Rogue Evacuation

by Simon Neilson

  It wasn’t long before Amelia and Jesse had tired and started to fall asleep on one of the chairs, together. It was my duty to take them both upstairs, get them ready for bed and read a soothing bedtime story.

  Back downstairs we were all gathered in the living area, candles flickered around the room, some pleasantly scented.

  I sat on the two-seater sofa with Rebecca. Lizzie was in one of the armchairs and Mike in the other. Jackson and Lance had popped outside earlier to hide the truck amongst some trees set to one side of the semi-circle sand area. They told me they had covered it with branches and leaves. The truck would come in handy if we needed to make any journeys into town and the last thing we needed was for it to be stolen by a stranger or found by the security forces. Now, though, they positioned themselves on the sideboard under the window which looked out to the front of the house. Although we were surrounded by the high mesh, barbed wire fencing they still felt the need to keep watch. Must be a military thing I suppose.

  Mike was explaining the situation. He had done a few ‘shop-runs’ into town and the local village stores and managed to grab some supplies, he mentioned having Mr. Farrow with him, but then said he didn’t want to talk about that. He had managed to grab mostly tins, but was able to get hold of some frozen meat.

  We had witnessed this when Rebecca and Lizzie and cooked some beef which had been in the freezer situated in the garage.

  Mike had been able to hook the freezer up so it ran on a timer with the generator to keep the meat partially frozen and edible. However, there wasn’t much meat left and they tried to use it sporadically. Our arrival here was a celebration which is why the joint of beef was brought out, ‘a special meal’ Rebecca had said.

  Jackson wanted to know where the weapons came from. Mike told us he had stumbled across an abandoned lorry belonging to the IGS, the weapons were stashed in the back and it had taken him three trips to bring the whole lot back to the farmhouse.

  Lance wanted to know what powered the generator and how they managed to keep the cooker going. Mike told us the generator was being run off fuel. There was a petrol station not far from the farmhouse and he had managed to fill a few canisters. The cooker was gas, not electric fortunately and that, as we say round these parts, was a bonus!

  Lizzie was just hanging on every word Mike said, I noticed her staring wide eyed at him. I nudged Rebecca and she whispered to me not to be so cruel. I just smiled. Lizzie had been through it with the loss of Ben and somehow she managed to put her tragic incident to one side and move on as though ‘that’s life at the moment’. I can’t say I could do the same.

  Mike walked over to the desk at the back of the room and opened one of the drawers. He pulled out an A4 size piece of paper and handed it to Lance.

  “You guys may have more use for this than me,” he said.

  “A map!” Lance exclaimed.

  Jackson thanked him as they both studied it. The map was of the town and the surrounding area.

  Everybody was feeling pretty tired, it had been an eventful day. Lance and Jackson were going to use the utility room at the back as their bedroom, Mike and Lizzie would have the single beds in one of the rooms upstairs which left me and Rebecca with the double room. I told Rebecca I would be up shortly and nodded to Lance. Everyone else disappeared to their respective rooms. Then we were both alone.

  “So you’re Gov_Block,” I said to him.

  “Yep,” he replied still sitting on the unit under the window.

  “How did you manage to get all that stuff out on the internet?”

  “It was pretty simple really. I had access to the information and in the IGS we had state of the art equipment.” He stared out of the window for a moment. “I had to be careful though, not giving too much information which would give me away.”

  I leant forward on the sofa and stared down at the floor. Lance jumped off the unit and sat in the armchair.

  “Why did you do it? I mean, why be a renegade if you are in the IGS?” I asked.

  “I lost my family, Kaleb. I felt the government was not doing enough to prevent what was happening. The people needed to know.”

  My thoughts returned to Duncan and Maria, the vision of their dead bodies lying in the woods raced through my mind.

  “You knew of Duncan and Maria?” I asked curiously.

  “I knew of the infection getting out the lab and when the IGS were hunting them down I was able to get their names. I made a few enquiries and was able to track them down to London. “

  “What about me?” I asked.

  “It didn’t take a genius to work out they knew of other people who were immune. Once Duncan went looking for you I had a fair idea that either you or your family were immune.”

  I listened intently to what Lance had to say. I had been suspicious of him since leaving the prison compound and it was now completely clear that he was the reason I found my family.

  “That IGS officer who was looking for Duncan? Does he know about the list?” I asked.

  “He knows the list exists, he doesn’t know the names on it.” Lance stared at me. “He knew Maria was immune and he has a fair idea that you or your family are immune, but that is all.”

  “I want to thank you,” I said.

  “No need, Kaleb. Just do the right thing.”

  That was the second time he had said that. Lance got up from the armchair and tapped me reassuringly on the shoulder as he walked out to the utility room.

  Do the right thing?

  I got up from the sofa, blew the candles out and stood in the dark for a little while staring out of the window, just trying to gather my thoughts.

  Rebecca jolted me from my thoughts as she appeared at the living area door clad in only a night dress which stopped just above her knees.

  “Coming to bed?” She asked smiling.

  I most certainly was.

  DIARY ENTRY 52

  I was the last one to get out of bed. Needless to say it was a late night for Rebecca and I. We had been very conscious of other people being in the farmhouse and the need for keeping noise levels to a minimum. I think we achieved this.

  It was the sound of raised voices downstairs which woke me. Rebecca threw open the bedroom door.

  “I think you need to come downstairs,” she said.

  I jumped out of bed, too quick really because I went a little dizzy. The morning sun was beaming through the window, but you could feel the cold from outside. It definitely wasn’t summer any longer.

  As I moved off the last step of the stairs into the hallway I could hear Jackson in the living area, he seemed very excited about something. I slowly walked in and everybody turned to look at me.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “We’ve got some good news, but some equally bad news,” Lance said.

  “Go with the good news, I’ve just woken up,” I replied rubbing my eyes.

  Jackson explained that he and Lance had been up pretty early, just as the sun was rising. They had decided in their wisdom to go out on foot and do a ‘recce’ of the area.

  They had come across a control tower which had been constructed by the military when the infection broke. It was massive and could see over most of the town. Jackson and Lance had climbed this tower and it gave them a perfect view of the prison compounds in the distance and the edge of the town centre.

  The prison compound was completely empty. On the main road leading east they had seen the convoy of vehicles, all IGS moving out of the town.

  “They’ve gone?” I asked.

  “Yes, pulled out.” Lance stepped forward. “But that’s not all. Now, the bad news.”

  I stared at both of them. Jackson bowed his head and Lance decided to take over the rest.

  “The infected are everywhere, thousands of them. That’s why the IGS have pulled out,” he said pessimistically.

  The room fell silent for a moment as everybody just stared at each other. Although the IGS pulling out was one less problem for us to d
eal with, Lance explained that he wasn’t sure how long we could last without proper food supplies and ammunition to defend ourselves.

  “I think we are pretty safe here, that fence will hold,” Mike said.

  “I’m sure it will, mate. But we still to get out and find supplies and they are running short. Food is going off, it won’t last forever,” Jackson replied.

  “So what are we going to do?” Lizzie asked.

  I slumped down into the armchair and just looked down at the floor for a moment. I could feel everybody staring at me. I wasn’t a military man, in fact the only reason I tried to keep my spirits high and survive this nightmare was for my family and now I have them.

  “Jackson, you mentioned to me at the pub the small ports down on the south coast?” I asked quietly.

  “Yeah, could be our only escape route,” he replied.

  “I doubt that,” Mike said.

  “Why do you say that?” Lizzie asked.

  Mike told us to wait and disappeared out of the living area and through to the kitchen where he could gain access to the garage. He returned a few minutes later carrying a military style radio.

  “Why didn’t you tell us about this?” Jackson asked sternly.

  “It doesn’t work anymore,” Mike said placing it onto the side unit.

  “How do you doubt the south coast is an option, Mike?” I asked.

  “Just before the radio broke we could listen to transmissions from all over. There were reports from military units saying that citizens escaping to the south coast were being shot or rounded up and executed,” he said sadly.

  “Why?” Rebecca asked.

  “To prevent the infection spreading. Shoot first ask questions later,” Lance replied.

  “The UK has been sealed off. There were radio reports of navy warships in the English Channel blowing boats out of the water, that’s the way it has been since the infection spread over to Europe.” Mike walked away from the radio.

  “Great!” I said placing my head in my hands.

  Jackson walked over to the radio and looked around it, picking it up to inspect the casing. He walked out into the kitchen and through to the garage. We all stayed in the living area in silence until he returned.

  “I was a radio operator in the 8th Infantry,” Jackson announced.

  “Yeah, so?” I asked.

  “He knows how to use the radio,” Lance said smiling.

  “I’m going to have to find some spare parts and stuff, but I think I can get it working.” Jackson looked around the room.

  “What good will that do? We can’t radio for help.” Lizzie said.

  “Maybe not, but we can track where the safe routes are,” Jackson replied.

  “I’ll come with you,” Lance said checking his weapon.

  “I’ll come too,” I said.

  I saw Rebecca look at me disapprovingly, but she did not say anything. I wanted to go and see for myself that the IGS had definitely pulled out.

  The three of us grabbed some equipment ready for our journey. Rebecca and Mike both told me to stay safe. I nodded and kissed Rebecca on the lips.

  In the hallway Mike pulled me to one side and gave me a hug. I hugged him back and looked at him puzzled.

  “I hate it when we have to leave here, it’s what happened to…to…”

  Mike’s voice shortened and after gathering his emotions he explained to me about what happened to Mr. Farrow.

  They had been out trying to gather some supplies. Mr. Farrow was an old man and could not move too fast. A group of infected walked in on them whilst they were grabbing tins from the shop. Mike had a gun and he turned to see Mr. Farrow bitten by one of the creatures.

  He started to cry as he told me how he had to shoot Mr. Farrow in the head before making his get-away. Mike was still having nightmares about this.

  I knew exactly what he meant. I had seen far too many people die unnecessarily because of this madness.

  It was time to leave.

  DIARY ENTRY 53

  Even though the sun was out, it was a pretty fresh morning. Lance said that it would probably be better to move out on foot and not take the truck. We needed to conserve we had and also we did not want to attract too much unwanted attention.

  Jackson led the way up the drive-way. I was in the middle with Lance covering the rear. I heard the iron gate shut and turned to see Mike securing the compound. I didn’t want to leave them, but Jackson was right, if we could find some spares for the radio and he was able to fix it then we had a chance of picking up on bits of information that would be useful to us.

  Out on the main road I could see a figure staggering around close to where we had escaped in the truck earlier. It was facing away from us so we decided to head in the opposite direction towards town.

  We walked by the sprawling grounds of the local school. Inside the glass fronted classrooms I could see figures wandering about, ‘former pupils’ no doubt.

  We passed the petrol station and Jackson held his hand up for us to stop so we crouched down with our backs against the stone wall of a house. I kept watch to the side and Lance made sure no nasty surprises were creeping up behind us. Jackson pulled the map from his pocket and with a pen, he had found inside the farmhouse, began to place reference points such as the school, the petrol garage and the large pub on the corner of the junction up ahead.

  Venturing on up the road, we gave the large pub a wide berth due to the amount of figures wandering around inside and continued up towards the edge of town.

  The large green field opposite the old football ground was a sight for Jackson’s sore eyes. An abandoned military camp which appeared as though it had been left in quite a hurry I could see so much equipment scattered about the place. We quickly made our way over and started to rummage through the tents, bags and vehicles left abandoned in the retreat.

  I was searching through one of the trucks, there were some weapons and food ration tins. I took the tins and placed them in my ruck sack. Jackson had said that we shouldn’t take too many items in case we had to make a quick getaway, he didn’t want anybody to be loaded down with too much weight. I jumped down from the truck as I placed the last few tins into my ruck sack. Lance opened his rucksack which contained very similar items.

  “Snap!” He said laughing.

  I laughed with him as Jackson shouted excitedly. We rushed over and saw Jackson taking apart an army radio, slightly different in style to the one back at the farmhouse.

  “Does it have what you need?” I asked.

  “It should do, I just need to get some of the internal parts out and we should be good to go. Keep an eye out,” he said.

  Lance kept watch on the direction we had just come from the old football ground whilst I positioned myself in front of one of the trucks looking towards the ring road leading into town.

  Apart from Jackson ripping at the radio there was no sound at all, it was eerie. At the top end of the green were some trees just as the path ends. I could see some movement through them but it was such a distance away I could not tell if it was the branches moving in the slight breeze or if we had visitors.

  The answer to my thoughts came shortly after as a large group of infected appeared. They were far enough away for us to get away without being seen, but Jackson still had not finished taking the radio apart, the whole reason why we were there.

  “Jackson, hurry up, we’ve got visitors,” I said.

  “This way too,” Lance shouted out.

  I glanced over my shoulder and saw a large group of infected heading in our direction where Lance was keeping a check. They were closer and could see us.

  “Jackson, just take the bloody radio with you, we can take it apart back at the farmhouse,” I said anxiously.

  “It’s too heavy to carry,” he replied.

  I left my position at the front of the truck. The infected in the town direction were still too far away to be of any concern to us and it was the closer ones on Lance’s side which were the proble
m.

  They stumbled towards us, the groaning from the large group was loud, too many to count but they were in the hundreds.

  Jackson finally managed to take all the parts he thought he needed from the radio. Jumping up he told us he was finished, the problem was our escape route back to the farmhouse was now cut off by this massive group of infected heading in our direction.

  They were less than a hundred yards away and I frantically looked round for another route out. Lance pointed towards the football ground, but this meant us running parallel to them and there was a chance they could cut us off before we even managed to scale the wall.

  Suddenly, from our right I heard a car horn sounding frantically. I gazed over and saw a car slowly stop on the road just short of the football ground. A figure jumped out and started to whistle and wave at us.

  “What the….” Lance said and began to run.

  Jackson and I took the hint and also started to run in the direction of the car. The group of infected were attracted by the noise also and began to lumber over. We had a bit of a head start and I was sure we would make it to the car first.

  Panting hard I looked towards the direction of town and the other group of infected had also heard the car horn and were now spilling down onto the green heading towards the abandoned camp. This group was much larger and the figures just kept on coming from the trees.

  Jackson and Lance, both being fitter than me, reached the car first. The driver jumped into the passenger seat, then half a minute or so later we arrived jumping into the rear.

  I slammed my door shut and looked into the driver’s seat to see an unshaven male, probably in his mid to late thirties with dark, greasy swept back hair.

  “Buckle up we don’t want get caught by the police now,” he said jokingly in his Irish accent.

  The car performed a screeching wheel spin as he turned it around, a few of the faster infected had reached our position and one had managed to get to my window. Its bloodied dirty hands smeared across the glass then this mad Irish driver put his foot down and we sped away from the area.