The Z Infection

by Russell Burgess

  I was surprised by how much food was left in the houses. If it had been me I would have made sure I took enough to live on for weeks. But it seemed that most of the residents hadn’t considered this.

  It wasn’t until one of the women in my team explained to me that the local council had advised people they would be well looked after, that I realised the reason. They were told that there would be food and shelter provided, so they only took what they could carry.

  We cleaned out house after house in the street. It took much less time than I had expected. Many of the houses had been left unlocked. Some of them even had their doors lying open. Mike told me later, that those were the ones they were most nervous about. A dead person could easily have walked in and lain in wait.

  In later expeditions, after we had lost some of the group, we used to just close those doors and lock them. We didn’t even bother checking them. It was too dangerous.

  But even some of the locked houses had danger in them. Occasionally a family would lock an infected relative inside so you had to be careful no matter what. It required a lot of concentration and it could be exhausting. That was why we only usually did one or two streets at a time.

  On that first street alone, Mike told me they had found four houses with infected people inside. That represented around ten percent of the buildings.

  When we had finished in the street it was almost noon. We could still hear the car horn intermittently, whenever it came close enough. The plan was that we would meet back at the harbour at four o’ clock, so we still had a lot of time to kill.

  I suggested, because at that point I still wasn’t really in charge, that we take all the food to the boats and load it on. Most of us could then head back across to the island, while Mike’s team set up a perimeter, in case any stragglers came our way.

  Laura, it turned out, was a first class organiser and she set about overseeing the loading of the boats.

  ‘When I get across to the other side I’ll make an inventory of it all and make sure it gets stored safely,’ she said.

  ‘I think we’ll use the cellar for that,’ I said. ‘It should be dry enough in there.’

  We packed the boats with the loot and sent them across to the island. It was a relief to see them go. My greatest fear was that we would have been discovered before we could escape and have to leave it all behind.

  I stayed with Mike and his team. I felt responsible. This had been my idea, after all, and I was determined that I would see it through and make sure we were all safe.

  ‘How much did we get?’ he asked as I sat down beside him.

  He was drinking a can of cola from a drinks machine he had broken into and he offered me a sip.

  ‘Enough to last a month if we are careful and ration it out sensibly,’ I replied. ‘What did you get in there?’

  I was referring to the small harbour side restaurant that he had ransacked.

  He smiled and held up the can. ‘Enough of this to last a few days and enough chocolate and crisps to keep the kids happy.’

  ‘Not just the kids,’ I said.

  He laughed. ‘I never did anything wrong in my life, you know. I wasn’t a bad ass. I didn’t get into fights or destroy people’s property. I didn’t even swear much or get drunk.’

  ‘And now?’

  ‘Now?’ he said. ‘Now I’m breaking into houses and businesses. I’m stealing things. I’m doing whatever I please. It’s liberating.’

  I knew how he felt. It seemed like we could break all the rules we had been brought up to respect.

  ‘And you can kill people too,’ I said, before I could stop myself.

  His face changed. ‘That’s the one thing I would change,’ he said. ‘I’m quite happy to do anything else to survive. But killing people? Even if the government is telling us they are dead already, it still feels wrong.’

  ‘I know exactly where you are coming from,’ I said. ‘I didn’t mean to be flippant about it.’

  Suddenly we heard the sound of the car horn again. It was distant, but was getting closer by the second.

  Mike stood up. ‘I think they’re coming this way.’

  I stood up too and the rest of Mike’s team gathered round.

  ‘Get to the boats,’ I said. ‘Get ready to leave at once.’

  We ran to the harbour, just as the horn stopped. I could still hear the engine though. Then the car stopped. Then I heard it reverse, then stop again. What were they playing at?

  Mike’s team were already on board the two small motor launches and had started them up with the keys they had found in the small office next to the restaurant. We were going to be able to leave as soon as the others arrived. But they weren’t coming.

  ‘What are they doing?’ asked Mike.

  ‘I have no idea,’ I said.

  Suddenly, out of the trees to the left of the restaurant, a man stumbled towards us. Mike was on him in a flash and struck him with a ferocious blow that almost cut his head in half. The man dropped to the ground, but no sooner had he done so than another appeared.

  ‘Get to the boat,’ shouted Mike as he tackled the new threat.

  I ran to the harbour, just as the car appeared around the corner and screeched to a halt. Mike had just finished off another one of the dead, with his axe, but there were more and more coming. Far too many to fight.

  He backed off, taking out another one with a knife which he was forced to leave embedded in the woman’s skull.

  ‘Time to go,’ he shouted at the car.

  The two young men jumped out and sprinted for the jetty, just as the first boat was heaving off. They jumped and landed on the deck and the boat suddenly lurched forward as the speed increased.

  Mike was still backing off as a large group appeared from around the corner of the road the car had just come from. That was enough for him. There was no way he could have taken on that many. He turned and ran.

  ‘Floor it,’ I said to the older man who was driving the boat I was on.

  He gunned the engines and we began to weave our way out of the harbour, just as Mike sprinted along the last few metres of the jetty and jumped on board. He had lost his axe in the melee, but I was just grateful that he was safe. We could always get him another weapon.

  We sailed away from the tiny harbour, as more and more of the dead appeared. They stood on the shores and on the jetty, making their terrible noises, knowing that they couldn’t get to us. We had done it. We had found enough food in one street to last us a month and we had managed it without losing a single one of our group.

  I sat back on the wooden seat and soaked up the warm sun as I enjoyed the rush of the wind in my hair. Tonight we would eat well and tomorrow we could start to plan the rest of our survival strategy.

  Thomas Buckle

  14:30 hours, Monday 18th May, Loch Leven, Kinross-shire

  I put my hand on Pancho’s head to quieten him and gave Dave a look that told him there was danger nearby. We crouched down, hiding amongst the shrubbery and bushes as we waited to see exactly what the dog had heard. It didn’t take long.

  A woman appeared from nearby, almost stepping on us as she walked towards the fire. The smoke, I thought, of course. She had seen the smoke and had been attracted by it. Now she was investigating. Was there some intelligence in those things after all?

  It was Dave who moved first. As the woman passed he left his cover and plunged a sharpened screwdriver through the top of her skull. I heard the bone crack and give way as the instrument passed through it and into her brain and she dropped to her knees and slumped over as Dave withdrew it from her head in one easy movement.

  Pancho was still unsettled. He was beginning to emit a low squeaking noise, uncommon for him. I wondered what it could be, but before I could react to it I saw another one of them. It was a child of about ten. He walked right past me and before I could warn Dave the kid was on his arm, biting it.

  Dave screamed. He knew he was dead from that very second, but he lashed out and hit the boy a
bove the eye with the screwdriver. He fell to the ground. There was a momentary twitch and then nothing.

  But Dave was screaming. The bite mark was small, but we knew that even a scratch would have been fatal.

  ‘Don’t let me die,’ he pleaded. ‘Don’t let me turn like them.’

  Pancho was growling again. I didn’t know what to do. I looked beyond Dave and could see the boat again. It wasn’t too far away.

  ‘You have to be quiet,’ I said. ‘I think there are others in the area.’

  But he was terrified. He couldn’t stop himself. I think I would have been the same in those circumstances. It would have been too much for me. But I had to do something. I could hear noises in the bushes. The dead were looking for us. So I did the only thing I could think of. I knocked Dave out, hitting him on the back of the head with the butt of one of the rifles.

  He fell to the ground and I pulled back the sleeve of his shirt. The bite was actually tiny, now that he wasn’t thrashing around and I could see it properly. I pulled out my knife. I didn’t know if it would work or not, but I had to try. Dave was an important member of our group and we couldn’t afford to lose him.

  I cut around the wound, taking at least ten centimetres of flesh around it and digging deep into his arm to make sure I got everything out. I imagined the bite to be like a poison. It would act fast on Dave’s system, so I had to act faster.

  When I thought I had removed all the possible infection I poured water over the wound to clean it, then I ripped the sleeve from Dave’s shirt and used it as a rudimentary bandage, tying it tightly around his arm.

  It only took seconds but I knew I had no more time to waste. I hoisted the unconscious man onto my shoulder and staggered towards the loch. The boat, with a man and a woman from the island, was just offshore. They were waving and calling to me as I stumbled forwards.

  Suddenly a figure, another woman, lurched at me from behind another bush. I dodged the attack but I couldn’t defend myself while carrying Dave. Then, as the woman steadied herself for another attack, Pancho unexpectedly appeared from behind her. He leapt onto her back and knocked her to the ground, snarling at her as he landed nearby and turning to face her.

  I took my chance and raced for the shore. In my peripheral vision I could see other figures. They were all along the shoreline, dozens of them, all converging on me.

  ‘Pancho,’ I yelled as I teetered into the cold water of the loch and started wading for the boat. ‘Pancho.’

  I could hear a real commotion going on in the bushes, then a yelp. I reached the boat, which was in waist deep water and we managed to get Dave on board. Then I turned to go back.

  ‘Where are you going?’ asked the woman.

  ‘The dog,’ I said. ‘He’s still in there.’

  ‘Leave him,’ said the man. ‘You’ll never survive in there.’

  I looked at the shoreline. He was right. There were dozens of the infected there now, bellowing at us as we remained out of their reach on the water. I pulled myself onto the boat and stared back at them. It was almost enough to break my heart. The one thing I had come to love throughout all the tragedy, the most loyal friend I could have ever imagined and he was gone.

  I slumped onto the deck, silently cursing Dave and his stupid ideas.

  But as we turned to head for the island I heard the man speak.

  ‘Look.’

  I looked up and back towards shore. There, weaving his way through the dead as they reached for him with rotten hands, was Pancho. We shouted at him, encouraging him as he headed for the water. They grabbed for him but he was too fast, too agile and too smart. As he reached the last of group he leapt onto the back of a man and launched himself into the air. I could have sworn he was showing off and he landed in the water with a huge splash.

  He paddled out to us and we hauled him onto the boat by the scruff of his neck. I was so pleased to see him and he licked at my face and squeaked as I petted him and ruffled his soaking fur.

  We rowed back to the island sanctuary at a steady pace and unloaded Dave with some care when we arrived at the jetty, surrounded by a small crowd.

  ‘What happened to him?’ asked a man.

  ‘He’s been bitten,’ I said.

  The crowd moved back, almost as one and some of the women ushered the children away.

  ‘It’s okay,’ I said. ‘I cut around the bite just after it happened. I think I might have stopped the infection.’

  ‘We can’t take the risk,’ said one.

  ‘He’ll have to be put down,’ said another.

  There was a discussion amongst the group as they deliberated on what to do with Dave. Finally a voice spoke above all the others. It was Laura.

  ‘We should wait to see what happens,’ she said. ‘If he was bitten fifteen minutes ago he should have turned by now. I’ve seen it happen in seconds.’

  ‘Sometimes it takes much longer. We can’t take that chance,’ said a man. ‘What if he turns and infects others. We could be wiped out.’

  ‘Tom and I will guard him round the clock,’ she said. ‘We’ll put him in quarantine until we are absolutely sure he won’t turn.’

  There was more discussion, before an agreement was reached. We were to row out onto the water and stay there for the rest of the afternoon with Dave. Once the others returned from their scavenging trip they would decide what to do with him.

  The two of us rowed out, to about twenty metres, leaving Pancho on the island. He had done his bit for the day and if Dave was to turn I didn’t want him to be put in any more danger.

  So we waited, out there, whiling away the time until we suddenly heard a boat engine. I looked up and saw two small launches. It was Anna and Mike and the others. We would have our answer soon enough.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kareef Hadad

  08:30 hours, Monday 25th May, Windsor Castle HQ, Windsor

  We had been at the castle for over a week and things were pretty much the same outside. The dead still laid siege to us and we cowered inside, afraid to go out and challenge their authority. They were the true rulers of the country now. We were the pathetic remnants of a nation which had once had the temerity to call itself Great.

  Sophie and I had been given some training in the use of the army rifles. We were expected to do our bit in there. We trained alongside regular soldiers, civilians and the royal household staff. We took our turns on guard duty, manning the walls and keeping observations on the enemy below.

  In return we liked to think we were safe there. We had a roof over our heads and three meals a day. They were small meals, granted, but at least we were eating. Outside, in the real world, people were dying like flies.

  Every night we watched news bulletins. It was the same all over the country. It was the same all over the world. The Americans had finally given up on their idea of bombing their own cities. They had nuked a small city near the Canadian border, as a test. But the Canadian government protested and in any case the dead had simply walked through the destruction and carried on as before, those that hadn’t been incinerated.

  Now the Americans were falling back to the Mexican border and the west. Everything they tried seemed to fail.

  In the rest of Europe it was much the same. Hundreds of millions had been infected within a short space of time. They, in turn, had attacked and either infected or killed tens of millions more. Nobody had any answers. People fought back, of course, but the numbers were in favour of the dead and their advantage increased with every passing day.

  My own thoughts continued to be with my wife and family. Where they had gone I had no idea. Trying to get answers was difficult. Every time I asked a question I was put off with the same old ‘the situation is very confusing’ routine.

  Then, one morning I had had enough. I waited until I knew that the Prime Minister was in his office and knocked on the door. He was in a meeting with General Breck and some other important figures, but I was insistent that he listened to me. He had no choice. In o
ne of his addresses to the survivors in the castle, he had said that his door was always open.

  ‘I have to find my wife and children,’ I said. ‘They are out there, somewhere and I know they are alive. I can sense it.’

  ‘I’m afraid there can be no way of telling that,’ said the PM.

  ‘Please tell me where they would have gone,’ I pleaded. ‘There must have been a plan.’

  ‘The plan was for the setting up of safe zones and camps,’ said the General. ‘But we never got that far. It all happened too quickly and the zones were overrun. We had no idea it would spread so fast.’

  I sat down on a chair. Someone brought me a glass of water and I took a long drink.

  ‘I cannot stay here any longer,’ I announced. ‘I have to find them and bring them to safety.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ said the PM. ‘That is out of the question. There is no way you can get out of this castle, other than by helicopter and I will not authorise its use for such a venture.’

  ‘I’m not asking for much,’ I said. ‘A weapon and some ammunition. Maybe some food for a couple of days.’

  The General shook his head. ‘We can’t afford to give you a rifle. We need every weapon we have and all the ammunition too. You can see how heavily outnumbered we are.’

  ‘So that’s it?’ I asked. ‘We leave millions to the mercy of the dead, do we? Leave them without any hope of salvation?’

  ‘The army is doing everything in its power to save people,’ said the General.

  ‘They’re not doing a great job about it,’ I retorted.

  It was true. In seven major engagements so far, the army had been defeated in every one of them. It was on its knees.

  The RAF had fared little better. Its main base at Brize Norton had been overrun two nights ago. Many of the pilots had been killed on the ground and an attempt to retake the base had already failed. It had left us with very little air support.

  Of the three military arms, it was the navy who had performed the best. They had saved sixty thousand people from the beaches at Bournemouth and had transported them to the Channel Islands. Several outbreaks on those islands had been controlled and now the navy was conducting further evacuations around the coast, from Aberdeen to Swansea.