I moved forward and saw Alan laying on the muddy ground. He was bitten. Chunks of flesh had been taken from him. Blood seeped from his neck, as he lay there whimpering.
"Aiden... we have to end it. He will turn into one them." Tim said.
"I know." I said sadly.
I crouched down and touched Alan's arm.
"Alan... I'm so sorry... I wish..." I couldn't speak.
"Aiden, it's okay... I'll be with my family now and.." Alan whispered weakly as his eyes closed. A tear fell from his right eye. His pale face was still. I knew he was dead.
"Do it now." I said to Tim as I got up and turned my back on them.
When it was over we walked back slowly. I dragged myself along as my chest pounded. I felt weak. I had lost my friend. I tried not to cry, but I couldn't control myself.
"Aiden, I have a shovel in my van, so we can go back and bury him. What do you think?" Tim said trying to be sincere.
I just answered him by nodding. There was nothing else I could say or do anymore. I was numb as I wiped the tears away.
As we reached the caravan, we heard a noise. Tim put out his arm and stopped us from walking on further. I looked at him and I knew something was wrong when I saw the fear in his eyes. My heart stopped. I could see a glimpse of what was happening as I stared through the gap of the trees that we hid behind. It was them. The men that had chased us. They had found us and now the others were in danger.
16. Lydia Brown - Run or Die
I stayed in the caravan, whilst Tim, Joe and Aiden went to find Alan. I locked the door after they had left. I was scared someone might come along. The men we had got away from could still be out there looking for us and I wished Tim and the others would hurry up.
I hadn't driven that far away, so I was wary of something going wrong. I kept looking out of the window, checking the area. It was dark outside. There were no street lights anymore to light up the area. Things had changed pretty quickly since that first day when I had left work with Cindy. Now Cindy was gone and I was here, in my parents' caravan who were also dead.
I sighed. I couldn't quite believe the life we were all leading now. Protecting ourselves had become mandatory. We thought we had to stay away from the biters, but it was in fact everything and anyone now. Some people were just so darn right evil. like those men back at the castle.
My body quivered. I just wanted them to come back, so we could leave here. I felt we were too exposed out here. It wasn't a big main road, but a quiet lane. Still, anyone could spot us here.
As the thought went through my mind, I heard a noise. It had come from outside. I looked through the window screen at the front, but couldn't see anything. I didn't want to go outside, because if there was someone out there it could be a trap.
Then I heard a loud shot that sounded like a gun. I wondered if it was Aiden and the others. I feared for their lives.
Suddenly, I heard a loud bang. Something tapped hard against the caravan. I turned around and saw Janice and Ellie look up in fear. I touched my fingers to my lips telling them to be quiet.
I wasn't sure what to do until I saw a man outside hit the caravan door with a gun.
"Open this door!" I heard him shout.
I stared at him and then I saw three more men come up behind him. I panicked. I wasn't sure what I should do. I could drive away, but the others were still out there. I was sitting in the driver's seat and the keys were in the ignition. I could easily drive off, but Tim, Joe, Aiden and Alan would be stuck here.
The man kept banging. I saw more figures turn up at the side of the caravan. It looked like there were about ten men out there. I shivered fearing the worst. What should I do? Shit. There were loads of them out there.
Just as I was thinking to get away, I heard Ellie whisper.
"Lydia, we have to go. They will take this caravan and most probably kill us." Ellie spoke quietly behind me.
"But what about the others who are out there? Have you forgotten that Tim, Aiden, Joe and Alan are out there. We can't leave them." I whispered back to her trying not to let the guy see that I was talking.
It was dark inside. Earlier, we had a small lamp on in the back, but Ellie had turned it off a while ago, because she said the light would attract the biters. Now we were trapped, unless I stepped my foot down and drove away from here.
"It's okay.... just drive Lydia... we can come back for them and Tim and Joe will understand." Ellie whispered.
"Yes go..." I heard Janice speak. "Aiden and the others can look after themselves... and like Ellie said... we can come back for them."
So, it had been decided. If we wanted to protect ourselves we had to leave and get away from these men. I hoped no one else got hurt. Nick was still out of it. He had been sleeping since he had been knocked out. Jane had saved him. She was going to come in handy in the future I thought.
The man shouted again. "If you don't open the door, I am going to shoot the lock off anyway. I am just giving you a chance here... be civilised... look my name is Drake... I want to...."
I didn't want to hear anymore, so I turned the engine on and yanked my foot on the gas and zoomed away in a hurry. I heard the sound of guns being fired behind us.
"Keep going Lydia... They haven't chased us yet." Ellie shouted in a shaky voice.
"I have to get off this road and hide the caravan. We have to disappear so they don't find us." I shouted.
It was true. I didn't want to go too far and risk losing Tim and the others who were out there in the fields somewhere looking for Alan. I hoped they would be safe.
As I drove, I saw a tiny road up ahead on the right and decided to take it. It was a small dirt road. I turned the beam headlights on and saw another lane up on the right, so I took that one too. There I could see a small cabin surrounded by trees. It was clearly out of sight I thought. So, I drove around the side of it and hid the caravan at the back. I turned off the lights and engine. I hoped we would be okay, as we waited quietly, sitting in the dark.
17. Tim Sparks - Hidden
I watched as the men lurked by the caravan, trying to get Lydia to open the door, but then the engine started and I watched it zoom away in the distance. I wasn't surprised that she had left. She was probably thinking about the kids.
Lydia was a kind and generous person and I had noticed some amazing things about her since watching her cope with her parents dying. I knew she was descent. She had never said anything about my drinking habits and I thought she was considerably genuine about everything. She was a woman that I could easily fall for her, but I didn't have time to wonder about that now.
I could see how beautiful she was with that long hair and slim body. She had this awe about her that revealed a bright, glowing face that was covered in black hair. Sometimes I couldn't stop staring at her, but now she had driven away and I wasn't sure if I would see her again. The thought ached inside of me. She'd been the first person to accept me for who I was and I hated that she'd left me here.
"What just happened Tim?" Aiden whispered as I tried to shake off the butterflies in stomach.
"Lydia has just driven away... I reckon she's trying to protect everyone." I told Aiden and Joe.
"But how will we find them?" Joe asked me. I could see he was worried.
"Not sure... we have to get to the van first. We can figure it out after... first we need to get to the van without them seeing us." I said quietly as I tried to look through the trees in the dark.
The men started to move away. Some of them got onto bikes and some in cars. Luckily, they drove away leaving us behind. Perhaps, they've gone to find the caravan I thought to myself as I tried to organise my thoughts. I couldn't stop thinking about how Lydia was all of sudden on my mind.
"Come on... let's go... so we can drive around... we need to find Lydia and the others.... I'm sure they can't have got that far, but we need to help them just in case they are found." I said feeling drained from all that had happened recently.
First, Nick gets shot
and then Alan dies. Poor Aiden was in pieces over it, but he seemed fine at the moment. I sighed, thinking how much I needed a drink, so as we walked on, I took my rucksack from my back and took out a small bottle of scotch that I had been hiding. Joe gave me a stiff look and so I passed the bottle to him and he amazingly, did not refuse. He passed it to Aiden and he also took a swig from it. When we were finished, we walked to the van and got in.
I drove for a few minutes and then stopped.
"Why are you stopping?" Joe asked.
"I have a feeling Lydia would have waited somewhere for us. I'm just trying to think what she would have done or where she would go." I said hoping I was right.
I looked around in the dark and then I saw a small lane up ahead on the right. I looked to the right, but all I could see were trees, but then something flashed in the distance.
"Hey did you see that?" I asked Joe and Aiden.
"Was that a light flashing?" Joe announced.
"I think it's something like that." I answered feeling sure we were on the right path.
I started to drive further and stopped at the small lane on our right. I wondered if Lydia was down there. It seemed likely, especially as I could see something flashing in the distance. I turned and went further, but there was no flash of light this time. The road was muddy and there was a misty fog beginning to surround us. The night air had gotten icy cold. I turned the heating on to keep us all warm.
"Tim I don't think we should go down there." Aiden said.
"But we have to at least try. We need to find them. For all we know they could be just hiding out down here." I told him.
"Yes, but what if it's someone else flashing a light. It could be a trap to lure us there. It could be those men." Aiden argued, but I had a feeling that someone was signalling at us.
I wasn't sure what to do, but I knew that if we didn't find out we would never know. So, I kept driving slowly. I couldn't see anything and then, we saw a glint of light go off and on for a second.
As I drove nearer, I started to see something. It looked like a building. I moved the van nearer. It seemed to be a cabin or a small cottage of some kind.
"Let's stop here and walk to that building." I said to the others.
We got out of the van and we each took our weapons and torches with us. Joe had his axe attached to his belt on his jeans, so he would never forget it. He had never put it down for a minute since we had tackled the first lot of biters for fear he would lose it. I looked at him for a second. His tall figure looked ready to battle anything that came his way.
We started to walk over a grassy wet area full of mud. My shoes sloshed into it and finally we came to a cabin. It was a small, creepy, wooden lodge.
"Hey... let's all walk around it carefully and quietly. Don't make a sound just in case." I whispered to them.
We silently moved around the back of the cabin and there to our disbelief was the caravan. I ran over to it and opened the door.
"Lydia... Ellie... Janice." I called out. No one answered.
"Where are they Tim?" Joe asked in a panic.
"I don't understand it... why aren't they here?... they shouldn't have left. Surely, Lydia is wise enough not to take the kids out of here." I said as a wave of bad feeling swept over me like a terrible nightmare.
I turned around and saw the cabin thinking that they could be in there.
"Let's look inside the cabin." I said.
We went back around and I knocked on the door. No one came. I knocked again, but still no one came. Then I heard the sound of a car. I shivered in the cold air more from fear than anything else.
"Someone’s coming." I said. "Quick.... get back to the van." We rushed to the van and I started the engine and drove it. I parked it behind the caravan.
I turned the engine and lights off, and we waited patiently in the dark. I had to be sure it was them before I went out there. It might be those men. For all I knew, the others could have been captured, I thought, as I sat there hoping to get a glimpse of who it was out lurking in the dark, misty night.
Of course, I wasn't sure of anything. My nerves were literally on high alert as I panicked, thinking what might happen next.
18. Lydia Brown - Strangers
I had waited patiently with the others whilst sitting quietly in the caravan. I hoped Tim and the others would find us, but I had no way of knowing if they would make it to us or not. A dark dread filled me with panic as I sat hoping for something good to happen. I missed Tim. I realised, that he was the only one who'd been with me through all the bad times we'd had since this dreaded infection had started.
Janice and Ellie were behind me. Nick was still asleep and out of it, since Janice had stitched him up. The three youngsters, Molly, Rebecca and Sean were fearfully anxious. I could feel the tension in the quiet night air.
What happened next nearly freaked us all out. A knock came at the door. I turned to look, but couldn't see anything. I nervously contemplated on whether I should get up and go see, but Ellie put her hand on my arm, trying to stop me from getting up.
I ignored her and just calmly shook her arm away, as I moved from my seat. I looked out into the dark. I saw a man and a lady standing there. The woman turned and saw me.
"Hello... I'm Sarah... sorry... I didn't mean to trouble you or scare you all. We don't mean no harm. We just need your help... please... my son is hurt... we wondered if you could help us. We need medicine and someone who knows what they are doing... please... we... we don't want any trouble.... just help." She pleaded, but I was suspicious of anyone.
I opened the top of the window slightly and used my torch to see what they looked like. The lady had scruffy dark hair and she was with a man of medium height, but the boy wasn't there. I didn't want to trust them, but somehow she looked anxious.
"Where's your boy?" I asked.
"He's back at our campsite... it's just around here... up the road about five minutes walk away... please... can you help?" She cried.
"I'm not sure... how old is your son?" I asked wanting to see if she was telling the truth.
I wanted to know more and I thought I should ask a few questions. Perhaps, their answers would show if they were genuine people or not. I went with the flow and hoped it would work.
"He's ten years old," she answered.
"What's his name?" I asked hoping she would answer.
"It's Sam... I'm Sarah and this is my husband, George."
I smiled slightly and nodded trying to be brave.
"Okay... have you come across any of the infected?" I didn't know if this was a worthy question, but I thought I would ask anyway.
"Yes... loads actually..." she said.
"Have you killed any of them yourselves?" I thought I needed to know this answer.
"Hey... what are these questions... we are just asking for help and our boy is very ill... we are wasting time." Her husband said.
"If you want our help you must answer my questions... I don't know who you are or who you are with, so I'm not going to trust anyone until I know more about you." I stated trying to be blunt, but nice at the same time.
"Okay... yeah... we've killed lots of the infected... my wife and I... also the others we are with are very good at it lately and they have helped us to survive... but my son is weak and we don't know what's wrong with him... we just need someone else's help... someone who is medically trained or knows more about these things." George said.
"Okay... tell me... how did you kill the infected?" I asked.
"We stab at their brains and they seem to die doing that... we don't shoot though because that will attract more of them." George replied.
"Okay... how many others are in your group?" I asked hoping it weren't too many of them.
"There's another four people waiting back at our camp with our son... there's another married couple and their daughter who's only eight years old and an old gentlemen who's the grandfather," he answered.
I didn't think it was the same people that
had come to the caravan earlier, but I couldn't be sure. The only way I was going to find out was if we recognised them and that meant taking a risk. It was worth asking though I thought to myself.
"Did any of your people approach us earlier?" I asked.
"No... we just saw your caravan come up here a few minutes ago... are there other people around?" Sarah asked looking at her husband at the same time.
"Yes, there were earlier... that's why we were hiding here. They seemed threatening... I think they wanted our caravan." I told them hoping to find some glimmer of panic in their faces, but they seemed more terrified at my words than anything else.
"Oh no..." George said.
"What? What's wrong?" I asked.
"Our people are waiting for us to come back... they're with our son... what if these people are... do you think they are dangerous." He asked with an anxious voice.
"I'm not sure... look... don't worry... we will help you..." I had decided they seemed genuine enough, because Sarah started to cry and George tried to comfort her by putting his arms around her.
I shut the window on the caravan door and spoke to Janice and Ellie about what we should do.
"Ellie, Janice... I think we should go and help them, but we should all go... we should all stick together." I said.
"What?... bring the kids too?" Ellie asked in a furious voice.
"Well... would you rather stay here with them?" I asked.
"Not really... I'm just not sure this is the right thing to do... what if they are lying?" Ellie asked.
"I think they are genuine and if they are... those children back there could be in danger... please we have to help them, especially as their child is sick." I looked at Janice, hoping to get her opinion.
"Lydia... Nick isn't in a fit state to go anywhere... maybe we should leave him here or at least in that cabin... what if Ellie stays there with the kids and just you and me go?" Janice asked.
The Biters (Book 1): Time to Run Page 7