The Common Cold (Book 2): A Zombie Chronicle-Cabin Fever (8 page)

Taylor jumped the low, iron-railing fence surrounding the
boat yard like a frightened gazelle, and stormed towards the yellow-painted
station house. He ran in through an open door, closely followed by his pursuer.
She wasn’t sure, but even at this distance Kimberley thought she could hear some
screaming and shouting before silence descended once more. Picking up the gun
and hefting its reassuring weight, it was a toss-up as to whether she should go
over and investigate, but the earlier experience at the bridge stayed her. On
this occasion she would heed Brad’s words, he’d been very insistent and now she
knew it was with good reason.

Kimberley sniffed; her nose had been running all that
morning, maybe it was the cool morning air, maybe the onset of a cold. Funny,
she thought, Cindy had mentioned a lot of people with cold symptoms. Getting
back to her current dilemma, Kim decided to go upstairs; the less chance of one
of those crazies seeing her, the better. It might not be a perfect plan but
right now no other ideas came to mind. All she had to do was stay out of sight
for a few days and Brad would be there; he’d know what to do. Quickly finishing
the coffee and croissant, she double checked the security and went upstairs.
Returning to her bed she just lay there under the quilt, mumbling sotto voce
prayers for Brad and intermittently snoozing, the warm sun through the windows
making her drowsy in spite of her fear.

Her cell phone rang, tearing her from a sensual dream that
involved BB. Noticing the time display, it appeared she had been asleep for a
few hours. The phone couldn’t reconcile the number to a name and she cursed whoever
it was; the now lost dream had been a good one.

“Hello,” Kimberley
said,
a little
annoyance detectable in her voice.

“Hi baby, it’s me.” She recognised BB’s voice, flushing all
irritation from her in an instant.

“I was just dreaming about you,” she said, her voice now
thick and sensuous with warmth from her sleep.

“Hope it was a good dream,” he said, a thrill making his
stomach flutter. He loved the sound of her voice. “You’re alright, aren’t you?
Anything happened around the house?”

“I’m fine, love. I saw Taylor, our neighbour being chased by
another guy. They disappeared into the boathouse.” She omitted to mention her
attempt at getting to work from the conversation. She survived the experience;
it was over and done with and she certainly didn’t want to frighten her
husband.

“You didn’t try to intervene, did you?” he asked, concern
creeping back into his voice.

“No, I was a good girl; I did as you suggested and stayed in
the house.” Lying by omission was only marginally more comfortable to her than
an outright lie.

“Thanks love. I’m glad you didn’t try anything; I know you
will have wanted to go to work but everything’s probably fucked up by now and
you won’t be able to make a difference. You’d just become another victim of
this. It seems that a bite from someone with whatever it is that is making them
crazy will infect you, so please, please don’t take any risks. If you see
anyone with blood on them, don’t assume it’s someone else’s. And for God’s sake
don’t let them in the house.”

“Alright.
Enough with
the lectures.
Where are you now? Please tell me you are on your way
home.”

“I’m going to Tom’s place in the mountains, he believes his
family has high-tailed it there after their house was burnt to the ground.”

“God, that’s terrible. I hope they’re alright.”

“So does
he
. I’m working on a way
to get to you quickly; at first I was told about a friend of someone I’m
travelling with, apparently this guy has a helicopter and thought I might be
able to borrow it. Now I think I have a better idea which might also be a
quicker solution as well. It would sure beat going by road and means I may well
be there in a couple of days tops.”

“So a couple of days, then?
That’s
better than I had dared hope for. I’ve got just about enough food for a few
days but no more than that. Anyway, food’s not what worries me, I’m more
frightened that some creep will try and break in. I’ve locked myself into the
house but I won’t lie to you, I’m shit scared here on my own.”

Her fear upset him; all he wanted to do was to be there and
protect her. The pain was physical, twisting his gut in frustration and
apprehension.

“I’m coming for you, babe,” he said, speaking quietly but
with resolve. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. In fact, I’ll make a promise
right now; whatever happens I’ll be here no more than two days from now. I
don’t care what I have to do to achieve this but I will do it. Do you believe
me?”

She could almost hear his jaw jutting out in determination.
She smiled. “Of course I do, my love. Of course I do.”

“Good. That’s settled then.” And then more tenderly, “You
know I can’t live without you, don’t you?”

“I feel the same way.”

The line started to crackle and made Kimberley’s heart
flutter with fear. The phones just had to work a while longer, she wouldn’t be
able to stand being all alone and not able to speak to him.

“I love you, Brad,” she declared.

“I love you too, honey. Don’t worry, I’ll be there soon, you
know I will. Just stay safe.”

“I will.” The conversation paused, the unfixable
circumstance depressing them both.

“I better go, save my cell batteries. I’ll call you again
soon. Love you.”

“Love you darling.” With that she cut the line. Extended
goodbyes were always hard for her to do and they had agreed they wouldn’t fall
into that routine, especially as he travelled frequently.

Now she felt more miserable than she could remember. She hunkered
down under the comforter, crying softly and finally fell into an exhausted and
deep sleep.

*

Kimberley sat up in bed, a noise outside had woken her. What
was it, she wondered? There it was again, it sounded like someone banging on a
door further up the street. Poking her head around the curtains, she peered
outside and caught sight of a girl, perhaps fifteen or sixteen years of age
running from door to door, banging on each one trying to elicit some help. She
was dishevelled and her flimsy blouse had been ripped. There was a little blood
on the white material and suddenly BB’s words came flooding into her mind not
to let anyone near her, especially if they had blood on them. Without knowing
whose blood it was the risks were just too high.

Kimberley made a decision. Looking further up the street and
seeing no-one out there either following the girl or hanging around, she tapped
on her window to get the girl’s attention. Beckoning the girl over, Kimberley
ran downstairs to the front door, carrying the gun. Her medical calling,
experience and all her instincts called for her to help this young lass. Sorry
BB, looks like I’m doing it again, she mumbled to herself.

The girl ran up the steps to the veranda and fell against
the door in exhaustion, smearing blood on the glass.

“Is that your blood?” Kimberley called out, pointing at the
smear.

“Yes it is,” the girl replied. “Please let me in.”

“How did you get your injury?”

“Let me in and I’ll tell you. Please. They’re after me.” The
look on the girl’s face was one of panic and did not appear to have any of the
hallmark features of one of those things out there.

“When I open the door, I want you to stand facing that wall,
legs apart and your hands held high.”

The youngster looked confused for a moment and then realised
what was required. She nodded quickly in agreement. Pistol pointing at the new
arrival, Kimberley opened the door and beckoned her inside. Without hesitating
the girl adopted the position asked of her only she also crouched, trying to
make
herself
smaller and invisible. Instinctively
Kimberley crouched down too. Just in time as what sounded like two or three
pairs of feet could be heard rushing past the house and indistinct male voices
calling out a name.

“Emily. Oh, Emily! Come
out,
come
out, wherever you are.” It was a mock-play voice, fun and threatening at the
same time.

The girl, presumably this Emily they were searching for,
whimpered in fear upon hearing the voices and crouched even lower to the floor.

“It’s okay. They won’t get you.” Kimberley was alternately
angry and frightened, the gun in her hand tempting her to go and confront them.
“Move along the hall and into the kitchen.”

They crawled into the next room, away from the front of the
house, Kimberley keeping the stranger ahead of her at all times, just in case.
BB’s going to kill me when he finds out, she thought, cursing her instincts. It
just wasn’t that easy to ignore a cry for help.

Emily collapsed with her back against one of the Shaker
style cupboard doors and sat there breathing deeply, her hands to her face.
Tears ran out from behind her palms and her body was racked by gentle sobs.

“It’s okay, you’re safe now,” Kimberley said gently while
adopting her professional doctor voice. “I will make sure they won’t hurt you.”

The girl’s breathing calmed and she wiped her face with the
sleeve of her torn blouse.

“How did you get your injuries?” Kim asked, this time with
more authority. Until she knew for certain this girl wasn’t bitten or turning,
she would still bear watching closely.

“They… They attacked me.”

“Are they infected?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. They tried to help me at
first.”

“Okay, let’s wash your wounds and I’ll take a proper look.”
Kim looked into the girl’s eyes. “I’m a doctor so you’re safe with me.”

Taking her to the sink, Kim ran the water until it was hot
and dipped a towel under the tap.

“Wash your face and wipe around the wounds. You’ll feel
better once the blood’s gone. I’ve got some disinfectant and bandages. Emily is
it?”

The girl nodded and took the towel.

“My name’s Kimberley.”

Washing her face Emily then pulled back her torn sleeve and
wiped a long shallow cut. The arm was severely bruised, each discolouration
describing finger marks where she had been restrained.

“Oh, honey. They really did a number on you, didn’t they?”

“Ah!” Emily hissed as she pressed it against the gash.

“It’s not too bad,” Kim said, peering closely. “Was it a
finger nail?”

“I think so, they tried to grab me and force me into an
empty car. There were four of them.”

“Were all four of them chasing you just now?”

“No. One of them attacked the others for some reason. I
think he became like the strange ones, like my parents.”

“Your parents?”

“Me and my parents were travelling down from Seattle by car
and got stuck in the queue for the bridge.” Tears started to fall down her
cheeks again and she began wringing her hands in what appeared to be a mixture
of fear for the future and sadness at so brutally losing those she loved.

She continued her story. “It was early this morning and we
couldn’t understand why the traffic was so bad. We had been waiting for about
an hour and my father’s cold began to get worse. We tried to get him to drink
plenty of water but he refused everything. After about half an hour it appeared
as if he had just died. He stopped breathing and just sat there, staring
straight ahead. Then his eyes closed.” The tears had started again. “He must
have been sleeping though ’
cos
he woke up, except his
eyes were white in the middle and the edges were all bloody. He wept blood.
Suddenly he attacked mom, biting at her and, oh, God, it was horrible…”

“Oh, Emily.
Don’t talk if you don’t
want to,” Kim suggested but the girl shook her head and carried on.

“Some men came along and seemed to want to help. There were
four of them at first. They killed daddy, it seemed to be the only way to stop
him from attacking mom. They tried to tend to her but then she turned and
attacked them, biting one of them too. I was useless, just sitting in a corner
and crying. Their friend turned so quickly into one of these monsters it was
scary. It was like my dad. He attacked his mates but they slammed his head in
the car door and he died.

“I thought they were going to leave me but they came back
and just dragged me out of the car and down the slope toward this place. I was
so frightened, I knew what they wanted but they were so strong. Then another
one of those things attacked them, a really fast one, and they let me go in the
struggle. So I took off.”

“Well, look, you’re safe now. They won’t get you.” Kim
wasn’t sure what else to say; she’d had very little experience with young
people other than at the hospital in a professional capacity, and as this was
new territory for her she decided to treat the girl like an adult instead.
“Were you visiting family or were you on holiday in San Francisco?”

“No, we were on our way further south, to Los Angeles where
my dad was to take up a new job.”

“Okay. I’m very sorry to hear about your parents, it must be
a terrible shock for you.” Kimberley had looked over the girl’s arm and could
see no signs of bite marks. Whether or not the infection could be spread by a
finger nail she would find out in time. Until she felt safe, the gun would stay
within easy reach.

Finishing bandaging the wound, Kim poured a couple of cups
of coffee.

“We ought to take these upstairs; I don’t want anyone to see
us through the windows. The fewer people know we’re here, the better. My
husband is on his way down to rescue me. You are welcome to come too.”

“That would be nice, thank you.”

“Here, let’s take this cheese and my remaining croissants.
Best eat them before they become stale.”

Together they headed towards the stairs. Glancing back into
the kitchen to make sure everything was turned
off,
Kimberley saw a mean-spirited face peering in through the window. There was
another behind it. Instinctively Kimberley fired a shot at them, and one of
them disappeared in a spray of pink. The other one caught most of the spray and
he wiped his face as he ducked out of sight.