Autumn exodus, p.27
Autumn - Exodus, page 27
‘We have to keep going and we have to stick together,’ Ruth said, before anyone else had chance to speak. ‘For Vicky’s sake if nothing else. I need her to know we’ve made it.’
David looked around for Vicky. She was at the back of the pack, Selena keeping her upright. ‘Okay, let’s do it,’ he said. No more questions. No more discussions. It was late morning, and even if they managed to get across and get through the dead, they still had several hours’ trek ahead of them. The sooner they started, the sooner they’d be done. He led the way down to the water.
On closer inspection, both ends of the bridge were relatively dry, despite the water frequently lapping over the surface. The bridge had a slight arc that only became noticeable as they drew level with it. The road, despite being strewn with debris, was elevated on either side of the river, visible above the flood. ‘I reckon the water level is still a few metres higher than normal,’ Sam said. ‘I don’t know anything about this place, but judging from the steepness of the banks, I think the bridge was high over the water originally. I reckon the road came out in the middle of the village on that side. Look over there.’
He pointed across to where a section of the opposite bank had fallen away, exposing a jagged stone face. Half-houses teetered precariously, ready to collapse at any moment.
‘Well, this should be fun,’ Vicky said, her voice a fragile rasp. ‘And what’s the plan once we get to the other side? Swim for it?’
On the far side of the bridge, the first hundred metres or so of land remained underwater. Sam gestured towards a carpark and a couple of large stores, a small retail park right on the edge of the undead hordes. ‘It looks a bit less crowded over there. I think there might be barriers keeping them out of the carparks. Let’s aim to get over there, then regroup.’
‘And then?’ Noah asked.
‘And then we fight our way through, I guess. And we just keep fighting until we make it through to the other side of them.’
‘But there’s got to be ten thousand or more,’ Marcus said.
‘I’m all ears, mate. What’s your alternative?’
‘If there was more space on the other side, I could have tried some of Ed’s tricks from Yaxley. He was bloody good at herding corpses, though even he’d struggle with a crowd like that. Trouble is, there’s nowhere to move them to. They’re occupying virtually all the space over there.’
‘Don’t think of it as a crowd of ten thousand,’ David said, ‘think of it as a crowd of about a thousand each.’
‘Impressive maths skills. How is that supposed to help get more space?’ Noah grumbled.
‘I’m just trying – badly – to put things in perspective. Sam’s right, there doesn’t seem to be any alternative to fighting our way through. This is it, I guess. Everything we’ve done to get here and all the battles we’ve fought, it’s all been leading up to this. We get over that bridge, through that crowd, and into Ledsey Cross, or we capitulate. That’s what it boils down to. Pack it in and go back to Yaxley, maybe.’
‘As if I didn’t feel under enough pressure already.’
Sam followed the road down towards the bridge. He stood on the road, a narrow and precarious strip of dry land. Down here beside the engorged river, the noise was deafening. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw that, although the others had followed, they were holding back, waiting for him to take the lead. ‘Oh, fuck it.’
It was impossible to know for sure whether the foundations of the bridge remained solid, but Sam reassured himself with the thought that, individually and collectively, the weight of their small group was of very little consequence. It might have been a different story, had they been able to get their minibus down here – not that they’d have got very far. The crossing was impassable by vehicle. Many of the decorative stone balustrades had been destroyed and the resultant rubble strewn across the tarmac. There was no way they’d have been able to drive over.
The first few metres were easy, but an unexpected surge sent a flood of brown water spilling across the road around Sam and cascading out through the gaps between the balustrades on the other side. He held onto the stonework for support, the force of the ice-cold water almost taking his feet out from under him. He tried to shout a warning back to the others, but they couldn’t hear him over the noise.
He clung onto the wall and edged slowly forward. He didn’t know how the others were going to make it – Vicky was too weak, Omar too small, Ruth preoccupied with Vicky, David busy trying to keep everyone else safe, Noah complaining... He couldn’t risk checking on them because to lose focus on his footing for even a second might prove disastrous. On the other side of the bridge, the river had an almost lake-like calm to it, but he knew it was a deception. Below the surface it was fast-moving, with devastating currents ready to snatch away anyone lucky enough to fall in. He saw the loitering dead on the fringes of the crowd on the other bank being swept away with ease, dragged under and whisked away with sobering speed, thrown around like dolls. And all that separated him from the same fate was this battered ruin of a bridge and perhaps a metre of air. The raw power of the water was petrifying. He doubted even the strongest remaining member of their group would stand any more of a chance than the helpless corpses he’d just been watching.
Focus on the bridge. One foot in front of the other. Just keep moving.
He didn’t risk looking back again until he was more than a quarter of the way across. Sanjay and Joanne were right behind him, then David, Ruth, Vicky, and Selena. He cursed his selfishness. Should he have helped them? Perhaps Sanjay should have gone first, and he behind. Vicky was dragging herself along, sandwiched between Ruth and Selena. If the water took her, she wouldn’t stand a chance, and neither would her aides. There were dead bodies he’d seen that had more meat on their bones than Vicky now.
The rest of the group were more spread out. Marcus brought up the rear. For a moment Sam struggled to see Omar but then spotted him wedged between Mia and Ollie, his bobbing head just level with their waists.
Focus!
Sam rested his hand on the next balustrade and immediately felt it wobble. He’d been about to put all his weight on it but snatched his hand away at the last second as a huge chunk of masonry fell away and dropped into the water, showering him with spray. He was terrified, his feet frozen to the spot with fear. When he took his next step, would the whole of the bridge disintegrate into the river? He looked down at his boots, and when the water washed away, he saw that he was straddling a vicious crack that was several centimetres wide in places. He shouted a warning to Sanjay and pointed at the ground. There was nothing they could do. If the bridge was going to collapse, no amount of screaming and shouting would stop it.
He prodded the ground with the toe of one of his boots, then took another couple of tentative steps forward. The constant spray from the water continually battering the left side of the bridge and the mass of rubbish that had accumulated against it was freezing, and the wind here was unexpectedly fierce. They’d been shielded from the worst of it on their descent into the village but here, midway across the river, there was absolutely no protection. In desperation, Sam dropped to his knees and started to crawl, trusting that the others would follow his uncertain lead. He glanced back again and was relieved to see that they had.
Almost halfway.
The noise was a thousand times louder down here, but there was at least some shelter, and Sam felt a little less exposed. If the road began to crumble, he could at least lie flat and try spreading his centre of gravity the way you were taught to save yourself on thin ice, but who the hell was he trying to fool?
KEEP FUCKING MOVING!
Sam crawled onwards then paused, braced against a brutal gust of wind, then continued, and now he realised that he’d started to descend the gentle slope of the bridge. He wanted to get up and run, figuring he was over the worst of it now, but that wasn’t going to happen. There was a car lying on its roof up ahead, blocking the way. He’d glimpsed it from further back, but it was only now that he could see how it had fallen. Carried by the raging water, it had crashed nose-first into the side of the bridge then been forced up and over, flipped onto its back. It was now wedged in position like a stranded turtle with its bonnet scraping the road and its rear-end propped up against what was left of the opposite wall.
Under or over?
Sanjay caught up and squeezed past. ‘I’m smaller than you,’ he yelled into Sam’s ear, struggling to make himself heard. ‘I’ll go first.’
Before Sam could either protest or agree, Sanjay was flat on his belly, crawling through the limited triangle of space between the road, the wall, and the precariously balanced car straddling both. Aware of the others bunching up behind him, Sam held his breath, waiting for Sanjay to get through.
Another section of the right-side wall gave way, and the roof of the car slapped down onto the road, blocking it fully. There was immediate panic, then momentary relief as Sanjay picked himself up on the other side of the wreck. ‘Fuck me, that was close,’ he said.
‘I’ll go over,’ Sam said to Joanne, and he was about to climb over the upturned chassis when she shot out an arm and stopped him.
‘Are you fucking crazy? Don’t!’
The front of the car was now facing upriver, and water was hammering against it relentlessly. The movements were slight, but noticeable. With every second, the vehicle was inching further and further back, closer and closer to oblivion.
‘We could push it over?’ David suggested.
‘We can’t risk that. Without the car there, the water will just come flooding over the top.’
David could see it. The slope of the road and the force of the water here was such that the car was now acting as a temporary plug. They had to take advantage of it and fast. There’d be no way they could compete with the thunderous river flow.
Omar slipped past. ‘Fuck this,’ he said, and he yanked the back door of the car open, then crawled on his hands and knees across the headliner of the roof and out the other side.
‘Move, move, move!’ Sam shouted, because it was clear their best, perhaps only option was to follow his lead.
Joanne was next. She reached back for Vicky’s outstretched arm and she and Selena manhandled her through, followed rapidly by David, then Ruth, then the others.
From first place to last.
Once everyone else was through, Sam dived into the wreck and pulled himself out the other side. He moved with a frantic speed. He’d seen enough disaster movies to know that the last one through almost always bought it in the end. He’d either get his foot stuck, or his clothes would snag, or the flood would wash the car clean off the bridge with him still in it...
He was still imagining nightmare scenarios when Noah and Callum grabbed his shoulders and pulled him out the other side. Sam picked himself up and saw that the others were running now, racing down the slope and heading for shelter in the ruins of the flooded village before they faced the dead.
‘Go,’ Callum said, and he turned back.
Sam was confused. ‘What?’
‘We need to make sure he can’t follow us.’
‘Who?’
‘Who else, brainless? Piotr. I’m gonna shift that car.’
‘He’s right,’ Noah said, and before Sam could stop them, they were behind the wreck they’d just crawled through, pushing for all they were worth.
‘Don’t! Just leave it,’ Sam yelled, because from where he was standing, the dangers were obvious. Callum and Noah either couldn’t hear him or were ignoring him. Callum took a couple of steps run-up, then slammed into the side of the car with force. It was balanced precariously now, remaining wedged in position by only the faintest of margins, perhaps only by the thickness of a layer of paint.
‘Let me have a go,’ Noah shouted over the roar. ‘It’s about time this old dog showed you pups how it’s done.’
Callum stepped out of the way. A combination of a mighty shove from Noah and a shunt from the water sent the upturned car, and then Noah himself, flying over the side of the bridge. The wash caught Callum waist high. He fell and scrambled away on his backside, terrified that he too would be swept away by the force of the unstoppable flood. More of the stone balustrades began to crumble, the ground disappearing around him. Sam yanked him up by the scruff of his neck and the two of them ran for drier ground as a huge chunk of the bridge collapsed into the river behind them.
The bridge was made impassable. There was no way for Piotr (or anyone else) to follow them. And there was no way for them to go back. Sam finally released Callum, many steps past the need to hold him. They looked back briefly; another living soul, sacrificed in an instant. Callum couldn’t speak.
‘Stupid shit,’ Sam said, shaking his head. ‘No more heroics, Cal.’
‘Yes sir,’ he mumbled.
50
The adrenalin had staved off the cold, but its effects were fading fast. They’d need to get out of their wet clothes, but there was nothing dry left anywhere in Heddlewick. They waded away from the end of the bridge in a tight group, holding on to each other in a chain for support, terrified that one or more of them would be washed away. Out here, though, they’d escaped the worst of the river’s flow. The foul-smelling water in this part of the village was relatively calm.
There was a hardware store on the edge of the flood with a large outdoor storage area enclosed by a wire-mesh fence that, from here, seemed to have held. The goods stored inside the yard had been scattered as if a hurricane had passed through, but the penned-in space looked relatively dry and free of dead flesh. Marcus was the first to reach the fence. He worked his way around to the entrance then ushered everyone through.
Space to breathe at last.
‘I can’t take much more of this,’ Marcus said, hands on his knees, panting hard.
‘Hopefully you won’t have to,’ David told him.
Callum walked over to Ollie and Mia, exhausted. Mia put her arm around him, hugging him briefly. ‘You did us a favour,’ she said. ‘We can forget about Piotr and the others now.’
There was no time to grieve for Noah; no sense considering any loss, as they were nowhere near safe. Maybe they’d have chance later. Sam climbed up onto a mound of bags of gravel and sand and tried to work out what their next move should be. ‘How’s it looking?’ Joanne shouted.
He didn’t immediately answer.
There was no point even thinking about trying to salvage anything from what was left of Heddlewick. Almost every building had been lost to the flood, and though some on the fringes appeared accessible now, everything inside would have no doubt been ruined. A little food to give them strength for the fight ahead and some warm clothes to take the edge off the cold was all they’d probably need, but almost the entire village was waterlogged. The stench was horrific. Bloated bodies floated in the streets.
Between the hardware store and the vast hordes was a modest modern retail park, completely out of keeping with its surroundings. From here he could see a frozen food store, a clothing store, a KFC drive-thru, and a fuel station. It looked like an ideal staging point. A place where they could regroup and rearm before they faced the dead.
Sam climbed back down. ‘To be honest, it could have been a lot worse.’ He explained what he’d seen. ‘For the sake of another hour, it’s worth stopping. My guts are churning and I’m sure you’re all the same, but we need to be ready to deal with those crowds.’
Lisa looked at the huge expanse of death that was waiting for them. In the madness of the river crossing, she’d trivialised the undead problem, had almost dismissed it. But now they were close, the scale of the remaining challenge was overwhelming. ‘It’s not fair. The harder we try, the harder it gets.’
‘Bollocks. Don’t talk like that,’ Sanjay said. ‘Focus on the positives. Look how far we’ve come to get here, not how far we’ve got left to go.’
‘Spare me the inspirational bullshit, Sanj. I’ve had enough.’
‘It’s not bullshit. It’s bad luck is all. We’re trying to get to a place that was intentionally remote. We were always going to hit problems. We’ve almost done it now, though.’
‘Yeah, but it’s problem after problem after problem.’
Sanjay grinned. ‘You only just worked that out? It’s the end of the frigging world, Lisa. Did you think we’d skip along a yellow brick road? Just a shit-ton of rotting bodies to deal with, a few more miles walking, then we’re literally home and dry. No more complications.’
‘Sanjay’s right, we can do this,’ David said. He turned to Sam. ‘Lead the way, mate.’
#
There were a handful of corpses trapped inside the clothing store, but it was nothing they couldn’t handle. The group stripped and changed at speed; all modesty forgotten. There was nothing to hide or keep precious; they couldn’t afford it. Any embarrassment they might once have felt had gone the way of brushed teeth and matching socks: consigned to history. Except for Vicky. She remained much more modest. She didn’t want any of them to see how badly her body had been ravaged by disease. Whenever she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, she was reminded of the corpses outside. She thought her body looked like that of an emaciated child.
They moved from one store to the other quickly and quietly, the river muffling the little noise they made. The stench in the frozen food store was as bad as expected, but they knew there should be a decent stash of dry food they could snack on. Ollie and Mia led the way, zigzagging around rows of chest freezers filled with mush and mould.
The display of snacks and crisps had already been pilfered. ‘Oh, that’s just fucking typical,’ Mia said, disappointed. She kicked through the wrappers on the floor.
‘Looks like the rats beat us to it,’ Ollie said. Sam crouched down and studied the debris. He picked up a handful of crisp packets and an empty Coke.
‘Rats that can open bottles? I don’t think so. Somebody was here.’
