DIARY ENTRY 16
Throughout the night Duncan just sat cradling his machine gun and stared at the floor. Jackson and Lana took it in turns to keep watch at the window. The rest of us huddled around trying to figure out what could be done to help our situation. Nobody mentioned Brendan.
The shop we had found ourselves in was just one level, the ground floor. It was an old newsagents, some discarded newspaper which we were able to use for the fire. Griff was able to construct his separation technique over the windows again and had managed to find some lighter fluid which helped.
“We need a truck,” said Jackson.
“Well, we have a perfectly good truck back behind the barricade, but we have moved in the opposite direction and god knows how many of those things are in it or around it,” replied Griff.
“Then we will have to keep moving until we find one,” I said quietly.
I gazed across at Maria. She looked up briefly and gave me a little smile. I think she was still feeling the tension of what happened with Brendan. Jesse was fast asleep, after consuming some cold beans which in her words she said were “yucky”. That particular critical review of our cuisine made me smile. Bruno was awake, he sniffed around the shop getting used to the new smells of our environment.
“How far are we from Kings Cross station?” Griff asked.
“About ten minutes from here, but that depends on what we run into,” said Jackson.
“Why Kings Cross station?” Lana asked from the window.
“Well there maybe trains there,” replied Griff.
“Great idea, kid. Does anybody here know how to drive a train?” Jackson asked.
His question was met with a lot of quizzical looks and silence. I think we all knew the answer to that question.
“I was just saying,” said Griff eventually.
“Well maybe you should think first,” replied Jackson.
“Guys, let’s not start arguing again, it won’t help.” Maria shook her head as she spoke and then placed a comforting hand on Jesse who moved in her sleep.
Griff got up from the floor and wandered over to the magazine rack to get some more paper for the fire. Newspapers and magazines burned very quickly and gave off a bit of a stench from the print and plastic coverings. Fortunately Griff had also placed the fire under a vent and most of the smoke rose up and went through the grids into the open air.
“First light, I think we should make the move to Kings Cross,” I said.
“You honestly going along with this train idea?” Jackson asked.
“Well that could be an option if all else fails, but I know there is an old train repair depot situated just off York Way, there could be trucks still in the yard.” I paused for a moment as Jackson nodded. “And I also know there is a petrol station across from this yard.”
“Sounds good,” said Jackson. He stood up. “First light it is. You ok with this, Duncan?”
We all looked in his direction, but Duncan continued to stare at the floor. I could see this was Jackson’s attempt to try and ease the still pending tension between the pair. Jackson waited for a moment and when no reply came he just wandered over to Lana and took his turn on watch. Lana bedded down, turning her back to everyone. She had not said much since the incident with Brendan, but I think she kind of felt responsible for his death.
Getting up off the floor I wandered over to Duncan and sat in front of him. He was making patterns with his finger in the dust on the floor.
“What happened to the confident, I’ll get you home person I first met?” I asked quietly.
“I wanted to get everyone out of here,” replied Duncan after a long pause.
“You can’t blame yourself for Brendan,” I said.
“You wouldn’t understand.” Duncan shook his head. “I promised to get them all out. The others who died before I met you and now Brendan.”
I looked around the shop. Nobody was paying any attention to us. I looked back at Duncan who was now staring at me. I could see the loss and defeat in his eyes, not the same man who I first met at the beginning of all this mess.
“Then make me understand.” I pulled his gun away and placed it down on the ground.
“I know I am a dead man walking, I’m Scottish, Kaleb. I’m an enemy of the state, but this infection it’s….it’s….got me thinking that we can’t beat this and I would rather die at the hands of the military or the IGS rather than end up like one of those things.”
“Don’t talk like that. You’ve got them this far. There was nothing you could do about Brendan dying, but you can heal the rift in this shop right now.” I looked Duncan straight in the eye.
“What do you mean?”
“You, losing your temper with Lana and Jackson. Can’t you feel the tension it has caused. People are walking on egg shells round here. If we are going to make it out of this hell, then we need you back to your best.”
I got up leaving Duncan with his thoughts and wandered back over to the group. Jackson shot me a glance from the window, I nodded to him and he nodded back. Lana had turned over and obviously had listened in to our conversation. She smiled and closed her eyes. Sheltering down in a corner of the shop I closed my eyes, I was feeling really tired.
It was the sound of footsteps shuffling around the shop and equipment being checked that woke me. I stared up and could see the sunlight bursting through the shop window.
Duncan and Jackson were at the back of the shop checking weapons and supplies. Lana was on post at the window. Griff was helping Maria separate the food we had left, mainly tins, into the rucksacks that everybody carried so the supplies were shared round evenly. Jesse was keeping Bruno out of mischief. I got up and stretched.
“Oh morning sleepy head, here have a coffee. We’re moving out,” said Duncan offering me the cup and smiling.
I glanced over at Jackson who smiled and at Lana who also gave me a smile.
“What have I missed?” I asked.
“Oh just some kissing and making up,” said Griff sarcastically. “In fact at one point I thought Duncan and Jackson were actually going to start kissing.” Griff laughed.
The shop was full of everybody laughing. The whole atmosphere had changed and there was an air of positivity.
“Thanks,” said Duncan and he placed his hand on my shoulder.
“For what?” I asked.
“For making the old fella see how much of a prat he was being,” said Jackson walking over to Lana.
“For making me see sense.” Duncan nodded and handed me a rucksack. “Now we’ve got ten minutes and we’re moving out.”
“Where to?” I asked.
“Oh apparently some bright spark in this room thinks there are trains at Kings Cross,” said Duncan looking over at Griff who saluted back in return.
“But we don’t know how to drive a train,” I said.
“Oh, it appears old Mister Grumpy Bollocks here used to work on the railway,” said Jackson as he pointed at Duncan.
“Did you?” I asked.
Duncan smiled and then nodded.
“The next departure from platform hell will be the o-my-god get me out here train, calling at anywhere else but here,” said Griff which made everyone laugh.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” said Duncan with a smile on his face.
DIARY ENTRY 17
In all the madness the warmth and sight of the sun made me smile. Gazing out of the small window I stared at the bright yellow ball of light in the sky. Lana opened the door and the putrid stench of the atmosphere hit me. My smile faded quickly.
Jackson exited the shop first, taking cover behind an old table that was oddly positioned on its side in the middle of the street. Duncan was next. He ran across the street to the building opposite. Maria, Jesse, Bruno and Griff filed out followed by myself. Lana brought up the rear and we all scampered to the other side of the street to Duncan. Once satisfied the coast was clear Jackson came out from behind the table and joined us.
Maybe
the table in the street wasn’t so odd in this bizarre and weird world I now found myself living in. We were about ten minutes away from The Cross, or Kings Cross to the uneducated. Slowly we walked up the Kings Cross Road. I noticed the pubs on the left side of the street abandoned and derelict. I was shaken from my thoughts by the low moans from a narrow side street. Turning suddenly I saw them shuffling up towards us, their angry blood shot eyes fixed on our group.
I counted five of the creatures. Jackson took out two with precision head shots, Lana concentrated on the two more decomposed figures at the back. Both of them gazed over at Duncan who had his sights fixed on an infected female. We waited and stared as she shuffled closer to our position, she got within in a few yards and Duncan squeezed the trigger. The bullet smashed through her head, blowing the back of her skull into tiny pieces. After a few more deathly steps she slumped to the ground, shook for a few moments before lying motionless.
“We best start moving, more will be here soon,” said Duncan.
We carried on up to the junction. The Kings Cross Road wound down passed the hotels on either side of the road. A single creature popped its head out of an alleyway. Lana took it out straight away. I kept checking on Maria and Jesse, they looked nervous out in the open with all these infected creatures roaming around. Bruno was on a leash of old rope which Griff held tightly.
There were lots of roadblocks, some obviously set up after the evacuation and constructed in a hurry. The sight of abandoned vehicles, clothing and debris littering the surrounding area of Kings Cross was a disturbing view. Blocks of concrete barricaded the entrance to the station. We took refuge behind a huge six foot block and Jackson climbed up to take a better look.
After a few minutes he scrambled down and informed us that he could see around twenty to thirty of the infected at the entrance of the station. I shook my head in despair and Duncan calmly placed his hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t worry, at least it’s not hundreds.” Duncan smiled.
Personally, I couldn’t see the positive side to this. Duncan, Jackson and Lana huddled together to hatch a plan of how to get the creatures away from the entrance.
I sat with the rest of the group and waited to see what this master idea would be. I could hear the moaning from the station, dull moans. Jesse covered her ears as Maria held her close. Griff was stroking Bruno who was beginning to get a bit jumpy. Duncan crouched lower and shuffled over to where we sat. He smiled and ruffled Jesse’s hair.
“Jackson is going round to the left, Lana to the right and I am going to hold this position. On my signal you guys will run straight ahead to the entrance. Jackson will draw them away.” Duncan nodded as though this was the greatest plan ever.
To be honest, it was very simple and I don’t think I could have come up with a better plan. On Duncan’s signal Jackson started to fire his weapon at the creatures, they immediately shuffled in his direction moving away from the entrance to the station. On Duncan’s second signal to we ran straight ahead, through some gaps in the concrete barricade. Lana took position on top of a truck to the right.
Within a few minutes we reached the entrance to the station. I looked around frantically and saw the gated entrance. I signalled for everybody to follow me. Jackson had stopped firing now and was making his way around the barricades to join Duncan who covered him with machine gun fire, taking out at least six of the creatures.
Slamming into the gated fence I looked down in horror at the thick padlock, we were unable to get inside.
“Some of them are heading this way!” Griff shouted.
Turning I could see about ten of the creatures shuffling in our direction. We had no weapons to defend ourselves and I glanced over to Lana. To my horror her gun had jammed. Duncan and Jackson were unable to cover us as they were blocked by some of the barricades.
I gazed back at the snarling creatures as they came closer and closer.
DIARY ENTRY 18
Pulling at the gate I was trying frantically to rattle the rusted padlock to see if it would snap or break away from the poles. I have no idea why I thought this would work, but my mind was racing as the infected closed in on our position.
I glanced over at Lana who was in a panic on top of the truck.She was trying to unjam her gun, but the quicker she tried the more she fumbled. I could hear Duncan crying out from the other side of the barricade as the infected closed in. Maria was screaming out for me to hurry up, but I had nothing to break the lock with.
There was a high pitched scream, it made me jump and for a split second everybody stopped concentrating on the infected bearing down on our position.
“Bruno!” Griff screamed out.
In the panic he had let loose his grip on the rope lead and Bruno bolted off to our right, Griff went running off.
“No, Griff,” I shouted.
But it was to no avail as he disappeared around the curve to the main entrance of the station concourse. This unexpected turn of events bought us a few minutes, the infected saw Bruno and Griff darting away from our position and immediately started to follow them.
Right at that moment Duncan and Jackson appeared from behind the concrete barriers. They stared in the distance at the pursuing pack and ran quickly over to where we were all gathered.
“Oh my god,” cried Maria, staring at the disappearing figure of Griff.
A shot rang out causing everybody to jump. Jackson had shot the gate and as I pulled it to one side the heavy metal padlock fell to the ground. Lana scrambled down from the truck and I ushered Maria and Jesse inside to the station side entrance. The infected were still lumbering towards the front of the station and away from our position.
“Get them inside I will be back in a minute,” shouted Jackson.
“I’ll come with you,” replied Lana.
Jackson stopped for a moment and gazed into Lana’s eyes, the first real kind of emotion I had seen between the two since I had become part of this rag-tag group.
“Your gun is jammed, you won’t be any help,” said Jackson in a soft tone I had not heard from him before.
Giving a little smile he stroked her cheek and went bolting off round the same corner where Griff had ran.
We all filed into the station one by one. Duncan covered us with the only working weapon we had and once he was happy we were safely inside he backed himself through the gate and pulled it closed.
Moving into the side entrance it was evident from the smell the station had been empty for a long time. A mixture of diesel, litter and dirt wafted through this once bustling station. There were a few trains at platforms, rusting and covered in dirt and dust. Judging by the suitcases and carts littered around the front of platforms two and three it was obvious this had been one of the main evacuation points. How many made it out? I thought to myself.
Duncan rushed over to the main entrance where he could get a better view of the main Euston Road. Curious I followed and as we reached the old coffee hut and newsagents I could see right out onto the street.
The first thing I saw was Jackson in a crouched position firing off his weapon. Unbeknown to us from where we had been at the side entrance the twenty to thirty of infected we witnessed first on our arrival at the station had just been the tip of the iceberg. The horde was now numbering into hundreds, perhaps thousands outside on the street.
Bruno was jumping around barking behind Jackson as he switched his weapon to automatic and began spraying the first assault of infected approximately twenty yards away from him.
I gazed around trying to see if I could locate Griff. For a moment there was no sign of him and I began to wonder if Jackson had been covering him so he could get back to the side entrance and that’s when I saw him.
Lying on the floor twitching and holding his stomach I saw Griff. His legs were kicking out and I could now hear his cries of pain above the dull moaning of the infected. Flicking his head back he stared through the thick glass doors we were standing behind. His hand reached out for help and I saw h
is eyes, red and wide. Gazing in disbelief, I saw a small bite mark to his outstretched arm and the major bite mark into his neck. Griff was turning.
Whilst my attention had been drawn, Jackson had shuffled to his left and after a burst of heavy gunfire, plus a change of magazine, he sprinted off followed by Bruno. The infected turned and were about to follow him when Duncan began banging on the glass and shouting as loud as he could.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I screamed pulling his arm.
Duncan pushed me away. “If they follow him, we’re all dead. That gate isn’t secure,”
He had a point and I had to concede this fact. His plan worked as the infected switched their attention from Jackson to us behind the thick glass and they began to lumber forward until there dirty, disgustingly deformed faces were pressed up against the glass of the thick doors.
It wasn’t hundreds of infected it was thousands. I could no longer see where the horde stopped it just went on and on.
There was a shout from behind us, it was Lana. Jackson came scampering into the station concourse and Lana wrapped her arms around his neck. She was crying and stroking his hair.
Duncan signalled for me to move away from the door and we ran over to join the group.
“What happened?” Duncan asked.
“I don’t know.” Jackson tried to catch his breath. “I got to the front and Griff was already on the floor with about fifty of those things around him. I fired off a few shots, but it was too late. I’m sorry.”
Duncan placed a hand on Jackson’s shoulder and just nodded to let him know that there was nothing he could do. A bark from Bruno caught the attention of the group. He wagged his tail and in a way, although I can’t swear to it, I think Bruno knew what he was doing when he ran off as though he tried to draw the infected away from us. Jesse ran over and wrapped her arms round Bruno, to which he responded with more excited wagging of his tail and lick to her face.
Rogue Evacuation Page 6