The Undead the Second Week Compilation Edition Days 8-14

by RR Haywood

  ‘We fucking can and we fucking will,’ Larson snaps, stepping to the side to block Nick trying to move past him. ‘Do that again Nipper and I’ll fucking have y…’ the words cut off as Nick lunges in with a quick headbutt, slamming his forehead into Larson’s nose. As the man staggers, Nick moves in with quick hard punches, striking into the man’s face until he goes down under a flurry of blows.

  Once down Nick jumps back, unaware of the shock on Jacob’s face at the speed the young lad moved at. Grabbing the door handle he wrenches it open, surging into the big dormitory.

  The sight that greets him is one of pure evil. The Doc, the huge, rangy, sinewy man standing centrally amongst the boys forced into kneeling positions in a circle around him.

  Bright forks and violent, crackling sheets burst through the sky one after the other. He is naked from the waist down but still has his shoes on, trousers and pants dumped nearby. Standing there with a swollen erection while he moves from boy to boy, forcing them to reach out and touch him.

  ‘GET OUT,’ The Doc roars with intense fury. ‘LARSON…’ the Doc slaps the boy touching him, a back handed strike that sends the boy flying off to hit a wooden footboard with a sickening crunch of bones. ‘GET OUT GET OUT,’ the Doc rages again, turning towards Nick with his manhood standing proud. Boys scream and cry, cowering down from the attack, the lightning, the sexual assault and the wind howling to rattle the wooden framed windows.

  ‘Cunt.’ Nick moves forward, fists clenched and eyes fixed on the huge form of the fraudulent doctor.

  ‘Nick!’ Jacob shouts in warning, trying to reach out and pull the lad away.

  ‘HERE…UP HERE…’ Larson screams at the top of his voice, ‘GUARDS UP HERE…’ bleeding heavily from his nose, he flicks his gaze quickly between the open door to the dormitory and the stairs.

  Jacob holds the shotgun but the man is struck senseless, rooted to the spot in shock as he watches Nick charge weaponless at the half naked man.

  With a yell, the Doc feels the psychotic rage descend once more. To be disturbed at this time, to be seen doing this and he will unleash hell on this young newcomer. The temper flares and breaks, as he lashes out with one shoe clad foot, slamming into the face of a child which sees him careering away like a doll.

  The boys become objects to be trashed, things that are in his way. Full of perverted sexual craze, he starts rampaging with blind ferocity.

  Nick moves fast, seeing the damage being wrought. Charging full on, he lunges at the Doc with a roar, only to be grabbed and lifted bodily off the ground by two strong hands and flung aside, sailing through the air to land in a crumpled sprawling heap.

  Refusing to be stunned, Nick twists as he strikes the ground. Rotating his body to face up and expecting to see the Doc coming in for the after attack.

  Thunder booms within the room, too close and too loud. The shotgun blast drowns every other sound as Jacob pulls the trigger at the first guard appearing at the top of the stairs. The shaven headed, drunk man is taken from his feet by the power of the pellets striking him in his chest. Larson lunges for Jacob, weaving to the side as Jacob pulls the trigger for the second barrel.

  Nick and the Doc land in a heap, fighting viciously as more guards appear at the top of the stairs. The Doc, in full on rage now, stamps and kicks his way through the room. Still half naked and erect, the blood hammers through his system. Lust, fury, violence and psychosis erupt as he grabs beds and launches them with ease across the room. Boys are sent flying, some crawling away sobbing from blind terror.

  The Doc stalks towards Nick, smashing everything in his path. There is bedlam at the top of the stairs as Jacob fends Larson off to gain his feet and stagger into the dormitory slamming the door shut.

  This has all gone wrong, horribly wrong. Jacob has made it clear which side he chooses, firing at his own comrades and killing one of them. He then tried to shoot Larson, and made the deadly mistake of missing.

  Miraculously, Nick still holds the shotgun and his panicked fingers work to break the barrel in an effort to re-load. All the time he pushes his back against the door trying to prevent it being opened.

  Where the hell is Dave? Where is Clarence to come charging into the room full of Viking fury to tear the Doc to pieces? Where is Meredith launching through the eye with her fearless courage?

  ‘Fuck,’ Nick gasps, staring up at the demented man coming at him with a wild, feral look.

  Fifty Five

  ‘Maddox, we need the gates barricaded from the inside, both gates…’

  ‘On it,’ he turns away shouting orders at his crews who are already bursting away.

  ‘Weapons from the armoury, get everything out and ready and all the ammunition, shotguns, sawn offs, rifles fucking everything,’ I shout at Blowers who is just a few feet away. The noise of the storm drowns out my normal voice, and I haven’t got time to be repeating myself.

  The rain drives down and despite the high walls, the gusts of wind are incredible in strength. Tents have already been ripped from the ground to get buffeted against the side. The howling, whistling noise of the wind, coupled with the thunder, is a full on assault of the senses. The rain lashes in from every direction from the twisting wind.

  Surface water stands everywhere, the ground simply too hard and dry to absorb it.

  ‘They can’t get through or round so they’ll go over,’ I shout at the people gathered round me, ‘spread the word, we need everyone on the walls, let them come over the first one so we can fire down with whatever we’ve got left, then we meet them on the top of the inner walls. There’s no way out of this, they’re coming…’

  Fucking shotguns and rifles. That’s it, oh and a few pistols too but against thousands? We are royally fucked and we know it.

  We can’t even punch out with vehicles, the water on the ground outside is too deep for nearly all our vehicles now.

  Sorry Nick, we were coming mate I promise. That hurts more than anything. Not that they’re coming for us again but that we left Nick on his own. I really cannot see a way out of this, not this time. There’s too many and without weapons we simply don’t have a hope in hell.

  Yeah, Dave can kill faster than anything alive, but he can’t stop all of them. They’ll get inside and they’ll take everyone.

  ‘That’s it,’ I shout at the waiting faces, ‘there’s no plan this time, no way out. We fight until the last one falls…’

  ‘Again,’ Dave adds. Everyone stares at him but he just looks back blandly and shrugs. He stares at me and smiles, a sudden, startling grin that stuns every single one of us.

  ‘What?’ He asks as though we’re all idiots, ‘it doesn't end here.’

  ‘Dave… I…fucking speechless mate.’

  ‘That’ll be a first then,’ Lani quips, with a quick roll of her eyes.

  Taking a step closer to me so she can be heard over the storm, Lilly stares with unsuppressed concern. ‘I have to get out, I am getting out… Billy is on his own and I promised Nick…’

  ‘There’s no way through…’

  ‘Listen, thank you for everything you have done but I have to leave,’ she cuts me off speaking politely but very firmly.

  ‘Lilly, I get it. Nick is one of us and leaving him alone is against everything we stand for but there is simply no way through this. We might stand a chance punching through with the Saxon but that means taking people from here which we just can’t do.’

  ‘What about Dave,’ she demands on the verge of panic, ‘you said…Nick said he can do anything…’

  ‘We can’t lose Dave from here,’ I reply as softly as possible, given the fact of having to shout.

  ‘I wouldn’t leave,’ Dave adds.

  ‘I’ll go,’ Roy steps in, shouting to be overheard he looks first at Lilly then at me. ‘One won’t make that much difference against so many and my bow is no good in this weather anyway.’

  ‘Yes! Please Mr Howie, please… I have to get Billy and you can’t just leave Nick on his own.’

/>   ‘Stop saying it like that,’ Lani flares up, ‘and grow up. We’d never leave any of our team anywhere and any one of us would risk everything to save a child but we’ve hundreds of people here to defend.’

  ‘Oh god,’ the girl cries, ‘I just can’t leave him, please Mr Howie, let Roy take me, please.’

  ‘Roy, you sure?’ I ask trying to work out the motivation behind it.

  ‘Definitely,’ he nods, ‘the storm is good cover and I’ve got night vision glasses, that gives me an advantage. If you can make a hole with the Saxon to get me through in a van…’

  ‘Just take the Saxon.’

  ‘No point Mr Howie, can’t fit loads of children in that thing.’

  ‘You can,’ Clarence cuts in, ‘they’ll fit and it’s about the only thing we’ve got that’ll get through that lot and keep going in this weather, this wind will have a van over on its side.’

  ‘No offence Roy, but what’s one man going to do against a house full of people?’

  ‘No offence Mr Howie but the girl is right, she made a promise and you can’t leave her brother alone. If we all die here tonight he'll be left on his own, we have to get the girl out… if nothing else I can get a message to Nick letting him know the situation here, and also, no offence again Mr , but the inside of a house is dry and I can use my bow.’

  ‘Do it,’ Clarence urges, ‘it’s worth a shot if even one of us gets through to Nick.’

  ‘Okay, now then… you go right now while we have a chance. Get the Saxon ready and both of you listen. You tell Nick we tried coming for him, you tell him that no matter what happens to us to keep going and stay strong and you tell him how proud I am of him.’

  ‘Me too,’ Clarence adds, ‘all of us.’

  ‘Got it,’ Roy nods.

  ‘Thank you,’ Lilly throws her arms round my neck, ‘thank you Mr Howie.’

  ‘You stay by Nick you hear me? Do what he says and stay close to him.’

  ‘I will, I promise.’

  ‘Go, go now…’

  ‘CLEAR THE GATES,’ Maddox walks off shouting ahead. Blowers moves quickly, getting two sawn offs and a load of shotgun cartridges he hands them over.

  We push them into the Saxon and we slam the doors closed, the youths moving quickly to clear the vehicles from the gate.

  Heading down to the front, we watch as the outer gates are swung open to reveal the lake that is now the flatlands. Roy revs the powerful engine with a determined look on his face and I notice Paula biting her bottom lip in concern at him going. Did he say goodbye to her? If he did I must have missed it.

  ‘GO, GO FAST AND GET THROUGH,’ Clarence roars as Roy nods back, the night vision goggles already on his forehead ready to be pulled down.

  Surging away, the vehicle quickly gathers speed, powering through the surface water with ease. No sign of the undead yet, but visibility is reduced so much they could be thirty metres away and we wouldn’t see them.

  The Saxon disappears into the gloom. After a split second a dull thud reaches us and the screaming pitch of the Saxon being forced. Straining our ears, we listen as the sound of the engine gets further away.

  ‘They got through,’ Dave nods.

  ‘Sure?’

  ‘Definitely, got through,’ he adds confidently.

  Sighing, I stare out for a few seconds feeling like shit for leaving Nick on his own. Turning back, I look into the fort and the people gathered there and for a second I wonder if it’s really worth it. Is this place worth the cost? So many good people have died defending it. Maybe we should just leave it, let the undead have it, let anyone who wants it have it. We could find somewhere else, somewhere far away in the middle of nowhere. Why here? Why this place? Why this fort.

  That’s it though, too many sacrifices have been made for us to walk away now. Not that we could walk away if we wanted to, not with that fucking lot coming at us.

  Still, Dave says it doesn't end here so it must be true.

  Fifty Six

  ‘Brace yourself,’ Roy shouts as the wall comes suddenly into view from the gloom of the pelting rain. Lilly grabs whatever she can grasp and uses her feet to push her back into the seat. With his foot the floor, Roy knows they’ll have one chance at this. They need to be straight on with maximum power. His determination peaks as the details of the corpse wall get picked out by the headlights.

  The impact is bone jarring but thankfully over in a few seconds. The weight, power and speed of the vehicle decimate the small section, sending bodies flying off as it bursts through. The sight of the thousands of undead on the reverse side is staggering, but again Roy pushes on, knowing that to slow now will be disastrous.

  Rocking on the suspension as they plough over everything in their path, they make headway, slamming bodies aside with loud thunks as the thick metal plating of the front end explodes heads and breaks bones with ease.

  Then it’s done. They burst through with just the apparent lake in front of them, waves getting whipped up by the howling wind.

  ‘We’re through,’ Roy shouts, glancing over at Lilly who’s sat with her eyes tightly closed. She blinks them open and looks about as a small grin spreads across her face. Breathing a sigh of relief, she nods at the driver.

  ‘Thank you,’ she says in earnest, ‘I…’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Roy shrugs it off. For the first time in many years he feels a pang of guilt, that his own selfish actions have forced him to lie and deceive.

  Since the meeting with Lilly in the offices and hearing about a doctor, he hasn’t stopped thinking about it. A real doctor that can examine him and check his ailments. A proper, medically trained, actual doctor. He stayed quiet, biting down the urge to leave instantly and head that way. When the team did move out, coming up against the wall was devastating for him.

  Offering his services to get Lilly out was a natural step but now, actually being out and away leaves a nasty taste in his mouth. He didn’t even say goodbye to Paula, or to any of the others either. They just loaded up and left.

  He has an uncomfortable moment’s self-reflection. After so many years of suffering anxiety and obsessive behaviour, he has become adept at masking emotions and strives to satisfy the never ending urge to be medically examined.

  They are good people though, good people trying to do their best and for the most, succeeding at it. Mr Howie is amazing, the way he listens to everyone yet has that presence, that power, which just oozes from him. Maddox too, so young but so self-assured, so very capable and ready to do what it takes. All of them have unique skills which bring something to the group.

  Paula fits in perfectly with them. Her ability to plan ahead and execute those plans is fantastic. They would never have got through last night if it wasn’t for Paula, actually, they would never have got through last night if it wasn’t for all of them.

  Maddox and his energy, his crews so willing to fight for him. Paula and her planning. Mr Howie and his team so experienced and deadly. Even Roy, taking the runners down with his bow then taking his sword up at the end.

  Team. It was a team effort. A real, true team that stuck together and achieved something only because they worked together.

  And here he is, deserting them on the pretence of helping Lilly and Nick, while all the time thinking of himself and his desire to be near a doctor.

  This young girl is willing to sacrifice her own life to save her brother and he could see the torment in Howie’s eyes at being forced to leave Nick on his own.

  He realises he is selfish and self-obsessed. Well that changes right now. I might have left for the wrong reasons, but I can see this through for the right ones. Find Nick and get the children, that’s what matters.

  For the first time in his adult life, he stops probing the inside of his mouth, he stops feeling for lumps, he stops tensing the various parts of his body in an effort to detect what’s hurting and what feels wrong. There is a task to be done, a job at hand and people are counting on him.

  He never said goodbye to
Paula and more importantly, he never said thank you to her either.

  A determined focus descends on the man, almost like being seated in the driver’s position of the Saxon does something, changes him, the good of Howie and those who have sat here leave a presence that absorbs into his system, banishing the selfishness away.

  Gripping the wheel he stares ahead, unaware that the dark, brooding look the team have has now settled behind his intelligent eyes.

  Fifty Seven

  ‘EYES FRONT,’ Dave bellows at the very top of his voice. Everyone hears him, the gods above the thunder probably hear him. Fucking hell, Nick has probably just heard him.

  Eyes snap forwards. We are on top the inner wall now and for long minutes we’ve waited until the wall shuffles into view. Solid and unbroken with no sign of where the Saxon went through.

  So big, so bloody big. Just the sight of it is evil. Something from the worst nightmare you could ever imagine, A monstrosity dragged up from Hell

  Driving torrential rain, howling wind that threatens to knock us off our feet, thunder booming so close overhead we keep flinching and ducking. Forks of lightning bursting in jagged flashes that give daylight for a split second.

  From our height advantage, as the wall gets closer we start to see the undead beyond it. Shapes at first, shadows of darker patches which gradually take form. When they become clear it serves to lessen the fear, for we know this isn’t some magical thing being moved by a means unknown.

  There are thousands of undead pushing it. No need too because we don’t have the weapons to hurt them at this range but fuck it, let them exhaust themselves pushing a needless defensive wall.

  ‘Look,’ Lani prods me in the shoulder motioning for me to look away to the side. Waves, big rolling waves pound and crash into the side of the fort. As I watch, I realise they are getting bigger, more violent, by the second.

  It’s like something from a movie or a documentary about faraway places. The sea is immense, with enormous waves cresting with white foam whipped by the wind. A living thing that we have only seen as a calm placid beast for the last two weeks. To think we were swimming in these same waters a little while ago is amazing.