Rogue Evacuation

by Simon Neilson

  “The name’s Owen, now what were you fine fella’s doing down here. It’s not safe you know,” he said gazing in his rear view mirror.

  “You don’t say,” Lance replied sarcastically.

  “True as I’m sitting here, there are some weird fucking idiots about don’t you know?”

  “Where the hell did you come from?” Jackson asked.

  “I’m an angel of mercy my friend.” Owen held onto the steering wheel with one hand and placed the other out to shake Jackson’s.

  Jackson ignored this and stared out the side window. The car sped down towards a junction and that was when Jackson started to give directions on how to get back up onto the road which would eventually lead us back to the farmhouse.

  Looking back out of the rear window I could see another car following us. I tapped Lance on the shoulder and showed him.

  “There’s another car behind us,” he said.

  “Oh don’t you be worrying your little head about that,” Owen said. “Couple of friends of mine. Not a problem.”

  I turned back round to sit straight and I could tell that Lance had the same uneasy feeling that I had. This Owen may have just saved us from the group of infected but something just did not sit right.

  Within about ten minutes, after taking a few detours away from smaller groups of infected, we reached the driveway entrance to the farmhouse. Owen stopped the car and looked at all of us in the car.

  “So this is the fine place you’ll all be staying in then,” he said bending down to look down the driveway.

  “Thanks for the lift,” Jackson replied though I could tell by his voice it was a shallow show of gratitude.

  “Now, you boys aren’t even going to invite me in for a coffee?” Owen laughed, but it was the sort of laugh that made me feel uneasy. “Ah, come on. Where’s your sense of hospitality? It’s been a while since I’ve had a cup of coffee,” he continued.

  “What about your friends?” Lance asked thumbing to the car behind.

  “Oh I’m sure they’d love a cup of coffee too,” Owen replied.

  Without another word being said, Owen drove the car down the driveway, followed closely by his ‘friends’.

  I had an uneasy feeling about the situation, but at that particular moment we had no other option.

  DIARY ENTRY 54

  The car came to a stop just before the mesh fencing. Mike was already walking down the path to the gate, and I could see he looked puzzled.

  We all got out the car and I looked over to Owen who was smiling and waving at Mike as though he had known him for years. I heard the doors shut on the other car and I looked round to see two big burly men strut over to us.

  Mike approached and eyed us all separately.

  “Hello there, the names’ Owen,” he said in his thick Irish accent.

  “Hello, what can we do for you?” Mike asked suspiciously.

  “Your boys here were in a spot of trouble.” Owen moved his arm round indicating who he was talking about. “And they’ve kindly invited us round for coffee.”

  Mike looked over in my direction. I slowly shook my head to let him know something wasn’t quite right.

  Suddenly, the muzzle of a pistol was pushed to the side of my head by one of the men from the car, the other passenger placed a gun against Lance’s head and Owen grabbed Jackson placing a knife to his throat.

  “Now, if you don’t want me to spill his blood on this lovely sand of yours, you’ll open the fucking gate!” Owen’s voice started politely and finished aggressively.

  Mike had no other option. Reluctantly he opened the gate slowly and followed Owen’s instructions to back away. Our rifles were snatched from our grasp and we were all pushed inside the farmhouse compound.

  The three men escorted us up to the house and ordered all of us to go into the living area. I heard Rebecca scream and the kids cry as they were forced out of the kitchen and into the living area also.

  Bruno came barking into the room, teeth snarling, but he was kicked and yelped. He was taken by the scrum of the neck and thrown into the garage.

  Herded over to one side of the room we were forced to sit down with our backs against the wall. I looked at Rebecca who was holding onto me, the two kids, Lance, Jackson and Mike. Hold on, I thought. One of us is missing.

  “Is this the whole family?” Owen asked smiling.

  “Yes,” I lied.

  “Now, you’re all going to do as you’re told.” Owen bent forward in front of Rebecca. “And nobody is going to get hurt.” He gently stroked her face and she pulled away.

  Filled with anger I tried to push myself up, but the butt of the rifle smashed into my face and I slammed back down onto the floor.

  Owen laughed, turned around and began to pace around the room which unnerved all of us.

  “You see,” he said laughing. “That’s the kind of thing that can get a man killed.” He moved towards me still laughing. “Do you hear what I’m saying,” he shouted and kicked me full in the stomach which took my breath away.

  “Just leave him alone,” Rebecca cried holding onto me as I tried to catch my breath.

  “So this is your little lady,” Owen said menacingly. “Well she’s a feisty one, ain’t she? I like feisty women.” He stood up and laughed, the other two men joined in. “One of you go search the house, make sure nobody else is here.”

  I began to get my breath back as one of the men stood over us, a rifle pointing in our direction. Owen left the room and went into the kitchen. We could hear him going through the cupboards and reeling off food that he could see in a happy manner.

  “I am going to kill you,” Jackson snarled at the man with the gun who just smiled sarcastically back at him.

  These two men looked like bouncers at a nightclub. The one searching the house wore a green t-shirt the one standing over us with a gun wore a red hoody. For this reason I decided to refer to them as ‘Green’ and ‘Red’.

  “What the hell happened?” Mike whispered.

  “We got surrounded, then that mad man showed up in a car,” Lance replied.

  “Oh and you thought you’d bring him back here, nice one,” Mike said angrily.

  Green returned from looking round the house. I hoped and prayed that he had not found Lizzie and to my relief he announced to Owen the house was clear. Where the hell was Lizzie?

  We sat on the floor for what seemed like hours. The men took it in turns to eat whilst one stood over us with a gun. Soon it was Owen who came into the room. Unlike Green or Red he decided to make himself comfortable in the armchair and sat a few feet directly in front of us. He pointed the gun at each of us one by one saying the old child’s rhyme “Eany-Mewny-Miny-Moe” and started laughing.

  “Why don’t you just take whatever food you need and live us alone?” Jackson asked.

  “Oh you’d like us to leave you alone?” Owen nodded. “Ok, yeah sure we’ll go back outside with those infected bastards and die. Sure I bet you’d like that wouldn’t you?”

  “What is it you want with us?” Lance asked.

  “Listen to me my little IGS friend,” Owen pointed at Lance’s uniform. “You are going to be the first one to die, because of that uniform.” Owen switched his stare to Jackson. “And you’re the second.” Moving to Mike he laughed. “You can be next.” Owen looked at me. “And you my friend. I might leave you alive just long enough to see how well me and your pretty lady get along, know what I mean.” He winked at Rebecca and smiled.

  I felt the anger build up inside my body but I knew that there was nothing I could do. I just hoped Lizzie was formulating some plan wherever she was.

  Amelia and Jesse, although very upset were staying quiet. Amelia held onto me, Jesse snuggled into Rebecca.

  “Hi, kids,” Owen said in pleasant and kind tone as if he was a children’s TV presenter. “And what are your names?”

  “Don’t talk to him,” I said.

  This prompted another kick from Owen, this time to my face. I felt the bl
ood trickle from nose.

  “At this rate my friend, you’re going to die before seeing how a man treats you’re lady,” Owen laughed.

  Green and Red came back into the room. He told them to take it in turns to watch us as he was going to have a sleep. Green was the first to take guard whilst Red fell asleep on the sofa.

  “Kaleb,” Mike whispered.

  “What?” I whispered back.

  “Nobody locked the gate outside.” Mike replied.

  Mike was right, he was the one who had the key. I didn’t remember anybody closing the gate, which meant if we had any visitors, they would get into the compound.

  “And where the hell is…” Lance paused. “You know?”

  I knew Lance was talking about Lizzie and I just shrugged my shoulders. I was expecting her to make an appearance any moment and save the day, but the morning turned into afternoon and then into late evening. Owen had surfaced a few times, made some menacing remarks to us men and illicit comments to Rebecca and disappeared back upstairs. Green and Red took it in turns every two to three hours to watch over us. Time was ticking down and I was sure that soon they would start killing us one by one for whatever sadistic reason they wanted to.

  Then, outside, I heard the unmistakable sound of shuffling and a groan, sounds I had become accustomed to. The infected were here.

  DIARY ENTRY 55

  “What was that?” Green asked looking towards the window.

  The shadow had passed by the window and caught all our attention.

  “What was what?” Red asked.

  “That shadow,” Green replied.

  “Probably nothing,” Red said sleepily.

  Another shadow passed by which caught both their attention. Red dived off the sofa and shouted at us to stay where we were.

  “Owen!” Green shouted.

  Owen came thumping down the stairs and ran into the living area.

  “What is it?” He asked, angry that he had been disturbed from his sleep.

  The two henchmen pointed towards the window as another shadow wandered by. Owen stepped forward and cautiously looked through the curtain.

  “I thought you said this place was clear?” He asked.

  “It was,” Green replied.

  Owen glared down at us sitting on the floor and let the curtain move back to its original position.

  “Is there anybody else here? Lie to me and I’ll shoot you where you sit.” Owen pointed his revolver at us.

  “There is nobody here,” I said.

  “So I take it those shadows are the fairy godmother and her fucking fairy army!” He cocked his head to one side.

  “You left the gate open you dumb fuck!” Mike said angrily.

  Owen was at first angry with the words Mike uttered but then realisation set in that the shadows outside were no doubt infected.

  “Did neither of you lock the gate?” Owen asked Green and Red in an angry whisper.

  Green and Red looked at each other and back at Owen who was swearing under his breath. He moved back to the window and all three men slowly gazed outside.

  The figure in the hallway grabbed my attention, it moved slowly in front of the kitchen and towards the front door. I squinted but couldn’t make out what it was. That’s when I heard the front door slowly open. I looked up at our three captors but they were more interested in looking outside. Darkness had crept in now and it was difficult to see outside.

  The figure I had seen in the hallway swiftly disappeared into the kitchen, and I heard the shuffling. The staggering figures were just about to head down the hallway when I let out a cough to hush their movements.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Owen hissed.

  I could see two lumbering figures as they entered the living are. They immediately turned and made their way over to the window where they could obviously see the outlines of Green, Red and Owen silhouetted against the moonlight.

  We all lowered our heads so as not to be noticed. The two figures were within inches of the men when all three captors turned to see the infected faces. Green and Red screamed as the two creatures lunged at them tearing pieces of flesh from their faces and necks. There was blood spurting everywhere and I saw Owen jump to one side. The infected were snarling and I could hear their teeth squelching into the skin of their victims as they screamed. There were two gunshots and the infected figures fell to the floor.

  Owen stepped forward, I could hear Green and Red moaning in pain on the floor, it was inevitable but Owen blasted both of them in the head.

  He was gasping for breath and moved his gaze from his two dead comrades. Bending down he picked up one of the machine guns and slowly walked towards us.

  “Game over boys and girls,” he snarled as he raised the weapon.

  Rebecca began to cry and the two girls screamed as he pointed the machine gun in our direction. He was too far away for any of us to make a lunge.

  Owen’s finger squeezed on the trigger and without warning the entire back of his head exploded open with the sound of the shot. His eyes moved up into the back of his head and his body crumpled face first to the floor.

  I jumped up and stared over at the doorway to Lizzie. My eyes widened as I saw the lumbering figure behind her. She noticed my stare and spun round, just as the creature was about to grab her she fired the gun until it ran out of bullets smashing the infected figures’ head wide open.

  Screaming, Lizzie slumped down to her knees. Mike rushed over and shouted at her to ask if she had been bitten. Eventually she shook her head to tell us she was okay.

  Mike rushed out into the hallway and shut the front door. He ran back into the living area and by this time we were all standing up.

  “There’s about ten inside the compound,” he announced.

  “We’re going to have to wait until daylight, maybe they will disappear,” Jackson said.

  I was still staring down at the dead bodies of Owen, Green and Red on the floor. We were still none the wiser as to what Owen and his mates intentions were. Maybe they were escaped convicts. They could possibly have just been three men who had had enough of this crazy world. Whatever their story was, they were dead and I felt no sympathy towards them.

  Rebecca hugged me and began to cry. Amelia wrapped her arms around my neck.

  “It’s ok, it’s all over,” I said calmly.

  “Next time, no visitors!” Mike said angrily.

  He was right, even in this godforsaken world, evil still existed in the human form and we had to be very cautious on who we invited or allowed into our group.

  DIARY ENTRY 56

  For the first time since leaving the woods we had to post a guard by the window until daylight. We removed the dead bodies from the living area and placed them temporarily in the utility room, frankly the stench from the infected bodies was horrendous.

  Jackson took first guard, he noticed about three or four infected wandering around outside. Lance took the next watch and also reported some movement, but we were unable to ascertain whether these were the same creatures.

  It took a while but I eventually got Amelia and Jesse to sleep. They were very traumatised by the events and I had to do a lot of calm talking and cuddling. Jesse hadn’t mentioned her mother and father once since arriving at the farmhouse and personally I didn’t feel comfortable approaching the subject.

  I heard Rebecca and Lizzie talking in the kitchen. Lizzie was telling Rebecca about Ben. I crept passed not wanting to disturb them and as I looked in Rebecca saw me and smiled.

  Lance was perched on the side unit looking out the window. Both Jackson and Mike were fast asleep. I walked over to Lance and he told me that he had seen a couple more infected moving about outside.

  “Can I ask you something about that IGS officer?” I asked.

  “Sure,” Lance replied still gazing out the window.

  “Will he just give up looking for me or anybody who are immune?”

  Lance didn’t answer straight away. He placed a finger to his lips so as to tel
l me to be quiet. A shadow passed by outside the window and then disappeared. Lance turned to look at me.

  “I doubt it,” he said.

  “What’s his name?”

  “Why do you want to know that?” Lance asked.

  “Just curious,” I replied.

  Lance looked back out the window as another figure, or maybe the same one I couldn’t be sure, walked by the window.

  “He’s just known as The Commander,” Lance said once the figure had gone.

  “Why do you think he’ll keep on looking?” I asked.

  “Maybe it’s a personal mission, maybe he’s just following orders. You have to remember that list of immune people could be the answer to saving the world.” Lance looked straight into my eyes.

  “So you’re suggesting I give up my family so the rest of the world can be saved?”

  “Not at all, Kaleb. You just need to understand how important those names are.”

  I walked over to the spare armchair and sat down staring at the floor. Lance was completely right of course, the names on the list he gave me were important. They could, technically, be the answer to saving the world from this mess.

  The next thing I knew I woke up to see Mike sitting on the side unit guarding the window, the sun was now up and we were the only two in the living area.

  “Morning,” I said stretching.

  “Hello, mate. I’ve seen five different ones outside just wandering around.” Mike was staring out the window. “Oh no, make that six now.”

  “Where’s everyone else?” I asked.

  “Rebecca and Lizzie are asleep. The lads are in the garage working on that radio.” Mike looked at me. “So what’s the score with Lizzie?” He asked with a smile.

  I smiled back and gave him a summary of how the group came to meet her and Ben. I also explained the horrific incident at my house when Jackson had to shoot him. Mike seemed apologetic. It made me feel a little uncomfortable that Mike was asking questions about her, he was a lot older than her.