Search for Safety: Killing the Dead Book Two (3 page)

Chapter 3

The sound of the rest of my little group talking could be heard even above the intermittent banging that was coming from the kitchen as Pat hammered something over the broken window. I ran into the living room and pulled closed the curtains as I called for quiet.

“What’s going on?” asked Lily from where she sat in the arm chair, Maggie on her knee as they read together.

“Group of zombies coming down the road. Everyone keep quiet.” I instructed returning to my task of making sure the curtains were fully closed.

“How many are there?” asked Pat in a loud whisper as he came into the room, a hammer held casually in one hand.

“I didn’t count. Enough of them to be a problem if they know we are in here.” I told him as I risked a peek through the curtains.

A small group of the undead were walking faster than the others and had almost reached the van. The main group weren’t far behind. For the moment they didn’t look to be stopping. They stayed on the road, their heads were moving back and forth as though they were actually looking around.

They were all shapes and sizes. Male and female, dressed in suits and tie or overalls they all bore some kind of wound on their exposed flesh. Once more I could see plenty of evidence that their wounds didn’t seem to concern them overmuch. Several had missing limbs and at least one had a hole in its stomach from which its intestines hung down like slime covered streamers that trailed behind it.

I watched with bated breath as they paused alongside the van. I hoped that the rain would help hide our scent or heat or whatever the hell it was they could track us with. A sudden dread filled me as several zombies at the back looked towards us and started their dreadful moaning.

They moved with purpose towards the front gate of the houses. Then I realised, it wasn’t to the house we were in, but the old man’s house next door. I couldn’t see what he had done to catch their attention but they walked through his garden and began banging against his door.

A whimper from behind caused me to look back. In the dim light I could see Lily hugging Maggie tightly to her breast. The child had tears falling freely and her hands pressed against her mouth as she tried to stifle her own cries. Claire looked as though she wanted to go and comfort her but was afraid to move.

Lily cast a questioning look my way and I did my best to indicate that the zombies were more interested in the old man’s house rather than ours before looking back through the gap in the curtains. I had the rather unpleasant thought that I had not checked whether the front door was secured.

The zombies had filled the garden of the house next door and were spreading around the side in search of a way in. It would only be a matter of time before they turned their attention to this house I was sure. I tried to count how many were out there, but they were all pressed together in one large mass as they tried to batter their way into the house.

I crept towards the front door as quietly as I could. I kept low to the floor to avoid being seen through the frosted glass pane that was set into the top half of the door. The key was in the lock but the door was definitely unlocked. I reached up and turned the key all the while hoping the sound of the lock turning would be missed.

A thump as a body fell against the glass caused the door to vibrate in its frame. I could see a ruined face pressed up against the glass for a moment before it moved away leaving a dark stain
smeared across. I released the breath I hadn’t realised I had been holding and ducked back into the living room closing the door behind me.

The door that led to the kitchen had also been closed leaving the room in darkness. The heavy curtains blocked nearly all of the light from outside coming through. We sat in silence, each lost in our own thoughts as the repeated banging and moaning filtered through from outside.

This was the sort of situation that we needed to avoid. We couldn’t keep hiding in fear every few hours as ever more zombies flooded the roads looking for food. If we wanted to be safe, we needed to keep away from anywhere close to roads. From what I had seen, the undead would just stay on the roads unless they were actively following something they tended to take the path of least resistance.

We would need somewhere that had an independent water supply, that could be defended and someplace where we could produce our own food at some time in the future when we needed to be more self sufficient. It was something to think about, though for now just keeping moving would be a good idea.

A loud scream broke through my thoughts. The zombies had made it into the house next door. The screaming continued for several long minutes as the old man slowly died. Lily did her best to cover Maggie’s ears but the child was obviously distressed by what was happening. Claire was leaning over them both and had her arms wrapped around her daughter. Pat looked near tears himself as he held Rachel close.

I stood up and peered once more through the small gap in the curtains. The zombies were all either inside or pressed together trying to get into the house at the same time. They were all distracted which was to our advantage.

“We have a chance to get upstairs now. It will be safer than all waiting down here” I told the others in as loud a whisper as I dared.

As scared as they were, they followed as I led the way out of the living room. I paused briefly by the door to ensure no zombies were staring in, before gesturing the group up the stairs. I watched them climb the stairs before risking heading into the kitchen to retrieve my hatchet and a couple of knives. It wasn’t much, but would certainly be better than nothing if I needed to defend myself.

I made it upstairs without incident and found Lily, Maggie and Claire all curled up together in the master bedroom. They were laying under the covers on the king size bed, Maggie pressed between them, her whole body shaking with silent sobs.

“Where are the others?” I asked Lily.

“Pat took Rachel to the other bedroom. She isn’t doing well with first losing Ellie and now this.” I nodded at her words as though I understood.

“Well, we are going to be here for a while so may as well get comfortable. I’ll be in one of the other rooms.” I didn’t wait for a reply. The constant emotion from these people was wearing me down. I found the remaining empty room and lay down on the bed. I was still tired from an unpleasant sleep in the van and since we couldn’t actually go anywhere, I figured it would be a good chance to have a nap.

      
I was awoken a short time later as Patrick walked into the room. “Were you sleeping?” he asked incredulously.

“Yes. Well I was trying to anyway.” I said with a yawn.

“How can you sleep with those things out there?”

“It helps if you are tired” I replied, flashing him a grin. “It’s not like they could just walk in, they would make enough noise to wake me in plenty of time.”

Pat shook his head, “Come on, Lily wants to talk to us all” he said before leaving the room.

My body was still aching and I took a moment to stretch and gather my weaponry before heading to the master bedroom.

As I entered a furious argument was taking place, almost entirely in whispers. I paused in the doorway and listened.

“We need to go!” said Rachel her eyes were red from crying.

“Where exactly will we go to?” asked Pat in his too loud whisper.

“Anywhere is better than here.” Rachel replied a touch of anger in her voice.

“I just want somewhere safe for Maggie” said Claire quietly.

They continued like this for awhile, the same questions going unanswered yet being repeated again and again. Lily sat on the bed looking extremely frustrated. I crossed to the window to look out through the curtains.

The zombies were still out there. They weren’t doing much of anything. A few wandered aimlessly around the front of the house, but the majority just stood around. I guessed several were even still in the house along with the elderly gent who was likely already returned in un-death.

The argument was still continuing behind me. It was becoming irritating and I was more than a little bored of sitting in the house quietly. I was feeling the urge to kill something. A light touch on my arm drew my attention back to the group.

“What do you think?” Lily asked me, her hand still resting lightly against my arm.

“About what?”

“Haven’t you been listening?” Rachel asked loudly.

“Not really, no. You were all just repeating yourselves so I saw no reason to.”

“Ok” Lily spoke quickly, cutting off an angry retort from Rachel. “We are trying to decide what to do. Should we stay here, or perhaps find somewhere else?”

“Oh.” I paused a moment to gather my thoughts. I had already been considering this anyway. There was no guarantee that everyone would agree with my reasoning, but hopefully at least Lily would. She was as much a driving force behind our little group as anyone.

“I actually think we need to keep moving, ideally north and not south.” I said.

“Why?” Lily asked.

“Well look at it this way. London and Birmingham, both major cities to the south have nearly ten million residents between them and their outlying boroughs. Not every one of those people will be a zombie, but enough will be to ensure that it would be a death sentence going anywhere near them.

Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester have easily a million people between them and they are close enough, all of those people who became zombies will be heading in all directions before too long, looking for food. If we stay here or go south, we will have far too many undead to handle.” I looked around the group; they were at least all listening to my words.

“So what do you suggest?” asked Pat.

“We load up the van with whatever supplies we can scavenge and head away from here. We stay on the back roads, avoid large towns and cities and go north. Perhaps to the coast, if we find a boat we can head out to one of the smaller islands that are close by and use it as a base. Though it will probably be best to find somewhere to hide out for the winter and try for an island in the spring.”

“It’s as good a plan as any” said Lily with a sigh, “But what about those ones out there? We can’t go anywhere until they are gone.”

“If someone can get to the van and drive slowly away, they should start to follow. The van can draw them away from here, while everyone else gathers together anything useful. Then it can make its way around the reservoir and pick us up.”

“I can do that” Pat volunteered.

“Fine by me. I will wait till you draw most of them away and clear out any stragglers.” I told him.

“Unless anyone else has anything to add, I think that’s the best suggestion we have” Lily spoke to the group. When she was sure no one had anything to say, she started issuing instructions. “Right then, Claire. You and Maggie gather whatever food is worth bringing, also some pots and containers. Rachel you gather up some bedding, pillows and blankets. I will collect all the clothes I can find. Ryan...”

“I will be outside clearing away any zombies” I interrupted.

“Don’t do anything stupid. Be careful” She said sternly. I flashed a quick grin in her direction and left the room with Pat following behind.

At the bottom of the stairs I outlined a brief plan of action for Pat. The majority of the zombies were in the garden of the house next door so he should be able to make it to the van without any real problems. I reached out and unlocked the door. I glanced at Pat; he looked nervous but gave me a quick nod. I pulled the door open and he stepped through.

I closed the door behind him and immediately went through to the living room to stand behind the curtains and peek through the gap. I got there in time to see Pat leap the garden wall and pull open the door to the van. One of the benefits of an apocalypse, you can leave your vehicle unlocked as the chances of someone stealing it are slim when the majority of the population are dead.

The van roared to life causing an almost immediate wave of sound from the massed undead as they moved as rapidly as they could towards the sound of potential food. Pat waited until the last possible moment before setting off slowly along the road and away from the houses. I waited as patiently as I could for the van to head out of sight with a trailing group of zombies following before I left the window.

From the sound of activity coming from upstairs I figured the rest of the group knew that it was time to get ready so I slipped out of the front door without a word. I did feel somewhat protective of my little group, but being around people all the time was exhausting. I was genuinely looking forward to being outside alone for a while.

I cautiously approached the elderly man’s house. The garden was a mess with plants trampled and a variety of disturbing looking fluids spattered around. The large front windows were cracked and smeared liberally with dark blood. The door was hanging from the frame on just one hinge and covered in as much foulness as the window and garden combined. I saw no zombies but to be sure, I made a quick circuit of the houses before heading into the old man’s home.

The dead man’s house was dark and as lacking in electricity as the house next door where we had been for such a short time. The layout was much the same, though the furnishings were older to suit the tastes of an elderly occupant. Blood and grime was smeared everywhere. I ignored the upstairs for now and moved into the living room.

Like the entrance way, the living room was empty but a thumping coming from the closed kitchen door gave me reason to pause. I had no idea how many would be in the kitchen, but the food it contained would be useful so I needed to go in. The door opened into the kitchen so the zombie that was pushing against it was unintentionally preventing its own exit. I readied my hatchet and approached the door.

As the thumping was reasonably regular I suspected it was only one zombie that had become trapped in the kitchen. I gave the door a tentative push. It opened less than an inch before slamming shut as the creature behind the door banged against it once more. I waited a moment, counting the seconds between thumps and timing a firm kick just right, so that the door slammed into the zombie as it was moving away.