Chris was a worry I was so used to him being the leader and being the large strong person to go with it. Seeing him with those red eyes and huddled up on the bed made him seem small and weak. I had to think of some way to bring him round, but I couldn’t think of anything.
Chapter Six
The one thing I could do was get rid of Tracy. With her staying here, she would be a constant reminder of what had happened. I finished my sandwich and grabbed my rucksack as I left my room. I had emptied it the night before so it was empty. Heading to the kitchen I loaded it with M.R.E’s, enough for a week and seven bottles of water. If she was careful she might be able to make that last. Next stop was the armoury where I grabbed a combat knife, a small first aid kit, a sleeping bag and poncho. After packing them in the rucksack I grabbed a 9mm Sig from the racks and filled a mag. As I headed down in the lift I had second thoughts about what I was going to do, but if I was going to get Chris back on an even keel I had to get her out of the bunker. I stopped outside her room and made sure the safety was on the pistol and there was round in the chamber. The rucksack was on the floor near the door. Looking at the pistol in my hand I have to admit the idea of just putting a round in her head appealed to me, but there had been too many needless deaths. Opening the door, Tracy turned her head to look at me.
“Am sorry it had come to this Tracy.” I said.
Her eyes flicked to the pistol in my hand before she said “Come to finish what you started then?”
I looked at the pistol in my hand and then at her.
“I’m not going to kill you, but I am going to kick you out of the bunker. Don’t worry I have some stuff for you.” I said hooking my foot round the rucksack and pulling it into view.
“That’s just as bad as pulling the trigger yourself.” She said with hatred in her voice and eyes.
I sighed and said “Look if you and those other women had come and spoke to us. We could have worked something out.”
“You mean like the bikers.”
“No.”
“Then what Marc? Were we to be your slaves, to be at your beck and call whenever you wanted us?”
“No.”
She stood up and walked over toward me. Not trusting her I raised the pistol.
“See you want to be in control.” She said.
“Actually no, I wanted Chris to be in control. You lot have either broken him or got him so he is so close to it.” I said stepping back.
Bending to pick the rucksack up she opened it and looked inside. After a few seconds she stood and lifted it on to her shoulders. I waved her forward with the gun and gave her a four meter head start. The last thing I wanted was for her to suddenly turn and try to attack me.
“So what you going to do with this place now it is just you and Chris?” She asked over her shoulder.
To tell you the truth I hadn’t thought about it. We had the communications room and I don’t think we had even tried to raise anyone on the radios since we had arrived. It could be possible to find people using them, but I didn’t know how to use them. The other alternative would be to go out scouting for survivors. To carry out either of these I would need Chris and I would need him back the way he was or something as close to it.
We stopped at the lift and I waved her inside. I pressed the button and the lift started its climb up to the bunker entrance.
“You haven’t answered my question. What are you going to do with the bunker?” Tracy asked.
“Listen it doesn’t have anything to do with you what we end up using the bunker for, because you’re not going to be here.” I said.
The doors opened on the entrance and I pushed her out of the lift toward the hatch. She turned the large handle and I pointed for her to go outside. Should stood in the hatchway looking outside.
“Out.” Was all I said.
“You do know you’re condemning me to death, don’t you?” She said stepping outside.
“It’s either that or kill you and you need to thank Chris for me not taking the last one.”
I watched as she hitched the rucksack on her back and head off down the gravel track away from the bunker. As she disappeared over the brow of the hill I closed the hatch and called the lift. After riding down to the second floor I called in at the security office to check the external cameras. There she was on the last cameras before the gate leading out on to the main road. Sitting back in the chair I keyed in the code to stop the lifts going up to the ground floor. We still had movement between floors but the only way Chris or I were heading outside was if we released the locks here in the security office.
I headed up to the kitchen for something to drink. Searching all the pantries and cupboards I found some bottles of whiskey. Typical government the world would be ending outside and they would be drinking fifty pound bottles of scotch and whiskey. I grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a glass. Then went to the third floor to read a book or watch one of the DVD’s they had in the library. Looking at the choice of movies I settled on a favourite ‘Black Hawk Down’. Slowly getting drunk I sat and watched it twice before falling asleep.
Waking up my head felt like I had a gnome sat inside with a fucking jack hammer. The evil little shit was using it to hammer away at the back of my eyes. Groaning I slowly sat up and looked at the hissing TV on the wall. Luckily I hadn’t had any dreams during the time I was unconscious. I slowly stood and immediately wanted to sit back down, but I had to check on Chris and see how he was. Looking down at the bottle of whiskey I noticed I had just over half the bottle. No wonder my head was banging. Staggering out to the lifts, I decided it might be best just to head down to the fourth floor and check on him. Reaching the fourth floor, I walked down the hall to his room and I swear, I must have bounce of the walls at least three or four time. I knocked on his door and waited for an answer. I couldn’t hear anything from the other side, mind you saying that he could be still asleep.
Slowly opening the door I called out “Chris? You awake mate?”
Still no answer, the door was wide open and I could see the rumpled sheets on the bed. Stepping into his room I quickly came to the conclusion that he wasn’t in his room. Where the fuck had he gone? Just to be on the safe side I checked the same shower room. The hangover started to fade pretty quickly at the moment. I needed to know where he was. Did he know how to unlock the lifts? Running down the hall I surprised myself by only hitting the wall once. Reaching the lifts I headed up to the second floor and the security room. The system was on and it looked like someone had been looking through the camera logs. Had I turned the system off last night? Shit that fucking gnome has come back with a fucking dump truck now. My whole head started to hurt with every thought I had.
Chapter Seven
Quickly surfing the cameras, I found him in the kitchen and I could see him talking. Curious to find out who he was talking to I turned the speakers on.
“….Flash ahhhhh Flash Gordon…” His rumbling voice came over the speakers.
The fucker was singing and he was singing Queen for fucks sake.
“Oi dickhead! Can you stop the singing you’re giving me a fucking headache.” I said into the mic.
He stopped mid step and turned to look at the camera smiling.
“Morning Marc you fucking piss head. How are you this morning?” He said.
“A lot better now I don’t have to listen to your fucking singing.” I said laughing.
“Fancy a cooked breakfast?” He said holding up some frozen bacon.
“Shit yeah, a fatty breakfast just the thing for a hangover. Give me ten minutes to get up there.”
“See you in a bit mate.” He said as he went back to his singing. I turned the speakers off as the first word left his voice.
I went back to my room and changed into some BDU’s and then headed for the kitchen. Walking out of the lift on the first floor I was hit with the smell of frying bacon and coffee. My stomach grumbled at the thought of the food. The little gnome had eased off and was only using a hammer to
knock the shit out of my brain. Opening the door to the dining room I saw Chris sat at a table scoffing the food down like it was going out of fashion. Sitting down opposite I grabbed a plate then heaped some bacon and powdered eggs on to my plate, he had even fried some bread in the bacon fat. This man was going up in my expectations. Grabbing the first cup of coffee for the day I leaned back and looked at him.
“What?” He said when he saw me looking at him.
“How you feeling?” I asked.
With a deep sigh and a shrug he said “I’ve been better. But thanks to what you did yesterday, I’m a lot better than I would have been.”
I looked down at the coffee and said “If I had been more on the ball, maybe Jay would be here as well.”
“Look you didn’t know what was going to happen and from what I saw he never saw it coming either.”
Looking up at him I said “I kicked Tracy out. I know you wanted to wait for her to get better before we did anything, but I had a feeling that if we did that we might have had more trouble.”
“I know what you did. I watched the logs this morning whilst you were drooling in the library. I have to say thank you, I don’t know if I would have had the strength to do it yesterday. I also watched what you did to rescue me and I have to say, I have never judged a person so badly and again I'm sorry for that as well.”
“What do you mean judged me wrong?” I asked my curiosity peaked.
Another sigh “Well Jay and I had talked about you when we first met and we both agreed that you wouldn’t last long. I’m glad I was wrong and I’m also glad to call you a true friend.” He finished by sticking his huge hand across the table at me, which I grasped.
We both went back to eating our fatty breakfast and drinking coffee.
“When Tracy asked you what we were going to do with the bunker you didn’t answer her, why?” He asked pushing his plate away from him.
“To tell you the truth, I had a few ideas but I wanted you on the mend before I made any decision.”
“On the mend, eh? Well I suppose it did look like I was fucked up. So come on I go by your lead.”
“You can fuck off with that, going by my lead shit. We make the decisions together and that way neither of us has any power over the other. As to my ideas, well the first is to use the communications room and see if anyone is broadcasting and the other is to maybe start looking for survivors we can live with and trust.” I said looking across at him.
“Fair enough.”
“That’s it? Fair enough is all you have to say. What about any ideas you have?”
“Sorry to say it but I didn’t have any idea what to do.” He said grinning.
Looking at him grinning at me I was sure he had cornered me into taking the lead in making decisions, but I wasn’t certain.
Taking the plates, mugs and cutlery to the sink in the kitchen I said “If we are going to contact people using the comms room we are going to have to learn how to use the radios.”
Chris came and stood at the doorway as I scraped the plates clean.
“You don’t have to worry about the radios. I already know how to work them.” He said.
“Ok so that’s one worry off our shoulders.” I said.
He just nodded and wandered off out of the dining room. I finished cleaning the plates and placed them on the drainer to air dry. I grabbed one more mug of coffee and headed out for the comms room thinking that I would find Chris there. Opening the door to the room I saw Chris with a large set of headphones on and his feet on the desk. He had his eyes closed and I could just about hear the static coming from the headphones. He opened his eyes and saw me in the doorway and gestured to the second set of headphones hanging on a hook near the desk. I shook my head, there was no way I was giving the little shit in my head anymore excuse to bash my brain into pulp this morning. Chris just shook his head and smiled.
I walked across the hallway and went into the security room and flicked through the cameras. The only movement I saw was a single infected staggering passed the gate leading to the bunker. He kept on going and was soon out of shot. Maybe Chris was right and the other infected we put down the other night had followed the A.P.C. Drinking the last dregs of the coffee put the cup down and headed back to the comms room. This time Chris had his feet on the floor and was writing something on a pad of paper.
He lifted the headphones off his head “MARC!” he shouted.
“YES!” I shouted back laughing.
“Ha-ha funny fucker. Looks like your idea has paid off.” He said.
“Which one?”
“Well both actually. I was listening to the C.B bands we have in the U.K and there was someone nearby asking for help. It seems they got surrounded and their food is starting to run out.”
“Did you try to speak to them?” I asked getting slightly excited.
“I did but they mustn’t have heard me. I tried everything I could think of then it went dead halfway through them repeating the message asking for help.”
I looked at Chris sat on the edge of his seat and I knew he wanted to go and rescue these people, but I also knew at that moment he wanted me to start making the decisions. I think he felt he had made the wrong one in bring the women here with us. It was a joint decision at the time but he was the leader then and had the overall say so.
“Do you know where they are?” I asked.
“Funny thing is its back in Thirsk. It’s a little odds and ends shop in the market place.”
“You have got to be fucking joking.” I said throwing my arms in the air.
“Why? What’s the matter with that?” He asked.
“Remember when I told you I had been staying at that doctor’s house after I escaped the lab?”
“Yeah?”
“Well that’s where I got all that shit survival gear from. I asked the old dude was going to be alright and he said yes. Now we have to go save his old wrinkled ass. Fucker!”
Chris smiled, stood up and as he walked passed me he put his hand on my shoulder and said “Karma’s a bitch isn’t she.”
‘Yes she fucking is.’ I thought before following him to the armoury to get some gear.
As we were loading up I asked “How many are there?”
“From what I could gather a family of four, the old man and a young couple. They sounded pretty stressed out.”
“I don’t doubt it if they are surrounded by the infected. Have we enough fuel in the A.P.C to get there?”
Chris was placing some grenades into his webbing and said “We probably have enough to get there, but we are going to have to stop somewhere on the way back.”
Standing there looking at the far wall I thought about the service station where the bikers had attacked us.
“The service station, you know the one where the bikers had that go at us. It should be safe enough to get fuel from.” I said.
Chris nodded and asked “What weapons you taking?”
Looking at him covered from head to toe with grenades and mags for his rifle. I was tempted to say ‘You.’ but then I thought better of it.
“The MP5 and its silencer why?” I answered.
“I am thinking that’s great from close up stuff, but it might also be handy to have some good long range stuff like the SA80’s we brought with us.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I said grabbing the SA80 mags and rifle.
Slinging the SA80 I hooked it over my shoulder, the MP5 I let dangle by its tactical harness. I had six mags for the SA80 and six for the MP5. Chris had one less of each type of mag because he was also bringing some grenades, and while I think they are cool, there was no way I was going to be carrying any unless my life really depended on it.
“Chris you didn’t tell any of the women the code to get in the bunker?” I asked as we passed the security office.
“I didn’t even tell Jay it, why?”
“It’s just I would hate to go save these people and end up finding Tracy in here and us locked out of the bunker.” I
said.
“You have a point.” He said.
Taking the lift up to the ground floor we stepped out and opened the hatch. Fresh morning air flooded through the opening and I could feel the little gnome packing his bags and fucking off. The sunlight was a little bright as I stepped outside, but it soon eased off. Looking about there was nothing but a few birds chirping and the blue sky and white clouds. It was like we had stepped back in time to before the infected. Chris headed off toward the A.P.C and I ran to catch up. Opening the A.P.C we both took our previous seats, Chris in the drivers and me in the passenger seat. The familiar rumble of the A.P.C engine echoed inside the cabin. We turned down the gravel track and out on to the road and headed toward Thirsk.
Chapter Eight
We hadn’t travelled more than two miles when I had to get Chris to stop. Opening my door I nearly fell on to the tarmac. Scrambling away from the A.P.C I bent over and threw up everything that I had ate that morning. The dreaded headache gnome had moved to my stomach started pushing all the food and bile out of my mouth. I slowly stood and staggered back to the A.P.C. A moan came from behind me, spinning round I watched as a male infected stumbled out of the bushes beside the road.
Raising my rifle I took aim, “Don’t shoot it.” Chris cried from behind me.
“What the fuck mate?” I said.
“Let’s see what happens I need a good laugh.”
“Eh?”
I watched as the infected staggered out over the road and it was doing ok until its bare shredded feet hit my pile of bile and food. That’s when gravity decided to have some fun. The infected slipped and fell face first into the vomit with a loud crack. Chris burst out laughing at the infected rolling around in my vomit. I had to admit watching it fall face first into my left overs was quite funny, but it was also a sad thing to watch. From the looks of what was left of the infected. I would have said he was some sort of farm worker or even a farmer. But the infection had got him and now he was just rotting skin on bone. I fired a single shot which entered the top of his head, smashing it into the floor and mixing the blood and green slime with my vomit. Shaking my head I climbed back into the A.P.C and we continued toward Thirsk and the survivors. Travelling the same route back we made better time because we had clear the road getting to the bunker in the first place. We still couldn’t do more than thirty miles an hour but it was a good day to be outside. We ran into a couple of small bands of infected and when I say ran into them I mean we actually ran them over. The thing that was disturbing me the most was that every time an infected got squashed Chris would laugh.
The Bunker (The Infected Series Book 2) Page 4