Safety Lost (Killing the Dead Book 3) (3 page)

The day passed quickly with the sun starting to set before five in the evening. I daren’t turn on the cars headlights, in case it attracted even more attention than the engine, so I was forced to find somewhere to stop for the night.

A number of houses could be found beside the country road I was travelling on and I saw plenty of farms. I was loathe to try a farm or the more out of the way properties as they would likely still have people in them and the potential to have people who were armed with shotguns at that.

I was in no condition to fight over a place to stay or supplies so I kept going until the last light had faded completely. At that point I pulled the car into the side of the road and turned off the engine. I drank some of the water and ate a little of the cold pasta that Lily had left for me, before making sure the car doors were locked and crawling onto the back seat to try and sleep.

Sometime during the night the rain began to fall heavily. I was cold and still damp and I discovered that one of the rear windows of the car had a leaky seal. When morning finally came I was irritable, wet and tired.

The road looked much as it had the day before. No movement of any kind and no vehicles. I left the car and relieved myself at the side of the road before stretching some of the kinks out of my aching muscles. Then I sat in the car and finished off the last of the food and water Lily had left me.

As soon as I had finished the supplies I started the car and continued my journey. It was surprisingly peaceful in this part of the countryside and if I hadn’t known better I wouldn’t even have suspected the dead had risen.

Rain continued to fall throughout the morning and it was nearing lunchtime judging by the grumbling reminders my stomach was sending out, when I came to the village of Shawforth. It was small and consisted mainly of homes with perhaps the occasional shop, which would be just fine for my needs.

I parked on the outskirts of the village and climbed out of the car. I didn’t seem to have attracted any attention of the undead kind so I decided it was safe to explore a little. The buildings were mainly old yellowed stone, rather than brick.

Trees lined the roads and the gardens that I could see were all generally well tended with neat lawns and flowerbeds free of weeds. I couldn’t see any zombies at all, which was a concern as it could indicate that they were all gathered in one place. I strolled down the main street, keeping a wary watch on the houses on either side. All seemed quite and normal, a few cars and a van or two were parked along the road.

As I came abreast of a side street I decided to travel along it rather than the main road through the village. I was curious about the lack of zombies and didn’t want to be surprised and surrounded while attempting to break into a house or two.

I reached the end of the street and turned right into the next and came to a stop. A number of cars had been parked across the road to provide a barricade and a group of men and women stood behind them with a variety of weapons.

“Stay where we can see you” called one of the men who happened to be carrying a shotgun aimed in my general direction. I did as instructed and even raised my hands in the air to show that I was not armed.

My arrival seemed to prompt a great deal of discussion from behind the makeshift barricade. “What do you want?” called out the same fellow with the shotgun.

“I was just passing through and had a thought to see if I could find some food and maybe a change of clothing” I replied calmly with a downward tilt of my head to indicate my filthy clothes.

“See, he’s another thief” shouted one red faced woman as she gestured towards me.

“Not a thief, merely a scavenger.” I said quickly. It was best to cut off that line of thought as rapidly as possible.

“There’s nothing here for you young man.” Called a tall lady who must have been well into her sixties and seemed to be in charge, considering the deferential way the others treated her.

“Nothing. Really?” I said and let a little of the usual disdain I felt for others creep into my voice. “You would turn someone away who is asking for help during a time of chaos?”

“We have to look out for ourselves” snapped the shotgun wielder and a number of voices echoed his sentiment.

“Well then, I suppose I should leave” I said and gazed at each person behind the barricade in turn as I attempted to look each in the eye. “Perhaps you could at least offer some directions to a village that contains people who still hold onto some trace of civilization.”

I tried not to grin at the upset and anger that was growing on the faces in front of me. The lady who appeared to be in charge didn’t look at all amused.

“We are civilized young man” she said sternly. “We have a number of people to protect and can ill afford to feed another.”

“Of course, I would not dare to suggest you are anything other than kind and pleasant people.” I told her with all the false sincerity I could muster and was rewarded with a slight flush appearing on her cheeks.

“Enough!” she said. “You would do well to leave now before you say something you will regret.”

“Yes, perhaps I should.” I said, “After all it wouldn’t do to have someone making a scene would it?” and this time the grin did come out.
      

I turned and walked back down the road towards my car as angry voices rose behind me. As fun as it was to annoy those people, it didn’t really help. If they had decided to hole up in that one area then the houses around the village would likely be empty of anything of use.

As I reached the car I looked back towards the barricade that I could no longer see. A group of three men stood at the end of the street watching me. They had obviously decided to make sure that I left without trying to steal anything from the houses. I gave them one last sneer that they probably couldn’t even see and then climbed into the car.

The engine started first time and I drove slowly along the street. I flashed a grin at the group of men as I passed and was rewarded with seeing one of them flush and swing his bat angrily at the car as it passed. He missed.

If people in these outlying villages were starting to hunker down and ‘circle the wagons’ then scavenging any food would be difficult. I could try and find somewhere that had already been wiped out and pick over the remains, I could stick to houses and farms that were out in the countryside or I could wait until dark and head back into the village. I chose the latter option.

Those people in the village had refused to offer aid to me and as far as I was concerned that meant they were no longer classed as innocent, so Lily’s rules didn’t apply. I smiled at the thought of the fun I could have.

A mile out of the village I pulled up outside a service station. It was decidedly run down, a wooden box with a single door and a window with a counter behind it were all that remained of the petrol station part of the business. The pumps themselves had long been removed and the forecourt sat damp and empty.

Beside the remains of the petrol station was a small garage. A rectangular building painted white with a sign above the wide doors that proclaimed it to be ‘Jim’s Service Station’ and provided a telephone number.

The doors were made of wooden panels and were wide enough that when opened a car could drive through. A lone zombie in overalls leant forward onto the doors as though lacking the energy to push through.

I climbed out of the car and cast about for a weapon of any sort. With little to choose from I settled on a loose brick that had fallen from the low wall that ran around the sides and back of the service station.

Whoever the zombie had been in life, his death hadn’t been pleasant. His overalls were torn and stained with blood and bile. His skin was greying and nothing but a hole remained where his nose had once been.

He turned as I stepped from the car and stood watching me as I picked up the brick. I was mildly concerned by his behaviour as it was so different from the others I had seen. I moved slowly across the forecourt and his head turned to watch me.

Since he didn’t seem inclined to come to me, I went to him. Brick held ready in my hand I stalked forward until I was just a few meters away from him. His odour was repulsive and I guessed that at some point during his death he had soiled himself. I stood and stared at him for a moment, tense and ready for him to make his move. When he didn’t I leapt forward and swung the brick.

The brick hit the door as the zombie ducked and thrust his whole body against mine, knocking the air from my lungs and barrelling me backwards to land on my backside. I had barely a moment to gasp for breath and marvel at the unexpected behaviour before he was on me.

Gnarled hands pushed down against my shoulders as he leant in to bite at my exposed throat. I had kept hold of the brick and I struck the zombie with it as hard as I could. He shuddered as my blow connected with his skull but it didn’t stop him. I struck again and grabbed him by the throat with my free hand as I attempted to push him away from me.

Dark blood fell as the brick finally cracked open his skull. One final blow and the zombie went limp and fell against me. I dropped the gore covered brick and pushed the stinking corpse away from me. The semi-congealed blood that seemed to flow through the zombies veins covered my jacket and I hastily slipped out of it and left it on the floor.

I was going through clothes at an astounding rate and with the cold weather I couldn’t afford to be without the warmth provided by a thick jacket. No matter how cold it was though I couldn’t bring myself to wear something so coated in infected blood.

The zombie’s behaviour was not typical and his speed and coordination was worrying. My survival so far had relied greatly on the relative stupidity and lack of agility and coordination of the undead. If they were changing in any way then I would be in trouble.

Something had caught the attention of the zombie and I was curious enough to want to know what it was. The door was locked and lacking anything to actually try and open it with I decided that the best policy would just be to knock.

I banged loudly on the door and called out several times, informing anyone who may be hiding within that I was alone and still very much alive. I waited several minutes and was about ready to think that anyone who was inside was dead when I heard the click of a lock turning.

The door was segmented and when it opened, it folded to one side. It opened a few inches, just enough for whoever was inside to get a look outside.

“Is he gone?” asked the young girl.

Chapter 4

She must have only been about eight years old. Pale blue eyes, red from crying looked up at me from an oval face. I was momentarily speechless. I had not expected to find a child inside the building.

“Yes. Are you alone?” I asked.

“No my sister’s here” she said, not opening the door any further. I silently applauded her good sense not to trust a stranger.

“How long have you been in there?”

“A long time, Sara’s hurt. Are you here to help her?” she asked, her expression turning hopeful.

I stared down at her as I considered my response. I had no intention of making my journey any harder than it already was and sticking around to help a couple of kids would definitely make things more difficult. On the other hand I had some time to kill until it was dark enough to head back into the village and the garage would be an ok place to stay until then.

“Sure. I will do what I can for her.” I assured the child and she eagerly pulled open the door enough for me to step through.

The garage was full of tools and I saw that I could find plenty of items that would serve as weapons. I was shaken from my perusal of them when the child took my hand in hers and led me through the garage to a small office.

Grimy windows set high into the walls were the only source of light and that was barely enough to see where I was walking. Inside the office I could just make out a shape slumped in the chair.

I cautiously approached the chair and instructed the child to wait by the door. A tentative touch told me that Sara was no longer alive. Her body was cold and still beneath my hand. I gently probed her body to find the reason for her death. I had no intention of being in the same small room as someone who had died from being bitten.

“What happened, how did she get hurt?” I asked when my probing found no visible wounds.

“Her car crashed.” The little girl said. “She hurt herself then and that bad man was chasing us so she brought me here.”

If nothing else, the dead girl had my admiration. She likely had some internal injury from the crash but had still managed to bring her little sister to a place of safety to hide from the undead. A futile effort admittedly as it would have been a slow death by starvation if I hadn’t turned up, but a noble effort at least.

“Can you help her?” the girl asked.

“Your sister is dead. No one can help her now.” I said and the girl burst into tears. I realised that I should have been a little more diplomatic and silently wished for Lily to be here to help deal with the girl.

She sat on the floor as huge racking sobs shook her small frame. I had no idea how to deal with the situation and my usual method of either walking away or permanently silencing the person weren’t really feasible.

I lowered myself to sit by the girl and gently patted her back. I thought back to my travels with the group and tried to remember how they dealt with things like this. I made some sounds that I hoped were soothing and continued to pat her.

The girl pressed close and wrapped her arms around me, needing human contact so badly that she would take what comfort she could from a stranger. She cried for a time until exhausted she fell asleep against me.

It wasn’t long before I had an ache in the small of my back from sitting on the hard floor with no back support. Every time I tried to move the child stirred and whimpered and I had to settle back in place or risk her waking and subjecting me to more weeping.

I clenched my free hand into a fist and pushed it against the ache in my back in an attempt to knead the pain away. It didn’t work. With a sigh I shifted my weight and considered what options I had for dealing with the child.