Wild Strawberry: Book 3 Ascent (11 page)

             
Neil nodded grimly. “Wait and see.” 

             
“I am no hero,” Misha told Neil, “if your infection gets worse I will go and sleep downstairs until I’m sure you’re OK.”

             
“Don’t worry, I’m just grateful for everything you’ve done for me already.”

             
Misha smiled.  “You’d do the same for me.  There’s not many of us left; we’ve got to look out for each other.”

             
They had found a large metal tray and built a fire on top of it.

             
Neil lay back and watched the tall, thin column of smoke snake into the sky.

             
“Listen!”  Misha shouted, “Do you hear it?”

             
As Neil’s brain began to focus he made out the unmistakable sound of a car engine.

             
“More survivors!” Misha beamed, “And maybe our ticket to somewhere more hospitable.”

*   *   *

Will and Siobhan were back in their car; Siobhan was laughing as she rummaged through her pile of newly-looted books.

             
“I hate to rain on your parade, but we are overheating!”

             
Siobhan looked at Will, “You what?”

             
“The car,” Will tapped the dashboard, “the water must have frozen and cracked the tank.  We’re going to need new wheels.”

             
Staring out into the apparently empty landscape Siobhan slowly exhaled.  The thought of leaving the relative security of the car was not pleasant.  She peered out of the windows in every direction looking for signs of life, and for signs of unlife.

*   *   *

With the temperature gauge pointing to red, and white smoke starting to seep from under the bonnet, they saw a sign marked, ‘Service Station.’

             
As Will turned the car towards the station Siobhan pressed her hand against his shoulder.

             
“Is this a good idea?” She spoke softly, as if worried something would hear.  “I mean, a service station will have attracted people, and people will have attracted them.”

             
“Sorry, but with the engine running this hot we have no choice – I don’t think we could make another mile.”

             
Siobhan nodded grimly.  “OK then, here we go.”

             
The car pulled into the car park, belching smoke and making an increasingly loud screeching noise.

             
“Look!” Siobhan pointed at four figures on the roof.

             
“The car’s about to pack up; we’re going to have to get in there.”

             
“But we’ll be trapped, how will we get the supplies back to the Bunker?”

             
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.  For now we just need to get out of this car before it catches fire.”

*   *   *

Rob and Helena had joined Misha and Neil on the roof to watch the arrival of the car.

             
“Clever people,” Rob muttered under his breath, as he watched them make a preliminary circuit of the car park, drawing the zombies out to chase them, clearing the area for a second approach.

             
“Rope ladder!” Rob shouted, and clambered down to where he could lower it to receive the newcomers.

             
Helena bit her lip, her brow furrowed; she wondered what new dangers these fresh arrivals would bring.

*   *   *

In Greenwich Park the flying leaves and rising noise, now almost deafening, made it hard for the survivors to think clearly.

             
Tina slipped her hand into Danniella’s. “Game over!”  But her words were lost in the roaring that was filling their ears.

             
Danniella gripped Tina’s hand tightly and dragged her onwards.

             
There was no hope, but Danniella could not give up.  She had caused this mess, and she would fight to fix it till her dying breath.

             
With a prayer that they would finish her off so completely that she wouldn’t come back as one of them, Danniella ran towards the exit to the Park.

             
Some of the creatures started to shamble towards them.  They had been out in the Park, and were partially frozen; not as agile as the crowd behind them.  They were also fairly spread out.  Some seemed distracted by the wind, looking upwards at the circling leaves; but most of the zombies started to shamble towards Danniella and Tina.

             
As they ran they cursed to see the far side gate opened onto a street full of creatures that were now running towards them.

             
There was no escape.

             
Danniella looked around frantically for any way out, she even considered climbing a tree, but as she looked back at the forest she saw the vast tide of the dead that had followed them from the Heath emerge from the shadows.

             
The wall of the Park looked like the least impossible escape route, although it looked too sheer to climb, and it was unlikely they would reach it in time.

             
Danniella, changed direction, still gripping Tina’s hand.  However, Tina had stopped, and Danniella’s shoulder was wrenched back as she tried to keep moving.  One of the zombies that had been in the Park was almost on them.

             
Leaves were spinning in a crazy whirlwind.

             
Danniella’s head was filled with white noise.

             
Why had Tina stopped?

             
The zombie was twelve foot away…

             
Six foot…

             
Its hands were almost on them, and would be followed by its teeth…

             
Suddenly the creature’s head exploded, showering the survivors with an icy cold mixture of brains, blood and bone.

             
Before Danniella had time to work out what was happening she felt hands grip her.

             
She closed her eyes and waited for the end.

Ascent

The hands that gripped Danniella tightened.

             
As she instinctively covered her face with her hands and drew herself into a ball to protect herself her hand slipped out of Tina’s.

             
“Jesus Christ forgive me,” she whispered as she waited for the end.

             
As she curled up, she felt herself being lifted in the air.

             
She heard bangs like fireworks exploding in her head then found she was looking down at the Park, falling away beneath her.  Zombies were reaching up towards her.

             
She was flying.

             
At last she took in her surroundings: she was suspended beneath a helicopter; the strong hands that were holding her belonged to a soldier who was hanging from a rope and who was looping another cord around her to keep her safe.

             
Next to her Tina was also being pulled into the sky, but her face was twisted with pain; horror struck, Danniella looked down to see an elderly dead man clutching onto Tina’s leg, his teeth sunk into the flesh of her shin.

             
“No,” she breathed.

             
Tina was writhing, and kicking, trying to free herself from the monster’s grip.  At last the heel of her free foot connected with the forehead of the old man.  She kicked it down, scraping the zombie free, breaking its nose on the way.

             
Danniella watched the zombie fall, its red mouth snapping and hands scrabbling and reaching upwards, all the way till it smashed into the crowd below.

             
Blood from Tina’s wound splashed liberally, cascading downwards towards the open mouths of the dead.

             
The helicopter rose higher, and Danniella and Tina were pulled up into the passenger space.

             
There were two young soldiers in the passenger-bay already.  They were now joined by Danniella, Tina and the two men who had been lowered on ropes to rescue them.

             
The two soldiers already seated had their guns leveled at the two women.  One of them was wearing a large collection of dog tags and greatcoat, over his camouflage gear.  He shouted over the roar of the helicopter, “Are you okay?”

             
All eyes fell on Tina’s leg.  The wound was not clearly visible through the ripped hole in her jeans, but the bottom of her jeans and her training shoe were stained red, as if she had stepped in blood.

             
The soldier with the greatcoat stood up, unclipped the rope around Tina’s middle and before either of the women knew what he was doing, grabbed Tina by the scruff of the neck and threw her out of the helicopter.

*   *   *

From the moment Tina had been bitten she had known the fight was over.  Now all she wanted was not to come back as one of them.  When she was pushed out of the helicopter she was almost relieved that this would be a quick death.

             
She remembered hearing that if you fell from a tall building you would be dead before you hit the ground.

             
She hoped it was true as she tumbled through the air towards the Heath, the area still swarming with zombies.

             
She hit the ground.

             
No!
  She thought. 
I don’t think I’m dead yet.

             
There was no pain.

             
She could see the feet of the creatures running towards her.  Some in shoes, some in trainers, some in broken high heels, and some bare, with bloated purple toes.

             
She wondered why she watched this with no emotion.

             
Then everything went dark.  It wasn’t death yet: the light was blocked by the zombies swarming over her.  Teeth started to tear at her flesh and she was gone.

*   *   *

Back in the helicopter the soldier in the coat spoke to Danniella, “I’m truly sorry, but if she had an arterial bleed she could become a hostile in three minutes: believe me, I’ve seen it happen.”

             
Danniella clutched her knees. “She deserved better.”

             
“Ma’am, we all deserved better, we just do what we have got to do to stay alive.”

             
The soldier reached a hand to Danniella, “Acting-Sergeant Gary Bush.”

             
Danniella looked at the proffered hand, but did not shake it.

             
‘Acting-Sergeant Gary Bush’ continued unabated, “We’re based in the Cadet Training Centre, on the Heath, but we can’t land yet; the area is full of them.  Let’s see if we can draw some away.”

             
The two soldiers hung out of the helicopter’s door again, waving and joking and spitting on the zombies beneath them.

             
They hovered close over the crowd, drawing them through the broken gate in Greenwich Park.  Once they were satisfied that all the creatures in the immediate area had been led out, they raced back at full speed to the Cadet Training Ground, landing with a harsh jolt as the machine hit the ground.

*   *   *

The service station was now the home of six survivors: Helena and Rob who had first found sanctuary there; Misha and Neil from Camp Hope; and now Will and Siobhan from the Bunker.

             
They ate a supper of stale paninis and chocolate bars and discussed the situation.

             
“The Bunker is as secure as it’s possible to get in the world today.”  Will explained.  “It’s got its own water, and when we bring our solar panels and UV lamps it’ll have a permanent power supply; we’ll be able to grow stuff, so we will.”

             
“Where is it exactly?”  Helena looked unconvinced.

             
“Just outside Rochester,” replied Siobhan, “not so far.”