For Those In Peril (Book 2): The Outbreak (12 page)

‘I
don’t know.’ Claire sounded concerned. ‘Daz, Can you help me get him up?’

Together, they lifted Tom onto the seat on the other side of the table where he
lay motionless.

Claire
walked over to the galley and washed Tom’s blood from her hands. ‘There’s not
much more I can do for him now. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

To
take their minds off Tom’s condition, Claire set the others to work, putting
everything back where it belonged down below. I chose, instead, to go outside
and make sure the danger had passed, at least for the time being. As I pulled
back the hatch, the first thing that hit me was the smell of partially burned
fuel and of thick, acrid smoke. Darkness was falling, but the eastern sky was
ablaze as far as the eye could see. Tongues of fire leapt fifty or sixty feet
into the air, consuming the city and all those who’d still been in it when the
bombs had been detonated. Above the fire, thick black clouds were building,
rising high into the air until they disappeared into the descending night.
Grabbing the handheld spotlight from its bracket just inside the hatch, I moved
round, checking the boat for damage.

Beneath my feet, the deck was coated with a greasy film which was mixing with
ash falling from the sky, making it difficult for me to keep my footing. I was
relieved to see that, despite the battering it had received, the boat seemed to
be undamaged and the anchor was holding firm. I turned the key in the ignition,
but the engine remained lifeless. Checking the batteries, I found the wires had
been knocked off. I put them back in their rightful places and retried the
engine. This time it turned over, but it didn’t catch. Pulling up the covers of
the engine compartment, I peered inside; the smell of diesel hit me almost
immediately. Looking at the fuel tank, I saw the fuel line had come loose. I
shimmied into the confines of the compartment and reconnected it, then tried the
engine again, but still there was nothing. After three more attempts, the engine
finally started. This was a relief: even though it was several hundred yards
wide at this point, we’d have difficulty navigating in the confines of the river
without the engine.

Not
wanting to waste any more fuel, I turned it off again and was just about to go
below when I heard something bump against the bow. I shone the spotlight onto
the water and saw a large plastic dumpster floating past the boat. It had
partially melted and fused to its lid was the burnt remains of a human arm.
Shining the light upstream, I saw the river was filled with debris which had
been blasted into the water by the explosions; some of the larger pieces still
burned and smouldered. In amongst these floated charred and disfigured bodies,
or parts of them, and as they drifted past, the smell of incinerated flesh
lodged in my nostrils, making my stomach churn.

Suddenly, I glimpsed a movement. I pointed the spotlight forward and illuminated
a large section of what might have once been a roof that was floating towards
us; three figures clung to it, their singed clothes hanging from their bodies,
their skin charred and blackened: yet, somehow they were still alive. As they
grew nearer, they seemed to sense my presence and turned towards me, their eyes
burning with anger and rage as they let out low, guttural growls. I called out
to the others, ‘Daz, Claire, get up here. We’ve got a problem.’

Daz
stuck his head out of the cabin door. ‘What?  Claire’s busy with Tom.’

‘This
is more important. I need both of you up here now.  Sophie can stay with Tom.’

Daz
disappeared and then a second later, first he and then Claire emerged from the
cabin. By this time, the roof, and its unwanted cargo, were only thirty feet
from the bow.

Daz
took one look at the figures, and blurted out, ‘How’re they no’ dead?’

Claire
stared at them. ‘Are they infected?’

‘Yeah,
I’m pretty sure,’ I played the spotlight over them again. ‘Look at the way
they’re moving; look at their eyes.’

Concern raced across Claire’s face. ‘Are they going to be able to get on board?’

‘If
they get close enough, yes.’

Daz
gasped. ‘What’re we goin’ to do if that happens?’

‘I
don’t know.’ I stared at the figures, trying to come up with a plan, but I
couldn’t. I turned to the others. ‘Any ideas?’

Daz
was the one that answered. ‘Have you got any guns?’

‘Only
a flare gun, and that’s not really a proper gun.’

‘Can
we no’ just move out of their way?’

‘No,
there’s not enough time to get the anchor up before they get here.’

‘Shit!’ Daz was starting to panic.

As the
roof drifted closer, the infected clambered unsteadily to their feet, but they
found it difficult to stay upright on the battered and uneven surface as it
bobbed up and down. One slipped, falling heavily onto the wood. By then, they
were close enough that I could hear the snapping of bone as it landed. With much
difficulty, it climbed back to its feet, its left arm dangling uselessly by its
side, but it didn’t seem to notice.

I
looked around frantically, searching every inch of the deck, eventually landing
on the boathooks which were tied, one on each side, to runners on top of the
cabin. They were the closest thing to real weapons I’d thought of so far.

‘Daz,
take this!’ I thrust the spotlight into his hand. I pointed towards the
approaching infected. ‘And keep it pointed at them.’

As I
struggled to untie the first boathook, I heard the infected snarling and
screeching as they floated ever closer. The moment boathook was free, I passed
it to Daz before moving round to where the second was lashed to the cabin’s
roof.

I felt
a shudder as the debris hit us across the bow, sending it spinning lazily down
our left side as the infected clawed at the boat, desperate to get on board. I
glanced at Daz; he stood, clutching the boathook in one hand, rooted to the spot
with fear. Lit by the light Daz was holding in his other hand, I could see every
line on the faces of the infected as they howled, mouths open, saliva dripping
from their teeth. Up close, I could see they weren’t as badly injured as I’d
first thought; their hair and clothes were singed, but their skin was mostly
blackened rather than burnt. As they scrabbled against the hull, their fingers
drummed against the plastic, leaving dark streaks on the white paintwork. I
turned my attention back to untying the second boathook, eager to have it free
in case any of them made it on board.

There
was a shout and I looked up to see the first infected had managed to grasp on to
the guard rail and had pulled its upper body onto the deck. Daz was standing
motionless, staring at it, but Claire had run forward and grabbed the boathook
from him. She swung it hard at the infected, connecting with its head with a
sickening thump. As she swung again, it took its hand off the rail and lunged
towards her. She hit it hard across its neck and it slipped over the side; a
splash telling me it had dropped into the water.

By
then, the next had both hands on the deck and was hauling itself upwards. As
Claire stepped forward to swing at it, Sophie appeared in the cockpit. ‘Mum,
what’s going on?’

Claire
turned, taking her eyes off the infected. ‘Get back inside!’

Sophie
craned her neck, trying to get a better view of what was happening, unaware of
the danger we were in. ‘But what’s going on?’

‘Inside, now!’

‘But,
Mum!’

‘NOW!’
Claire bellowed and Sophie disappeared down the companionway just as the third
infected reached through the guard rail and grabbed Claire’s leg with its one
good arm. She yelled and tried to step backwards, losing her footing on the
slippery deck. She landed on her back with a crash, but her attacker refused to
let go. Instead, it started pulling her towards the edge of the boat, gnashing
its teeth with anticipation. Claire’s cry finally roused Daz and he leapt into
action, latching onto one of Claire’s arms, but it wasn’t enough to stop her
being dragged across the deck. Suddenly, there was a shout and Sophie appeared
beside Daz, grabbing Claire’s other arm, and together they were able to stop the
infected pulling her any closer to its waiting mouth.

 ‘Sophie, get back inside!’ Claire shouted, but Sophie remained where she was,
hanging onto her mother’s arm with all her strength. ‘No!’

‘Sophie, it’s too dangerous for you to be out here!’

‘Mum,
I’m not losing you, too; not after Jake; not after Dad.’ Sophie was blinking
rapidly, doing her best to hold back the tears that were threatening to
overwhelm her. ‘You’re all I’ve got left. I can’t lose you, too.’

Before
Claire could reply, I heard a sound behind me and turned to find the second
infected had made it onto the boat. It leapt towards me, its face contorted with
anger and rage. I swung my boathook, catching it in the chest and sending it
staggering backwards, but within a second it was attacking again; lips pulled
back; teeth bared; blackened, grasping hands reaching towards me. I swung the
boathook once more, this time aiming for its head. There was a sharp crack as my
hit found its mark, sending the infected spinning onto the deck. At first I
thought I might have broken the boathook, but as the infected scrambled around,
trying to get back to its feet, I could see the noise hadn’t come from my
makeshift weapon. Instead, it had been the sound of my attacker’s jaw breaking,
and the left side now hung uselessly from its skull.

I
advanced, hitting it over the head again and again until it finally stopped
moving. Leaving it there, I ran back to where Claire was still being pulled one
way by the infected and another by Daz and Sophie. I stamped on the infected’s
arm, hearing bones shatter beneath my boot. Still it held on, its grip like a
vice. I leant over the guard rail and brought the boathook down hard on the top
of its head, smashing it in two. Only then did it finally let go and Claire was
able to scramble back to her feet. I ran my eyes over her. ‘Are you hurt? Did it
scratch you?’

Claire
pushed up her trouser leg and I grabbed the spotlight from Daz and shone it on
to her calf: it was badly bruised, but the skin was unbroken. I breathed a sigh
of relief. ‘That was close.’

‘Way
too close.’ She turned to Daz and Sophie. ‘Thanks. I don’t know what would have
happened if it wasn’t for you two.’

Sophie
wiped her face and threw herself at her mother, hugging her tightly, but Daz
wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he was pointing upstream into the darkness,
his hand shaking with fear. ‘There’s another one coming!’

I
scanned the water ahead of the boat with the spotlight; sure enough there was
another infected floating towards us. This one was half-submerged and clinging
to the smouldering trunk of a large tree. ‘I think we’ll be okay with that one.
I don’t think it’s going to come near us.’

I cast
the spotlight wider and further ahead; the debris was now coming thick and fast,
and almost everywhere amongst it I could see the movements of infected, clinging
to anything they’d managed to get a hold of.

‘We
need to get away from here.’ I glanced up at the sky. ‘With the city on fire,
this is about as dark as it’s going to get. I think we should try to get under
the bridge again. D’you agree?’

The
others nodded.

‘Daz,
go and start the engine. Claire, come with me and help me pull up the anchor.
Sophie, take the spotlight and keep moving it around. Yell out if you see any
getting too close.’

Daz
ran back towards the cockpit, but before he got there he stopped and nodded
towards the body of the infected. ‘Ben, what’re we goin’ to do with that?’

‘Use
the boathook; push it over the side. Whatever you do, don’t touch it.’

As we
approached the bridge for the second time, we could hear machine gunfire.

Daz
hunched down nervously, ready to throw himself to the deck in an instant. ‘Are
they firin’ at us?’

‘I
don’t think so, look.’ I pointed to where two large beams of light were sweeping
back and forth across the water. All along the bridge, men were firing straight
down, shooting at any infected they could see passing beneath; they were hitting
some, but there were too many for the soldiers to be able to get them all and
some still moved in the water after they had passed under the bridge.

‘I bet
they didn’t think about that when they decided to bomb the city.’ Claire spat
cynically. ‘I wonder when they’ll realise it hasn’t worked; that there are still
infected out there? All they’ve done is drive them past their “ring of steel”.’

I
shielded my eyes as one of the spotlights swept away from the bridge and caught
us in its beam. ‘That’s the least of our worries.’

Moments later, the deep rattle of the large machine gun started again. The
bullets from it slammed into the water straight ahead of us in a tight cluster.

‘Fuck!’ I whipped the wheel to the right until we were heading upstream once
more, trying desperately to avoid hitting any of the debris floating down
towards us.

‘Should we try again?’ Daz peered into the darkness behind us, where the
spotlight had returned to scanning the waters below the bridge.