Snatchers (Book 7): The Dead Don't Yield (26 page)

Chapter Fifty Five

Paul Dickson had left Lisa and Kyle with Rosemary for ten minutes while he checked on Karen. With her missing Pickle and also admitting that she had self-harmed on a couple of occasions, he was growing concerned for her. He didn't know why he felt like this. He had known the woman only for a few weeks, and they hardly said a word to one another in the first week. Now they were becoming close, and she was becoming a good friend of his.

He was aware that she didn't want to be close to anyone since one of her friends was killed in the massacre at Vince's camp, but Pickle's absence meant that they saw one another a lot in the last couple of days. She was obviously lonely.

He walked alone to Karen's front door and gave it a knock. It was opened in seconds, suggesting that Karen may have already seen him coming through the living room window.

"That was quick." Paul began to laugh.

"I was just about to go out." Karen stood in her day clothes. She was so pretty, Paul thought.

"Okay." Paul was ready to turn around. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"Admit it," Karen was starting to snicker. "You was bored out of your tits and came round for a chat."

"Maybe I was a little bored." Paul smiled. "The kids are at Rosemary's for a bit."

"Well, in that case, wanna join me for a walk?"

"Where are we going?"

"I was going to check on Jasmine Kelly. I've hardly seen her since we got here."

Young Jasmine's mother was one of the ten that had lost their lives at Vince's camp. She seemed to be coping as well as could be expected, but Karen knew that just a chat could give someone a lift now and again.

The two of them left and the murky day provided a chill in the air. Karen shuddered.

"Cold?" asked Paul.

She nodded and tucked her arm inbetween Paul's and moved closer to him.

"How did you sleep last night?" asked Paul.

"Not great. You?"

He shook his head and grunted, "I had one of those dreams where everything was back to normal. I was in the house, playing with Bell and Kyle, while Julie was hoovering downstairs."

"And then you woke up." Karen was aware of these dreams. She had a few herself. It was a cruel tease.

"When you wake up," Paul began. "It's like..."

Karen stopped walking and went face-to-face with Paul who was now clearly upset. "It feels like you've lost them all over again, doesn't it?"

Paul nodded, wiping his tears away quickly, embarrassed of his breakdown. "I suppose I should be used to it by now. As soon as I woke up and saw Kyle sleeping bedside me, and looked around and realised I was in a different room, it hit me. It's like a kick in the stomach."

Paul turned his head and could see the large figure of Bentley Drummle stepping towards them. Karen smiled as he approached. She didn't blame Bentley for Vince and Pickle's disappearance. He never asked to be split from the group.

Despite the weapons that they had brought back, it appeared that it hadn't been worth it. Sheryl was abused by two lowlifes when they were there, Luke John was shot dead, and Bentley's separation from the group meant that Vince and Pickle were still missing.

"Been looking for you," announced Bentley.

Paul smiled as Bentley got nearer. He was indebted to the man for taking him and Kyle in, and for putting Julie and Bell to 'sleep' in the family's Renault Clio in that supermarket car park. Paul pointed at his own chest. "Who, me?"

"No." Bentley smiled and nodded at Karen.

"What is it?"

"Daniel sent me. He's at the barrier, near the railway bridge. Let's go."

"What is it?" Karen asked again, impatience in her voice. "Just tell me. I hate surprises."

"You'll like this one." Bentley beckoned her to follow him.

Karen huffed, but was drowning in intrigue, and followed behind the man, then turned to see Paul Dickson standing on the pavement.

Karen held out her hand. "I want you to come with me."

"If that's what you want."

"It is. We'll see Jasmine later."

*

After returning to the Spode Cottage, Bear allowed Frederick to see to Willie while he decided to go for a walk and cool off. Theodore Davidson cursed the two hopeless individuals that he had been lumbered with and took a stroll to the back of the abandoned caravan site.

He checked the ground and could see old bloodstains and knew that the place where he was standing had experienced disaster. Maybe this was a place that was thriving in the first weeks of the apocalypse, but had finally ran out of luck. He didn't know for sure, but guessed that that was what probably happened.

He gazed at the graves and shook his head.

Why bother?

Why didn't they just burn the bodies like the ones near the Plum Pudding pub?

Why were these so special?

Bear giggled and looked over at the grave where there was a cross and a rainbow bracelet that he had noticed before. He walked over, unzipped himself, and began urinating on the piled dirt of the shallow grave whilst whistling the theme tune to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Once he had finished, he shook his cock a few times, put it back into his trousers and zipped himself back up.

He went over to the cross, which looked like two chair legs, and took the rainbow bracelet. He gazed at it and giggled, "Maybe this will bring me good fortune."

He put the bracelet on his right wrist and walked away from the grave that he had just pissed on, and began to whistle once more.

He was in no hurry to get back and checked a couple of caravans before heading back to the Spode Cottage. He was hoping that Willie hadn't made much mess inside of the place, and wondered if he was better off just killing the man.
I should just finish the useless cunt off.

Johnny Wilson seemed to be an individual that fucked up most things that was asked of him, and his uselessness was beginning to make Bear despise the man.

"I'll give him another week," Bear muttered under his breath. "Just one more week. Useless bastard."

He checked one more caravan; he left for the cottage, bypassing the burnt out one, and dragged his feet towards the front of the site.

Chapter Fifty Six

As he passed the road to the right, Stile Cop Road, Pickle took a look and a thin smile emerged on his face. At the top of the road was the Stile Cop beauty spot. Although the short stay ended in disaster, he remembered arriving at the beauty spot for the first time in the prison van with KP, Laz, and the two prison officers, Jamie and Janine. There was a family there, the Pointers, and were at their wits' end.

He continued to stumble along the road and the bag on his back seemed to be getting heavier the further he walked. There was hardly anything in it: Two sawn-offs and some other things, but nothing too heavy.

Pickle had passed an entrance to a farm on his left, which he hadn't noticed before, whilst he was approaching the
Welcome to Rugeley
sign. He was now in the Draycott Park area and was about to pass Karen's old street. He hoped that no 'strays' were around and thought about the mother and two girls they had rescued a few days ago when they visited Karen's old home. They had settled in the Sandy Lane camp very well.

Pickle was now getting near the entrance to the Pear Tree Estate, which was a road to the right, and felt an adrenaline rush once he saw the barrier up ahead. He could see three men on top of the cab of the articulated lorry and one waved as if he had recognised him straight away.

Maybe they were checking to see if he was a Snatcher or not, Pickle thought.

Pickle then waved both of his arms in the air at the men, in case there was an episode of mistaken identity and he ended up getting shot before he reached the HGV.

One of the men disappeared and Pickle correctly assumed that the man, who looked like Bentley from a distance, had recognised him and was away to fetch Karen. He took one last paranoid look around him and quickened his pace slightly now that he was only fifty yards from safety.

He then heard the start of an engine as he got near and could see the truck reversing back. Pickle smiled and saw Karen waiting for him. There was a slight look of confusion on her face, which was understandable considering that Vince wasn't with him, but Vince's unexplained absence didn't stop her from throwing herself at Pickle and holding him tightly as soon as he went through the gap and was inside the camp. They both closed their eyes as they hugged, and no words were spoken.

Harry Branston opened his eyes, dropped his bag to the floor, and could see Paul Dickson, Bentley Drummle, Rick Morgan, and Daniel Badcock standing behind her, all had smiles on their faces, all were pleased that he had made it back in one piece. The HGV was then pulled forwards by a man Pickle didn't recognise.

Once they broke their embrace, Pickle knew there was going to be a hundred questions about the whereabouts of Vincent Kindl.

Bentley passed Pickle a small bottle of water and he drank the whole thing down in one. Pickle could feel the eyes on him and panted, "Okay, before yer ask, let me tell yer in short wha' happened."

"Go on," Karen urged.

At this point Jimmy Mac and Kirk Sheen had spotted Pickle and were making their way over.

Pickle was handed another bottle of water by Sheen. He took it, thanked Kirk, and this time took a few sips. "We couldn't get back at the rendezvous point to meet back up with Sheryl and Lee. Basically...we got lost. We were exhausted and were followed by a shit-load o' Snatchers, then..." Pickle paused and took another drink.

"Then?" said Karen, impatiently trying to speed up Pickle's story.

"We climbed this hill to get to the Hednesford Road, but Vince was knackered, we both were. He lost his footing and we were separated."

Now Charles  Washington, Nicholas Burgess, Lee James and Sheryl Smith were making their way over. It seemed that the news of Pickle's return was spreading like wildfire around the camp.

"Pickle!" Lee called over. "Where's Vince?"

Pickle shrugged his shoulders.

"So...are you telling me that Vince is dead?" Bentley folded his arms and waited for an answer from the exhausted man. There was now a small crowd gathered round Pickle, and it was growing as Charles Pilkington, David McDonald, Gillian Hardcastle and Jasmine Kelly were now in the street and slowly heading towards the crowd.

"When Vince fell to the bottom o' the hill," Pickle began, "he couldn't get back into the woods because that was where they were all coming from, and he was too knackered to climb back up."

"So what happened?" Lee James gulped and prepared himself for bad news about his old friend.

"Those things headed over to him. He ran away towards the river, but..."

"But?"

Added Pickle, "Some grabbed him, and the last thing I saw was Vince falling in and disappearing down the river."

"So he could still be alive?" Karen was saddened by the story. Over the weeks Vince had grown on her, albeit very slowly. She didn't want anything bad to happen to him.

"He
could
be. But he could be anywhere."

"If he's alive," said Bentley. "He'll come to us."

Most individuals from the crowd nodded in agreement, and seemed positive despite Pickle's story.

"Did you have any other trouble?" asked Lee.

Pickle nodded. "Some. A few Snatchers. A few people. Me and Vince had a weird moment before we got separated."

"Weird?" Bentley enquired.

"One creature was behind us and an arrow came out o' nowhere."

"It's a young girl that's out there." Bentley informed Pickle and revealed a smile. "She has a bow."

"How do yer know?"

"Because she saved my life. She's no older than fourteen. I wanted to bring her back with me, but I think she prefers being alone."

Rosemary was now heading towards the crowd and was with Lisa and Kyle.

Karen saw Pickle's leg buckle a little and grabbed him by the arm. "Let's get you to bed. You can talk later."

"I could sleep for a week," moaned Pickle. "What about yer guys? Anything exciting happen in this sleepy place?"

"Actually, we did have an incident in the school," Paul Dickson spoke up.

Karen chipped in, "We can tell you all about it after you've rested."

There was a look of concern on Pickle's face, and he had a look that told the group that he wanted to hear more of the school story.

"Don't worry." Karen pecked him on the cheek, and the pair of them slowly made their way back to their digs. "Nobody died."

Lee looked over his shoulder and saw Rosemary approaching in the distance, with Kyle and Lisa by her side. "I better tell her the news about Vince." Lee gazed at Bentley, Rick Morgan and Daniel and said, "Right, guys. Back to your watch. Who knows? Maybe Vince will come down that road in a few hours."

"One more thing." Pickle stopped walking and his announcement stopped other people in their tracks. He turned around and said, "I was followed by a few of the dead when I was on the road."

"Okay." Lee nodded. "We'll keep an eye out for them." Lee turned and looked at the three guys that were on watch. "They might have dispersed elsewhere by now, but if a few come to the barrier, we'd be better taking them out with our blades. I'll stay here and wait and see if they come."

Sheryl Smith said, "I'll stay as well."

Lee looked over at Nicholas Burgess and told him to go to the Lea Hall building and get a couple of shotguns anyway, just in case many more turned up. He also told him to alert the guards on barrier watch by the Globe Island that there could be trouble. "The place is on high alert as from today."

With the help of Paul Dickson, Karen took Pickle back to their Sandy Lane house and put him to bed. He was filthy and stunk, but he could clean himself up once he had the energy to do so. Once they plonked him on the bed, they both stared at the man.

"I hope Vince's okay," said Paul.

Karen smiled, but looked unsure. "I think he'll be fine."

Pickle wasn't so sure. She could tell by his face.

They left the room, leaving Pickle in peace, and went downstairs for a drink.

With Pickle back, Karen was going to sleep well tonight.

Pickle sat up once they left and rubbed his stubbly face. He sat at the edge of the bed, rubbed his eyes and could feel the dry skin. His thoughts then went to Vince.

He had only known the man for a matter of weeks, but felt sad for his disappearance. With the exhaustion and sleep deprivation Vincent Kindl was suffering with, before the Snatchers showed up, Pickle was unsure how it was possible to survive. How could Vince have the energy to swim and keep afloat in a river with such a vicious current?

If it was lacking a current or if it was a pond, and Pickle could see Vince go under and not rise to the surface, then at least Pickle would be sure that Vince was dead. But he couldn't be sure, because in this situation he didn't see Vince die. He just saw him being swept away.

Vince had been dragged away and could easily have ended up on a bank somewhere, or he could have managed to grab an overhanging tree branch and pulled himself to safety with the very last ounce of energy in his body.

The more macabre scenario, and possibly more realistic one, was that he had died. He could have perished by being dragged under. His weak state and the river's strong current should really only have one result. Even if he did survive the current, what Pickle had to remember was that some of the dead fell in after him, and the dead can't drown, so they could have attacked him as they were all being swept along.

Maybe he was bit as their bodies glided down the water. Maybe he simply drowned. Maybe he wasn't dead at all. Maybe he was now a Snatcher.

One thing Pickle did know: They weren't going to go out and look for him.

What would be the point?

The River Trent was the third longest river in the UK. It would be madness—and pointless—to go along the banks of the river and search for him. If he had drowned, and they did look for him, the best they could hope for was a body. If he was still alive, then he'd be up on his feet and making his way back to the camp. Hopefully.

Pickle finally kicked off his black dirty boots and stretched his aching feet. As soon as he bent his toes forward, some cracked. He then made a satisfied sigh once he took his dirty socks off. He had the socks scrunched up in his hand and threw them across the bedroom.

It was good to finally get some air to them, despite the fact that he could smell their pong. He leaned back, put his hands behind his head, and a vision of Vince being swept away skated across his mind once again.

Tonight, he was going to pray for him.