Zombie Castle (Book 1)

by Chris Harris

  The other too heartily agreed and they introduced themselves. The lads were called Noah and Daniel and the girl was called Aggi. They explained that they’d got their jobs due to their parents being members of the yacht club, and apart from wages they got free room and board at the club and unlimited sailing when they had time. They seemed like pleasant enough kids and had obviously been well brought up.

  Naturally they were very thirsty and hungry after two days on the bus with nothing to eat or drink and they eagerly took everything we had to offer. As they ate and drank we filled them in on what we knew had happened. They all came from London and were extremely anxious about their families, but we weren’t able to offer them much reassurance given that we thought the zombie outbreak had started there. We told them what our plans were and said that if they wanted to join us they were welcome. If the barracks proved to be safe we would stay there. If not, our plan was to head to Warwick Castle and avoid London. We knew that the capital would be a very dangerous place to be.

  They accepted what we’d told them but were just grateful to be safe for the moment and weren’t really up to thinking beyond the next few hours.

  We were all astonished at how well the vehicles had done. They were all looking a little more battered and dented and of course, they were smeared with blood, but they were clearly still sturdy enough to last a while longer.

  Maud brought out a few thermos flasks of coffee she’d made back at the farmhouse and busied herself serving up steaming cups of coffee. She tried to offer us sandwiches, but having been battered by gruesome sights for the last hour or so, none of us felt up to eating yet apart from the children who, thankfully, had been unable to see over the sides of the trailer as we pushed, crushed and speared our way through the cars and zombies along the way.

  Shawn spread the map out and we double-checked the route we had planned. We weren’t even halfway there yet but hopefully now that we were on the main road and had got through the huge pile up, the rest of the journey would be less eventful.

  ‘Marine Brown,’ said Simon strolling up to him, ‘who the hell authorised the use of hand grenades?’

  Ben snapped to attention immediately, ‘Improvisation and the need to live Sir!’ he paused for a moment, his lips twitching, then added, ‘I’ve still got some left, do you want some?’

  ‘Absofuckinglutely Marine. They worked brilliantly. But let’s just use them as a last resort eh Marine? We don’t know when we’ll be resupplied.’

  Ben reached into his rucksack and laid four grenades on the ground, passing two to Simon and putting the other two in the pockets of his body armour. He then spent the next few minutes refilling his used rifle magazines and pushing them into the right pouches so that they could easily be reached.

  The brief rest had worked and we were all ready to get going again. Noah, Daniel and Aggi were going to ride in the trailer, so we held the ladder while they all climbed up. I gave my family another reassuring hug before they also got back in. As Ben and I returned to the Volvo, we could hear Simon and Chet giving the newcomers instructions on how to use one of the zombie spears. That reminded me that we also needed one, so I pulled up alongside the trailer and Ben asked Simon to pass one down.

  Leading the way, I kept to a steady thirty miles an hour. Shawn had said that anything over that might cause the trailer to bounce around too much, which would not be pleasant for its occupants.

  We were lucky and the road was as clear as we could have hoped. Whenever we came across a zombie, staggering along the road, I slowed down and either used the plough to kill them or Ben perfected the art of ‘zombie sticking’, managing consistent headshots with his spear at about ten miles an hour.

  Where possible we were following Shawn’s ethos of killing every zombie we could, if it was safe to do so. We knew the country was full of millions of them, but we reasoned that every zombie we put down would be one less to worry about.

  I had to stop myself when I found myself making a game of hitting them with the zombie plough or congratulating Ben when he made a skilful kill with his spear. I’d been getting carried away with the moment and it wasn’t until I saw what could only have been a mother and her daughter, both zombies, stumbling along the road, that it brought me back to my senses. They looked uncannily like Becky and Daisy and it made my stomach churn.

  Ben, who had been enjoying himself as well, noticed my change of mood and on a zombie-free stretch of road, sat down in the seat rather than standing on it. He was a sensitive and sensible young man and immediately felt ashamed when I explained how bad I’d felt when I’d realised I was beginning to enjoy the game of killing them. We were both much more sombre when we came across the next zombies and killed them.

  A lesson in humanity learnt.

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  As we approached the outskirts of Plymouth, I was relieved to find the road still clear. Like the other towns, smoke was curling ominously upwards from various locations in the city as fires burned out of control.

  Terrible thoughts popped unbidden into my mind and I imagined having to face an impossible decision. What if you were trapped in a house or flat with your family, unable or too terrified to leave because the streets outside were teeming with zombies? What if you knew that no matter how hard you tried, you’d be unable to protect your loved ones and they’d be attacked and killed while you tried in vain to fight your way clear? From the windows you’d be able to see the fire getting closer as it burned its inexorable way towards you.

  What would you do? Stay and burn to death, or leave and be eaten alive?

  Shaking off the thought, I concentrated on the road ahead as I knew we were getting to the potential choke point of the Tamar Suspension Bridge, which linked England to Cornwall. It stood alongside Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s beautiful Royal Albert Bridge which had spanned the river for over a hundred and fifty years.

  I warned Shawn via the walkie-talkie that we were approaching the bridge. Once we were over it the barracks would only be thirty minutes away (providing the road wasn’t completely blocked).

  As we drove down the hill towards the bridge I prayed silently that the road would remain clear. Luck was still on our side. The only zombie I could see was one of the toll booth attendants who, trapped in his glass fronted booth, smashed his head repeatedly and ferociously against the glass in his desperation to get at us as we passed.

  We made our way slowly across the bridge and I glanced at the impressive looking railway bridge. I found its solidity and magnificence a comfort amid all the chaos.

  I wondered if a train would ever be seen on it again.

  About a mile further on we pulled off the A38 and continued up the A386 towards Bickleigh. The fences and barriers along the dual carriageway must have kept the zombies from wandering on to the carriageway because the only zombies we saw as we drove through Plymouth were either still trapped in their cars or were feeding on the corpses of fellow road users beside abandoned or crashed vehicles.

  As Ben warned me that we were approaching the turning for the barracks, a zombie in camouflage uniform stumbled into the road in front of us.

  ‘Stop!’ screamed Ben. ‘Jesus! I fucking know him! It’s Gaz, one of my mates.’

  ‘Gaz’ staggered towards us. His ripped uniform showing an arm that was more muscle and bone than flesh, evidence of how he’d been bitten and turned. He was still wearing his tactical vest and had a pistol in a holster attached to his belt. As he reached the vehicle Ben lost his nerve and started to cry. The sight of someone he was obviously close to having turned into a zombie had hit him hard.

  ‘Do you want me to do it?’ I asked him quietly as he sat, unable to tear his gaze away from his former friend, who was snarling, the spittle running down his chin and clawing ineffectually at the glass of the window.

  I watched as Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath. ‘No, thanks,’ he said, ‘I’ve got this.’

  He stood up and raised his weapon then quietly said, ‘
See ya mate,’ and shot him through the head.

  As the gunshot reverberated across the countryside, Simon called to us from the trailer: ‘Marine Brown. Relieve Marine Butler of his weapons and ammunition. It’s not doing him any good now is it son?’

  Ben, his training and discipline kicking back in, pulled himself together, shouted, ‘Yes Sarge!’ and climbed through the roof of the Volvo. He quickly stripped his friend of his sidearm and holster and took all the magazines he had in his tactical vest.

  As he climbed on to the bonnet of the Volvo and scrambled back through the hole in the roof, Simon spoke gently to him across the gap between the vehicles. ‘Stay on mission Marine. We may not like what we’re about to see but we have to stay focused or we’ll end up like Marine Butler. If we find any more of our mates, or anybody in uniform in fact, remember that it’s not them anymore. They’d have wanted us to put an end to their misery, so don’t hesitate; just kill them. None of them deserved to have to walk around like that.’

  We made our way cautiously towards the barracks.

  At the main gates the piles of corpses told their own story. The gates were open but the bodies of soldiers, most torn to pieces, and covered in bite marks and injuries, were surrounded by dead zombies riddled with gunshot wounds. It was clear that the guards had been caught unawares and quickly overwhelmed and that the ones who’d escaped had opened fire on their attackers in an attempt to save their mates.

  One zombie, missing its arms and legs, was feeding greedily on the corpse of a guard, its head buried in the entrails of the unfortunate man as it chomped away.

  We followed the trail of dead soldiers and bullet riddled zombies, many still animate but left immobile by the damage the bullets had inflicted, away from the gates and further into the base and gradually the story of a desperate fight for survival unfolded before us.

  In complete silence we drove further into the base. After a few hundred metres we began to see weapons lying abandoned on the ground. Most likely they’d been dropped in panic when the ammunition began to run out. Zombies attracted by the noise of our engines began to move towards us.

  Each time a zombie in uniform appeared Simon and Ben quickly and cleanly dispatched it with a well-aimed shot through the head. The barracks had been their home, and they knew most of them, so each shot was preceded by the unfortunate soldier’s name being called out in a final farewell.

  Civilian zombies were ignored and we left them to follow our vehicles, as we silently let Simon and Ben perform the last duty they could for their friends and colleagues.

  Ben shouted to Simon, ‘Isn’t that Lieutenant Smith’s wife over there?’ and pointed to a female zombie walking towards us across the grass sports field.

  I could see Simon waving at us to come closer, so I pulled the car right up next to the trailer. I put the vehicle in park and stood up on the seat so that we could talk.

  Sadly he answered, ‘Yes that’s the Lieutenant’s wife. It’s no good lad, the whole base has gone. We’re well and truly fucked now. This place probably had the best defences in the south-west and they rolled right through here. Nobody was trained to deal with this shit and by the time anyone realised it was just too late. Raising his weapon, he put a bullet through the female zombie’s brain, then he smashed his fist against the side of the trailer and let out a string of swear words.

  He noticed Becky staring at him and realised that Stanley, Daisy and Eddie were listening to every word. Instantly, he looked ashamed. ‘I’m sorry Becky. Sorry kids. I’ve just lost my home and I guess my mates were the closest thing to a family I had left. I’ll try and hold it back a bit more.’

  Becky gave him a quick hug. ‘Don’t worry Simon. They’ve learned a lot of choice words in the past few days! We just hope they know not to use them.’ She turned to the children. ‘Isn’t that right children? It’s one thing to know all these grown up words, but it’s another thing to use them!’

  They all obediently chorused with cheeky little smiles on their faces, ‘Yes.’

  The sudden sound of a shot made us all crouch down and start searching for the source.

  ‘Woody, is that you?’ a distant voice shouted out.

  Simon stood up and looked in the direction the voice had come from. A few figures could be seen standing on the flat roof of a building about one hundred metres away, waving to get our attention.

  The building was surrounded by zombies. ‘Get over there!’ Simon shouted excitedly. ‘I think that’s my old mate Dave on the roof.’

  As Shawn was still in the cab of the tractor and hadn’t heard our conversation, I picked up the walkie-talkie and by pointing and gesticulating, identified the building the people were standing on and told him to get over to it.

  Having had plenty of practice, he was now a dab hand at using the zombie plough, and he quickly cleared a way through, pushing, scraping and pulverising the zombies until one side of the building was clear. Following in his wake, I used my vehicle to destroy any of the ones he’d missed.

  We now knew what our vehicles could do so the few zombies that remained and began to collect around our vehicles didn’t worry us too much. We knew we were safe enough, and unless we were suddenly surrounded by a huge crowd of them, we were confident that the vehicles had the power to get us out of trouble. Nevertheless, it still wasn’t pleasant having them anywhere near us.

  Looking up at the building, we could now see five adults and two children looking down on us. Simon stood in the back of the trailer with a massive grin on his face. ‘Fuck me! You’re obviously too ugly to eat. Is that why you’re still here?’

  ‘Come now Sergeant Wood,’ one of the men replied. ‘I’m the disappointed one. I’ve been sitting up here for two days now turning down rescue offer after rescue offer because I heard a battalion of Amazonian beauties was on its way. Imagine my disappointment when you turn up looking like a Mad Max reject. Can you move that pile of shit you’re riding in along please. I’m sure they’ll be here soon and you’ll only put them off.’

  As he was talking, Simon picked up the ladder from the trailer and extended it so that it reached to the roof. Then he climbed up.

  The two men stood facing each other in silence for a moment, then saying nothing, embraced each other. They were obviously good friends, and had made up their minds that they’d never see each other again. The fact that they’d both survived the impossible and were now reunited brought a lump to everyone’s throats.

  Simon leaned over the parapet and told us all to climb up. A few zombies were still hovering around the vehicles but weren’t going to present any problems, so Ben and I grabbed our weapons and scrambled from the roof of the Volvo up into the trailer, then began to help everyone climb the ladder.

  Twenty one of us gathered on the roof of the building. The seven who had already been up there looked sun burned and exhausted.

  Typically, Becky stepped forward. ‘When did any of you last have anything to eat or drink?’

  Simon’s friend replied, ‘We ran out of water yesterday morning and we’ve had nothing to eat since all this began.’

  Without even asking, Chet and Louise turned and climbed down the ladder and quickly returned carrying bottles of water which were eagerly grabbed and drained.

  Maud, once more on a mission, began issuing orders to Chet to bring up the portable cooker and various supplies while we tended to the newest arrivals to our group. While we kept them topped up with water to rehydrate them, she set about boiling more water to make tea and pouring tins into a saucepan so that they could have their first meal in three days.

  The water had a miraculous effect and in no time they were all looking much better.

  Standing next to his friend, Simon made the formal introductions. ‘Folks, this is Sergeant Dave Eddy; the oldest and the ugliest, but also the best sergeant the Marines have ever had. We’ve known each other for most of our careers and we’ve served together many times. He was my best man at my wedding and helped me carry my wif
e’s coffin a few years ago. He’s my best friend and if I had to choose anyone to help us survive the situation we’re in now, he’d be at the top of the list.’

  Looking at him, he seemed to be made out of the same mould as Simon. A slightly older, more scarred model. If a Hollywood studio were looking for someone to play a traditional ‘hard as nails’ Sergeant Major, holding his unit together against all the odds, then Dave Eddy would be the man they’d pick.

  Simon introduced us to the rest of the group. The other two soldiers were Corporal Steve Popley and Marine Jim Ellis and the women and children were Lucy and her six year old daughter Emma, and Victoria and her twelve year old son Josh.

  Between mouthfuls of the hot soup that Maud was spooning out to the ravenous survivors, Dave told us their story. Unwisely, only a handful of soldiers had been left to guard the base while everyone was being dispatched to other areas of the south-west a few days previously.

  Soon after the squads had left, panicked and confusing reports of attacks on soldiers had started to come in over the radio, together with urgent requests for more ammunition. It had been clear that whatever was happening wasn’t normal. After a quick meeting with the base commander they’d decided to dispatch a rescue and relief mission to try to resupply the men who’d either gone silent or were now sending through desperate requests for help.

  The base commander, Lieutenant Colonel Burgum, had chosen to lead the mission himself. He knew that his men were in real trouble and wanted to do everything he could to help them. He loaded up the last few vehicles left at the base with most of the contents of the armoury and drove out of the gate with twenty men.