Safe Haven, page 9
He was running in a straight line, if he changed direction and headed towards the exit, it would mean the distance between him and the creatures to his left would close. If he ran in the direction Jules had taken, he would encounter a similar problem. He could only assume Jules had not made it. There had been no further gun shots, there had been no sound from a revving engine, although that might be difficult to hear over the rumble from behind. He was by himself and his only chance, if he could call it that, was to get over the fence on the other side and hope that would give him enough respite to build up a bigger lead. It would all be over one way or another within the next twenty seconds.
***
There were bound to be stragglers. Even these single minded creatures were limited to some extent by the bodies they inhabited. Emma hoped that they would be few and easily manageable though. They had stayed quiet during the stampede that had taken place outside. But there were still patches of un-extinguished fire that flickered the suggestion of meal time to the RAMs.
Emma heard it then. To her it was a familiar sound, but to those who had never gone up against these creatures in hand-to-hand combat, it was not .The growling gurgle got louder. She listened as small amounts of rubble were displaced and then she saw it, its battered head and torn clothing slowly emerged over the mountain of debris. As it appeared, she heard sharp intakes of breath from around her. She heard the stifled screams of children from behind her; once that would have been her, but not now. On seeing living, breathing men and women, the RAM became excited and moved down the slope as quickly as it could, snagging itself on pieces of twisted metal and stumbling over jagged breezeblocks along the way. Despite its single mindedness, Emma wasn't afraid. It had been an old woman in life, frail and weak. Its leg was now twisted, and yes, it could be potentially dangerous, but not to her.
She realised these people around her needed a show of strength, needed to be led. She slung the rifle off her shoulder, put down her spear and pulled out her knife. Marching forward and climbing a few feet up the pile of debris to meet the lone invader, she nonchalantly plunged her blade straight through the beast's temple.
A few weeks before, fear would have stopped her from approaching the creature, and the questioning doubt that maybe there was some small remnant of the person that once was in there would have halted her from killing it. Now, though, as she watched not so much the life but the disconnection of the final current, flickering in the RAM's ghoulish grey eyes, she felt nothing.
She withdrew the knife, and the pathetic bundle of rags and twisted bones collapsed, just another piece of rubbish to add to the pile. She wiped her blade off and marched back to her position, slinging the rifle back on her shoulder and picking up her spear. She sensed the eyes of others on her, and then she heard more sounds.
These were more vibrant than before, like large animals following tracks of prey. Three more figures emerged over the crest of the debris. These looked more like the dangerous creatures she was used to. She spared a moment to think of her brother, out there in a sea of these things. Then she let that image feed her aggression, and she moved forward, goading the three creatures to head towards her. The plan worked, all three, spoilt for choice by the array of fresh meat just lined up for the tasting, headed straight towards the closest one.
Emma felt someone to the side of her, she took a quick look. It was Beth. Sarah—as much as she wanted to—was still frozen to the spot, terrified by the truth behind these soulless aberrations.
The three RAMs charged at the same time. Emma and Beth struck mercilessly, as if choreographed, their spears sunk into the eye sockets of two of the creatures. Emma booted the third back, to give herself enough time to withdraw her spear from the first, but she did not need to. As the creatures flew down to the ground another figure blurred past Emma's side and plunged a spear deep into the beast's skull. It was Rob, one of Jules's brothers. He looked towards Emma and nodded appreciatively as if to thank her for taking such a brave lead. He didn't get a chance to say anything before more menacing creatures began to appear over the top of the mound.
***
An eardrum shredding screech of tyres tore through the sound of the chorus of growls and gurgles as Mike continued to sprint towards the fence. He looked to his right and saw a white transit van careening along a footpath, barely wide enough to take the vehicle's axle. The front wheels left the edge of the curb and flew through the air landing hard on the tarmac of the car park. They juddered momentarily threatening a loss of control, and Mike's heart juddered along with them.
Jules corrected her steering and saw the grey ocean of undead faces that was threatening to overwhelm Mike like a tsunami from hell. She realised that just continuing towards him, there wouldn't be enough time for them to make an escape before the van was consumed. It took Mike a couple of seconds to realise what she was doing. Jules swung the wheel and began heading towards the oncoming army at a diagonal, then, as she nearly reached both them and Mike, she swung the wheel back and floored the accelerator, heading straight towards the fence. The distance was thirty metres at the most, but she prayed that it was enough. She nearly went through the windscreen as the initial impact struck the front bumper, and for a heart-stopping second, she thought it was all over, then the green chain links parted like a curtain. She heard the scrape of the barbed wire as the van passed underneath it and the scrape of the fence as it dug gashes into the paint, but she was through. She immediately rolled down her window and snapped the mirror back into position. Mike was seconds away. She leaned over to open the door and kept the van going ahead, just a little slower than Mike's sprinting speed.
"Move, move!" he yelled.
As he grabbed hold of the passenger door and the roof of the van, she sped up and Mike nearly lost his grip, but, it was just a momentary slip, and he soon got it back. He slammed the door, sliding the rucksack from his shoulder and into the foot well. He bent over, taking agonised breaths as the van continued to head off.
"Keep them in sight Jules," he said, trying hard to regain his composure.
Jules checked the mirror, the swarm of beasts were still following, but she was pulling away. She eased on the accelerator just a little.
Looking across to her passenger she said, "I don't know if that was the bravest thing or the stupidest thing I've ever seen, but whichever it was, I'm glad you're okay."
Mike was still bent double, his heart was pounding and his chest felt raw. He reached out his hand to the gear stick and placed it over Jules's, squeezing tightly.
"You saved my life Jules. Thank you!" he said, still labouring for breath.
"We can sing each other a fuckin’ serenade later, but in case you hadn't noticed, we're still shoulder deep in shite here."
Mike managed a small smile as he took a controlling breath and tried to sit upright. He looked across at the dashboard, the needle was hovering close to empty.
"You weren't kidding about the fuel, were you?" he said rolling down his own window to click the mirror back into place. "Right, on my way in, I dumped my bike near an old carpet showroom, it wasn't that far away from here. Do you know where I mean?"
"You're going to have to do better than that. There are loads of places like that around here," she replied, anxiously checking the mirror to make sure she was maintaining a good speed.
Mike closed his eyes for a second to remember. "It was on a corner. It looked like it had gone out of business long before all this started. I dumped the bike at a bus stop, just a few yards away."
"I think I know where you mean," she said as the van slowed to exit the car park and head left.
***
Sarah forced her spear through the chest of a RAM who towered over her. The vicious creature’s arms flailed angrily in her direction, and she realised they were getting closer. Despite the spear having pierced the chest cavity, it had not encumbered the monster's advance by more than a few seconds.
Sarah's forehead creased in confusion and fear. She had heard a thousand times how these beasts had to be stabbed through the head, but she felt certain, a spear to the chest would have stopped this one. Its arms grabbed at her once again and this time she felt the breeze from the passing tips of the creature's fingers. The grey eyes punctuated only by an eerie shattered pupil made larger by the dim lantern light from behind her. The beast opened its mouth, seemingly tasting the air as each struggling second drew it closer to Sarah. The beginnings of a cry began from inside her, but then a wooden spear whizzed past the side of her head and through the beast's eye. It stopped its struggle immediately and collapsed to the floor. Sarah followed the line of the weapon and saw the end of it clasped firmly in Lucy's hand.
"The head, Sweetie, always make sure it's the head," she said, quickly withdrawing the spear and thrusting it firmly into the right eye of another advancing creature.
Most of the RAMs were on the floor dead, a couple were still in the throes of a struggle, but as the spear men and women became more confident, they worked together quickly to put the beasts down. Lucy saw Emma had climbed to the top of the hill of rubble, leaving a trail of dead creatures behind her. It was remarkable to think that a few weeks ago, her and Emma had been stuck in a house surrounded by RAMs ready to end it all. She quickly surveyed the area, making sure there was no immediate danger and edged up the mound of wreckage to join Emma. She laid down flat on her belly by her side.
Emma who had momentarily had her head held over the peak edged back down. "There are a couple that are wandering aimlessly close to the entrance, but the rest of them seem to have taken the bait."
The pair of them looked at each other for a moment as Emma realised what she had said. The bait was her brother, Lucy's love.
"I didn't mean..."
"It's okay, I know what you meant... Listen. We're all ready back there. The ones who can't walk, we've got them on flat bed trolleys, we're getting people assembled in the back ready to go. There are some trailers in the back as well that might come in useful too. One of the older guys is going out to attach them to the vans now. She paused for a breath and then continued. "You did really good here today. You saved these people Emma."
"Mike and Jules saved them Lucy." There was no false modesty in her statement, and she slowly got to her feet and made her way back down the mound.
CHAPTER EIGHT
"I think I might have picked the one with the least fuel," said Jules apologetically as the van began to splutter. They were a good fifty metres ahead of the rampaging army of RAMs now, but no distance would make Jules feel safe.
"That's good, that gives the others a better chance. Floor it Jules, we're not far away now," said Mike pushing the shotgun back into his rucksack.
Jules did as requested and put her foot down on the accelerator. The van coughed forward a little more and then spluttered to a stop.
"Okay, run!" shouted Mike, grabbing his rucksack and climbing out of the van. The pair sprinted down the road, throwing urgent looks behind them. "There's the bus shelter," he shouted as they turned onto a familiar looking street.
Within seconds, Mike had mounted the bike like he had been riding it all his life. Jules had never been on a motorbike before and couldn't actually ride a bicycle, but given the situation, she was more than willing to learn. The engine started and Mike pulled out of the bus shelter in time to see the street full of RAMs heading their way.
"Hold on tight!" he shouted, and Jules sunk her fingers into his chest in order to stop them from shaking with fear.
Mike revved the engine loudly, but the bike didn't move an inch. He made it growl so loud it drowned out the sound of the increasingly excitable horde that was heading towards them. Jules, knew what he was doing. She knew he was waiting until the last possible second to make sure he took as many stragglers as was possible, but the sight of the bloodthirsty creatures terrified her, and she pushed her face into his back and closed her eyes tight as if she was a little girl holding onto a favourite teddy bear for comfort.
The wheels eventually began to turn, but rather than tearing down the street at maximum speed, they kept a steady 30mph before pausing once again at the street's end. Mike saw more RAMs heading from the north. They had probably been too far away when the initial explosion at the Home and Garden Depot had occurred, but now, rather than hunting around aimlessly, they had a definite target in their sights.
The light had improved dramatically since they had first set out, so Mike didn't have to worry about any nasty surprises waiting in the shadows, but his primary concern had never been for himself or even for Jules. His concern had been to lead as many of these creatures out of the city as he could. As the bike's engine idled, the sound of the beasts became deafening once again. He took out the shotgun and fired a couple of rounds into the advancing crowd. His only reason being to alert any more RAMs that were not already on the hunt for him to his presence. Jules lifted her head, her face had drained of all colour. She looked up the street and saw the other group coming towards them and once again nestled her head into Mike's back and clenched her eyes tight. Tears began to form, and she thought about her brothers.
The bike moved off once again, the pace steady, the direction south. Each second they travelled put greater distance between themselves and their people.
***
When Emma stepped out onto the loading bay, most of the people had already been loaded into the box vans. Beth and George were co-ordinating all the efforts, and Rob, Andy and Jules's other brother, Jon, were loading the trailers with even more supplies.
"We're almost ready to go. George thought it was too good an opportunity to waste valuable DIY supplies now that we've got the trailers too. With what's in the transits and the box vans as well, we can probably build a new village. What's going on out there?" asked Beth, gesturing towards the world beyond the store.
"Those gunshots we heard seem to have caught the attention of the last stragglers. It's deserted."
"Listen!" said Beth as she pulled a satchel onto her shoulder. Emma noticed the handle of a hatchet sticking out of it and smiled inwardly as she realised her brother had clearly started a new trend. "George and I have been talking with Jules's brothers. It's a waste to get out of the city and then abandon the vehicles. One of the transits has got nearly a third of a tank. Once we're a few miles out, wouldn't it make sense to park up and go on a scouting trip for more fuel? It's all rural as you head north. There must be some farm vehicles or something that haven't been drained by the raiders. We could take some jerricans and hosepipes and siphon enough fuel to get us back to the coast and then some."
"I thought we were going to have to ferry people out of here. Are you saying we've got enough room to haul everybody out in one trip?"
"We've got room to spare, we've already filled a couple of the vans with supplies."
"So, you weren't so much asking me as telling me what you were going to do?" Emma smiled.
Beth looked a little embarrassed. Although there had been no official designation, it had been clear that Emma and Lucy had been running things up to this point.
Emma nodded, "it's a good idea. We should do it." She looked up and down the row of vehicles. "Where's Lucy?"
"She's in the box van at the end with Sarah and some of the injured."
"Okay, I'll go do one last sweep to make sure we're not leaving anybody behind, and then we'll head out." She disappeared back into the vast retail complex while the final van was readied for the journey.
***
Fry's house was not the grandest in Loch Uig, but he was not interested in grandiosity, he was interested in practicality. It was a decent size, it was surrounded by a large garden and hedges giving him privacy, but most importantly, it had a solid fuel stove that gave him heat and hot water. He stood in the shower letting the scorching spray wash away the final streaks of The Don's blood from his scarred face.
Outside, a new day dawned. For so long, he had been held back by The Don. He had lost so much time and so many resources due to The Don's simple minded debauchery, but now that was at an end. At eight o'clock tonight he would rally his new army. He would sound the battle cry, and he would take back this land from the RAMs and the weak. A new system of feudalism would rule, all his men would reap the benefits, but he would reign over everything. He would have supreme power. Fry felt intoxicated by its promise.
He heard the glass door of the shower open and then close behind him. Two cold hands gently came to rest on his hips before slowly working their way around his mid-section and up to the bristling grey and ginger hair on his chest.
"Morning, daddy, I didn't hear you come in." Juliet rested her head on his back. As she pulled the rest of his body closer to her. He felt her nakedness against him and smiled.
"Have you seen the present I brought you?" he asked, continuing to wash himself, but becoming more aroused by Juliet's wandering fingers as each second passed.
"No. What have you brought me?" she asked, pulling his muscular frame around to face her. She looked down, "Is that it?" she smiled, her eyes lighting up excitedly.
"You can always have that sweetheart," he grinned widely revealing his nicotine stained teeth. "No, I've got something special for you down in the cellar."
Juliet's eyes flared, and Fry remembered back to the first time he had seen her, lying on her back, completely disinterested in the man on top of her. Their eyes had locked and there was something in that hypnotic gaze of hers that drove him to want her, to need her. She was a kindred spirit. Since the pair had moved to Loch Uig, there had been a number of visitors to their cellar ranging from men who looked a little too longingly at Juliet to lowly members of Lorelei's entourage. A census had never been taken by The Don and desertion was nothing out of the ordinary, so rarely was curiosity sparked by a disappearance. But now, Fry had brought Juliet the ultimate prize.
