It was a chilly winter’s morning and I had slept poorly in the cold of the clock room. With nothing to get up for I wrapped the blankets tightly around my cold body and attempted to sleep in. It was mid-morning when Hammond finally roused me from my slumbers. “Come and look at this,” he said excitedly. I followed him up the stone steps and stepped into the bracing chill at the top of the tower. Here the icy wind had gotten up and I didn’t know how Hammond stood it all day, especially at his age. Hammond handed me the binoculars and pointed far off to the east. I put them up to my eyes and looked closely. A green vehicle, possibly even a military truck, was snaking slowly along a road some ten miles into the distance, only just visible on the horizon. “I’ve only just noticed it,” said Hammond. “It must have been stopped up somewhere looting supplies. I only saw it when it started to move along the road again.”
“Any idea where it might have come from?”
“None at all,” sighed Hammond. “I don’t even know whether it’s coming or going. You think we should be encouraged or worried?”
“A bit of both,” I said, thinking back to what the Marstons’ had told me on their first night here. “We need to keep an eye on this sort of thing, and we’ll need to know if they come any closer. At the very least we don’t want them to start stirring the hordes up.”
One night Kit came to see me. “We haven’t been out much these past few days,” she said. “And we’re getting low on supplies.”
“How much more have we got?”
“Another three days of good eating,” replied Kit. “Possibly a week if we went down to starvation rations.”
“There’s still a long line of cars out there with rich pickings,” I told her.
“You want to make another big run.”
“I think so,” I said. “We can take a couple of trucks this time, leave one in reserve. That way we should be able to set ourselves up rather nicely for the rest of winter. In the meantime myself and Frey have almost finished fencing off the garden and the meadow. We should be able to start planting crops come the early spring. I’m going to take the three newcomers.”
“You mean Dev, Stan and Gloria?” Said Kit with some surprise. “Are you sure about that?”
“I insist upon it,” I muttered. “They’ve been freeloading off us ever since they got here. If they’re not prepared to help with the building work they can come with me on a more dangerous assignment.”
“Won’t it be a little too dangerous?” Replied Kit doubtfully. “We don’t want to lose them if we can help it.”
“They’ve already survived hell in that joinery,” I told her. “Let’s see just what they’re made of.”
“They survived because they hid,” said Kit. “This is different.”
“If people are lazy and refuse to pitch it will breed resentment,” I told her.
As usual I was up early the following day and made my way over to the farmhouse. Stan and Gloria tended to sleep in, sometimes until the early afternoon having kept people awake with their chatting, laughing and sometimes lovemaking well into the night. It was not yet light but I went straight into their room and shook them away without ceremony. “We’re going out on a raid and you’re coming with us,” I told them dangerously. “You need to prove yourself, let us know you can survive and make yourself useful and because you’re all young and fit that means you’re coming with us on a mission.
Stan moaned and tried to pull the covers back over his head, but I would not be put off. “It’s dark,” he moaned. “We won’t see the revenants in the dark.”
“It’ll be light soon,” I said. “By the time we’ve got up and ready, got the van sorted it’ll be more than light.”
“But they’ll be ice on the road,” protested Gloria. “Is it even safe to drive when there’s ice?”
“Depends on how you drive,” I told her. “And you’re right, it’ll be really cold so be sure to wrap up warm. Still, look on the bright side. Last time we raided that row of cars we came back heroes. Do this and people won’t expect much off you for a little while yet.”
“Why us?” Asked Stan. “There are loads of others who haven’t been out yet. We’ve been out on raids and stuff.”
“We’re young and there are people expecting things of us because of it. You’ve lived well these past few weeks, far better than if you’d remained in that depot,” I said.
“We’re emotionally scarred,” whinged Stan. “You don’t know what it was like having to hide out in that place day in, day out.”
“Don’t let the others hear you talk like that,” I snapped angrily. “You think you’re emotionally scarred? Try telling that to some of the people who saw their children eaten alive by those fucking monsters. We’ve all got stories to tell and nobody else wants to hear them. Just keep your mouths shut and do as you’re asked. There’s been talk about you, do you know that? Talk that you’re not helping as you should be. This is your chance to prove yourselves. One mission and all that talk can be at an end.”
Stan looked at me and sighed heavily. He could see I would not be swayed. “When are we going?” He asked wearily.
“Meet downstairs in ten minutes to help Kit and Paul load the vans up,” I told them cheerfully. “It’ll be chilly as well so stick your coats on.”
Just before we left I climbed up to the top of the tower to get Hammond’s advice concerning any hordes we might run into. The policeman still kept his watch from the tower, day in, day out. I sometimes wondered if, like me, he craved the solitary life. “Be careful,” warned Hammond. “I’ve seen smoke coming from that direction this last day or so.”
“Smoke?” I said with some concern. “A lot of it?”
“Hard to tell when it’s so far away,” replies the policeman. “Like I said, it may not mean anything. I see lots of fires and you must have been through some burned out shells yourself. It might not mean anything.”
“Where there’s smoke there’s life,” I muttered with concern.
“Not necessarily,” replied the policeman. “You’d be surprised at what can catch fire when it’s left to its own devices. I never stop seeing smoke rising up from the town.”
“What about the green truck? Any sign of that?”
“I’ve been keeping an eye out for it but it hasn’t come back,” replied Hammond.
“Probably just as well,” I said. “We’ll be travelling that way today and I’d rather not run into any nasty surprises aside from the revenants.”
“Who knows?” Said Hammond. “Maybe there are survivors that way. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye out.”
“I just hope they’re friendly,” I said quietly.
I took Gloria and Stan along with me in one truck, considering them the weakest of the three. Dev, who was a nice guy and tried his best, rode in the other truck with Kit and Paul. He at least was starting to show some potential. As we drove and as Stan and Gloria continued to moan I began to wonder if I had made a mistake and was putting us all at risk. After all, the two of them were pretty inexperienced at this sort of thing and if they decided to run as opposed to fight they might just end up killing us all. I tried my best to ignore them and kept my eyes peeled the whole time. The revenants staggered along the road, turned to look at us and stretched out their arms like demented hitchhikers. It was good to get out and about, it was good to get back to taking on the revenants. The last thing we needed was to become soft and complacent. I looked towards my two companions and noticed how they instinctively recoiled whenever they saw a revenant. Stan closed his eyes and started to rock back and forth. “We’re going to be killed,” he breathed softly.
“We weren’t killed last time and there were half as many of us,” I said sternly. “As long as everyone does what they’re told we’ll all come back again.”
“As long as we do what you tell us more like,” muttered Gloria sulkily.
“That’s right.”
As we approached the highway the ominous smell of burning bega
n to pervade through into the van. I looked ahead and saw smoke rising just ahead so I slowed the vehicle and flashed the lights to attract Kit’s attention from behind. We turned on to the hard shoulder and I slowed to a stop and looked on in horror. Straight ahead of us, as far as I could see, was row after row of useless, burnt out cars. I stopped the car on the flyover and leapt out. The others joined me a moment later. “What happened here?” asked Kit in wonderment.
“Somebody came through and burned them to the ground systematically,” I said darkly. “And by that they must have had some serious weaponry. Organised too.”
“Like the army?” Said Gloria hopefully. “Maybe this means there’s help after all?”
“Don’t be so sure,” I muttered.
“So what do we do now?” Asked Stan. “You said there was going to be food, Grant. How the hell are we going to survive if there’s no food?”
“We’ll have to find somewhere else,” I said quickly. “It isn’t the end of the world and even you’ve scavenged before.”
“This is a disaster,” breathed Stan, his voice close to panic. “An absolute fucking disaster.”
“Simmer down,” I told him sharply, my eyes picking their way through the smouldering wrecks, many of which were still warm, indicating that whoever did this may not be that far away. There was nothing left of any use. Everything had been burned.
“Could this have been an accident?” Asked Kit. “A lightning strike or something?”
“No chance,” I muttered. “This was a deliberate act. I don’t know if they took everything then burned the cars or just set fire to them so nobody else could reap their spoils but one things for sure; if they have taken all the supplies they must be one hell of a large group to need to feed that many people.”
“What are we going to do?” Asked Dev. “We were relying on those cars. How are we going to feed everyone if we can’t gather up supplies?”
“We need to move on,” I said with determination, trying to conceal my deep sense of unease.
“Move on to what?”
I thought fast. “There must be something else,” I said at last. “We can’t go back empty handed, even if we only get food enough for a week.”
“It also means it’s going to be a hell of a lot harder to clear this highway,” said Paul. “Whoever did this was blocking the roads for anybody else.”
“This has fucked us,” said Gloria, her voice close to panic. “I thought you said we were going to loot these cars and come back with enough to spare for months? What the hell are we going to do now?”
“Shut up,” I told her harshly, although she was right of course.
“Maybe they were trying to do people a favour burning it all away,” said Kit, although she did not sound at all hopeful. “There aren’t many revenants around this way. Maybe they looted everything from the cars then set fire to the cars to get rid of the revenants.”
“Don’t assume such good intentions,” I told her darkly. “Whoever had the resources to do this must be approached warily.”
I picked my way amongst the burnt out wreckage as best I could. Here and there I saw charred bodies but whether these had belonged to revenants or the unturned it was impossible to say.
“We can’t compete with people who operate like this,” said Paul. “Even if they don’t mean us any hard they’re still going to suck the land dry of supplies.”
I looked past the flyover and towards the countryside beyond. “What’s up this way?” I asked Kit.
“Just a few scattered villages and farms,” she replied. “Same as what we’ve been used to back at the base.”
“Any big superstores? Warehouses?”
“Nothing unless you’re prepared to go back to town,” she replied with a shrug.
“A death sentence to go back there,” I muttered. I took a deep breath. “Come on,” I told them. “We’ll cross over the flypast and see what else we can find. Everyone will be worried enough when we come back with this sort of news, even worse if we return empty handed.”
“You want to investigate,” said Kit quietly just before we parted to our respective vehicles.
“I do,” I acknowledged. “I’m not going to put us at unnecessary risk but if they did this then they’ll have left more signs. I want to see just what we’re up against.”
Stan and Gloria looked pretty despondent that we weren’t going back straight away although at least they didn’t have to raid through the cars. I drove the car over the flyover and through the smoke, back into the open countryside and whatever hidden dangers lurked beyond it.
We drove back up the hard shoulder and on to the flypast. We came on to the outskirts of a smallish market town that was crawling with revenants who came out to meet us as we drove. I quickly discounted the prospect of looting anywhere near here, although acknowledged that circumstances might force us back for supplies should things become more desperate over the winter. The revenants were really thick in numbers and sometimes almost blocked us in, but not quite. I drove away from them and far into the countryside, away from any trace of civilisation. Something caught my eye along the road. I slowed the truck to a stop. Kit pulled up her truck behind me. “What are you doing?” Asked Stan.
“Look at that,” I said, getting out of the truck and pointing to a mound of revenants lying piled by the side of the road.
“Better off that way,” muttered Stan.
“Never mind that what I want to know is who did this?” I said gravely, going over to bend over the bodies as Kit and Paul also approached having pulled up behind me. “Look at this.” I pointed at the annihilated skull of one of the creatures. “I’m no military expert but this wasn’t done by some mere shotgun shell. Look at the trail of bullets going up its body. A machine gun did this.”
“So there are other survivors,” said Kit frankly. “That’s a good thing though, surely? Especially if they’ve got food and guns. We should try and find them and make contact?”
“Perhaps,” I said worriedly. “Or perhaps they’re the same group who ambushed the Marstons’ party. We need to take care. Right now I’m almost as worried about other survivors as I am about the revenants themselves.”
I turned the truck away from the town and drove off down a side road, hoping we’d come to some isolated houses or something which my hold even a few supplies. I drove slowly, and was instinctively on edge, my eyes scanning the road ahead for signs of danger. Stan and Gloria were chatting away incessantly in a sort of moronic panic and they were really starting to get on my nerves, but I could not tell them to shut up without losing my temper and now more than ever was the time to keep a cool head. As we drove I saw more dead revenants lying shot by the side of the road, more burnt out cars pushed to one side.
In time I turned off and we entered into a small village. Driving along the main street we came across a pub. I saw that the windows had been boarded up, seemingly recently and I wondered if there might be survivors inside, or if not perhaps there were some supplies. I pulled the truck up into the car park and got out, hammer at the ready. I regarded the building warily and saw some of the barricades seemed to have been torn down, although whether through revenant attack or the machinations of the as yet unseen force could not be told. A few revenants came in to follow us. I turned and regarded them, seeing if I could discern anything from their clothes. But their get up was entirely civilian.
I proceeded to make an inspection of the immediate area. In the car park of the pub were eight bodies, each shot through the head. We approached and regarded them with trepidation and I saw straight away that the bodies were human, in that they had not had time to turn. “Show me the map,” I ordered. Kit quickly produced it and passed it over, pointing out our position. “Twenty miles from home,” I muttered gravely. “Whoever did this might still be close.”
“This was another group of survivors,” said Kit gravely. “There were only seven of them but they had made it. Until somebody came along and did this.”
/> “It looks like they put up quite a fight,” said Paul.
“And look at this,” I said as I pointed. “All of them shot then finished off with a bullet to the head so they couldn’t turn. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing. It was clinical. It was clever. They’re not dead long either, nor were those cars long burned out. Whoever did this may still be very close indeed.”
At that moment Stan and Gloria let out a cry of panic. I turned around to see a single revenant which now lumbered out of the hedge and lurched towards us and I was struck by the sash it wore around its body and by the militaristic, almost mercenary uniform. I strode forward and swung the hammer hard into its head, felling it with a single blow. Then, when I was sure it was dead for the last time, bent down to inspect its body. “Not long turned by the looks of it,” I mused. “And look at the sash; it appears to have been deliberately sewn on to the green shirt.”
Plague Of The Revenants Page 12