The Walk - Part Four.

(Warning Contains strong language and graphic violence.)


The Walk

4 – Kids.

It was a new experience having a a ten year old boy point a double-barrel shotgun at my face. To be honest, I’ve never been threatened with a shotgun, but im sure having some greasy pubescent youth pointing one at me now made it a little more edgy. The little shit was loving it too, a big smug grin laden his mucky chops. I could see the end of the gun shaking, but I could tell that was from the adrenaline of the situation and not from fear. This kid had me and I knew if I made a move for my piece, it wouldn’t end well for me. The kid stood there, his eyes bulging with excitement like when he opened the door he had in fact just opened his birthday and Christmas presents all at once.

“look kid” I stuttered raising my hands to protect my face like that would help in anyway.

“Don’t call me kid!” he snapped. “you one of them?”

I found his question a little strange, but put it down to probably not having any experience with the ghouls. I didn’t want to get my head blown off, so I lied.

“No ki-, sorry. No”

The kid dropped his aim down to my chest. Probably from the weight of the heavy gun rather than trust. His eyes were still wild and wide.

“Look, I’m passing through” I said “please, I’m not going to hurt you”

“You make that explosion?” he asked.

“Yeah, took a lot of them out, but I think some are following me.” I said still watching the barrel and not his eyes.

“You brought them here?”

“no, no, please could I come inside”

The boy pondered my question.

“My mum says I shouldn’t let strangers in the house”

I was starting to panic now.

“Your mum sounds like a smart lady. Where is she now?”.

The boy raised his barrel back to my face.

“She is upstairs, with my dad.”

“Could you get them, so I could talk to them?”

“No.” A glaze came over his eyes, but his face gurned with anger.

What was I doing? Why was I hanging around? The kid obviously didn’t want me in the house. I didn’t really want to go inside the house, all I was really concerned with was not having my head blown off.

“Okay, Fine Kid, I do not need to come inside, but if we keep this up we are going to both die, so I'm just going to go. Okay?”

I started to step backwards as I spoke, Slowly backing away from the boy to try and show I was making sense. Preying he did not pull the trigger. I could seem him mulling it over, but the fire was still in his eyes. After a few steps I turned and that was when the boy noticed my gun tucked into the back of my jeans.

“Hey mister stop” he shouted, a shiver ran through me. I stopped and turned back to the boy to see the gun lowered and him gesturing me over. A good sight to see. I walked over and into the house and the boy closed and locked the door. He waved me through into a large kitchen which seemed out of place in a farm house. There were Light and Dark Marble surfaces, a SMEG fridge and all the modern appliances that loiter in the modern day kitchen. The kid opened the fridge and offered me a beer which made me laugh. I thought it a nice gesture, but wanted to keep my head as clear as possible. But then, as I usually do, decided that one would be fine.

“Thanks ki-”

“Cameron.” he said getting himself a can of fanta “but everyone calls me Cam”

“That’s a big gun you got there champ” I said after taking a long tug on my beer.

“Its my Dad's. He likes hunting geese or something up at the manor.”

“Pheasants?” I asked

“Yeah, sommat like that.”

“So where is your dad? Upstairs right.”

Cam looked down at his drink.

“Yeah, he got Ill. Mum said to lock her in with him and to use the gun if anyone came upstairs.”

I nearly dropped my beer. Was there anywhere left where everyone was not dead? And now I had some kid telling me that he has no parents. Teats a tough place to be in, I was concerned for the kids well being, but I didn’t think I was ready to take responsibility for one.

“When was that?” I asked.

“Last night. Dad fought off a few but mum said he got flu and she said she didn’t feel too good either. Dad was walking with a limp and mum had scratches on her arm. Mum talked to me through the door for a bit but then dad got angry and hurt mum, so I ran downstairs.”

Tears were streaming down his face now and he was blankly staring down at the lino but he continued on.

“I know what happened, I’m not stupid. I know what the news said and I cant do that.” he stopped speaking and his gaze rose to meet mine. I knew as he spoke the words the reason he had brought me into safety, he wanted me to do what obviously needed to be done. I leant towards him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Your a brave kid. Don’t worry. Ill go upstairs and speak to your parents.”

Then the tears came. Joy blurted them out of his glands and they cascaded down his face. He leaned forward and hugged me tightly.

“I need you to come upstairs and lock the door until I say okay?”

His head rocked forward and back in my chest and then he took a breath, raised his head and thanked me.

We headed up the stairs. Cam was holding his shotgun. He had offered me it, but I didn’t know the room and did not know if it was small and how much room I was going to get. Even though, it was very tempting. I decided on the 9mm, which I had decided it was. To be honest I had no idea what my gun was or what ammo it used. It looked like the typical pistol. I was trying to look calm in front of the kid but all about me inside was fear. I’m no hero, im no John McClain, I ain't Tango and Ill certainly never be Cash. I’m a Bozo, an average Joe, but here I was, what else could I do, make the kid do it? No chance. I may be a bastard, but I ain’t that much of a bastard. I tried to think of what I done. Getting to the flat, running for the car. But then since then ive been a bit poor. Getting trapped in a garage, okay I blew it up, but that was pretty stupid if im honest. Yeah I took a few out but I could of badly injured myself or even killed, but with the explosion that I caused would’ve been heard for miles around so all I did was get dumped by an old guy in shit central where all the ghouls where heading from all around. First things first though I thought.

I unlocked the bedroom door with the key Cam had handed me after pointing out the door. I gripped the handle, closed my eyes, breathed in and gathered my thoughts. Shoot straight, aim and pop. Aim and pop. I turned the handle, pushed the door open and stepped inside with the gun aimed out in front of me. I got a bit of a shock.

The room was large and wide, with a large modern bed placed in the centre. There were the typical wooden furniture a dresser table and what looked like a door to a walk in bathroom. The walls were a light grey-blue. Warm, I imagined nice to wake to. It was not really the size or inanimate contents that was in the room, that was two things. One was that there did not seem to be any adults in the room, the second thing was that there was a seven year old girl stood at the end of the bed staring straight at me. She was wearing a worn t-shirt and old jeans and gave me a smile. Before I could comprehend what was happening. I felt movement behind me, then I felt the butt of the shotgun Cam had been holding lunge into my lower spine. I fell to the floor in agony, and watched as Cam walked over to the girl and heard him mutter to her something like it being easy, then I felt someone hit me on the back of the head with something hard and yet again, I became unconscious

I came round tied to a chair. I had no idea how long I had been out, but remembered where and why I was there, mainly because Cam, the girl and two other young boys were stood looking at me.

“You little fucking bastards” I yelled. Fuck etiquette at times like this. It did nothing but make them giggle, all but Cam, he just stared at me, the wild spark back in his eye.

“What the fuck do you want from me!” I yelled.

“Shush now!” the girl said and came over to me, I felt like trying to bite out at her, maybe that was not a part of the real me, who knows? Like I say, I’m new to all this. I realised that they may of noticed my bite mark as they bound my hands and panicked a little more. I have never really been scared of anything before, but been strapped to a chair in a dark room with four filthy kids all stood there (one holding a kitchen knife, one a small cricket bat and Cam was clutching his shotgun) grinning away like they had a plan that was going to plan perfectly.

“Whats your name mister” The girl asked me as she skipped around me on and the chair.

“Mike, Michael” there was no point in playing games.

“Mikey, Mikey Mikey Mikey” she shouted as she skipped round me, one of the boys mimicked her.

She stopped skipping and grabbed both my cheeks hard, smooching them around in her hands.

“I hate it when people do this” she said whilst doing it. I tried to move my head back but it was no good and it just made her do it harder. I took as much as I could but everyone has their limits. I did not know if it was because I was tied down and had no other form of defence or whether it was something far worse, but I opened my mouth and I sunk my teeth into her arm. She screamed and jumped back.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?” I screamed at them and the girl jumped back in fear again. Cam came forward. “Oh your in trouble now” she said holding her wound.

I regretted instantly hurting the girl, it was just a reaction. I could taste her blood and it tasted foul. I felt like being sick.

“You really bought it didn’t you?” Cam said looking at me, he didn’t seem interested in the girls wound.

“You really thought that my parents were upstairs!” he burst into a fit of laughter and turned to face his friends as they joined in.

“look Kid what the fuck do you want from me?”

He whipped back round to me at that with an angry look, poked the shotgun under my chin and growled. “Don't call me Kid.” he stared me out for about five seconds, getting his fix of joy from the fear in my eyes. “Your here for a party” he said it so calmly as if he was being serious, but he did not seem to be following up his statement, so I asked

“A party?”

Cam nodded and smiled. “yeah, my friends are having a party. Its my friends birthday today.”

Was anything real any more? Was I going insane? It certainly felt like it. I was finding everything just a little bit too surreal at the moment. What happened to humanity? And where the fuck are these kids parents?

“Look stop messing about Cam. I'm trying to find my friends. I did not mean anyone any harm.”

The girl laughed at this and her two friends joined her. I was getting sick of these little brats now. The girl was sweating now and once a few giggles left her lips her expression changed to pain and she rubbed her hand. Thats when it hit me. I didn’t believe it, but my brain registered the fact anyway. Cam noticed me not paying attention and banged the stub of the gun on my knee. The pain shot through me like electricity.

“I think we should go show you the party”. As If on cue, the two boys walked over to the chair and together they turned me round and dragged me towards a door. The rope they had used was tight, but not brilliantly tied and loosened as the chair dragged. They had wrapped me in rope rather than just tie the hands and feet. Kids eh? It turned out to be a good thing that they did a bad job with the rope because before I knew it I was tumbled into a room which held three small zombie children. They were wearing bloodstained party dresses and two had party hats, one on the head, the other with it dangling down in front of her left shoulder. They all seemed to have been chewing on what remained of a woman over in the corner when my chair tumbled into the room, breaking my binds on impact and as the door slammed shut and locked behind me. The kids grey eyes seem to light up and they all in unison rose and started towards me. I quickly untangled myself and rose myself. My pistol was taken and was god knows where and all I really had was a chair to use as a weapon. The room was empty and the windows were boarded. I wasn’t too concerned in the fact that I was going to get eaten, but I knew I had to take them down. One of them was about six. I walked towards the lead ghoul and kicked her hard in the chest, making her fly backwards and knocking one of the others down. I then walked over to the remaining vertical zombie and grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and walked it over to the nearest wall and started whacking its face against it over and over. I closed my eyes as I did it, but I couldn’t cut out the noise, the crunch of skull on plaster and brick. I stopped after a few seconds and turned to find the remaining ghouls back on their feet’s. I walked over, kicked one back down and repeated the process, then kicked the last back to the floor and put a chair leg through his eye socket. Then I vomited and cried. I lost myself that day. Who I was, who I had ever been. The good things, the bad, they all became obsolete. I cramped in my stomach and vomited again, trying to get the sounds of my actions repeating in my mind. Then, as I was crouched over, I noticed my wrist. The wound had gone, my wrist was fine. I got to my feet and it gave little confidence towards what I would face next. Knifes, Bats, Shotgun.

I started with the windows, the boards came off easily, but it was a twenty foot drop to the ground, and I wasn’t confidant enough to dare jumping. There was no ironic wagon cart of hay or anything to ease my fall, just a drop and dirt. I could hear something going on outside in the hall. Someone was shouting for Cam, then mumbling, then someone screamed. I went to the door and after trying it gently (you never know) I placed my ear to the door. I heard a muffled voice repeating something, then the shot from the gun. I jumped back thinking I was the target and then realised the door was still intact. I could hear footsteps, quick footsteps that faded, then a shout and then came louder, louder then they were at the door. The key rattled the lock and the door flung open. Cam was holding the shotgun and was covered in blood. One of the boys ran up closely behind, also splattered in blood.

“You turned Her.” he said raising the gun towards me “Your one of them!”

I heard him speak, but before the words could register he fired the gun. I had not needed to register the words as I could clearly see straight away by his face and tone that he was about to fire and I had started to leap to my right across the room. I felt the shots pass close by and then felt the plaster from the wall impacts dusting my back and hair as I fell. Cam stepped forward and pulled the second trigger and the gun clicked. He had not reloaded after the first shot. I jumped to my feet and launched myself at him and sent him tumbling backwards into a wall were I pinned him down and with one swift punch to the side of the head knocked him unconscious, then turned my attention on the boy stood looking at me, holding a kitchen knife.

I stood and walked towards him and he lifted the knife out towards me, but he was rigid, was shaking and his eyes full of fear.

“You sure you want to do this kid” I said “I've just taken out all of your friends, living and dead and apparently im one of those things too. So, what ya say kid? You want to put the knife down and ill just go?”

The knife dropped to his side and then to the floor, next to the small pool of urine he had created during my speech. The boy then ran out of the room and I heard his footsteps fade down the stairs and into a room, with the door slamming behind him. I left the room and stopped in the hall and looked at myself for a second in a long mirror hanging on the wall. A second was all I could bare. It was me, but in my reflection I was smiling and my eyes were grey.

I headed down the stairs and heard the boy crying in one of the rooms. I shouted out asking where my gun was and he sniffled a reply saying it was in the kitchen. I found it in the cutlery drawer and took a penknife I found in there. The cupboards were stocked so I took a few basic provisions, leaving plenty for the kids, went to the front door, looked back at the house, sighed at the story those walls now held and then closed the door on my way out.

The Walk - Part Three

  I woke to the scratching more than the moans. They were are at window, their wide eyes all peering through the darkness into my soul. There must have been a hundred of them, most pressed against the thick glass by the rows of lost souls behind them, all hungry for my flesh. I sat myself up against a row of shelves. My head ached. My wrist throbbed and my eyes were having trouble adjusting to the darkness. I noticed the drinks freezer was lit and on and so was the small microwave for the burgers they sold, so I knew the power was on, but I could've sworn that before I passed out they were on. I ached my head round and scouted the shelf I was using as a backrest and saw it was the crisp isle. I picked up a packet of Monster Munch and tore into it. I was hungry, no, I was starving, but in my mind I think I was testing myself. I knew I had not become one of those things, but I knew I was not the same as I was.

“You've been out for a few hours” a voice came from my left and I shot round to find a old man wearing a green macintosh with cream trousers, his hair greasy and withered. He had a face that had succumbed to the years, pale, but rough, worn out. His eyes seemed bright even in the darkness, he was standing at the end of the isle, his arm stretched out towards me and he was holding a can of cola.

“Thirsty?” he said and smiled. I took the cola. Opened it and took a huge chug. I hate cola, I don't like the fizzy sensation, but I enjoyed that gulp, it quenched more than my thirst, it was another piece of mind.

“Who are you?” I asked as I sucked on my tongue and blinked my eyes as the sensation of the bitter taste of the cola lined my throat.

“Jed.” he replied holding out his right arm and I purposely held out my left arm and shook it backwards.

“Mike!” I replied and got to my feet and wiped my eyes, the moans outside upped in volume as I did so and the excitement in those dead eyes seemed to sparkle through a little more. Jed saw me looking at the window and looked himself.

“We are in a real shit-storm ain't we? He said. He had a Yorkshire accent, but I couldn’t place it. I couldn’t remember the name of the village we had stopped at, I wasn’t even sure if I'd even noticed it on the way through.

“You can say that again. How long have you been in here?” I asked picking up my crisps and motioning if it was OK to eat them.

“About three hours before you. I was in the bathroom when you arrived. Thank you for closing the door, by the way.”

“Why didn’t you lock it?” I mumbled through a mouth full of dry crisps.

“I thought I did, I was in a bit of a panic, that one, you know, the one your friend shot that...She... was my daughter.” He was looking down at his feet now, swaying too and fro, as if although he was talking that he was far away in a place in his mind. I had thought this man to be harmless and the way he spoke his words contained no anger but those four words sent a jolt through my mind, we had just killed his flesh and blood and now I was trapped inside a glass aquarium surrounded by an audience of the dead, they suddenly became the least of my worries.

“I’m sorry” I said, he lifted his gaze to mine. “She attacked..”

“I know, I know.” he spoke gently and his gaze dropped back to the floor. “would you prefer a coffee? There is a pot out back I made.” I nodded and said “OK then, sugar, milk?”

“no sugar for me please, but milk, thank you”.

Jed turned and started towards the back room of the garage and I started to follow, which he noticed and stopped

“Stay in here.” he said quite abruptly. “make yourself at home.” and then headed off into the back.

This took me by surprise and I found myself getting suspicious of what he could’ve been hiding. He was back in a flash, handed me a steaming hot coffee and we sat at the back by the microwave. As if he had read my mind he said with a big smile on his face. “I'm not hiding anything back there.”

He could see the shock on my face I suppose as he continued. “They don’t seem to be round the back.” and pointed to the Ghouls through the black sludge that had built up and scraped across the window.

“Its because they can see us. So they just try and get in there, and I thought seen as how we are going to get out of here that we will need that side clear, you can go look back there if you don’t believe me”

“That's not a problem Jed, I believe you and think your a smart man. Did you say there was a bathroom?”

Jed pointed me to the back and signalled to go left, which I did and found a small toilet and sink, I took a leak and then washed my face, hands but more importantly my wound. I had been paranoid that if Jed noticed it that he would not be as friendly. The wound wasn’t bad when I cleaned off the dried blood, small round teeth marks that had broken the flesh, but only a small part. The wounds were bruised though and the marks were quite large, but by now the pain had ceased and only irritated when my sleeve rubbed against it. The warm water was refreshing and I poured a lot over my face and hair and held my head back and smiled at the sky as I released the tension in my shoulders with a stretch and let out a groan that could rival any ghoul. When I got back in the front Jed was sat reading a five day old newspaper and sipping his coffee. He was a tall man and towered over my five eight frame.

“any good news?” I joked.

“not really.” he said and smiled. “this was out the morning it happened. It happened so quick that no-one really had time to do anything. The radio said that the army were barricading the cities in an attempt to stop it, but it wasn’t just in the cities, it was everywhere, its like God had decided enough is enough and sent his demons to tear us apart. I own a farm about three miles from here.”

He looked like a countryman, but Jed didn’t have a farmer look, yes his face was old and rough, but his clothed seemed more retired golf fan.

“I used to run it, but my Daughter and her husband took it over a few years ago.” he stopped and stared into his mug for a second. “It was him” he turned and looked me in the eye. “Her husband, Thomas, he came home bitten. We didn’t know what was going on at the time, we knew there was something happening but we had no television and our radio was out. so bandaged him and put him to bed when he said he felt dizzy. We called the doctor but it was constantly engaged. Then Judith, my daughter, she went to check on him. I heard the scream and rushed upstairs to find her holding the bedroom door shut with blood streaming from her shoulder. She was screaming that he had gone crazy and bit into her. Then he started pounding on the door, not with great force, but deep thuds, and of course the moan.” his eyes flickered over to the window. “He turned so quickly, about an hour. Judith was different.”

I shot my head round to face him.

“It took 73 hours for her to die. I had looked after her the best I could and even though Id managed to get the radio working and we knew what was going on by this point, but we couldn’t give up hope that maybe she was special, maybe the news was wrong, maybe it wasn’t the bites that turned you.”

A shiver shot through my spine and pinged into by brain.

“We had locked Thomas in the bedroom and barricaded it so he couldn’t get out, not that he ever stopped trying to. It got to a point where Judith was needing help, but she made me promise I wouldn’t take her outside. I gave her pain killers and mopped her brow, but in the end, I couldn’t take any more. It was killing me watching my daughter in this state. I had watched her mother die, and I wasn’t going to lose her. When she was sleeping I carried her to my car, put her in the back and started my way towards York Hospital when, well, she died. I pulled over just in time to say goodbye. But then she was gone, I was going to close the door and lock her inside, I knew she wouldn’t get out. But I spent too long saying goodbye and managed to get out, I ran and got here, found the front door locked but luckily the back door wasn’t, I’m sure locked it though. She was right behind me, I'm 67 years old, I don't run that fast no more. She was trying to get in for hours. Then you and your friends showed up.” there were tears in his eyes, but his voice was always steady. He spoke well and his story filled my heart. I had no words that fitted the moment, so I just kept quiet and finished my coffee. He looked at me and he asked a question that I remember thinking would be come popular turn of phrase for the foreseeable future.

“What’s your story kid?”

Jed seemed a good open guy, a nice guy, but I didn’t want to waste any more time, I didn’t have time sitting around making friends, when mine were god knows where in this mess.

“I'm just a guy trying to stay alive.” I said and stood and walked over to some rucksacks that the store were selling and took one down, then started to fill them with water and food. “What village is this?” I asked.

“You going somewhere?” he asked.

“I’ve got to get to my friends, to my girlfriend.”

“That’s all well and good, but how do you hope to get away from those?” and then pointed again at the window. “like I say Michael, im not that fast any more and there are a lot more of them than me.”

“It will be OK, do you have a car?”

“Yes, its erm, its about five hundred yards down the road.”

“OK, we go out together, but you need to get to the car, and you need to wait for me, OK? “

“Well I suppose I cant stay here forever. Might as well do it now” Jed rose and grabbed another rucksack and started to fill it himself. I found a tube of tennis balls and cut a slit in one with Jed's knife. Then I took a pack of matches and filled the tennis ball with it. Then I took some lighter fluid and poured it inside the ball. Jed was watching me in awe.

“You probably wouldn’t believe it, but my childhood wasn’t really that rough.” I joked.

Jed smiled and asked if I was ready.

“More than I'll ever be.” I said. “When we get out there, head straight for the car, ignore everything else but that, OK? And get it started, if you could drive me to another abandoned car I'll take it from there.”

“Of course” He was looking me dead in the eye.

I opened the door and stepped into the night. The back wasn’t empty, but there were only about ten between me and the car up the road I presumed was Jed's. Jed started in its direction and I made my way round to the front, but still stepping away also. As they came into view, I could see at least a hundred, all packed in, all groaning, all condensed into the parking area, I couldn’t see the pumps but could see the poles over the ghouls. They spotted me and were all turning towards me now, I didn’t have time to think, this was just a 'maybe' idea anyway. I threw the tennis ball, and it disappeared into the crowd. I didn’t stand around to check, I turned and headed for the car, I could see Jed slowly jogging and narrowly avoiding outstretched arms. All I could think as I ran was 'don’t drop those keys Jed, Don't drop those keys.' They, whoever they are, say you shouldn’t look back if yours being chased, but that’s quite hard when your being chased by a hundred or so crippled cannibals. They we barley moved, and I was a third of the way now. Jed reached the car and got in the drivers side. The engine started and the lights came on, and the car started to turn round to face East, I got to the car and tried the passenger door, it was locked. I looked up at Jed. He was looking me right in the eye. He shook his head and then took off. I shouted half his name when the explosion happened. I felt the shock wave hit my back and the noise of the air was replaced with white noise. I was blown to my feet. I turned and saw about half the ghouls were down, and most of the rest were on fire. But there was still the ones at the front of the pack. The observant ones. I was up on my feet before the remaining fragments of the station were starting to hit the ground around me. I ran as fast as I could, I followed the road for about three hundred yards and then noticed the fields were turning to woodland on my left, so I jumped a small stone wall and headed into the trees. I took out my pistol and removed the safety and looked behind me as I caught my breath. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear them and I knew for certain they knew where I was. I put the safety back on the pistol and tucked it back in my trousers and started walking. The woods are creepy in the dark, I don’t care what you say and when your on your own and there’s a group of zombies after your ass, you can be forgiven for having a good few sets of trousers to be able to change into. I headed North, I think, I have no idea to be honest. I just ran, or jogged, if im honest. After the first mile I puked and decided to half a break. I could barely hear the ghouls, but as long as I could hear them I wouldn’t be safe. I even laughed at myself for that thought, like I was safe out there at all, alone with a pistol and lots of chocolate and water. I sat down and gave myself five minutes. The woodland was clearing and I thought id take a break before I headed back out onto open ground, in case I needed to be fresh to be able to leg it if need be. I thought about Jed. Why did he go? Why didn’t he let me in? It didn’t really take me long to get it. That it was his revenge for what we did to his daughter. I felt bad that I hadn’t said anything to his story and that I had been cold when he asked for my story after spilling his heart out to me. I I had that guilty lump in my throat at the thought. A feeling I have grown used to. I did then curse myself for being a dick and then started to look at my wrist. What was I? Was I still human? I felt alight, but I didn’t feel myself, maybe it was the adrenaline.

I walked out into the open and couldn’t see any dead. I walked across the clearing and saw a farm house. It looked well looked after and I wondered if it was Jed's. I headed towards it and as I approached noticed an old Land Rover parked outside, Jed was in a Toyota. I walked up to the front door and used the brass knocker that hung from it. I waited and after about a minute the door opened and a young man pointed a shotgun in my face.