Plague Of The Revenants (17 page)

After they had been finished off we dragged them on to the next field and piled them up on top of one another, a huge mound of bodies which we would burn tomorrow.
“Do you think they’re safe where they are?” Asked Thorpe, looking towards the shed with trepidation.
“Not at all,” I replied. “But they’re secure and if we try to kill them we’ll be putting ourselves at unnecessary risk. Let’s leave them where they are for now, we’ll have time enough to think up a plan in the coming days. We’ve risked enough as it is. The revenants should be safe in that shed for now. I checked it over the other day and it seems perfectly tight.”
“At least we made it through,” said Thorpe, although he sounded gloomy.
“If we hadn’t have lost Frey we would have been celebrating a resounding success,” I said.
“This was still a success,” said Hammond. “We may have lost Frey and a truck but given what we were up against it could have been much, much worse. We took on a hundred revenants today and we won and this was in no small part thanks to yourself. Don’t get me wrong, Grant. I don’t think you’ll live to be an old man and I just hope that when your time comes there’s a good friend waiting to finish you off before you turn. But until that day comes I hope you’ll teach us as much as you possibly can.”
It was seven in the morning before we finally got to bed and the sun was rising in the sky. I went back up to the clock tower although everyone urged me to come and sleep in the farmhouse. The attack had reminded us just how vulnerable we were, how vulnerable we would always be. Would the swarms ever die off? Probably not with so few of us left. The things were always hungry but never seemed to starve. It was as though they only ever fed because they could, not because they had to. Perhaps this new Dr Bashir could dissect one of them someday, see what made them work? I dismissed the idea almost straight away. I was not out to save the human race just yet. I had gone mad once more, had let myself go and it was almost as if I didn’t care if I lived or died, although I did. I thought about the revenants holed up in the barn, thought about what we were going to do with them. I couldn’t face wiping them out one by one, not after the night we’d just had and yet arrogant as it may have seemed I didn’t trust anybody else to do it. Kit was right. I really did think I was all that, I really did have a huge faith in myself. She resented me for this and I hardly blamed her. I didn’t blame anybody for being wary of a demagogue. When I was younger and searching for a father figure I often latched on to bad influences. Perhaps now I was the bad influence myself. Perhaps if I hadn’t come along they would still have been holed up in that church; cold and hungry but far safer. I suppose I had redeemed myself in a way. In truth I had never expected to survive. Kit was right to say my actions had been stupid and in a way I was glad she was angry with me. Despite all that had happened I found myself on something of a natural high.

I was up earlier than most, for there was still much to do. The others came to join me in time.
We set about fixing up the passageway and repairing the barricades, trying to make them even stronger than before although it was a far more difficult task with Frey gone. Nonetheless we worked solidly throughout the day. We sharpened the fence posts and made them into makeshift spikes, put down nets before the windows in the hope the revenants may become caught up in them should they ever try to attack again. We hammered board after board on top of the passageway. There was talk of digging a trench to further boost the defences but I was cautious of undermining the foundations and so we demurred on this for now.
“If there has been any good to come out of this it is that we are even more secure now than we were before,” said Kit.
“This wasn’t a disaster,” said Hammond. “We survived this, albeit at a terrible cost. It just goes to show we can cope with swarms and furthermore we’ve got a better idea as to how they behave. In future I’d recommend setting up obstacles to split them up and isolate them from one another so we might be able to take them on one at a time. Besides, if we’re going to be absolutely brutal about all this we’ve lost a carpenter but gained a doctor.”
Just before night fell we set fire to the revenants. Before burning them I went around examining them closely to see who they once were in life. I saw a couple with combat fatigues like the ones we had seen outside the pub the other day although they were not wearing the uniforms of any army I knew. “A militia,” said Hammond solemnly, coming to stand beside me. “Although how much of it is still left is hard to say based on this evidence alone.”

T
he smoke reached far into the sky as they burned. This put us at risk of being spotted but we could hardly leave the things to putrefy. I had a feeling this was not to be the first no win situation we were to be placed in before we were done with this sorry business. The stench of rotting bodies burning was like nothing I had ever experienced. We were fortunate in that the day was misty and visibility poor so the smoke was unlikely to be spotted from afar.

After all the excitement of the previous night and the subsequent clear up the one person who had been almost completely forgotten about was Dr Bashir. But the man still had a story to tell
and his information still had to be digested and plans formed in response. In the light of day, and with time on our side, I was able to get a better look at the man. The doctor appeared worn and pale, and it was clear he had been malnourished these past few weeks but his state was not untypical from other survivors when they first found safety. In body, however, he was very much recovered. He was up and about and anxiously pacing his room when we went up to him.
“I cannot believe what I did,” said Bashir sadly, his voice filled with remorse. “I passed revenants on the road at night but I just ran. I never knew there was a swarm picking up right behind me.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I said, my tone conciliatory. “We’ve all had to run from those things. And besides, we have drugs of all kind looted from various houses. We’re not sure what they were for but perhaps you can tell us.”
“You want me to form a surgery,” said the doctor.
“Well you’ll have a few patients,” I told him. “There’s several elderly survivors including one with dementia. I know you won’t be able to work any miracles if any of us are bitten but it would be good to have you around.”
“Of course,” said the doctor graciously. “Compared to what I’ve been used to this place is a positive paradise.”

Immediately after seeing the doctor I called a meeting between myself, Kit, Paul, Hammond and Reverend Thorpe.
“We need to forget about the swarm last night,” I said. “It’s over now. We withstood it. Now we have to focus on the Elite. The doctor’s information was interesting but I think we need to see it up close.”
“There’s nothing for it,” said Paul. “We’re going to have to go out and spy on them for ourselves, aren’t we?”
“We are,” I acknowledged.
“And then what?” demanded Kit. “We’re never going to be able to take them on.”
“From what Dr Bashir told me this gang is formidable,” I said. “They actively go out enslaving groups of survivors and you can bet they were the ones behind the carnage we witnessed the other day. We can’t afford to take chances against them. We need to know exactly what we’re up against.”
“Can’t we just wait and see what happens?” Said Reverend Thorpe.
I shook my head. “Too much of a risk,” I told him. “What we’d actually be doing is hiding out and with supplies getting as short as they are it wouldn’t be long before we bumped into one another regardless. If the threat is too severe we may have to consider leaving and finding somewhere else. These people don’t seem like the type to negotiate.”
“Will you take Stan and Gloria this time?” Asked Hammond.
“Just myself, Kit and Paul,” I said. “We don’t have time to mess around on this one.”
So it was that myself, Paul and Kit set out early the following day in the vague direction north east. We were nervous and ill at ease but there was a sense of excitement as well. The revenant attack of the other day had made us feel even more vulnerable than ever. It was a sobering thought that there now appeared to be enemies ready to harass us from all directions.
“It’s always the three of us,” said Paul with a wry smile.
“On this occasion it has to be,” I replied. “I can’t afford to take those other three on an assignment like this, not with how they’ve been fucking up recently and we’re the ones with the most combat experience.”
“You make us sound like a bunch of SAS veterans,” laughed Kit.
“Given what we’ve already survived I’m not sure that’s too far from the truth,” I said.
“All the same we’re hardly trained for a stakeout. I mean I’m sure you are Grant but the rest of us…”
“What do you mean?” I asked her.
“Being in the army.”
“Oh yes, that.” I thought quickly. “Well it isn’t as if we’re going to do an actual stakeout,” I said at last. “We’re just going to see what’s up and get the hell out. We’re not going to get too close and we sure as hell aren’t going to be taking anybody on. Or at least if we do I don’t much fancy our chances.”
“All the same it would be good if you could teach us some moves,” said Paul hopefully.
“Moves?”
“Manoeuvres,” said Paul. “Or whatever it is you call them. Not now but in the future. You haven’t really done much of that yet.”
“Up until now we’ve only had to fight the revenants,” I said dismissively, trying to get off this topic of conversation before I let something slip. “Of course if things are about to change we’ll have to change accordingly.”
“How far is this place anyway?” Asked Paul.
“Forty miles as the crow flies looking at the map,” I replied. “Probably a seventy mile drive around these country roads.”
“Well I just hope we can make it there and back again with the truck,” said Kit. “God knows we can’t afford to lose another vehicle.”

We selected a route that avoided any towns or large villages. The last thing we needed was
to draw attention to ourselves and in the meantime we kept our eyes peeled for signs activity from the encampment. We came across cars that were burnt out and had clearly crashed then been pushed to the side of the road, and we could tell this from the sooty stains and metal debris that still lined the road. At one point there was a green jeep blocking the road, the only vehicle we had seen for miles that had not been pulled out of the way. I slowed to a stop. Three revenants came to meet us, all wearing a strange green uniform that whilst not entirely regular army was nonetheless distinctly military looking in appearance. I got out of the car and quickly finished the revenants off with the hammer. It was easy work compared with what I had dealt with the previous day but I knew I must not get too complacent. Afterwards I went to look inside the jeep. It was well stocked with a couple of rucksacks filled with food and camping equipment, which we took. The jeep itself was stuck fast in the ditch. I considered that we would try to pull it out on the way back, for it would prove useful in replacing the one I had recently destroyed.

The sun was out and
high in the sky when I glimpsed a passing reflection up ahead. I pulled the
car quickly into a layby. “What is it?” Demanded Kit. “Why are we stopping?”
“Look ahead,” I said, pointing to another road around half a mile away. The top of a truck could be seen progressing along it.
“I didn’t know they’d be this close,” said Kit worriedly.
“We can’t run the risk of meeting a military vehicle head on,” I said. “Not in this truck and especially not with what few weapons we have.”
“So what will we do now?” Asked Paul. “Walk?”
“Exactly,” I told him.

I drove the truck a little way down the wooded track
and parked it up in what I hoped was a secluded spot.
“What if somebody finds the truck?” Asked Kit.
“In that case it would be a long walk back to camp for us,” I replied with a shrug.

I took the hammer whilst Kit carried the shotgun and Paul a heavy iron bar.
These would be for the revenants only. If we ran into the Elite the best we could hope for was enough time to turn and run. Although the sun was out the temperature was almost freezing and an ice cold wind whipped around us as we walked. As we walked we began to notice ominous signs of recent human activity. Houses looked to have been systematically levelled and looted for their building materials. We saw bricks stacked in neat piles on top of pallets by the side of the road, as though awaiting collection. There were few revenants here. Perhaps they had already been cleared away by the Elite. In the distance we heard the hum of engines and we listened carefully for signs that it might be coming closer but the noises always remained somewhere in the middle distance. I wondered if perhaps we could negotiate with them after all, hoped deep down that the doctor was wrong, and that the Elite were actually perfectly reasonable people. Certainly with the resources they had they could do a great deal of good were they of the mind to.
“The manpower they must have had to do this must have been immense,” I said.
“Or rather they drove their slaves that hard,” replied Kit with trepidation.
“Either way they are organised,” said Paul.
“Maybe this is the future,” said Kit wearily. “Maybe this is how it will be for people from now on. The strong overrunning and enslaving the weak and a small elite running a tyranny, just like it was in the Roman era.”
“Now is hardly the time for social analysis or whatever it is you call it,” I retorted. “The Elite have seized power because they could and because they saw an opportunity they’re not motivated by history or any of that nonsense. All they care about is greed and themselves.”