Spiteful (The Infected Book 3) (4 page)

“Yeah, well, I hope that someone does that for me when the time comes. By the way, you might want your dad to get someone to move these dead bodies before the women and children come in here.” I said.

She looked slightly disappointed with me saying that, but to tell you the truth, I couldn’t give a shit. I was coming down off of an adrenalin high and that always made me slightly grumpy. Tessa left me to myself and went over to talk with her dad. Mike got two of the men to roll the bodies up in sheets and drag them out of the room. I watched as Mike spoke with a woman and two kids. They all broke down and started crying. They must have been Dave’s family. Shaking my head, I stood up and went over the blockade and started to pull it apart. I needed something to do. I couldn’t be thinking on the dead or what I had done, so the next best thing was to keep myself busy. After a short while the other survivors started to help move the furniture away from the doors.

Chapter Four

Once they were clear, I started to walk toward them when I heard a male voice from behind me.

“You leaving?” He asked.

I turned round and found myself facing Mike.

“No. But I do want to find out how those infected got in here.” I said.

“That’s been puzzling me as well. If you don’t mind the company, I’d like to have a look as well.” He said, coming to stand next to me.

“It’s your building, you know it better than what I do.” I said.

He walked through the double doors and into the hallway. Following him through the doors I wondered what this place was. The hallway ended at a T-junction and we stopped.

“When you looked through the window did you see which way they came from?” Mike asked.

Looking back toward the doors I had to think.

“Err…the left, from what I can remember.” I said.

“Shit!” Mike, setting off at a run.

Running after him, I followed as he took first a left turn and then a right coming to a large open area. On one wall was a large roller shutter door which had been pushed up. Mike walked over and was looking close to the floor. I looked over his shoulder and saw the remains of what looked like some kind of welding.

“What’s wrong, Mike?” I asked.

He turned and said “We welded these doors closed when we first got here. It was the only doors that we never found the locks for.”

I crouched down and looked at the welding. Someone had forced it open again and it didn’t take two guesses to figure out who it was.

“Looks like Tracy didn’t want to share the bunker with you.” I said, standing up.

“That fucking bitch.” Was all he said, as he stomped round the room.

“Look, you and your group are not safe here. We need to get you all to the bunker.” I said.

But we haven’t been able to get in touch with my dad.” Mike said.

I laughed “Don’t worry about that. The drive leading up to the bunker is covered by cameras and once they see me I think everything will be okay. The only problem we have is I don’t know where I am and if we have any vehicles to get us there.”

“Vehicles are not a problem. We have a coach that can carry us all. As to where we are, well, you’re in for a surprise.” He said, smiling.

“Come on, don’t hold me in suspense.” I said, smiling. Mike had a similar personality to mine.

“Thorne.” He said.

To say my jaw dropped was an understatement. Chris could have walked in and yelled surprise and I would have fucking fainted.

“You’re joking?” I asked.

“No. How else do you think Tracy knew where to set up the ambush? She and her group had seen you head into the village and set up the ambush on the road you came in on.”

“Okay. So I know how to get back to the bunker from here. Let’s get everyone together and load them up and get fuck out of here.” I said.

“Marc, I know we got off to a bad start but thank you.” He said, holding his hand out.

Taking it, we shook and then headed back to the main hall. As we headed back I asked where in the village we were. He told me that this was once the school for the village but then the council closed it down. They all knew this place because nearly all of them had gone to school here and they also knew it could be secured easily. We reached the hall and Mike headed off to let everyone know what was happening and what we needed to do. I stood at the doors and watched as people started to rush round gathering things and shoving them into bags and black plastic sacks.

Tessa ran over and asked “Is it true, did Tracy open the roller door?”

“It looks that way.” I said.

“Dad said you’re going to take us all to the bunker.”

“Yeah, but you’ve all got get your arses in gear. The last thing we want is for Tracy and her goons to come back.” I said.

She looked shocked at the thought and ran off to get everyone ready.

After an hour of running around everyone was ready to go and Mike lead us outside to the car park. Stood in the middle of it sat a hundred seat coach. We were all quiet as we headed over to it. Mike opened the doors and everyone filed inside. Mike and I were the last two on board.

Once the doors were closed I asked “Who’s driving this thing?”

Mike sat down in the driver’s seat and said “I am. After all, it is my coach.”

I smiled and said “Cool. That makes me the tour guide.”

He laughed and started the engine. We slowly headed out of the car park and toward where I had crashed the Land Rover. We passed a few infected as we headed through the village and the turned to follow the coach. Reaching the spot where the silver Land Rover lay I got Mike to stop so I could have a look. Climbing down the ditch I yanked open the passenger side door and my heart leapt. Amy wasn’t inside and from what I could see she hadn’t been found by the infected. Even the stupid dog wasn’t there. Of course the supplies we had tried to get were gone. Tracy wouldn’t have left them. Smiling, I climbed back up the ditch and on to the coach.

“Judging by the stupid grin. I can guess she wasn’t there.” Mike said.

“No, she wasn’t, and it didn’t look as if the infected got to her, either.” I said.

“That’s great news. Maybe she got another car and headed to the bunker, or maybe your other friends came back and got her.” He said starting the coach up and pulling away from the wrecked Land Rover.

We continued heading back to the bunker when I got a strange feeling. Leaving the front of the coach I headed to the back seats and looked out the rear window. In the distance I could see something catch the light. Squinting hard I could see the windshield of a car. Shit. Tracy.

Running back to the front of the coach I told Mike and Tessa what I had seen out the rear window.

“The fucking bitch knew I would bring you to the bunker.” I said, sitting down.

“Is there any way that we can let the bunker know?” Tessa asked.

“If we had managed to sort out the CB radio, yeah. But your dad said they never had time, what with the infected getting inside.” I said.

We had to think of some way to slow Tracy and her goons down. If we could, then there may be a chance to have some rifles ready for them when they turned up.

A lad in his early teens stood up and came forward. Stopping short, he said “Err…I know that I’m just a kid but I have an idea.”

“Listen, bud, if you have a way to slow them down I will personally train you on any weapon you want.” I said.

Heading back to his seat he reached underneath and pulled out a small backpack. Bringing it up to the front of the coach he opened it and showed me what was inside. I started laughing and thought karma can be such a bitch.

Tessa looked puzzled and asked “What’s in there?”

“Show her.” I said, pointing at the bag.

The young lad pulled out a metal caltrop made from two six inch nails bent together and sharped on all four points. They were designed so that no matter how they fell two points would be sticking up and they were long enough to puncture tires.

Mike looked in the rear view mirror and said “You have got to be fucking with me! Tony, where in God’s name did you get those from?”

The kid named Tony looked at the floor and said “I made them before the infection and had them in my backpack. I brought them along because I never knew when they might come in handy.”

I looked at the roof of the coach and thought ‘God, you are one crafty bugger. Here we are needing your help and you send a kid named Tony to the rescue. Thank you.’

Looking at Mike I said grinning “Round the next bend stop and we’ll go and spread a little happiness.”

“Not a problem.” Mike said.

He slowed down for the next bend and then stopped just after it. Tony and I climbed down from the coach and headed toward the back. Stopping about five meters away from the rear we started to spread Tony’s toys all over the road. Once the bag was empty we ran and jumped back on board. Mike pulled away and we continued toward the bunker. I asked Tessa and Tony to go look out of the rear window and tell me if they saw anything happen. After a while Tony came to the front and said that they couldn’t see the car anymore. I smiled and again thanked God for his help.

After a couple of hours we came to the stretch of road where the track leading to the bunker was. I got Mike to stop just before the entrance and climbed down. Walking over to where the track met the road I waved at the camera hidden high in the tree overlooking the road. I even smiled and flipped it the middle finger. Getting back on board the coach, I got Mike to slowly head up the track to the bunker. As we crested the hill I saw the A.P.C. stood next to the bunker entrance.

“Take it easy getting down there.” I said.

“Why? Are they going to start shooting?” Tessa asked.

“I wouldn’t think so, but they might not feel to welcoming if they know that you were keeping me hostage.” I said.

“Tessa, he has a point. How about we stay on the coach when your friends come out?” Mike said.

“Might be a good idea. Let’s just keep the hostage thing between us, okay? Let’s just say that they were keeping us all hostage. It will make it easier.” I said.

Mike and Tessa nodded and we headed down to the entrance to the bunker.

Chapter Five

Pulling up outside I left the coach and went to stand in front of the hatch and waited. After about ten minutes I heard the familiar clunk and hiss of the hatch being opened. I looked over my shoulder at the faces watching from the coach and gave them the thumbs up. Turning back, I got hit full on by Amy as she ran from the hatch and straight into me.

She was crying and pulled my face down for a very passionate kiss.

“We thought you were dead.” She said through kisses.

I gently held her away from me and said “No, definitely not dead. Tracy was holding me and these other people hostage.” Pointing to the coach behind me.

Then I saw Chris and David come lumbering out of the hatch with huge grins on each of their faces.

Chris turned to David and said “That’s a bottle of scotch you owe me.”

David just grinned at me.

“You two been betting on my life already?” I asked.

Amy laughed and said “They were doing it as they dragged me out of the Land Rover.”

“Who are the survivors?” David asked pointing at the people getting off the coach.

I waved Mike and Tessa over and said “I was kidnapped by Tracy and her goons. These people were kept hostage as well. She wanted the code to the bunker.”

Chris laughed “You don’t know the fucking code.”

“I did try telling her but you know what she was like!” I said.

“Yeah, a fucking spiteful cow.” He said.

“Anyway, might be an idea to get this lot inside. We might be having guests soon and I would rather have a rifle in my hands than a table leg.” I said.

“A table leg?” Amy asked.

“Long story. I let you all know what happened later.”

We managed to get all the survivors inside and it took a further twenty minutes to get them down to the dining room. Mike, Tessa and Jake had a tearful reunion when he walked into it. We were all happy that a family had been brought back together but my first port of call was a shower and a fresh change of clothes. Leaving Chris and the others to help the survivors get settled I headed for the lifts. I was standing at the doors waiting when I felt a soft touch to my hand and looked round to see Amy stood beside me.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked.

“Not much to say really. Got kidnaped, made new friends, escaped and found my way home.” I said.

The doors opened and I walked inside with Amy following. The journey down to the fourth floor was in silence. Exiting the lift we headed for my room. Opening the door I was bowled over by a huge flash of white fur. My face was getting a thorough cleaning by the dog we had found in Thorne. Amy was standing laughing at me as I was trying to get out from underneath it.

“We brought her down here when we got back and she wouldn’t leave unless Philip came and got her. For some reason she thinks you’re her master and she has been howling something rotten ever since the accident. I suppose we should have paid attention. She never gave up on you being alive.” Amy said.

I managed to get back to my feet and walked into the room. Looking round I noticed that my bed was unmade and there were clothes thrown on the back of the chair. Which made no sense because I didn’t wear a black bra. Turning to look at Amy, I raised an eyebrow.

“Err…I’ve been sleeping in here to keep your dog company.” She said, blushing.

I shook my head and walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out some clean clothes. Laying them on the sink top, I turned the shower on.

“I’m just going to have a shower and get changed. Can you tell Chris and the others to meet me in the Operations room on the first floor? We may as well start using it in there for meetings.” I said and started to get undressed.

Closing the bathroom door slightly I climbed into the warm shower and started to lather up. I must have been in a world of my own because I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a woman’s breasts press up against my naked back. Turning slowly round in the shower stall my lips found Amy’s and all the heat from the water didn’t compare to the heat coming from our two bodies as they pressed together.

“I missed you so much.” I whispered to her.

“Shh!” Was the only reply I got.

We were pulling on our clothes when we heard a knocking at the door.

“Come in.” I called out.

Chris walked in and as soon as he saw Amy he started grinning.

“You can fuck off with that before you start.” I said.

“Not a word passed my lips.” He said, flopping down on the chair.

“What did you want, Chris?” Amy said, grinning.

“We saw three cars pass the entrance camera and they passed by them in the opposite direction half an hour later.” He said.

“Looks like Tracy and her goons managed to catch up. Chris, we need to have a meeting. Is there any chance we could arrange for everyone to meet in the Operations centre in about half an hour?” I asked.

“Can’t see why not. Do you want that Mike and Tessa there as well?” He asked.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind.” I said.

He nodded and stood up to leave.

“One other thing, mate. Could you get me a new rifle from the armoury as well, please?” I asked.

“Sure. I’ll see you upstairs soon.” He said, leaving the room.

Amy walked over and wrapped her arms around me and buried her head into my chest.

“In answer to your statement in the shower, I missed you too.” She said.

Stroking her hair I watched as the dog sat on the end of the bed watching us. I really did need to find it a name. I couldn’t be calling it dog for the rest of its life. I stood stroking Amy’s hair and thinking if we could only get rid of Tracy things may start to look brighter.

“We need to get moving.” I said, moving away from Amy and toward the door.

“I suppose. I wish we weren’t jumping from one problem to the next and had some time to ourselves.” She said with a sigh.

We headed toward the lifts with dog in tow. When a door opened and Rosa stepped out, she stared at me and then ran up to me with her arms out for a hug. What the fuck? I looked at Amy and she just shrugged. Rosa slammed into me and I looked again at Amy. I could see a small smile playing on her lips. This was something I wasn’t expecting in the slightest.

“Err…hi, Rosa!” I said pulling away from her.

“Marc, we all thought you were dead. I felt so bad, what with me being such a bitch before you left. Amy and I had a big talk whilst you had been gone and she put me straight about how I had been acting.” She said, looking at her feet and blushing.

“Really?” I asked.

“Well…what really happened was Chris and David rescued Amy and brought her back here. Me, being the bitch that I was, said that it was all her fault. Amy then dragged me to the gym and we had a fight. Best to say I lost and afterward I asked her how she managed to protect herself. Well, after a lot of nagging by me she agreed to teach me. We’ve been going up to the gym every day for training. And she has also told me how much of a bitch I have been to everyone. Once I started to change everyone started to treat me nicer and Tom even moved back in with me.” She said, blushing again.

Looking over at Amy I said “Shit, I should get kidnapped more often.”

A pissed off look crossed Amy’s face and I received a slap on my arm from Rosa. Shit, man, I’m getting double teamed by these two.

“Alright, I surrender.” I said, laughing.

“Marc, we have to get to the meeting.” Amy said.

“Is it anything I need to be there for?” Rosa asked.

“I don’t…” I began to say.

“Actually, seeing as you have been running the security system, I suppose you should be there.” Amy said, interrupting me.

This near knocked me on my arse. Again, so much had changed is such a short time. Amy and Rosa set off for the lifts and I looked down at the dog sitting beside me. She just looked at Amy and Rosa and then back at me as though to say ‘Well, are you going to catch up or what?’ I shook my head and set off after Amy and Rosa. I managed to catch up with them just as they reached the lifts.

Heading out of the lift we all moved toward the Operations centre on the first floor. This might have been the first time that I had been inside it since we entered the bunker. Opening the doors, I walked inside and saw all the familiar faces from before my kidnapping and now the new faces of Tessa and Mike which were sitting beside Jake. He caught my eye as I walked passed and he nodded at me. I just smiled at them sitting together in their own little huddle.

Chris and David sat in front of the rest of the group. I walked up and sat down beside Chris. I was surprised to see Rosa and Amy head over to Jennie and her two kids to sit down. I would have thought Amy would be sitting up here with the rest of us.

Chris stood up and cleared his voice “First thing to say is welcome back, Marc, and welcome to our new friends.”

A small round of applause spread round the large room.

“Now, we all know that Marc had been voted in as leader just before our fucked up trip to Thorne. So I would like to ask everyone if they are still okay with that.” He said in his rumbling voice.

Everyone in one way or another said yes. I might have actually blushed at that.

“Okay, with that said, I will now turn this little get together over to Marc. Thanks for coming back, bud, you had me frightened that I would have to be in charge.” He said, as he sat down grinning.

“Well, thank you very much, you fucker!” I said, laughing as I stood up.

“Right. First order of business is to let you all know what happened to me after the crash.” I said.

Speaking slowly and trying to remember enough details I told everyone what had happened. I left out the bits where Mike and his group had helped Tracy in keeping me hostage. Finishing off with our fight with the infected and then being followed as we escaped and my suspicions of it being Tracy and her goons.

“We’ve seen three cars pass in front of the camera down at the track entrance. So it stands to reason that we have been followed by someone, whether it be Tracy or someone else. Now we have to decide what to do about it. We have enough food, water and electricity for quite a while and we all know that we can lock ourselves in here. But we may have to evacuate if something ever went wrong. At that point they will either try to get inside the bunker or try to kill us.” I said, sitting back down.