Snatchers (A Zombie Novel)

by Shaun Whittington

  He obviously decided against it, and decided to see if people in the hotel were okay. He walked around the hotel, checking numerous doors for which he had the cardkey for all of them. Most people had already left the hotel; some stayed and there were three occasions that Robbie never received an answer and opened the door to see that the people that were staying had reanimated, and had probably caught the virus while out. How, he didn't know. Unless, they were attacked, bit or scratched by an infected rogue whilst out in the town, and then came back to the hotel as a safe refuge and feeling unwell. He didn't have the answers.

  This was a piece of information he didn't want to share with Jack, as he looked a nervous wreck as it was without informing him that some of these things were in the building, albeit, now locked in their rooms.

  He wasn't sure if this was an airborne or a rabies-type virus that they were talking about on the TV. What he did know, was that it was happening, and he needed to be with his family. His priority wasn't to work out how this happened, it was to stay alive for his family and protect them.

  But Robbie couldn't just go home. For a start, he relied on public transport—which wasn't going to happen for the foreseeable future. The fear of the outside had kept Robbie in the hotel temporarily, but was still planning on leaving eventually. Thank God he had met Jack, he thought. He was ready to go home and be with his family. Luckily, instead of now walking it, he now had a lift, thanks to Jack Slade.

  Chapter Eleven

  "Where're we gonna go?"

  Jamie Thomson already had the answer to Janine's question. "Anywhere in the countryside. The less populated, the less danger."

  He grabbed a stave from the bubble's locker and went into a storeroom in F wing.

  Janine was left alone while Jamie was on F wing, and she could feel a quiver in her throat that slowly made its way up into her face. Her cheeks wobbled, her bottom lip palpitated and her eyes watered. She was trying her hardest to contain her sobbing and was doing it successfully to a certain degree, and although it was abundantly clear she was upset, her emotions were being refused by the young woman to surface. She gulped hard a few times as if that would help, and to her surprise, it did.

  She thought about her parents and knew they would be safe if they locked themselves in the house and didn't try anything rash or stupid. To her own surprise, her mind wandered and she thought about her ex-boyfriend, Chris, who she had been with for three years. She didn't know why she thought of him; Chris had been with someone else for the last six months, but what was happening now had somewhat proved that she still had feelings for him; otherwise, she wouldn't be feeling the way she was feeling.

  I hope he's okay.

  She loved Chris; although he was hopeless in bed, it never bothered her too much. Chris was less endowed compared to her previous two lovers and this clearly affected his confidence, and even after three months of being together, the sex was a routine. Bedroom—Lights off—Same position—Two minutes—No orgasm.

  She didn't want to upset him and dent his confidence even more, so the bedroom antics was never brought up, as it ended up becoming something to get out the way. So her astonishment was justified, when she found out he had been cheating on her with a work colleague at his branch. She wished nothing but the best for him as he left, and despite the cheating and his lack of desire and excitement in the bedroom, he was still the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with and have children with.

  Jamie returned with a rolled up duvet under each arm; he threw one to Janine.

  He put the bag on his back; Janine didn't ask him what was in it. She assumed it was the contents of the staffs' fridge. They both left the bubble and walked onto H wing and walked through the door that led to the exercise yard. Their sensitive eyes were greeted with the blinding sun. It was twenty-three degrees, a cold day for the population of Mexico City, but it was considered a hot day for the British.

  They both looked at the top of the exercise fence, and both simultaneously dropped their duvets on the floor. There was no need for them, as the top of the fence that used to be covered in barbed wire was now covered in eighty cells worth of duvets, pillows and sheets from the prisoners when they escaped—or when they were released. They both approached the fence where they could see that they were a few hundred yards from the exit. They could see the huge slider door near the gatehouse, and two escorting vans that were used to take prisoners to court and back.

  They both tried to climb the fence; the holes were so tiny it made the task a lot more arduous than it should have been. Behind them, dozens of frantic male voices could be heard coming from the windows of the other house block, all begging for their lives to be spared. There was nothing either Jamie or Janine could do for them.

  "Try and ignore them," Jamie said to his female colleague.

  Janine managed to get her petite frame over the fence before Jamie. Unfortunately for Jamie, he had the bigger hands and feet, that were making it near impossible, but the heavy goods on his back as well didn't help. He thought about throwing the bag over the fence, but was worried if the tins and bottles inside would burst.

  Janine waited at the bottom of the fence as she watched Jamie swing himself over to the other side and began to climb down slowly and tentatively. Janine was guessing that Jamie might be scared of heights.

  Once he reached the bottom, they wordlessly jogged toward the ten-foot slider door, which was the only thing that prevented them from getting to the outside. Janine looked through the gap of the slider door and nudged Jamie in the side and pointed toward a field outside the prison grounds. Jamie also took a look through the gap and they could see about twenty figures walking away from the grounds; they were definitely inmates and must have been the last lot Jamie had released. They didn't seem in too much of a rush, but then again, they weren't escaping; they had been released. The danger was now waiting for them in the outside world, so the cons' hesitancy was perfectly understandable.

  As both officers approached the gate, Jamie placed his hands on his knees, bent over and waited a minute to catch his breath. He refrained from reaching for a drink of water in his bag, and took out his class two key. He had three sets of keys, class one, two and three.

  The class one key was for doors such as the linen room, the workshops, etc. The class two key was for outside gates, and the class three key was for the cells on house block two. House block one keys were different. Officers couldn't use a house block two key on house block one. It was all to do with security, and it had been successful, as the prison had not experienced any escapes, until today.

  Jamie opened up the gatehouse office with his key, not surprised to see it deserted. The gatehouse was the entrance that was used by officers and visitors. Each individual would enter the gatehouse, sign in, and then empty their pockets, take off their shoes and walk through a metal detector.

  Jamie took a look around as Janine waited patiently outside; there was no sign of panic or disorder, and the gatehouse office was immaculate, apart from one coffee cup that had a full cup of cold coffee in it. It belonged to Alan Davies. Jamie knew that because he recognised the cup. In red print, it had: Sex Instructor! First lesson free.

  He half-smiled to himself when he saw it; he hoped that Alan and his family would pull through this crisis—whatever it was.

  He noticed a can of cola sitting on the desk, he looked behind him and selfishly opened the can and drunk it within thirty seconds, wetting his rusty-like throat. He felt guilty for not telling or sharing with Janine, but the action had taken place now, and there was no time to dwell on it.

  He took a set of keys off one of the hooks, and he looked at the key fob to look at what license plate number had been typed onto it. He then turned the red switch that opened the main slider, which was a huge steel door that was opened and used when vans came back from court and whenever deliveries would arrive. The huge slider could only be operated from the gatehouse so once the slider was opened, and the officers had left, it
would remain open. Jamie knew that a handful of prisoners had chose to stay behind, but the slider remaining open never concerned him. The cons were given an opportunity to leave, so it was up to them to take it.

  Once the large door eventually opened fully, Jamie took his work keys and threw them to the floor. They were of no use to him on the outside, and the radio he had disbanded earlier only worked on an internal network within the prison grounds and was controlled by people from the control room.

  He left the gatehouse for the last time, the door automatically locked behind him once he closed it. Janine also disposed of her equipment, and the pair of them headed for the carrier van.

  There were two prison vans. The one that they took was a white INVESCO, ten thousand kilo diesel van. It had seven cells, a guard seat, a storage locker and a fridge. The other van was similar, but bigger, and Jamie was quite happy to stick to the smaller one that he had chosen, simply because it was smaller, and would need less petrol to move about.

  Janine got into the front, once Jamie opened it by pressing the button on the key fob.

  "Hang on a minute," Jamie spoke to his female confederate.

  He ran to the back of the van and began to empty his rucksack, putting the assortment of food and bottles of water into the van's fridge. He threw the bag into the store cupboard and was pleased to see two large jerry cans full of petrol. It was probably only enough to fill half the tank, but it was better than nothing. Jamie had a feeling that most petrol stations may have been sucked dry, and with no individuals to deliver more fuel, it wouldn't be long before the whole country would have to use their feet as transportation.

  He double checked the seven cells to see if they were empty—he didn't know why he did this—and jumped back out, closed the back doors and got into the front. He started the engine and saw the fuel gauge was full. He blew out his cheeks and a smile developed on his face, Janine looked at the gauge and she also smiled.

  The van left the premises and drove onto the car park; both individuals looked back at their cars sitting on their own. In the car park sat Janine's Renault Clio and Jamie's beloved Porsche, but they weren't practical now; a bulky van carrying food and water was far more practical and safer than their vehicles. Janine's phone was hidden in the glove compartment of her car, as they weren't allowed to take them into the prison in case an inmate somehow managed to steal one of them. Jamie knew that she always kept hers in her car.

  "Do you want your phone? Mine's at home," he asked Janine, as the van slowly pulled out of the car park.

  She looked at Jamie with suspicion. And what if you've changed your mind and drive off? Get the van all to yourself.

  Soaked with paranoia, she murmured, "Just go."

  Their smile turned into a frown, as they knew things would never be the same again. A lot of situations went through Jamie's head, things that he had forgotten to do. He thought that if he and Janine had stayed behind for a bit longer and had more time to think, they could have broken into the numerous vending machines around the prison. It was only chocolate and crisps, but it was food nevertheless and could come in handy one of the days. He also thought about the huge bottles that were inserted into the water coolers; they could have raided the storage cupboard and filled the back of the van with a few gallons of water. And what about the other prison van? If he wasn't in such a panic, he could have spent a few minutes trying to siphon the fuel out of the other van.

  It was too late now; he didn't want to stop. At least they had some food and water. He knew why Janine wanted to stay behind, but what kind of a life would that be? There were resources out there in the big world: fuel, food, and maybe even shelter. Jamie wanted to live the best he could in such a dire situation, not hiding in some cold dark prison, munching on crisps and eating cold tins of beans stolen from the inmates' cells.

  Their windows were down on this glorious day—weather wise, and both individuals had their elbows resting on the side of the door. As soon as they spotted danger, the windows would be immediately up.

  Janine finally spoke. "I wonder how all of this happened?"

  Jamie kept his eyes on the road; he never looked toward Janine or made any facial expression to suggest he had heard what she said. Jamie's answer to Janine's question wasn't quite the answer she was looking for, but he felt he was correct with his attitude.

  "Doesn't matter what the cause was, or where it came from." He finally looked at Janine with his face devoid of any emotion. "Whatever it is, it's here. It's how we deal with it from now on, that's all that matters now."

  Chapter Twelve

  David Pointer made sure he was the last to get into the attic, and after he pulled up the ladders, he closed the hatch. What used to be used as storage was now going to be their home for God knows how long. Of course, they would be allowed to stay on the first floor during the day and use the toilet, etc, but David wanted his family in the attic right now, on the second floor.

  He didn't know how many of those things were out there or how strong they were. He had come to the conclusion that if they remained in the attic for a day, and he checked out the house to see that there was no destruction and no sign of those things trying to get in, they could live on the first floor of the house, but would have to sleep in the attic for safety purposes.

  The downstairs was reasonably blocked off, making it difficult for even a normal human to get in. He and Davina had also moved a cupboard on top of the stairs for added protection.

  David said, "I'm gonna go and search next door, see if there's any food we can have. We don't have that much."

  "What? Isn't that stealing?"

  "Let's not go through this again. I don't think the Nobles will be too bothered; they're in New York for Christ's sake."

  "I dunno."

  David walked around the small attic, and his anxiousness was already annoying a nervy Davina. "Remember that documentary we saw the other month?" David queried.

  "Funny, I was thinking exactly the same thing. Are you talking about the Toxoplasma Gondii thing?"

  "I think it was that."

  The two of them were interrupted by young Isobel, and Davina continued to speak. "Just seems a tad hard to believe that a housecat can infect a thousand people every day with Toxoplasma just for eating an infected rat, and causing people to go…well, mad. Do you think that could be what's happening?"

  "What else could it be? What did you make of what we saw on the TV?"

  Davina never answered, as she didn't have a clue.

  David kneeled down and kissed his wife who was sitting on the floor now playing with her daughter. He kissed her on the lips and gave her a playful wink; as he stood up she grabbed his trouser leg and glared at him with consternation.

  She said, "You don't have to do this."

  He placed the knife and hammer by his wife's side, and put the rucksack back onto his back.

  "I know." He placed his hand over his mouth before he released a cough. "But we need to get as much food as we can. We have a fridge and a cooker that are downstairs but if the electrics go, we'll be eating out of tins for the foreseeable future, and we don't have enough tins. And how long do you think the milk's gonna last? Did you bring enough cutlery with you from the kitchen?"

  Davina nodded.

  "Better get the tin opener to some use." David placed a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder. "Our Babs is gonna be hungry soon."

  "Cold macaroni it is," Davina said with a shimmer of emotion that forced her to put her hand over her mouth. Here eyes glistened, but the tears remained in their home.

  "What's wrong, mummy?" Isobel looked up, holding one of her dolls. "What's daddy done now?"

  Both parents began to chortle audibly; David could feel his heart murmuring as he stared at his little girl. What kind of future was she going to have?

  Then Isobel asked, "Mummy, can I play with your iPad?" Isobel was referring to the educational games that Davina would allow Isobel to play on as a treat.

  "I
forgot it, love," Davina spoke regrettably, and she then turned to David. "I left my phone downstairs as well."

  "We'll get everything up, eventually. Don't worry."

  David leaned over and kissed both his girls on the forehead, opened the skylight and popped his head out and looked all around. He was hoping that the roof tiles weren't as slippery as they looked. He could see his neighbour's skylight that sat twenty yards away. "Pass me that hammer."

  Davina passed him the claw hammer; he blew her a kiss and told her to shut the window.

  "What's it like out there?" she asked from below.

  David was now out of the house and crouched on the roof; he looked at the sun and cloudless sky and took a deep breath in. "Peaceful."

  He blew his bemused daughter a kiss who was wondering what he was up to, and she remained glaring at her daddy, perplexed. The window was shut and a nervy David Pointer stood to his feet. He put the hammer into his belt and carefully climbed his way up to the pointy roof; a couple of tiles slipped off, but it wasn't enough to unnerve the thirty-nine-year-old. He got to the roof's highest point and sat down and looked out onto his street and could see other streets as well.

  The area was reasonably quiet; the sun blazed down on his head, and he thought that the day itself had become an oxymoron. It was a beautiful day, but below the sun, was a world where butchery was occurring, and David didn't have a hint how or why it was happening.

  To his left, he saw a family in their drive quickly and frantically packing up their car. Where were they going? He was dying to ask them. Did they know of somewhere better to go? Was staying in the house a recipe for disaster?

  In the distance he could hear screaming; the curiosity had got the better of him and he decided to risk standing up on the highest point of his roof. He could now see the street behind his. There were about a dozen of those things spread out on the street; some were in the road, but others were banging on the windows of some of the houses. He could hear the screaming once more, and said under his breath. "Shut up. Don't you realise, it's the noise they're attracted to?"