Free Undead at Heart by Calum Kerr Page A

skidded to a halt in the nick of time and leapt
from his car. He dismissed Nicola as a ‘typical glory-seeking American’ who had
tried to save him when he didn’t need it and who he had had to rescue in
return.
    He told them about the
frying of the electrics and how he’d realised it was an EMP. And he described
the arrival of the jets and the exploding crop-field, the exodus into the
forest and the way in which he and Sam had been abandoned by the ‘unfeeling’
others. He didn’t mention Bob and Janet, and some of the things he said weren’t
quite as she remembered them, but she was sure she’d just got it wrong. It
certainly made for an exciting story and Sam realised just how much she owed
this man: her life for one thing.
    When he finished his
story with their arrival at the pub, his audience looked at him, stunned. She
looked up and he was nodding sagely at them, to tell them it was true. She
turned to face them too, and copied his action.
     The man called
Alan, who had introduced himself to her as the landlord, was the first to break
the silence with a laugh. He was on his own and it soon petered out. He looked
around at the others.
    “What?” His voice was
high-pitched with incredulity. “You don’t actually believe that codswallop do
y-.” He stopped, watching Bert reach into his pocket, take out a packet of
small cigars, take one from the pack and light one. “What do you think you’re
doing?” he asked, his voice, if anything, even higher. “You know there’s no
smoking in here!”
    Bert drew on the cigar
and puffed out the smoke with a satisfied grunt. He waved it in front of him,
indicating Tony. “If what the lad told us, it doesn’t matter. No point worrying
about lung cancer when it’s the end of the world.”
    Alan laughed again,
though this time it sounded strange. He looked round the group, appealing to
them. “Come off it, Bert. You can’t possibly buy this hogwash?”
    Bert nodded, taking
another puff of his cigar before holding it up in front of Alan. “I was outside
having one of these. I saw those same helicopters flying over. Three of them. About a half hour ago. Just before the lights went out.”
    “What, but… but…”
    “It would explain all
that noise we’ve been hearing, too,” said one of the builders. Dan, Sam seemed
to remember he’d said his name was. “I know you said it was empty lorries on the main road, but I haven’t really heard any
traffic for ages.”
    “That’s right,” said
his younger colleague. Sam definitely remembered his name. He was Darren. His
skin was extra dark in the lightless pub, but his smile was still bright. “And
with the music and fridges and everything else off, we should be able to.”
    Everyone went still
and listened, trying to hear anything from the road, but there was silence. Sam
could make out some bird song, and that was all. She felt a shiver run up her
back and from the looks of the others she wasn’t the only one to be a bit
spooked.
    They all turned back
to look at Tony, who she saw was waiting expectantly. He raised his eyebrows.
“After all, why would I make something like that up? Do I look like some kind
of fantasist? Some kind of sci-fi geek?”
    “Well, you did know
about that EPM thingy,” Dan pointed out.
    “EMP,” corrected Tony,
realising that he was harming his case in doing so, but unable to stop himself.
“And everyone knows about that. It was in that film.”
    “That’s right, Dan, it
was.”
    Sam gave Darren an
extra bright smile and he gave a surprised one back. She turned back to Tony
and saw him looking between her and the young builder with a dark question in
his eyes. She blushed a little and smiled even more
widely for him.
    “Well, then…” Alan
broke the silence which followed this exchange. “If you’re not a geek, and
you’re not a fantasist, then what the hell do we do now?”
    “Personally, I could
do with another drink,” answered Bert, raising a laugh from the