Blog of the Dead (Book 3): Lost by Lisa Richardson Page B

immediate threat. We stood, panting and blood spattered, surrounded by bodies of the twice dead. I glanced at Kay, worried about the effect of the physical exertion on her post-infection system. She stood firm but I could see weariness in her eyes.
    ‘Doesn’t it feel good,’ said Elaine, grinning. I could see dots of black blood on the lenses of her glasses. ‘It’s a sense of achievement, right?’ She pushed her glasses up her nose oblivious to the blood splatters as she beamed at us in turn.
    ‘It’s a pointless waste of energy and an unnecessary danger,’ I said, watching the next wave of zombies’ progress. A few more had joined the procession.
    ‘It’s progress,’ said Elaine. ‘It’s taking the apocalypse into our own hands. Together we could clear enough to take back more and more of the country, make it zombie free.’
    ‘We already tried that,’ said Kay. ‘Didn’t work.’ I knew she was referring to when some of us had tried to create a safe zone in Folkestone by putting a fence up around the town centre. And, as Kay pointed out, it didn’t work. Only me and Kay remain of the people involved in that little project.
    ‘You obviously didn’t try hard enough,’ said Elaine. ‘It’s the way forward. We can’t let them win. You stop now, you’ll let them win. It’ll be your fault.’
    ‘Whatever,’ I said, stepping over a zombie’s body to stand in front of Elaine. ‘We did what you asked. We helped bring down the zombie population of Ashford. Now we’re going to go on our way. You can find your own way back or stay here or whatever. Just, goodbye.’
    ‘You can’t go,’ said Elaine, her hands raised palm out towards me, her face a mask of panic.
    ‘We can, Crazy Lady, just watch us, like,’ said Clay.
    I began to turn to head back to the car when Elaine grasped my shoulder and pulled me back. ‘Hey!’ I said, shrugging her off but she grabbed hold of my arm.
    ‘I need you,’ said Elaine, looking at me imploringly, like an overly attached girlfriend I’d just tried to dump.
    ‘You need something,’ said Kay. ‘A slap, or–’
    ‘Don’t go!’
    ‘Sweetie, you’ll be–’
    ‘You can’t go!’
    I could see around twenty or so zombies heading up towards us from the way we came and a wave of irritation hit me. It wasn’t enough that I had a nutter hanging onto my arm, me and my friends would have to fight through a crowd of zombies to get back to our car. ‘Just fuck off, Elaine!’ I snapped and I tugged my arm free.
    Faster than I could stop her, Elaine snatched the hammer from my belt. I flinched, fearing what she intended to do with it, imagining her smashing it into the side of my head. But instead she let go of me and backed up a little, holding the hammer in front of her. ‘I need you! You’ll see!’
    ‘Sweetie, stop!’ said Charlotte.
    ‘No, don’t be stupid, love,’ said Clay.
    We watched opened mouthed as Elaine swung the hammer into her right knee. Wearing the leathers probably prevented her from damaging herself as much as she would have, but she still managed to smash her knee joint enough for her leg to give way beneath her. She screamed. Then, crumpled on the ground, she raised the hammer again.
    ‘See, I need you. You can’t leave me now!’
    ‘Oh god,’ said Clay. ‘Stop it! That’s enough!’
    Elaine ignored him and smashed the hammer down on her knee once more, screaming as she did so.
    ‘Stop it! STOP!’ Charlotte dived forwards but I grabbed her elbow. I figured the crazy lady with the hammer could be capable of anything and I didn’t want my friend getting in the way of it just because she couldn’t help caring about the nutter.
    ‘S-see, I-I told you,’ stammered Elaine, her teeth gritted against the pain as she dropped my hammer on the paving stones. ‘I-I need… I need you.’
    ‘Fucking hell,’ said Misfit. And I didn’t know whether his words were the result of what he had just witnessed Elaine do to herself or if he