Dead Winter

by Aline Riva

  Someone was coming down the slope. Poppy took off the rope and got up.

  “I'm sorry, Sage!” she said.

  Mickey was still on his side.

  “Hello? I just saved your daughter -”

  “Sister!” Sage told him, then she helped Poppy up the bank.

  Mickey looked up. Joy stood there looking down.

  “Get that rope on,” she said, “I'll pull you up.”

  Mickey put the rope on, then as Joy tugged, walking backwards as she clung to the rope, he weakly climbed back up the bank, rolling back to the top and lying exhausted on his back for a moment as he looked up at a lightening sky where sunlight was making its way through. The view was blocked as Joy stood over him and offered him her hand.

  “Get up,” she said, “And by the way, good job down there. Thanks for your help.”

  He got back to his feet, pausing to rub at his aching hip as he looked towards the wrecked lorry.

  “Is he okay?”

  She glanced over at Curtis, who was leaning against the cab looking pale and shaken.

  “I hope so. I'll get River to check him over... and we need a new vehicle,” she replied.

  While River checked Curtis and diagnosed mild concussion, Joy was busy searching the street for a suitable replacement for the lorry. While this was happening, Mickey was leaning against the low wall at the bottom of the bridge as he rubbed at his sore hip once more. Across the street in the clearing, Sage looked down angrily as Poppy stood there in front of her, wrapped up against the cold and looking as if she was planning to play out with friends in the snow. But her eyes were full of apology and her face was pale as she started to speak.

  ”I'm sorry, Sage! I wanted to come with you, I didn't want to stay behind!”

  “But it's dangerous out here!”

  “And I wanted to help you find Bess!”

  Those words sent an ache though her heart. She didn't even know if Bess was still alive. The more she saw of life – or what was left of it – outside the village, the less she clung to the hope that Bess had made it. The world was a wreck and all they had seen was the dead, feeding off the remains of the living...

  “I don't know if I will find her! And we're going into the town, Poppy – it's full of those creatures like that one under the bridge! Why didn't you stay safe?”

  Poppy blinked back tears.

  “You're my sister, I want to help you!”

  Sage gave a heavy sigh. It was too late to turn back, to face more extra dangers when the only sensible thing to do was to push on, grab supplies and return to the safety of what was left of the village, at least the barriers there kept the creatures out...

  “You can't go back yet, because we have to go on,” she told her, “So you stay with me, right next to me, until we find another car, and then I want you to stay inside it until I tell you otherwise, have you got that?”

  Poppy nodded.

  “I'm sorry, Sage!” she said again.

  “It's too late for sorry,” Sage said as she cast a glance about the snowy road, seeing Joy open up a van door and lean inside, “We just have to keep going, the village needs supplies and we have to find them – and you have to stay out of harms way!”

  Joy called to the others as she gave a wave. She was further down the street, and had opened up a small white van. She got in and drove the car up the snowy road, then got out and looked to the others.

  “Poppy and Curtis can ride in the back. Sage, you can drive, River can share the front with you. I'll take Mickey in the squad car.”

  “I'll unload the supplies and guns from the lorry,” said Sage, and as she went over to the wrecked cab, Poppy hurried after her.

  “Not you!” she said sternly, sending Poppy back towards the van at once.

  Curtis had joined them as Mickey started to make his way over. Sage opened up the back of the van.

  “You need to rest,” she reminded him as Curtis shot her a reluctant look.

  “I'll be fine.”

  “River said, you have concussion. You need to rest or you'll be good for nothing. Now get in the back!”

  He got into the back, then Poppy followed, as Joy stood there, waiting for Sage to return with the bags and the guns. River got into the passenger seat of the van and closed the door, breathing a relieved sigh. She used to love the solitude and peace of winter in the countryside, but not any more, no where was safe outside these days...

  The van was soon packed up. Sage got into the driver's side, waited for Mickey to get stiffly into the squad car, then Joy started up the engine. River had the map laid out on her lap as Sage pulled the van out of the parking space. As they began to drive through the snowy street, the back of the van was silent as Curtis laid flat, closing his eyes as his head ached. Poppy looked to the bags piled up and the guns laid out by the closed doors, then she thought of that half a zombie that had crawled up the ice with its guts hanging out, and not for the first time that day, wished she had stayed safely in the village like Sage had asked. Then Curtis turned on his side and coughed and puked again as it ran in a gross puddle of partly digested soup across the floor of the van. River glanced back.

  “Are you okay, Curtis?”

  “Yes,” he coughed again, “But I feel bloody rough!”

  Poppy moved over, far from the vomit, but the smell of it rose thick and fast, then a burst of cold air came in as Sage opened her window as they drove along, and Poppy didn't mind the chilly air, not when it was getting rid of the terrible smell...

  The drive through the streets was uneventful. Two lumbering undead, one with a sliced off ear and another in torn clothing with wet hair that clung to its shoulders, turned slowly to watch the vehicles pass by, then they turned back towards the road, aimlessly wandering. It seemed this place had been evacuated in good time, there were probably low numbers of dead on the prowl, but with no shops nearby there were no supplies at hand, making this a very risky place, a place where they dare not linger for the sake of a few hours comfort. They had food and water packed for the journey, and all they could do was keep going as long as the road ahead was clear. They reached the end of a long, narrow lane and turned out into another road, from here the hedges were low and the trees spaced apart, and the motorway with its piled up wrecks was in clear view. All major roads would be like this, the back roads were the only option.

  “How far do we have to go now?” asked Sage as she kept her speed low and watched the road for ice.

  “Turn right at the end of this road, then we keep going into the back of the town - we just have to hope we can get through, it's two miles in to reach the town centre.”

  “We made it this far,” Sage replied, “We'll get there.”

  In the car, as they followed on behind, Mickey shifted in his seat, wincing as his bruised hip ached sharply.

  “That's the last thing we need, a kid coming along for the ride! It's bad enough we have to watch out for ourselves out there, now we have to watch her too!”

  “I'm sure Sage can cope,” Joy replied, “Poppy won't get in the way. She looked so scared when she came up from that river bank.”

  The van turned into the next road and Joy followed it, and as the car turned the corner, she saw the town in the distance. She blinked, her eyes went wide as she glanced at Mickey.

  “Do you see that?”

  He was looking at the sight of the town like Christmas had come early as he laughed.

  “I see it, Joy! I see lights! They didn't cut the power off here!”

  “There must be survivors!” then Joy's enthusiasm faded, “Before you get too hopeful, I should warn you – I've been in enough situations over the years to know how savage people can be under the right circumstances. If there are survivors, they might not want to share anything with us.”

  “And depending on how many survivors and how volatile they are,” Mickey replied as his gaze darkened, “There are ways of dealing with hostility in rough times like these.”

  She had be
en looking to the road, now she glanced sharply at him.

  “No - no way, Mickey! I'm not shooting people! The undead are a different matter.”

  Mickey settled back in his seat, smiling slyly as the pain in his hip faded away.

  “But you shot those guys who tried to lynch me. You're not so perfect, are you, Joy?”

  “They were murderers.”

  “And maybe there's a whole town full of them here!”

  “No,” she replied, shaking her head, clutching the wheel as she followed the van and carefully swerved around a crashed vehicle then carried on straight, “I don't believe that. We haven't sunk so low we've forgotten how to be decent human beings. If that time ever comes, the whole world's lost.”

  “And I think that's already happened.”

  “You're wrong,” was all she said in reply, then she fixed her gaze firmly on the road as she followed the others as the van led the way, as Joy clung to the hope that she was right, that the basic decency that held society together did still exist - because if life had degraded into nothing but savagery, the undead had already won...

  The journey into the town was easy. The van followed the car as they weaved around vehicles left abandoned, the road ahead was clear as they took the back roads, heading for the town centre. This place wasn't huge, and so far, all they had seen was a handful of undead about the quiet streets. Some houses were locked up, others had doors open. It was a slow progression into a much worse scenario. Bodies lay in driveways and doorways where those attempting to flee had no time to escape. The further in they went, the more undead they saw as the creatures stopped and stared at the moving vehicles that passed along the road, as if recalling a sliver of life before the virus. Three corpses were in bloody spattered mess at a bus stop. Five zombies were on their knees, tearing at flesh and guts as they crammed the human meat greedily into mouths filled with sharp teeth. Their dead eyes followed the vehicles as they passed by, then they carried on feeding. A recently turned creature was staggering up the street, shaking its head as slime and teeth came out in a trail of bloody mess, pooling on the pavement. It threw its head back as blood gushed from its mouth as razor sharp, bone white teeth began to slide through bloody gums, growing instantly out and forcing the jaw open as the zombie gave a roar.

  “Oh god...” Joy whispered as they passed the sight, “It's like a mutation!”

  “Don't bother calling on god,” Mickey said dismissively, “This is science at its worst. I don't believe that shit on the TV about human experiments. I think it was all put on to cover up the fact that some kind of biological weapon got into the air.”

  “Everyone has a theory,” Joy replied, feeling sick as her stomach churned. She couldn't get the image out of her head of those ordinary teeth shedding, instantly replaced by long, shark-like fangs. They had been so big the zombie's mouth had started to split...

  They followed the van into the town centre. Here the roads were wider and the undead were dotted about in greater numbers, but the way ahead was clear as they drove towards a turning that led to the back of a row of shops.

  “It's a dead end,” Joy said, but the van carried on moving, parking at the far end as Joy rolled the car up next to it and shut off the engine.

  “But quiet,” Mickey replied, then he got out of the vehicle, shoving his hand into his coat pocket, feeling the cold, heavy reassurance of his loaded gun.

  “Maybe too quiet,” Joy replied, taking up her own gun before closing the car door.

  Sage and River got out of the van and joined them as the back door opened up and the smell of vomit came out as Poppy edged towards the fresh air.

  “Sorry,” Curtis said as he sat up, and now he seemed more alert.

  “Are we safe?” Poppy asked.

  “You will be, if you stay with me!” Sage told her, and Poppy jumped out the back of the van, glad to be away from the puke as she looked nervously about the narrow street but saw no sign of the undead.

  “We passed the front of this row of shops on the way in,” Sage said, “the zombies are concentrated closer around the front, we might run into a few, but I didn't see any on the way in – the shops that ran along here all have the shutters down at the front. If the back doors are locked, we'll have to force them. There's a pharmacy, a small supermarket - and further down are clothing stores and a jewellers - we don't need those.”

  Mickey's gaze sparked up a look of interest.

  “Where's the jewellers?”

  “Down at the end. Don't bother, we can't eat diamonds!”

  He glanced to the bottom of the dead end, one side was a tall brick wall, the other, was the white painted back of the row of shops, each with a blue door. He looked all the way to the end, deciding that jewellers would have to be worth a look, because in times like these, diamonds and gold would be excellent currency for trading...

  “We'll go to the pharmacy first,” said River, “I need to stock up on meds.”

  She reached into the back of the van and grabbed two large, empty holdalls.

  “What about me?” asked Curtis.

  “Wait here,” Joy told him, grabbing a gun and handing it to him, “If anything comes this way, shoot it.”

  Joy went to the squad car, opened up the back and searched through the contents, then took out a crow bar.

  “This will get us in,” she assured the others.

  “Breaking and entering, that used to be a crime!” Mickey said with a smirk.

  “Very funny,” Joy said flatly, then she turned away and headed for the back door that led to the pharmacy, as River and Sage followed.

  “Come with me, Poppy,” Sage said, nervously glancing about, seeing no trace of a threat, “You have to come with me, and stick by me and don't wander off!”

  After the incident in the ice, Poppy wasn't about to disagree as she nodded keenly.

  “I won't leave you!” she assured her.

  Curtis stood there, watching as Sage and River headed for the back door, as Poppy followed. Joy used the crowbar several times, and wood splintered and the lock bust off and the door opened up. Joy reached for a light switch and pressed it. The familiar, assuring glow of electric light lit within, and it was a clear view from the back door to the pharmacy stocks and out to the shop beyond the counter – the place was empty.

  “It's clear, we can go in,”she said, and she went first, followed by Sage, River and Poppy, as Curtis kept watch outside, sitting on the edge of the back of the open van as he clutched his weapon.

  “Don't say a word,” Mickey told him in a low voice, “I'm going to grab something from the squad car and get that other door open. I'm hitting the jeweller's. I'll split the goods with you.”

  Curtis nodded in agreement.

  “Just don't tell the others.”

  I won't say a word,” he replied.

  Mickey chuckled as he hurriedly reached into the back of Joy's car, pulling out a second, smaller crow bar.

  “I'm going shopping!” he said, then he turned away, hurrying off stiffly towards the door at the end of the street.

  Curtis heard a low moan, and despite his aching head, his senses were on high alert at once as he looked up sharply towards the open end of the street, where he saw nothing but the view of an empty market square. Then it slowly walked past as he froze, gun aimed, finger on the trigger. The zombie was trailing blood and slime that ran all the way from its mouth to the ground as it stared aimlessly ahead, passing by the small turning without a glance. He breathed out slowly, breaking into a sweat as he kept the gun ready, waiting and watching... It had just occurred to him that if he did have to shoot, the sound would alert others and they would swamp the street, and there was only one way out of here. This was not a good situation to be in. He breathed slowly, watching and waiting, ready to fire as he watched the end of the street, hoping he wouldn't have to use his gun, because if he did, the undead would come running...

  Chapter 4

  In the pharmacy, one bag had already been fil
led as River packed away essential items then grabbed more from Sage as Poppy handed her an armful of random medications.

  “Just throw it all in,” River said, as she went off to the other side of the store to grab bandages and antiseptic creams.

  Sage glanced back but the door was open, and only the cold crept in with no sight or sound of the undead arriving.

  “We'll take this lot to the van, then come back for more,” she said, and she grabbed two heavy bags from River and headed for the back door.

  Poppy handed her more dressings and tubes of cream, and as Sage returned, she packed them into the next open bag placed on the floor. Joy was busy gathering up essentials from the shelves in the store, shoving them into another bag.

  “Go easy on the luxuries,” River reminded her as she glanced over.

  “Tampons are not luxuries, neither is soap or antiseptic hand wash! We have to keep clean and by the way, I remembered toilet paper!”

  She pushed the goods down, making room for more supplies as Sage laughed.

  “She's got a point! We've almost cleaned out the meds, we may as well get everything else we need!”

  There was a scratching on the metal shutter outside. They all stopped and looked towards it, hearing low moans of the undead.

  “We'd better keep our voices down,” Joy whispered, “And get out as fast as we can.”

  “What about the supermarket next door?” asked Sage.

  “It's worth a try, as long as there's not too many of them heading our way... I swear they can smell us!”

  Another scratch sounded on the outside of the shutter and Poppy stepped back.

  “It's okay,” Sage reminded her, “They're out the front, we're around the back and Curtis is on watch with a gun. Don't worry...”