Smith abruptly stood stock still and put his arm across my chest to cease my movement. He put his fingers to his lips and then pointed to our left. I didn’t hear anything apart from the buzzing flies and insects busying themselves around the crops.
I frowned and shrugged at Smith but still kept quiet. Then I heard the sound of the plants rustling a few feet away. The pattern was repetitive in a constant slow drag. Somebody or something was moving through the crop field, heading directly across our path.
Smith leaned closer and whispered in my ear. “Keep moving but stay silent.”
I nodded, feeling my heart rate suddenly increase.
Smith moved forward, silently dodging the tall plants with ease and grace, almost like a football quarterback avoiding an onrushing defense. I tried to keep pace but struggled to avoid brushing against the crops with my shoulders and thighs. A deep growling noise drifted through the foliage to the left and the rustling sounds increased. I glanced to where I thought the sound came from and saw the tops of the crops shaking and bending in several approaching lines.
“They’re coming, Smith,” I muttered, turning my head back to face in front of me.
I couldn’t see Smith anywhere. He’d vanished between the crops somewhere. I heard rustling leaves all around me and didn’t know which way to go. I span around in a circle, trying to catch a glimpse of Smith’s green bathrobe. The sunlight shone in my eyes and my vision turned hazy. My heart rate rapidly increased, my breathing became heavy. Sweat rolled off my face. The crop plants seemed to be shaking in every direction. I didn’t know what to do and simply wanted to sink down into the dry soil.
I wiped sweat from my eyes with my left hand then gripped the spear with both hands, hunched over while turning around in a circle.
A skinny figure that looked like something from a nightmare crashed through the crops to my left. The creature’s face was covered with streaks of dried blood and it wore only a pair of torn khaki shorts. The mouth gaped open in a permanent scowl and no traces of eyeballs remained in the sockets. The ghoul swung around, bellowing in a deep monotonous tone.
I didn’t wait to find out if the repulsive figure was aware of my presence. I lunged forward, stabbing the spear both handed through the zombie’s right ear. The bellowing noise immediately ceased and I withdrew my weapon, watching the ghoul fall to the ground.
Crop plants shook close to me and the falling seeds showered my face. All my senses told me to run. Fuck trying to stay quiet, I had to move.
I took off as fast as I could muster, bashing into and knocking over plant stems and sending dead leaves and dry seeds flying through the air. I thought I was roughly heading in the direction I’d last seen Smith aiming for. But I couldn’t be sure. The damn field seemed the same in every direction I looked.
A snapping sound directly behind me caused me to turn my head around. I saw something moving, following my trail. I was about to face my front when I ran full pelt into something solid. The force knocked me off my feet and I crashed headlong into a cluster of crop plants. The breath was knocked out of me but I still held the spear firmly in my grasp. I heard a grunting sound and rolled over on my back, totally disorientated. A gnarled, blood stained hand reached through the tangle of broken plant stems and clawed at the sole of my right deck shoe.
I scrabbled backwards, breaking through more crops and making a hell of a lot of noise. Dead flower petals and seeds fell in clusters over me. The surrounding crops shook and broke as unseen bodies thrashed their way closer towards me. A dirty figure with a mangled face and a lopsided grimace crawled out from beneath the knot of broken stems in front of me. The zombie’s skin was parched, looking almost mummified and it reached out one handed to try and grab me. I shuffled back a little more then rolled onto my side, digging the spear point a couple of inches into the ground. I used the spear to push myself upright and began running through the plants once again.
I realized I’d been reasonably lucky by running straight into the ghoul and knocking it down, even though I’d fallen myself. Not getting bitten was a minor achievement but I had to get out of the fucking field for any chance of surviving until sundown.
The zombies I’d seen in the crop field were different to the ones in the village. They’d probably been sitting dormant amongst the plants for a long time. Lost and befuddled, with no visible place to head for, the undead had simply baked in the sun while the flies feasted on their rotting flesh.
I continued onward, taking twists and turns through the crops, away from every sound or movement I considered coming too close. My running slowed to a brisk marching pace. The crops seemed to be grabbing and pulling at me, slowing me at every step. I was beginning to think the field had no boundaries and I’d be stuck inside it for eternity.
A sudden thought occurred to me and I stopped moving. I turned around scanning the horizon until I saw the castle turrets far in the distance, slightly above the tops of the plants. I knew the castle stood to the left of the field so I needed to head in the opposite direction to reach the other side.
I wiped sweat from my face with my t-shirt, before turning in my desired direction and moving through the crops with renewed determination. I forced myself to keep going although my throat and mouth were dry and my arms and legs and lungs pleaded for respite.
The crops rustled close by but I didn’t deviate from my route. I didn’t think I had the strength to fight off any more ghouls but the edge of the field was surely close.
I stumbled in a divot and a sharp pain shot through my left ankle. I grimaced with agony but knew I had to keep going. Every step became increasingly painful but through the mesh of crops, I could make out a grass bank twenty feet ahead of me.
The sight of the overgrown grass made me hobble a little quicker, putting every ounce of energy into bustling my way through the last thicket of plants.
I was almost there. I could actually see the grass swaying in the breeze and almost smell the fresh scent.
I was a couple of feet from the edge of the crop field when a hand grabbed my right arm and hauled me off balance.
Chapter Twenty-Five
My mouth filled with dry dust and soil as I hit the ground. A fresh surge of pain rocketed up from my damaged left ankle, right up to my thigh. I tried lifting the spear to defend myself but a big hand gripped my right wrist.
“Easy there, punchy,” Smith whispered.
I stopped struggling and lay on the ground, spitting out dust, seeds and pieces of dry plants.
Smith pulled me up but I nearly collapsed again, my left ankle not wanting to take the weight.
“Hey, you okay? You look like shit. Where the hell did you get to?”
“I’ve turned my ankle,” I groaned. “Where did I go? Where the fuck did you go?”
“Keep your voice down,” Smith growled. “I thought you were right behind me. Anyhow, the big house compound is right over there.” He pointed away from the field and slightly behind us to our right. “But we got to get over that open ground without these dead motherfuckers spotting us, okay?”
I nodded weakly, not ready or prepared to expel another burst of energy.
“This damn crop field is full of them.”
“No shit,” I sighed. “I’ve been trying to run away from them for like the last hour.”
“Don’t exaggerate,” Smith snapped. He pointed to my ankle. “You okay to move with that bad leg?”
“What’s the alternative?” I asked in a sarcastic tone.
Smith shrugged and looked me humorously in the eye. “Stay right here and be eaten.”
I nodded “I thought so.”
Smith nodded sideways. “Just like
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
, huh?”
I braced myself for the excruciating pain I was about to endure but a twisted ankle was a damn sight less painful than being eaten alive.
“All right, I’m ready.”
Smith broke cover first, leading the way out of the crop field. I hobbled behind him, cursing silently at every agonizing step. We moved into the long grass covering the inclining bank. I slipped but regained my feet. Smith thankfully dropped back and kept pace with me this time. We scoured the area around us for any signs of movement and listened intently for any sudden noises. The crops rustled and swayed around deeper in the field at a distance of around thirty feet from us.
Even though I was hobbling and in immense pain, I figured I was still moving quicker than our undead pursuers, which provided us a little time to gain some ground. We reached the summit of the grass bank and the landscape leveled out into a flat, grassy terrain. I could see the big house in the distance to our right, surrounded by the tall, wire meshed fence. I took a glance behind and saw a few sun baked zombies stumbling out from the crop field.
“Shit, they’re on our tail, Smith,” I grunted.
Smith swung around but kept walking backwards to view the scene to our rear.
“We’ve still got a few yards on them. We can make it over the fence before they reach us.”
I wasn’t so sure. My ankle was causing me so much pain, I thought I was going to pass out. How I was going to manage to climb the damn fence, I didn’t know. I just continued to plod forward, trying not to slow Smith up too much.
I kept my focus on the wire fence but it seemed to be moving further away from me. I was drenched in my own sweat and my lungs felt as though they were going to pack up and refuse to function any longer. My ankle felt ready to explode and falling down dead seemed a great option.
“Keep going, kid,” Smith said, trying to invoke encouragement. “We’re nearly there.”
I was gasping instead of breathing, every step was a nightmare. I’d had enough.
“I can’t go on any more, Smith,” I croaked. “You go on, save yourself.”
“Fuck you, Wilde. I ‘aint going nowhere. We’re in this together.” Smith turned his head to look at me with his stern expression firmly fixed. I’d seen that look in the past, normally when he was about to kill people. “Don’t try and bullshit me with your false hero, fucked up Hollywood movie lines, kid. I can’t do this shit on my own. You
will
keep moving and you
will
make it to that fence line and you
will
get over the obstacle. Understand me?”
I knew Smith was trying to motivate me and it kind of worked. I gritted my teeth. Grunting and snorting, I tried to ignore the pain. Smith was right. We were simply overcoming another obstacle in our way. We’d done it so many times in the past and we could do it again.
The wire fence was now definitely moving closer with every labored step. I glanced behind and saw the dozen or so undead having difficulty scrabbling up the grassy bank. A few toppled and fell, with the long grass masking them from view.
I turned back. The fence loomed closer. Almost there. I reached out and grasped the mesh with my left hand. I stopped hobbling and bent double, breathing heavily and watching the sweat roll off me into the grass. I clung on to the wire fence, waiting for my breathing to return to some kind of normal rate.
“Okay, kid, we made it this far but it’ll count for shit if we don’t haul our sorry asses over the top of this wire bastard,” Smith huffed.
I glanced up and looked at him. His face was also sweaty and he had a pained expression, as though he too was struggling in the heat.
“Come on, we’ll make our way around to the front gates and see if we can unlock them from the outside.” Smith nodded sideways along the fence line.
I went to protest, I needed a few moments rest but only a hoarse rasp came out from my throat. Smith grabbed my left wrist and pulled me forward. I gurgled in objection but was too weak to stop him dragging me along.
We stopped in front of the ten feet high, double aluminum gates and saw the bolt was firmly fixed in place by a long thick chain, wrapped between each gate several lengths over. A big padlock behind the gates kept the chain in place. I glanced up and saw another chain holding the tops of the gates together. I looked down the length of the gates and a third chain was bound around the stanchions at the bottom.
I took a glance back across the near ground and saw the zombies were making progress through the long grass. They were slow but still heading our way and gaining ground. Our advantage was being chipped away every second. I turned to study the fence and scaling it seemed like climbing Mount Everest with no equipment. My stomach churned and I nearly threw up. I felt deflated, exhausted and as though I’d been knocked down by a runaway truck. I didn’t think I couldn’t run anymore and we had no place to go. I clung to the fence to support my weight and gazed longingly at the house inside the compound.