Savage: An Apocalyptic Horror Novel (35 page)

Elsie stared at him a moment longer, but then she
smiled, more beautiful than ever.  He realised then that she was standing
in front of the
Patchwork Café. 
Suddenly the village felt familiar
again.  He was home. 

They ran towards each other, meeting in the middle of
the street and kissing while three-dozen strangers cheered them on. 
Edward was finally going to get to retire.

Davie was tired, weary, and pretty
damned
pissy
.  His feet were sore, his head
ached, and dust irritated his eyes.  Months of walking, avoiding the dead,
and half-starving had been no picnic.  But he could not stop.  He had
a mission and stopping was not an option.

Rebecca was suffering too, although she would never
admit to it.  She was a doer, not a talker.  She was a lot like her
father had been, someone who did what they had to do, no matter what. 
Rebecca’s father had been a great man, but if he were alive to see his
daughter, he would be proud.

“We should rest up for a while,” Davie said.  He
tried to make it sound like he was being chivalrous, but the truth was that he
was going to keel over if he didn’t get to sit down for at least twenty
minutes.

Rebecca glanced around.  They had stuck to
farmlands and fields.  It was easy to see the dead coming in the
countryside and livestock fences kept most of them at bay.  They had made
it all the way from the outskirts of Birmingham to forty miles past the
Scottish border in a little over three months.  Most days they woke at
dawn and marched until nightfall.  It was unsafe to travel in the dark, so
they usually looked for somewhere safe to haul up an hour or two before
dusk.  So far that afternoon they had found nowhere suitable. 
Scotland was a lot sparser than England was.

“You want to just stop, here in the field?” she
asked.  She didn’t sound against the idea, but Rebecca was naturally
cautious.

Davie shrugged.  “I think it’ll be fine. 
We’re surrounded by fields on all sides for miles
.  The
only danger is the woods up ahead but it’s far away enough to see anything
coming.”

Rebecca unslung her backpack and sat down on the
ground.  “Let’s catch a breath then.”

Davie pretty much fell to the ground so much as he
sat.  Immediately he took off his hiking boots and socks and shoved his
bare feet into the cold wet grass.  He sighed with delight.

Rebecca rolled her eyes and laughed.  “I can
carry you the rest of the way if you’d like?”

“I’m fine.  I just need a minute.”

“We may as well camp here.  It will be dark soon
enough and I don’t think we’re going to find anything today.  Where on
earth are we, anyway?”

Davie shrugged.  “I have no idea.  All I
know is we’re going north.”  Davie had swiped a compass from a hiking
shop.  He’d also taken full hiking gear, backpacks, and a mean-looking
knife.  Davie didn’t like knives, not since an incident in his childhood
involving his older brother, Frankie, but the need for one was too great. 
The dead were everywhere in the cities and they could pop out in the countryside,
too, from time to time.

Rebecca reached into her backpack and brought out a
bottle of water.  She swigged from it and handed it to Davie.  He
took it and finished it off, gasping.  “How are we doing for supplies?” he
asked.

Rebecca nodded.  “We’re doing okay.  That
supermarket in Carlisle saw us good for a few days more.”

Davie was glad to hear it.  They had been
surviving on loot since they’d left their safe house in Birmingham, raiding
supermarkets, garages, and houses.  But each time they went looking for food,
they faced danger.  The dead hung around where people used to.  That
was also where most of the food was.  The supermarket in Carlisle had been
full of stray dogs and crawling dead, half-eaten by the hounds.  It had
been a hairy twenty minutes while they rushed round with their backpacks open,
shoving in whatever hadn’t spoiled or been eaten by the dogs.

“You think we’ll ever get there?” asked Rebecca. 
“It feels like we’ve been travelling all our lives.  I mean, I’m kind of
enjoying the journey, after being stuffed up in that laundrette for months, but
I guess it’s hard to imagine ever reaching the end.”

Davie wouldn’t doubt that they would reach
Edinburgh.  He couldn’t doubt it.  It was the only thing keeping him
going.  “I’ll get you there,” he said.  “I owe you.”

Rebecca sighed.  “You don’t owe me anything.”

Davie disagreed.  Ten years ago, he had been a
fourteen year-old boy.  Ten years ago he had an older brother named
Frankie.  Frankie had terrorised Rebecca’s family and ruined her
life.  Davie had tried to help her in the end, but first he had stood by
while his brother took everything from her and her family.  After the
incident was over, with Davie’s brother dead, Rebecca’s father had become a
politician, working against thugs like Frankie.  Eventually Rebecca had
followed in his footsteps and had been close to becoming the mayor of Solihull
when the dead had risen.  Davie had been her PA, after having sought her
out to make amends for what he and his brother had inflicted upon her.  She
had welcomed him gladly and used his background and experience of disillusioned
youth to connect with the younger voters.  The two of them had quickly
become friends and Davie was able to bury a great many demons from his
past.  Her forgiveness had saved him.

“I do owe you,” he said.  “I’m going to get you
to Edinburgh.  I promise.”

Rebecca leaned over and patted his knee.  She was
beautiful, even covered in dirt and sweat.  Davie often thought about
kissing her, but knew that it would be a distraction.  He would get her to
her destination and then perhaps he could look towards better days, days where
love and romance were possible once again. 
If we get where we’re
going, we might just have a chance.  Everything is riding on what we’ll
find at the end of our journey.

Within the hour, Rebecca had lain down and fallen
asleep.  It was easy to sleep in the new world.  Everywhere was so
silent.  After sitting and watching her for a while, Davie lay down beside
her and closed his eyes as well.

He woke up to the dead all around him.  It was
dawn; a whole night had passed in the blink of an eye.  Somehow the dead
were nearby.  They stumbled in the distance, heading through the fields
towards him and Rebecca.

Rebecca was already sat up, awoken by the undead
moaning.  “What the hell?” she said.  “How did they know we were
here?”

Clatter
clatter
clatter
.

Davie looked off into the distance.  It was the
sound of gunfire, far distant but coming from the north.  “It wasn’t us,”
he said.  “Someone is fighting.”

“The Army?”

Davie shrugged.  “Maybe.  Come on.  We
have to get out of here.”

Rebecca nodded.  The two of them gathered up
their things as quickly as they could and got moving.  The dead were still
a quarter of a mile back, but they had a way of gaining on you.  They
never got tired and never had to stop for breath.

“Where should we go?” Rebecca asked, looking left and
right.

Davie sighed.  It sounded like a bad idea when he
said it, but his answer was, “Towards the gunfire.”  They hadn’t seen
other people in months, but if they had any hope of reaching their destination,
they would need to find a group of survivors who knew the way.

Rebecca looked unsure of
herself
,
but nodded.  She was always brave, always willing to do what needed to be
done.  The two of them set off across the fields, heading towards the
gunfire.  A thick forest a mile away prevented them from seeing the source
of the noise, but Davie assumed there was some settlement or village beyond the
trees. 
I just hope they’re friendly.  I can’t let anything happen
to Rebecca.  She’s the only hope we have.  Not only as a leader, but…

Rebecca screamed and tripped.  Davie reached out
to her just in time to see a dead man take a bite out of her ankle.  The
legless man had been crawling in the long grass.  Rebecca cried out in
pain and fell to the ground, clutching at her bleeding wound.  Davie
pulled out his knife and stabbed it down into the zombie’s soft skull.

He helped her back to her feet.  “Can you walk?”

She pulled herself up and nodded.  “Better than
that.  I can run.  Come on!”

The two of them set off again.  Davie looked back
and saw the pursuing dead men fade into the distance.  They would keep
coming in this direction, but if they could stay ahead of them, they would be
alright
. 
As long as whoever has the
guns doesn’t
decide to shoot me and take Rebecca.

They reached the treeline and headed into the
woods.  They were both disgusted to find a dead woman tangled up in barbed
wire beside a sign that read:  PRIVATE PROPERTY, but they avoided her
pawing fingernails and kept on running.  Wildlife scurried and fled into
bushes as they stomped their way through the weeds.  The gunfire continued
in the distance but was dying out, coming to an end.  Davie and Rebecca
picked up speed as much as they could, but Rebecca struggled with her bleeding
ankle.

Eventually the other end of the short forest opened up
and they suddenly found themselves at a small train station.  The sign had
long grown over with vines, but an old train stood abandoned on its
tracks.  Davie grabbed Rebecca and stopped her.  “Careful,” he
said.  “We don’t know what to expect.”

The one thing they did not expect was for the train to
start moving.  Davie hadn’t noticed it was a steam train, but he heard the
whistle and saw the smoke.

Rebecca staggered in surprise.  “Yikes!”

Davie did the first thing that came to his mind. 
He waved his arms and shouted.  “Hey!  Hey!  Don’t leave.”

The train continued, picking up speed.

“No!  Don’t leave.”

The brakes went on and the wheels screeched against
the tracks.  The train lurched forward and came to a stop.  A hundred
armed men jumped off and aimed their rifles at them Davie and Rebecca.

“Oh, crikey,” said Rebecca.  “I’m not sure
they’re taking anybody without a ticket.”

“Who are you?” shouted an older man with a great white
moustache, marching towards them.  He was dressed in army camouflage and
carried a large shotgun on his hip.

Davie held his hands up.  “We’re looking for
Edinburgh University.  My name is Davie Walker.  This is Rebecca
Goodman.  Her father was Andrew Goodman.”

“Never heard of ‘
im
,” said
the old soldier brusquely.

“He was a great man,” said Rebecca.  “There were
few in the world that fought for other people’s rights as much as he did.”

The old soldier shrugged.  “A girl is like to say
many good things about her father.  Don’t make ‘
em
true.  Let me tell you who I am, young lady.  I am Major Nielson of
the Royal Scots Borderers and you are the first two survivors I have seen in
many
many
moons.  It’s a shame I am going to
have to put you down.” He raised his shotgun.

Davie gasped.  “No!  Why?  We’re
innocent.  We’re just looking to get to the University.”

The Major pointed his shotgun at Rebecca and then down
at her bleeding ankle.  “She’s been bitten.  Most like, so have you.”

Davie shook his head and held his hands out for
mercy.  “No, no.  That’s why we need to get to the University. 
When the dead first started walking, all of the leading scientists relocated
there.  We need to see them.”

The Major narrowed his eyes, suspicious.  “Why?”

Rebecca stepped forward and rolled up her
sleeve.  “Because,” she said, pointing to the gnarled scar tissue on her
arm, “I’ve been bitten before and nothing happened.  I didn’t turn into a
zombie.  The wound healed and I was fine.”

The Major stumbled backwards, utter shock on his
face.  The other soldiers which backed him up began to mumble and
whisper.  “You’re having me on, lass,” said the Major.

“She’s not,” said Davie.  “I saw her get
bit.  I was meant to protect her, but some bad guys broke into the safe house
we were in and during our escape a dead Chinese man bit her.”

The Major guffawed.  “
Those
bloody chinks
.  They’ll eat anything.  Girl, answer me
truthfully.  Did you truly survive a bite?”

Rebecca nodded earnestly.  “I swear it.  I
got a fever for a few days but then I was fine.”

“Then get on the bloody train, you two.  We’re
heading to Edinburgh right now.  The eggheads will love you.  They’re
always on at me to get them samples, but they never expected to find anyone
with immunity.”

“You’ve been to the university?” said Davie
anxiously. 

“Aye, I bloody well studied there, lad, but it’s still
running now, if that’s what you mean.  There’re two dozen eggheads there
as we speak, sipping their tea and juggling their test tubes.”

Davie almost hopped with excitement.  “We need to
talk with them.  Rebecca can help them find a cure.”

The Major smiled and his moustache twitched. 
“Aye, she just well might.  Maybe if we’re lucky, we might just save the
bloody world. 
Anything to stop the bloody yanks from
being the ones to do it.
  All aboard,” he shouted.  “We’re
taking our new messiah to see the wise men.  If she turns into a zombie en
route, shoot her bloody head off.  If she doesn’t then we’re all going to
line up and kiss her pretty feet.”