Deadhead: A Zombie Apocalypse Thriller, page 3
“The bodies are still burning…”
She resisted making her shock at not hearing the tall American enter the rooftop too obvious and continued looking out at the landscape.
Aiden walked next to her. “They burned them twenty-four hours during the early days… Some, they didn’t even wait until they turned. All the gravely ill were… ended early. The doctors were evacuated west, and those left behind were too ill to be moved so the military killed them.”
Clara looked at him. “That’s horrible.”
He nodded. “Such a waste of life.” He looked at her. “It must have been bad… from where you came from? I mean, that’s where it started, right?”
She avoided catching his gaze, but couldn’t avoid a sigh. “Yes, it was bad. And now our home is gone.”
“That’s why you came here? To find a new home?”
She finally glanced at him. He was a handsome individual, a face that was somehow appropriate for a medieval setting, but the apocalypse had hidden his features beneath lines and a beard. “I… don’t know. We couldn’t stay. We just set off into the ocean and kept going west. We don’t know how bad it was here…”
He frowned again, looking to the distance. “It’s bad. They dropped nerve agents on the cities. Didn’t want to destroy the buildings. Not that I think they’re ever coming back to this side of the country. But even the rural towns are overrun by the dead, which keep coming out of the ground… like worms on a rainy afternoon…”
“What about the animals?”
He looked a little confused. “Animals?“
“In the U.K. they came back as well.”
He blew out his cheeks briefly. “I’ve not seen anything like that, but if you say you had that then I guess that’s something I’ve yet to experience.”
“You know you’re infected, right? We all are.”
“I figured as much…”
“There are some advantages…”
He looked at her again, waiting for more but the door to the stairway opened, Aaron sticking his head through the gap. “Joe’s back with the others.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
LIZ
Joe took up the rope and jumped to the bank, taking a quick glance into the nearby woods and tied the cord to the peg, then helped Owen, then the other two children to the pebbles.
Liz looked at her family on dry land and smiled. Joe reached forward and with Owen’s help, allowed her to use his arm to get ashore. She looked at the surroundings, then with her cane sinking a little into the mud, walked up the subtle slope to the grass where she wavered a little. “Hell, the ground is still moving.” Tia moved to her side, her mother using her shoulder to steady herself. “This is going to take some getting used to.”
Joe spotted Arron waving them towards the trees, his rifle in his hands. They started walking but Hope hadn’t moved. Instead, she remained staring at a large colonial house across the road nearby. Joe took her hand, then scooped her up into his arms. “Come on, Hope. We need to get to the castle.” He soon caught up with the others as they entered the shadows of the forest. This time the journey up the muddy slope was quicker, Liz doing well to keep up.
Joe helped pull his wife over the steepest bank at the top, where the others were waiting, then they all made their way across the grass to the open door of the sunroom, and into the castle itself.
“Woah!” said Tia, looking at the ceiling high above. “It’s… like I’m in a cartoon…” She lifted one of the large white sheets, gawking at what was below it.
Liz looked at her husband. “It’s secure?”
A stranger she hadn’t seen before, appeared at the top of the stairs to the first floor, beating Joe to the answer. “It could be more secure, but now your group is here, that will be possible to make happen. I’m Aiden.”
“Hello, Aiden…”
“I was the man on the radio.”
Joe looked at Aaron. “I need to get back to the boat. It’s going to take until dark to get everyone here.” Aaron nodded and Joe moved to his wife, kissing her briefly on the cheek and whispering into her ear. She smiled and laid a hand on his arm, before he pulled away and disappeared outside.
Tia looked up at her mother. “Can I check out the rooms?”
Liz looked at Aiden.
“Sure can,” he replied. “There are five bedrooms on this level, and another two above me.”
“Yes!” said Tia, excitedly. She took Hope’s hand, the two girls running up the stairs.
Liz started to feel the weight of her own body, and leaned back against a mass of hidden furniture.
Aaron gestured to the door Joe had just gone through. “I’m going to scout the grounds again.”
Liz nodded as he left and she took a moment to take in the enormous interior, and the clutter it contained.
The American moved down the stairs. “Was you…”
“The leg? The undead took it.”
“Oh, sorry to hear that.”
She looked around the room. “Could have been worse…” She looked back at him as he stepped off the bottom step. “You lived near here?”
“In the capital, Hartford.”
“What did you do?”
“Oh, just worked in an office. Shuffling paper mostly.”
Liz could tell some part of that statement was a lie, but the end of the world is not a time to press people on details. “So what’s it like around here? With the—” Anita appeared on the landing above.
“Liz! Good to see you made it here. Where’s the kids?”
“In one of the bedrooms.”
“Feel good to be off the boat?”
“Little bit of vertigo, but yes, good. I was just asking Aiden about the undead around here.”
Anita walked along the landing then descended. “So far looks fairly clear, nothing like what we saw on the banks of the estuary.”
“They’re definitely here,” said Aiden. “But if you keep quiet, they largely don’t notice you.”
Anita nodded to the door, then turned to the glass windows, perched high up the walls. “We could do with boarding up the exterior a bit more, but this place looks as good as anything else, to create a beachhead, and figure out our next plans. Jenn will be pleased.”
“Jenn?” said Aiden.
“She’s the person in charge of the group.”
“I thought that was Joe?”
Liz answered first. “Joe’s second in command. Jenn’s in overall control. She’s a general or something.”
“Brigadier general,” said Anita.
“So you’re military?”
“Some are, most are not.”
“I know what you’re thinking,” said Liz. “The military are the bad guys. Most were, but the people with us are on the right side.”
Aiden smiled. “Good to know.”
CHAPTER NINE
JENN
Jenn stood on the bow, looking at the gardens and lush green trees which bordered the river. Including herself there were only three left on the boat that had been their home for over a week. One of whom, who wasn’t leaving. Enzo said someone needed to watch the trawler, and that he was safe where he moored. She wasn’t sure if that was true. Safe from the undead perhaps but not from any military that might show up. But as she looked at the homes that previously would have been worth millions, she couldn’t help but feel that despite its beauty, the surrounding landscape was a graveyard. There was no one here that still breathed. The man, Aiden was his name, was surely the last survivor in this part of the state. Unlike what happened in the U.K, those in the US at least had some preparation time to evacuate, to find others that could fight the coming storm. In hindsight, her own country never stood a chance. She hoped it was different here.
She heard the footsteps on the deck and turned to face Tyrone, a young officer that had been placed with her only a few months before everything ended. Despite that brief period, she had come to trust his instincts as they often mirrored her own.
“That’s all your things,” he said, placing a backpack down, his own hanging across his shoulder.
“Joe’s not far, just a few minutes away.”
Tyrone stood close to his CO, both observing the landscape. “We did it. You got us here.”
She briefly, awkwardly smiled. “It was more luck than judgement.”
“At least we now have a chance of a life, even if the undead are here as well.”
“That’s the hope. This is a big enough country with enough remote regions that we might be able to carve out a refuge to survive in. First things first, though. We recuperate for a few days at this.. castle and try to gather as much intel as possible. Then maybe in a week, head towards where we need to be.”
He nodded. “Sounds good, ma’am.”
As the sound of the skiff’s engine made itself known, even if the boat itself wasn’t visible yet, another set of footsteps came from behind.
Grace was accompanied by the captain. Jenn was sure the two had had some form of fling while at sea, and the way the Spaniard placed the doctor’s bag on the floor, then placed a hand on her face, seemed to confirm that. Words were exchanged in Spanish between them, as Jenn spotted the small boat come around the bend of the river.
“Stay alert,” said Joe from Jenn’s radio. “I’m seeing some undead on the river banks, to your port side. Over.”
She turned left, seeing the figures staggering over the well manicured lawns, then looked back at Enzo. “If they start crossing, you should take the trawler into deeper water.”
“Si, si.”
“But, be back here at 9 a.m. for the radio check-in.”
“I will be here.”
She walked closer to him as the skiff bumped alongside, and held out her hand which he clasped. “Thank you Enzo, for getting us across that ocean.”
“Ah, it was nothing. Hopefully, there will be no more voyages like that, yes?”
She looked back to the riverbank a hundred-feet away. The animated bodies had doubled and were almost at the water’s edge. “We can hope.”
CHAPTER TEN
EMBER
The room was small but cosy. It was almost as if Ember was back in the small cabin on the boat, except these walls were covered in curved wood paneling with elaborate stone work peering through gaps. There was also a small arched window with thick glass, that gave a glorious view of the river and surrounding forests. She would have preferred a desert, as the trees hid whatever was lurking close-by.
Amaya was wrapped in blankets on the single bed, quiet and contented. She had cried for three days straight when they made it to the trawler from the island, and Ember was convinced there was something seriously wrong but having two doctors both tell her that the baby appeared fine, was some solace. On the fourth day, the child quietened and had been the same since. It was around then that Ember and Maggie’s son began talking, sharing stories or how they both had plans to change the world, but then the world changed without them.
If she was honest with herself, after what happened to Martin, and to others that never made it off the island, she needed someone. She was never a woman who needed a man, but after witnessing the scenes on the beach as thousands scrambled into the ocean, being cut down by the undead and soldiers, alike, she understood the importance of having someone by your side. Anyone. And Sam was the right person at the right time. He too had lost someone, his father, although he didn’t seem too broken up about that.
She sat on the bed a little too heavily. Her brain was telling her the floor was still moving, but she knew it wasn’t and it felt good to be back on land, even if she was sharing it with the undead again. She laid back against the wall, exhaustion coming quickly to her, when there was a knock at the door.
“Yes?”
“Can I come in?” said Sam.
“Yes.”
He entered, closing the door behind and quietening the sound of conversations which were drifting up from the ground floor. She was too tired to join in.
“How you feeling?” he said.
“Tired.” She looked at the baby. “Amaya is too. I think I’ll rest for a bit.”
“Yes, it seems pretty safe here. Haven’t seen one of the things since I arrived.”
“The American says they are in the woods, but as long as we remain in here, we shouldn’t attract them.”
“Good to be off that boat.”
She briefly smiled. “Yes, no more boat trips for me for a while.”
He looked at the bed. “Bed’s not too big…”
“It’s enough for me and Amaya, although I will look for something that can be a cot later.”
“I meant…”
“I know what you meant.”
“I just thought…”
“You thought wrong. We were stuck on a boat together. Now, we’re here we have to be sensible. This room is for Amaya and myself, but if you can find some sheets, you are welcome to the floor.”
Sam looked at the stone slabs. “It’s fine, there’s plenty of space out there.” He pulled the door closer to leave.
“What are they talking about?”
“Soldier stuff.” He closed the door.
She knew she had been sharp with him, but was too tired to chastise herself over it and laid back again, her eyes quickly closing.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JOE
The air in the pretend Tudor hall was stuffy to the six standing and sitting, and particles of dust danced in the shafts of light dividing up the large space, with its covered furniture and antiques.
Joe looked at a large board on the wall that had a tourist map of the castle and grounds. “Not many access points.” He looked at Aiden. “Is the road barricaded?”
“No, if you make noise they come. So I’ve been keeping a low profile.”
Joe looked at Jenn. “We could roll some vehicles across the road?”
She nodded.
“How’s that going to stop the dead?” said Aiden.
“Right now I’m more concerned about the military,” she said.
“There hasn’t been any military here for a good few days. I only see aircraft high in the sky, but nothing on the ground.”
“Can you tell me what happened? How did—”
“What does it matter?” said Swanson, who had come out of one of the upstair bedrooms and was now standing on the landing which ran alongside them, allowing him a view of those below. He began descending.
Joe already knew Jenn’s view of the London gangster, because she had told him it, on more than one occasion during the voyage from Scotland. She ignored his question and continued waiting for an answer from Aiden, who looked between both of them then continued.
“Well… obviously everyone was watching what was happening… in the U.K.”
“Well, fuck me,” said Swanson. “Our whole country was going to the dogs and for you lot it was just another Saturday night movie to eat your popcorn with.”
Aiden shook his head. “It wasn’t like that. At first people were in shock, then they started to get worried the virus would come here. It seemed to spread so easily. That’s when panic set in and people started leaving the cities. Supermarkets were emptied out, supply chains began to break down, and the national guard was deployed in a lot of places to keep order. That was all before there were any dead rising from graves… then there were rumours that people were seeing them wandering around. Some footage ended up on the internet and that’s when people really began to freak out. They lost their damn minds during those first few days. The east coast, where the dead were being spotted, was the worst affected. The federal authorities tried… we tried to—”
“We?” said Joe.
Aiden looked around at those staring at him. “I was a special agent working for the federal government…”
“FBI?” said Jenn.
“A branch of them, yes.”
“I knew you worked in law enforcement.”
Joe noticed Swanson was frowning.
“So where’s your family?” said the older man.
“I’ve got none. Not married. No kids. Parents died some years back. Just me. I don’t even have a dog.” Aiden looked back at the other two. “I was tasked to help local law enforcement deal with the evacuation to the states to the west, but… that didn’t work out too well. We were too slow getting people out, and when the dead really started appearing, it was already too late. Federal services broke down. Many of us saw it was over and escaped west, leaving the army to try to keep the cities on the east coast functioning, but even for them it was impossible, and as more died, more of the dead were created. It was a literal death spiral, until even the military gave up and tried to hold the line in the other states.”
“And what’s the situation now?” said Joe.
“Last thing I heard on the radio a few days ago, was that a wall was built, somewhere roughly halfway across the country, and nobody infected is allowed to move through it.”
“A wall?” said Heather. She wasn’t the only one in the room that had a bemused look on their face.
“What about the animals?” said Candace. “No wall can keep organic life from crossing. Birds, insects…”
Aiden shrugged. “We never heard anything about the animals coming back, over here. It was the first I heard of it when Clara told me.”
Heather, Lauren and Candace looked at each other, the oldest speaking first. “Perhaps the virus has mutated, becoming less dangerous?” said Candace.
“Yes,” said Lauren. “That would be a natural progression for it to take.”
Swanson snorted. “This aint no bloody cold we’ve been dealing with!”
Candace looked at him while sighing. “We are well aware, but most viruses mutate over time. They become more virulent but at the same time less deadly, because the deadlier mutations kill their hosts, therefore stopping that version from spreading. The less deadly versions are the ones that pass on their genetic code. Make sense, Mr. Swanson?”
