Dead Ahead (19 page)

“It’s up top, right up top, it’s the safest place!” Sarah let the girl lead her away upstairs in order to calm her down.

The girl looked as if she had been living feral for the past weeks, and once inside, Cassie could see why; the once grand hotel was musty and dark, the boarded up windows wouldn’t let in much more light even at full noon never mind with dusk fast approaching, Cassie could just make out bloodstains on the walls and carpets, which were littered with old food wrappers and tin cans.

“Do you think she will be ok?” Ethan asked.

“It looks like she is in shock, but I’m sure she will pull through, she’s been through a lot but she is probably stronger than any one of us”

“I sure hope so; we still have a long way to go”

“But what if she’s right, what if more of them do come in the night and we get trapped here?”

“Then we will deal with them in the morning. For now we should find beds and get some rest.”

“Forget rest!” Greg put in, “I’m willing to bet a pound to a penny that this place has a bar, I’m going to get me a drink!”

Ethan gave a low growl as Greg walked down the hallway in search of the bar; there was a growing rift between them that, in time, would only spell trouble for the group. Cassie felt that she needed to mend some bridges, and she knew the best way to do it.

“I could actually do with a drink myself,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

“Hmmm... Ok, but just the one.”

_________________________

Caleb drove the truck head first into the river with an almighty sploosh, sending a wave crashing over the bonnet and against the windscreen of the truck, as the water receded he could see a sign in front of him bearing the words ‘Docker Nook’. Quickly they all piled out of the truck and into the chill water.

Frank grabbed the life raft and pulled the chord before Caleb had the chance to even get it out of the back of the truck; it instantly popped the white barrel open down the middle and started to inflate its self upside down on the back of the cab. Not seeing any point in scolding Frank for the accident, Caleb just grabbed the raft and flipped in into the slow moving water surrounding them, then grabbed a rope attached to it and tied it to one of the rails on the back of the truck.

Pulling a large roll of duct tape from his bag, Caleb shouted, “We need to tape up anything that might poke a hole in the raft, and we need to do it quick, this thing inflating is a lot louder than I thought it would be!” he passed the roll to Brandon who had pulled the axe from his belt and then started to disassemble his Naginata and strap it to his bag.

As Caleb was finishing prepping his bag for the raft he felt Brandon gently tapping his shoulder, he looked at the boy who was staring at the raft, which had finally stopped the loud hissing of its inflation; he turned around to see the raft in all of its glory, its bright fucking, day glow orange glory, even in the fading light it was impossible to miss; of course it was, it was a life raft, designed to be easily seen bobbing around in hundreds of fucking miles of water, and perfect for drawing the attention of friendly neighbourhood zombies! There was only one word!

“FUCK!”

“What are we going to do Dad?”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,
fuck!
”

“Mud...!” Frank said.

“Eh?”

“Mud, we coat it in mud. Some of it may wash off but for now we coat it in mud!”

“You’re a fucking genius, Frank!”

All three of them piled their packs into the raft and went splashing for the river bank in search of mud glorious mud. It didn’t take them long to find it either, the gentle slope that Caleb had driven the truck down to get into the river had been nicely churned up by the trucks wheels making it pliable enough to grab fistfuls of. Pulling the raft to the banking they smeared the mud over every inch of the bright orange roof making it all but invisible in the darkening night.

“Well done lads!” Caleb said once the task was complete, “Let’s set sail shall we?”

They all clumsily piled into the raft and closed the Velcro strip behind them, each of them feeling quite happy to let the river carry them slowly down to Kendal. The packs had to be strapped to the sides of the large rubber ring making the main body of the raft, to stop them from moving to the middle and creating a dip in the soft rubber bottom, once that was done it actually became quite comfortable for them, despite their soaking wet trouser legs.

Their comfort, however, was short lived. The river became rockier as it flowed down causing them to get hung up several times; they each took it in turns to hop out and unsnarl them from the rocks or sandbanks that hindered their path. Each time Caleb took his turn he noticed that the river wasn’t growing any more than knee deep and it certainly wasn’t growing any wider; it suddenly struck him just how long it had been since they had had any rain, he could see how deep the river normally flowed by the lichen marks on the rocks around him, the river was easily ten inches below that level, Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea after all.

Caleb freed up the raft, and as he climbed aboard he could see that they had a good stretch of rock free water ahead of them. He nestled in to his third of the raft and gave Frank a nudge.

“You’re up next!”

“Hmmmph” was the only response he received.

He reluctantly fell into an uneasy and troubled sleep.

Caleb awoke to the sound of bird chatter with a start. His, now long overdue for a cut, hair brushed condensation from the roof of the raft and sent it trickling down his face; the air inside was thick with damp through the dull orange glow of the mud covered roof. He gave a deep throaty cough, the inside of his mouth tasted like the outside of a crocodile, the thought made him chuckle a little as he ran his hands through the thick stubble on his chin, it was a saying that his Dad used to say after a good night on the drink. Slowly he tiptoed over to the door and peeked outside, his trouser legs were still clinging uncomfortably to his skin as he did, but that was nothing compared to what waited for him beyond the door of the raft.

Chapter

15

The Sprint

The gentle rolling hills sloped majestically into the valley, the sun was peeking over the eastern ridge, lighting the hillside with bursts of bright greens, rusty browns and soft purple. Trees swayed pleasantly in the soft breeze and the river bubbled gently as the world gently woke its self up.

It was beautiful!

It was amazing!

It was the same fucking place that Caleb had fallen asleep the night before! He recognised the small ridge of rocks he had freed the raft from last night just upstream a little, they hadn’t travelled any more than a hundred metres in all the hours that they had been asleep. Caleb wanted to curse the world as loud as he possibly could, but it would do no good to waken Brandon, or any Infected out there for that matter. He looked over at the back of the raft and saw that it had become caught in a branch submerged in the water; it was a simple enough task to free them, he just took the small aluminium paddle they had brought and pulled away from the branch; once freed they were on their merry way again.

Caleb saw no point in telling the others of their lack of progress, he just kept the depressing news to himself; letting it fester inside.

The others woke earlier than Caleb had hoped, he wanted to make as much headway as possible so as to give the impression of further progress, so much so that he took to paddling for a while, which was completely pointless as it just spun the round life raft in circles. He took to preparing a meagre breakfast for them to stop them from realising just how little their progress was, but due to curiosity and a man’s inevitable morning business, he was unable to do so.

“So, how far do you recon we have gone in the night?” Frank asked as he ducked back inside.

“Not as far as I hoped, but further than it looks,” Caleb replied as he dished out the jam and stale flatbread sandwiches.

“That’s a bit cryptic!” Frank said as he stuffed one into his mouth.

Caleb felt he had to give them something, “We got hung up on a branch in the night, but we are free now, so I guess we just let the river carry us at its own pace. I tried to do a little paddling earlier but it was pointless,” with every word Caleb could feel his heart sinking.

“Ah well, at least we survived the night in this thing. Doesn’t look too noticeable in the daylight with all the mud on it, does it?

Franks nonchalance took Caleb completely by surprise, “Uh.... eh.... Naw! We are pretty well hidden, especially at night. My only concern is if one of the infected see us pushing ourselves off of the rocks, or one of the husks for that matter, we don’t want a following along the bank.”

“Quite right,” Frank said taking another bite of his sandwich then scowling at it, “what do you suggest?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it.... we could cut peepholes in the canvas roof?”

“Good plan, but what if it rains?”

“....Duct tape?”

“That might just work!” The raft bumped to a slow stop, yet again caught upon some rocks. “My turn I do believe,” Frank said before starting to take off his boots and socks, he tucked his socks into his boots and tied them to his pack, he then rolled up his still damp trouser legs and said, “let’s hope it’s not too deep!” He hopped out into the river and freed them up before Caleb had the chance to tell him to wait till they had cut the peepholes. The man’s mind was like a sieve.

Caleb took his pocket knife out and made three delicate cuts in the fabric in a U shape slightly smaller than the roll of duct tape, he did this on the side opposite to the door of the raft and on either side of that, making three holes; he was just finishing as Frank hopped back in.

“Maybe wait till we check around us next time, eh Bud?”

“Eh? Oh, yeah! Sorry Mate!”

The next hour or so continued in a similar manner, Caleb jumping into the icy water to free the raft from the rocks, Brandon spying out of the peepholes for lurking husks, and Frank acting like a complete arse! He meant well, but every time he went to do something, his body would jump into action well before his brain ever engaged its self; whether it be jumping out into the water before checking for something that would happily munch on your balls for breakfast, or playing ‘toss the knife’ in an inflatable life craft; Caleb felt as if he had two children in the raft with him, only the eldest child was definitely not the more mature one.

Time dragged along, The Sprint definitely wasn’t living up to its name, every time it was Caleb’s turn to free the raft it didn’t look like they had made much progress at all, the valley still looked ridiculously close and the water depressingly shallow; still, it was nice to get some fresh air for those few seconds, the smell of the raft hadn’t improved despite the three air holes cut into the roof. They bobbed along at the rivers own gentle pace, drifting slowly past the trees on the banks, under a thin bridge and on by a now seemingly deserted farm to its right then back into the precious cover of the trees.

As Caleb re-entered the raft he found Brandon and Frank still peeking out of the holes in the canvas roof, and as he sat down he soon discovered why; it was pretty fucking boring sat staring at the dark orange glow of the raft.

“Anything interesting out there...?” Caleb asked, to anyone willing to listen.

“Not really, there’s a couple of bridges up ahead,” answered Brandon in his self patented monotone, “then a bend in the river to the left; looks like the river is getting deeper, I can’t see anything that we might get hung up on.”

“I can see a cow.” added Frank.

“Well I’m glad none of us are missing TV too much!” said Caleb, but after a while he felt the compulsion to ask, “Is the cow alive or dead?”

“It
was
alive, and then it was dead, now it’s alive again, sort of.”

“Fucking bastarding zombies...!” Caleb erupted, “How come they get
steak
and I get tinned fucking ham? What’s the fucking world coming to?”

No doubt Frank’s eyes were flicking to the heavens and he was quietly whispering to himself after Caleb’s short outburst, but he didn’t give a crap anymore; the world had turning to shit and taken steak with it, and he was royally pissed off!

Eventually curiosity got the better of him and he had a look out of the door to see what was happening outside. Trees, and some trees, and a few more trees...

Great!

The world had turned to shit, taken the steak with it, and there was nothing on TV! What a miserable pile of shit. If there was one thing that he loved, it had to be a good thick steak; medium rare with that beautiful pink juiciness inside, served with thick cut chips, or tattie wedges, and onion rings, ooooh and mushrooms....

“Dad...?”

....maybe some grilled tomato with mozzarella on top with coarse ground pepper....

“Dad...!”

....and a whisky, mustard and peppercorn sauce, maybe a little haggis on the side, or highland chicken! Yeah! Highland chicken as a starter!

“
Dad...!
”

“
What...?
”

“It looks like there is some white water up ahead!”

“Can’t be, surely the water isn’t deep enough!”

“Well you can tell that to the river ‘cause we are speeding up!”

The boy was right, the river
was
flowing faster! “Budge up, le’me see!” The river was taking a steep dive up ahead, it wasn’t quite a waterfall but it didn’t look pleasent, the banks had risen to a great height above them where The Sprint, in full force, had cut a swath through the hillside over thousands of years; it bubbled over the edge between two large rocks which would be plenty wide enough for the raft to fit through, but it looked like it was going to be a bumpy ride from there.

“Buckle up boys, it’s gonna get bumpy.” Caleb told them before turning to the doorway and fastening it as tightly as possible, the others pushed the peepholes closed and braced for impact. It was slow in coming, yeah the river had sped up, but it wasn’t the log ride at Alton Towers.

The hissing of the river grew louder, like a hundred old televisions tuned in to static, white noise; was that where it got its name? White water, white noise...? Or was it....

“Holy Fuck...!”

The raft bent in the middle and dipped over to one side, only it wasn’t Brandon’s side that went over; the raft must have spun on the approach to the rapids because it was Caleb’s side that went over first.

The floor fell away from under him and he went plunging downhill backwards, he was soon bouncing back to the centre of the raft as the world lurched to the right and then back up again; it was like being stuck in a fucking washing machine, they jolted to the side then went damn near vertical before crashing down sending all three of them to the bottom side, but the bottom side didn’t stay the bottom side, they spun again and jolted to the side; it could have been fun if they hadn’t been fearing for their lives. But the fear had only just begun.

A branch suddenly tore through the side of the raft, narrowly missing the boy’s head, and ripped a huge gaping hole through the roof, spraying cold wild water over Caleb’s face, revealing to him the true chaos of their situation; a large pine tree had become lodged diagonally across the river, backing the water up behind it and shooting out multiple jagged branches in their direction, the raft was now caught in the turbulent water being tossed about violently, God only knows how the rubber tube hadn’t become punctured but Caleb wasn’t about to question him now. The raft was continuously being thrown towards the tree and those lethal branches that could spell disaster for their grand plans of floating gently down towards Kendal.

“Keep us away from those Branches!” Caleb shouted, “Brandon, your axe!” It took a while for the boy to pull the hatchet from his pack through all the bumping around, but eventually he did; Frank, meanwhile, had caught on to one of the larger branches and was successfully holding them away from the tree. “See if you can work us over to the right, Frank!” They carefully took it in turns to grab branches and roll themselves over to the thinner end of the tree where Caleb started to lay into the log with the hatchet to try to free it from the rocks. Caleb heard a loud crack, “When she goes, push away as hard as you can, we don’t want to go with her!” and go she did, sending a wave crashing down with her that they couldn’t help but get caught up in.

As they caught in the surge Caleb lost his grip and fell flat on his back in the middle of the raft clutching the axe to his chest to stop it from slicing into the precious rubber. The world whirled by above him, the sheer cliffs and trees above the river drew a jagged line of blue above them, a bridge shot by followed by a huge looming wall of what may have once been a mill, then trees, their green glow dappled in the sunlight that now seemed so distant. The raft rolled around once more and the fresh clear water splashed onto Caleb’s face, they bobbed again then spun gently through the deep pool at the rapids base. Caleb could hear his heart beating in his ears.

“Everyone ok...?” Caleb asked as he sat up, “Didn’t lose anything did we?” all three of them looked up, “apart from the roof that is!”

“Nope! Everything seems to be in order!” Frank answered excitedly, “Let’s do it again!” he said with a smile.

“Oh aye, feel free; just leave
me
out of it next time!”

“Do you think there
are
going to be any more rapids?” Brandon asked hesitantly.

“There may be; but I’m sure they won’t be as bad as
that
!” Caleb reassured him, “What we need to be worried about right now is the roof!” He started to haul in the large flap of roof that was trailing behind them in the water, but he soon realised that it was going to be useless as a cover as it had been torn to ribbons, that, and the mud was washing off of it exposing the bright orange to the world; he took the hatchet and started to slice it off of the raft. He was just finishing when he heard the sound of static once again.

“More white water!” Frank shouted, still excited.

“Ah, shit! Everybody brace!” Caleb roared over the hissing.

They toppled over the edge and were thrown down the slope with a little bumping and teetering, though the water foamed around them the raft slipped gently down over the turmoil.

“That was a bit disappointing!” Frank complained as they reached the bottom and disappeared under a small bridge.

“Just perfect for me, Frank...! Caleb said as he released white knuckles from the rafts edge and cast an eye down river to make sure there weren’t going to be any more surprises up ahead; he stared for as long as he could, ears trained for a distant hissing, but nothing was there; eventually he allowed himself to relax. They had drifted far enough away from the road that ran alongside the river now; there was little chance of being seen by any members of the undead collective.

Caleb let himself unwind; his fingers ran through the silky fresh water as they floated gently downstream; he could hear the birds singing again, high in the trees above him.
‘You don’t have to worry much, do you?
He directed his thoughts to the birds,
‘Not much changes for a bird in the Zombie apocalypse, less cats maybe...? More bugs...? Less cats means more birds means fewer bugs! Poor wee bugs! They don’t know what’s in store for them!