I heard the door from the garage leading into the kitchen swing open and the hurried footsteps across the tiled floor. Jackson and Lance came rushing into the living area excitedly.
“He’s only gone and bloody done it!” Lance exclaimed.
“Done what? Who?” I asked sleepily.
“Jackson. He’s fixed the radio,” Lance replied.
Lance pulled over the coffee table so that Jackson could place the radio on top, the excited commotion had obviously woken everybody else up as the girls appeared soon after.
“I’ve not tried all the channels, but I have picked up a repetitive recording on one frequency,” Jackson said.
“What does it say?” Mike asked.
“I’ll show you.” Jackson fiddled with the radio.
There was a lot of crackling and some high pitched whining as Jackson moved the dial around, he pulled up the antennae positioned at the back of the radio and then as he tried to get the required frequency I heard a faint voice talking and then within moments it became clear, it was the voice of a man.
“To anybody who can receive this message. We are trapped. We cannot get out and we are running low on food and water. Please if you can hear this message and you are in a position to help us we are in an abandoned police station in Sector One, London. There are three of us. One of our group was bitten by those creatures, but she’s alive, she wasn’t infected. Please can anybody help us?”
The message began to repeat itself again and Jackson turned the volume down. There was silence in the room for a few moments then Lance spoke.
“They have an immune person,” he said quietly.
“I heard,” I replied in a whisper.
“Pity we don’t know the name, you could have checked that list,” Mike said.
“What can we do?” Lizzie asked.
I looked up at Rebecca not showing any emotion and stared her straight in the eyes.
“No, Kaleb. No way!” Rebecca shouted.
“You’re seriously thinking about going to help them?” Mike asked. “Are you mad?” He shouted.
I continued to look at Rebecca, she had tears in her eyes and then she turned and walked away into the kitchen. Amelia followed her.
“Is Daddy going away again?” I heard Amelia ask.
“Kaleb, this is madness,” Mike said standing in front of me.
“Mike,” Lance said.
“No, Mike nothing. We can’t go to London. It’s way too dangerous.”
Unknown to us, but during the conversation Jackson had taken his weapon and stepped outside, the first we knew was the gunfire. We ran to the front door to see Jackson standing there surrounded by six dead infected. Jackson turned to face us and then walked in through the front door.
“Lock the gate,” he said coolly and strutted into the living area.
I followed him in as he started to pack the radio away, he knew I was standing there but said nothing. Lance joined us a few moments after.
“We have to go to them don’t we?” Jackson asked.
“One of them is immune. Who knows who else heard that recording?” I replied.
“I don’t think your missus is too pleased,” Lance said.
I looked into the kitchen where Lizzie was hugging Rebecca. I turned to face Jackson just as Mike arrived in the living area.
“There is no way I am leaving my family again,” I said quietly.
“So you’re just going to let those survivors die?” Lance asked.
“I never said that.” I turned to Lance. “If we go, we all go.”
A silence fell over the room. I had not noticed that Rebecca and Lizzie had joined us.
“He’s right,” Rebecca said catching all our attention. “I don’t want my family split up again and we can’t leave those people to die.”
“This is madness,” Mike said placing his hands on top of his head.
“Straight in, straight out. No casualties,” Jackson said.
“You make it sound like a shopping trip!” Lizzie said.
It was decided at that moment that we would all think about this decision carefully and when the children were asleep later we could all sit down in the living area and discuss it properly.
The rest of the day was spent in deep thought about what we could do and the dangers ahead. One thing was for sure, I was not prepared to leave my family. I stared down at the list of immune people. Whether that female they spoke of was on this list or not, she was immune and we had to get to her before the IGS.
I couldn’t believe I was contemplating a return to London.
DIARY ENTRY 57
I knew Sector One in London. It was the sector adjacent the one I used to live in. I also knew where the abandoned police station was so there were no geographic problems on how we were going to find the place. The problem was whether we were all going to agree on making the journey.
The day had been mostly spent with everybody deep in their own personal thoughts. I only spoke to Rebecca about the message and I could understand her concerns. I was very aware that we had two young children with us, but then I had admired the way Jesse coped with our journey from London.
The children were slightly restless, Rebecca decided to put them to sleep and we all gathered in the living area to talk about what we should do.
Due to the activity over the last twenty four hours a number of infected had gathered outside the fencing surrounding the farmhouse. Jackson said that it would be best to leave them alone as they may wander off whereas more gunfire could increase their numbers.
Mike was first to speak. It was obvious he did not want to make the journey to London. He thought it was an absurd idea and didn’t see the point in all of us risking our lives to try and rescue people who could be dead already, whether one of them was immune or not.
Lizzie didn’t have an opinion. I think she was just happy to be part of a bonded group no matter where we were.
Lance and Jackson, being the action men they were, felt that this had to be done. They were obviously excited about the journey, but Lance pointed out that the immune female needed to be saved before the IGS got hold of her so our decision had to be made quickly.
Rebecca’s only concern was to keep her family together. She held my hand as she spoke. All eyes were on me. I was holding Rebecca’s hand and in the other hand I held the list of known immune people. I didn’t say a word at first. I just looked at each person in the room before my eyes set upon Rebecca. I could see in her eyes that she did not want me to leave her and Amelia, but I also had to think of their safety.
“I understand that some of you have reservations about why we should do this and even if we should.” I paused. “I’d just like you to bear in mind that if you were that person, how would you feel knowing nobody was coming?” All eyes were burning into me. “I sat in a bedsit in North London praying that one day I would be able to get out and find my family. Whether it was for the right reason or not, Duncan got me out and for that I am thankful to him.” I gazed around the room. “If we go, we all go. Nobody is being left behind,” I said.
I saw Mike nodding. He winked at me and smiled. Rebecca squeezed my hand tightly. Jackson stood up and gave me an approving smile.
“I’m in,” he said.
“Me too,” Lance said also standing up.
Mike, surprisingly, and Lizzie both stood up and agreed we should go. I turned to face Rebecca and she just smiled and nodded at me. A bark from the other side of the room made us laugh. It appeared Bruno was also in.
I wandered over to the window as Rebecca and Lizzie prepared some food and drinks for everybody.
“This is the craziest idea you’ve ever had,” Mike said to me.
“I know. But we can’t stay here forever,” I said.
“Why not? We’re safe,” he replied.
“But for how long?” I asked looking at him.
I think he understood where I was coming from. True, we were safe behind this fencing but we couldn’t say for
how long and there were hundreds if not thousands of infected in our area and food would run low soon.
I studied the list in front of me, I wondered for a moment if that woman’s name was on it. I also wondered what the other names were up to.
Mike walked away to help the girls in the kitchen. I was aware of Lance standing next to me.
“I did say you would do the right thing,” he said.
“Yes, you did,” I replied.
Lance slapped me on the back and I was once again left with my own thoughts. We had to make arrangements for the journey.
Jackson said we would need to visit the petrol station he noted down on the map. We had to take enough fuel for the truck. Of course the subject of supplies was an important one. We had to take enough food to get us to London. Once there I was pretty sure we could replenish our stock. Lance and Jackson were going to be in charge of the weapons we would need.
Jackson had been playing around with the radio. He had also found some ear phones in the garage and was telling us that most of the radio traffic he picked up concerned IGS and military units pulling out of all major towns and cities. It was like they were abandoning every piece of civilization. Lance suggested that they may well be evacuating the whole of the United Kingdom and just leaving people to their own devices. That would be a good thing for us as this would mean we had one less problem to worry about.
With all the plans discussed it finally came to realisation that we would soon be leaving this farmhouse. I hoped that one day we would return as I liked it.
DIARY ENTRY 58
Simple, but effective.
That’s how Jackson had put it when he described how he would be able to sneak out of the bedroom window and head across the garage roof. It was higher than the mesh fencing and it would enable him to drop onto the other side in amongst the bushes. He would then make his way around the infected gathered outside the fence to a distance far enough away to attract them so that we were able to get to the truck hidden in the trees.
Jackson left us in the house and as we all waited inside we heard the gunfire start. I peered out the window to see Jackson throw a grenade into the middle of the infected which took a few out. I could not see him as he ran through, he was in the bushes on the far side of the mesh fencing, but the infected knew where he was and they started to stagger in his direction.
Lance gave the order and we hurried out the front door, each carrying bags full of supplies and food. Mike and Lance each had a weapons bag, Lizzie had been put in charge of Bruno. We ran for our lives through the gate which Mike opened and over to where the truck was. There were no infected and I gazed around wondering where Jackson had got to. Throwing the bags on the back, the girls and the children jumped up with me whilst Lance and Mike took the front seats in the truck.
The engine spluttered a few times but eventually Lance got the truck started and he slowly positioned it onto the driveway. With the engine running we waited.
I could hear gunfire in the bushes to our right when suddenly I saw Jackson burst through and sprint towards the truck. The pack of infected came stumbling out, hundreds of them moaning and groaning. Lance put the truck in gear and started to move forward, slow enough so that Jackson was able to catch up. When he got close enough, he threw his gun up into the back of the truck. I held out my hand and just as he was about to grab it, he stumbled and went face first down onto the ground.
I shouted to Lance to stop the truck, he snarled back he couldn’t as there were more infected up ahead. I glanced back and saw Jackson scramble to his feet. He ran at the truck again and as he got closer I again put my hand out, this time he managed to grab hold of it and after a few efforts I was able to pull him up into the truck.
“Thanks,” he panted.
“I’m always having to save your arse,” I said to him and Jackson laughed.
Lance was right there were lots of infected up ahead. I felt the impact of them as he ran them down. The truck was speeding now and I could see the crushed ones on the floor and the others reaching out with their hands. Rebecca and Lizzie shielded the children’s eyes from this.
We exited the driveway onto the main road and I could see how many were gathered, way too many to count. Leaving the farmhouse appeared to be a great idea.
The only route that was available to us was the ring road that skirted the town centre. We happened upon large groups of infected but we were travelling at such a speed they were no trouble to us. The ring road would eventually lead us out of the town and onto the dual carriageway, then ultimately the motorway where we hoped we would not encounter too many problems.
As we left the town the numbers of infected decreased, to our relief. Although they were not causing us too many problems, the sight of them was something I would never get used to. Jackson had set up his radio in the back of the truck and was trying to listen to any messages.
He was telling us the military pull-out of the major towns was nearly complete and most of the units from what he could tell were heading towards the Welsh border.
Lance stopped at the junction which would eventually lead us onto the motorway. There were some infected wandering around, but no groups the size of what we encountered in the town. Before they could get close enough to be a nuisance to us we moved off to the motorway.
It was an eerie sight, some abandoned vehicles on the north bound carriageway, obviously part of the mass evacuation from the London area, then as we headed off away from the town the vehicles became less frequent.
Our next stop, hopefully without too many problems, would be London a place that I vowed I would never return to.
The journey to the edge of North London was pretty uneventful, I can only assume that the barriers on the side of the motorway kept the infected away, plus in the countryside areas there was less chance of bumping into any of them.
This all changed as we neared London. The build-up of the infected was obvious. One of the first major areas we arrived at, what used to be called Barnet before London was split into sectors, was pretty overrun with these creatures. Fortunately for us the roads around Barnet were wide and we were able to keep away from them. Any that surprised us were dealt with ruthlessly by Jackson and his machine gun. I would tell Amelia and Jesse to cover their ears just before Jackson opened up.
I estimated that we were about twenty minutes away from Sector One. The journey ahead would be pretty hazardous as the roads became narrower and a few were clogged up with barricades or abandoned vehicles.
Due to these obstacles it took approximately half an hour to reach our destination. As we descended from the truck some infected rounded the corner near to the old police station. Jackson and Lance were quick enough to spot them and with a few well-placed head shots took them out.
I stood outside the police station and gazed up at the windows. On the first floor I saw one of the blinds move to one side and a face peered down at us. Somebody was still alive in there.
Mike took hold of a large piece of metal he had found on the floor and smashed the glass fronted door which led into the front of the police office. There was a security door inside which could only be accessed with a swipe card.
We all stood there for a few minutes whilst Lance and Jackson crouched at the door covering the street, a few bursts of gunfire indicated we were getting visitors.
Suddenly, a face appeared at the small glass window, the face of a female. She looked as though she had not been able to wash or keep herself clean for a long time. This face looked nervous. I walked up to the door and smiled to show we were friendly.
“We heard your radio message,” I said.
The door knob turned and opened slowly. The female moved back as one-by-one we entered the back of the police station. She positioned herself against the back and just stared at us, I think the sight of the guns scared her.
“It’s okay,” I said softly.
The door shut behind us, Jackson was the last one in. I could hear the groaning outside,
some infected had got through the door, we had made it inside just in time.
Looking at Amelia and Jesse the female produced a smile of sorts and looked around the whole group. I stepped forward. The female flinched and backed away.
“My name is Kaleb. What is your name?” I asked.
The female gazed around and pushed the greasy hair away from her face. She looked in her mid to late thirties, although this could be wrong due to her dishevelled look, she may well have been much younger.
“My name is Joyce,” she said in a thick London accent.
“Hi, Joyce. Is there anybody else here?” I asked. “The man who sent the radio message?” I asked.
Joyce shook her head. Jackson and Lance immediately broke out of the group and started to search the ground floor of the station.
Eventually, Joyce showed us upstairs to where she had been living for the last few months, apart from telling us her name she did not speak. I asked Rebecca if she wanted to talk to her, being a female she may have more luck getting information from her.
The office which Joyce ‘lived’ in was shambolic. It stunk and had tins of old food littered everywhere. The windows looked out on the street below. I could see the infected were wandering off. There was a metal clanging sound down the road.
“That’s the wind rattling the scaffolding by the old pub,” Joyce whispered to me.
I turned and she backed away but gave me a nervous smile.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Joyce pulled the neck of her dirty sweater to one side and I saw the bite scar on the side of her neck. I quickly pulled the piece of paper from my pocket and studied the list. There was a name on the list of Joyce Gregory, some sample numbers and the location of Sector One, London. She was on the list. Joyce tried to look at the list but I quickly folded it up and placed it back in my pocket.
“We’re here to help you,” I said to Joyce touching her shoulder.
Rogue Evacuation Page 20