Spiteful (The Infected Book 3) (10 page)

Chapter Fourteen

I just headed toward the school.

Chris and Mike followed behind me and I could hear Mike ask Chris “Do you want to talk about what you did?”

“Who do you think let those infected loose in your base?” Chris said.

“It was Tracy, Thomas and some of his men.” Mike said.

“You had kids in there as well, didn’t you? And from what I can remember you lost a pretty brave man fighting them.” Chris said.

“Yeah, he died trying to fight off two infected. He left a family behind.” Mike said.

“That’s why I did that! You see, Marc and I are those people who hate bullies and what they do. If we can stop them, we will, and these two are the worst type of bullies. They are the ones that prey on the weak because they are cowards and won’t face the strong unless they outnumber them or have them chained down.” Chris said.

I had to agree with these thoughts, but there was also one other reason and that was they had left Amy alone to die at the hands of any infected that had just happened to walk by.

We walked out into the street and headed toward the school. Amy and the others had just exited a fire door on the side of the building pushing a woman in front of them. I stopped and let them bring her to me.

“Hello, Tracy, how are you?” I said.

“Tell this bitch to stop pushing me.” Tracy said.

“Sorry, but no can do. After all, you left her to be eaten by the infected.” I said, smiling.

“So what you going to do with me?” She said with snide look on her face.

“To tell you the truth I haven’t really thought about it. Tommy, on the other hand, I did have an idea.” I said.

“What? What have you done with him?” She said with panic in her voice.

“I shot him in the head.” Chris said, smiling.

“You did what?” Amy said.

“Chris shot him.” I said.

“But you said if he told us where she was he could go.” Tessa said.

“Actually, he never said that. He said ‘If he got answered straight away he would get the picture.” He did actually let the other man go.” Mike said.

“So, Tracy, what do you think I should do?” I asked her.

I could see her shaking. I didn’t know if it was from fear or anger, but she deserved to worry. Amy, on the other hand, was looking at me like I had grown a second head. I stood there with my friends all watching to see what I was going to do. I had an idea, but to tell you the truth even I found myself balking at it. What I really wanted to do was cripple her and leave her for the infected, but I knew that if I did that, I would lose Amy.

“I don’t know, let me go like last time?” Tracy asked, her voice shaking.

“Like fuck are we doing that.” Chris nearly shouted.

“Fuck it. I’ll tell you what!” I said “I will leave it up to the woman you left behind to be eaten and the girl that you let infected try and kill. We men will just go over here.” I said, pointing at the side of the road.

I walked away from them and sat down on the curb. Pulling the canteen from my webbing I took two long pulls of warm water. Chris came and sat on one side and David and Mike on the other. We all sat watching Tracy plead with Amy and Tessa to let her go. We couldn’t actually hear what was being said, but I guessed that she was doing that. After about five minutes I saw Amy’s jaw tighten. Now I have only ever seen that look once before and that was before I had gotten to know her.

Amy raised her hand and pointed off down the street. Tracy climbed to her feet and started to run.

“Shit, she’s letting her go.” Chris said trying to stand.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him back down “No she hasn’t. Just watch.”

Amy waited about eight or nine seconds before raising her rifle and firing off three quick shots. Each shot slammed into Tracy’s back pushing her another three or four feet before she fell face first on to the road.

Amy walked over and waited for us to stand up.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yes.” Was the only answer she gave.

“Okay. Let's head back. Chris take point and I’ll take the rear. Let’s try and get back before the sun rises.” I said.

Taking our time not to run into any infected we made our way through the village and out into the fields that we had crossed getting there. We didn’t encounter any infected on the way back, but we did hear their moans but on a clear night like tonight sound can travel. Even more so now that there wasn’t and traffic noise to mask it. We trudged up the track to the bunker just as the sun started to lighten the sky.

I stood beside Chris as he keyed in the code to open the bunker and made a mental note of it. Now if anything did happen to either of us, at least someone could open the hatch. Pressing the button for the lift we waited for the doors to open. I pressed the button for the first floor and was surprised when Amy pressed the fourth floor button and David the third. Stepping out on the first I was surprised to find only Chris and Spirit followed me out of the lift. I shrugged and headed for the dining room with Spirit following me and Chris headed in the opposite direction. What the fuck? Am I some kind of bad luck charm or something?

Opening the door to the dining room I saw Jennie and her team hard at work in the kitchen. Upon seeing me by myself all work stopped and Jennie came running out.

“Where’s David? Is he alright?” She asked.

“Jennie, he’s fine, just a little tired. I think he headed off to bed.” I said.

“Clara, can you run things for a few minutes?” Jennie shouted.

“Sure.” Came a shout from the kitchen.

I turned back to Jennie but she was already at the dining room doors. Shaking my head, I went to the counter and poured a coffee. Grabbing a sausage sandwich for myself and Spirit then took a table near the counter in case I fancied any more. Feeding Spirit her sandwich I settled back to eat mine and have my coffee. I heard the door and looked up to see Chris come in. He headed to the counter and heaped a few sandwiches onto a plate grabbed a mug off coffee and sat down beside me.

“Where did you go?” I asked.

“Well, we did promise to let Bob go after tonight. So I went and let him go.” Chris said taking a bite out of his first sandwich.

“Okay.” I said drinking my coffee.

“Funny thing was he didn’t want to go. So I had to throw him out of the hatch and close it behind him.” Chris said.

“Well, I would doubt a rat like him would last very long out there.” I said.

“He didn’t.” Chris said starting on his second sandwich.

“What?” I said puzzled.

“He didn’t last very long. He started banging on the hatch and making one hell of a racket. I opened the hatch and asked him nicely to fuck off but he never listened. So I walked him about twenty yards from the entrance and shot him.” Chris said, taking a drink of his coffee.

I sat and thought about this and just nodded. We sat like this for a while before either of us said anything.

“What are you going to do about your doctor friend?” Chris asked.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know and I would hardly call her a friend.” I said.

“Didn’t she help you get out of that lab?” He asked.

“Yeah but then she went back to them and left me sort of high and dry.” I said.

“That was when you decided to find help at Catterick?” He said.

“Yeah.” I said, thinking back to my first meeting with Chris and Jay.

Chris sat there probably thinking the same thoughts that I was.

“So we go and rescue her.” He said.

“Mate, she’s over on the coast at Hull. How the fuck are we going to get there and there have got to be thousands of infected in that city.” I said.

“I didn’t say that it would be easy.” He said, smiling.

“No, mate, it’s going to be fucking impossible.” I said, shaking my head.

“If I know you, mate, you’ll come up with some insane scheme.” He said.

I looked at the mug in my hands and said “I wouldn’t even know where to begin with something like this.”

Chris pushed his chair back and said “Mate, there is one thing I know about you and that is you will never give up on a friend. You’ll figure something out.”

Standing, he clapped me on the shoulder and headed for the door. As the door swung closed behind him, I thought, he might be right but this time things were not on my side. Standing, I picked up the plates and mugs. I carried them over to the counter and then headed for the door with my doggie shadow.

Spirit and I exited the lift on the fourth floor and headed for my room. Opening the door, I expected to see Amy lying asleep in the bed but was disappointed to see that she wasn’t. Closing the door I headed over to the chair and stripped out of the webbing and harness. I lay them on the chair and placed my rifle on top. Stripping, I walked into the bathroom and had a quick shower before climbing into the bed. Spirit jumped up beside me and lay down. I lay looking at the ceiling and thinking about what Chris had said. It wasn’t long before sleep was tugging my eyes closed and my last thought before sleep finally took grasp, that Jane was on a ship in Hull harbour.

The next time my eyes opened, I saw Spirit sat near the door. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and that was when I heard the soft knocking at the door. Pulling on the jeans that were beside the bed, I headed for the door. Opening it I saw Maddie in the hallway with a tray of food.

“Hi, Maddie.” I said.

“Hello. Mom sent me down with this for you.” She said, pushing the tray toward me.

Taking the tray, I said “Thank you. How’s your dad and Philip doing?”

“Dad’s asleep and Philip is in the armoury with Tom.” She said.

“Okay. Well, thank you.” I said.

She nodded and headed back up the hallway. What the hell was that all about? Shrugging, I closed the door with my foot and headed for the bed with Spirit following behind me. Sitting down, I lifted the cover and saw a full English breakfast. The only bit that I was interested in was the toast. So I picked it off the plate and set the tray on the floor. Spirit whined at me and looked at the plate.

I smiled and said “Go on then.”

She shot forward and started to gulp down everything on the plate like she had never had food before. I sat eating the toast when the thought I had before falling asleep came back to me. Jane was on a ship in Hull harbour. The solution to our problem was right there in front of me. I shot to my feet and I ran to my wardrobe. Grabbing a t-shirt I went next door and started banging on Chris’s door. He opened it and looked like he had been dragged through a hedge backwards.

“What?” He said.

“I think I know how to save Jane!” I said.

“Jane? Who the fuck is Jane?” He asked, looking puzzled.

“The doctor, and you were right, I never give up on a friend.” I said.

“Fine, but can I at least wake up before we go and rescue her?” He asked.

“Shit, yeah, sorry.” I said apologizing.

Chapter Fifteen

He closed the door mumbling to himself and I went back to my room and threw on my boots. Spirit came over and licked my fingers. I gave her a stroke and stood up. Picking up my rifle I pulled on the harness and went looking for Jake. I needed some more information on where the ship was and he was the man that might have it. I left my room with Spirit following and headed up the hallway to Jake’s room and knocked on the door. There was no answer so I headed to the comms room. Walking out of the lift on the second floor I nearly walked into Ruby.

“Hey! Ruby, how are you?” I asked.

“To tell the truth I’m glad I bumped into you. I have something to ask.” She said.

“Of course. What’s up?” I asked.

“Well, there have been a few people asking if there was any way that they might able to go outside during the day?” She said.

“With the infected roaming the area, that might be a little dangerous.” I said.

“I told them that but one of them came up with a solution. They suggested that it might be worthwhile to create a fenced area outside the hatch. He also said that they could grow some fresh vegetables and possibly have some chickens for fresh eggs.” She said.

“Was the person who mentioned this fenced area you?” I asked.

She went red and looked down.

“Ruby, why didn’t you just say you had an idea?” I asked.

“Well, I thought it might be better received if you thought it came from a male?” She said.

“I always listen to ideas no matter who they are from.” I said.

“Thank you.” She said.

“It’s okay, but have you any idea where we might be able to get any of the materials needed for the fence?” I asked.

Ruby nodded before saying “There was a local council depot that had a lot of fencing in it. My grandson used to work for them and he was always complaining about having to move things so he could get to equipment.”

“Great. I’ll get David and Mike to come talk with you. It might be better to use the coach to move some of the gear but if that doesn’t work maybe they could get a flatbed truck or something.” I said.

“I’ll try and sort out some help for them.” She said.

“Mike and David will come and find you when I get the chance to talk with them. But I need to go and speak with Jake.” I said.

“Thank you and I won’t keep you any longer.” She said, moving away.

I headed to the comms room and found Jake in his usual position. Feet up on the desk with his eyes closed listening to the headphones on his head. I grabbed his feet and pushed them to the floor and nearly burst out laughing as I watched him try not to fall out of the chair.

“You fucker!” He said when he saw me standing there.

“You should keep your eyes open, you old git.” I said, smiling.

“That might be but you could have given me a heart attack.” He said putting the headphones on the desk.

“You’ll be around a lot longer than I will.” I said.

He looked at me funny and said “I fucking hope not. These people need you more than they need this old goat.”

I just shook my head.

“Anyway, what’s brought you here, Marc?” He said standing up.

“I came to ask if you got any more information about the ship.” I said.

“I tried the frequency that the doctor had been broadcasting on and managed to speak with her. She said that they had managed to secure the bridge and the small galley, but they were running low on water.” He said, crossing to a small flask on another desk. He poured a small cup of tea from it and passed it to me before making his own.

Taking a sip, I asked “You said they?”

“Yeah, she said that there was a couple of tech staff and an ex-copper with her. She told me that an infected sailor had managed to get on board and he infected nearly everyone else. As the ship was being overrun her bosses had fucked off in the helicopter and left the rest of them to die.” He said, sitting back down.

My mind was rushing in dozen different directions at the same time.

“Jake, do you know anywhere on the coast where I might be able to grab a boat?” I said.

“A boat? What do you want a fucking boat for?” He said.

Looking at his puzzled expression, I said “Rescue attempt.”

I watched as those words slowly sank into his brain and he realized what I meant.

“Are you fucking nuts?” He said, with his eyes going wide.

I shrugged and said “It has been said from time to time.”

“I know there are several fishing villages and a couple of towns that have harbours. You know if you try to do this, you might not come back!” Jake said, looking me in the eyes.

“Look, this doctor managed to save me just before all this happened. If it wasn’t for her, I would either be stuck in that lab or worse a one of those infected roaming the streets.” I said.

“I’ll have a look at some maps and see if there are any villages or towns nearby that have harbours. Marc, that ship is going to be crawling with infected. Are you sure that you want to do this.” Jake asked, trying to change my mind.

I looked over his shoulder and I asked myself ‘Did I really need to do this? After all, I now had Amy to think about and the rest of my friends and the group.’ In the end my mind was overridden by my need to help people.

“It’s just something I have to do Jake.” I said, focusing on his face.

He shrugged his shoulders and said “I thought as much. I’ll see if I can reach the doctor again and get some more information about the ship for you and I’ll also have a look at the local maps for somewhere you can nick a boat from.”

“Thanks, Jake.” I said and left him to his radio.

I stood outside the room for a few minutes thinking on what he had said, but my mind still said that I needed to go and help them. Shaking off those thoughts, I headed to the first floor and the dining room.

I found Mike and his daughter, Tessa. They were sitting talking with Ruby on one of the tables near to the doors. The rest of the room was quite full with other members of our group having food. Tessa saw me walk in and waved me over to where they sat. She moved over so I could sit down.

“I asked Mike about the building materials. I hope I didn’t overstep any boundaries?” Ruby said, looking at me.

“No, of course you didn’t. I was just coming in here to get some food and then I was going to find Mike and David and ask them about it.” I said, smiling. It actually felt good not having the pressure of asking Mike about it.

“I think it’s a great idea.” Tessa said.

“It would do the group good to get fresh air and the fresh vegetables would do us all some good.” Mike said.

“I’ll tell you what. How about I let you sort it out, Mike?” I said.

Mike looked dumbstruck “Are you sure you don’t want to help?”

“No, if I tried to help…well, let’s just say I’d find some way to destroy it by accident.” I said, smiling and I went to stand up.

Tessa shot to her feet and said “Marc, sit down. I’ll get you something to eat.” And she was off weaving between the tables to the counter.

Feeling puzzled I just sat down.

Mike smiled and then said something that nearly made me fall off the chair pretty much like Jake had nearly fallen of his.

“Tessa needs your blessing but is too scared to ask.”

“My blessing? What the fuck for?” I asked looking back at the blonde girl getting my food.

“Erm…well, she and Chris have sort of gotten together and they have both been pretty scared to tell you.” Mike said, nearly laughing.

So that was why Chris had looked like he had been dragged through a hedge this morning. I wanted to laugh but I couldn’t. Here was my best friend and another friend hooking up. It was a strange feeling, I suppose. I could say that I felt proud that I had managed to bring these two together in this fucked up world. I just sat there smiling like an idiot when Tessa returned with a plate of chili and rice.

She looked at me smiling and turned to her dad and said “You told him! Didn’t you? You fucking told him and you knew that I was working up the courage to. God, dad, I hate you sometimes.”

Yup, there we go, women’s psychic abilities kicking in. Even when a man hasn’t said a word they know what you’ve done or even worse what you’ve said.

Slowly she turned to look at me and said “Well?”

I had picked up the fork and started to eat. I looked up and said round a mouthful of chilli and rice “Sorry, thank you.”

Tessa’s face was a picture of confusion “Thank you?” she said.

Another mouthful and another short answer “For the food.” I said trying not let any of the food fall out of my mouth.

Mike on the other hand was losing his battle trying not to laugh. Ruby had her hand over her mouth, but you could hear the small sniggers that were escaping.

“I meant what you thought about me and Chris?” She said.

I kept eating and asked “What about you and Chris?”

By now Mike had actually lost his battle and was laughing out loud. Ruby wasn’t far behind. You could see the tears of laughter at the corner of her eyes.

Tessa was glaring at her dad. She then turned her gaze toward me and said “You know, me and Chris getting together,”

I had nearly finished my chili and rice. I looked up with an innocent face and said “You and Chris got together? That’s good news.” And finished off my plate with one last forkful.

Mike actually fell off his chair he was laughing so hard and Ruby, the poor dear, just started laughing out loud with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Tessa stood up, turned to me and just said “Bastard.” Before storming out of the dining room. Of course this set me off laughing.

Mike, Ruby and I sat there laughing for the next five minutes before we could get ourselves under control.

“You do realize she has gone to tell Chris?” Mike said as he tried to catch his breath.

Ruby followed up with “And she is going to be really pissed off with you.”

I just shrugged and said “I’ll handle Chris later and I’ve had women pissed off with me before.”

“I bet you have!” Ruby said.

“Hey, if you can’t have a little fun every now and then, what’s life for?” I asked.

Standing, I picked up my plate and said “Let me know when you have spoken with David and arranged when you want to go get these building materials.”

“I’ll try and talk with him later today.” Mike said.

“Okay. I’ll more than likely catch you later.” I said, walking away.

I carried my plate to the counter and scraped the leftovers into the bucket beside it. Looking up, I saw Rosa looking back.

“Hey, Rosa! How are you doing?” I asked.

She actually smiled and said “Not too bad, Marc. Tom and I are better than we have ever been and I got a job in the kitchen. It’s ruined my manicure and my hands are red raw at the end of the day but Jennie is teaching me how to cook and I am really enjoying it.”

She had changed so much so quickly I thought that she might be up to something. It might be an idea to have a quiet word with Jennie and Tom. The last thing I wanted was to have another Tracy on my hands and especially one that had access to the kitchen and our food supplies.

“That’s great news, Rosa. Sorry, but I have to go find Chris and Amy. I need to ask them something.” I said, excusing myself.

“It’s okay. I know you are busy. We’ll catch up another time.” she said, smiling.

I walked away from the counter and headed for the door with an uneasy feeling in my stomach. The last time I had this feeling I had to kill two women and watch as the other two fought to live.

I headed for the armoury. I really needed to talk with Tom. I stepped out onto the second floor and headed straight to the armoury. Opening the door, I found Tom and Philip eating sandwiches at a table just inside the door.

“Hi, Marc.” Philip said, seeing me walk in.

“Hey, Marc, what you doing here?” Tom asked.

“Well actually I came to talk with you.” I said, looking at Tom.

Looking puzzled, Tom asked “Have I done something wrong?”

Shaking my head, I said “No, nothing's wrong. It just…..” I really didn’t know what to say.

“Let me guess, Rosa’s sudden change and her odd behaviour?” Tom said.

“Erm…yeah!” I said.

Tom laughed and said “When you were away Rosa became more of a bitch than she had been when we first arrived. So much so Amy nearly killed her. It was then that Jennie found a medical pack in one of the officer’s rooms in Operations. Inside the pack were some I suppose you would call them anti-depressants. We started to slip them to her and she slowly became the Rosa we have now.”

“So what happens when the tablets run out?” I asked.

“We have enough for a few months, but I want to slowly start to wean her off them.” He said.

“Okay, but please be careful. The last thing we want is another Tracy situation.” I said.

“If she starts to change back to the way she was before, I will let you know.” He said.