Blog of the Dead (Book 2): Life (19 page)

‘I need help here!’ I called down the corridor, worried the HZs had broken into the building. Shane glanced around. ‘Something’s in there,’ I said.

Shane sprinted down the corridor, skidded to a stop and kicked the door. Nothing happened. He kicked again and the lock gave way with a splintering sound and a bang as the back of the door hit the wall. Inside the apartment, I saw a short gloomy hallway with beige painted walls, white painted wooden doors leading off it on both sides and one door at the very end of the hallway. I crept inside, my feet making no sound on the thick pub-style patterned carpet, my eyes flicking left to right, ready for something to spring through one of the doors. Shane followed. I headed straight down to the front of the apartment, towards a half-opened door at the end of the hall. I couldn’t hear anything further, but if something had got in, I guessed it would be in that front room because its window faced the street.

I paused outside the door.
Here goes nothing
, I thought before nudging it fully open with the elbow of the hand that held my knife and I dived inside. I found myself in a living room. The first thing I saw was an HZ standing on the other side of the window that overlooked the street. It grinned coldly at me, its sharpened teeth exposed. I heard a shrieking from somewhere outside, almost a musical sound, and the HZ turned and darted away.

I looked down to the floor. Below the window, on an orange and brown shaggy rug, lay two bodies – Max and Cleo, mutilated. Max’s face had been skinned to the bone and his throat cut so deeply his head held on only by a thread. Cleo’s abdomen had been sliced open and her insides spewed out of the opening like a freshly sliced haggis.

‘Shit! Fuck!’ I said and turned to Shane who stood looking at the bodies, the back of his right hand at his mouth, his eyes wide, his skin pale. ‘Fuck!’ I said again and pushed past Shane out into the hallway.

I ran out of the apartment, down the main corridor and through the lobby, bumping into Kay and Sean. ‘Sophie, where’re you going?’ said Kay, grabbing my right elbow and pulling me to a stop. ‘The HZs have buggered off. The whole lot of them turned and scarpered … realised we were too –’

‘They got in,’ I said, pulling myself away from Kay and darting to the back of the building. I stopped when I reached the porch, tables and chairs ready for the next meal, and I stared at the back door. It had been kicked in, the lock splintered and broken glass lay scattered in the place Max and Cleo should have been standing guard. Two bloody trails led around to the left, to the rear of the building.

I turned around to see Kay, Sean, Shane, Misfit, Clay and more of the St Andrews lot gathering behind me. ‘This wasn’t a full attack. This was a warning of what they are capable of,’ I said. ‘They killed Max and Cleo, dragged their bodies around the back of the building and through the car park with none of us noticing and dumped them in one of the apartments at the front. They were just toying with us.’

‘My mum!’ said Shane and he raced off, back around to the lobby. The rest of us followed and we all took to the stairs. ‘MUM!’

‘Kelly!’ Up the stairs we went, none of us knowing where she had taken the others to hide.

‘Mum!
Mum
?’

‘Kelly!’

A couple of floors up I heard the distant crying of a child and I followed the sound to the top of the apartment building. We turned into a corridor to find Kelly stood outside one of the apartments, a crowbar in hand and two HZs at her feet. She looked up at us as we approached. ‘That’s what they get for messing with me and my kids,’ she said.

Entry Twenty-Two

By the time we got back down to the lobby, zombies had gathered outside. The doors had been shut and locked but one of the zombies had its upper body through the smashed window in the right hand door but lacked the physical agility to climb through it. The zombies behind it all jostled for the chance to stick their arms through every available gap. They swiped their decaying arms in the direction of Jordan and another of the St Andrews lot, Amy – a somewhat matronly figure before her time – both of whom had remained downstairs while the rest of us went in search of Kelly and the others. Those zombies that couldn’t fit, lined up outside the left hand door. They slammed their dried, crusty hands against the window.

At the sight of even more fresh meat, the zombies went into a frenzy. They pounded their dead fists against the doors with a morbid urgency, shaking them in their frames.

‘Lucy, Josh and now Max and Cleo,’ began Amy, standing with her back a safe distance to the doors, her stocky figure providing a barrier between us and the zombies. Her strong voice cut a silence through the sounds of crying children, wailing elderly folk and the general panic from the remaining survivors. Though the zombies carried on groaning. ‘How many more people are going to die because of him?’ she said pointing at Sean. All eyes turned to Sean who shifted on his feet and ran a hand through his greasy hair, pushing it out of his face.

Kay shoved her way through everyone gathered in the lobby so she stood directly in front of Amy, looking up at her. ‘He didn’t kill them you fucktard. The HZs did!’

‘Indeed. And wasn’t one of those HZs his sister?’ continued Amy, her hands on her sturdy hips. ‘We didn’t have any trouble with them until him and his sister showed up!’ This was followed by murmurs of agreement from within the St Andrews lot.

‘Now that’s not helping anyone is it?’ I said, weaving my way through the others to stand next to Kay. ‘The HZs were out there already and they’ve been busy hunting down survivors for a long time going by the mess at the hotel. They almost got Kelly and her kids in the cinema. Marco paid a visit to our camp, so he and the HZs knew where we were. They would’ve found their way in here sooner or later. What we need to do now isn’t point the blame at anyone but to find a way to stop them, all of them, for good.’ I turned to the others. ‘First things first, we need to get out of here. We can keep the zombies out but this place won’t hold up against another attack from the HZs.’

‘I think we should, like, get clear out of Folkestone,’ said Tracey, fluttering forwards from the others.

‘We can’t just run,’ said Kay.

‘Why not?’ said Amy. ‘I agree with Tracey. Let’s just get as far away from here as possible.’

‘I’m not running,’ said Sean. ‘I want that bastard to suffer for what he did to Anna. I’m going to stay and finish this, even if I have to do it alone. But I agree, the rest of you – all of you,’ he said looking at Kay, ‘should get out of town. There’re kids and old people to think about and they’re better off clean out of here.’

‘We’re staying here with you, fucktard,’ said Kay. ‘We end this
together
.’ About sixteen adults all started bickering at the same time, drowning out the sound of the desperate and impatient zombies at the door.

‘Listen,’ said Chris, stepping forwards from his people. ‘LISTEN! I think Amy and Tracey have a point,’ he said in the ensuing hush. ‘I’m sorry, Sophie, but I have to think of what’s best for everyone and I vote we get away from here … far away from here. I can’t force any of you to come,’ he said, turning to the rest of the St Andrews lot, ‘but I think the best thing we can do is leave town. Today.’ Chris made eye contact with Soph and after a hesitation, she nodded.

I watched as all the St Andrews lot nodded their agreement, some more readily than others. Shane stood with his head hung. He cast a sideways glance at his mum, then nodded his agreement. ‘That’s settled then,’ said Chris.

‘Wait,’ I said. ‘You’re just going to wipe your hands of this and fuck off? Leave Marco to become someone else’s problem?’ I tried my best to rein my anger in but I knew my burning cheeks gave me away. A dull ache in my brain, as my hangover from the previous night crept up on me, made me feel extra irritable. ‘That’s just bloody great!’

‘Sophie, we need to do what’s best for our people,’ said Soph, stepping forwards and placing her hand on my arm.

I yanked my arm away. ‘And what about the people left behind?’

‘Sweetie, they have little ones and elderly to think about,’ said Charlotte. ‘Let them go.’

‘What do you people think Marco will do once he’s either ripped the remaining survivors in this town to shreds or recruited them into his insane fucked up army? He’ll move out, go in search of new blood. You can’t keep running!’ I snapped, ignoring Charlotte. My anger was leaking out faster than I could contain it.

‘Fuck ‘em. We don’t need them,’ said Kay, raising her axe in front of her body. Clay slid his gloves on his hands and stood as though ready to give some poor unfortunate bugger a deadly right hook. He winked at me, and I managed a small smile. I looked at Misfit and he nodded at me.

‘We can do this, Sophie,’ said Charlotte. ‘Let them go. Let them take their young and old somewhere safe.’

‘OK … OK, you’re right,’ I said, turning to Charlotte. Though the heat in my cheeks didn’t abate and my body remained tense. I turned to Chris. ‘I’m sorry. Get your people to safety.’ I nodded at him, my jaw clenched.

‘I will.’

‘How are you doing for supplies?’ My voice cracked as I spoke and I cleared my throat.

‘Low,’ said Soph. ‘We were due for a supply run but the shops around here are as good as empty so we’ve been relying on what fish we could catch. We’ve had to kill the chickens too.’

‘You can’t head off without supplies,’ I said. ‘There’s a Sainsbury’s just before the motorway that’s still well stocked. I suggest we all head there, get loaded up and then go our separate ways.’

‘OK, good idea,’ said Chris.

‘The motorway’s gridlocked,’ I added, my cheeks cooling. ‘You’ll never get out that way but if you head back down to the harbour, there’s a way out along the seawall.’

Me and my team discovered the way out of town by following the seawall to the other side of the coastal park and then up and along a track that leads out to Sandgate – all other roads out having been gridlocked by survivors trying to escape the initial outbreak – when we left town to go in search of the
safe community
in Wales. It turned out to be neither safe nor a community.

Out in the car park, I saw zombies lining the gate, their ravaged arms outstretched. Kelly’s eldest boys climbed into the front of the van, while Kelly and her eldest girls helped the little ones and the elderly into the back. Tracey, Jordan and Amy took one of the cars, while Soph passed her chainsaw to Charlotte and climbed onto one of the bikes. Chris kept hold of his chainsaw and jumped on the back with Soph.

‘If any of you know how to ride, you can take the other bike,’ said Soph.

‘
I do,’ said Sean and he climbed onto it.

‘
And I’ll take this,’ said Kay, sliding her axe through her belt and taking the chainsaw from Charlotte before sliding onto the back of the bike behind Sean.

‘
There are keys in that car, if you want to take that,’ Chris said to me, Misfit, Clay and Charlotte while pointing at a black Renault Clio.

‘
Shit … Flick and Sara,’ I said, remembering they were still down the Warren. ‘Charlotte, Clay, you squeeze into the other car. Me and Misfit will go and get Flick and Sara, then we’ll meet you all at Sainsbury’s.’

‘
OK,’ Charlotte said with a nod and a squeeze of my forearm.

‘
We’ll see you two there shortly. Take care,’ said Soph and she started the bike’s engine.

Shane climbed out of the van, while Sam started the engine. Shane opened the gate and zombies flooded in. He hit one over the head with his crowbar, shoved another out of the way and dived for the van’s open door, while Sam moved the vehicle forwards into the zombies. He picked up speed as Shane climbed inside and slammed the door, and the van began flattening zombie bodies, clearing the way for the bikes. Chris and Kay reduced any remaining zombies to mush with their chainsaws from their positions on the back of the bikes, while me and Misfit darted for the Renault, snowflakes, now large and heavy, hitting my face as I climbed in.

Misfit drove over zombie bodies and zombie mush and with nothing left standing for us to hit, he skidded out of the car park and towards the Warren. Snow fell heavily from the pale grey sky making visibility difficult. A few centimetres had settled on the ground but not enough to cause Misfit any problems on the road.

Down the Warren, we drove as far as we could on the bumpy track, but eventually we came to a large metal gate across it, cutting us off and preventing us from travelling any further by car. Misfit stopped the car and we both climbed out. The snow had already laid thick enough so I left footprints as I darted through the small gap beside the gate for pedestrians to pass through. Large snowflakes pelted my face, stinging my skin. My stomach turned at the thought of what we might find at Flick’s shack. I hoped that Marco had been unaware of her and Sara’s existence. But if he had been aware of us, he might have discovered them too.

I shoved the thought from my mind and concentrated on negotiating the uneven and slippery track as we headed down towards the beach. The tide was out and snow had begun to settle on the shingles below the promenade. The inner part of the promenade had no snow on it where the steep cliff sheltered it, but about two or three inches had settled on the outer edge. We ran along the sheltered inside, on the wet concrete, until we came out onto the wide promenade outside Flick’s shack.

Always aware that you should never sneak up on a woman with a shotgun, I called out Flick’s name as me and Misfit climbed the steps. I saw her face appear at the window and relief flowed through me like water through a freshly bled radiator. She disappeared from sight and a moment later, just as me and Misfit reached the top of the steps, Flick opened the door. ‘What are you two doing here in this weather?’ she asked. I stood in front of the door, my mouth open wondering where the fuck to begin. ‘Come inside, out of that blizzard,’ she added.

‘No,’ I said. ‘We have to go.’

‘
What? Who? Go where?’

‘You and Sara have to come with us now,’ I said. ‘Marco, he sent the HZs. They attacked our camp and … Stewart … we had to …’

‘They followed us to St Andrews and the place is wrecked. We got almost everyone out but we came back here for you and Sara,’ added Misfit.

‘I’m so sorry,’ said Flick, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘But we’ll be OK here.’

‘We’re not leaving without you,’ I said.

‘Where are you going?’

‘We’re meeting up at the Sainsbury’s by the motorway to stock up on supplies, then the St Andrews lot are heading out of town and the rest of us are going to find somewhere to hide out,’ I said.

‘Then?’

‘I don’t know right now,’ I snapped. ‘I can’t think beyond getting you and Sara out of here.’

‘We’re OK,’ said Flick.

‘You’re exposed and vulnerable while Marco and the HZs are still on the loose,’ I said.

‘We’re wasting time,’ said Misfit, looking down the steps towards the promenade where the snow lay thicker and thicker.

‘Flick, grab what you need and let’s get out of here!’ I said.

‘This is crazy,’ said Flick. ‘They’re not likely to come back now they’ve driven you out of your camp.’

‘I’m not taking that chance,’ I said. ‘Please, just for now. And you can come back once we’ve dealt with Marco and the HZs. You haven’t seen what they’re capable of, Flick.’

‘OK. OK, I’ll get Sara.’

We didn’t even have a chance to follow her inside to shelter from the snow before she appeared at the door with her gun in one hand and leading Sara with the other. Sara followed obediently. We had to walk, what with Sara being unable to run, but I noticed she was able to keep to a faster pace than I would have expected from a zombie.

As we stumbled up the track to the car, I noticed something, something that made my heart stop and kick off double time – I noticed my breath came out in little clouds of smoke before me in the cold air, as did Misfit’s and Flick’s as we all panted with the effort of walking up a steep hill in the thickening snow. Nothing unusual in that. But what caught my attention was, so did Sara’s breath, though the clouds were fainter than ours. Sara –
dead
Zombie-Sara – was breathing.

The snow showed no signs of easing up and by the time we reached the car, a good four or five inches had settled on the ground. Flick helped Sara, who didn’t resist, into the back, and then took the seat next to her. Misfit climbed into the driver’s side and I sat in the passenger seat. Misfit started the car, reversed and turned the vehicle with an ease I wouldn’t have expected in the snowy conditions and heavily potholed track. Visibility was poor and Misfit drove cautiously over the snow.

About halfway up the steep hill out of the Warren, the car began to run into difficulty, sliding backwards. Misfit tried going up a gear but the car got stuck on a patch of ice, probably caused by the snow being compacted underneath from when we came down earlier. The wheels span but we were going nowhere.