“What you looking for?” Hannah enquired, climbing into the aisle behind him.
“I dunno yet. One thing I’ve learned these last couple months is you never know what you’ll find where. One time, I found a dildo in a washing machine. Still haven’t figured out how the bloody thing got there.”
Hannah cackled with laughter.
Ted cursed in a mixture of fright and irritation. “Soddin’ ‘ell!”
Hannah covered her mouth. “Sorry!”
“Just try to remember this is the end of the world, yeah, luv’?”
“It’s been a while since I heard anything funny. I wasn’t ready for it.”
“Glad I amuse you.” Ted flipped over a magazine he had found on one of the seats. It was some kind of teen magazine coloured pink and emblazoned with pictures of girls in snazzy, plastic jewellery. On the next seat, he found a half-eaten apple.
“Hey,” Hannah called from near the front. There’s something stashed in the seat pocket here.” She pulled it out and examined it. “Looks like a roster full of names.” She squinted and started reading out loud. “D of E pupil list… Is that the name of a school, you think?”
“Duke of Edinburgh. It’s a youth reward scheme. Hiking, archery, stuff like that.” He pulled out the photograph he kept in his jeans pocket and peeked at it before sliding it back.
Hannah shook her head, embarrassed. “Yeah, our regiment was always taking those kids out on weekends. How did you twig what it was so quickly?”
“My daughter was working to get her award.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt the tears behind his eyes. He looked away, biting his lip until it hurt, punishing himself for talking.
“You had a daughter. Shit, I’m—”
“A lot of people had daughters,” he grunted. “Things are a bit beyond sympathy, don’t you reckon?” Hannah kept quiet and stayed where she was at the front of the bus. “There’s nothing here we can use,” he said. “Let’s get the battery and go.”
“All right.” Hannah climbed out of the coach, and Ted was right behind her.
“Where d’you think they went?” asked Hannah as she continued studying the roster sheet in her hand. “The kids, I mean.”
Ted shrugged and gave no answer. Why torment himself by thinking about a bunch of dead kids? He headed for the front of the coach, wanting to get back on the road more than ever. He’d never opened up a coach before, so he was hoping Hannah’s knowledge went further than the emergency door release. Soon, he might actually be rid of the yappy squaddie.
She was still chatting away, even now. “They must have been here visiting the activity centre,” she said. “You don’t think they could still be alive, do you?”
“No. Help me get the bonnet open.”
Hannah laughed. “You’re more likely to find the engine at the back of a model like this. The battery might even be at the side. Search for a compartment. You take the far side and I’ll take the—shit!”
Ted barked irritably as Hannah grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him into the ditch at the edge of the car park. “The hell you doing, you bleedin’ idiot?”
Hannah shushed him, her rifle aimed down the road ahead. “Look!”
Ted followed the aim of her rifle until he saw the pack of demons a hundred metres down the road. They were spread out in a line, scouring the landscape. They bounded like playful children, hopping and rolling. Luckily, the trees hid Hannah and Ted from their sight.
“They’ll be on us any minute,” said Hannah, sinking lower into the bushes.
“So shoot ‘em.”
“No. It’s the bloody apes! When we fought them back in Derby, we wasted half our ammo trying to hit them. They never move in a straight line, and once they spot you they move like the clappers. I fire a single shot and they’ll rip us apart before I can take a second one. We have to get out of here. And now!”
“Where? There’s nowhere to go. Maybe we can hide on the bus?”
Hannah looked at him like he was a moron. “No way! They’re looking for survivors. These small groups are all over the place, like Nazi death squads. They’ll check the coach just like we did. Come on, we have to head into the forest.”
Ted stared into the dark mass of trees and hesitated. “I-I’m really more of a city person.”
“Fine, then stay here and be a dead person. I thought you knew what you were doing out here!”
“Damn it! Okay, I’m coming.”
He allowed her to drag him into the forest, and within a few seconds, he had never felt so lost. So much for heading north.
8
DR KAMIYO
“Dow yow move!”
The sight of the castle still had Kamiyo’s mind reeling about a world of knights and squires, and that the weapon digging into his back was a lance or sword. He had to remind himself that this was reality, and that death lurked around every corner.
In a calm, non-threatening voice, Kamiyo addressed the man holding him hostage. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know anybody lived here.”
A derisory chuckle sounded in his ear. “It’s an 11th Century castle. Nobody lives here, idiot.”
The stranger possessed an accent that sounded local to the Midlands, a slightly-ridiculous sounding drawl. Kamiyo wasn’t about to state that opinion out loud though. “My mistake,” he said. “If you let me turn around, I’m sure we can sort the matter out. There’s no need for trouble.”
“Well, aren’t yow the polite gentleman!” The pressure between his shoulder blades increased. “What am yow doing ‘ere? How’d yow find us?”
“I didn’t know this place existed! I’m just trying to stay alive. Please, let me turn around. Please!”
“How ‘bout I kill yow right ‘ere instead?”
“Leave him alone, Frank!” came another voice. It shared the same Black Country accent but was female and not as thick.
The man with the weapon argued with the mystery woman. “We dow
