“I’ll take a group and check over the tankers, you take the building?” suggested Max.
“Yeah, when we have secured the place I’ll send for you and the others,” said Nick before moving over to Peter.
“I need you to keep everybody else in the vehicles. Don’t let anybody leave under any circumstances. When the building is secure we’ll come for you, ok?”
Peter nodded and moved back to the vehicles.
Nick looked around the group, checking who was left and quickly assessing the best people to take. He selected five that he’d worked with before and the group moved off to the entrance of the building. With such poor light they had to make do with the two remaining torches. Nick was armed with a machete as well as a crossbow whilst the rest carried a mixture of shields, axes, blades and one cut down musket that had more in common with a blunderbuss.
The entrance to the service station was wide and had originally contained two sets of swinging glass doors, only one remained intact however as the other was in pieces on the floor, long since destroyed though whether it was people, zombies or the weather they couldn’t tell.
Nick stepped in first, his machete at the ready in case of danger. The others followed closely behind, each checking around them for signs of danger. It was not a large station and the entrance led into a simple open hall area that was like the centre of a spoked wheel. Directly ahead was a large cafeteria, to the left a ransacked shop and to the right a small coffee house. In the far right corner a narrow hall led to a toilet area. Flickering light came from parts of the building and a dull orange glow came from the toilet area.
Nick moved ahead towards the eating area whilst signalling with his hand for the rest to follow. One thing they had learnt early on was that you never, ever went anywhere alone. That was the way to get picked off and also an easy way to get unknown bites and infections into the group. Experience showed that even though the living knew a bite meant death they would almost always hide it and this had grave concerns for the rest of the group.
In the eating area Nick stopped soon after entering and looked around. There was something odd about the place and it took almost thirty seconds before he realised what it was. The place had been fortified but even worse, it had fallen. The windows on the far side were boarded up and along the counter were several boxes of shotgun shells and bottles of fluid. He moved a little closer before spotting the first of the bodies. He hand signalled to the rest to stop as he knelt down to examine the decomposing body. It had been there at least a few months and showed signs of having been bothered by wildlife. More important than the body though, was the clothing and equipment.
“No way, they’re our scouts, they must have been trapped here,” said Nick.
Adam, the man carrying the shield and mace, headed for the serving area to examine the weapons.
“Yeah, this is definitely our gear. They must have raided a gun store or police station though, we haven’t see this kind of firepower in a long time.”
Nick pointed to a tear in the wall that led outside.
“We’ll get the others to take the bodies outside. Right now though we need to clear the place,” he said.
Leaving the eating area he returned back to the centre of the building and moved towards the back hallway that led to the toilet area. In his experience, this was where people usually retreated and it was often a dead end, in every sense of the word.
As Nick turned the corner he came face to face with a closed door. Most people would probably just open the door, but Nick had seen what happened when people made a foolish decision like that. He held his blade firmly in his right hand whilst gently pushing the door forwards. As it opened a bloodied hand pushed out, catching the door frame and pulling the door wide open. Two ragged creatures stumbled out from the area with their jaws open, their intent clear. Without pausing Nick lifted up his machete, delivering a swift slash that cut the first in the throat and up into its brain. Adam jumped forward, smashing his shield into the second and forcing it back into the toilet area. Anton, a lightly built man in his twenties, tried to assist but couldn’t get past Adam who kept driving forwards with the shield. He didn’t stop until he had the zombie up against the wall. Nick jumped in, followed by Anton, and they proceeded to stab and cut at the creature until its hacked body fell in a mush to the floor. The three stood there panting as they looked around. The toilet area was hardly pretty, though the fact that the entrance featured a spring loaded door meant that wildlife hadn’t found its way in yet. The room wasn’t large, though it stank from standing water and there appeared to be no running water.
Adam carefully kicked each door open to check on any potential problems in the cubicles. It took only a short time but the situation was tense until the place could be confirmed as clear. Once he’d checked the last section he turned back to the group.
“Yeah, all clear now,” he said.
Nick signalled for him to follow him as they headed back into the centre area. There was no need to check the shop. It was small and had been ransacked to the level that even the shelving had been stripped. As the group headed for the door, they glanced inside the old coffee shop. As with the shop it had been well ransacked and nothing of note remained. They moved for the door but before they could leave Adam spotted something glinting in the corner of the coffee area.
“Hey, you see that?” he asked as he moved slowly towards the object. As he got closer he flicked on the torch that lit up the corner and a blocked off doorway with streaks of blood on the walls and floor.
“Fuck!” swore Adam as he dropped the shield into position, expecting an attack at any moment. Nick joined him whilst the others stayed a short distance behind to watch their backs.
“I don’t know how I missed that,” said Nick as they crept inside.
The corridor was narrow and obviously not designed for the public. One narrow light flickered occasionally, providing minimal lighting but enough to make it seem the last place they wanted to head down. As the two reached the end they came to two doors. One was signed as Manager and the other Storeroom.
Nick moved up to the first door and Adam to the second. Nick signalled for Adam to wait as he placed his hand on the handle and ever so gently pulled on it. The door unlocked but try as he might it would not open.
“Must be locked from the inside,” said Adam who then tried the same with his door. With little effort it swung open to reveal an almost pristine office with only a few items knocked over. After giving the room a quick once over the two returned to the locked door.
“Wait a sec, I’ve got an idea,” said Nick.
He lifted his hand and knocked several times.
“Anybody home?” he asked.
Adam gave him a whimsical look, but to the shock of the two men a sound came from inside.
“What the fuck was that?” asked Adam as he took a step back from the door.
Nick shrugged and tried the door again. As he pulled the handle there was a clicking sound and the door swung open to reveal a dark, damp room that was packed with stores and two people. The closest was a middle-aged man dressed in rough clothing and carrying what looked like a car piston. The other person was a young child, perhaps eight or nine, and she was hiding behind a cupboard but also carrying a weapon of some kind. The man coughed as he cleared his throat.
“You’re not one of them?” he groaned.
Nick lowered his machete. “You’re okay, we’re here with other people. How long have you been here?”
“Just over a month. We were coming back with a convoy, we’ve been trapped here every since.”
“Is there anybody else left?”
The man turned his head. “The last few tried to get away in cars, we’ve been waiting for help since then. Are you here for us?” he asked with a pleading look in his eyes.
Adam stepped forwards, looking inside the room. The young girl raised her weapon before the man beckoned for her to lower it.
“We’re evacuating
the Green Zone, have you heard of it?” he asked.
“Green Zone,” sighed the man, “that’s where we were heading.”
“Yeah, well, it’s gone now. We need to find somewhere new,” said Nick.
As they continued talking Nick had a look around the room and was astounded at the amount of supplies and equipment in such a small place. As well as bottles of water he could see clothing, a modest amount of medical supplies plus a motley selection of weapons and ammunition.
“Where did you get all this stuff?”
“The group we were with had been collecting all of this for months ready for a push to you guys. Such a waste.”
“Hardly, we can use this,” said Adam with a smile.
The man looked back, presumably to his daughter, before turning to Nick.
“If you’ll take us with you then you’ll be more than welcome to help yourself to what we have,” he offered.
Nick smiled, “You must come with us, come on,” he beckoned.
The little group left the room and headed back to the open part of the building where the others waited for them.
“We’ve got a few survivors and even better, some supplies. Get the rest in here, we need to fortify the perimeter and then get some rest for tomorrow,” said Nick.
Anton stepped forward and shook the man’s hand before rushing off to the vehicles outside to give them the news. Nick and the others returned to the eating area and cleared space to lay out equipment and blankets to sleep on.
As the first of the passengers entered the building Nick and Adam helped direct them to block the entrances, remove the bodies and start sorting through the supplies. Gary and Max entered, carrying weapons and the map.
“This is the first bit of luck we’ve had, well, in the last twenty-four hours!” said Max.
“True,” replied Nick, “but we need a few hours to rest before daybreak. Gary, you can organise shifts for security. I want everybody in this one room. Nobody goes wandering about. As soon as light hits we need a full assessment of the vehicles. In the meantime, let’s check the wounded and the food situation.”
They had the place cleared and relatively safe in under an hour. Most of the passengers were already sleeping or at the very least, lying down and resting. For all of them this was the first break in an almost unbroken forty-eight hours of fighting and running.
CHAPTER 9
Lundy Island, England
Dave, Tommy and Steve had made quick progress across the island and the church was insight a half mile ahead. They had kept up a fast pace, hoping to reach the town before the creatures did, but also knowing that they needed to conserve as much energy as possible. Dave came to a stop as he could finally see the horde surrounding the big stone structure.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” he shouted.
“Holy shit, this isn’t good,” said Tommy.
“But there must be some survivors in the church, Dave,” said Steve.
“Yeah, but they had no warning, the fact the bells only went off half an hour ago suggests that they only knew about the creatures once the town was already overrun, so I doubt there are many left.”
“What do we do? Dave?” asked Tommy.
“We need to clear those bastards from the church, so we at least have some idea of who’s left and what we can do.”
“How much ammo do we have?” asked Steve.
“I’ve got eight shells on me,” said Dave.
“Six,” said Tommy.
“Christ, and I have seven arrows, that’s not exactly ideal.”
“No, let’s keep going, we’ll just have to wing it,” said Dave.
The men again got up to a steady jogging pace towards the church, but before they had been running for long, gunshots rang out from the church, but they didn’t stop to discuss it.
“Christ it’s already begun, let’s move!” shouted Dave.
* * *
The revolvers and Glock rang out until every shot was gone. Ten zombies lay dead in the entrance to the church, whilst more creatures poured through the gap. Roger threw down his pistol and held the sawn off double barrel shotgun in both hands, the first shot obliterated the closest target, the second dropping another. He quickly snapped open the barrel to reload as Derek and Katy laid into the creatures with their hand weapons. Another two beasts fell from the axe and hammer, Roger locked the shotgun closed again.
“Out of the way!” shouted Roger.
He held up the shotgun, firing off the two rounds in quick succession, the first ripped half the face off a zombie, but didn’t stop it, he had to use the second shot on the same creature to finish it. He desperately reloaded the last shell he had as his comrades smashed away.
“This is the last one!” screamed Roger in desperation.
He held up the shotgun, seeing his friends were already beginning to tire from the combat. The round went off, bursting open the skull of his nearest foe. Roger’s face turned to stone as the realisation set in that they were still facing massive numbers. Derek’s axe struck into the skull of a creature and imbedded so deep it got stuck, before he could recover it another creature took hold of him and bit hard into his arm, another into his neck before Katy could hit back. Behind the horde two guns fired off in surprise.
“Hey, mother fuckers!” shouted Tommy.
Relief set in for Roger as the familiar sound of his friends rang out. Much of the horde turned its attention to the field in front of the church where the three men stood in the open ground.
“Come get some!” shouted Dave.
More of the creatures turned and began to walk over the two dead that Dave and Tommy had just shot. Steve loosed off an arrow from his bow, his days of practice showing, the steel-headed arrow penetrating the eye socket of a zombie, killing it instantly. Katy carried on clubbing the few creatures to death that had stayed to fight them. Now the whole horde’s attention was focusing on this new threat. Katy stood over Derek, who was badly hurt, but still very much alive.
“Don’t let me become one of those bastards,” he cried.
“I won’t, my darling, I love you,” said Katy.
She lifted her club hammer with two hands and smashed it down on her partner’s head, killing him instantly. Tears already streaked down her face, but her resolve to fight was only hardened. With the horde’s attention turned, the exit into open ground was now open.
“Katy, let’s move, now!” Roger shouted.
He took up Derek’s axe and ran out of the door with Katy. They immediately turned for the open ground and ran until they were safely away from the zombies. They looked back at their friends reloading their weapons, the horde was almost on top of them.
“Dave! Run!” Roger screamed.
Dave looked around to see the two survivors fleeing from the church, he snapped his shotgun shut and reloaded it with his last two shells.
“Let’s go!” shouted Dave.
The men ran towards Millcombe House to join the others. They stopped as they reached them, now fifty feet clear of the horde with just a minute to talk.
“Anyone else left?” asked Dave.
“Not that we know of,” said Roger.
“Christ, what a fucking disaster, what’s the plan, Roger?”
“You got much ammo left?”
“Almost nothing,” said Dave.
“Then let’s get to the house, we can’t do anything without weapons.”
“Agreed, let’s go!” shouted Dave.
The five survivors ran towards the house, being the only humans left on the island.
“Where did all these bastards come from, Dave?” Roger asked.
“A fishing ship is beached on the coast up north, it must have been packed with the fuckers.”
“Jesus, I never thought it could happen,” Roger replied.
“No, none of us did, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to die without a fight!” shouted Dave.
They reached the road to the house, the horde was stumbling towards them enthusiastic
ally. They knew it would not be long before it reached them. Looking down the hill towards the jetty, dozens of the creatures were staggering forwards. A single zombie was stood in their path to the house, Dave stopped, lifted his shotgun and blew its head off with his last round.
“Jesus Christ, how many of them are there?” asked Roger.
“A shit load, I can only imagine the ship was packed with survivors who somehow got infected,” said Dave.
They ran to the door of the house and flung it open, went inside and quickly shut it behind them.
“Upstairs quickly, we need all the weapons we can get!” shouted Roger.
They stormed into the room where many of their weapons and ammunition were kept. They had twenty shotgun shells left, twelve 9mm rounds for the Browning, seven for the .45 Colt and a selection of crossbows and bows.
“Jesus, Dave, I thought we were well stocked, who could ever have imagined such a fight on our island?” asked Roger.
“No, we had no idea. Grab the bows and crossbows and get to the windows quickly, we’ll use those first. Get firing as soon as they come within effective range, save the firearms for when you really need them!”
He picked up the Colt with just the one full magazine. Tommy and Roger each took ten shotgun shells each, and everyone grabbed a bow or crossbow.
“Make sure you all have some hand weapons, we’ll be out of ammo in no time,” said Dave.
Roger grabbed his beloved sabre and Katy hung onto her club hammer. Steve picked up his improved mace, a dumbbell bar with roofing lead gaffer taped to one end. Tommy snatched a hatchet, and Dave took hold of a fire axe.
“The only way they can get in is through the front windows. Let’s move!” shouted Dave.
The five survivors went to the four front windows on the ground floor, Dave and Roger sharing the large window to the north of the house, which they knew would be struck the hardest. He began to string the hunting crossbow he had with twenty bolts. The crossbows were good weapons for dealing with small numbers, but their reload times were poor.
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