The Bunker (The Infected Series Book 2) (12 page)

Chapter Twenty Two

“Hello there!” called a male voice.

“What the fuck do you want?” I shouted back.

Laughing he shouted “You’re in my village.”

Looking around I found I was slightly stuck, I could hear the moan of the infected on the breeze. The car was in the middle of the road and the nearest house was going to be hard to get to without getting shot. The dog had slunk out of the car and ran into the bushes, making it look easy.

“Ok dickhead if this is your village, why don’t you just let me get back in the car and leave it?” I shouted.

“Sorry mate, but I can’t just let you go. Because if I let you go and you tell someone else then they’ll come and take my things.” He shouted.

“You’re telling me you use tampons and tampads and prance around in kid’s clothes.” I shouted. It might not have been the best idea to wind him up but I needed to get some breathing room.

“I’ll fucking kill you for that.” He said screaming at me.

Yeah, I was getting to him, time to up my game.

“Sorry, I forgot you probably wanted the women’s clothes to try on whilst you’re on your own.” I called out.

“Arrrggggh!” I heard.

I started to laugh at him and risked a look round the side of the car. I ducked at his shot and I got a face full of tarmac. Rolling back round the rear of the car, I waited for his next shot. Sitting there I tried my tactical radio.

“Team One, Team Two, this is fucked up idiot.” I said.

There was a small while before I got answer.

“Marc that you?” Chris asked.

“Who else would it be?” I answered and a round bounced off the car.

“Is that shooting I hear?” Amy shouted over the radio.

“Ah, the lady knows me so well. Remember the silver Land Rover? Well the driver seems to think the village is his own little playground.” I said.

“Is he by himself?” She asked.

“It looks like it, but I have a small problem. The infected will be here soon and he has me pinned down behind the mini.”

Looking under the car I could see him slowly walking toward the car.

“Just kill him and get out of there.” Chris said.

“Looks like I’m going to have to. I’ll radio back in ten minutes and if I don’t I’ll be dead.” I said.

“Don’t you fucking dare say that!” David said.

I flicked off the radio and rolled over on my stomach and watched as the shooter’s feet edged round the car. Flicking off the safety I fired off a single shot. It sped under the car and hit him just above his ankle, spraying bone and blood over his other leg. Screaming he slammed against the side of the mini and he dropped to the ground, dropping his hunting rifle as he went. Jumping to my feet I ran round the corner and kicked the rifle away from his outstreached hand. Looking down I saw he was a young man roughly twenty years old. He was dressed in jeans and biker’s jacket. His short cut brown hair slicked over in a large parting. I nearly started laughing at him. I’d nearly been killed by a Bieber wannabe. But the fact he had tried to kill me had pissed me off. Hearing the clicking of the dog’s nails had me turn round. There it was watching me with its tail between its legs. Yeah the bloody thing had a right to be sorry running off like that.

“Why did you shoot…me?” The lad on the floor asked.

“Why did I shoot you? Why the hell do you think I shot you?” I asked.

He was crying, “Wasn’t really trying to kill you. I was trying to scare you off.” He said holding his ruined leg.

“Well you fucked that up.” I said.

Turning, I headed toward the silver Land Rover. The dog decided to follow me again and I was about to tell it to fuck off when the radio came alive in my ear.

“Team Two to Marc you there?” Amy asked.

“Yeah! I’m still here.” I answered.

“What happened to the shooter?” She said.

Turning round I looked back down the street and the figure slumped beside the mini.

“I shot him in the ankle.” I said watching some infected come into view.

“You did what?” David asked.

“I shot the little shit in the ankle and left him for the infected. Oh! I have found a Land Rover for the supplies.” I replied.

There was a huge silence from the other end of the radio. Stepping into the Land Rover I saw my friend had left his keys in the ignition. Inside of the Land Rover was huge. I was about to close the door when I saw the dog sitting on the road outside looking at me.

“Marc you still there?” Amy asked.

Slightly distracted by the dog sitting on the road it took a little longer to reply “What?”

“I asked if you were there!” Amy asked.

“Well seeing as I replied, I would assume you knew I was.” I said getting slightly pissed off.

“Look we just wanted to make sure you were ok and can you get your arse here with the Land Rover please.” Amy asked.

With a sigh I stepped out of the Land Rover and moved to the side. The dog jumped up past me and sat in the passenger seat, grinning its stupid doggie smile.

“I am heading your way now.” I said starting the engine.

It took twenty minutes and a few wrong turns before I found the shops. Pulling up in the small car park to the front, I waited for the others to appear. I had just started to get worried when Chris came struggling out of a pharmacy with a large bag over his shoulder and his rifle hanging from its tactical sling.

Leaning out the window I shouted “What kept you?”

He looked up with a red face and said “Fuck you.”

Chapter Twenty Three

Laughing I climbed down from the Land Rover and started scanning the area for any infected or humans that wanted a fight. Chris dumped the bag at the rear of the Land Rover and opened the back door. I looked back at the pharmacy and saw Amy and David coming out with other bags. The dog jumped out of the Land Rover and over to Amy and rubbed against her.

“Hello, mutt.” She said walking over to the Land Rover.

“Where did you get her from?” David asked.

“Her?” I said.

“Yeah she’s a purebred white German Shepherd and she’s a beauty.” David said.

“Since when did you become such a dog expert?” Chris asked, helping put the bags in the rear of the Land Rover.

Laughing David said “Well I used to have three normal German Shepherds when I was a kid and my dad always wanted a white one, but they were expensive.”

“Well she is a right pain in the butt.” I said watching three infected lurch round the corner.

I raised the rifle to my shoulder and sighted on the nearest, a little boy. He couldn’t have been more than eight and was still wearing his Buzz Lightyear pyjamas. I hated myself for what I had to do next. Pulling the trigger, I felt the rifle kick against my shoulder. The shot snapped his head back and a red and green mist sprayed out the hole the shot made. Moving my rifle to the large woman that was behind the falling corpse of the little boy, I fired three shots. One that hit her in the chest and the other two slammed into her face totally destroying it. The last infected was an old man. Aiming at his head, I heard a cough from beside me and a hole appeared just above his right eye and that entire side of his face sprayed the road before falling to the ground. Looking behind me I saw David holding the rifle to his shoulder.

I stood up and looked round the street. Seeing nothing else I headed back to the Land Rover and looked inside. I could see a couple of bags full of clothes and one that had stuff from the pharmacy.

“Looks like you’ve been busy.” I said.

“Yeah, thanks to you.” Amy said stroking the dog.

“Yup that’s me, bait boy.” I said.

“Come on let’s get out of here before any more infected turn up.” David said.

We all climbed into the Land Rover and I started to pull out of the car park and not too soon. The infected had returned from following me and a few at the front had fresh blood on their shirts and dresses. I knew where that blood had come from. I moved slowly down the streets and swerved round the remains of someone lying beside a mini that was parked in the middle of the road.

“Poor bastard. If he had stayed in the car, we might have been able to save him.” David said from behind me.

I just gently shook my head and kept my eyes on the road. That little scumbag deserved everything that he got. The little fucker shouldn’t have shot at me. I watched the car and body slowly disappear in the rear view mirror. We managed to reach the edge of the village without too many infected getting in the way. Amy pointed us in the right direction and we left the village and arrived at the A.P.C. Climbing from the Land Rover we unloaded the sacks of supplies into the rear of the A.P.C.

I stood looking at the Land Rover and said “You know the A.P.C is a cool vehicle, but the Land Rover might come in handy.”

“To tell you the truth I was thinking we could do with an extra vehicle.” Chris said.

Amy climbed out of the A.P.C after putting the last sack of supplies inside and said “What are you talking about?”

“We were just wondering if it was worth while having an extra vehicle.” I said.

“It might be a good idea. Considering the amount of people we have back at the bunker. If we get any more survivors we are going to need extra vehicles in case of an emergency.” She said.

“Well I wasn’t thinking of the emergency thing. I was thinking more of the fact it didn’t hurt my arse riding in it.” I said.

Smiling Amy said “Well it is a little more comfortable, but a few extra vehicles might be nice.”

“Look we can talk about this when we get back to the bunker.” Chris said

“Yeah time’s getting on.” David said.

“Tell you what. Amy knows the route back. How about we keep the teams as is. Team One take the A.P.C and Team Two take the Land Rover.” I said trying my hardest not to smile at the idea of riding in the back of the Land Rover.

“The only reason you want to take the Land Rover is because you want to get back and in the shower.” Amy said laughing.

Putting my hands on my hips and doing a pout I said “Are you trying to say that I smell?”

Chris, David and Amy started laughing.

Between breaths Chris managed to say “Mate you smell like one of the infected.”

“You cheeky bastard.” I said opening the door to the Land Rover.

Of course the dog jumped up inside before I even had the chance to put a foot in. Still laughing Amy walked round the other side and climbed into the passenger seat pushing the dog into the back. She whined at being moved.

“Look seriously you two take it easy heading back and don’t fucking speed. Ok?” I said to them.

“Don’t worry about us.” Chris said clapping a large hand on my shoulder.

“Make sure your radios are on and remember to give us a shout if you run into any trouble.” David said.

“Yes mom.” I said laughing as I climbed into the Land Rover.

I sat and waited for Chris and David to climb into the A.P.C. The huge thing slowly pulled out of the layby and rumbled off up the road. I shook my head and went to turn the keys in the ignition when Amy reached over to stop me. I looked up and she was smiling.

“What? Have I got infected on me somewhere?” I said as I tried to look in the rear view mirror.

“No you haven’t got infected on you. I just wanted to talk to you without the others around.” She said.

Turning in my seat so I could face her I said “Ok, what did you want to talk about?”

“Never did get round to saying thank you for saving us.”

“Look I never saved you, Chris did. I just caused a diversion that helped get you out. Anyway could you see Chris on a motorbike or behind the wheel of that Mini?” I said laughing at the image of the large man behind the wheel of the Mini with his knees up by his ears.

She laughed along for a little before speaking “What Chris did was great, but what you did for everyone was…..how do I put it? ...Heroic.”

“Listen I have these moments where I do daft shit like that and if I had actually sat and thought about what I was doing…Well let’s just put it this way, you all might have been there a lot longer.” I said looking down.

“Ok. So what about rescuing Chris from those women. He showed me and David what you did on the monitors in the security room. That was a well thought out plan and the fact that you went up against those odds by yourself.”

“Amy, whilst I think I did the right thing that day. I still feel dirty for having to do it. I have been having bad dreams ever since and living with myself has been hard. That’s why when people say I should be the leader or whatever, well let me just say I don’t believe I should be. There are more capable people in the bunker than me.”

I looked at the floor feeling the weight of all the killing on my soul. Feeling a soft touch on my chin, I looked up and Amy had reached out to lift my head.

“Marc this is exactly why they want you to be the leader of our little band. They can see that you won’t just rob and kill like some of the other people left in the world. You actually feel bad for having to kill, whether it is to save someone or in defence. I have known people would kill just for the thrill and I have known people who would take the easy way out. Chris and you had that bad time just before you saved us, but you still came anyway. What I am trying to say is you’re the best man in the bunker for the job.”

With that said she leaned over the handbrake and gave me another soft kiss on the lips. Our lips lingered just a bit longer than just a thank you kiss before she pulled away.

Clearing my throat I said “Think we better catch up with David and Chris.”

Again the little twitch of a smile on her lips before she said “Yeah, sounds like a plan.”

Starting the engine we pulled away down the country lane, heading back to the bunker and our home.

The radio crackled in my ear “Team One to Team Two come in” David said.

Amy answered “Team Two here.”

“Someone has moved some cars into the middle of the road since we came through last.”

“Can you go round them?” Amy asked.

“Chris says he can push them out the way, but he wants you to hang back just in case there are any nut jobs about.” He answered.

“Ok tell Chris to be careful and let us know when you get through.”

“Will do. Team One out.” David said.

“Looks like we are going to have another pit stop.” I said.

“How about some food and water?” Amy asked.

Reaching behind the seats she pulled her tactical backpack over and opened it. She pulled out two bottles of water, a couple of energy bars and some mixed nuts. God only knows why she had the mixed nuts, but we sat there eating them, whilst we waited for David or Chris to let us know they had gotten through the blockade.