by T. L. Frost
“Charley, get these men downstairs with the others, you’re going out for supplies, now!” Said Quinn turning and pointing the axe “Hurry up you old fucker!”
Charley recovered a little and moved towards the roof’s door, hurrying as Quinn shouted, moving the other two men back into the building, the cousins Terry and Phil joining him to herd them all onwards, giving them no time to stop and think.
“The rest of you finish clearing up.” Quinn said, looking over the women and teenagers still there, his eyes lingering on Wendy a moment longer than the others as he headed for the roof’s door.
The two cousins moved the last of the men on quickly, rushing them down the stairs with a few shoves, Charley almost losing his footing as they rushed down to the ground floor fire-exit where they grabbed some of the weapons there and stood milling around until one of the cousins opened the door and started pushing them out.
“Hurry up!” Said Terry “We haven’t got all day.”
The last one at the door was Charley, turning to see Quinn and the cousins still together inside.
“You’re not coming?” He said.
“Not this time so you’re in charge.” Replied Quinn “Now get on with it, you don’t bring back food, you don’t eat.”
Charley hesitated, his mouth opening to say something more but he was pushed out by Phil and the metal door slammed shut behind him.
Chapter 4
“Fuck me!” Said Jack as he ran back into the apartment “That big guy just threw one of the others off the roof!”
Jimmy, who had been lazing on a threadbare sofa, jumped up and grabbed the binoculars from him, heading down the corridor to the small window. At the base of the opposite tower he could see a fresh corpse, arms and legs twisted and broken, the head smashed open from the impact with the ground. Brains and pieces of skull were scattered all around and as Jimmy watched, a passing zombie turned towards the fresh body, dropping to its knees and picking through the pieces of still warm brain, putting them in its mouth and chewing. Jimmy looked away, his stomach queasy at the sight, focusing the binoculars on the roof. The big man was shouting orders, waving his axe around. The others quickly doing as he said, shock clearly visible on a lot of faces.
“What’s happening Jim?” Asked Jack right behind him as he tried to look over his brother’s shoulder.
“Looks like most of the men are somewhere else.” He replied “He’s pushing the last few through the door.”
“Where they going Jim?” Jack asked “What they up to?”
“I don’t know.” Said Jimmy getting annoyed by his brother’s questions.
Jimmy looked at him in the pale light from the window, he looked bad today. His face pinched, his eyes sunken and wide as he bounced from foot to foot, looking like he was shivering but it wasn’t that cold. Withdrawals are getting bad he thought.
“Let’s go Jim, come on, fuck it, let’s just go grab one of them trucks now.” Said Jack, pulling at his brother’s sleeve.
“Not yet man, soon though, just hang on a bit longer.”
Jimmy could see the tremendous effort his brother was making to control himself as he nodded, he doubted if he would be able to hold on much longer. He turned back to watch the other tower and saw the fire exit door open, the men from there spilling out, looking around unsure as they crowded near the door, the last couple almost being pushed out.
“Looks like they’re heading into the city again.” Said Jimmy “Can’t see that big guy.”
“What? He always goes!” Replied Jack “What’s that mean Jim, why’s he not going this time?”
“How the fuck should I know?” Said Jimmy, clearly irritated.
He watched as the group of men milled around, one of them peeling off and running at the zombie feeding on the fresh corpse. Its head lifted as he approached, mouth opening for a scream as it tried to rise but it was too late, the man swung a large hammer, smashing its head in with a dull, wet thump. Then he waved to the others and they set off into the city.
“Looks like another supply run.” Jimmy passed the binoculars to his brother “Keep an eye on them.” He said, then went back to their apartment, sitting heavily on the threadbare sofa. Things were unravelling fast over there he thought as he sat up, holding his head in his hands thinking. Maybe they should try to grab one of the trucks, Jack couldn’t last long the way things were going, there were probably medicines and all sorts of useful stuff just sitting there…
“Fuck.” He said to himself, then stood and went out to speak to Jack.
Chapter 5
Perry looked around nervously. The metal door was open and the others were spilling out behind him. He watched for Quinn but he never appeared. Charley was the last one out and the door slammed shut behind him. There were nine of them altogether, clinging to makeshift weapons, most of them stained with dried blood. A murmur went through the men, voices strained, uncertainty on every face.
“Where’s Quinn?”
“Why isn’t he coming, he always comes?”
“What now?”
Charley, pushed through the men towards Perry. Confusion and a little fear showing on his face.
“Quinn’s not coming this time.” He said “He threw someone off the roof!”
Perry was surprised, Quinn always came, he loved the fighting, the danger. He was about to ask, a dozen questions bubbling up in his mind when a moan sounded behind him. Spinning around he saw a zombie raising its head from a corpse next to the tower, fresh blood dripping down its face as it chewed a lump of flesh, a moan sounding as it saw the new comers and started to stand. Perry ran at it, his hammer rising, and as he got near he brought it down on the zombie’s head with a dull, wet thud. It dropped like a stone.
“Come on!” Said Perry, waving to the others and heading off towards the jeweller’s “We have to move.”
The others followed, quiet now, just the sounds of footfalls and breathing as they ran down the alleys, eyes darting left and right, expecting danger at every corner. A few minutes later they reached the jeweller’s and Charley moved forward, unlocking the door and letting everyone rush inside. Perry was the last one in, taking a final look around as he closed the door, fastening the lock.
“What the fuck is going on?!” He asked as he turned and looked at Charley.
“It’s Quinn.” Replied a breathless Charley “He threw one of the guys off the roof, John it was.”
“What the…? Why did he do that, what did he do?”
Charley held up his hand for a few seconds as he finally recovered from the run to the jeweller’s shop.
“Quinn has some supplies stashed away in a couple of trucks nearby, I told John about it yesterday. He wanted Quinn to share out the food there so we didn’t have to leave the tower again.”
“Why didn’t we know about this?” Asked Perry, a hard edge to his voice.
“Apart from Quinn and me, only his two friends back there knew about it. I shouldn’t have told John, it’s my fault.” Charley shook his head, distress apparent on his face.
“There is food back there?” Said one of the other men “Why are we out here risking our lives then!”
Charley tried to quieten the angry comments “It was so we could all get out of this city, or that’s what I was told, we needed those supplies ready to go at any time.”
“We should all get out of this shithole right now!” Came another voice, to which there were a few murmurs of agreement.
“Only Quinn can do that.” Said Charley “He’s got the keys to the trucks and to the gate where they’re parked, it’s chained up with a big padlock on it.”
The men were silent for a while as they took in the news, Perry leaned against the entrance to the shop, the hammer he was holding hanging loosely by his side, thick dark blood dripping from it unnoticed. Some of the men looked to him, waiting for someone to decide what to do next.
“We need to get back there.” Said one of the men.
Perry stood and walked to th
e rear door of the shop, peering through a small barred window into the alleyway there, it looked clear.
“Yeah let’s go now, what the fuck are we risking our lives for out here?!” Said another.
“No.” Said Perry as he walked back amongst them “Go back with nothing? They may not even open the door. I don’t trust those two friends of Quinn’s at all and he’s not even with us now. We go back empty handed and they may not be very quick to open that door again.”
“You’re not suggesting we actually try and get to the storage depot are you?” Asked Charley.
Perry nodded “I am, it looks quiet out there today, I think a lot of zombies followed us yesterday and it cleared out this area, at least temporarily, if we get there and grab as much as possible… They’ll open the door for us then.”
Murmurs of agreement came from some, silence from others.
“I don’t trust Quinn and his two stooges, we have to make it too tempting for him not to let us back in.” Perry walked around as he spoke, thinking, idly scratching the two days of stubble on his chin “I think the trucks are a damn good idea, but I think we need to get the keys from Quinn. If we stick together, we outnumber them, we can decided when we leave with those trucks. But we all need to be in this together.”
Perry looked around the men, most looked determined, they were looking at each other, judging reactions to the idea.
“I say we do it, let’s get as much food as we can and get the hell out of this city.” Said one of the men, which brought nods and agreement.
“Anyone against the idea? Say now, because there’s no going back.” Said Perry “We’ll have to get to the storage unit, then get back to the tower with a lot of goods, then IF they let us in we need to take care of Quinn and his friends quickly.”
Nobody spoke against the plan and Perry nodded satisfied, gripping the handle of the large hammer he carried it in both hands as he headed for the rear door again, the others stood and followed, Charley bringing up the rear.
“You stay here ready to let us in again Charley.” He said as he opened the door and peered out, the alleyway was brightly lit by the morning sun and there was no movement out there and no sounds.
“I’ll be here, ready and waiting.” Charley replied “Be careful.”
“Too late for that.” Said Perry as he headed out, jogging quietly down the alley, the other seven men following closely as Charley closed the door.
Chapter 6
It was quiet and that was just how Perry liked it. They had seen no movement all the way to the storage unit. All the danger and fighting from the previous failed attempts to get this far were still fresh in his mind as the group of men stood next to the metal shutter at the rear of the building. He found it hard to believe, they had just run right up to it, no problems, not that he was complaining. The shutter rattled, loudly in the still morning air and the men around him tensed, eyes darting all around, weapons gripped tightly.
“Be quieter?!” Hissed Perry to the man with the crowbar, who nodded nervously.
The shutter was open about an inch when they got there and therefore not locked but it was still hard to move, the electric motor which operated it as dead as every other device in the city. The door rose a little more, bending slightly in the middle from the force being applied by the large crowbar they were using.
“That’s enough.” Said Perry quietly and he pushed his fingers under the door, three other men helping “Slowly now.”
They all lifted together, overcoming the resistance from the dead electric motor and the door rose slowly, a slight metallic rattling setting everyone’s nerves on edge. When the opening was about a foot high Perry lay down and listened but could hear nothing from inside. He squeezed through the gap and stood on the other side, his hammer held ready as his eyesight adjusted to the gloom inside the building. A little light from the skylights in the flat metal roof lighting the area just enough. He spotted the looped chain at the side of the door and used it to slowly raise the shutter. Everyone scrambled inside, sighs of relief all around. Perry left one of the men to watch the way in and headed off quietly with the others into the building.
“Looks empty.” Said one of the men, his voice echoing around the space even though he had spoken quietly.
They all stopped and waited but nothing answered him but the others releasing the breaths they had held. Another man slapped him gently across the back of the head “Quiet you plonker.”
The shelves were maybe half filled with all sorts of household goods. Cleaning products, plastic goods, lightbulbs, an entire aisle filled with washing powders, another filled with brand new shopping trolleys.
“Come on, come on…” Said Perry quietly to himself as they walked past more aisles “Bingo!”
They were almost at the far end of the building when they came to a section filled with nothing but tinned foods, half the shelves were empty but there was still plenty there.
“Perfect,” he said “grab some of those shopping trolleys and start filling them, full trays only, don’t waste time on loose items.”
The men hurried, excited whispers accompanying the work as they quickly filled the trolleys which they pushed back towards the open shutter. They could see the man waiting there silhouetted against the light of the open door and hurried to join him, the wheels of the trolleys rattling as they moved faster. We did it, thought Perry, taking stock of how much food they had, each man pushing a trolley piled high with goods, a hint of a smile appearing on his lips, then freezing. The man by the shutter turned towards the sound of the heavy trolleys and Perry noticed he was wearing a yellow top now, bright in the sunlight from the open shutter. The man at the front stopped suddenly as he approached, the others rattling to a stop behind him. Perry could see him clearer now, it was a yellow high-visibility vest he was wearing and it was splashed down the front with fresh, bright red blood. The zombie screamed and hurled itself at the nearest man, teeth sinking into the arm the man raised to defend himself, blood suddenly spurting out as it tore a large chunk of flesh away. The man fell back with a scream of his own as he tried to stop the flow of blood with his other hand, the zombie leapt onto the man, biting into his face and neck, his legs and arms beating at it frantically as the others attacked it, raining blows on it from behind.
“Look out!” Yelled Perry as he saw two more zombies running down the last aisle, there yellow vests clearly visible in the dim light.
He grabbed his hammer and ran at them as they reached the other men, one grabbed the arm of a man as he swung his weapon back to strike the zombie on the fallen man. Its teeth sank into his shoulder and he was pulled back into the aisle with a surprised yell of pain. The other zombie stepped up to another man as he heard the warning and turned to look, its teeth sinking into his throat as it lunged towards him, biting and tearing. Perry reached it as the man fell back, dragging the zombie with him, smashing his hammer down onto the back of its head again and again, until it lay motionless on top of the man. Pushing aside the body Perry watched as blood bubbled from the man’s mouth and nose, a big piece of his throat missing. The others finished hitting the first zombie and stepped back, blood and gore splashed all around, looks of fear and anger on every face.
“He’s dead.” Said one of the survivors checking the man “I thought we had made it…”
There was no sign of the third zombie which had dragged one of the men down an aisle but Perry thought he saw a flash of its yellow vest in the dimly lit distance, crouched over something as it fed.
“Grab the trolleys, we’re getting out of here now!” Said Perry.
The others stood looking shocked, not moving at first as Perry pushed his trolley out into the light.
“Come on! We need to go now!” He shouted.
In the distance a scream sounded, then another and another. They seemed to be from the other side of the building and as the other three remaining men rushed out pushing a trolley each the screams continued, getting louder and louder, more an
d more joining in.
“Fuck, sounds like hundreds of them!” Yelled one of the men as he left his trolley and backed away.
Perry pushed him back towards it “We didn’t come all this way to leave it now, push it and run!” He snarled.
The man blinked and grabbed the handle. They all ran, the trolleys bouncing wildly all over as they ran down alleyways, heading for the jeweller’s. Every corner taking every ounce of their strength just to slow and turn the overloaded trolleys, hands gripping tightly, breath coming in gasps as the screams got closer behind them. Glancing back Perry saw some zombies run around a corner far behind them, their screams of rage filling the air as they spotted their prey, stiff jointed arms and legs pumping madly as they gave chase, more screams sounding from behind. Fuck, there must be hundreds and hundreds of them thought Perry as he ran.
“Open up! Open up!” Shouted the man in front as they approached the back door to the jeweller’s.
Perry glanced back again, the zombies were in sight, catching up quickly, there screams deafening as more and more burst into the alley behind them. The door to the shop opened and a white faced Charley stood there, waving them in frantically as scores of zombies filled the alley behind the running men. As they got inside and Charley slammed the door, locking it, thuds and screams sounded from the other side. The glass in the small, barred window facing the alley shattered, arms reaching through, bloodied hands grasping at air. The door boomed as massive impacts smashed against it, the wood cracking.
“Come on, that won’t hold them for long!” Shouted Perry as he pushed his trolley through the shop to the front.
Charley rushed ahead, unlocking and opening the door, the screams from behind the building suddenly loud again as it opened.
“Head for the tower, stop for nothing!” Said Perry as he pushed out through the door, not looking back anymore, keeping his head down, and pushing hard, his breath ragged, legs burning, not even sure if the others were still with him. Charley appeared beside him, running hard.