Snatchers (Book 8): The Dead Don't Pray (29 page)

"Wouldn't the guns attract more of them?" Rick Morgan quizzed.

Pickle ignored Rick and pointed up ahead. They could all see more of the dead along Horsefair, slowly joining the others that were surrounding the jeep, desperate to get in.

Pickle led the way and urged the others to follow him. Most of the dead were near the vehicle, but three of them had clocked their presence and stumbled over in their direction. "I'll take these pricks." Pickle turned and spoke to Rick, Sheryl and Bentley. "While I take these out, yer go past me and blast the others that are by the jeep from behind. Take as many out as possible, then finish the rest off with yer blades or the butts o' your guns."

They all nodded.

Pickle ran over to the three Snatchers, with the group still behind him, and took out the first female ghoul with a two-handed strike to the side of the head, but was struggling to remove the blade. "For fuck's sake!"

"Just move!" Sheryl yelled from behind.

Pickle turned around and could see Sheryl, Bentley and Rick moving forwards with their shotguns. With the two dead gaining, Pickle retreated without his machete.

Bentley ran at one of the two that were moving towards them and took it out with the butt of his gun. The remaining one received the same fate, but this one took two blows to be destroyed by Bentley.

Pickle tried to free his weapon whilst his three pals were getting closer to the gang of the dead that were around the jeep. Sheryl was the first to fire a shot and Rick was next. Pickle could see two heads explode, and just hoped that they didn't accidentally shoot anyone inside the vehicle. If they had any sense, whoever was inside would be down on the floor.

The two blasts had turned the attention of the dead to what was behind them. Every single one moved away from the vehicle, some were in the shop and on their way out.

Sheryl told Bentley and Rick to hold off until they got closer, and once they did the guns were unloaded, causing another three kills. One of Rick's blasts had taken half a face away, but the thing was still moving. There was still many left, and the three used the butts of their guns to take out the remaining ones, rather than using their blades.

Pickle had finally got the machete free, ran over, and began helping out his friends.

He used the ramming method, hoping it would prove better results, and took three out. Only four remained, and Pickle was now near the driver's side of the vehicle. The windows were smeared with blood, and he put his hand on the door handle, ready to open it. Pickle turned to see Sheryl and Bentley taking out two more, and Rick was approaching the other two, but looked to be tired. He took one down and was helped out by Sheryl with the other.

A hand grabbed at Pickle, making him jump back and drop his machete to the floor, and he turned around to be face-to-face with a male beast that must have come from inside the shop.

Pickle grabbed the putrid thing by the throat to stop himself from being bit, and both Pickle and the infected being were standing two yards from the driver's door of the jeep, whilst grabbing each other's throats. Pickle was about to call someone over to give him a hand, but he heard the door of the jeep open, and a piece of metal came out from the ghoul's forehead, making Pickle hold his breath.

Once the crowbar was removed, the creature dropped to the floor. Harry Branston could now see that the driver had left the car once the crowd had dispersed, and it was
he
that was responsible for ramming the crowbar into the back of the creature's head. The driver's door was open and the man from the vehicle stood with a grin on his features, still holding the bloody crowbar. But it wasn't just any man.

Pickle narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, "Vince?"

Chapter Fifty Six

"Where the fuck are the guards?" Lee was with Jon Talbot, and looked aghast that the HGV near the Globe Island had been abandoned. "Have these fuckers forgot what happened to Nicholas Burgess ... to Kyle Dickson?"

Jon Talbot never answered. He was speechless.

"Follow me." Lee opened the door of the lorry and went through it, to the other side of the barrier. Lee stepped out onto the Horsefair road—sometimes classed as Horse Fair—by the Globe Island and looked to his left. There were two roads to his left. The nearest one was the Western Springs Road that went by Elmore Park; it continued up to the roundabout by the Stag's Leap pub and restaurant. The second road to the left was Elmore Lane which would lead an individual to the bus station, the entrance of Elmore Park and Market Hall. Going by these places would take them to a small roundabout near St Augustine's Church. But it was an incident to the right of Lee James that had caught his attention.

Many of the dead were scattered along the floor, defunct, and coming towards him and Jon Talbot was a weary Harry Branston, Bentley Drummle, Sheryl Smith and Rick Morgan. Beside them, forcing a smile to develop on Lee James' face, was Vince Kindl. There was also a young girl with them, but he had never seen her before.

Lee walked over to the group to meet them, and held out his arms to greet his old friend. Vince and Lee hugged for a few seconds, stopping everybody from walking, and then Lee pulled away and shook his head. "But how?"

Vince smiled. "Tell you later."

Bentley put his arm around the young girl and said to Lee, "This is the young lady that helped me out when I was lost at the industrial estate. She's an absolute star."

Stephanie blushed, embarrassed of the praise, and said to Lee, "We shared rabbit together, didn't we Bentley?"

"We sure did." Bentley laughed and rubbed her head. "She was content out there, on her own, but I think she'd be better off with us, where it's safe."

"She
is
staying," said Vince. "I don't care what anyone says."

Shell-shocked, Lee James puffed out a breath. He then looked at Stephanie and smiled, noticing for the first time that she was carrying a bow in her left hand. She was a pretty thing, five-five in height, and her black waterproof poncho that she was wearing, and the shades on her head, made Lee intrigued by the young girl. "Welcome to your new home."

*

Karen Bradley had been speaking with Robert Newman about Pickle killing the intruder, and it was apparent that with the shock of the incident subsiding, a lot of people he had spoken to agreed that maybe Pickle had a point. There was the discussion about the demise of Jimmy Mac and that he wasn't going to be missed, even by his own son. It had also been agreed that for the short-term David McDonald was going to stay with Charles Pilkington and his parents, which delighted both boys who had become good friends over the weeks.

When Newman told Karen that he needed to go and do perimeter duty with Kirk Sheen and another name she had never heard of, she said cheerio and walked along Sandy Lane on her own. She looked to her side to see the tanker by the Lea Hall building. That was going to provide so much fuel for future runs, she thought, amongst other things. She knew it wouldn't last forever, but maybe the fuel will get them through winter.

She rubbed her eyes and began to choke at the thought of Kyle Dickson being dead. She remembered her and Shaz coming across Paul and Kyle after they had crashed. A dazed Kyle asked Karen and Shaz if they were ninjas. She smiled as the flashback projected in her mind, and a tear left her eye. She rubbed her blurry eyes as she could see figures by the barrier approaching her, and she rubbed them again to restore her focus.

They were too far away to make out, but with them walking towards her and
her
walking towards
them
, their appearance could quickly be seen. She could see from left to right: Pickle, Bentley, Sheryl, Lee, a girl she couldn't figure out, and ... Vince?

She stopped walking and screwed her face. She tried to get a better look at the group that were heading her way, all, but Sheryl, with smiles on their faces.

"Vince?" Karen took two steps forwards and stopped again. She repeated, "Vince?"

As soon as she was certain that walking towards her was Vincent Kindl, she strolled briskly towards the group with a wide smile developing on her features. The first thing she did when she was near him was throw her arms around the man that had disappeared for days.

She took a step back to look at his face. "Is that really you, Vince?"

"Certainly is, sugar tits," he snickered and held out his arms. "How you doin'?"

"How..?"

"I'll tell you later. I'm too tired to explain," said Vince, and pointed at Stephanie who was standing next to Lee, bag on her back, and her bow being carried in her left hand. "But I'd be dead if it wasn't for her."

Karen hugged him once more. Vince then whispered into Karen's ear, but she seemed confused why he was apologising for her loss. What loss? What was he talking about?

"What loss?" She broke away from the embrace.

"You had a miscarriage," Vince said.

She shook her head. "I never had a miscarriage."

"But I went into your house, a week ago," he said softly, now making everybody confused. "You were sitting in your bath and bleeding."

"I'm fine," Karen reassured him. As soon as Karen explained what had happened on that particular day, Vince smiled and seemed relieved. She hugged him once more, now embarrassing the man with the small audience that they had.

It appeared that Karen's little self-harming secret wasn't a secret anymore, but she didn't mind. Vince was back.

"Right, Karen." Vince pulled away and said, "That's enough."

"I'm sorry." She took a step back. "Was I hurting you?"

"No, I'm getting a semi." His comment made Pickle, Bentley and Lee laugh. It was good to have him back.

She playfully slapped him across the arm, and pointed out that there was a minor in their presence. Vince apologised to Stephanie, but she shrugged it off and was told by Lee that she could stay with Vince and Rosemary, which pleased Vince. She was then ushered away from the group, and Lee said that he'd show her round while Bentley, Rick and Sheryl went back to their barrier duty.

"I need to talk to you lot later on, with everyone present," announced Vince, as Lee and Stephanie were making their way further up the road, away from the group.

Pickle said, "Sounds serious."

From what he could make of his facial expression, Vince could see that Pickle wanted to know more. "Okay," sighed Vince. "I think the camp could be in danger. I'll explain further when we're all together, but we need to up the security in this place."

"Already been done," explained Karen, brushing her dark hair behind her ears.

"Why? What's happened?" Vince asked, making Pickle and Karen glare at one another. Noticing this, Vince screwed his face and queried, "What is it?"

Pickle and Karen told Vince everything that had happened in his absence. They informed Kindl about the attack on the camp, Nicholas Burgess' death, and the sad end to Kyle Dickson, which he took hard. The recent death of Jimmy Mac didn't bother him.

Vince then told them about his run-in with the huge man at the Spode Cottage. Pickle told Vince that it sounded like a character he knew from his past, called The Bear, and that the man Vince spoke of could have been the same man that had robbed the Lea Hall building and had killed Nicholas. They told Vince not to worry, and that the security was as tight as it could be. Also, the barbed wire was going to be added to the wiry fence this morning.

Vince hugged Karen and Pickle and told him he was off to see Rosemary and get a nap, but before that he needed to see Paul Dickson. Both men had lost their sons, and Vince knew what the man was going through. He told them all that he'd see them later and walked away, upset about the news of young Kyle.

He tried Paul's house, but there was no answer, so he made his way to his own and was welcomed by a few residents on his way back to his home. His conversation was short, but polite, and then he walked into his house and entered the living room, where he could see Rosemary and young Lisa sitting on the sofa.

Once they saw him, both females ran at Vince and all three embraced. He told them that he was too tired to explain what had happened after he fell into the River Trent. All he told them was that a young girl had saved him, and that she was now a resident of Sandy Lane.

Lisa was obviously upset about the death of Kyle, but seemed excited that a young girl had arrived, and even more so when Vince told her she had a bow, was very good with it, and that she was going to stay with them after Lee had finished showing the girl around. Lisa wanted to know more, but Rosemary calmed her down, and told the excited young girl to stay in the living room whilst she took Vince to the bedroom to have a lie down.

Both Vince and Rosemary reached the landing and she told him that she had missed him.

"I bet you have," he laughed and teased. "I bet you've been banging all sorts since I've been away."

Rosemary blushed and never responded to his ribbing.

He took his boots off and lay on the bed fully-clothed. He put his hands behind his head and confessed to Rosemary, "I've only been awake a few hours and I slept fine last night, but with the morning I've had... The last few days have taken it out of me. I think it's a power nap I need."

"You don't have to explain." She leaned over and kissed him on the head. "Just get some rest, and I'll welcome this Stephanie girl when Lee's finished showing her around the place."

"I went back to our old camp," he announced. "I'll fill you in later."

She could see his eyes filling and touched his face. "I'm sorry you came back to the awful news about Kyle. They buried him by the hut, near the bowling green."

"Awful news?" Vince shook his head. "I suppose we should be used to it by now."