Jack Lewis - Fear the Dead - A Zombie Apocalypse Book

As they walked down the road some of them brushed against the car. A rotten smell drifted in and clogged up my nostrils, and I realised the driver window was still open. As quietly as I could, I wound it up. The infected let out an orchestra of moans as they passed us.

“It’s going to take an hour by the looks of it,” I said.

I remember once Clara and I were driving home from the Lake District when we got stopped in the road by a herd of roving cows. The farmer leading them apologised, but we were stuck in the road for half an hour waiting for them to pass. I remembered being pissed off at the time, but looking back I didn’t realise how lucky I was. After all, cows couldn’t eat you.

Justin leaned his head back and spoke to David. “What do you call a group of infected? Is it a pride?”

“Probably a herd,” said David.

“More like a murder,” I said.

David frowned. “That’s crows.”

“Still fits.”

“A parliament of infected,” said Justin, and laughed.

“What are you talking about?” I said.

Justin smiled. “A group of owls is called a ‘parliament’. I think it fits the infected, too.”

Soon David caught on and let out a chuckle, and even I found it hard not to smile.

I felt my calf muscles start to cramp a little, so I stuck my leg forward and stretched out the muscle. I looked to the trees in the distance and wondered if any owls were nesting in there, whether there were even any owls still living. I guessed that most of them would have been killed by stalkers.

The night wore on and the infected carried on shuffling past. We were about halfway through now, and it gave me the feeling of being in the eye of a tornado. I felt my stomach sink. Next to me, Justin was asleep. I looked at him and blinked, marvelling at how the kid had managed to sleep with hundreds of infected just feet away.

David cleared his throat, and leant forward.

“Kyle.”

I turned round. “Yeah?”

He paused for a second, as though he were trying to compose his words.

“I still need to know why.”

I let out a long sigh. I knew what he was asking me; he wanted to know why I had left him after Clara died. For years I tried to bury the memories of that night – of our group being attacked, people being ripped apart, turning round and seeing one of the infected tearing flesh from Clara’s arm. I gritted my teeth and tried to push the images back.

“What does it matter now?” I said.

David hung his head. “You know me, Kyle. Better than anyone. Like a brother.”

I nodded.

“So I need to know why you abandoned me. We were the only survivors. I needed you, and you left me to die alone.”

Outside the sky looked bloated with darkness, as though any second it was going to vomit it out on top of us. The faint moans of the infected floated into the car.

“I’d just lost my wife. No, not lost. I’d let them kill her - I couldn’t protect her. And when it was all done, and it was just me and you, I couldn’t even look at you. “ I put my hands on the steering wheel and gripped it. “I failed her, David. I failed everyone.”

For a while the only sounds were the scuffling of the feet of the infected. I sat and took in deep breaths. I could feel tears welling up in the corners of my eyes. I’d never spoken about this before. I’d barely even allowed myself to think about it.

David leaned forward and pout a hand on my shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault,” he said.

I let the words sink in. I could feel my whole body start to shake, and emotion overtook me. I felt it run through my arms and legs, like adrenaline but thicker and heavier. I blinked and put a hand to my eyes, wiping away the moisture.

I turned round and looked at David. Although they were brother and sister, he looked absolutely nothing like Clara.

“I’m sorry, David,” I said. “After it happened, I couldn’t face anyone. I didn’t trust myself to protect anyone again, because I knew that I’d only let them down and lose them.”

He nodded and squeezed my shoulder.

A weariness overtook my body and I felt the energy seep out of my arms and legs. I felt my eyelids start to drop. Then I took one look at the infected outside and I forced my eyes open. Now wasn’t the time for sleep.

“Go ahead,” said David. “Get some sleep. I’ll keep watch tonight.”

I shut my eyes, but I couldn’t let myself sleep.

***

Five hours later I watched the sun rise to the east of us, in the direction of the farm. We were only twenty-five miles away now, which was walkable in a day or so. As long as we avoided the parliament of infected, we would be okay.

I reached across and shook Justin’s shoulder. He groaned, lifted his head and rubbed his eyes.

“Jesus, what time is it?” he said.

“Time to go.”

I looked behind me. David was awake and picking at a loose thread on his coat. I stretched my arms and legs, feeling my joints crack and my muscles expand. I took a deep breath and tried to fill my lungs with air, but I spluttered.

“So stuffy in here,” I said. “It stinks.”

I grabbed the window handle and twisted it, and the glass wound down. As the cold morning air blew into the car, something else also drifted in.

It was the sound of an engine. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw the vehicle getting closer.

“Shit,” I said.

It was a pick-up truck, and it was driving down the road toward us. Torben Tusk was behind the wheel.

Chapter 17

I slid down in my seat as much as I could and left only the top of my head on show. Behind me on the back seat, David was curled up and his eyes were shut. Next to me, Justin was asleep in the passenger seat. Too much of him was on show, and if Torben glanced at the car as he drove past he was sure to see him.

I tapped Justin on the shoulder, but he didn’t stir. A bubble of spit blew from the corner of his mouth and popped. I gave him a hove, and this time his eyelids flickered and then opened.

He looked at me, blinked, and then went to say something. I reached across and put my hand over his mouth.

“Don’t move, don’t speak. Trust me.”

When he nodded, I slid my hand slowly away from him. I moved back down my seat and beckoned Justin to do the same in his. He moved his body down the seat, finding a lot easier than I did. Now we just had to hope that David didn’t decide to wake up.

The truck got closer and soon it was driving next to us. Through some instinct I breathed in and held my breath as it passed, as though breathing might somehow give away our position. The truck rumbled past and stopped outside the Babe and Sickle. Torben got out followed by his friend who, last time we saw him in the pick-up, was the driver. Now I could see why he wasn’t anymore; he had a make-shift sling around his right arm, and part of it was smeared red.

The pub was only twenty feet away and it was a calm day, so we could hear the hunters talk. I reached for the handle and slowly wound down the window.

“Pass me the tracker,” said Torben. His voice sounded rougher than normal, his tone more clipped.

The driver reached over to the truck, picked something up and passed it to Torben. “What’d ya think they’re doing out here?” he asked.

Torben twisted the device in his hands, pressed something and then stared at it.

When I got a good look it at, I felt something sharp twist through my chest. That was my GPRS! Torben Tusk was holding my GPRS, and it seemed like it was working. I snapped my head to Justin to see if he was watching this. His wide eyes and furrowed brow confirmed that he was. I was dying to saying something, but now wasn’t the time.

I felt my forehead begin to sweat. My hands shook, and my face felt like it was heating up. There was no way this was a coincidence, no way that Torben had got his hands on another GPRS and just happened to be going in the same direction as us. There was only one explanation for this.