The Z Infection (24 page)

       I walked through to a small utility room, just
off the kitchen.  There was a door lying ajar and I could feel the cool air
drifting in from outside.  I pushed it open a little further and stepped out
onto something I hadn’t expected.  There was a rooftop garden occupying the
space.  Whoever had lived there had been a keen gardener.  There were pots of
herbs and larger raised beds of different kinds of vegetables. 

       ‘We hit the jackpot here,’ said Xiaofan.  ‘This
is gold.’

       She was right.  The store cupboard stuff was
great, but limited.  It was all soups and beans and dried food like pasta and
rice.  That was fine, but we were going to get sick of that soon enough.  But
with a garden on the roof, we had something extra.  There were potatoes,
lettuce, beans, broccoli, carrots and turnips.  There were a couple of things I
didn’t recognise but guessed were edible.

       At one side there were two greenhouses.  Inside
we found tomato plants, cucumbers and peppers.  One had chillies and something
else I didn’t recognise.

       ‘This could last us for months,’ said Xiaofan. 
‘With a bit of preparation and some care about how we use it and look after it,
we could last indefinitely.’

       ‘We would still need to replenish things,’ I
said.  ‘And what about water and feed?’

       She opened a shed that was next to one of the
greenhouses.  Inside there were tools and packets of seeds for all sorts of
plants, fruit and vegetables as well as plant food, fertiliser and
insecticides.  There were also a few bags of compost to keep us going. 

       ‘I can get us anything else we need,’ said
Xiaofan.  ‘Just name it and I will find a place that stocks it.’

       I was grinning from ear to ear.  In amongst the
carnage of the last two days, this tiny oasis in the middle of a ravaged city
had given me hope.  I was still clinging to the belief that we would be rescued
at some point, as the government regained control, but now we had the means to
survive until that happened.

       ‘I think we should move in here,’ said
Xiaofan.  ‘It’s a bigger flat and we’ve got all this.  We can get out for a
breath of fresh air and it would be easier to defend if we came under attack.’

       ‘Okay,’ I agreed.  ‘Let’s do it now.’

       It took us three hours, just to move all the
essentials from the old flat to the new one.  By essentials I mean the food and
anything that could have been used as a weapon.  We also took all the pots and
pans, cutlery, DVD’s and CD’s and anything else which would make life more
bearable.

       In the other flats we had taken all the booze
as well.  When we were finished I counted forty bottles of wine, six bottles of
whisky, nine of vodka and several others of varying types.  There was also a
few dozen bottles of beer and some cider.  In one of the bottom flats, Xiaofan
had found a bottle of champagne.  It looked like a good one and she had put it
in the fridge to chill.

       As I unpacked the last of the boxes from the
old flat, I suddenly felt tired and drained.

       ‘What you need is a good soak,’ said Xiaofan.

       There was a nice bathroom down the hall and I
imagined myself lying in the hot water for an hour or so.

       ‘I might just do that,’ I said.

       ‘Not so fast,’ said Xiaofan.  ‘I have a
surprise first.’

       ‘Another one?’ I said.

       She opened the fridge and pulled out the bottle
of champagne which was now perfectly chilled.

       ‘Follow me,’ she said.

       We walked back through the tiny utility room
and onto the roof.  Then she took me to the far end, where a screen of wicker
fencing obscured our view.

       ‘Close your eyes,’ she said.

       I did as she asked and she took my hand and led
me past the screen.

       ‘Open,’ she said.

       I opened my eyes and could barely contain my
surprise.  There, behind the wicker screen, was a hot tub.

       ‘Does it work?’ I asked.

       ‘Let’s see,’ said Xiaofan.

       She pressed a switch and hum began to emanate
from the machine, followed by a roar of bubbles as they broke to the surface
and danced there for our pleasure and amusement.

       I didn’t say another word.  I stripped off
there and then and eased myself into the gloriously hot water, enjoying the
feel of the bubbles as they caressed my back.  Xiaofan joined me a few moments
later, handing me a glass of champagne as she stepped in.

       We sat there laughing like demented lunatics,
as the stress of the last two days finally caught up with us and we sipped our
drinks.  It was surreal.  If anyone else had seen us they would have thought we
were mad, but for the first time since the world had gone to rat shit, we both felt
like we were in control.

       We stayed in that tub until we looked like
prunes.  Who knew when the power would cut out?  That could have been our last
hot bath ever and we were both determined to enjoy it to the full.

Anna Hasker                                                                               

16:20 hours, Saturday 16
^th
May, Loch Leven,
Kinross-shire

When the infected had found us we ran
as fast as we could.  They stumbled through the smoke and wreckage of the
aircraft, following us and moaning in that wearisome fashion.  So many of the
survivors of the crash were traumatised by what had just happened, that they
found it difficult to pull themselves together and Mike and I had to cajole
them along.  One or two were completely unable to function and just stood
there, waiting for the inevitable as the infected closed in on them.

‘Leave them,’ said Mike.  ‘They’re no
use to us now.  We have to make sure we get away.’

It was cold-hearted assessment of the
situation, but he was right.  Leaving those ones behind probably saved the rest
of us, buying us valuable time, as the infected fell on them and devoured them.

We carried on to the far end of the
airfield.  People became separated as some chose different directions as Mike
and I arrived at the loch side.  It was a large area of water, probably a few
square miles in total and we followed the shore for a few hundred yards.  We
still had the young boy with us, completely numbed by his experiences, but
still running alongside us.

‘There,’ said Mike, after we had been
running for about ten minutes.

I looked up and saw an island.  I had
seen it already but it had looked quite far away.  Now it was much closer, as a
spit of land poked out into the water on its eastern side.  It looked like it
was a good size, with several clumps of trees near to the shore.  But Mike
wasn’t pointing at the island.  He was pointing at a figure on it.  I stopped
and shielded my eyes from the sun to get a better look.  It was a girl. 
Skinny.  Only about seven or eight years old, standing on the shore.  She was
wearing a light summer dress and her hair hung in pigtails on either side of
her head.

She was waving to us.  Beckoning us
to cross the narrow stretch of water to her.  I looked at Mike.

‘What have we got to lose?’ he asked.

The answer was simple.  Nothing.

I turned to the boy.

‘Can you swim?’

He nodded dumbly.

That was good enough for me.  The
infected, the ones who had passed by the feeding frenzy at the aircraft, were
already after us.  It wouldn’t be long before we became exhausted and they ran
us down.  I wasn’t sure what we were going to do on the island, but it was the
best option in the short term.

We plunged into the water.  It was
cold and it took my breath away at first, but I was soon used to it.  We waded
out a few metres, until it became too deep and then started swimming.  Mike was
stronger than me and made the short journey much quicker.  The young boy was
second and I came a distant third, flopping onto the sandy beach in exhaustion.

I lay there for a long time,
expecting to hear the familiar shouts of ‘run for your lives’ as the infected
followed us across, but none came.  Instead I opened my eyes to three faces,
Mike, the boy from the aircraft and the little girl.

‘They don’t like the water,’ she said
simply.

I squinted my eyes, puzzled.

‘She’s right,’ said Mike.  ‘They
don’t want to cross it.’

He pointed to where we had just swam
from and I lifted myself onto one elbow to get a better look.  On the shores of
the loch a large group of the infected had gathered, moaning and baying at us. 
But they made no attempt to enter the water.  Something held them back.

‘They won’t follow you,’ said the
girl.  ‘They’re scared of water.’

Whether they were scared of it or
not, didn’t bother me.  We would be secure on the island for now.  We were
trapped, that was a fact, but at least we were safe.

I dragged myself to my feet and took
a look around.  There was nothing there.  A few trees, shrubs and bushes.  That
was about it.  At the far end of the island I could see a structure.  The girl
could see me looking at it.

‘That’s an old building,’ she said. 
Then, as she saw more of the infected gathering on the shore she took my hand. 
‘They won’t cross, but if they can see us they won’t go away,’ she said.  ‘I
hide in the trees usually.’

That seemed like a good idea and the
four of us walked to the thickly wooded area which occupied the northern
shore.  Once we were in there we sat down.  We were out of sight of the
infected and that was a huge relief. 

After about an hour things settled
down.  Mike went to take a look at the shoreline and came back with some good
news.

‘They’re mostly gone,’ he said.  ‘One
or two stragglers still loitering around, but the main body has moved off.’

‘I told you,’ said the girl.

I suddenly realised I didn’t know our
two new companions names.

‘What are you called?’ I asked the
girl.

‘Beth,’ she said.

‘Are you here alone?’ I asked.

She nodded and her eyes filled with
tears.  I decided not to push it any further for the time being.  Somebody must
have brought her to the island, but where they were now was anybody’s guess.

‘What about you?’ I said, turning to
the boy.  ‘What’s your name?’

‘Ben,’ he said.

It was the first word I had heard him
utter.  It was progress.

Mike motioned for me to go with him
so we could talk in private.  We wandered off to a tree stump which offered a
perfect seat for the two of us, leaving the two children to try to acquaint
themselves with each other.

‘We can’t stay here,’ said Mike. 
‘There’s no food.  No shelter.’

I was tired and reluctant to leave. 

‘At least it’s safe,’ I countered.

‘For how long?’ he said.  ‘Those
things won’t cross the water now, but what if they decide to try at some
point?  We’re sitting ducks here.’

‘What do you suggest?’ I asked. 
‘We’re too weak to last long across there.  We wouldn’t stand a chance if we
ran into a big group of them.  And we have two kids to look after now.’

He gave it some thought before he
spoke again.

‘Okay, we can stay here tonight, but
tomorrow we will have to move.  We’ll need food and we need to find other
people, otherwise we’re finished.’

Kim Taylor

16:25 hours, Saturday 16
^th
May, Buckingham
Palace, London

       I was really scared when I had seen Barrie
being killed.  That was bad enough, but when I realised that the soldiers I was
with were not going to be able to save me that was even worse.

       All Callum could say was to run.  So we had. 
Two of his men fired as we retreated.  They were good shots and they took out a
few of the infected, but every time a gun was discharged it meant that more of
them heard it and came after us.  It was a no win situation and we needed some
alternative.

       All I could see was the wall and the palace. 
Going over the wall was out of the question – there were still far more
infected outside the palace than inside.  If we broke into the building then we
would create a way in for those things too and that would endanger everyone
inside.  But we couldn’t stay where we were.

       ‘We have to get inside,’ I said.

       ‘She’s right,’ said Callum to one of the
soldiers.  ‘We can’t stay out here.  We’ll be overrun in minutes.’

       More and more infected were coming around the
corner of the building.  The soldiers shot them down, one after another and
still they came.  For every one that fell, another three or four would appear. 
We were as far as we could go and running out of options.

       ‘The window?’ I said.

       There was one last window on the ground floor. 
Without even replying to me, Callum grabbed a grenade from his fatigues and
pulled the pin.