everything would go so wrong so soon. You?”
“Nope. Already had two of the things in our house before we left.”
“Two? Geez… were you alright? I mean, you look alright?”
I saw him shuffle ever so slightly away from me. Sure, we were being pleasant enough to each other now, but how could anyone know who was bitten and simply hiding it? How long did the incubation process really last? Had I actually gotten away with it myself, considering the amount of infected blood I’d had spattered over me in the last 24 hours?
“Yeah I’m fine. More than fine considering this time yesterday I was in London. At least we’re not there, hey?”
The man laughed nervously, but didn’t back off any further. Hopefully he didn’t think I was infected. I looked down. I was covered in blood. Maybe I wouldn’t go too far with arguing with me either at that point, but I definitely wouldn’t trust me, and I wouldn’t want to make friends with me either. He was probably trying to plan his escape before I latched our group on to his.
“Want to group together?” That caught me by surprise. He must have been able to tell, as he ploughed on without giving me a chance to answer. “I mean, if you’ve already survived two of them, I’m guessing it was you that did all the hard work by the looks of things. And if you managed to get out of London too, you must be resourceful. You might not have a plan, but if there’s a group of us we’re more likely to survive right?”
I was on guard and suspicious. The other family had already shuffled silently away and I wondered if this offer had been made and rejected already, perhaps more than once. Towards the end of his impromptu pitch this guy – this complete stranger, in fact - went high pitched and almost maniacal. There must be an underlying reason why he’d want to throw his lot in with an unknown group, one of whom was covered in blood without even querying background, numbers, or anything. “How many of you are there?”
“It’s just me, my wife and son.” He gestured behind him and only then did I notice the meek woman clutching a petrified toddler at her shoulder. Don’t work with children or animals. Don’t work with children or animals. Don’t…
“What’s going on Warren?”
Carla stood alongside me and gave the man a quizzical look. His desperate eyes appeared to turn her more sympathetic than cautious, as she quickly came to the same conclusion I had asked for. “Were you heading to the marina?”
“We were. I’m not sure whether it would actually be worth it now, looking at that.”
“We thought the same. Even if my boat hasn’t been stolen, it’s likely on fire, looted, or some combination of the two. But we’ve got no idea what to do next. Is there anywhere safe to go here?”
“Nothing. We were going to head back along the coast, but the town…”
“You’ve been in the town? Where did you come from?”
“We came from Bennington. The town centre is riddled. The screams and all the people just dying. It was hell.”
“How did you get out?”
“We only live on the edge. We thought we got out early enough, but seems like most of the area had the same idea as us.”
“Looks like water is the only safe place at the moment. What if we could get the attention of a boat? Maybe wade out with the tide low or something?”
Carla’s idea actually seemed credible, but our new friend shot it down in flames almost straight away. “It’s high tide at the moment and let’s face it, if you’ve managed to be ruthless enough to actually get on one of those boats, are you going to let some total strangers on it? I suppose the only thing we could do is try to get to a boat a different way. But how? Where?”
“There are fishing boats in Bennington. And there’s a yacht club, but I’m guessing that will have gone the same way as the marina. Thing is it’s not right in the town, so maybe that’s worth a shot? The only other thing I can think of
“Nope. Already had two of the things in our house before we left.”
“Two? Geez… were you alright? I mean, you look alright?”
I saw him shuffle ever so slightly away from me. Sure, we were being pleasant enough to each other now, but how could anyone know who was bitten and simply hiding it? How long did the incubation process really last? Had I actually gotten away with it myself, considering the amount of infected blood I’d had spattered over me in the last 24 hours?
“Yeah I’m fine. More than fine considering this time yesterday I was in London. At least we’re not there, hey?”
The man laughed nervously, but didn’t back off any further. Hopefully he didn’t think I was infected. I looked down. I was covered in blood. Maybe I wouldn’t go too far with arguing with me either at that point, but I definitely wouldn’t trust me, and I wouldn’t want to make friends with me either. He was probably trying to plan his escape before I latched our group on to his.
“Want to group together?” That caught me by surprise. He must have been able to tell, as he ploughed on without giving me a chance to answer. “I mean, if you’ve already survived two of them, I’m guessing it was you that did all the hard work by the looks of things. And if you managed to get out of London too, you must be resourceful. You might not have a plan, but if there’s a group of us we’re more likely to survive right?”
I was on guard and suspicious. The other family had already shuffled silently away and I wondered if this offer had been made and rejected already, perhaps more than once. Towards the end of his impromptu pitch this guy – this complete stranger, in fact - went high pitched and almost maniacal. There must be an underlying reason why he’d want to throw his lot in with an unknown group, one of whom was covered in blood without even querying background, numbers, or anything. “How many of you are there?”
“It’s just me, my wife and son.” He gestured behind him and only then did I notice the meek woman clutching a petrified toddler at her shoulder. Don’t work with children or animals. Don’t work with children or animals. Don’t…
“What’s going on Warren?”
Carla stood alongside me and gave the man a quizzical look. His desperate eyes appeared to turn her more sympathetic than cautious, as she quickly came to the same conclusion I had asked for. “Were you heading to the marina?”
“We were. I’m not sure whether it would actually be worth it now, looking at that.”
“We thought the same. Even if my boat hasn’t been stolen, it’s likely on fire, looted, or some combination of the two. But we’ve got no idea what to do next. Is there anywhere safe to go here?”
“Nothing. We were going to head back along the coast, but the town…”
“You’ve been in the town? Where did you come from?”
“We came from Bennington. The town centre is riddled. The screams and all the people just dying. It was hell.”
“How did you get out?”
“We only live on the edge. We thought we got out early enough, but seems like most of the area had the same idea as us.”
“Looks like water is the only safe place at the moment. What if we could get the attention of a boat? Maybe wade out with the tide low or something?”
Carla’s idea actually seemed credible, but our new friend shot it down in flames almost straight away. “It’s high tide at the moment and let’s face it, if you’ve managed to be ruthless enough to actually get on one of those boats, are you going to let some total strangers on it? I suppose the only thing we could do is try to get to a boat a different way. But how? Where?”
“There are fishing boats in Bennington. And there’s a yacht club, but I’m guessing that will have gone the same way as the marina. Thing is it’s not right in the town, so maybe that’s worth a shot? The only other thing I can think of
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