British Zombie Breakout: Part Two (5 page)

Chapter
10: The Plan

Graham's plan slowly came together: keep as much as possible
of the goods in the van, stacking the boxes against the back doors,
so as to create a space right in the middle to conceal everyone.
Everyone, except for the driver. Even if the van was stopped and
the rear doors opened, all that could be seen would be cartons of
foodstuffs. Then there was the problem of noise; the engine
couldn't be started initially because it would attract the
attention of the soldier on lookout duty. The van would have to be
pushed out of the school yard onto the downhill section of Academy
Row that skirted the village. Once the van had freewheeled to a
side road that took a circuitous route to the cliff road, they
could start the engine. They needed to do it while it was still
dark, though, and they needed some way of getting up the cliff road
without using headlights and without raising suspicion.

Leaving the museum quietly, he went down the stairs into the
shop where Karen had left the scanning radio. As he couldn't get
back to sleep and couldn't think of how to complete his plan, he
decided to listen in for coms traffic between the army units. He
listened with his ear pressed to the speaker set at very low
volume, so as not to disturb the others. For more than half an
hour, there had been nothing but the occasional routine order given
and a reply from a subordinate. Graham was about to switch off to
conserve battery power, when he picked up a transmission from
Breathdeep to the army commander at Kilkorne.

'Professor Mason?'

'Hodgeson?'

'Yes, best to make sure you're talking to the right man, under
the circumstances.'

'What's happening in Kilkorne?'

'I've got sentries posted around the village. No sign of any
significant movement, apart from a couple of jumpy soldiers. Few
rumours, nothing we're not dealing with.'

'No sign of the missing civilians?'

'Not one. I don't believe they could have been killed, either
by zombies or friendly fire. We've combed everywhere, both intact
structures and anywhere that was destroyed both before and
after.'

'Any idea where they should have been?'

'Well, the kids should have been in the school of course,
where we scooped up all the ones we've sent over to you. The adults
all had jobs around the harbour. One of them, a Mrs Reynolds, was
the harbourmaster.'

'Really? So one of the missing kids is her son.
Interesting.'

'Bit of a coincidence.'

'Yes, I can't imagine where but I'd say there's an
exceptionally good chance the whole lot of them are all
together.'

'Could they have got out of the village?'

'Impossible. There's only the one road in and out. Where it
meets the coast road on its way along the cliff top, we've set up a
roadblock at the crossroads. That's where our main camp is. It's
pretty barren country up there. Anyone escaping in daylight would
have been seen and caught.'

'Just as I thought,' Graham said to himself.

'What about night time?'

'We've got sentries with night scopes and infra-red cameras
covering the whole area. No-one will get through.'

'Good, so, if they're somewhere in Kilkorne, you'll find
them.'

'How are things going at Breathdeep?'

'I've had the Minister on my neck all day. I haven't told him
quite how many escaped. If he had any idea it was closer to five
hundred, you'd have been sent over to arrest me.'

'We go back a long way, Albert, that's not on the
cards.'

'Thanks, Doug. We're not out of the woods yet. There's the ten
from Kilkorne need to be found, dead or alive and there's a hundred
or so zombies at large in the county. I've set up a cordon at a
fifty mile radius, so sooner or later we'll get them
all.'

'How about the UV for detecting zombie blood?'

'Yes, you can start using the lamps we've got over here.
Special order, high power jobs, can be used in daylight. There's
about sixty crates of equipment.'

'Transport?'

'Send a couple of trucks, Doug, that would do it. What
time?'

'We'll dispatch three six tonners at four a.m.'

'Perfect.'

Graham turned off the scanner and sat quietly for several
minutes. It looked like the second part of his plan had just fallen
into place.

Chapter
11: Until 4 a.m.

It took Graham half an hour in all to wake Janet, make her a
coffee and go through his plan with her.

'Honestly, I can't see any other way out,' he said. 'Even if
we walked, they'd still catch us. Like the guy said, it's all
barren grassland up top, and we'd be even easier to spot at
night.'

'So, you're saying we prepare the van, push it off down the
lane and, assuming we're not seen, roll it down to Side Valley
Road, start the engine and drive round to the bottom of the cliff
road then wait for the 4 a.m. convoy?'

'That's the easy part.'

'Assuming we can pull in at the back of the convoy without
drawing attention to ourselves when they go past, how do we get
through the roadblock?'

'There'll only be one person in the cab playing the part of
the grocer's delivery driver, whoever we decide that's going to be.
They'll just have to wing it. Even if they get caught, everyone
else in the back may have a chance to slip away later.'

'I wish we could get hold of an army uniform.'

'There's just no way we're going to be that lucky, we'll just
have to bluff our way through.'

'Well, if we get past safely, all we'll have to do is
quarantine ourselves for the maximum incubation period, then we'll
be able to prove we're not infected.'

It turned out not to be that difficult to rouse everyone else
and persuade them to try Graham's plan because it was just not very
comfortable sleeping on the floor in the castle keep. Another half
hour later, everyone was up and heading down the tunnel out into
the field, creeping along past the sentry post, back through the
woods and into the school yard. They all got a terrible scare when
they opened the rear doors of the van to rearrange the boxes. The
caretaker's cat had been trapped inside and leapt out with a
hideous yowl the instant it saw a way out.

'First I think we should push the van round,' Alex said. 'so
it's ready in the direction we want it to go.'

'Like why do we have to do that?'

'Because while we're organising the boxes in the back, it'll
be less likely that anyone will see us with the torch lit in
there.'

At ten to four, the van was lined up at the end of Side Valley
Road, a few yards back from the junction with the main road out of
the village. Sarah had been chosen to drive, with everyone else
hidden behind the boxes in the body of the van. She switched off
the engine, relieved to have a few minutes break. It had been a
difficult couple of miles, freewheeling down the first section of
road, then creeping along in third gear, barely able to see more
than a few yards in front of the windscreen. Twice she had found
herself on the wrong side of the road, though of course it didn't
matter as there was not another single vehicle in sight. She wound
down the side window and listened for the army trucks. As soon as
she heard the rumble of their engines, she also saw the first
glimpse of their headlights. For a second she panicked about being
far enough back from the junction that the van couldn't be seen by
the drivers of the army trucks. As the headlights got nearer, she
realised that her position was concealed by the electricity
substation and its surrounding walls.

Sarah then panicked about starting the engine. However, she
needn't have worried because, being still warm, it started at the
first turn of the key. The army lorries trundled slowly past the
junction and turned right immediately to begin the climb up out of
the village. The sharp bend in the main road meant the van was
perfectly placed to slot in behind the last truck. Keeping the
headlights off, she stayed in line, maintaining the same gap as the
vehicles ahead. The van was narrower than the army trucks too, so
it was unlikely the driver of the one it was following would see it
in his mirrors. Even without her lights switched on, Sarah could
still see exactly where she was going by the rear lights of the one
in front. Also if anyone in the village looked up to see the
progress of the convoy, they would only see the lights of the three
vehicles which were supposed to be there.

With her heart thumping in her chest, Sarah turned the van
onto the level road at the top of the cliff. Still following the
army trucks, she switched on first the side lights, then the
headlights, hoping they would go unnoticed. All went well until a
mile further down the road. That was where they came up against the
road junction, the roadblock and the main encampment of soldiers.
Sarah fully expected the convoy to have to stop for checking of IDs
at least but the trucks were simply waved through under the
moveable barrier. Rather than continuing as part of the convoy,
Sarah turned left at the crossroads, straight into the heart of the
camp.

Chapter
1
2: Delivery

A surprised soldier jumped out of the way of the van as it
turned into the coast road heading north. In the side glow of her
headlights, Sarah saw that it was completely surrounded by tents. A
few lights had been set up on poles along the first section of road
but the tents themselves were all unlit, giving the impression that
the whole camp was asleep. A moment later, another soldier stepped
out of the darkness and used his gun to wave her to
stop.

'Where d'you think you're going, young lady,' a middle aged
soldier said, pointing a torch into the cab.

Sarah gave him her widest smile and, using the name Graham had
overheard on the scanner said, 'Commander Douglas Hodgeson has sent
me to deliver these surplus grocery supplies.'

'Funny time of night for a delivery, love.'

'He wanted me to follow the convoy going to Breathdeep as far
as the camp here, so you'd know it was legit.'

'Got any orders?'

'Can't give a civilian orders, can you?' Sarah said, turning
on her best smile again.

'Yes, I can see you're not in uniform, love. Civilian, eh? How
come you've not been shipped off to Breathdeep?'

'I run the sandwich shop in the village. The zombies never got
anywhere near it with you lads doing such a fine job. I spent the
rest of the day making sandwiches for them. Then I got a few hours'
sleep before your boss sent me up here with the convoy.'

The soldier walked round to the other side of the cab, opened
the passenger door and peered around with his torch, looking under
the seat, as if it was possible for a zombie to be crouching there.
He shut the door again and went back round to Sarah's
side.

'Hmm,' he said, rubbing his chin. I'd p'raps better call this
in. Commander Hodgeson you say?'

Sarah nodded. 'He's in charge around here, isn't
he?'

The soldier hesitated, then began to lift his radio towards
his ear. Sarah slipped down from the cab and said quickly, 'You can
take a look in the back if you like. It's all good stuff and if
it's not eaten by the end of tomorrow, it'll have to be thrown
away.'

'What you got in there, then, love?'

'Pies, pasties, sausages, bacon.' Sarah could see that the
soldier's tongue was almost hanging out at the thought.

'What sort of pies?'

'Beef, chicken, Cornish pasties. Good quality. School kids
should have had them.'

'They took all the poor things away.'

Sarah took a deep breath and fought to keep her voice level.
'So I heard.'

'You got kids?' he said.

'Only grown up and gone away.'

'Give over, love, you're not old enough to have grown up kids,
are you?'

Sarah giggled. 'Flatterer! You just can't see the lines in the
dark that's all. If my husband could hear what you're
saying…'

'Yeah, course.' The soldier stared at the ground for a moment.
'Sorry love.'

'Never mind. You want to see the pies or not?'

'Go on then, let's take a look.'

Sarah turned the handle on the rear doors and opened them
wide. The van appeared to be packed full with boxes. Large bold
letters showed exactly the items Sarah had mentioned.

'An' it's all for us, you say?'

'Don't want to waste it.'

'Too right, love. OK, you drive straight on down the road.
Five hundred yards, round that little bend, 'til you get to the
mess tent. It's marked. You can't miss it.'

'Thanks. You like pies, do you?'

'Not 'arf, love! Off you go now, you're making me feel hungry
already. Tell 'em Briggs sent you.'

'Briggs. OK.' Sarah smiled as she got back in the cab and shut
the door. 'Thanks.'

'Don't mention it, darlin'. Nothing like a nice
pie.'