I heard a thud and turned to see Ben sprawled out on the grass verge. Looking behind him I saw the infected transfixed on their next prey. They were directly behind Ben and I could see their hands reaching out close to his legs. Scrambling across the grass Ben stumbled to his feet and ran over to me, I could see tears in his eyes.
Moving to the back of the car-park I could see a small inlet to the overflow on the other side, this would by-pass the other horde who were heading towards us when we were walking along the main road.
As we passed through the small inlet I saw a large branch on the floor which had fallen from a nearby tree. I picked this up and wandered out into the overflow car-park. Ben trailed behind me. I could see he was limping.
“Are you ok?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m cool,” he replied.
The infected from all directions had now gathered into one large group. They staggered trying to find the entrance to the car-park. Some tried to scale the low stone wall but just kept bumping into it or falling to the floor, their minds were obviously so messed up that they had no concept of lifting their feet to step up onto the wall.
We moved slowly to the other end of the overflow and stepped out onto the main road. Looking back I could still see the infected trying to get into the car-park, I just hoped there were no more surprises waiting for us on the way to my home.
The journey to my house took around fifteen minutes to walk. As I had hoped no other infected startled us, apart from a few bodies I saw wandering around inside the pub which was round the corner from my house. They were locked inside and posed no risk to us.
It was a weird feeling walking down my road. In the days before this madness it was a quiet, leafy street and such a pleasure to live in. The neighbours were friendly, at times of celebration there would be street parties and everybody would greet each other. Now, although still quiet, it had an eerie feeling about it. The once proud houses were now standing derelict with litter and discarded items strewn across the street. A large number of cars were no longer on the drives, obviously some had made it out during some sort of evacuation, but others remained whilst some were abandoned in the street with the doors still open.
My house was situated half-way down just before the curve in the road. For a moment I stood outside gazing at what used to be my warm, loving home. My mind raced back to walking down the path to be greeted by my wife and daughter, smiling lovingly at me as I entered the house.
Walking down the stepped path I stood outside the front door. It was secure and I gazed round trying to figure out how to get in. Turning round to check on Ben I noticed he was gone. I had not been paying much attention to him. Suddenly, my head spun round as the front door opened.
Standing in the doorway was Ben smiling at me. I gave him a puzzled look and he pointed to the back-door.
“Back-doors are easier to break into than front doors,” he said with a smile.
I did not want to know how Ben knew this particular information, I was just grateful to get inside.
The lights did not work, I knew there were candles in the cupboard so I grabbed about ten or so. Using the cigarette lighter in the kitchen drawer I was able to give us some vision. I noticed the dust, cobwebs and dirt that had built up over time. I knew in the back of my mind that my family would probably not be at the house, but I still had to be there to see for myself.
Ben groaned and slumped down onto the sofa, even in the candle light I could see the blood soaking through his trousers.
“Are you ok?” I asked.
“Yeah, I think a caught my leg on the wall when I fell. I’ll be fine,” he replied.
I just nodded and left Ben to chill out on the sofa before going upstairs. The wooden staircase rose up to the carpeted landing. There was the toilet directly at the top, followed by the three bedrooms. I entered each room and saw the wardrobes open with clothes all over the floor, there must have been some sort of panic in the rush to get out.
The main bedroom was the one that got me. I just stared at the double bed in the centre of the room. Tears started to well up in my eyes as I thought back to the nights we used to share in this room together. Jolted from my thoughts I heard the crashing sound downstairs first followed by the dull moan, a moan that I was so used to nowadays.
Rushing out the bedroom I scampered down the stairs and saw Ben rolling round on the floor in front of the sofa. He had managed to pull a table to the floor as he had fallen.
“Ben! Ben!” I cried out from the bottom of the stairs.
His body contorted and twisted on the floor. I saw his trousers leg had risen up the back of his calf and that’s when I saw the three scratches going up to the back of his knee. Oh my god!
I thought back to when he had fallen at the car-park. He was on his front, but these scratches were at the back of his leg. The infected who had staggered towards him must have got closer than what I had first thought.
Ben was turning.
DIARY ENTRY 29
I watched as Ben writhed about on the floor. I could still hear the groaning outside as if they were crying out for their new recruit lying on the floor of my house.
Ben gurgled as he jolted around on the carpet and I could see spots of blood spouting out from his mouth staining the carpet. He lifted his head and stared aggressively at me, a sight I had seen before, the red eyes, blood dribbling from his mouth, nose and eyes. Moving his hands out to the front I knew he was getting ready to pounce.
Spinning round I quickly sprinted up the wooden stairs, missing a few steps on the way and stumbled my way across the small landing into my bedroom. I knew there was a latch on the inside of the bedroom door and this was of use when I wanted a romantic night with my wife without being disturbed abruptly by our daughter. Now it was acting as a defence against Ben who I could hear crawling and stumbling up the stairs.
He had only just turned so was still pretty fresh and could walk up the stairs quickly unlike those infected figures who had turned for a while who could not. It was as if he still had the sense to negotiate obstacles. Within a few moments he was outside the door. I could hear Ben sniffing and groaning mixed with the blood gurgling inside his throat. It was a horrific sound.
I tried to stay as still as possible. I even tried to regulate my breathing, I was panting a bit through shock and running up the stairs.
Suddenly, I heard the thumping on the door. At first it was slow but the rhythm became faster and the thumps harder as the door shuddered in the frame. The latch on the inside was only made of thin metal and I knew it would not hold long. Backing up I moved to the far wall, that was when I heard the gunshots outside.
My bedroom faced out onto the street, but these shots were from the rear of the house. I heard a muffled crash. Ben’s thudding stopped and from just outside the door I heard two gunshots.
There was a moment of silence followed by a huge thump on the floorboards. I remained at the back of the bedroom, my heart thumping inside my chest.
“Open the door,” said the voice from outside.
I stared at the bedroom door, the voice was certainly familiar and I wandered over, unlatching the lock and opening the door.
Staring out onto the landing I saw Jackson standing proudly over the body of Ben, his gun pointing in the air. Looking down I saw the mess at the back of Ben’s head. I gazed up again at Jackson.
“Good idea sneaking out was it?” He asked sternly.
I had not noticed it until now, but downstairs I could hear sobbing and voices. Jackson nodded towards the stairs signalling for me to go down. I did not hesitate and wanted to get away from Ben’s lifeless and infected body. As I crossed the landing I saw the blood spatter on the wall, a sickening sight.
Duncan was the first to greet me. He did not smile and just shook his head in dismay. Maria stood in the kitchen with Jesse and Bruno whilst Lana held back Lizzie to stop her from going upstairs. Lizzie was sobbing uncontrollably.
“Let me go!” She screamed.
<
br /> Duncan spun round and slapped her hard across the face. I stepped forward and he suddenly grabbed hold my shirt.
“She screams loud enough, we’ll be overrun by the infected.” His voice was hushed and menacing.
Jackson slowly walked down the stairs and Duncan released his grip. I turned to look into the kitchen. Maria gave me a sympathetic stare and looked away. Jesse, being Jesse, just smiled at me. At least Bruno was pleased to see me, his tail wagged excitedly as I walked towards him. It was difficult not to give him a good old stroke.
In the back garden I could see the dead infected littered across the patio, dark blood seeping into the cracks. I felt a figure approach and stand directly behind me.
“You should have waited,” Duncan said.
“I couldn’t. I had to see if my family was here.”
“What happened to Ben?” He asked.
Glancing over my shoulder I stared back at Lizzie who was now being cuddled by Maria. I explained the encounter with the horde of infected just outside the town centre. Duncan showed some sympathy towards the situation and explained that I at least had an idea of how it felt for someone I was responsible for to die. The thing is, I never asked Ben to come with me. This begged a question that had not sprung to my mind so far.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked.
There was a muffled cough behind me. I turned to see Jackson standing in the kitchen.
“Our Jackson here was trained in surveillance,” Duncan said smiling.
For the first time since arriving at my house Jackson gave a smile. I just nodded my head trying to show no emotion and walked back into the living room. Lana had pulled the curtains shut to block out the sight of the infected, I think this was for Jesse’s benefit.
“We need to move soon, else this lot are going to attract even more,” she said.
“I agree. Look in the cupboards, stock up on any provisions we need and we shall make our exit from the back garden.” Duncan gazed at the garden. “Where does that lead, Kaleb?”
I explained that my garden backed onto another house which was situated on the main road. I had not come in via this route so I was unable to give any information on the amount of infected in that area. Duncan just nodded and told everyone this would be our evacuation route.
Lizzie sat on my sofa, her head leaning on her hands. She looked up and I could see her soaked eyes and tear marked cheeks. I did not know what to say, I just touched her shoulder and looked at Maria who smiled warmly at me.
Jackson and Lana loaded up the rucksacks with some tins from the cupboard, mainly tuna, soup and some beans. They also ravaged the medical box we kept in the utility room. We - the thoughts of my family came flooding back.
“Right, people let’s get out of here.”
Where were my wife and daughter?
DIARY ENTRY 30
The garden was about a hundred and fifty yards long, the back part was pretty overgrown and used to be a little vegetable patch. A shed was situated to one side and on the other was the greenhouse. The grass had grown so much it reached up to my thighs as I waded through.
Reaching the fence at the back Duncan climbed over, it was only waist height. After a few seconds his head popped back through the bush to tell us the coast was clear. Maria, Jesse, Lizzie and Bruno were next to go through and after I clambered through the prickly undergrowth, Jackson and Lana also emerged on the other side.
I could see that next to the house that backed onto mine was a small alleyway, although gated it ran straight down onto the main road. Duncan had gone on ahead to the main road and returned a short time later to let us know everything was clear.
We had to walk single file down the alleyway, it was very narrow, but eventually we came out onto the main road. I looked at the abandoned vehicles all lined up stuck in a traffic jam. The occupants probably became jumpy at the thought of the traffic not moving and ran for their lives.
Some cars still had suitcases on top. Others had boots open, held with straps because they were so full they could not be closed. What had happened to make them abandon everything? So far we had only encountered the horde from the town and those surrounding my house. I would say they probably totalled a hundred altogether, a lot less than what we encountered back in London. Where was the army to protect the civilians?
“Pretty eerie isn’t it?” Jackson asked.
“Sure is,” Lana replied.
“I can’t believe the army didn’t get them out,” Lizzie said.
“Yeah, sure. When the army is fighting a war up north and trying to contain the spread of this infection,” Jackson replied sarcastically.
“I was just saying,” Lizzie snapped back.
Jackson gave her a discerning look and walked over to join Duncan. They spoke in hushed tones, as they always did. That was when my attention was drawn to a sound I had not heard in a long time.
I looked round trying to locate the direction of the sound. Instinctively I looked up into the sky, it was in the distant but I definitely could hear the motor. I wasn’t the only one who had been distracted by this sound, the rest of the group looked up into the sky too. Duncan and Jackson rushed over to us.
“Find cover!” Duncan shouted.
“What if it’s help?” Lizzie asked.
“There is no help,” Jackson shouted pushing everybody over to a clump of bushes set by the side of the road.
Diving behind the undergrowth we waited as the sound grew louder. The sky was dark and it was hard to make out any shapes. Looking to my left I saw a group of about five infected staggering our way.
“We have visitors,” I said.
Jackson tapped Lana on the shoulder and they moved out from the undergrowth to take position behind a wall of one of the large houses set back from the road.
That is when I saw the helicopter from over the top of the trees. It was silhouetted against the night sky but I could just make out figures hanging out from the open doors.
The ropes cascaded down from the helicopter and two figures from each side slid effortlessly down until they touched the floor. They immediately ran to the main road and took position behind the abandoned cars. Without warning gunfire erupted everywhere as the four figures blasted the infected staggering towards us. Maybe Lizzie was right, maybe they were here to help. I went to break cover from the undergrowth but Duncan pulled me down and ordered me to stay where I was.
The figures which had descended from the helicopter darted amongst the abandoned cars. I lost sight of them as they moved between the vehicles. All of a sudden one figure stood behind us his gun pointing down and the other appeared from the side of the undergrowth. I heard footsteps behind me and I saw the other two figures walking with Jackson and Lana, who had their hands placed on top of their heads.
“Get up!”
We all stood up slowly and I saw that each of the figures wore gas masks. They marched us over towards the helicopter just as a black truck arrived at the junction. Duncan, Jackson and Lana no longer had weapons as these armed men had taken them. One by one we jumped up on the back of the truck. I noticed it was similar to the one I had been in when back in London, but black instead of camouflage and cleaner.
As one of the figures turned the moonlight caught his shoulder and it was then I saw the insignia of the IGS, the Internal Government Security. I shot Duncan a glance and he just stared through me as though he was in a trance.
Two IGS officers wearing gas masks jumped onto the truck, positioning themselves on the end. The cover was pulled down and after a few moments the truck moved off.
How did the IGS know where we were?
DIARY ENTRY 31
The truck journey seemed to take forever. Trundling along the road, occasionally we would slow down and I felt the truck weaving, I assumed it must have been debris in the road.
We came to a complete stop and I heard voices outside. Thinking back to London the only thing it could be was a checkpoint. The truck moved off and the ride bec
ame a little bumpier, but after a few minutes it stopped again and there was a bang on the side of the compartment.
The two IGS officers lifted the canvas and jumped down from the truck. Staring out I could see daylight had now broken and the reason for the bumpy ride was because we were in a field.
They ordered us down and I jumped onto the soft, wet grass. Looking ahead I could see an assortment of black jeeps and trucks, exactly the same vehicles I was used to seeing when I was holed up in the bedsit back in North London. There were lots of IGS officers moving around, some getting into vehicles that were ready to leave. I saw the gate. This is where I probably heard the voices when the truck stopped. There was a huge barbed wire fence stretching out and I followed the line until I turned my body and that is when I saw the compound.
About fifty yards behind me I saw three gates and another high fence. Inside this internal compound I saw large huts, similar to those I had seen in prisoner of war movies. The compound was massive and split into three sections, each section separated by massive brick walls and numerous guard towers.
The IGS officers ordered us to walk towards the compound, the bottom of my trousers were now soaking from the dew on the grass. I could see lots of people inside the compound and as we got closer I noticed three signs above each gate of the sections.
COMPOUND 1: GOVERNMENT COMPOUND
COMPOUND 2: EVACUATION COMPOUND
COMPOUND 3: FAMILY COMPOUND
To me it looked like a huge prison camp, but the signs did not state this. As we neared the gates more IGS officers joined us and we came to a stop.
After we were searched the officers led Duncan, Jackson and Lana off to the Government Compound, the rest of us were just about to be taken there when a voice piped up behind me.
“What is that Family Compound?” Maria asked.
Rogue Evacuation Page 10