A World Reborn (Novella): The Harrowsfield Outbreak Page 5

  As satisfied as she could be they were safe, and having seen no signs of the infected, they quickly crossed the street to the corner of the next building. Peering around the turn to the right, they saw the long wall of the chamber of commerce eventually give way to a large cinema. It ran to the end of the block, and they would need to round the corner at the end of it and turn left, heading up one block to get to Jeff’s Mart, the marketplace that Tara had identified to Micky earlier. Tara scanned for any signs of danger and found none, so she and Micky proceeded around the corner, staying close to the wall and moving quickly and quietly. There were signs of battle in this street; skeletal remains, long blood streaks, smears, hand and footprints, as well as some dead infected, though there weren’t many. There were a few abandoned cars, and the stores opposite the cinema had broken windows, the glass scattered inside. It indicated to Tara that people had sought shelter from the infected, as Tobias had done, and they too had failed. They wasted no time searching inside the broken stores; a furniture store and a cafe right next to a trendy coffee shop which was attached to a bookstore. It seemed unlikely that there would be the kind of supplies they wanted in there and so, Tara pressed forward, leading the way towards Jeff’s Mart. After a time, they neared the intersection. On the left turn, they would be in the small parking space outside Jeff’s, while across the street from it was the vehicle renting depot, offering everything from cars to small vans and trucks. Tara thought again about trying to escape via the roads, but remembered Micky’s warning of snipers covering the roads.

  As they turned towards Jeff’s Mart, Tara observed that the chain link fence around the depot was down in places, and in the street lights she was sure she could see tyre marks. It seemed she wasn’t the only one who had thought of using the vehicles to try and escape the town, but there were still more than a dozen different vehicles, so it was still an avenue of investigation should it seem possible that they could leave the town. Focusing on their destination, Tara felt a fearful sensation building up in her stomach as she looked across the parking lot. There were three large windows on either side of the double sliding doors that made up the storefront of Jeff’s Mart, and only one of them wasn’t smashed. Someone had driven through the central one on the left side, the large vehicle still embedded inside the facade, while other cars lay strewn about. There was, horrifically, blood almost everywhere - large pools of blood, but no bodies; Tara could only imagine they were where someone had been bitten, only to die, succumb to the Reborn virus and turn into a zombie within a few seconds. That’s what it had been like at the town meeting. With so many people packed into such a small space, it had taken Tara a couple of minutes to realize what was happening; why so many people were screaming. She had been near the middle, standing with her husband and Emily, hearing screams coming from the back and the front, and slowly growing aware of desperate jostling from those nearest the infected as they tried to get away. It had been outdoors, but for whatever reason, a large, waist high iron railing had been erected on either side of where the meeting was to be held, which slowed down those trying to escape off to the side. It suddenly occurred to Tara how strange this was, and she couldn’t help but wonder whether it could have been part of the Reborn plan of attack? Could the mayor have actually sanctioned it to help them? It was a sudden, upsetting and ultimately unhelpful thought. The mayor had died there; Tara had seen it with her own eyes, just as she had seen his wife die. Neither of them had turned, sadly, and they had become a feast for the infected.

  Pushing those bloody, horrific visions away, Tara began moving towards the doors of the market. Micky was close behind, and although there were no outward signs of the infected, Tara brought the gun up and at the ready. While she knew she was a terrible shot, she still found comfort in the weight of the weapon in her hand. They passed the car in the window, moved up towards the doors, and stood outside, hoping they would automatically open as they used to, but the doors remained sealed.

  “We could try forcing them open.” Micky suggested.

  “What if they’re locked? We might be better off going through one of the busted windows.”

  “Okay.” Micky agreed easily. Tara stepped over to the window on the right, looking through the broken window.

  Glass was scattered in crunchy chunks across the white tiled floor. There were a few lights on inside, a couple near the back and a few up at the front, leaving the central area somewhat dim. The carnage continued within, and with only a few aisles visible from the window, it was impossible to tell if there were any lingering infected inside. She heard none of their sounds, but that didn’t really fill her with confidence. Tara took a tentative step inside, her shoe crunching on the glass, and then stepped in further, trying to cross as much of the crunchy flooring as possible. She held the gun at the ready, scanning her surroundings for any signs of movement. To the left, at the far end, a row of six checkouts stood unoccupied, with two more for self service. On the right, fresh produce was on offer, with the lights in the back advertising the chilled meats and delicatessen. Twelve aisles in total made up the majority of the floor space.

  “So what’s the plan?” Tara whispered.

  “I’ll grab a shopping cart, and then let’s get water, food, batteries, a radio, and some flashlights. It’d be great if we could get some kind of weapon too, but I doubt there’ll be much in that way here.” Micky explained.

  “Electronics are on the left.” Tara said simply, and started leading the way. They passed by the locked entrance doors and went towards the front end of the vehicle. Now she was at the front, Tara could see that the interior windows were drenched in blood. Uncharacteristically, she veered towards it, wanting to see if there was anything inside. As she approached, through the red smears, she could make out skeletal remains in the driving seat. As the car doors were closed, she peered closer, leaning in to see if there was any sign of the infected that had done this terrible deed, when a zombie suddenly lunged at the window, its faint, muffled howl barely audible from within the confines of the vehicle. It banged its hands against the glass and pressed itself against the door; trying desperately to get to the new meals approaching it. Tara stumbled backwards, right into Micky, who caught her just before she lost her footing.

  “Jeez.” Micky whispered, shaking his head. “How horrible.”

  The infected was a woman, and Tara could only imagine that they were a couple; her partner getting her into the car around the time she was bitten – perhaps hoping she wouldn’t turn. In a frantic bid to escape, he had driven off, only to lose control of the vehicle when she started her attack; crashing into the market before being consumed entirely. The infected woman was trapped, for now, but the noise it was making was unsettling. Tara moved away, going around the front of the vehicle and on towards the small rack of metal shopping carts that were near the first checkout. Micky pulled one free, and Tara turned back towards the car, seeing the flailing hands of the infected wiping at the sticky bloody on the front windshield. Tara and Micky started moving away, going towards the far end of the market. As they moved, Tara peering down the aisles checking for infected, they were startled when the horn of the vehicle sounded loudly, echoing in the silent, empty market. They both turned swiftly, Tara levelling the gun ready to fire as a second loud horn blast was followed quickly by a third. The infected stopped bashing the horn and seemed to get stuck on something, as there were no more sounds. There were, however, sounds from within the market. In the dim light at the far end, where they had originally been intending to go, they saw two slowly shuffling infected coming out from an aisle; they were drenched in blood and seemed to have been seriously wounded prior to death. A third infected shuffled in behind them, moving a little slower and ahead of one that came crawling around the corner; its hands clawing and snatching at the tiled surface, the sleekness not granting sufficient purchase for it to move quickly. Tara and Micky froze; unsure exactly what they should do. On the one hand, she had the gun and could, if she took her
time to aim properly, easily dispatch them; however, that could potentially draw more of them in from outside. She had the baton, and Micky had the shopping cart. Perhaps, if they were cunning, they could use the cart to their advantage.

  “Should we run for it?” Micky questioned as the infected headed for their position.

  “We haven’t got anything we came for yet.” Tara told him. She made a unilateral decision and hoped he would go along with it. Slipping the gun into the front of her jeans again, she retrieved the baton and extended it.

  “What’re you doing?”

  “Keep them at bay with the cart; when there’s an opening, I’ll bash their heads in. If we’re quick, we can kill them and then get what we need.”

  Micky looked uncertain, but then he gripped the handle on the cart firmly. The first of the infected was closing in, so Micky surged forward, slamming the cart into its lower waist; the creature growled at him as it tipped forward, its arms snatching out at him but unable to reach him over the length of the cart. Tara came in quickly at the side, raising the baton over head before bringing it down with all the force she could muster; the creature moaned, either in pain or in anger, she couldn’t tell. Tara smashed it several more times, bashing it over and over again until eventually, the bone crunched beneath her assault. Her arm ached from the repeated impacts and she felt an upsurge of revulsion when she saw the appallingly savage wound she’d inflicted on what, after all, had once been a person. There was no time to for her to linger or grow morose however; the corpse was stuck on the front of the cart, sagging inside. Micky tried to tip and shake the cart to dislodge it, but to no avail. Unceremoniously, Tara grabbed the back of its shirt with her free hand and yanked it awkwardly off; dropping the corpse on the floor moments before the second of the infected lunged at her. Tara was saved from the attack by it stumbling over the recently dropped corpse in its path. Micky followed this up by slamming the cart clumsily at the creature. The wheels stuck on the dead body, but the fore of the cart still made contact and it tumbled to the ground. Its hands reached out and attempted to seize Tara’s leg, but she managed to edge far enough away to avoid its grasp. Meanwhile, Micky had pulled the cart back and used it to block the third infected which would otherwise have invaded the narrow gap between the trolley and the tiers of shelves. Tara wasn’t sure how to kill the downed creature closest to them; it was crawling towards her and would be within snatching distance within a few moments. There suddenly seemed only one course of action she could take, so putting all her weight on one leg she swung the other back and then struck forward, kicking the infected in the head as hard as she could. The creature’s head snapped back, and the sound of a bone breaking was sickeningly audible over the groaning and grunting of the other infected. Its neck broken, the creature was immobilized but not quite dead, so she followed it up with a brutal stomp on the crown of its head. She stomped twice more, but could do no more as it was time to set to work on the third infected that Micky was struggling to keep contained with the cart. To make it worse, the fourth, crawling infected had reached the cart and was pulling on the side of it; the bloody fingers of its torn up hand reaching through the spaces of the wired side and yanking down on it. Micky lost control and the cart tumbled to the side; unleashing the so far held-at-bay infected. It stumbled forward, nearly grappling Tara, but she reacted swiftly and swatted it across the face with the baton, sending it stumbling off to the side. Tara followed it up with a backhanded strike, knocking it to the floor. It wasn’t stunned for long however; a split second later it was springing forward, aiming for Tara’s midsection. Its fingers were almost around Tara’s waist when Micky knocked into it from the side, slamming it in the face with his boot. It started to rise, but Tara followed Micky’s example and attacked it with her booted foot. Its head split and congealed blood oozed out. Tara raised her foot again, but before she could strike Micky was continuing the assault; crushing its head under his heavy boot.

  They focused on the remaining infected, which was now starting to clamber over the overturned cart. It was Micky who took the initiative; slamming his boot into its head and crushing the back of its skull. The pair stood there breathing heavily as they recovered from the fight. Tara’s arm hurt and trembled after the sudden, violent impacts she’d delivered to kill the infected with the baton. She gazed down at the corpses, at the infected she and Micky had killed, and incredibly, thought she recognized one of them. Even so, it struck Tara that after their fight for survival she felt little in the way of remorse for the infected she had killed. As sad as it was that they were once people, Tara realized that while she had a wealth of sympathy for their victims, like the driver of the vehicle in the window, she had little or none for those who had turned. Although, she admitted a moment later, in reality, they were all victims… of the Reborn.

  “You okay?” Micky asked, looking at her with concern. Tara nodded slowly.

  “I’m fine. Get a new cart.” She replied simply.

  Micky nodded and left; in his absence Tara allowed her gaze to roam down the aisle they were closest to and saw that it had some kitchen items. She walked down it and grabbed a large kitchen knife; it had a plastic cover on it which she managed to rip apart with some effort, completing the task just after Micky arrived back. She took a second one for him and used the blade to open it more easily and then handed it off, grabbing a few more and tossing them into the cart. The infected in the vehicle started banging the horn again, and she turned and glared angrily at it.

  “Wait here.” She told Micky, walking back to the driver’s side door. She grabbed the handle, tried it, and found the door unlocked. She stepped back and waited a few moments, while the infected moved forward and clambered over the consumed remains of her companion, knocking the door open. As soon as the door was open just enough for it to drop onto the ground, Tara lined up her stab and then slammed the blade into the top of its skull. Immediately, the infected went limp and stopped moving. With a little effort, Tara retrieved her weapon and wiped off the blood on its clothing before returning to Micky.

  “Let’s get going.” She instructed.

  Micky slipped the knife through his belt to keep it secure as he started manoeuvring the cart towards the back of the store. They were alert and on the lookout for more infected, but Tara rationalized that if they hadn’t been attracted by the sounds of the car horn or the sounds of fighting, then it was unlikely there were more in the aisles. She did wonder if there might be some in the back area, but hoped, if there was, they’d be behind large, locked doors. They went to the electrical aisle, grabbing batteries, flashlights and a windup radio; the latter in the hope that they could find a safe place to stop and listen to news of what was going on in the rest of the world. They also encountered more skeletal remains, and during a whispered exchange, agreed it was most likely what had kept the infected they’d just dispatched occupied as the blood seemed fresher than they’d encountered so far. They worked quickly and efficiently, sweeping around to grab canned goods, water, a camping stove and some gas cylinders to fuel it. The sweep was going well and they considered going back to the motel and then making a second trip to ensure they were well stocked.

  It was then that Tara heard the first sound; it was a wailing, lower and higher, repeating over and over. It wasn’t close enough that she immediately registered it, but when it was joined by another and then a third, both Tara and Micky became concerned.

  “What is that?” Tara asked him.

  “Not sure. It sounds like a couple of alarms.”

  “Alarms.” Tara repeated. They started towards the front of the market and looked out of the broken windows. Across the way, behind the fences of the rent-a-car facility, it seemed a number of car alarms had been tripped. Tara saw no sign of the infected walking around there, but the fact remained: the alarms were sounding, and another one was added to the cacophony as they watched. The headlights flashed, and the off-tone alarm sounded wildly into the night.

  “This is
really bad.” Micky commented.

  “Yeah.” Tara confirmed as another pair of cars joined the disjointed wailing. “The infected are going to home in on this.” She went on to announce grimly.

  “I think some already are.” Micky said, pointing to the right. Tara followed his gesture and saw a small group of about ten infected shuffling into view. Tara moved forward and looked left, down the other end of the street, and saw that five or six more were on the move.

  “If we go out there, we’re going to need to move quickly and loop around to the motel, otherwise we’ll lead them straight back to it.” Tara stated.

  “We can’t risk going out the front with the cart.” Micky whispered in protest.

  “Maybe we can slip out the back, through a loading dock or something.”

  They watched as more and more infected shuffled into the street, drawn to the sound of the car alarms. Tara was sure waiting like this would only make it more difficult to escape, but the other side of the coin was that something was causing the car alarms to activate… or rather, someone, and she had a good idea who it was. If the gunman was drawing the infected to them, then it meant he might also have taken some measures to cover the rear exit. It was very likely, Tara concluded, that either way was a trap.

  There were more than a hundred infected in the street now, descending upon the source of the noise and acting more and more enraged by the sound. They swiped their arms at the air, charging up against the fence around of the rent-a-car car park and trying to knock it down; banging and rattling it. Some found their way through the two torn down sections and began to batter at the vehicles, attacking them in the hope, Tara assumed, that the maddening noise could be stopped. And then one of the cars exploded; a violent, angry flash of light and sound immediately followed by another and then another. Someone was destroying the cars, although not all of them, as some continued wailing. There were even more infected than there had been before and some were now at the perimeter of the market’s parking space. Then the last of the cars exploded; bringing an uncanny silence – save for the moaning of the infected. It was certain that a number of them had been destroyed along with the vehicles, but a larger number of them still remained. Though the alarms had been stilled, they continued to look amongst the burning debris, unable to stop their search for the source of the sound which had for so long driven them insane with anger. Tara began to shrink back into the market. She knew it wouldn’t be long before some of the infected detected her and Micky, and then they would be battling to stay alive. She had been about to suggest they take a look out of the rear exit when suddenly, the lights cut out, plunging them into complete darkness; the only illumination coming from the burning vehicles and the streetlights outside. It wasn’t much however, and the back end of the store would no doubt be completely black.