Martinez shook his head. “I don’t feel comfortable with us killing anyone. Maybe shoot to warn them off?”
“I can see three guys in the front of the Panther. There’s a gunner. Do you recognise them?” asked Doug.
“Can’t see them from here,” Martinez responded. “Jesus! There’s no way I can drive through these dead fuckers. Look at ‘em!”
“Try,” urged Leah. “I don’t wanna end up trapped. I’m scared they’re going to shoot us.”
“Bloody rock and a hard place.”
“I never understood that expression,” Doug commented.
“Jesus, Doug. If I was those damn soldiers I’d just let us go. There are worse things in the world than us,” Martinez grumbled.
Leah nodded. “And we’re looking right at them.”
In front of them the wretched faces and tangled limbs of the dead came into full panoramic view, rolling like some surreal motion picture, set against the backdrop of a darkening sky. Into the air their wails and cries of hunger and desperation entwined, a gruesome cacophony. Shifting forwards, ever relentless, the figures seemed to shift jaggedly as one, staring forwards without expression. Blood and bodily fluids splattered upwards and outwards as the bodies at the front of the unsteady line collapsed or flew backwards. The violence woke Martinez from his ghoulish reverie.
“You okay?” asked Leah. “You looked hypnotised for a sec.”
He nodded as he guided the Vector into the gap that Doug had created. He thought of Moses parting the Red Sea and almost choked on the horrific irony of it.
***
“What the hell was that?” asked Owen when bullets exploded outside.
“Stay calm, everyone,” soothed Sylvia. “No one panic. We, soldiers, are trained for this and we’ll protect anyone who isn’t.”
Elliott passed a shotgun to Harold, who nodded. “Sylvia’s right, but we need to prepare ourselves,” he said. “Make sure you have something to protect yourself with, just in case, and if you don’t know how to use it, now’s the time to ask.”
“I don’t want to do this,” muttered Peggy. “If only we could see out of this box!”
Ellen held her hand while she watched John and Ian rechecking the weapons stash.
“It’s okay, love,” said Harold, hugging his wife to him. “We’ll soon reach somewhere safe.”
She pushed him away. “We don’t deserve to be safe.”
Ellen stayed silent, bewildered by Peggy’s remark and afraid to contemplate the future. She looked at Owen, who was practising adjusting the safety on his handgun. He looked deep in concentration and she suspected he was wondering what the hell he would do with it if pushed. “Do you think someone’s shooting at us?” he asked, looking up.
“We’d feel the impact,” Elliott told him. “Now listen to me, everyone. This is what we’re going to do…”
***
The Vector plunged into the wall of bodies, driving roughly over the corpses that sank beneath its wheels. Bloody, skinless and injured hands pounded at the body of the vehicle without pause; some fingers managing to stretch up to tap in vain on the glass windows. Some just bloody stumps or clean bone. All around, the expressionless faces swam, reminding Leah of the empty eyes of dead fish, except they didn’t come back. And they didn’t emit those terrifying wails that made her shiver. Cringing, she gripped her shotgun and glanced sidelong at Martinez.
He was trying to focus on driving, but found himself distracted by the gaping jaws, the teeth bared in the fashion he saw rabid dogs do as a kid, only this time the hunger was directed towards him. In the end he managed to tear his eyes away from the sight that revolted and captivated him at once. His thoughts switched to his friends closed in the back of the Vector. They would be distressed or panicking even over what could be happening, what with the gunshots and his driving, but at least they were saved from seeing this. Martinez almost found himself wishing the night would fall faster to make them fade away.
Doug continued to fire on the creatures, but there was no end to them and on all sides they surged towards the truck in a ferocious swarm. He paused for a second, not daring to imagine how they would get out of this. They were surrounded. A face without the features that once made it one caught his eye – nothing except a bloody mass – and he could imagine the stench of it; the maggots and flies that made it their home. Disgusted, he shook his head to refocus. To the side, zombies continued to collapse.
“It’s not my shots that are taking those down,” Doug shouted. “The other vehicle is right behind us.”
“Shit!” exclaimed Leah. “I can basically see their faces – three men. We’re jammed.”
“But they can’t get out of their vehicle to get us,” Martinez reasoned. “That’s something.”
“How about we change direction, and try to head off the road and into the field beside us?” Doug suggested.
“There’s nothing out there,” said Leah. “According to the map it would be a bad idea and the dead roam empty places. Night’s coming and we’d be screwed.”
“Jeez, I can see another Panther,” said Doug. “Two of ‘em, but I can’t see further back to check if there are any more.”
“Shit, we have to do something, Martinez,” urged Leah.
Martinez stared out the windscreen, feeling his stomach plunge. Zombies encircled them. To push forwards seemed as useless as turning back, yet the Vector’s solid build had handled the ‘rough terrain’ so far, he thought with a smirk. Tapping the steering wheel twice, he carried on driving as the creatures collapsed, brought down by whoever was firing at them. “They clearly don’t want us to die,” he remarked.
“They want the dream girl,” Doug answered, “not us.”
“It doesn’t make sense. That must be some government project if they think they can find answers from her nightmares,” said Leah.
“No stranger than these things in front of…”
“I’m going to steer to the right then,” Martinez broke in. “That way I can double-back and maybe we stand a chance of outrunning them. They won’t try to shoot us if they want Ellen.”
“You sure about that?” asked Leah. “If they only want us then we’re like the unnamed guy with the non-speaking role in any disaster movie. Got me?”
“I’d laugh if it wasn’t so inappropriate, but yeah, I get you and I’m still going right,” Martinez argued as he turned the wheel.
As the Vector cut around, it slowed as the throng of bodies closed in around it like a wall. A few slid under the front wheels. The vehicle bumped and almost stalled, but Doug continued to shoot down the zombies to thin them out. Gradually, the Vector turned full circle until it moved almost parallel with the Panther behind them.
“Will Acre! Fuck!” gasped Martinez.
“You know him?” asked Leah.
“Wish I didn’t. Murderous fuck head.”
Someone leaned out of the other vehicle and fired three shots at the windscreen of the Vector, but they bounced off the bulletproof glass. Leah breathed in. “I thought they didn’t want to kill us, Martinez?”
“They’re just playing,” he replied. “Trying to scare us, but faced with this bunch of rotting bastards staggering around like drunkards, it just ain’t working on me.”
Doug swallowed a laugh as he fired into the dead crowd to create a route through. Martinez drove past the Panther, which could not reverse due to the second vehicle behind it. “Got ya,” he mumbled. “They’ll have to blast their way through that lot, like we did.”
“Don’t count your chickens,” said Leah and then shrugged at the uselessness of the saying. “Sorry, bad habit. My mother always used to say that.”
“Mine always used to tell me, ‘Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face’. I mean what the hell is that about?” Doug replied before showering the rancid fellows in front of them with bullets.
“Guys… situation!” Martinez reminded them. “Yes!” he added shortly after when they broke through the last of the zo
mbie line. The Vector shot down the road.
***
Noticing a prominent sign for Upavon Golf Club, Tommy slowed down and turned off the A342, into a dimly lit area alongside two tennis courts. Spying a dark-coloured van with ‘Mr Plumbing’ emblazoned along the side in white lettering, he drove slowly towards it. “That’s the one.”
“Sure?” asked Billy, gazing out the passenger window.
“It fits the description.”
Tommy turned off the engine and was about to exit when the driver’s side of the van opened up and someone got out. Marla! Feeling a rush, he flung open the car door. He had only taken a few strides when she ran straight up to him and threw her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. Raising his hand, he swept his fingers through her long, loose hair and bent his head, smelling the scent of vanilla. For a moment he forgot where he was and they were the only two people in the parking lot, but then he noticed something move out of the corner of his eye.
Billy and Eric were still stood by the car, grinning at him. Another, older man walked towards him, followed by three younger men, all armed to the teeth. Marla stepped away from Tommy and looked up at him. “I didn’t think I’d see you again,” she said and then smiled awkwardly, not knowing what else to add.
He nodded and placed his arm around her shoulder, drawing her closer again. “Nor me you. I thought… well, you look good. I mean well. Ah…”
She smiled again. “I know what you mean, but where is Ellen? Isn’t she with you?”
Tommy shook his head. “No, but she’s safe. She’s with Martinez and Sylvia, Doug and Leah, and some others. It’s just me, Marcus, Billy and Eric here.”
Marla rubbed the side of her head anxiously and cast a slight nod at the three guys, who now walked towards her.
“She’ll be fine,” said Nick. “You’ll see. They’ll be here soon. Hi, I’m Nick,” he said. “We met once…”
“Yeah, Marla said in her letter. The man with the skins! It’s good to see you again,” Tommy replied, shaking his hand. “Thanks for taking care of Marla. Doug told me you found her and took her in. I owe you.”
“No worries. She’s earned her stripes since.”
Tommy glanced at the other men. “Where’s my son and Hanna?”
Marla shook her head. “They haven’t got here yet, but…”
“Shit, Leroy should have got here by now. He’s bringing my son, Hanna, Barney and Ruth. They were right behind us, but we took a detour in case we were followed.”
“I’m sure they’re on their way,” said Marla, rubbing his arm.
Tommy looked at Billy and Eric, and back at the woman beside him who he never wanted to leave again. A strange sensation made him skip a breath; a wash of dread he couldn’t shake. The sinking sensation left him feeling adrift. Something had gone wrong; he sensed it. “I have to go.”
“What?” asked Nick. “Go where?”
“I have to find my son.”
“But they’ll be here,” Marla assured him, “and Ellen too,” but she experienced a sickening feeling as she spoke the words.
Tommy wrapped his arms around her, breathing her in before pulling away again. “I’m sorry, Marla, but I have to find him. He’s my son.”
She stared up at him and nodded. “Okay,” she mumbled, not knowing what else to say.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said and then walked slowly towards the Land Rover.
“I’m coming with you,” Billy announced, running after him.
Tommy stopped and turned around in surprise.
“You can count me in too,” said Eric.
Marcus didn’t speak, but shrugged as he followed them.
Tommy opened the driver’s door of the Land Rover and rested on it for a moment as he looked back at Marla. She stood watching him, her hair rippling in the breeze, her face glowing in the fading light. He waved once and then slid inside the vehicle as he felt his throat tighten. Turning the key in the engine, he waited for the other men to get in before driving off, all the while gazing at her in the mirror until she vanished from sight.
“Are you alright?”
Marla glanced at Nick and shook her head. “I’m scared,” she replied, feeling completely alone. “Something’s wrong.”
***
Leah checked her side mirror and felt her heart race. “They’re closing in again.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Martinez replied.
Doug fired at the Panther behind them, but deliberately made the bullets go slightly wide. “I don’t want to shoot them,” he admitted when his companions queried his sight.
Martinez coughed. “Well, they’d shoot us in an instant.”
“But they’d be breaking the law.”
“Think they care?” asked Leah, staring out at the dark fields on either side of the road. “This is one fucked up situation. If we head home or to the meeting place they’re gonna follow us, and we’ll be putting our friends in danger. I reckon we should go straight and find somewhere safe for the night.”
“I don’t think we should go towards Salisbury,” Martinez warned. “It’s too dangerous. Take your pick from any other place.”
Loud bangs echoed along the back of the vehicle, slicing through the quiet outside. “The bastards are shooting at us,” gasped Leah. “Now can we fire back?”
***
“Were those gunshots?” Peggy asked her husband, squeezing his hand.
“Yes, but don’t worry, love, we are safe in here. This thing is built to protect.”
“He’s right,” Sylvia said. “We’ll be okay.” She smiled and then moved to sit beside Ian, Elliott and John. “I don’t like this one bit,” she whispered. “We’re stuck back here and who knows what’s happening out there, or where we are going.”
Elliott nodded. “Maybe we aren’t going to the meeting place anymore if we’re being followed. Martinez wouldn’t want to put everyone in danger.”
“Guess it’s Caballero’s men shooting at us. Who else? Scarier than zombies,” said Ian.
“What can we do?” asked Ellen, moving towards them as the vehicle lurched.
“Don’t worry,” Sylvia soothed her. “That’s our job. Everyone is going to be fine.”
***
“What the hell?” yelled Doug as one of the Panthers gained ground behind the Vector with the second tailing it. “Can’t you go any faster?”
“I’m trying,” Martinez answered. “Can’t you just shoot out their tyres?”
“I’m try–” Doug shouted back as gunshots splintered the end of his sentence.
Leah readied her shotgun. “We could do with a couple of grenades,” she said.
“We wish,” Martinez concurred.
The Panther suddenly appeared alongside them and cut in front of them.
“What are they doing?” gasped Leah.
Martinez swerved, but the driver of the other vehicle echoed the movement. The Vector grunted as Martinez was forced to cut speed and then he tried to drive in the other direction. All the time, Doug fired at the Panther, but the bullets bounced off it. Something blew beneath the Vector, like a small explosion, sending vibrations through the front. Martinez struggled to gain control as the vehicle veered across the road. Leah gripped her seat as they turned in a half circle, bullets spraying in all directions from the gun turret. Another crack sounded and something else gave underneath. The Vector lurched forwards and skidded across the tarmac. Martinez lost control and it swerved off the side of the road, crashing into the trees.
***
“Is everyone okay?” asked Sylvia, unbuckling her seatbelt. “Anyone hurt?”
Everyone murmured in the negative as the soldiers rose quickly from their seats and readied their guns.
“What’s going on?” asked Peggy.
“They want me,” Ellen replied.
“No, they don’t. They just want to stop us leaving,” said Sylvia. “It’s damage control. It can’t be anyone else except Caballero’s men.”
“Why?” asked Elliott. “What’s the big deal anyway?”
Ian nodded. “Yeah, everyone dreams.”
“They were a warning,” she replied.
“From who?”
Ellen bit her lip, unable to answer.
“That’s what they’re trying to find out,” said Owen. “It’s a government project. People started having these nightmares a few days before the virus broke out. The government thinks there’s a connection and they believe she can control her dreams.”
Elliott frowned. “Well, it all sounds a bit sci-fi to me.”
“Can you control them?” asked Harold.
Before Ellen could reply, the door of the Vector opened. Sylvia and Ian moved towards it, only to be faced by Will Acre and two other men, behind whom stood others.
“Will?” Sylvia gasped and the rest of the group could not believe it either.
“We were told you were arrested,” remarked Ian and then he clammed up, not wanting to know the answer.
“Your information was wrong, soldier, but we’ve arrested your three friends and if you try anything stupid, their deaths will be on your fucking heads,” Will gloated. “It doesn’t bother me either way and out here in the dark who’s going to know?”
“You have no power to arrest them,” John argued. “You’re breaking the law.”
“Law? Who’s fucking law? Is there a law now? Where’s the police?” he demanded. Smirking, he waved his gun at them. “This is the only law I know. Drop your weapons and kick them into the corner over there. Then you, Ellen, get out here and I’ll let the rest of you go. No one cares what happens to you lot, but I have orders to take her back with me. I can do this by force or I can just ask politely, like this – your choice.”
“You’ll kill us anyway,” Harold said as he hugged his wife.
I Dream of Zombies (Book 2): Haven Page 34