“That’s great, what about Monique?” I asked.
“She still in the same room”, he replied.
I was so glad he had settled in and looked happy, yet I knew deep down he was missing Sian dearly but at least here he had others to talk and chat with.
After dinner I went back to my room to rest and found a note on my pillow from Callum, it read,
‘Stacie,
Be ready at sun rise I want to get as much training in as possible in the next few days. Make sure you rest tonight and any problems please go and see Sarah.
Your room-mate will not disturb you tonight I have moved her in with Monique to make sure you get the best sleep.
Night
Callum’
I done as he said and fell asleep almost immediately, when morning arrived I was already at the garage waiting for him. He turned up looking happy to see me which I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing, “You ready for today?” he said unlocking the large garage doors and letting us in.
“Are you?” I asked back sarcastically.
“I’m not sure”, he laughed, “All depends on what you’re going to do to me, hopefully not put a gun to my head”, he was trying to make a joke but it was a little flat considering the tension between us over what had happened.
A noise behind us alerted us to someone being here, looking over my shoulder I saw it was Gavin the mechanic he smiled at me sheepishly, “Er morning, how’s your head?”
“Er ok why?” I asked.
“No reason just wondered”, he said before walking off.
I knew that tone and lie all too well turning to Callum I said, “It was him who hit me wasn’t it?”
“Yes but he honestly thought you were going to kill me so…don’t go too hard on him”, he smiled mischievously.
I couldn’t help but smile, “hmm yeah well, you’re just lucky your people are loyal to you otherwise you would be a goner right now”, I gave it as a hint of a joke but secretly there was an underlying threat and he knew it which made him smile even more.
“I guess I am lucky”, he smirked, “Shall we”, he motioned towards a small car which was rather beaten up and broken.
“Um you want me to drive that?” I asked.
He nodded, “You gotta learn somehow might as well be in that”.
“Oh right”
“What don’t tell me you thought I was going to let you out in the truck on the first day?” he laughed.
“Maybe, that thing just looks so…Broken”.
“That’s the whole point, everyone learns in the broken car first, that way the others stay fairly undamaged”, he said passing me some keys, “Well get in then don’t just stand there like a lemon”.
I opened the driver’s side and sat in the seat, this felt so strange to me I had never sat in the driver’s seat of a vehicle. He showed me how to adjust the seat to my leg length, then he showed me around the inside of the car, the handbrake, clutch and the brake everything he felt would be useful to get me out alive. He did mention when we come back from the big guns he would show me some basic mechanical skills but he didn’t feel that was necessary right now. After what seemed like talking for hours he finally let me drive around the small courtyard just outside the garage, I staled it so many times I could have sworn I was going to break the broken car but he made me push on. Once I had the sort of hang of it he made them open the gates and let me loose on some of the grass land. I wasn’t the best driver and I nearly crashed into a tree but he leant over just at the last minute steering us to safety but considering that I did have the basic mind set to get out of somewhere alive, I could drive it forward and reverse a small way, parking was a no no as he soon found out when he made me pull back into the garage, I nearly took out the truck if it wasn’t for him grabbing the steering wheel again.
“Right I think a few more days and you’ll be at least an ok driver”, he smiled after he parked the car for me.
“You think I’m terrible don’t you?” I moaned.
“Well you’re not the best but you can go forward which if we have to leave in a hurry is hopefully all you have to do”, he smiled, “But not bad for your first time”.
“Liar”, I snapped but in humour.
“Ok your bad but you will get better, I hope”, he made a gulping noise as if he was mock frightened of my driving. “Well let’s go get some food and I’ll see you back here about eight”.
“Eight in the morning?” I asked.
“No in the evening you need to get a feel for night driving”, he said.
“Night driving! What you trust me doing that?” I laughed.
“Not really but you need to learn and we only have a limited number of days so now is better than when we are out there and you are forced into doing it, you’ll panic and I’d rather you didn’t”, he said, “Now go eat”.
I was back at the garage for eight and was slightly nervous, the evening had fully set in and it was very dark especially with no lights other than the odd candle light from inside one of the huts. He was already in the car waiting for me, he opened the door and I climbed in and tried to remember all what I had learnt earlier. I belted up, started the engine, turned on the lights, foot on clutch, gear stick into first then…I stalled. I heard a muffled cough laugh beside me so I tried again and this time I was fine and drove into the small courtyard, for about ten minutes I drove round getting my baring’s. Then he made me drive out the gate and into the woodland outside the camp, the large gates shut quickly behind us and then it soon vanished from sight as I manoeuvred through the trees.
The night looked so different to how I was used to seeing it, obviously there were no lights anywhere anymore so seeing the darkness lit up with the lights from the car threw me. Shadows jumped out from trees, images I would never have noticed before filled my eyes and I could tell Callum was watching me closely making sure that I wasn’t too put off by this new look to the world. He left me be for a while not saying a thing just letting me and the broken car get used to one another, I was getting used to the feel of this ugly looking vehicle, I hadn’t noticed before but as I glanced down at the steering wheel the Ford badge caught my eye. As the war and the struggling had taken over before the infection I knew I would never be able to drive, it was a luxury for the rich who could get hold of petrol, mostly illegally. My father had managed to keep his car…just! But the Ford badge made me feel safe and warm just for one minute as it reminded me of my father’s car a Ford Mondeo although this one was smaller and must be a Fiesta or something.
“You ok?” Callum asked me.
The thought of my dad and then the person who helped take him away was too much for me and I meant to put my foot on the brake but instead I slammed it on the accelerator and we flew off at speed into the gloom of the woods.
“Calm down Stacie what’s wrong?” he said loudly.
I slowed the car down and finally pulled over near the stream to the farm house we had been at just a couple of nights ago. Looking over to it I could see all the dead creatures slumped into a pile and smouldering where some of Callum’s people or even Callum himself had come to burn them.
Turning to him I asked him, “How is it you managed to convince all those people back at the camp that you have changed and that you’re now a good person?”
He sighed, “I didn’t they convinced me”.
I looked at him.
“Look I know you think I’m every swear word under the sun right now and to be honest I think I am too but these people they see the good, they see hope in everyone. I helped them because I knew I had to make up for all the bad stuff I had done, I knew it wouldn’t fix what I had done but it might balance the world out if I could save the innocent from people like me. I went through a very bad patch once Amanda and I had saved a few people I found some booze and nearly drank myself into a hole but the others brought me back. Told me that people deserved second chances, that what I did was to survive in the situation I was in at the time. I never exp
ect you to forgive me Stacie, I could never forgive myself but I will do anything for you to owe you that debt. Anything!” he said and I could hear the remorse in his voice over his past.
“I don’t forgive you Callum I can’t that was my family but I… I’m willing to see the good maybe?” I said more to convince myself than him.
“Thank you”, he replied.
I went to say something else to him when I felt my heart stop, he went to talk but I held my hand to his mouth. He turned to where my eyes were looking.
“What are those?” he whispered.
“Remember me telling you about the screechers? Well that’s one of them!” I whispered back.
“Oh shit”, he said leaning into the back seat and grabbing his gun, he rolled down the window and took aim at a lone female screecher that was wondering through the stream, seamlessly and almost gliding along the water like it was air. Her long straggly hair hung over her face, her hospital gown torn and mostly revealing all to the eye, the mad doctor had left these people no dignity once he had finished with them. I watched his finger on the trigger then another sight left me gasping for air, there were more of them, loads more!
“No wait!” I said stopping him in his tracks.
Leaning back into the car he saw what made me stop him, “What now?”
“Don’t shoot those things go by sound, they will find us in a heartbeat and if they scream it can deafen you for days at a time”, I said.
He looked annoyed not fearful like me, “Move into the passenger side”.
I done as he said and we tried to do this as quietly as possible, he took the wheel but didn’t drive off immediately. We waited and watched them, they looked to be following the stream until one moved its head as if it heard something in the distance, then they all turned in unison to the direction of the camp. Their monotonous way of walking giving me a shudder as one walked past my window, I kept still as it went round the back and into the trees.
“We can’t let them get to the camp”, he said starting the engine again roaring it to life, behind us all the screechers turned quickly, I could see them all moving their heads to pinpoint the exact location of the new noise. Callum grabbed something out of the glove box and forced it into the CD player and slammed the volume up loud.
As the music began to blare out in the once quiet woods he then put his foot to the floor and drove off back into the night, water from the stream splashed up the sides of the car and over the windscreen making him put the wipers on. Looking in the mirror I could see the screechers running after us, these ones were fast a lot faster than just the normal creatures these ones really could sprint and they were keeping up with the car…Almost.
“Can I borrow your gun?” I asked.
He nodded and shouted over the music, “Yeah do whatever you thinks necessary”.
Snatching it up I leant out the window a little and moved my arm to take aim at the army of monsters that rampaged behind us, my heart was beating almost as loud as the beat of the music, sweat began to drip from the back of my neck and the hair there stood to full attention.
Blam, Blam, Blam!
I let off three shots, two monsters went down but another one I only hit in the leg making it wobble but it barely took any notice just kept coming. I could hear a few of them scream but they were too far away from us to make an impact but the noise was bone chilling.
Moving my position slightly I shot another two down but due to the rough terrain and the pants suspension on the car a few of my shots went wide plummeting into trees or mud.
“Do you have any more ammo?” I asked.
“I have another clip but other than that no so don’t waste it. We need to lose those things”, he said trying to think of a plan.
We kept driving hoping that we would drive them far enough away from the camp that they wouldn’t hear them and turn back, then the car made a horrendous groan before starting to cough.
“What’s happening?” I asked him.
“Shits happening”, he replied, “FUCK IT!” Turning he looked around for something anything that might help, “We better hope this works”, he said quickly turning sharply into a bush. He killed the engine silencing the raving car disco and turned off the lights not that the lights would really matter to the screechers but to other threats it might help. He then turned to me and put his finger to his lips, I could just see him though the dim light of the moon.
Then I heard them coming, their moans and cries of frustration as the noise they followed died. I spotted one coming through the bush and walking right into the car it let out a frustrated cry but not a scream. It made me jump but I didn’t cry out in surprise, as it passed we heard others bump into the car making it move and giggle about slightly, I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream but I knew I couldn’t.
Then as quietly as he could Callum lay the car seats down as low as they could go, as we lay there he pulled me close and held me and out of fear I held him back. The night felt like an age and the fear that gripped me was so tight, so real. I held onto him tighter as I thought he might be the last person I would ever see this side of life. He felt my hands grip him and his arms swaddled me in is warmth which was comforting.
He lifted my head to his a little, “You ok?” he said it so quietly I almost didn’t hear it.
I nodded my head but I think he could tell I was so afraid I couldn’t talk, see the creatures are bad enough but the screechers are so dangerous with their ability to render you deaf, with them all out there it made me a nervous wreck. Soon the car became very warm with both of us so close, I had never been this close to a guy before and as I could tell the screechers were wondering away from us I became awkwardly aware of this. So did he which made him turn to look at me with his movement his face came close to mine, I could feel my lips almost burning with the need to kiss him but I knew it was only because I was scared, I had never kissed a guy before and I didn’t want to die not doing so, as if he read my mind his lips brushed over mine. The touch was so gentle I moved in closer to make sure it was real, it was very real and I felt my heart flutter. His hand cupped my face and pulled it in even closer, as close as we could get without becoming one, his tongue was warm as it caressed mine and I felt the excitement jump inside me. He stole so many kisses from me before I fell deep into him, we somehow forgot the world around us for a while as his arms cradled me closer as I buried my face deep into the crook of his neck.
Slowly he unbuttoned my trousers, I felt my heart race again but not out of fear but anticipation. Laying himself on top of me I tried to stifle a moan, as I had no idea how far away the Screechers were. Gently kissing my neck and pulling me in closer we became one, I took handfuls of his hair as he moved his body up and down over mine and his own moan shuddered in my mouth. The car felt so warm now even with the chill of an impending threat but we didn’t care, I didn’t care all that I cared about was tasting him and keeping him close to me.
Morning soon arrived and we took a quick walk to scan the area around the car, the screechers had eventually wondered off into the unknown thankfully and it seemed away from the camp as we tracked their steps but we had to get back and warn everyone just in case they circled round and came back. Callum looked the car over after we pushed it out of the bush to find one of the radiator hoses had been damaged which had caused the engine to overheat.
“Can you fix it?” I asked keeping a look out.
“Back at the garage yes”, he replied slamming the bonnet shut.
“Will we get it back to the garage?”
“Should do, we will just have to take it slow and hope it doesn’t over heat too quickly. It will be fine if it breaks down again a little way from the camp but this far away we could lose it and I’d rather keep all the cars we got”, he said.
Nodding I followed suit as he climbed in, he began the drive back to camp but I could see his eyes looking at me every so often. The drive back was pretty quiet as neither one of us wanted to talk about the night before,
sort of because of the screechers but mainly down to what happened between us, neither of us knew how to approach the subject so we just ignored it and sat in a weird but calm silence.
Luckily the car made it back to the camp and the gate opened as soon as we were in sight, Amanda and Monique both stood watching as we pulled into the camp closing the gates behind us. Monique looked so relieved to see me but Amanda looked angry, really angry.
“Where the hell have you two been? I’ve been out of my mind”, Amanda scolded her brother, “We were about to send out a search party”.
“We broke down a few miles from here but it was too dangerous to walk back in the dark especially as there…”
I cut him off, “There was loads of screechers and they were headed this way, Callum distracted them and we think they have gone elsewhere but”.
His turn to cut me off, “We need to keep alert as they might come back”.
Monique turned pale, “Loads of them?”
I nodded, “At least thirty or so, I shot some down but not many”.
“Right I want to know everything about them”, Amanda said to Monique as she stood there explaining we took the car back to Gavin who almost cried at the state of it.
He took to repairing it straight away whilst we left.
“Stacie I… um… I’m gonna go for a shower. If you want one have one now as after lunch I want to get you to do some shooting practice”, he said before hurrying off.
I done as he said and headed to the woman’s shower and had a quick wash before I went to see how Ollie and Monique were doing. They both hugged me close and told me how the camp had been on high alert thinking maybe the big guns had found us and were coming for the rest of them but I could see their relief when it was just monsters, crazy world we live in where it’s considered not as scary to be around a monster than some of the humans but I still found some monsters very scary and I wasn’t afraid to admit it.
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