Lanherne Chronicles (Prequel): To Escape the Dead by Stephen Charlick Page B

lucky,’ replied Charlie, understanding her concern. ‘And if we stick to the country back roads hopefully we’ll bypass the gridlocked roads and any major built-up areas.’
    ‘That’s a lot of ‘luck’ and ‘hope’ for one sentence…,’ said Cam, his worried eyebrows crunching together in concern. ‘Particularly when you throw raiders into the mix as well.’
    A journey out among the Dead was always fraught with danger from both the Dead and living alike. Any number of things could go wrong to put their lives at risk but since staying at the Institute was no longer an option, they had little choice but to try. The only consolation was that they could count themselves lucky to have a specific destination to aim towards. Many a traveller had aimlessly wandered the countryside, their supplies of food and water slowly dwindling, until they became trapped somewhere simply waiting for the Dead to find them.
    ‘Raiders don’t usually stay in one place for long,’ said Charlie, trying to calm the obvious fears he saw bubbling under the surface of those in the room.
    ‘Yeah, those scum just take what they want and then fuck off somewhere else to bully the next group of unfortunates they come across,’ added Tom, a sneer twisting his mouth.
    It didn’t matter when or where you were, throughout history there were always those who thought just because they were greater in strength or number that they could simply take what they wanted. The meek inheriting the earth was a nice idea but in reality they usually ended bleeding in the dirt while their women were raped, belongings pillaged and children traumatised. Such was the way of Man.
    ‘Look, there’s a million and one things that can go wrong,’ Charlie continued, looking from one anxious face to the next, his gaze finally lingering on Carmella, ‘but if we don’t try then they’ve won…. all of them, the Dead, the raiders, those bastard aliens or terrorist or whatever they were that heaped this shit down on humanity… they’ve beaten us and we might as well top ourselves here and now… and I don’t know about you but fuck that! While I’ve got breath in my body I’m going to fight for those I care about, fight to survive… No, actually fuck that too, I’m not fighting to just survive, I’m fighting to live.’
    Slowly one by one heads began to nod in agreement. They would take their chance on the road. They would deal with the Dead and if they came across them, deal with the raiders too. They needed to live not simply survive and if Saint Xavier’s offered them a chance of that then they would risk it all to get there.
    ‘Right, so when are we leaving then?’ asked Phil, snapping closed the lid of a plastic box now full of cooked horse meat.
    ‘Well, we’re safe here for the moment,’ said Charlie, ‘and we don’t want to spend more than one night on the road unless we have to, so I think we should finish packing up what we can and after we’ve said a proper goodbye to Vincenzo, leave at first light tomorrow.’
    At the mention of his name, Carmella slowly turned her head to look at Charlie, fresh heavy tears already filling her eyes as her hands instinctively moved to her cradle the unborn child within her.   
    ***
    ‘Goodbye, Vincenzo… I’m sorry…’ said Charlie, solemnly moving the flaming torch from one spot under the pile of kindling and chopped wood to the next. ‘And don’t worry, Carmella and the baby will be looked after…’
    While the wood slowly began to crackle and pop under the growing flames, Charlie turned and walked back to join the assembled group of survivors, his gaze lingering on Carmella. The wretched woman had somehow managed to claw her way back from the catatonic state her overwhelming grief had imposed upon her and as she watched the body of her husband wrapped in an old blanket begin to catch fire heavy tears fell freely from her eyes. Beside her, Phil placed a hand on her shoulder, eager for her to