The Undead the Second Week Compilation Edition Days 8-14

by RR Haywood

  ‘Look,’ Nick shouts as the spasms start pulsing through Todd’s body. ‘LOOK,’ he forces her head to face the re-animating corpse.

  Lilly freezes, mesmerised by the intense violent fitting. She manoeuvres into a seated position with Nick directly behind her, his arms wrapped tight round her chest and shoulders.

  ‘Watch Lilly,’ he speaks into her ear, ‘this is what happens. It isn’t Todd that comes back…understand? That isn’t Todd now…it’s one of them…when it wakes up it will attack us and try to bite…just one bite that all it takes. Now we have to get up.’ Grunting with effort, he gets his legs under and pushes up, lifting the girl with him until they’re both standing.

  Without realising, she grasps in arms in comfort, no longer trying to break free but pulling his arms tighter round her frame. The tears cease as she watches the shuddering corpse become lifeless again.

  Nick pulls his arms free to move round in front of her, using his body as a shield.

  ‘Go back to the van,’ he orders.

  ‘No,’ she whispers close behind him.

  ‘Go back,’ he hisses, ‘please Lilly, just go now.’

  ‘No, I’m staying.’

  ‘Lilly, I’m going to kill it, do you understand? I’m going to fucking kill it…go back to the fucking van.’

  ‘No,’ she growls with defiance.

  Todd sits up, side on to Nick and Lilly. His red, bloodshot eyes snap open. Slowly the head turns away then slowly back towards them. Drool hangs from its mouth and low growls sound from the throat as it lurches forward, gaining its feet.

  Lilly squeezes the trigger on the pistol. She doesn't remember the motion of taking it out but there it is, up and aiming. The reflex of her finger squeezing jolts the gun, the round striking Todd centre chest and the power of the bullet slamming his light body back several feet.

  The sudden gunshot makes Nick’s ears ring, so close and completely unexpected. Instantly, he sees the round strike the chest and knows the body will just get back up.

  ‘The head,’ he whispers, ‘the chest doesn't do anything.’

  ‘Okay,’ her voice quavering she takes aim with shaking hands, using both of them in an attempt to hold the gun level.

  ‘Let me,’ Nick says.

  ‘No,’ shaking her head firmly, she takes a deep breath as Todd sits back up, the wound in his chest bleeding heavily but nothing like it should be.

  ‘They don’t bleed like we do,’ Nick whispers, ‘they heal faster too. They don’t eat or drink…they move fast and they will do anything to kill us… they don’t feel pain, nothing…’

  ‘I understand,’ Lilly replies her voice now dull and flat. Hands now steadier she pulls the trigger, watching with shock as the round penetrates the forehead and removes the back of his skull. Pink mist flares for a second as the bushes beyond become drenched in gore and brain matter.

  The body drops, dead again and for final this time. She lowers the gun slowly as Nick watches her closely. Neither of them speak for a minute. Lilly gently pushes the gun back into the holster and stares down at the ground.

  ‘Lilly?’ Nick asks gently, ‘you okay?’

  She nods before looking up at him. ‘Yes,’ swallowing she thinks for a second. The confusion and hysteria has gone now, a weird calmness descends, a sensation of being numb. Like none of this was real. Snapping her head quickly she takes another breath. She can see the pain in his eyes, the worry and genuine care. He reacted so quickly and knew exactly what to do. Beating that thing off before making her let go of Todd’s leg.

  Those things he said too, the kind words and the soft tone. How did he know to do that? He knew Todd was dying but he had the presence to stay calm and ease the boy slowly away. One minute they were laughing and crying then this, Todd dead and…

  ‘Don’t overthink it,’ Nick urges, ‘this is our fucking life now.’

  She nods back staring at him intently.

  ‘If I could take any of this away from you I would,’ Nick continues, ‘you don’t deserve it…really Lilly, I would do anything so you didn’t have see this or…’ he shrugs searching for the right words, ‘but if you want to find your brother and protect him, this is what you have to do. It’s fucked up and shitty as fuck but…’

  ‘I understand,’ she nods again, lifting her chin higher.

  ‘Are they always like that?’ She asks.

  ‘No,’ Nick shakes his head, drawing another cigarette out, ‘some can speak and look pretty normal but so far,’ he takes a drag and blows the smoke away, ‘they’ve all got red eyes…that’s what to look out for.’

  ‘Okay,’ she nods, ‘what else?’

  ‘Else?’ He asks with a puzzled frown.

  ‘What else do I need to know? Like you said,’ she stares at him, ‘if I’m going to protect Billy…’

  ‘Go for the brain,’ Nick says quickly, ‘gunshot or stab, an axe or even something heavy but go for the head. Or you cut them so bad they don’t stop bleeding but that’s like a fucking artery…you know?’

  ‘An artery, right.’

  ‘Yeah, in the neck here,’ Nick touches the sides of his own neck, ‘cut this open and they bleed out but there’s arteries in the groin and other places too.’

  ‘I know,’ Lilly nods. ‘Right, arteries or head.’

  ‘And strike and move,’ Nick almost smiles at the words of Dave and Mr Howie being repeated over and over, ‘we’d better go. You sure you’re okay?’

  ‘Not really,’ she sags for a second, ‘but I haven’t got any choice…’

  ‘Nope,’ Nick shakes his head, ‘none of us have, fucking shit ain't it?’ He offers a hard grin with a shrug.

  ‘It is,’ Lilly replies slowly, ‘it is very fucking shit.’

  Thirty Five

  ‘I tell you, we share this place yes?’ Lenski glares at the man, ‘we have the space and…’

  ‘SHUT UP,’ the man yells, his face glistening with sweat as the frustration gives way to a feeling of losing control.

  ‘I’m telling you Shaun, this is fucked up…completely fucked up…we gotta do somethin man.’

  ‘Just shut up! All of you shut the fuck up, and let me think,’ Shaun paces the room trying to think. This was meant to be so easy. Hell, the first bit was easy. The lack of guards and the intense confusion of the place meant taking it was easier than a walk in the park. Not now though, everything was starting to go sour.

  ‘Shaun man…’

  ‘Ginge, if you say another word I swear I’ll cut your fucking throat,’ Shaun hisses, his eyes bulging as much as the veins in his neck.

  ‘Easy man,’ Ginge puts one hand up to placate him, stepping back he uses the hand to sweep the locks of red hair from his eyes. ‘Shaun man, I’m just like, you know,’ Ginge shrugs, ‘saying is all.’

  ‘Yes but the fucking problem is, is that you keep saying it,’ Shaun screams, ‘saying and saying and fucking saying…’

  ‘Okay man,’ Ginge backs off, ‘it’s all you bro.’

  ‘Stop speaking like a fucking surfer,’ Shaun glares with a look of pure violence. He is angry, backed into a corner and everything is going wrong but here is something he can yell at. The long haired, ginger prick and the way he speaks. Yeah, that’s something that can be shouted about.

  ‘Man,’ Ginge shakes his head sulkily, ‘you bring me down man, this is how I speak bro…’

  Lenski watches the men interact, sensing a hint of desperation which can be exploited, but only by treading very carefully.

  ‘Shaun may I speak yes?’ She asks softly, changing her manner instantly and earning a quick glance from Sierra.

  ‘No!’ Shaun snaps.

  ‘I see you are worried yes,’ Lenski pushes on speaking rapidly, ‘you are not the bad man, I see this,’ she pauses for a second, ‘you have the families too yes? You need the food for them and we need the food and the safe place too…’

  ‘I said shut it.’

  ‘Please,’ Lenski pleads, ‘please hear me yes? You have lo
st good men and no more should die here…my people they just try to protect us…let me speak with them and…’ Her voice snaps off as the black, circular ends of a double barrelled shotgun appear inches in front of her eyes.

  ‘One more word,’ Shaun mutters holding the gun there, ‘one more word…’

  ‘Okay,’ Sierra shouts, ‘we’re sorry okay…we didn’t mean nuffin’’

  ‘Ginge, get rid of these two, I can’t fucking think with them going on.’

  ‘Alright man, yeah that’s cool you know. Come on ladies, we gotta do what the man says.’

  Leading the two women out, Ginge casts a final look at Shaun, seeing the worry etched onto his features and the way his finger keeps tapping at the trigger of his sawn off shotgun.

  Alone, he starts to pace, frantic with worry. He’d heard the fort was here, and like everyone else, he knew it was the safe place to head for. The only difference was that Shaun had designs to be in charge, he wanted to lead.

  Shaun already had a large group of survivors with him and had managed to gather various shotguns, rifles, crossbows and bladed weapons from farms during the journey south. They all looked to him, he was their leader. The prospect of handing his power over to someone else didn’t appeal to him.

  The initial recce of the fort showed him that the place was in chaos, with new groups arriving all the time. No sense of order or discipline anywhere. Just some little kids running about with guns. This wasn’t what he was expecting. Like everyone else, the survivor’s grapevine had been buzzing with how the fort was a government controlled place of safety with law, order, hospitals, schools, food and police. All of it run by Mr Howie and his team of soldiers.

  The fort Shaun saw wasn’t anything like that. From the edge of flatlands, he used his high powered binoculars to watch all the soldier types move out. Wondering when they were due to return he kept watch, knowing his group were safely hidden in the abandoned houses nearby.

  Some came back then more left. Judging by the pile of bodies stacked up, this group had certainly been busy. This meant they had done the hard work and cleared the area of the zombies.

  When none of them returned for several hours he made his move.

  The plan was simple, they were to present themselves as refugees much like everyone else. The women and children were to be at the front obscuring the view of the armed men behind. With the gates wide open and the front area in a general scene of confusion, it was executed with perfection.

  The woman and children chattered noisily as they reached the front. Many of them calling out to ask questions as the young woman with the accent came out with the black girl. With so many voices calling out they quickly became distracted. The men watched and waited for Shaun to give the signal and held still for long minutes. Letting the distraction grow, watching as the two women from the fort tried to get order from the new group, waiting as the few kids left nearby grew bored and lost interest. Moving slowly the men started filtering out from the main body of the group, just a few steps taken with the weapons held out of sight. A few rolls of the eyes, a few hands rubbing foreheads and temples and the image of hen-pecked men folk was superbly presented.

  The take-over was almost instant. One second Lenski and Sierra were doing their best to answer questions and calm the scared and angry women down. The next second they were surrounded by men holding weapons, pointing shotguns and rifles at them.

  The children left behind when the rest moved out to assist Howie and Maddox were too slow to react, seeing their two leaders so rapidly disarmed they had no choice but to relinquish their own arms.

  Shaun gave the order as his group swept through the gates. With the place occupied by new people not having any idea as to the established running order, there was no serious opposition. Control was taken, the fort secured and that was it.

  Easy.

  Then it all went horribly wrong. The return of the first group marked the initial opportunity to explain how things were. One man posted outside with a gun, several more on the inside of the first gate and the idea was simple; get them disarmed first and then consideration would be given to whether access would be granted.

  Shaun assumed he had factored for every eventuality, whereas in reality he had not factored for shit. For instance the lack of willingness on behalf of those coming back to be cowed by a single armed sentry, the experience they had of fighting, the aggression of coming from a very recent highly intense battle, the cohesive manner of their movement. None of that was factored.

  What they got was a very angry Maddox and an equally angry Maddox who destroyed the armed sentry, gained entry to the first gates then destroyed everyone else.

  Those that got back inside spoke of how fast they moved, the brutality of their actions and the violence dished out.

  Since then the situation had allowed to become stagnant. Shaun gathered his group to establish the next course of action. The overriding impression was that if the people out there would willingly kill the men behind the first gate, they sure as hell wouldn’t hesitate to do the rest if they got inside.

  Some suggestions of opening negotiations were put forward. Some ideas of fleeing out the back door, but they were quickly negated when the rear area was actually checked and found to consist of a very narrow strip and very deep water.

  Hesitation to make a decision moved into reluctance and slowly morphed towards clear delay. Those outside made repeated efforts to gain contact, calling out for anyone to talk, banging on the gate and shouting.

  Shaun forbade any of his team from answering. Instead he waited, but not knowing what he was waiting meant the waiting just stretched on through the long hours of the night.

  The worry that he had made a very bad decision was nagging at him. He didn’t think it through clearly enough. Of course the fort occupants seen driving away had only been going somewhere to do something.

  Of course they would come back and what the hell was he thinking? If they were strong enough to take and hold a fort in the first place, they wouldn’t exactly roll over. It was just the thought of no longer being the leader of his group, of not being admired and listened to. He was an estate agent, a nobody from nowhere living a life of boredom and repetition. This was his chance to forge himself into something unique and strong.

  Those two women at the front, Lenski and Sierra, had been taken to the old police offices and questioned by Shaun himself. His self-imposed feeling of importance was soon withered by the surly attitude of Lenski mixed with the passive-aggression of Sierra.

  You have no idea, no idea what you bitten off. The black girl, Sierra, had said to him. That was the thing that really sunk worry into his gut. They weren’t afraid or cowed for themselves, but rather they begged and pleaded for him to surrender now before it was too late.

  He had the men with guns, he had the weapons, he had the upper hand and he was in control but they were begging him to stop while he had the chance. Their total confidence rippled through his group, whispers turned into muttered conversations. Quick glances became long stares of concern.

  Give it up yes? Before it too late, you stop now and they not hurt you. Who the fuck had he picked a fight with? A combination of the SAS, Navy Seals and Millwall football fans by the sounds of it.

  Even those little kids outside kept tutting and shaking their heads, sucking their little bastard council estate teeth while retaining an air that his group had done something very, very bad.

  ‘Shaun,’ Derek walks in nodding once in greeting, ‘what did they say?’

  ‘Same thing,’ Shaun replies.

  ‘Fuck,’ Derek sighs visibly sagging, ‘Did they say who they were?’

  ‘Not really, they don’t need to,’ Shaun mumbles, ‘look at what they did, they fucking slaughtered everyone out there within minutes…’

  ‘I fucking knew this was a bad idea,’ Derek mutters. Leaning his back against a wall, he lowers the rifle to stare at the ground.

  ‘Bollocks Derek,’ Shaun snaps, ‘you w
ere up for it as much as I was, so don’t start trying to back out now.’

  ‘I’m not.’ Derek, seeing the angry look on Shaun’s face, is quick to placate him, ‘I’m with you Shaun.’

  ‘Yeah you are, we all are…all of us so don’t fucking forget it.’

  ‘But like,’ Derek stammers, ‘them fucking kids out there are putting the fear of god into our lot, saying shit about some big, hench bloke and someone called Maddox and…’

  ‘And what?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Derek looks away.

  ‘And what!?’ Shaun demands.

  ‘A ninja,’ Derek spits it out, ‘they keep saying they got a fucking ninja called Dave.’

  ‘A what? A ninja? Don’t be so bloody stupid,’ Shaun huffs shaking his head with disgust.

  ‘S’wot they said,’ Derek mutters, ‘and we, well we got kids Shaun. You ain’t got any kids and no wife but we have,’ Derek plucks the courage up to say what he was sent in for, ‘we’ve got families Shaun, it’s alright for you being single an’ all but…’

  ‘But what?’ Shaun asks quietly, ‘so it’s okay for me to get killed but not you because you got kids yeah? So you decided to breed a couple of brats and that makes you better than me?’

  ‘No,’ Derek blanches, ‘nothin’ like that Shaun…but like, they’re shitting themselves now and like, they’re saying this was your idea and…’

  ‘Keep going.’

  ‘Well and, we could have just come in here anyway…we didn’t need to do all the guns and stuff and take it over…,’ he adds quietly.

  ‘Bit late Derek,’ Shaun locks eyes on the man, ‘wouldn’t you say?’

  ‘Talk to ‘em then,’ Derek pleads, ‘fucking hell Shaun, just fuckin’ talk to ‘em and see what they say.’

  ‘What do you think they will say?’ Hey, don’t worry, we won’t do anything with our fucking ninja, just open the gates and everything will be okay,’ Shaun mimics a light tone waving his free hand about, ‘yeah, we won’t kill all of you…really we won’t.’

  ‘We can make a deal,’ Derek suggests, ‘like we let their people go or something.’