Undead at Heart (15 page)

With no way of telling
the time, in a cellar under a barn, they had no way of knowing when it was
light outside. They tried their best to judge it, but James had, with everyone’s
consent, opened the trap door three times before he told them he could see
light coming through gaps in the barn’s walls.

They emerged,
stretching and groaning, into the half-light of the barn. Nicola could tell
that it was another sunny day outside as the light streamed in, causing dust to
dance. Feeling the weight of her legs under as she walked, she stumbled to the
big double doors which she and Dave had roped shut the night before. In the
gloom it was hard to tell, but she thought that the door looked untouched.
Everything was as it had been. She guessed they had been right in the night.
The zombies weren’t trying to break in. The banging they had heard was just the
less co-ordinated among them hitting the barn on their way past.

The others came up
behind her and the large man who had introduced himself as Dan helped her to
remove the ropes and the beam.

They pushed the doors
open, causing them all to blink in the brightness of the day.

From the height of the
sun, Nicola could tell that it was already mid-morning. Maybe ten o’clock. They
hadn’t been able to see the light before then because the barn was still in the
shadow from the buildings beside it. They’d spent longer than they’d needed to,
waiting for the sun to rise high enough to be seen from inside. Nicola cursed
under her breath. They had probably been safe to leave for hours. And each of
those was 60 minutes more that she could have been using to look for Alyssa.

She stepped straight
out into the sunlight, squinting as she looked around. The others emerged
behind her. Despite her desire – her need – to go after Alyssa, she couldn’t
help being drawn, like the others, to the field which bordered the barn. It was
a massacre. There were parts of sheep strewn all over the field. Not one had been
left alive. Bite marks covered the torn flesh.

 She turned away,
not wanting to look. Her fear that the same fate might have befallen Alyssa was
too strong, and she felt that she would be tempting fate if she stared to long.
If she confirmed that this was real, then maybe that would be too.

She stepped back from
the rail, behind the others. “Right,” she said, in a firm voice, to get their
attention. She didn’t want them looking at the slaughter anymore either. They
turned and looked at her, and she realised that once again she was the leader.
At least now it was justified. She was the one with something to lose. They
were all in danger, but she was a woman with a mission.

“You don’t need me to
tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to find my daughter and you –,” she
pointed at Dave, “
you’re
coming with me. The only
question
is,
what are the rest of you doing?”

Tony spoke first. “I’m
coming with you.”

The blonde girl, Sam,
looked at him and Nicola could see surprise on her face. She studied him for a moment
and then turned back to Nicola.
“Me too.”

“And me,” said Dan.
His friend Darren nodded his agreement. Where his mate went, he would go.

The others just looked
at each other for a moment, but said nothing. Finally, Bert spoke, “Me and the
wife’d
just slow you down. I think you want to move fast
and that’d be no good.” His wife nodded.

Debbie didn’t need to
say anything. Even as they had been talking she had calmly raised her top and
started breast-feeding young Heidi as if this was a perfectly normal activity
for such an occasion. However, her eyes met Nicola’s and she gave her a hard
smile and fierce shake of the head, one mother to another. If she wasn’t going
to come, neither would Ryan, so that was that.

Alan and Andy looked
at each other, their arms around their respective partners and nodded. Alan
spoke for them, “I think we’ll stay with this lot. They could do with looking
after, I reckon, and you’ve got the three Ds: Dave, Dan and Darren.”

“Okay, then,” said
Nicola when she was sure she had everyone’s answer. The only one who hadn’t
spoken was James. He was looking back over his shoulder into the mess of
sheep-parts that used to be field. “Well, we know where we’re going. The only
question left is where
are you
lot going to go.
James?” He flicked his head back, almost as though caught doing something he
should feel guilty about. “I take it you’re going with the rest of them?”

He paused, and she
knew what he was thinking. “You can’t stay. I know it’s your home, but what if
they all come back tonight? These people need to find somewhere safer and more
comfortable than the cellar of a barn, and they’ve only got the
day’s
light in which to find it. You’re going to have to
show them. This is your neighbourhood after all.”

He looked at her,
stricken, and she felt her heart go out to him, but she couldn’t let him shirk
this burden. “You need to find them some food, some shelter, something that can
be sealed against attack. Can you do that? Is there a town or somewhere near
here?”

He nodded, and she saw
his Adam’s apple moving in his throat. “Where is it?” she asked, as kindly as
she could without giving in to the welling tears in his eyes.

He pointed out of the
gate to the right, the opposite of the way she and her group had to go. She
nodded, that seemed right.

“Okay, you’re going to
take them there. Don’t worry, you can do this. You’ll be fine.” He nodded. She
wasn’t sure he believed her. Hell, it was a crappy pep talk. As long as he did
what he was told, that was enough for her. He didn’t have to like it.

“We should get some
food, first, if we can.” Tony said. Nicola nodded. It was going to be her next
point.

“Yes, we’re going to
have to go into the house and see what we can get.
Matches,
candles, anything like that would be useful.
Food, yes,
and anything else that might be useful.”

She saw Sam turn to
James and place her hand on his arm. She spoke to him softly and he answered.
She asked something else and he nodded, slowly, unwillingly.

“What is it?” asked
Nicola. She knew her voice was overly harsh, but she really didn’t want to have
to wait any longer than she had to.

Sam looked over at
her, and Nicola could see a rebuke in her eyes. “I was asking him what size
feet his mum had. They were 5 the same as me. So I thought I’d see if I could
get some better shoes for running over fields.” Her words were defiant,
challenging Nicola to make something of it.

Nicola nodded. It was
a good idea. “Yes, any clothing or even sleeping bags would be useful. Whatever
there
is.
”

She looked around and
everyone was nodding. She glanced over her shoulder at the house. “But before
we do that, we need to make sure it’s safe in there.”

They approached the
house warily. Dave and Dan had taken the lead, and for all that Tony was
feeling brave, that was fine with him. They’d all armed themselves, either with
the tools they’d had the day before, or with new things found in the barn. Tony
had replaced his screwdriver with the axe he’d picked from the wall just before
he found James. Dave and Dan each had a pickaxe, Darren his sledgehammer. Alan
was carrying a length of metal bar, and Andy had, of all things, a golf club.

At a time like this,
traditional gender roles had been asserted, and the women stayed outside in the
safety of the sun. All, that is, except for Nicola. She was carrying what
looked to Tony like a rusty sword, but which James had informed them was a
broken blade from the old threshing machine. Whatever it was, she carried it
with purpose, and Tony for one would be keeping out of her way. He guessed she
was keen to get moving, but with them having to go through the house first, he
was happy to take as long as necessary.

Dave and Dan waved for
the others to hang back and they went in on their own. The others waited
outside, listening intently for whatever sounds they could hear. The guys’
boots made a heavy noise on the floorboards which grew more muffled the further
they went in. There was silence for a moment, and then one of them called, “
It’s
okay in here, you can come in.”

They entered. Nicola
went ahead and the others followed, with Tony bringing up the rear. It was
surprisingly dark, the small windows letting in little light. He looked around.
There was nothing much to see. It was a kitchen. There was a wet patch on the
ground where he presumed James’s father had fallen, but nothing else to suggest
disturbance. As far as he could tell the zombie horde hadn’t even been in here
last night. Maybe it would be okay, and they wouldn’t find anything. They could
just get in and get out.

Darren and Dan started
to open cupboards. They found large reusable carrier-bags and started filling
them with food. Nicola and Dave headed for the door which, presumably led to
the rest of the house. Andy and Alan followed, and so did Tony.

The hallway was also
untouched, and Tony felt himself start to relax. Andy and Alan went through the
open door into the lounge and Alan reported it empty. “There are some
rucksacks, though. We’ll take them back to Dan and
Daz,
they can fill them with food.
Easier to carry that way.”

At the bottom of the
stairs, Tony found himself directly behind Nicola and Dave. He wasn’t keen on
being so near the front, but didn’t really have an option. The three of them
climbed the stairs. It was dark at the top. As they neared the landing, Tony
realised this was because all the doors to the rooms had been closed. They
reached the top without anything jumping out at them.

They didn’t confer and
they didn’t split up. Nicola took the lead and headed back along the short
landing to the front room. She paused with her hand on the doorknob and looked
back at the others. Dave nodded and, after a moment, so did Tony. She turned
back and flung the door wide, stepping back to give them all room to swing if
they needed to.

Nothing moved. The
room was empty of zombies. Not, thought
Tony, that
many could have fit in there. It was a small box room which had been used for
storage. It had all kinds of things piled inside. Nicola let out a deep breath,
and Tony realised he had also been holding his. He let his out slowly, through
clenched teeth, in a quiet hiss. She nodded to herself, then spoke quietly,
“Okay, this is good. There’s bound to be stuff in here we can use. Let’s check
the other rooms first and then see what’s in here.”

Dave nodded and Tony
just prepared himself to perform this nerve-wracking action over again. He
looked around at the doors and counted.
Another four times.

They turned to the
door immediately on their right, the room over the lounge. Again, there was a
pause before Nicola threw the door wide. Again, there was nothing. The room
beyond was obviously the main bedroom. It had a large, unmade bed, and male and
female clothing dotted around.

They stepped inside,
but a quick inspection told them this room was empty too.

The next two rooms –
James’s bedroom and a home office – were also empty, which just left the last
door.

This was typical,
thought Tony. He’d seen horror movies. He knew how this worked. The tension is
on the first door, by the last one the heroes are getting relaxed and – BAM –
that’s when the monster gets them.

They all seemed to be
thinking the same thing, because, here in real life, rather than being relaxed,
they were even more on edge.

Once again Nicola checked
with them, and once again they confirmed they were ready with a simple nod. She
reached for the handle, drew a deep breath, and flung it so far open it banged
off the wall and started to close again.

Unless the porcelain
was possessed, there was nothing in the bathroom, either. The house was clear.

They all sagged with
relief; Tony going so far as to clutch the banister.

Dave gave out a low
chuckle, which became a laugh. Tony joined in and then, reluctantly but
inevitably, so did Nicola. The tears streamed down their faces as they let go
of their tension.

It took them a while
to get hold of themselves, and by the end the laughter was no longer fun. There
was a hard edge to it all and Nicola seemed on the verge of tears. Tony went to
put a comforting hand on her arm, but Dave was ahead of him. He put his arm
round her shoulder and she leant her head on him as her laughter became a sob,
which became a sigh.

She stood like that
for a moment,
then
straightened.

“Okay, then,” she said.
“Let’s see what’s in that front room.”

They moved back down
the landing, and Nicola went in and started hauling things out. They found
small packs containing sleeping bags, more rucksacks, wet-weather gear, a box
of candles and some wind-proof lanterns, and all kinds of camping equipment. As
Nicola passed the things out, Dave started to pack them into a rucksack. Tony
watched.