Janine was reasonably attractive, Jamie thought. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes, but Jamie was more of a brunette man and wasn't overly keen on short hair on women. Also, she was a little heavy for his liking. She was hardly obese, but her extra pounds were evident on her behind, and he also liked the fitness type.
Jamie knew it was down to taste, as Janine detested too much muscle on a man as she said it looked unnatural. Jamie was one of those men.
"Ready for yer first lesson?" Pickle waved the gun in his right hand. "I'll show Janine later tonight."
Jamie shrugged his shoulders, still tired.
Pickle took out one of the guns from the back of his trousers. "This is what the army used to use before we started using Glock 17s." He looked over to Jamie to make sure he was paying attention. "The slide-lock back, means it out of ammo. This gun is empty, but in times of apprehension, cock it, so it's ready."
Jamie pointed. "Does that hammer ever pinch anybody's hand? It looks awfully close."
Pickle shook his head. "I've shot it before. Never had any bother with it. This is one of the most accurate and smoothest recoiling guns ever made; it also has an amazing trigger. I know you're all novices, but if you can't hit something from ten feet with a hi-power, I don't know what gun would possibly help you."
Pickle handed it to Jamie to have a feel. Then Jamie handed it to KP.
He handed it back to Pickle, who put a magazine in, and said to them, "The down side to this gun is the magazine disconnect. Bad enough that it's even there, but it rubs against the face of the magazine every time the trigger is pulled. The finish of every magazine you have can alter your trigger pull, as can how the magazine locks up or is wiggled around by your hand."
The group all stared at one another; they had no idea what he was rambling about and Jamie decided to speak up. "All I want you to do," Jamie began, "is to show me how to reload, and show me where the safety catch is."
"Feeling pretty confident then?" KP giggled, stroking his thin dark beard.
"The only shooting I'll be doing is close range shooting. Besides, if we start shooting practice, what's the betting that those things start making their way over here? I don't know about you guys, but I'm looking forward to locking myself inside of that place tonight, drinking too much beer, playing cards, eating whatever I can get my hands on, and drinking even more beer after that for just one night. Because I don't know how long I've got left, and I don't know if I'll ever have another night like that. And I don't want it to be spoilt by being surrounded by those things banging on the windows to get in. Don't get me wrong, the windows are solid thick, but how are we supposed to escape if there's three hundred surrounding the pub?"
"Fuck," Pickle began to chortle. "That was some kind o' speech."
"Just show me the basics, and I'll show Janine myself once she wakes up."
"I'm already awake," she yawned and stepped out into the daylight. "How am I supposed to sleep with you lot making a racket?"
*
Time dragged on and the moment came at last, and by Jamie's watch it was 7:07pm. KP had rustled up a fine banquet from what was available in the kitchen and the only negative of the night so far, was when Janine wanted a decent bottle of red to go with her steak.
Pickle showed her where the cellar was and a scream later, he realised he had forgotten to tell the group about his experience with one of the people who used to work at the fine establishment.
After finishing the bottle in just under an hour, Janine had almost forgotten about the corpse she had witnessed with the head opened. If she was told about it beforehand, it wouldn't have bothered her, but because she wasn't given any warning, it came as a shock.
The men played poker for hours, and a bored Janine decided to go upstairs and watch an old DVD while finishing the second bottle before passing out on the bed. She noticed the bedroom had no lock, and never even asked about sleeping arrangements. She assumed that she would have the room that she used for her nap, and went there without telling any of the guys.
She placed the dressing table chair against the knob of the bedroom door. She trusted Jamie, but the other four individuals were prisoners, and they were prisoners who hadn't been with a woman for a while.
She kind of feared that if she got drunk within the company of the other five, sexual tension might be increased within the room. She knew she wasn't supermodel material, but was pretty certain that most men were animals and would sleep with anything with a pulse.
Once satisfied nobody could get in, she cried for ten minutes to release some pent up stress, before watching the DVD. Hours later, with a little help from the alcohol she had consumed, sleep had beaten her once again and the rowdiness of the men from the ground floor faded away.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Oliver Bellshaw and Karen Bradley had been in the woods for hours, and had reached an amicable agreement. Still exhausted from her nightshift and after a run-in with one of the creatures, she had decided to grab another hour in exchange so Oliver could also go for a nap. The thirty-four-year-old divorcee had a decent nights sleep the night before, but the whole event seemed to have exhausted him.
His story wasn't as exciting, as far as the other survivors were concerned, but he was alive, which he was sure that thousands upon thousands of individuals no longer had that pleasure anymore.
As Karen slept, he revisited his surreal morning.
As soon as Oliver was attacked outside the newsagents, he grabbed his phone, packed his bag, took his car, and drove the short journey from his house in Hednesford through the countryside, heading toward the outskirts of Rugeley in order to get to his mother's.
As soon as he went by a tiny village called Slitting Mill, where he used to regularly go for meal at a public house called The Horns, he saw the presence of a dozen of the things wandering aimlessly around the streets. He reversed harshly to turn the car around and head the opposite direction, but his right back tyre slipped into a ditch.
Naturally engulfed in a cloud of hysteria, he opened the door unhesitatingly, took his bag that was sitting on the passengers seat, and began to run along the country road that headed back toward the main road that would lead into Rugeley if he turned left, or back to Hednesford if he turned right.
He decided on left, as he knew the state of the place back in his small town. He saw a couple of, what he called, Snatchers, roaming around on the outskirts of the part of Rugeley he wanted to enter, and knew that this was also a no-go area.
He cut across a fence and ran across a farmer's field, as he was hoping that he wouldn't be seen and be followed. He was still unsure about what and who they were, and only knew what the TV had informed him on.
After spending five minutes running through the long grass, he decided to chance his luck back on the main road. He went over to the fence on his left and jumped over, and was now on the main road that led to Stile Cop and was facing almost opposite the cemetery. He ran by the cemetery and headed to a beauty spot, where a lot of people used to park up and use the place as a picnic area, or as a base to park the car and go for a long walk.
Stile Cop was the largest beauty spot and was at the highest point. The one where Oliver arrived at was small, secluded, and lower down near the bottom of the main road. On the main road, the vast amount of the woods were to the left, whereas to the right, was the farmers' fields.
He wanted to head for Stile Cop but not the main road route, as he was paranoid that he may be seen from a distance by one of those things, resulting in him being tracked down by an army of the slow moving cannibals. When he arrived at the secluded area, he had made a decision to get to his destination through the woods. It was the hardest way, but he felt it was the safest, as on the road he felt exposed. He was certain that they would have trouble following him through a condensed wooded area that was on a slight hill.
Snapping out of his daydreaming, Oliver looked at his watch, it was nearly 5pm. Time had little relevance at the moment, but wha
t it could still do was tell Oliver how near or far it was away from becoming dark. He had allowed Karen to sleep longer and now that his brain was active again, he now felt that his short sleep wasn't needed anymore.
He planned on eventually getting to the top of the hill at Stile Cop beauty spot. Then, he and Karen could make a camp temporarily until he decided what to do and where to go next. He was dreading the darkness that was only a matter of hours away, and knew that they both could easily get to the beauty spot within half an hour on foot, but other things needed to be considered. Oliver dreamed that not only a camp would have to be built, which could take hours, but some sort or perimeter fence or trip wire would have to be incorporated to let them know through the night if they had company. All of this could take up to half a day to complete.
It would be a tense night taking turns sleeping in the woods for the one night, but both exhausted individuals agreed that rest was imperative before making their way up to the beauty spot. The macabre hours would drag and the pair of them would be fortunate if any type of sleeping would take place, as there was no streetlight on the country area and the area was going to be pitch black. But he thought that despite this, their predicament was a lot safer than other situations he could think of, and staying in a populated area was definitely something he wouldn't consider again.
He still felt troubled that one of them that Karen had dealt with had attempted to make its way through the woods. If one of them had now tried that, maybe others would attempt again in the near future once food in the town began to run out.
The options were few and far between for the two of them, but he had camped before, many years ago with a girlfriend at one of the beauty spots, and with the season being in summer, and with a full or even a half moon out, the area wouldn't be as dark as it could be. Oliver suddenly heard a car go by and smiled to himself. Any sign of life brought small joy, because it meant there was some hope.
He remained sitting up, his head constantly swinging to the left and to the right. He felt more relaxed than he did when he first entered the woods, but the paranoia was still there although not as strong as before. He stared at a sleeping Karen and for the first time, realised that she was an attractive woman.
Her dark hair was tied back with an elastic band, her face was facing away from Oliver to the left, and he glared at her exposed neck, as a few drops of pearly perspiration sat on her neck, threatening to escape.
Despite the few droplets of sweat, Oliver thought about what it would be like to kiss that neck. He hadn't been with a woman in months, and thought to himself that despite what was happening in the world, a man was a man: pathetic, weak, and controlled by an organ that—for most women—was never enough to be satisfied with.
He held out his fingertips, and they shook with fear and excitement. The fear was in case she woke up and wondered what the fuck he was doing. And as for the excitement, that was plainly obvious. He was doing something he shouldn't.
He told himself that if she suddenly woke up, he would inform her that he was trying to remove a bug off of her. His fingers eventually reached their destination, as they gently slid down her neck and stopped near her collarbone.
The black T-shirt she was wearing was a little soaked with perspiration at the front, but it didn't stop his fingers running over the T-shirt and following the outline of her perked breasts. The more forbidden the area, the more he shook with excitement and trepidation. He contemplated on removing his fingers, but he couldn't help himself.
He gave Karen's nearest breast a gentle squeeze through her T-shirt, and she responded with a moan. He began to touch himself.
Oliver undid his zip; he was so aroused he couldn't stop himself. He looked around as if there could be somebody watching him, and began stroking the shaft with his right hand as Karen lay to his left, oblivious to what he was doing. He was dying to moan as he rubbed the palm of his hand along the shaft up and down rapidly, but he knew her waking up would ruin the moment all together.
He was getting close; he lay back next to the sleeping Karen Bradley, and always felt the orgasm was better when the penis was pointing upwards. Whenever he masturbated, he always lay on his back as he felt the intensity was better, and when he used to have sex with women, he always preferred and encouraged his partner to go on top whenever he was getting nearer.
He was seconds away from ejaculating, and now he was fantasising that Karen was giving him oral pleasure. As the feeling grew stronger, the more adventurous he became as his left hand wandered toward Karen's breasts. He knew he'd be in serious shit if ever she woke up, but the danger and the fact he was caressing the breasts of an attractive woman he could never get in the real world, was heightening his pleasure.
He released a solitary grunt as he came, and his hand slipped under her bra and gently squeezed her breasts. He stroked her nipple with his thumb as the ejaculation was taking place.
As soon as the adrenaline started to wane, the regret and shame began to surface. He released his hand from Karen's breasts carefully, stood to his feet and walked over to a tree with his trousers round his ankles. He wiped his hand on the bark of the tree and his stubborn pee eventually cleaned out the tubes. It had been a while since he had performed any sexual activity, and only felt the urge once he saw Karen sleeping.
Now clean, and relieved he wasn't caught, he sat next to her and looked at her once again. The sweat glistened on her head and the top of her breasts, which complimented her body perfectly. Oliver shook his head at himself and felt a twinge in his groin once more. He felt hat he could go again. He hadn't felt like this since he was a teenager. When he was fifteen, he watched a porn movie in his bedroom and managed to perform three times in a row.
He didn't know why this was happening; whether it was because he was stressed, or hadn't had it for a while, or was it the simple fact that a beautiful woman was lying next to him? He didn't have the answer.
He cursed himself for his action and promised himself he would try and control himself. He took another look at Karen and was finding his second arousal a little disturbing. This time he decided to leave himself alone, but if he was one hundred percent certain that Karen wouldn't wake up, he was sure that he would probably have repeated what he had just done earlier, but maybe took it further.
He understood that in the old world he would be looking at a jail term, but then again, in the old world he wouldn't be hiding in the woods with this beauty in the first place.
Chapter Twenty Nine
They had drove around their town for a while, stopping, then filling up, and sometimes allowing the car to be stationary for a while. They had been driving around for an hour now and managed to stock up from an already burgled bakers store. All that was left was some bread, milk and cakes, but it was better than nothing.
The town was empty, devoid of all life, and David Pointer felt reasonably relaxed when he solely went into the bakers to stock up with two bags of food. His wife and daughter remained locked in the car that was parked only twenty yards away and their destination hadn't been considered yet.
He jumped back in the car and looked at the gauge, they had a full tank after filling up at a station near St. Augustine's Church. They had come across pockets of beings but never quite as bad as they experienced in their own street.
They had left their town of Rugeley, and after a mile of driving through bendy roads, their Renault Clio pulled up at the side of the country road.
"Are you sure about this?" Davina quizzed him.
"I'm not sure about anything anymore," was his honest response.
He got out of the car and walked toward a road that veered to the right. He knew where the road led to; it was a place he liked to come out to for a meal with his wife now and again, as he always liked the country style.
In the past, they would walk into one of the pubs to be greeted by a roaring coal fire; the country pubs had rooms with old fashioned wooden beams in and the food was of the highest quality as the place was s
urrounded by farmlands, so it didn't take a genius to know where they got their fresh produce from.
It was now impossible to get to, as he stared at the entrance to the village. He looked over to his wife who was glaring at him from the passenger side, and he shook his head. The slump of her shoulders told him that she was disappointed, but there wasn't a great deal he could do to overturn the situation.
They had friends there in Colton and were certain that they would put them up for a few nights, although they weren't answering their phones. The only entrance to the tiny village had been cordoned off. It looked like the barrier had been the idea of the villagers themselves and it consisted of a huge wagon parked across the main road, with a sign reading: We are full. Outsiders will be shot.
He stepped closer toward the sign to see if he could get a look under the wagon; there was no sign of life until he got to his feet. A shot rang out and David ducked and crouched to his feet. His shocked wife went to leave the car to see how her husband was, but he reacted by furiously waving his hand, telling her to get back to the car with their daughter, who was still sleeping in one of the back passenger seats.
He then heard a voice saying, "There's one of them behind the barrier!"
David remained in a half-crouched position; his hands were behind his head as if an officer of the law had pointed a gun at him, and decided to speak before another shot rang out. "I'm not one of them! I'm from Rugeley. Me and my family are looking for a place to stay!"
He could hear the boots of men heading his way, and the voice commanded him to stand up and put his arms by his side. David did what he was told.
He looked to the side of the wagon, looking for the two men and heard a whistle. He looked up to see the two men standing on top of the cab of the truck, their shotguns were not pointing and he felt no threat anymore.
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