The Biters (Book 1): Time to Run

  Time To Run

  (Book 1)

  The Biters

  By

  Denise Larkin

  Copyright © Denise Larkin 2017

  All Rights Reserved

  Time to Run Series - Book 1 - The Biters

  All the characters in this book do not resemble any person in real life. The story is a work of fiction written by Denise Larkin.

  Any mention of characters from The Walking Dead TV show do not belong to myself but to the creator of The Walking Dead TV show. All other characters are my own living in a world of biters in England.

  The characters, the setting and the story are my own creation. The story is set in London and moves on throughout areas of the UK to Wales. Some landmarks in the United Kingdom are mentioned along the way.

  The story starts off in London. There will be thrilling moments with dreadful scenes of violence along with romance from time-to-time.

  The Story

  Read how the characters of Lydia Brown and Tim Sparks brave their way from London to the countryside whilst fighting for their lives. Lots of dramatic swings and turns.

  1. Lydia Brown - The Banging

  I was across the street, on a dark London road, getting into my car when I heard it. The sound clattered loudly and resonated like a pot hitting a kettle. It was a banging or a thumping. It was so loud that it, eventually, led me to seek it out.

  I looked around me and then realised where it was coming from. It came from across the road. I saw someone banging repeatedly on a garage door. A ringing noise echoed from it. From what I could see, the person wouldn't stop.

  I was curious. I wanted to go over there to see what was happening, so I closed my car door and crossed the road to get a better look. It was six o'clock in the evening and darkness had already set in. The cold windy air of November made me wrap my jacket, tight around my body as I reached the other side.

  The garage was behind a steel gate. I couldn't open it, because it was locked. I could see that you needed an entrance key or some kind of pin number to open it.

  I peered through the railings of the gate and saw that this person was continuously still banging on the garage.

  Who was he? The figure looked tall, but I couldn't see much of anything else in the dark. I needed my glasses, so I got them out of my handbag and put them on. I, also, took out my mobile and started videoing what was happening.

  From what I could see, it looked like the shape of a male figure. He was tall at about six feet, but he seemed crazy as he kept on banging.

  I was about to shout out, but I stopped suddenly, because what I saw was wildly disturbing. My body shook at the sight of it. I shivered as my cold hands trembled. I could see that his hands had red marks on them with cuts all over them. I breathed in deeply and swallowed as I saw that they were deeply covered in blood. In fact, they were drenched in blood.

  Shit. I stepped back in shock as I nearly lost my balance and made a slight screeching sound from my mouth in a state of panic. At that point, the person turned around. I definitely could see a man's outline. His face was bloody and marked with scratches. He looked evil from where I was standing.

  I stood still for ages, not able to move for fear he would notice me in the dark. At that point, I fell to the ground, but the weird thing was, the man just turned back around and continued to hit the garage door.

  I thought this guy looked strange. Why was he behaving this way? Was someone inside? Was the guy mentally ill or something? It did seem that way. Of course, something was off about him. His clothes looked like rags. The trousers had holes in them. They were ripped up quite badly as far as I could see.

  I thought about calling the police and letting them deal with it. I stopped filming at that point.

  Suddenly, I saw a policeman walking down the street on the other side of the road. I decided to run over there to get his attention.

  "Excuse me... can you help me?" I asked.

  The policeman looked at me and stopped.

  "Is there something wrong?" he spoke softly as he stopped to peer at me.

  "Well, I think so, but I'm not totally sure. There's a man behind that gate over there banging on a garage door. He seems mad at something or insane, because he's going nuts; banging furiously like he wants to get inside or something." I explained.

  "I see..." was all the policeman could say.

  "And he looks weird. His hands look like they are covered in blood." I said.

  "Show me where this is..." he said.

  "Of course... Follow me... It's over here... across the street." I said as I pointed at the gate.

  The policeman followed me. We got to the gate and we both could see the strange man going nuts and hitting both of his hands repeatedly onto the garage door. The policeman was about to shout, but then he stopped himself and pressed the buzzer on the gate. He punched a few numbers into the keypad and the gate mysteriously opened.

  I watched as the policeman walked over to the garage, so I started filming again with my mobile. I always filmed things that looked odd these days. After all, it was my job to find some sort of news for the television station that I worked for in London.

  What I saw next was unbelievable. The policeman touched the guy's arm and tried to arrest him, but instead, he lost his balance. He fell to the ground. The man with the bloody hands leaned over him and started biting him.

  "Oh no! Why is he biting him? What... oh... Shit... shit... shit." I said to myself in a panic.

  Suddenly, there was blood everywhere and I panicked. Blooded flesh fell from the policeman's neck as the man sunk his teeth into him. Screeching screams came from the policeman's mouth. I couldn't see much in the dark, but I could hear growling and crunching sounds coming from this weird looking creature, who was kneeling over the policeman that now lay sprawled out on the ground. His legs shook and then they stopped. Shit... he must be dead.

  I held my mouth shut with my hand trying not to scream, as my legs gave way with terror in my heart. I didn't want the crazy man to see I was there, so I just crouched down onto the ground hoping that this must be a dream or my wild imagination. I felt a quiver in my body. I didn't know what to do next. I was numb and terrified. All I could see was this creature like person leaning over a body and eating it. He dug his teeth into his stomach and intestines seeped from it. The sight and thought of what he was doing made me gag. The smell of rotten remains wafted into the air as I stood there, stuck in shock.

  At that precise moment, the garage door opened up and another guy appeared. He just stood there for a minute and he looked as shocked I was. I captured him on camera and then stopped it.

  I came to my senses and got up. I ran back to my car, but the guy ran after me. I didn't want to wait another minute, but the guy grabbed my arm. I feared that he might be another mad man.

  "Wait... please..." he pleaded.

  "Are you crazy? Who the hell are you?" I shouted rather than asked and shook away his arm.

  He was tall with thick brown hair and a stubbly beard. His eyes appeared red and bloodshot. Perhaps, he was slightly drunk, I thought.

  "Please, you have to help me. I would get my van, but it's behind those gates and I can't go back there." he pleaded urgently.

  "Who was that person banging on the garage. Is it your garage? And why did he start biting that policeman?" I paused.

  I was feeling wretched at the sight of all the blood that I had witnessed a minute ago. My stomach started to make sounds as if I wanted to be sick. Suddenly, I gagged again. Tears fell rapidly. I couldn't control myself.

  I put my mobile back into my handbag and slid one hand through my black, long curly hair. It was starting to get on my nerves I t
hought, as I rubbed my tears away. I tried to push it out of my eyes so I could get a better look at this man. He was staring at me and then looking all around the area in a nervous sort of way. He kept looking from left to right and I shivered, feeling worried that we might be attacked at any minute.

  "I'm sorry, but I'm feeling a bit out of sorts... I have never seen anything like that before." I said to the man. I started to cough nervously as he stared directly at me.

  It was true. I hadn't witnessed something so disgusting as that before. It was crazy what I had just seen. I found it hard to catch my breath for a minute, as my stomach started to heave.

  "Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded. I couldn’t speak, because I felt queasy as bile quickly reached into my throat.

  "Hey, don't worry... but I think we should get away from here now and yes it's mine... the garage I mean, but I have no clue who that person is or why he was banging on it. I really don't know what is going on or why that person was eating that policeman. Do you?" he asked.

  "Me? Are you joking? I was getting in my car when I heard the banging sounds! I got the policeman to investigate... poor thing was mauled to death!" I said uncontrollably.

  "Well I was sitting in my garage having a nice long alcoholic drink when the banging started. I was too scared to open it, so I just waited for it to stop. I was shocked to see what was going on. What just happened?" he shouted.

  "I don't know. I'm as shocked as you are." It was true, I was astounded as to what had just occurred.

  "Hey, my name is Tim." he suddenly announced in a strange, cagey way. "Can you give me a lift?" he asked sheepishly.

  "Where to?" I asked as I thought whether to give him my name or not. "Em... I'm Lydia... Don't you think we should report what just happened? " I asked him.

  "No. We should stay out of it. No need to report anything. In fact, I've seen some weird things earlier tonight when I was driving around in my van. People are definitely acting strange lately. The police probably already know about it," he said.

  "What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

  "I.. I saw a woman walk in a funny way across the street and she looked like she was hurt, but when she saw me in the van she started to walk towards me with her arms out. It looked like she was mad, so I drove off quickly."

  "Really? Why didn't you help her? She might have been ill."

  Somehow, I had a feeling that I was saying and asking all the wrong things.

  "She was not ill. She looked dead... well kind of like that... oh I'm not sure what I've been seeing anymore. What I do know, is that I need a stiff drink... and I've got to get off these dark streets."

  "Okay... but all this seems very weird and I’m just not going to lie, but it scares the shit out of me." I said matter of factly as I paused to take a breath. “I tell you what... I will… em… I'll drop you off somewhere. Where do you want to go?" I asked hoping I hadn’t made a mistake letting this strange man get into my car with me.

  "Drop me off around the corner. There's a shop there." He said as he kept looking around. He was making me feel more nervous.

  "Why can't you walk there? It isn't that far." I asked.

  "Are you kidding me? It's dangerous out here at night." I was confused at the sound of his terrified voice, although, I put it down to what we had just witnessed.

  "Why is it dangerous? Surely people aren't going around biting others?" I asked curiously. Had this sort of thing happened before?

  "I'm telling you... things are weird lately... people are going crazy!" He seemed serious as his blue eyes widened.

  "Okay... but I haven't seen anything as weird as that guy biting and eating that policeman. Have you?" I was sure nothing could be more weirder than what I had just witnessed. The nausea in my stomach still hadn't gone away.

  "Yes... I've seen a lot of things... people are getting bitten everywhere tonight... it's mad out here." His words terrified me even more.

  "Are you sure?" I paused for a moment trying to think it all through. "I think that something must be wrong with these people. They wouldn't just bite someone for no reason." I thought it was all very odd.

  I realised then, that I should get home and watch what I had captured on film. The world needed to see this on television, I thought.

  "Come on... I'll give you a lift!" I said urgently, because I suddenly wanted to get going.

  I got into my car and Tim followed me and took his place in the passenger seat. I needed to find out more from him, but he seemed in a hurry to get away as I stopped the car.

  "Hey... wait... where can I find you if I need to talk to you again?" I wanted to know more about what he had seen for my news story.

  "Just come to my garage and I'll be there," he said.

  I nodded back at him without answering and drove away. Was he really going to go back there? It seemed he would, but I knew I had to call someone to report it. It was the right thing to do. I felt I had to put it out there to warn everyone in case... In case of what? I couldn't finish the sentence, because I didn't really know what to think about what I had seen. I was stumped as to what was really going on, but I wanted to find out.

  2. Tim Sparks - Threatened

  I was moving stuff around in my garage trying to make it a bit more tidier when everything changed for the worse.

  I had resorted to living here lately as it was much cheaper than renting a place. I'd just got back from work and my life, these days, were spent here drinking red wine. I opened a bottle and was well into it when suddenly someone started banging on my garage door.

  The noise frightened me at first. I called out and asked who it was, but there was no answer except for the continuous clanging sound. Who was it?

  I wondered if it was someone who needed my help, but every time I called out to whoever it was, the person didn't answer and the noise vibrated inside of my garage.

  Was I being attacked? The thought occurred to me, but then I didn't think I had any enemies.

  I'd been recently living with my brother, but it hadn't worked out so I left. We hadn't got on recently, so I thought it was best that I moved out. Anyway, living in Kent with him was just too far for me to get to work every day.

  The constant echo was starting to get on my nerves, but at the same time I was frightened. I'd seen things lately out on the streets whilst driving. You see, I was a bus driver and drove long hours at a time. I had seen some weird and strange things happening on the streets recently. Stuff like women limping oddly down a street or someone attacking someone else.

  Once, after having a bit too much to drink late at night and walking back to my garage from the shop, I saw someone kneeling over something. I had been convinced that I’d seen a body on the ground. It did seem odd, as if someone was biting and eating their guts. It had scared the crap out me. I’d been slightly unbalanced at the sound of crunching. I also saw blood flowing down the pavement and there was a terrible smell wafting out towards me. After seeing that, I made sure I drove to the shop even it was just around the corner.

  Now, as the banging continued to reverberate inside my garage, I felt more nervous by the minute. I had a feeling there was something dreadful out there trying to get in. Perhaps, it was one of those weird looking mad people I'd seen on the streets recently.

  After a long while, listening to the loud, clambering sound of the garage door being banged upon, the noise suddenly stopped. I heard a voice. Someone else was out there. I moved nearer to get a better idea of what was being said, but I couldn't hear much.

  It wasn't long until I heard a scream and then more louder shouts. It sounded like a man's voice. It freaked me out. I didn't know what to do. I was afraid to go and see. In fact, I cowardly sat as far away from the garage door as I could.

  I waited it out and then there was silence. I moved nearer to the garage door and listened. I could hear something, but I wasn't sure what it was. It sounded a bit like growling and teeth chattering against one another.

  It was then that I decide
d to open the garage and try to escape. What I saw next was sickening and terrifying. A policeman was on the ground whilst being eaten by a weird looking figure. I thought the person seemed evil more than anything else.

  There was blood everywhere and the evil looking creature was wearing rags covered in blood. It was feeding on the policeman, which I thought was odd. I feared for my life at that point. My body shook and a cold sweat fell from my forehead as I shook with fright. I nearly fell over not knowing what to do next as I stood there rooted to the spot. My heart pounded. I had to hold my mouth shut with my hands, because I was about to scream out.

  When I looked around, I saw a woman staring over at me from the gate. I hadn't realised that someone was there. I quickly ran over to her. I did it quietly, so the mad creature wouldn't see that I was there. Something told me that I needed to be quiet.

  Once outside the gate and away from the threat, I felt I could breathe, but I wished I had brought a bottle of wine with me. The terror inside of me had made me want to drink more. My body still trembled as I looked at the black haired woman. She was crying as she held her mobile in her hand.

  I spoke to the woman whose name was Lydia and she agreed to give me a lift to the shop. She seemed terrified. She nearly fell backwards as I got to her side. She was just as afraid as I was. She said she hadn't witnessed anything so horrific before. She trembled as my heart slowly began to recover.

  There was no way I wanted to go back and get my van now. I would worry about getting into my garage later. Although, I had left it open and hoped it would be okay until I got back.

  At the shop, I realised I had to walk back and it worried me, but I just got on with it. After an hour of just hanging around and drinking some red wine out of the bottle, I decided to walk back to the garage. I had to get back there at some point, but what would I do if that weird looking thing was there still eating that policeman? I wasn't sure.

  As I walked on, I tried to think of what I could do if I got into any trouble. I could always kill it I thought. Although, how would I do that I? I needed some sort of weapon. Then I realised I had something in my van that might do the trick.