Winter Smith (Book 1): London's Burning

by Strange, J. S.

  “We need to get back to the pool and get out of here,” Violet said. “Zach, I’m going to fucking kill you when we get back.”

  “You girls wanted a shower,” Zach said.

  There was no time to argue. A zombie launched itself over the top of the nearest changing room and leapt at Violet. She only just managed to move out of the way. The zombie hit the metal lockers, a knock so bad it would have knocked a human out. However, the zombie turned its bloodshot eyes on Zach and hissed at him.

  Winter could see Zach was too close to get a good aim, so she lifted her gun and fired. Blood splattered over the lockers and Winter felt queasy.

  She knew now they had no time left. The bang would have alerted those around them who didn’t know where the living were.

  The three of them began to run over blood-stained tiled flooring, their feet echoing loudly and their hearts beating extra fast. As they neared the end of the corridor, the entrance to the pool in sight, Winter sensed that something was around the corner. Sure enough, Violet slid out into the main part of the changing room and found herself face to face with a zombie. It gripped her shoulders and bared its teeth, and if Zach had been delayed in firing his gun Winter was sure Violet would have been killed.

  They ran to the metal gate, pulling it open so they could get into the small corridor before the pool. Winter saw the dead running around the corner towards them, their eyes on her skin. There were a number of them, and Winter couldn’t believe they hadn’t been alerted to them before. What had been a quiet, eerie changing room had now become a murder scene.

  They ran out into the pool, and stood in the seating area were more zombies, banging the glass with bloody hands and hissing at them. Winter saw that there were also zombies locked inside the hydro slide area, and she was glad there was glass separating them.

  They ran around the pool, and Winter glanced around to see that zombies were spilling out of the changing room.

  She could see the door they had entered through and was relived to see it was still open. Zach was first out, leaping out into the cold night air, through a light rain that had begun to fall since they were inside. Winter could smell chlorine mixed with death and she inhaled breaths, adamant she would not give up running despite the stitch in her side. Violet grabbed her hand and they seemed to speed up and out into the open air.

  Zach pushed the door closed and ran out of the area, followed by Violet and Winter.

  They sprinted, knowing that soon the zombies would find a way out of the leisure centre, and if that happened the area would be deemed infected.

  They didn’t stop running. They ran through dark streets and Winter thought that it seemed to take longer to get back than it had to get there. She was relieved to see their quiet square, looking the same as when they had left. Zach opened the tack of wood with shaking hands, urging Violet and Winter to get inside before him.

  Once inside, Zach dragged chairs against the entrance and leant against the wall, breathing in deeply.

  “That was too fucking close.” Violet gasped, clutching her heart. “We almost died.”

  Winter couldn’t believe they had survived. Surely their luck would run out soon. They couldn’t keep surviving these close attacks. Soon their bodies would give up.

  “Why the fuck did you let us go there, Zach?” Violet snapped, glaring at him.

  “You said you wanted to go! I told you we shouldn’t go. That area has always been a dodgy place, even before the zombies came. When you’re living on the streets you hear stuff, and I knew that area was infested.”

  “You should have said. We almost got killed.”

  “To be fair it looked empty when we went in,” Winter said.

  Winter was feeling better now. She suddenly felt safe. However, she knew soon they would have to leave.

  “Well, at least we had a shower,” Violet said.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The next morning, Winter was relieved to find that their town square was still intact. The shop across from them had opened for business, although it looked a little emptier now, and people hurried across the town to pick up any essentials they may have missed before.

  Birds sang on rooftops, flying through the white sky. The air had taken a chilly turn, with a breeze weaving its way through the streets.

  Zach had gone out to get them breakfast from a café just around the corner. Violet had tried to convince him to stay. After last night, they had no idea if the zombies had escaped the leisure centre. If they had, it wouldn’t take them long to find this place.

  When Zach came back, he was carrying three bacon rolls and looked slightly flustered.

  “Someone in the café was talking about the street we were on last night,” Zach said, handing Winter and Violet a roll each. “They mentioned that some of the people hiding out there were killed by an outbreak of zombies. The word is that government have gone there to eliminate them.”

  Winter thought this might happen. There was no count on them beforehand, so there was no way the government would know if any had strayed away and headed this direction.

  “We have to leave,” Zach said. “Tonight.”

  “I was thinking,” Winter said, unwrapping the plastic bag around her roll. “That the leisure centre door was open before we went in…”

  “Yeah, well I told you, didn’t I? People go there to use the showers.”

  “Yeah, I know that, but in the changing room the door that led out to the other parts of the building was padlocked from the outside. There has got to be other people inside.”

  “So what?” Violet asked. She was already half through her breakfast. “They’re either dead or they are fucking crazy to share that place with those things.”

  “But if they’re alive, don’t you think we should go in and find them?” Winter asked. She saw the look of wonder on Violet and Zach’s faces. Evidently they both thought her to be crazy.

  “You want to return to a place where we almost died?” Zach asked. “You really expect us to go back there?”

  “You don’t have to go back there. I mean, we don’t have to go back. It’s just to me it looked like there are people hiding inside. If we have the chance to meet new people and join them, we should. The more people we are with the better.”

  “Well, if we meet people along the way that is fine by me,” Violet said. “But I am not going back to that place.”

  “If we don’t go back there, then I want to go back to your place Violet.”

  The effect on Violet was quick. Her whole appearance changed. Her face slackened, and her eyes filled with sadness again. Winter almost saw the grief take over.

  “I can’t go back there,” Violet murmured. “I can’t see it again.”

  “I understand that,” Winter said. “But if there is a chance we can find Connor, I want to take it.”

  “Connor’s gone. There’s no point in trying to find him. That thing we did for the news was worthless. He has gone.”

  “I don’t think so.” Winter wouldn’t give up on him. “I know he’s still alive. I think if we went back we’d find something.”

  “It’s a long way to go, Winter,” Zach said. “Plus it’ll be extended by avoiding the dead. We need to think about getting to the Thames instead of backtracking.”

  “I’ve already thought of ideas about getting there. I’ve worked out on a normal basis it would take about three hours, but with places infested it’ll take a few weeks. We just need to be careful and we can get there. But I’m not leaving London without Connor.”

  Violet stood up. “If you want to go back to my place, you can go alone, because I am not going back there.”

  “We have to stay together. I’m not going alone.”

  “Then you’re not going at all.” Violet shrugged. “I’m sorry, Winter, but we have to work as a team. I can’t go back there. I can’t see where they died again. It’ll just bring everything back to me and I can’t handle it. I’m sorry.”

  “But Connor…”


  “My family dying is more important than whether or not Connor is alive. He probably didn’t even go back to my place, and if he did, and if he survived, do you really think he had time to write a note or leave you some message that told you where he would be going? No, he wouldn’t have. He’d be more concerned about staying alive.”

  “I can’t give up on him.” Winter repeated. Violet was making her feel stupid. It was true she hadn’t known Connor that long, but without him she felt a little bit lost.

  “You’ll have to if you want to get out of here.” Violet snapped, in a way that suggested there was nothing else to say. Violet’s glaring gaze told Winter not to challenge her again, and Winter thought back to Violet’s nasty side, the way she had snapped at Zach. She was not a girl to anger.

  Why was she so set against finding Connor? Winter hated herself for thinking Violet knew something she didn’t. She dismissed this thought as it came, telling herself she was purposely being untrustworthy.

  However, it was clear as the days wore on that many people doubted those they had once been close to. Everyone thought everyone else to be an enemy, someone who would hold them back or put themselves before others if the opportunity arose. An outbreak of the dead brought out the selfish side in the living.

  They heard a sound outside. A dull humming noise that gradually got louder. It was a noise Winter hadn’t heard for awhile, but yet she knew she had heard it recently.

  She headed to the window, her ankle a little sore after all the pressure of running last night, and saw a helicopter flying above the town, heading towards a rooftop opposite them.

  People in the street were eying the helicopter, all unaware of its motive to be here. Winter could see it was a government helicopter by the red and green feather inside a triangle, which was the logo the government had. As the helicopter prepared to land, Jeeps pulled up in the town square, stopping short of the clock tower. Government workers stepped out, wearing army coloured clothing and black boots and looking serious. They nodded at people near them before splitting up to head to different houses, where they knocked on doors.

  “Have people called evacuation squads?” Zach asked.

  “They don’t look like the evacuation squad we saw,” Winter said.

  In fact, they looked a little more official than the evacuation squad. Their Jeeps were too small to carry anyone else with them, so the hope that people may have had was now slowly fading away.

  “I bet you they’re the ones that were down at the leisure centre,” Violet whispered, her eyes trained on the landing helicopter.

  Winter watched two female guards head towards the café. They tried the door that was barricaded off, and tried to find an opening in one of the windows. Violet whistled and they looked up, along with a few people from the town.

  “Can you let us in?” One female guard asked, her tone shallow and cold.

  “I’ll be down now,” Zach said, before Violet could snap back an equally cold response.

  Zach scurried down the steps and Winter heard his feet echoing off the wooden floor.

  “Hide the guns,” Violet said.

  “Why?”

  “Just hide them. Quickly, before they get in.”

  Winter hobbled across the floor, trying not to make too much noise. She picked up their guns that were next to their beds, and went to the back of the sofa. There, sown into the fabric of the sofa, was a zip. She undid this and put the guns inside the base of the sofa, where they lay on the floor out of sight. She was about to do the zip back up when she heard footsteps downstairs. She tiptoed back to the window, looking slightly worried. Zach was first up the steps, joining Winter and Violet.

  The women came up the steps slowly, with a rising suspicion that someone could be hiding just out of view, willing to kill. They hovered at the top of the steps, observing the floorboards, their blankets on the floor, the pile of boxes at the end of the room. Winter thought she saw their eyes linger on the sofa.

  The women, deciding it was safer than they thought, strode over to the three teenagers at the window. One woman gripped Winter by the arm and drew out a torch, which she shone in Winter’s eye.

  Winter gasped, and as her mouth was open a thermometer was placed inside. Her mouth was clamped shut as her temperature was taken. Once pulled out, they spun her around, admiring her skin, checking for any signs of death.

  Once they were satisfied with Winter, who was glad she had showered the dirt off herself last night, they moved on to Violet who was not amused that she was being probed like she was an extra-terrestrial being.

  They did the same to Zach, who looked a little uncomfortable that his personal space was being invaded. Once done, they set down a black bag they were carrying and one woman knelt down, taking out needles and cotton swabs.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Violet asked.

  “We’re from the government.” Was all the one woman said.

  “Well, that much is obvious. Can I ask why you’re actually here?”

  The two women surveyed Violet, judging her appearance. They evidently saw she was a strong character, yet they didn’t seem remotely intimidated. Winter thought they must deal with bigger personalities every day.

  “We’re here to make sure this area is safe before the evacuation squad comes along,” the woman fussing with the needles said. “I’m Donna. My partner here is Liz.”

  “Lesbians, are you?” Violet asked.

  Donna didn’t even bother replying.

  “And what are those needles for?” Zach watched Donna with apprehension.

  “We need to check your bloods.” Donna said casually.

  “Also, I’m here to warn you about others,” Liz said, taking leaflets out of her back pocket. “There have been a lot of scams going on. It seems people like taking advantage of people in their worst states.”

  “All we care about is when you are going to be bringing people to take us to the Thames.” Violet stated. The roar of the propellers outside had stopped.

  “Evacuation squads will be here in the next few days, once we have made sure this area is safe and infection free,” Donna said. “London has become a red riot zone. That means the majority of London is infected, and people who are still able bodied need to look out for any viruses, infections and high risk areas.”

  “Well we’re pretty fucked then, aren’t we, if most people are already infected and you can’t actually see a fucking virus in the air.”

  “You ain’t so smart, girly.” Donna grinned. She took out a bottle of blue liquid. “We have a vaccination.”

  “You can vaccinate against the virus?” Zach asked.

  “We think so, yes.”

  “Think?” Winter asked.

  “We have yet to see any reason why this vaccination does not work.”

  “Here, this leaflet explains it all.” Liz handed Winter a leaflet with an image of a needle similar to the one Donna held.

  Violet scoffed.

  “Do you have an opinion, love?” Donna asked.

  “Clearly this is just government bull,” Violet said. “You’re just injecting us with mouthwash so people think things are being done, until someone with the injection is bitten and turns.”

  “Well, if you don’t want the vaccination that is fine by me. Keep it for someone who really deserves it, I say.”

  Violet shrugged.

  Winter bit her lip. It did seem odd that a vaccination against something nobody really understood had been made so quickly. Yet Winter thought that it would be best to get the vaccination, regardless of whether it worked or not.

  “What do you mean, people are scamming others?” Zach asked.

  “People are taking this opportunity to exploit people’s emotions,” Liz said, inflating when the attention was on her. She seemed pleased that she had something to do. “There are people going around asking for places to stay, only for them to steal every supply that household has and leaving the home owners with nothing. Other
s are stealing the little money others have, and others are just committing murderous crimes for a place to stay.”

  “No one is your friend here,” Donna said, eyeing Violet maliciously. “You’re all on your own.”

  “I don’t think so,” Zach said, keeping his tone polite. “I’d say the three of us are together. We’re friends.”

  Winter glanced at Violet, whose expression remained blank.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Donna said to Zach. “You’re a boy staying with two girls, who will probably bitch about you and backstab you all they can. Then again, you’re a man who could think himself far more superior to women, and so you think you can manipulate these girls how you want to. Then, of course, you have two girls. The classic tale of two girls who are jealous of each other, don’t get along, and want the boy to themselves and won’t stop until they get it.”

  “Painting yourself a lovely little fairy tale there, aren’t you?” Violet spat.

  “Oh, I wish you were getting this needle injected into you.” Donna seethed.

  Violet rolled her eyes. Her tongue rolled inside her mouth in irritation. Winter could sense the air was frosty, and she didn’t like the glint of excitement Donna had in her eyes as she set up the needle.

  “Once your blood has been taken, and we determine whether or not it has any traces of infection in, you will get the vaccination,” Liz said as Donna stood up holding a clear syringe in her hand.

  “Look, the three of us are fine,” Winter said. “None of us have been bitten. Do you see any wounds on our skin?”

  “That’s beside the point.”

  “What’s happening down the road…by the leisure centre?” Zach asked of Donna and Liz.

  “What do you know about that?” Donna barked. She was an intimidating woman, her tall temper making up for her short size.

  “We were there yesterday. Last night, in fact. The zombies almost had us.”

  “That area is forbidden. No one must go there.”