Burden of Survival Read online

  “The mines,” I said and sighed as they all turned to me.

  “What?” Gabby asked.

  “The village sits at the mouth of a valley,” I said and pointed west to where the hills rose high above the village. “That valley contains the quarries and mines where the villages worked before all this happened.”

  “You think they’ll be there?”

  “When they saw all the undead gathering, if they had any sense they will have sent many of their more vulnerable people there,” I said. “The next question you need to ask yourself is whether we should find them or not.”

  “Of course we should,” Gabby said.

  Pat and Gregg exchanged looks that said they understood what I meant and could see the difficulties. I let out another sigh at her lack of understanding.

  “However many survivors we find will need somewhere to go,” I said quietly. “Their homes are gone so we’ll need to take them to the island. We’ll have to take who knows how many people a dozen miles through zombie filled countryside and when we get them back to the island, we’ll have to use the limited supplies we have to feed them.”

  She looked troubled as she realised what I was saying. It was all well and good wanting to save people but you had to be realistic. You couldn’t save everyone and if you tried, you could damn yourself.

  “We can’t just leave them,” she said.

  “Will the people back at the island thank you for bringing them when food runs out after a few days or weeks?” I asked. She was wavering so I had to give her a push to show that it wasn’t worth searching for survivors and then I could at least tell Lily I tried to help without lying.

  “Think of who would be there anyway,” I said. “The old and very young. The vulnerable people who would be useless in defending their homes.” As well as useless to us.

  Something was wrong, her expression hardened and she took on a look of resolve. Gregg and Pat looked equally determined and I realised I’d said something wrong. What happened?

  “If we go round the north end of the village we’ll chance meeting less of the zombies,” Gregg said.

  “More tree cover too,” Pat agreed.

  “Stay quiet and we won’t be noticed,” Jenny added. You too?

  “It’s decided then,” Gabby said. “We go look for any survivors and take them home with us. We can sort the details of how to feed them later. They need us.”

  Oh hell.

  The worst part was that I couldn’t even ask anyone what I’d said to make them so determined. Not without letting them know that that hadn’t been my intention. I told myself that at least it would be a challenge and I might get to see someone die. It didn’t help.

  With a final sigh, I followed my friends as they moved away through the birch trees. I drew my knife from its sheath and kept alert for any stray zombie. If we were seen by just one there was a good chance it would alert the others to our presence.

  As much as I needed something to hold off that burning need, my death wasn’t quite what I intended and a thousand or more zombies were entirely too many to chance.

  We made our way through the dense woods, grateful for the fresh growth that helped obscure our passage. Thirty minutes to the north-east to avoid crossing open fields and then we swung around towards the mouth of the valley.

  One quick dash across twenty five feet of open ground and we were back under the trees and almost there. The only real problem we’d face would be the road that led into the valley. More than one zombie had seemed to be making their slow stumbling way along it.

  The hills towered over us on either side. Covered with heather and sparse grass that swayed gently in the wind, we’d find no cover there. Our best option was to walk along the road where the only zombies that would see us would be on the road themselves.

  Our last bit of cover was a grey stone bungalow that had been long since abandoned when the barrier was raised some distance from it. We moved briskly past it and tried to keep low as the road rose towards the valley.

  I was acutely aware of how exposed we were and I was no doubt not the only one grateful for the generally poor vision of the zombies.

  The wind had picked up earlier that morning and it reddened my cheeks and left my skin raw where my damp clothing rubbed at it. I regretted bringing up the possibility of survivors and just wanted to return to the island and the warmth of my blankets in the boat.

  As the road turned from worn tarmac to mud, we encountered the undead. Their feet were sinking into the mud and each step was a struggle but they pressed on tirelessly. The squelching sound of their movements helped mask our approach as we avoided the worst of the mud and kept to the side of the track.

  Eager to kill something, anything, I grabbed a zombie’s shoulder to steady it as my blade slammed down through its skull. In silence my friends joined me. Pat’s hammer split skulls heads with each swing while Gregg used his steel bar to club and impale the zombies.

  Jenny struggled to keep her usual rage under control as she killed and Gabby hung back. She was no stranger to fighting the undead but had little stomach for it and unless absolutely necessary, she would let the rest of us do the killing.

  In less than a minute the group was dead and sprawled across the muddy road, brain and congealed blood mixing with the mud and water. I felt nothing. No joy, no peace and not even a sense of accomplishment.

  With a less than pleasant mood I followed my friends along the road. Another three zombies came in to view as the road wound around to the south and I let Pat and Gregg finish them off. Both of them looked at me in surprise but I ignored them and stuffed my hands into my pockets, away from my knife.

  The road turned again as we moved from the hills up into the mountains. We left the road and followed a smaller one that led upwards. A sign positioned where the roads split indicated a hotel further along and it seemed like as good a place as any to find people.

  For an hour we climbed. The landscape was muted greens and browns of grass and heather interspersed with black basalt rock. Even I could admit that view was impressive and we could see for a great distance if we looked back.

  Below us the road meandered through the hills with side roads splitting off towards various old quarries and sites that hadn’t been worked in years. They were more tourist attraction than active workplaces, though since the apocalypse began they weren’t even that.

  The undead were everywhere, growing in number as they walked along the roads. They seemed to prefer to take the easier route when given a choice and unless they had something to chase, they had little reason to climb the steep paths into the mountains.

  It was midday when we came to the Coniston Coppermine’s hotel. A row of houses that were likely used by the mine workers back when it had been active. Grey stone walls and slate roofs made of local materials, several four wheeled drive vehicles sat out before the large building.

  As we approached several men and women stepped out to greet us. I couldn’t help but notice the three shotguns pointed our way or the angry expressions.

  “Who are you and what do you want?” called a bearded man in a thick parka.

  “We’re from Belle Isle,” Gabby replied. “We came to check on you and found the village overrun.”

  “No!” a woman cried as she collapsed to her knees.

  Her companions rushed in to help her and the bearded man’s face had lost all colour. He needed a couple of attempts before his words finally came.

  “You’d better come inside,” he said.

  Chapter 16

  Lily

  I watched Michelle as she sipped at her water. She was pale and physically weak but she wasn’t a zombie. That alone was perhaps the only good thing that had happened since that first raft arrived.

  “We’ll need to keep you here for tonight,” I said quietly and she nodded. She understood as well as any of us would. “The door will be locked but I’ll have someone close. Just knock if you nee
d anything.”

  “Aye, it’s fine,” she said. “I don’t think I could do much of anything right now anyway.”

  “This is pretty amazing,” Becky said.

  She was sitting at Gabby’s desk as she studied the injured woman. She tapped her fingers against the desks surface as she thought.

  “Just think what this means,” she said. “Cass isn’t the only one. It could be more common than we thought.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Well think about it. Most people died from the initial attacks and turned after death. Anyone who was bitten knew what would happen to them so many will have taken their own lives.”

  “How many didn’t need to,” I mused as understanding came.

  “Indeed,” Becky said as she clapped her hands in delight. “How many would have survived the bite given the chance? I wonder how many of us here are actually immune.”

  “Well we can’t test that without being bitten,” I said.

  “I’m sure the navy could come up with a way of testing us,” she said with a sly smile.

  “Maybe,” I muttered.

  “I wonder what will happen when Cass or Michelle eventually die.”

  “What?” Michelle asked.

  “I don’t mean now darling, I just mean what if you die of old age. You’re immune but does that mean the virus will still affect you when you’re dead?”

  “Well don’t expect to find out anytime soon,” Michelle muttered.

  “Of course,” she said as she waved her hand as though to wave away the suggestion.

  “What’s going on out there?” Michelle asked to change the subject as Becky lapsed into quiet thought.

  “Jim thinks he knows where the people who built the rafts are,” I said with a sigh. “Annalise insists that we go and attack them straight away even though it’s dark, raining and we have no idea how many of them there are.”

  “She means well,” Michelle said.

  “Maybe, but right now the last thing we can do is rush off half cocked.”

  “You think more rafts will come tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow, the day after… I don’t know.”

  My hand covered my mouth as I yawned and the injured woman smiled at me.

  “You should get some rest.”

  “Perhaps,” I said.

  “She’s right,” Becky said from behind me. She pushed herself up from the desk and gently grasped my arm as she turned me to the door. “You go rest, I’ll stay with our injured friend.”

  I would have protested but another yawn forestalled anything I was about to say and I gave in. Sleep would be useful and in the fresh light of morning I would be better able to make the decisions that needed making.

  Since Ryan was away on the mainland and we’d had several zombie attacks, I considered it pointless heading out to the boat. Sadly though, due to the losses we’d had, we had ample room for me to find somewhere to sleep. I chose an unattended spot and settled down.

  Even as exhausted as I was it took some time for my mind to stop going over the same seemingly insurmountable problems endlessly in my mind. When I finally did drop into a restless slumber it seemed I had barely closed my eyes before a hand shook me roughly awake.

  “You need to wake up,” Cass said with an urgency to her tone that filled me with dread.

  “Another attack?”

  She shook her head and leaned close to whisper.

  “There’re strangers on the island.”

  I sat bolt upright and threw the blankets off of me. All around me, the sleeping people were being woken and alerted. Whispered words were exchanged as instructions to stay as quiet as possible were passed on.

  “How many?” I asked as I climbed to my feet, all weariness burnt away by the burst of adrenaline her news had given me.

  “Seven, armed.”

  “Damn,” I looked around the room. The front doors were secured but wouldn’t hold off someone determined and the windows, though boarded up were adequate defence against zombies but wouldn’t stop the living monsters. “Get everyone up and armed, where’s Jim and Jonathan?”

  “Roof,” Cass said. “They asked for you.”

  I nodded and jogged across the room to the stairs. I didn’t want to look too panicked and upset everyone. As soon as I was out of sight I sprinted up the stairs and scrambled up the ladder to the roof.

  A cold wind caught at my hair, blowing it across my face as I walked along the narrow walkway to the other council members. In the early morning light as the sun crested the horizon I could clearly see the concern on their faces. They were staring down over the stone rail at something in the grounds below. They nodded in greeting and pointed down as I joined them and I followed the direction they were pointing.

  Six men and one woman were sitting on camp chairs a short distance from the front entrance of the round house. They were dressed in mismatched clothing like our own people and they looked to be half starved and filthy.

  Each of them carried a gun of some kind, two of which looked to be the type I’d last seen used by the deserters. The standard automatic weapon used by the British army. The ammo clip was behind the handle and the two men who each carried one, looked to be familiar with them.

  The leader or at least the man who sat in the middle, had a handgun. A sleek rectangle of black metal that rested against his leg. The other two men had a hunting rifle apiece much like our own and the woman had a double barrelled shotgun.

  I glanced to Jim and he shook his head to indicate they hadn’t said anything as yet. He gestured for me to speak and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him. He should have already asked what they wanted.

  “Can we help you?” I called down politely. No need for them to think us rattled.

  The man in the middle looked up and shaded his eyes with his free hand as he squinted at us. His face had a shaggy growth of red hair that looked as though he hadn’t shaved in days.

  “Good morning dear lady,” he called. “Are you in charge here?”

  His voice was deep and his tone jovial, entirely at odds with his grim appearance.

  “I am one of those in charge, yes,” I called back. “What do you want?”

  “This island,” the man called back. “You people can stay if you surrender.”

  It was hard not to laugh in his face. I looked over to Jim who shook his head in disbelief.

  “Why on earth would we do that?” I asked.

  “Because if you don’t we will kill every last one of you,” the man said. “I’m not unreasonable though and if you surrender your life here will be much the same, except with me in charge.”

  “Lily,” Jim whispered. “Be careful.”

  “Big words from you,” I said with a touch of anger. “You’re outnumbered and we have guns of our own.”

  “Oh I have no doubt you do,” he said. “You have yourselves all boarded up and locked inside that big stone house. You lost some people to the little presents we sent you though didn’t you?”

  “You admit to sending those zombies?”

  “Of course we did,” he said with a laugh that his companions copied. “Consider that a warm up.”

  “Warm up?”

  “Merely the opening salvo of our attack,” he said. “If you wish to fight then that is merely a taste of what you can expect.”

  “What makes you think we won’t kill you right now?” I called back. “You’re sitting there spouting your threats, but there’s just seven of you.”

  “Not just seven,” he said. His voice had gone cold and dead, much like Ryan’s before he killed and I tensed. “But you need proof no doubt.”

  No! I screamed as the warm spray of blood covered the side of my face. Jim made a strange sound of surprise before he fell forward against the railing as blood leaked from the hole in his head. The sound of the shot that had killed him was almost an afterthought.

  “That was my friend,”
the leader called. “He has a high powered sniper rifle.”

  “Fuck you!” I screamed and his lips turned up in a smile.

  “You can’t win here,” he said. “We want this island and while we’d rather have it with all the people here to do our bidding, we’ll happily clear you all out first.”

  “Damn you,” I whispered as I stared down at Jim’s dead body. He’d been such a caring man.

  “This is a grenade,” the leader of the group called. I looked over the side to see him holding up a black ball that I could only assume was the explosive. “We have several. In one hour we will make some holes in your nice little building and toss them inside. Then we will come in with our guns and kill any survivors.”

  “I suggest that you open the doors and surrender to us before then,” he finished.

  “What do we do?” Jonathan asked.

  He was pale and visibly shook as he stared down at the man he had been talking to just a short while before.

  “What else can we do?” I said bitterly. “We surrender.”

  Chapter 17

  Ryan

  Someone was weeping. It wasn’t quiet and it wasn’t pleasing to the ear. Great hiccupping sobs that filled the room and grated my nerves. I kept my hand away from my knife lest the urge to silence that ridiculous sound grow too much to ignore.

  Thirty or so people filled the dining room of the Coppermine cottages hotel. Several of them were upset by the news of their village and the state we had found it in. One of them at least, was being obnoxiously loud about it.

  Gabby was speaking softly with the bearded man who had first greeted us. No doubt going over plans and options while the rest of us lingered by the door, watched warily by the people we’d come to save.

  At least five of them were over sixty and an even dozen were under thirteen. The rest were somewhere in between, more female than male and all now without a home.

  Gregg whispered something to Pat who nodded tersely. His eyes passed over mine as he surveyed the room, they didn’t linger and I wondered absently why he was so upset with me.