Free The Undead Day Twenty by RR Haywood Page B

the female was smaller build.’
    ‘How the fuck?’
    ‘This footprint is the same size as Marcy. More here on this side working back towards the access point to the hedge. The male’s feet are almost as large as Clarence’s feet.’
    ‘Yeah…I mean yes, yes I see that, Dave.’
    ‘Report back to Mr Howie.’
    ‘Got it.’
    ‘I heard it all, Dave.’
    ‘Mohammed needs to learn reporting back, Mr Howie.’
    ‘Righto.’
    ‘Mr Howie,’ Mo says, grinning widely as he climbs back through the hedge.
    ‘Mo,’ Howie smiles.
    ‘I er…I’s ready to report, Mr Howie.’
    ‘Okay, mate. Report.’
    ‘Dave?’ Mo asks, looking back at the hedge.
    ‘Yes. Mohammed?’
    ‘Can I do it in my words?’
    ‘The report must be understood, Mohammed.’
    ‘Do it in your words,’ Howie says.
    ‘Sir…’ Mo says, forcibly trying not to stop smiling. ‘So…big fucker and a woman same size as Marcy came from that way…’
    ‘Children’s feet here too, Mohammed. Six.’
    ‘With six kids,’ Mo says. ‘And they had a big fight…the woman had a blade but it was blunt as fuck, like a big blade…not an axe or a knife though…’
    ‘Machete.’
    ‘We think it was a machete innit…so they got trapped here. The big fucker threw another big fucker through that hedge and they got the kids through and held the infected back until the kids got away across that field. Someone was biting them too…hang on…’ He says suddenly, moving forward to peer at Marcy’s mouth then dropping to look at the body with the throat bitten out. ‘The woman did the biting, Mr Howie…same size mouth as Marcy…cos like Clarence’s mouth is massive you get me? Dave, I think it was the woman that did the biting…’
    ‘It was, Mohammed.’
    ‘It was,’ Mo says, nodding at Howie. ‘Er…that’s my report.’
    ‘Fucking brilliant,’ Howie says as Mo is sent sailing five feet to the side from a pat on the arm from Clarence.
    ‘I bloody adore you,’ Paula says, grabbing Mo’s face to kiss his forehead.
    ‘Mo Mo Dave Two,’ Cookey says.
    ‘Fact,’ Nick adds.
    ‘Fall back in with your team, Mohammed.’
    ‘Yes, Dave,’ Mo says, still grinning as he heads back.
    ‘Well done, mate,’ Blowers says, patting him on the shoulder.
    ‘Cheers, Blowers,’ Mo says, the grin on his face dropping the second he looks at Maddox. Coldness in his eyes. The eyes of a killer. In that second Maddox sees the total change in Mo. The old Mo would never have sought validation from others like that. The old Mo would have sucked his teeth and skulked with his head down. Mo falls back in, laughing again as Blinky punches him on the arm.
    ‘So what now?’ Howie asks. ‘They came from that way,’ he says, pointing in the direction Mo indicated. ‘But came through here…they must have gone up to that stable…’
    ‘Really?’ Marcy asks, staring at Howie. ‘We said that. We said Subi said that. We said they came through the hedge across the field to the stable and out through the gate. We’ve got a bloody map that says that.’
    ‘Then why are we down here?’ Howie asks. ‘We should be up there…everyone back to the stables.’
    They head back across the furrowed field, tripping and cursing over the valleys and troughs made by a tractor that will forever now lie silent until it rusts away to become nothing more than a heap of slag.
    ‘This is another morning without coffee isn’t it,’ Howie asks, making a statement more than asking a question.
    ‘Flasks,’ Paula says, clicking her fingers. ‘We’ll get flasks.’
    ‘Flasks?’ Howie asks, looking down the line to Paula.
    ‘Flasks. For the storage of hot beverages.’
    ‘That’s a good idea,’ Clarence says.
    ‘I had a good flask,’ Roy says. ‘Stayed hot for hours.’
    ‘Yeah?’ Howie asks.
    ‘Come a long way flasks have,’ Roy replies knowingly.
    ‘We should get flasks,’ Howie says. ‘Nick? Can we rig a hot water thing in the Saxon?’
    ‘Er…Roy’s van will be