Clifton Falls (27 page)

He bent down, frantically searching the area around his feet. He gripped a branch that’d snapped off a tree during the great storm, and without thinking of the consequences, chased after the readyto-strike zombies.

The four, close together humans smelt the rotten stench that these monsters gave off and at first glance appeared to blame each other for the stink. Karen was the first to take the stare of guilt. She tried picking out the culprit by glancing into their eyes.
One of these men must’ve let rip a good, but very smelly fart
, she thought.

Before fathoming out the truth, Todd showed up to save them from the unwanted guests. With branch raised he charged, crashing the object against the head of one of the monsters. The unplanned attack nearly caused serious harm on Blake, as the tree branch whizzed past his face. The extreme power behind the blow caused the zombie to knock against the other one and they fell over like pins at a ten-pin bowling alley.

Craig and Shane stood lost in amazement at what was going on, but the picture became a lot clearer when the married couple fell into them. They now shone their torches onto the vermin beasts. Before Craig could shoot the enemy, Mike’s voice spilled out through the radio. A pissed off officer knew he needed to take the call even though this wasn’t a good time for him. “Not now, please, not now,” he shouted.

He was in two minds. He could either kill the zombies and risk an ear bashing from Mike for not answering his call, or talk to Mike first, therefore telling him that there were two more monsters and shoot them while talking himself back into his good books.

Todd pushed the married couple away from the danger area as the freaks of nature scrambled back to their feet.
“If I were you I would move well back. I don’t know what these things are, but they’re severely pissing me off a treat.”
Todd made the officer’s mind up for him. The chocolate skinned, muddy foreman knocked passed Craig until he was standing in front of the snarling creatures. Each time one of them got close to returning to an upright position the branch would swing, crashing against them until they sprawled into the dirt again. “Die. Why won’t you just die?” Todd constantly shouted, while using the branch like a baseball bat.
Mike’s voice overpowered Craig’s eardrums now, so he took the second option and spoke to him. The conversation with the chief was spoken away from the commotion because somehow Craig didn’t want the other man knowing that it wasn’t him fighting the monsters. He would have no chance of receiving Mike’s respect if he told him that one of the civilians, who weren’t supposed to be out in this, was the one whacking the crap out of two of the fuck ups.
During this latest update between officer and chief, the hero of the bunch started tiring. A few whacks took an exceptional amount of energy out of Todd, and Blake sensed that the zombies would return to their feet very soon. The foreman clobbered one of the monsters so hard around the left arm that the bloody limb detached itself and was last seen slivering along the grass. Something had to be done and fast.
Mike overheard shouting as he tried concentrating on what Craig said. “What’s going on over there?”
Craig still wasn’t letting slip that he was in a bit of a pickle, but had to come up with something to prevent the chief from rushing over and taking command of the group. Mike listened to him waffle on about two people being found wandering around in the forest, and how a woman, who was Blake’s wife, had screamed because everyone had bumped into each other. It seemed to work, so Craig sneaked a quick peek on Todd’s progress. He was pleased to see, that after a few more draining blows, the stubborn morons stayed down. He rounded off the chat with the chief. Mike ordered him to abandon the mission and head to the caravan site.
Craig’s torch shone over the zombies again before he spoke to the courageous, but completely stupid, zombie slayer. “Have you killed them?” he asked Todd.
“They aren’t moving anymore,” the reply came.
“Good, now let’s get out of here.”
Everyone slowly followed the man through the forest, but Todd though was still very tired after his wrestling match. He needed to get his breath back and didn’t move as eagerly as the others. “Blake,” he said in a quiet tone. “I’ll catch you up. Those freaks took the wind out of me.”
“So it was you who farted then,” Karen replied.
Todd wasn’t switched on to what she was saying, but Blake however began to laugh.
“No, I meant I just need a breather.”
“I’ll wait for you,” Blake said, slapping Todd on the shoulder.
“Hey, there’s no need. You stay with the pack. I’ll catch you up when I find my trusty torch. I dropped it around here somewhere.”
Craig and Shane halted in their tracks. “We’ve got to keep moving. It’s nearly seven-thirty and I want to reach some safer ground pretty soon,” Craig cried out.
Blake and his wife smiled at Todd then caught up with the other men.
The foreman could still make out the bouncing light gleaming from the torches as the group made their way amongst the trees. He then watched the brightness eventually fade into the distance. He searched for the torch.
It had to be somewhere
. Luckily for him, something similar in size and appearance caught his attention. He bent down to pick the object up, but a quick snapping, handcuff style grip grabbed onto his wrist. Todd wasn’t expecting to be caught off guard for the second time in such a short distance by one of the crazed monsters. The severed limb was the culprit behind this sudden attack. He managed to dislodge it, tossing it away, but his crazy vision noticed the owner of the arm overcoming the dazed state. The beast wanted another fight with the human, but on this occasion Todd avoided contact. Now the other fiend rose up again. It seemed they weren’t as stupid as Todd first thought. These two weren’t like some of the others and knew when to strike again. They’d lost the battle before so had waited for the appropriate time to try once more. The clever zombies produced hideous smiles as they neared the human, knowing Todd had no one to turn to this time.
He considered rushing for his flashlight, but found it extremely difficult to judge the distance between him-self and the danger. He slipped passed the first incoming beast but was knocked off balance by the second. A pair of maggot infested legs stood right in his eyeline as he slowly retrieved his ground again. If Todd was crazy enough to stick out his tongue then he could’ve licked the small, white coloured insects off the zombie. That’s how near it was. A quick leap backwards to escape one creature and he crashed into the other one. Todd’s only form of escape was to crawl along the ground and hope the bullying duo wouldn’t see him, but it wasn’t working. One of the grotesque critters mimicked his actions, crawling behind him. He now desperately attempted keeping out of reach of the swinging arms, or, on this occasion, one arm, as he avoided being scratched or worse, bitten by the nearest monster. The second one now had thick mud pelted at its face so Todd could stand up without it attacking him.
Now petrified, the foreman raced toward a large tree, backing up against it as he took a breather without the fear of being ambushed from behind. A quick fidget inside a pocket and he found a lighter. He hoped this could be used as a smokescreen type effect. If he could get their attention onto the lighter then could either attempt a smash and bash, or a smash, bash and fucking run away. Both sounded good options, but the latter one was by far the best choice.
The flame shone its flickering light, sucking the creatures into a mind-blowing trance, but for how long? No one was to know, but it gave him an opportunity to do something. He pounced on one of the fuckers, fist punching the head while the other one received a hefty kick, sending it sprawling over. Now all thoughts were focused on the subject of finding the torch again, but the upright zombie grabbed him, slowing down the searching process. With heart almost racing out of his chest, Todd pressed down on the lighter again. He pushed the flame into the face of the attacker, burning one of its eyes. He decided not to stick around and fight this time. The plan was to locate the torch, get out of there and let the police finish them off, but as he rushed around to gain freedom he burnt one of his fingers. He then stupidly tripped over a tree stump before toppling smack bang inside the ditch again. He was now on the verge of a crying fit. It seemed the more he tried to escape, the less it happened. Todd had to remain strong in order to survive this. He scooped his hands into the loosened mud before spreading it over his body. This could well make him invisible to the creatures that were roaming around above the edge of the ditch, but one slip and they too would end up in there with him.

THIRTY-THREE

George’s frustration increased. Being lumbered with a dead recruit wasn’t an ideal job for him, but he had to do this. He flashed his torch on and off, indicating to Mike and co that he was fine. Of course he was on edge, as Toby’s corpse could change into a zombie at anytime, but George was still unsure of what that meant?

Chris stood by the door inside the caravan of blood, hoping his stay was going to be a short one. He wasn’t being nasty and unkind by hoping this, but could see that the poor man was suffering. It was horrible watching him die. The longer he saw what was happening, the more he remembered Wayne and Jason.

“Am I that disgusting...” a few, crazy coughing sounds interrupted the sentence. “…that you have to stand…so far away?” the dying man managed to say.

“Sorry, mate. I was just gathering my thoughts. How’re you feeling?” As soon as Chris said the last three words, realized they weren’t what the dying man wanted to hear.

“Very funny...” A small gurgle of blood escaped from between Scott’s lips. He was in torturous agony, but managed to carry on talking. “As you can see…I’m doing fine.”

“Sorry again, I shouldn’t have said that. I can’t begin to imagine the pain you’re feeling. Do you need anything?”
Scott desperately tried to raise himself but found this procedure extremely difficult. “Yes…can you please stop saying you’re sorry. It’s… not your fault…I’m in this mess.” The man sucked up another deep gulp of air. “Do you know what those things… are?”
Chris managed to free himself from his latest standing position and moved closer to the other man. Something needed to be said in order to put this guy’s mind at rest, but not even Chris was stupid, or cruel enough to mention the ‘Z’ word. He wasn’t going to, but did explain everything apart from what Scott’s future was likely to be...

Craig’s group continued on their path to find George, but there was still no sign of Todd. This caused Karen to panic, and so Blake gained ground on the officer to let him know. “Craig.” The officer turned. “Todd hasn’t turned up yet. He was taking a breather when I last spoke to him.”

“Why didn’t you mention this to me sooner?”
“I didn’t think he was going to take this long.”
“That’s just it pal, you didn’t think,” Craig fumed, and Blake felt

stupid. “I can’t have anybody going back into the forest. All of us need to stay together. I’m not going to risk getting all of us killed for the stupidity of one man. He knows the way.”

Karen rushed over in case Blake broke rank and went off to find the missing man. She knew Craig’s words were a bit below the belt, but he was right. Blake managed to bite his tongue.

George heard voices drifting out of the darkness and so shone the torchlight into the forest. “Who’s out there?” he asked.
“It’s Craig, mate.”
The four bodies closed in and Craig smiled. He was extremely glad to see someone he knew again, but George looked puzzled by the sight of a woman in his view. “Who’s this?” he asked.
Karen collapsed before Craig was able to introduce her. The monstrous sighting on the ground caused her to faint. Bodies flowed to check on Karen, and once they’d dealt with this minor mishap, Craig spoke to George again. “So, where’s the chief now?”
“He’s still in the forest, looking for those freaks that attacked the village. He’s got the two lads with him. I’m here with the unlucky cadet.”
Craig released his weapon from its holster as the words whistled passed the small group of people. Shane noticed this and with shocked eyes witnessed what he thought was going to happen.
Is he going to shoot George?
he thought.
The old officer also spotted the shiny object glistening in the torchlight, but his facial expression turned into a creamy, sick colour.
Has Craig totally lost his mind?
The gun went off before anybody had time to do anything.
Mike heard the sharp bang in the air and quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie. “George, are you there?” he shouted at least twice.
The other man didn’t respond to this, so Craig took the speaking device from him. “Chief it’s Craig.”
“What the hell’s just happened over there?”
“Young Toby decided to wake up from the dead, so I’ve just put him back to sleep again.”
“It’s not nice to do, but needs to be done,” the reply came from a more understanding chief. “I’m impressed. Keep it up.” He paused. “I’m glad you made it safely to George. Speak soon.”
George’s face had filled with the proper colours again as Karen slowly returned to an upright position. Everyone turned and stared at the target that Craig shot at.
“I thought you were aiming at me. How did you know he was waking up?” George asked.
“It was pure luck really. I was shining my torch around your feet when you mentioned the dead body. It was a good job I did,” Craig answered, while smiling.
George gulped hard. His Adam’s apple felt like it was going to shoot out of his mouth. He was now left feeling like God had just taken another few years off his life. “Thank you for that, Craig, I could’ve been next.”
There was now a very cold shiver racing down George’s spine. He knew he’d been lucky this time.
Craig was still intent on impressing the chief, so rallied everyone together in order to pursue his task. “Right everyone, there’s no need for us to be up here now. George’s job is over.” He was on a mission of leadership now. “So let’s get ourselves down this hill and help the residents.”
Blake tried his very best to comfort his wife and shield her from the horror, but it wasn’t good enough. How could he shield someone when the horror was now inside the person’s head?
Inside the caravan, Chris could now hear sounds of other humans closing in. He began to tell Scott that company was approaching, but witnessed the injured man drifting off into the next world. Scott aimed one last stare at him, gasping his last intake of air before collapsing in his crimson coloured resting place. The reporter closed his eyes for a split second, opened them again and left the caravan.
Craig walked over to him. “What’s up with you?” The question seemed to swallow the small reporter.
Chris wasn’t the sort of man to find himself deep with sentiment, but even a selfish bastard sometimes showed an emotional side. “One of the residents has just died, and I have to make sure that no one approaches this van.”
“Shit, sorry mate.”
Chris and Craig talked for a while longer. They were swapping the interesting bits from the day, plus, keeping each other informed of any enemy activity. Craig told him that there’d been a sighting of zombies in the forest and Blake’s mate had taken care of them with a large branch. Chris knew that zombies die if you sabotage their brains, but wasn’t convinced that a few whacks with a large stick would be successful.
“Where’s Blake’s mate now?” he asked.
“He’s not arrived yet, why?” the unsure response came.
“Did you personally make sure they were dead?”
The officer wasn’t expecting this attack of words from the reporter. Anybody else would’ve accepted the branch strike, but not Chris. Craig became very defensive.
“If I’m not mistaken here my little friend, the last time I checked I was in charge and you were just the reporter, so why are you asking me this question?”
“Because the person behind the bashing isn’t here for me to ask them,” said Chris, hoping that Craig would realize what he was thinking. It worked.
“He told me they were dead,” said Craig, but even as he spoke knew he’d fucked up again.
Blake and Karen overheard him. She began to sob, so Blake escorted her to a nearby bench. It seemed that something else waited to pounce on them every time he managed to calm her nerves.
How is all this happening?
Craig thought over and over again.
He had to erase this latest disaster from his mind and secure the safety of the recent civilians. “I’m going to let Mike know what’s happening here,” he said, as he walked over to George. “So I need you to assist the others into a caravan. They’ll be safer there. You and I will patrol this area until the chief gets back.”
“Will do,” George replied. He now seemed more up for it.
Craig’s chat with the chief had to be quick for safety reasons. Mike said he was still looking and there were no sightings to report, whilst Craig mentioned that he was now patrolling the caravan site with George. It was enough information for now.
Shane took this time to do some thinking.
This time last week I became famous for inventing a super-drug fertilizer, but this week I’m famous for inventing sick and twisted evil monsters that feed on living flesh.