The Undead. The First Seven Days (77 page)

One of Chris’s men at the front shouts for the rear line to move backwards, so the hot casings don’t land on them.
  ‘Make ready,’ Dave yells down, above the constant firing of assault weapons.
  ‘We’re making a bit of room at the back, you’ll have time for one round of firing to cut more down and then we have to charge them,’ he adds.
  I see the big, bald man work his way back to me, with his axe in his hands.
  ‘When they stop firing we’ll burst out with the axes and try to clear them back,’ he says to me.
  ‘I’ll go with you,’ Blowers adds, grabbing his axe.

The rest of the axes are stacked up and ready to be taken by the others.
  ‘Us three first and then this lot, behind us - we’re heading for Millennium Towers, it’s just up a bit and on the left,’ I shout out, so they can all hear me and I hear Dave repeat my words to the lads on the top.
  The firing continues and I see knuckles going white, as the men in front of me grip their weapons tightly; face’s serious. They stare forward with fear and terror but, above all else, they have courage. The courage to face down an enemy that outnumbers them thousands to one. The courage to stand firm and not fold or back away; hardened men, tough men - relying on each other and their natural born instinct to fight and survive.

They have a reason to fight, a purpose, something to believe in and we stand together, ready to charge to our deaths, if needs be, ready to lay our lives down for the right to live how we want.

We repel the idea of these foul things that have tainted this earth and caused the deaths of so many innocent people.

‘I don’t know your name,’ I say to the big man with the bald head.
  ‘Clarence,’ he replies, looking me dead in the eye.
  ‘Good to meet you, Clarence.’
  ‘You too.’
  Dave lightly drops down onto his feet and draws his knives. He holds them with the blades upright and reversed, to press into his forearms. The action sends a fresh surge of adrenalin through me and I see Blowers grip the handle of his axe; a dark look crossing his face. That action by Dave has preceded every fight so far, and it signifies our readiness for battle.

Our willingness to do battle.

Our right to do battle and do so on our terms - for we have taken the fight to them today.
  They are thousands and we are few, but we came for them.

They stood and waited and we charged them.

This battle was ours for the choosing and we took that choice.
  My breathing gets faster and my chest rises. My hands were shaking a little, but now they are steady and my legs feel firm and strong. My grip won’t fail me and I know what needs to be done.

I hear that knocking again.
 

I am Howie.
  I know who you are, we’ve met many times recently.
  What do you want?
  I want to come in.
  Why?
  Because you need me.
  I rely on you too much.
  You can’t do this without me.
  Maybe I can.
  Without me you will die and Sarah will die, because of you.
  I can’t keep using you like this.
  Why not?
  The more I use you, the more you want.
  I want payment.
  It’s too much.
  Just let me in.
  I want to, I like it when you come in.
  So?
  That’s the problem, you’re addictive and it’s dangerous.
  But you wouldn’t have got this far without me.
  I know that.
 
So let me in.
  Do you want to come in?
  Yes.
  What if one day I can’t shut you out again.
  Worry about that later, you need me now more than ever.
  Okay, but this has to stop soon.
  I understand, but not now.
  Okay, come in.
  I’ve brought some friends with me, can they come in too?
  Who are they?
  You’ve met them before, we all work together.
  Okay, I’ll let you in, I will let you all in, get more of your friends and bring them too. I want you all.
  You are right, I am addictive, aren’t I?
  Yes.
  But you need me, don’t you?
  Yes.
  You need all of us.
  Yes.
  Open the door wide, Howie, so we can all come in.
  It’s open…

‘NOW,’ Dave roars the word so loudly that every zombie for miles must be able to hear him. The back doors are thrown open wide and the firing commences, as eight men open fire with fully automatic assault rifles. Four crouched and four standing, shoulder to shoulder, jammed in tight and deafening each other. The immediate ground at the back of the Saxon is already clear from the men firing from the roof. The split second timing works perfectly as the men in the rear and the men on the top all fire into the packed horde.
  The effect is devastating as the first few ranks are cut to pieces and the force of the rounds drives them backwards into the zombies behind them.
  I hear the guns click empty and the men burst two to each side as they create a gap wide enough for one man to go through.
  I am that man and I run through them and launch myself high out of the back doors with my beautiful, double-bladed axe wide out to my side. I land with my feet planted apart and sweep in a wide arc as I slice through several necks extended in front of me. I take a step forward and swing backwards, cleaving more of them open with the deadly blades.
  My voice roars as I take those first swipes and I feel the glory of the first death from my hands sweep through me.

I scream out and plunge forward, swinging the axe round with fearsome power and speed. I hear voices behind me and the recruits and men are pouring out to charge into the lines of zombies.

You are thousands and we are few - but we fucking charge at you with axes and knives.

We fucking take you on with the weapons we hold and we will defeat you.

  I hear the glorious sound of Dave roaring at full volume and I lift my voice to join his.

I see him off to my side as he launches himself fully into them, his arms spinning with grace and supple power as he bends and flexes to slice their throats and then drops down to cut through Achilles tendons, and they fall from their weakened legs.

Clarence stands back and swings his double-bladed axe high above his head; a Viking warrior, a berserker of gigantic size - and he steps forward with long strides. His almighty power sweeps the axe through many bodies as he swings out and then back again as he takes another big step.
  We roar and we fight, and more of our voices join in and we take the fight to them. My two-headed axe doubles my ability to kill them and take them down. Bodies fall about me as we fight our way through. We arrange ourselves with the axes to the front and Dave takes them down to fight a path through. The others behind us keep our backs and sides clear as they hack and cleave the bodies down.
  They push forward, but we fight harder than they can surge, they try to surround us but we keep fighting and we make progress through these evil things as they fall under our righteous blades.
  The battle is brutal but we fight and power on and each step we take brings us closer to the building. I glance up and see a figure waving down and screaming at us. I raise my axe high and bellow a cry: a cry of war, a cry of violence and, for a second, my comrades join me and we raise our weapons up and scream into the air.

We are coming… we are fighting for you.

We will kill every one of them to get to you.

We are coming and we are bringing death with us, as we slaughter, hack, slice, chop, cleave, slice, cut and kill the zombie undead.

Two sides fighting, but our small size means they can only present a limited front and we can fight that front and we do - we cut them down in droves and keep pushing, as our hands and arms become slick from the blood we spill.

Sarah watches the men climb onto the top of the Army vehicle and they start firing down at the zombies, keeping the fire pouring onto the undead at the rear.

She watches with bated breath as the rear doors burst open and a withering fire from within and the top is sent towards the undead. They burst apart and are sent flying back from the almighty hail sent their way.

The second the firing ends, a man launches himself from the back of the vehicle, swinging an axe above his head and Sarah’s mouth drops open, as she realises they are taking on thousands of zombies in hand to hand combat.
  Men surge from the back of the vehicle and they bravely charge into the lines. Even from her high position she can hear the men roar as they offer challenge to the undead Army. The men from the top jump down and they too charge into the melee.
  The effect is mesmerising; these men, these few men, kill many of the zombies as they fight to gain a circular shape. Men with axes take them down, and others work to the sides and the rear, as that tiny clear circle of men starts to move through the undead throng.
  These men are killing machines and they move with deadly purpose, each of them advancing with speed and power and the killing goes on, as they leave a bloody wake of broken bodies behind them.
  Sarah watches the man in the front centre swing his axe; a giant of a man next to him, cleaving the bodies down.

She screams, to tell them she is watching; their brave actions have not gone without witness. The man in the front centre looks up and raises his axe high in the air to her, he roars and every one of those brave warriors stop and hold their weapons high and roar their defiance as they look up at her. Then, as one, the weapons drop back down and they fight with renewed purpose to slaughter the undead.
  They have seen her.

They are coming for her.

Howie.

It must be Howie.

Her heart races as she runs to the front door, not bothering to stop, look or listen and she charges down the corridor and into the stairwell.

As she gallops down the stairs, an undead staggers out from a door in front of her and Sarah charges the point of her spear deep into its throat.
  ‘FUCK YOU,’ she screams and pulls the spear out, running down the flights of stairs.

We keep moving forward and our fighting shape holds. We suffer our first loss as one of Chris’s men slips on the bloody ground and falls down.

We all turn to help, but it’s too late and the zombies drop down on him, burying their faces into his stomach and legs.

He screams with impotent rage and Dave quickly drops down to slice a blade deep across his throat.
  ‘Sorry,’ Dave whispers in his ear and then is back up fighting.

The loss hits us. We fill with rage and fury and fight with a consumed anger that burns our hearts.

We have lost one of our own to you and, for that, you will pay with hundreds now.

We won’t stop until you all die and cease to be on this earth.

  ‘ALMOST THERE,’ Dave bellows, his enormous voice drowning the grunts and growls of the men as we fight.

We push out harder now, in sight of the doors that lead into Millennium Towers.
  I look up and see the doors burst open and a woman comes out, screaming with fury. My heart soars as I see my sister, Sarah, marching out, holding the end of a hose, like a machine gun.
  ‘SARAH,’ I scream and she stops to stare straight at me.

Just a few lines between us now and we hack them down. I thought Dave was fighting with awesome speed before, but he goes into overdrive now; his arms spinning with fury as he cuts a path through them and breaks free to race towards Sarah. My world is complete.
  The toughest, bravest man I have ever known is now by my sister’s side. She is safe and will live, as I know that small man will kill anything to protect her. He is my friend. Sarah will live, she will survive and I smile - staring hard at them as I begin to laugh.
  ‘I WIN, YOU FUCKERS,’ I scream out and charge with every ounce of strength I have, as the hose opens up.

Sarah steps forward slowly as the immense jet of water sluices into the horde and knocks them down.

We burst sideways, as Sarah walks further towards us. The power of the life giving water is with us, the clean water is on our side and that simple thing repels them and forces them back as they lose grip and slide down.

We fight to the sides and, one by one, we burst out of them. Then, as one, we turn and form a line in front of Sarah.

They keep coming and we kill them, the power is on our side now as they fight to gain ground and we fight to protect what we have taken.

Dave stands by her side, his knives held ready as he stares with deathly calm to the horde.

The powerful jet pushes them back, as we start to retreat and I see Clarence take the hose from her and walk closer to the horde, using the extreme power of the water to send them staggering backwards.
  ‘Howie,’ Sarah yells, as I rush to her and wrap my arms around the only surviving member of my family.
  ‘Sarah, thank God you’re okay,’ I shout back, over the noise. ‘We need to get out of here,’ I glance back at the horde and then to the building.
  ‘We can’t lose that vehicle, we’ll never get out of here alive without it,’ I shout to Dave.
  ‘Then we fight back to it, Mr Howie,’ Dave says, loud enough for them all to hear. The men and recruits all stop to stare back at me, looking at Sarah and nodding to her.
  ‘We have to fight back,’ I shout out loudly. ‘That vehicle is ours and we must take it back.’
   Big Chris stares at me, then looks at the horde.
  ‘I hate to say this, but you’re right. We have to fight back… get your sister in the middle and we’ll fight the way we came in,’ he shouts, with a ferocious look on his face.
  ‘Sarah, get in the middle. Dave… stay by her side.’