There was a quick flurry of blows before he looked back at her, grinning, and clearly enjoying himself a great deal more than he should have. With an exaggerated bow, he moved aside, and she took the final shot.
“What now?” Adam asked, inclining his head towards the first infected she had killed and the small woman trying to wriggle free from its weight. “Can’t leave her.”
“Put her out of her misery.” Claire spun, rifle rising as the sound of running feet came to her, but she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the rest of the group arrive.
“What happened?” Jack asked, glancing from her to the bodies and back again. “Anyone hurt?”
He didn’t even have a sweat on she noted with a touch of grudging admiration. If nothing else, he was in good shape which was rare for most civilians in her experience.
“We’re good,” Claire began but was interrupted by Adam.
“Better than good. We kicked ass!”
Adam didn’t notice the flash of irritation in Jack’s eyes, though Claire did, and she pressed her lips into a thin line as her opinion of him grew a little more.
“Four of them had a woman,” Claire said, turning her head to look back at where the slight woman still struggled. “We couldn’t leave them.”
“Should have come back for us,” Deacon muttered. “We could have done it quiet, like.”
“Dobbs,” Jack said, voice firm and full of an authority he didn’t believe he had. “Get the others outside and keep a watch on the road. Anything heard the noise, you let me know.”
“Aye,” was all the big man said before he chivvied the others out.
Deacon went with another muttered glance at their leader who stood with head bowed, fingers tightening around the hilt of the knife he held. Jack knew what needed to be done and he wouldn’t ask anyone else to do it.
“This is my mess,” Claire said, and Jack looked up, surprised that she had stayed. “I’ll finish this.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
She slung the rifle over her back and pulled out the knife she had carried on two continents and four different countries. It was standard issue bayonet with a hollow handle that allowed it to slide over the barrel of the assault rifle she usually carried.
Eleven inches in length with a seven-inch offset blade to ensure it didn’t obstruct the firing of the rifle, she had only used it on another human once and it was with a grim expression that she held it in her hand and turned towards the infected woman.
Without hesitation, she strode towards the struggling infected woman and in a moment, it was done. Silence once more filled the warehouse and without words, the two of them walked out together.
“Time’s moving on,” Claire said as they reached the others. “We should keep moving.”
“No need to check the shops nearest us,” Deacon said. “If anything had been in them, they’d have come running.”
“Most seem to have moved outwards, through the city,” Jack agreed. “Means we might finally have a bit of luck on our side.”
The group set off moving along the street, headed south. Cars sat by the sides of the road, parked up as they waited for owners who would likely never return. Jack had considered taking one, but the risk of drawing attention was too much. They would do enough of that as they drove the trucks full of food supplies back to the flats.
A little further along the street, a car sat in the middle of the road turned almost sideways. The doors were open and there were the now-familiar stains on the tarmac that suggested the occupants of the car hadn’t left voluntarily.
There was much glancing around as the group passed, fear growing as each of them knew what it meant. But nothing leapt out at them and there was no attack.
“Where the fuck are they all?” Paul asked nervously. “There should be more of them out here, right?”
“Be glad most have moved on,” Claire said, not looking back as watched the road and the buildings that crowded it. “But don’t think they’ve all gone.”
“Yeah, but if they’ve gone then we’re good, right?” Adam asked, looking around at the group. “I mean, we can leave the flats for more stuff when we need to.”
“Don’t count on it,” Deacon replied before Claire could. “The fact that we’re being followed means they haven’t all gone.”
“What!”
They all looked at Deacon and then at the surrounding area, looking for proof that he was right, and they were being followed. But the road looked much as it had before.
“Look up,” Deacon offered, helpfully and grinned as the others did just that, gasping at what they saw.
“How the hell did they get up there?”
On the roof of the building to their right, they crouched. Three of them, staring down with hate-filled eyes. It was a good twenty feet to the ground which was likely the only reason they hadn’t come down to attack, Jack thought. At least he hoped that was the reason.
“Better question is why are they just watching?” Jack asked, looking to the others for support. “I mean, they’ve always just attacked, right?”
“Does it matter? Just shoot the bloody things!” Paul snapped.
“Of course, it matters.” Claire held the rifle ready, but her finger wasn’t on the trigger. “We know they can climb, but why just watch us?”
Jack stared up at the infected people and a shiver ran down his spine. They just watched him back, eyes meeting his with anger and hate twisting their faces into something almost demonic. Their silence was unnerving, but more than that was the behaviour they were showing.
He’d once watched a nature documentary on wolves. When the pack hunted, they would follow a herd of caribou for days, watching and waiting for one of the herd to break away from the others. That was when they would pounce, dragging it down.
Those infected reminded him of the wolves. They must know, somewhere in their rage-filled minds, that they couldn’t take down the whole group. While they didn’t understand what a gun was, they knew it meant danger to them and so, rather than rushing in, they were waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Another shiver ran down his spine and he looked over at Claire who cocked an eyebrow as her eyes met his, silently asking for the order to shoot. He licked dry lips and shook his head. As long as they stayed together, they would be safe, but firing the gun could bring more.
“Keep moving,” he said, instead. “Watch them and unless they try and attack, we’ll just keep our distance.”
“That’s a mistake,” Adam said, the heat of anger in his voice. “You know it is!”
“Maybe so, but it’s better than the alternatives.”
“Guys!” Claire said, lowering her rifle. “We can stand here dicking about or we can keep moving. Sooner we get to the base, the sooner we can fuck off back home.”
“Agreed,” Deacon added. “We can watch them and wait.”
There was some muttering, but the others seemed to put aside their objections. They’d been out of the flats for almost two hours and were starting to feel as though it wasn’t as bad as they had thought. Which was a mistake.
By the time they reached the end of the road and paused, looking to their left along the road to where they could see the base in the distance, there were two more infected on the rooftop.
Jack ignored them as he focused his attention on the road. Buildings lined the right-hand side, five and six storeys tall. Shops on the lowest floor and offices or storage spaces above along with some flats.
Those buildings were quiet, the shops shuttered and the windows dark. Several cars were parked beside the road and further along, in the distance, were the trucks the military had been using. Bodies littered the road near the trucks and birds had settled there to feed.
“A lot of people died when the infected overran the base,” Claire said, her voice quiet. “Last time I was there we were caught up in a huge fucking crowd of the infected that chased us all the way to your place.”
As if on cue, the infected above them began to hoot and yell, the sound nothing resembling words, just rage. The group looked up, weapons raised as they wondered at the cause and fear swept over them as the infected people's call was answered from all around them.
“Fuck,” was all Jack could think to say.
Chapter 10
Dec, Jason, Sarah and Kyra huddled together before the door to the block of flats. The stench of the decaying bodies outside was making them all slightly nauseous which, coupled with the very natural fear of what might be lurking outside, was doing a number on their insides.
“Sorry,” Dec said again as he let out a noise he would rather not have had anyone heard. “Nerves.”
“It’s fine,” Sarah said, offering a taut smile. “But might be best to try and do that quietly when we’re out there, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
They each wore a thick coat and had an empty backpack strapped to their backs. Dec carried a cleaver that he had taken from his kitchen, while Jason had a baseball bat that had been taken from the scorched shell of a flat on the ground floor.
Kyra carried a knife of her own, one that she’d had for a number of years, and had secreted it in a sheath fastened against her lower back, while holding a carving knife for appearances. Not that she expected to use it. Sarah, on the other hand, had the knife that Claire had given her in her back pocket and a wooden mallet taken from Dec’s kitchen.
“Why did I agree to this?” Jason asked the air as he pulled a beanie down over his short, blonde, hair. “Please, someone tell me why.”
“Because a pretty girl asked you, mate,” Dec replied with a snigger. “That’s how they got me.”
“You don’t have to do this.” Sarah looked back at the two men. “We’ll do this ourselves.”
“And likely die,” Dec said. “Nah, Jack would have my balls if I let you two go alone. So, here we are.”
There didn’t seem to be anything left to say and the four of them braced themselves mentally before Kyra pulled open the door and stepped outside.
“Wait!”
They all turned at the sound of the voice and waited a moment as the young woman ran up to join them. Her eyes were red with dark shadows around them and her light, brown, hair had been pulled up into a ponytail.
Her usual choice of short skirt and tight tops had been replaced with jeans and a heavy jacket, along with leather boots, gloves and a woollen hat. She carried a backpack in one hand and a short, kitchen knife in the other.
“I’m coming too.”
“You don’t need to, love,” Dec said, brow furrowing. “You’ve been through enough.”
“No,” Anna said, voice firm. “I do need to.”
Ben, her boyfriend had been killed defending the block of flats from the infected and she had been crying for days about that. But, grief aside, there was a reason she needed to go with them, and she didn’t feel like explaining it.
“I have the list you gave, Jackie-boy. I can get what you need.”
“If they have it,” she replied. “Most likely they won’t but I need to check for myself. This is what I need to do.”
Declan looked at the others in the group and seeing no real objection from them, lifted his shoulders in a shrug.
“Alright then, love. You can come but you’re gonna have to be ready to fight if needed. We’ve no idea what it’ll be like out there.”
“I can do that.”
“Good.”
There seemed to be little else left to say and with sombre expressions and more than a little nervousness, the group left the block of flats. They moved carefully past the bloated bodies of the dead as they did their best to ignore the birds that were feeding there.
“Shit!” Kyra said, raising the knife in her hand as she hopped back, away from the corpse she had been passing.
“What is it… oh!”
Sarah stared at the small, black, rat that perched atop the corpse. Its nose twitched and a small, angry, sound came from it as it watched them with dark eyes above a bloodstained maw.
“Why’s it not running away?” Anna asked, a little nervously.
“The better question is why it's out in the daylight,” Kyra said, eying the rat warily. “Should we try and kill it?”
“Best to leave it for now, love,” Dec said. “To the shops and back, that was the deal. We’ll let the others know when we’re back.”
The rat didn’t seem inclined to attack them which didn’t mean much other than it had a full belly and was outnumbered. Even so, they gave it a wide berth as they moved around it and kept a careful eye on the other bodies in case there were more of the small creatures hanging around.
Once clear of the corpses they headed past the carpark and along the road to where the soldiers had been standing guard just a few days before. Since that was their only way through the fence on that side of the enclosed area, it was the only way they could go.
“Should we take a car?” Jason asked, looking over at those sitting in the car parking area. “Would be quicker?”
“Noisier too,” Kyra said, voice dropping low as they approached the gate. “Last thing we need is to attract attention.”
Jason followed her gaze, up towards the luxury apartments that sat opposite the gate. Many of the glass doors leading from the balconies into the flats had been smashed. Blood and other bodily fluids coated those balconies and none of them could escape the feeling that they were being watched from the darkness inside the building.
The gate had been left unlocked when the soldiers had fled, and they stepped through without hesitation before turning to their left and heading southwards towards the city centre. They walked in silence past the parked and the abandoned cars.
Bodies lay in the street, showing sign of the violence of their deaths. Men and women, young and old, they had all been treated the same by those infected that had caught them as they tried to flee. That so many had died so close to where the group made their home left them all feeling a sense of shame that they hadn’t been able to help.
Even Kyra, who put herself before all others, couldn’t shake that feeling as she saw the bodies of children lying on the road, staring sightlessly at the sky, clothes torn and stained with the agony of their final moments forever stamped on their face.
“Bastards,” was all Dec could think to say as he forced himself to look at the small body as he passed.
He wiped at the tears in his eyes and gripped his cleaver all the tighter, the urge to use it rising within him. Not a violent man by nature, he couldn’t help but feel the pain of those last moments that were so evident on the bodies around him and he decided then and there, that he would do all in his power to prevent that from happening to his friends.
In silence they walked along the road, slowing only as they came to the place where it passed over the A64. They each stopped then and stared at the long rows of cars and vans that filled the road, aghast at what they were seeing.
“Where are all the people?” Anna asked, voice low and full of fear.
“Some are still strapped into their seats,” Sarah said, staring down at those cars. “The lucky ones. The not so lucky are probably waiting for it to get dark so they can come out of hiding and feed.”
A shiver ran down her spine as she said that, and she glanced up at the sky that was grey with heavily laden clouds and wondered just how dark it needed to be for them to come out. Night-time, for sure, but the rat being out bothered her.
They didn’t like the sunlight. Not that it hurt them or had any physical effect on them at all. No, it was more psychological as though they understood instinctively that they were more vulnerable in the daytime. Which was why they mainly would only go out in groups large enough to ensure safety.
“We sh
ould go,” she said.
The others murmured their agreement and they continued on and into the heart of the city. As they came over the overpass, they were only thirty metres away from the First Direct Arena that was visible between the tall office blocks beside the road.
A little further on was a large parking structure, sitting dark and mostly empty. Just one of the many places the infected could be hiding, Sarah thought with a surge of fear. She licked suddenly dry lips and swallowed past the lump of fear that had settled in her throat and continued on.
On they went, past a restaurant with shattered windows and overturned tables. Past the office block and the betting shops, the fast food places and the coffee shop. It was a surreal feeling for them, walking past empty shops in a silent city.
There was no movement around them, and the only other people they saw were lying dead in the street. Many of them had been partly eaten, Sarah realised with a shudder, and many more of the bodies were naked or partially clothed, lying in dried pools of blood.
The few bodies became dozens and then hundreds as they approached the front entrance of the Merrion Shopping centre. Bodies were piled high in the doorway and the stench was horrendous.
“What happened?” Jason asked, staring at the piled dead with horror in his eyes.
No one could answer and they carried on past the bodies.
“Just a little further.” Kyra’s voice was strained as she spoke, and her usual bravado had faded away as fear overtook her.
She had long since realised what a stupid thing she was doing but was already committed and couldn’t imagine going back and having the old prick, Denis, mocking her for returning empty-handed.
Pride, it seemed, was something she couldn’t quite shake off, even though that same pride had landed her in trouble many times before.
At the end of the block, they turned and stopped, staring ahead. More bodies littered the road, lying between and around cars. A feast for the carrion eaters of the city, the rats, feral dogs and birds. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands.
A battle had been fought and lost in the heart of the city and it was a reminder of how great the danger was. Of just how many people had been infected and turned from the normal, sane people they were, into crazed monsters full of rage and hunger.
Rage (Book 2): The Infected Page 7