The dead spore collectio.., p.8
The Dead Spore Collection, page 8
Dominic rolled to the left, got behind another large tree and fired again. He paused, trying to work out where they could be, yet no matter how hard he looked, Dominic saw to sign of them.
“This is fucking ridiculous.” He ran back to the chained up woman, keeping close to the ground. The bastards obviously hadn’t learned from their painful lesson. He should have killed the pair of them and have done with it.
His dad had crawled over to the tree, he crouched behind it, seemingly oblivious to the infected woman inches away from his shoulder. He then saw why the old man’s earlier fear had vanished. One of the shooters had killed her.
He took a deep breath and stood up. Not caring about making himself into a painted target. Dominic stroked the back of her hand, trying not to glance at the bolt sticking through the roof of her mouth. “She was somebody’s daughter, you crazy bastards,” he yelled. Dominic dropped the pistol and pulled the rifle from behind his back. “Come on, you cowards! Here I am, take your best shot.”
“They’ve gone, son,” said his dad.
“What?”
The old man pointed to the bolt. “That was their last one.” He picked up the pistol and slowly got back on his feet. “It was meant for me, not you, or her.”
“Wait, what?”
“You didn’t give me enough time to explain. They banished me, threw me out of my own pissing house.” He gingerly touched the dead girl, “and now that their only defence is gone, I suspect they’ll all be finding whatever they can to use to barricade themselves up.”
Dominic snatched the pistol out of his hand then turned away and continued to march through the trees.
“Where are you going?”
“To look for Monique,” he snarled. “I want to find somebody who hasn’t lost all their humanity.”
Chapter Eight
She couldn’t take her eyes off the road. Alan had already given Monique some prior warning of what to expect once she left the safety of the church hall but to see the evidence with her own eyes, no amount of forewarning could have prepared her for this.
Both Alan and Geoff acted as though the debris stuck to the tarmac wasn’t affecting them. After having to walk through the stuff on every forage, she they must have become desensitised by now.
Monique sat on concrete, previously warmed by the sun, in between the two men, doing her hardest not to burst into tears at the sight of all that human detritus on across the road.
Alan had already told her to prepare herself before reaching the outskirts of the supermarket carpark, telling her that they had to cross a main highway before reaching the carpark’s low wall. At first, she was unsure exactly what he meant.
“Are you okay?” Alan wrapped his thick fingers through hers.
She nodded. “I will be. Sorry, it’s just.”
“I know, it’s alright. We can wait here for a minute or so.”
All these buildings, the vehicles and the street furniture felt to Monique like a frozen monument to humankind’s achievements. Nature would eventually reclaim all of her territory but not for a few decades. What she saw scattered across that tarmac though would be gone in the next downpour.
Hundreds, probably thousands of feet tramped along that road every single night. They shed shoes, trainers, ripped up clothing, phones and all manner of discarded artefacts. Human fluid, leaking from those thousands of shambling corpses glued the stuff to the tarmac.
“It’s the smell that I can’t shift, you know.” Alan tilted his head back and rested it on the car side window. Even if you try not to think about where all that crap on the road had come from, the stink is always there to fucking remind you. It’s insidious, getting into your clothes, under your skin, even behind your eyeballs.”
Geoff grunted. He turned around and peered through the window. “You just have to hold your nose. Look are we going to do this or what? Only time is cracking on and.” He paused. “If we leave it any longer, it won’t be just the buggers in the supermarket we’ll have to deal with.”
Alan slowly got to his feet then helped Monique up. “Point taken. He lightly tapped the car bonnet. “Are you all ready to unleash the full arsenal of your seductive womanly ways?”
“With a bit of luck, it’ll be all full of men who hadn’t seen a female for weeks. “Geoff grinned at her. A human female, I mean.”
“Here you go,” aid Alan, handing her the binoculars. “Take a peek.”
She put the glasses to her eyes and focussed on the supermarket roof. She saw three men up there, all armed with crossbows. None of them had guns, that had to be a good sign.
“Are you sure there is no other option?”
“None at all.” Alan took the binoculars. “Believe me, there’s no way I would have suggested this if there were. We’ve checked every house around this area and every one of them’s been picked clean.”
“It had to be them lot,” said Geoff. “It’s what we did back at the church.”
“Yeah, but how many people buy their groceries at a church, Geoff? I mean, why would they risk themselves if they’re already sitting on a enough food to last them for the next few years?”
Geoff shrugged. “Something to do?”
Monique smiled.
“No, I’m serious. Think about it. They’d have to find something to do, just to stop themselves from going stir crazy. I mean, apart from the obvious danger at night, there’s been little evidence of any infected around here.”
“Yeah, that is true,” said Alan. “I mean, there’s nearly always some evidence of their presence, but around here, I’ve seen nothing.” He looked at Geoff. “Not even any gnawed bones.”
“What?”
“Gnawed bones, Monique. The remains of the people they manage to catch. Believe it or now, the dead leave nothing behind.”
“Apart from their mobile phones and socks,” Geoff muttered, nodding over at the main road.
Monique moved away from the car they’d sheltered behind, she took the binoculars and walked up the side of a green van/ “How far were you when they shot David?”
“We’d gotten into the carpark.” Alan pointed at the nearest trolley bay. “Just past there. Thing is, they only fired once, despite both me and Geoff running up to him and carrying away. They could have easily taken all three of us out, Mon. That’s why I think we can talk to them.”
“What’s all this ‘we’ business?” she replied. “You do know that even if they are sitting on a huge food store, it’s still unlikely that they’re going to share with us. If I was in their place, I know I wouldn’t.”
Alan shook his head. “Don’t you think I’ve been through all these questions in my head already? We can’t go anywhere else. This is the last place, Monique.”
“He’s right,” said Geoff. “The town’s been picked cleaner than those bones Alan mentioned and there’s no chance of any of us reaching the next town before the sun goes down.”
“Then we drive,” she announced. “Hell, it’s only eight miles to Twinebury. I mean, it’s not like we’re going to get stuck in traffic. We could be there in ten minutes.”
Both men looked at each other.
“She doesn’t know?”
Alan shook his head. “No, I didn’t think she needed to, not yet anyway, didn’t want to worry her.”
“Wait, what are you talking about?”
“I’m sorry, Monique but using any kind of vehicle is out of the question. It’s even more dangerous than foot travel.” Alan opened the van door on the driver’s side. “Imagine sitting here, Mon, you’re travelling at a fair whack, like you said, the roads are clear, there’s nobody about and you’re making good time. Now imagine seeing something weird in your wing mirror. Something that you never thought you’d see again. There’s an army helicopter swooping down from Christ knows where.”
“It’s the last sight you’ll ever see,” finished Geoff. “We’ve seen it happen, a couple of times now.”
“I don’t believe I’m hearing this. You mean, some sort of authority still exists? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Geoff stared at her.
“Imagine if we all were marooned on a desert island, Monique. There’s shark infested water surrounding you. Most of the food is poisonous. Then you see a ship sailing close by. You’re fucking ecstatic, that’s only natural. After all, it’s our ticket out, and then it gets closer and you see that it’s a pirate ship.”
“Okay, I get it.”
“There might only be one pirate ship though,” said Geoff. “It might be only one metal patient who somehow managed to find a helicopter and make it fly.”
“Right, because that happens every day. Do you honestly think it’s that easy to fly one of those things? You wouldn’t be able to do it. Christ, I remember what you were like before this rain of shit fell on our heads. You had trouble just going to the shops in your car without destroying the clutch.”
“You don’t know the circumstances. He might have already been an army pilot who had fled during the outbreak.”
“It sounds plausible, but I keep telling you, man. There’s more than one of them out there.”
Monique listened to the pair of them carry on their conversation as if she wasn’t there. This was obviously familiar territory. She so wanted to slap Alan for keeping this from her, even if the bastard did think he was doing the right thing. Who was he to judge that? Granted, she couldn’t deny that this bombshell had shaken her but it’s not as if the news had reduced her to a puddle of stress induced tears. Monique looked at the dropped objects strewed along that main road. Seeing all that had already done the job before Alan opened his gob.
It also made her wonder what else the men had seen out here. What else were they keeping to themselves, more dreadful news that may destroy her delicate female sensibilities?
How would the others have reacted though? Her thoughts went straight to Alice, and her continuous reassurances that the government were already in the process of sorting this out and it was just a matter of waiting until they got to them. Alan’s patronising analogy would fit her reaction to the ground. It could even push her over the edge. Maybe even the boy as well. After what she’d witnessed before agreeing to this expedition, Harry didn’t seem to be adjusting to the situation as well as she believed.
Unless the boy’s apparent change had been down to something else, like something he’d seen whilst on that roof, like a helicopter for example.
“Why don’t we ask those three men up there?” she asked. “It makes sense that if anyone has noticed your so called helicopters then it’s going to be them. Exchanging information goes a long way towards building trust.” Monique glared at Alan. “You remember what that word means, don’t you? Besides, once we get to know them a little better, then we could perhaps ask them if they could help us out by donating a few extra tins of beans.”
“I can go with that.”
“Of course you can, Alan. After all, it’s not you who’s going to be talking to them.” She moved away from the two men and slowly walked closer to the road. Once Monique reached the kerb, she raised her arms before crossing. “Always remember the green cross code.” She sidestepped a pair of green panties and a top of the range mobile phone, while trying not to throw up. The stench coming form the surface was burning away the skin in her nostrils. Finally, Monique reached the over side and made her way over to the entrance to the carpark.
It did feel odd walking under the ‘Welcome to Lipton’s’ sign. The last time she had walked under that here, Dominic had been with her, holding her hand. She had thoughts of settling down, finding some house on the outskirts of town and raising a family. It wasn’t until the pair of them had finished shopping when Dominic told her that he was going to join the army.
What was it with the men in her life who had this fucking problem with keeping stuff tight against her chest? She stopped and turned around.
Geoff had the binoculars to his eyes. Alan waved. Not that Alan was the next man in her life but there had been moments back at the beginning when she did think she was developing feelings for him.
The lookouts on the roof had now noticed her approach. All three of them were standing on the edge, their weapons pointing at her. Monique wasn’t close enough to be in any danger, but it didn’t stop her from being frightened. She stopped by the trolley bay, watching another man joined the ones on the roof. This man wasn’t armed. He approached the edge then sat down, his feet dangling over the side.
“Hello down there, pretty lady!” I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure. My name’s Conner.”
“I’m Monique.”
“That’s nice. So now we know each other.” He snapped his fingers and one of the men moved out of sight. “Before we start, if you’ve come begging for food, don’t even bother. The supermarket’s closed.” He leaned forward. “Sunday opening, you see.”
The man appeared to be in his mid-thirties, wearing a tattered denim jacket and tight jeans. His long blonde hair hung down to his chest. Something told her that this Conner wasn’t a supermarket employee. She resisted the urge to demand to speak to the manager.
“I just want to talk.”
“That’s different. Okay, then talk. Just don’t take too long about it though, pretty lady. Match of the Day is on in a minute.”
She had a right little joker here. Alan would love this one. “Aren’t you going to let me inside, Conner? Only it feels a little exposed out here.”
“I suppose you’ll want a cup of tea as well? Perhaps even a biscuit to go with it, maybe even a packet or two? Not going to happen. Just say your piece then bugger off and don’t come back.”
She smiled up at him, leaned back against the trolley bay and unfastened her blouse top button. “Are you sure there’s nothing that you men need?” The two men had lowered their crossbows and shuffled a little closer the edge of the roof. There were another three more buttons on her blouse left. Men were such simple creatures.
“Are there are more like you by any chance?”
“There could be, Conner. Are you sure you don’t want to invite me in? Only it is getting a bit chilly out here.” she fiddled with the next button.
The men grinned. “You’re good, I’ll give you that. This is almost as good as Match of the Day. Okay, pretty lady. I’m intrigued. Why don’t you tell me what you’re really here for? As much as your seduction warms my cockles, somehow, I don’t think that you and I will be spending the night at some fancy restaurant, followed by a night in a hotel bedroom.”
“Look, all we want is to trade, Conner. I’m sure there’s something we have what you might want?”
“Apart from you? I don’t see what. We have enough supplies to last us for a month or two, thank you very much. Now, unless you’re thinking of continuing your striptease, you’d better be on your way before these two at either side of me get any ideas.”
“How about information then, Conner? It doesn’t look to me that you lot get out much. I’m sure there’s stuff we can learn from each other.”
Conner laughed. “I’ve got to admire you tenacity, girl. I tell you what. I’ve changed my mind about letting you inside. If you can show me a good time, them please my men, I’ll let you have a few tins of beans.”
“Why don’t you come down here, you fucking clown!” yelled Alan.
Monique jumped. Both of them were now behind her. She hadn’t even heard them approach. “What the bloody hell are you playing at?” She groaned at the sight of Conner standing up. “Oh good one, Alan. You’ve ruined it all.”
“What are you talking about? It’s obvious that the fucker wasn’t going to give us shit all he wants is to climb inside your knickers.”
“You need to get out of here!” shouted Conner.
What the hell was happening? The man on the roof sounded terrified.
“Just go, now! Hurry up before it’s too late!”
Monique grabbed Alan’s arm and pulled his back when the metal shutters started to roll up. “Come on, you!”
“What for?”
“Because the bloke up there isn’t the one in charge, that’s why!”
Alan shook her off. “Geoff, are they still on the roof?”
“There’s only blondie and he’s not armed. The others have gone back inside.”
“That’s good enough for me.” He pulled out his pistol. “You ready?”
Geoff nodded.
The pair raced towards the front of the building, they obviously thought that the fighters inside would lower their crossbows and give up once the two men killed a few of them. The shutters were raised high enough for Monique to spot movement. She saw four pairs of bare feet running up and down. The realisation of Conner’s warning hit her like a brick. “Get back here!” she screamed.
Her words went unaided. The two men only skidded to a halt when the shutters were high enough for the figures inside to run out. Four infected raced across the carpark, heading straight for Alan and Geoff.
Alan managed to fire off a single shot, hitting the first one in the face. It toppled to the floor, only to have another two run across its body in the eagerness to reach the man. Geoff fired as well but his round only struck the infected woman in the arm. It didn’t even slow her down. The woman leapt onto Geoff. Monique ran over, pulled out her handgun and shot the thing in the side of the head. She grabbed the infected woman’s clover and dragged her off the man.
Alan had taken out another but the two remaining had cornered the man. Both Geoff and Monique ran towards them. She shrieked at Alan to get on the floor, to give her a clear shot, but it was too late. The two infected sprang at Alan, both sinking their teeth into the screaming man’s body.
Geoff stopped and emptied his gun into their twitching bodies.
“We need to leave now,” she said.
He shook his head. “Not a fucking chance. Geoff continued to stare at his fallen companion. “I’m not going anywhere until every one of the bastards in there are dead.”
