"So what do we do?" she cried.
Paul looked at Jade with sympathy; this was all new to her. She squatted down and lowered her head; her shoulders shuddered with her crying and Paul was quick to comfort her. She cried, "I don't even know where my family are."
"Neither does anyone else," Karen said with coldness in her voice. "There're millions in your position. You're not the only one, you know." Karen looked agitated and emptied her nose onto the grass, sniffed, and looked at Jade for a reaction.
"Relax, Karen," Pickle tried to appease. "She's just a young girl."
"She's older than me!"
"I mean...this is all new to her."
"I don't wanna hear her bitching, that's all. We've all got people we care for. My Gary turned into one of those things as soon as it happened. My dad and my stepsister, Kelly, are stuck somewhere in Glasgow, my mother is…well, God knows where—"
"That's enough," Paul scolded Karen, still comforting a clearly upset Jade.
A silence enveloped the group; each one was nervous, some more than others, and their backs were soaked with perspiration thanks to the unwanted exercise session and the muggy climate. The clouds were dressed in grey, but the day was clammy and made all four irritable.
"I need a wee drink," Pickle announced.
The remaining three all took their sports bags off that were full of contents from the vending machines, and dumped them onto the floor. They had four bags, one each, and the only food and drink that was on offer was fizzy drinks, sports drinks, chocolate bars, crisps and protein bars. It wasn't great, but it'd have to do for now. Out of a bag that was packed by Karen, Pickle took out a bottle of cherry coke, opened the bottle that fizzed everywhere and took a generous gulp, belching quietly with every swig he took.
The group were lost in silence.
Now that they were safe, temporarily, and their adrenaline had begun to subside, they all remained sitting and continued to be silent as Pickle finished off his drink. Karen ate a squished chocolate bar, and Paul and Jade just sat and stared at the grass. For minutes this continued, until a snap of a twig could be heard in the suffocating silence. All four turned their heads correctly in the direction where the noise was coming from. Jade quickly got to her feet and released a gasp.
"Calm down," Pickle said. "It's just the one."
The group glared at the lonesome figure stumbling through the wooded area. It was one of them, and thankfully, there didn't seem to be more of them.
"Looks like somebody got lost." Paul Parker looked around on the floor and picked up a rock. It was a large rock, enough to cause penetration if enough forced was used.
The lone Snatcher picked up speed as it clocked the group, even though it was a hundred yards away. It was a mess, they all were, but this particular one's skin was peeling away. Its eyes were sunken in, an ear was missing from the left side of its head and it was so gaunt, its face almost looked like a skull that had been painted a dirty yellow colour. It was hard to fathom what the age of the thing was when it was in human form, although it was definitely a male and dressed in a now dirty suit that would have been a navy blue colour when first put on.
Jade shook with fear; Karen looked at the young fitness instructor with sceptical eyes. Karen knew how Jade felt, but she had to toughen up quickly, because Karen Bradley didn't want any passengers involved. Everyone needed to be able to fight if need be.
Paul stepped forward with the rock in hand; Karen got to her feet and placed her opened hand on his chest, stopping him from progressing any further.
"What are you doing?" Paul and Pickle asked in unison.
"Give me the rock," she demanded.
Paul looked at Pickle. Pickle shrugged his shoulders.
Without saying a word, Paul handed Karen the rock.
Karen then handed the rock to Jade, who refused to take it.
"Take it!" Karen snapped.
The frightened Jade looked at both men who were now on their feet, and were wondering what the hell Karen Bradley was up to. She reluctantly took the rock off of the twenty-three-year-old former nurse, and shook with fear. Karen then walked towards the infected being with long strides, which in turn excited the thing. As soon as it got close, she swiped its legs from underneath it, making it immediately fall to the floor, face down. Karen placed her hand on the back of its head and knelt on its extended arm, making it impossible for it to move. She gazed over in Jade's direction. "Well, what are you waiting for?"
Jade looked to Paul and Pickle. They stepped back and Pickle nodded in Karen's direction; it was as if they knew what she was trying to do. This was some kind of half-arsed initiation test, but what if Jade failed? Would they leave her to her own devices if they thought that she would be nothing more than a hindrance to the group, a weak link? Jade stepped forward to Karen, clutching the rock tightly. Tears rained down her cheeks, but she had already made her mind up that this was something that she couldn't go through with. This world was too much for her, and she cursed the group mentally for breaking into the sports centre. She was doing just fine before they turned up. Bastards!
"Do it!" Karen urged. "It's rotten; you'll find the head is quite soft. It ain't as hard as you think."
Jade looked at the thing that struggled, snarled and gnashed away. She shook her head and dropped the rock onto the floor. She sobbed and Paul consoled her. Karen got up on her feet and walked to the group. The thing began to scramble to its feet, while Karen casually picked up the rock. Paul looked at Pickle as if to say: What the hell's she doing? but Pickle shook his head at him, telling him to leave it. He trusted Karen.
The thing managed to get to its feet and slowly trudged its way towards them from ten yards away. Karen sighed and said to Jade, "You're gonna have to toughen up, or you won't last an hour out there." Karen then turned away from Jade who was still being consoled by Paul, then marched forward towards the being and rammed the rock into its forehead. The rock obliterated the front of its skull. It fell to its knees and hit the floor face down, then Karen turned to Jade, wiping two specks of gunk off of her cheek. "Because I'm not gonna be your babysitter."
Pickle sighed, "Okay, let's keep moving."
"Where?" asked Paul.
"I don't know."
"What's that noise?" Jade said.
All individuals stood motionless with their ears pricked up, investigating the noise. Pickle answered, "Sounds like planes. Come on," he urged his comrades. "I think there's a road further up ahead."
*
Jack Slade looked up to the skies as the two Panavia Tornados screamed and roared above him. A smile emerged on his face, and although the scene that he had just witnessed didn't help him personally, it made him smile when he saw the planes above, because it gave him hope.
Nobody knew what was going on, but surely that was a sign that the whole of the country hadn't been decimated by the virus, unless it was a couple of pilots escaping from an infected base, but Jack tried to convince himself that that wasn't the case. He looked up to the heavens, urging the sun to sneak from behind the clouds so he could get his clothes quickly dried. He shivered as he felt the cold torment him, and although it should have been the last concern in this new world, he was hoping that he would avoid a stinking cold.
Still soaked, a playback of the events from when the outbreak was announced went through his head, which darkened his mood so much that he crashed to the floor and hit the dirt. He broke down and cried; he cried so hard he thought his heart was going to break. He couldn't believe after all he had been through, he had lost his little boy.
He looked ahead of him and could see that the woods where he was heading seemed miles away; it would certainly feel like miles with the wet clothes that he had on. He staggered through the ploughed field; his steps were lazy and clumsy, the steps of a tired man. His feet scraped their way towards the wooded area and once five minutes had passed, he eventually got there. He looked into the woods and saw that the area was quite open which pleased him, a
s the chance of a surprise attack would be rare, unless he was attacked while he was asleep.
With it still being the afternoon, he felt exhausted. He had hardly slept in the last twenty-four hours, and had used a lot of energy with the escape. He was tired and could have murdered a drink.
He continued for a while until he decided to stop; ahead he could see a deceased being. He took tentative steps to get nearer to the being, and saw by the side of him, an empty cherry coke bottle.
They were here.
He laughed at himself. He should have gone with them, but it was too late now. They were probably an hour ahead of him, maybe just half an hour, but they might not even be in the woods anymore. He walked away for a further minute to escape the stench of the dead body. He sat down and rested his back against the tree trunk and thought that maybe he was better off on his own anyway. He had lost his son and Kerry, possible most of his other family members, and connecting with the group could be a recipe for more heartache once he got to know them, because disaster seemed to be always round the corner.
He had only known Gary for just over a week and felt like he had lost a brother; the group at the village hall seemed pretty solid, until the things overran them. What if he got close to Jade, Karen, Pickle, and got to know Paul even better, then one of them was killed? There seemed to be heartache whatever happened. He was glad the belt had slipped and he had crashed into the swimming pool; he did want to live despite losing everything and everyone. Deep down, something inside of him was urging him to continue to live.
It was only the afternoon, but he needed a sleep. It seemed crazy to do so, but he would rather sleep during the day than through the night, especially if he were to remain in the woods. Looking around in the spaced area, there wasn't even a sign of a bird. Confident that he would be practically sleeping with one eye open anyway and any kind of rustle would probably alert him, he decided to close his eyes, and once he did, he broke down again.
After ten minutes, once his breakdown was over, he tried to control his breathing and lowered his heart rate, while opening his eyes every other second just to make sure. This went on for a few minutes until Jack was eventually swallowed up by tiredness.
One hour later, he woke up, and was ready for his journey, his next adventure. He was alone in the woods; he had no food or water, and wondered if he was going to survive by the end of the week.
Only time would tell.
~~~~~~~~~
THE END
~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoyed reading SNATCHERS 2: The Dead Don't Sleep, feel free to email me your thoughts or leave a review where you've downloaded the book.
Very kind regards,
Shaun Whittington
The following is one of the chapters to Snatchers Book Three, and will be ready (fingers crossed) at the end of 2014.
For information on the release date of Snatchers: Book Three, or any other future releases, go to Facebook and follow me.
Sample Chapter
For the last three days the four individuals had been walking and sleeping; and on just the two occasions, had bumped into two Snatchers that were contained with ease by both Paul Parker and Karen Bradley. Jade Greatrix was still a nervous wreck even after three days of being outside, and Karen was still irked by Jade's presence and had hardly said a word to her over the three days. The group, after living off rations of crisps and juice, had finally ran out of food and Pickle knew that staying in the woods was not practical unless they came across a stream of pure water and a field of animals. This, of course, was nothing but a pipedream. Because for the last three days they had remained in the woods, they had no idea where they were; they had no plan, but just wanted to stay reasonably safe and away from roads and general population.
These parts of the woods seemed to be quiet, but the further they walked, the more condensed the trees became. The overall goal was to somehow find sanctuary. Even though being out in the open made them more vulnerable to predators, they were also hidden from any chance of being picked up by a rogue driver or any other kind of help. They didn't know how many miles they had walked over the last three days, but it was becoming clear that the woods were thinning out and in the direction they were heading, the woods were coming to a halt.
Wordlessly, they all stepped out onto the edge of the area onto a country road. They were out in the open and it felt good. Being in the woods was the safest option, but the heat was stifling and it was good to feel the cold wind on their sweat-stained shirts.
They were all desperate for washes; their mouths were rank with the stench of not brushing for days and they seemed to itch all over from a concoction of the dirt and the heat. Through the night, they had all slept on the grass with one keeping guard. Jade had estimated that she had probably had had seven hours sleep over the three nights, if she was lucky. Her body ached, her mouth was as dry as sand paper, her teeth ached from the neglect and she stunk. She had become used to this as the rest were also stinking, but it had seemed to be something that was just accepted now. Jade was the first to speak, while the rest of the group had their eyes closed and looked up to the dull sky, enjoying the breeze that caressed their frames.
"So what happens now?"
Nobody answered her.
Eventually Pickle spoke, "Not sure. I think we should have a wee sit down and discuss what our next move should be."
Jade was the first to slump onto the grass bank at the edge of the road. Paul followed and began moaning about the smell that was coming from his body. Paul Parker lowered his head and thought about Jocelyn and Hannah. He hoped they were okay, but he also knew that they could be not living anymore. He knew it was pointless and now too dangerous going back to his house, but it was still killing him not knowing where they were or how they were doing, or if they were even still breathing.
Pickle squinted his eyes; he was lost in thought and threw his head to the right, then to the left, looking down the country lanes.
Noticing his confusion, Karen asked, "What's up?"
"I think I recognise this place."
Karen coolly nodded her head. "That's because we've been here before."
"What?" Pickle looked bemused. "When?"
"We've practically walked in a circle. Don't forget, I've lived in this area all my life. This road..." Karen allowed her sentence to trail off and paused, until Pickle's raised eyebrows urged her to continue with her sentence. Karen cleared her throat. "This is the very same road where KP got out of the van."
Pickle's face was emotionless, but he could feel a sick feeling in his stomach, his hand rubbed his thin beard in thought. "So...we're back at Stile Cop?"
"More or less. It's just round that corner and up the hill. Do you think we should check it out?"
The forty-three-year-old never answered her straight away; he was lost in deliberation. "I don't know. The last time we were there, we were swamped with the things. Don't yer remember what happened to Jamie and Janine?"
"Don't forget Davina." Karen chipped in. "Anyway, that was nearly two weeks ago, these Snatchers ain't gonna hang around if there's no...well....food about, are they?"
"Yer reckon the place is empty?"
"Won't harm to check it out, then we'll take it from there."
"We're gonna have to eat...soon," Paul spoke up.
Both Karen and Pickle nodded in agreement. Both their stomachs were beginning to grumble with dissatisfaction of the lack of action they'd been getting since yesterday. "I know there's a supermarket not far from here, might be fuck all in there now," Pickle half-scoffed.
"We could always try and go back into Rugeley," Karen said.
"Didn't yer tell me it was swarming?"
"A while back, yes. But who knows what could be happening. We could be hiding in the woods while the Rugeley residents have...I dunno...kinda taken control of their town. Maybe it's been quarantined by the army."
"Or..." Paul smiled sarcastically at Karen's positive attitude, "maybe... there's no one left, b
ecause they've all been ripped to fucking pieces."
Pickle and Karen looked at one another while Jade picked her manky teeth with her little finger. They never responded immediately to Paul's scolding. They knew he was still unsure whether his wife and daughter were alive or not, and put his fury down to frustration.
"Well," Pickle began, "food and drink isn't going to fall into our laps sitting here, is it? Something has to be done. We'll go to Stile Cop first, it's on the way anyway, see what's been occurring, then we'll go to Karen's hometown and see what we can get."
"A set of wheels would be good." Paul spoke as if he was in a daydream. His eyes were wide; he looked like he was a million miles away.
"A set o' wheels would be great, but let's see what's about." Pickle investigated the inside of his mouth and could feel the wrinkles in the roof. He was dehydrated. He knew he was dehydrated because his head was pounding and he hadn't shat for two days. "If any of yer lot come across any thick branches, pick them up. I'm not going into that town unarmed."
"I'm sure we can outrun those things, if there ain't too many," Karen piped up.
"It's not just the Lurkers that we need to worry about," Paul spat; it sounded like he was getting angry. "My friend, Gary, was raped and killed by two men," Paul looked over to Pickle, "in that very same supermarket you were talking about. I'm going nowhere, unless I'm armed."
This kind of talk did nothing to breathe confidence into Jade. What happened to humans pulling together? she thought. She sighed once again and thought about her lonely existence being stuck in the sports centre. But at least she was safe. And had possibly another week left before supplies would have ran out.
"Okay." Pickle clapped his hands together in a futile attempt to rally the troops. "Are we ready?"
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