by Thomas Hall
Something touched her arm and she turned to see the woman standing there, wide-eyed and terrified. ‘Where are we going?’ she said.
Velma shook her head, the only answer she could think of was ‘away’ but she didn’t know where and she didn’t know how. She turned from the woman and kept going until she saw other people coming towards them.
‘Lucy!’ Velma cried, hurrying towards her. ‘What’s going on?’
Lucy was fully armed and accompanied by Michelle, Alice, Sam and Mark.
‘Has there been another outbreak?’ Velma said.
Lucy slowed down and the others caught up with her. ‘They got down to Level-C.’
‘Level-C?’ Velma said. ‘Zombies?’
Lucy nodded. ‘There must have been an outbreak down there.’
‘There’s nothing left on Level-C,’ Velma said, but the words were barely out of her mouth before she realised that wasn’t true. ‘The mutants?’
Lucy nodded.
‘How bad is it?’ Velma said.
Lucy looked at the people who had come closer to hear her. There wasn’t many of them left now, no more than a couple of dozen. Velma didn’t want to think about what had happened to the others.
‘You should go,’ Lucy said.
‘Go where?’ Velma said. She felt scared, but mostly confused. Even if she could get out of Eastern Bridge, where was she supposed to go? How was she supposed to survive out there by herself? ‘There must be something I can do?’
‘Are you armed?’ Lucy said.
Velma nodded and took out the Browning Hi-Power handgun that she’d been carrying for the last two weeks. She held it out and Lucy shook her head.
‘That won’t get you far.’ She reached around and pulled a second Koch MP5 off her back, almost as if she’d been expecting to arm someone else along the way. ‘You’re sure about this?’
Lucy didn’t know that Velma was immune to the virus, but that didn’t mean she was safe. She could still bleed to death, she could still be eaten. Velma nodded and Lucy touched her arm.
‘Let’s go then.’
As they approached the medical building she slowed and the others ran past her. She could sense the presence of zombies inside and recoiled unconsciously. Lucy pulled the door open and led the way in.
She followed Mark into a dark corridor and held her breath as the smell threatened to overwhelm her.
They were forced to walk in single file and, at the front of the line, Lucy made hand signals which Velma didn’t recognise. She just kept walking, trying not to think about what they were going to find.
‘Hold on,’ Sam said.
They stopped.
‘What is it?’ Lucy said.
‘It’s this way,’ Sam said.
Lucy came back along the corridor towards them. ‘How do you know that?’ she said.
Sam looked around, at Velma and then back at Lucy. ‘I’ve been down there before.’
‘What do you mean?’
He shrugged, there was nothing carefree about the gesture. ‘What do you think I was in the brink for?’
Velma watched the back and forth like it was a tennis match.
Lucy shook her head.
‘This isn’t exactly the time or place to go into it,’ he said.
‘So be quick,’ Lucy said.
Sam sighed. ‘Fine. You remember the night when the super zombie escaped?’
Lucy nodded. Velma struggled to understand why they were wasting their time with this.
‘They sent me down here... Me and Emma...’
‘You tried to burn it down!’ Velma said.
They all turned to look at her.
Sam must have been the person she heard the soldiers talking about before she’d gone to Harold about the prison break. He’d been locked up, but sent out to help her catch the super zombie.
‘You were all in prison, weren’t you?’ Velma said, the realisation of what that meant suddenly dawning on her. Harold had never expected her to return, he had sent her and the others away to get rid of them.
‘And?’ Michelle said. She stuck out her bottom lip as if Velma had made a personal challenge.
‘And nothing I suppose,’ Velma said. ‘Can we just get on with this?’
‘If that’s alright with you?’ Sam said, turning to Lucy.
Lucy nodded and they turned to follow Sam down the hole.
Level-C was much bigger than Level-B but there was nobody there. Red warning lights flashed from every electronic device and the smell of death hung in the air. The metal walkway beneath them rattled as they moved along it.
‘There’s nothing down here,’ she said.
‘Keep your voice down,’ Michelle warned.
They wouldn’t believe her if she tried to explain, or, worse still, they would and then she would have to tell them everything. There was no need for them to know what she was capable of, if she even knew herself.
‘Just shut up and keep moving,’ Michelle added and Velma did just that.
They searched the seemingly endless corridor and rooms, but they didn’t find anything there. All of the cages were open and there was no sign of the creatures they had contained.
‘We’re wasting our time here,’ she said, no longer bothering to keep her voice down; if something heard her and came to investigate then it would be doing them all a favour. ‘We should go back.’
‘What’s the matter?’ Michelle said. ‘You scared or something?’
Velma shook her head and started to argue, but she didn’t need to engage in an argument with Michelle to win her over, she just needed to get the rest of them on her side. They were a tight unit and she would fall in line. ‘If the mutants got out they could be anywhere,’ she said.
Sam nodded. ‘She’s right. Those things... the people up top don’t stand a chance.’
‘Okay,’ Lucy said. ‘Let’s go then.’
The rest of them, including Michelle, were quick to agree.
They were halfway up the ladder when she remembered what Harold had shown her. She stopped at the door to Level-B and climbed off without bothering to see if the others were following.
‘Where are you going?’ Michelle said.
‘Wait here if you want,’ Velma said. ‘I won’t be long.’
There was another corridor beyond the door and she followed it past the lift that she had ridden in with Harold. Then she was at the door and she knew that it wouldn’t be locked.
She expected someone to challenge her but there was no one left to do so.
Figures came towards the glass fronted rooms, hands against the transparent panes, mouths open but no sound made it to her.
‘What is this?’ Lucy said, stopping beside Velma. ‘Are they dangerous?’
Velma shook her head but she didn’t know that for sure. She had treated Dale for most of his stay in the research facility, so she had a pretty good idea what these people had been through. It wouldn’t be a shock if they turned out to be angry, possibly even violent.
‘I don’t think so,’ Velma said. ‘Help me get them out?’
‘Sure,’ Lucy said and together they set about opening the glass cages and letting the people who were behind them free.
Some of them tried to fight, but they were weak; being kept on limited rations and having blood drawn three to five times a week would do that. Others retreated into the back of their cells when Velma or Lucy got close.
‘It’s okay,’ Velma said. ‘No one’s going to hurt you.’
Gradually they edged forwards, but kept close to the wall. Velma could see they wanted to believe her and they wanted to be safe.
‘We’ve got to go,’ Lucy said.
‘Just give them a minute,’ Velma said.
Eventually they managed to encourage them out of their cages and back along the corridor towards the ladder. She didn’t know if they would have the strength to climb, but she couldn’t worry about that now. If they didn’t have the strength to get up a ladder, then their cha
nces of survival away from the compound were close to nothing anyway.
They climbed to the surface and emerged into a bright morning. Smoke from a distant fire was drifting lazily across the sky and she could hear screaming.
There was no sign of the zombies, but there was plenty of evidence that they had been there. They had savaged what remained of the population. Dead bodies and pieces of bodies were strewn across the ground.
For a moment, it seemed, that the only thing any of them could do was stand there and take it in.
Eastern Bridge was gone.
Even if they could get rid of the last zombies and seal the gates, there was nothing left for them there. It was over.
‘What do we do now?’ Velma said. She didn’t really expect an answer and was surprised when she got one.
‘Article 707,’ Lucy said.
Velma turned to look at her, the question evident in her expression.
‘We go to London,’ Lucy said.
‘London? Why London?’
‘Because that’s what we’re supposed to do.’
Velma shook her head. She’d heard the reports about what had happened in London, it was ground zero, nothing was left there. It made absolutely no sense to go there now.
The others began to follow Lucy towards the military building. Velma caught up with them and didn’t say anything to contradict the decision that Lucy had made. London was a long way away, especially now. Things could change, but she needed to be a part of the team to make it.
They collected several jeeps and trucks from the garage and filled them with as many supplies as would fit. Velma was warmed by the sight and knew that, whatever else might happen once they were on the road, they wouldn’t freeze or starve.
It took more than two hours to get everything ready and it was mid-afternoon by the time the finally left. Velma sat in the passenger seat of a truck beside Lucy and watched the wall disappear behind her, knowing that this time she would not be returning.
CHAPTER 2
THE ROAD GREW MORE TREACHEROUS THE FURTHER NORTH they went. Some days were good for only a few miles before they had to stop for the night. Alongside more bikes they had found and fuelled another two caravans and, as their numbers swelled, so did the size of their convoy.
Beth turned to Colette who was asleep in the middle seat of the jeep, the bright morning sunlight reflecting on her dark hair and making it seem to glow. On the other side of Colette was the second sister, Tiffany, who was staring out of the window. Russell was driving, of course, and his wife, Matilda, was sitting beside him.
It seemed as if they had been travelling non-stop for months, but it had only been four weeks since they’d left the compound. They travelled constantly, fuelled by the unspoken fear that Velma was coming for them. The only reason they stopped at all was because it was too dangerous to travel after dark.
There had been attacks but nothing they hadn’t been able to handle. It seemed as if the zombies were as adversely affected by the cold as they were. As the days became shorter and and colder, it gave Beth hope that, come winter, they might get some respite from the creatures.
The jeep stopped and she heard the truck and caravans slow behind it. Colette was jostled around but she didn’t wake up.
Beth leaned forwards in her seat. ‘What is it?’ she said.
Russell didn’t reply.
‘Trouble?’ Beth guessed.
‘You could say that.’
Beth tried to see past him but the hill rose sharply like a wall and she couldn’t see more than a few metres ahead. Of course, if it was trouble, that could only mean one thing. She turned away and opened the door.
By the time she got to the front of the jeep Russell was waiting for her with a cigarette in his hand.
‘I can’t see anything,’ she said.
‘Look again,’ Russell said and he pointed at the road making Beth think that he could see through the rock to whatever lay on the other side of the hill.
‘There’s nothing there,’ she said confidently. ‘You just wanted to get out and have a smoke.’
‘Nice try,’ Russell said.
‘So tell me what’s wrong,’ Beth challenged.
‘Road’s covered in ice. Must have rained last night and it’s not warm enough to have thawed yet.’
Beth looked at the road again and this time she could see what he meant. A shiny layer of frozen water covered the surface. They were in a jeep so they would probably be okay, but the rest of the convoy wouldn’t be able to get up the hill.
‘We’ll have to go back,’ Beth said. ‘Where’s the map? There must be another way around.’
She turned back to the jeep. Before she could get to the door she heard a bullhorn sounding from the back of the convoy.
Beth looked back along the line of vehicles that had stopped in the middle of the road. No one would have used the horn without a good reason and she didn’t need two guesses to figure out what that was. ‘Guns!’ she shouted.
On the other side of the jeep Russell flicked his cigarette and it hissed out on the frozen ground. He caught up with her as she reached the truck and together they pulled open the door as other trained gunmen dropped out of the caravans to come and collect their weapons.
She took an L7A2 machine gun for herself and filled her pockets with spare rounds. No one needed to speak now, this was a well-rehearsed routine. They made their way back along the convoy and took their positions.
She lay on her front with the gun aimed at the road. Beneath her the caravan was perfectly still and she knew that the people inside would be nervously holding their breaths. They had survived several encounters and suffered no fatalities, but there was always the possibility that this would be the time it went wrong.
She adjusted the C2 optical sight and focused on the group of zombies coming along the road. Beth watched them closely but, after a moment, she had to turn away. It seemed that the road had been icy for some distance, but hadn’t caused them a problem until they’d reached the hill. The zombies, however, were a different story.
There was about twenty of them, but it was difficult to keep an accurate count when they kept slipping and falling on the icy ground. They didn’t have enough self-awareness to adjust their balance or to do anything except keep walking forwards, no matter how many times they fell. It was one of the most pathetic sights she’d ever seen. She almost felt guilty about shooting them.
Almost.
‘Contact!’ Beth shouted, once she’d managed to get her giggles under control. She aimed at the head of the first creature, pulled the trigger, and watched it explode in a gruesome mess.
The other zombies kept coming towards her, but they were so encumbered by the conditions of the road that they barely made any progress. One of them tripped over the body of the first one she’d shot and landed face first on the road. When it got back up Beth could see that its nose had been flattened. She shot it in the head and put it out of its misery.
One by one, she managed to take out all of the zombies and no one else in the group needed to fire a single shot. The creatures lay in a bloody heap in the middle of the road and she decided that it would be someone else’s job to move them aside so they could continue their journey.
Beth took a final look around to confirm that there were no more of them coming. Everything was eerily quiet and there was no sign of movement, near or far. She got up and climbed off the roof.
It was always going to be a tricky operation. The road was narrow and the grass verge on either side didn’t offer them much space to turn. Russell turned the jeep easily enough and, after a few minutes of effort, the first two caravans were facing the same way. The problem was the truck.
It was starting to get dark now and they weren’t going to make as much progress as she would have liked.
‘It’s stuck,’ Russell said. He switched off the jeep’s engine and jumped out.
Beth went after him.
The front wheels of the truck were bu
ried at least two inches in the road. None of them had noticed the gap and the dirt that had filled it in. It was extremely bad luck that the truck had ended up there.
‘Can we dig it out?’ Beth said.
Russell got down on his hands and knees to look closer. He shook his head and then got back up. ‘We’ll need to pull it out. Grab the rope from the jeep.’
She returned with the rope and handed it to him. He tied one end to the truck and the other to the jeep. He told Matilda to drive so he could keep an eye on the progress. She started the engine and Beth watched the front wheels spin and spray cold wet mud everywhere, but the truck itself didn’t move.
‘Shit,’ Russell said after twenty minutes of trying.
The light was fading fast but Beth looked down and saw that, if anything, they had actually made the situation worse. The front wheels were now deeper and the ground less firm.
‘What do we do?’ Beth said.
Russell scratched his chin and puffed out his cheeks as he considered it. Then he shook his head. ‘We’ll have to stay here till morning.’
‘We’ll need to keep a watch through the night. Two people at a time on two hour shifts,’ she said.
Russell agreed and they set about dividing the work between those who were capable of standing guard while the rest of the convoy slept.
Beth took the first watch. She lay on the front of the caravan facing the road. The pile of zombies she had killed earlier had been cleaned away.
It was dark now, but she could see well enough by the moon, and there was no sense of movement. Even he - it - was nowhere to be seen. She wondered where it went during those times but she had a feeling it would be close by, watching her and making sure that everything was okay. It wouldn’t interfere unless there was real danger.
She positioned her gun and focussed. This was no time to be thinking about the super zombie and what it meant.
There was no sign of activity during the next two hours and when she heard her relief climbing up the side of the caravan she was only too glad to let them take over. She rolled onto her back and saw Darrel there.