The Undead. The First Seven Days (89 page)

Concerned expressions, this isn’t why they came here; this isn’t what they were expecting.
  ‘They are coming and nothing will stop them from getting here. The army has gone, the police are gone. There is no government and no one is coming to save us. Behind you is the sea and there is nowhere left to run. This Fort is strong, but they will get through and they will kill every last one of us.’
  Fear and panic grips them and tears start streaming down faces, as parents clutch their children close.
  ‘We have all lost loved ones. Just in one week we have lost everything we knew. Our friends and families have been taken from us and they will come and try to kill us. The way of life we had is gone and will never come back. All that remains is what we have here and now, this is it. There is no rescue party coming, no fighter jets or warplanes that will wipe them out. This isn’t a nightmare that will end, this will happen.’ I wait and let those words sink in; they need to know how bad this is.
  ‘We are few, compared to the size of them, we are tiny, but there is one thing we have that they don’t. We have life. We have life within us and if you want that life to continue, then we have to fight.

‘One week ago, I was the same as you, living normally and working towards the future. But in that one week I have changed. I decided not to just wait and let them come for me. I fought back. I met Dave and then together we fought back and, since then, we haven’t stopped killing them. These brave young men you see in front of me, they joined Dave and I, and together we fought back and we took them down. We took them down for killing our families and taking away our loved ones. We did not run away and hide. We went to them and we fought and… we are still here. We learnt that if we stand together we can survive.

‘We went to London and our small group joined with Chris. Then, together, we fought against thousands of them. One small group of men took the fight to them and we walked away from it. We lost men, but only a few, and for each one of ours they took, we took down many of theirs. We showed them we are not scared and we do not fear them. Our small group took hand weapons and attacked them. They are dead already and they don’t feel pain. Blood loss doesn’t hurt them like it hurts us. If we bleed we get weak, they don’t. The only way to kill them is by a massive loss of blood or by taking out the head and the brain. We learnt that, so we adapted and we took them down.’
I can feel my voice rising
.
  ‘ Now we are here, with you., and this is clear; if we hide they will find us. If we run they will catch us. If we stand still and let them, they will take us. So what else can we do? I’ll tell you what I want, I want to show them we will not hide and we will not run and we will not stand still. We will fight. We will take as many of them down as we can. We may lose, but, to the last man, we will fight back. They are undead. They are evil. They do not have the right to walk amongst us or take our air. They have taken everything from us, but this place, this place here, this is ours, and they will not take it from us without a fight. These men in front of you have stood on the line and survived. On this occasion, we got beaten back, but ,many times before, we took ground from them; not only surviving but winning.
  ‘When they come we will be ready. We will prepare and do whatever it takes to make ready. Not one person here will sleep or rest, until we are ready. There is no choice in this. Every man, woman and child must be prepared to fight. There is no hiding away and letting the bigger boys fight for you. We will meet them and we will fight them and the last one standing will go down fighting.’ I roar out at the crowd.

Chris smiles and turns to stare out at them, Clarence follows his lead and I see all of them turn to face the crowd. I see defiance creeping in; firm looks, as expressions harden. Men cross their arms and women lift their heads to stand proud.
  ‘We have the right to be here and they do not. This will be hard. Harder than anything you can imagine, but we will work and prepare and then we will meet them and show them no fear, for we shall stand proud. What do we need to do this? We need tools, weapons, we need to know who can make things, fix things, engineers and mechanics. We need foraging parties to go out and bring us the things we need to prepare, we need you to listen to the instructions we give and accept those instructions without argument. We need you to work and toil and then, at the end of that, we will need warriors, fighters, brawlers and scrappers and, most importantly… we’re gonna need  buckets of coffee to keep us awake,’

I get a few smiles and nods from this.
  ‘We can do this, we few here at the front have shown that we can fight back. We did not roll over and accept it. We are humans and, throughout history, we have fought with each other. But now, at this time and at this place, all differences are set aside and we stand together and we fight together and if needs be, we will die together, but they will know that we did not weaken and we did not run.’

I see the change in them, faces look ready, men look to one another with pride on their faces and women stand straight and true, ready to fight to protect their own.
  ‘Stand with us and show those things that we are not to be touched.’ I nod once, firm and strong and start to clamber down, to an explosion of cheering.

‘Thanks Dave,’ Howie says quietly, after jumping down from the Saxon and sidling over to the small, quiet man.
  ‘What for, Mr Howie?’
  ‘You know very well what for,’ Howie smiles at him.
  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ Dave replies.
  ‘Okay mate, thanks anyway.’ Howie says again, still smiling at the glint in Dave’s eye.

There is a sudden excitement and air of action within the group. Howie’s words have stirred them, motivated them, and, given the opportunity, they would charge out of the Fort now and attack the zombie army with just forks and spoons.
  ‘Good speech, Howie,’ Chris calls out over the noise from the thousands of voices, all speaking at the same time.
  ‘Thanks, mate,’ Howie replies.
  ‘Seriously, I’ve heard some corkers before, normally from some officer who will be safe in the base when we charge out, but that was good. You told them the truth and then got them going,’ Chris says, closer now, but still having to raise his voice.
  ‘Yeah,’ Howie says, feeling just a little embarrassed.
  ‘Honestly Howie, it was good. Typical British spirit that was,’ Malcolm joins in.
  ‘Well I had to tell them something,’ Howie says. ‘And the microphone is still there, mate, you can have a go, if you want.’
  ‘No no, honestly it was good stuff,’ Malcolm, laughs.
  ‘Hey Howie, that was great,’ Sarah appears at his side, still accompanied by the giant Clarence.
  ‘Thanks, Sis,’ Howie replies, uncomfortable with all the praise that is being heaped on him.
  ‘Right, we need somewhere private to work,’ Howie says to Chris and Dave, they both nod in return and Chris strides off to find Roger.
  ‘Why the secrecy?’ Sarah asks, concerned.
  ‘That lad, Darren, he was turned for some time before we knew, any one of these could be the same, so we can’t risk everyone knowing exactly what we are doing.’
  ‘Oh, that makes sense…’ Sarah looks round, staring at the many faces.
  ‘It’s possible, there’s too many here to check everyone and Darren wasn’t bitten or scratched, that we knew about,’ Howie says. ‘So, for safety’s sake, we have to assume any of them could be.’ Howie looks round at the crowd. Their faces suddenly look sinister; plots being hatched and plans being made.
  ‘Howie, Roger has a room for us that we can work from. You ready?’ Chris calls out, walking towards him.
  ‘Yes, mate, I’m ready. Who are we taking with us?’
  ‘I was thinking you, me and Dave definitely - I would like Malcolm and Clarence too, if you’re okay with it, any of yours?’ Chris answers.
  ‘Blowers is good, but then we’d have to ask Cookey too, that pair are joined at the hip. I think we’ll get them initially, then stick them on the door, to prevent anyone else walking in, that sound okay?’
  ‘Hmmm, maybe we should just go with you, Dave and me then,’ Chris rubs his bearded chin.
  ‘I know what you mean, but Malcolm and Clarence are good, experienced blokes - it would be good to have their input,’ Howie replies.
  ‘What if they’re infected though,’ Chris asks.
  ‘True, any of them could be, fuck it, any of us could be, for that matter,’ Howie says.
  ‘Okay, so we get Doc Roberts in with us initially, he checks us over first, then a visual check on each other and we crack on?’ Chris suggests.
  ‘Yep, sounds good to me. We need everyone to meet over at the south wall, so we can talk quietly,’ Howie replies.
  ‘You go, I’ll round them up and send them on,’ Sarah says.
  ‘Thanks, Sarah - are you sure you don’t mind doing that?’ Howie asks.
  ‘No it’s okay, I’ll get Clarence to stand over them, while I smile sweetly,’ Sarah laughs, leading the big man away, with her hand on one of his meaty arms and his face going bright red again.

It takes many minutes to walk to the south side of the Fort and the rooms set aside by Roger. Survivors stop to shake hands with Howie and Chris at every few steps, patting them on the back and calling out as they pass. At first Howie tries to move on quickly, but after the first few people, he gets a mischievous glint in his eye.
  ‘Hey, don’t just thank me, Dave and Chris here did as much as me,’ Howie replies, then watches as the people move on to offer handshakes to Chris and Dave.

Chris takes it in his stride, smiling good-naturedly and making comments, while looking them in the eye - inspiring confidence and looking every inch the warrior leader. Dave, on the other hand, looks aghast at the many hands being thrust in front of him, knowing that to refuse would cause offence, but clearly hating the idea of touching so many people.
  ‘Don’t forget to smile, Dave,’ Howie calls out, as they work their way through the crowd.

Dave glares back as he frantically wipes his hand on the back of his trousers between each handshake.

Howie and Chris both laugh as they watch Dave trying to smile, the corners of his mouth turning up and showing teeth, which looks very strange on the normally impassive face.
  Eventually, they break through to the far side, as Dave pulls a bottle of anti-bacterial spray from his pocket and starts cleaning his hands.
  ‘Sorry Dave, I couldn’t resist it, your face was a picture,’ Howie laughs, as Dave offers him the spray bottle.
  ‘It’s okay, Mr Howie,’ Dave says, vigorously rubbing his hands.
  ‘Is it here?’ Chris asks, looking at the south wall looming above them. Several doors set into the wall are spread along the ground floor.
  ‘I don’t know, where’s Roger?’ Howie replies.
  ‘Coo-eee gentlemen, over here,’ Roger calls out, leaning out of a doorway further up and waving an arm at them.
They walk up and enter the door; the room is big and square with a solid looking, old table in the middle. Large, rolled up sheets of paper, lie on the top of the table. Howie looks up to see a single, electric bulb hanging down.
  ‘You’ve got power?’ Howie asks, as Roger turns the switch on.
  ‘These rooms have a dedicated generator supplying power, you can’t turn all the lights on at the same time, but it will mean you can work privately with the door closed, if you need to,’ Roger replies. ‘Through that door are more rooms, some of them have old camp beds and chairs, if you need to rest - let me know if you need anything.’
  ‘This is great, thank you Roger, where will you be?’ Howie says.
  ‘Just a few doors down, that’s where Sergeant Hopewell is working from and the hospital is further down,’ Roger replies. ‘Oh, there’s more of you,’ Roger adds, backing away from the door, as the recruits and more of Chris’s men start piling in.
  They chat quietly, as they wait for everyone to arrive.
  ‘Nick, can you nip down a few doors and see if Sergeant Hopewell and Ted are there, please mate,’ Howie asks.
  ‘No worries, Mr Howie,’ Nick calls out, disappearing out of the door.

Howie looks amongst the group crowded into the room. The recruits are chatting to each other and now mingling more with Chris’s men and women left from the commune. Howie thinks of the losses they took last night and the image of McKinney flashes back into his mind.
  ‘We can grieve later,’ Howie mutters.
  ‘Did you say something, Howie?’ Chris asks.
  ‘No mate, just talking to myself,’ Howie replies.
  ‘First sign of madness,’ Chris smiles, as he looks back to the room.
  ‘Don’t even joke about that,’ Howie laughs.  ‘What are those on the table, Dave?’ Dave has unrolled some of the large sheets and is bent over, studying them.
  ‘Maps and plans of the Fort and surrounding areas,’ Dave replies.
  ‘Hello, what’s all this then,’ Ted booms out, as he strides confidently into the room, followed by Sergeant Hopewell and Terri, who immediately smiles at Howie.
  ‘You never came back for that coffee,’ Terri admonishes him.
  ‘Hi Terri, err, well, kind of been busy,’ Howie replies, feeling Chris and a few of the others watching him.
  ‘That’s okay, I heard your speech. It was amazing,’ Terri says, staring with big blue eyes directly at Howie, her pink lips revealing perfect white teeth, as she smiles again.
  ‘Oh, yeah, err, thanks Terri,’ Howie feels himself starting to blush.
  ‘Hi, I’m Sarah, Howie’s sister,’ Sarah steps forward, becoming aware of her brothers discomfort, they start chatting as Howie discreetly steps over to Chris.
  ‘I don’t know you very well, Howie, but I’ve not seen you nervous before,’ Chris says, quietly.
   ‘I always get nervous around pretty girls,’ Howie whispers back, as Chris throws his head back laughing loudly and drawing attention from the whole room.
  ‘I’ve seen you charge into thousands of those things,’ Chris says, still unable to use the word zombies. ‘And then give a rousing
gung ho
speech to thousands of people and you get nervous round one pretty girl?
  ‘Shush, keep your voice down, oh, bollocks, I think she heard you,’ Howie mutters, seeing Terri staring over at him.
  ‘I think we’re all here,’ Malcolm says, as Doc Roberts enters the room with his white lab coat flapping open.
  ‘Thank fuck for that,’ Howie mutters again, grateful for the reprieve. ‘Can someone close the door, thanks. Right, most of us know what’s coming our way and these people will be looking to us for confidence and re-assurance. I know we’re all tired and have had enough, but without us they don’t stand a chance. The plan is that a few of us will be working from here and sending out instructions for what’s needed.’
  ‘And we expect you to see them through,’ Chris steps in. ‘From now on, only those with a reason are to go up onto the walls, and I expect each of you to try and make sure that happens. We know that people can be infected and either not know it or hide it very well, so we will be taking every precaution to prevent all of our plans from becoming known. If you are given a task, please do not question it or discuss it with anyone else.’
  ‘Debbie, we will need a list of skills, and we are going to need runners too, people that can run out and pass messages, or find the people we need,’ Howie says.
  ‘Okay, I’ve got more lists than you will ever need and I’m only a few doors down. Also, we’ve got a pool of bored, older kids that need something to do; we can use them as runners. I’ll organise that and have them nearby,’ Debbie replies.
  ‘Good, we also need guards on the gate, I don’t want to tell the people out there what they can and can’t do, but for now, we need to restrict who goes in and out,’ Chris continues, after Sergeant Hopewell finishes.
  ‘There’s some rooms back there to relax in, or outside, but stay close and wait for further instructions. Has anyone got any questions?’
  ‘Weapons Sir, we’ve got some, the people out there have some too, and I think there’s probably some more knocking about… are we going to centralise them and work out who has what? One of Chris’s men shouts out from the back.
  ‘Good point, we’ll cover it and make sure they are distributed to the right people and in the right place,’ Chris answers.
  ‘We’re going to need sleep, we’ve been going all day yesterday and all night - if we work through the night and then fight tomorrow, we’ll be dropping like flies,’ a man says from the front, half dressed in police uniform.
  ‘Try to sleep when you can, rest when you can, but, ultimately, tough shit. If they come and we’re not prepared, we’ll die, simple as that,’ Howie replies quickly, and without humour.