Escape From Dead City Read online

  The well-aged woman met them half way; she took a firm hold of Margot’s hand as soon as they were close enough. Margot could see that fear and shock were etched all over her face. She could not help but feel sorry for her. This kind old lady had always been nice to her, often popping in and checking that she was doing okay, and even cooked her the occasional meal or two.

  “What’s wrong, Mrs. Maguire,” Margot said. “What are you doing down here all alone?”

  “It’s Eddie, my husband. He’s really ill; I’m just waiting for some help to arrive. I don’t know what else to do honey.”

  Margot’s eyes glanced over to Arthur. “What’s up with him?” she asked Jean, already half guessing what the answer would be.

  “I’m not too sure love,” she muttered as her eyes glanced upwards. “He came back about an hour ago from night shift saying someone had tried to mug him on the way home. He said he must have been some sort of druggie, he said the guy was going wild and he had to push him down some stairs to get away. But he’s got loads of scratches on his arms and face, now they’re all infected and he’s burning up. He’s got a really bad fever.” Her hand was now gripping onto Margot’s even tighter. “I phoned the hospital but they said we needed to stay here, they were going to send someone to help us, but that was nearly half an hour ago. I keep ringing them back but all I’m getting now is a damn recording, what should I do honey?”

  “But didn’t you hear the news earlier?” Arthur could not help himself butting in. “Don’t you know what’s going on outside?”

  “What are you on about?” Jean muttered. “What news? I haven’t seen or heard anything.” She clearly saw the look of anguish on their face and got even closer. “Would one of you just please tell me what the hell is going on?”

  “It’s a virus,” Margot said as she saw the woman was starting to panic. “It’s spreading all over the city, I’m really sorry Jean, but we’ve been told that it’s always… always fatal. If Eddie has got it, then he’s going to die. I’m so sorry, but you need to understand that no one can help him now.”

  “No...no it can’t be,” she stuttered, her head shaking slightly on hearing this heart breaking news. “But they said they would be sending someone over to help us, they said they would.”

  “And it gets a whole lot worse than that,” Arthur said as he ignored the angry glares coming over from Margot. “And it seems that they also come back from the dead, they turn into some sort of zombies. Christ almighty woman, they’re out there now, attacking and eating the living. You need to start believing us.”

  “Alright that’s enough, now I know that you’re both just talking a lot of nonsense,” Jean shouted right at them this time, not knowing whether to start laughing or to be angry. “So it’s zombies you say! Do you think I’m bloody stupid! You’re so cruel, stop making fun of me. And Margot, you disappoint me; I thought I knew you better than this.”

  Walking back towards the elevator she suddenly stopped and turned to face Margot and Arthur again. “Come on then. I’ll prove it to you both, come back up with me and you can see Eddie for yourselves. You’ll see he’s only got some sort of fever, let’s go, I’ll show you.”

  “No, I’m sorry but there’s no way I am going back up there, Jean,” Margot said, it was her turn to shake her head wildly. “He’s at the very least infected or at the worst one of those things already. I don’t think you should go back up there either, why don’t you come away with us instead. Please, we think we have a way to get out of London.”

  “Bloody fools,” she shouted as she continued towards the shiny steel doors of the elevator. “Stupid…bloody…fools.”

  “Jean,” Margot screamed out as she also made her way towards her. “Come back here, please, you need to believe me, it’s far too dangerous to go back up there.” The woman just ignored her plea and kept on walking, walking back to her husband.

  Arthur grabbed a hold of his girlfriend’s shoulder, stopping her little pursuit. “As you said earlier, we haven’t got the time to keeping muck about,” he whispered in her ear. “Come on doll, we really need to get going, forget her, she’ll have to fend for herself now.”

  Margot watched as her old friend disappeared into the small metal box and turned away as the doors slowly closed behind her. Margot gently nodded to her boyfriend as they moved towards the outside door, sharing a little glance, they both knew there would be little chance of her ever coming back down again.

  ***

  08:40 A.M

  The walkway by the river Thames

  The screaming was getting louder and louder as they got outside of the building and onto the pretty waterfront. It was not just the calls for help and despair they heard earlier, for now, there was also a distant few that sounded like screams of pain and terror.

  “Are you sure about this train?” Margot kept looking around as they briskly walked along by the river. “We’ll be getting ourselves deeper and deeper into the centre of the city; you must know that it’s going to get awfully busy around here, and real quick.”

  “Yeh, I’m one hundred percent sure,” Arthur still sounded confident even with the sounds of panic echoing off the walls. “Please, you just need to trust me on this one doll, we’ll go and pick up your sister and her man, and we’ll be there in next to no time.” His smile quickly disappeared as he suddenly stopped; he held his arm up to stop her stride as well.

  Directly in front of them a man was leaning over the railings as if he was looking down to the raging river. They could not see his face from this angle; his back was turned slightly towards them just showing them his well-worn, leather biker jacket.

  “Hey, mister!” Arthur shouted out, as he made sure to keep his distance. “Hey, I’m talking to you.” The man never moved, his face just kept pointing down towards the water.

  Grabbing her arm, Arthur tried to edge them around the heavyset figure, but as they got level to it, at last it moved. Slowly turning around, its eyes immediately locked on the two young lovers, its grey-clouded eyes bore deep into theirs. In a quick succession of shuffling steps, it moved towards them.

  “Just keep the fuck back man, I’m warning you,” Arthur shouted as he held his cue high above his head. “Back off now or else I’ll fucking have you!”

  “He isn’t listening to you,” Margot screamed as she kept behind him. “He’s one of them. Just frigging hit him, Arthur, just do it now.”

  One almighty swipe smashed across its face. Its head flinched violently over to the left but soon came back around. A small wheeze came surging through its blue lips as its mouth opened wide, its hands came up as it prepared to attack. Again and again, Arthur smacked the stick of wood into the head of the beast to keep it back. That was until it grabbed a good hold of his weapon.

  Arthur pulled and twisted the cue but the beast would not let go. In fact, it was pulling him closer and closer to its blood stained jaws; Arthur had no choice but to attack again. Shoulder charging the zombie, he sent it flying backwards and towards the iron railings once again. As it tried to regain its balance, Arthur let fly with his fists. Punch after punch rained down on the face of the beast until it at last toppled over the metal, falling down into the deep river.

  Both Arthur and Margot carefully looked over the railings and saw the zombie trying a few stiff movements in the water. They were to no avail, it could not swim in its decrepit condition and with next to no oxygen or gas within its body, it quickly sunk well below the choppy water line as it lapped up to the high brick wall.

  “Is it dead?” Margot said, straining to make out its shape under the water.

  “Not sure, well I don’t think so anyway,” Arthur replied, as he saw his cue gently floating away downstream below him. “From what your sister was saying, it takes a wee bit more than that to finish them off. But at least it’s going to be no more danger to us down there.”

  “Okay,” she glanced up and down the walkway. “Now if you don’t mind, can we just get the hell out of here
, please?”

  He gave her a little nod as he turned back to face her. Running off together, all Arthur could think about was his now lost, but still favorite pool cue.

  ***

  08:55 A.M

  Approaching Westminster Bridge

  Margot was of course, right as usual; it did get a hell of lot busier as they got nearer and nearer to their destination, the bridge. It got so bad they could not even hope to check out the condition of the people that were now rushing around them. All they could do was force their way on through the ever-bulging crowds and just hope that they did not come across another one of those zombies. They could only pray that screams from the others would act as their first line of defense.

  They both knew only too well that hope and prayer was just about all they had left.

  “And there it is,” Arthur said as they came around the last corner. “Come on girl, keep moving, we’re almost there,” he shouted as the ancient bridge loomed high and mighty right before them. “Let’s go and find your sister.”

  Margot seemed to speed up with the news; soon she would be meeting up with her sister again. They may well have not actually seen eye to eye for the last couple of years, but she also knew that she was all the family she had left. She would never let Pauline know what she felt but she still loved her dearly, even with all of her many faults.

  However, all the good feelings they had was instantly ripped away by the noise they heard. Coming from the other side of the river, where her sister would soon be waiting, was the rattle of heavy, constant gunfire. This was quickly followed by a mighty chorus of even more shouting and screaming.

  She ran even faster, not even once looking back to see if Arthur was managing to keep up with her or not. On arriving at the mouth of the bridge, she saw hundreds upon hundreds of people flooding over it, shock, fear, and desperation etched on their faces. Her heart sank, it was all too clear that it would be virtually impossible to make her sister out amongst all those crowds. But she still tried.

  “We’ve got to stay here,” Arthur shouted as he at last caught up with his girl. “We told your sister we would meet her here, if we move somewhere else you must know we’ll never be able to find her again. Please don’t do anything stupid, just take a few seconds to think about it.”

  Margot looked at him and again over at the ever maddening crowds. Anger raged through her body, she could not just stand around doing nothing while they waited, she had to do something.

  “Here, grab a hold of this, and stay right here,” she said to Arthur as she pulled the backpack from her shoulders and threw it into his chest.

  “What the hell are you up to now,” he shouted back as he grabbed hold of the bag and swung it over his shoulder. “Didn’t you bloody hear me woman? I just said that we’ve got to stay right here!”

  She did not reply, without another word, she clambered up on the high, grey statue that was right beside them. Soon enough, she was standing up on top of the wide granite plinth, standing at the feet of a huge stone horse.

  “Get the frigging hell back down here now,” Arthur screamed as she ended up about twenty feet above him. “We might need to get away from here quickly,” he was no longer looking at her; his eyes glanced around in every direction.

  “Just calm down and wait a bloody minute, I can see right across to the other side of the bridge,” she hollered down as her own eyes continually scanned deep and far into the distance, into the heart of the madness. “I’ll be able to see them coming.”

  BOOM!

  Loud explosions started to join in with the gunfire. Margot had trouble hearing what Arthur was now shouting above the multitude of screams of terror that filled the air. Not that she cared what he had to say anyway.

  “Yes!” Margot jumped up as she screamed out in excitement. “It’s them, I see them, here they come now,” she shouted down to her boyfriend. “They’re about half way across the bridge Arthur; they’ll be here in no time.”

  Any joy that she felt was very short lived. She had seen what was joining her sister on the bridge, and it was rapidly catching up on her run.

  Looking down to tell Arthur, she saw he was already pointing over to their right. A long line of soldiers was approaching their position and quickly setting up a defensive line on their side of the bridge.

  “Shit,” was all that Margot could say as she jumped up and down again, waving her arms wildly in a feeble attempt to grab her sisters attention.

  3- On the outside

  08:25 A.M

  Back at Westminster Bridge Road

  Bursting out of the fire exit, Pauline and Gordon found that chaos and madness was already there and waiting for them on the outside. It was however not the normal chaos of a central London street that they were used to, no, this actually felt very different. It felt of fear, a great and deep-rooted fear. Word that the dead were raising and killing, eating the living was now spreading throughout the city and in turn, so too was the blind panic.

  “Come on, Gordon, let’s get moving. We need to get as far away as possible before they realize we’re missing,” Pauline said as they started to barge their way through the heavy, surging backwards and forwards crowds. Some of the people around them appeared to be stuck in some sort of a daze; they knew that something evil was happening but they were not exactly sure what. The quick shutdown of the television and radio networks did not have the desired effect, far from it, people were not staying at home, they were just trying to get away to God knows where. Anywhere must have felt safer.

  “We’ve got to hurry up; she’ll be hanging around on the other side before we can even get there. I don’t want her to be in one place for too long, not bloody now.” Without bothering to wait for his reply, she pulled him along at speed towards the long and wide bridge.

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  Space suddenly opened up around them. Scores of people ducked and dived into shop doorways and behind parked cars, as the sounds of rapid gunfire echoed around off the tall office buildings that surrounded them. Pauline knew they were coming from somewhere close but not that close, every nerve in her body was telling her that they just needed to keep on moving, they needed to hurry before they did get any closer. The sounds of bullets were quickly followed by a long chorus of screams. The doctors shared a little glance; they did not know if these shouts of anguish were caused by the guns or something else. And in a lot of ways, they did not want to know what the answer was.

  “So what do you know about this guy of Margot’s, what’s he called again...Arthur is it?” Gordon spluttered out as he struggled to keep just a step or two behind her, he felt the need to take their minds, or at the very least his, off the maddening noise around them. “And how do we know if we can we even trust him?”

  “Not too much to be honest, I’ve only met him a couple of times,” Pauline said as she thought of how little she had seen of her sister over the last couple of years. “He just seems to be a little smarmy git to me, but then again, she seems to like him well enough. I’ve been thinking about this as well Gordon, if she says he can get us out of London, then that’s good enough for me.” He did not seem to care too much for her vague reasoning.

  Another noise blanked out the wild array of shouts for help. At first, they thought it was thunder but just as quickly, they realized it was something that was far more deadly. Halfway along the packed out road, the rumble of tanks and armored vehicles filled the air as from right behind them, an armored division came into view, and they also appeared to be heading straight towards the bridge.

  “Faster, come on Gordon, we’ve got to get over to the other side now,” Pauline hollered as she pulled him away. “I think they’re going to try and block off the bridge.” She suddenly let go of his hand and without looking back, she sprinted right towards where her sister would soon be waiting. Gordon guessed there and then that her sister was always going to be far more important than he was.

  “You are all to return to your homes,” an electro
nically enhanced voice boomed out from the leading tank. Almost everyone around stopped their retreat and turned to hear what it was saying. “A curfew is now in operation, if necessary, we will use deadly force to clear the streets. You must all return to your homes now or else we will open fire.”

  All that this message managed to achieve was to increase the already high state of panic, more screams from the terrified citizens of London echoed around them as the people started to run even faster. Most did not even care where they were heading to, just as long as it was somewhere far away from the army and their mighty, deadly guns.

  As they scrambled away, a soldier suddenly appeared from the turret of the first tank and took hold of the heavy machine gun that was perched up on top of it. Spinning around to where Pauline and Gordon had come from, he opened fire. Hot streaks of lead shot deep into the crowd, the high caliber bullets practically cutting their targets in half. Turning around, Gordon saw just what they were aiming for. Within the rapidly spreading out mess, he saw it but could barely believe his eyes; a half dozen of the undead had somehow got deep into the maddening crowd and were already attacking the living. One middle-aged woman was feeding away on the neck of a young boy even after one of the high caliber bullets had blown her arm clean off. It appeared to feel no pain; all it seemed interested in was the warm flesh that was being greedily chewed deep inside its mouth. The gunfire however was far from discriminate, it was not aimed only at the undead, instead it was just being fired into the crowd wherever one of the zombies appeared. Many more of the living was being destroyed by its rage than the undead.

  “Stop looking at them, there’s nothing you can do. You can’t help them anymore,” Pauline grabbed a hold of Gordon’s arm making him jump. “Please darling, you’ve got to stop thinking about everyone else and just concentrate on us. We’ve got to keep moving, come on, let’s go.” She had come back for him; she had stopped her dash to her sister to come and get him. He was surprised once again; perhaps she did care for him just a little bit more than he had guessed. He somehow managed to crack a little smile as he took her hand once more, and they sprinted off the ancient cobbled street and onto the still busy bridge.