The Dust: Book Two - Pursuit (8 page)

‘Hey, what are you doing?’ Lou protested.

Roger said nothing but placed his finger over his lips to hush the child. He had seen the truck before, it was over a week ago but he definitely remembered it.
Hexham racecourse, the two young thugs
. That was the old army truck that Angela and Lou had been picked up in too.

Roger slowly got to his knees and peered out of the window again, it was that truck. What the hell was it doing here?

Chapter Ten

‘Fuck, we are dead.’ Angel held Jake’s hand out of fear. The Nissan Navara was swamped with naked savages tearing it apart. There must have been thirty of them, some eating each other but most ripping away the bumpers and windscreen and destroying anything and everything. The whole world was turning mad, she shook her head, Angel wanted to scream but just couldn’t muster up the energy.

‘This way.’ Jake yanked Angel’s hand and headed back towards the burning barn.

‘It’s no use, look.’ Angel pointed to another six naked people heading their way from side of the burning rubble.

Jake spotted the orangery, it was filling with smoke but they could get through it. He bumped the door open and the glass shattered, Angel jumped back with fright.

‘It’s the heat!’ Jake shouted over the noise, ‘Don’t touch anything.’

Angel looked behind and could see the ‘infected’ were now trying to rip a burning goat to pieces unaware they were setting fire to themselves at the same time, it was like being in the middle of hell.

Jake went to open the kitchen door with his hand but could see it smouldering, inside was going to be a ‘no go’.

Before he could think of what to do next Angel picked up a tomato plant by its stalk and launched it at the window pane opposite.

The glass exploded and the rush of hot air knocked them both off their feet. Jake got up straight away and stumbled about in the smoke which was getting thicker by the second. He felt about for Angel and then touched her arm. He pulled her up and held her close to him. ‘Are you okay?’

Angel coughed and wiped her eyes, she couldn’t reply but pointed to the broken window. Jake led them both to the fresh air and they found themselves in the garage forecourt.

The fire had taken a hold of the garage but there were two vehicles parked outside the now buckling metal garage doors.

‘Cars!’ Jake shouted and ran to the first one, a dark blue Mercedes. He tried the door but it was locked, he looked inside to see if any keys had been left lying about, again he drew a blank.

Angel was doing the same, she was trying all the doors of the black Range Rover but like the Mercedes it was locked.

‘Can you hot wire a car?’ Jake asked.

Angel actually laughed, even in the dire circumstances they found themselves. ‘I know I've lived a bit of a colourful life but no, I can’t hot wire a car.’

Jake smiled back. ‘I had to ask.’

The two wooden doors which led to outside of the forecourt burst open with a loud thunderous boom and a large orange glow made both Angel and Jake hold up their hands to shield their eyes. The dark figures that loomed in front of the blaze were all too familiar though.

Jake counted seven, three men and four women, all intent on one thing, death by dismemberment.

Angel picked up a large iron rake which was obviously used to keep the gravel level and handed it to Jake. ‘Keep them at bay and I will look for something else.’

Jake couldn’t believe he had left his air pistol in the car, it was a massive schoolboy error but he couldn’t have foreseen what was going to happen.
Note to self, always carry a weapon wherever or whatever you are doing.

The first woman broke away and ran at Jake, her eyes mad with murderous lust. He didn’t wait for her to get too close and stepped towards her taking a huge swing at her head. It met with a nauseating crack and the blood shot through the broken bone, she crumpled to the floor shaking in the last throes of death.

Another woman slightly older and more portly stepped in line swiping her large fingernails across Jake’s face. They dug deep and stung and caused him to step backwards, he was off balance when the first man to attack rolled low and caught Jake’s legs.

The rake was thrown from his hands and he could feel the weight of the portly woman crash down onto his ribs, he thrust out his hands as her snapping teeth came within millimetres of his face.

Jake fought with every last drop of energy in his body but the woman was so strong. She was pushing and pushing and her large bloodied breasts were now pressing hard against his throat. Blood dripped from her mouth and bounced off Jake’s cheeks, he was losing the battle.

Angel ran back onto the gravel wielding an axe. She could hardly believe her luck when she found it propped up against the side of the garage in the gap next to the orangery.

The first man stood no chance as she came down hard on his shoulder and the metal blade smashed through his collar bone and into his chest. Without pausing Angel swung an uppercut into the second naked man who was clambering to his feet hollering like a banshee after knocking down Jake. It caught him under the chin and the jagged edge sliced through his throat and took the head clean off. Angel stumbled back, she had killed quite a few of the infected back at York castle but she hadn’t seen anything quite like that.

She looked around, she couldn’t see Jake. Another woman leapt at Angel, her hair on fire sizzling and fizzing down to her scalp. Angel stooped down to avoid her grappling arms and held the axe out, the woman stumbled and fell face first into the small stones.

Jumping to her feet Angel went on the attack but the third man came from behind ramming her in the back and knocking her on the gravel next to the naked woman. Before she could react the naked man thin but athletic was on top of her trapping her arms and the axe beneath her body. All Angel could do was wait for the teeth to sink into her skin and that would be it, an end to this living nightmare and a chance to escape forever.

Jake just about managed to tilt his head across the forecourt and he could see Angel face down on the floor, again he tried to get free but failed, the portly woman was now licking her cracked and bloodied lips. He could see many naked feet running around on the loose stone, it was all too much and he could feel his last breath slipping out of his throat.

He didn’t quite know what happened but all of a sudden the weight was released and he could see the smoke filling the starry evening sky once more. Sapped of energy Jake managed to roll over, crunching the gravel as he turned on his side, from there he watched what was going on from the forecourt floor.

He could see a horse and a giant of a man sitting on it slicing down the infected with two gleaming swords, he was laughing out aloud and killing them for fun. Jake wanted to point over to Angel but was too weak to do so, he tried to drag himself across the ground but it was useless, he was incapacitated.

Angel rocked back and forth trying to shift the naked man from her back but her hands were pressed tight against the stony ground. Then with a blood curdling cry the body was gone, she was free.

The first thing Angel did was to bury her axe in the back of the woman she had felled earlier then she searched for the man that had trapped her. She could see a dead body on the ground with a huge gash in the back and instantly thought Jake had saved her.

‘Behind you!’ A deep Welsh accent cried out to Angel who turned bloodied axe in hand.

Running at her was the last naked woman, a blonde. Hissing like a demonic snake she ran at Angel full pelt. Not standing on any sort of ceremony Angel let her have the face of the axe full force. The naked blonde was lifted off her feet and crashed to the ground gravel flying into the air. Before she could run over and finish the job a white horse dashed past and a man with shoulder length black and grey hair thrust a broad sword down into the infected woman’s neck.

Angel looked around, there were no more naked savages standing. ‘Who are you?’ She called over to the mystery rider.

The white stallion trotted over and the big man gazed down at Angel with dark brown eyes. The rugged face covered in thick black stubble then he spoke in a deep South Walian accent.

‘My name is Ianto Theodore Whitehead. My friends call me Yanto.’

‘Well Yanto I owe you one.’ Angel reached out to shake his hand.

Yanto shook the much smaller softer hand and looked over at Jake who was trying to get to his knees. ‘Is he yours?’

Angel surveyed Jake who looked as though he had gone ten rounds with the heavy weight champ. ‘Yes.’ She smiled. ‘He’s mine.’

Chapter Eleven

Amber ran through the streets of Caldicot and made her way to the cenotaph in the middle of the small welsh town. She had heard some screams and the clattering of tin cans but she had been a very brave girl and kept on running, not once did she turn to look to see what the noises were.

Amber sat at the bottom of the large cross to catch her breath, she knew where she was going, she had seen it before when Daddy had taken her to the park. It was a small hut where the grounds keeper kept his lawn mower, Daddy had told her how when he was a young boy he would go there with his friend Jeremy and hide. He always said the key was on a piece of old string just under the wooden hut where there was a small gap. Amber knew that’s where she would hide until Daddy came to rescue her.

First she had to get some food, she was hungry, Grandma had gone to get something to eat earlier but there was still no sign of her. Across the road lay a local supermarket, one window had been smashed, Amber moved a little closer to take a look. The shelves were empty and dusty, it was dark inside, there was only about one hour of sunlight left and even at her young age she knew it was now or never, no one would want to be outside after dark.

Tip-toeing her way through the broken glass Amber slipped into the shop and stood just inside. Rotten apples were scattered across the floor and tins of soup lay dented with labels all torn as if someone or something had been trying to smash them open. Walking in a little further she could see the old fridge where all the bottles of soft drinks were kept, as she drew closer she could see some at the bottom all piled up. Gently pulling open the door open Amber grabbed one unscrewed it and gulped it down. As the liquid registered on her taste buds she went to spit it out but the refreshing liquid was too much for her dry throat to reject. She drunk the small bottle in one go and then pulled it down from her now replenished lips.

‘Err.’ She said rolling her eyes. ‘Ginger beer.’ Amber hated ginger beer but beggars couldn’t be choosers and she grabbed a plastic bag from the counter and filled it with another six bottles. Next she searched for some food, she went straight to where the crisps were usually kept but all that greeted her was an empty space. Above was the chocolate counter, again not one bar was left. Next to the cash register were the mints and there were plenty of packets left, Amber took every single one. Ginger beer and Polo mints, not her idea of a feast but it was better than nothing.

As she turned to leave, the green door leading to the storeroom situated at the back of the shop burst open and the stand which held all the greeting cards flew into the air, Amber screamed. White envelopes skidded across the floor and then the fallen plastic stand was picked up and hurled across the counter. Amber screamed again, there, stood in the doorway a naked middle aged woman snarling and raking her bloodied hands across the shop wall. Amber recognised her as the woman that used to run the shop but couldn’t remember her name. Sniffing the air the crazed shopkeeper looked around, her shoulders twitching spasmodically, she couldn’t see from where the noise was coming from and it was driving her insane. Amber had squeezed herself around the side of the old fridge and it was only two quick steps and she would be out of the shop, she tried to move but fear had paralysed her.

The shopkeeper let out a humongous roar and blood sprayed over the floor covering the crisp white envelopes. Amber put her hands over her ears, it was all getting too much and she had to physically stop herself from whimpering by moving her shaking hand from her ear to her mouth.
Please Daddy, save me.
How she wished to see his face now, to help her.

Then a flash of black shot across the shop window and the light was momentarily eclipsed, Amber pressed herself even harder against the wall,
what was that?
She soon found out, the noise was horrendous as another naked body that of a teenage boy had leapt into the shop through the broken window and pounced onto the infected shopkeeper. Tins and shelving crashed down form the wall and plumes of dust rose from the shop floor, legs and arms became entwined and the sound of flesh being torn from the bone and the ensuing cries filled the air.

Amber knew this was her one and only chance, as soon as one of them was dead the other would come for her, she took a deep breath. Clutching her bag of soft drinks and mints she summoned up all the courage she had and flew from the side of the fridge. She glanced for a split second at the fight that was taking place but all Amber could make out was blood and dust. Leaping out of the window she ran as fast as her little legs would take her up past the cenotaph and across the main road towards the playing fields, her destination the grounds man’s hut and for the time being a safe place to hide.

Chapter Twelve

Roger Clough watched carefully from the edge of the window inside the village hall. The truck had been parked up for a few minutes but no one had appeared.

‘Who is it?’ Lou Pepper asked.

Roger placed his finger on his lips to quieten the little girl. ‘I don’t know?’ He whispered.

‘Is it Angel?’ Lou also whispered back, Roger shook his head.

The driver’s door of the old army truck then slowly opened and a man jumped out, Roger hadn’t seen him before but he looked a ‘wrong 'un’. From the other side of the truck two lads came into vision, Roger’s heart skipped a beat, he recognised them, it
was
the two hoodlums from Hexham.
What the hell were they doing here?
Surely this was too much of a coincidence, Roger couldn’t make sense of it. This part of the country was too open and too sparse for them just to ‘bump into each other’.