Free The Monster Within by Darrell Pitt Page A

hours,’ Scarlet said. ‘We should drink from them
while we can.’
    They spent the next few minutes lapping from the pools. The water had an earthy taste,
but was otherwise fine.
    ‘Now we’ll need hats,’ Scarlet said.
    ‘This is no time to worry about fashion,’ Jack said.
    ‘You are so silly. You remember the lesson we had with Miss Bloxley?’
    Miss Bloxley, their tutor, was a woman who looked disturbingly reptilian and could
speak for hours without seeming to draw breath. ‘I remember her mouth opening and
closing,’ Jack said, ‘but I don’t recall anything she said.’
    Scarlet sighed. ‘Most evaporation is lost through the head. Makeshift hats will help
keep us hydrated.’
    ‘Plus we can use them for food when we get extra hungry.’
    ‘An added bonus.’
    They retrieved a few scraps of the airship’s balloon, found some twine and constructed
two hats. They look more like baby bonnets, Jack thought. ‘Thank goodness there’s
no one around to take a picture,’ he said.
    The airship had crashed on the top of a ridge, which explained why the storm had
tossed it about like a toy. Pastel hills stretched away in all directions.
    ‘What way should we go?’ Jack asked.
    ‘South towards the coast,’ Scarlet said. ‘We’re sure to meet up with a road. From
there we’ll hitch a lift back to Granada.’
    They descended into a small valley, following it until it reached another ridge.
    It didn’t take long for the heat to rise. The sky was cloudless and soon the sun
was beating down.
    Jack took off his coat and carried it. He was thankful Scarlet had listened to Miss
Bloxley. Their hats looked ridiculous, but he’d rather wear them than die of heatstroke.
He began thinking about how good it would be to have a glass of water, how refreshing
it would taste, how easily it would slide down his throat. He tried not to think
about it, but the more he tried, the more it came to mind. Taking a break in the
shade of a small tree, he said, ‘What’s that old saying? Water, water, everywhere,
and not a drop to drink?’
    ‘It’s actually “Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink”,’ Scarlet said.
‘It’s from Coleridge’s poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner .’
    ‘What’s it about?’
    ‘A sailor is on board a ship at sea. That becomes cursed when he shoots and kills
an albatross, a bird considered to be lucky.’ She paused. ‘His shipmates hang it
around his neck as a form of punishment.’
    ‘They…what?’
    She explained again, but Jack just shook his head, wondering if he’d started to hallucinate.
‘He has a dead bird hanging around his neck?’ Jack said. ‘That’s the most ridiculous
thing I’ve ever heard. Couldn’t he just take it off?’
    ‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘But it’s a type of penance. His shipmates die from thirst, but
later come back to life.’
    ‘Oh?’ Jack said, brightening. ‘They’re zombies?’
    Scarlet groaned. ‘I suppose so.’
    They continued walking. Jack looked at his watch. It was just after midday. There
was still no sign of civilisation, just hills that seemed to go on forever. His
back was dripping with sweat.
    ‘Things could be worse,’ Jack said.
    ‘Oh?’
    ‘We could return to civilisation, expecting everything to be fine, but instead discover
the zombie apocalypse has happened.’
    ‘Jack,’ Scarlet said, shaking her head. ‘Where do you get these ideas? There are
no such things as zombies. How can you have a zombie apocalypse?’
    ‘Very easily. First the milkman gets bitten by a zombie. He bites the postman. Then
he bites Mrs Magillacuddy, who bites Mr Magillacuddy,’ Jack explained. ‘Before you
know it, the world has been transformed into zombie planet. The only people not affected
are two adventurers returning from the desert. They’re forced to fight off a planet
of zombies to survive.’
    ‘I don’t think we’d stand much of a chance against a whole planet of zombies.’
    ‘But if we survived we could eat as much