“What’s your food situation like?” Mary asked.
“We are nearly out of everything,” Linda replied. “I really don’t know what we are going to do if we don’t get any in the next few days.”
“I’ll speak to your dad and see if he has any ideas,” said Mary.
“How are you coping with the situation?” Linda asked.
“We are fine at the moment. Dad and John went out with the neighbours today and got lots of food, camping equipment to cook on, and some guns so we can protect ourselves.”
“Can I speak to Dad?”
“I’ll pass you over to him now.” Mary handed me the phone.
“Hello, Linda. I heard you are short of food,” I said.
“Yes, I don’t know what we can do. Barbara and Christine are getting a bit of handful because they cannot go outside, and they just don’t understand why.” Our granddaughters were six and five years old respectively.
“Linda, we have blocked off the close with the help of our neighbours, but unfortunately we have lost a few and the people at number 29 never returned home. I suggest you join us, and stay in one of the empty houses for the time being until things sort themselves out. John and I will come and collect you and bring one of our rifles for you or Brian to use. We can also go to your local shop before we return here.”
“OK, let me speak to Brian.”
I heard mumbling in the background, and then Brian came on the line.
“Hi James – I understand you want us to move house,” he said.
“Yes, you would be better protected here.”
“Why is that?”
“Where you are, there is an open park on one side, an access road on the other and a car park at the back. There are just too many ways for the infected to come from. Plus, if you were here we and the neighbours could protect each other – in other words, we have our own small fort.”
“OK, so how are we going to do this?” asked Brian.
“We can’t do anything today as it’s starting to get dark now. Let’s say we’ll be at your house by midday tomorrow – that should give you some time to prepare. Remember, only bring what you think may be useful, like food, torches, batteries and candles, and maybe some extra clothing.”
“OK, we’ll be ready,” Brian replied.
“See you then. We’ll try to phone you first. Say bye to Linda for me,” I said, putting the phone back on the base.
“James, what about Ruth and Tom?” asked Mary. “Can we collect them as well?”
“We will collect them the day after tomorrow, if they agree. You’d better try them now.”
Mary started to dial the number. There was a slight delay as the connection was made.
“You connected?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s ringing,” Mary replied, holding up her hand as she strained to listen.
“No one is answering,” Mary continued. Then there was a click, and a distant voice said “hello”.
“Hello, Tom, it’s Mary.” I put my ear closer to the phone.
“Ruth is feeding the baby at the moment. How are you and James getting on?” asked Tom.
“We’ve had a few bad moments, but we have managed to get some food and other supplies. How are you and Ruth coping?”
“Things are starting to get desperate. We have very little food, and the baby food is about to run out.”
“Mary, ask him if he has tried to go out to the local shops,” I said.
“Did you hear that, Tom?”
“Yes, and yes again, but I didn’t get very far. The neighbour and I tried the local shop, and we actually got there but we couldn’t leave our vehicles because the infected were everywhere,” replied Tom.
“Mary, let me speak to him,” I said. Mary handed me the telephone.
“Tom, it might be a good idea for you to join us here. The neighbours, John and I have blocked off the close with cars, and we have managed to acquire a few weapons that we can defend ourselves with. If John and I come to collect you, we can make a detour and visit your local shops to get some supplies. Linda and Brian will be joining us tomorrow, if all goes to plan. I would expect to collect you the day after, hopefully before midday. What do you think?”
“Sounds OK – let me speak to Ruth.” The telephone went quiet for three minutes as they consulted.
“Hello, Dad,” said Ruth. “I have all the baby’s stuff here, and I really don’t want to abandon our house. Besides, we can’t all stay in your house – it would be too crowded,” she continued stubbornly.
“Ruth, you will be much safer here,” I replied. “You can stay in one of the empty houses in the close – also, it’s much better to stick together as a group, which will give us a much better chance of survival against the infected. You can always go back to your house once this is over. We’re picking Linda up tomorrow.”
The telephone went quiet for a while, apart from the low voices I could hear in the background as Ruth and Tom discussed what to do.
“OK then, but we will return once things improve,” said Ruth at length.
“Good. We’ll see you the day after tomorrow, round about midday. Make sure you pack up all that you need for the children and anything else you think could be useful. Remember, there is no power so torches and batteries would be good. I’ll pass you over to your mother. ’Bye for now, Ruth.”
The chances of them returning home any time soon are slim to nil, I thought.
“’Bye, Dad.”
I handed the phone to Mary.
“How are you and the children?” she asked her daughter.
I moved away from the phone and decided to return to the living room and sit in an armchair. Mary had a long conversation with Ruth. It is strange how women seem to find so much to talk about – well, that’s been my experience, anyway.
Josephine gave up on her iPhone, putting it down.
“What shall we do, then?” she asked.
“Let’s play UNO,” suggested Mary, joining us in the living room.
So, for the next hour that’s what we did. John tried the radio at 10.00 pm and managed to pick up the BBC World Service, but the news appeared to be a repeat of what we had heard earlier that day. In fact, I think it was just a recording. We continued to play cards until 11.00 pm, when Josephine made a cup of tea for each of us and coffee for Mary. After John and I checked the windows and doors, we all went to bed.
The night was silent except for the occasional scream and shout in the distance – even the nocturnal animals seemed to be quiet.
I lay there thinking about our trip the next day to collect Linda, Brian and their children, trying to come up with a plan. In the end, the only thing that came to me was to remove the bodies from number 29’s garage to the green, and then burn them all.
Day Five
Friday 16 May 2014
I found myself being shaken vigorously as I woke from a deep sleep.
“James, James, wake up! The infected are trying to get though our barricade.”
“What’s wrong? Who?” I said, with no comprehension of Mary’s words.
“James, the infected are coming through the barricade,” she repeated.
“What time is it? Infected, yes – let me look.”
I was slowly starting to realise what Mary was trying to tell me. She was looking out of the bedroom window. I slowly removed the bed covers and, finally sitting up, turned to look out too.
There were about 30 infected lined up along our car barrier, but none had managed to get though. Mary always did like to overdramatise things.
“They are still the other side, so we just have to keep quiet and hopefully they will go away,” I said.
“You’re not going to do anything, then,” said Mary condescendingly.
“Yes, I will. Wake John and Josephine up. I’m going to make
a cup of tea – do you want a coffee? One other thing, what time is it?”
“It’s six o’clock,” Mary replied.
“Flipping hell!” I said, starting to feel a bit more sleepy than I did before.
We both got dressed, me heading for the bathroom while Mary went downstairs.
“I’ll put the kettle on,” she called up.
Let’s hope the gas is still working, I thought. After finishing in the bathroom, I shouted out to John and Josephine.
“We have company – time to get up!”
I could hear movement from the back bedroom.
“It’s only just after six,” said John.
“There are infected at the barricade,” I said. “Do you want a cup of tea?”
A joint “yes” came from the bedroom.
“OK, I’m making it now,” I said, walking down the stairs.
Entering the kitchen, Sheba was scoffing her food like her life depended on it as usual, and Mary had put a saucepan on the gas for our tea. As I finished making the tea, John and Josephine arrived in the kitchen.
“Does anyone want some toast?” asked Josephine. We all said yes.
John went into the living room and peeped through the still-closed curtains.
“The infected are still at the barricade, but don’t seem to be trying to climb over or anything. In fact, they’re just standing there – I don’t think they know what to do.”
“If we keep quiet, they should move away,” I said.
John and I checked the guns over and made sure all our magazines were fully loaded, by which time Josephine had made the toast. John and I sat in the living room and the ladies stayed in the kitchen while we ate.
Then the phone started to ring. Mary and I went upstairs, and she was first to reach it as usual.
“Hello,” she said, turning to me after a slight pause. “It’s Linda.”
“What’s wrong?” Mary asked down the line. After another pause, she reported “Their house is surrounded by infected people”.
“Tell them to be very quiet,” I said, “and the infected should eventually move away. We can’t do anything at the moment, anyway, as we have the same problem. I’ll phone her back in an hour.”
Mary repeated my words, then continued, “Maybe we can try to pick you up a bit earlier than midday”.
There was another pause, then Mary asked about the children and finally put the phone down.
“Can we pick them up earlier than twelve o’clock?” Mary asked. “Their children are becoming very scared.”
“We can try, but it depends on the infected outside our barricade and at their end.”
John and I went around the house checking the doors and windows were still secure, while the women tidied up in the kitchen. As we were coming down the stairs we could hear a car going along the main Boreham road, then Josephine spoke.
“John, I think the infected are leaving.”
The infected have gone to investigate the sound, I thought. Must remember that one.
We went to the living room and John went over to the window to look for himself.
“I think they’ve all gone,” he said.
“OK, let’s grab a gun each and check it out, John,” I suggested.
I chose the shotgun and John took the Ruger, as usual. We went out through the kitchen door, walking to the bottom of the garden, climbing up onto the three-foot bank so we could see more clearly. The close seemed devoid of infected. Going through the side gate, we cautiously made our way to the barricade, both of us feeling very tense.
We could now see beyond the barricade, and the road appeared to be clear.
“Hi James, John,” said Miles, who was standing right behind us. John and I jumped.
“Jesus Christ, Miles, don’t do that!” I said, still trying to get my breath back.
“Have the infected gone?” Miles asked, ignoring our emotional state.
“It appears they have,” I replied, regaining some of my composure.
“Dad and I are going to collect my sister and brother-in-law,” said John. “Would you be OK to hold the fort?”
“Miles, we were thinking they could stay in Alf’s house, if that’s alright with you,” I said.
“Yes, that’s fine with me. Where do they live?”
“Springfield, not far,” I replied.
“Dad, let’s phone Linda and get ourselves ready,” said John.
“My son has spoken. I’ll see you later, Miles,” I said.
“I’ll have a word with Mat and see if we can transfer the bodies in number 29’s garage to the green,” suggested Miles.
“Good thinking,” I said as John and I headed back to our house.
“’Bye James, have a nice trip,” said Miles, with a grin.
John and I went through the side gate and into the kitchen, where Mary and Josephine were waiting for us.
“Well?” said Mary.
“They’ve all gone,” replied John.
“Let’s ring Linda,” I said.
I went upstairs to use the phone, and the others followed.
Linda picked up the phone straightaway.
“Hi Linda, it’s Dad.”
“Dad, the infected seem to have moved away, but our food has nearly all gone. We dare not go outside because we have no way to protect ourselves,” said Linda, sounding desperate.
“OK, Linda. John and I will prepare ourselves. I’ll give you a ring when we are leaving, and we will try your local shops to try and get some supplies.”
“That would be good. I’ll see you later, Dad,” said Linda, now sounding very relieved.
“’Bye for now.”
I put down the phone.
“Dad, should we take a gun for Brian and Linda?” asked John.
“Yeah, good idea – they’ve used weapons before. If you use the Ruger with the ATI stock, I’ll take the tactical Ruger and the over-and-under shotgun, leaving Mum and Josephine with the target Ruger and the Supreme Max shotgun.”
We checked that the guns had loaded magazines, while John picked up six of the 25-round Ruger magazines and I took the belt of cartridges and put a further 20 in my pockets, as John also collected a 100-round box of mini-mags.
“Mary, can you move the Micra so we can get out? You’d better put it back in position once we’ve gone,” I said.
“OK. You two had better be careful,” Mary replied.
John said goodbye to Josephine, and I did likewise to Mary. We put the guns on the back seat of the truck, by which time Mary had moved the Micra. We waved goodbye to her and Josephine, who was standing at the front door as we left the close. Once through the barricade, we noticed the path we had cleared to the green was still free of bodies. John and I looked towards the pile of bodies we had left on the green, which was covered in birds, mainly from the crow family. We could also detect movement at the foot of the pile of bodies, which appeared to be hundreds of rats. Suddenly a number of birds took flight from the other side of the pile, and three large dogs came into view as they made their way around the corpses.
We continued along the road, losing sight of the green, and turned our attention to the road ahead. The corpses on the pavement and in the road were now half-eaten; a large Alsatian had managed to detach an arm from one of them and, taking no notice of us, he gorged himself on his new-found meal. John looked at me.
“Dad, we could have a real problem with other types of disease.”
I said nothing as we turned right into the main road heading towards Chelmsford. We reached the main Boreham interchange, and as we crossed the A12 I had a look along the dual carriageway. Nothing appeared to be moving, but looking towards the BP garage a number of people were moving around, although too far away for us to see if they were infected.
“John, how are we for diesel?” I
asked.
“Three-quarters of a tank. Yeah, sooner or later we’re going to have to get some.”
We continued along the old A12, turning off towards the B&Q roundabout, and as we approached John indicated to turn right, which would have taken us under the old A12 and into Springfield Road.
“Look out, John – go left, go left!” I shouted.
There were two or three hundred infected entering the roundabout from under the bridge. John turned sharply, and we found ourselves heading back towards Sainsbury’s.
“The infected that were around Linda’s house, which apparently disappeared – I think we just found them,” said John.
“Let’s hope so,” I replied.
John was now turning left at the Sainsbury’s roundabout, which took us over the old A12. We continued to the next roundabout, avoiding the occasional abandoned car and dead body. Fortunately, there were no signs of live infected people, but as we turned left into New Bowers Way things took a turn for the worse. There were a number of abandoned cars in the road and on the pavement, and 20 or so dead people lying in the road, but as we approached the bend, ten to fifteen infected people were in the middle of the road, and they all started to head towards us as we approached them.
“Look out, John – they’re also coming out of people’s front gardens,” I said with an air of panic in my voice and turning to reach for the shotgun on the back seat.
“Don’t bother, Dad – we’re going through,” said John as he started to accelerate.
“Oh shit!” I blurted out.
We sideswiped the first infected, sending him spinning off to our left, where he eventually came to rest on the pavement. The second we hit head-on, sending him into the air and over the roof of the truck.
“John, you can try to miss them, you know,” I said as we hit a third, catapulting him into the air. He landed in front of us, and there was a bump, bump as we continued. John did manage to miss most of them, except for the double tap as we passed through the last, sending one to the right and another to our left. John turned left at the next roundabout into Pump Lane, which was relatively clear, and right into Crocus Way, passing the local shops on our left and The Gardeners pub on the right.
Infected- The Beginning Page 15