“Well, that makes two of us,” Johnny quipped.
“Hey look,” Bucky began as they came to a slip road. “On the sign.” He pointed out the symbol of a football. “This is our turning. I have a feeling our day is about to get better.”
Five
The B road from the duel carriageway appeared much like the main road. Empty cars scattered here and there, some black with smoke where they had once stood as fire engulfed them.
The road flanked by open countryside revealed the odd infected person here and there standing out from the greenery like a sore thumb. Bucky knew the likelihood of stumbling into more crazies increased as they headed toward the town. The fields on either side of the road offered protection, in his mind. If they needed to run out here, they could run. If a full-fledged escape was required in town, places to go and areas to hide became difficult to find.
They came to a tree heavy junction. A small, white roundabout offered two ways to travel, left or right. A brown road sign indicated the football stadium could be found by following the right turn.
Infected wandered as individuals, stumbling and snarling their way towards the kids. The danger they possessed seemed minimal compared to the monstrous herd they had been trapped inside within the underpass. Bucky took everything in his stride for the time being. Many infected they passed now followed a long way behind, leading with their arms to reach the kids. In fact, it was the kids themselves who amassed the herd of crazies now stumbling in their direction.
“This way,” Bucky said, following the road sign. He wandered past the roundabout and scoured the road ahead. More empty cars and a few more infected. Some clustered together.
“Okay, guys, we have a few more than what we’re used to. We may have to fight through.”
“That’s not too many,” Aaron replied, studying their path.
“What are we going to do if the numbers keep increasing?” Lacey asked as the continued onward.
“Hope that the football stadium appears very soon,” Bucky replied.
“I’m being serious,” Lacey snapped.
“So am I. What do you want me to tell you, huh? You knew the risk of walking here. I don’t have an amazing escape plan if this goes tits up. If things get bad we’ll just have to run.”
“Guys,” a voice came from behind. Bucky turned to see that Johnny had stopped. “I don’t want to fight,” he added. Bucky frowned and looked back to Lacey.
“We’re not fighting.”
“We are. Not just this, but with everything. With the zombies. With ourselves. We murdered Lawro.”
“Lawro was a psycho,” Aaron informed him.
“And he messed up Miss Greene pretty bad,” Lacey added.
“I know, but the fact is we killed people.”
Bucky sighed. “We had this conversation back in the hardware shop. We do what we do in order to survive.”
Johnny nodded. “Yeah, I know. It’s just that back there, in the barn, it was the first time I’d done it, and I think it hit me now. I know this is going to be the normal thing to do from now on.”
Bucky walked back and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright, mate?” he asked.
Johnny nodded. “Peachey.”
A woman dressed in a sports bra and gym kit stumbled toward them. Her face vanished beneath fresh, vibrant coloured blood. Johnny took the Stanley knife from his pocket, wandered across and pushed the blade into her chest before she could take hold. The woman shrilled before tumbling to the ground in a dramatic fashion.
“They’re not zombies,” Aaron said, watching as the horde they amassed moved ever closer.
“No, they’re not,” Bucky said, wondering what was running through Johnny’s mind. “It’s just an easy word to call them.”
“It won’t be long before everyone knows them as the living dead, which is a horrible thing to remember them by. They’re human. They’re alive, they’re just sick.”
“Sick with no cure,” Lacey added.
Johnny turned to the rest of them. “I just don’t want to be remembered as a murderer. I don’t want to be remembered in the way that we will remember Lawro. I’m killing the infected to keep myself alive, nothing more.”
Bucky smiled. “Trust me, you’re in good company.”
“Alright, we better get moving again or we won’t be remembered at all,” Aaron said, pointing toward the oncoming horde.
“Let’s go, guys,” Bucky ordered, “when we get to the stadium we won’t have to worry about it anymore.”
The football ground stood within a giant sports complex, itself surrounded by various playing fields and centres. Tennis courts housed a handful of crazies. As they wandered past, Bucky wondered if they had stumbled in them and were too dumb to find their way out.
“It’s empty around here,” Johnny replied.
Infected bodies littered the area, lying within each other’s blood and body fluids. Black liquid mixed with the claret mass and smothered the fallen crazies upon the tarmac.
“I guess they learned to stay away or risk getting killed,” Bucky replied, noting the bullet wounds in some of the bodies. He peered across to the tennis courts once more. “But then again, if they can walk into a tennis court and be unable to find the way out, maybe they’re not as intelligent as we think.”
One of the crazies noted their presence as they walked by. He grasped at the wire fencing with both hands and pushed his features through the gaps. Dark saliva fell from his jaws as he snarled and gasped toward them.
“Just watch your back,” Bucky said, noting their would-be attacker, “we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Army vehicles dotted about the car park here and there. The word ‘Sanctuary’ had been painted on a huge metal gate that separated the outside world from the refuge within its boundaries.
Bucky laid eyes upon a lookout post established within the grounds of the football stadium.
“Hold on,” he said, bringing the group to a standstill.
“What is it?” Lacey asked.
Bucky didn’t reply. He removed the soiled jumper from his body, revealing a partially discoloured tee shirt. “We don’t want
