The Undead. The First Seven Days (82 page)

Howie walks round to see Clarence and Sarah at the back doors of the truck, helping people up; a constant surge against them as the panicked people try to clamber in.
  ‘MOVE BACK AND WAIT,’ Clarence shouts out, to no effect and Howie nods at Dave.
  ‘YOU WILL WAIT AND MOVE CALMLY,’ Dave’s voice booms out into the air, silencing the entire area, as everyone turns to look.
  ‘Cheers Dave,’ Clarence rumbles with a smile, as he and Sarah return to helping lift people up into the back.

Questions are thrown at them, and children scream as they are pushed up into the darkness of the back of the truck. The first vehicle gets filled and Sarah rushes to the front, to wave it on, while Clarence waves the next one in.

The rear doors are already open with Doctor Roberts standing there, still in his white, lab coat.
  ‘My staff are already in here, we’ll stand across the back to protect the equipment,’ Doc Roberts says, not so much a question as a statement.
  ‘We’re doing well,’ Sarah calls out. ‘Considering how many people are here and the lack of time.’
 
‘Chris to all units, the access points are reporting mass numbers now, get them people out, do it now,’

Urgency in his voice: ‘
I’m sending more vehicles down now.’
 
On cue, headlights appear down the road: diesel engines of vans and small delivery trucks. The group wave them down and send the people into the back of them. The waiting crowd has thinned down considerably, which makes it easier to manage the loading.

Latecomers run down to the area to join the people cramming into vehicles. A small truck then appears, it pulls up next to Howie and Sarah; Tucker’s face peers out from the passenger window.
  ‘Supply vehicle, Mr Howie,’ Tucker says.
  ‘Bloody hell, mate, that was quick,’ Howie answers, impressed.
  ‘They were well organised, well sort of, they are now anyway,’ he laughs. ‘Is it okay if I stay with this vehicle, they will need an armed escort,’ Tucker asks.
  ‘Good idea mate, get in the middle somewhere. Do not be the first or last vehicle in the convoy,’ Howie yells, as the vehicle rolls forward.
  There are many vehicles stretching back into the main street, loaded with refugees and headlights shine into the night, casting deep shadows and making the guards cover their eyes as they look up and down.
  A deep roar splits the air from all around them. Deep and guttural and truly terrifying.
  ‘Here they come,’ Howie calls out as the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

The roaring ends as the sound of gunfire erupts from all the access points at the same time. Small arms automatic weapons spitting out, alongside the distinctive sound of the GPMG, at the far end.
  ‘FORM A LINE ACROSS HERE,’ Howie bellows out, pointing at armed men and indicating a section of road back from the refugees who are still waiting to get loaded.

Men and women run into position and stand across the road, facing out with grim faces and shaky hands.

Cookey and Blowers run in the middle. Now experienced and hardened from the battles they have faced, they stand still, calmly. Both of them feel the exhilaration and excitement that comes the minutes before the fighting starts. Without speaking they take magazines from their bags and lay them down face up on the road in front of them, checking their rifles and assuming a kneeling position.

The experienced ex-soldiers and police officers look down to see their actions and quickly copy them.

Within minutes, there is a line of armed men and women stretched out, kneeling in front of spare magazines, weapons ready.
  ‘Cookey,’ Blowers says.
  ‘Yes, mate,’ he answers.
  ‘Don’t try and bum them this time.’
  ‘Ah, that’s not fair,’ Cookey says.
  ‘Well, maybe just one, then.’
  ‘Okay mate, just one, I promise.’
  ‘Thanks mate.’ Blowers replies, as the rest of the men and women look down at them, joking with easy banter, knowing what they are about to face.

Howie looks at them, with an immense sense of pride.
  ‘Clarence, you and Sarah keep loading those vehicles, we’ve got seconds now,’ Howie shouts back at them from position behind the line, Dave standing at his side.

‘Rear access point to all units, we are getting overrun. We are pulling back. We will move slowly down the main road, there are fucking thousands of them.’
  ‘Chris to all units, start pulling back towards the vehicle form up point, staggered fall back, keep them suppressed.’
  ‘Malcolm to Chris, we are running out of room in the vehicle form up point, we need to start pulling out, but once we start we are not stopping.’
  ‘Chris to Malcolm, Roger that. Chris to Clarence, are we loaded and ready?’
  ‘Clarence to Chris, we are not loaded, but we are almost there. Clarence to Malcolm, start rolling out slowly, keep it slow - we’ll throw them in as you move past.’
  ‘Malcolm to Clarence, Roger that - we are starting to roll out now, I need guards to the front.’
  ‘Chris to units, get guards to the front, in support of Malcolm on point position
.’
  ‘
Clarence to Chris, I cannot spare any guards from my position, can you take them from the access points.’
  ‘ Chris to Clarence, that’s a negative, they are doing a fighting withdrawal, they are swamped.’
  ‘Howie to Chris, we can send every third person from our line and move them to the front, that gives you about four guards, is that enough?’
  ‘Malcolm to Howie, Roger that, just send two. We will work on speed and momentum. Get that Saxon to the front when you can.’
  ‘Howie to Malcolm, Roger that. Two guards on way to you now.’
  ‘Chris to rear access point Saxon, did you copy the last from Malcolm?’
  ‘Rear access Saxon to Chris, Roger that, fighting retreat down the road and then we move to point position.’

‘Blowers, get two from the line and send them to the front, in support of Malcolm, until the Saxon can take point,’ Howie shouts out, as Blowers jumps up and indicates to two people within the line.

They are both much older than the nineteen year-old Territorial Army recruit, but they accept his orders without question and sprint down towards the front of the vehicles.
  Howie stands watching back down the road, then turns to see Clarence and Sarah pushing people into the backs of vans and small trucks and shouting at the drivers to move on. The fleet starts to move slowly, being held by Malcolm at the front.
  ‘MOVE,’ Clarence’s voice booms out, as he starts picking people up to push them into vehicles, Sarah lacks the physical strength but her strong character and force of personality achieves the same aim and she shouts, bellows and urges them into the vehicles.
  ‘HERE THEY COME,’ Blowers shouts from the line.

Howie spins round to see the Saxon slowly rolling towards them, the GPMG firing constantly from the top.
  ‘WE HOLD THIS LINE,’ Howie shouts out. ‘LET THE SAXON THROUGH AND WE HOLD THIS LINE UNTIL THOSE PEOPLE ARE LOADED. WE WILL NOT FAIL. WE WILL HOLD.’
  ‘YES SIR!’ Blowers and Cookey chorus back.
  ‘DO YOU HEAR ME? WE HOLD THIS LINE.’
  ‘YES SIR,’ voices from the line shout back at him, as Howie feels the adrenalin start to surge through his system.

He spins back to look at Clarence. They make eye contact and Howie raises two fingers to his own eyes and then points at Sarah,
you watch her for me.
Clarence nods once and goes back to pushing people into the vehicles.
  ‘WE ARE NOT SCARED. WE DO NOT FEEL FEAR. WE ARE GOOD AND THEY ARE EVIL AND WE WILL NOT FAIL. WE WILL HOLD THIS LINE.’ Howie roars out.
  The Saxon draws close and flashes the headlights; Cookey and Blowers move to the side and create a gap for the Saxon to pull through.

Once the back of the vehicle passes the line, they close up and form a kneeling position. Howie and Dave run to the line and take up positions between Blowers and Cookey; kneeling down and looking up to the solid wall of undead zombies marching towards them.
  ‘FUCKING HAVE IT,’ Howie roars and opens up with his assault rifle. The GPMG pauses as Nick bellows, ‘MAGAZINE.’
  The line opens up as every weapon starts firing; bright muzzle flashes and the oncoming horde start dropping. Bullets rip through the zombies, tearing them apart. They drop many and keep killing as they get closer and closer.
  ‘MAGAZINE,’ Blowers shouts and, within seconds, he has expelled one and snatched one from the ground, rammed it home, slammed the bolt back and opens up.
 
‘WE ARE COMING IN,’
Chris shouts down the radio, as Howie sees groups of men and women running into the main road from the side junctions, firing behind them.
  ‘CEASE FIRE,’ Howie shouts and the line all drop their weapons but Howie can see the reduction in fire rate stops the killing and every step of the zombie army brings them closer and closer.
  ‘WE ADVANCE ON ME,’ Howie stands and pauses for a second, to allow the men and women to grab the magazines in front of them.

Howie paces forward with deliberate steps, watching as the line walks with him.

The guards from the access points run down the road with Big Chris leading them, turning to fire back as the side junctions, suddenly become stacked with zombies marching out to meet the main horde.
  ‘HOLD,’ Howie shouts and they all drop down again as the access point guard’s stream past them.
  ‘FIRE,’ Howie roars and they again open up in the horde, giving the retreating access point guards a few seconds to move back to the Saxon.
  ‘PULL BACK,’ Chris shouts out and, as one, the line stands to start stepping backwards, each man and woman firing as they go.

Voices shout magazine as they eject and ram new ones home. The fire rate is devastating and the front ranks of the zombie army are torn down under the deadly hail of bullets.
  ‘HOLD,’ Howie shouts as they reach the back of the Saxon. ‘ARE YOU READY NICK?’ Howie shouts behind him.
  ‘YES,’ Nick shouts down as the GPMG opens up.

One heavy calibre machine gun, and two lines of men and women firing automatic weapons slaughter the oncoming zombies. They are shredded as they walk and the massive fire rate devastates them.
  ‘ATTACK FROM THE REAR,’ Dave’s voice booms out and Howie spins to see zombies surging into the vehicle area.
  ‘CHRIS, GET THOSE VEHICLES MOVING NOW,’ Howie screams as he leans into the Saxon and draws his axe out, he pauses and grabs the other double-bladed axe and starts running towards Clarence who is fighting them with his bare hands.

The huge man grabs them as they swarm at him, throwing them aside as he roars and screams with violence.

Dave is at Howie’s side, his knives drawn, Cookey and Blowers run on the other side of Howie, bayonets in hand.

Howie looks ahead and watches Sarah pushing the last few people into the backs of vehicles. They run faster, seeing more of the zombies going towards Sarah, as she pushes the last one into the vehicle and slams the rear doors closed.
  ‘SARAH, GO WITH THE VEHICLE,’ Howie bellows out, she turns back to see four undead striding towards her, she backs into the vehicle, becoming trapped against the closed doors. The zombies spread out in a line only a few steps away from her.

Howie screams and sprints with all his strength.

A deep roar drowns every other noise as Clarence picks a zombie up and throws him high into the air then charges the line of four undead with his shoulder dropped down. The man mountain powers into the first one and drives through the rest, scooping them up on the way. Clarence bowls them over so they are underneath him and his arms pull back and start piling in massive punches to the zombie heads beneath him.

Clarence roars and those fists lift up and drive down again and again as he pulverises the skulls. They don’t stand a chance and the big man kills them all, before standing up to run back to Sarah. He lifts Sarah by her waist and opens the rear door of the van and pushes her in, then takes a small black item from his back pocket and presses it into her hand before slamming the door closed.
  ‘MOVE NOW,’ Clarence slams his hand on the side of the vehicle causing it to rock on its suspension and the vehicle pulls away with squealing tyres.

Finally he looks back at Howie and they nod once to each other, as Howie hands him the axe. They turn to face out at the oncoming zombies, both holding their axes with intensity in their faces.
  Howie launches forward and starts driving them down, swinging the blades through their heads and necks. Brains burst apart and blood pours out from necks, as Dave whips through them, slicing them apart.

Jamie comes running in with his knives held the same way as Dave; he drops down and starts slicing into the backs of legs, cutting through tendons and ligaments. Zombies drop down from the deadly wounds to writhe on the floor, only to be stamped on by Clarence’s huge boots.
  The vehicles slowly pull away, as the men fight amongst them, battling to keep the zombies away from the vehicle and the people within them. The last vehicle leaves the compound, a row of bright red lights reflecting off the wet ground and headlights dimming as they draw away into the inky night. The small group backs away towards the line behind them, keeping pace with each other and fighting out as the zombies come at them sporadically.