Next thing I know is Tessa has flew across the room and using her table leg like cricket bat has launched the other munching infected off the poor defender. The infected landed on its head with a sickening crunch and didn’t move anymore. We only had three other infected to deal with and they were slowly lurching toward the other defenders that were standing doing nothing but cry and hold their weapons out as if just holding them would keep the infected at bay. I body slammed one of the infected from behind and as it landed on the floor, the defender that had the pipe ran forward and stabbed it through the back of its skull. Tessa tried to follow the same tactic but found out to late that she didn’t have the body mass to knock the infected down and only ended up falling on her arse. The infected lurched round and saw her sitting on the floor and went for her. Mike had seen all this and side tackled the infected to the ground and as they both hit the floor rolled off and away. Running after the last infected I rammed the table leg into the back of its head and slammed it off the wall where it left a large smear of green and red as it slid to the floor. Turning round, I saw Tessa and her father both slamming their clubs into the infected on the floor sending bone, blood and green slime spraying out in a fan pattern.
That only left the defender that had been bitten and was now lying against the wall crying and moaning. Taking the pipe from the defender that had actually had the balls to help, I walked over and bent down.
“Sorry, buddy.” I said, looking him in the eyes.
He stopped crying and looked at me.
“Not…not you’re…fault. I should…have been quicker.” He said.
I sighed before saying “What’s your name?”
“Dave.” He coughed out.
“Dave, you saved a lot of lives today, mate. You have nothing to be sorry about.” I said, feeling sorry for the man.
“I managed to…save my…my…my wife and daughter.” He said as his eyes started to close.
“That you did, mate. That you did.” I said, standing.
I watched as he breathed his last breaths and then he just stopped. I didn’t want him coming back as an infected so I drove the pipe through his eye socket and into his brain. Pulling it free, I dropped it to the floor. Taking Dave by the shoulders, I lowered him to the ground and closed his remaining eye. Looking about the room I saw a jacket lying in a corner. Standing, I walked over, picked it up and returned to drape it over Dave’s corpse. I could hear Tessa crying behind me. Bowing my head, I said a short prayer and hoped that he found his way to whatever lay after this mess.
I now had something else to hate Tracy and her goon squad for. But first I need to have a little chat with our would-be defenders.
Turning round, I pointed at the defender who had used the pipe.
“Can you go and stand with Mike and his daughter, please.” I said.
He nodded and went over to where Mike was holding Tessa. Turning back to look at the other defenders, I smiled.
“Well, that went better than I thought it might.” I said. They all started to smile. “WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU LOT GOT TO SMILE ABOUT?” I screamed.
Without looking, I pointed over to Dave’s covered corpse and said “If just one of you had the balls to help, he might not have died and he would be holding his family. His death is on your hands and you lot are going to find a way to inform his family that you let him die. And don’t fucking think that Mike or I will be doing it for you. Now go and let the women and children know it’s safe to come out.” I said, turning my back on them.
Mike walked over as the defenders left the room to go and get the women and children.
“Don’t you think that was a bit harsh?” He asked.
“No.” Was all I said.
I walked passed him and sat down with my back to the wall and my legs stretched out in front. Tessa walked over and stood looking down at me.
“What?” I asked.
“You really do know what you’re doing, don’t you?” She asked.
“What the fuck do you mean about that?”
“You didn’t stop. You just headed straight in there and killed them without thinking about it.”
“Look, if I had to stop and think about it every time I came across one of them, well, let’s just say I’d be dead.”
“It was nice what you did for Dave, letting him slip away and then making sure he never came back.” She said.
“Yeah, well, I hope that someone does that for me when the time comes. By the way, you might want your dad to get someone to move these dead bodies before the women and children come in here.” I said.
She looked slightly disappointed with me saying that, but to tell you the truth, I couldn’t give a shit. I was coming down off of an adrenalin high and that always made me slightly grumpy. Tessa left me to myself and went over to talk with her dad. Mike got two of the men to roll the bodies up in sheets and drag them out of the room. I watched as Mike spoke with a woman and two kids. They all broke down and started crying. They must have been Dave’s family. Shaking my head, I stood up and went over the blockade and started to pull it apart. I needed something to do. I couldn’t be thinking on the dead or what I had done, so the next best thing was to keep myself busy. After a short while the other survivors started to help move the furniture away from the doors.
Chapter Four
Once they were clear, I started to walk toward them when I heard a male voice from behind me.
“You leaving?” He asked.
I turned round and found myself facing Mike.
“No. But I do want to find out how those infected got in here.” I said.
“That’s been puzzling me as well. If you don’t mind the company, I’d like to have a look as well.” He said, coming to stand next to me.
“It’s your building, you know it better than what I do.” I said.
He walked through the double doors and into the hallway. Following him through the doors I wondered what this place was. The hallway ended at a T-junction and we stopped.
“When you looked through the window did you see which way they came from?” Mike asked.
Looking back toward the doors I had to think.
“Err…the left, from what I can remember.” I said.
“Shit!” Mike, setting off at a run.
Running after him, I followed as he took first a left turn and then a right coming to a large open area. On one wall was a large roller shutter door which had been pushed up. Mike walked over and was looking close to the floor. I looked over his shoulder and saw the remains of what looked like some kind of welding.
“What’s wrong, Mike?” I asked.
He turned and said “We welded these doors closed when we first got here. It was the only doors that we never found the locks for.”
I crouched down and looked at the welding. Someone had forced it open again and it didn’t take two guesses to figure out who it was.
“Looks like Tracy didn’t want to share the bunker with you.” I said, standing up.
“That fucking bitch.” Was all he said, as he stomped round the room.
“Look, you and your group are not safe here. We need to get you all to the bunker.” I said.
But we haven’t been able to get in touch with my dad.” Mike said.
I laughed “Don’t worry about that. The drive leading up to the bunker is covered by cameras and once they see me I think everything will be okay. The only problem we have is I don’t know where I am and if we have any vehicles to get us there.”
“Vehicles are not a problem. We have a coach that can carry us all. As to where we are, well, you’re in for a surprise.” He said, smiling.
“Come on, don’t hold me in suspense.” I said, smiling. Mike had a similar personality to mine.
“Thorne.” He said.
To say my jaw dropped was an understatement. Chris could have walked in and yelled surprise and I would have fucking fainted.
“You’re joking?” I asked.
“No. How else do you th
ink Tracy knew where to set up the ambush? She and her group had seen you head into the village and set up the ambush on the road you came in on.”
“Okay. So I know how to get back to the bunker from here. Let’s get everyone together and load them up and get fuck out of here.” I said.
“Marc, I know we got off to a bad start but thank you.” He said, holding his hand out.
Taking it, we shook and then headed back to the main hall. As we headed back I asked where in the village we were. He told me that this was once the school for the village but then the council closed it down. They all knew this place because nearly all of them had gone to school here and they also knew it could be secured easily. We reached the hall and Mike headed off to let everyone know what was happening and what we needed to do. I stood at the doors and watched as people started to rush round gathering things and shoving them into bags and black plastic sacks.
Tessa ran over and asked “Is it true, did Tracy open the roller door?”
“It looks that way.” I said.
“Dad said you’re going to take us all to the bunker.”
“Yeah, but you’ve all got get your arses in gear. The last thing we want is for Tracy and her goons to come back.” I said.
She looked shocked at the thought and ran off to get everyone ready.
After an hour of running around everyone was ready to go and Mike lead us outside to the car park. Stood in the middle of it sat a hundred seat coach. We were all quiet as we headed over to it. Mike opened the doors and everyone filed inside. Mike and I were the last two on board.
Once the doors were closed I asked “Who’s driving this thing?”
Mike sat down in the driver’s seat and said “I am. After all, it is my coach.”
I smiled and said “Cool. That makes me the tour guide.”
He laughed and started the engine. We slowly headed out of the car park and toward where I had crashed the Land Rover. We passed a few infected as we headed through the village and the turned to follow the coach. Reaching the spot where the silver Land Rover lay I got Mike to stop so I could have a look. Climbing down the ditch I yanked open the passenger side door and my heart leapt. Amy wasn’t inside and from what I could see she hadn’t been found by the infected. Even the stupid dog wasn’t there. Of course the supplies we had tried to get were gone. Tracy wouldn’t have left them. Smiling, I climbed back up the ditch and on to the coach.
“Judging by the stupid grin. I can guess she wasn’t there.” Mike said.
“No, she wasn’t, and it didn’t look as if the infected got to her, either.” I said.
“That’s great news. Maybe she got another car and headed to the bunker, or maybe your other friends came back and got her.” He said starting the coach up and pulling away from the wrecked Land Rover.
We continued heading back to the bunker when I got a strange feeling. Leaving the front of the coach I headed to the back seats and looked out the rear window. In the distance I could see something catch the light. Squinting hard I could see the windshield of a car. Shit. Tracy.
Running back to the front of the coach I told Mike and Tessa what I had seen out the rear window.
“The fucking bitch knew I would bring you to the bunker.” I said, sitting down.
“Is there any way that we can let the bunker know?” Tessa asked.
“If we had managed to sort out the CB radio, yeah. But your dad said they never had time, what with the infected getting inside.” I said.
We had to think of some way to slow Tracy and her goons down. If we could, then there may be a chance to have some rifles ready for them when they turned up.
A lad in his early teens stood up and came forward. Stopping short, he said “Err…I know that I’m just a kid but I have an idea.”
“Listen, bud, if you have a way to slow them down I will personally train you on any weapon you want.” I said.
Heading back to his seat he reached underneath and pulled out a small backpack. Bringing it up to the front of the coach he opened it and showed me what was inside. I started laughing and thought karma can be such a bitch.
Tessa looked puzzled and asked “What’s in there?”
“Show her.” I said, pointing at the bag.
The young lad pulled out a metal caltrop made from two six inch nails bent together and sharped on all four points. They were designed so that no matter how they fell two points would be sticking up and they were long enough to puncture tires.
Mike looked in the rear view mirror and said “You have got to be fucking with me! Tony, where in God’s name did you get those from?”
The kid named Tony looked at the floor and said “I made them before the infection and had them in my backpack. I brought them along because I never knew when they might come in handy.”
I looked at the roof of the coach and thought ‘God, you are one crafty bugger. Here we are needing your help and you send a kid named Tony to the rescue. Thank you.’
Looking at Mike I said grinning “Round the next bend stop and we’ll go and spread a little happiness.”
“Not a problem.” Mike said.
He slowed down for the next bend and then stopped just after it. Tony and I climbed down from the coach and headed toward the back. Stopping about five meters away from the rear we started to spread Tony’s toys all over the road. Once the bag was empty we ran and jumped back on board. Mike pulled away and we continued toward the bunker. I asked Tessa and Tony to go look out of the rear window and tell me if they saw anything happen. After a while Tony came to the front and said that they couldn’t see the car anymore. I smiled and again thanked God for his help.
After a couple of hours we came to the stretch of road where the track leading to the bunker was. I got Mike to stop just before the entrance and climbed down. Walking over to where the track met the road I waved at the camera hidden high in the tree overlooking the road. I even smiled and flipped it the middle finger. Getting back on board the coach, I got Mike to slowly head up the track to the bunker. As we crested the hill I saw the A.P.C. stood next to the bunker entrance.
“Take it easy getting down there.” I said.
“Why? Are they going to start shooting?” Tessa asked.
“I wouldn’t think so, but they might not feel to welcoming if they know that you were keeping me hostage.” I said.
“Tessa, he has a point. How about we stay on the coach when your friends come out?” Mike said.
“Might be a good idea. Let’s just keep the hostage thing between us, okay? Let’s just say that they were keeping us all hostage. It will make it easier.” I said.
Mike and Tessa nodded and we headed down to the entrance to the bunker.
Chapter Five
Pulling up outside I left the coach and went to stand in front of the hatch and waited. After about ten minutes I heard the familiar clunk and hiss of the hatch being opened. I looked over my shoulder at the faces watching from the coach and gave them the thumbs up. Turning back, I got hit full on by Amy as she ran from the hatch and straight into me.
She was crying and pulled my face down for a very passionate kiss.
“We thought you were dead.” She said through kisses.
I gently held her away from me and said “No, definitely not dead. Tracy was holding me and these other people hostage.” Pointing to the coach behind me.
Then I saw Chris and David come lumbering out of the hatch with huge grins on each of their faces.
Chris turned to David and said “That’s a bottle of scotch you owe me.”
David just grinned at me.
“You two been betting on my life already?” I asked.
Amy laughed and said “They were doing it as they dragged me out of the Land Rover.”
“Who are the survivors?” David asked pointing at the people getting off the coach.
I waved Mike and Tessa over and said “I was kidnapped by Tracy and her goons. These people were kept hostage as well. She wanted the code to the bunk
er.”
Chris laughed “You don’t know the fucking code.”
“I did try telling her but you know what she was like!” I said.
“Yeah, a fucking spiteful cow.” He said.
“Anyway, might be an idea to get this lot inside. We might be having guests soon and I would rather have a rifle in my hands than a table leg.” I said.
“A table leg?” Amy asked.
“Long story. I let you all know what happened later.”
We managed to get all the survivors inside and it took a further twenty minutes to get them down to the dining room. Mike, Tessa and Jake had a tearful reunion when he walked into it. We were all happy that a family had been brought back together but my first port of call was a shower and a fresh change of clothes. Leaving Chris and the others to help the survivors get settled I headed for the lifts. I was standing at the doors waiting when I felt a soft touch to my hand and looked round to see Amy stood beside me.
“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked.
“Not much to say really. Got kidnaped, made new friends, escaped and found my way home.” I said.
The doors opened and I walked inside with Amy following. The journey down to the fourth floor was in silence. Exiting the lift we headed for my room. Opening the door I was bowled over by a huge flash of white fur. My face was getting a thorough cleaning by the dog we had found in Thorne. Amy was standing laughing at me as I was trying to get out from underneath it.
“We brought her down here when we got back and she wouldn’t leave unless Philip came and got her. For some reason she thinks you’re her master and she has been howling something rotten ever since the accident. I suppose we should have paid attention. She never gave up on you being alive.” Amy said.
Spiteful (The Infected Book 3) Page 3