The Undead. The First Seven Days (84 page)

A feeble light switches on from the front.
  ‘Hey, look over there,’ Sarah says softly, the girl turns slowly to see the very soft yellow light illuminating the many faces packed into the van, all of them women.

A few of them smile down at the girl hugging Sarah.
  ‘See, we’re not in the dark anymore, and soon we’ll be able to get out, we just have to wait,’ Sarah assures the girl.
  ‘Will those things get us?’ Patricia asks, with fear in her small voice.
  ‘No sweetie, they won’t get us,’ Sarah says, as Patricia pushes into her shoulder to cover her face.
  ‘Do you promise?’ Patricia asks.
  ‘I promise, I know the men looking after us and they’re very, very brave. They won’t let anything happen to us,’ Sarah says.
  ‘Will they stop those things?’ Patricia asks.
  ‘Yes, they will stop them and they will keep us all safe, I promise. They’re big and strong and brave, and we’re in here and those things can’t get us in here.’
  ‘How do you know them?’ One of the women asks.
  ‘My brother is one of them,’ Sarah replies.
  ‘One of the guards?’ Another asks.
  ‘No, Howie is with the army vehicle, he’s in charge of them,’ Sarah replies with pride.
  ‘HOWIEEEEEEE,’ a woman screeches out from the far corner of the vehicle, heads turn at the sudden noise as the voice screeches again.

‘HOWIEEEEEEEE.’

A commotion breaks out as another woman screams.
  ‘She’s biting her, she’s one of them,’ a voice shouts out.

Sarah catches a glimpse of an old woman sinking her teeth into the neck of a younger woman and blood pumping out.

The packed bodies try to push away, as others try to push in, to stop the attack.
  ‘GET HER OFF,’ Sarah screams out, as a hand reaches out to grasp the hair on the back of the head of the old woman, pulling her away with a violent yank.

The attacked woman drops to the floor, as women start pummelling into the freshly turned zombie and she goes down in the packed confines, as the women scream with fear. Feet start stamping down, desperately trying to kill the old woman.
  ‘SHE GOT ME,’ one of the women screams out, as her ankle is bitten into.

She drops down to beat the old woman away, until more boots and shoes can stamp down on her head and neck.
  ‘IS SHE DOWN?’ Sarah calls out.
  ‘Yeah, where’s the other one that she bit?’ Another voice shouts in panic.
  ‘She’s on the ground, she’s not moving,’ someone answers.
  ‘Kill her, she’ll come back as one of them,’ the first voice shouts.
  In the dim light, Sarah makes out women pushing and scrabbling to get away from the fallen woman, some of the braver ones fighting to get to her, none of them able to move much, because of the small space.
  The woman with the bitten ankle screams and sobs as she clutches her ankle: ‘I’ve been bitten, I’ve been bitten,’ she repeats over and again.
  Sarah pulls the girl closer, her hands going round her chest in a protective embrace.
  ‘Go behind me, sweetie,’ Sarah whispers in her ear and pushes the girl round.

Another scream pierces the air as the savaged woman rises up and lunges with bloodshot eyes, sinking her teeth into the closest leg.

Hands start beating at her as the van erupts in panic.

Screaming, pushing and pulling as the woman fights to get away. More of them fall down from vicious bites, as zombie teeth tear flesh apart.
  Women start slipping over, as the wooden base of the van becomes slick with the spilled blood, more women are bitten and go down onto the ground.

Sarah watches as the bodies fight and writhe on the ground. She slips her hand round and draws the handle from her back pocket, feeling for the small button. She holds it down at her side with her finger pressed gently on the button.

The driver of the van hears the screams and bangs clearly, his hands grip the steering wheel as pure terror grows inside him.

He leans forward to stare at the red light of the vehicle in front. He knows he’s the last in the fleet and if he stops now, he will be left behind; defenceless in the dark streets of London, surrounded by the undead.

The bangs and screams increase as he drives and hot tears start spilling down his face, he beats his hands against the steering wheel, imagining the scenes breaking out just inches behind him.

Instinctively, he reaches for the radio and presses the on switch; static fills the air. The driver finds a CD in the cubby-hole of the dashboard and tries to force it into the CD slot, his hands shaking.

The CD refuses to budge and it takes minutes for him to realise there is already a CD in the player. He throws the CD down onto the floor, frantically pressing buttons, as the screams and bangs get louder from the rear.
  The driver finally presses the right button and loud rock music bursts out of the speakers, he twists the volume knob until the sound is so loud it comes out distorted. He looks up to see he has drifted off to the side in his panic to fill the van with noise. He over reacts and yanks the steering wheel hard, the van swerves over and then back again as he fights to get control.

Sarah watches as the biggest bitch fight in the world breaks out in front of her, then she lowers down to speak into the girl’s ear: 'Put your hands over your eyes, sweetie, and keep them there.’ The girl does as she is asked and pushes her small hands over her tightly closed eyes.
  ‘I’ll be right back, I promise.’ Sarah whispers, while watching the unfolding mess in front of her.

Half the women in the van are bitten and the rest are fighting like troopers to protect themselves, falling and tripping over the bodies wrestling on the floor.

An infected woman stumbles backwards, having been thrust by a large built woman at the front. The zombie stumbles into Sarah who reaches round to grip her arm across the neck, squeezing tightly. She presses the small button on the handle, a shiny blade slides out instantly, and Sarah digs this into the throat of the woman, while gripping hard. Blood pumps out, covering her hand and arm. She pushes the body away, just as the large woman sends another one her way. Sarah steps forward and grabs the fringe of zombie and pulls her head forward, as she sticks the knife deep into her throat, then twists the handle left to right and back again, tearing a ragged hole in her windpipe.
  Loud rock music booms out from the front, drowning out the screams, grunts and groans of the women trying to kill each other.

Sarah drops the woman down and lunges for the next one, as the van swerves violently, causing all the women to fly into one side, landing in a crumpled heap, with Sarah at the bottom of the pile.

Pinned to the floor by bloodied bodies, she thrashes her legs, frantically trying to prevent any of the undead from biting her ankles. The bodies fight and writhe about, as Sarah struggles for breath under the heavy weight, the van swerves again, as the bodies slide across the slick floor to ram into the other side. Sarah is now free and rises up to see red, bloodshot eyes pushing towards her.

She yells as she sticks the blade into the throat, missing and stabbing the woman through the cheek instead. She pulls the small handle back and lashes out again and again, swiping the blade back and forth across the throat.
  Another one pushes her head out of the mess of limbs and Sarah rams her foot into the face, feeling bones crunch underfoot.

She tries to roll away, as the van swerves again and they slide back across the floor to pin Sarah against the side.

Once more trapped under the bodies, she fights to draw her legs into the foetal position, hoping the press of bodies will protect her. She feels the blade sinking into the back of another woman pressing into her, with no idea if she is stabbing a zombie or another survivor. She tries to pull the knife away, but her arm is pinned into position as the body writhes on the blade.
  Another swerve sends them back across the floor and Sarah loses grip on the knife, as they slam into the other side. She crabs backwards as a body drops down on her, blood pouring from a deep bite wound to her neck. Sarah cranes her neck, trying to keep her face away from the blood and she rolls hard to displace the body, pushing it aside, as she gets back to her feet.

Another zombie comes from the right and Sarah quickly ducks down and moves behind to wrap her arms round her neck. Sarah squeezes with all her might as the body staggers forward with arms flailing. A woman in front of them turns round to bite into the mass of bodies and Sarah sees the knife sticking out of her back. She reaches out to grab the handle as the zombie pulls away, Sarah squeezes hard and pulls her upper body backwards, forcing the zombie to fall down. Sarah slams her booted feet down again and again on the face, just as the one with the knife stuck in her turns to Sarah with bloodied teeth bared.

Sarah slams her fist into the side of its face, snapping the head away.

Then Sarah side steps and finally gets grip of the knife, she pulls it out and forces the blade into the side of the zombie’s neck, sawing and hacking away, until a large, ragged hole forms in the soft flesh.
  She turns to see an undead lunge at Patricia, still cowering in the corner with her hands over her eyes. Sarah dives forward onto the floor and grabs the ankles, pulling them back as hard as she can. The zombie slams down face forward into the floor as Sarah clambers over its back to grab the head and slam it down again and again into the hard flooring.

Remembering the knife in her hand, she repeatedly stabs into the rib cage, breaking bones and puncturing the lungs. The body eventually goes still, as Sarah rolls off to find another one bearing down on her.

She lifts her feet up and takes the weight of the zombie body on its chest. Her boots push into the zombie’s breasts as she tries to force it away. The zombie is heavy and fighting forward and Sarah feels her legs starting to buckle; she rolls to the side as the body falls down, just missing her.

She slams her arm down and forces the blade into the back of the neck, before the zombie can roll or turn towards her.
  Sarah keeps fighting and knifing the zombies down, as they are bitten and turned, one by one. She fights out with desperation, until she is side by side with the large built woman from earlier. The large woman wraps her arms round a zombie, pinning her against the side of the van.
  ‘STAB HER,’ the woman yells, as Sarah lunges forward with the knife to slice open the undead's throat.

They back away, as the body slides down onto the already crowded floor.
  The large woman thrusts her arm out to grab the hair of a zombie about to bite Sarah from the other side, yelling a warning as she fights to pull the undead woman away. Sarah sticks the small blade deep into the exposed neck.
  They keep going, until the last one drops down onto the  top of the gory pile of corpses; both of them soaked with blood and filth.

They back away, until they are both standing protectively in front of Patricia, Sarah hands the other woman the knife and drops down, so she is eye level with the little girl.
  ‘Sweetie, I want you to turn round and face the other way now.’
  ‘Can I take my hands away?’ Patricia answers.
  ‘Yes, but only when you’ve turned round.’
  ‘Did those things get in here?’ Patricia asks. ‘You promised they wouldn’t.’
  Sarah looks up to exchange a glance with the other woman. ‘Just turn for me Patricia, there’s none of them in here now, it’s safe,’ Sarah says, as she turns the girl round.
  ‘I’m Mary,’ the large built woman says when Sarah stands up. ‘Nice to meet you, do you want your knife back?’
  ‘Yes, if you don’t mind,’ Sarah replies. ‘Nice to meet you too, Mary,’
  ‘You’re better with it than me, I’ll grab ‘em and you stab ‘em,’ the large woman jokes.
  ‘Deal,’ Sarah replies, as they stare down at the bodies piled in front of them.

‘There they are,’ Curtis says to Howie who is now in the passenger seat.
  ‘Nice one mate, just need to get to the front now,’ Howie replies.

The taillights disappear round a bend in the road, but soon come into view again as the Saxon speeds up.

Curtis drives up close behind the last van, the one containing Sarah, Mary, Patricia and the pile of zombie bodies.

They flash headlights to alert the driver they are going round, as Curtis pulls out to start overtaking them.
  One by one, they drive past the fleet of vehicles, Howie giving a wave or a thumbs up to the drivers while wondering how they will feel when they find out most of their guards have been wiped out.
  ‘Which Fort are we heading for?’ Chris calls out from the back.
  ‘There’s quite a few of them, but I reckon we should go for Fort Spitland, it’s the biggest one that I know off and it’s been maintained,’ Howie shouts back.
  ‘Have you been there before?’ Chris asks.
  ‘Yeah, but years ago, we went with school and then a couple of times later. It’s huge and the rear wall goes straight onto the sea, from memory it had open flat land all around it too.’
  ‘Let’s just hope it’s not full then,’ Chris says.
  The Saxon weaves its way past the fleet of vans, cars and trucks, until it eventually reaches the front; a long convoy, snaking out of London into the pitch black of the countryside.
Howie checks and re-checks the map, planning ahead and making sure they stick to major roads, so the big trucks can fit through.
 
‘Malcolm to Chris, we are being flashed by headlights from behind; there must be an issue. Can we find a safe area to pull up?’
  ‘Chris to Malcolm and all units, Roger that. I know this road, there is a section ahead with high concrete walls on both sides, we will stop there.’
 
‘About a mile or so further, Howie, you’ll see big walls on both sides, we want to stop there,’ Chris shouts forward.
  ‘Got it mate. Curtis, make sure you keep to the middle lane, so we have equal distance on both sides,’ Howie says.
  ‘Okay, Mr Howie.’
  Within a few minutes, the Saxon is slowing down as they enter into a very long, straight section of the motorway. High concrete walls create a tunnel effect from the headlights and the dark sky.
  ‘Who’s on the GPMG?’ Howie asks.
  ‘Jamie,’ Blowers answers.
  ‘Right, I want us out, down the sides, keeping watch, and Curtis, I want you to drive forward a short distance, so you Jamie can get a good view of the sides, everyone ready? Good, everyone out then,’ Howie shouts as he jumps down and runs back to meet Chris.