Blog of the Dead (Book 1): Sophie (20 page)

Ravaged arms reached in through the window we’d not long ago climbed through. But me and Kay ignored them. The window was high enough that they wouldn’t be getting in that way any time soon. Liam joined us now, rolling down the legs of his jeans. Kay passed him his sword.

We cautiously trotted towards the central staircase, in case there should be any zombies lurking behind the displays of make-up and toiletries. Some of the zombies outside the big front windows spotted us. They began pushing against the glass, some striking the windows with their rotting hands, others hurling themselves against it.

8.50pm Day 68
We found the girl, two flights up the winding central staircase. She had climbed through a dormer window in the underwear department, and stood right on the edge of the roof to my left, looking down at the zombies below. I didn’t know if she knew we were there, so I positioned myself at the window and spoke softly to get her attention, not wanting to scare her off the edge.

‘Um … hi,’ I said, at a loss as to the correct manner to approach a suicidal person.

The girl gasped and turned to look at me. Her long hair covered her face, clumps of it sticking to her tear soaked cheeks, but I could see that she was pretty, perhaps late teens, twenty at the most.

‘Where did you …’

‘We were passing, my dear. We saw you, thought you might like some company …’ said Liam from beside me, on my right.

‘Please leave me alone. I can’t do this any more. They’re never going to stop. They’ve taken everything and everyone. They may as well have me, too, on my terms.’ The girl shuffled forwards. I thrust my arms out of the window.

‘Um … I’m going to hold onto your legs now if you don’t mind,’ I said, taking the risky step of wrapping my arms around both of her legs. She stopped moving. I saw that as a good sign.

‘Why don’t you come inside and we can talk about it,’ I said to her.

It was about then that I heard an almighty crashing sound from downstairs. I turned my head to see Kay shoot off towards the staircase. She came running back moments later shouting, ‘They’re in. They’re bloody in!’

‘Okay, change of plan,’ I said to the girl. ‘I need you to shove up, we’re coming out to you.’

She looked startled but she sidestepped across the dormer window to her left, while I let go of her and climbed out the window. I knew we had time, the zombies would be slow to find us, but, you know, I didn’t want to hang around either. I balanced on the edge of the roof – vertigo, I didn’t know I had that, who knew? Didn’t help that I would be cushioned by bodies of the hungry Undead, should I fall. I could see their ugly, rancid faces looking up at me, no doubt thinking,
fall
,
fall
,
fall
… The girl had moved along the roof a little way to make room for me, so I now stepped across the dormer window to make way for Liam. Kay came out last.

I had my weapons through my belt to free up my hands, but past the dormer window the roof flattened out so it wasn’t so bad. On this side the department store joined onto the next building, this one with a flat roof the whole way, so we were able to walk across. I was relieved that the girl came too. The next place along had a pitched roof, so we could go no further.

I looked over the edge of the building to the street below. There were plenty of zombies about, but most of them had either entered the department store, or were staggering towards the department store or still looking up at the spot where the girl had been, trying to work out where she had gone.

I could see our Mazda tantalisingly close on the street below. Directly below me, two bay windows jutted out from the buildings façade, and from there it would not be a terribly big jump onto the street. Ok, it would still be big, but I didn’t think it would kill us. ‘This way,’ I said.

I climbed down first, careful not to make too much noise to alert the zombies still on the street. I stood on the top of a bay window, and from there I could climb down onto a ledge that ran below the window. The others were right behind me. I waited for them to catch up, not wanting to leave anyone behind. On landing, I knew zombies would soon notice us, so we had to do this together.

One, two, three …

We jumped the rest of the way. Kay landed badly, but she staggered to her feet and we sprinted, Kay limping only slightly, to the Mazda. Zombies cut us off, but, pulling my weapons from my belt, we bashed brains in no problem. I saw a zombie launch itself at the girl. She had no weapon, but before I could reach her, she totally nailed this awesome karate move and the zombie went sailing over her shoulder.

We all dived into the relative safety of the Mazda, Kay taking just a quick breather before starting up the engine and pulling off before we got hemmed in by zombies.

That’s how we met Charlotte.

January 21
3.20pm Day 69
Charlotte has some totally kick ass moves. Go Karate Girl! If I’d been left in any doubt after escaping from Herbert Lewis, all doubts were dispelled on arriving at the local Tesco in Chepstow, not far from the high street. Kay parked the Mazda right up to the doors but, because the doors were open, a number of zombies loitered inside the store. Charlotte steamed in and floored two zombies karate stylee, while I finished the job with a claw hammer to the head.

We got everything on our list. I would’ve liked to have found a hardware store to stock up on some new exciting hardcore weapons, but no worries. In the kitchen aisle, Charlotte picked up a big knife with two points on the end and a serrated edge, meant for cutting roast meat or bread, and she also chose a cleaver. I grabbed a few more knives, a cleaver and a carving fork. I just can’t resist a sharp object these days.

It’s great having a new person in the cottage. The tension caused by Polly has eased, as long as we try to pretend that she no longer exits. It’s been a week now and Polly’s still confined to bed. The splints on her leg aren’t that supportive, and, because we don’t know if the two bits of broken bone are even lined up in order to fuse back together, we can’t risk her moving about at all. She might well end up with a useless, floppy leg. I’m not really sure what we’ll do then. So, with her upstairs it’s possible to ignore her most of the time. Until bedtime …

Last night we had a few drinks to celebrate our new friend. Charlotte’s not really said much about how she ended up on the roof of a department store, other than she and a few survivors had been living in the store for a few weeks and she was the only one left. We didn’t push any further.

And in other news, this morning while I was outside feeding the chickens, I saw Zombie-Shelby standing in the field next to the cottage. She (Zombie-Shelby definitely deserves the pronoun she, not
it
) stood motionless, just staring at me through the metal and wooden fence. I’ve never seen a zombie not get excited by the sight of a human. We usually have to go out and kill any zombies that get too close to the cottage, for fear that they’ll attract others, and while the fence around the grounds is strong enough, it wouldn’t withstand a full on surging attack.

But I didn’t feel threatened by Zombie-Shelby.

January 23
9.15am Day 71
I’m a bit confused about what’s going on between me and Sam. Are we an item or are we just fuck buddies? We’re not, like, hanging off each other in the day time. But I don’t really mind. We’re cool. I mean, it’s not like we’re going to get a mortgage, get married and have kids – ever. The zombie apocalypse has reset the social order. And I like things the way they are … undefined … open.

January 25
10.45am Day 73
Kay came darting into the cottage just now yelling, ‘Did anyone hear that? Did anyone else hear that? Someone must have heard that? Tell me you heard that.’

Moments before this, I had placed my freshly sharpened knife on the kitchen table before me, picked up my claw hammer and a cloth, and set about buffing off the dried black blood crusted onto it. Sam and Liam were similarly cleaning and sharpening their weapons at the kitchen table. Sam sat opposite me. Every now and then I’d look up to see him grin sleazily at me in a way that made me rub my claw hammer even harder. Oh, that boy …

The moment that Kay burst through the back door and started shouting, I stopped cleaning and turned to look at her. ‘Hear what?’ I asked. Charlotte arrived then, but stood at the doorway that leads into the hall, frowning questioningly.

‘Outside, just now, I heard gun shots. They sounded far off but I definitely heard them.’

‘Gunshots?’ said Charlotte. ‘Are you sure, sweetie?’

‘Yeah, two gun shots. I swear I’m sure.’

‘I didn’t hear anything,’ said Liam.

‘Me neither,’ said Sam.

Kay stood by the kitchen table, her axe in one hand, the other resting on the back of a chair. ‘Well, I’m telling you that I fucking did.’

January 26
6.30pm Day 74
We were all sat in the living room just after lunch today, when we heard gunshots. They didn’t sound that far off either. All of us darted outside to take a look but couldn’t see anyone. I’m not sure how I feel about it, the fact that there’s someone out there with a gun. Obviously, it depends on who’s behind it.

I see Zombie-Shelby most days now. She stands on the other side of the fence and stares at the cottage, and you can go right up to her, right up to the fence, but she doesn’t get excited or aggressive like the other zombies. I’ve noticed something else, too. She goes and comes back to the exact same spot. That’s not normal zombie behaviour, is it?

January 27
12.10pm Day 75
We have discovered who’s behind the gun shots – well, sort of. I got woken up early this morning by a blast that sounded like it came from inside my head. We had a few drinks last night … ok, we had quite a few drinks starting from about 7pm. I crawled up to bed at about 3am, I think. So, a gun going off at 6.30am, well, the sound tore through my brain like a bullet (can I get away with that simile? Not really, I know).

Me and Sam leapt out of bed. Polly woke up and started groaning but we ignored her and threw on some clothes. We met Kay and Charlotte in the hall and we all bombed it down the stairs. When we got to the kitchen, Liam was in there looking out of the window.

‘There’s a couple of guys up in the field. One’s got a gun,’ said Liam.

‘Fuck,’ said Sam, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. ‘I wonder who they are?’

‘I wonder if the one with the gun is friendly,’ I said.

‘The other one’s got something too,’ said Liam.

‘What?’ asked Kay.

‘I don’t know. It’s hard to tell from here, but it could be a camera.’

‘A camera?’ I said.

We’d all joined Liam at the window by now. In the field, as far back as the woods where Zombie-Shelby became, um, Zombie-Shelby, there stood two guys. I could see a few zombies staggering towards them. The one with the gun raised it at the zombies, while the other guy raised to his face what I’d have to agree looked like a camera – a big, professional one.

The gap between the two guys and the zombies decreased, but after a little while Gun Guy, the taller of the two, with very close cropped hair, lowered the gun and started to walk away from the zombies. Camera Guy, however, stood firm before the stumbling zombies and began waving an arm from Gun Guy – who I now noticed had a camera hanging around his neck – to the zombies. Camera Guy turned his body from Gun Guy to the zombies and back again, his camera held in one hand. Gun Guy kept on walking.

We watched until Camera Guy gave up whatever it was he wanted and followed after Gun Guy. They both headed towards the neighbouring cottage on the hill.

February

February 3
1.35pm Day 82
It’s been a week since I posted, and everything’s changed. We’re in Chepstow. In a fucking castle of all places. A castle has it’s pros and cons. One way in and out through a glass fronted shop. We don’t spend too much time in the shop itself because it attracts zombies when they see us through the glass. None of us have much need for cuddly toy dragons, child sized knights costumes and wooden swords anyway, so I only go in there to charge up the laptop. We can safely be outside in the secure castle grounds and, from its cliff top location, we have a fantastic view of the river Wye and across to England. The castle isn’t far from the town’s shops, so it’s good for stock runs. But most of the castle is … not a complete ruin but more of a basic shell. Walls and turrets are still stable, but roofs and floors are missing. There is one habitable section, though, up some wooden steps in a building near the front of the castle, and we’ve set up home in there. The rooms have been made up to look like they did in medieval times, so there’s a bed and bits and pieces of furniture. It’s draughty and damp, but we’ve made it as cosy as we can.

How did we get here? Hmmm, long story.

Last Friday and Saturday the main topic of conversation was,
Who are the gun toting photographers in the next cottage and what are we going to do about them
?

‘Go and introduce ourselves,’ said Liam.

‘I’m not introducing myself to anyone with a gun,’ said Kay.

‘Just cos they’ve got a gun, doesn’t make them the bad guys, right?’ said Sam.

‘I say go,’ said Charlotte. ‘Knowing someone with a gun will definitely be a bonus.’

‘They might be arseholes. Do we really want arseholes with guns knowing where we are?’ said Kay.

‘Good point,’ said Sam.

‘They’re bound to find out we’re here sooner or later,’ said Charlotte. ‘They probably know already, and they haven’t bothered us.’

‘They might want to be left alone, though,’ said Sam. ‘What do you think, Sophie?’

Maybe if I’d answered differently things might have gone another way …

‘I say let’s meet our neighbours.’

6pm Day 82
Last Saturday me, Sam, Charlotte and Liam stood – on fidgeting legs – outside the neighbouring cottage. Sam knocked on the door and I immediately heard, ‘What the fuck?’ from inside. Then a face appeared at a downstairs window. It was the shorter of the two guys – Camera Guy. He had blond hair that reminded me of some French actor, Gerard something, from that film Cyrano de Bergerac (we had to watch that in Drama writing class). Oh, Depardieu, that’s it. A sort of grown out layered look. He looked about 40, I guess. Me and Sam both waved nonchalantly. He didn’t wave back, just stared, wide-eyed, then moved away from the window.