Spiteful (The Infected Book 3) (9 page)

Chapter Twelve

I had finished my fist cup of coffee and had headed over to get a second when David walked in with Mike. Both saw me and headed over to the counter. Pouring my own coffee and two others we headed back to my table. Sitting down there was a yelp followed quickly by a deep growl. Mike shot out of his seat and moved away from the table. Spirit followed him with her teeth bared.

“Spirit!” I said in as firm a voice as I could.

She looked over her shoulder at me then back at Mike. She then gave one quick bark and trotted over to sit beside me.

Smiling, David said “Nice you named her.”

“Well, I couldn’t keep calling her dog, could I?” I replied.

Mike edged his way back and sat down. Spirit walked slowly round the table and stood looking at him.

“Is she going to bite me?” Mike said.

“No, she just wants you to say sorry for stepping on her.” David said.

“Erm…I’m sorry for stepping on you.” Mike said, looking sacred.

Spirit looked at me and then back at Mike. Taking three steps forward she placed her head on his lap. Mike slowly lifted his hand and rubbed between her ears. Satisfied, Spirit moved back under the table and after a little while we heard soft snoring.

“Where in hell's name did you get it?” Mike asked.

“She followed Marc and Amy through your village. She seems to have adopted Marc as her owner.” David said.

“Shit, she frightens the shit out of me.” Mike said.

“Spirit is fine once she gets to know you. The only thing that pisses me off is that fact she always wants to ride shotgun.” I said.

“I like the name, Marc. It suits her.” David said.

“It does, doesn’t it?” I said, smiling.

Maddie came out of the kitchen carrying a large plate covered with sandwiches and put them down in the middle of the table before standing beside her dad.

“Daddy, did Marc tell you?” She asked.

“Tell me what, sweetheart?” David asked looking at me.

“He has someone else to look after you tonight.” She said.

“Who would that be?” He asked.

“His dog, Spirit, is going to.” She said smiling.

“That’s good.” He said kissing her on the cheek.

“I have to go help mom.” She said, heading back to the kitchen.

David watched her go before turning to look at me.

“She was worried about you so I said Spirit will be your bodyguard tonight.” I said to him.

“Thank you. Are you sure you want to bring Spirit with us tonight?” He asked.

“Don’t have a fucking choice. She won’t let me leave her behind. She’s like the mother-in-law you never wanted.” I said, smiling.

Mike and David started laughing. Over their shoulders I saw the door open and Amy came in followed by Tessa. Both had their gear on. They saw us and headed over to the table.

Amy was about to sit next to me when Mike said “Be careful, his dog’s under the table.”

Amy looked under the table and was greeted with a low woof. Smiling, she lowered herself on to the seat and carefully placed her feet.

Tessa glanced under the table and gasped.

“What do you call it?” Tessa asked.

“She is called Spirit.” I said.

“She is beautiful.” She said, sitting down next to her father.

Grabbing sandwiches, we all started to eat and I finished of my second cup of coffee. We were just waiting on Chris now. It was too long before my large friend made his appearance. He headed for the counter first, but instead of a cup or mug of coffee he picked up the flask and carried it over to our table.

“No point in all of us getting up every time for a drink.” He said, putting it on the table next to us before sitting down.

“So has everyone had time to rest up?” He asked.

We all just nodded and carried on eating. Standing, I went to the flask and poured myself another coffee. I might have to take a piss later but the caffeine would help keep me alert. I had just finished pouring when the door to the dining room banged open. Turning round, I saw Jake rushing over.

“Marc!” He said, coming to a halt.

“Hey, Jake. Calm down and take a deep breath.” I said.

Standing with his hands on his hips taking huge gulps of air Jake slowly calmed down.

“Okay. Now what’s the matter?” I asked.

“There was a message on the radio.” He said, still struggling for breath.

“And?” I heard Chris ask.

“It was for Marc. Some doctor was broadcasting on all the channels. She said that the ship she was on had been overrun with infected and that if you were still alive could you save her.” He said.

My mind was now rushing in fourteen different ways and it still came back to the thought that Jane needed my help.

“Did she give you any ideas to where she might be?” I asked.

“She was docked at Hull when the infected got on board. So it stand to reason that ship is still docked there.” Jake said.

Even though I wanted to go and save her, I still had to deal with Tracy and her goon squad.

“We have Tracy and her group to deal with first then we can see about saving Jane and her ship.” I said.

“That’s if it isn’t a trap. Didn’t her bosses want to use you as a guinea pig or something?” Chris said.

That was something that I hadn’t thought about. What if it was a trap, but could I leave her to die if it wasn’t?

“Did you speak with her?” I asked Jake.

“No, thought it better to came and speak with you first.” He said.

“Okay, go back, try to get in contact and get as much information as you can, but do not give her any information about this place or that I am alive. Just say that I was alive the last time you saw me and that you might be able to get a message to me.” I said.

Jake nodded and turned to leave.

“Jake, remember don’t say a thing about the bunker.” Chris said.

“Don’t worry, I’m not that dumb.” He said heading to the door.

I sat down and put my head in my hands. I felt Amy’s hand on my back. What the hell. If it wasn’t one thing it was another.

“What do you want to do?” Amy asked.

“Nothing we can do at the moment. We have a danger on our doorstep that we have to deal with first. We’ll deal with anything else after that.” I said.

“Okay then. Let’s get ready for our little walk in the dark.” Chris said, standing and adjusting his gear.

One by one we all stood up and headed for the lifts and the outside.

Stepping out into the night we all took large breaths of the chilled fresh air. Although we had air circulating round the bunker there was nothing like having fresh air in your lungs. Stretching my body, I adjusted my webbing and harness.

“Let’s check the radios.” I said.

After doing that, I bent down to Spirit and said “I want you to follow David, girl. You got that? David.” I said pointing at him.

She wagged her tail and went over to stand by him.

We set off down the track leading to the main road. Our route took us across the road and into the small tree line on the other side. From there it was a hike over the fields to the village.

Entering the tree line we heard animals moving around in the underbrush. As we moved through the woods to the fields on the other side the odd moan floated toward us, letting us know that the infected roamed the woods or were close by.

“Think it might be time for us to use the night vision gear.” I said, lowering mine and the night turned into a hazy green.

I watched as the rest of our group lowered their headsets and we started moving again. Taking our time, Chris took point and I followed up from behind making sure nothing came creeping up behind us.

As we walked through the trees my mind wandered back to what Jake had said about Jane’s ship being overrun. How the hell did that happen? Surely they would have had some sort of security on board. But for now I couldn’t let my mind wander from the job at hand.

We stopped at the edge of the field and looked out over it. I could see some movement out there.

“I think we have some infected out there.” I said.

“Goes to prove what Jay said back at Catterick. He said they didn’t like being too far under the trees.” Chris said.

I felt a pang of loss at the mention of Jay, but Chris was right, Jay had said that when we were back in Catterick.

“Maybe it has something to do with not being able to see the sky?” Tessa said.

“Maybe. Either way we have to cross this field. Chris, head out. Remember to keep some distance between each other.” I said.

Walking across the field I saw that there was only three infected slowly stumbling over the field.

“Mike, Tessa this might be a good time to get you used to shooting at the infected.” I said.

“Not a bad idea. Mike take the left one, Tessa take the right and David you can get some more practice and take on the middle one.” Chris said.

They walked forward and Chris, Amy and I stood behind each one just in case. When we got into position Chris whistled and the infected turned in our direction and their moans grew louder. I was standing behind Tessa and watched as she raised her rifle and took aim. They nearly all fired at the same time. David’s shot was lost in the double bang of Mike and Tessa’s bigger rifles.

Tessa proved herself to be as good a shot on live targets as she was on the paper targets on the range. Her shot caught the infected just to right of what remained of its nose snapping its head back and throwing it to the floor. I turned and saw that both Mike and David had put their infected down and we moved on past the bodies lying in the dirt. We came to the edge of the field and climbed over the small wall between the field we were in and the next. Looking around, I didn’t see any infected in this field and we moved out.

Chapter Thirteen

The next few hours we crossed a lot of fields that were the same. The last field we came to just before the village had a small ditch running around it so instead of crossing the open ground we decided to go round the edge. This would mean if we crouched we wouldn’t be seen from the other side of the wall. Edging round, we came to the side of the field that backed onto the village. Taking a quick look over the wall Chris said that there was no one near to hand. We all quickly climbed the ditch and then the wall coming out on a small track that ran the length of the houses. On the track were a few cars so we took advantage of them and used them as cover.

This was where we were to split into groups. I was going with Mike the other groups were Chris and David, Amy and Tessa.

“Okay, remember we are to get as close to the school as possible. When we get into position I’ll try and draw them out. The last thing I want is to go into that school. God only knows what traps they may have made in there. So plan is to draw them out so we can pick them off. If you see Tracy or Thomas I want them put down straight away. I think everyone here would like to see the end of this particular problem.” I said.

“So right I’d like to see the end of it.” Chris said.

“Okay, let’s split up.” I said.

The two other groups moved off and were soon out of sight in the darkness. Mike and I headed through someone’s back garden and down the side of their house. Stopping short of the path I looked up and down checking for infected or patrols. Seeing none, we sprinted across to the other side, turned right and headed to the next junction. Taking a quick look I saw a couple of shambling infected moving across the street.

“We’re going to have to be quiet taking these out.” I said pulling the crowbar from my belt.

Mike nodded and pulled out a short handled axe and we crept forward trying to keep abandoned cars between us and the infected. If we could handle not being seen it would be better for us in the long run. I did have my silenced MP5 but because of the silence in the village it would still be quite loud.

Creeping along the side of a van my foot caught a bottle and sent it spinning across the road. This of course was like sounding a dinner bell for the infected and they turned as one towards us. That low moan began as the lurched and shuffled between the cars toward where we were hiding. Quickly counting, I saw six infected but there could be more on their way and we had to be gone before they got here. Standing up, I quickly dodged between the cars and slammed the crowbar down on the first infected head. It was like watching concertina; the thing buckled at the ankles then the knees and every major joint after that. I didn’t think I had hit it that hard. Standing looking gobsmacked was probably the wrong thing to do at the time because Mike grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the way just as some outstretched hands missed grabbing me. Mike swung the axe and all I heard was a meaty ‘chunk’ as the axe bit into the head of the infected that had nearly grabbed me. By now I had come out of my stupor and ran round the other side of a car to take a baseball bat swing at another infected. Catching her on the side of her face look so surreal in the hazy green of the night vision gear. I don’t know if you have ever seen someone get slapped in slow motion? Well, that’s what it looked like except her jaw was ripped free and sent spinning into the night. Changing my grip, I did another overhead blow. This time the infected just fell to the side bouncing off the car as she went. There were two infected left and they were both going after Mike. Sliding across the bonnet of a car I managed to push one with my feet into the side of the van which made a hollow bong sound. As he turned back, I drove the pointed end of the crowbar through his left eye and into the brain behind. Instantly, the infected went limp and fell to the floor taking the crowbar with it. Turning quickly, I saw Mike standing over the top of the last infected breathing hard. Bending down, I pulled my crowbar free.

Breathing hard, I stood trying to hear anything that might have given us away. I could hear moaning of infected but there was no way of knowing if they were close by or far away.

“Let’s get moving before anything else turns up.” I said, moving off down the street and the next junction.

The next few streets were quiet and had no infected on them, which I thought was strange until we hit the small park that we had to cross in order to get into position. The grass was littered with corpses. It was like there had been a huge party here and someone had just mowed them all down. As we crossed, I looked to see what had happened. Each and every one of them were infected. They all had the green slime around their eyes and nose and running from their ears.

“What happened here?” Mike asked.

“I haven’t a fucking clue. It might be worthwhile checking it out once we have sorted out Tracy and her goons.” I said.

Mike nodded and we continued our crossing of the small park. Once on the other side we could see the school. Hiding under some bushes I lifted my night vision gear and looked through a set of binoculars at the school. Tracy and her goon squad had managed to bar the entrance with a large truck and I could see lights in the upstairs windows. There was some movement but not much. What did catch my eye was the figures moving around on the top of the flat roof.

So she had guards out keeping watch. This was going to be interesting.

Edging back further under the bush I keyed my radio.

“Team On to Two and Three, come in.” I said.

“Team Two here.” Amy said.

“Team Three here.” David said.

“They have guards on the top of the school. Make sure you can’t be seen.”

“Okay.” I heard Amy say.

“Are any of you in position yet?” I asked.

“Just getting there now.” David said.

“Still two streets away. We ran into some infected.” Amy said.

“Just be careful. We ran into something funny on the way to our position.” I then told them about the park.

“What the fuck caused that?” Asked Chris.

“Not too sure but when we have finished up here it might be worth having a quick look.” I said.

“Team Two in positon.” Amy said.

“Team Three in position and I can see the guards you are on about. It looks like three of them up there.” Chris said.

“Marc, you’re going to have to be careful.” Amy said.

“I know, but we really do need for them to come out to play.” I said.

“Just be careful, mate.” Chris said.

“Are we ready?” I asked.

“Team Two ready.” Amy said.

“Team Three ready.” Came Chris’ reply.

“Team One ready. I’m heading out there now.” I said, crawling out from under the bushes and standing up.

Mike stayed hidden and had his rifle aimed at the guards on the roof. I loosened that flash bang I had fastened to my belt and held it in my hand. Slowly walking down the street I made sure I could be seen by the guards.

“Oi, you stand where you are.” Came a rough voice from the top of the school.

“Why?” I asked, taking another few steps.

“Because I said so, dickhead.” He shouted.

“Make me.” Was all I said, thinking I might be pushing it slightly.

I saw all three guards come together and then one peeled off and disappeared from view. After he had gone, I stopped and started whistling whilst rocking forward and backwards on my heels. After a short while another figure appeared on the roof.

“Who are you?” The figure asked. Now this voice I did know.

“How do, Tommy boy!” I shouted.

“Marc?” Thomas shouted back.

“One and the same, Tommy boy.” I said, laughing.

“How did you find us?” He asked.

“Did you even bother to send someone to check how many of your little friends died?” I asked.

“Who talked?” He said.

I didn’t see the point in lying to him “Ratty little fellow called Bob.” I said.

“I’ll fucking kill him.” He said.

“Too late.” I said, laughing.

Thomas was quiet and I had a feeling he was telling his men to get ready to come and get me.

“Why are you here, Marc?” Thomas asked.

“Well, it’s not because I want to be your best bud, Tommy boy. I think you’re too busy sucking Tracy’s cock. I’m here to either warn you off or kill you, whatever is easiest.” I said.

“One thing, Marc, is going to happen tonight, mate, and that is you’re going to die.” He said.

“You’ve tried that once already and it didn’t work out for you.” I said, slowly walking back toward the small park.

I saw the figures disappear from the rooftop and I could hear shouting and slamming doors coming from the school. Skirting round the bush where Mike was hidden, I headed for the middle of the park. Lights flashed from down where the school was and from the amount I could tell Thomas and his little gang had come out in force to find me. In the centre of the small park was a toilet block. I stood at the side and jumped barely grabbing the edge. Slowly, I pulled myself up and on to the flat roof. Lobbing the flash bang toward where Thomas and his gang were coming, it went off. Not that I saw because I buried my head in my arms so that I wouldn’t lose my night sight.

“Now, that was stupid.” I heard Thomas’ voice shout.

I kept quiet. The reason was the flash bang had been a signal for my friends to converge on the small park. I actually had another three flash bangs on my webbing ready to use if needed.

Edging slowly to the side of the toilet block I could see Thomas and his men fanning out. They had already past where Mike was hiding and I knew Amy and Tessa where heading in from my left. Chris and David were coming in on the right. That left myself in front of Thomas and his group.

“Team Two to Team One. We have the targets in sight.” Amy said.

It was closely followed by “Team Three to Team One. Hostiles in sight.” Chris said in my ear.

“Team One, Two. Hostiles have past my position.” Mike said.

“Team One, One. To all teams, you have a green light start taking them out.” I said, lifting my rifle and aiming on a dark shape that I hoped was Thomas.

I fired just as everyone else did and saw my target go down. The best thing for us was the fact that we didn’t have to aim for the head. We all aimed pretty much central mass. It wasn’t long before Thomas’s party had been reduced to only a few men cowering behind trees and park benches. I saw Amy and Tessa walk out of the trees first followed by Chris and David. I watched as they walked over to the bodies and stood guard over them. Climbing down, I walked over watching for any movement. Mike walked out from the tree line and went to stand next to his daughter. They whispered something to each other and Mike gave her a hug. One of the three men who had been caught cowering was my old friend Thomas.

“Well, hello, Tommy boy.” I said trying to put on a fake Irish accent.

“Marc, don’t do that again. You sounded Indian!” Chris said, laughing.

“Fuck you.” I said and turned to look at Thomas.

“Where is she, Tommy?” I asked.

“Fuck off.” Came his reply.

“Chris, do me a favour and let one of them go.” I said, pulling my pistol free.

“Are you sure about this?” Chris said.

“Not really, but if it is the only way.” I said.

Chris looked at me and pushed one of the men and said “Run.”

The man ran into the trees and disappeared after about five feet.

“Now, Tommy, that leaves you and this gentleman. Now, if you don’t answer my question, I am going to shoot him, and if you don’t answer me after that, I will shoot you. Now, if you answer me straight away, well, you get the picture. So, again, where is she?” I said.

I could see by what little light that he was struggling with what to do or say.

“Look, she wouldn’t give two shits if you died out here. All she has ever cared about is herself.” I said.

That seemed to make his decision and he said “She’s in the headmaster's office back at the school.”

“Amy, do you Tessa and David want to go get her?” I asked.

All three headed off into the trees with Spirit trailing behind David. I gave them five minutes before I said. “Chris, let this other gentleman go.”

Chris lifted the man to his feet and gave him a shove. He started running and almost ran into a tree trying to get away.

Thomas looked up at me and said “What now?”

Before I could blink Chris raised his pistol and shot him point blank in the forehead.

“Shit, Chris!” Mike said.