"Okay... it's too dangerous for us all to go... let's leave Nick here in the caravan with Ellie and the kids... but don't answer this door to anyone... hide in the back and pretend you are not here... do you hear me?" I watched them all nod as Janice and I opened the door.
Janice and I followed Sarah and George to their camp. The night air was a misty blackness. We couldn't see anything around us. I held my gun and the stick Tim had given me for protection, as I felt a strange quiver go through my body. This was going to be one hell of a night!
19. Tim Sparks - Sickness
I could hear someone lurking around outside. Aiden sat in the back of the van and Joe was next to me holding his axe and getting ready to move. I knew he was on high alert just like he had been for a while now.
I'd been drinking too much lately, but that wasn't really a worry for me. What worried me, was the fact that the booze was running out, although, I still had two crates of red wine left. What would I do without it? The red wine and the whisky helped me to cope. It felt like a relief to down a taste of whisky every now and again. I just didn't know how I would cope without it. I mean, I only drank later in the day mostly. I had always had a drink in the evening after work and at the weekends. It was just a way of helping me to relax.
I knew Joe didn't understand me, but it was tough. I didn't want to change the way I was. The one good thing that had come out of this end of the world crap was that I had slowed down my drinking considerably. I wasn't drinking as much lately, because with all that was going on, it was hard to get the time to just sit and relax with a tasty bottle of wine like I had done in the past.
I shook my head trying to focus my mind on who could be outside. I wanted to see what was going on, so I made eyes at Joe and signalled to him to be quiet as I slowly opened my door.
I peeked outside in the dark, cold night. I couldn't see anything except for shuffling footsteps. The caravan door was on the other side, so I quietly and slowly walked around the vehicle so I could see who was there. I heard a voice whisper, but I didn't know if I recognised it or not. I moved closer and carefully peeked around the corner. I saw a woman and a man standing at the entrance. The door was still closed.
Suddenly, I heard Lydia's voice. Oh thank goodness she's alive. I breathed with relief at the sound of her voice. I looked around again and saw she was talking to the couple, so I decided to make an appearance.
"Lydia... thank goodness you are okay." I announced as I walked nearer to her.
"Tim... oh Tim I thought we'd lost you... where are the others? Are they okay?" I nodded, but then I forgot that she didn't know about Alan yet. I decided to tell her that later as I stared at the couple next to her.
"Oh Tim... this is Sarah and George... Janice and I went to get their little boy... he's sick."
"Did you bring him here?" I asked hoping it was nothing serious.
"Yes... Janice is taking his temperature now. We managed to get the cabin door open and she's in there with him." Lydia explained.
"Who else is there with her?" I asked knowing that the sickness could be the end of him.
"No one just her and the boy." She said.
"I think someone else should be in there with them... just in case." I said without thinking as I noticed the parents staring at me.
"I know..." Lydia replied.
"What happened back there Lydia when you left us? Was everything okay?" I asked.
"Yes...we hid here and no one came... we were lucky... and then Sarah and George came and asked us for our help. But when we went to Sarah and George's camp... well... we discovered that the other couple and their child and the grandfather were killed by biters. We didn't get to them in time... it was just lucky enough that their boy was okay, because he had managed to hide." She said with a sadness as I listened to her.
"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that." I said to the couple. "Did you see anyone else around... like another group of people?" I asked them.
"We did... but that was ages ago now." The lady, Sarah, said to me.
I nodded but didn't reply. I knew it was too dangerous to be hanging around out here. I felt certain they would find us. We needed to move on. After all, we wanted to get to Wales as fast as we could, but so far, there had been too many distractions.
I grabbed Lydia's arm and pulled her to one side so I could speak with her.
"Lydia, I really think we should leave here... we need to move on... we can't stay here. We could be found any minute and we don't want anymore distractions." I said.
"I know, but Nick is still sleeping and the boy is really sick. Janice is seeing to him now." Lydia explained.
I was eager to get away from here, but it didn't seem like it would happen, so I nodded and gave in.
"Okay... perhaps, we should just stay here tonight... Joe and I will do the first watch out. We should all stay in the caravan and let the boy and his parents stay in the cabin." I said looking at the couple as they nodded in agreement.
I knew I was being selfish, but I didn't want the sick boy near any of us just in case he turned.
"That sounds good." Was all Lydia said and I knew she was thinking the same thing.
I moved away and went back to get Aiden and Joe. The three of us went into the caravan to see everyone. They all hugged us as soon as they saw us. They were pleased to see us until they realised Alan wasn't with us. Janice came in at that point and had left the boy with his parents.
"Tim... where's Alan?" Lydia asked.
"I'm sorry... but he's dead. He was attacked by a biter. We had to leave him behind... but we wanted to go back and bury him tomorrow in the daylight." I told them.
Everyone went quiet and nodded back at me. No one knew what to say except for showing Aiden how sorry they were to hear about Alan. Things were changing fast I thought, as I watched everyone hug him with tears in their eyes.
Whilst that was going on, there was a loud bang on the caravan door. Lydia went to see who it was. She opened the door and Sarah came in screaming at us.
"Help us... our boy has gone crazy... he's on top of my husband and clawing away at him... I don't know what's going on or what has got into him!" Sarah screamed loudly as she cried in panic.
"Shush... it's okay... we will sort this out." I told her.
I grabbed my stick and the gun, whilst Joe picked up his axe. Together, we went to see what was going on, but I had a feeling it was not going to be a pretty sight inside that cabin.
20. Tim Sparks - A Child No More
Joe and I entered the cabin. There to our horror was a little boy on the floor on top of his dad. There was blood everywhere. The boy's mouth had ripped away his father's eyes and cheeks. George's face was now nothing but a blooded, fleshy, pit of mess. I panicked. I didn't want to kill a child. The thought scared me. What would I tell his mother afterwards?
We went further inside and I could hear crunching and growling. I couldn't see George's face anymore, because the boy's head was bent over it. We moved further into the room and I got a glimpse of George's head. It was covered in blood.
I moved closer and Joe stood next to me, but as Joe moved, he stepped on something. A squeaky sound filled the silent room where Joe's foot had met the toy on the floor. We stood still, but it was too late. The boy had seen us.
I looked at the child's face. I was disgusted to see that it was a mess. His small face was smeared with bloody stains and his mouth revealed red little teeth. His lips were unrecognisable, in other words, they didn't exist any more. I was almost sick at the sight of his widened mouth from where he had been biting into his father's flesh. I think I am going to be sick. I felt bile rise up from my throat as I tried to move backwards.
How could such a little boy bite so viciously? The boy was so tiny, yet he had crunched his way through his dad's stomach and neck. I could see a hole in George's stomach. Guts and flesh could be seen beside him.
"What do we do?" I heard Joe ask me in a whisper. I could tell he didn't want to kill a child. The
thought of sticking a knife or my stick into his small head freaked me out and I knew Joe was thinking the same thing.
"I suppose we have to kill him like we do with all the others." I said with disgust.
"Oh... Tim... I... don't know if I can do it... what will we tell his mum when she asks us what happened?" Joe asked quietly.
"Well... we have to tell her that he had the sickness and died, but then he turned... and he became like all the others... a biting fiend." I knew that was the case for everyone these days, but telling his mum that we had to kill her son was going to be very hard.
Suddenly, the boy stood up and started to walk over to us. I moved back and so did Joe. I could see his little face more clearly now. His eyes were black as night and his nostrils were ruined. There was nothing left of his lips either, because I guessed he'd been biting so much at his dad that they had disintegrated. The whole thing was a disaster I thought.
"Joe... let's get out of here and tell his mother what's happened... I don't want to end him until we've told her what he is now." I'd decided that this was the safest option for now and to tell the truth, I wasn't happy about slicing my stick through his skull.
"Okay... whatever you say." Joe replied, looking just as eager as myself to get out of there.
We moved backwards towards the cabin door and opened it quickly. We were out of there in seconds.
Sarah came running over to us. I could see she was distraught with worry.
"What's going on? Are they both alright?" She asked me.
I was heartbroken and couldn't find the words to tell her what was going on with her husband and son.
"I'm sorry... they're both gone... your son is a zombie and your husband is now dead. I'm afraid your son attacked his father... we've got to end your son... or if you want you can do it yourself." I said.
I added the last bit to help her decide what to do. She might not want me ending him I thought. I saw her nod and she moved towards the cabin.
"I want to see them one last time." She said sniffling and sobbing as she moved closer to the cabin.
"Wait..." I called. "Take this knife... you must stab him in the head to take his misery away... you can't leave him like that."
I watched her nod as she opened the cabin door. Joe and I waited outside. Lydia came over and waited with us. I looked at Lydia's face and saw tears streaming down her cheeks. It was hard to see children die, but seeing them turn into one of those biters... well... I guess that was downright terrifying. I bet we would all have nightmares after this experience.
We heard a scream come from within the cabin and I watched Lydia run to the door.
"No Lydia... don't open it..." I shouted.
"I have to Tim... he's going to bite her and she will let it happen."
I knew she was right.
I watched Lydia open the door and there we saw the boy feeding on his mother. What I saw next was Lydia walk right in and stick her knife through the boy's forehead. I thought she was very brave. The thought of doing that myself had given me shivers down my spine. I just hoped Lydia wouldn't have nightmares over it later.
I pulled Lydia away and stuck my own knife into the mother's head. After that, we all went back to the caravan. We just shook our heads at everyone when we saw them. We couldn't speak. It was too hard to think of that poor little boy and his parents laying there in a pool of blood.
I went back to my van and drowned my sorrows in red wine. I couldn't handle it any more. Too much was happening too quickly. Living life happily was a thing of the past. No more daily routines or jobs to go to. It would just be a life full of dead biters. A killing spree to go through each and every day. This was it, I thought, as I drank my way to oblivion.
21. Lydia Brown - Loneliness
I drove away from the terror that we had just left behind. That poor family. I just couldn't get that little boy out of my mind. The tears fell from my eyes as I drove the caravan down the dark lane. It started to rain heavily. The wipers were on fast mode and I couldn't see as I tried to wipe away my own tears.
I felt like lashing out at something. My anger was beginning to get the better of me, so instead I sped up the caravan as fast as I could in the darkness. I knew it was a bad idea, because everyone in the back started to scream.
"Lydia... what are you doing? Slow down!" I heard Aiden shout from the back.
"Yeah... for God's sake slow the hell down will you!" shouted Ellie.
"Sorry." I said as I slowed down.
At that point, I saw Tim overtake me as he drove up ahead and slowed to a stop. I was glad he had, because driving in this storm wasn't easy. The sky was bright with lightning and that scared me just as much as biting zombies did, so I was happy to not drive in this weather.
Tim and Joe came inside with us. We parked up behind some bushes making sure we were hidden from the road.
We all decided to get some sleep, but I couldn't shut my eyes. I was afraid to, in case I started to dream. I'd been having horrific nightmares lately, and now that I'd seen that little boy as a biting creature, it would probably get worse, especially as I'd stuck a knife into his head.
I shuddered as Tim came to sit next to me at the table. Everyone else had gone to put their heads down in the back, so it was just Tim and I sitting side by side on the sofa in the dining area.
"Are you okay Lydia? You were going crazy back there.... what was all that about... were you trying to crash or something, because you seemed quite intent on speeding this thing to hell." I looked at Tim who spoke to me in a caring manner.
He wasn't mad, but he was quite thorough in his meaning that I'd been acting in a vicious way.
"I'm sorry Tim... I... I was quite emotional when we left that place. It got to me I think... you know... seeing that boy like that and having to see them all die. I'm just... oh..." I couldn't help it. I started to cry uncontrollably.
My tears fell rapidly down my cheeks. Tim put his arms around me and pulled me to him. I felt his warm body against mine. I needed him to hold me, because I felt so alone. I didn't want to feel this way.
I felt his arms go around my neck. His fingers stroked my hair as my face touched his shoulder. He smelled nice I thought. I suddenly had the urge to look into his eyes, so I pulled myself back from him and saw his deep, blue eyes peer into mine. I hadn't noticed how good looking he was until now. He had a rugged raunchy look about him and I liked that in a man.
I felt drawn towards him as I stared at him. I started to want him more than I had ever wanted any man before, so I kissed him hungrily. I felt his lips touch mine as he accepted what was happening with us. We madly grabbed one another. We touched and stroked each other desperately trying to drown ourselves in bliss. We locked into one another's hunger for a while until he stopped me.
"What's wrong Tim?" I whispered.
"Nothing... I just thought... well... that we should move into one of the rooms in the back... well... if no one has taken them that is," he said as he smiled cheekily.
"That's a good idea." I answered as I got up and pulled him to the back of the caravan.
I didn't care anymore about morals. I just wanted him, and anyway, it might be the last time I ever want anyone else again, I thought to myself.
I walked through the entrance to a small walkway and saw that one of the sliding doors to a room was wide open. I just pulled him in there with me. I yanked the door shut and watched him as he sat down on the bed and took his jumper and then, his shirt off. I smiled at him. I could see his rippling muscles on his chest and stomach. I thought he looked ravishing and it made me want him even more. I felt a rush of adrenaline as I began to feel an emotional uplifting of sexual tension force its way through me.
Tim got up then and pulled me down onto the bed with him. He kissed me on my neck, my lips and then, he unbuttoned my shirt. We lusted at each other and couldn't stop until all our clothes were off and on the floor. The rush of emotion took all of my fears away and no doubt it did the same for Tim too
. I felt a quiver of joy run through my entire body as we became entwined as one.
After it was over, we both lay there and then, eventually, we fell asleep. I awoke abruptly, after what felt like hours of being asleep, to the sound of a loud horn going off. Tim shot up rubbing his eyes.
"What the hell is that," he shouted.
"Oh no... we are going to be surrounded by biters in a minute if we don't shut that horn off." I said getting up and trying to find my clothes on the floor.
We both ran out of the room to see Ellie and Janice crying as they both stared out the window. What we saw next was a horde of biters coming towards us in the daylight sun. I screamed.
22. Tim Sparks - Hope
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was roughly about a thousand or more creatures heading towards us. They would be upon us in about twenty minutes I reckoned.
The horn was continuously going off outside. I had no idea where it was coming from. Was it nearby I thought. Then I realised it could be my van. But why? I needed to look I thought.
We were hidden behind some trees, but that didn't matter, because if we waited too long the horde of biters would be blocking the road and then we would be stuck. We had to get out of here quickly, but I had to stop the noise first.
I opened the door of the caravan and as soon as I did, I could hear the horn more clearly. It was definitely coming from my van. I was about to go outside when I felt Lydia's hand touch my arm.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"The noise of that horn is probably coming from my van. I have to try to turn it off." I said.
"Be careful Tim," she said in a worried tone.
"I will. Just keep everyone inside and I'll be back in a minute... okay?" I said.
"Okay," she replied.
I went to the van, but when I got there, I realised the noise wasn't coming from it. The horn sound was coming from very nearby. I wanted to go look, but I was afraid to waste the time. The biters would be nearly upon us, so I had to go back and warn the others.
The Biters (Book 1): Time to Run Page 8