Dead Winter

by Aline Riva

  “YOU'RE DEAD, LINA!” she yelled, pulling a knife from its sheath at her side as it caught on sunlight glinting sharp and silver. She reached for the next step to raise herself up and a hand clamped around her ankle, tugging her backwards as she slipped several steps and gave a yell. Flora turned over knife in hand, only to meet with the vengeful eyes of her brother as he leaned in towards her.

  “You tried to kill me!” he raged.

  She lunged with the knife and he caught her wrist as the two of them struggled, but it was in his weak hand. Her eyes shone with victory as she started to turn it slowly towards his body.

  “At least I still get to see you die!” she gasped.

  Then the air was knocked from her lungs as he gave the blade a twist as every muscle in his weak arm gave a silent scream of agony. The blade was turned as he slumped on top of her, as the knife went in and buried up to the hilt warm blood ran over his gloved hand, then down the sleeve of his coat as she bled out. She coughed, spraying blood, then slumped lifeless, eyes staring skyward. Mickey was struggling to get up as he blinked away tears.

  “I didn't want to kill my sister! I hate her, but I didn't want to go this far!”

  Joy had reached him, she helped him to grab for the rail and then climb over his sister's body. They made their way slowly up the steps, as heavy boots made their way down. Mickey had stopped, clutching at his ribs as he paused to breathe and try and fight off the dizziness that had hit him along with pain. His right hand was shaking and he could barely grip the rail, and Joy held him there as he tried not pass out and the shooter from the rooftop climbed down to join them mid way.

  “Mickey!” she exclaimed in a Russian accent, “Thank God you finally did it!” She put an arm around him and together, the three of them made their way upward.

  “Thank you so much Lina!” Mickey said breathlessly, “I always knew you never liked her!”

  Lina helped him to the top and then as he leaned against Joy, Lina spoke again.

  “I have been waiting to do this for many years. I have been her pilot for a very long time. I was so sick of her shit! As soon as the dead started taking over I knew I'd have my chance. I'm just sorry I couldn't catch her with the bullets, I never thought you would do it for me, Mickey. I didn't think you had it in you to stand up to her.”

  Joy looked at the tall, athletic woman wearing tight fitting, dark winter clothing and a padded leather jacket. She had short fair hair and pale grey eyes and looked to be around forty.

  “This is Lina Orlov,” said Mickey as he pressed a hand to his side, “The only person my sister ever employed who I got along with!”

  Lina briefly smiled.

  “We could take the chopper but I'm low on fuel. The plan was to leave in the trucks, she won't be good for another long haul flight without fuel.”

  Joy looked sharply at Lina, recalling the town and the looted stores.

  “Did Flora's people raid the stores and burn the zombies?”

  Lina nodded.

  “We have two trucks down there, one is half full with food, the other is loaded up with weapons. We can head for the house, it's on the cliffs but the chopper won't make it that far, it is too many miles from here.”

  Joy was still staring at her, thinking, hoping desperately...

  “We – I mean, me and some people I'm travelling with, need to get food to our village. Would it be okay if we share the supplies?”

  “Of course,” Lina agreed, “Flora's place is always stocked up for many months to come. I will be just fine. How far do you have to go?”

  “Belwick,” she said.

  Lina looked at her, falling silent.

  “What?” said Joy as her heart began to race and dread washed over her.

  “I will show you,” said Lina, and she went over to the chopper, took a camera from the seat and accessed pictures, then handed the camera to Joy.

  “I am sorry. There is no point taking supplies to your village, it was over run by the corpses, we saw it from the air. Flora was taking pictures of everything as we travelled, so we had an idea of the best route back for the trucks. You can see, the place is gone now.”

  Joy blinked away tears as she studied the images of the village from the sky, the chopper had swooped down low and it was clear to see the barriers were down at their weakest point and the undead had broken in, vast in number, as the dead lay scattered about the remnants of what had once been her home.

  “Oh Christ no!” whispered Mickey, as he looked out across the view from the rooftop.

  Now Joy was looking too, and as she saw what was happening, her eyes grew wide at the sight of the horde of undead, heading towards the van, it was visible from this vantage point and no one inside had tried to get out...

  “They don't know!” she said in horror, knowing she would have to mourn the loss of the village later. The van was about to be attacked. They were heading for it, sights set on it – zombies didn't do that unless the living were inside. They didn't know. They had not heard or seen them creeping up behind...

  “My people are down there!” Joy said in alarm.

  “We will take the chopper,” said Lina, and she glanced to Mickey, who was pale and sweating as he weakly stood there.

  “There's no time to waste!” she urged as she headed for the helicopter, then Joy put her arms around Mickey and she helped him to stagger towards it.

  On the ground they had heard the shots fired, and a debate was going on in the front of the car as the adults quarrelled and Poppy looked forward from the rear of the vehicle.

  “River, we heard the gun shots! If anyone is going in there, it's not you and someone has to stay behind with Poppy! Sage can shoot, so can I.”

  “And what good would you be up against sighted people with guns?” River demanded, “You can hear the dead coming, but the living have an advantage – who ever fired those shots will be quicker than you and they can see you coming! You can handle the undead. Please leave it at that. I'll go in with Sage.”

  Chris felt his temper rising.

  “So you've decided to leave the blind guy and the kid behind? While Sage goes into the unknown with you – someone who has never shot a gun before?”

  “It's not like that, Chris! I'm trying to keep you safe!”

  “I don't need you or anyone to keep me safe!”

  “Guys,” said Sage as she blinked away tears, “Stop this shit. Just stop it! Joy and Mickey could be dead!”

  “So as I said, we should go in, just in case they're not!” River said to her firmly.

  Poppy looked on as the air of tension and panic, present since the shots were heard, rose steadily in the van as they quarrelled over who should go in, and whether they should take the van or not. No one seemed to know what to do for the best.

  “We've never been in this situation before,” River said sharply, “How the hell are we supposed to know what's for the best here?”

  “I'll go,” Sage said, “I'll go alone, I'll sneak in quietly. We have to know if they're alive -”

  “If they were able to leave,” demanded Chris, “Wouldn't they be out of there by now? They might not be dead, they might be injured or held captive and we're wasting time sitting here arguing about it!”

  Poppy turned away from the front, where the adults were still quarrelling. She looked to the back of the van, then as the horde descended and a creature slammed up against the window and snarled, she gave a piercing scream. The others turned back, then as Sage gave a gasp, the doors were pounded on, the creatures were surrounding the vehicle, crushing in close as they began to snarl and lash out at the windows. They had gathered thick in front of the van and started to climb. The light was blocked out out as hands and bared teeth and twisted, snarling faces of the dead were all they could see as the creatures clawed the vehicle. Sage turned the key in the ignition and the engine choked and stuttered and fell silent. She turned the key again, and it stalled a second time.

  “NO!” she yelled, thumping the wh
eel.

  Chris turned his head left and right, unable to work out which direction the heaviest of the horde was coming from.

  “Where are they?” he said in panic.

  “All around us!” he heard River say tearfully, “We're trapped!”

  As the chopper rose into the air, Joy felt her stomach lurch and her head spin as she clutched at the seat. Heights had always been a huge phobia and all she could do was look at Mickey with terrified eyes, then as they went higher and picked up speed, the roar of the chopper seemed to echo about her head. At that moment she would rather have been down on the ground. She could handle the rooftop because all hell had just broken loose and Mickey had been in a fight to the death with his sister. And he was injured and would have fallen on the steps if she and Lina had not helped him... She had focused on the fact that they were still alive while she was on the roof and then she had been hit with the shock that Belwick was gone. But she would rather be back in the village taking on a horde, or down there on the ground where the zombies swamped the van, than up here in the sky... She couldn't look down as she swallowed the vomit that rose in her throat. Mickey wasn't looking too good either, he was pale and clearly in pain by the way he was grabbing at his side, clearly those kicks had done some damage. The chopper circled the industrial complex then Lina glanced back, knowing at once Joy would not be able to help as she sat there, on the point of throwing up.

  “Mickey!” she yelled over the thunder of the chopper, “I'll take her down low and hold her steady, you do the rest.”

  She had glanced to a machine gun on the floor. Mickey's expression was one of pure disbelief.

  “I can barely stand!”

  “I know that! But we are going in now, be ready!” she yelled, then she took the chopper lower as Mickey grabbed a gun and tugged the door open, leaning backwards into the chopper as he clung on, ready to let go to use the gun with both hands as she held the flight steady.

  “Ready?” she called back.

  He gave her a nod. Lina took the chopper lower, hovering close to the van, just above it as he tried not to think about his busted ribs or the pain in his guts, or his weak leg that might cave in at any moment, sending him out of the open door and down into the middle of the horde. Mickey opened fire, peppering the zombies with a hail of bullets.

  Joy was still fighting off crippling nausea as the thunder of the chopper began to fade out. They had touched down in the field close to the van, and she had felt the chopper land, and was thankful not to be up in the air any more. Her head was swimming and her ears felt partially deaf from the roar of the chopper and the hail of bullets Mickey had let fly as he stood there on the edge, as she had covered her ears and screwed her eyes tight shut as she prayed he didn't fall out and straight down into the horde. But the horde were dead now, all felled in bloody mess about the outside of the van. As the blades slowed and stopped turning, her legs felt like jelly as she got up, but the pilot was out first, and she paused to help Mickey out of the chopper. He stumbled to the grass and fell to his knees as Joy hurried out to help him up, still feeling like a quaking mass of jelly after taking that flight. It didn't matter that it was icy cold, she was in a sweat from being up there in the sky and she unzipped her jacket, feeling thankful for the chill breeze. For once it wasn't biting and painful, now it was welcome, the cold was reviving her...

  “Mickey...” Lina had helped him up. He slowly turned his head, then he coughed and blood ran from his mouth. His eyes rolled white and as he collapsed, Lina caught him as he slumped in her arms.

  “Mickey!” she said firmly, giving him a shake, “Don't you quit now, you hear me?”

  He could barely focus as he dragged his eyes open, tried and gave up on speaking, then slumped against her again. She kept her arm around him and as Joy joined her, together they half carried him over the van, where Sage had just got out and Chris was helping River to clear away the bodies from the road.

  “They just came at us! He saved us -” Sage stopped, staring, pale and still in shock from the way the van had been swamped, as she noticed Mickey was passed out.

  “What happen to him?”

  “A fight and not a fair one,” Joy said, then she wiped sweat from her face, “We should put him in the back. Is everyone okay?”

  “Yes, we're fine. As soon as Mickey stopped shooting, we jumped out. River and Chris are moving the corpses so we can drive off without bursting a tire on snapped bones...”

  The side of the van had caught some bullets as shots had punched through the vehicle and through zombies. Sage didn't give it a thought as she unlocked the back of the van.

  “Poppy has some pillows and blankets in here, Mickey can rest on that,” she said. Then she opened up the back of the van and screamed. Poppy was sat there on bedding marked with blood as she sobbed and trembled. Her face was pale and there was a bullet visible in a wound to her upper arm.

  “I...I got shot!” she sobbed, then she cried harder.

  Sage scrambled into the back of the van.

  “It's okay, I'll help, big sis is here!” she said tearfully as she wrapped her arms around her.

  “Mickey?” Joy's voice was filled with worry as Lina began to lay him at the back of the open van, then she got in as Sage lifted Poppy out, and dragged him all the way inside, on to the blood stained bedding as Sage stared her.

  “What the actual fuck? Who are you...And my sister's just took a bullet!”

  Lina knelt beside Mickey, looking out at Sage. By now Chris had joined them and lifted Poppy from her sister's arms and said he would put her in the front of the van.

  “We have medical supplies, we can handle this,” he assured the crying child.

  “My sister?” Sage said again as her temper rose, “She's a child, she comes first!”

  River had leaned in the back of the van, opened up Mickey's coat and then examined him beneath his layers of thick clothing. She saw the bruises and felt his ribs and knew from experience what she was looking at. She put him in the recovery position to ensure he didn't choke as he coughed and a trickle of blood ran from his mouth, then she got out of the van. Sage had just yelled at Lina again.

  “Stay in the back with Mickey,” she told her, “Keep him on his side so he doesn't choke.”

  Lina nodded as she carefully placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “I know first aid, I get it.”

  “You selfish bitch!” Sage ranted as she glared into the van at Lina, “Who the fuck is she to put him before a wounded child?”

  River touched her arm and she spun around, glaring at her.

  “Sage,” said River, “You hear that sound, your sister wailing because her arm hurts? That's good. That means she's okay. The bullet went through the van, through her coat and her clothing and clipped her arm. It's a flesh wound. The bullet is almost surface level and missed major arteries. She will be fine! Mickey is unconscious with broken ribs and internal bleeding and if I don't have access to a medical facility to give him drugs to stop it, he's going to die!”

  Her words had registered. All anger faded from her gaze as Sage saw the tears in Joy's eyes as she said I'm going with him, and climbed into the back of the van with Lina.

  “There is a hospital three miles north of here,” said Lina, “It was an prison asylum, a jail for the worst of insane and violent offenders - but it looked empty when we flew over, it is a huge place they will have an infirmary, they also have a landing pad - I can take the chopper and lead the way – but fuel is very low. Once we get there, I won't be able to get airborne again.”

  Sage had started to simmer down as Chris called from the front of the van to say Poppy was calmer now.

  “Okay, you lead the way.”

  “Wait,” said Joy, as she knelt beside Mickey, “There's vehicles in the yard back there – loaded with food and weapons. One of us needs to go back and take it, we're going to need supplies if we can get into the prison.”

  Joy didn't want to leave Mickey, but as she looked
at Lina, she knew there was no other way.

  “I'll take the lorry,” she said.

  “And I'll drive the van,” added River.

  “What about the car?” said Sage.

  “You take the car, we need to hold on to our transport,” River reminded her.

  Joy swept her hand over Mickey's hair.

  “Someone needs to stay with him.”

  “I'll do it,” said Chris, replying from the front seats, “And Poppy can ride upfront with River.”

  Joy got out of the back of the van, paused to grab a gun close to the door, then looked to the others.

  “Wait for me.”

  “No one leaves until we're all together,” River assured her.

  Joy hurried off towards the open gates, her senses on high alert even though she knew it was likely most of the undead were wiped out here after the chopper incident. She reached the corner and turned it to see the fallen bodies of Flora's men, and a quick search of the bodies found the keys to a small lorry packed with guns and food supplies in the hands of guard with half his head blown away. Joy hurried to the lorry, closed it up at the back and climbed up to the cab, then she got in and started the engine, turning for the road that led out of here. It wasn't a long drive, but she didn't know if they would be able to get into the asylum, because that place had been built to keep dangerous offenders in and security would be tough to penetrate even if it had been left locked up empty when the evacuation process had come into effect. And this place really was their only hope, because without access to an infirmary, Mickey wouldn't make it...

  Chapter 10

  The chopper led the way as the van and the car followed its route as River distracted Poppy from her pain by telling her she really couldn't make this trip without her helping with the map. Joy followed on behind the others, carefully taking the lorry along the road as she hoped there would be no obstacles in their path. The drive took them off the main highway and up a road away from the coast, they travelled on, taking back roads where fields were all around and they saw not one undead creature in sight. But that brought little assurance after the incident with Poppy back at the house when she had ventured beyond the gate. No where was safe, they all knew it...