When There's No More room In Hell: A Zombie Novel (6 page)

“Why are you up here? Did you follow me?” She looked scared and defensive.

Tony was doing his best to put her at ease. He relaxed his shoulders to reduce his height so they were closer to eye level and tried to soften his face and even offer a smile as he spoke. “I’ll be honest with you, I ran when everyone else did. The line was broken and those people were attacking everyone in sight. I was scared, to tell you the truth. I think everyone was. I've never been in a riot before. I'm normally sat in a patrol car or at the desk.”

She seemed to relax a little
. “Yeah, I recognise you. You're Tony aren’t you? I've seen you about at the station.”

“That's where I'm planning on going now. There's no wa
y I want to go back down there.” He vacantly swept a hand in the direction they had both come from. “You may as well come with me. What's your name?”

“Elaine
,” she replied.

“Okay then, Elaine, we had better keep quiet and try not to attract any attention. From what I saw down there, I don’t fancy that mob getting their hands on me.”

Elaine looked at him, her face contorting as though remembering something terrible; the visions of the attackers clawing and tearing at her from behind the shields and then the images of her friends being attacked as they lay on the ground, hopelessly trying to defend themselves.

“They just didn't seem to care. No matter how much I hit them with my baton, they kept on coming at me. One of them even bit my leg.” She looked down and rubbed her wounded calf muscle. “I don’t think it’s too bad, but it hurt like fuck.”

Tony eyed her, weighing her up and wondering whether she was likely to be useful or a burden. “Yeah, I saw them biting people too. You think you can walk and run okay if need be?”

“I’ll manage.” She stood
up straight and looked ahead. “We going that way then?” She pointed to the darkness at the end of the street.

“Yeah, hopefully we’ll be able to get back to the station within the hour.”

They began to walk. Elaine hobbled but she refused to allow herself to become a hindrance to Tony. She kept pace at his side; regardless of the pain she felt shooting through her leg with every step.

They covered the distance to the station in a relatively short space of time. It was late, close to midnight
, and the streets and roads were deserted with no traffic or signs of life, otherwise they would’ve tried to flag a car down. Instead they had walked and now and then had been forced to hide in the shadows when they thought they heard people on the other side of bushes or walls that lined the side of the road. They took no chances; in the dark they couldn’t tell who would be likely to help them or attack them.

As they approached the station they began to hear the sounds of trouble. The bangs of gunfire and the crashing of heavy objects and the smashing of windows echoed off the walls around them. They were still close to the main road, but
they were entering an area comprising of shops and restaurants. There were more buildings there, and the continuous echo bouncing from the hard surfaces made it hard for Tony to make an estimate of where exactly the noise was coming from, or how many people were involved.

They had no choice but to carry on, creeping closer
to the station. They were just a hundred metres away from where they knew the station would be. They stealthily moved along the wall of a designer clothes shop, keeping to the shadows, toward the junction that would turn left into the street of the police station.

Tony paused before turning the corner, taking a deep breath; he held his hand out behind him, signalling for Elaine to stay where she was.

Quickly he forced his head around the corner and took in the scene that lay before them. Just as quickly, he retracted and backed up to where Elaine was still standing. He continued to back up and collided with her.

“Tony, what is it? Are they here as well?”
she hissed in a whispered voice.

Tony had gone pale with fright
, his eyes had grown wide and he stared back toward the corner. He stuttered his words as he spoke. “They...they're...every...everywhere.”

Elaine crept forward to the junction. She saw the roof of the station, and that was about all she could see of the building. Police cars and riot ve
hicles, some on their sides, lay abandoned in the car park in front. People crowded around the building, clambering and attacking the doors and windows.

Most of the glass had been smashed out from the windows and the attackers were climbing in through the open gaps. She could see silhouettes moving in the upper
floor windows, some obviously her fellow officers, running from one room to another and battling to regain control of the police station, or just for their lives.

An officer stood on the roof of the building with, what Elaine assumed to b
e, a shotgun aimed over the edge, and pumped round after round into the crowd at street level. Even with people being killed around them, the rioters didn't seem to be fazed in the slightest and never let up their assault.

Elaine looked back to Tony, w
ho still looked as though he were in shock. “What do we do? Should we try and help?”

Tony was just mumbling to himself, his eyes wide with fear
, and slowly shaking his head, backing away all the time from the corner of the street.

She turned back just as two of the rioters rounded. She stepped back and gasped. They stopped
for a second when they saw her, their bloodied mouths opening as if to speak, then suddenly snapping shut and grinding their teeth in anticipation as their hands reached out for her.

Their clothes were torn and covered in dark blood. Their hands, mouths and faces were also smeared with it and their eyes, even though they were fixed on Elaine and Tony as they backed away, were devoid of
anything.

For a fleeting moment Elaine tho
ught,
they actually look like the eyes of dead people.

She backed up and this
time, it was she that bumped into Tony. He was standing solid in his tracks and looking behind them. Others were approaching from the opposite direction. Tony, snapping out of his moment of inactivity, gripped Elaine by the shoulder, dragging her with him as he headed for the other side of the street, hoping to bypass the approaching rioters and flee to safety.

“C’mon, head for the other side of the street
,” he said, pushing her in that direction.

As they began to cross, more
people turned the corner toward them from the direction of the police station. They shambled and hobbled, reaching out with their bloodstained hands and grasping at the air between them as they drew closer. There were now six of them in front and eight behind. The street was blocked by the approaching aggressors and so was their escape.

“Shit, what do we do?” Elaine was pushing
back at Tony as he tried to guide her forward.

Tony glanced over his shoulder again, then back to the front.
They were getting closer. Some moving much faster than the others as they staggered toward them on unsteady legs. He weighed up the odds and considered his options; he looked down at the back of Elaine’s head and shoulders, then back to the corner of the street where he had planned to escape.

“I'm sorry
, Elaine,” he said.

She turned to speak but before she got a word out, she felt a heavy blow to the back of her head that knocked her off her feet and sprawled her on the ground. She wasn’t unconscious, but she wasn’t far from it. She could see the blurry silhouette of Tony above her then, felt the impact of hi
s foot as he brought it down onto her left ankle. She felt and heard the bones break but the pain hadn’t registered.

Tony raised his foot again and quickly brought it down
, heel first, on her other ankle. The bone crunched under his heavy boot and there was a clear audible snap as it shattered. This time, she screamed. A loud gut-wrenching scream that didn't seem to end. The sound reverberated around the street.

All the time, the bloodthirsty rioters closed in around them.

Tony stepped back and looked to the corner. Only two were coming from that direction. He glanced down at Elaine who was trying to get to her feet. She rolled onto her stomach and began pushing herself up onto her hands and knees. She managed to get a foot under her, but as soon as her weight rested on the splintered jagged bones of her ankle the pain caused her to cry out again and collapse.

He began to back away from her, checking over his shoulder to make sure no more people had appeared in his line of escape. It was still just the two and Tony decided that he could deal with that many. He would just run through them.

Elaine was sobbing and pleading with him. “Don't leave me, please, don’t leave me.” She reached out for him, imploring him to help her up, her face twisted in an expression of agony and desperation.

Tony turned away; he looked straight ahead and sprinted for the next street. The two
shambling figures ahead of him, a man in a police uniform and a blood-soaked fat woman wearing a torn flowery dress, raised their arms in his direction as if he might give himself to them. They looked almost grateful as he closed the distance, reaching out to him and moaning in harmony with each other.

He dropped his
shoulder and hit the first one, the woman, sending her flying away from him, arms and legs flailing in the air as she crashed to the floor, landing on her back. He handed off the man by slapping his hands away from him, sending the police officer spinning with a stupid and surprised sounding moan.

By the time he reached the corner and turned into the next street, Elaine was screaming.
It was a piercing shriek that rang out in to the night. The pitch raised and fell as her flesh was ripped from her body.

The searing pain of teeth as they pun
ctured her skin and bit deep into her muscle caused her body to spasm. She fought them, but their numbers and weight, coupled with her already weakened state, was too much for her.

Her fingers were bit
ten off as she tried to fend off the snapping jaws; she could feel them being crushed in the teeth of her attackers, then scraped and snapped away from her by jagged and broken teeth.

Her screams began to lessen as she became weaker, but she remained conscious for a long time. Her
limbs were pulled from their sockets and her stomach was split open as cold hands and bony fingers clutched at the skin of her midriff until it broke, popping and splitting open like a thick plastic bag that had been over-filled, revealing her warm internal organs, which were wrenched from her rib cage and spread across the tarmac.

Fingers dug i
nto her eyes and tore them away; teeth sunk in and gnawed at the soft flesh around her face and neck.

Within a matter of minutes, Elaine was nothing more than a butchered and dismembered carca
ss, still steaming as the blood continued to cool in the night air.

Tony was at the far end of the next street and continued at a fast walk to save his energy. He was grateful when the screams finally stopped. They coul
d’ve attracted every one of the things in the area and he would never have been able to get away.

Elaine hadn't been a burden after all
, he thought.

6

Marcus and Stu
sat watching the news broadcast. It was the American version and the President had released his own statement of the situation. But the story was the same.

“Those who have recently died are reanimating and attacking the living.” 

They looked at each other with wide eyes and slack jaws. Stu screwed up his face, “Is this some kind of wind up?”

“I don’t think so
, Stu. The U.S President doesn’t strike me as the sort with a sense of humour.”

Around them, the whole compound seemed to erupt in a hive of activity. People had obviously watched the same news bulletin and began running around asking each other questions in the hope that they had heard the story wrong.

Running to the Operations Room, Marcus burst through the door to find out what, if anything, was being done by the company. Everything was in turmoil; phones ringing, computers beeping and the watch keepers doing their best to gain communications with teams on the ground, shouting over radios to bring them in. Marcus could get no sense from Mickey, who was very shaken and pouring with sweat as he scurried from one desk to the next, to a phone and then to the fax machine.

The only information he did gain from Mickey was, “Marcus, the military have closed down the airport and all airfields for the time being. Military personnel and high ranking government officials are priority for flights.
It looks like they had it all in place because they slammed the doors shut the moment it was announced. They're pulling out and not pretending otherwise now. In fact, it’s a full blown retreat.”

Marcus wasted no time and called his team together. Eight of them sat, stood
, crouched and
squeezed in
to the small room where Marcus lived. Some of them were big men, and with very little air getting into the room, the atmosphere became claustrophobic and hot. Some had an expression of bewilderment on their faces, having obviously missed the news broadcast, and wondered what all the activity was about. Others stood with grave faces, clearly in the know.

Yan
had just a pair of underpants on and flip-flops on his feet, having been dragged out of bed by Stu.

Eddie was sweating and still in his gym clothes
, looking confused.

“What’s happening
, Marcus?” Yan asked with his heavy Serb accent as he stood pulling his underpants out of his arse. His black hair was standing to attention on one side, making his usual ‘male model-style' looks seem comical.

“Well,” Marcus began, “s
ome of you have seen the news, and a few haven’t by the looks. I dunno how to say this, but from what we just heard from the President on the news, dead people have started to come back to life.” He paused to let it sink in and noticed the faces of Yan, Eddie and Jim contort, then look about as if they were waiting for the punch line.

Yan motioned as if he were
about to speak again, but Marcus cut him off, “On top of that, from what the reports from scientists are saying, the dead are now attacking the living as well and anyone they bite will die and come back as one of them. They think it’s all related to the flu. So, it looks like things are about to get a lot worse around here.”

“Jesus Christ, how the fuck
could that happen?” gasped Jim. “I mean have you ever heard something as crazy as that? Are you sure about this, Marcus? I mean, you're a great Team Leader and all, but were you on the whisky last night, or any of that evil homemade shit that Yan drinks?”

Marcus was sat on the edge of his bed, hunched with his hands
folded across his lap as if in prayer. “Fellas, I wish that were the case. But both me and Stu watched the announcement and saw the footage. Looks like Paul, Sini and Ian saw the same report.” He looked to them to confirm it and that he wasn’t just going mad.

Ian nodded slowly
. “Aye, I saw it. As far as I can tell Jim, it’s true.” Sini and Paul nodded in agreement.

Eddie looked around
. “Fuck me guys, so what is happening about it? Has anything been said about the situation in New Zealand?”

“
I dunno, but I was told a few days ago, that I could be stuck here for months before they get me a flight. Now with this shit happening, even more people are gonna panic and head for the airport. Mickey told me just that the military have locked it down and the army have taken priority on flights, and that it’s gonna take quite awhile until or,
if
anything becomes available for the likes of us. Short of hijacking a plane, we’re pretty much fucked.”

The room broke out in
hushed individual conversations as people swapped what information they had with the men that had been out of the loop.

Ian looked over at Marcus
. “So, what are we gonna do boss? We can’t just stay here to rot. If this thing is as bad as it looks, and set to get worse, then we need to get home as soon as.”

Mar
cus peered back up at his short but heavy-framed friend. Short curly blonde hair and far from an oil painting, Ian was as tough as he was ugly.

“Not sure buddy, like I said, we can’t exactly steal a plane. The thought had crossed my mind, but with all the military around here we would be shot out of the sky as soon as we got airborne.”

Ian folded his arms across his barrel chest and let out a long sigh that turned into a low whistle toward the end through his crooked teeth.

It was Paul who spoke up, silencing the chatter within the room. Paul came from Australia, and as big as he was, he
came across as being reserved and quiet, and rarely spoke in a volume higher than a calm, conversational voice. Now he stood, pushing away from the corner by the door, so that everyone in the room could see him and he had their attention.

“It’s obvious what you have to do
, Marcus. You, Ian and Stu, and possibly Yan and Sini, need to make a break for it. It’s the likes of me, Eddie and Jim that are fucked.” He saw a couple of confused faces and continued. “As ridiculous as it sounds, your best option is to make your way home across land. There are four new vehicles for our team that arrived yesterday, and we have the keys too. Load up, get as much ammo and rations as you can squeeze in, and bug out.”

Marcus looked at Paul, then at Ian and Stu
, raising his eyebrows. “He’s right you know. That’s about the only option really.” He looked back to Paul. “What about you? What are you gonna do?”

Paul shrugged
. “Like I said, we’re pretty much fucked. Eddie lives in New Zealand and Jim is from America. He could try getting out with the Yank army, but there's a lot of other American contractors about that will want to try the same. Me? I've got to find a way of swimming across to Australia I guess.”

Jim glanced from Paul to Marcus
. “Screw that! I'm coming with you Marcus, I've only got a dog back home and he's a pain in the arse. Besides, I've always wanted to travel Europe. Granted, this isn’t what I had in mind, though.”

Sini and Yan had both been talking quietly in their native Serbian. They nodded to each other having agreed on a matter
, and Sini spoke. “Us too, Marcus. We’re coming with you and we can make our own way home at some point.”

Marc
us eyed the Serb, Sini. Of average height, but with broad shoulders and a shaved head, and a scar along the length of his left cheek which he wore with pride as a trophy from the war in Kosovo, Marcus knew that Sini had every ability to make it home along with his friend Yan.

“So, what you're saying is that you want us to drop you off on our way home?”

Sini grinned. “Something like that.”

The room became silent as every man contemplated what they were about to do. Paul and Eddie swapped nods
with one another. They had decided to go their own way, and try a break out together. Neither of them held much hope for making it to their homes, but they had to try.

Stu looked at Eddie and Paul
. “We’ll help you with any prep you need to make, lads, and set you up as best we can. It might be an idea to find out if there are any others from your neck of the woods trying the same; best to try it as a group.”

“I
’d already thought that. I'm gonna go and see what the other Kiwis and Aussies are doing.” They both turned and left the room and Marcus watched them with a feeling of helplessness for not being able to do more to get them home.

Marcus stood
. “Okay boys, we may as well start prepping for our little adventure. Sort your kit out, and we will meet in the briefing room at 13:00, then we can start smashing out the details. Keep it on the quiet, though. I don’t want Mickey and the head shed finding out what we’re planning.”

The room emptied as the men left for their own rooms to begin working out what they would need to take. Stu remained behind.

“You got any ideas of how we’ll do this?”

Marcus shook his head
. “Haven’t a fucking clue, mate. Can’t even think straight yet, and I'm still waiting to wake up from this mental dream.”

“Well, it looks like we’re having the same dream. Hey, maybe there's some kind of synaptic link between us.”

“Yeah, and next you’ll want to share a shower with me and play hide the sausage.”

Stu laughed. It was good that they clung on to their sense of humour
. “Don't flatter yourself, Marcus, I like pretty boys!”

That afternoon they began their preparations. Each man was given
a list of jobs to do, from preparing vehicles to acquiring ammunition and rations.

Ian and Jim went to collect fuel and spare tyres
. They stole as many jerry cans as possible to store extra fuel and every vehicle now had three spare wheels. They spent the whole afternoon trying to look like they were doing everyday maintenance as they began going over the four new SUVs, stripping out the extra seats and anything that was of no real use. They toiled in the hot sun, covered in sweat, oil and grime.

Sini had access to the armoury
, and he and Yan had decided that they would steal a few spare machineguns and as much ammunition as they could without making it look as if they had ransacked the place. They made four trips to and from the armoury to their rooms, and by mid afternoon, they had enough ammunition and magazines to start their own invasion. Next, they turned their attention to gathering up all the rations they could.

Marcus and Stu spent the afternoon
poring over maps and aerial photographs, studying routes and alternate routes. They knew that unforeseen problems on the road would inevitably force them to deviate, but as long as they planned as much as possible for eventualities, they would have a good idea of where they were going and how to get there.

They then scrolled through all the intelligence reports of the areas that they would pass through, gaining as much information as possible on the situation in those particular areas. It took a long time, and none of the information, since the announcement of that morning, cou
ld still be relied upon. Cities that were considered relatively friendly could’ve exploded into a hot zone in the past few hours, with anarchy and panic reigning.

On the other hand, areas that had been hostile could well be deserted of all enemy threats on account of them realising that there were more pressing matters to deal with other than blowing up or attacking convoys. The ground and the situation was fluid and it would be flexibility that would see them through.

They needed to go through their communications equipment. Anything they thought they would need, they would have to steal from Alan, the ‘Comms Guy’. Alan was easy enough to handle; fat and lazy, he rarely ventured out of his office, and if someone needed something, he normally gave the key over, expecting people to get what they requested from the stores before returning the key to him.

But Marcus and Stu needed a little more than an earpiece or two. They needed spare satellite phones and batteries, vehicle mounted GPS systems, HF and VHF radios
, and they weren’t a hundred percent on how to install some of it. They decided on bribing him with a couple of bottles of whiskey in return for his help in setting the equipment up for them.

Whisk
ey was hard to come by, and they would lull Alan into thinking that they just wanted to be up and running with full communications for the team and their new vehicles. As long as it didn't affect him in a way that would mean him having to get up too early, or do anything strenuous, then Alan would turn a blind eye with disinterest at the situation and delight at his two bottles of whiskey.

Three days later,
they had everything they needed. All that was left was the fine-tuning and details and the team to go through the overall plan together. It wasn’t just down to the commander to plan; the whole team would have input. All being experienced ex-military from different armies and backgrounds, some would have suggestions that would work better for the task ahead, and Marcus would make any changes as necessary if they all agreed on a certain plan of action.

Paul and Eddie had teamed up with a bunch of other guys from another company. It was a sad farewell, and the team provided them with as much ammunition and extra weapons that they needed
, including a vehicle.