The Undead the Second Week Compilation Edition Days 8-14

by RR Haywood

  It got hotter. The sun became brighter. The windscreen magnified the rays and increased the temperature. Sweat poured down her face, her hands were slippery on the hard plastic steering wheel. The seat was sticky and uncomfortable, the vehicle bouncy and uncomfortable.

  There was no choice but to push on. To find Billy and Todd and work out a way of getting them back. Ideas and thoughts raced through her mind, maybe she could offer herself for their release, but without her to take care of them they wouldn’t last five minutes. Find them first and work out the plan after.

  Into the outskirts of another town, this one larger than those travelled through before. Big houses set back from the road with expensive looking cars on the front drive. Coming down from higher ground, she had seen the big, dirty smudge of smoke hovering over the town centre. Another smaller trail of smoke hung nearby.

  This was the time to find another vehicle. Plenty of modern cars left on driveways here, it would just be a matter of getting the keys and job done.

  Snapping awake, she spots a red van double parked ahead and two men walking towards it from a nearby house carrying bags of food.

  The men from last night had a white van, and even from this distance she can see these men are different.

  Trying to decide whether to turn off or approach them, the Landrover makes its own decision and calls for help by backfiring. A sound like a shotgun blast that booms into the street, echoing and rolling off the houses.

  The two men come to a sudden stop, heads snapping towards the Landrover..

  Too late now. Have faith Lilly, not everyone is bad. There are good people about who can help. These men might have children of their own and understand her plight. If nothing else they might help her find a car or tell her where this place is.

  Bringing the Landrover to stop just short of the red van, she finally switches the engine off, sighing with relief at the cessation of the awful noise. Dropping down, she notices the steam hissing from the front, realising the vehicle couldn’t have gone much further anyway.

  ‘You alright?’ One of them shouts over. Standing still, he watches as the blond girl jumps out and moves position to get a clearer view of the Landrover, no one else with her.

  ‘Christ love, you ragged that thing a bit,’ the second man laughs. Shaking his head he strolls to the back of the van and deposits the bags before waiting for his mate to join him.

  ‘I need help,’ Lilly calls out, heading straight towards them, ‘some men killed my dad last night, they killed Norman and raped Sam and took…’

  ‘Slow down!’ The taller of the two men steps forward waving his hands slowly, ‘who did what to who?’

  ‘My dad!’ Lilly replies, fighting the hysteria threatening to take over. She takes a breath and starts again, ‘two men in a big white van got into the place where we camped…they killed my dad and Norman and raped my friend Samantha…she was only fifteen…then they took my brother Billy and another little boy called Todd…’

  ‘Shit,’ the tallest man says, ‘that’s awful love…what about you?’

  ‘I hid,’ Lilly blurts, ‘I was in the bushes…they didn’t see me…’

  ‘Big white van?’ The shorter man walks closer with an interested look on his face. Lilly nods, slowly taking in the details of the two men. Their large build and tattooed arms and necks look too familiar..

  ‘Two blokes you said, yeah?’ His interested look slowly morphs into a wry smile, ‘one of ‘em had a shotgun by any chance?’

  Lilly stops walking, looking between them as alarms start ringing in her head. She nods slowly as the tiredness abruptly ends and the hysteria ceases. Calm floods through her as she thinks the situation through.

  ‘You know them?’ She asks quickly.

  The two men exchange a quick glance, ‘er…no love…saw a big white van go through here a couple of hours ago…didn’t we John,’ the shorter man says.

  ‘Yeah, yeah er…couple hours ago at least Terry,’ John replies, ‘two blokes in it, yeah…two blokes…’

  ‘Which way did they go?’ Lilly snaps.

  ‘That way,’ John replies, nodding down the road behind him.

  ‘They got your brother have they?’ Terry asks in a concerned voice.

  ‘And Todd,’ Lilly nods quickly.

  ‘How old are they?’ John asks taking a step forward and affecting the same concerned tone.

  ‘Six.’

  ‘Both of ‘em?’

  Nodding back, Lilly struggles with the internal debate raging. Her instinct says to run and get away, but they seem really concerned and said they saw the van a couple of hours ago. She suppresses the natural reaction to flee, thinking it’s just because they’re big hard looking men, the sort that normally wolf whistle and make comments.

  ‘Terrible,’ John shakes his head sadly, ‘are you alright love?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Lilly says weakly, ‘I got to find them….they said they were going to er…Chapsworth…Chapsworth House, that was it.’

  ‘Chapsworth House?’ Terry says.

  ‘Do you know it?’ Lilly asks seeing the flicker of recognition in the man’s eyes.

  ‘Yeah, it ain't that far from here,’ Terry says quickly, ‘couple of hours maybe…that about right John?’

  ‘I’d say so, yeah probably couple of hours at least…that’s awful love…and this was last night was it?’

  ‘Yeah…I been driving all night but that car is…’

  ‘I can see,’ John cuts her off, ‘poor you, you must be knackered love. We gotta take her with us Terry, get her back to our camp and speak to our…er… men…’ he gives Terry a stare while saying it, a message passed along with the words.

  ‘Definitely,’ Terry gets the message loud and clear, ‘listen love, we got some…’ His voice trails off as Lilly snaps her attention to something behind them. Three figures, two big and one small, and all of them walking towards them.

  Terry and John exchange another glance but remain silent. Walking slowly forward, Lilly strains to see the figures. One of them is limping like he has a bad leg. The other man walks behind him, holding hands with a small child. It’s the child she fixes her gaze on, staring hard as she feels her heart starting to hammer.

  ‘Are they with you?’ She asks quickly, not taking her eyes off the figures missing the quick shake of the head that John gives Terry.

  ‘No love,’ Terry replies.

  The figures move painfully slow, which prompts Lilly to start walking towards them. Terry and John follow close behind.

  Lilly watches the child. A boy, definitely a little boy. She speeds up, unaware that John and Terry are right behind her.

  ‘Todd!’ She screams at recognising the boy, breaking into an all-out sprint, ‘that’s them,’ she screams at Terry and John, ‘that’s them…’

  ‘Slow down,’ Terry shout but Lilly is charging forward, her face a mask of rage as she flits her gaze between the man hobbling on the injured leg and the other man walking behind him, ‘Todd!...Where’s Billy? Get away from him….get away from him…’

  Nick stares in surprise at the woman charging towards them. They watched the girl talking to the two men at the back of the big red van for a couple of minutes as they edged closer, seeing the parked Landrover with the steam hissing from the front end.

  Rapist stayed quiet, hardly believing his luck but then mum always said he had the luck of the devil. Too soon to show any reaction so he kept his mouth shut and his eyes open. Waiting for the two men to get closer.

  The girl he didn’t recognise, and didn’t pay too much attention either. She was a stranger to him and right now was no more important than one of the stationary vehicles parked nearby. What was important was Nick walking right behind him with that fucking pistol held in his hand.

  The girl screaming out then running towards them shouting the boy’s name was a surprise, and one that he quickly tried to put to his advantage. She knew the child’s name so she must have been part of their group.

  Ducki
ng his head down to hide his face he makes out his leg is hurting, grimacing in pain as he clutches at the thigh.

  ‘…Get away from him…’ Lilly screams. Racing across the road she makes straight for Nick, seeing Todd behind his legs. Todd stares in confusion at first, everything too much for his mind to cope with. This man is nice, he doesn't shout or say much at all. Hearing his name called out he looks up, recognising the voice. Lilly! She was the lady from yesterday, Sam’s friend.

  Stepping out he watches as she runs towards them. Her face looks angry and she’s shouting. Everyone keeps shouting and it scares him. Nick doesn't shout so he stays still, unsure of what to do now.

  Nick is lost in a momentary lapse of focus at seeing the stunning woman running across the road. She’s gorgeous with flowing blond hair and golden skin. The fact that she’s shouting and looks extremely pissed doesn’t register immediately.

  Self-consciously he drops the pistol, not wanting the girl to think he is holding the boy against his will. Glancing down, he notices Todd has stepped out a little but isn’t running towards the girl. Maybe she is one of this blokes group? Shit…too late.

  Lilly, not seeing the pistol, goes straight for Nick, ramming straight into him and taking him off his feet.

  ‘Lads…quick.’ The rapist bellows at the two men still coming across the road.

  ‘Derek? What the fuck mate?’ John shouts with a puzzled look at the girl attacking the other bloke on the floor, the young child standing there screaming, and now Derek shouting at him.

  Derek and Vince were in the white van sent north to do the houses up there. That girl saying what happened last night could only have been Derek and Vince, especially Derek with his seedy mind. The two men quickly decided to keep that information to themselves in the hope of getting the girl comfortably into their van without issue.

  ‘Get off,’ Nick yells, ‘I saved him….get the fuck off me…’

  ‘You dirty, fucking, murdering, bastard… you like raping girls? You nasty pervert….’ Reaching round for her knife she hisses with anger, realising it must be in the Landrover. Instead, she starts pummelling blows into Nick’s head.

  Nick dodges and weaves, trying to peer out from under the attacking girl to the man shouting loudly while hobbling away.

  Despite the punches, he squirms and leans over, catching the sight of two men shouting at the one he shot. They seem to know each other, the way they respond and look at each other.

  ‘NOT ME….’ Nick bellows, refusing to look at the girl who slams her fists down again and again, striking his arm with such force it smacks into his own head.

  One of the men turns and runs back towards the red van as the other two turn to face Lilly and the bedlam taking place.

  ‘Get his gun,’ Rapist shouts, ‘he’s the one that did your dad in….’

  ‘NO,’ Nick screams, catching a glimpse of a man running towards them. Gritting his teeth and taking the blows without flinching, he tracks the target and squeezes the trigger. The gun booms with a loud retort. As the man goes spinning off to the side, Nick drops and fires again. The girl on him screams and lunges off to grab Todd.

  Todd screams as the violence explodes around him. Rooted to the spot he gets quickly smothered by Lilly diving on top of him, driving him to the ground as she protects him with her body.

  Freed of her weight, Nick twists round on his back. No time to get up so he stays down, eyes flitting between the three targets. One down on the ground, one with a bullet through his leg and one running towards the red van.

  ‘JOHN!’ The rapist screams, ‘HE SHOT TERRY…’

  Nick takes the information in. They know each other, they know each-others names. The man he just shot writhes on the ground clutching his shoulder in agony.

  The third man reaches the van and the opens passenger door. Grabbing something from the front, he starts to turn back and Nick catches sight of a long barrel.

  Without hesitation he fires, holding the pistol in the two handed grip Dave taught them. The shots are true, striking their target and slamming the man against the side of the van. The shotgun falls from his hands to strike the floor with a thud.

  On his feet in an instant, Nick tracks the pistol between the three downed men. Eyes fixed, breathing hard, mouth set and pursed.

  What the fuck is going on? Who are these people? He checks to the side to find the girl laying across Todd with her face turned towards him.

  ‘Is he alright?’ Nick yells, ‘Todd? Is he alright?’

  ‘I…He’s fine…I…’ Lilly stammers, ‘Todd, are you okay? Are you hurt?’

  ‘Are you with them?’ Nick tracks the pistol wider, taking a few steps to the side so he can keep a clear view of everyone.

  ‘What…?’

  ‘Todd, who is this girl? Todd, you gotta answer me mate, who is this girl?’

  A muffled voice, lost under the protective layer of Lilly keeping him covered.

  ‘Easy now Nick…well done lad…good shooting that,’ rapist shouts.

  ‘SHUT UP,’ Nick roars, ‘Todd….I need you to tell me, who is this girl? How do you know his name?’ Nick glances at the girl, the pistol still held two handed.

  ‘He was taken last night with my brother,’ Lilly manages to blurt out, her own mind a whirling mess of panic and confusion.

  ‘Brother?’ Nick asks, ‘What’s his name?’

  ‘Billy!’

  ‘Todd, tell me who this girl is,’ Nick demands, unsure of what the hell is going on. These men know each other. The girl was with them and she bloody attacked him. Is she on their side? How did she know Todd’s name? Already he can feel a trickle of blood dripping down from his scalp and his face feels tender.

  ‘Todd, tell him…’ Lilly urges, slowly removing herself from the boy, she keeps herself between him and the armed man, ‘Todd, it’s okay…it’s okay Todd…tell this man who I am…’

  ‘Lilly,’ Todd blurts.

  ‘Lilly? Who is Lilly, Todd?’ Nick asks.

  ‘Nick, take it easy…those two cunts are the ones that got us last night…’ Rapist takes advantage of the chaos to try and create another opportunity.

  That voice. Nah fuck him, let him die slow the cunt…his fucking mate bit my cheek didn’t he…

  Last night, that voice. That same voice. She stares across the road to the man lying down clutching his leg. The position of him means his face is turned away, but that voice.

  Snapping her head towards Nick, she finally looks at him properly. She sees a young man dressed like a soldier, with straight dark hair that stands up from his head and a voice she doesn’t recognise. Not one of the voices from last night. It was dark and with only the firelight to use she knows she might not easily identify them, but the way they spoke will stay with her forever. Deep and mature from years of hard living with rough accents. Nothing like this man with the gun.

  ‘Nick?’ Lilly calls out, bringing his attention to her, ‘is that your name?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Nick nods, ‘and I don’t have a fucking clue what is going on right now…’

  ‘Nick!’ Rapist shouts, ‘them’s the cunts that got us last night, that bitch is one of ‘em…get her away from that boy Nick…’

  Standing up slowly, Lilly once more stares over at the man on the ground. That voice is distinct, the way he speaks, the dropped letters. The image of him thrusting into Sam fills her mind, of the way he beat his fists down into her face. The way he screamed and laughed.

  ‘You,’ she hisses. Nick snaps his head round, thinking she is talking to him and spots the intense look of hatred on her face as she stares at Rapist, ‘you…you evil…nasty…evil…’ Words are not enough. The foulest of oaths cannot match the sheer rage bursting from her soul. She stalks towards Nick, her eyes still fixed on the man. Scooping down she lifts Nick’s axe up, hefting it in her hands.

  Nick watches, completely stunned at the pure rage showing on her face, at the way her eyes are fixed.

  ‘You…you killed my dad…you k
illed Todd’s dad…you raped Sam…You did that…’ Lilly walks slowly towards him, ‘I watched you…I saw you hurting Sam, you beat her to death…’

  ‘What? Fuck off you crazy bitch? We’s the ones that got attacked…Nick…don’t fucking listen to her…’

  Nick holds his position, listening intently as the girl speaks, ‘my dad is dead because of you…he bit your face…that was my dad that did that and he did it to protect us…now he’s dead…’

  ‘You’re fucking barking love, Nick! She’s fucking nuts…don’t listen to her Nick…’

  ‘Where’s Billy?’ Lilly pauses just a few feet away, holding the axe two handed as she stares down with malice.

  ‘Eh? Now hang on love,’ Rapist squirms to sit upright before slowly working his weight onto his good leg, ‘now slow down eh? I don’t know what you on about…’

  ‘Where is Billy?’ She seethes, the question coming out dangerously low, ‘where is my brother?’

  ‘Now see, love,’ Rapist gets to his feet, wincing at the pain shooting through his leg, ‘now if you kill me you ain’t gonna find out are ya? See? I knows where they got him but…’

  Nick strides over, his head cocked to one side as he listens to the exchange.

  ‘…You want to find Billy you gotta make sure nothing happens to me firs…’ his words are lost in the gunshot from Nick’s pistol as he fires into the man’s good leg. This time the bullet doesn't pass through but strikes the bone, embedding deep within the marrow.

  Dropping down into a squat, Nick pushes the gun into the man’s face, pressing it hard against his forehead, ‘where is Billy?’ Nick asks bluntly.

  ‘Oh fuck…oh fuck…my fucking legs…don’t kill me please don’t kill me…’

  ‘Answer the question,’ Nick replies. The decision to take the side of the girl was made from instinct. That instinct however, was self-consciously drawn from many facets. The way she spoke, the way she moved in contrast to the way the injured man moved and spoke, their body language and the information they imparted during comments they made. All of these things were absorbed instantly and naturally. Reading other people is something done every second of interaction, so when an instinctual reaction takes place, it is based on many, many factors all of which are understood within the blink of an eye.