The Undead the Second Week Compilation Edition Days 8-14

by RR Haywood

  So they do. They press on. Walking down footpaths and country lanes that weave and snake through the sun parched countryside. Passing fields that should have been lush and green but are starting to show the first effects of such a prolonged dry spell with extraordinary temperatures. Forests in the distance look dark and inviting, offering shade against the glare of the sun.

  The unmade lanes are rough and undulating, and all of them are feeling the effects of wearing inadequate shoes within a few hours. Feet become painful and sore, legs aching from the sustained walking after so many days of barely moving. Sweat is pumped out from pores but not enough fluids are put back in. Dehydration starts to set in, only mild at first and the group ebbs into silence as their bodies subconsciously work to preserve energy.

  Dull headaches then start to nag, eyes become irritated at the hot sun and lack of shade. Skin feeling itchy, sore and dry and they all find their minds flashing with images of swimming pools, of the cooling sea , of glasses of cold coke and juice, water fountains and water falls. Their brains sending messages, urging their bodies to get water.

  The water they do have is sipped and conserved, Lilly making sure the young boys get what they need before anyone else.

  Billy and Todd being so quiet worries her. They don’t complain but keep going with tiny feet plodding along in the dirt road, kicking up dust and sending small stones skittering into the verges. Samantha rubs her stomach, wincing at the dull pain and cramps shooting through her insides. The two men stay at the front and neither of them are looking round often enough, both seemingly absorbed into their own thoughts.

  Lilly takes all of this in. Scanning the vista herself and periodically checking behind them. When the shade from trees offers some minor relief, she gently guides the boys over to the dappled shade. She holds them there for a couple of minutes to drink water and to wash their hot faces off.

  ‘I’m tired Lilly,’ Billy mutters, his voice muted and sounding far away. The concern is etched clearly on Lilly’s face as she strokes his cheeks and tells him they will stop soon. She turns to Todd to do exactly the same, as she notices neither Norman or Samantha step forward to offer words or actions of encouragement.

  ‘Come on,’ she takes their hands, ‘let’s play eye spy…shall I go first? Okay…eye spy with my little eye something beginning with T.’

  Silence as the boys stare around, suspiciously looking at the ground, then the verges, then the sky and over to the rolling meadows sweeping into the distance.

  ‘Come on,’ Lilly smiles, ‘it’s an easy one.’

  ‘Tree,’ Norman calls out.

  ‘Dad!’ Sam snaps, ‘that was for the boys.’

  ‘Was it tree?’ Todd asks.

  ‘Yes, yes it was,’ Lilly stares at the back of Norman, wondering why on earth he’d do that.

  ‘Dad, it’s your go now,’ Todd pipes up.

  ‘Eye spy with my little eye something beginning with…B’

  ‘Bumble bee,’ Billy calls out.

  ‘No,’ Norman doesn't even look round.

  ‘Nice try though Billy,’ Lilly lifts his hand up and smiles down, ‘come on…try again…what about you Todd?’

  ‘Er…’Todd stares about, ‘billy goat?’

  ‘No Todd, can you see a billy goat?’ Norman asks.

  ‘Good try though Todd,’ Lilly smiles again.

  ‘Give up?’ Norman asks, ‘Barley corn!’

  ‘Dad! How are they supposed to know that?’ Samantha hisses.

  ‘The field, it’s full of barley corn.’

  ‘I didn’t even know that, how are they supposed to know it?’ Samantha continues.

  ‘Oh dear, I’ve upset the apple cart here Andrew… it seems my daughter is having one of her moods.’

  ‘I am not having a mood!’

  ‘Todd, why don’t you have a go now,’ Lilly says quickly.

  ‘But no one got Dad’s Bee.’

  ‘I’m sure he won’t mind,’ Lilly replies.

  ‘Of course not Todd, you have a go,’ Norman says in a weak attempt at being gracious.

  ‘Eye spying with my little eye something that begins with R…’ Todd says proudly.

  ‘Road,’ Norman almost shouts.

  ‘Dad!’ Sam warns.

  ‘Road?’ Billy asks, realising Todd neither said yes or no to his father’s suggestion.

  ‘Roof,’ Andrew shouts.

  ‘Dad, it’s for the boys,’ Lilly’s tone, while carefully restrained towards Norman, is unleashed on her own father.

  ‘No, a roof. Over there, look,’ Andrew points ahead at the slate grey roof clearly coming into view.

  ‘Looks like a farmhouse,’ Norman comments. Lilly stares ahead, at the single detached building and thinks that although she doesn't know much about farming, surely a farmhouse would be like in a farm? This one is just a big, old house with a low wall running round the garden. No outbuildings or barns, definitely no tractors that she can see and a distinct lack of any farm type animals. In fact, no animals at all.

  What she does see, is the white top and blue sides of an old style Landrover. Clear and distinct, and big enough to carry all of them. Lilly moves to alert Sam, stopping when she spots the look of agony on the other girls face. She looks pale and drawn, sweating freely but looking cold and shivery at the same time.

  ‘You okay?’ Lilly asks as she breaks away from holding the boys hands to step closer.

  ‘Fine,’ Sam whispers, ‘just hurts.’

  ‘They always this bad?’

  ‘Yeah like pretty much,’ Sam rolls her eyes, wincing as the next round of cramps hit deep.

  ‘They might have some painkillers,’ Lilly says softly, ‘you see that car too?’

  ‘What car? What like that blue thing? Yeah….Dad…they got a car there.’

  ‘Yes thank you Samantha, Andrew and I can see the vehicle clearly.’

  ‘Wanker,’ Sam hisses, staring daggers at the back of her dad’s head.

  ‘What’s his problem?’ Lilly whispers.

  ‘He’s just a prick,’ Sam shrugs, ‘that’s why mum left him.’ She goes to say something else but stops and rubs her stomach instead. Lilly looks up, staring at the windows of the house as she sweeps her gaze across the front.

  Norman stares at the Landrover, cursing the luck of finding a house now and one with a vehicle big enough to carry all of them. This wasn’t what he had in mind. He wanted a night out under the stars, maybe in a forest with lots of trees and deep shadows. Willing himself to keep staring forward and stop glancing back to watch Lilly, his mind goes into overdrive as he tries to think of a way out of it.

  ‘I don’t like it,’ he announces quickly, even though he hasn’t thought of a plausible excuse not to like it yet.

  ‘Why?’ Andrew asks coming to a sudden stop thinking that Norman has seen something.

  ‘Too quiet,’ Norman does the narrow eyed look again, pursing his mouth and staring around, ‘just too damn quiet for my liking.’

  ‘Oh,’ Andrew says in a tone of mild surprise, ‘er…well what did you er…expect?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Norman replies, ‘but something just doesn't feel right.’

  ‘Looks perfectly right to me,’ Lilly cuts in, striding past the two men as she heads towards the house.

  ‘Lilly,’ Andrew calls out in a low whisper, ‘get back here.’ She keeps going, blindly ignoring the protests of her father.

  ‘You stay here,’ Norman whispers quickly, ‘I’ll go with her and make sure it’s safe.’

  ‘You sure?’ Andrew blanches, ‘I don’t mind going you know, she is…er…well my daughter,’ but the words are lost to the back of Norman as he jogs forward to catch up with Lilly.

  ‘Your very brave,’ Norman says quietly, ‘very brave indeed.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Lilly mutters keeping her eyes fixed on the windows and front door.

  ‘I think this is going to be down to you and I Lilly.’

  ‘Pardon?’

  ‘Keeping this lo
t safe, it appears you and I are the two leaders emerging in our little group eh?’

  Why is he staring at me and not at the house? Pausing at the gate she takes a final stare from window to window then down to the front door.

  ‘And for my part, it’s nice to know someone here has my back,’ Norman continues, still oblivious to the dangers of approaching an unknown house, ‘we’ve got to watch out for each other.’

  ‘Can you hear anything?’ Lilly cuts him off.

  ‘Hear anything? Er…no well er…no.’

  ‘Good,’ she moves through the gate and up to the door, one hand gripping the knife handle tucked into the rear of her waistband. Tentatively she tries the door handle, pushing it down slowly as she increases pressure against the door.

  ‘Locked,’ she reports, stepping back to stare up at the house, ‘I’ll try the back.’

  ‘We’ll both go,’ Norman scurries after her, giving a quick thumbs up to the waiting group. Following the building line they make their way to the rear garden, Lilly coming to an abrupt stop as it comes into full view.

  ‘What is it?’ Norman asks in a hurried whisper, ready to flee.

  ‘Nobody lives here,’ Lilly announces.

  ‘How on earth do you know that?’

  ‘There’s a big sign there saying Primrose Holiday cottage.’ She points to the large, wooden sign erected at the rear of the house next a gravel parking area.

  Norman stays quiet, cursing himself for not appearing to be the observant one. Instead, now knowing the coast is clear, he boldly steps out to make his way to the rear doors.

  Lilly watches him pass the rear ground floor windows without even looking inside them. Sighing, she rushes forward and checks the view inside. Just plain old style pine furniture, the kitchen clean and tidy with no debris or personal effects on display.

  ‘Locked,’ Norman tuts, stepping back with his hands on his hips. He turns to the nearest window, sizing it up before casting about for a rock to smash the glass.

  ‘There’ll probably be a key somewhere,’ Lilly suggests, ‘unless the owners meet them here every time guests arrive.’ She shrugs as Norman stares at her with a weird expression on his face.

  ‘Course,’ he nods, ‘that’s what I was looking for.’ He goes back to his searching, ignoring the bog rock he was heading towards and veering off to check under plant pots. ‘Got it,’ he announces within a few seconds, ‘yep, knew there’d be a key here somewhere…’ he says shoving the long key into the lock opening, ‘that’s what I was saying Lilly, it looks like you and I are the brains of the outfit here, brains and the beauty eh?’ He winks, sending a creeping shiver down her spine.

  No law now. No police. No rules. Norman walks straight into the kitchen, his mind completely absorbed with thoughts of Lilly. Going straight to the sink he twists the tap, watching for a second as the pure clean water pummels into the ceramic bowl. A night in the forest. No law. No police to call. No phones, no anything. All he has to do is get Lilly away on her own, maybe under the pretence of talking about how to lead this group. Alone and away from the others. She might even give herself willingly.

  ‘It’s clear,’ Lilly announces making him jump. Standing over the sink to rinse his head off, he sprays droplets over the floor between them, wondering if he looks macho and tough with wetted hair.

  ‘Yeah I was just going to do that, er…you get some water and I’ll call the others in.’ He pauses at the sink, rinsing his hands as she gets closer, waiting to see if she will stand close next to him. She doesn't and holds back, feeling extremely uncomfortable and not knowing quite what to do.

  ‘I’ll get them,’ she walks off quickly with a burning sensation flooding her cheeks. Although she is still young, she is old enough to know, or suspect, what he is thinking.

  Opening the front door she waves and steps outside, making out like she’s waiting for the rest before going back in.

  ‘Everything okay?’ Andrew asks.

  ‘Holiday cottage, nobody here,’ she replies moving forward to lead the boys into the cooler kitchen. At the sink she finds glasses and gets the boys drinking while soaking a cloth to rinse their hands and necks with cold water. Both of them look far too red and flushed and shouldn’t be out in this heat anymore.

  ‘Dad, can you look for some painkillers,’ Lilly asks earning a horrified look from Samantha, ‘I’ve got a headache,’ she adds.

  Giving her a thankful smile, Samantha waits her turn for the sink, leaning over the boys to fill a glass with water.

  ‘All clear,’ Norman announces walking into the room, ‘all the rooms have been checked, we’re safe for now.’

  I just did that! Lilly carries on washing the boys and bites down the urge to say something. With their bags dropped, she gets the boys onto chairs at the table, urging them to drink more water. Turning back to the sink she notices the knife handle poking out of the top of Norman’s waistband, the same style of knife she has. He spots her looking and winks, once and quickly. Oh, shoot. It looked like she was just looking at his bum.

  ‘Here,’ Andrew pulls a packet from a cupboard, ‘er…ibuprofen? They any good?’

  ‘Perfect, thanks Dad,’ Lilly makes a point of popping two from the blister pack before handing them to Samantha, asking her to look after them.

  ‘Any food?’ Lilly asks.

  ‘Pasta, rice…just dried stuff,’ Andrew replies leaning into another cupboard to sort through various packets.

  ‘That’s good,’ Lilly responds remembering her mother saying how pasta and rice were full of carbohydrates, ‘can we cook them?’

  ‘Electric hob I’m afraid,’ Norman announces sadly, ‘no good.’

  ‘We can build a fire outside and heat water,’ Lilly suggests.

  ‘Good idea! Well done Lilly,’ Andrew grins.

  ‘Er, I thought of that but er…smoke! Yes the smoke will be seen for miles…’ Norman nods quickly, ‘we couldn’t cook it here,’ his mind racing as it struggles to adapt the new circumstances, ‘but…we could take the pasta and rice with us and wait until we’re somewhere er….discrete and then light a fire…how about that?’

  ‘Do you think we need to do that Norman?’ Andrew asks, ‘I mean, we’re pretty far from anywhere here and if the wood is dry then the smoke should be clear…they might even have a barbeque or something.’

  ‘Too risky,’ Norman shakes his head, ‘we’ve got to think of the boys here Andrew, and the girls too,’ he nods at Lilly, not noticing that his own daughter left the room a few minutes ago, ‘we don’t know who those people are going around murdering old ladies.’

  ‘Hey!’ Lilly winces nodding towards the boys sat just feet away.

  ‘Sorry Lilly,’ Norman holds one hand up showing he is willing to be chastised, ‘you’re absolutely right, yes so er…I don’t think it’s a good idea to have a fire here. We’ll be fine outdoors in this weather and far safer too.’

  ‘What do you think Lilly?’ Andrew asks.

  ‘I think we should take that old car and get away,’ she replies, ‘get to the fort where we’ll be safe. Have a look for the keys.’

  ‘Great plan,’ Norman nods, ‘yes…the keys…they must be here somewhere. Come on boys, you going to help us find the keys eh?’

  ‘No you stay there and rest,’ Lilly cuts in quickly. Their faces were still flushed and Billy hadn’t drunk much water. The search begins in earnest, drawers and cupboards opened and rooted through. Samantha comes back, nodding thanks again at Lilly as she joins in. All of them moving through the rooms looking for the vehicle keys. They find plenty of old keys but not car keys. Even outside and under flower pots, checking the wheel arches of the locked Landrover and all the other hidey holes but all to no avail.

  ‘Shame,’ Norman shakes his head ruefully, staring at the Landrover as though he so wished they had the keys. The keys which were safely in his pocket having been nabbed quickly from the hook in the hallway before anyone spotted them.

  ‘Nothing we can do about it,�
� Andrew sighs, ‘this place would be perfect to spend the night though.’

  ‘Very true Andrew, if it wasn’t for the er…other situation we would be making camp here but alas, just not to be.’

  ‘No, no I guess not.’

  ‘In fact I would advise we move off as soon as possible,’ Norman lowers his voice to a conspiring whisper, affecting the narrowed eye man to man look, ‘I know you agree Andrew and are just as keen as I am to protect our group.’

  ‘Yes, yes of course.’

  ‘You and I share a great burden Andrew, looking out for these souls, our children…we must do everything we can to protect them.’

  ‘Goes without saying,’ Andrew nods.

  ‘Whatever it takes Andrew, I know I can trust my children with you and I can only hope you feel the same.’

  ‘Of course Norman, you know, we only just met but er, well I think you can get a vibe from someone straight away and I certainly feel an element of trust with you.’

  ‘Good,’ Norman nods, ‘down to us then.’

  Hustling the small group, Norman urges and harries them to make ready. He leads them out of the house while exchanging knowing nods and winks with Andrew and Lilly. Andrew rises to the sense of sharing the load with a strong character, at being seen as an equal alpha, ready to lead and take command. Lilly on the other hand, feels an increasing discomfort around Norman and works hard to retain a neutral expression and avoid eye contact.

  Out of the holiday cottage and into the fields they go.

  Norman leads them deeper into the countryside, using unmade tracks and narrow lanes to thread a route further into the rural pastures. All the time he scans ahead for the perfect spot.

  By late afternoon it comes into view. A wooded copse nestled into a small valley between meadows of long grass. At first it looks too small, but the closer they get, the more he realises it stretches away, becoming less of a copse and more of a woods.

  Big trees with thick trunks and dense foliage provide cover, whilst low bushes dotted amongst them restrict the view and deaden any sound. By night it will be dark in there, dark with plenty of hollows and dips.