Dead Winter

by Aline Riva

  Joy zipped up the bag and lifted it from the floor. River had finished packing up the last of the medical supplies.

  “Let's go,” she said.

  They made their way out of the back door as Curtis held a hand up sharply, indicating to stop and they froze, Joy at the doorway, River behind her as Poppy looked out and gave a gasp and ducked back inside.

  “Wait...” Curtis whispered.

  Three undead were standing at the bottom of the street, blocking the only way out, they looked about the empty market square, then one wandered off as another went on past the end of the road. The third followed slowly, hair hanging limp, ragged clothing blowing on the icy breeze as its watery eyes looked back to the street ahead where more zombies gathered. It lingered, its rags blowing in shreds as its head tilted slightly. Then it staggered off, head down, making for the street ahead that led into the wide town centre. Curtis breathed a relieved sigh, keeping a grip on the gun as he glanced to the others.

  “Load up fast!” he whispered.

  Joy hurried to the back of the van, placing bags inside. River passed her more, then as Curtis slid them towards the back of the van, Joy placed the rest beside him. He pushed them to the back, then sat on the edge of the open van, gun aimed at the other end of the narrow street. Joy took up the crow bar and hurried to the next locked door.

  “Careful,” Sage reminded her as she and Poppy hurried out, “Do it quietly...”

  Joy tried to force the door.

  “Any risk of those things hearing us and coming running, we abandon the mission and get out,” she said, trying the door again.

  At the end of the row of shops, the back door was open. It had taken several tries, in between ducking in the shadow of a parked car as the zombie that had lingered had stood about at the top of the street, but now the way was clear and Mickey hurried inside then closed the door. The place was in darkness, and as he paused to listen, hearing nothing. He ran a hand along the wall, found switches and flipped them. The lights came on. The store lit up with the sparkle of gold and silver and diamonds and he laughed as he pulled trays from the window, placing the gold and diamonds on the counter as he began to rip chains from their displays and rings from beds of green velvet. He unzipped his coat and grabbed handfuls of rings and chains, shoving them into his inside pocket, then he reached for more and pulled emerald and sapphire rings and gold bands and a platinum, diamond encrusted bracelet from the window, shoving them into his other pocket. He grabbed three expensive watches, then saw a large diamond ring in the window and took it, then snatched up a small pad of diamond earrings.

  As he stuffed the last of the haul into his coat, he was aware the room was getting lighter. And there was a hum, along with the sound of the rattle of metal... The shutter was turning up! He gave a gasp as daylight burst in and as the shutter went right up, he looked out of the window in horror to see a view of the town square, and more undead than he could count, all looking slowly towards the window. He froze, looking back at them. They began to stagger closer with frozen white skin, bloody bite marks and watery dead eyes and torn clothing as they started to moan and sniff at the air and then look again to the window. Mickey took a careful step back. And an undead woman with a bite so big it left a hole in her face looked at him sharply and let out a roar. She ran at the window as others did the same, cracking glass as it ran with blood as the alarm began to sound.

  “Shit!” He gasped.

  Now he saw many more of them turning and breaking into a run as they came at the window, alerted by the smell of the living and the sound of the alarm. The window shattered as dead hands reached through, they were climbing over each other to get to him and he as he turned to run, the first of many leapt in and gave a snarl, setting its sights on its prey as he bolted from the door, hampered by his stiff leg and partly numb foot as he clumsily ran towards the cars. There was an audible snarl behind him and he looked back to see four had given chase and a fifth had just got out the back way, running up to join the others as they formed a pack to hunt him down.

  Curtis heard the snarl and got to his feet sharply as his head throbbed, he stepped into the middle of the street and saw Mickey running towards him, chased by five undead as more piled out through the door of the jewellers.

  “Run!” he yelled.

  Joy had just got the door open and they had gone into the small supermarket, but now they dashed out, Sage with her hand on Poppy's wrist as she pushed her into the back of the van. Sage got into the driver's seat and River followed as Joy ran to the squad car. Mickey stumbled and the closest creature swiped at thin air with his dead hand, missing his coat by a fraction as a shot rang out, sending the zombie sprawling backwards to collide with the two closest behind, who got up, snarling and started to run again.

  “Get in the car!” Joy yelled, opening up the passenger door.

  Mickey reached the car and jumped in as she started up the engine. The van had started up too, Curtis had just slammed the back door and there was a squeal of rubber on road surface as Joy took off first, flooring the accelerator as the car sped towards the end of the street, where the sounds of panic had drawn the undead around the back, now they were running from the open shop and pouring in through the only way out.

  “You stupid fucking prick!” she yelled as Mickey sat there breathing hard from the run, “This is your fault!”

  “And soon, when you need something to trade, you'll thank me for having diamonds!”

  “No, I fucking won't!” she said angrily, “We almost had the food, we were SO bloody close!”

  He fumbled for his seatbelt, guessing what was about to happen. They could only plough through them if they wanted to get out of this trap... He gripped the seat hard, screwing his eyes shut as the squad car smashed into the zombies blocking the exit. Bodies flew through the air, one hit the wind shield and cracked it, as blood ran through the spider web of shattered glass and blood sprayed from a corpse that clung on, snarling as Joy turned the car sharply, flinging it off as it rolled in front of the car as she drove over it. They were ploughing straight into a town square full of the undead, who came at the car with eyes blazing with hunger. She took the car through, as bodies bumped off left and right and the windows spattered with blood as the car ran over corpses with a crunch of bone and a wet burst of crushed guts.

  Behind in the van, Poppy was clinging to the back of the passenger seat as Curtis braced himself.

  “Where are we going?” River exclaimed as they cleared the end of the street and a skull cracked under the wheels and they made made a bumpy journey into the town centre, following Joy's car.

  “I don't know, we just have to follow the car!” Sage said as she kept up the speed, smashing into another creature as blood burst out and guts trailed, leaving a smear across the paintwork. The van was spattered with blood, and a short distance ahead, so was the squad car. And still the zombies were everywhere as Joy made a straight run up the middle of the town centre. She looked left and right, seeing closed shutters almost everywhere. Then she saw a possible target, the only hope they had of getting into shelter... The car picked up speed.

  “No, no don't do it!” Mickey yelled, gripping the seat as his other hand covered his face as he braced for impact and shattered glass.

  Joy drove straight, gripping the wheel tightly as she hoped they'd make it through the doors. The car hit the glass, shattering it with a boom as shards flew into the vehicle and she kept her eyes closed, the jolt of impact threw them both back against their seats and then she shook her head to lose glass fragments, blinking rapidly as she saw they were still moving along the floor of a shopping mall. She slowed the car then braked, as they came to a sharp stop and a headlight connected with a metal shutter of a closed down store with a crunch. The van was coming to a sharp stop close by, it braked and Sage jumped out, running back up towards the shattered glass as she fired off shots. Already, the dead were running in, their roars and snarls echoing about the place as they ran towards th
e living.

  Curtis was out of the van, slamming the door to keep Poppy safe inside as she screamed and hammered on it. Sage was still firing off shots as River climbed into the back with Poppy and grabbed the frightened girl and held her tightly.

  “It's okay, you're safe...” she said tearfully, waiting for the final moment to come as she hoped the end would be quick for both of them.

  Curtis fired off two more shots, struggling to aim as his head throbbed, Joy was out of the squad car firing off rounds as a zombie was jerked back by a bullet that took off the top of its skull. The floor of the mall was peppered with bullet holes and streaked with blood as the corpses ran, leaping over the fallen in their scramble to reach the living. The rest of the ammo was in the back of the car. There was no time to reload... Curtis hit another one as the force of the shot slammed the corpse against a metal shutter. It bounced off bleeding and rose to its feet as a shot from Joy hit it square between the eyes and it fell. More were running up towards them as their wild cries filled the mall.

  Then the sound of heavy shutters being lowered filled the air. Joy looked up to see the zombies gathered at the entrance, the shutters were almost down now, rolling quickly, and one creature had half crawled in as the others stood there, moaning as they pressed uselessly against the toughened steel. Another crawling corpse stretched an arm through just as the barrier lowered, and it cut the advancing corpse in half as it carried on slithering as the outstretched arm of another was severed with a burst of blood and crack of bone. The arm carried on twitching, fingers sliding in blood over and over as it shuddered. Three more undead had got halfway up the lower floor of the mall. One ran at speed, screeching with its mouth wide and teeth like razors. Curtis aimed again, but his finger slipped from the trigger as shots came from above, peppering the undead with a hail of bullets that felled the screeching zombie and hit the other two in the chest and head. The corpse with the chest wound sat up and gave a roar. The shooter turned, swaying aim towards the sound, and let fly another hail of bullets that punched bloody holes in the head and face of the corpse as it jerked, then fell on its back.

  “Are we clear?” a woman called from above.

  The shooter stepped into view as the others looked up from the ground floor: He carried a machine gun, he was wearing combat trousers and a black vest and his light brown hair was spiked. He wore dark glasses and it was only when he looked down to the ground floor, they realised he was looking at them.

  “Wait,” he said, holding up a hand, then he listened, turning his head left and right. Then he made his way down the stair case, a hand on the rail as he slowly climbed down, pausing every few steps to listen again. He reached the ground floor and said nothing, turning towards the entrance where the undead were still clawing in vain at the shutters, then he turned back to the others.

  “Yes,” he called up, “We are clear, Bonnie!”

  “Thank fuck!” she replied.

  Footsteps came from above as she made her way down in heavy boots, she was slim and wore a holstered gun that sat close to the hip of her narrow jeans, her bobbed hair was dark and her face was flushed from the panic of the situation as she reached the lower floor to join him, then looked back at the carnage close to the entrance.

  “I'll need someone to help move the bodies...” she glanced to the still twitching severed arm, “And parts,” she added, “We can lock them up in the cold storage area of the butcher's shop... that'll stop the stink.”

  The others said nothing as they looked at her, then to her companion, who stood stood there with the machine gun lowered, his gaze to the ground and eyes hidden by black shades.

  “By the way, I'm Bonnie Wren,” said the woman, and this,” she gestured to her companion, “Is a friend of mine, Christian Page.”

  “Call me Chris,” he said, glancing to the others.

  Joy made the introductions.

  “I'm Joy, this is Curtis,” she gestured to Mickey, “This is Mickey... and Sage here killed a few of the corpses before you started shooting, she's fast!”

  “Sorry about the mess!” Sage laughed nervously, but Chris responded with a brief smile that faded quickly as he said nothing.

  River opened up the back of the van and climbed out, as Poppy joined her and she looked to the two people standing in front of them. They were all gathered by the bottom of a flight of steps, and here the lights were on and all the shutters on every store on the ground floor were closed.

  “I'm River, and this is Poppy.”

  “Hello,” Poppy said quietly.

  They briefly regarded each other saying nothing. This was no warm and friendly gathering, it was a necessary coming together, forced by the hell outside.

  “So, who wants to help me move the bodies?” asked Bonnie.

  “I'll help,” said Curtis, glancing to Mickey, who shot him a look of disgust.

  “I'm not handling those corpses, they might be infectious!”

  “It's the least you can do after setting off the alarm in the jewellers!”

  Mickey glared at him.

  “You'll thank me when my diamonds are useful for trading!”

  “I thought you said you'd split the loot?”

  Joy shook her head as she looked at them in disgust.

  “You were both in on this together? That's just fucking fantastic! We certainly know how to work against each other!”

  “It wasn't like that!” Curtis protested, “He's right, we might need to trade and diamonds could be useful.”

  “You've got bodies to move!” Joy said sharply, and Curtis gave a shrug, giving up on explaining his reasons as he walked off with Bonnie to start shifting the dead.

  Joy glared at Mickey, who walked stiffly over to a bench in the middle of the mall and sat down, giving a heavy sigh.

  “I'll help too,” Joy said, and she went off to join Curtis, who was having a hard time reaching for the severed arm as it twitched and the fingertips clawed at the floor, smearing blood on its polished surface.

  Chris looked to the others.

  “Come up,” he said, and turned for the steps and led the way as they followed, “It's better up here – we have the shutters open and everything we need.”

  “Why didn't you have the shutters down at the entrance?” asked River as they climbed the stairs.

  “Because we didn't need to,” Chris replied as he carefully took each step, his hand lightly trailing the rail as he went up. River noticed his careful hand movements and shot him a confused look, but he was at the top now, and he turned from the steps and started to walk past a newsagents and a cafe and then a bakery where the door was closed and mould grew on the bread.

  “But wouldn't the corpses try and get in?” River wondered.

  “No,” he replied, “As long as they saw locked doors and no signs of life, they had no interest in this place. It's not a huge shopping centre, three small floors. There's a supermarket on the other side of the town centre and that's twice the size of this place. But it's over run, so don't bother trying for it.”

  “Sorry about the doors,” Sage added as she reached the top and Poppy joined her.

  “As long as the shutters are okay, we'll live,” he replied, “And we have light and heating here, too. The cafe has a stocked freezer and we can cook if we want to. I usually leave that to Bonnie, I'm better off with a microwave. I'd hate to set this place on fire,” he laughed nervously, then walked on to a furniture store. The place was wide and took up the rest of one side of the second floor, and it had been arranged into a sitting area, and two bedroom areas were at the back.

  “We arranged furniture in here,”he explained, “There's a toilet through the door at the back and a sink, the water's running, it's okay to wash with but we boil water before we drink it. There's bottled water in the shop near the stairs, there's plenty of it out the back in the stock room, too.”

  “Where did you get the machine gun?” Mickey asked as he joined them.

  “I thought you were resting do
wnstairs?” remarked River.

  “I had to leave. It stinks of zombies down there,” he replied.

  Chris sensed tension in the air and guessed no one was too happy about Mickey stetting off an alarm that alerted every zombie in the town centre.

  “Before the evacuation, when the army left – what was left of them – there were guns laying around. I managed to grab a few and plenty of ammo. I think me and Bonnie can sit this out for a whole year without leaving this place. We have everything we need.”

  “And we won't stay any longer than we have to,” River assured him, “We need another vehicle – the squad car's a wreck, but the van is okay. And it's already a quarter full with medical supplies and what little weapons we have – and Curtis and Poppy are riding in there too, there's only room in the front for two people and we can't get around this. We need a second set of wheels.”

  They had entered the furniture store. Sage gave a sigh as she sat down heavily on a cream coloured sofa, savouring a rare moment of rest and comfort. Poppy sat next to her, then grabbed a cushion. She set it on the other end of the sofa and laid down, curling up as she closed her eyes, feeling instantly tired as the respite from fear and the familiar comforts that made her think of home beckoned the need for sleep.

  “You rest,” Sage told her.

  “Not for long, though,” Poppy murmured.

  “Take your time, we're safe here,” she assured her.

  Mickey had found a padded armchair next to an electric fire with a flame effect and he switched the fire on then sat down, leaning back in the soft chair as the heat began to warm the room. River looked about the store, and then to the sleeping area. In the corner, there was a single bed with a light on a bedside table next to it. She saw a wardrobe nearby and it was partly open with skinny jeans and warm sweatshirts in there. That had to be Bonnie's corner. On the other side of the back of the room, was another single bed, and that had a wardrobe and a rug too, but there was no lamp on the bedside table... River thought about the way Chris hand run his hand along the rail as he went up the steps. He had taken those steps as if counting them, too... and he had no light on his side of the store. She was forming a theory in her mind, but not voicing it aloud as she looked at Chris, still wearing his dark glasses. He had taken out those zombies with ease, and that made her theory even more crazy. She shook her head, feeling sure she had to be wrong... Chris touched the back of the cream sofa as he turned and indicated to a stack of packaged up pillows and duvets piled against a wall.