Winter Smith (Book 1): London's Burning (46 page)

              “But you’re different to anyone else I’ve ever been with. You’re understanding, you’re cute and there’s something about you that I really love.”

              He looked up at her and bit his lip.

              “I love you.” He said with a shrug.

              Winter smiled slightly, but she felt slightly panicked. Love had always frightened her. She had never really had an opportunity to be in love with anyone. Except for a girl in a history class when she was younger, but nothing had happened there.

              “I’m glad we found each other again.” Connor leant in for a kiss, and Winter kissed him back. She liked Connor, but she didn’t know if she loved him. What was she supposed to say? Should she say the same and not mean it?

              Then they heard running footsteps, crunching over fallen leaves and fallen twigs.

              Winter and Connor broke apart. The turned in fear, expecting to see zombies hurtling their way, but instead they saw Oliver.

              “Oh my god, he’s bleeding.” Connor gasped.

              “Run, they’re behind us, run.” Oliver shouted.

              He barged through Winter and Connor, knocking Winter off her feet. Connor hurried to pick her back up.

              “Has he been…?” Winter began to ask, dusting the dirt off her clothes.

              Something fell in the woods behind them.

              “I don’t know, but we need to get back to camp,” Connor said.

              They did just that. They could see Oliver running, knew they needed to keep close together. Winter gripped Connor’s hand, not wanting to lose him or let him go.

              She had felt safer by the woods, surrounded by trees. Now, being out in the openness of the park, it just made her realise how vulnerable she was.

              They finally reached the wall of the memorial park and Connor lifted her over the wall before climbing over himself.

              Winter could see that Oliver, who was lying on the ground clutching his bleeding arm, spooked everyone else. Gerry and Laura were knelt next to him, trying to calm him down to hear what had happened, while William was stood above them holding a gun which was slightly pointed in the direction of Oliver, should he turn.

              “Shh, shh, Oliver, tell us what happened.” Laura soothed, looking at the others for guidance.

              “Has he been bitten?” William asked.

              “I can’t tell if it’s a bite or just a wound.”

              Oliver began to sit up, and William trained his gun to Oliver’s head. Winter stepped forward, craning down to look into Oliver’s eyes.

              He looked back at her, a look that was empty and bored but not dead.

              “I’m fine,” he said, still clutching his arm, where blood was still pouring. “I haven’t been bitten, either.”

              “Then what ‘appened?” Gerry asked.

              “Helena is dead.”

              Everyone was shocked. Nobody said a word. The only sound came from Laura, who had gasped.

              “What do you mean?”

              “It’s obvious, she’s dead,” Oliver said, his voice frosty. Winter noticed the scene of panic and upset he had caused just a moment ago was gone. He was empty and emotionless again. “She waited for those pair.”

              Oliver glared at Winter and Connor. His look was accusatory, as if it had been their fault Helena had waited to meet her end.

              “And I came back to get her. It was getting dark. She couldn’t wait in those woods alone. Then two of those zombies came, and they attacked us. Helena tried to get them with a knife she had but she got me instead, and when she was apologising they jumped onto her.”

              “How many were there?” Connor asked.

              “I just said. Two.”

              William had lowered his gun. Laura was crying. Gerry hadn’t uttered a single word.

              “And how did you escape?” Winter asked. She didn’t buckle under the stare of Oliver. One that was untrustworthy, poisonous and malicious.

              “I tried to help her. I tried to save her. But then she turned, and so I ran. I left them.”

              “Oh no,” Laura was saying. “Oh no, she can’t be dead.”

              “You don’t look like you were attacked yourself,” William said.

              “What do you fucking call this, mate?” Oliver challenged, holding up his wounded arm.

              “I mean, if you tried helping her, you don’t look particularly flustered, or dirty.”

              “I looked dirty anyway. We all fucking do. A little bit more dirt is hardly going to show up. She turned. She was a goner as soon as she stopped to help me.”

              “Where is she now?” Connor asked.

              “In the woods. She’s one of them.”

              Connor and William exchanged glances.

              “I’m going to go and find them,” Connor said.

              Gerry looked at him. It was the first time he had looked away from Oliver since his revelation.

              “You can’t.” Winter gasped, before anyone else could talk. She couldn’t see him go back to those woods. What if he never came back?

              “She’s right, Connor,” Gerry said. His voice was strained. “It’s too dark. It’s too dangerous.”

              “If there are zombies out there, we need to kill them, Gerry.” Connor argued. “We need to make sure they don’t come any closer.”

              “We’re locked in. We’re safe here.” Laura whispered. “Besides, what is the point? Helena is one of them now.”

              William was looking at Gerry, waiting for his instructions. Winter wondered what they were all thinking. Nobody seemed to be sympathetic to Oliver at all, considering he had supposedly just witnessed Helena’s death.

              “We have to leave ‘ere,” Gerry said. “We have to leave ‘ere tonight, I think.”

              “You just said it’s too dangerous in the dark,” Connor said.

              “Yes, it’s too dangerous ‘ere.” Gerry nodded. “Nobody sleeps tonight. We wait for the sunrise and we get out of ‘ere together.”

              Gerry stood up and held out his hand to Oliver. Oliver took it with his good hand and was pulled to his feet.

              “Laura, go and find us a first aid kit. That arm of Olly’s needs to be seen to.”

              Oliver’s jaw clenched, but with a slight shake of his head any emotion he had had was gone. He glanced at Winter, who was watching him, working him out.

              Connor looked slightly out of place. He ran a hand over the back of his head.

              “Gerry, let me just go and see if there is any chance Helena is alive…”

              “No.”

              Gerry turned away from Connor and followed Laura to the tent. She disappeared inside and Winter knew she would be crying. She suddenly remembered that the memory of Helena was all over that tent. Winter was also wearing her clothes. She suddenly felt odd.

              “Connor…”

              “Just give me a second.”

He glanced over at Gerry, who was bending down to enter Laura’s tent. Connor turned and headed to the wall. Winter wanted to shout after him, but if she did so she would alert the others. Instead, she began to follow.

              “Where are you going?”

              “I just want to check something.”

              “You can’t. You heard what Gerry said. It’s too dangerous. We’ve already lost Helena, we can’t lose you.”

              “Winter, I won’t be going far.”

              “I can’t lose you, Connor.”

              Connor stopped next to the wall. He looked at Winter.

              “Why not?”

              “I guess I love you, too.”

              Connor wrapped his arms around Winter. She hugged him back. He smelled her hair, rubbing his hands over her shoulder.

              “I’m not going anywhere, Winter. I will only be about five minutes. I just need to check something, okay?”

              The pair broke apart, and Winter looked into his eyes. She noticed how brown they were, how honest. She knew he could look after himself. He was smart, he knew how to survive.

              “Don’t be long.”

              “Wait here with the others.”

              Connor checked Gerry was not looking before leaping over the wall.

              Once over, he hurried to a set of trees where he could see the memorial garden but he could not be seen.

              He sat down on the ground; aware he was cast in the dark and the shadows. He muffled the sound of the walkie-talkie being turned on and spoke into the device.

              “Did you hear her?”

              He waited. He didn’t know if anyone would be on the receiving end.

              The device came to life in his hands. He jumped.

              “Yes, I heard her,” A male voice said. Young, but important. “What are your plans now?”

              “We’ve just lost one of our team. Gerry says we have to leave the park tonight.”

              “Good, good,” The voice said, slightly crackled. “The last boat is leaving the Thames soon. You don’t have long left.”

              Connor waited for the person on the other end of the talkie to leave their transmission open before speaking.

              “I know. I realise that. We’ll be out of here soon. Are you going to meet us at the docks?”

              “I am.”

              Connor waited. He thought about what to say next. But before he could say anything else, the device made a noise again.

              “I don’t care if anyone else dies. But you keep her alive. We need her.”

              “Yes, sir.”

              Connor knew the conversation was over. He knew there was nothing else to say. He hid the walkie-talkie in his pocket and rested his head in his hand, trying to get a few minutes of calm before going back to camp.

              Winter approached the tent back in the memorial garden, where she knew Laura would be crying. She popped her head in and saw Gerry was patting Laura’s knee. Laura’s face was red, her eyes wet, but she seemed to have stopped crying for the moment. Gerry had successfully managed to console her. They both smiled at Winter as she climbed in, zipping up the tent door behind her.

              “Are you okay?” Winter asked, already knowing the answer.

              Laura shrugged. She had been close to Helena, despite being so young. Laura was only a year younger than Winter, but she could see she was still just a little girl, lost in this newfound world.

              “We’ve lost people before her, but obviously Helena made her mark.” Gerry explained. “I knew her from uni.”

              “I’m sorry.”

              “We weren’t close.” Gerry shook his head. “Few classes, knew her as a teen. We only made friends here, really.”

              “Still, we’ve lost someone important.”

              Gerry and Laura nodded.

              “So where are we going to go in the morning?” Winter asked. She was glad they had decided to move. She was beginning to feel like they were wasting time, and time right now was vital.

              “We’re not too far from central London,” Gerry said. “I think the M1 is nearby.”

              “So we’re heading there?”

              Gerry nodded. He let go of Laura who began to wipe her eyes and pack up her stuff slowly.

              “Laura thought it would be a good idea to get driving a car, if we can find one,” Gerry said. “It would get us to London quicker.”

              “That would surely alert the zombies, though.”

              Making noise was a bad idea to Winter. She also thought that the closer they got to London itself, the bigger the chance of bumping into the dead.

              “It’s all we have now.” Gerry sighed. “Everyone is growing tired. Everyone is becoming tense and paranoid. We all just want out.”

              “No more deliberating.” Laura croaked.

              Winter agreed. If the only chance they had was to get into London by car that was what they would have to do. Winter knew what Gerry had meant about people getting paranoid. Losing everything they had gotten used to and always known had put people back to times they had never experienced. Everyone thought everyone else was against them in someway, and even the most selfless person would want themselves to escape more than someone else.

              “Have we got enough to get to the M1?” Winter asked Gerry. She was trying to ask the question in a casual way. She knew Laura wasn’t stupid, but she knew she was tender. She didn’t want to upset her anymore than she already was.