The Undead. The First Seven Days (32 page)

  The sudden impact of the water elicits a huge groan and a new surge develops as they strain forwards.
‘Come on and get it.’
  I can see their heads thrash about as the water powers into them.
  ‘Let me try,’ Steven says to Tom.

  ‘No… Ted said that I could do it.’
  ‘No, he didn’t. He didn’t say that… let me have a go.’
  ‘No.’
  ‘Ted!’ Steven looks back at Ted with a forlorn expression.

  Ted shakes his head again, like an exasperated grandparent with two squabbling grandchildren.
  ‘You wouldn’t think they were bloody police officers would you, just a pair of bloody kids, more like,’ he mutters to me.
  Steven is trying to pull the hose from Tom, who is holding on to it for dear life.
  ‘Let me have a go, Tom.’
  ‘Piss off, Steven. Go and support your bloody community or something.’
  ‘Okay, fair enough,’ Steven lets go and Tom snatches the hose away with a triumphant look on his face.
  ‘It’s okay, Tom. Just happy to watch mate - make sure you get all of them though.’
  ‘I will.’
  ‘Tom, over there, you missed a load on that far side, that’s it, you spray and I’ll tell you where to aim. Now… this lot here - no that lot,’ Steven steps in to point at a group of undead to one side and Tom aims off, just as Steven snatches the hose and shoulder barges Tom to the side.

  Tom staggers off, leaving Steven holding the hose and smirking.

  Both Ted and I burst out laughing and then I look back at Dave who is still in the doorway.
  ‘I think he learnt that one from you, Dave,’ I say to him.

  He just shrugs and carries on watching.
  ‘Steven… give it back! That ain’t fair,’ Tom whines and tries to pull the hose back, but Steven directs the aim at Tom’s feet, making him jump backwards.
  ‘Don’t get that bloody water in here, you idiot,’ Ted yells at him.
  ‘Yeah, Steven… don’t get it in here, what are you… bloody stupid or something?’ Tom joins in, chiding Steven.
  A massive puddle has formed on the ground under the gates, seeping backwards onto the floor underneath the massive crowd.
  ‘That’s enough, lads,’ Ted turns the water off and starts pulling the hose back in, taking away the temptation for them to start again.
  ‘Try again, Dave,’ Ted calls over to him.
  Dave nods and goes back into the generator room.
  ‘READY?’ Dave calls out.
  ‘GO FOR IT,’ Ted shouts back.

  The generator increases in pitch again.
  ‘NOW!’ Dave shouts.
  The effect is amazing, the electrified fencing arcs down into the water and the horde of undead look like they are dancing on the spot; the undulations within the crowd are dynamic as they twitch and spasm uncontrollably. The ones at the very front are pinned against the gates and their skin is starting to smoke from being pressed against the metal railings.

  ‘KEEP GOING,’ Ted shouts.
   I hear retching behind me and look round to see Terri bent over, vomiting on the ground. Jane is rubbing her back, but she too looks nauseous.

  Tom looks at Terri and he immediately starts throwing up.
  ‘Steven - get them inside please,’ Ted says.
  ‘What? Why should I miss the fun,’ Steven is smiling at the damage being caused to the still contorting undead.

  Jane helps Terri to go inside and Tom staggers after them, still retching.
  ‘Pussy,’ Steven says, as Tom passes.
  ‘Piss off, Steven,’ Tom retorts, in between a mouthful of vomit spewing out.
  Several of the undead have smoke coming from their faces. One of them bursts into flames and then fire starts spreading along the entire front row.
  ‘Shit, look at that.’

  I’ve already set several undead on fire, so the flames don’t bother me, but the fact that they are alight from being electrocuted is still quite shocking.

  There are gaps forming in the crowd where some of the undead are dropping down. The current being passed through them all, prevents the rest from filling the spaces. More undead behind the first row are on fire now and the smell of roasting meat is wafting over to us - it’s making me start to feel bilious too.
  ‘We’d better watch that the fire doesn’t spread too much, Ted.’
  ‘STOP,’ Ted shouts out and Dave powers off the generator.

  As soon as the current ends, the entire front of the crowd fall down as one, leaving a wide, open space. The ones on fire at the very front just slide down the gates, leaving burnt and smouldering flesh charred on the bars.

  The ground is packed with smoking bodies now, some of them are still twitching and convulsing. I raise my eyebrows at Ted, who just looks at me.
  ‘That worked well then,’ he says.
  Dave comes out and looks at the hundreds of bodies lying on the ground, and the horde behind them still trying to push forward. The front rows are tripping over the bodies and they are then trampled down. A natural barricade of zombie bodies forms and prevents the rear from getting any closer.

  Dave nods once and looks back at me: ‘Ready, Mr Howie?’

Tom has walked us over to the door on the other side of the police station. We look out from a window and see a small parking area with several plain cars.
  ‘Are they all
Ford Focus
’s?’
  ‘Yeah, sorry, Mr Howie. That’s all the force will buy.’
  ‘Oh well, which one shall we go for?’
  ‘Try that blue one there, it’s the newest and probably the least damaged.’

We’ve already said goodbye to the rest of the officers, we now have to say our farewells to Ted, who I will greatly miss.

  Both Dave and I have our bags on; my axe is wedged between my bag and my back.
  ‘Right Ted, well… it was good to meet you, mate.’  I extend my hand, but Ted looks nervous and avoids eye contact.
  ‘What’s up, mate? I ask him.
  ‘I want to come with you,’ he blurts out.
  I look at Dave who gives a very subtle shake of his head.
  ‘Ted… we’d love to have you with us. Dave and I were just saying earlier how great it would be if you could come along.’ Ted looks up, full of hope.
  ‘But, we can’t mate. We’ve seen how much you help the others and how much they rely on you, so it wouldn’t be fair. It would be selfish of us to take you away from them,’ I give a pained expression. ‘And… I know that you are going to protect your team and make sure that they stay safe.’

   He looks hurt, at first, but nods, he knows that his last chance to be an action hero has faded.
  ‘So… listen Dave… we can’t take Ted away from his team, they need him. We’ll just have to struggle on, just the two of us - damn shame though…’ I cut in fast, before Dave can say anything else.
  ‘Ted, it’s been a pleasure to meet you, mate. Good luck with getting to the Forts safely.’
  ‘Yeah, of course, thanks and… I’ll  hold that Fort and wait for you both as well.’
  ‘Yes mate – you will be like a forward reconnaissance advanced recce pathfinder…’
  I pat him on the shoulder, looking him dead in the eye as I speak.

  Then…
  ‘Shall we, Dave?’
  ‘Okay, Mr Howie.’

Ted unlocks the door and Dave and I walk out. I hear the door being closed behind us.
  ‘What’s a forward reconnaissance advanced recce pathfinder, Mr Howie?’
  ‘Well… if you need me to keep explaining these military terms to you Dave, I am going to get fed up pretty quickly.’
  The area is clear of undead as they are all gathered round the corner, by the metal gates.
  ‘But seriously, don’t they exist?’ I ask Dave.
  ‘What?’
  ‘Forward reconnaissance advanced recce pathfinders?’
  ‘No.’
  ‘Well… okay – but… at least I can drive.’
  ‘Yes, Mr Howie.’

We get to the blue
Focus
and load our kit onto the back seat.

Dave goes to get into the front and then changes his mind and gets in the back. He takes both shotguns and the rifle and props them up, so they are aiming to the roof. He then winds down both rear windows. I get into the front and look at all of the mess in the foot wells: chocolate bar wrappers and empty cans of soda.
  ‘Messy pigs… oops, no, I didn’t mean to say pigs… sorry, I didn’t mean that,’ I scan around, afraid that one of them might have heard me, but we are safely alone.
  I start the car and back out of the parking space then drive towards the corner of the building. As we nudge out into the road we both look left down at the horde. The mass electrocution has definitely thinned them out, but there’s still a lot left. I turn right, then stop and position the rear view mirror so that I can see them.
  ‘Have they spied us, Dave?’
  ‘No.’
  The horde are all still facing towards the gates with their backs to us. I sound the horn and a feeble, warbling noise sounds out.
  ‘Anything?’
  ‘A couple have turned, that’s it though.’
  ‘Okay, plan B, then.’

I get out of the car and take my shotgun from the back seat, then open my bag and get a few more cartridges ready. Dave watches me, then gets out and does the same.
  ‘Dave, give ‘em a nice, big shout mate.’
  ‘OI,’ Dave bellows at them in his drill sergeant voice, we get more of a reaction now, as they slowly turn and face our direction.
  I fire the shotgun from the hip, emptying both barrels into the crowd. Several go down from the spread of the pellets.

Dave fires next and more fall backwards into the undead behind them. We both reload and fire again.

Most of the horde is facing us now, but there is still a big section at the front that is pushing towards the gates.
  ‘The van won’t be able to get through that many.’
  Dave puts the shotgun back into the car and pulls out two, long, straight-bladed knives from his bag. He reverses the grip so that the blades are upright against his forearms. I feel a rush of excitement as adrenalin starts to surge through my system. I reload my shotgun and put it back into the car, then draw my axe. The heavy metal head feels good. We both look at each other and then turn and walk towards the horde.
  ‘Strike and move, Mr Howie.’
  ‘Yep, got it.’
  Dave steps off to the right and I keep left, we walk for a few seconds until we are just over halfway to them, then we both stop. Dave, holding the knives down at his sides, faces forward; my axe is held in my right hand - also at my side.
  In the silence we stand and wait.
  This horde almost finished us last night; we were inches away from death when we were saved. They were fast and
switched on
then, but now they are slow and we can get some payback.
  I think of my parents and start to feel the rage building up inside of me again, it’s been suppressed for a little while but I can release it now. I can unlock the cage that surrounds my heart.
  The closest undead have almost reached us now, those that turned first had a few steps head start from the horde. They can taste the bite and I can see their lips being pulled back. I fix my eyes on the closest one, an adult male with half his face already torn away. Shuffling towards me, his head is rolling, but his red eyes watch me.
  I step to the side and launch the axe at his head, the blade bites into the side of his skull, bursting the head open. He goes down and I attack the next one with an over head smash, cleaving the skull in two.
  I pick my targets and let the rage do the rest.
  Strike and move
.
  I lash out, cracking undead skulls open; blood and brain matter spraying out. I move away and step backwards, to keep my distance.
  The main horde is close now but there is enough space between them for me to move in and destroy them, one by one.
  The blood lust is upon me, the glory of battle is surging through my veins and I unleash hell with my axe; smashing bones, cleaving skulls and bursting their skulls apart.
  Another one to my right, I back swing and he is knocked away, then I slash to my left and drive the axe blade down into a shoulder bone. Then another one in front of me and I uppercut the blunt back end of the axe head and obliterate his jaw, sending shards of bone into his brain.
  They keep coming and they keep dropping.
  Strike and move
.
  We draw back slowly towards the car and they keep coming after us. They are too close now and we have no view, beyond the first few, to see if the riot van can get out. But I don’t care, this is what I want, this destruction of the undead.
  I keep hacking away with the axe, the shuffling bodies are slow and as long as I keep moving back, they can’t bite me.
  I glance over and see Dave moving amongst them, like a ballet dancer. His arms swirl as he spins and pulls the blades across undead necks. Arterial blood from the slit throats sprays high into the air as the bodies fall to the ground.
  He punches out with the knives, puncturing lungs and breaking ribs with his blows and more fall down.
  Watching him is like watching a master at work. The effortless movements are mesmerising, but I am brought back to reality by an undead face lunging at me.
  I slam my forehead into his nose and use the bottom of the axe handle to bat him away from me.
  The last time I head butted someone it hurt like hell, but I don’t feel any pain now and I go back to making war with my axe.
  I strike out at several more, watching them fall and die again. Then, suddenly, there is space around me and I look for the next victim.
   A single, undead male is watching me. In my bloodlust and fury I fail to take in that his head doesn’t roll and he is standing as a normal man would stand; head upright and eyes front.
  I charge at him, pulling the axe back. I’m staring at his neck and I visualise the axe going through his spine and his head spinning away, into the horde.
  I get to within striking range and, roaring, swing the axe towards him.
  His hand raises and grabs the handle, stopping the swing in mid-flight. We stare at each other, eyes locked. His hand is touching mine. I try to pull the axe away, but his grip is awesome and he doesn’t move. He hasn’t pulled his lips back or bared his teeth. He stares at me with those red eyes. There is intelligence within his face that terrifies me and roots me to the spot.