by Aline Riva
“The others should be here soon. I hope they made it okay.”
“So do I,” said Curtis.
As they turned to walk away, the undead creature behind the buckled shutter stood there cast in shadow, its dead eyes watching the living prey as it sniffed the air and sharp teeth parted, filled with the basic need to feed, a need that was sharply rising - and they were walking away... The corpse left the darkness, taking slow, deliberate steps to follow in the snow as its torn, bloody clothing fluttered in rags on the breeze and it set its sights on River and Curtis as they walked off, heading back across the car park.
As they rejoined the others, River looked to the van.
“It's cold out here. We should go back inside and wait, they should be here soon.”
“Good plan,” agreed Chris, and they turned back together, heading for the van.
River and Poppy got into the back as Curtis took the drivers seat and Chris sat beside him. As they saw a large transit van heading for the parking area, Curtis raised his hand, waving from the open window.
“They made it!” River said, as Poppy leaned forward, smiling at the sight of the van heading in.
“Is everyone okay?” asked Chris.
“Yes, I can see Sage and Joy and Mickey,” River confirmed.
“I want to go out and meet them!” Poppy said excitedly, climbing over fallen bags of supplies as she reached for the back door of the van.
“Wait!” River said urgently, turning from the front in alarm as she dived down, grabbing at a confused Poppy.
Panic had just risen in his voice as Curtis spoke again.
“What the fuck?” he exclaimed.
“What's going on?” Chris demanded as he sat there, unable to see what was unfolding.
“Mickey has a gun pointed out the window!” River called from the back.
“GO!” yelled Joy as she drove past on the road and took a sharp turn into the car park, as wheels barely clung to the snowy ground beneath the tires.
Curtis leaned out the window.
“Why?” he called to the van as it skidded to a halt.
And his head was grabbed and tugged sharply backwards as the undead creature gave a snarl, then bit down on to his bared throat as shots fired off from the transit van. River clutched at Poppy, still holding her tightly to stop her reaching for the back door of the van as she turned her head and saw the creature fall as Curtis choked and a fountain of blood spurted from his throat. Chris was scrambling for his weapon, as he heard gurgling as Curtis sat there, his body on an angle, his head hanging out of the window with his throat torn out as he coughed and sprayed blood up the interior door and out the window as it fell in bright red spatters in the snow. More blood was flowing from his torn throat now as he looked lifelessly up at the sky.
“Drop your weapon!” yelled Mickey as the transit van opened up and he hurried over.
“It's dead, I killed it, drop the gun, Chris!”
The weapon went slack in his hands.
River was sobbing in the back of the van as Poppy wept quietly and said she wanted Sage.
“Curtis?” Chris said urgently.
“No, he's dead. Sorry, but he's gone,” said Mickey.
He opened up the door of the van and the body fell into its own bloody red slush in the snow as ice cold air blasted into the vehicle. Sage opened up the back of the van and Poppy scrambled out crying. River leaned in the front and put an arm on his shoulder as Chris sat there in stunned silence.
“None of us saw or heard it coming,” she reminded him, “You couldn't have stopped this.”
Chris reached for the door and got out of the van as River climbed out from the back. As they all gathered together in that snowy car park, with a dead zombie sprayed with bullets and one of their own with their throat torn out, no one spoke as the only sound that cut through the silence was Poppy sobbing as she clung to her big sister. They just stood there exchanging a glance as they took in the sight of Curtis dead in the snow, still bleeding out from the bite that had torn out his throat:
They had thought the worst place to be that day was the rooftop. Not so, because after today they knew for sure that even the most deserted of places still carried the threat of death. No where was safe any more...
Chapter 7
The snow was thawing well as they drove on. The sun was out and its weak rays shone on slushy roadsides where colour was creeping back to the world, here and there the main colour being red, as undead stood about gnawing at their victims. But the way ahead was mostly clear. Wreckage in the road was a common sight, but abandoned or crashed cars were easy to drive around, and the further they went, the less they saw these sights as the larger van led the way and the smaller followed behind.
After they left Curtis in the parking area, Poppy had decided to ride in the back of the other van, because then she could be with her sister. She didn't want to see the blood. She had looked away as they had driven off, leaving his body where it fell in the snow. Sage had explained that they couldn't stay to bury him, because they needed to keep moving. They had to be more aware of the dangers, assuming they were present all time, even when places seemed empty, she had told her. Now Sage was driving the larger van and River and Chris were up front beside her. The smaller van had been unloaded and everything was in the back of the larger one, as Mickey and Joy drove the smaller vehicle, with Joy sitting on an old carrier bag found under the seat to stop the blood seeping through to her clothing. She drove with the window up as Mickey kept his side open to air out the stink of drying blood. As they drove, Mickey glanced at Joy.
“I can't believe Curtis died like that – I thought we were the ones taking the biggest risk going up to the roof! How many of those things were up there? And one of them almost got me!”
“You're not hurt?” Joy glanced at him.
A flicker of amusement came to his eyes.
“Why? Are you hoping I might turn zombie so you get to shoot me?”
“No, I meant, are you okay?”
All amusement faded from his gaze, replaced by a flicker of surprise. Well shit, she actually meant that. And he had not been expecting that revelation... It settled with him surprisingly well - Joy actually cared. He smiled and then looked away.
“It grabbed my coat and dragged me to the floor, that was why you looked around and saw me on my back as I smashed it in the head with my gun then shot its face off. No, it didn't bite or scratch me, Joy. But thanks for asking.”
“I'm glad.”
He glanced at her again.
“What, that it grabbed me?”
There was a hint of humour in his tone. She met his gaze and couldn't help but smile as she shook her head, then looked back to the road once more.
“You know what I mean! Of course I'm glad you're okay.”
“So I'm not such a bad guy, then?”
“I'm still deciding.”
Mickey was smiling again and the sparkle in his eyes was actually rather attractive, not that she wanted to think too much about that as she looked back to the road, following on behind the other van.
“How much further to the warehouse?” she asked.
He recalled the road signs they had just passed. They were driving slowly because of wreckage and because of snow, and it wouldn't be a straight run to the coast.
“Sooner or later we'll have to come off this road and take the long way around,” he said, “That's inevitable. And it's getting dark soon, so I'd say tomorrow, maybe nine am, depends how long the journey takes – it could take much longer, I don't know. We have to allow for the unknown on this journey. I just hope we all make it there okay,” he fell silent for a moment, then added, “And I hope you and the others make it back to the village safely.”
She was surprised at the ache she felt in her heart at the thought of Mickey leaving them once they loaded up the weapons.
“We can take you to your sister on the way back, if that helps?”
“No, she's got a mansion up
in the hills,” he said, “Overlooking the sea. I used to stay there sometimes. I know the way, it's not far from Whitling.”
“But you'll be travelling alone.”
“I'll be fine, Joy. I'll find a vehicle and I'll have plenty of ammo by then.”
He said that as he looked to the window, and then he kept looking to the window, saying no more.
As she drove on, Joy thought about the supplies situation – they still needed to find food. Then as the van in front indicated they were turning, she glanced to the sign at the roadside, and glanced at Mickey.
“They need petrol. There's a station just up ahead, but we have to turn off the road.”
Mickey reached for his weapon, feeling more confident as the weight of it rested in his grip as the van turned off the highway and they followed it, heading for a small petrol station in the distance.
The Petrol station was deserted. Thankfully the pumps were working and as Sage filled up the tank, Joy filled up the smaller van, then she looked over to the petrol station itself, where the door was locked but no shutters were down.
“They've got a grocery section.”
“There's not much in there,” Mickey said as he looked through the window.
“But there might be something worth taking out the back,” Joy replied, and she finished filling the tank then turned to Sage, who had just done the same to the larger van.
“I'm going to get the crow bar,” she told her.
Poppy sat in the van and Chris stood guard beside it as Poppy watched the roadside for lurking threats. The skies were not so heavy now, and here and there, blue showed through as sunlight hit the world below once more.
Mickey was armed as he watched Joy forced the door, it opened up and a stink hit the air, it was coming from the fridge on the other side of the room, where rotting meat and dairy products were still displayed in a working chilled section. Nearby, fruit was mouldy and turning putrid.
“Bloody stink!” Sage exclaimed as Joy went in first and she followed.
They went straight for the door that led out the back, it was open and no one was there. But they did find boxes full of tinned fruit and meat, and some packets of soup and rice. Twenty minutes later, those boxes were stacked at the back of the largest van. It wasn't much, but it was a start. Then they got back into their vehicles and drove away. In all the time they had been there they had not seen or heard a hint of the undead...
They turned back on to the main highway and carried on straight for another mile. Then up ahead, a tall, dark shadow loomed as the weak sunlight made it look huge and dark and imposing. From a distance, it looked as if some kind of bizarre animal had burst out of the earth, giant and ragged with sharp edges. As they got closer they realised they were faced with a huge car pile up. The cars were smashed into each other, some on top of others, some wrecks were so crushed they didn't even resemble cars any more and all were burned out. There was no way around it.
Both vehicles stopped side by side as they looked through their open windows and discussed the issue. River took out the map. Now they had been faced with exactly what Mickey had said earlier – an obstruction along the journey, at some point had been inevitable. They decided to turn off and take a back route, it would mean driving in the dark as the sun began to set and the temperature dropped sharply once more, but they had to keep going. After what had happened to Curtis, no one wanted to stop in the middle of nowhere, especially not at night...
It was rapidly growing darker as the larger van led the way down an unlit country road where hedges framed the roadside and beyond it, fields stretched for miles. And still there was not a wandering corpse in sight, not even on the horizon. But it was growing dark, and the headlights shone far into that darkness, where shadows seemed to jump and move like the corpses did, but as they passed it by, it was always a low hanging branch or shrubbery bending in the strengthening wind.
The small group of travellers stayed somewhere between beginning to relax and staying on semi red alert, watchful for the slightest hint of a threat. Poppy had pulled a duvet from a bag in the back of the van and was sleeping on it as they drove through the darkness. Sage was thankful she still could sleep after the way Curtis had died – but at least she had been in the back of the van at the time and not seen the worst, the moment of attack. River was also sleeping, her head had slipped to his shoulder as Chris sat beside her. His gun was beside him within reach. He had not put any great distance between himself and his weapon since Curtis had died. Sage kept her gaze firmly on the road ahead where beams cut through the darkness, shining a clear path into the distance. But their journey was not over yet. Even if they reached the coast with no more obstruction to slow them down, they still had to find more food to load up the van and ideally, find a second larger vehicle, too. It wasn't enough. No matter what they did, it just wasn't enough, that was how it felt to Sage as she thought of those she knew back in the village, waiting on their return...She didn't even want to think about reaching Whitling, because she didn't know what she would find there – another ruined town, more devastation, and maybe, no Bess...
Behind in the smaller van, Joy blinked away tiredness then opened the window a fraction as cold air blasted in, instantly refreshing her senses. She glanced at Mickey. He was leaning back against the seat, his eyes were closed and he was sleeping deeply. His weak right hand rested floppy in his lap as his other rested on the seat close to the weapon he had left within reach. Joy looked back to the road, thinking about that moment the zombie had attacked him on the rooftop, for all his toughness with that machine gun and the way he had cut the creatures down, his leg had caved in under him as he had hit the concrete with a smack, only quick thinking had saved him from ending up like Curtis... She was glad he was still alive. She couldn't begin to count the ways in which he irritated her, and the fact they were on opposite sides in the old world before the outbreak still got to her, but something else was wearing all that away now. She actually liked the guy. She certainly knew she didn't want anything bad to happen to him... He stretched out his stiff leg as his long thick coat fell open and he sat up, feeling the chill from the window as he buttoned his coat, then he turned his head and glanced at her.
“Did I fall asleep?”
“Just for a while.”
He looked to the road, where headlights cut far through the darkness, hitting the back of the other van as it drove on ahead. Then, as the van slowed, so did Joy, as she felt a creeping worry.
“Oh no, don't stop here, not in the dark,” she murmured, looking about the darkened fields and the trees that shaded the other side of the road.
“This way!” she heard Sage call out, then the van turned off the road and took a narrow lane.
“Where the hell are we going?”
“No idea, Mickey. You'd better grab that gun,” Joy told him, turning the vehicle to follow behind.
Joy soon found out what was happening. They had pulled up in the driveway outside a house at the bottom of the lane, it was surrounded by a high brick wall that cut off the view of the fields beyond, and as the engine ran and the headlights shone towards it, the house was in darkness. The door was locked, the windows were all closed. Chris went up the porch and raised a hand.
“I need to listen,” he said.
The engine was shut off, and the headlights went out as they stood together in the dark, and he heard no sound but the wind as it shook frozen branches of an overhanging tree nearby.
“Joy, Sage?” he said, “We need to go in first.”
Joy shone a torch down the side of the house, then went down the path and broke a small window.
“Breaking and entering?” said Mickey in a bemused tone “By the way, top marks for that quick smash of the glass. Done like a true copper.”
“Just keep watch!” she said to him, then she reached in and unlocked the window, opened it up and shone the torch around an old fashioned but comfortable room, the house was silent save for the tick of a clock in the ha
llway, and the air seemed a little stale, as if this place had perhaps been locked up for months. She climbed in as Sage followed, and Joy hit the light switch, as the room was bathed in a warm glow.
“We have light!” she exclaimed, then as Chris checked around the back, listening for undead movement, they went from a faded but comfortable front room to a dining room, then to a stocked kitchen, they searched the entire downstairs, before making their way up to the top floor. The bathroom was clean, the four bedrooms were empty and now every door had been opened, every place a corpse could hide had been scrutinised. The house was clean...
“Who ever lived here must have left at the start of the crisis,” Joy said, hurrying to the window and closing the curtains, “We have to block out the light in every room so nothing shows from the outside. I think we might be okay here for a day or two.”
“You think we can afford to take another day?” asked Sage.
Joy gave a weary sigh.
“We're tired, it's been hell out there. We have to rest. If we are exhausted, we're easy targets. We have to take time to gather our strength. We can reach Whitling the day after tomorrow, it won't take long from here. There's food we can load up from the cupboards, we can put it in the van to take back with us. And there's enough here to feed us well while we stay, too. We need to rest.”
Sage nodded.
“You're right,” she agreed, “I'll let the others in.” Then she went back downstairs to open up the front door.
A short while later, both vans were parked close to the house, and from the outside, the place was in darkness as every curtain was tightly closed, hiding traces of light coming from within. On the inside, every light was on. It was always a wonderful surprise to find electricity still working, and the fire was switched on in the front room as the heat crept through the open doorway and up the stairs. Sage had grabbed the smallest bedroom, laying out blankets on the floor while Poppy slept soundly in a small but comfortable bed with the lamp on beside her. No one wanted to be in the dark. Darkness held so much more than the imagined fears of children now.