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

I need to know what’s happening. What do you know?”

“I told you, we’ll talk about it later.”

“No, we’ll talk about it now.”

He grabbed the woman. She turned to face him, ripping her arm from his grasp. “What’re you—” She stopped when she noticed the wounds on his face. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing. Now tell me what’s going on.”

“Can we just get moving again? I’ll tell you everything I know once we’re safe.”

“There’s nobody here.”

“There’s a fucking flesh-hungry sheep down that hill! Not to mention those guys back there.” The woman pointed down the field. “They’ve probably finished eating that bloke and looking for us.”

Frank stared back down the field. Sure enough, the silhouettes of four people, the fourth he assumed was the bearded man, drew closer in the distance. The woman turned back towards the van.

“At least tell me your name,” he said.

“It’s Lisa,” she replied, jumping into the passenger seat. “What about you?”

“Frank.”

He climbed behind the wheel and veered across the field towards the main road. With no signs of the living or dead, the only threat to them was the quartet in the distance. Frank glanced in the side mirror, watching as they faded to minuscule specks in the distance.

“So, Frank.” The woman looked at him as they began driving on the long stretch of road. “How is that you’re driving a prison van through the middle of the Yorkshire Moors wearing blood-soaked prison scrubs?”

“Prison scrubs?” He frowned, looking down at his stained tracksuit bottoms and jumper.

“Well, you’re hardly a prison officer, are you? Where did you come from? Harrodale?”

“Sure did, Sherlock.”

“That’s a high security prison.”

“Yep.”

“You must be a nasty piece of work.”

“Not as bad as what’s out here.” He motioned towards a hollowed-out sheep’s carcass as they passed it at the side of the road.

“So where are you heading?” Lisa asked.

“I have no idea. Somewhere safe.”

“Good. You can take me with you.”

Frank looked over at the woman. “Are you sure? No one you need to look for? No family or friends you want to get killed over?”

“No, why do you ask?”

Frank shrugged. “It’s what ordinary people do during a crisis, isn’t it? Emotions get in the way of logic and they get killed looking for their gran.”

“Yeah, except I’m not ordinary. I’ve got me, myself and I and that’s the way I like it.”

Frank grinned; he was warming to the woman already.

“So what do you think is causing all this?” she asked.

“I’ve been banged up for five years. The only time I knew something was wrong was when they tore up the prison.”

“So you don’t know anything?”

“I know they don’t die when you break their neck. I know they have a taste for human flesh and I know if you get bitten, you’ll become one of them within the minute.”

“Within a minute?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s weird,” she muttered, more to herself than to Frank.

“What do you mean?”

“My friend and I were in a car crash. Some guy jumped in the road and we ended up crashing into a telegraph pole.”

“A zombie?”

“If that’s what you want to call them.”

“Did you run over him?”

“Yeah, but he got straight back up and ended up biting my friend.”

“How did you get away?”

“That guy with the beard was driving past and he picked us up.”

Frank slowed and veered around another corpse in the middle of the road. For a deserted stretch of land, the moors were becoming more and more populated by the minute.

“When we got back to his house, my friend started to shake. I thought she was cold at first, but then she began having a fit.”

“Is that why you ran?”

“No. We ran because the guy’s sons came bursting into the room and attacked us.”

“Where they the ones chasing you?”

She nodded, turning to look out the window as they veered onto another road.

“What do you mean it’s weird?”

“Huh?” Lisa asked.

“I said they turn within a minute and you said that’s weird. Why?”

“Well, that didn’t happen with us. When the guy saw my friend’s arm, he told us that his two sons had been hurt too.”

“And?”

“And the drive alone took fifteen minutes before we reached his house.”

“So it took fifteen minutes for your friend to change?”

“At least, and it was probably longer for the two guys that were there.”

Frank contemplated this briefly until Lisa spoke again.

“Maybe it depends on the person? My friend was quite big, so it might not have affected her as fast. And you saw how big those other guys were.”

“No. One of the blokes inside changed within a minute or two.”

“Was he a big guy?”

“The biggest guy I’ve ever seen. It has to be something else.”

“Maybe it’s becoming more advanced?” Lisa offered as they avoided another corpse in the road. “Whatever it is, might be growing stronger and turning people faster.”

“Ever the optimist, huh?”

“I can’t think of any other reason. Can you?”

“I don’t know. All the lads I saw go mental were bitten around the face. Maybe it’s however long it takes to get to your brain?”

Frank looked around at their surroundings until his eyes picked out a distant house. It was far off the main road, surrounded by miles of open field. A balcony was fixed to the right-hand side of the upper floor, allowing a perfect vantage point should they encounter an attack. He grinned.

“What?” Lisa asked.

“I finally know where we’re heading.”

“Where?”

Frank pointed towards the farmhouse, noticing the Land Rover that was parked outside. It dawned on him that the house may contain survivors, or worse; zombies. Despite the danger, he knew they would be safer in a barricaded house than out on the road.

“You can’t