The dead spore collectio.., p.15
The Dead Spore Collection, page 15
He bent forwards and kissed her. “Sorry, Mon. My mum and dad always bollocked me about taking the joke a little too far. “I should have woken you at the same time as our younger friends and told you all at the same time. I’m a scout, Monique, for a settlement a fair way from here. Before I left two weeks ago, we had over four hundred people there. That number’s probably gone up by now. I’m not the only one out here searching for survivors.”
“But, the supermarket?”
Conner shrugged. “That was the first large group I found, None of them wanted to come with me though. He licked his lips. “I’ll tell you everything, let’s just finish this first?”
Monique lowered the gun. Harry’s dirty look hadn’t escaped her attention. She watched Conner play with the prongs on his new toy, while attempting to process all of this new information. “Are you the guys with the helicopters?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Fuck no. They’re the great enemy. The bastards who caused this in the first place.” Conner took her hand. “Can we go now please or are you still thinking of shooting me? Only, the runners out there are getting jittery.”
Without waiting for an answer, he pulled her through the kitchen only stopping once he’d reached a large hole in the middle of the floor.
“I nearly fell into this on my way in here. I did drop my bag though.” He looked up into her face. “I didn’t have enough time to retrieve it and save you lot as well.” The man dropped to the floor. He pushed his new toy into the hole. “There you are,” he said. Conner slowly got to his knees and lifted his arm out of the hole. The handle of a brown leather bag was caught in the curled prongs. “This, ladies and gentleman is our salvation, our ticket out of this place, without the runners twigging that the chickens have left the coop.”
“It’s a little small to hold a tank,” said Harry.
The two girls giggled.
Monique resisted the urge to smile, remembering how Jennifer and Harry took care of that infected kiddie.
Conner placed the bag on the floor and unzipped it. He brought out what looked like a folded pile of leather jackets, very similar to the one he wore. “Here you go,” he said passing out three of them. The others he put back in the bag. “Put these on. Believe me. The runners won’t go anywhere near us, at least, as long we try not to get too close to any large group.”
Monique rubbed the material between her fingers. It had a slight oily texture, she grimaced. It wasn’t at all pleasant.
“Is this leather?” asked Jennifer.
The man burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s a good one. I suppose you could call it that, if you want.” He leaned closer to the girl. “Only we don’t make them out of cows, you know, with all the cows now gone. We make these out of dead people. Well, the dead people who refuse to lie down and rot.”
“Are you having a laugh?”
“Nope, not at all, Junior. See, the runners are absolutely terrified of the dead. The masses that swarm through our streets at night don’t distinguish between the runners and us. To them, we’re all meat.”
Jennifer mumbled something about this being utterly gross but it didn’t stop her from putting the homemade waistcoat over her own clothes. Would there had been total acceptance if she had asked them all to wear these disgusting things?
“And they really work?” Harry stood up and put on his waistcoat before helping Daisy to don hers.
Conner nodded. “How else do you think I got here, Junior? I’m good but I can’t teleport.”
Harry giggled. “That would be so cool. Even better if you were equipped with power armour and a wide dispersal plasma cannon. Can you imagine the devastation?”
“I’m sorry, kid, you got me on that reference.”
Daisy shook her head. “Ignore him, Conner. He’s going on about stupid video games again. I swear down, that’s all he ever goes on about.” She grinned at the other girl. “Jen, isn’t it about now where you tell your boyfriend to shut his gob?”
“He’s not my boyfriend!”
“Oh?” Daisy paused. “I see it now.” She turned to Conner. “If think she fancies you now!”
Monique walked over to the front door. There were human-like shapes darting past the frosted window. She dare not go over to the window to see exactly how many of them were outside now.
How relaxed they all sounded around him, laughing and joking as if the nightmare happening around them no longer existed. Why shouldn’t they chill out? After all, thanks to Conner, they were all practically invisible to the infected. Complete acceptance again. Conner had said it so it must be true.
“These kids adore you, Monique.”
A pair of muscular arms slipped around her waist, stopping her from spinning around. Oh Christ. She hadn’t even heard him move! He lowered his head and kissed the back of her neck. A moment later, the man had released her and moved around and casually leaned against the front door.
She blinked. Feeling a little perturbed at the ease this man had made her feel so vulnerable.
“I saw the lack of trust in your eyes, Monique. I can still see it. I want us to be friends, I really do. Please, try not to see me as someone who’s trying to steal your thunder.”
Could this bastard read her mind as well?”
“What you have achieved is truly astonishing. I know you don’t really think so, that you’ve made decisions that have cost lives. You’ve also made decisions that have saved the lives of those three kiddies.”
“Look, I don’t want to have this conversation right now, Conner, if at all. I’m sorry.”
“I’m only a flash in the pan,” he replied. “The kids see me as a bright new toy, nothing more. Once this mission is done and you’re all safe, I’ll be gone again. It’s that simple.”
“Tell me where we’re going.”
He smiled. “Aren’t you the master of topic distracting? If I said all in good time, will you threaten to shoot me again?”
“Maybe.”
“How about a compromise then? All tell you everything you want as soon as we hit the road.” Conner called the kids over. “He kneeled in front of them. “Okay, I need you all to listen very carefully. We are all going to leave this house one by one.”
“No way!” Jennifer cried. “I can’t do that!”
“I’m sorry, petal, but yes you are. If we leave as one big group, they’ll notice us. It only takes one of them to raise the alarm.”
“But I don’t want to.”
He placed his hands on Jennifer’s cheeks. “Did you ever feed bread to ducks in the park or throw scraps to pigeons?” He nodded. “Sure you did!”
“That’s us then? We’re the bread?”
“Got it in one, petal. One at a time, they won’t see us. All together, they’ll swoop on us and tear us to pieces.” Conner swivelled his head and gazed up at Monique. “I want you to go first, petal.”
Jennifer’s first protest reached the tip of Monique’s tongue and took root. Oh Jesus, that had to be checkmate. In one move the man had ensured her supposed lack of trust in Conner would be put through the ultimate test. She tried to give the kids a reassuring smile only to find her facial muscles no longer obeyed her orders. It didn’t stop the muscles in her legs though. They were already at the door waiting for Monique to open it.
“There’s going to be a lot of them out there, Mon. Don’t worry too much though. Most of the runners will be congregated around the windows. It’s usually their first point of entry.”
After what happened in the church hall, Monique did not need to be reminded of that one.
“Keep your eyes on the floor. Stay close to the wall and walk. Whatever you do, no matter the circumstances, do not run. Believe me, if you do that, you might as well say goodbye to your existence.” Conner put his hands on her shoulders again. “Don’t fret. We’ll be right behind you. Now, I take it you know the pharmacy on the corner of the street?”
Of course she did. Alan and her tried to break through those metal shutters a couple of weeks ago. Monique nodded.
“I want you to make your way to it and wait around the corner.” He turned to the others. We’re going to follow one by one. Harry, you go next. Once Mon has left, we count to ten then you go. Jen, you follow him then you Daisy.”
Monique took a deep breath. She turned to Harry and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “You scared?” The terrified little boy that she remembered from before nodded back at her. “Pretend you’re carrying that wide burst plasma thingy.”
“I’d rather have the teleport,” he whispered.
“So would I, honey. So would I.”
She grabbed the door handle, twisted it and pulled, squinting a bright sunlight dazzled her. Monique stepped out into the open, Muffling a yelp when her eyes adjusted to the brightness and showed the woman exactly how many there were out here. Her bladder threatened to empty its contents when what looked like hundreds of them all turned to stare at her.
“Look at the floor!” hissed a voice from inside.
Her hand slapped the brickwork beside her and she did as commanded.
“Now walk. One step at a time. That’s all you have to do. It’s easy.”
Monique ignored the sound of her heart beating like a drum and put one foot in front of the other, not taking her gaze of the paving slabs, looking at the blades of grass shooting up from between the gaps and not trying to think about all those things, just metres away from her. Even when she saw a filthy pair of feet coming into a field of vision, she still kept moving.
Oh Christ, she could hear the bastard breathing! The creature matched her pace, walking along side her, Monique fought the urge to turn back and continued until she reached the kerb. Over ten seconds had passed now, meaning Harry was now following her. What would he do if another one kept pace with him? Were they doing this on purpose, just playing with them like a cat teases a half-dead mouse?
She expected to feel the agony of those teeth around her throat at any second, despite her terror, Monique started to cross the road. The pharmacy wasn’t far now. She just needed to stay calm, to remember Conner’s words and not to panic.
The creature’s arm moved into her sight. It extended a single digit and pushed it into the side of Monique’s waist. No matter how hard she tried, that picture of a cat playing with a mouse wouldn’t leave her head. She gritted her teeth and kept moving, almost collapsing in relief when it ran off just as she reached the other side of the road. Despite Conner’s warning, Monique increased her pace, not stopping until she reached the pharmacy.
Monique turned around, her hand slamming against her mouth at the sight of three of them surrounding poor Daisy. Yet the girl kept walking, somehow keeping her cool while those vile bastard things danced around her. None of the others were unaffected. She so wanted to do something, to stop this mental torture. There was nothing Monique could do though. There had to be at least fifty of them hanging around that building. One false step and that pack of monsters charging towards her would be the last thing she ever saw.
She grabbed Harry as soon as he was close enough and pushed him around the corner of the pharmacy. “Stay there and don’t moved,” she said. When Monique turned back, she found that Daisy’s tormentors had finally left her alone. The galloped back and lost themselves in that crowd.
Daisy fell into Monique’s arms. She pulled her away from the sight of those things and pushed the girl’s head into her chest. “Hush now, darling. It’s over and done with. You’re such a brave little girl.” That was the understatement of the century. Only having one of those things close to her shredded her nerves.
Jennifer and Conner joined them a moment later. He looked at Monique, his face a combination of exhilaration and concern. He pulled Harry up and took Jennifer’s arm then pressed them against Monique and Daisy. Conner wrapped his arms around the group.
“You’ve done spectacular. I’m seriously proud of all of you. Believe me. It’s all plain sailing from now.”
“The ball is in your court now, Conner,” said Monique. “Where do we go from here?”
“We go that way,” he said, pointing in away from the town centre. Conner strode past the group. “Well, come on, unless you want to hang around here all day?”
Harry grinned and ran over to him, closely followed by the two girls.
“Mon, you coming?”
She peered around the building. The infected were still outside, every one of them were now pacing like caged lions. Were they aware that their meals had just walked out from under their noses or were they waiting for something else to happen? Monique shuddered and hurried over to what was left of her group.
When she reached Conner, Monique saw he had something in his hand. “Oh my God. Is that a radio?”
He nodded and gave her that grin again. “We’re an organised bunch, petal.”
Conner turned it on and fiddled with the frequency. “You there, Bo Peep?”
“Frigging heck, sonny. Where have you been?”
Monique jumped at the sound of the other voice. Until now, she had doubts about this so-called sanctuary, She didn’t want to find out the bastard had been lying to them, for their hopes to turn into ashes. The man on the other end of that radio sounded a lot older than older. Monique put him into a fifty-something age bracket. Not that it made any difference.
“I’m so glad to hear you, Conner. So, come on, how many lost sheep did you pick up?”
“Four,” he replied.
“You lucky bastard! We only found three. Looks like I owe you that bag of chocolate éclairs after all.”
She heard laughter in the background.
“Whereabouts are you?” asked Conner.
“Closing in on relay one.”
“We’re only a few minutes from there too!”
“I’ve never heard of relay one.”
“You probably know by it’s proper name, junior. It’s the TV station. There’s about twenty people there. We’ll rest up there, get us all clean and fed before moving to the main refuge. That’s a bit of a trek I’m afraid.”
Conner continued chatting to the kids but she no longer heard the conversation. What she first assumed to be yet another pack of infected just appeared ion the distance. Her heart leapt when Monique saw that unlike the infected, these were fully clothed. “It’s them, it hasn’t to be.” She counted five people and as they neared, she began to pick out their features.
“No, no way,” she moaned, not wanting to believe her eyes when one of the men in that group turned to stare back at her. She only allowed this miracle to sink in when the man left the others and ran towards her.
“Dominic!” she breathed. Dropping her possessions and racing to him. Everything was going to be okay after all.
Chapter Fourteen
It that that shared look of utter disbelief that made her day. There they were, both groups, all joined together. Dominic with that new bitch, the one who had a face that so needed a good fucking punch, those dirty little brats as well as macho man whose eyes would not move away from her tits.
Jessica wished she had waited a bit longer before radioing in the position of the enemy’s hidden base. By the time they arrived, Their diseased soldiers had already torn through this building like a fucking tornado, ripping apart anyone who stood in their way. The few that hung around didn’t last long against their combined fire-power. Of course, Jessica played her part too, just to keep up appearances. She managed to kill four of them, even the one that almost took out macho man. What she would give to string up that creepy bastard by his nut-sack. Jessica had to reign in her hate for that one though, she had orders to keep him alive, as well as Dominic. The man’s dad though, oh, she could do what the hell she wanted with him and Giles Bachelor was so going to get his reward today. She’d been so close to revealing her true nature back in that sewer. That could never happen again.
Still, at least what she witnessed in the aftermath of the massacre had cooled down her somewhat fiery temper. She had allowed the others to go in first. Jessica already knew what they’d be walking into and experience taught her that to receive the full torrent of violent emotions, it was always best to give your victims a few seconds to assimilate the information.
The response from the old twat had to be the most satisfying. Jessica had no idea that he’d left his nine year old granddaughter in here and from what she gathered from what remained of the girl, the infected soldiers hadn’t just used her for food. They would have kept her alive while they raped her too, just like they’d been trained. Jessica kept that nugget of information to herself.
Thankfully, Jessica had been the only one in the group to withhold information. One day, she would allow it to be known that he was the reason as to why his beautiful granddaughter had such an agonising and brutal death and thanks to Jessica, her beloved Isaac now had a lot less human unbelievers to worry about and with any luck, if that old twat stopped it with the waterworks opens his ever-loving mouth again, Jessica will have the location of the big prize, their main base.
What a coup that would be. Destroying that particular nest would surely give her access to the ultimate prize in this little game, Isaac’s bed chamber.
“How are you holding out?”
She accepted the gift of hot chocolate from Giles and released an impressive sounding ragged sigh. “Sorry I couldn’t be of much use,” she said, lying. “I guess the sight of so much blood kinda knocked me on my feet, you know? I mean, we’ve all gone through this before but you can never get used to it.”
Giles sat down beside her. His proximity played fuckery with her personal space but she allowed it. Let him have his pervy thoughts about rubbing himself up against her thighs, pretty soon it won’t make any difference.”
“That’s good though. I mean, when we all start accepting this as normality, it’s then we have to start thinking about our humanity.”
What the fuck was this bastard ranting on about? Jessica nodded anyway and gently squeezed the back of his hand that had somehow found its way onto her thigh. “I agree.” She glanced over at the other old man. “Do you think he’s questioning his humanity?”
