Rogue Evacuation

by Simon Neilson

  I crept forward towards the driver’s compartment and was greeted by a smile from Duncan.

  “I need to talk to you,” I said.

  “Certainly, what’s up?” Duncan asked in his Scottish twang.

  “Well….” I paused.

  “Spit it out,” replied Duncan.

  “We are nearing my home town and you did say that you would help me get home.”

  Duncan went silent for a moment, just staring out at the train tracks ahead. He turned to me and smiled warmly.

  “I did yes. Why didn’t you mention this earlier?” He asked.

  “Well it didn’t seem the right time. I just thought I would mention it now.”

  “How far are we from your home?”

  “Well at this speed it should take an hour or so, depending on what obstacles we meet.”

  Duncan nodded in agreement and continued to look out towards the tracks. I had said all I needed to say and left the compartment.

  “Let me know when we are near,” shouted Duncan.

  I nodded. He never asked me the name of the town or any other questions of where I lived, but I had said what needed to be said and returned to my seat.

  This part of the county of Hertfordshire was surrounded by fields. As we passed by I saw single infected bodies wandering around the fields. One I witnessed was feeding off a cow. This infection had spread quickly. At first it was just London that appeared to be infected and I thought the military and IGS were trying to quarantine the problem, but it obviously had far reaching effects and now as we neared my home town it became very apparent that the quarantine measures never worked.

  I returned to my lone thoughts and wondered what the blogger Gov_Block would make of all this. If this renegade was still blogging he or she would probably be having a field day slagging off the government. What was happening with the war between England and Scotland? It had been so long since I had read any news that I began to wonder if the whole country had crumbled and if in fact we were the only survivors. There must be more survivors.

  We approached Welwyn Garden City. I could see The Howard Centre, a large shopping complex behind the station, broken and smoking. There were charred holes in the side of the building caused by explosions and bullet holes everywhere. It must have been some sort of last stand.

  In the streets of this town the infected ruled, hustling and bustling together as though it was a Saturday afternoon shopping trip, but there was only one thing these “nasty people” were looking for.

  I told Maria to shield Jesse from the sight of them shuffling about. I did not feel it right that she be subjected to even more despair. I’m sure this nightmare would have a lasting effect on her, as it would all of us.

  We passed through with no incident, although hordes of them clambered towards the fencing trying to get at the train as it went by. Jackson and Lana looked out in disgust at their snarling faces and flailing hands.

  Life as we knew it, no longer existed.

  DIARY ENTRY 23

  We had been travelling for an hour when we reached the town of Stevenage. Sprawling houses from the town centre which had a retro, open air shopping centre. There were a few tower blocks dotted around the outskirts but beyond these the countryside took over.

  I felt the train slowing down as we passed by the postal sorting office to one side and the leisure park on the other. The buildings looked run-down and some had even been burnt to the ground. The bowling alley was no more, just a pile of charred beams standing where the once busy centre stood, another sad sight to add to my memories. I didn’t particularly like Stevenage but that was no reason not to feel sorrow that it had been left in this state.

  The train finally came to a stop at the platform and we all sat staring out of the window, taking in the devastation, buildings burnt, damaged and abandoned.

  “End of the line!” Duncan shouted.

  I moved forward to the train compartment, followed by Jackson and as I stood next to Duncan I saw why this was “the end of the line”. Ahead of us just out of the station heading north was an enormous barricade of metal and concrete across the tracks.

  “There is no way we can move all that lot,” said Jackson.

  “How far is your home?” Duncan asked.

  “It’s the next station,” I said glumly, staring out at the blockade.

  “Do you know this area?” Jackson asked.

  I nodded in reply still gazing at the blockade. I did know the area but for safety reasons I just wanted to travel by train where there was no fear of being attacked by the infected. I knew what Jackson was getting at, we would now need to find transport and travel by road.

  “Right then, time for a change of transportation,” said Duncan in an unnerving cheery manner.

  “I’ll get the supplies packed up,” Jackson said turning and leaving the compartment.

  “I can’t believe all of this is happening,” I said quietly.

  Duncan placed his hand on my shoulder and as I turned my head I saw him smiling at me.

  “Don’t lose hope now, you are nearly home.”

  “Why are you helping me?” I asked yet again. “It’s not even like I was any use back in London because the movement passes were of no use.” I stared at Duncan.

  “But you were willing to help and that is all that matters.”

  Duncan walked out the compartment leaving me to stare at the barricade which was not only stopping our advance but also blocked my hope of seeing my family.

  “Kaleb!” Maria shouted, jolting me from my thoughts.

  I walked down the train carriage as Duncan pulled the emergency lever that opened the door. It hissed and banged as it rested against the side of the carriage. Maria ushered me to join the rest of the group.

  We all waited for a moment. There was no sound outside but I could smell the fresh breeze. The air in London was stale, but here it was sweet smelling. One by one we stepped out onto the platform.

  Duncan was first to leave the train, his weapon at the ready. He was quickly followed by Jackson, myself, Jesse, Maria who had Bruno on a leash. Lana brought up the rear and scoured the leisure park opposite.

  The sun was not so hot now, it was early evening and as Jackson had pointed out we would need to find some sort of shelter soon before it got dark.

  We walked down the platform to the stairs that led up to the main concourse. We paused for a moment at the bottom of the stairs. In the distance I could hear the moaning and Duncan heard it too.

  “How far away do you think they are?” Lana asked.

  “Not sure,” Duncan replied. “Where shall we head?” Duncan turned to face me.

  “Once we are at the top we are in the ticket office, turn left and across the footbridge then through the inlet near to the theatre there is a ramp that will lead us to the bus station,” I replied.

  “Okay,” said Duncan and moved up the stairs.

  We all followed very quietly. The tip of the stairs were visible, about two flights, but the corridor bent round to the left so we had no idea what was waiting for us.

  Eventually we reached the top. Duncan had got there first and had dived round the corner to scout the ticket office. He returned to wave us through.

  The ticket office was strewn with paper, suitcases, bags and litter. Another place where there had obviously been a mad rush to get out.

  Walking out of the station the passageway led us to the footbridge. This stretched over the empty dual carriageway below. Many times I had visited this town and the vehicles would be streaming underneath you with the planes roaring low above, coming into land at nearby Luton Airport.

  Now, there was nothing. We stood on the bridge for a while and I stared over at the police station. The gates to the compound were locked but I could see inside through the mesh fencing. Wandering around inside the back yard were a few of the infected just aimlessly shuffling about with no purpose, but they were not the reason for the moaning we could still hear. I suspected the moaning was com
ing from a pack quite large.

  We continued over the bridge and through the walk-way by the old theatre finally reached the ramp which brought us out to the edge of the bus station. I could see the multi-storey car park over the road. I thought I saw movement on the upper level but it was a corner of the eye thing and I paid no more attention to it. Slowly we made our way down the ramp and as the path bent round the bus station came into view.

  There were three buses in the station, one double decker and two single decker buses, but that was not the only thing in the station. Duncan ushered us back round the corner and indicated there were approximately ten to twenty of the infected wandering around the station.

  Something caught my eye over to my left. It was then I saw a squirrel scrambling across the pavement towards a tree. I wasn’t the only one to spy this animal. Bruno had also seen it and pulled at the rope leash that Maria was holding onto, barking loudly.

  We all froze and our fears were realised as we heard the moaning from the bus station grow and the awful sound of the infected shuffling in our direction. Bruno continued to bark, Maria in a panic state was trying to stop him but all he wanted to do was get at the squirrel which was scaling the tree and I must say in a much better position than we were.

  From the opposite side at the corner of the multi-storey car park, I saw a large group of infected approaching. We were cut off from two sides and the only way back would be to the station, which is not what we wanted as the only direction we could go on the train was back towards London. Not an option.

  Duncan, Jackson and Lana readied their weapons. A group of about five infected appeared from the bus station direction first and were quickly despatched with some precision head shots. Duncan pointed towards the bus station and we moved off, with the three who had weapons at the front clearing the path we needed to get to one of the buses. The infected from in front and behind us were now gaining.

  The last of the infected from the bus station stood in the middle, head cocked to one side just staring at us. It looked fresher than the others and just concentrated on us approaching. Jackson levelled his weapon and took aim.

  Suddenly, the creature broke into a run and came hurtling towards us, hands outstretched, snarling and spitting blood everywhere. It took three shots from Jackson to take it down.

  “Jesus!” He shouted as the creature slumped to the floor a few yards in front of him.

  “We’ll have to watch out for these fresh ones, they are quick,” Lana said.

  We ran across the bus station towards one of the single decker buses. Jackson lifted the flap on the outside of the bus, pushed the button and the door hissed open. Lana was covering the back and told us the infected from the car park were getting too close for comfort. We all jumped on board and once everyone was inside Jackson closed the door. Within a minute or so the infected were surrounding the bus banging on the metal and scraping at the window. Jackson jumped into the driver’s seat.

  “Shit!” Jackson shouted.

  “What?” Duncan asked.

  “No keys.”

  I stared outside at the horde surrounding the bus, baying for our flesh. We were trapped.

  DIARY ENTRY 24

  The bus rattled and rocked with the force of the horde pounding the side. Their groans were deafening as they peered menacingly in through the window.

  Jesse was screaming. Maria tried to comfort her as best she could and took her to the back of the bus where the seats rose up so they could duck down behind one of them. Bruno followed them, obviously not feeling as brave as he did with the squirrel. Jackson sat in the driver’s seat staring helplessly at the ignition as if a key was going to magically appear all by itself. Lana was near the front doors, this was probably the weak point and if they were going to breakthrough then this would be the place. She readied her weapon in anticipating an assault by the infected. Duncan stared out of the window, not even flinching as they pounded the bus. I tried to look beyond the infected to find a gap, but more were arriving every minute. The situation looked hopeless.

  “Shit!” Jackson shouted again, banging the steering wheel several times.

  “That’s not going to solve this problem,” Duncan replied quietly.

  “How can you stand there so calm?” I asked.

  Duncan gazed over at me, his face showing no sign of emotion. He looked back out of the window. I followed his stare. The faces were contorted with anger as fingers tried to tear at the glass of the windows. Reddy-brown liquid was starting to smear across the windows as they became more frantic by the minute.

  In the distance I heard a noise. Lana heard it too and looked at me. We both gazed outside trying to establish where this new sound was coming from. A beating drum was the noise, but how?

  The infected at the back were the first to react. Like a domino effect all their heads started to turn as the sound reverberated from the direction of the multi-storey car park. Slowly they started to wander away from the bus towards the car park. Once they were a safe enough distance Lana pulled the lever to open the door of the bus.

  Duncan still showed no sign of emotion and just walked out with Lana. I looked over at Jackson who just shrugged his shoulders. Once we were all outside it became apparent the beating drum had turned into a booming dance song that you would hear at a club. The music was coming from speakers all around the area. I had not noticed them when we first arrived but my attention was definitely attracted to them now.

  From our right where the main shopping precinct was located came a whistle. We all looked over and a figure in dark clothing and a mask waved for us to follow. The figure had the physique of a man and he was sitting on an old style BMX.

  He pulled the back of the bike round so the tyre skidded across the floor and quickly started to pedal into the precinct. He approached a ramp, quickly rode up and then lifted the bike into the air as he reached the edge so that he was able to land perfectly on top of the roof of the public toilets. He stopped dead, turned and waved for us to follow.

  “Let’s go,” Duncan said suddenly coming to life.

  We all started off towards the precinct. Once the BMX rider saw this he disappeared across the roof of the public toilet. We moved round passed the old McDonalds I looked up and saw the bike and rider go hurtling over the top of us and land perfectly a few yards in front.

  “Follow me, if you want to live,” he said in a gruff voice.

  We had no other option and picked up our pace as the music on the speakers started to fade out. I looked round and could see some of the lone infected looking in our direction. I heard the loud groaning from the horde that had surrounded the bus earlier. With the music fading out they were turning their attention back to us.

  Running, we turned left and followed the row of shops with the BMX rider up front checking alleyways and other pedestrian areas to make sure we were not going to get cut off. He did this a few times until after about three or four stops he waited for us and we caught up with him. We were standing next to an old coffee shop.

  “Get inside,” he said.

  We ran over to the door, which was opened by a young female. At a guess I would say no older than eighteen or nineteen. She begged us to hurry up and we all piled in through the doorway. The BMX rider quickly followed and once we were all inside the door was shut tight. A few minutes later the horde rumbled by not paying any attention to the coffee shop.

  It took a while for all of them to go by and I stared at the rider who removed his mask. Like the girl he was a teenager.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Coffee anyone?” The female walked over to a large silver coffee machine.

  “I’m Lizzie, this is Ben,” Lizzie said with a smile. I noticed she had a slight twang to her accent.

  “Coffee would be great,” Jackson replied.

  “Which ends you from?” Ben asked.

  “What does that mean?” Lana asked.

  “He wants to know where we are from,” I replied laughing at La
na’s ignorance of street talk.

  Ben smiled at me and nodded his head.

  “London,” Duncan said sternly.

  “Jeez, man. Some serious shit gone down there, so I hear.” Ben threw his mask over onto a chair.

  “What are you guys doing here?” Jackson asked accepting a coffee from Lizzie.

  “Well it appears that we just saved your ass, man.” Ben sat down on a leather chair.

  “We hid here after the evacuation and…..” Lizzie stared over at Ben and stopped.

  “What?” Duncan asked.

  “The snatch squads,” Ben finished off.

  “What snatch squads?” Duncan asked.

  “Army snatch squads,” Jackson replied knowing exactly what Ben meant.

  “Yeah and come to think of it bruv, how comes you dressed in army shit?” Ben stood up all aggressive looking at Jackson’s uniform.

  “Hey, calm down. He’s cool, he’s one of us,” I replied.

  Ben stared at Jackson who was clenching his rifle tightly.

  “Okay, okay we’re cool,” Ben replied nodding his head. He had noticed the grip Jackson had on the gun.

  “What’s this about snatch squads?” Duncan asked. “And why didn’t you get evacuated?”

  “I couldn’t leave Lizzie here,” Ben said smiling at Lizzie. This gave the first indication that they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

  “Why would the snatch squads have taken you?” Jackson asked Ben sternly.

  “What?” Ben replied.

  Ben wandered over to Jackson looked him up and down and then just shook his head.

  “Not me you dumb shit, Lizzie.” Ben curled his lips up in anger.

  “I’m Scottish,” Lizzie replied.

  “So am I,” Duncan said softly.

  “Yes I noticed your accent.” Lizzie smiled.

  “I noticed yours, but not as strong,” I said.

  “My parents moved here when I was twelve.”

  Lizzie turned away and went to get some more coffee. Ben, still shaking his head went and sat down on the chair.