Mike went around the side of the Land Rover and ducked down, waiting for us. I ran for the driver’s door and pressed the unlock switch on the key fob. The doors clicked open.
We slipped our rucksacks off and piled in. I got behind the wheel and fumbled the key into the ignition. Only when the engine had roared into life did I risk a glance at the porch. The nasties watched us with their yellow eyes but they didn’t come for us. Lying at their feet, I saw the remains of Sergeant Brand and I felt acidic bile rise in my throat. Looking away, I reversed the Land Rover away from the house and spun it round so we faced the dirt track that led to the road. I put the windscreen wipers on at full speed. They sluiced the water from the screen, giving me a rain-smeared view of the track and the forest on either side.
The fence we had climbed over earlier was broken down in places, the wood splintered like broken bones.
I put the Rover into first gear and we drove out of the farm.
On either side of us, zombies stood in the trees, their angry eyes watching us as we passed.
seven
We hit the main road and I turned right. The roads in this area were never busy but now they were deserted and it felt eerie. The tarmac stretched off into the distance and all we could see was rain, mist, mountains and trees. There were no other vehicles. It made us feel conspicuous being on the road alone.
“Why the hell didn’t they follow us?” Mike asked from the passenger seat. He had found a road map in the door pocket and was looking for side roads that might lead us out of the area. If we stayed on the main road too long, we would hit an army checkpoint and be right back where we started; headed for a Survivors Camp.
I pulled over onto the side of the road, keeping the engine running. The farmer must have filled the tank before he fell ill because the fuel gauge read ‘Full’ and there were two jerry cans tied to the metal roof rack. I hoped they weren’t empty but I wasn’t about to leave the safety of the vehicle and check. I felt like we were exposed out here.
“I don’t know why they didn’t come after us,” I said. “The ones that came into the house didn’t follow us out of the back door either.”
Mike tracked his finger along the map. “There’s a right turn up ahead, man. That takes us to Swansea. It’s a main road but we can get off here and take the back roads.”
“Why do we want to go to Swansea?” Elena asked. “We should stay away from cities. If there are loads of those things out here, imagine how many of them there are in the cities.”
“We don’t want to go to a city,” I said. Then a thought occurred to me. “Maybe we should go in that direction, though. Swansea is on the coast. If we head south-west, we’ll come to the sea.”
Lucy knew where I was going with that thought. “A boat,” she said. “We can take a boat.”
Mike grinned. “That’s a sweet plan, man. Those things would never get us on a boat.” He slapped his leg and laughed. “Fuck yeah, let’s go.”
“There’re a few miles between us and the sea,” I said. “We don’t know what we’re driving into.”
“Alex,” Mike said, looking at me, “you’ve had a downer on this trip ever since we left home. Lighten up.”
“Lighten up? I just nearly got eaten by fucking zombies.”
We all laughed. The relief of getting away from the farm hit us and we expressed that emotion in laughter. Despite the fact that we were anything but safe, we forgot for a moment that the area was crawling with the undead. It felt good. A moment of the old world creeping into this new fucked up one.
I pulled back onto the road and set off slowly, looking for the right turn and keeping an eye out for checkpoints. A few miles along the road, we reached the turn and I took it. The road ahead looked clear.
“Dude, put your foot down,” Mike said. “We want to get there before it gets dark.”
“It’s only two o’clock, Mike.”
“And you’re doing ten miles an hour, Alex.”
“If we see a checkpoint, I want to make sure I have time to stop before we crash into it and get caught.”
“Let me drive.”
“No, I’m driving.”
“We’ll never get to a boat at this rate.”
“Mike,” Lucy said, “Alex knows what he’s doing.”
I felt a sudden flush of pride. It was nice to have Lucy on my side.
Five minutes later, my strategy was proved right.
In the distance, I saw a dark bulky shape on the road. Slowing to a crawl, I pulled into the trees and killed the engine. “Looks like a checkpoint.”
Mike turned to the girls. “Elena, pass the binoculars out of my rucksack.”
She rummaged in the top pocket and handed him a small pair of binoculars encased in green rubber. He got out of the Land Rover and crept through the trees. Once he broke cover, he got onto his belly and crawled through the mud to the edge of the road.
He raised the binoculars to his eyes and studied the area along the road.
By the time he climbed back into the Land Rover, his jacket was smeared with mud and he had a worried look on his face.
“There’s an armoured personnel carrier on the road and six soldiers standing around it. There’s a Land Rover as well but I couldn’t see if there was anyone inside it.”
I looked at the map. I couldn’t see any way to get out of the mountains and to the coast without hitting a main road somewhere along the way. If all the roads were blocked like this, we were screwed.
I opened my door and got out, needing fresh air. The rain was letting up, slowing to an insidious drizzle and we were sheltered in the trees. Everyone got out of the Rover to stretch their legs. We were stuck here anyway. We couldn’t go any farther up the road without being spotted.
“Any ideas?” Mike said to no one in particular.
We were silent.
“Not unless we’re willing to go on foot from here. But it’s about forty miles to the coast and it isn’t only the army we have to worry about.” I didn’t want to proceed on foot. The Land Rover offered at least some protection. And there was no way we could hike forty miles before nightfall. I wasn’t even sure I could hike forty miles at all.
Also, I didn’t hold out much hope for our chances of survival without a vehicle. There must be thousands of zombies between here and the coast. We couldn’t outrun them all.
The only other plan I could come up with involved driving around the roadblock. The Land Rover could handle the terrain by the side of the road but we couldn’t exactly drive up the side of a mountain, which meant the soldiers would see us and start shooting. If we got past the bullets, they would probably chase us. I may be good at racing games on my consoles but in real life I didn’t think I would manage to outrun solders in a high speed chase.
Lucy interrupted my thoughts. “Can you hear that?” She seemed to be listening to the forest.
“We need to get back in the Land Rover,” I said. If there were zombies in the trees, I was getting us out of here.
“No, it’s voices.”
I listened. I heard it too. A lot of voices. Talking. The terrain sloped up steeply to a ridge. The sounds were coming from the other side.
“We should check it out, man.” Mike was already heading up the slope.
I looked at the girls and shrugged. There weren’t any better options coming our way so we might as well see who was making all the noise. Maybe if it got louder, it would distract the soldiers at the checkpoint and we would be able to drive past, unseen.
The slope steepened as we climbed and I had to hold on to pine tree trunks to prevent myself from slipping over on the carpet of pine needles on the ground.
When I finally got to the rocky ridge, I was out of breath and my lungs hurt.