The Dust: Book Two - Pursuit (13 page)

***

‘Why horses?’ Jake asked Yanto.

‘Excuse me?’ Yanto slowed Thunderchild down.

‘Why are we riding horses, why not find a car?’

‘Because this is how we are going to evolve, we must go backwards before we can go forwards.’ Yanto took a swig from his canteen.

‘I understand that but at the moment, we need to get somewhere fast, so why don’t we drive?’ Jake just wanted to get back to Bradley Stoke as soon as he could.

‘This
is
quicker, we can ride as the crow flies. Plus, we are quiet. A truck or a van can be heard for miles around, and that brings the infected. Gone are the days when the noise of everyday life drowns everything else out.’ Yanto passed the canteen to Jake. ‘I find it bliss, peaceful even.’

‘You're actually enjoying this aren’t you?’ Jake took a sip and passed it back.

‘Well Butty Bach, what’s not to enjoy, you can do what you want, when you want and we are the makers of our own destiny.’

‘But the country is in ruins, most people are either dead or mad.’

Yanto stopped him. ‘We aren’t though, are we?’ He patted Thunderchild’s neck to move him on. ‘Make the best of it sonny, before we get rounded up and given a number, then you'll wish for days like these.’

‘What’s that?’ Angel shot past on Chive

‘I can see it.’ Yanto followed.

Jake looked, on the horizon were a few figures walking towards them. Not staggering drunkenly from side to side like the infected but in single file.
Survivors.
Jake dug his heels into Lola and followed the other two.

Angel got there first dismounting before Chive came to a standstill. Stood in front of her were five weary figures, three men, a woman, and a teenage girl. ‘Oh my God, are you all okay?’ Angel enquired.

The woman spoke first. ‘I’m Wendy, this is my niece Gillian.’

‘Do you need a drink?’ Angel could see they were weather beaten and thirsty.

Yanto arrived with Jake just behind him. Water was given to all of survivors.

The three men introduced themselves, Brian in his fifties, Carl slightly younger and Liam who at a stretch was mid-twenties, all looked as though they had been on one hell of a journey.

‘Which way are you heading?’ Jake could see they didn’t have many miles left in them.

‘The camp.’ Brian replied.

‘Anyway, but that way.’ Liam pointed behind him.

‘Why, what’s back there?’ Angel asked.

‘Them.’ The teenage girl answered.

Yanto looked over at Brian to get some sense.

‘The savages, the naked lunatics that now own this once sacred green land, killing anything and everything in their way.’ Brian looked behind him. ‘They are everywhere, the green grass is now drenched red with our own blood.’

‘They killed several of our party.’ Wendy took another gulp of fresh water. ‘What you see here is what is left. Brian is quite right, back there it's bad, killing fields, those zombies stop at nothing.’

‘They are not zombies.’ Jack said grimacing slightly. ‘They are just sick! Human beings just like us.’

‘Yeah, right.’ Carl sneered.

‘Yeah, right.’ Jake could feel the hairs go up on his neck. ‘There’s no such thing as zombies, they, my friend are a myth, the dead that rise again. The infected humans have some sort of blood poisoning which has driven them insane. Hopefully, one day we can do something for them.’

‘Until that day though. Avoid them like the plague, that’s my advice.’ Wendy stepped back into the conversation to stop anything getting too heated.

‘And if you do come across them.’ Gillian added, she then drew a finger across her neck. ‘Kill 'em.’

‘Who told you about the camp?’ Yanto asked changing the subject.

‘We came across a small army garrison. They were doing what they could to rid the place of those monsters and told us about a camp being set up near Nottingham.’

‘They were right, I have been there.’

The group looked at each other with wide smiles, a weight was lifted from their shoulders.

‘Thank God for that.’ Carl said. ‘We weren’t sure if it would still be there, or if it existed at all.’

‘Oh it’s there alright.’ Yanto then gave Brian and Wendy directions on an old map to find the camp In Ruddington.

‘Are you sure you won’t come with us? Wendy asked.

Jake who had now got back on his horse shook his head. ‘No, we are heading south. I need to find my little girl.’

‘Well, may your gods be with you.’ Brian replied. ‘Down there the place is crawling with them, it’s hell on earth, please be safe.’

Angel’s eyes met Jakes, neither liked what they heard.

***

‘Go on, throw them a sausage.’ Firefly Freddie egged on Lonny Gold who was now stood beside him on the edge of the trailer. ‘They go fucking ape shit!’

Gold was intrigued, why and more importantly how had this lunatic caught these naked savages? What could possibly be the advantage of having these in your cargo?

‘Why?’ Gold asked.

‘They love sausages and it’s showing them who the boss is.’ Freddie flung a raw sausage through the bars and the infected humans went mad trying to get it, ripping it from each other snarling and spitting.

‘No, not why do they like fucking sausages, I mean why have you got them, here, in your truck?’ Gold watched as the blonde won the battle and rammed the meat into her bleeding mouth.

‘Why not?’ Freddie laughed. ‘I can train them up. They will do whatever I tell them.’ He got closer to Gold and whispered. ‘Kill whoever I tell them to kill, steal whatever I get them to steal.’

Gold shook his head, these savages couldn’t be tamed. ‘How the hell did you catch them?’ This is what he really wanted to find out.

Before Firefly Freddie could reply a blast came from the road and he flew across the trailer surface and into the steel bars.

Gold turned to see Archie stood there with a smoking gun. ‘Why did you do that?’

‘It was part of the plan, boss.’ Archie sniffed.

‘He was just about to tell me something important!’ Gold yelled. ‘You idiot.’ He walked over to the tattered body of Freddie who was very much dead. The young adult male inside the cage noticed a large part of Freddie’s skull was missing and he ran over to bloodied bars and started scooping the brains out to eat.

‘Oh Jesus.’ Gold turned away in disgust.

‘Harry James said you wanted him dead.’ Archie protested, seeing his boss was losing faith in the two boys.

‘It’s done now.’ Gold weighed up his position and his options and realised he had acquired a new vehicle and a few savages to boot. The two lads were becoming a liability but they were loyal, he didn’t have the time or the energy to look for more staff. Should he destroy the cargo though?
They could come in handy somewhere down the line.
He turned to the two boys. ‘Let’s round up the women and get out of this shit hole.’

Within seven minutes all the women were lined up next to the back of the truck. The lads had gathered all their belongings and some of the supplies they had scavenged. Gold had been in the trailer to clean up. Firefly Freddie had been no idiot. In the cage he had installed two compartments, a smaller back compartment where he had caged the savages by using sausages and other cuts of rancid meat thrown onto the floor. Gold then dragged Freddie’s body into the front compartment for the naked beasts to strip bare when they were let back in. This had caused great frenzy with them screaming and howling and rattling the bars, now they could see their former master being presented to them like a suckling pig. Gold had even snarled back at them to show them who the new boss was.

‘Right ladies this is our new mobile home.’ Gold emerged from the side of the truck smiling at the disheartened group. ‘You will be sharing it though with some interesting new members of our family.’ He flung the back doors open to reveal four naked bodies tearing apart the dead body of Firefly Freddie.

All the women recoiled in horror and nearly all screamed. ‘I’m not going in there.’ One shouted. And they started to back away from the lorry.

‘That’s fine! If you want to walk away, then carry on. You won’t last five seconds out there but carry on.’ Gold looked on as the group of women held on to each other watching in horror as the once very alive truck driver was reduced to bones in minutes.

‘They think the Irish bitch is coming back to save them.’ It was Elizabeth who stepped forward from the group. ‘They think she will return with others to help them.’

Gold’s eye’s started to bulge, Harry James took a pace back as he knew what might be coming next.

‘I’m sick to fucking death of all this ungratefulness, who the hell do you lot think you are?’ He withdrew his pistol. ‘I’m not asking ladies, I’m telling you. Now get in the fucking trailer.’

One by one, they hauled themselves up and moved slowly inside. Elizabeth was just about climb inside when Gold stopped her. ‘You can ride up front with us.’ He called over to Harry James. ‘You, ride in the back with them, keep an eye on them. Keep an eye on our more interesting passengers too. I don’t want any more cock ups, okay?’

Harry James nodded. He knew this wasn’t a good thing, he was basically being demoted by the small woman who arse licked Gold to buggery. Maybe his time was getting close too.

‘Archie.’ Gold snapped. ‘Give Harry your gun, he will need some back up in there.’

Archie reluctantly gave his comrade his trusted rifle. ‘Look after it.’

Harry James said nothing, he was just glad to have the gun.

Chapter Sixteen

‘There, on the road!’ Hannah shouted.

‘What?’ Iris narrowed her eyes but couldn’t see anything.

‘There, another one.’ Hannah pointed.

‘Stop the truck, I can see them too.’ Roger called over to Iris.

Iris slowed the truck down to a standstill and applied the handbrake. ‘Right, what the hell have you two seen?’

Without answering Roger jumped out of the cab and onto the track below. He spotted another yellow message ahead of him and jogged up to read it.

‘Are you going to tell me what is going on?’ Iris arrived at his shoulder.

‘A message from Jake.’ Roger pointed at the floor.

‘What the hell does that mean?’ It looked like a load of jumbled numbers to Iris.

‘They're going to wait for us at the Bath junction of the M4.’

Iris then spotted the wisps of smoke rising into the air ahead of them. She turned around to see the advancing girls. ‘Get back in the truck!’ She shouted.

Roger could see the smoke and realised what Iris was doing. ‘Lou, get back in the truck and take Alice with you.’

Hannah could see the panic in Iris’s eyes and realised that she didn’t want Alice to see the burnt ruins of her home. She grabbed the girls and ushered them back to the cab of the truck.

Roger looked over at Iris. ‘Good call, I didn’t even think.’

‘That’s the last thing the poor little mite needs to see, she’s been through enough.’

Both Iris and Roger walked to the brow of the hill and looked down at the blackened shell that used to be Wisteria Hall.

‘Christ what a mess.’ The last time Roger saw the huge mansion house he had enjoyed a bacon roll in the orangery.

‘It was awful, total madness.’ Iris’s thoughts went back to the small boy killed in front of his father, evil had been at work that day. ‘At least you know your friends are safe, that’s something.’

‘Yes, that is great news, not too much of that around at the moment.’ Roger really hoped he would find his house and family intact when he finally got back home. ‘We need to head straight for the Bath junction.’

‘After you help me.’ Iris didn’t mean to rain on his parade but he'd promised her. ‘I’m saving my friends first from that mad man.’

‘He won’t be there.’

‘You don’t know that.’ Iris was a bit put out on how this man presumed to know the whereabouts of her friends and Lonny Gold. ‘You know nothing of them, or him.’

‘I know he will be heading south.’ Roger turned and walked back slowly down the small incline.

Iris pulled at his arm to hold him back. ‘If you know something you had better tell me.’

Roger stopped walking. ‘He's after her.’ He motioned to the truck.

Iris was confused and her eyebrows squished together.

‘He's after Lou Pepper and Angel, they escaped from him about two weeks ago.’

‘Oh my God fathersm, that was them?’ Iris now understood.

‘You've heard of them?’

‘Only that they escaped at some racecourse. We knew he was obsessed with getting them back but not to this extent.’

‘Well I worked it out yesterday, that’s how I know they will be heading south.’ Roger held the top of Iris’s arm. ‘I promised I would help and I will. Just trust me on this one, he's after the girl’s.’

Iris nodded and they continued to walk towards the truck.

As they neared something caught Roger’s eye hanging in the tree. ‘What is that?’

Before Iris could reply he was off climbing up a hedge and reaching into the small Lilac tree. There he plucked out a small teddy bear that had been secreted amongst the green leaves.

‘Oh my, how did you spot that?’ Iris helped Roger come down from the hedge.

‘It’s Lou’s.’ Roger looked at it with some sense of hate. ‘This is why they came back.’

‘For a teddy?’

‘Don’t ask.’ Roger shook his head. Then he could feel a stiffness beneath the stuffing of the teddy bear and on a closer inspection he noticed a small hole in its back. ‘It has a present for us.’

‘A present?’ Iris thought Roger was losing the plot.

He reached inside and pulled out a small piece of cardboard. He unscrewed it and started to read.

Roger and my dearest Lou Pepper. If you find this then all is good and you can see by Jake’s crude attempts at a secret code that we are heading south to meet you both. We have found another survivor who is helping us, please stay on course and we will see you both soon. Love, Angel X.

Angel and Roger had never quite hit it off but the note warmed his heart. They were safe and had found a new fellow survivor. This gave Roger hope, they were all finding more people who hadn’t been infected, he so hoped Suzanne and the girls would be safe and well.