by Colley, Ryan
I woke up. What I may or may not have seen flashed through my mind, but I didn’t mention it. We’d long passed that place and I didn’t even know if I’d truly seen it, but it didn’t matter. Maybe I’d find out one day, but it wouldn’t be any day soon.
“Where are we?” I grumbled sleepily. We weren’t moving and the world was dark outside.
“We’ve pulled over for the night,” Kirsty said quietly. “Middle of nowhere … I doubt we need a guard.”
“We always need a guard,” I sighed, getting up. Laziness would promote a false sense of security. We couldn’t afford that. Not once. Not ever. Especially when we were in a glorified tin can for protection. I took the SA80 and exited the van. I did a once over of the immediate area before climbing on top of the van, the metal sagging beneath my weight. I’d become the watchful guardian once again.
The night passed without incident and the next day came. Each mile we travelled brought me closer to Alice. I looked at Thundy and grinned, almost manically. I started to reflect on my journey. On all of the terrible things. On the horrors. I’d … I’d done some of them myself. Tears came to my eyes, but I wiped them away. The journey had changed me – what made me who I was had changed. For better or for worse.
“We’re nearly there, Sam,” Keith said smiling at me, he slapped me on the back, snapping me out of the downward spiral. He had a knack for that.
“I know,” I said with a smile.
“And there’s Teek,” Kirsty announced as we passed a sign welcoming us to their town and requesting we drive carefully.
CHAPTER 38
We entered the town, or what we thought was the town. There was no clear start or end to the boundaries. Sure there was a sign welcoming us, but the borders of those small towns never made sense to me. I just knew we were on the right track. I looked around. Every sign seemed to have the word Teek on it. Teek Flower Shop. Teek Barbers. Teek Butchers. They loved their name. Guess we were in Teek.
Despite the fact it had an old town feel, it looked fairly new. All the brickwork looked clean, except for the blood. No mossy brickwork, or pollution stained walls. Maybe they had a rejuvenation effort to encourage visitors? The shops that lined the highstreet had homes above them. Plus there was an endless amount of charity shops and thrift stores. There were a few taller buildings farther down the road. Offices? A hotel? I didn’t know – they were new and I doubted the residence were happy about their construction. I looked at one of the road signs – we’d have to pass the tall buildings regardless.
Despite being off to a relatively smooth start, my mind screamed for me to get out of the town. My survival instinct felt like a separate entity, judging me for every decision I made. Berating me whenever it felt I chose poorly. And it was telling me we’d made a very poor decision going into Teek. It was like the backseat driver of my mind.
“I don’t like this,” I finally voiced to the others.
“I know what you mean,” Kirsty said in a whisper. “Populated areas … they never end well.”
“We can just keep on going,” Keith said in reply, patting me on the shoulder. I heard him rustle the map behind me. “Just keep going forward. There should be a turning left up ahead which we can follow round. It should lead us out of here.”
I nodded, still watching the streets around us. Undead were coming out. Bit by bit. The noise our presence created was attracting them. Teek had probably been silent for so long that we were upsetting the equilibrium.
“Do you guys have your guns ready?” Kirsty asked us, holding up the Benelli. Keith held up the SA80 and informed us he did. I checked my SA80 and nodded with satisfaction when I saw it was.
More and more undead were coming out. They weren’t running and chasing after us. They moved like nosey neighbours coming out to see what all the commotion was. Once they had us in their sights, they began to follow in the slow way the undead did. They would catch up with us … eventually. We kept going forward.
The street was fairly easy to navigate with minimal cars or debris around to slow us. I also started to notice something I’d never seen anywhere else. There were bright yellow signs on doors, lampposts, and signposts. I asked Kirsty to slow down as we passed by one.
‘Local curfew is enforced by the members of the Teek Police Department as well as members of the military. Anyone breaking this curfew may result in immediate execution.
This curfew is a matter of public safety and, breaking of such, will be treated as an act of terrorism.
We cannot stress how important this is. Please be in your homes between the hours of 20:00 and 06:00.
If, for whatever reason, there is a need to break this curfew please inform one of the members of the Teek Police Department using the number in your information pack. Await an escort before leaving.
Thank you’
“Well, that sucks,” I replied, after reading it.
“It must have been bad here,” Kirsty agreed, shaking her head sadly.
I looked at the growing army of undead and said sarcastically, “You think?”
“We’ll keep going,” Kirsty sighed as we pushed forward.
We, eventually, saw the Teek Police Department. There were hundreds of undead outside obscuring the door. The ones at the front were pounding on the old wood – it was holding … for the moment.
“Guess curfew is no longer an issue,” I said dryly.
“Something in there must be drawing their attention,” Keith said, thinking aloud.
“Nothing we can do for them,” Kirsty said coldly. She was right. Our lives were more important than theirs – simply because they were our own.
As we carried on our journey, I noticed that a few of the undead from the Teek Police Department crowd joined the undead that trailed behind us. Most didn’t even notice us.
“We need to speed up,” Keith said, looking at the undead behind us. “The turn is coming up. We should get some distance.”
Kirsty made the turning Keith suggested and regret hit us hard. There was a huge blockade, made up of sandbags and cars, which we weren’t getting through. I could hear the undead getting closer, echoing off the concrete walls of the tall buildings that surrounded us. Teek Hotel loomed over us.
“Damn,” Keith said, running his hands over his head. None of us said it, but we all knew we were effectively trapped by the approaching horde. Keith climbed out of the van and ran forward. He was trying to see through the blockade for a way out. He called to us, “There’s vehicles on the other side. We could take them!”
I climbed out and saw what he saw.
“I don’t think we should. We should back up and keep the van. At least we know it’s reliable,” I replied. Kirsty climbed out also.
“What’s the problem?” she asked.
“Debating whether to take another vehicle, or attempt to back up and go another way,” I said quickly. I could hear the undead getting louder.
“Keep the van,” Kirsty said instantly, as the first zombie came round the corner. We heard the wet slap of dead flesh on concrete before we saw it. We didn’t even smell it coming – the whole town smelled of them. We all turned to look at the lone zombie, only for it to be followed by another twenty … then thirty … then forty. I don’t mean that was as additional ten each time. There must have been over a hundred, easily. We couldn’t get back through that. We wouldn’t build enough speed to just plough through them. We’d either wreck the van, or the undead would just pull us out of it like we were canned food. We couldn’t go that way.
“Shit,” I swore, sweat forming on my forehead. “New vehicle.”
We turned to the blockade and saw undead filtering through that small gap as well.
“Hotel!” Keith shouted, and we all turned to the open doors, running as fast as we could.
CHAPTER 39
The moment I entered the hotel, I realised I didn’t have any weapons on me. After checking it, I’d put it back down in the footwell. I turned to the others and saw that they�
�d brought theirs. That was a small victory at least. They deserved to survive.
We shut the hotel doors behind us with a heavy slam. They were weighted and designed to close with little effort. We moved a few small items in front of them, but there wasn’t anything else to help us.
“It won’t hold long,” I shouted to the others as I pushed a plastic queue divider between the door handles, using the retractable belt to loop it through a couple of times for good measure.
When I was sure it was as secure as it was ever going to be, I span back and looked at the hotel. There was a staircase immediately in front of us, leading upwards and spiralling around the four walls of the building in a way that you would have to follow the landing round before taking the next staircase.
“Fire exit,” Keith said pointing to the sign. We jogged towards it, hoping to exit into another street. I flung the door open only to see zombies packed shoulder to shoulder, blocking the street and any chance of escape. They turned to look at us, snarling and advancing. I slammed the door shut.
“Upstairs!” I shouted and ran.
I sprinted up the stairs, not daring to look back to see if I was being followed – by the living or undead. I was in survival mode and only cared about myself. Anything else didn’t matter. Suddenly, I heard the staccato of gunfire behind me. Good. At least someone was alive.
I continued up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Zombies poured out of the surrounding rooms, the noise we made on entry drawing them out – like shaking a hive of hornets.
I pushed forward, ignoring the undead closing in around me. If they were agile or coordinated, it would have been the end of me. Luckily, the dead aided my advance, stumbling over each other as I weaved between their swelling masses. Yet, it wasn’t enough. Not until I was safe anyway.
Someone behind me shouted, “Sam! Wait!”
I couldn’t wait; my legs were being driven by adrenaline and didn’t feel entirely in my control. They were plotting their own course, the signal was being sent by my brain to my legs before my mind could even register what the command was. I flew up the stairs and across a landing. I saw open doors whizzing in my periphery. I saw closed doors bulge outward and splinter as the undead tumbled, summoned by the clamour. I dipped and dodged between the undead – with no weapon to defend myself. I didn’t have a choice. I needed to rely on my physical and mental superiority over the undead to survive. I could think ahead. I could plan. The undead couldn’t. Yet, it would count for very little if they managed to wash over me!
I ran up more stairs. The third floor. I was going to run out of building eventually. There was a zombie on the stairs, so decayed that it was a sexless, genderless heap of flesh. I tried to move past it but it lunged and grabbed me with surprising speed. Its hands were gnarled, boney claws that cut into me. That stopped me in my tracks as I nearly tumbled over the bannister and into the mass of undead swarming below. I tried to wrench my arm away, but it held me with an iron grip. I kept struggling, trying to run and avoid the death maw that was its mouth. I would drag it if I had too. It started pulling me towards it. Sheer adrenaline drove me as I brought my free hand up and into the undead arm gripping me. I heard bones break and tendons tear as its arm came apart at the elbow from my repeated blows. The arm still held me, but there was nothing attached to it holding me in place. I shoved the zombie back and it toppled over the staircase and towards one of the lower floors. I heard a scream from one of my companions below as it fell. I didn’t know how I heard that over the cascade of undead moans.
I carried on running. The white noise of everything felt as though it was suppressing me, crushing down onto my brain and disrupting my thoughts. But I carried on running, prying the undead fingers loose and forcing the arm off of me. More undead appeared, swiping at me or charging. I raced up to the next floor. I could hear gunshots and human commotion – Keith and Kirsty weren’t far behind. At least, I hoped it was both of them. They both would make it. They had to. I didn’t want to leave them behind, but I wasn’t going to die because of them either. It was cold, but being faced with death could do crazy things to the mind.
I was on the fifth floor. I think. I’d lost count of the number of floors I was moving between. I was prepared to keep running as far as I could go. All the way to the roof if I had too, but that wasn’t going to happen. I could see undead coming down from the upper floors. A lot of them. Almost rivalling what was below. I couldn’t turn back. Shit. There was an open door. Right in front of me. It felt preordained. My brain processed everything I saw at lightning speed. The room was empty. The door intact. The undead would have come out by now if there were any in there. I continued forward. I would make it. If Kirsty and Keith were fast enough, they would make it too. My legs felt like they were on fire but I kept going. Discomfort wasn’t enough to stop me. I flew through the open door and into an empty room. I was safe. I’d made it! But my safety was only ever temporary. I turned and faced outwards, hand clutching the door ready to slam it.
I saw Keith and Kirsty running up the stairs, confirming they’d both survived. I held the door for them, but that didn’t stop my brain from begging my hands to close it. They were itching as they moved it millimetre by millimetre. Instinct drove my actions and I had to fight with my self-preservation. I could see the horde behind them, hunting them as fast as they could. I couldn’t even make out individual undead faces in the crowd, it was simply a swirling mass of dead grey flesh. A river of the undead washing through the hallways. I braced myself to seal the door the moment my companions crossed the threshold of the room. Or the moment it became apparent they weren’t going to make it …
They finally reached the same level as me. They saw me in the room and started charging for the haven I offered. They got closer and closer, but so did the undead. Even worse, the undead were gaining on them. My mind screamed to shut the door! I could feel the physical pull to survive. Then, as I was ready to abandon my friends, they entered the room. Keith managed to halt his run with a few stuttered steps, but Kirsty continued through sheer momentum and bounced off the balcony doors opposite. I slammed the door and heard the mechanical click of the door locking itself – only accessible by swipe card. It wasn’t much between us and the undead. We all stood there, shoulders heaving and sweat pouring off us. We needed action.
CHAPTER 40
“Barricade the door,” I whispered, hoping the undead would forget where we were. How the hell did the undead keep trapping me behind doors? I stifled a manic laugh at that thought, cracking under the pressure. It caused a few cautious glances from Keith and Kirsty. I didn’t find the situation humorous in the slightest. I was terrified. I was going to die. I’d been trapped behind metal doors and they offered safety. The plywood nonsense in front of me … I knew what my fate would be.
“Form a line,” Kirsty commanded quietly. Without ever saying what she’d planned, we all knew what she wanted to do. I was closest to the door, Keith near the balcony, with Kirsty between us. Keith began passing furniture, and other objects, to Kirsty who passed it to me. I’d just moved the heavy desk in front of the door when I heard the first thud. The undead knew where we were. The repeated thuds meant they were charging and bouncing off the door. The wood started to splinter. The need to be quiet was gone. We were no longer hiding.
We dragged everything we could in front of the door. A dresser. Another table. The goddamn lamp! What did it matter? I’d have placed a mouse on the table if there’d been one. Your life being on the line inspired madness. When there was nothing left to be moved, we leaned against our barricade in the small hope that it would help. The thuds continued. It wouldn’t hold for long.
“We’re screwed,” I sighed. We couldn’t survive what was happening. I knew that. I didn’t even have any fight in me. I accepted it. I’d cheated death for so long that it wasn’t a surprise that it had finally caught up with me.
“We fight until we die,” Kirsty said with a strange optimism in her voice.
&nbs
p; “Unless you have anything more than a paperclip, I’m done,” I said, defeated. Kirsty checked the Benelli. I nodded at her gun, “How you doing?”
“I could probably take out five,” she shrugged.
“Five shells?” I asked in a conversational tone.
“Three, but I’m feeling lucky!” Kirsty laughed. I laughed too. Keith didn’t. He was on the balcony, looking down.
“Learned to fly?” I asked sarcastically. It was all in jest, it was all we had.
“I wish,” Keith sighed. He turned to look at us. “I wish we’d stopped a couple of floors down … more chance to survive a jump. No zombies down there – they must’ve all filtered into the hotel.”
“Well, we don’t know if we can fly until we try, I suppose,” I shrugged, willing to try almost anything at that point. Survival did funny things to your mind. I stood up and walked to the balcony and also looked down. It was a long way down and I let out a long cartoon-style whistle. “Daaaaamn.”
“Sam,” Keith began, I turned to look at him. “The way you talk about Alice … it’s beautiful. You love her?”
“Yeah,” I nodded. A lump formed in my throat at the thought of never seeing her again. I thought of Thundy in the van – we would both die never seeing her again. That hurt more than the idea of never seeing my friends and family again. It was strange.
“You would do anything to see her?” Keith asked me. I nodded. He turned to Kirsty and asked her, “After all you’ve been through, you would do anything to survive, right?”
“Of course,” Kirsty replied with a nod. “I’m not dying in this room.”