The Undead the Second Week Compilation Edition Days 8-14

by RR Haywood

  Silence descends as first Andrew slips into slumber, audibly snoring as he drifts deeper from exhaustion. Sam is close behind, her soft breathing becoming longer and deeper.

  Lilly settles and listens, first focussing on the sounds of the sleeping forms next to her, before tuning into the natural noises from the forest. She can hear animals moving through the undergrowth, a fox far away and distant calling out for her young. With no breeze, the branches don’t creak and nor do the leaves rustle against each other.

  Slight crackles and hisses come from the small fire and she becomes painfully aware of Norman sitting across the camp and staring right at her.

  ‘You okay?’ He whispers in a low hoarse voice.

  ‘Fine,’ she nods then realises he won’t see the nod. ‘Yeah I’m fine er…you can sleep if you want Norman, I’m happy to stay awake.’

  Hearing his name said by her sends a thrill through him, a tingle into his groin that makes his heart beat a bit harder. ‘No, I’m fine too….never did need much sleep,’ he whispers softly, aware his voice is becoming slightly deeper as the lust builds.

  Silence again. Awkward and sustained. Lilly shifts position and stifles a yawn. She thought the forest would scare her but strangely it doesn't. Actually, in self-reflection she doesn't feel that scared at all. Having Billy and now Todd to think about pushes the fear away.

  ‘Hear that?’ Norman whispers urgently, snapping her from the deep thoughts.

  ‘No, what?’

  ‘Something…not sure…’ he gets up slowly and carefully, the soft light reflecting on his form as he stands listening intently. ‘Thought I heard someone moving about.’

  ‘Really?’ Lilly is on her feet, ‘we should wake everyone up.’

  ‘No!’ Norman whispers, ‘not yet, don’t scare everyone. It might be an animal or er…a deer or something, maybe a badger…’

  ‘We can’t take the risk,’ Lilly urges.

  This isn’t the plan. Not the plan at all. Norman carries on pretending to listen while he thinks frantically, ‘I’ll go look,’ he says eventually, ‘yeah…you stay here and I’ll have a quick walk about.’

  ‘I’ll wake Dad up.’

  ‘No don’t, not yet…it’s probably nothing and it’s not worth disturbing him unless necessary, just wait here for a minute.’

  Unsure and thinking they really should be waking the others up, Lilly concedes and pauses. Holding still whilst listening to Norman quietly slip out of sight into the undergrowth, she tracks his movements, suddenly aware of just how quietly he is moving.

  Minutes pass as she stands completely still, craning her head round to listen and focus on the noises. One hand gripping the handle of the knife held ready.

  ‘Lilly,’ Norman’s voice comes softly through the undergrowth, ‘come here.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘You’ve got to see this.’

  ‘What? See what?’

  ‘Ssshhh, don’t wake the others, come and look.’

  ‘Look at what?’

  ‘Er…some lights but er…in the distance like far away.’

  ‘Lights? What kind of lights?’

  ‘I don’t know. Come and look, but stay quiet.’

  ‘Okay, wait there,’ she slips into the darkness. She loses her sense of direction within seconds because of the blackness of the forest, ‘where are you?’

  ‘Over here,’ his voice sounds further away now but she follows the sounds, carefully stepping to avoid tripping over roots.

  ‘I can’t find you,’ she whispers, wondering what lights he can see. Maybe a commune or some people all together, might be a safe place they could head for tomorrow.

  ‘Keep coming, you have to go right over here to see them,’ again he sounds further away but she ploughs on, intent on seeing the lights for herself.

  ‘Norman? I really cannot see a thing.’

  ‘Just here, down this bank, watch your step it’s quite steep, that’s it…I’m right here.’

  With his voice now a lot closer she finds her way to him, some slivers of moonlight finding their way through the trees to offer gloomy indistinct shadows. ‘Just over here,’ he adds, his voice low and hoarse again.

  ‘How far? We shouldn’t leave the others alone.’

  ‘I know but I want you to see this.’

  ‘Maybe we should wait till morning or wake the others up first.’

  ‘Just have a look first and see what you think.’

  ‘Where are they?’

  ‘Just a bit further.’

  Following Norman, Lilly starts realising that something isn’t right. They shouldn’t be out here, so far away from the others. The need to say something builds slowly, the need to know what the hell is going on.

  ‘We have to go back,’ she says finally, proud of the strength in her voice.

  ‘Lilly, there is something I want to talk about,’ Norman turns quickly, standing too close.

  ‘What?’ Stepping back, she detects his movement as he moves in closer again.

  ‘You and I Lilly, I saw the way you were looking at me. Now I know I’m older and you are only fifteen but times have changed suddenly Lilly and…’

  ‘What!?’

  ‘Ssshhh, keep your voice down!’

  ‘I’m going back.’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Take your hand off me! Let go…I said let go you’re hurting me…’

  ‘Lilly, just be quiet and listen for a minute…’

  ‘Get off me…let go of my wrist now…let go or I’ll scream for my dad.’

  ‘No, please just listen Lilly, I’ll only take a minute please…’

  ‘You’re scaring me, please let go…DAAA…’

  ‘Shut up! Shut up you stupid bitch…’ clamping one hand over her mouth, he stifles the scream before it wakes anyone up. Lilly squirms and bucks against him, fighting to get him off but his grip on her wrist is too strong. In the darkness and the ground littered with organic obstacles they go down, tripping over roots and each other to land in a heap amongst dead leaves.

  ‘Ssshhh,’ Norman hisses, ‘just shut up…I saw the way you were looking at me…I didn’t mean to scare you but my god Lilly, you are so beautiful…’

  Fear grips her stomach. This cannot be happening. She tries to bite his fingers, moving her mouth against his hand. Norman feels the warmth of her lips and tongue against his hand which only serves to drive the lust deeper into his groin.

  ‘Oh god you’ve got such a hot body,’ Norman gasps, pressing his mouth close to her ear, ‘there’s no way you’re only fifteen…we’ll be together Lilly, just me and you yeah? Would you like that? Just us two living alone in our wooden house…’

  Squirming and fighting, she tries to feel for the knife she dropped when they went down to the floor.

  ‘Oh Lilly, I know you like me, you do like me don’t you? We’d better not say anything to your dad yet…I’ll take my hand away but don’t scream…please just talk for a minute.’

  ‘Norman,’ Lilly gasps, ‘please get off me…please just stop it…’

  ‘Lilly, but you like me… I know you do.’

  ‘No, no I don’t…not like that…’

  A loud scream reaches them through the forest. Long and terrified, high pitched and full of pain. Norman freezes, Lilly stiffens as they listen to the drawn out sound.

  ‘Sam,’ Norman hisses. ‘Oh god…’ On his feet instantly, all thoughts of Lilly gone from his mind as his fatherly instinct finally kicks in, ‘Todd…Sam…’ whimpering he plunders through the bushes, snapping twigs as he powers through the dark forest.

  Shocked to the core, Lilly scrabbles up and starts after him. She tries to remember the route they took to get here but the darkness is too intense. Her vision is rendered useless by the lack of light so instead she focuses on following the sounds of Norman as he runs ahead screaming the names of his children in blind panic.

  Another scream rips through the foliage, plunging Norman into greater panic. Thrashing his way through l
ow branches, he trips time and again, falling hard onto the ground. He snags his ankles and bruises his hands, face and knees. More screams, unearthly and filled with pain. Male voices shouting now, too far away to be clear.

  In his consuming panic, Norman races ahead of Lilly, leaving her to find a route through the blackness of the night. The screams and shouts are her markers to aim for. With the knife still on the ground somewhere, she has no weapons and is utterly defenceless.

  Norman bellows for all he is worth at hearing the unmistakable sound of a girl in dire pain, the fear for his children coursing through his veins.

  Trying her best to keep up, Lilly listens to the noise ahead, identifying the instant Norman bursts back into the camp from the rise in volume and chaotic noises, shouting, aggressive male voices and someone screaming. It could be Sam or the boys, She can’t tell who.

  Forcing her tired body to run faster, she races towards the noise, seeing the light of the fire flickering through the undergrowth and trees. With just metres to go she catches the tip of her foot on an exposed root. The power of her legs driving her forward sustain the momentum as she goes down hard, sprawling into the hard compacted earth.

  Winded and stunned, she has no choice but to lie still and wait for the dizziness to pass. Hands and knees bruised but the pain is ignored. Slowly, she lifts her head up to try and see into the clearing.

  What she sees freezes her to the spot. She is unable to move or respond. Her heart jumps around erratically as she stops breathing . The sounds come a second later, filtering through to her stunned ears and foggy brain.

  Everything has slowed down. Movements are slower than they should be. In shock, she blithely notices the fire has been built up and is now bigger than it was. Flames dance as they cast orange light against the branches. Faces shadowy, then bright, giving the eye sockets a hollow, empty look. The contrast of the brightly coloured rucksacks piled together against the muted colours of the vegetation.

  The screams don’t mean anything to her. She is at home watching a movie. The remote control must be here somewhere, she can just switch over and end it.

  But this isn’t a movie. This is real.

  Norman has run into the camp and gone straight to the man on top of his daughter. Lilly notices the naked backside of the man lifting and thrusting between the pale skinny legs of Sam. Her father on his knees, staring up into the barrels of a shotgun held by another mam, his arms wrapped protectively round the shoulders of the two young boys screaming with fear.

  Norman is felled quickly, stunned by the blow of the butt of the shotgun smashing into the side of his skull. Sprawled out on the floor he sluggishly rises, only to slump back down as through drunk.

  The man holding the shotgun laughs and shakes his head, prodding the barrels into Andrew’s chest when he squirms in panic. The naked backside keeps rising and thrusting going from gentle, almost loving movements, to a harder, urgent action. Samantha screams and screams but the noise seems to whip the rapist into a frenzy. He has pinned Sam’s wrists to the ground, making it impossible for her to do much more then squirm. The glow from the fire reflects from his demonic face, the twisted features contorting as he thrusts harder and harder, slamming his groin into the girl.

  On all fours now, Norman tries crawling to his daughter. Screaming with terror, pleading for the man to stop. Dark blood pours from one ear and he keeps losing his ability to move. His fatherly instinct is the only thing keeping him conscious and moving.

  Andrew begs and pleads, wailing as he pulls the boys harder into his chest. Suddenly the noise is overwhelming; a cacophony of voices wailing, screaming, yelling and laughing.

  The man on Samantha lifts his hand to grip her chin, squeezing it harder as he thrusts with violent power. He starts hitting her, slapping her across the face with blows that increase in force until he is punching down, driving his clenched fist into her nose. Blood bursts, spraying up as she screams through broken teeth. Like an animal he climaxes at the same time as Sam falls unconscious, pulverising her face to a bloody ragged mess.

  Instead of flopping down with the afterglow of climax, he jumps to his feet, standing there and roaring with triumph as his still erect penis stands proud of his body. With arms raised high he whoops and bellows, a guttural primeval noise that echoes through the trees of the forest.

  ‘CUNT…’ he spits down on the girl, ‘CUNT…CUNT…CUNT…’ He screams the words over and over and spits phlegm onto the bloody, pulped remains of her facial features.

  ‘You are fucking sick,’ the man holding the shotgun laughs. Like watching his mate flick a bogey.

  ‘Watch this then,’ the rapist nods, his head bobbing up and down. Possessed, the boundaries of law and civilisation have been ripped away. He can do what he wants. He is powerful, god-like and no one can stop him. Grabbing his semi-erect shaft he grunts and focusses for a second, wriggling his body to get the piss flowing. It spurts out, thick and foul.

  It coats her face, the acidic liquid burning the exposed wounds. The action snaps her awake, screaming with pain as he sprays his piss down on her.

  Laughing harder, the man with the shotgun has to focus to keep his aim on Andrew, the end of the gun waving back and forth. ‘I take it I ain’t having a go then,’ he shouts.

  The man pissing whips his aim off to the side, suddenly aware of what he is doing, ‘oh fuck, sorry mate…shit…I didn’t think of that…I can wash her off if you want?’

  ‘Fuck off! I’m not going after you, sloppy seconds? No way, keep her mate.’

  ‘Seriously? Her pussy is alright, bit tight but like, I loosened it up now.’

  ‘Urgh! Fucking gross mate, really fucking gross.’

  ‘Suit yourself, you’ll only regret it later,’ the rapist shrugs tugging his trousers up to cinch the flies and belt closed.

  ‘Sam,’ Norman wails, his voice weak and pitiful, ‘oh Sam….Sam….’

  ‘That your daughter is it?’ The rapist asks conversationally.

  ‘Sam…oh my Sam…’

  ‘Shit father you are,’ the rapist shakes his head, ‘fucking off to take a dump and leaving her alone…that other bloke was asleep,’ he says with indignation, pointing at the sobbing Andrew. ‘What father leaves his kid asleep in the forest with all this going on…shame…fucking shame…’

  ‘Please…’ Andrew blurts, ‘please just go…’

  ‘Oh he’s awake now,’ the rapist comments, ‘you didn’t exactly do anything either…now if it was my daughter I would go fucking apeshit. Honestly, you’d have to shoot me to get me to stop. I wouldn’t fucking stop…but you two…crying and begging, tut-fucking-tut..’

  ‘Oh god Sam…Todd?...’Where’s Todd?’

  ‘He’s here Norman…please…please just let us go…’

  ‘Or what?’ The man holding the shotgun says, ‘ain't no piggy snout filth now mate, who you gonna call?’

  ‘Ghostbusters!’ The rapist shouts.

  ‘Ha! Fucking love it when you do that…’ere, we ought to like have that as our thing…like that bloke in Pulp Fiction when he does the bible speech at the start…’

  ‘Oh er…yeah…oh fuck, what was his name? Samuel Jackson?’

  ‘Yeah him…we do that from now on?’ The man with the shotgun laughs.

  ‘Yeah alright,’ the rapist giggles, ‘ere, you sure you don’t wanna have a go?’ he nods at Sam squirming quietly on the ground, ‘I’ll give her a rinse out if you want.’

  ‘Er…’ the man with the shotgun thinks for a second, ‘nah. Nah thanks mate but like, you know…girls that age don’t do it for me…’

  ‘What you saying?’ The rapist challenges in a hard voice.

  ‘Nothing, no nothing mate…fuck no I don’t mean that…she’s old enough ain’t she…I just meant I like ‘em a bit older with some like meat on their bones and big old tits…you know, not all scrawny and shit.’

  ‘Every hole’s a goal,’ the rapist shrugs, placated from the suggestion that he likes young girls.
r />   ‘Yeah, you know, fair one mate but…nah I’ll pass…anyway, we better get these two back for the doc.’

  ‘He’ll be chuffed as fuck,’ the rapist grins.

  ‘Yeah,’ the shotgun man nods, a dark look crossing his face as he stares down at the two boys being held by Andrew.

  ‘Oh give over,’ the rapist huffs.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Your face, that’s what…’

  ‘I didn’t say anything,’ the man with the shotgun replies quietly.

  ‘Didn’t need to, your face says it all…don’t let him see that, the doc won’t like it if he sees you do that…’

  ‘I didn’t do anything,’ shotgun man protests but his voice is low and muted.

  ‘I couldn’t give a fuck what you think,’ the rapist shrugs, ‘really don’t bother me…but don’t show the doc, he’ll go fucking nuts…’

  ‘Fair enough,’ shotgun man nods quietly, his face now devoid of expression, ‘come on, we gotta go… you two, come with me,’ he nods at the boys.

  ‘Please…no…just go…I’m begging you…don’t hurt them…’

  ‘We ain't gonna hurt ‘em,’ shotgun man replies, ‘really, we ain't gonna touch hair on their heads…they’ll be safe enough…’

  ‘Where you taking them?’ Andrew gasps, gripping the boys harder.

  ‘The doc wants ‘em,’ the man with the shotgun says quickly.

  ‘Please…just go…’ Andrew begs again, ‘my god, I’m begging you, please just leave us and go…’

  ‘No can do mate, we’s got orders ain’t we…hand ‘em over now mate, they ain’t gonna get hurt or nothing…’

  ‘No! No…just leave…please…oh my god please no….’

  ‘Ere mate, I ain't standing here all night fucking discussing it. Give ‘em here now or I’ll fucking shoot your face off.” He pushes the shotgun into Andrew’s face, leering at him from above.

  In desperation Andrew releases Todd, pushing him away as he clutches Billy with both hands. Lilly, watching from the undergrowth clamps her hand over her mouth at the callous action of her father.

  ‘Take him…Please not Billy….please…’