Plague Of The Revenants (21 page)

This time Stan did not complain when told he would have to go out. Perhaps he was afraid of me, or perhaps he really had reformed. Leastways he had kept a low profile since our encounter in the council houses the other day. They went out shortly afterwards. They set off just after eight. Stan had his head down and did not say a word whilst Dev was quiet as usual. I dearly hoped Stan would be able to come into his own soon, for we would soon need to fight hard if we were going to defeat the Elite. I did not notice them go, for my mind was preoccupied with plans for the raid on the army base tomorrow. I reinforced the trucks as much as possible, considering that we would need to run
the revenants down as much as possible, but I was no mechanic. I wished Frey was still here to help us. Kit checked the map and planned our route, tried to list possible escape routes which was difficult considering she had never visited the place and didn’t have a plan of the base to hand. We decided to take the van with the reinforced roof as well as the truck. We would also look for another vehicle at the base. From time to time I popped up to the roof to see Hammond. The trucks and vans were getting closer. One came to within three miles away and searched a village we had looted for wood for the fence before turning around and heading back off again. I could tell it would only be a couple of days before they found us. We needed to act fast.

Dev, Paul and Stan returned in the early evening and I was pleased to see the back of the truck half filled with looted goods. “They did well,” said Paul. “Stan is a little quiet. He got surprised by one of them in the bedroom and only just got away. Think it was his first close encounter.”
I nodded and watched Stan walk straight into the farmhouse with his head down without saying a word to anyone. “Probably do him good in the long term,” I said. “He needs to get out there again so he doesn’t get a complex about it.”
“Did he kill it?”
“Yeah, bashed its head in completely,” said Paul approvingly. “Probably went a little over the top but considering it was his first time I suppose he thought it better to be safe than sorry.”
“What about the Elite? Any sign of them?”
“None at all,” replied Paul. “I checked with Hammond before I left and he told me they were searching methodically. Therefore I set off in the opposite direction. We didn’t have any problems.”
“Will he be able to come with us tomorrow do you think?”
“I don’t see why not,” replied Paul. “They’ll be swarms of them of course and he’ll be up close but provided he’s not right in the middle of it all I don’t see he’ll present a problem to us, although he’ll definitely be at risk himself.”
“It’s a risk we have to take,” I muttered.
I needed to be alone for a while to collect my thoughts. The past few days had drained me more than I cared to let on. I went back to the clock house and sat there thinking for a while. It concerned me on a deeper level that Blake had survived the epidemic, not because he was dangerous, although he was certainly that, but rather because of what he represented to my attempts to put the past behind me. People were still looking to me for leadership. I wanted to get the weapons from the base and have the Elite defeated so that I might be able to step back a bit. Once the farm had got going and we were able to obtain a degree of self-sufficiency I was hoping to be able to make a peaceful handover to the civilian leadership of Reverend Thorpe.  Would I myself be happy as a civilian? Until now I had never considered the possibility that some form of normality was possible. And what about the slaves? Would we take them on as well? I realised so much was still to be left to chance. Tomorrow would be a big day. It would mean facing the revenants again, a bigger swarm than we had ever seen. It was an ominous prospect but it was also essential if we were to have any hope of resisting Blake and his men.
I closed my eyes and tried to sleep but it was hopeless. My nerves were shot to pieces. I was tense and different thoughts cascaded through my head. I needed a drink. I had not drunk for years but now more than ever I needed something to settle me. It was also bitterly cold up here in that bell tower and even though I had wrapped three sets of blankets around me I still found myself unable to sleep. I decided to go back to the farmhouse for a while, not to sleep, I was determined of that, but rather to sit by the fire a while and take the chill off my bones before heading back. I went downstairs with the flashlight and opened the door to the tunnel. The flashlight caught upon two figures embracing halfway along. I recognised them both straight away. It was Stan and Gloria, enjoying a private moment in the tunnel. I stopped and wondered if I should turn away, at the same time feeling a pang of envy that their love could still survive despite all things. I supposed in time we would repopulate the world and children would be born having known nothing except the outbreak. Maybe Reverend Thorpe would marry them in the church. I wondered whether I ought to turn back, but then it was not as though I minded what they were doing. Stan and Gloria did not move as I approached. It was only when I was around five metres away that I noticed the blood seeping down the girl’s neck and the torch alighted upon the dead expression in her eyes. At the same time the revenant Stan caught sight of me and looked up, his own eyes wide with hatred and displaying the vacant stared that had haunted my dreams for months. Before I could react he had lunged at me. I instinctively hit out with the flashlight but was able only to parry him away and sending him falling to the side of the passageway. The flashlight was knocked out as a result and I was left in pitch darkness. Dazed and disorientated I turned and stumbled back down the passageway with no clear direction as to where I was going. I heard a guttural growl followed by fast shuffling footsteps and I knew the creature was after me. My hands grasped upon the heavy iron handle of the church door and I turned it and quickly let myself in. Yet when I tried to slam the door shut behind me the creature’s hands closed around the frame and pushed even harder so that I was knocked back. I stumbled into the church and I heard the door slam against the wall as the revenant gained entry to my sanctuary. Though the windows were large the night was dark and I could see but a shadow before me. I crashed backwards through the aisle and towards the altar where two heavy gold plated candlestick stood on either side of the green cloth and seized it up. By the light of the window I could see just enough to pound the revenant’s skull into oblivion as soon as it was close enough. This down I fumbled upstairs and took the second flashlight from the clock tower. Gloria was just starting to turn as I reappeared in the passageway. I did not leave her long.

I stormed through the tunnel and into the farmhouse, started rummaging loudly through the kitchen cupboards in search of a stiff drink. In time Reverend Hammond heard me and came to investigate. “The noise you were making!” He exclaimed with a shake of his head. “I thought it was one of the revenants broken in.”
“You wouldn’t have been far wrong,” I said as my fingers gratefully grasped a bottle of gin. “We’re two down.”
“What do you mean?” Demanded Thorpe in alarm. I briefly outlined the events which had taken place in the tunnel. Thorpe regarded me with horror. I turned sharply as Paul entered the room to see what all the commotion was about.
“How could you not have noticed?” I demanded angrily. “How could he have hidden something like this?”
“It must have been in the bedroom,” stammered Paul apologetically. “He didn’t say anything about it. I suppose he thought we would have shot him.”
“Well he’d have been about right with that,” I muttered.
Kit appeared. “What does this mean for tomorrow?” She asked.
“Forget it,” I snapped. “I’m not losing anyone else. I’ll go by myself.”
“Impossible,” snapped Paul. “I’m coming with you.”
“And me,” said Kit.
“It can’t work anyway,” I sighed pessimistically as I took a long pull of drink. “It’s suicide. We should call the whole thing off.”
“Why don’t we go one better?” Demanded Kit crossly. “Why don’t we just drive up to the racecourse and surrender to Blake and save us all the bother?”
“Fine, we’ll go,” I muttered. “Whether it is the last thing we do, and it probably will be, we’ll go.”

We were all up early the following morning, none of us really able to sleep. Reverend Thorpe was up early too to see us off. Dev would now stay behind but would guard the perimeter of the camp with the shotgun, for all the good it would do if the Elite rolled up. For weapons we had the hammer, two shotguns and the iron bar. It was not much but then if we were forced into a pitched battle with the revenants we were as good as dead
.
“This is it,” I said decisively. “The last big battle against the revenants I ever intend to fight. I’ll take part this time but after this I want to retire. I’ll take down the odd one or two but I’m done with killing after this.”
“Killing revenants you mean,” said Kit. “We still need to polish off those Elite.”
I didn’t reply to this, although it was true of course. At that moment I doubted whether this whole thing would ever end.
“We must really be desperate to be trying to hit that base,” said Paul. “If it was so easy why didn’t the Elite go back there?”
“The guard told me they had more than enough weapons already,” I replied, only half telling the truth. “At least the base lies in the opposite direction from the Elite camp so we shouldn’t have them to deal with.”
We drove in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Sometimes the revenants blocked the road. I slowed the truck and pushed them out of the way. They converged angrily upon the truck and there were some tense moments as the truck slowed and laboured with the weight of bodies, but I was careful not to cause too much damage, at the same time driving fast enough so they could not smash through the windows. We were closer to the big town than I had ever been since leaving it all those months ago. Sometimes the cars formed a long line and there was nothing for it except to turn around and find a different route, often via treacherous bridleways which saw the van becoming perilously close to getting stuck. It was clear many people had made for this base and as we drove we saw revenants in ever increasing numbers. They lumbered towards us and when we were not quick enough to avoid them slammed against the sides of the van but we were mostly able to avoid the larger groups for the time being. I knew it was only going to get worse but there was to be no turning back now.
“At least we’re getting close,” I said, trying to remain cheerful although my voice was filled with trepidation. “And with a swarm this thick it’s a sign the Elite have been around these parts to clear it out.”
“Well they’re not stupid,” muttered Kit. I smiled at this.
After a while we arrived at the base, a sprawling complex set out over several acres of flat countryside. All around were the signs of an epic battle. Rotten skeletons in tattered army fatigues lay prostrate on the ground. Many of the revenants were also dressed in the tattered rags of what would once have been army khakis, others were clearly doctors and nurses in their surgical gowns. There was no telling where the armaments depot might be, presuming it was still intact. The revenants were spread out but there were thousands of them, even more than I had been expecting. Looking at them all congregated around I found it extraordinary that the biker gang had managed to snatch even a few weapons, and here we were expected to do even more with just three people. I drove fast now, for I knew we would not bring this truck back, knocking revenants off the vehicle as I went, swerving to avoid the thicker knots and all the while with my eyes scanning the base to ascertain what kind of state it was in. The gates had been busted wide open but they had not been torn off the hinges and would easily close whilst most of the revenants were spread outside the gates.
“We’ll lead them away,” I said. “Drive slowly to distract them then double back and drive straight through the gates then close the gates behind us, finish off the revenants within, grab the loot and head back.”
“You make it sound so easy,” laughed Paul.
“It needs to be easy,” said Kit. “We can’t afford any mistakes otherwise we’re dead.”

Heavy fists slammed into the windows and it was not long before the cracks appeared. Now and then when they got too thick I attempted to reverse but the progress was painfully slow. We skidded through the grass and slowed abruptly on a wet spot where the rain had soaked it through. I revved the engine hard but the treads on the wheels found only loose mud. The grass and water churned. I felt ourselves sinking. We were almost stuck on more than one occasion. Of course the revenants offered us no quarter and were upon us in a moment. We tried to draw them away but there were so many and now those further afield returned to torment us. We found ourselves dodging around the perimeter of the base as we sought an opportunity to break away and lead them further afield. There were more than I could have ever imagined and now they all turned, thousands of them, as one fiendish body and converged upon the truck. I backed up quickly, hearing and feeling the oddly satisfied thud as metal struck flesh. I weaved in and out as best I could, hitting them head on but not too fast so as to damage to bodywork of the truck with the momentum.
“There are thousands of them!” Exclaimed Paul.
I seized the hammer and smashed the back window into the cab beyond. “Keep trying to clear the truck,” I urged Kit as I moved into the back. “I have an idea.”
I jumped into the back of the van, seized hold of the axe and swung it at the roof of the vehicle. What I had in mind was crazy and liable to get me killed very quickly, for I had surely used up my nine lives long before now. I moved along, smashing the entire length of the roof, then the width, smashing a round circle so that soon the entire metal roof of the truck came away. I took the metal sheet and climbed up on top of the truck so I was standing on the roof of the cab. As I worked I heard Kit revving the engine but it was to no avail. From the side I heard deafening crashes against the metal as the revenants slammed against the truck and as I looked I saw dents starting to appear in the inner bodywork as the creatures slammed their heavy fists against it. I looked down at a sea of revenants and realised there must have been many thousands of them. In a way it was fortunate there were so many because the crush at the front of the van meant the revenants could not gain leverage to slam their fists against the windows although if they became much thicker in numbers they would surely cave it in regardless. I saw the side windows were now blocked with bodies which I imagined would delay the revenants somewhat but now they turned their attention to the front windscreen and their heavy bodies slammed against it. Already it was cracking. Once it was broken there would be no hope for Paul or Kit. “Hold strong!” I called down to them. “I have a plan.”