I looked at Jackson who appeared a little embarrassed. I gritted my teeth and nodded towards Ben. Jackson acknowledged my signal.
“Look, sorry it’s been a hell of a journey,” Jackson said walking over to Ben.
“Hey, bruv, don’t worry we’re cool. So where are you heading?” Ben asked.
“Good question. Where are we heading, Kaleb?”
I turned and looked out the window. When I looked back I noticed everybody staring at me. I had mentioned it to Duncan but not to the rest of the group. Visions of my wife and child flooded my mind. It was as if the closer I got to home the clearer their faces became.
“I need to get home,” I replied.
DIARY ENTRY 25
We had all settled down in the coffee shop. Lizzie tidied up around the place and to be fair when I looked at this cosy little place it was nothing like some of the dumps we had stayed in. It was clean, it smelt great and gleamed. Lizzie made sure she and Ben lived in a ship-shape, beautiful place, even if it was just a coffee shop.
I warmed to Lizzie’s friendly nature immediately. She had big blue eyes and flowing blonde hair. She had a curvy figure, not fat, but curvaceous. A very pretty young girl, it was obvious to see why Ben was attracted to her. Ben on the other hand appeared to be defensive. It was completely obvious to the trained eye that he did not like or respect authority and would give Duncan and Jackson funny looks. He was fine with me, I think he realised I wasn’t a threat. Then again, was Ben picking up on a feeling, something similar I had back in the warehouse and on the train? As though there was something which didn’t seem quite right.
The coffee shop in its day was a bustling place. I had walked by it several times when on shopping trips to this town but I had never been in. I remember that once, before the war and the infection outbreak, tables and chairs sprawled from the front of the shop out towards the pavement. Inside, there were square wooden tables with decorative chair. Situated towards the back were the leather sofas.
Ben had managed to pull one of them down and used it as a bed. Lizzie used a foam mattress and a sleeping bag. The coffee bar curved round and Lizzie made sure that all the cups were nicely positioned on the shelves.
Jesse had found a leather bean bag which she jumped all over. Bruno was obviously tired from the excitement of the day and just lay at the back of the coffee shop in the shadows. Maria sat at a table comforting a hot coffee that Lizzie had made her.
Duncan and Jackson were deep in conversation on the other side of the shop. Ben eyed them suspiciously from his sofa.
“He’s naturally suspicious,” Lizzie said to me quietly, causing me to turn
“I think we all have reason to be suspicious these days,” I replied.
Lizzie smiled and joined me at the table. Ben got up from the sofa and joined us at the table.
“You seem quite safe mate. I mean a good bloke,” Ben said.
“I know what safe means,” I replied laughing.
“What’s the score with those two?” Ben asked in a whisper.
“I haven’t known them very long.” I stared over at Duncan and Jackson talking in hushed tones.
“What do you mean?” Ben asked leaning on the table.
“It’s a long story, Ben. Let’s just say that all these guys were together and I joined them late on. There were two more.” I stopped as the shuffling behind me caused me to jump.
Lana placed her empty coffee cup onto the table and stared sternly at Ben and then at me. She paused for a moment, the machine gun hanging from her shoulder, turned and walked back to the shop door where she was standing guard. I had forgotten she was there.
“Something ain’t right about them, mate.” Ben whispered.
“Look, they are helping me get home,” I said.
“And why would complete strangers, in a world that’s gone to shit help you. Somebody they do not know and they just want to walk you home like a first date?” Ben asked.
I switched my stare to Ben and just sat there in silence. It was a question I had mulled over in my mind a few times but had never given it much thought. Ben stared back at me and looked over to Duncan and Jackson.
“I got a bad feeling,” he said.
“Oh, Ben take a chill pill,” Lizzie said smiling.
Ben got up from the table and walked back over to the sofa. He threw his body onto it and then covered his face with his mask.
“Don’t worry about Ben, he’s a good guy,” Lizzie said.
I nodded and looked behind me. Lana quickly looked away. I switched my stare to Maria and she was gazing right at me, no emotion in her face. She turned away and stared back at Jesse.
“So where is home?” Lizzie asked.
“The next town down,” I replied.
“You have family there?” She asked.
“I hope so.”
“We haven’t ventured out of the shopping precinct since the last evacuation. I’m not sure we want to.” Lizzie stared down at her cup.
“Surely you will need to leave soon. You can’t stay here forever?”
Lana cocked her gun, I spun round. Duncan and Jackson had heard the noise too and grabbed their weapons to run over to cover the windows. Ben also moved from the sofa and crouched down over to the window.
Outside approximately thirty to forty of the infected shuffled by, heads twitching from side to side, noses in the air sniffing. It took a full fifteen minutes for them to stumble by. Duncan looked around the room
“Well I suggest we make a move soon,” he said.
“You will need us,” Ben said.
“Why would we need you?” Jackson asked.
“You need the music.” Ben stared hard at Jackson.
Within a few minutes the backpacks were loaded up with supplies. I was packing mine with rolls and bottles of water when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun round to see Ben standing there.
“Watch your back,” he said and then wandered off.
DIARY ENTRY 26
Before we exited the coffee shop Ben had gone to the back and fiddled about with some old DJ decks which he revealed from underneath a blanket. Placing a CD into the decks he walked towards the front of the coffee shop. The beat started playing and Ben broke into a little dance performing a side shuffle as he approached to the front door. Lizzie and I laughed. the rest just stared at the funny dancing.
“Give it a few minutes, those things will be stumbling towards the speakers,” Ben said smiling.
“His best idea, it allowed us to go out and look for food,” Lizzie said to me proudly.
I tapped Ben on the back and nodded to let him know that I too thought this was a brilliant idea. After a few minutes Duncan signalled to Jackson it was time to move. We had seen a few of the infected wander by on their way to the speakers which Ben had set up on the other side of the shopping centre.
Jackson was first out of the shop. He sprinted across the parade to the old computer shop on the other side. Duncan followed and positioned himself in the middle of the parade behind a bench.
We waited a few seconds before Duncan waved his arm for us to move. Ben rushed out on his BMX and pedalled up the parade. Then myself, Lizzie, Maria, Jesse and Bruno on the leash moved forward. Lana brought up the rear as Jackson trotted parallel to us on the other side. Duncan slowly moved up the middle until we had all reached he huge fountain.
Ben had positioned himself on the wall of the fountain and gave the all clear. We ran round to the bus station.
“That one,” Ben said pointing to long single decker bus on the far side of the bus station.
“Does it have keys?” Duncan asked.
“Sure does,” Ben smiled and then proceeded to pedal on towards the bus station himself.
“Is he always this reckless?” Duncan asked Lizzie.
“Excitable,” Lizzie replied correcting him.
We managed to reach the bus station with ease. None of the infected were about, although I could see a few stragglers in the distance stumbling towards the mult
i-storey car park where the music was blaring out.
We reached the long, green single decker bus. Ben placed his bike onto the floor as Jackson dived into the driver’s seat. Duncan slammed his back against the bus as we all piled on.
“We haven’t got long,” Ben said poking his head out the door.
“Why?” Duncan asked.
“Cos that track is only four minutes long,” Ben said just as the music in the distance cut out.
“Shit!” Duncan said noticing the music had stopped.
“Why didn’t you put a longer song on for Christ sake?” Duncan moaned.
“Well, I’m assuming I won’t be coming back and that’s my favourite tune,” Ben answered with a smile.
Once we were all on board, Duncan and Lana dived in through the doors and Jackson cranked the engine which spluttered and coughed into life. I looked out the window towards the multi-storey car park. The noise of the engine had distracted the infected and in an instant they were shuffling in our direction, some quicker than others.
The bus slowly moved off and Jackson spun the huge steering wheel so that we trundled up the one way street which headed towards the old police station. The horde numbered hundreds as they came towards us but within no time we had gathered a little speed. Before long the one way street joined the dual carriageway, the one which ran under the bridge from the train station which we had crossed.
Motoring down the dual carriageway I looked over at the where the old theatre and shopping parade were situated. I could see infected looking in our direction, hands outstretched in a vain attempt to grab us, which was impossible as we were safely on the other side of the road protected by wire fencing all around the once busy road.
The journey from infected Stevenage to my home town took around twenty minutes, a few obstructions and a stop for a few of us to take a piss but before long we were in my home town, nothing major happened on the road in.
Although I lived in the small town of Hitchin, I was still surprised with the silence, apart from the rumbling bus engine which Jackson pointed out would attract any amount of infected from miles around. He was quite right there. That said, the bus did not have much fuel left and with both of these things considered Duncan decided it was time to ditch the bus. We had come in from the south and stopped on the main road behind the church with the town centre below us. We exited the bus and I stared out at the roof tops. No birds singing, no sound of traffic and nobody wandering around, it was an eerie feeling.
“So where do we go from here?” Jackson asked.
Distracted from my thoughts I pointed down the main road which bent round after the traffic lights. Dark skies were setting in as evening was coming. I explained that it was at least a twenty five minute trek to my house. Duncan decided it might be best to hole up for the night as he eyed the church.
“We have no idea how much this town is infected and you don’t want to run into those things if they are wandering at night,” he said.
I wanted to get home as quick as possible. Although I agreed to hole up in the church I knew in my mind I wouldn’t be staying the night and at the first opportunity I would be off on my way as soon as everyone was asleep.
We walked slowly over to the church, into the car park and crossed the little footbridge by the narrow river which ran through the town and then off around the perimeter. This part of the river was normally full of water birds, but now it was empty. There was a small wooden door at the back of the church. It didn’t take long for Jackson to force the door open and within moments we were all inside. I needed to get to my house!
DIARY ENTRY 27
Once the group had positioned themselves around the church I had a little wander inside. There were five doors to the church, two of which were locked. The main door was going to have a guard positioned by it, probably Jackson or Lana, which left two side doors.
I tried one of them and it creaked. Duncan gazed over at me and I just smiled at him before slowly clicking the door shut. Pausing for a few minutes, or until Duncan was busy, I made my way over to the other side door and tried this one. No creak, squeak or noise, this would be the one.
My plan was to wait until everybody had gone to sleep. The main door guard would be looking out into the darkness and I would use this ‘silent’ side door to make my get away. I was so close to home and had to get out!
Jesse was the first to go off to bed, as always. Maria cuddled up next to her after making a plump, comfy bed for Bruno. Jackson decided to take the first watch at the main door. Duncan and Lana sat silently in the middle of the church. At the back, Ben and Lizzie snuggled up together near to the altar. I could hear their stifled giggles as they cozied up underneath the blankets.
It was not long before Jackson and I were the only ones awake. A few times he gazed round to look at me but after a while he appeared to get bored of that. I edged over to the door and once I was sure nobody was paying attention I slowly removed the latch and silently slid out of the side entrance into the darkness.
The first thing I saw were the gravestones dotted around in the dark. I noticed the arch which broke the stone wall surrounding the church. It led out onto the side path that wound down to the river. It did not take me long to reach the small bridge and as I looked back towards the church I was pretty confident nobody had seen me leave.
Crossing over to the other side I kept low as the main entrance looked out over the river and I did not want Jackson to see me scurrying away. Within moments I reached the corner of a brick wall and ducked round out of sight. I waited a moment just to fully make sure nobody was following me. Satisfied I was on my own I was just about to move off towards the main road when I heard a shuffle and a scuff. Freezing on the spot I gazed out into the darkness. Although we had not seen any infected since our arrival, the fact the town was deserted proved that there was a distinct possibility they were around.
The shuffling sound started to get closer, sporadic movements near to the river. I did not have a weapon to hand but I knew that I could out-run the infected. I thought for a moment. I did not want to give my position away too soon and anyway what if I was surrounded and went running blindly into one of them.
Moving my hand down to the floor I was about to ready myself to move off quickly when I felt my palm touch something rough and cold. Gazing down I saw the medium sized rock. Clasping my hands around the rock I took hold of my new weapon and steadied myself.
I could hear the shuffling around the corner from where I had been. This thing had obviously followed me across the bridge. I could hear the breathing from the other side of the wall when the figure appeared right in front of me.
Moving my arm back I was about the throw the rock when I felt something grab hold of my arm. This figure had grabbed my throwing arm and was now pulling me so hard that my body was arching backwards. I tried to wrestle myself free but it was at that point a hand came up and covered my mouth, forcing me down to the ground. Gazing up I saw the figure looming down towards my face. I closed my eyes.
DIARY ENTRY 28
I waited for the bite or even a scratch, the pressure forcing me down was hard to break free from.
“Calm down, be quiet,” said the figure.
Opening my eyes at the familiar voice I saw Ben looming over me. He smiled and released his grip from my mouth. He stepped back and held out a hand to help me to my feet.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I saw you sneak out the church. I think I was the only one to see you leave,” he replied.
“I suppose that’s one good thing,” I said.
“Where are you going?”
I looked out to the main road at the top of the car park and paused briefly before gazing back at Ben. slow smile appeared across my face.
“I can’t just wait around here, I need to get home,” I said quietly.
Ben looked back towards the church and tapped me on the shoulder. He began to walk off towards the main road, stopped and gazed ba
ck at me.
“You coming?” He asked.
“Ben, go back to the church, this isn’t your problem.”
“Somebody has to watch your back.”
After a few seconds, which included looking back at the church and trying to find another excuse why the young lad should not come with me, I walked over to Ben and up to the main road. At one time this road would have been streaming with cars and buses, but now it was empty.
The main road came down to the traffic lights at the bottom of the hill, bent round heading off out of the town centre. Walking away from the town centre the moonlight was shut out by the over-hanging trees on the road. I could see the old theatre on the right hand side, the roof had caved in and the concrete walls were now crumbling to the floor. In the shadows I saw movement. At first I thought it was the trees swaying in the slight breeze causing my mind to race. Ben grabbed hold of my arm making me jump out of my skin.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Look,” he replied.
I followed Ben’s stare down the road and that is when I saw the staggering figures coming towards us. My stare slipped over towards the theatre, the movement I had noticed previously was now becoming more outlined and more figures came stumbling out of the old car park.
We both turned to head back to the car-park. A horde of around twenty to thirty infected came round the corner of the junction. Freezing on the spot for a moment I had no idea what to do. Normally in situations such as this I had the security of Jackson, Lana or Duncan with their weapons, now we were on our own.
Ben tugged at my sleeve and pointed over to the low brick wall that surrounded the theatre on the other side of the road. The infected were not using this route and if we were able to get inside we might be able to get round the outside of the oncoming horde.
Running across the road we skipped up the bank to the low hanging wall, the infected staggering out of the car-park switched their direction and came towards us. I jumped up onto the stone wall, running into the darkness.
Rogue Evacuation Page 9