I Dream of Zombies (Book 2): Haven (36 page)

Where were the others?
Tommy looked towards some other vehicles parked a distance away and wondered if they were hidden behind them. There was no way of knowing and no time to wait. He strode out of hiding, holding the grenade high in the air. Straight away the guards at the gate and those to the right took a step towards him and levelled their guns.

“Don’t shoot,” he yelled, “or I’ll blow us all up. I have nothing to lose, so don’t try me. This girl is Ellen. Doctor Grice wouldn’t want any harm to come to her
, or your secret government project would be over, no?”

The
three guards glanced at one another while the two others standing by the fence took a few steps. “No further,” Tommy shouted.

Across the gravel behind them came the
fast crunch of footsteps: Billy and Eric, Doug and Leah, all armed and dressed in the uniform of the Haven guards. Behind them were Peggy and Harold, followed by Martinez. A few seconds later, Leroy appeared with Ash, Barney and Hanna who was carrying Ruth. Everyone had brought a bag of belongings. When Tommy noticed Ash, the boy went to run towards him, but Leroy nudged him back. Tommy nodded in his son’s direction.

Martinez
, Doug and Leah strode swiftly towards the particular Vector for which they had keys and climbed into the front. Peggy and Harold got into the back. Marcus ran towards one of two Land Rovers and jumped inside while Leroy led his group to the other.

“You need to let us go through or I’m going to pull the plug on this thing,” Tommy shouted as Bob began to bark.

“You wouldn’t,” stated one of the guards. “What would be the point?”

“Try me.”

Shouts from the entrance of the building made everyone turn around. About a dozen or so guards exited in time with the alarm falling silent. Rita, Doctor Grice and Caballero walked at the front of the group, which included Sylvia. She astonished them all by not stopping and strolling away to join Tommy. Caballero shouted after her, but she did not pause. The doctor could be seen arguing with the commander about something, but it was impossible for Tommy’s group to overhear the conversation.

At length, Caballero looked towards the guards at the gate with anger written on his face. “Let them go,
” he shouted. “They’re all armed and I don’t want a bloodbath here. Don’t harm that girl, Ellen.”

With some hesitation the
men reluctantly lowered their weapons and opened the metal exit doors. Elliott, Ian and John then left the other members of the guard looking flabbergasted as they hurried to join the escapees. Caballero turned to argue with the doctor again while more of his soldiers spilled out of the facility.

“Time to go,” said Tommy, before telling
Owen, Ellen, Sylvia, Ian, Elliott and John to get into the back of the Vector. Keeping the grenade raised in the air, he coolly climbed into the front of the Land Rover beside Marcus, followed by Eric and Billy, who kept their guns fixed on the guards.

***

The Vector shot down Marlborough Road. In his mirror, Martinez caught sight of a Panther truck tailing them. For some reason he hadn’t been able to fathom at the time, the Land Rover had taken a detour down an unlit lane. Now he was glad of it.

“Can you see who’s
driving?” asked Leah. “I can’t see Marcus and Tommy anywhere.”

Martinez shook h
is head as he put his foot down, forcing the vehicle to accelerate. “They went the other way, but no, I can’t see. I’d hate to think.”

“We
can’t go to the meeting place,” said Doug, who was seated between them. “It’s too dangerous. Whoever it is will follow.”

Martinez sighed as he checked the road behind him. “Something tells me they’re not going to
give up tailing us, so do you have any idea where I should drive because my knowledge of this area is pretty sketchy.”

“Keep going,” Doug suggested
with a shrug.

“This thing has a full tank, so that’s good.
We’ll hit the A338 in a second. We could head in the opposite direction towards Shipton Bellinger. That will take us into Amesbury. Maybe we can lose them there?”

“No,” argued Doug firmly. “No way
we can go to Amesbury. That’s where we live – we can’t give them any clues that we’re staying there or they’ll take the place apart looking for us.”

Martinez hit the steering wheel. “Okay, anyone got any other bright ideas or that bloody useful thing we call a map?”

Leah hurriedly checked the compartments and pulled one out. “We’re in luck, yes. There’s some gum too. Want any?”

“Great. Normally there’s a flashlight or two as well, and some general stuff for the guards heading out,” said Martinez. “
Gum, yes. Hell, they’re going faster. Guess I better too,” he added, putting his foot down again. The vehicle lurched and speeded up.

***

In the back of the Vector, Ellen tried to soothe Peggy. Harold had his arm around his wife’s shoulders and Ellen could see that she was trying hard not to cry. “It will be alright,” he said.

“When will it ever be alright again?” she asked.
“Out here, with those dead creatures. But we deserve that after what we did.”

“Peggy, don’t do this, please,” urged Harold. “Don’t upset yourself. You did nothing wrong. We did nothing wrong. Things happened… beyond our control.”

Peggy glanced away.

“We keep going faster,” Owen remarked. “Makes me think there are soldiers following us.”

“Could be,” said Ellen, but she was distracted by Peggy’s words.

“Don’t worry,” said Ian, checking the guns he had managed to bring in his backpack. “We’re ready for them. There’s no way I’m going back to Haven.”

“Haven, my ass,” added Sylvia, leaning forwards in her chair. “We’re going to get out of this.”

“I’ve never used a gun in my life,” Owen admitted, “but I’m willing to try… to help.”

Ian looked up at him. “No worries, man, you won’t need to, but take this one, just in case. It’s loaded. That’s the safety and you use it like this.” The guy gave a demonstration before handing it over to a surprised looking Owen. “Make sense?”

“Sure,” he answered uneasily as he weighed the Glock in both hands.

“Sound.”

“That’s my sister’s favourite gun,” Ellen remarked. “She was really particular about it.”

“We’ll see her
soon,” said Sylvia. “You’ll see.”

“Hope so.”
Ellen hugged Peggy. Harold pressed his lips together, seeming deep in thought. Ellen would not allow herself to consider what might happen next. Every time the Vector increased speed, she felt her heart leap into her throat. When it happened again, she offered a small smile to Owen who looked as nervous as she felt.

Unexpectedly, t
he vehicle lurched heavily, jolting everyone, who automatically felt for their seatbelts. Ian, who had not secured his, slid on to the floor. Looking embarrassed, he dragged himself back up. “What the hell was that?”

***

“Jesus!” gasped Martinez as he put his foot on the brakes sharply. In front of them, stretching back as far as the eye could see, forming a river of heaving, stinking grey, streamed the dead, and they were heading towards them. “Do I try to drive through them?” he asked, clutching his forehead. “Or should I turn around?”

“I’m getting into the gunn
er position,” Doug informed him, “so I can see how close they really are.”

He shifted while Leah stared out at the zombies, feeling
like someone had just wandered over her grave and reversed. “I’ve never seen so many together… in one place. How is it possible for so many?”

“I’ve seen it
,” Martinez replied, “but I’ve never been the filling in a sandwich like this before. Those grim fuckers move slow, but that Panther doesn’t, so I really need to know what to do, guys. I could turn around, but we need to decide fast. Like now.”

Leah checked the side mirror. “Shit.
”

“
The soldiers are closing in,” remarked Doug. “Do I shoot?”

Martinez sighed as he drove forward. “They’re our people. How can we shoot them?”

“
Your
own people,” Leah corrected him, “and they might try to kill us.”

“Or try to take us back…”

“Yeah and then what?” asked Leah. “You really wanna find out what they’ll do to us? Chop us up in the basement for dinner maybe?”

Martinez shook his head. “I don’t feel comfortable with us killing anyone. Maybe shoot to warn them off?”

“I can see three guys in the front of the Panther. There’s a gunner. Do you recognise them?” asked Doug.

“Can’t see them from here,” Martinez responded. “
Jesus! There’s no way I can drive through these dead fuckers. Look at ‘em!”

“Try,” urged Leah. “
I don’t wanna end up trapped. I’m scared they’re going to shoot us.”

“Bloody rock and a hard place.”

“I never understood that expression,” Doug commented.

“Jesus, Doug.
If I was those damn soldiers I’d just let us go. There are worse things in the world than us,” Martinez grumbled.

Leah nodded. “And we’re looking right at them.”

In front of them the wretched faces and tangled limbs of the dead came into full panoramic view, rolling like some surreal motion picture, set against the backdrop of a darkening sky. Into the air their wails and cries of hunger and desperation entwined, a gruesome cacophony. Shifting forwards, ever relentless, the figures seemed to shift jaggedly as one, staring forwards without expression. Blood and bodily fluids splattered upwards and outwards as the bodies at the front of the unsteady line collapsed or flew backwards. The violence woke Martinez from his ghoulish reverie.

“You okay?” asked Leah. “You looked hypnotised for a sec.”

He nodded as he guided the Vector into the gap that Doug had created. He thought of Moses parting the Red Sea and almost choked on the horrific irony of it.

***

“What the hell was that?” asked Owen when bullets exploded outside.

“Stay calm, everyone,” soothed Sylvia. “No one panic. We, soldiers, are trained for this and we’ll protect anyone who isn’t.”

Elliott passed a shotgun to Harold, who nodded. “Sylvia’s right, but we need to prepare ourselves,” he said. “Make sure you have something to protect yourself with, just in case, and if you don’t know how to use it, now’s the time to ask.”

“I don’t want to do this,”
muttered Peggy. “If only we could see out of this box!”

Ellen held her hand
while she watched John and Ian rechecking the weapons stash.

“It’s okay, love,” said Harold, hugging his wife to him. “We’ll soon reach somewhere safe.”

She pushed him away. “We don’t deserve to be safe.”

Ellen stayed silent,
bewildered by Peggy’s remark and afraid to contemplate the future. She looked at Owen, who was practising adjusting the safety on his handgun. He looked deep in concentration and she suspected he was wondering what the hell he would do with it if pushed. “Do you think someone’s shooting at us?” he asked, looking up.

“We’d feel the impact,”
Elliott told him. “Now listen to me, everyone. This is what we’re going to do…”

***

The Vector plunged into the wall of bodies, driving roughly over the corpses that sank beneath its wheels. Bloody, skinless and injured hands pounded at the body of the vehicle without pause; some fingers managing to stretch up to tap in vain on the glass windows. Some just bloody stumps or clean bone. All around, the expressionless faces swam, reminding Leah of the empty eyes of dead fish, except they didn’t come back. And they didn’t emit those terrifying wails that made her shiver. Cringing, she gripped her shotgun and glanced sidelong at Martinez.

He was trying to focus on driving, but
found himself distracted by the gaping jaws, the teeth bared in the fashion he saw rabid dogs do as a kid, only this time the hunger was directed towards him. In the end he managed to tear his eyes away from the sight that revolted and captivated him at once. His thoughts switched to his friends closed in the back of the Vector. They would be distressed or panicking even over what could be happening, what with the gunshots and his driving, but at least they were saved from seeing this. Martinez almost found himself wishing the night would fall faster to make them fade away.

Doug continued to fire
on the creatures, but there was no end to them and on all sides they surged towards the truck in a ferocious swarm. He paused for a second, not daring to imagine how they would get out of this. They were surrounded. A face without the features that once made it one caught his eye – nothing except a bloody mass – and he could imagine the stench of it; the maggots and flies that made it their home. Disgusted, he shook his head to refocus. To the side, zombies continued to collapse.