Spiteful (The Infected Book 3)

by Justin Gowland

  “You’ll keep your mouth shut until somebody asks you a question.” The man who had carried the torch said.

  “What if I hold my hand up first?” I asked.

  Probably not the best thing to have said because I got a punch in the face for it. Breathing heavily, I looked at the table and again my clever mouth got the better of me.

  “But what if I need a wee? Can I hold my hand up then?” I asked.

  This time he pulled a short knife from his belt and held it to my throat.

  “Look, smartarse, you say anything again and I’ll make sure no woman will ever want you again.” He whispered in my ear.

  “Barnaby!” Tessa’s father shouted.

  Barnaby turned round and stalked off to stand beside the tables.

  Tessa’s father cleared his throat “Look, we don’t have long before Tracy and her followers come back from a supply run so can we stop with the fucking stupid comments?”

  I just nodded. I now knew that the people here were not too fond of Tracy and her gang. This could be a good thing or it could be a bad thing.

  “Okay, from what you said this morning I had someone who used to drive trucks go and find a CB. We managed to get it working and we tried to get in contact with my dad. We managed to hear him but for some reason we couldn’t transmit. So I believe you about my father being alive but until I can hear him tell me he is not a slave….well, you know.”

  I just sat there watching him and didn’t reply.

  “You can speak.” He said, looking annoyed.

  “Look, your dad had the same problem and it boiled down to not having enough juice to power the CB.” I said.

  “He might be telling the truth.” Said a man sitting beside Tessa’s dad.

  “How are we going to get enough then?” Tessa’s dad said to the other man.

  It was like watching a tennis match. For the next ten minutes they bounced ideas back and forth. I was tired and I really didn’t think they wanted me outside of my room if Tracy and her friends came back early.

  “Look, you lot can talk about this when I am back in my room. I really don’t think you would like it if I am out here if Tracy gets back and I wouldn’t want any of the kids to get hurt if she did. Because I can tell you one thing, she would go after them first.” I said.

  Tessa’s dad looked at me and nodded.

  “Barnaby, take him back to his room and make sure that cuff is put back on.”

  I stood up and waited for my escort to form up and was taken back to my room. Barnaby fastened the cuff to my ankle and left the room. Sitting back down with my back to the wall I watched as the light faded away from under the door.

  The night passed quickly and in the morning I had a visit from Tracy and Thomas.

  “Have you changed your mind?” She asked.

  “About what?” I replied, trying to look like I hadn’t a clue what she was on about.

  “You know what!” Thomas growled from beside Tracy.

  “Nope. Remind me what you wanted again?” I asked.

  “I want the code to the bunker door.” She said.

  “Oh that! Sorry, can’t give you it.” I said smiling.

  Thomas stomped across the room and slashed out with his foot catching me on the leg. I rolled over away from him.

  “You’ll fucking answer this time.” He said.

  “Listen, I can’t give you the code.”

  “You do know that you’re going to die if you don’t.” Tracy said, leaning against the wall.

  “Oh, yeah, I know that and I also know that even if I tell you it, I’m dead.” I said, looking over at her. “So for me it’s a no-win situation.”

  She seemed to think on that for a few minutes.

  “What if I said you wouldn’t be harmed if you told us?” She said, trying to look all sincere.

  I laughed out loud and said “I would rather chance it with a room of infected than trust anything you say.”

  “Come on, Thomas, let’s see if he is more talkative tomorrow.” She said and turned to leave with Thomas trailing behind her.

  The door closed and I rolled onto my back on the mattress. The room was starting to smell like the toilets in a pub. Because they hadn’t seen fit to give me anything to go in, I had taken to pissing against the wall. God only knew what this place would smell like if I had to take a dump. I needed to get out of here. But I wanted to see if Tessa’s dad had managed to get in touch with the bunker. If that happened, I could see things changing really quickly here. From the conversation last night, I could see that Tracy hadn’t become a welcomed member of this group.

  I hoped that if they managed to get in touch with the bunker, then David and Chris would come to get me. Amy was a different matter. I hadn’t a clue if she had survived the crash. In my heart I hoped she had either by saving herself or by David and Chris coming back to get her. The dog, I couldn’t really care less about.

  For the next few hours I lay watching the clouds drift passed the window. It seemed like the best thing to do. I heard footsteps coming down the hallway and lifted myself into a sitting position and watched the door. It slowly opened and Thomas stepped inside and closed it behind him. He stood there watching me before sitting on the floor.

  “Marc, we both know what Tracy is like and I want you to understand that I don’t go along with what she wants.” He said, looking me in the eyes.

  “Really? Well, that makes everything all better, doesn’t it?” I said staring back at him.

  “Come on, man. I was just following orders when I hit you.” He said, looking down at the floor.

  To tell you the truth, I didn’t have a clue what was going on. What I did know, though, was that he wasn’t telling me the truth. I’d had the wool pulled over my eyes by Tracy in the past and it wasn’t happening again.

  “Okay, Tommy boy, what do you want?” I asked.

  His eye’s seemed to tighten when I called him Tommy boy. That was something to put aside for future use.

  “The only way you might get out of this is if you have a pal on the inside. You know, someone to help out.” He said.

  “And how are you going to help me out then? Are you going to let me go? Or are you going to get me a weapon so I can escape?” I asked.

  “To be honest, I don’t know what yet. But I will try somehow.”

  “Okay, I’ll tell you what. Once you figure out what it is, come and let me know.” I said, laying back down and rolling on to my side, with my back to him.

  “Fine.” Was all that he said as I heard him stand, open the door and walk out of the room.

  What the hell was that about? Did he or Tracy really think I was so desperate to fall for something like that? Still, he might have been telling the truth. He might not like the idea of working for Tracy, but he might also want the bunker for himself and his gang. God, this is beginning to give a headache. Just the idea of accepting his help made my skin crawl.

  I must have been in my own little world, because the door opened and Tessa walked in with a breakfast bar and bottle of water. I hadn’t heard anyone walking down the hallway so I really must have been thinking a lot.

  “Here is something to eat.” She said, handing the breakfast bar and water to me.

  I saw her nose wrinkle at the smell of the room.

  “Sorry for the smell, but I have to pee somewhere.” I said

  “It’s alright. I used to smell worse when I worked in my dad’s pub.” She said.

  “Yeah, well, it might have been better if I had a bucket or something and you want to be grateful that I haven’t needed a number two yet.” I said.

  “We were told not to let you have a bucket in case you managed to use it as a weapon.”

  “I can just see me wielding a bucket full of shit like a mace.” I replied, laughing at the image of shit flying everywhere I swung the bucket.

  Tessa just smiled and said “I have to get back. But I do have a message from dad. They have found better car batteries and if they can ra
ise granddad and what you have said about the bunker is true, he and the others will help get you out, in return for your help getting us all to the bunker.”

  “You can tell your dad I will do everything in my power to get you all there.” I said, smiling.

  Tessa nodded and walked out the room. The visit from Tracy and her little puppy Thomas, had started my day badly. Then the cryptic visit by Thomas had just confused me, and now the good news from Tessa’s dad.

  I ate the breakfast bar and drank the bottle of water, all the while pondering what might happen next. Tessa’s visit had me feeling better than I had since I woke up on the floor. Sitting on the floor for the rest of the day I sat watching a spider create a web in the corner of the room. The way it slowly started with a single thread and ended with a work of art surprised me. If only I had that kind of dedication and concentration then maybe I wouldn’t have been in this mess. I heard moaning coming from outside of the window and my head shot up. Not hearing and shouts or any kind of alarm I thought nothing of it and went back to watching my eight-legged friend complete his or her work.

  Chapter Three

  After a short while I heard some shouting and feet running down the hallway. I stood up and faced the door.

  Tessa’s dad barged inside and said “The infected have managed to get inside somehow. We need everyone’s help to fight them off.”

  “What’s in it for me?” I asked.

  He looked shocked and then angry.

  “What do you mean? You have to help!” He said.

  “You’ve had me tied up in here for the last few days and now that you have a problem, you want my help. Like I said, what’s in it for me?”

  “Tracy and her gang have fucked off and you’re the only one left that has any experience in fighting them.” He said.

  I looked at his face and I could tell he was worried about the people left here.

  “Okay fine. Get me loose and I’ll help.” I said.

  He walked over and unfastened the cuff round my ankle and let the chain fall to the ground. Quickly, he ran out of the room and into the hallway and I followed. We headed back to the doors to the central room. We burst inside and found men, women and children cowering in the corners of it. Tessa was standing facing some double doors that had furniture piled up in front of them.

  “Okay, Tessa’s dad, what’s your name?” I asked.

  “Mike.” He said, turning to look at me.

  “Okay, Mike. I want you to get all the women and children together and spread them out in those rooms we just passed. Make sure they take food and water with them. I want the doors closed and for the women to lock them from the inside. The doors to that hallway will be our fall-back position. I want all the men to get their hands on anything that can be used as a club or spear. The only way to kill them is by trauma to the head. Get started on that and I’ll go see where our guests are.” I said.

  Turning away from Mike I headed to the double doors and clambered over the furniture to take a look through the small window in one of the doors. I couldn’t see any movement on the other side, but just because I couldn’t see them didn’t mean that they weren’t out there. I heard the smashing of furniture and turned to see half a dozen men smashing some chairs and tables. One man had ripped a four foot length of pipe from the wall and was thrusting it forward and back like a medieval pike. Tessa was herding the women and children down the hallway and into the empty rooms.

  A movement on the other side of the doors caught my eye and I saw three infected lurch into view. Only three of them. This was going to be easy, but as you’ve guessed it I spoke to soon and another eight appeared and then four more. Bloody hell, we were up shit creek. If I had my rifle it might not have been too bad, but I could more than likely guarantee that Tracy or one of her gang had it.

  I had to make sure, though, so I shouted over to Mike “Has Tracy or one of her goons got my rifle?”

  Mike looked over and said “Yeah, that Thomas had it the last time that I saw it.”

  “Shit.”

  “But I do have your pistol, though.” He said running over to a desk opening the drawer and pulling out my 9mm Sig.

  I nearly cried for joy and I also nearly broke my neck jumping down from the stack of furniture. I stumbled over and grabbed the pistol out of his hand and worked the slide to check it was loaded. Pulling out the mag, I had eight rounds in it. Not enough to put all the infected down, but if I had another mag I might be laughing.

  “Are there any more mags or rounds?” I asked.

  “Sorry, but that’s all it has. That was why Tracy let us have it.” Mike said, looking at the floor.

  “Look, don’t worry about it. Let’s gather everyone and I’ll give you a quick rundown on what you need to know when fighting the infected.” I said.

  We gathered in the centre of the room just as the infected started to bang on the doors behind the barricade.

  “Okay, taking on the infected is not too hard. All you need to remember is keep space between you and them. If they manage to grab you then they will go for a bite. They are slow movers but when they lunge they can be quite quick. Remember they only die by head trauma so you may have to hit them more than once to finish them off. If one falls to the ground and is still moving, stomp on its neck. That will sever the spinal column and keep them down till we finish the others off. As far as I can see there are fifteen of them out there. I am going to head over and see if I can thin them out a little using what shots I have left. Hopefully there will only be about five or six for us to deal with when I am finished.” I said, heading back to the doorway.

  Climbing over the furniture I stood with my legs apart aiming through the glass at the infected as they slammed their rotten hands and bodies against the doors. With each slam I could feel the jumble of furniture move under my feet. Taking aim, I sighted on a male and sighted on his ruined face. His eyes were both hanging out of their sockets on the optical nerves. How he could see where he was going was beyond me. The rest of his face looked like it had been peeled from his skull leaving muscle and scraps of flesh hanging off the bone underneath. His body slammed against the doors in a sort of rhythm. Slowly pulling on the trigger I held the pistol as level as I could. Considering the movement of the furniture pile under my feet, it was hard going. The pistol bucked in my hand as the bang echoed round the room and created a spider webbed hole in the small glass window.

  The shot took the infected just to the right of his nose and must have ricochet upward into his brain. It left his skull through the crown and sprayed green and red back down the hallway and over the other infected.

  I watched as a female infected stepped on top of her fallen friend. The doors shuddered and the pile of furniture moved more. Quickly snapping off shot after shot I managed to put her down and another five infected before my slide locked back. So out of the fifteen infected I had managed to take down nearly half. I clambered down the pile and joined the others in the centre of the room and Mike passed me a club made out of a table leg.

  “Well?” Mike asked.

  “Seven down and that leaves eight that I could see.” I said, looking at the shaking pile of furniture.

  “Dad, I’m scared.” Tessa said.

  Spinning round, I saw Tessa stood at the back of the group.

  “Tessa, what are you doing here? I asked for all the women and children to hide out in the other rooms.” I said.

  She actually looked upset with me saying that.

  “I said she could stay and help us out.” Mike said.

  “Fine. Just make sure you only take one infected on. When they break through, make sure you have enough space between you and the person next to you.” I reminded them.

  We all spread out to other areas of the room and waited. Tessa was standing near to me and her hands were shaking as she held her table leg club.

  “Tessa, try to stay behind me and watch my back. I’ll try and keep them off you.” I said.

  She looked over
and mouthed ‘Thank You’ at the same moment there was a crash as furniture fell to the floor. I turned and watched as the whole pile of furniture in front of the doors moved further into the room as the infected pushed on the other side. I could see grey hands pushing through the gap between the doors. It wasn’t going to be much longer before they got inside. Tessa moved behind me and to one of the corners of the room. I walked forward so I would be the first thing the infected saw when they entered. The doors finally gave way but the infected were still stuck on the other side of the stacked furniture. On seeing me, they let out a moan so loud I heard Tessa whimper.

  “Remember to try and keep them spaced out. If you get more than one on you, run away. Because if you don’t, you’ll soon be joining them.” I shouted over the noise.

  The infected started to crawl over the top of the blockade. As the first one toppled down the other side I stepped up and with an overhand I smashed the table leg into the back of its head. It slumped to the floor and immediately tried to get back up. Lifting my foot I brought it down with all the strength I had on the back of its neck, and was greeted by the crunch of bones breaking. I had to skip back because just as I started to grind my foot on its neck another infected tumbled down the pile and nearly knocked me over. Mike steamed passed me and shoved an infected into the corner of the room and then backed up to deliver a side swing that took its head clean off its shoulders sending it bouncing over to the other side of the room. A scream had me spinning round to see two infected kneeling over one of our group chewing at his arms and legs. Running over, I slammed the table leg into one of the two faces lifting the infected up and on to its back. This time I reversed the table leg and hammered it down on the face of the infected smashing the nose and what remained of its one eye into its skull with a squelchingcrunching noise. The infected shuddered and then lay still. The other men were cowering in the corners of the room as Mike and I tried to kill the infected before there were any further casualties.