The Dust: Book Two - Pursuit Read online

  On realising this, the four naked and bleeding torsos became frustrated and started spitting and pulling at the door, the one naked man began howling his bloodshot eyes bulging out of their sockets.

  Bradshaw screamed as he clapped eyes on them and clambered to his feet. ‘Get me out!’ He screamed. ‘Please get me out!’

  Gold tried again to tug on the chain but the mechanism had jammed tight and the door wouldn’t open. He turned to Elizabeth. ‘You’re going to have to open it by hand.’

  ‘Am I fuck.’ She answered.

  Gold cracked the side of her face with his ringed hand and she dropped to the floor. ‘Open the fucking door, bitch!’ He yelled.

  Looking up at him the woman shook with fear. ‘But I will die.’

  ‘No you won’t.’ Gold marched to the door of the cage to where the Private was trying to get out, shoving his arm through the gap he caught hold of the young Private around the neck, and with one tug of his huge forearms he pinned the Private to the steel bars. ‘Now get in there and open that fucking door.’

  Elizabeth moved slowly to the steel barred door, unlocked it and pushed it open. The young Private was struggling with Gold to escape but he had no chance, Gold was far too strong. She ran past Bradshaw to the second door, there she was greeted with arms stretching out between the steel bars trying to grab at her clothes. ‘I can’t get near!’ She screamed trembling with fear.

  ‘Use the club!’ Gold shouted back.

  Elizabeth saw the baseball bat lying on the ground, she picked it up.

  ‘Fucking hit them!’ Gold barked.

  Looking at the four naked savages jumping up and down and screaming, she suddenly realised what her life had become. She remembered finding her dad dead in his bed, then her son in the room next door and then finally in the kitchen diner, her daughter lifeless lying on the leather couch. Now she was reduced to sleeping with random strangers to stay alive. The four figures in front of her represented all that was bad with this crazy disgusting new world and her anger boiled over. She hit and clubbed every hand and arm that came near her and she could hear the bones breaking and snapping. ‘Come on then!’ She screamed ‘Come and fucking get some!’ She smashed the bat against the steel bars and tried to shove it through into their faces.

  ‘Open the door.’ Gold could see the savages backing off.

  Elizabeth ripped open the steel door and stood there looking at them. ‘What are you waiting for!’ She yelled.

  Gold looked on, had she gone completely mad?

  The three naked women walked towards her first and it suddenly hit Elizabeth where she was. Her anger had subsided and the adrenaline had vanished, she dropped the bat and turned towards Gold and the Private. She managed four steps when the first woman grabbed her denim jacket and pulled her back. She managed to spin her off, losing her jacket in the process and stumbled closer to the main opening and freedom.

  Gold could see what was happening and released the soldier who fell to the floor. He wasn’t going to take any chances, he slammed the barred gate shut and locked it.

  ‘Nooooo!’ Screamed Elizabeth as she neared it. ‘What are you doing?’

  Gold shrugged and smiled. ‘Sorry, I don’t need you anymore.’

  The fear erupted in Elizabeth’s eyes as she realised that she had been played all along, she looked behind and realised she was seconds from death.

  Gold stayed to watch the naked man pounce on Private Bradshaw and bite through the main artery in his neck; he went down without a fight too weak after being half strangled. Then he could see the two bloodied women pull Elizabeth to the ground and that’s when he turned and left the lorry. All he could hear was the crunch of bones and the gurgling of blood, she was definitely past her sell by date.

  ***

  Roger took another sip of water, digging three graves had been emotionally draining and thirsty work, he was glad of the water butt he had set up in his back garden. Should he dig a fourth? That was the question racing around in his head. There was nothing left for him to live for, nothing worthwhile. He had found the remains of Emily around the side of the house, he guessed Jessica had dismembered her, and prayed that she was actually dead before her elder sister had got to her. The thought of anything else was too much to bear. The three bodies were lying next to each other on the grass a few feet away from their fresh graves.

  Roger looked skywards, it was dusk and soon the night would fall and he had decisions to make. To go back and help his friends, or to stay with his beloved family in his house he loved?

  He sniffed back the tears, he had lost everything in one foul swoop. What he couldn’t fathom out was why or how this had happened. How could an ash cloud erupt in the earth’s atmosphere and cause such devastation? Had this happened before somewhere far back in time before records were kept? It showed what a knife edge our very existence is balanced on. We really are just here for a split second, and then we vanish, just like the dinosaurs.

  Roger looked at the middle black bag which contained the body of Jessica, he shook his head. What had she become? He was convinced that for a split second, she could see it was her Daddy again, who had come home to look after them. He had failed!

  The small bag contained the remains of his little pumpkin Emily, the images of the torn limbs and half eaten flesh entered his head once again. He needed a drink.

  He wandered back into his house bumping into every door frame as he stumbled mentally and physically fatigued from his ordeal. He made his way into the dining room and over to the old antique dresser. Opening one of the old Beech doors, he took out the half empty bottle of Single Malt, he unscrewed the top. Roger took a big swig, but the alcohol burnt his dry throat and made him cough, he caught his breath and took a second swig, this one tasted good. By the sixth and seventh slug he could feel his head loosen up and his breathing became more relaxed.

  He slumped down on a chair at the family table. He now knew it was a blood infection, it couldn’t be anything else. The racing heart, the over production of blood, it all tied in. Half an hour passed and Roger drained the bottle of Malt, he needed something else, he was on a mission. To get pissed, to numb the pain. All he could find was white wine, warm white wine. This wouldn’t have been his first, second or even third choice, but beggars couldn’t be choosers in the current climate. He grabbed a large photo album off the shelf and fingered his way through it as he drunk the tepid, sour tasting Muscadet.

  An hour passed and his vision was starting to wobble, he had gone through the family holiday photos of the last four years and he was now wallowing hard in the depths of grief. The booze had stopped soothing his head and now madness and sadness had taken over. Tremendous highs were quickly followed by massive lows, he went to stand up, but fell back down in the wooden chair. Roger started crying and he didn’t stop for a full half hour, he had lost everything, nothing that mattered was left in his life. This time, he got up from the chair and made his way to the back door bumping from wall to wall, knocking off the painting of the charging elephant his grandmother had left him in her will. Then he reached his goal, the back door, Roger looked outside, it was dark.

  He glanced over at the bodies neatly wrapped up, and the three holes in the lawn. He picked up his shotgun, he wanted to do this, he wanted to end it. What was the point anymore? What was he going to achieve by surviving? It was going to be like climbing Mount Everest with no boots on, you just won’t get there. He turned the gun around and stared at the black holes facing him, he had seen it done in the movies. He could do it, he had the strength and he had the nerve. Now was the time to join his family, his darling Suzanne, his little angels Jess and Emily. Now the long journey had to end.

  Chapter Twenty

  Yanto cleaned his knife on the wet grass and put it back in its leather sheaf. The pot boiled away and the lumps of chicken flesh were turning a nice milky colour. He was lucky this morning, a rouge hen must have escaped from a nearby farm or allotment, and by chance Yanto was on his morn
ing stroll. It was too good an opportunity to miss.

  ‘Is that chicken I can smell?’ Jake sat down next to his companion.

  ‘Sure is Butty Bach.’ He then lifted up the dead chicken’s head to confirm.

  Jake wanted to get up but his bravado stopped him. ‘Nice.’ Was about all he could say.

  ‘Your friends driving around in an old army truck?’

  ‘Christ, I don’t know. They could be on foot or even on horseback like us. Why do you ask?’

  Yanto fished out a chunk of chicken and stuffed it into his mouth. ‘Junction eighteen is just across that field.’ He pointed in the direction of three old oak trees in the middle of a meadow.

  ‘What!’ Jake stood up and looked around. He thought he was familiar to the area but he didn’t recognise any landmarks.

  ‘Over the ridge, you drop down past an old pub and then another two hundred yards is the motorway.’ Yanto tossed Jake a piece of hot chicken. ‘We are on the opposite side of the Bath junction, about a ten minute ride.’

  ‘Let’s go.’ Jake swallowed his food and went to wake Angel.

  ‘Hold your horses now, John Wayne.’ Yanto called him back. ‘Have a good feed and drink some coffee. Over that ridge is a different world, we are going to enter a large urban area. We don’t know what the situation is going to throw up, do we? So far we have kept pretty rural, there a lot more places to hide in a city and a large town.’

  ‘Yanto, I respect your opinion you know that, but hey, my daughter is so close now, I can almost touch her, and I’m not waiting another second.' With that Jake went to wake Angel up.

  ‘Bloody kids.’ Yanto bit on another piece of warm chicken and rolled his eyes.

  Twenty minutes later the three of them were sat on their horses on the ridge looking down at the M4.

  ‘I have never seen it so empty.’ Jake looked up and down the asphalt snake as it wound its way around the hills and disappeared.

  ‘I think this is the first time I have ever seen the M4.’ Angel replied, I’m a northern girl and my motorway is the M6.’

  ‘You’ve never seen or been on the M4?’ Jake couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  ‘No.’ Angel smiled.’ I prefer it up north, the folk are friendlier.’

  ‘Well don’t go that way.’ Yanto pointed to his left. ‘London is one hour and thirty minutes away.’

  ‘I’ve never been to London either.’ Angel said smiling waiting for the response.

  ‘You’ve never been to London?’ Jake said loudly again, sounded astounded.

  ‘Okay soldier, stand at ease. I’m here now aren’t I? I’m sure you can show me the sights.’ Angel now realised how far away she was from where she had grown up.

  ‘The truck is over there, in a lay by.’ Yanto pointed to the opposite side of the motorway. ‘I got quite close, but I couldn’t see who was in it.’

  The three of them rode their horses across the bridge of the motorway towards the concealed layby. Yanto led the way, his eyes peeled for any unusual movement; he didn’t like the location where the truck was parked up. It was too confined and too close to the woods, they could easily come under attack and have no time to react. Thunderchild crunched over the gravel as the smooth road ended and the rough track that led into the layby started.

  Angel niggled Chive past Jake and Lola and up next to Yanto. ‘This place doesn’t feel right, it’s claustrophobic.’

  ‘My thoughts exactly, it feels like a trap.’

  ‘Let’s walk in.’ Angel dismounted and tethered Chive to a small wooden post.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Jake jumped off Lola.

  ‘We are going in slowly and quietly, this place is too close to the woods to be safe.’ Yanto took one of his swords from his saddle.

  ‘Okay, that makes sense.’ Jake grabbed his sword and followed Yanto.

  As they crept around the corner children’s voices could be heard.

  ‘That’s a girl’s voice.’ Angel’s eyes lit up.

  ‘Keep steady.’ Jake held her arm as it looked as if Angel was about to jump up and run to where the giggling was coming from.

  ‘There.’ Yanto caught a glimpse of two girls playing on the grass verge.

  ‘And a truck.’ Jake could see the big army truck parked up.

  ‘Oh my God.’ Angel shrugged Jake’s arm off and stayed deathly still.

  ‘Was is it girl?’ Asked Yanto.

  ‘That’s the truck I escaped from, Lonny Gold and his two lap dogs.’ She swallowed hard.

  Then the two girls came into view, chasing each other, one holding a stick.

  ‘It’s Lou Pepper.’ Jake nearly shouted, but kept a lid on his emotions.

  ‘And Alice.’ Angel couldn’t understand what was going on. She stood up and went to run towards Lou, but a large leathery hand went over her mouth and pulled her down.

  ‘Infected.’ The Welsh voice whispered into her ear. Yanto released her and pointed to three naked men wandering aimlessly the other side of the truck out of the view of the little girls.

  Angel looked back to her horse, she had left the bow and arrows in the saddle sheaf.

  Jake wasn’t taking any chances and sword in hand, he silently sprinted around the grass verge until he was behind the three infected humans.

  Yanto could see what he had in mind. ‘Stay here and keep an eye on the girls.’ He told Angel, and with that he ran straight at the trio twirling his sword in his right hand.

  The first naked man growled and stepped towards Yanto gritting his bloodied teeth. Before he knew what had hit him Jake pounced from behind and sliced his head clean off, the body dropped to the gravel, blood spurting from the open wound.

  The second naked attacker, a teenager about six foot three screamed and sprayed blood in Jake’s direction, again before he could react, Yanto struck. With a low kick to the ankles the Welshman toppled the tall youngster who crashed to the ground, pools of blood spewing from his mouth. As he tried to lift himself off the gravel Yanto thrust his sword straight through his neck, death was instant.

  The third savage a tubby heavily tattooed middle-aged man ran at Yanto to knock him off his feet, but before he could make contact Jake had run full circle and caught him between the shoulder blades with his cold steel. He pushed hard and the tip came through the large man’s chest. blood shooting from the gash. Jake withdrew his sword, but the man didn’t fall, he kept staggering towards Yanto.

  ‘Watch out!’ Jake shouted to his pal.

  Yanto grabbed a knife from his boot and raked it across the advancing man’s face. He had cut him from cheek to cheek and the tip of his nose was now missing. Tubby wasn’t having any of it though, with his teeth snapping and his bloodshot eyes bulging like balloons, he slammed into Yanto and the Welshman was knocked off balance. Jake who had continued running caught up with the infected aggressor just as he was about to attack. Another wild swing of the sword caught tubby on the top of his head and his skull cracked, part of it flew off landing about twenty feet away. This time, he fell to his knee’s blood running out of his mouth like a swollen river. Yanto finished off the job as he plunged the knife into the skull and deep into his brain. Tubby was finally dead.

  ‘Jesus, I never thought he was going to die.’ Jake took a deep breath.

  ‘Some people are made of tough stuff, Butty Bach.’ Yanto inserted his knife back into his boot, after removing the sticky brain tissue with his forefinger and thumb.

  ‘Angel, Angel!’ The shrieking voice of Lou Pepper made both men turn to see Angel hugging Lou and Alice.

  ‘Oh honey, I have missed you.’ Angel squeezed Lou as if she would never let her out of her sight ever again.

  ‘I thought we would never see you again.’ Lou started to well up. ‘Me and Roger hid in a house and then a woman tried to kill us in the road.’

  Angel kissed on her on the cheek. ‘You can tell me all about it later.’ She squeezed Alice’s hand. ‘How come you two are back together again?’

  Befo
re Alice could answer Angel a shout emanated from the fringes of the woods.

  ‘Get away from the girls!’

  Angel looked up and could see a woman pointing a hand gun directly at her.

  ‘Get away, or I swear I will shoot you!’ Again the woman shouted out in a southern Irish accent.

  ‘And move slowly.’ A second voice came from the side and a younger woman, a teenage girl stepped out of the woods holding a large hunting knife.

  ‘Okay, okay, chill your boots.’ Angel lifted her hands up.

  ‘It’s Angel, it’s Angel.’ Lou Pepper protested but it fell on deaf ears.

  ‘Back off now!’ The Irish woman never took her aim off her target.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Jake then came into view and could see a woman pointing a gun at Angel.

  The Irish woman quickly turned to see where the voice was coming from but then returned her weapon onto the woman who was now backing away from the two girls.

  ‘We are friends, we know Lou and Roger.’ Jake walked a little closer to the woman holding the gun.

  ‘Stop right there.’ The younger woman yelled over to Jake.

  ‘Are you Jake?’ The Irish woman asked.

  ‘Yes, yes, and that’s Angel. We were with Roger and Lou Pepper.’ Jake held out his hands to show he meant no harm.

  The Irish woman lowered her gun. ‘I’m sorry, I was worried about the two girls.’ She walked over to Jake and shook his hand. ‘We saw your message and Roger drove straight here.’

  ‘Where is he?’ Jake asked.

  ‘Gone into Bath to look for his family. That’s where me and Hannah have been, out there looking for him.

  Jake’s delight in finding Lou suddenly turned to anxiety over his friend. ‘You think he’s lost?’

  ‘No, but he might not return, he told me to wait till midday today.’

  ‘Might not return?’

  ‘Well, I think if he couldn’t find them or there was some hope of them being alive he would return with or without them.’ Iris O’ Neil fidgeted slightly. ‘I got the impression that if he found them, well not alive then he might not return at all.’