British Zombie Breakout: Part Two by Peter Salisbury Page B

Bill
said.
    'No way to tell who was infected during the incubation period,
if you can believe that.'
    'How many was it got out the last time, about two
hundred?'
    'Two hundred was what they admitted to. Didn't help that most
of them were pre-symptomatic.'
    'Right, so you couldn't tell they were infected, apart from
their behaviour.'
    'Oh, yeah, the like rampaging and biting thing,' Maisie said.
'Disgusting!'
    'I think they were trying to get to the sea this time,' Janet
said, returning to the previous question. 'A lot of them went
straight for the harbour.'
    'After like attacking our school,' Maisie said.
    'Probably only because it was on the way and they knew it
would be full of all the local kids.'
    'I wonder where all the others went to; the ones who like ran
off.'
    'All the ones who survived will be on their way to Breathdeep
Camp.'
    'That's where they killed my sister,' Rachel said.
    'Killed?' Graham said.
    'Good as,' Rachel turned away, a tear falling on her sleeve.
Her voice was ragged when she continued, 'Caging her up with all
the infected ones.'
    Everyone was quiet for several minutes, occupied with their
own thoughts, until Maisie spoke again, 'Mrs Reynolds, how did you
like get away if the zombies were going for the
harbour?'
    'I have to admit things were pretty tight at times. You'd have
thought being harbourmaster, I'd have been given advance
notice.'
    'We didn't know anything until the klaxon went off and we
tried the radio,' Sarah said. 'The three of us, that's Mrs
Reynolds, Karen and I ran straight out because we were supposed to
organise getting all you school kids onto a boat and
away.'
    'What like happened to all the other kids, then?'
    'We don't know because they never turned up.'
    'Zombies or the army must have got 'em,' Bill said.
    'So like how did you end up here?'
    'That,' Janet said with a smile, 'is a whole other
story.'
    'You've got to hear what we got up to in the castle,
mum.'
    'I'm sure I should, dear but I don't think we ought to hang
around here much longer without a purpose. Now might be a good time
to check the weapons,' Janet said, taking out her flare
gun.
    'You got weapons?' Fred said, leaning forward, eyes wide. 'I
had a mace and a sword in the castle.'
    'And you stuck that zombie with a pike,' Steve
said.
    'Yeah, that was cool.'
    'Steven, you know I don't like to hear about random acts of
violence.' Janet said. 'This is deadly serious.'
    'Sorry mum.'
    'Now, Sarah, do you still have the spare flares?'
    Sarah spread the half dozen cartridges on the table. 'All
looking OK.'
    'Bill, your revolver?'
    Bill lifted the gun from his pocket, checked the safety and
span the chamber. 'Still got no spare ammo,' he said.
     

Chapter 3: Once Bitten
    At one end of the quay a sergeant in charge of half a dozen
men spoke into his radio, 'Sir, we've tracked a group of zombies
into a fish processing shed.'
    ' How many are
there? '
    'Twenty or more and they're tearing the place up, lashing
together makeshift weapons.'
    ' Weapons? '
    'I know, they're usually not smart enough for that sort of
thing.'
    ' Do they have
firearms? '
    'No, sir. I don't think so sir. It's pretty dark inside but in
the IR scopes we can see them running around with fish knives and
lengths of timber.'
    ' You need to get them flushed out of
there at the double. '
    'Yes sir, right away sir. We'll smoke 'em out.'
    'Sarge, it's too late, they're coming right at us.' The man at
the sergeant's left lurched away firing in rapid bursts.
    The sergeant turned towards the processing shed and looked
around the side of a stack of fish crates he was sheltering behind.
A short knife buzzed past his ear and clattered onto the ground
behind him. It was closely followed by a zombie with only one arm.
The remaining arm looked sturdy enough as the crazed creature
lunged towards him with a gleaming fish-gutting knife strapped to a
broom handle. The improvised spear missed him by inches but the
zombie turned back and was upon him in a moment, snarling