I stood up and looked round the street. Seeing nothing else I headed back to the Land Rover and looked inside. I could see a couple of bags full of clothes and one that had stuff from the pharmacy.
“Looks like you’ve been busy.” I said.
“Yeah, thanks to you.” Amy said stroking the dog.
“Yup that’s me, bait boy.” I said.
“Come on let’s get out of here before any more infected turn up.” David said.
We all climbed into the Land Rover and I started to pull out of the car park and not too soon. The infected had returned from following me and a few at the front had fresh blood on their shirts and dresses. I knew where that blood had come from. I moved slowly down the streets and swerved round the remains of someone lying beside a mini that was parked in the middle of the road.
“Poor bastard. If he had stayed in the car, we might have been able to save him.” David said from behind me.
I just gently shook my head and kept my eyes on the road. That little scumbag deserved everything that he got. The little fucker shouldn’t have shot at me. I watched the car and body slowly disappear in the rear view mirror. We managed to reach the edge of the village without too many infected getting in the way. Amy pointed us in the right direction and we left the village and arrived at the A.P.C. Climbing from the Land Rover we unloaded the sacks of supplies into the rear of the A.P.C.
I stood looking at the Land Rover and said “You know the A.P.C is a cool vehicle, but the Land Rover might come in handy.”
“To tell you the truth I was thinking we could do with an extra vehicle.” Chris said.
Amy climbed out of the A.P.C after putting the last sack of supplies inside and said “What are you talking about?”
“We were just wondering if it was worth while having an extra vehicle.” I said.
“It might be a good idea. Considering the amount of people we have back at the bunker. If we get any more survivors we are going to need extra vehicles in case of an emergency.” She said.
“Well I wasn’t thinking of the emergency thing. I was thinking more of the fact it didn’t hurt my arse riding in it.” I said.
Smiling Amy said “Well it is a little more comfortable, but a few extra vehicles might be nice.”
“Look we can talk about this when we get back to the bunker.” Chris said
“Yeah time’s getting on.” David said.
“Tell you what. Amy knows the route back. How about we keep the teams as is. Team One take the A.P.C and Team Two take the Land Rover.” I said trying my hardest not to smile at the idea of riding in the back of the Land Rover.
“The only reason you want to take the Land Rover is because you want to get back and in the shower.” Amy said laughing.
Putting my hands on my hips and doing a pout I said “Are you trying to say that I smell?”
Chris, David and Amy started laughing.
Between breaths Chris managed to say “Mate you smell like one of the infected.”
“You cheeky bastard.” I said opening the door to the Land Rover.
Of course the dog jumped up inside before I even had the chance to put a foot in. Still laughing Amy walked round the other side and climbed into the passenger seat pushing the dog into the back. She whined at being moved.
“Look seriously you two take it easy heading back and don’t fucking speed. Ok?” I said to them.
“Don’t worry about us.” Chris said clapping a large hand on my shoulder.
“Make sure your radios are on and remember to give us a shout if you run into any trouble.” David said.
“Yes mom.” I said laughing as I climbed into the Land Rover.
I sat and waited for Chris and David to climb into the A.P.C. The huge thing slowly pulled out of the layby and rumbled off up the road. I shook my head and went to turn the keys in the ignition when Amy reached over to stop me. I looked up and she was smiling.
“What? Have I got infected on me somewhere?” I said as I tried to look in the rear view mirror.
“No you haven’t got infected on you. I just wanted to talk to you without the others around.” She said.
Turning in my seat so I could face her I said “Ok, what did you want to talk about?”
“Never did get round to saying thank you for saving us.”
“Look I never saved you, Chris did. I just caused a diversion that helped get you out. Anyway could you see Chris on a motorbike or behind the wheel of that Mini?” I said laughing at the image of the large man behind the wheel of the Mini with his knees up by his ears.
She laughed along for a little before speaking “What Chris did was great, but what you did for everyone was…..how do I put it? ...Heroic.”
“Listen I have these moments where I do daft shit like that and if I had actually sat and thought about what I was doing…Well let’s just put it this way, you all might have been there a lot longer.” I said looking down.
“Ok. So what about rescuing Chris from those women. He showed me and David what you did on the monitors in the security room. That was a well thought out plan and the fact that you went up against those odds by yourself.”
“Amy, whilst I think I did the right thing that day. I still feel dirty for having to do it. I have been having bad dreams ever since and living with myself has been hard. That’s why when people say I should be the leader or whatever, well let me just say I don’t believe I should be. There are more capable people in the bunker than me.”
I looked at the floor feeling the weight of all the killing on my soul. Feeling a soft touch on my chin, I looked up and Amy had reached out to lift my head.
“Marc this is exactly why they want you to be the leader of our little band. They can see that you won’t just rob and kill like some of the other people left in the world. You actually feel bad for having to kill, whether it is to save someone or in defence. I have known people would kill just for the thrill and I have known people who would take the easy way out. Chris and you had that bad time just before you saved us, but you still came anyway. What I am trying to say is you’re the best man in the bunker for the job.”
With that said she leaned over the handbrake and gave me another soft kiss on the lips. Our lips lingered just a bit longer than just a thank you kiss before she pulled away.
Clearing my throat I said “Think we better catch up with David and Chris.”
Again the little twitch of a smile on her lips before she said “Yeah, sounds like a plan.”
Starting the engine we pulled away down the country lane, heading back to the bunker and our home.
The radio crackled in my ear “Team One to Team Two come in” David said.
Amy answered “Team Two here.”
“Someone has moved some cars into the middle of the road since we came through last.”
“Can you go round them?” Amy asked.
“Chris says he can push them out the way, but he wants you to hang back just in case there are any nut jobs about.” He answered.
“Ok tell Chris to be careful and let us know when you get through.”
“Will do. Team One out.” David said.
“Looks like we are going to have another pit stop.” I said.
“How about some food and water?” Amy asked.
Reaching behind the seats she pulled her tactical backpack over and opened it. She pulled out two bottles of water, a couple of energy bars and some mixed nuts. God only knows why she had the mixed nuts, but we sat there eating them, whilst we waited for David or Chris to let us know they had gotten through the blockade.
Chapter Twenty Four
After half an hour I was starting to get worried when I heard David’s voice in my ear “Team One to Team Two, we’re through. Someone had managed to lock the brakes and it took the A.P.C awhile to push them off the road. It’s clear on the other side so god only knows why someone had done this.”
“Team Two here. Look don’t worry about it. I would have been worried if someone had b
een shooting at you.” I said.
“Yeah, but there is no one here.” David said.
Then it dawned on me “Shit! Amy how far do these radios reach?”
With a puzzled look she said “Truth be told they should reach the bunker. Why?”
“See if you can get a hold of Jake please.”
“Marc what’s up?” Chris said over the radio.
“I think the cars were there to slow us down getting back to the bunker.” I said.
I could hear Amy trying to raise the bunker on her radio.
“Fuck!” Was all I heard from Chris.
I was panicking now and my heart was racing.
“Chris, how many others knew about the bunker?” I asked.
“Well not too many up here in the North East and truth be told I’m the last of them. There are bunkers down south and they would have evacuated to them. This one was only to be used if the south became unable to sustain life.”
I started breathing when I heard that.
“Ok so that means that they would have very little reason to come here and take over our bunker. The other thing that just occurred to me was that they wouldn’t place cars in the road to stop us getting back. There’s something that I’m missing here.” I said.
Amy was laughing beside me.
“What you laughing about?” I asked.
“Jake, says to stop worrying and get back. He needs some headache tablets. Apparently Philip has been calling into the communications room every five minutes asking when we’ll be back.” She said laughing.
I grinned and shook my head.
“I gather you heard that?” I asked over the radio.
“Yeah, we heard. I was having a hard time trying to keep David from getting out and running back himself.” Chris said.
“Ok let’s start heading back. Team Two out.” I said.
Amy was still laughing as we pulled out of the layby we had parked in. Travelling at thirty miles an hour we came to the place where Chris had shoved the cars out of the way. It was a good thing that I had slowed down to look at the skid marks on the road. Out the corner of my eye I saw something black lying across the road from one side to the other. The two front wheels went bang and dipped forward. I instantly lost control of the Land Rover and then the back wheels went. ‘Fucking spike strip.’ Went through my mind. The Land Rover headed into the ditch running alongside the road. I slammed forward as the airbag went off. I could hear Amy scream once before a dark curtain seemed to pull over my eyes and all sound went from my ears.
My eyes slowly opened to blurred light and the sound of hissing. It hurt to move and I felt pinned between the softness of a seat behind and something hard pushing against my chest. Turning my head slowly I saw a woman collapsed against passenger side door. It was a short while before my brain caught up with what I could see. It was Amy lying beside me, Suddenly I remembered what had happened to us. "Amy?" I moaned.
My head swam and I’m sure I passed out again because the next time my eyes opened, I could hear voices. I couldn't make out what was being said but there was definitely voices coming from nearby. As they got closer their voices became clearer.
"Pull him out." A female voice said close to the Land Rover.
The door was wrenched open and I fell to the ground almost blacking out when I hit it. Blinking back tears I managed to see three human shapes moving toward me.
"What about the woman?" A male voice said.
"Leave her to the infected, we only need him." The woman said.
Her voice sounded familiar but because of the pain I just couldn't place it. Two of the human shapes walked closer.
"Looks like he is coming round." The male voice said.
"Well we can't be having that yet, can we Marc?" Said the female voice with a lot of hate behind it.
Shit! I knew that voice and opened my eyes wide and the blurry single human shape swam into focus and there she was; Tracy was standing above me grinning and a boot suddenly came into view crashing against the side of my head and blackness took me again.
Table of Contents
Disclaimer
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Four
The Bunker (The Infected Series Book 2) Page 12