Free Outbreak The Zombie Apocalypse (UK Edition) by Craig Jones Page B

hairdressers for five minutes…’
    ‘Come on! It’s a two-way street.’
    ‘Yeah, sure it is. She’s old enough to be your, well, your older sister at least. Just remember, use the main road around the square this time. I know the telly says they can’t strategize, but if just one of them hung around the alley, you’ll be trapped.’
    He tapped the chain inside his jacket and it made a dampened rattle.
    ‘Not with my zombie killer I won’t.’
    ‘Just stick to the plan, please,’ I implored.
    He was halfway up the ladder, turned, and looked back at me with that grin.
    ‘Not a worry.’
    I followed him to the top of the ladder and turned to the house. Jenny was in the window, both thumbs up to signal that the other side of the wall was clear. I turned and chose my path along the grass and through the trees. I spotted the long wooden stakes on the ground, pointed them out to Danny, and he nodded, understanding that we should replace them on the big log. 
    I looked out over the trees. The sound of the river, a slow steady bubble, could just be heard over the moans of the not-quite-dead at the front of the house. The sky remained almost clear, nature telling us that no matter what mess we were making of things down here, the sky would always be okay. We placed our bike helmets on the wall and, between us two, lifted the ladder, again checking with Jenny, who was now holding her thumbs down. 
    ‘Where?’ shouted Danny.
    ‘Wait for Nick,’ she yelled. ‘He needs to bring the ladder back up.’
    Already we were making mistakes. We shouldn’t be going through with this. We placed the ladder back down and made sure it was steady as Nick appeared, jogging down the garden, skirting around the edge of the pond. Without a word, he clambered up and was quite breathless by the time he made the top.
    ‘I sent the girls inside. I thought two of those things were going to start fighting over the meat. But then they started sniffing each other, like animals, and realised they were the same. It was weird.’
    ‘Nick,’ I began blandly. ‘Are you suggesting that the zombies trapping us in here are weird?’
    He half-shrugged his shoulders, and then helped me pull the ladder up and over the wall. Jenny was now giving us the thumbs up signal, and she had been joined in the window by Susan. Danny spotted her and gave an exaggerated salute as he began his descent. I threw our helmets down to him, checked my pocket for my bike key, withdrew it, and waved it at Danny. He pretended to search his clothing, faking panic, and then opened his left palm to show he had already thought ahead. 
    I climbed down to join my brother and pushed while Nick pulled the ladder back to the top. Danny scooped up the poles, I grabbed the helmets that he had placed on the grass, and we set off through the tress to the edge of the river. He laid the weapons in the same place as I had done earlier this morning as I surveyed the opposite riverbank. There was no movement except for the running water. 
    Suddenly, the air was filled with a giant rushing sound coming from our right, and before we knew it a fighter jet zipped past overhead, following the river upstream, about thirty metres above our head. Danny and I were both rocked back on our heels; we must have resembled zombies for a couple of seconds. I wondered for a moment if Nick had fallen off the wall.
    ‘What the,’ I breathed.
    ‘Not quite,’ said Dan, taking his bike helmet from me. ‘But it looks like the military are cracking on. Let’s do the same.’
    We stepped carefully across the river, using the larger stones as often as possible. It wasn’t just about keeping the noise level down; if our boots got too sodden it could make riding our motorbikes with potentially inexperienced pillions all the more risky. I made the other side first, turned, and let Danny use my trailing hand to pull himself over the last little jump to the bank, which we then scaled together. The bikes were