Dead Ahead (12 page)

The argument was getting so heated that Brandon’s fear of the husks hearing them was growing by the second. Just as he was about to ask them to be a little quieter, Frank dropped the volume of his voice, a little light caught his face as he scowled at Brandon’s dad and said menacingly.

“If you and the boy want to keep your lives out of danger...? Then you had better not get between me and my prey!”

With that, Frank just turned round, opened the door and started firing.

_________________________

It was glorious! Bodies tore apart before him by the light of the muzzle flare as he marched out of the house. He could hear the angels rejoicing above him with every grotesque demon he brought down.

‘Let them hear,’
Frank thought to himself, ‘
let them all come, I will cleanse this earth, for they are the tide and the flood, sent by god himself to sweep clean the foul place they have made of his Eden, I am the turner of the tide. I am the
reaper
. Let them hear, let them come!’

He strode down from the house and on to the road ahead, embracing the flow of wretched creatures that slowly made their way in his direction, predominantly from the right. The Angels blessed him by sending the moon creeping out from behind the clouds as his rifle clicked empty. He changed the magazine and continued firing, occasionally stabbing one of them in the face with his bayonet while he reloaded, viciously kicking the body free of the blade; how he loathed these creatures, almost as much as he had loathed them when they were alive.

All too soon it was over; the road was littered with the rotting carcasses of the dead, glowing in the bright moonlight. His own thoughts were still ringing in his ears, ‘
I am the turner of the tide. I am the reaper. Let them hear, let them come!’

Frank turned to the house, blinking away the deep green glow in his vision from the muzzle flare of his rifle; one half of him expected the others to be cowering just inside the door, like a couple of frightened mice, the other half expecting them to erupt into applause in shocked amazement at his proficiency at killing the creatures. What he witnessed couldn’t have been more different.

Caleb was spinning that stick of his with stunning accuracy at a large group of creatures that Frank must have missed; arms, legs and heads went flying in all directions, none of them even coming close to him. Brandon was ducking and weaving behind his father, brandishing his small axe and a large knife, darting in and out, smashing through the sculls of the mutilated bodies that were left stumbling in Caleb’s wake.

Frank stood in awe of them, his mouth hanging open. ‘
This is why we have sent them to you.’
The angels whispered. Instantly he understood, ‘
They are to be the first of my army, an army I will raise and lead to glorious victory over the tide of monsters unleashed upon this earth.’

All of a sudden, Frank was aware of the boy turning in his direction and launching his axe towards him. Frank dodged to the side, though the axe was far from hitting him, and raised his rifle, but as he did he heard the axe connect with something behind him. Frank turned to see a creature looming over him, the axe had taken a good gouge out of its face, leaving a large flapping piece of skin dangling from the right side of its head; the creature, however, was still mobile. As it turned its one good eye down to Frank, he pushed the blade of his bayonet, still attached to the rifle, at a full arm stretch, up through the creature’s lower jaw and into its brain; blood and gore spurted from its mouth as it choked on its final groan and dropped to the ground.

“You ought to be more careful, Frank, that one almost got you there,” Caleb said with a smile as he walked by, heading off of the road and into the darkness of the hills beyond.

‘Dissention in the ranks already…?’
The angels spoke to him.

“That one will learn!” as Frank spoke the words he was aware of the boy next to him picking up his axe, Frank turned his head and their eyes met, the boy was frozen in time, one hand on the axe handle on the ground, the other on his knee.

A small cloud moved over the moon and they were plunged back into darkness. When it had passed, the boy was gone.

Chapter

10

Losing It

Cassie sat staring at the letter in her hand, unable to open it. Ethan had long since departed with food for the others, leaving two bowls of cold food for her that she couldn’t eat.

The sun was sinking slowly towards the horizon sending long dark shadows reaching for the kitchen windows. If she didn’t read it now she wouldn’t be able to until morning. Slowly she opened the envelope with her name written on it in her father’s distinctive handwriting, and unfolded the letter.

             
 
Dearest Cassandra

I am sorry that I cannot be with you now, and I am sorry that I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye.

Mac and I are staying behind to ensure the safety of the others left behind in the complex. Someone needs to warn them, and someone needs to destroy the computer room, also. I am sorry that it had to be us, but it had to be someone!

I have left some radiation suits with Sergeant Rigby, be sure to use them as you approach the power station.

After disabling the station it will still not be safe for you in the area, I would suggest that you head north, the further the better.

I wish we had more time.

I love you, Cupcake.

Dr Jonathan Fosters

Cassie blinked away the tears and let them fall upon the letter, it was so typically her father, concise and to the point, everything she needed to know and everything she needed. She only wished he had left details of where they could meet if they made it through this, but maybe that was the point. He didn’t want her to wait for him, to endanger herself in a vain hope he had made it out alive.

She folded the paper and slipped it into her coat pocket, pulled the bowl of cold beans and chopped spam toward herself and forced herself to eat.

After she had eaten she decided to join the others in the lounge, as she exited the kitchen she found Ethan on a chair in the hallway, guarding the door.

“Thought you might want to be alone?” said Ethan.

“I did, but I’m fine now,” she answered.

“Shall we...?” Ethan said as he gestured towards the lounge.

“Let’s....” Cassie accepted with a smile as if being invited to dance.

As they moved through, Dr’s Cooper and Stewart were quietly grumbling in the corner over something that she couldn’t quite make out, the others turned to watch them as they entered. Sarah was quick to rise and come over to comfort Cassie and lead her to the makeshift bed that had been prepared for her.

“How are you feeling, dear?” She asked whilst pushing her spectacles up her nose with her index finger. She had her wild red hair pulled back into a pony tail, which made Cassie herself conscious of her own hair which she tried to tame with her hands as she sat down.

“I am doing better thank you, much better.”

“Did you manage to eat?”

“I did, though I didn’t much feel like it.”

“Yes, it was the same for most of us. But it is important to keep your health up, especially now.”

Ethan then called for everybody to quiet down and to try to get some sleep, the light was fading fast, and just before it disappeared completely, the room was bathed in the ominous deep red glow of sunset.

Sleep, however, wouldn’t come easy. Cassie found herself thinking of all the people she would never see again, her father not least of all. Now that she was out of the complex, the shocking realisation of just how terrible things actually were out there struck her. Before hand she had thought that there must be large groups of survivors holding up around the country, making new lives for themselves in this hell. Could anyone ever actually make a new life here; when every day could be your last?

She could hear the others in the room tossing and turning, evidently having the same troubles as her in getting to sleep. She lay there caught in her own thoughts till she heard the soldiers swapping shifts in taking watch. Had she really been laid there so long? She held herself tightly and tried to regulate her breathing in a vain attempt to send herself to sleep.

The night wore on.

Cassie was awakened by the sound of hushed voices talking in the darkness.

“Definitely a vehicle, E....”

“Which direction was it headed?”

“Same as us.... Heard it before I saw it, on the main road I think.”

“Ok, Jim. Keep an eye out for it, come get me if it comes back.” Jim moved silently out of the room and back upstairs.

“Do you think it could be the others from the bunker?” Cassie whispered, careful not to wake Sarah.

“I don’t know, Cass. It could be anybody. We have no idea how many people are still out there. It does seem strange that they are travelling at night though.”

“When got to go, you got to go.” From a dark corner came the elderly voice of Nathan, “Speaking of which, I got to go!” He chuckled and started to shuffle his way to the door.

“Do you want someone to go with you?” Ethan asked.

“I have been managing just fine on my own for quite some time thank you.” Nathan answered sarcastically as he left the room.

The uncomfortable silence returned to the room as Nathan shuffled down the hall to the bathroom. Cassie’s thoughts returned to that of her father; she imagined him in the car that had passed, getting further and further away.

Suddenly there was an almighty crash and the sound of glass breaking from beyond the door.

Before Cassie knew what she was doing she was up and following Ethan out of the door and down towards the bathroom. Ethan burst through the bathroom door with a swift kick to reveal Nathan wrestling with a first gen’ in the bathtub by the light of a single flickering candle; it must have been a first gen as it appeared to have thrown its self through the bathroom window. Ethan swung the back of his rifle at the monsters head like a bat, it connected with a sickening crunch, sending the monster colliding with the bath taps, Ethan placed one of his boots on its neck, drew a knife and plunged it through an eye socket. The first gen’ squirmed at first and tried to cry out from its lipless mouth, it quickly began to spasm as it held on to what it thought to be life, its hands still clutching at Ethan’s trouser leg.

The lifeless corpse soon fell slumping back, its collar catching on a tap, hanging it there with its head at an angle, blood and saliva dribbling from its mouth.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Ethan asked angrily as he snuffed the candle.

“I.... I don’t know. I didn’t want to pee on the seat.” Nathan answered shakily.

“Are you ok Nathan? Did it bite you?” Cassie asked worriedly as she helped him out of the bath.

“I don’t know. My arm hurts; I think I may be bleeding....”

Bright moonlight suddenly spilled through the broken bathroom window and the full horror of Nathans wounds was revealed to them. Nathan was cradling his arm, he had his shirt sleeve rolled up though it was soaked through with blood, and it looked as if the whole lower part of his forearm had been torn away.

“I.... I can’t move my hand.”

“Oh shit! Medic...!” Ethan shouted, he quickly bent over and pulled Nathans belt from the trousers he was wearing and wrapped it around his arm, cutting off a little of the blood flow.

“I don’t feel so good...!” Nathan said as he started to teeter on the edge of the bath.

“I’m sorry, Nathan, I’m so sorry!” Cassie said, trying to console the elderly man, catching him before he fell.

“We may have to lose the arm!” Ethan said as Jim rushed into the room.

“He would never survive, He can’t take the shock!” Cassie said holding Nathan tightly.

“He’s already in shock, Cass”

Just then Nathan started convulsing, falling backwards out of Cassie’s grip and into the bathtub, limbs flailing wildly for a moment and then nothing, he just lay there staring at them; a light died somewhere in his eyes as he gazed up at them.

He was up and flying towards Cassie before she even knew it; faster than she had ever seen him move alive.

Ethan grabbed him by the neck and twisted sharply, there was a loud crack and Ethan let go, obviously expecting him to drop to the ground, but he kept coming, his head flopping loosely around on his shoulders, jaws snapping. His hands grabbed hold of Cassie’s shoulders and he lunged at her to take a bite, only managing to head butt her square on the nose.

Cassie’s vision went black, she could still hear the shouting around her, and feel the cold tiles under her hands; she must have dropped to the floor. Her neck hurt. Oh god, had he bitten her? She could taste blood.

Slowly her vision returned; Ethan and Jim were crouched down beside her with worried looks on their faces.

“Did he get me?” She demanded as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.

“You’re ok, he butted you in the nose a cracker but you’ll be fine,” answered Jim “I’m going to have to straighten it out for you though.... Grab hold of something!”

Before she had the chance to look for something to grab hold of, Jim had reached up and grabbed her nose with one hand and the back of her head with the other. It sounded like the whole of her face crunched as he realigned her nose, the pain was excruciating and her eyes streamed with tears.

“I can’t promise you will ever be as pretty as before, but you will be close to it” Jim added as he let go of her head, his hands covered in blood.

She scowled deeply at him. What would she care about her looks? She had nearly been eaten by that thing.

Jim looked abashed at what he had just said; he looked to Ethan and quickly left the room.

“He didn’t mean anything by it, Cass. He just.... I don’t think he has ever treated a woman, medically that is.” he said with a slight smile.

“It’s not that. It’s that
thing
. I mean, Nathan. Oh no...! Poor Nathan....”

“I know, I’m sorry, Cass; but I’m not sure we are safe here now.”

“I’m not sure we are going to be safe anywhere, Ethan. The world’s not the same place it was when we went into that bunker all those weeks ago. All the people out here that have survived could be trouble for us, never mind the zombies!”

“We will be ok, don’t you worry.” Ethan handed her a roll of toilet paper, “You may need this for your nose!”

Jim burst back into the room.

“We got company, Boss!”

“Living or dead...?”

“Dead...! And plenty of them!”

_________________________

‘Crunch’

Another blow landed on Jon face.

He was on his knees, back to a post with his ankles and wrists tied on the other side of it; he felt like his shoulders were trying to dislocate themselves, he almost longed for it to happen, just to have the incessant pain over with. He tensed as one of the eight soldiers surrounding him moved in for another shot.

He heard the door open and the soldiers be called to attention, Michaels was back with Knox and two other soldiers. A coarse piece of blue rope was pulled across Jon’s moustache and tied around the post, forcing him to face his captor.

“Apparently you still refuse to talk, Fosters. Why don’t you just tell us where they are heading?” Michaels asked.

Jon just stared Michaels in the eye; there was no way that he was going to tell them
anything
.

“Oh well.... I may have something here that may change your mind,” Michaels pulled on a pair of stout leather gloves and reached into a box behind him. Jon couldn’t quite focus on what it was that he was holding. His heart sank as his eyes focussed.

Michaels sat the head on a chair beside him, its long blonde hair cascading over the edges of the seat.

It couldn’t be Cassie! It couldn’t!

Michaels started to gather the hair into his hands and the head snapped at him as his hands passed its face.

“Now, now young lady, you will get your chance.” he said casually as he lifted the head squarely off of the chair by its hair and walked slowly up to Jon, the head gently swinging as he stepped.

“Do you even know where your daughter is...?” he asked with a smile, “Oh no, Doctor Fosters, this isn’t your beautiful daughter, this is just some poor unfortunate floozy one of the boys found wandering around outside”

Michaels started swinging the head closer and closer to Jon’s face; it started snapping at him as it drew closer.

“Oh, I think she likes you!” Jon could hear some of the soldiers laughing around him as the head snapped inches away from his face, the rancid smell filling his nostrils. How could he have ever thought that this thing was Cassie?

“Where is she, Fosters?”

Jon struggled to form the words in his mouth, his throat was so dry. Michaels saw he was trying to speak and slowed the swinging head.