“We have this now,” Lacey added, lifting the rifle. “We’re better protected now than we have ever been.”
“As long as the bullets hold out,” Aaron added.
“That’s the thing,” Bucky replied, thinking the situation through some more. “We know we can hide in a car if a herd of infected come at us, but it’s the un-infected I’m worried about. Who’s not to say there’s more gangs out there, like the clowns, waiting for people like us to walk on into their lives?”
Johnny looked to him. “Bucky, the world has gone to shit, now. Nowhere is safe anymore, not the roads, the countryside or the towns we’re going to pass through to get back. Living is a risk. If there’s a road we can take to get home sooner rather than later, I’d take that road all day long and suffer the consequences.”
Bucky looked to his friends. “So, we’re all decided, then? We’re going to take the main road?”
Lacey nodded. “Yes, I think so.”
Bucky smiled. “See, you don’t need me to lead you.”
The car pulled away taking the junction that would lead them to the main road. Bucky was right, though. It was the un-infected that posed the greatest threat. Especially when they watched from afar, noting which turn their vehicle had made.
Eight
Rain pattered the windscreen as the car continued onward toward the dual carriageway. The outskirts of town had been relatively quiet and the infected that wandered in these areas posed little to no threat. The car passed by all of them without any trouble, the occupants watching as the crazies growled and reached out, almost appearing to be reaching to them for help. On the occasion that one came in contact with the vehicle, they bounced away without a fuss. Driving slowly through the infestation had proved a touch of genius. In all the video games and movies Bucky had played and watched, vehicles ploughed through the zombie masses at speed causing maximum damage but halting the journey of the people travelling inside them. Here, any damage caused was superficial and did not affect the car’s performance.
Lacey had attempted to find a radio broadcast they could listen to for any new information they may have missed whilst away from a public broadcast, but all she could find thus far were automated advice readings and snow.
“Hey, look. I think we’re here,” Johnny said, pointing out the road sign in his headlights.
‘Liston Vale’ appeared on a white background with an arrow that pointed to the left. “Ten miles. Any other day and it wouldn’t seem so far away,” he said, reading the sign.
Johnny followed the sign and turned onto a slip road. A few cars sat on the descending hill, but nothing that could stop their vehicle from moving between them. The car swayed as Johnny manoeuvredfrom right to left.
“What’s the road like?” Aaron asked from his seat behind Lacey.
Bucky peered through his window. “I can’t see much. Doesn’t look too busy from what I can see.”
Johnny joined the road. A few static vehicles rested across the double lanes, but nothing like Bucky expected.
“This is weird,” he said, noting the absence of vehicles.
“What?” asked Lacey.
“This. I mean, I’d expect more cars on the road than what are out there right now.”
“There’s a few on the other side,” Johnny stated, pointing out abandoned vehicles across the barrier. “Maybe there was more heading into town than there were coming out?”
“Maybe,” Bucky sighed.
“Empty road is good for me,” Aaron began, also peering out through his window. “It just means a quicker travel time to get back home. I never in my life ever believed I’d be so desperate to return to school.”
Johnny increased the speed. Bucky looked to the dash and noted the twenty-five he had averaged through town had increased to just over forty. More vehicles emerged on their side. Infected popped up here and there, staggering and reaching out as the car drove by. They posed little threat for the time being. As long as the car continued onward, their chances of reaching the school would increase. Every mile that passed by, Bucky became more and more uneasy. It was too simple. They reached the turning for Liston Vale and drove onto the slip road. Johnny slowed at the tee junction where white signs pointed left and right from across the way. According to the arrows, Liston Vale and Fendon could be found by turning left. Turning right would lead them to Henshaw Ash and back to school.
“Henshaw Ash. There we are. Only five miles,” Johnny said, his voice tinged with excitement.
“No way,” Aaron gasped.
“I kid you not, man. Five miles. That is all we have left.” Johnny turned the car and followed the road sign. “Shit, guys! I know where we are! We follow this road and we come to Henshaw where the Industrial estate is. You know, the one you can see from the first floor of the maths block? We’re nearly there, peeps.”
The road to Henshaw Ash took them through the countryside. For the second time in two days, Bucky noted dawn breaking upon the horizon. At least the car he found himself in this time was moving.
A valley of trees reached across the road forming a tunnel of greenery as they passed by. An infected had become tangled in wire fencing, snapping and snarling at them as they continued past. They weaved left and right, up and down as the countryside passed by on an uneven road until the sign for Henshaw Ash and its industrial estate appeared on their left.
“You want me to take a short cut and drive through the estate? This road here carries on toward town, and you know what traffic is like at the Slipman roundabout. It may be clogged
