Jack had noticed her discomfort. “Are you all right?”
“Just some collywobbles, mate.”
The boy had no idea what that meant, but the Englishwoman had already moved on.
Five minutes later, the ammunitions were restocked, and the Humvee was ready to roll out again.
Joe and Emily looked at John expectantly.
“John, do you want to go get Ben or go find out what happened to Bill and his team?” Joe asked.
The ex-soldier clenched his jaw as he thought about it. It didn’t take him long to make the decision. The safety of all went before the safety of one.
“The first job is to go check on that gate.” He looked down the street for a second. “My guess is that it’s not shut. There are still zombies coming from that direction.” He pointed with his chin. Joe and Emily turned and saw several zombies in the distance.
The implications of that were serious, and Emily feared that Bill, BB and Breanne were hurt or worse.
“Can I come with you?” Emily asked. John shook his head.
“No. If we find them, they might need to ride in the Humvee with us. That’s going to be tight. Besides, you should stay here and hold down the fort. We’ll be in touch.” John took a step away but stopped. He turned with a rueful expression. “Sorry, Em. I know Bill was a friend of yours. Those guys knew the risks, though ... I’ll do what I can to bring them back.” His expression showed that he had little faith in that happening. He scratched behind his ear, and couldn’t think of anything else to say, so turned away.
John walked up to the Humvee. Mike had already jumped into the driver’s seat, and Abi was just getting into the passenger side, having to jump to clasp the oh-shit handle and get a foot on the running board. “Also, keep that walkie-talkie close at hand. In case Ben contacts you,” John said over his shoulder, signaling for Keith to open the gate at the same time.
“WATCH OUT FOR ALL THE shrapnel,” John instructed Mike from the back seat.
“You got it, chief. Gonna be hard, though ... Look at this mess.” Mike didn’t take his eyes off the road in front of him.
It was human soup. The road was wet with bodily fluids. Dark, viscous blood covered everything, including body parts and many unidentifiable objects. Mike heard Abi gasp at something she saw. He didn’t want to know what it was.
“Hold here for a minute,” John commanded. The vehicle pulled to a stop and John popped out of the hatch. Mike watched several zombies amble along in their direction. He covered his ears, knowing what was coming next.
I’m getting too old. The sharp reports of gunfire rang above Mike’s head. He watched one zombie drop after the other.
At least John doesn’t waste any shots. Mike watched a zombie stumble sideways. Oh. Spoke too soon.
There. Five shots taken, four zombies down. He looked over at Abi, impressed. She was not paying attention, though. She continued to stare in horror at the carnage that lay all around them.
“Hey,” he said, but Abi seemed to be in a trance. “Abi.”
This time she jerked upright. She looked at Mike with wide eyes.
“Are you OK?” Mike could hear John pull the hatch shut behind him. He made no move to grab the steering wheel just yet. Instead, he reached over and put his hand on Abi’s arm.
“Yeah. I just ...” Abi shook her head. “It’s just a bit much for me, Mike.”
He watched as her eyes started to glimmer and squeezed her arm. “None of that, now. We need you, Abi. BB needs you.” Mike felt terribly guilty for saying it, but this wasn’t the time to have a breakdown.
Abi wiped her eyes and nodded, putting on a brave face. “You’re right. Let’s go get him.”
Mike put the vehicle in drive and started to move. He glanced through his rear-view mirror and exchanged a look with John. Thankfully, the soldier kept his mouth shut.
“Why don’t you radio in? Let Emily know we are about to lose line of sight,” Mike asked as he manoeuvred the Humvee past the section of gore and debris that marked the last of the exploded mines. They would be able to pick up their speed now. “Ah. Damn.” Mike took his foot off the gas.
Up ahead, yet another zombie came shuffling into view, followed by a couple more.
“They’re like fucking lemmings,” John said, tapping Mike on the shoulder. Mike slowed the vehicle to a stop as John prepared himself for more target practice.
Getting to the gate was going to be painfully slow, at this rate.
Chapter 52
Dean
Dean looked up to the late afternoon sky, trying to place the direction of the noises. They were definitely the sounds of explosions and gunfire.
He heard a soft whine at his feet and felt something push into the side of his leg. He reached down and caressed Nugget’s head. The dog responded by leaning into him some more.
He didn’t make another sound.
Dean looked down and met the adoring eyes of his new sidekick. A small wag of the tail, but again no noise.
Smart dog.
Dean had not taught Nuggets to be quiet, but the dog was. Especially around the silent screamers. Dean thought back, and both times he checked in on Nuggets, he always found the dog hiding upstairs. The dog knew what to do when somebody was nearby. And it wasn’t like Nuggets stayed up there all the time. Dean had left the back door open so Nuggets could go outside anytime he wanted to. There were plenty of indications that Nuggets was outside regularly.
One of which I stepped into on my last visit. Oddly, the thought amused him.
Nuggets had proved to be of great value to Dean since then. His keen
