about, but I have a feeling he’s not telling us something.”

  “Chris, it’s probably everything that has happened lately. I mean I don’t even know how the hell I’m doing. So maybe this is just his way of coping with it all. We will have to keep an eye on him and for that matter all of us.” I said.

  Chris looked at me for a few seconds and then nodded his head and went back to looking at York burning. I left him to his thoughts and walked over to the A.P.C. Looking inside I saw the four women having a hushed conversation, as soon as they saw me they shut up. I shrugged and turned to walk away, if they wanted to mutter and moan, so be it.

  “It’s Marc isn’t it?” A female voice said.

  Turning round I saw the owner of the voice climbing down from the back door. She must have been late twenties and about five feet five. Ash blonde dirty hair and the bluest eyes I have ever seen. She had a curvy body and walked with a slight limp.

  “Yeah.” I replied.

  “I wanted to thank you for helping us out.”

  “It’s ok.”

  “No it’s not ok. You and your friends could have just passed on by, rather than return and rescue us.” She said her face going red under the dirt.

  “There was no way I was going to just leave you to those dicks, especially after we found out what they were doing. To tell you the truth I had expected there to be more of you.”

  She looked me in the eyes and said “There was…” she took a deep breath and continued “The day before there was another four women with us, but when the fat one had seen your vehicle he decided to thin the herd. His words not mine. Anyway he asked his men to choose four of us, they picked us four and then he shot the others in the head with a rifle and threw their bodies outside for those things.”

  “I am sorry…what’s your name?”

  “Mary.”

  “I am sorry Mary that we couldn’t get there quick enough to save you all.” I said looking at the floor.

  “No, you did the best that you could. Anyway I just wanted to say thank you.” She said turning to climb back inside.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Turning round I saw Jay leaning against a tree watching.

  “Alright Jay?” I said.

  “See you’ve got yourself a girlfriend.” He said with smile “Forgot your last one quick enough.”

  I walked slowly forward and looked him in the eyes before saying “What the fuck are you on about?”

  “You dropped Becky quickly enough…”

  Before I knew it my fist had completed the arc and smashed him square in the mouth. He dropped to the floor and I stood over him.

  “You don’t ever talk about Becky like that again. Mary was just thanking us for saving their lives. Did you know that the night before we rescued them, four of their friends were killed by those bikers? No I bet you didn’t even bother.” I said trembling with anger.

  Holding his hand to his mouth he looked up at me and said “Sorry, Marc just thought you were trying it on with the lass.”

  “Well you fucking thought wrong.” I said and walked off up the lane trying to calm myself down.

  Chris came running over to see what had happened. He looked at me stalking off up the lane and then at Jay who was lifting himself off the floor. I looked at him and shook my head and continued walking. I got close to the bend in the road and just stopped, the last thing I wanted was for them to leave me again. After a good ten to fifteen minutes I heard footsteps and turned round to see Mary stood a short distance from me.

  “You ok?” She asked.

  I felt bad for her, because I could see that she was blaming herself for what had happened.

  “Yeah, fine.” I said.

  “You don’t look fine, has it something to do with what happened just now?”

  “A little, but don’t worry it has nothing to do with you.”

  “But I am worried.” She said with tears in her eyes.

  “Look it has to do with something that happened before any of this…” I waved my arm around.

  “So you’re sure it had nothing to do with me.”

  “Look I can tell you mean well, but I have some pretty big scars that need to heal.” I said looking at the floor, now it was my turn to feel shit.

  “Is it to do with a girlfriend or something?”

  I sighed and thought ‘Typical woman, won’t leave anything alone.’ Walking over to the side of the road I sat on the grass and said “Come on you might as well sit down.”

  Mary crossed over and sat down a little too close for comfort. I sat and I told her all about Becky and how we were in love and the night that she disappeared. I then went on to tell her how Becky had been found. Tears started to roll down my cheeks and drop onto my clothes. After a while Mar
y moved closer and put her arm around my shoulders.

  “I can see why you came to rescue us now.” She said in a quiet voice. “I can’t think of what must have been going through your mind when you heard about us.”

  Lifting my head I wiped at my eyes with my sleeve and looked over to the A.P.C. Chris was watching from the back and I could see Jay inside looking out. Slowly standing I held out my hand and helped Mary up.

  “Looks like they are waiting for us.” I said letting go and walking back to the vehicle.

  I let Mary climb inside and turned to Jay “Look I’m sorry mate I shouldn’t have hit you.”

  “No it’s me that should say sorry. I didn’t think, I just opened my gob and it came out.” He said.

  “If you to girls need a room I can get the women out for a while.” Chris said.

  “Fuck off.” We both said smiling.

  I climbed inside and headed to my usual perch in the passenger seat. The back door closed and Chris squeezed his big frame into the driver’s seat. We set off down the country lane and I set my head against the window and watched the trees and fields pass by.

  Tracy stuck her head between the seats and asked “How long till we get to this bunker?”

  “Like I was telling Marc earlier we could be there by tonight, but I would rather we had a look in the morning. Just to get the lay of the land.” Chris said not taking his eyes off the road.

  “Ok.” She said.

  I watched out the corner of my eye as Tracy looked at Chris and then out the front window. I smiled and shook my head. The rest of the afternoon went quietly as we followed the country lane through a couple of deserted villages. There were a few infected in the lane but they didn’t worry us too much. As the daylight started to fade Chris pulled the A.P.C off into a farmer’s field. Turning off the engine and the lights we settled in for the night. Chris and I stayed in the front and Jay climbed up through the hatch to sleep on the roof. That left the rear compartment free for the women to bed down in. The night settled in and we all started to doze off. Chris had stretched his long legs out on to my side of the dash. I could here Jay moving about on the roof and the women in the back moving to get comfortable. Leaning my head against the side window I closed my eyes, but sleep just didn’t want to come. I was a little too excited about getting to the bunker in the morning. I sat thinking on what Jay had said, and truth be told I did find Mary attractive. Now why the hell had that thought popped into my head? I am a man and I have urges just like any other, but when Becky died they seemed to have just fallen by the wayside. But when Mary started talking to me something changed, it was hard to put my finger on it and I didn’t want to feel like I was letting Becky down. I suppose that was why I had punched Jay in the face and stormed off like a moody child. Thoughts like these seemed to keep me awake for the whole night and when the sun started to peek over the horizon, I was ready to get moving. During the night I had managed to do a lot of soul searching and came up with one major thought. Becky would want me to get on with my life especially now.