The Abandoned Trilogy (Book 1): Twice Dead (Contagion) (42 page)

              Why hadn’t he been eaten? He was meat as we were, wasn’t he? Perhaps animals other than humans were lower on the food chain for the Twice Dead. Or perhaps his Twice Dead Master’s last vestige of humanity was to stumble out of the shop and let him live, we only knew that the Twice Dead were born out of a man made contagion, and that when they were reborn as a Twice Dead they became cannibals, devouring living human flesh and even their own.

We had worked out that they had a collective intelligence of some kind, and also that they were possibly evolving because they were now faster, stronger and more focused in their actions.

              I wasn’t going to leave Karma behind. His leash and harness was behind the counter, along with two dog bowls that were empty. I shouted out for someone to come and help me.

              Karma was delighted to see everyone, barking and bouncing about, his happiness made most everyone smile. Corporal Peters wasn’t keen on taking his with us, he argued that he had been OK so far without us, but I ignored him.

              “A life is a life,” I said to the soldier and that was that. He stomped off back to the van muttering about soft hearted civilians.

              “Absolutely,” Gabe said who was kneeling down and petting Karma who was licking the young man’s face furiously, his body wiggling in ecstasy, “Percy, go and see if there is any tinned dog food on the shelves, hurry up!”

              The shop had plenty of tinned dog food and some dog chews that were of no use to him because he was not able to open them, also they were on a top shelf, but we took them all, along with more bottles of water, his basket, his toys and at the last minute I gathered up all the tins of lighter fluid and lighters from behind the counter and put them into a carrier bag.

              Gabe and Percy settled Karma under their feet with some chews and we set off, not stopping again until we made it to our destination.

              We had to come off the road, but there was a heavily used dirt track that we were able to utilise. Until recently, a portion of Ashby Forest had been used for camping and Glamping, but it had recently been sold and was in the process of being redeveloped.

              We found a large carpet of wild garlic and Bluebells in a dip that ran into a section of trees and a deep river running alongside it, probably feeding the Brocklease Bunker Lake I thought. We parked up, three vehicles, side by side in a neat line.

I scanned the locality, there was a heavily wooded area to the left of us, saturated with wild garlic Phoenix assured me, in front of us was fields, rising and falling, probably grazing land, to the right of us was the road we had just been on and it curved around a series of bends and hills.

Phoenix got out of the Land Rover and found a place to sit with his computer on his lap. Paul stayed in the car as he was very tired, but Jack and Russell were eager to meet Karma who was being kept on his leash, as they weren’t sure if he would run off. They bounced about happily; unaware of what lay ahead for the people who had become an extended part of their pack.

              I told everyone not to go beyond the boundary of the wild garlic fields until it was time to leave. Corporal Peters set about getting everyone more comfortable with using their swords.

I had made the decision for Adag not to be involved in any sword fight because Paul and Phoenix needed looking after, along with the dogs.

              I took her to one side and quietly told her that if all was lost, she was to take Phoenix, Paul and the dogs and leave, head back to Thorncroft and not look back.

              She had frowned at my words, and I said softly, “Take them home and be together, let them be with the dogs and you can all…” I inhaled deeply before saying what had to be said, “All go to sleep…like we said we would do if things got too difficult.”

              I was sparing them the horrors of being bitten and/or eaten by the Twice Dead. She understood, and I saw she approved of what I had decided, “If any of us do survive,” I added, “We will try and get back to the home, don't do anything for one week, OK? I want to go with you if I survive, like we said.”

              “Is that what happened with Theresa?” I wasn’t expecting her to say that. Yet, I was not shocked that she had said it. I nodded my head. It was time to speak a truth I had shut out of my mind for so long and pretended hadn’t happen. It didn’t matter anymore.

              “They were going to take Jack off her, they refused her application to adopt him, and me, they had found she had been sectioned when she lived in America, just for a couple of weeks, when her brother was murdered, she didn’t disclose it when she became a Foster Parent, moving would kill Jack, he was already dying, he had cystic fibrosis, I really liked him, and her, she wanted me, she wanted us both, but the people at the top said no, the Social Workers who worked with us as a family were good, they tried to help but it made no difference, Theresa could no longer look after us, they agreed for me and Jack to be fostered together, but he was distraught, Theresa was his mummy, he wanted to be with her…” I wouldn’t look at Adag as I spoke, “And she knew he’d be dead within a month, like I said he was dying…”

              “The report said she injected you and your brother with an overdose of diamorphine she had purchased on the black market, but it didn’t happen like that, did it?”

              Adag was really astute, I let myself look at her, “She couldn’t do it…not when it was time…” I said and I told Adag how Theresa had fallen to her knees, weeping uncontrollably, the syringe slipping out of her fingers onto the carpet, how she rocked back and forth, her hands covering her face, sobbing she couldn’t do it. And Jack he was screaming he didn’t want to leave her. She had laid him on the double sofa bed in the lounge in his army PJ’s, made him all comfy. He wasn’t afraid, she had told him she was giving him medicine for his pain but he knew what she was doing and he wasn’t afraid. But when she said she couldn’t do it that was when he became hysterical.

              Adag waited for me to continue, “She lay beside him, holding him, crying…they were both crying…”

              “You were only 15 years old,” Adag said softly.

              “Yes,” I said simply, “He didn’t feel it, I was behind him, it wasn’t difficult to do, it was a big dose and he was such a little boy, he let out this little gasp…” Jack had looked up at me, and he smiled, a wonderful smile, and he whispered two words, “love you...” and then he went rigid in Theresa’s arms, his body jerked for a couple of seconds and then his head fell onto her chest…he was gone.

              Theresa had seen me holding the syringe she had dropped onto the carpet. We had looked at each other. Jack at that moment had been sobbing hysterically, his head buried in her neck, his skinny arms wrapped tightly around her.

I can still feel the softness of the carpet under my good foot, smell that wonderful smell of freshly baked scones. Theresa had nodded her head at me, one of her hands pulling down Jack’s PJ bottom’s to reveal his pale dying flesh. The needle was tiny and when it was done I put it on the coffee table and sat down on the bed.

              When Social Services and the Police broke into the house 24 hours later, they found us all in the sofa bed, huddled under the large king size duvet. Jack had been dead for hours, Theresa apparently died a couple of hours before the emergency services arrived. But I lived. What I didn’t know was that my body, due to my long term ill health was resistant to opiates and even though I had taken a large dose, it had not done to me what it had done to her and Jack. I was in hospital for several weeks but I lived.

              The investigation into what happened laid all the blame on Theresa. It was easier to do that than let the suspected truth come out. I had injected Theresa next, she wanted to be able to hold Jack as she died and she couldn’t do that if she injected herself. She had thanked me, told me she loved me and we had embraced, hugging each other for the longest time and then she laid on the bed, gathered the dead child of her heart into her arms and I did for her what I had done for Jack.

              I then climbed under the duvet, and injected myself in my stomach. I should have realised something was wrong when I didn’t pass out straight away. I just dizzy and a bit sick. I was even able to toss the syringe onto the floor and curl up next Jack’s still body, held still by the still breathing but unconscious Theresa.

              Social Services had ensured I wasn’t questioned by the police, and my internal rage at having survived, became a numb scab over a wound that I pretended had healed. But it had never healed. All it had done was go dormant and my hatred of needles didn’t come from all the medical treatment I had to endure from being a baby, it came from having failed to end my life the way I wanted when I was just 15 years old.

              “That’s why you knew I’d help you if things got too hard,” I said to Adag.

              “Your file makes interesting reading,” Adag said, “It’s restricted to senior home personnel only, I normally wouldn’t have access to it, too low on the food chain, but Collette, she never liked paperwork, so I dealt with all restricted data, she knew I wouldn’t say I was doing her job, she knew I liked to know things.”

              Restricted file? Why was my filed restricted? I frowned but before I could ask Adag what she meant she

surprised me by putting her palm on my cheek, “We have become death,” she said “Destroyer of worlds, you must forget the past, the vanished lives of all humanity is dark with many shames,” she smiled at my look of confusion, “It’s from the Gita, you should read it one day.”

Before I could tell her that was highly unlikely ever to happen, she embraced me. Holding me tightly in a warm strong hold that made me tremble inside for it reminded me of the final embrace I had with Theresa.

              “We are the last of the daughters of Kali,” she whispered into my ear, her breath warm and sweet against my cool flesh, “We are warriors, it’s in part of your soul, you cannot let it make you afraid, let it waken, let it take over, let blood flow, dance her dance, be what life denied you, go into battle as the warrior you are, never give up my daughter of Kali.”

              And she cupped my face and kissed both my cheeks and forehead and then she walked away to check on Paul, her stride was strong, purposeful. She was at peace with herself I thought and I was glad.

              “I’ll be seeing you soon Jack, Mama,” I whispered as I touched my cheek where Adag had kissed me, “Soon…”

From his old military stash, Mitch produced a pair of binoculars. I was now standing next to Phoenix who was tapping away on his computer. The Bee-in-the-SKY was tracking the convoy, it had apparently already had an encounter with some Twice Dead, but like us had managed to plow through them. From what Phoenix could see from his vantage point, they had got through without losing anyone else.

              “You are a veritable Mary Poppins,” I said to Mitch when he put his hand back into the bag he had taken the binoculars from and took out a water canteen, “Only you don’t have her ratty ass looking carpet bag.”

              He grinned at me, “Dutch courage,” he said and I got a distinct waft of whiskey as he pulled out the stopper, and took a big swallow, “Lagavulvin 8-year-old whiskey, over £60 a bottle, hmmmm,” he offered the canteen to me and I accepted. I took a swallow and the hot creamy liquid slid down my throat and made me shiver, but in a nice way.

              “Have a 1976 bottle too, special order at the supermarket for one of the rich bastards in town, cost him three grand,” Mitch took the canteen back from me and took another long slug, “I couldn’t bring myself to decant it into this,” he held up the battered army canteen, “If we survive this shit, I am drinking it all in one sitting!”

              I laughed but before I could respond Private Jasper was walking briskly over to us, “Where do you think the Colonel will come in from?” he said.

              I had no idea but Phoenix spoke, “South,” he was tapping at his keyboard, his eyes glued as usual to his computer screen, “They shouldn’t be too long….” his voice trailed off, he looked up at me, “One of the trucks has overturned…you need to go now.”

P
hoenix directed us as to where we needed to go. It was a high sloping hill called Ashby Ridge, about half a mile away in a westerly direction and just as he raised his hand to show us, we all heard what sounded like faint firecrackers being set off.

              It was the sound weapons being fired.

              “Shit! Shit!” Private Jasper was running toward the coach, “Everyone on the bus now!” Luckily, Seb had declined to get out of the coach when we had parked up or we would have lost precious time loading him back up.

              I turned to Adag who was standing by the Land Rover; Paul was looking at me from his seat. I nodded at him and he nodded back. Mitch’s van would stay where it was; the best vehicle for where we were going was the coach.

              Gabe and Percy ran over to Phoenix with the three dogs, their faces were grey with unspoken fear, but they handed the leashes over to him. He took them. The dogs pulled, whining and barking wanting to go with their Masters, bewildered as to why they were being left behind. They jumped about frantically.

              “Look after them, Phoenix,” Gabe said his voice cracking slightly and then he and Percy were heading for the coach, not looking back.

              I knew Phoenix didn’t like being touched, but for once, I ignored this. I leaned over and kissed his cheek. He looked startled, his eyes went wide and I said, “Be seeing you, OK?”

              He nodded his head, gripping three leashes in one hand and clutching at his computer with the other.

              Adag came over and took the dog leashes of him, making them walk with her, away from Phoenix. She smiled at me.

              “Good luck,” she said.

              “Wait a week,” I said to her, it was highly unlikely we would survive but if I did I would do it right this time, this time there would be no waking up.

              I heard Corporal Peters shout “Lucy,” couldn’t anyone get my bloody name right? And then I was moving, my leg didn’t hurt, I had taken a huge dose of painkillers before we had left the home and I had padded my leg brace with gauze to give me more support.

              My senses were now on hyper alert. The world around me suddenly went hollow as I hoisted myself up into the coach.

              Our vehicle lurched forward, Mitch was driving, and then we were moving, the coach wheels bouncing on the earth, making our teeth rattle in our heads and our brains I think go to mush.

              Of the eight military trucks that had left Thorncroft not so long ago, only six made it out of Birenchester. As we dropped into the dip that Phoenix had pointed out to us only moments before, we all saw a sight that we hope we never have to see again in our lifetimes.

Ever.

              Surging over hill and dale in the far distance were a mass of Twice Dead. It was like watching a grey landslide of people, all moving as one. The hill itself seemed to be moving. It throbbed with the sound of feet, a low thunder that reverberated through the land.

              “Oh my dear God,” I whispered and we all stared for a brief moment at what was before us. The main body of the Twice Dead were still a way off, but there had obviously been some sort of Twice Dead scouting party, which had intercepted the convoy resulting in one of the trucks going on its side.

              Wolf should have left the occupants of the truck to their fate, but he made the decision for whatever reason to stop and try and get the people out of the overturned vehicle. Where they had stopped had at least the protection of some thick woods that were surrounded by the edge of the Brocklease Bunker metal fence, which though old and rusting, were still strong and had provided an unexpected bit of protection for the convoy.

              The Twice Dead could only come at them from in front and to the right of them, not from behind because of the fence and of course, the wild garlic further back on the edge of Ashby Forest.

              “Oh shit, shit, shit!” I heard Mitch say as he stamped on the brakes and I turned around to the silent and pale faced occupants and said in a clear voice, “We get who we can onto the coach, everyone out, remember where we need to go to from here, don’t use your GPB’s unless you have to, have all of you got a lighter?”

              I heard a collective yes from everyone.

              “Light and throw,” I reminded them, “Don’t hold onto it, light and throw, and dive for cover, understand?”

              Another collective yes. I was surprised that I was angry. It had come upon me suddenly, a rage so dark, it was consuming me from the inside out. What had Adag said to me? You are the daughter of Kali, a warrior, all so bloody clichéd, but also incredibly accurate.

After the loss of Theresa and Jack I had lived my life in relative silence, never bucked the system that tethered me to my indolence, never truly making a stand. Oh an occasional word, like sticking up for Stevie when Seb was derogatory about his family, taking Cassidy’s side when others picked on him. Trivial, easy stuff that I actually didn’t see as anything other than trying to keep the peace.

But this was different, this was a matter of life and death and I could either accept my death at the hands of the Twice Dead or fight back and give my life and the lives of my friends some kind of meaning.

              Mitch was first off the bus, running to the back of the coach to get Seb out who had already unhooked all his straps so that he could slide onto the electric-ramp in Lewis

              Corporal Peters had suggested we leave Seb behind with Adag and the boys, but I had refused. This was his battle too, he had his part to play in it like we all did and Lewis was customised to take the bumps and shakes of the real world.

This was the last part of our Day of Days I thought as I got off the bus, pulling my sword out from the leather sheaf, making sure my leg brace was locked in its moving position whilst secretly praying that it would hold out for as long as it was needed.

We all ran toward the army trucks and it was only when we got closer that we realised why Wolf had stopped, he hadn’t had any choice. The land simply couldn’t take the sheer weight of the army vehicles. Our coach was long and the weight distributed in a different way from the top-heavy trucks filled with people and supplies.

Plus, Mitch had stopped the truck instinctively on what was obviously a rubble pathway, had he gone a few hundred yards further, his wheels too would have sunk into the soft terrain and become stuck as well.

              Wolf had managed to get the trucks into a semi-circle before the wheels went too far into the ground, instinctively heading for a place he could try and defend.

              It was chaos. We heard shouting, yelling, and of course guns firing. Soldiers were warding off the Twice Dead scouting party; others were trying to force one of the trucks out of the mud. I caught a glimpse of Rachel, Zimmerman’s sister, crouched with her Grandchildren by the side of one of the trucks; she was holding a pink bundle in her arms. The baby, it seemed like it was still alive.

              The sun was in front of us so Wolf and his people weren’t aware of us until we started shouting. I saw him turn, he raised his gun, shit did he think we were the Twice Dead? I hadn’t thought about that!

              “Don’t you shoot us!” I yelled and thank God I was heard, I think I must have broken the sound barrier with my shriek. I heard a shout, something akin to, “What the fuck!” Wolf’s face was a picture and he stepped back, as we surged forward to join him and his people.

              My mind was going into overdrive, the trucks couldn’t be salvaged, their wheels had sunk too deep in the soft earth. Soldiers were firing at the Twice Dead scouting party, doing their best to obliterate heads as they pushed forward, trying to find a weakness in which to break in through.

              I realised at that moment there wasn’t enough room in the coach for everyone. I had hoped that some of the trucks could follow us, but that was not going to happen. I caught sight of Private Salter, crouching next to a tree stump, a Glock in his good hand, firing at the Twice Dead. His eyes went wide when he caught sight of me. I didn’t have time to speak to him.

              “Eden! Jasmine!” I screamed at the two young women, “Get the children, get them onto the coach! Now! Percy, Gabe, go with them!” They obeyed instantly, Eden grabbing the youngest boy and hoisting him onto her back.

              Gabe and Percy pulled the children’s Grandmother off the ground, and Jasmine took the precious bundle from her arms and the eldest boy was lifted up into Gabe’s arms as soon as his Grandmother was on her feet.

              I swung around, “Peters, bomb!” I shouted. The soldier didn’t even hesitate, he was fast, wild garlic bomb in hand and lighter, thank God for the wind proof lighters we had raided from the newsagents in town, “Everyone down!” I screamed as the jar spun through the air, the rag wick burning fiercely, the wind making it burn faster, it exploded in midair, not a big explosion, but the petrol was on fire, the stink of wild garlic filled the air, and the effect of the GPB was dramatic.

              The Twice Dead momentarily stopped attacking, they moved fast, away from the stinking embers that were falling to earth in a fiery glaze. Hot, garlic infused embers landed on the heads of a few Twice Dead, the effect was instantaneous, their flesh began to melt.

I watched in horrified fascination as one former human started to run around in circles, high pitched hissing coming out of his throat, his grey fingers pulling at the flesh on top of his skull, plucking away chunks of the sizzling flesh and muscle until glistening bone was exposed. His cranium seemed to expand outwards and then it happened.

His skull split into three pieces running along the coronal sutures, it was almost like a grotesque lotus unfurling its petals to reveal the blackened lumpy jelly of his brain which began to swell upwards, his eyes literally popped out of their sockets, no joke, in fact they didn’t just pop out, they exploded out, followed swiftly by his brain which became a glutinous stream of black goo that sprayed into air like the fountain I had dabbled my feet in when I visited Brighton all those years ago.

“Holy fucking shit!” I heard someone scream.

“That is fucking disgusting!” someone else yelled.

Another GPB was thrown, with similar results. As I expected the rest of the Twice Dead, got the message and backed off suddenly, moving to the edge of the road, they turned and looked to the moving carpet in the distance. Their reinforcements would be here soon, and by their sheer numbers, they would surely overcome us.

              Their collective intelligence shone through, I listened to the shouting of the soldiers, bewildered as to why the attack had suddenly stopped. They didn’t realise yet that the Twice Dead were intelligent, they were treating them as mindless Zombies. Well they weren’t mindless, they were evolving. Learning. Whatever the contagion had done to them had done a good job in making them into what they were now. A walking, non-verbalizing cannibal with heightened strength and the ability to work in a pack.

              My eyes were on the surge of Twice Dead that would soon be upon us. Seb was moving Lewis around the ground, Lewis moved well I thought, smooth, wasn’t hindered by the soft ground, or the uneven land.

              Wolf didn’t make any small talk, he started bellowing out orders. I caught sight of Duke, we looked at each other, knowing some of each other’s secrets.

              “Where’s Zimmerman?” I said to Wolf.

              “Trapped under the truck,” Zimmerman had been in the truck that had overturned. When it had first tipped, it had only partly gone over, balancing on two wheels, momentum not quite pulling it to earth. He had been climbing out of the back when he had slipped and as he had slipped, the truck had moved violently, spinning almost, he had tried to scramble away, but he wasn’t fast enough, his left leg up to his knee was crushed under the weight of the side of the vehicle.

Nat and two other soldiers were trying to dig the earth from around the truck door that was pinning Zimmerman’s foot, Duke had the older man propped up against his chest.

“We can’t free him;” Wolf said savagely.

“Let the Twice Dead have him,” my words loud enough for Zimmerman and Duke to hear.

“We need him alive,” I heard the disgust in Wolf’s voice. He didn’t want to save Zimmerman any more than I did. But he was right.

“Great!” I said savage but we didn’t have time to argue so we didn’t.

“Cassidy! Stevie!” I swung around as I shouted and they came running.

“I need your help,” I said to them both, “We have to get this truck off this man’s leg, can you lift it enough for him to be pulled free?”

They didn’t hesitate. I moved to Duke and the tip of my sword touched his throat, he turned and looked up at me.