The Grave: A Zombie Novel (19 page)

“Will, where are you?” Suzy swung again and again. She hit one, two, three, four or more, all the time smashing in jaws and skulls, sending pieces of decayed brain into the air and spraying the ground with rotten meat and broken teeth.
Blood splattered her clothes and pooled at her feet. Every time she struck one of the dead, she wanted to give in, just let go and sink to her knees. She knew it would be over quickly, but something inside drove her on.

Her arms were beginning to ache when she heard the
faint approach of the buggy’s engine. She called out for Rasmus and Tricia once again and then felt arms grab her waist from behind. Suzy screamed and the hands held onto her tightly. She tried to pull away, but they held onto her and she wished she didn’t have to die alone like this. She waited for the inevitable teeth to sink into her neck, bracing for the pain that was coming any second.

“It’s me,” said Will. “Get on
, quickly.”

Tug pulled the buggy up beside her and
Suzy jumped on beside him, sitting next to Kelly in the front seat. She kept the club in her hands, ready to strike at the dead who were still close. She turned around to glare at Will for giving her such a fright. When she saw Tricia though she stopped. Will was gently sliding her into a seat at the back. She was dazed and confused. Her face was covered in small red scratches and her hair was dishevelled, covered in petals and blossom. Claire and Mark wedged themselves in beside her and Will.

“Move it,”
demanded Will.

Tug had barely stopped to let them get on and he put his foot down without hesitation. The buggy could reach speeds of up to fifty
Ks, although he was going much slower right now. He drove it over the long grass, struggling to keep it level. The buggy found it hard to gain traction on the overgrown course and Tug had to pull hard on the wheel to make it respond to him.

“Where’s Rasmus?” asked Suzy.

Tricia stared back at Suzy blankly. Then her eyes dropped and Tricia clasped her hands in her lap.

Will opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again.
He wiped sweat from his forehead and then spoke in a low voice.

“
No time. We couldn’t...just move it, Tug.”

They drove past the dead, zigzagging past them and avoiding the decapitated limbs. Tug got them back onto the road and soon they were headed downhill. Some of the Deathless tried to follow, but they couldn’t keep up with the cart. Nobody spoke as they drove. They did not slow down for anything.
Occasionally, a body would appear in front of them, but Tug always managed to drive around it.

Suzy let go of her club
as they drove and it bounced onto the road. She wasn’t aware she had even dropped it. How could Rasmus be gone, just like that? What had happened to them? Were they going back for him? From the look on Will and Tricia’s faces, she didn’t think so. Had Rasmus gotten himself lost in the woods, or worse?

They passed a large house and Kelly asked if anyone
was injured or needed to stop. Nobody answered and so Tug kept driving. He didn’t say so, but the cart was running out of power. It had been for the last few minutes. Only gravity kept them going. The road was curving downward and he hoped it would get them to the bottom. He noticed the clouds were back and it would take a lot more than a few rays of sun to get them going again.

Eventually
the road levelled out and the buggy came to a stop. On the left was the hill they had come down from, and to the right was a steep bank that led down to the sea. There was an inlet and on the other side, another road leading around more houses and higher hills. They had lost sight of the town they had seen earlier. Tug jumped out and tightened the straps on his backpack.

“Whoa, hold
on, Tug, what’s happened. Is that it?” Kelly jumped out of the cart as the others followed suit.

“Yep.
What did you expect? We ran out of power ten minutes ago. I‘ve been coasting the last mile. We’re on foot from here. So let’s get going eh? If we get a move on we might make the coast by sundown.” Tug looked up at the sky. “I think there’s a storm coming too. We shouldn’t be outside any longer than we have to be.”

“Sorry, but I need a minute,” said Suzy. She got out of the cart and headed over to the bank, looking out across the water. “What happened to Rasmus? Why are we not going back for him?” She looked around the group and no one answered her. Infuriated, she marched up to Tricia and slapped her hard across the cheek. “Where the fuck is he?” demanded Suzy. She lifted her hand to slap Tricia again and Tricia recoiled.
“What did you do?”

Will
took Suzy’s arm. “He’s gone, Suzy. If he’s lucky maybe he’ll find a way down to us. But...”

“No. I don’t believe it. I don’t...” Suzy collapsed into Will sobbing. She buried her face in his chest and let her tears soak his shirt. She let him hold her and felt no shame in it.

Tricia held her cool palm against her stinking cheek. “I’m sorry, Suzy. We tried to get away from them, but they followed us into the woods. He was there beside me one minute and then he was gone. I saw a couple of the Deathless around him and he was shouting. I tried to call for help, but then he was gone. I was lost and if it hadn’t have been for Will, I wouldn’t have made it out of there. Like Will says, maybe he made it? Maybe...” Tricia didn’t really believe what she was saying. She wanted to think Rasmus might make it, but she also knew how thick the bushes and undergrowth had gotten. She had fought her way through a thorn bush and just when she thought she was going to get stuck, Will had found her. The barbs and spiky branches had scratched her face as Will had dragged her out, but she didn’t care.

Kelly looked down at her hands and saw they were trembling. The adrenalin was
still pumping. She looked and saw Claire sat on the back of the cart with tears rolling down her face. Mark looked like he was struggling to hold it together too. “Tug, we need a break. You might not know us very well, but what’s happening here is...we’re losing our friends. You’re right, absolutely, we should keep going. But look at us. You can go off on your own if you want, but right now, we need a break. We’ll walk west and try to find somewhere safe to rest for a bit. If you want to carry on without us, just do it. I’m not going to stop you anymore.”

Tug looked at Kelly and considered his options. He felt bad about Rasmus, but he wasn’t prepared to give up now. He probably could make it on his own. He needn’t feel bad about going on alone. Kelly had basically just given him permission to do it. Still, could he leave them? Suzy and Claire were still sobbing. Will was shattered and even Kelly looked drained.
Tug contemplated if he would be better off alone or if there was safety in numbers.

“I’ll find us some place safe to rest up,” said Tug. There were plenty of houses scattered on the road ahead. “Stay her
e. I’ll come get you all in a couple of minutes when I’ve found somewhere.”

Kelly smiled. As Tug walked
away, she wanted to thank him. She forgot how maddening and pig headed he was. She turned to Will and tears filled her eyes when she saw him holding Suzy. What had happened to Rasmus?

* * *

Puce fronds brushed over his face and Rasmus trod cautiously. The bush that sprouted from the earth was ten feet tall at least and its tapered stems came to a sharp tip. He had already cut his hands
on the bushes getting this far and his palms were stinging from the cold air cutting at him. The trunk was black, wet and slippery from the giant slugs and snails that slithered around it. A frothy foaming pool of black water ran around it to the left before gurgling under a rock out of sight. The way behind the huge bush was hidden by the forest.

Rasmus had unwittingly run away from the golf course and the road, stumbling through the trees only to find
himself deeper in the forest. If he had gone the other way, he would have found himself back on the road and able to meet up with the others Instead, he was lost.

The ground was sodden and mossy
, and each step almost caused him to slip. He parted the branches and leaves to find the water was not just disappearing under a rock, but in fact a huge rock face. A smooth granite surface shot up into the air at least thirty feet and shale and boulders had piled up at the bottom. There was no way he could back track through the forest he had just come. What had started out as a few trees had soon become thicker with no end in sight. The canopy above blocked out the sun and all he could hear now was the sound of his own laboured breathing. It had been exhausting, pushing through the thick vines and overgrown bushes and his cut arms, hands and legs were the painful result. He had managed to evade the Deathless so far and he knew going back would be suicide. There were dozens of them out there looking for him now in the thick scrub he was lost in. He had to press on and find another way back to the clubhouse where the others would surely be waiting for him.

Rasmus stared up at the rock face. It was impossible to climb up. Even if he had been twenty years
younger, it would have been impossible for him. Leafy trees obscured his view to the side, but it looked like the rock face continued for a while. He sank to his knees and let the bloody, dirty water collect around his legs and soak into his clothing. Tears welled up in his eyes and he felt like giving up. It was too hard. Getting out of here was literally impossible. Even if he somehow managed to climb over the rocks, then what? It must be a good day’s trek to the coast. How many of the dead were out there waiting for him? Without food and water, he would only get weaker. He could barely walk as it was. He refused to call out for help and put Tricia in danger. If she were found because of him, he could not bear having her death on his conscience.

A noise from the forest jolted him back into the present.
There was a rustling sound coming from the direction he had come from. It might be a wild pig or a bird, but he wasn’t sure. The noise was getting louder and it began to sound more like something was running and crashing through the bushes toward him; something too big to be a boar. Rasmus looked around, but there was nothing to defend himself with. Could he fight off another of the Deathless with his bare hands? He looked at his palms, criss-crossed with lacerations. The noise grew louder and suddenly the instinct to live kicked in. He looked at the water swirling around his feet and his eyes followed it to the rock. Where it entered underneath the sheer cliff was a gap of about two feet, no more, and Rasmus had an idea.

He sprinted toward it, splashing through the stream and hoping he would make it in time. At the opening to the underground
stream, he dropped quickly and pushed himself low to the rough ground. He dug his hands into the crumbling stones and pebbles of the shallow riverbed and crawled along it into the blackness under the rock. The crashing noises behind him were very loud now and he prayed that the dead would not see him or be able to follow him inside.

As Rasmus slunk under the rock, drenching himself in the cold water, he continued to pull himself further into the dark cave. When he was
inside, he reached up above his head and his hand touched nothing. Evidently, the cave had opened up. He turned and slowly stood up. Inside the cavern was pitch black and the only light came from the small opening through which he had just crawled. He stood completely still, listening to the noise on the other side of the rock. Feet suddenly dashed through the outside stream and Rasmus clenched his fists, hoping whoever was out there wouldn’t find his hiding place. From the grunting and moaning, he could tell it was nobody living. He heard splashes and the sound of twigs snapping. They were looking for him. How long would it be before they noticed the opening under the rock? He knew the dead would not stop. There were so many out there, it was only a matter of time before they smelt him or heard his wheezing. He decided he was going to have to go further into the cave system and hope there was an exit. The river had to flow somewhere. Maybe he could just push through and come out the other side of the rocks.

Rasmus
got down on his knees and began pulling himself forward again on all fours, away from the stream’s entrance. The water was icy cold and it actually dulled the pain in his hands. He was aware that he was trembling; a mixture of fear from being caught and from what might lie ahead. As he went on further away from the opening, the light dimmed and soon it was completely dark. The footsteps outside echoed around the vast cavern, but they were getting fainter. As he reached out his hand to grasp the next rock to pull forward, it plunged into nothing but a deep pool of water and he retracted it immediately. If the river ran into a deeper pool, he could find himself swimming in the dark. Rasmus stopped and felt again, reaching out his hand slowly, trying to find the riverbed. He found nothing to get purchase on though, and he began to panic. He turned around to go back toward the opening and as he did so, the stony riverbed beneath him gave way. He was swept under the water as he fell into the deeper, fast flowing water. Frantically, he tried to swim to the top and he gasped for air as his head broke the surface. The current was pushing him along in the dark but he could not see a thing. His eyes darted around uselessly. There was not even the faintest chink of light in this underground tomb. He was drawing in quicker and quicker breaths as he gasped for air. He tried to tread water and stretched his arms out, hoping to find a rock or something to grab hold of. He needed to stop himself from being dragged further into the underground river. Above the water’s surface though, he felt nothing but icy cool air. The raging water echoed around the dark caves. The rushing sound of the river reverberated wildly, confusing his senses so he could barely tell up from down. He couldn’t hear the footsteps of the dead anymore and began to panic.