“We’re not here to hurt you!” she shouted.

  “That’s what they said before! When you took Ellie!”

  “We don’t know any Ellie! I’m from the U.K! We came here on a fishing trawler!”

  There was silence from inside.

  More movement came from down the path. Joe was running towards the house, while keeping low so not to be easily seen.

  “We were just looking for food and supplies!” shouted Baldwin. “Do I sound American?”

  She heard vague whispers from somewhere in the hallway.

  “Put your weapons down!”

  Baldwin looked at Aiden who shook his head, then back to the entrance and the pile of wood at its base. “I’ll put my rifle down, and I’m hoping you don’t use that shotgun on me…”

  “Put it down and we can talk!”

  “Okay, I’m putting it down…” She placed the rifle on the loose small stones, in sight of the open doorway, moving so she could see inside. A tall, elderly man stood holding a twelve-gauge shotgun, pointed squarely at her chest. Somewhere behind, perhaps at the bottom of some stairs, a young girl peeked around the corner of a wall.

  The man squinted. “There’s more of you out there! I can see them! How many!”

  Footsteps came from the gravel behind Baldwin. She slowly turned to see Joe walking towards her, his rifle over his shoulder, his hands up.

  He looked at Aiden as he approached. “Lower your weapon.” The American did so and Joe looked back to the figure inside the hallway. “What’s your name?”

  The man looked a little confused. “You’re British as well?” The man’s eyes shifted between the two closest.

  Joe nodded. “Yes, we came across the Atlantic. Got here a few days ago.”

  “Where… are you all staying?”

  “Nearby.”

  “There’s more of you?”

  “Yes. Your name?”

  “Howard.”

  “I’m Joe.” He looked to his right. “This is Nell and behind me is Aiden, who is American. Who’s. Ellie?”

  “She’s my daughter… she was taken… by people.”

  Joe looked at Baldwin then back to the man. “One of our people was taken last night, not far from here. Do you have any idea where they are taken? And why?”

  The old man lowered the barrel. “If I did I would have gone after her, wouldn’t I? But...” His stoney expression faltered. “I got responsibilities. I… thought you were them, coming back to take my granddaughter…”

  “I can assure you, we’re no threat to you. In fact, I think we can help each other. Can we come inside?”

  The old man walked gingerly forward, to the gaping hole that used to be his front door. He frowned at the fragments of wood, then peered at the three strangers and nodded. “Throw your weapons at my feet.”

  The man glanced behind him. “Fran, come here and take these inside.”

  A girl, which reminded Joe of Tia, appeared, scooping up three rifles which she skilfully handled.

  “Go on ahead.”

  She quickly disappeared back into the shadows behind the man as Joe’s radio crackled into life, Grace’s voice coming from it.

  “We heard gunfire? Over.”

  “It was an accident. Over,” said Joe, Baldwin briefly frowning as he continued, keeping her eyes on the old man. “There’s a house about half a mile up the road on the right. Meet us there. We’ll be inside with a man called Howard. Over.”

  “Okay… Over.”

  Joe smiled. “If your daughter was taken by the same people that took our friend, we’ll help you get her back.”

  The man’s expression didn’t change.

  Joe gestured towards the pieces of wood. “If you got another door I can help you put it on.”

  “Never mind about that. You follow me. The other two stay out here, but I’d keep a close watch on the trees and road, the noise might have drawn some of the dead.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  JOE

  Joe followed the man down the hallway, past framed photos, some of which contained images of a younger version of Howard in military uniform, and into a large open living area, which they moved through into an equally expansive kitchen and then out of an external door.

  From what he could see of it, the garden was twice as big as the space at the front of the property, at least an acre but the man was heading towards a small shed, immersed within a group of bushes. Howard pulled the door open revealing an open hatch in the floor, which a whirring sound was coming from.

  “You got a bunker?”

  “Yup.”

  They descended fifteen or so feet to another door, this one requiring a key code to open. He looked back at Joe, who turned away while the older man keyed in the code. There was a clunk and Howard turned the solid handle, pulling open the substantially thick door. A rush of air escaped bringing with it the small of body odours and cooked food.

  Fran was standing in a small hallway, pointing one of the rifles directly at Joe’s chest, who raised his hands again.

  He looked at Howard. “There’s no need for this.”

  The old man smiled at his granddaughter. “Keep that pointed on him. You know what to do if he does anything he shouldn’t.” The girl’s expression did not change from one of determination to do what her grandfather was telling her.

  Howard stood to the side and poked the barrel of his gun into Joe’s shoulder. “Walk and keep your hands where we can see them.”

  Joe resisted shaking his head and walked into the small corridor which had three other doors. “What’s the point of this? We can help you!”

  Howard closed the door behind, which locked. “That’s to be determined.” He looked at the girl. “Fran. We’ll take him into the main room for now.”

  She pulled down a small handle, opening the door, sound bursting from the gap, then walked inside, keeping her rifle aimed at Joe who followed. The single room was roughly twenty-feet by ten, but could have been bigger due to how much was crammed within its walls. Opposite was a long desk with computer monitors, many of which contained videos, graphic and maps, above them shelves full of books and plastic binders. To his left at the far end, past a small eating area with a table and chairs was a kitchen sink and cupboards with appliances, and to his right was a floor to ceiling cage, the contents of which was more shelves full of weaponry and stacked boxes of ammo on the floor.

  Howard nodded to one of the seats at the desk. “Sit on one of those.” He gestured to a nearby monitor. “As you can see, I can see your friends from here, and every inch for a mile in all directions…” As Joe sat, the older man leaned in to one of the video feeds. “Like I thought. Looks like your friends are going to have company, real soon. And if they start shooting, more will come. Either way, they got to leave. And there’s no way in here unless I let them in.”

  “They’ll be back,” said Joe. “And they’ll bring a lot more people.”

  Howard looked at his granddaughter. “Get this man some water.” She hesitated. “It’s okay, he won’t act up.” He looked back at Joe. “It won’t matter how many people they bring. They are not getting through that door. It’s a blast door off an actual nuclear bunker. Had it brought here when they decommissioned where I was stationed.”

  The girl placed a beaker of water on the desk close to Joe, then backed away, sitting at the table.

  “So… Joe. You say came here from the U.K? The place they wiped off the face of the earth… that place, is that right?”

  “Look, it doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. I had nothing to do with what happened to your daughter and I can help find her.”

  “And how you going to do that?”

  “We have a large group. We’re scouting this area. We’ll find something, and we will find the people that are doing the abducting.”

  “You military?”

  Joe nodded.

  “Rank?”

  “Major. Army.”

  Howard briefly raised an eyebrow but Joe was more interested in what was happening on a few of the video feeds on the monitors. The four others he had come with were firing at a smattering of zombies that were staggering towards them, most being put down.

  “Hm, some of them are military too. You all military?”

  “No, just some of us. We were on a Scottish island. We only just escaped with our lives, then headed west. We picked up some radio broadcasts, but hoped the US had been spared what happened in Britain…”

  Howard looked away briefly, lost in thought, scratching the stubble on his chin. “You in the castle on the hill? It’s the only place big enough around here.”

  “Yes…” More bodies were wandering across the grounds of the property and Aaron and the others were moving further and further away from the camera view.

  “Your friends are leaving. Which is good. Gives us a chance to get to know each other.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CLARA

  The truck slowed then stopped, the rear door quickly being opened and Clara pulled out onto the ground, where she stood, not able to see due to the foul smelling rag covering her eyes and nose. She had spent most of the journey breathing through her mouth, meaning her throat was now bone dry.

  A hand grabbed hers that were tied behind her back, and she was pulled backwards, almost making her stumble, then held in place for a moment before the blindfold was removed.

  The blonde woman standing in front of her was smiling, but Clara was more interested in the picturesque scene in front of her and the fact that she was now handcuffed to a metal pole behind her.

  “There you are princess. Right where you need to be.” The woman backed away. “They should be along soon, but if I were you I wouldn’t make a fuss, in case they are delayed and the biters sniff you out. Okay?”

  Clara wanted to scream, instead she tightened her jaw as a cool brash wind blew across her from the expanse of water to her right.

  The woman smiled again. “You’re a feisty one. British as well! He’ll love you!”

  Clara watched the woman saunter away then get into the truck. It quickly pulled onto a long road which was bordered by a series of houses on its right edge, they being only tens of yards from the body of water, which from the smell and the seagulls she presumed was the sea.

  Once the truck was out of sight, she started to struggle with the metal clasp over her wrist, while scanning the nearby fields, gardens and trees for any sign of movement. If the undead spotted her, there would be no way to defend herself.

  As she pulled and twisted her hands, she mentally did the arithmetic to calculate how far she must have been driven. At least two hours on the road, not driving at a particularly high speed. They even stopped a few times. And she was back on the coast, although east or west of the Connecticut river, she had no idea.

  The cuffs banged and scrapped on the smooth painted surface of the pole, despite her attempt to keep her efforts quiet. She had seen people in films, break their thumbs, squeezing their hands free. It always looked painful and she secretly wondered if she could ever do the same, but as she pulled and pulled the pain surging into her knuckles and wrist was threatening to—

  The figure ten-feet away clipped the side of chain hanging from a fence, the rattle vibrating across the rusting links.

  Clara froze, her mind racing for any possible way to avoid being eaten alive. It was a heavyset man in his thirties maybe, and a good few inches taller than her. He was almost naked from the waist up with large chunks of flesh missing from his chest, exposing ribs. The wind changed and with it came the putrid smell of rotting human tissue. He stopped and for a moment Clara thought that perhaps he had lost interest in her, but then he sniffed the air and began stumbling forward again, stepping off a curb onto the gravel road which she was on the opposite side of.

  There was no point keeping silent anymore, no point caring if the cuffs tore her thumb off completely. She needed to be away, or she was about to die.

  The thing’s mouth was opening and closing in anticipation of what it was about to devour.

  Her hand was burning, as if she had dipped it in molten lava, but she was no more free than when she could still feel her fingers.

  Its stench now consumed the air around her, and she wanted to retch from that and the pain. She was feeling lightheaded, vertigo doing its best to make things even worse. She pulled back from the face that was only inches from hers…

  She tasted the blood before her brain recorded the distant crack and crunch sounds of the zombie’s skull disintegrating. It fell forward onto her, and even though she knew it was dead, she couldn’t help but release a scream.

  The sound of a boat’s engine was somewhere beyond the remains of the zombie’s head, which was pulled from her, revealing three men, two of them with a rifle.

  The smallest of the three, wearing a light-grey baseball cap, smiled. “Better late than never, eh?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  JENN

  “You have to rescue him!” shouted Liz with such force that she almost lost her balance. Most of the six facing her in the large hall looked away, but the General held her gaze.

  “And that’s what we’re going to do,” said Jenn. “But I’m not sending people charging in, guns blazing against an old man and his granddaughter. There’s a way to resolve this and it’s not through killing people.”

  Lauren who was seated at the large table, nodded. “He could provide us valuable intel on the group taking people and this whole area.”

  Jenn nodded. “Yes, I was thinking the same… so I think I should pay him a visit.”

  Tyrone and Grace in turn, looked at her. “You’re in no shape for a field trip, General,” said the doctor.

  Jenn slowly got to her feet. “With the greatest respect, Grace, that’s for me to decide.” Tyrone moved off the wall where he was leaning, but she held her hand up, halting his process. “Lauren can come with me.”

  The younger woman looked at the older, a little surprised.

  Jenn smiled. “Would be good for you to get a little air, don’t you think.” She then looked at the first floor. “And Mathew.”

  “Mathew?” said Tyrone.

  “Yes, lieutenant. If you can find him and tell him he’s needed that would be much appreciated.”

  Tyrone frowned but quickly made his way up the stairs to the first floor, going to one of the doors in particular.

  Jenn looked at Liz. “Joe’s one of the most capable people I’ve run into during this whole mess. I’m sure he’s fine.”

  Liz nodded.

  It wasn’t long before Jenn, Lauren and Mathew were making their way downhill, through a woodland path, which headed east towards the country road. Despite the heavy shade, the sweat was already building on Jenn’s brow, as she awkwardly stepped over loose dirty leaves and twigs trying not to put a foot wrong, knowing that if she did, she would have trouble getting back up. She looked at the back of the woman in front of her. “What do you think of the Castle? Can it work for us?”

  “Elevated position. Good line of sight to the landscape and river which we can also use for travel… and not many of the undead. Surrounded by woods is positive and negative. Keeps us hidden but we won’t know the undead are close until they’re on our doorstep. Same goes for the military… if they ever make an appearance.” Lauren glanced back. “So, yeah, it’s a good spot… I’d feel happier if we could secure the grounds better, though. Maybe build some ditches, traps, that kind of thing. Then we could start to think about getting agriculture going. We’re also going to have to divide up the living space better. There are rumblings that...”

  They all saw the figure with the dirt covered dark-brown jacket, staggering through the undergrowth lower down the slope, being eclipsed by branches. They waited for a bit without talking and the dead man continued on he’s path through the forest.

  “Sounds like you have given it a lot of thought,” said the General, continuing down the muddy bank.

  Lauren snorted. “What else is there to do… and it’s kind of my thing… planning.”

  Jenn glanced behind her. “And what about you? What have you been up to?”

  “Oh… not much.” He smiled, his response a little too short for Jenn, but she did not push any further.

  They arrived at the bottom of the slope, where a clearer path ran across them, and the road was visible through the trees not far off.

  The General stopped, opening her arms and closed her eyes. Listening to the sounds of the forest.

  “We need to keep moving,” said Lauren, while looking at the surrounding thick blanket of trunks and leaves.

  Jenn opened her eyes and smiled. “Yesterday, I almost died for the fifth time in the past three weeks. And each time that happens my body finds it harder to put the pieces back together again. So I’m appreciating being alive… again.”

  Lauren nervously smiled. “Okay, but let’s not make it a sixth time.”

  Jenn nodded and the group continued through the woods.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  JOE

  It may have been an MRE, but the beef and carrot stew reminded Joe of what real food could taste like. He was sitting at the table in the middle of the bunker’s main room.

  Howard, sitting opposite, nodded towards him. “Maybe go slower on that, they tend to leave a mark.”

  Joe took another spoonful. “It’s not fish. That’s all that matters.”

  The older man sat back in his chair. “So that’s quite some adventure you had coming to this country.”

  “That’s one way of putting it… We’ve alive.” Joe put the plastic packet down. “Why didn’t you go west with the rest of the population?”

  Howard looked up at the ceiling and the vent that was blowing the circulated air into the long room. “This place started out as a fun little project twenty-years ago, when I was a relatively young man. Sarah, my wife, said I have enough on my plate as it was, what with my assignments. She was right, like she was about most things. But together we worked on it, also with my daughter, and it become a place where we would have dinners sometime, watch the football. Kind of like a treehouse but under the ground. About ten years ago I finally got the solar and batteries installed, but it was only more recently, after Sarah died, that I started to take things more seriously. I’m glad I did. But to answer your question, there was never any question of leaving. This is my home. Ellie, worked for the local news broadcaster in Charleston. She got wind of something and it confirmed what my own back channels were telling me. So she came here, bringing Fran with her and we hunkered down for the virus to make it here, which it did, and all hell broke loose… We… stayed down here until it looked as if most of the people around here had left, and the dead had moved on. No people, nothing for them to eat.” Howard’s face become more resolute. “We hadn’t planned on Ellie being abducted…” He looked back at Joe. “If what you’re telling me is true, that you have a large group with you… then maybe we can find the individuals that took her…”