Blog of the Dead (Book 1): Sophie (11 page)

‘Ok then.’ Cheeks definitely red now ... ;)

December 16
10am Day 33
Last night, I discovered that David is really good at breaking and entering – who knew? I’m beginning to see what the Big Guys saw in him. He’s very professional.

I watched him break into a flat above the Pilgrims Hospices Charity Shop in Rendezvous Street that Jess, a friend from uni used to share with a girl on the Performing Arts course. I haven’t seen Jess since all this began, so I’m guessing she’s still in the UCF building – presumed dead and walking – or still inside her flat.

David worked his magic on the lock. He turned to me and winked. ‘Sorted,’ he said.

He opened the door cautiously. We couldn’t see much in the gloom, so we went in to take a look around, weapons at the ready in case Jess was still in there. No one home. I’d not been inside Jess’s flat before. It’s a basic and functional student flat with a small open plan living area – beige carpet, brown sofa, coffee table and TV. On one of the beige walls someone has drawn a pair of legs akimbo and stuck wax strips, obviously used to remove the hair from a very hairy person, over the top. Interesting. There’s a small bathroom and what I’d call a kitchenette – basically a cupboard with a few units, a small fridge, cooker and a microwave. The flat has two small bedrooms.

‘Um. So, have you and Sam been together long?’ David asked, looking at me. He stood in the doorway of one of the bedrooms, illuminated by light coming in through the living room window.

‘Oh no. Me and Sam aren’t together,’ I said a little too eagerly. Christ! Heart beating, hands sweating. Uh oh …

‘Ok. I just thought –’

‘We’re just friends.’

David smiled and ran a hand through his hair. I’m pretty certain that I stopped breathing at this point. He took a step towards me, and another, until he stood right in front of me. He sniffed, then said, ‘Um … I’d better shoot. I’m going to get that other flat open tonight. Then I’ll walk you home.’ And he darted out of the flat.

Bah!

12pm Day 33
Me, Sam, and Pleanne moved into the flat above the charity shop early this morning. I’m there now, looking out over Rendezvous Street while I write. It’s a total come down from our three storey, four bed town house. But at least we’re now in the proposed safe zone. I had been getting sick of the walk to and from town.

It’s grizzling it down with a wet sort of snow. On top of that I feel weird living somewhere new, so I’m not in the best of moods. I kind of didn’t expect Pleanne to come here with us. They share a bedroom, as do me and Sam. I think Pleanne would’ve liked to stay in the house, just the two of them, but then they’d have had to leave the house to get food. I don’t think either of them have any intention of stepping foot outside of this flat until they die. I don’t mind getting food for them. I’d be going out anyway. I can’t stand being cooped up.

I spent some time this morning following David around the proposed safe zone, while he opened up various flats and offices.

I’ve noticed that David’s easing off on the Manuel act as he gets to know me better. The result of which means he’s lost that creepy edge, so, needless to say the crush I had on him has now evolved into full blown lust.

While he worked, I tried to make it seem that I was only there in an official capacity, you know, taking note of what place is available and where, ready for when people start moving in. And of course to help kill zombies that had been sealed up inside some of the buildings. I smiled and nodded professionally whenever he turned to me to say something like, ‘Blinding’, or ‘Nice one’, when he opened a lock without having to break anything. But really I was just looking at his bum. He has a really nice arse. I want to bite it, but I’m guessing that I probably shouldn’t …?

3.35pm Day 33
I thought the worst was over. This afternoon, at about 2pm, while Sam, Hannah and Kay went out with their teams to pick up materials for the barrier, a large group of zombies descended on the town from further up Sandgate Road and the direction of the Leas. I hadn’t seen such a large group for a while.

‘Get your dad inside somewhere safe,’ I said to Michael.

Then me, David, Liam and Matt, along with the assembling building team, charged at the zombies, weapons raised. I bashed and smashed in heads with my claw hammer, but more and more zombies came down the hill. All around me humans fought with zombies. I saw Liam splitting zombie heads with his axe, cigarette in mouth, while David used a baseball bat. He kept throwing glances in my direction. I willed him to focus on the fight and not worry about me.

I lost sight of Matt for a moment. Then I saw him on the ground, his back pressed up against the side of Debenhams, his flat cap upside down on the street beside him, while a zombie pinned him down. He had his arms outstretched, holding the zombie off. I raced over, smashing zombie heads the whole way. When I reached Matt, I swung my hammer like a golf club at the side of the zombie’s head. I heard a crack and the zombie’s head lolled right over to the left and dangled on its broken neck. I hadn’t killed it and it continued to claw at Matt with its rotten hands, its upside down jaws opening and closing. I moved so that I had my back against Debenhams and I kicked the zombie in the chest, while Matt pushed it backwards. Together we managed to dislodge the zombie so that Matt could get free. He scrambled to his knees, grabbed his flat cap, flipped it onto his head, retrieved his nine inch bladed knife and drove it through the zombie’s ear, effectively stapling the zombie’s head to its forearm. ‘There you go,’ he said in a deadpan voice.

‘Cool,’ I said, before we returned to the fight, Matt pulling another knife from his belt.

It didn’t take long before all the zombies had been killed. I surveyed the scene. One of our team had been torn apart. I’m not sure if there’d been enough left of him to come back as a zombie, but Liam parted the crowd and axed the guy’s mangled head anyway. A couple of people laid a bloke across one of the marble benches outside Debenhams. He’d been badly injured. Red blood flowed from a wound in his stomach and he groaned with pain. I went over and, a moment later, I saw him die. I snatched a knife from a woman standing next to me and I plunged it into the bloke’s head before he had chance to turn.

Raised voices from within the group of survivors caught my attention. ‘Let me see!’

The crowd parted and I saw a large woman called Kate clutching her arm. ‘No! Fucking do one, arsehole!’ she screamed at the man stood in front of her.

The man tried to pull her hand away from her arm. ‘She’s been bitten!’ he said. ‘I know it. I saw a mark on her arm. It’s a fucking zombie bite!’

‘No. No it ain’t!’

‘Then show me your arm.’

‘No. Fuck off!’

I rushed over. ‘Kate,’ I said. ‘Show me your arm.’

‘I’m ok,’ she said.

‘Show me your fucking arm. I can force you, you know.’

Kate looked at me like a sullen teenager despite the fact that she’s in her thirties. She moved her hand. I had absolutely no doubt that the small mark on her arm, visible through the tear in her jumper, was a bite – a small one, but the skin had definitely been broken. Oh bugger. What to do? I could feel everyone looking at me, waiting for a decision. People here, in the proposed safe zone, see me as a leader, even though I’m 19 years old. I had to do something and it had to be something that would not make me unpopular. I guessed that it boiled down to a case of kill her now, and be seen to execute a human, or wait until she turned, with all the risks that would bestow, and then kill her. I know what Polly would’ve done – claw hammer to the head, no questions asked. But I’m not Polly.

December 17
1.10pm Day 34
Yesterday, David and Liam helped me put Kate in the post office at the back of WHSmith, in the foreign currency exchange bit. It’s a secure room, separate from the rest of the post office, and has a glass window on the counter that goes all the way up.

‘Let me out of ‘ere, you bloody fuckers. I haven’t been bloody bit. Fucking bastards, it’s just a scratch!’ I could hear Kate banging her fists on the door after we closed it, sealing her in.

I walked round to the front and looked at her through the glass window. She resembled a specimen in a lab, which I guess she had become. Guilt and revulsion made my stomach sick, but I tried not to show it.

I hadn’t yet witnessed a human turn into a zombie. Curiosity gripped me. Morbid as it may seem, I knew it would benefit everyone if we studied a change, timed it, and, yes, filmed it so that we could post it on YouTube. I only let a few people in to watch. This wasn’t a fucking freak show. David, Matt (with a video camera), Keith and Liam stayed. A heavy silence hung in the air as we stood in front of the glass window, and I knew that the others felt the guilt and revulsion too. We locked the entrance of WHSmith and a volunteer stood outside, waiting for Sam and the others to return, and we told everyone else to go back to what they’d been doing, but a crowd remained outside.

After about twenty minutes Kate stopped screaming at us and slumped down in the corner of the room, staring at us through bloodshot eyes. The hate in that gaze gave me a chill. Within the hour of being bitten she started to look ill – pale skin, sunken eyes, a film of sweat on her face. Liam snapped his head round to look at me, but he didn’t say anything. I turned my head and looked up to meet his gaze. He gave me a half smile that, to me, said,
You were right about the bite, Sophie, this is a horrible situation, but we have to do this, and no matter what, we’re here for each other … to help each other through this
.

I returned the smile with a slight nod that said,
Thanks
, and turned back to the window. I asked Kate how she felt and she told me to fuck off. A few minutes later she began to cry and admitted that she had a headache and felt nauseous. She tried to stand up but complained of dizziness and sat down heavily. Matt lowered the camera. ‘Keep filming!’ I hadn’t meant to snap, but my nerves were shot. Matt raised the camera.

‘I need a cigarette,’ said Liam. ‘Does anyone mind if I spark up in here?’

‘No,’ I said, speaking for the others. ‘Do what you need to do.’

Two hours in and I could see that sweat soaked Kate’s clothes and her face looked flushed. She shivered and complained of feeling cold and begged us for a blanket. I felt like a bitch, but I said to the others that no one was to go in. Her fever grew. She shook uncontrollably, while sweat dripped off her. Then she started throwing up.

Sam, Kay and Hannah arrived (the only other people I said were allowed in). By now Kate’s behaviour had become erratic, and she’d go from curling herself up all foetal and whimpering to writhing on the floor and yelling obscenities at us. Hannah had her hands over her mouth, her eyes moist and bulging. After six hours Kate climbed to her feet and threw herself at the counter. Everyone jumped back – me into David’s arms – even though she couldn’t possibly get through the toughened glass.

‘Bastards! Bastards!’ She slammed her fists against the glass. ‘The dogs are coming. They haven’t had their jabs. Oh God, I forgot to take them to the vets!’ We all looked at each other. Tears ran down Hannah’s cheeks and she buried her head in Keith’s shoulder. Keith hugged her. ‘They’ll be overgrown and need turning inside out. Do you hear me?’ continued Kate, pounding against the glass, spittle flying.

‘What the fuck?’ said Liam, stepping back.

‘She’s majorly fucked up,’ said Sam, his eye fixed on me in David’s arms.

‘I can’t be in here any more,’ said Hannah. ‘I’m going.’

‘Go then,’ I said without taking my eyes off Kate.

‘Watching this is sick,’ she added.

‘It’s science,’ said David.

‘It’s morbid,’ said Hannah. ‘Is anyone coming with me?’ No one said anything and  Hannah stormed out.

We were all getting tired now, and uncomfortable. We took it in turns to film. While the others stood and watched or sat on the floor to rest. David suggested we get some chairs but that did seem morbid – pulling up a chair to watch a woman die. Keith went out and got us all drinks and food, not that any of us could manage to eat anything.

Kate went quiet. But it only lasted about ten minutes and then she was up on her feet again – screaming and banging on the glass. She went quiet once more and sat in the corner, hugging her knees to her chest. She stayed like that until, after seven hours, she tried to stand but her legs gave way beneath her. She flopped to the floor, lay on her side in a foetal position and cried. I swallowed a lump in my throat and fought to hold back my tears. I think she had come out the other side of the aggressive, mental phase and she seemed broken and weak. Her skin had taken on a purple/grey tinge like the cold, dead bodies you see on the slab in the morgue in TV shows like CSI or something. The eyes in her gaunt face had a faraway look to them.

She had another go at getting to her feet but she stumbled and crashed into the counter. She crumpled to the ground and lay on her back. Then, at about 11.20pm, 8 hours after she was bitten, she died. Nobody spoke. We watched as she lay still for a little while, maybe a few minutes, then she started twitching. Her eyes opened and she climbed to her feet. The zombie saw us and launched itself at the glass, ferociously clawing at it with its dead fingers, jaws snapping.

Eight hours.

6.55pm Day 34
Today the taps ran dry. But we were prepared. For a while now a team, led by Hannah, has been filling every conceivable container with water from the mains as well setting up a system of water butts outside to catch rain water.

Life is going to be tougher without fresh water. But things are going to get a whole lot harder when the electricity fails, which it will do eventually. Hopefully, by then, it’ll be heading towards spring or summer and we’ll have plenty of crops growing and we won’t have to rely on fridges. We’ll cook outside on BBQs. It’ll be safe to do that once we’ve got the barriers up around the safe zone.

Work has started. The metal fencing pilfered from the petrol station has been put up to close off the Old High Street and Grace Hill. The metal fencing uses breeze blocks with holes in them to hold the metal fence poles in place on the ground. They’re fairly strong (they kept the zombie builders secure enough) but I wouldn’t want to rely on them. A large group of zombies could bust through them no trouble. But it’s better than nothing while the builders concentrate on securing the top end of the safe zone.