When There's No More room In Hell: A Zombie Novel (15 page)

She smiled slightly and spoke. “Okay then, I've shown you mine, now you show me yours.”

Steve looked up
, shocked, and only when he saw the expression on the woman’s face did he return the smile with a shake of his head. “I'm sorry, but like I said, I had to be sure.”

“It’s okay, I understand. I'm Helen by the way.” And she walked toward him with her hand outstretched.

“I'm Steve,” he said shaking her hand.

He walked back to the Range Rover and introduced her to Jennifer and the children. Her eyes lit up when she saw them and she made a conscious effort of putting them all at ease as she introduced herself with her perfect tried and tested bedside manner.

She looked back at Steve. “I don’t think the van will budge, Steve, and I don’t know where you were heading, but you won’t get there along this road.”

After a cursory look at the broken down van, Steve confirmed that he wouldn't be able to move it. Sarah was now in the front seat as Jennifer and Helen sat in one of the many back seats and chatted. Jennifer looked completely relaxed, finally having someone
on her level to talk to and to vent with. She searched through the bags and handed some clean clothes to Helen to change into.

“They might be a little long for you, but they're clean at least
.”

Helen was happy to change and her hospital scrubs were thrown out of the window.

Liam and David were just as interested in the new arrival and kept on butting in on their conversation as the two women spoke about what was happening, what they knew, what they were doing and what they had experienced.

Helen only briefly spoke of the hospital. Glazing over the details and giving them a rough idea of what the situation was there. The memories of the
maternity ward were too painful and fresh in her mind; she couldn’t risk becoming a blubbering wreck over it just yet.

Steve looked across at Sarah
. “Righty dokey kiddo, I guess you're the new navigator. It’s alright though; I pretty much know where I'm going from here.”

He reversed the vehicle back down the long narrow road and drove an alternative route.

An hour later and they turned onto the main carriageway that led toward the Safari Park. Both sides of the road were deserted and Steve couldn’t even see any traffic in the far off distance. As they approached the slip road that would filter them into the park, he noticed a figure up ahead beneath the trees before the entrance to the main gate.

Everyone in the Range Rover was silent, having seen the figu
re rise to its feet and step into the road, watching them approach. When they were no more than fifty metres away, the figure turned and ran toward the gate, scaling the fence and jumping into the park, disappearing into the shadows on the other side.

Steve braked.
“That's that idea out the window then. They're in the Safari Park too.”

He began to put the car in
to reverse when Helen put her hand on his shoulder. He looked down at her fingers gently clasping him, and followed her forearm up to her neck and the curve of her chin until he was looking her straight in the eyes. She glanced from the road and straight at him, making him blink with sudden discomfort.

“You may not be a pervert
, Steve, but you've definitely got a one track mind. Or do you not get out much?” She grinned at him and, to save him any further torture, she pointed with her finger at the gate. “Look, from what I've seen, the dead can’t climb a fence like that, and I don’t think the aggressive strain infected can either. Plus, they would’ve run at us, not away from us. So they must be alright,” she concluded.

Jennifer had noticed the look in Steve's eye since he had introduced
Helen to them. “Not just a pretty face is she Steve?”

He could feel his male pride
and masculinity ebbing as these two women teased him. “So, what do we do then? The gates are closed, and if they're infection free, they might not want to risk letting us in. And we don’t know their strength, so we can’t barge our way in.”

Jennifer leaned forward.
“We can just try talking to them instead. Show them that we’re not a threat and that we have children with us. Maybe the fact we have a nurse might convince them too?”

Steve cautiously drove the car toward the gate. Stopping short twenty metres so that whoever was watching could get a clear look at him as he approached on foot. He deliberately kept his weapons out of sight and tried to look as harmless as possible.

Large trees stretched far off to the left and right of the gate into the distance, obscuring the high wall that the main gate was built into. The foliage hung over the road and met high above in the middle, casting the entrance into shadow and making it difficult for Steve to make out anything beyond the railings.

Over to his right, he could hear the buzzing of flies and insects, and as his eyes adjusted he could see something in the long grass. There were a number of bodies lying just off
to the side of the road. Steve couldn’t tell how many; ten, maybe twelve, all piled together unceremoniously. A draft of wind brought the sickly smell of the dead to his nostrils, the pungent, almost warm smell, like a mixture of raw sewage and sun baked garbage, of rotting flesh assaulting him and causing him to turn his head in disgust.

Putting it from his mind, he walked to the gate, his arms out from his sides to show he had no weapons and intended no harm.

“Hello?” he called. He paused and after a few seconds called again. “Hello, is there anyone here?” Still, there was no answer. “Look, we don’t want trouble. We saw you as we drove up, so I know there's someone there. I have two women and three kids in the car. We just want somewhere safe to stay.”

After a minute
’s silence, as Steve tried to peer into the gloom, he heard a voice.

“Are any of you bitten? Is there anyone else with you?”

“No and no,” Steve replied. “We are all well and it’s just us. One of the women is a nurse too so maybe she could be of help?” He was doing his best to sound harmless and even convince them that they could be of use.

A man approached the gate, middle aged with grey swept back hair and overweight but with sure and steady steps. He carried himself as though he knew how to handle his self and the intended effect wasn’t lost on Steve.

“I'm Steve,” he smiled and reached a hand through the bars of the gate with his best friendly smile face.

The man watched him warily
and kept his distance. He nodded over Steve’s shoulder, toward the Range Rover. “Tell them to get out of the car and come to the gate.”

Steve complied
, and soon the whole group were stood in front of the fence as the man gave them the once over.

He eyed the kids last
, then smiled at Sarah, who smiled back. He looked back at Steve. “I'm Gary, Park Ranger here.” He took Steve's hand and shook it. “I’ll open the gate and let you in, but promise me this. You'll follow me all the way to the main building and once there, you'll undergo a quick check over just to be sure.” He gave a slight squeeze to Steve's hand as he said it.

“No problem
, Gary, we understand and we’ll be happy with whatever sets you at ease.”

Helen looked across at Steve
. “Seems like everyone wants to see me in my knickers today doesn’t it?”

Gary smiled and moved to the control box by the side of the gate. It slid open
, and soon Steve was following Gary in his old Park Ranger Land Rover, zebra stripes and all.

They stopped at the main administration building in the centre of the park. It was an old mansion
-style building with red and orange brickwork and high reaching chimney-tops and large windows. It occupied the highest part of the grounds, nestled within a clump of ancient trees on one side and wide open stretches of grassy fields to the other, a winding road leading up to it from within the wood.

From the main entrance
all the way up to the admin buildings, it was mainly forested area with breaks here and there for gift shops, restaurants and picnic and play areas with a small lake. Further past the main building, from what Steve could remember from his childhood, was a high chain link fence that led into the Safari Park proper.

Gary escorted them inside from the gravelled parking area
, immediately to the front of the building. More people were in the lobby and looked surprised to see the new arrivals. It was only then that Steve realised that most of them were wearing the same clothes; green t-shirts with black combat style trousers, Park Staff. He had suspected that he would find some here, and judging by the number, he guessed that there were maybe ten of them that he could see at a glance.

“This is Steve and his gang,
” Gary said introducing them, “they’ve agreed to let us check them over, and Helen here is a nurse too.”

A few of the people from the park eyed them with suspicion, but the rest smiled and even approached
the new group. They were led into separate rooms to the side of the main door. Steve was checked over by Gary himself, while the children and women were dealt with by two other female staff members. Ten minutes later they were back in the lobby and hot drinks were brought out for the adults and juice and chocolate for the children.

Every
body began to relax and they were given a quick layout of the grounds and the measures that had been taken to ensure their safety.

Gary began, “We keep pretty much to the main building here and we can monitor the main gate on the CCTV. Jake is in the security room now, it’s his shift. It was him who told me over the radio that a vehicle was approaching when I saw you. I go down there now and then and clear the gate area of any stragglers that turn up. That's what I wa
s doing when you interrupted me.” He smiled at the group and feigned mock annoyance. “No one else here likes going down there, so as the Senior Park Ranger I see it as my duty to do it, as well as check the walls and fences with the others.”

“Does the wall go all the way around then?” Jennifer asked
, taking a sip from her tea.

“Yeah, pretty much
,” a young red haired man said from the couch with a chess board on a coffee table in front of him. “There's only one area that isn’t stone wall, but that’s a high fence with a steep drop below it on the other side,” he looked over at Gary, “we gonna finish this game then old man or what?”

Gary looked back at the group.
“Sorry, you'll have to excuse Kevin here. He fancies himself as an up and coming chess champion. Only thing is, I only taught him how to play a month ago.”

“Yeah, and I give you a regular kicki
ng at it too,” Kevin interjected, smiling at the group.

Gary sat down in front of the chess board and continued to speak to Steve, Jennifer and Helen. “So, the walls
aren’t an issue. We have food but it won’t last forever. We cleared out the restaurants in the park the other day and closed them down to save power. We have running water from the wells and there is enough room to make everyone comfortable.”

“What about power?” Helen asked.

Kevin didn't look up from the board as he studied his next move, but answered, “Generators. They're in the basement and we have our own independent fuel supply here too. We've closed down all unnecessary buildings, utilities and attractions in the park to save power, but as Gary said, that won’t last forever either but we have plenty for now.”

“What about the animals?” Helen asked.

Gary answered, “They're still here, and we've continued and intend to continue to look after them for as long as we can. All the fences to the paddocks are safe and secure and we have plenty of food and medicine for them, though eventually, for the likes of the lions and tigers, fresh meat could be a problem.”

Steve raised his eyebrows
, wondering what would happen when the likes of the lions and tigers run out of meat, but said nothing. “Sounds like you've got it pretty well set here and you're in for the long haul. You don’t think that things could get back to normal?”

Gary looked at Steve, a serious expressi
on on his face. “The army can’t control it, and the police can’t. The Prime Minister has disappeared into a bunker somewhere and the rest of the world, including the so called superpowers, are on their knees. So no, I don’t think things could get back to normal. Do you?”

Steve felt a little stupid.
“Fair one,” was all he could say.

Gary looked ashamed.
“Sorry, I didn't mean to bite your head off. I just get a bit worked up sometimes when I think about the scale of this thing. I haven’t heard from my son for over a week and I'm worried. He was down South somewhere, on business, when it all started to go bad. He was trying to get home, but I don’t know where he is now.”

“I take it your phones aren’t working?”

“Sometimes, sometimes not, I think it won’t be much longer before they stop working altogether. We do have a radio here that we used to use, before the days of the internet, to speak with other parks and even countries that our animals were indigenous to, when we had problems or needed advice. It was cheaper than using the phone and quicker than writing letters. Not used it in years though, but I was thinking about setting it up again and seeing if we can get anything from it.”