Jackson put his shoe back on. “You know what my Mary says pigeons are?
Flying rats.”
“Jackson, I’m fine. Let’s just go, okay? If you don’t jump in a minute
, I’ll bloody push you off here.”
Jackson smiled. Reggie was fine. “Okay, I’m going.” He jumped down to Tom and clambered into the bus. Reggie followed and with him and Tom on board, Don gratefully put the bus into gear and started reversing.
“Don, what are you doing? Why are we going backwards?” said Angel.
Don watched in his mirror as the zombie that had squeezed between them and the fence was slowly crushed. Its rib cage was first to crack and Don took great delight in watching the man’s eyes pop out of his head.
“Just sit tight, Angel, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”
Don started the bus forward, ignoring the dead in front of him. He sped up and several fell under the bus, crushed under its huge wheels. Don turned the bus out onto the road and with most of the dead focussed on the conference centre, his path was reasonably clear. He barrelled through them, knocking over anything in his way, not hesitating. He knew if he stopped, they would be dead. Looking in his mirror, he could see the zombies in their hundreds turning away from the centre and chasing after the bus.
“
Thanks for helping us out back there. Sorry to be so blunt, but where are we going?” said Tom sitting next to Rosa.
“Well
, we hadn’t thought about it too much. First priority was to get away from here, second was to get Angel home. That’s the lady over there. She left her daughter at home with her husband.”
“Where does she live?” asked Tom
, as the bus careered over the road wildly.
“Canning.
Don reckons he can get us there, he’s a good driver. Angel said we can stay with her until whatever’s happened has been sorted. It shouldn’t be too long now, surely?”
Tom had to grip the seat in front of him as Don turned around a bend in the road. He was going fast, trying to evade the
marauding dead behind them. He scraped the bus alongside a row of parked cars.
“Hey
, Don, careful. We want to get out of here in one piece,” said Angel.
“Tom, what’s happening, where are we going?”
Jackson leaned over to Tom, hanging onto the overhead handles as the bus swayed.
“They’re still coming!” shouted Christina from the back of the bus. “We need to go faster!”
A dead soldier threw himself at the back window, making Christina and Caterina jump back.
“Where the hell are we going?” shouted Brad
, as the bus lurched across the street once more. Don had to avoid a pile up in the middle of the road. An ambulance was blocking the street and he pulled the bus up the kerb to get past.
Tom staggered to the front of the bus. “Hey,
mate, do you know where you’re going?”
Don threw a casual glance at Tom. “Of course I do, I’ve been driving these streets for twenty years. I suggest you sit down, son,” he said.
“Look, I know this is a fucked up situation and we can’t thank you enough for helping us, but maybe you should slow down a bit, you’re scaring people back here.”
“Have you looked outside
, son?” Don bristled. “Take a look around. We’re surrounded, and if I slow down, those bastards will catch us. No, we’re doing things my way for once.”
Don accelerated and Tom tripped backwards, falling into an empty seat. An arm grabbed his and Tom looked up as Brad went past him.
“Hey, buddy, are you in control of this thing?” Brad clutched Don’s arm as the bus lurched violently over a pile of bodies, and crashed back down onto the road with such force that Jessica and Rosa fell from their seats into the aisle.
“You’re distracting me, go sit down,” said Don angrily.
“Don, listen to them, please!” said Rosa. Tom helped her up and pulled her onto the seat next to him. Don swerved around an army jeep and pulled the bus into a small side street. The zombies were further away now, disappearing out of sight. Don kept the bus going hard and fast, and at the end of the street, Brad saw a low black railing fencing a park.
“
Don’t do what I think you’re going to do,” said Brad.
“I told you to sit down,” said Don as he crashed the bus over the kerb, into the railings. The powerful bus smashed straight through them and bounced over the shrubs and plants before skidding onto the grass.
In the back of the bus, they went flying. Jackson managed to hold onto Angel, and Tom to Rosa, but Reggie, Christina, Caterina, and Jessica fell to the floor. Brad slammed into the bus doors and hit his head. As Don slowed the bus in the middle of the park, Brad, dazed, felt his head. There was a trickle of blood running down the side of his face.
Don
slammed the brakes down and the bus slewed across the park finally coming to rest by a large beech tree. He turned the engine off.
“Do you know where we are?” he shouted getting out of his seat. “Do you?”
Brad lay on the floor. “No, I...I’m not sure exactly but...”
“Anyone else?”
Don stared down the length of the bus. Nobody answered him.
“Don, come on
, honey, take it easy. You’re scaring everyone,” said Angel.
Don looked around at the
petrified eyes looking back at him. “Robin Hood Gardens. Over that wall is Cotton Street. Over in that direction is the Blackwall tunnel. Trust me, I know what I’m doing. I know how to handle this bus. She’s a cantankerous old bitch at times, but unlike people, she does what she’s told.”
“
Can we get going, please?” Christina was looking out of the rear of the bus into the park. There were figures emerging from the shadows, drawn by the noise, approaching the bus. Caterina was crying.
“Well
, if I can get a bit of peace and sodding quiet.” Don returned to his seat and started the engine.
“Is he usually like this?” Tom asked Rosa quietly
, so Don wouldn’t hear.
“He’s al
l right really. It’s just the stress, you know. Say, are you okay? Your lip’s bleeding. Here,” and she pulled a tissue out of her pocket, dabbing it at Tom’s cut lip. He felt too ashamed to tell her he had got it fighting.
“Yeah
, it’s nothing. I just banged it when we stopped,” he said taking the tissue from her. She gave him a kind smile and he felt doubly guilty; now he was lying, too.
The bus was inching slowly across the grass as Don let the tyre’s find a grip.
“Thank God,” said Jessica to Reggie, “I thought we were going to get stuck.” As the bus sped up, Jessica let out an audible sigh of relief.
“Don’t worry,” said Reggie, “we’re on our way now.”
The tyres found traction on a footpath and Don increased their speed, keen to move on. Christina was trying to calm Caterina down and pleased to see the zombies getting further away now. Tom was about to ask Rosa how she’d met Don and Angel, when he saw Brad getting to his feet. Brad was looking at Don with thunder in his eyes and Tom could sense trouble.
“You don’t know who you’re dealing with
, motherfucker.” Brad punched Don on the side of the head and there was a loud crack as Don’s head hit the side window. Tom could almost feel the man’s jaw break. Rosa screamed and gripped Tom. Don instinctively put his hands up to protect himself and let go of the wheel. He cried out in pain and the bus lurched to the left, as Brad hit Don again.
“Who’s in charge
, eh? You God damn cocksucker!” Brad knocked Don out cold with his third blow and he tried to grab the wheel. The bus was travelling fast and as the wheel spun, uncontrolled, the bus began to bank. Brad tried to get both his hands around the steering wheel, but Don had slumped forward making it difficult for Brad to get hold of it.
“Brad
, you idiot, look out!” Tom jumped up to help Brad steer, but it was too late. The bus ploughed over freshly dug earth, through flimsy railings and out of the park, narrowly avoiding colliding into a postal delivery van. As they mounted the pavement again, Tom was thrown to the floor. The bus careered over more grass and clattered over a gravestone. Tom heard the screams behind him. He looked up and saw a brick wall inches from the windscreen. He knew there was no way Brad would get the bus back under control in time. Tom braced himself and grabbed the nearest thing to hand, which happened to be Angel’s ankle. She screamed as the bus rammed into the side of All Saints Church.
The bus came to a
n abrupt halt with metal being torn and twisted, as the church wall collapsed on it. Tom heard screeching metal and glass shattering before he was knocked out. The bus’ occupants were thrown from their seats as the bus stopped dead. The zombies from the park staggered into the church grounds, scraping past headstones and open burial pits toward the now silent bus.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The air was full of dust and Caterina coughed violently. Being seated at the back of the bus meant she had been saved from the impact of the crash, the brunt of it being borne by the front of the bus. Christina had made her lie down, and so she had not fallen too hard when they’d crashed. When Caterina had finished barking out the dirt, she gingerly got up. It was lucky she hadn’t fallen too hard. She rubbed her belly and instinctively knew the baby was fine. She spat out a mouthful of grime. Christina was lying on the floor and Caterina shook her awake.
“
Christina! Christina!” She came to and got to her knees slowly.
“Cat, what happened? Is everyone okay?”
“I don’t know.” Caterina helped Christina up and she ruffled her hair, tiny shards of glass falling to the floor. The front of the bus was clouded in dust and smoke. Christina could smell burning and knew that they had to get out quickly. Between them, they helped the others. Jackson and Jessica had been knocked out, but were not seriously hurt. Just cuts and scrapes that would heal. Benzo had a deep gash on his arm and was wrapping his jumper around it to stem the bleeding. Reggie was helping him.
“It’s al
l right, Reggie, I got it, thanks. You should take care of yourself, you look pretty bad,” said Benzo.
Reggie looked at his reflection in a window - there was a large slice of glass perched on the seat beside him. His face was cut and it looked
like someone had taken a cheese grater to his forehead. He felt light headed and dizzy.
“I’m okay, let’s just get everyone off before
they
come,” he said. He bent down to Rosa who was unconscious. She had escaped the flying glass and looked like she was sound asleep. Reggie was reminded of his younger sister; she looked so innocent when she slept. Reggie shook Rosa, but she wouldn’t wake. There was a large bump on the side of her face. He scooped her up.
“The
side doors are blocked, we’ll have to get out through the back window,” he said carrying Rosa to the back of the bus. Christina and Jackson helped him get Rosa out. Caterina clambered out with them, pleased to be off the bus. She sank to her knees and dug her fingers into the mud. The smell of the grass and flowers took her mind away from reality. The trauma subsided and she revelled in the natural smell of the earth, the cool peat in her fingers. She took in measured breaths and forcibly calmed herself down; she had to be calm, for her baby’s sake.
“Where’s Tom?” said Jessica.
“And Brad. He was at the front with Don,” said Benzo. Jessica and Benzo clambered back into the bus. They had to tread carefully. A lot of bricks and masonry had fallen into the front area of the bus. They saw Angel first; she was slumped over the seat in front of her.
“Angel?”
Benzo gently pulled her back and recoiled in horror when he saw her. She had been garrotted by a slither of glass that was still embedded in her neck. It had almost sliced her head off and her body fell back against the side of the bus.
“Oh
, God,” said Jessica looking at the dead woman. Angel’s eyes were locked open in fright, forever staring ahead into death. They left her in her seat.
“There’s nothing we can do for her now,” said
Benzo. Then he heard it.
“Hey
, Jessica, listen, do you hear that?” he said. There was a faint groaning sound and then movement. A sole brick tumbled from the pile in front of them and came to rest at Jessica’s feet. A couple more bricks moved and Benzo saw a hand.
“Tom!”
They scrabbled over the rubble, throwing bricks aside as they dug Tom out. His face was badly cut and one eye had swelled up so much it was closed.
“Thanks,” was all Tom could manage as they dragged him free. His shirt was ripped and blood stained.
“Can you manage him?” Benzo asked Jessica, propping Tom up on her shoulders. “I’ve got to find Brad.” Benzo returned to scouring the rubble, whilst Jessica helped Tom out of the bus. Jackson reached up and took him from her as they came through the rear window.
“Come on
, Benzo, leave it,” shouted Jessica. Smoke was beginning to drift into the bus and it was becoming difficult to see; breathing was harder, and she could hear Benzo’s rasping, coughing. The smell of burning was increasing too.
“
Benzo, come on, man, we can’t stick around. They’re coming.” Jackson helped Jessica down and then clambered back into the bus to find Benzo, who was still pulling aside bricks, looking for Brad. Jackson could see the jumper wrapped around Benzo’s arm, bright red, soaking up blood as it continued to escape Benzo’s arteries.
“What about
Brad? What about Don?” said Benzo.
Jackson looked at the twisted metal where Don had been sat. The chair was full of rubble and a stone gargoyle sat grinning in his place, as if it was going to drive the bus away into the very depths of hell. There were blood stains splattered across the dashboard and Jackson noticed that sharp
protrusions of glass around the windscreen were dripping with fresh warm blood. Jackson guessed Don had not been wearing a seatbelt and was currently somewhere beneath the bus and the church.
“
Benzo, we’re leaving. Now.” Jackson’s eyes were watering from the smoke and he grabbed a weakening Benzo. They returned to the rear of the bus and Benzo almost fell to the ground, he was so weak. Jackson collapsed to the muddy earth.
“Where’s Brad?” said Tom.
Jackson was curled up, coughing uncontrollably. “Couldn’t...find him...don’t know...”
“And Don?
Angel? Where are they?” Rosa had awoken on the ground and looking around the group, was dismayed to find her friends were absent. She felt very alone. “Why aren’t you getting them out? They need our help.”
“Sorry
, but Angel’s gone,” said Jessica.
“Don
, too,” said Jackson still coughing and rubbing his eyes.
Rosa burst into tears.
Caterina bent down and put a hand on her shoulder, but Rosa shrugged her away. The throbbing on her head seemed to boom around her from all sides. Don and Angel were dead. How could they be gone? After surviving for so long, they had gone outside only to be taken so quickly. Rosa couldn’t believe it.
“What the hell happened?” said Jessica. “Why did we crash?”
“Search me. I saw Brad struggling with Don, but I couldn’t see what was going on,” said Jackson. “It was so fast, I’m just glad we’re okay.”
Tom said nothing.
Christina looked at Jackson. “Not
all
of us are okay.”
“Shit, they’re getting close, what are we going to do now?
” said Reggie. He pointed with a trembling finger across the graveyard at five zombies entering the church grounds. They were walking in the tracks the bus had made with more following behind them.
“Inside the church,” said Tom.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” said Christina as Tom started looking for the church entrance. “We don’t want to get trapped again.”
“You got a better idea
, then let’s have it,” said Jackson joining Tom.
They had cr
ashed into the vestibule and the bus was deeply embedded into the wall. There was no way into the church here and Tom was looking for the main doors.
“Wait,” said Rosa as others began following, “what about Don
? Are you sure he’s dead? He might be okay? He might need our help!”
Reggie was the only one with her now
, and he helped her to her feet. “I’m sorry, but I think it’s too late. If there was any way of helping your friends, Jackson would’ve found it. I’m sorry.”
Sniffing, Rosa wiped her eyes. She bit her quivering lip. “We should’ve stayed in the pub. If we’d waited for help to come
, then Don and Angel would still be alive. I’m such an idiot. It was me that cajoled Don into going. Oh, God.”
Reggie put his arm around her
and with one eye monitoring the zombies in the near distance, began ushering her toward the church.
“There’s no point in talking like that
, love. You don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s not your fault. Anyway, if you hadn’t come, then we’d be dead by now. We should be thanking you. Look, we need to get inside. It’s not safe out here.”
He led her to the others. Tom had found the church doors and was holding the huge oak door open as the others filed inside. As Rosa went past him
, Reggie suddenly dropped to his knees and began coughing. He spat blood out onto the moss covered slate floor.
“You al
l right, Reggie?” asked Tom lifting him up.
“Yeah, I just need to rest. I don’t feel so good. I think when the bus crashed
, I hit my chest or something, it really hurts.”
“Al
l right, mate, just take it easy. Let’s get in here and take a look at you.”
Reggie passed under the arched frame of the door
and Tom followed him into the quiet church, heaving the heavy door shut behind him. It shut with a clang that reverberated around the whole church. He dropped the iron latch and instantly felt safer. There was a solid barrier between them and the outside world now. He turned and looked up into the church. The sunlight was sending kaleidoscopic images through the stained glass windows, illuminating the church in an iridescent light. The tall roof meant it was cool inside, despite the warm sun outside, and Tom felt safer now than he had at any time over the last few days.
Looking around
, he saw gnarled stone monsters up high, looking down on them. Gargoyles were crouching in dark corners, perched above columns, watching the intruders. There were leather-bound bibles lining the rows of pews and kneeling cushions, embroidered with religious images of old. Tom took a couple of steps forward and his footsteps echoed around the vaulted ceiling. Tom appreciated the stone walls and high windows; they meant safety. The dead couldn’t get at them whilst they were here, he was sure of that.
Jackson, Christina, and
Caterina, were sat on a pew in front of Tom. A few rows behind, he saw Benzo, lying down, his feet sticking out, whilst Jessica stood over him. She was wrapping his arm in a tight swathe, using a scarf she had found in the church entrance to wrap his arm and stem the bleeding.
Rosa had seated herself on a chair close to the others
, but private enough that they wouldn’t hear her tears. Above her, hung a huge tapestry of the last supper and around her, were wreaths and huge bouquets of flowers: Roses, Carnations, and Asiatic Lilies. They leant the air a sweet smell and Tom left her alone to grieve. There was nothing he could say or do to console her. He knew Don must be dead, there was no way he could’ve survived such an impact. He looked around but couldn’t see Angel. He hadn’t noticed outside that she was missing, but it struck him now that she was not here. Benzo would’ve brought her in if he could have. Tom said a quick prayer for her and Don, then he saw Reggie at the altar. He was kneeling down, hands clasped in front of him. Tom wanted to go and check on Reggie, he didn’t look well, but the man seemed to need some alone time, too. Besides, Tom was feeling dizzy and his head was pounding. Reggie would have to wait.
Tom walked over to the row of
wooden pews and sat down. He rolled up his shirt sleeves and examined the cuts on his arms; they were only superficial. His whole body ached, but he knew he had been lucky; he could be with Angel and Don now. Where was Brad though? Was he buried beneath the rubble?
“Hey
, Tom, how are you doing?” Jackson appeared in front of Tom suddenly. “We need to make sure we’re secure. Fancy doing a circuit with me? I don’t really want to ask anyone else, they’re in a bad way, you know.”
Tom nodded
and rolled his shirt sleeves back down. “Let’s do it.”
The doors they had entered the church through
, were shut tight. Nothing was coming through those doors in a hurry, and Tom knew they would hear them before anything got in. They walked around the outer wall of the church checking for any doors or openings.
When they were out of sight,
Caterina began talking to Christina. “I don’t know if I trust Tom anymore. What if it’s like at work? If we get surrounded, there’ll be no way out.”
“I don’t think that’s likely. Think about why all those dead people came to the city
- some sort of natural instinct to go where’s familiar? Thousands and thousands of people head into the city every day to work. No one goes to church anymore.” Christina felt as though she could sleep for a week. Somehow, she had taken on the mother role for Caterina, which she didn’t actually mind, but being a crutch for someone else meant she needed some support of her own. She felt drained.
“Maybe that’s the problem,
” said Caterina.
“
Look, I think we’re safe in here for now honey,” said Christina. “Jackson’s gone to look around and you don’t need to worry about Tom. He’s doing just fine.”
“But what about..?”
“Caterina, shush. The best thing you can do right now is relax. Look at the size of that door, look at these walls. We’re probably safer now, than we have been for a long time. Please, Cat, just relax, okay?”