station.
The creatures
stumbled forward a few feet, confused, desperate to latch onto the
vehicle and the people inside of it.
Terry waited...and
waited...and then fired.
The Jeep seemed to
speed up as the blast kicked the back of it. Marla screeched, as did
Jared. Shane was too busy trying to keep the Snatch on the road to
make any sort of noise. He could see in the rearview mirror, though,
a bright orange ball of flame whipping up to the station roof. It
was as if a mini-nuke had been detonated.
Lurkers were
running everywhere, most of them on fire. Some of them had come
apart with the first blast, and limbs began to rain down on the road
like a storm in Hell. A leg bounced off the Snatch's bonnet and
Shane had to swerve to prevent the Jeep from hitting a hedgerow.
When they were a
few hundred metres away, there was another explosion, this one bigger
than the first.
And
then the only sound came from the engine, and
collective sighs.
'I'm thinking you
need to work on that anger of yours,' Shane said to Terry, whose eyes
were closed.
'That's a bit rich
coming from you,' Terry smiled. He opened one eye, before adding,
'Pistol-whipper.'
After that, nobody
spoke for a while.
SEVENTEEN
Colburn led the old
woman to a secluded part of the camp. When she had asked him what it
was about, he simply told her that it was not his business and that
Victor Lord had requested her presence. The woman seemed to buy that
– she had expected the captain to summon her at some point or
other, although she thought he might have already gone off in search
of his precious vehicle by now.
'So he doesn't like
people?' the woman asked, lighting a cigarette.
Colburn stopped
walking. 'What?'
She
took another long drag before speaking. 'For him to live this far
away from the rest of us, he can't really
like us too much.'
Colburn opened his
mouth as he realised what the old bitch was getting at. 'Well, he
likes to make sure that he's tip-top so he can keep this place
running smoothly.'
'Wouldn't want him
to catch any of those poor peoples' colds.'
'No,' Colburn
replied, irritated. 'We wouldn't.'
He led her up a set
of stairs, and to be quite frank even he didn't have a clue what was
at the end of them. He just hoped that she didn't catch on before he
had a chance to do it.
'Why do you do what
he tells you to,' the woman asked. 'There's no law, not anymore, and
there sure as fuck ain't no military.'
Colburn bit his
lip; it was all he could do not to just turn and boot her down the
steps.
'Ma'am,
I do what he tells me to because someday, this shit is gonna come to
an end. When it does ,
I want to be first up for a promotion.'
The
woman laughed. She didn't realise how close she came to a
size-twelve in the fucking forehead. 'You think
you'll be remembered for your honour after all this...blows over.
You're even dumber than you look.'
Breathe,
Henry, breeeeathe...
They reached the
top of the stairs and Colburn took a right. It seemed to be the best
choice, since he had no idea if the door to the left was even locked.
It would have surely given the game away if he had tried to turn the
knob only to discover that the room was out of bounds.
At the end of the
corridor, there was a T-junction. Colburn turned left, once again
hoping that the building didn't betray him.
It didn't matter
now; they were probably far enough away from the others for him to do
what he set out to do.
'You
think that prick Victor's gonna recommend you for a promotion if the
virus somehow miraculously stops?' the old woman asked. 'He hasn't
got a heart, that man, so I wouldn't ― '
The
hand grabbed her around the throat. Henry Colburn
had moved so fast – spinning on a dime – that she
was still mid-sentence when her words were cut off.
'You
fucking bitch !'
he hissed, tightening his grip, hoping that she hadn't had time to
take a deep breath before he caught her. 'Die...just fucking... die !'
She dropped to her
knees, her eyes threatening to pop from
The creatures
stumbled forward a few feet, confused, desperate to latch onto the
vehicle and the people inside of it.
Terry waited...and
waited...and then fired.
The Jeep seemed to
speed up as the blast kicked the back of it. Marla screeched, as did
Jared. Shane was too busy trying to keep the Snatch on the road to
make any sort of noise. He could see in the rearview mirror, though,
a bright orange ball of flame whipping up to the station roof. It
was as if a mini-nuke had been detonated.
Lurkers were
running everywhere, most of them on fire. Some of them had come
apart with the first blast, and limbs began to rain down on the road
like a storm in Hell. A leg bounced off the Snatch's bonnet and
Shane had to swerve to prevent the Jeep from hitting a hedgerow.
When they were a
few hundred metres away, there was another explosion, this one bigger
than the first.
And
then the only sound came from the engine, and
collective sighs.
'I'm thinking you
need to work on that anger of yours,' Shane said to Terry, whose eyes
were closed.
'That's a bit rich
coming from you,' Terry smiled. He opened one eye, before adding,
'Pistol-whipper.'
After that, nobody
spoke for a while.
SEVENTEEN
Colburn led the old
woman to a secluded part of the camp. When she had asked him what it
was about, he simply told her that it was not his business and that
Victor Lord had requested her presence. The woman seemed to buy that
– she had expected the captain to summon her at some point or
other, although she thought he might have already gone off in search
of his precious vehicle by now.
'So he doesn't like
people?' the woman asked, lighting a cigarette.
Colburn stopped
walking. 'What?'
She
took another long drag before speaking. 'For him to live this far
away from the rest of us, he can't really
like us too much.'
Colburn opened his
mouth as he realised what the old bitch was getting at. 'Well, he
likes to make sure that he's tip-top so he can keep this place
running smoothly.'
'Wouldn't want him
to catch any of those poor peoples' colds.'
'No,' Colburn
replied, irritated. 'We wouldn't.'
He led her up a set
of stairs, and to be quite frank even he didn't have a clue what was
at the end of them. He just hoped that she didn't catch on before he
had a chance to do it.
'Why do you do what
he tells you to,' the woman asked. 'There's no law, not anymore, and
there sure as fuck ain't no military.'
Colburn bit his
lip; it was all he could do not to just turn and boot her down the
steps.
'Ma'am,
I do what he tells me to because someday, this shit is gonna come to
an end. When it does ,
I want to be first up for a promotion.'
The
woman laughed. She didn't realise how close she came to a
size-twelve in the fucking forehead. 'You think
you'll be remembered for your honour after all this...blows over.
You're even dumber than you look.'
Breathe,
Henry, breeeeathe...
They reached the
top of the stairs and Colburn took a right. It seemed to be the best
choice, since he had no idea if the door to the left was even locked.
It would have surely given the game away if he had tried to turn the
knob only to discover that the room was out of bounds.
At the end of the
corridor, there was a T-junction. Colburn turned left, once again
hoping that the building didn't betray him.
It didn't matter
now; they were probably far enough away from the others for him to do
what he set out to do.
'You
think that prick Victor's gonna recommend you for a promotion if the
virus somehow miraculously stops?' the old woman asked. 'He hasn't
got a heart, that man, so I wouldn't ― '
The
hand grabbed her around the throat. Henry Colburn
had moved so fast – spinning on a dime – that she
was still mid-sentence when her words were cut off.
'You
fucking bitch !'
he hissed, tightening his grip, hoping that she hadn't had time to
take a deep breath before he caught her. 'Die...just fucking... die !'
She dropped to her
knees, her eyes threatening to pop from
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