by RR Haywood
This time she used the map to find a way onto the downs from the other side, following an unmade track for several miles as it slowly ascended to the peak where she could look down on the breath-taking view of the gorgeous sea glinting in the morning sun.
The ruined smoking mass of the industrial estate drew her eye first, it was hard not too with the still smoking buildings and the blackened ruins of the units. She’d expected to see the a much greater scene of devastation but the fire had been contained to those units closest to the gas bottle plant and they were mostly burnt out.
Then she saw the lines, stretching back along every main road all through the town, and the thick column marching out on one side. Using the binoculars she twists the focus, bringing the front of the column into view then scanning along through the town, along the centre and out towards the eastern side.
Every single one of them was facing west, the direction they were waiting to move off into. The front was several ranks across and evenly spaced, in fact they were all evenly spaced and controlled too. An army. No doubt about it. Masses of infantry all lined up in ranks and about to march off.
The sight of them, of the organised manner in which they waited sent shivers up and down her spine. From her battles with Thomas she knew they could be controlled and directed, but not like this. They were more like rabid dogs that were just unleashed in the general direction of the prey. But this below her was far more organised and controlled than anything she had seen so far.
As the column moved off, the ones waiting held position and moved off together, visually keeping abreast of one another with the same distance between the others in front and the ones behind.
A chilling sight of an invading army. Suddenly not the grotesque monsters charging round at night but an awful, terrible disciplined mass of hungry beasts that wanted nothing more than to kill and feast.
They were heading west towards Portsmouth. Her instincts had been right; they had massed here for a reason. Using an isolated town to build vast numbers in preparation for something, and it was prepared. Prepared, planned and done with purpose for a specific task.
But what was that purpose? Who or what were they after. Unless it was just a general sweep along the coast to clear everything in their path, like a scorched earth policy, street by street, house by house and turn everyone they found along the way.
Using the map she finds the town and moves steadily along the coast, trying to identify what was there they could be after.
Small towns, villages, seaside resorts all dotted about and then the major cities of Portsmouth and Southampton, then more coastal towns and villages.
Google maps would be better, she could zoom in and try to pick out any likely targets. They were heading west so the target was west. Not inland or any other direction but a specific and chosen route.
She drives back down the hill and finds the main road, navigating to work a route that will bring her out in front of them. Then drive on and find whatever is in their path to warn them of the coming army.
Twenty One
A single drop of water can slide from a blade of grass into a puddle that forms a trickle and glides gently towards the stream which cascades over pebbles into the river which surges forward with ever increasing strength to the sea.
As it is with the fort and the sheer number of bloody people turning up. Agnes and her group were simply the spear head of a much large contingent all making their way here. Families and groups from every direction, all of them hearing about the fort and the pissing shops we don’t have and turning up with the promise of a safe haven.
Maddox and I make the decision to keep them outside until we’ve got the rest of the bodies out, simply because to let them in now will create havoc with the clean-up operation. Lenski, Sierra and Lani do wonders outside and with so much going on I keep forgetting she could be infected. Necessity means we have to trust her, and besides, there is a very glum looking Dave following her every move.
Nick is sent to the GPMG up top with a crew so Cookey and Blowers can team up and work outside. Walking up and down the queues and rows of people and vehicles to smile and nod, make conversation and apologise for the delay, while all the time keeping a bloody close eye on everyone.
The crew stationed outside get the idea and soon they split into smaller groups, walking up and down the sides to copy the two older lads.
The piles of bodies in the estate causes some great concern, as does the lorry constantly going out from the fort stacked high with more rotting corpses. Lani and the others deal with it brilliantly; sticking to the basic facts that someone left a gate open but it is now completely secure with extra guards stationed everywhere.
‘Getting there,’ I remark to Maddox as we walk through the fort side by side, something we’ve been doing ever since he got here. He doesn't speak much and clearly isn’t one for small talk.
He nods, ‘the ground is filthy,’ he points, ‘once the last of the bodies are taken we’ll get those hoses out.’
‘Agnes,’ I call out as the big woman strides away with a crew following in her wake, since setting up she’s taken it upon herself to grab small groups one at a time and take them away for “feeding and cleaning” as she puts it with a hearty laugh.
‘Have you two had food yet? Don’t make me keep asking,’ her voice booming across the fort.
‘We will,’ Maddox replies quickly, ‘have you got disinfectant in there?’
‘Young man,’ she booms, ‘my stores have more disinfectant than you will ever need what you want it for?’
‘Er…the ground out here…to clean the blood away,’ Maddox explains.
‘Leave it with me,’ she barks with another laugh before striding off to feed the group behind her.
‘Did you hear that?’ I ask Maddox quietly once she’s out of earshot, ‘my stores…she’s only been here an hour or two.’
‘She reminds me of my Grandmother,’ Maddox says, ‘she scared the shit out of me.’
‘I can see why…’
‘Boss,’ Clarence walks up clutching a bottle of water, ‘how many we got outside now?’
‘Loads mate, fuck knows where they’re all coming from.’
‘Any medical staff yet?’
‘Not that I’ve heard.’
Maddox glances at Clarence then at me, ‘you keep asking each other that, why you need medical people so urgently?’
Shrugging I try to pass it off without issue, ‘got to be good to have them, so we can do the vetting and checks…or if anyone gets hurt.’
‘Nah,’ he shakes his head, ‘something else, what is it?’
‘Nothing mate, just we realise how important it is.’
‘Howie, if you got something going on then we should know about it…none of your crew are injured so…’
‘Dave to Mr Howie, can you come out the front please. A nurse has arrived.’
‘Okay mate, two minutes.’
‘A nurse?’ Maddox asks. I look to Clarence who stares down at Maddox with a keen gaze then across to me.
‘Dog?’ I ask Clarence for his opinion.
‘Might as well,’ Clarence replies, ‘I don’t think it can do any harm.’
‘Dog?’ Maddox asks, ‘what about it?’
‘She’s immune…’
‘What!?’
‘Exactly, she’s killed tons of them, ripping their throats out, biting hands and fingers off, swallowing blood and god knows what else but she hasn’t turned…’
‘And they’ve bitten her several times and she still hasn’t turned,’ Clarence adds.
Maddox nods with understanding, looking between us, ‘why didn’t you say that before?’
‘Why would we? No offence mate but it’s a big thing and we can’t risk her.’
‘But now we know we can make sure we protect her if anything happens,’ Maddox counters, ‘so why she out there exposed if she so important.’
‘Because she can smell them,’ I reply quickly, ‘she detects t
hem instantly and starts growling and going mad…’
‘And she’s psychotic,’ Clarence jumps in again, ‘she’s probably killed as many as Dave.’
‘No way,’ I retort, ‘not possible.’
‘Since we got her?’ Clarence asks, ‘during that fight she didn’t stop killing.’
‘Yeah,’ I say slowly, ‘maybe…that would be an interesting one.’
‘What Dave against Meredith?’ Clarence grins.
‘About this dog,’ Maddox prompts, ‘that’s why you want medical staff, but a nurse ain’t gonna do it…you need doctors and scientists for that kind of thing.’
‘True, but it’s a start until we can find one.’
‘All dogs or just her?’
‘Don’t know mate, she’s the only one we’ve seen. We heard about her and went specifically looking for her.’
‘Immunity is possible then,’ he remarks quietly then senses something else unspoken between Clarence and me, ‘what?’ he asks quickly.
‘Sharp as a bloody knife you are,’ Clarence smiles.
‘What then?’ He shrugs, ‘Lani!’ He nods with realisation.
‘Lani?’ I ask trying to hide it.
‘Yeah Lani, what’s up with her?’
‘What?’
‘You got Dave following her everywhere and the dog too, you just said how bad they both are, so you got your two hardest shadowing one person everywhere she goes and…’ he points at me, ‘she ain’t holding her rifle round the front either, she got it slung behind her.’
‘So?’ I shrug feeling like an idiot for giving it away so easily.
‘And she keeps touching her stomach like she been hurt.’
‘Fucking hell Maddox, you should have been a copper son,’ Clarence sighs.
‘Me? A fed? No way bruv,’ he grins slipping back into street language, ‘come on,’ he goads us switching back to a refined tone, ‘we in this together or what? We keeping secrets then fuck you.’
‘Easy mate,’ I blanch at the direct manner.
‘No,’ he shakes his head, ‘fuck you if you gonna be doing all secret shit, I don’t like it when people think I’m stupid.’
‘No one said anything about you being stupid, clearly the opposite…’
‘So what then?’
‘Okay, but this stays between us and I fucking mean that, you hear me?’ The power in my voice snaps his eyes on me, he nods seriously. ‘Lani got cut yesterday, really bad wound to the stomach, she was dying so…well we had a way of turning her…’
‘Fucking what?’ He flares with an instant look of distaste.
‘Listen,’ Clarence urges him speaking low and fast.
‘It’s a long story but we got caught out in the fight, we were losing badly and another…er…well load of undead saved us, a woman called Marcy who said she didn’t want to be like the others. She could speak and act like normal…just fucking hang on and listen, you wanted to know,’ I whisper fiercely as he starts reacting.
‘Okay, go on,’ he says.
‘Long story and I’ll fill you in later but we let her turn Lani, she said she could save her and anyway so Lani got turned, she was one of them red eyes… the fucking works…it all went bent and we ended up killing them all…’
‘So this lot are from that woman, not the ones that lived here?’
‘Yes mate, the ones that lived here were killed out on the flatlands and stacked up yesterday, but we found Lani this morning tied up and gagged in the visitor centre toilets…’
‘She doesn't have red eyes,’ Maddox cuts in.
‘No mate, she doesn't and Meredith isn’t reacting to her either, there’s no sign of it. The infection makes them heal faster than us, clots the blood quicker which is why it’s so fucking hard to kill them, her wound is healed far better than it should be but now, there’s no sign of it. We got Dave and the dog with her the whole time in case she turns…we don’t know what’s going on with her.’
‘She seems normal,’ Maddox agrees, ‘I didn’t know her before but yeah, no sign of it.’
‘That doesn't mean she isn’t infected, it could be a fucking trick or…’
‘A trick? How?’
‘Mate, we’ve been non-stop against those fucking things since this started and they’re getting more cunning by the day…that Marcy was a trick to get us turned.’
‘I can see why you didn’t say anything, but how long would you have left it?’
‘Moot point,’ Clarence says in his deep voice, ‘not relevant now, you know and that’s it.’
‘So she could still infect others, or,’ he pauses, ‘she could be immune.’
‘Yep, which is why we’re keeping it schtum mate, if anyone finds out they could just try and kill her, not wanting to take the risk but…if she is immune then we got to protect her.’
‘Yeah right, definitely,’ Maddox nods, ‘I was thinking we should tell some of my lot but no, they shouldn’t know, they’re good but they’re young and will say something. I am going to tell Lenski and the other two though.’
‘Darius and Sierra? You sure that’s a good idea?’ I ask him.
‘Yes, I wouldn’t have said it otherwise,’ he looks at me pointedly, ‘we in this together or we two separate groups living in the same place? What if something happens to my lot and I don’t tell you about it? We start off like that and it gets fucked up real quick.’
‘Fair enough, but let’s do it together later, with Lani there too…’ I suggest.
‘That’s fair,’ Clarence nods towards Maddox.
‘Agreed,’ he replies quickly, ‘I appreciate you telling me but…is there anything else I should know?’
‘Nothing urgent, we’ll tell you the full thing later.’
‘Maddox,’ a voice calls out. We turn round to see the ground now cleared with the last of the bodies on the lorry, ‘all done,’ the youth adds.
He gives instructions to get the ground hosed and brushed down with disinfectant before following Clarence and I out the front gate to find Dave.
The sight amazes me, long queues of vehicles stacked up and stretching back into the flatlands, people milling about and chatting to each other. Bottles of water being handed around, food shared and children running between the vehicles.
Lani and Lenski turn and walk towards us with a middle aged man following them.
‘How many?’ I ask with a shocked voice.
‘Er, fifty two,’ Lenski replies with a glance at her clipboard.
‘You got a nurse then?’ I ask looking round.
‘Yeah,’ Lani grins, catching me out, she waits for a second before looking at the man, ‘Mr Howie this is Frank, Frank this is Mr Howie.’
‘Good to meet you,’ he steps forward, thickset with old faded tattoos on his forearms, receding grey hair and an easy smile.
‘Hi, you too…oh you’re the nurse?’ I realise, feeling very sexist for expecting to see a woman.
‘Ha don’t worry,’ he grins, ‘I get it all the time, twenty years in Accident and Emergency.’
‘Bloody hell mate, sorry about that,’ I grin sheepishly, ‘we got medical stuff coming out of our ears but no one to use it, plus we want to get everyone checked before they come in, you know for…’
‘Bites, scratches, broken skin, funny red eyes…yeah that’s not a problem,’ he jumps in, ‘guess that means I jump the queue then.’
‘Oh yes, but,’ I add quickly, ‘it means you get checked first.’
‘Fair enough.’
‘Who you with?’
‘My wife and daughter, they’re back there.’
‘Are they medically trained?’
‘Not really, my wife worked on reception at the hospital so she’s got an idea of what’s bad and my daughter was going to start training next year…to be a nurse.’
‘How old is she?’ Clarence asks.
‘Seventeen, she’s sensible and knows a fair bit.’
‘Can we use her and your wife to help check the women and kids that c
ome through? If you tell them what to look for?’ Lani asks.
‘Yeah, yeah of course,’ he nods.
‘Get them through and set up, Clarence you alright checking Frank?’
‘On it.’
I wait a second until they stroll off then get the others gathered in a group around Maddox and I. Darius and Sierra standing next to Lenski, Blowers and Cookey with Lani, ‘right we’ve got the bodies cleared away, last load is going out now…’
‘Crews are gonna hose down and clean the ground then we gotta get everyone inside,’ Maddox takes over with a seamless transition, everyone looking from me to him.
‘But we need to work out where they are going to go first, do we allocate a space or let them go for it?’
‘I think,’ Lenski replies, ‘we get the space for crews yes? Then after this the people they find own space.’
‘Or we give them a defined area to use, so they don’t just end up anywhere, otherwise they’ll be all over the place,’ I say.
‘Is good point,’ Lenski concedes, ‘the crews I think go at the back so they have the space…’
‘I was thinking of putting them at the front,’ I add quickly, ‘so we got a sort of fighting force ready to react and closest to the main gates.’
‘Definitely,’ Maddox nods, ‘crews at the front between the gates and the ramp to the wall, a clear line of space then everyone else behind them.’
‘That’s that sorted, how we going to implement it?’
‘Simple,’ Lani looks at me, ‘we’ll just lead them in one set at a time and show them where to pitch.’
‘What if they don’t have tents?’ Cookey asks, ‘have we got spare stuff?’
‘Work it out as we go, I think we should do the same as before and ask them to give over their supplies but don’t force them…’
‘We do this already,’ Lenski, ‘and I sorry but I tell them they not coming in here unless they give it to us.’
‘Oh right, okay,’ I nod, ‘I just don’t want people to think we’re dictating to them.’
‘But there has to be the rules yes? The food it have to be shared so they share it or go somewhere different.’