his.
I
haven’t told either of them about the woman around the corner. What’s the
point? Gabby will get upset, Nathan will be scared... it’s only going to make
an already difficult situation that much harder still.
#
Ten minutes
later and we’re standing on the green at the front of the development, hiding behind
the trunk of one of the oaks like kids playing some kind of game. Except this
is far from a game. This is as far from a game as you can get. We’re both
trussed up: me in my decorating garb, Nathan in a boiler-suit with the wetsuit
we bought him for that diving break he went on last summer underneath. We’ve
both got our faces covered. I’ve got my axe, he’s got a baseball bat. We won’t
need to use them, I’ve told him, they’re just to make us feel better. We can
see everything from up here on the bank. And Christ, the world looks even worse
than when I last looked out.
The
road stretches away from the development. At first glance it’s like the view I
got that day from Clive and Christine’s bedroom window, but everything’s
covered with an additional layer of dirt and decay. As we’re watching, a single
infected walks into view. ‘Look at him,’ I say, nudging Nathan. ‘They look
pretty docile when they’re like that, don’t they?’
‘Pretty
what?’
‘Docile...
harmless.’
‘Suppose.’
‘Told
you it was bad, though, didn’t I?’
He
just nods, finding it hard to talk.
‘We
need to move fast and stay quiet while we’re out here, right? Don’t want them
finding out we’re here.’
‘Right.’
‘You
follow my lead, and you do exactly what I tell you.’
‘Right.’
‘We’re
going to block the entrance with cars from the development, okay? We’ll wheel
them down. I’ll push, you steer. Then once we’ve got a few of them in place,
we’ll use the machinery from the building site to bring pallets of bricks and
sand and whatever else we can find over here. Got it?’
‘Got
it.’
‘You
ready?’
‘Uh
huh.’
‘You’re
going to have to do better than that, Nath. I need you to be positive. I know
you’d probably rather be anywhere but here right now, but you have to be
focused and ready for anything. Understand?’
‘I’ve
got it.’
Even
though his eyes are hidden behind his goggles, I can see how scared he is. Even
up until last night he was giving it the big I am ... telling me how
nothing was going to bother him, how he’d be the one looking after me when we
got out of the house. The wind’s been well and truly knocked out of his sails.
It
starts to spit with rain. The sky’s a heavy grey overhead, and it’s only going
to get worse. It’s like the clouds are giving up and falling, covering
everything in their murk. Uncollected litter blows along the streets like
leaves, an artificial, out of season autumn. There are bodies. Many bodies,
most in differing stages of decomposition, some lying together but most lying
alone. ‘Don’t look at them,’ I tell him, because I know he already is. ‘And
whatever you do, don’t touch anything. Not a bloody thing. If one of them comes
towards you, don’t do anything stupid. You don’t try and fight because you
can’t win... just get the hell away from it fast. You understand?’
‘I
understand.’
‘Good.
Let’s do it.’
There
are three cars parked near the first houses up the hill. I take a chance and
find the keys to two of them. I won’t risk starting the engine, but it’ll be
easier to do this if the steering lock is off. I get Nathan to sit in the
driver’s seat, make sure he knows what he’s doing and where to put the car,
then I lean in, take off the handbrake, then go around to the back and push.
And
it works. Beautifully.
The
car glides down the hill, picking up speed and running away from me, and he slots
it into position perfectly, blocking more than half the road. He gets out
carefully – quietly – like I told him, and runs back up.
We
do the same with the second
I
haven’t told either of them about the woman around the corner. What’s the
point? Gabby will get upset, Nathan will be scared... it’s only going to make
an already difficult situation that much harder still.
#
Ten minutes
later and we’re standing on the green at the front of the development, hiding behind
the trunk of one of the oaks like kids playing some kind of game. Except this
is far from a game. This is as far from a game as you can get. We’re both
trussed up: me in my decorating garb, Nathan in a boiler-suit with the wetsuit
we bought him for that diving break he went on last summer underneath. We’ve
both got our faces covered. I’ve got my axe, he’s got a baseball bat. We won’t
need to use them, I’ve told him, they’re just to make us feel better. We can
see everything from up here on the bank. And Christ, the world looks even worse
than when I last looked out.
The
road stretches away from the development. At first glance it’s like the view I
got that day from Clive and Christine’s bedroom window, but everything’s
covered with an additional layer of dirt and decay. As we’re watching, a single
infected walks into view. ‘Look at him,’ I say, nudging Nathan. ‘They look
pretty docile when they’re like that, don’t they?’
‘Pretty
what?’
‘Docile...
harmless.’
‘Suppose.’
‘Told
you it was bad, though, didn’t I?’
He
just nods, finding it hard to talk.
‘We
need to move fast and stay quiet while we’re out here, right? Don’t want them
finding out we’re here.’
‘Right.’
‘You
follow my lead, and you do exactly what I tell you.’
‘Right.’
‘We’re
going to block the entrance with cars from the development, okay? We’ll wheel
them down. I’ll push, you steer. Then once we’ve got a few of them in place,
we’ll use the machinery from the building site to bring pallets of bricks and
sand and whatever else we can find over here. Got it?’
‘Got
it.’
‘You
ready?’
‘Uh
huh.’
‘You’re
going to have to do better than that, Nath. I need you to be positive. I know
you’d probably rather be anywhere but here right now, but you have to be
focused and ready for anything. Understand?’
‘I’ve
got it.’
Even
though his eyes are hidden behind his goggles, I can see how scared he is. Even
up until last night he was giving it the big I am ... telling me how
nothing was going to bother him, how he’d be the one looking after me when we
got out of the house. The wind’s been well and truly knocked out of his sails.
It
starts to spit with rain. The sky’s a heavy grey overhead, and it’s only going
to get worse. It’s like the clouds are giving up and falling, covering
everything in their murk. Uncollected litter blows along the streets like
leaves, an artificial, out of season autumn. There are bodies. Many bodies,
most in differing stages of decomposition, some lying together but most lying
alone. ‘Don’t look at them,’ I tell him, because I know he already is. ‘And
whatever you do, don’t touch anything. Not a bloody thing. If one of them comes
towards you, don’t do anything stupid. You don’t try and fight because you
can’t win... just get the hell away from it fast. You understand?’
‘I
understand.’
‘Good.
Let’s do it.’
There
are three cars parked near the first houses up the hill. I take a chance and
find the keys to two of them. I won’t risk starting the engine, but it’ll be
easier to do this if the steering lock is off. I get Nathan to sit in the
driver’s seat, make sure he knows what he’s doing and where to put the car,
then I lean in, take off the handbrake, then go around to the back and push.
And
it works. Beautifully.
The
car glides down the hill, picking up speed and running away from me, and he slots
it into position perfectly, blocking more than half the road. He gets out
carefully – quietly – like I told him, and runs back up.
We
do the same with the second
Similar Books
