Search for Safety: Killing the Dead Book Two (16 page)

With little choice I moved to the next gap in the wall and then past it. It had taken me nearly an hour to cross the fairly short valley floor and I was sweating and aching. I headed towards the corner, sure that as soon as I was around it I would be able to walk upright.

As I rounded the corner I let out a low groan and pulled myself over the wall at the side of the road. I landed in a patch of mud and browning leaves at the base of a tree and lay for a minute or two waiting.

I pulled myself to my feet and leant against the wide trunk of the tree so that I could see over the wall. Further along the road was the petrol station as expected. A silver car sat on the forecourt its doors opened wide and perhaps thirty or more zombies surrounded the place.

The car had been abandoned in haste. The glass windows that filled one side of the building from floor to ceiling had been shattered and the undead wandered freely in and out of the stations shop. I saw no sign of life.

Chapter 15

In the dark recesses of my mind I had been convinced that I would find Lily here. Now all I could see was the car she had been in and a number of zombies. It was a chilling realisation that if she had escaped the undead would have continued on. The only reason for them to stop would be because they had caught their prey.

I found myself searching the ranks of the undead as I checked each face, each form for one that I recognised. I looked at each in turn and found just the usual group of ravaged faces and empty eyes. Lily was not amongst them.

She could of course be within the petrol station itself. If she had run inside in an attempt to escape her pursuers, she could still be in there. I would need to get closer to check as I could make out little from where I stood.

If I stayed within the cover of the trees I could make my way to the station without being discovered. The problem though lay beyond the tree line which ended a good forty metres from the forecourt with a large mesh fence as a barrier.

Beyond the station were a row of terraced houses that faced onto the road and on the opposite side was a large pub with a car park of its own and a beer garden behind it. The road turned once more and I could see little further, but I would imagine it would be more houses and likely teeming with the undead.

I berated myself for not paying more attention to the planning the day before. Whoever had chosen this place to abandon the car had made a mistake and one that could have cost Lily her life. I had to take a deep breath and tell myself to concentrate on the task at hand.

The day was moving on and with the approach of winter, the evenings were getting darker. I would need to be heading back sooner rather than later. I was determined to look inside the petrol station before I left though.

Moving through the undergrowth was neither easy nor quick. The damp leaves underfoot rustled alarmingly as I walked across them and the ground was covered with twigs that snapped loudly whenever I stepped on one.

Sharp thorns on the low hanging branches of the brambles snagged my clothes and scratched my skin. Within just a short time I was bleeding and nervous, almost afraid to move for making some noise to warn the zombies of my presence.

It was then that I realised what a fool I was being. I gave up on any pretence of stealth and approached the wall. I stood against the wall and looked over the zombies that were still standing on the forecourt or wandering aimlessly in the area. Then I raised my hatchet and banged the metal head against the wall. Once, twice and then a third time.

I certainly had their attention now. Thirty or more zombies all turned at stared at the source of the sound. I gave them a wave and a grin as they raised their mangled voices in a chorus of moans and wails before doing their best to charge straight at me.

When the leading undead were almost upon me, I stepped back from the wall and waited as the others caught up. This wall, much like the other I had seen further up the road was drywall without mortar and when enough were pushing against it, the wall would collapse and the zombies would chase me.

As soon as I was sure that the majority of zombies were pushing against the wall I backed further away, before turning and jogging through the trees. The undead moaned their frustration as they pushed against the wall in their efforts to reach me.

No doubt they were still pushing against the wall when I made a sharp turn to my left and disappeared from their view behind the trees and bushes. I jogged between the trees and jumped over fallen branches, while avoiding the exposed roots and holes in the ground. I was soon at the fence and looking at the petrol station once more.

The zombies would hopefully break down the wall and disperse amongst the trees as they sought me. I would of course be inside the petrol station looking for Lily. Once more I was grateful for the limited reasoning abilities of the undead.

I managed to clamber over the mesh fence with little trouble and I quickly crossed the forecourt and ducked inside the station through what had once been a glass door of the front entrance.

Shattered glass covered the floor and the shelves had been emptied of their stock. I intended to be cautious as I moved through the single story building but I also needed to be fast. I held my hatchet ready and swept my gaze up and down the aisles that were formed by the shelving units.

Several bodies lay on the floor but these appeared to be zombies and not Lily. Other than that I found just the usual stains that were left whenever the undead were wandering through and leaking their fluids. I approached the door that led into the back rooms.

It opened easily into a store room. Another door sat at the end of the room with a sign that indicated it was a bathroom, though the door was open enough that I could see the room beyond was empty.

Another door marked ‘exit’ was partially open and had a bloody handprint by the handle that looked fresh. I had a look through the shelves as I walked towards the door in the hopes of finding something useful. The majority of food items had been removed but I did find a box of the disposable Polythene gloves that were available for people to wear when pumping their fuel.

I happily pulled a pair on as I really didn’t want to get anything nasty in the cuts on my hands, then pocketed a few more as spares. I would need to find some more suitable gloves before long, but in the short term if these prevented my being infected with the zombie virus or whatever the hell it was, I was happy.

The exit door opened easily and I stepped out to find myself behind the petrol station. A few large wheeled metal bins sat against the back wall and blood on the floor led off towards the houses. With little else to go on, I followed the blood trail.

A six foot timber fence surrounded the back garden of the house. Another bloody handprint stood out against the light finish of the wood, along with several splashes of blood that were smeared on one panel and led over the fence. I grasped the top of the fence and pulled myself up and over.

Some inconsiderate soul had placed rose bushes along the edge of their lawn and I landed firmly atop one. I cursed as the thorns snagged my clothing once more. I would need some new clothes before long.

My cursing caught the attention of the elderly couple who were standing across from me at the opposite side of the garden. In life they would likely have spent their days in their garden looking after the rose bushes and many other varieties of flowers it held.

In death, they snarled and scratched at the fence as they trampled the flowers. When they saw me they dashed across the garden with a surprising amount of speed in their desire for my flesh. I leapt to the side as the elderly male zombie approached and lashed out with the hatchet, catching it just below the ribs.

The damage went unnoticed and it turned towards me, its gnarled fingers taking a firm grip on my wrist. I kicked out and felt the male zombies left knee shatter, a second kick connected with its chest as it fell and its grip loosened on my wrist. I chopped down with the hatchet and felt the now familiar crunch of bone as the skull broke.

I was knocked to the side as the female zombie collided with me. I swung wildly with the hatchet and missed the target completely as my hatchet slipped from my hand. The elderly female zombie bit down on my arm and I laughed as I realised I was about to die because of the lack of grip provided by some petrol station Polythene gloves.

      
It took a moment for me to realise that I felt no pain in my arm, despite the frenzied biting of the zombie. I pushed her head away from my arm and saw that she had no teeth. I couldn’t help the laughter that came and I pushed her further away from me.

In life she would have likely been frail and quite short, so in death she was still no match for me. I easily pushed her over and then retrieved my hatchet from where it lay in the damp grass of the lawn. One good swing of the hatchet and the elderly female zombie was no longer moving.

The back door of their home was wide open and I considered going inside before realising that they had been standing at the opposite fence because that was the last place they had seen some prey go.

As I approached the trampled earth beside the fence, where they had been standing as I arrived, I saw some more blood on the fence. I decided to look before climbing over this time and climbed high enough to see over.

Nothing was moving in the garden beyond and so I pulled myself over and landed once more in a flower bed. I crossed immediately to the fence opposite and was disappointed when I saw no blood marring the wood.

The garden was enclosed by the fence on three sides and the house on the fourth. Since the house was the obvious place to check I went there first. I found a small amount of blood on the door frame and the door itself fell open quietly and easily. I stepped inside.

A number of cupboards and appliances filled the kitchen. The floor was tiled and covered in water from the overflowing sink. I reached across and turned the tap off. A bowl was sat in the basin on top of the plug hole, so someone had been filling the bowl and been distracted. I tightened my grip on my hatchet.

I checked the living room and found nothing of note which left the upstairs to check. As I moved down the hallway to the stairs I could hear some thumping from above. Something was up there.

My heart was beating faster as I climbed the stairs slowly and careful to put my weight on the edges of each stair, to eliminate any noise from a creaky step. I paused at the top and peered around the corner of the wall.

A short hallway with a door set into the wall on either side, ended with three undead banging against a third door. The three of them were obviously the family that had lived in this house before one or more of them had turned and then infected the others.

In my head I named them ‘Father,’ ‘Mother’ and ‘Son’ before I crept along the hallway, hatchet raised and ready to strike.

Son fell to a blow to the back of the skull. He was smaller than the others and had been forced to stand behind them in the narrow hallway. Father received the second blow, this time to the temple as he turned towards me.

Mother was quicker and more agile than the others. She lashed out at me with her hands twisted into claws, the ends of her fingers bloody and raw from scraping against the door. I stepped back away from her, and then had to duck another swing.

I moved back towards the stairs with Mother following, snarling and flailing her limbs. She seemed to have more motor control than the other zombies I had so far encountered. It was perhaps a result of how long ago she had turned or her level of fitness in life.

It was immensely irritating to have so many questions without answers and I decided once again, that as soon as I found a place of safety I would start searching for some of those answers.

Another wild swing from Mother almost hit me and I countered with a swift strike against her ribs with my hatchet. I heard at least one crack, though it didn’t seem to perturb her. I was at the top of the stairs and running out of options.

I ducked below her arms and struck her in the side and then watched with amusement as she toppled off balance down the stairs. I followed her down and struck her once against the back of the skull as she struggled to rise.

Satisfied that the threat was done with, I quickly climbed the stairs and went to the door they had been so intent on getting through.

When I reached the door I realised that pushing against it would be pointless, something was obviously blocking the door or the three zombies would have made it inside. Instead I raised my hand and knocked on the door.

Someone or something was moving behind the door and after a moment, I knocked again. A quick staccato that should indicate to the person within, that I was not a zombie. Some more noise from behind the door as something heavy was moved and then a crack of light appeared as the door opened slightly.

With no obvious threat other than my own murderous self, the door opened further and revealed a pretty lady holding a knife.

“Hello Lily” I said with a wide grin.

Chapter 16

“Well you certainly took your time” Lily said with a wry smile.

“Yes, well things are quite unpleasant out there these days.”

“I know” she said with a glance over her shoulder. I followed her gaze and saw John seemingly unconscious on a bed. He was pale and judging by the shredded cloth that had been wrapped around his arm in place of a bandage, it had been his blood trail I had followed.

“What happened to him?” I asked.

“I’ll explain later. For now we need to get him back to the club house. Is Louise with you?”

“No. It’s just me I’m afraid.”

“What! Where are the others?” Lily asked.

“Back at the club house probably. We had a busy night of our own last night and they wanted to sit there and wait for you to turn up.” I told Lily and filled her in as best I could about the previous nights events.

“Ah no, poor Cass” Lily said with tears forming.

“Yes, well we need to leave before it gets dark.” I said before Lily became too emotional.