The Virus by Lee, Damien (summer books txt) 📕

are you going to go? A couple of miles in and set up camp?”

“The moors are filled with isolated farms, Gus. I figure it’s less likely they’ve been affected.”

“You’re crazy. I bet you a score you don’t make it through that field.”

“And I bet you the same you don’t make it through the night.”

A smile slowly spread across Razor’s face.

“You’re on.” He laughed, extending his arm out of the window. Frank slid onto the passenger seat and shook his outstretched hand.

“We’ve got a deal then,” Gus said.

“See you on the other side.”

Frank revved the engine one last time before speeding forward. He smashed through the crumbling wall with ease, bouncing over the uneven field. He looked in his side mirrors and watched Gus pull away towards Doxley. Unsure who had made the right decision, Frank drove on. He was sure that he would eventually reach a farm or some other refuge. One thing he was certain of was that his route would steer clear of the infected.

He drove on, unaware that the roar of his engine was attracting the gaze of a flock of nearby sheep. They looked up as the van drew near, blood oozing from their mouths, their eyes wide with hunger.

15

Amy looked around, trying to focus her vision on something other than darkness. White flashes danced in front of her eyes. Her head throbbed, aching with every beat of her heart. She tried to sit up, but doing so caused her world to spin. Suddenly everything came back to her; the blood, the panic, the zombies. She lurched upright when she realised where she was.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Ben said.

“I fell,” she gasped, quickly checking herself for any injuries. She flinched when her fingers roamed over the lump on the side of her head.

“Yeah. You’re lucky the lift was already halfway up.”

Amy glanced around the elevator shaft. “We’re on top of the lift?”

“Yup. Between floors two and three.”

“So how did you get down here?”

“I dropped down,” Ben replied, moving aside and pointing to the ledge above them. “It wasn’t that far.”

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as Amy rose to her feet.

“I’m fine.” She brushed herself down, noticing the long rip in her T-shirt.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

The swelling on her head throbbed, sending waves of pain down through her temples. Her entire body ached, the pain intensifying as she stretched her muscles. She let out a weak gasp.

“C’mon, we need to get you into a chair or something,” Ben said, putting an arm around her back.

“Where are we going to find a chair on top of a lift?” Amy eased out of his embrace and bent down next to the hatch at their feet. “Look, I’ll be fine. I don’t need to sit down. I need to get out of here.”

She opened the hatch and peered inside the elevator carriage. The small compartment had been coated in arterial paint, all emanating from Terry’s maimed corpse in the wheelchair. She looked away from the grisly scene.

“I know,” Ben said, closing the hatch as the smell of death crept up towards them. “But you were right, there was nothing we could’ve done.”

“So, what are we going to do now?”

“We go ahead with our original plan. We ride the elevator to the ground floor, see how many zombies we have to face and whether we can get out.”

“And if we can’t?” Amy asked.

“Then we move on to Plan B.”

“Which is?”

“We don’t have one yet.”

“Oh, well that’s great,” she muttered, rolling her eyes.

“Hey, we’re taking this one step at a time, remember? With any luck, we won’t have to think of another plan.”

“But what are the chances there’ll be no zombies down there?”

“I have no idea. If we’re lucky, they’ve left to find more people.”

“And if we’re unlucky?”

“Then we resort to Plan B.”

Amy groaned as Ben opened the elevator hatch once again.

“What are you doing?” She hissed as he dropped through the gap. His boots hit the floor with a sickening squelch. He reached over Terry’s corpse and pressed the ground floor button. The motors whirred into action and Amy felt the carriage descend.

“Get back up!”

Ben leapt and grabbed the sides of the hatch as the elevator reached the ground floor. Amy felt her heart lurch as the prompt ding met her ears. The sliding doors spread wide as he heaved himself through the gap. She grabbed his shoulder, half expecting him to disappear under a wave of eager hands. She helped hoist him up, before looking back into the carriage. Nobody entered. They waited, watching for any signs of movement.

Seconds passed.

“You idiot,” Amy whispered, clapping Ben on the shoulder. “What if Terry came back as one of those things?”

“Relax, he hasn’t been dead long enough.”

“And how long does it take?”

Ben didn’t answer. He stared into the carriage, watching Terry’s corpse.

“Do you think there are any down there?” Amy whispered.

“I don’t know. I can’t see from here.”

 He crouched down, leaning into the carriage head-first. Amy grabbed his waist as his shoulders slid through the gap.

“It looks deserted. Help me back up.”

“What do you think?” she asked, heaving him back through the hatch.

“It looks like nobody’s there.”

“Do you think we should go for it?”

“I think whatever we decide, we have to do it quick. We don’t know how long it’s going to be empty.”

 “Okay, suppose we make a run for it, where do we go?”

“Straight out the front doors.”

“No, I mean after we get out of the building.”

“Looks like someone isn’t taking little steps anymore.” Ben smiled. “Okay, we’ll see how we go. If we find a bunch of them outside, we run