The Dead Walk The Earth (Book 4) (43 page)

“Frank,” Al called out as he threw open the doors, recognising the recluse who had helped him and Tommy find their way through the sewers. “Come on, get in here.”

Frank reached the bus and was closely followed by Jeff, his faithful dog. They jumped inside panting and groaning while Al and the survivors looked on at them in shocked disbelief.

“Fucking wankers,” he huffed. “Looks like I’m coming with you now, I suppose.”

22

The firing in the distance had stopped. It had been over three hours since the last of the rifle chatter had ceased to echo up to them from the streets of the city below. For quite some time the survivors had crowded the hilltop, staring out over the suburbs and towards the south while watching tracer rounds sailing lazily into the air as they ricocheted from hard objects. The sound of battle had lasted long into the night, but eventually petered out into sporadic fire before falling completely silent. All attempts at making contact with the depot group had failed, and it was concluded that they had either lost their radio, or the dead had overwhelmed them.

Stan remained standing close to the wall of the observatory watching for any signs of Charlie and his men. The land was dark and silent and gave no indication that there was anyone still alive in the area of the bus depot. There had been no more gunfire, transmissions, or even the faint glow of headlights as the expected vehicle made its way through the crumbling streets and towards the rendezvous.

“I don’t think they’re coming,” Tina said dejectedly while standing at his side and studying the lowlands.

Stan said nothing, but he was thinking the same thing. The time had been and gone for Charlie to have made it out. The last that they had heard was that they were about to attempt to start the engine.

He looked to his left. The eastern horizon was still dark, but it would not be long now before dawn began making itself known to the dark land. They would soon pass the cut-off time and need to begin moving with or without the depot team. The thought of heading for the coast on foot was not a welcome one, but with no other option, they would have to begin once that first light arrived, searching for food and safe locations to hole up in during the nights along the way. Travelling in the dark across the infested wasteland of Britain would be suicidal with the amount of young, sick, and wounded they would be dragging with them.

“In ten minutes I’ll send Taff and Bull ahead of us with the SUVs. They can clear the route and maybe even find other vehicles if we’re lucky.”

She nodded, knowing full well that their chances of discovering serviceable vehicles that were capable of carrying them to the coast was extremely slim at best.

“There’s room enough for ten passengers if we squeeze them in,” he continued. “I suggest you pick the weakest members of your group to go.”

“And what about the rest?”

“Tina,” Stan said and needing her to look at him. She turned and stared back into his unblinking, cold eyes. “Not baggage. Do you understand? Only choose those who are likely to survive the journey.”

She understood completely. There were a few people amongst them who were too weak or injured to walk, and there were others that were unlikely to survive the coming hardships of a forced march in cold weather and with virtually no food or medical supplies. Stan was making it clear that he and his men were not there to carry people and that the survival of the fittest would be the deciding factor of who would get to travel in one of the vehicles. However, she wondered what Stan expected her to do with the men and women who were not likely to make it to the coast, but she dreaded to ask his advice.

Tina shivered and rubbed her palms over the jacket covering her upper arms. She was cold and hungry, tired and losing hope just as rapidly as the rest of the disheartened survivors that were all clustered together behind her and waiting for her to lead them to safety. They had lost a lot of people during the evacuation, and now it seemed that the majority of the militia, along with Al and Tommy, had become more regretful statistics in the fight against the dead.

“We’d better get ready then,” she sighed, turning to head towards her people to begin preparations for the move out.

Something caught her eye from far off in the distance. A shimmering light streaked across the dark sky and left a glowing trail in its wake. For an instant she thought it may have been another flare from whoever was still clinging to life down in the base, but she quickly realised that it was not the case. The object was far too high to be a flare, and it was travelling in the wrong direction. Instead of going upwards, it was plummeting down towards the ground.

“Meteor?” she asked, aware that Stan had also noticed it.

“More likely a satellite,” Stan replied with a shrug as the object broke into a number of pieces, each creating its own shimmering tail of sparks. “A lot of the ones in low orbit will have already come down with no one to maintain and correct their positions. There’s probably still a few of them floating around up there.”

“Even the things we put into space are falling apart,” Tina grumbled, feeling despair beginning to surge within her.

“Think of it as an omen, if you’re that way inclined. A good one of course.”

Despite their situation, she suddenly felt small and insignificant in comparison to the scale of the universe. It had been a long time since she studied the night sky, and it was something that she had pretty much forgotten about. In the old days, before the dead began to walk, she used to sit and watch the stars and the vast space above her for hours, reminding herself that her problems and concerns were petty in comparison to the immensity of the heavens. It had been one of her ways of dealing with issues and finding a perspective. Now she was being reminded that, although she and her people had suffered great trials and losses and still had more to come, they were trivial matters and would make absolutely no impact on the continued existence of the universe and time.

“Time to get these people moving,” she grunted, and turned away.

She went to find Paul. With Greg dead, Flash wounded, and Al and Tommy missing, he was the only person left that she could now rely on to assist her. The cream of the base had perished over the years with the majority of them being lost in the last twenty-four hours. All that was left were the young, weak, and old. There were physically fit and healthy people amongst the survivors, but they lacked the inner strength and courage to fight or assist with the tough decision making. Before the walls came down the more gentle members of the colony had their uses in the daily running and upkeep of the base. Not everyone was expected to be a soldier or a leader. Some people were just too traumatised to barely function on a day to day basis; never truly recovering through the passage of time. Some were capable of pulling themselves together and rebuilding their minds behind the walls, but never able to contemplate ever leaving the base again. It was something that was to be expected. Some people were just mentally and emotionally more robust than others.

Now, when the struggle for survival was at its toughest, she began to wonder if there was any use for most of them at all. The best of them were gone, leaving only the needy and infirm. She checked herself, realising that she was beginning to think a little too much like Stan and was becoming governed by ruthless and unemotional logic, rather than compassion and humanity. They were still her people, and she would do all that she could for them.

She found Paul. He was standing with his wife and daughter, his arms wrapped around them as they shivered and their eyes glistened in the cold air. He was speaking quietly to them, reassuring them that all would be okay even though he did not believe it himself. He saw Tina approach and stepped towards her, not wanting his family to hear anything that she had to say in case it was less than good news.

“I need you to help me identify ten people who’ll travel ahead in the vehicles.”

“Yeah, of course,” he nodded. “Any word on the buses?”

“They need to be people who don’t stand a chance of making the journey on foot,” she replied, ignoring his question and hesitating before continuing. She looked at him, her eyes unblinking and becoming like stone. “But they can’t be anyone who is likely to die either.”

There was an audible intake of breath from Paul as her words struck home. He was an intelligent man and did not need to have everything spelled out for him. She was being evasive and almost cryptic, but he understood her meaning. He looked around and immediately knew that their dwindling numbers would shrink even further over the coming days. Already he could see people becoming weak and exhausted. Sickness would soon become an added concern due to the lack of food and shelter.

“Flash should be one of them,” he said coldly. “He’s hurt and should be in one of the vehicles. We need people like him to survive this. I suggest that the kids go, too.”

“Agreed.”

Paul turned around and looked back at his wife and daughter. They were both watching him with scared and expectant eyes. He wanted them to be safe and warm, but his sense of honour and duty spoke to him and would not allow him for even a moment to consider trying to find them a place on the vehicles when there was limited room and others that were less capable of making the journey. He would keep them with him, close and as safe as possible.

He turned back to Tina and was about to say something, but they were interrupted by a flurry of activity from the other side of the clearing. They saw a number of figures sprinting towards the observation building. Tina recognised the large shape of the man they called Bull, moving fast, along with a few of the others.

“What’s happening?” Paul asked, following after Tina as she took off towards them.

By the time Tina and Paul had made it to the spot where they were standing, Bull and Taff were already turning away and running back towards the track.

“Someone’s coming,” Stan hissed to them as he sprinted by, following after his men. “Get everyone stood to. Quietly.”

“Wait,” Paul gasped, grabbing Tina by the arm as she made to follow. “Listen.”

She stopped and cocked her head, listening into the night. From somewhere below them, coming from the suburbs, she could hear the distant grown of an engine. It sounded big and laboured, as though struggling up a steep hill. The sound was familiar to her although it was something that she had not heard in many, many years.

“It’s a bus,” she gasped, grinning broadly and unable to contain her delight at hearing the sound. “They made it.”

Down on the road Stan stood waiting and listening as the sounds of the engine continued to grow. Bull and Taff pushed forward along the roadside and through the trees with Mark, checking that the area was clear and knowing that there would be a lot of people flooding the road within the next few minutes. The last thing they needed was for a horde of the undead to come charging through the woods while they attempted to mount the vehicle.

Further along the lane, a faint glow appeared as the headlights blazed from around a bend, growing brighter and illuminating the tunnel of trees that cocooned the approaching vehicle. Tina came to a stop beside Stan, her heart beating heavily in her chest as her hope grew and filled her to the core. She was incapable of holding back the relieved smile from her face while at the same time, trepidation began to bubble inside her as she anxiously waited to see who had made it through.

A dark, boxy shape appeared from around the bend with its lights dazzling in the otherwise black landscape. Tina shielded her eyes but refused to turn away from the approaching bus for fear of it being nothing more than a cruel trick of the mind; a mirage sent to torment them and then suddenly disappearing again along with all their hopes.

It grumbled towards them, struggling with the incline of the hill, and eventually coming to a stop in a hiss of brakes while the sputtering engine continued to groan and shudder, and coughing out black, nauseating clouds from its exhaust. The vehicle was a wreck. Years of mould and rust covered almost every surface, but there was a lot of damage that was clearly more recent. Nearly every window was broken, and the front of the bus was covered in dents and scuffs with huge streaks of blood coating the paintwork and cracked windshield. Dark shapes moved inside, the sound of heavy footsteps and the lamenting groans of tired and hurt people drifting out from the gaping windows.

The doors opened and a large figure stepped out onto the asphalt, his heavy boots scuffing against the road’s surface as his legs, drained of strength and energy, struggled to lift his feet. It was Al. He looked unsteady, exhausted, and ready to collapse as he swayed and fought to remain upright.

Tina and Paul rushed towards him, happy to see him but concerned about his state. They could not help but consider the fact that he may have sustained serious wounds during the battle for the depot.

“Water,” he gasped, as Tina tucked herself under his huge arm, supporting him as they staggered to the side. “Get us some water.”

More of the people on board began to step out, looking just as drained and dishevelled as Al. There were fewer of them than had started out, and many of them were needing to be helped, either through fatigue or injuries. Tina watched them and instinctively knew that some of them were nursing bites.

“How many?” she asked, helping Al around to the front of the vehicle as Paul went in search of water and what medical equipment he could find.

“Twelve,” Al grunted, dropping into a squatted position with his back resting against the blood-stained grill of the bus. “We lost twelve, and we’ll lose more soon.”

“Where’s Tommy?

He slowly shook his head, turning away with regret and shame.

“He’s here, but he won’t make it.”

Shaking her head and taking a step back, Tina hoped that she had misheard or misunderstood him, but when Al turned back to face her again, she no longer needed any confirmation. Her body sagged abruptly as though a valve had just been opened and the air was escaping. Her heart skipped a number of beats, and her guts twisted themselves into tight knots as she placed a hand over her forehead. She turned away and then looked back at him. She did not know what to do. She shuffled her feet as though she was going to climb aboard the bus, but then stopped and stepped back towards Al, raising her hand again and covering her mouth. Every negative emotion that the human body was capable of feeling was attacking her all at once. An indescribable pain radiated out through her body, emanating from her misfiring heart as the news sunk in and tore at her soul and began devouring her from within.