It's Grim Up North (Book 3): The Journey Page 3

  Surprisingly there were no deedaz to be found anywhere; well, apart from the odd shadow in the numerous windows we passed, but none at all in the open.

  The girl popped her head into the cabin and quietly said, ‘Next left, first gate on the left.’

  I gently squeezed the brakes and coasted to a stop at the gate.

  ‘What now?’ Andy asked.

  ‘Fuck knows,’ I replied as I searched the darkness with the NV goggles for signs of life. Or death.

  ‘There’s a string on the gate. It’s attached to a bell up at the house. Pull it and they’ll come down,’ the girl said.

  I looked at Andy. ‘I’m not fucking going out there,’ he stated vehemently.

  ‘For fucks sake. I’ll do it,’ I said as I withdrew my Glock and opened the large driver’s door. I glanced quickly round the area and jumped to the ground, checking all angles.

  Something was wrong. I could smell the dead. Rottenmilkyeggpoo attacked my olfactory system. They were near! I checked behind me and to the front and then realised where the smell was emanating from. It was coming from the Mastiff. The whole front end was covered in blood, gore and detritus. I quickly checked the sides and the undercarriage for stowaways and gladly found nothing.

  I stalked quietly over to the gate and found the string.

  ‘What do you want?’ came a voice from my left before I had the chance to pull the makeshift bell.

  I turned and saw what looked like two metal pipes sticking through the gate, pointed towards me.

  Now, if this situation had happened four days ago I’d have papped my pants. Not now. Not after spending the past three days with Darren. I was a completely different person from that onesie-wearing, pissy-pants, crybaby that I used to be. And in those four days since, I’d been around enough guns to be able to recognise two rusty bits of bog pipe, gaffer taped together.

  ‘No need for the hostilities mate.’

  ‘We’ve already paid this week. We’ve nothing more to give until the harvest,’ he hissed.

  ‘I’m not here to take, I’m here to drop something off.’ I tapped gently three times on the passenger door.

  The door opened and the girl climbed down.

  ‘Daddy?’

  ‘Sabrina?’

  The sound of latches being pulled aside was followed by the opening of one of the gates. Sabrina ran towards it and into the arms of her father.

  ‘Quickly, come in.’ He said. ‘Your friends too.’

  ‘Thanks, but we aren’t staying. I do need a few words with you before we leave though.’ His smiling face instantly changed to one of concern.

  I popped up and told Andy to sit tight, lock the doors and that I’d be back in a jiffy. I followed Sabrina and her father through the gate.

  It took around fifteen minutes to explain what had happened over the past few days and that Gippa and his lackies were still alive.

  ‘Once they’ve regrouped, they will come looking for us. That means they’ll probably come here first, knowing this is where Sabrina is from. They may even be on their way now, though I doubt it, judging by the state they were in. If you’ve got vehicles you can come with us but we’re leaving now.’

  ‘No, we’re staying in Alnmouth. We have another property just outside the village. It’s secluded and well protected. We’ll move there tonight. You’re welcome to stay with us if you want? We’ve plenty of room.’

  I declined his generous offer and bid them farewell. After receiving a hug from them both I climbed into the Mastiff.

  ‘Four of the girls want to stay here with Sabrina and her family, Carter,’ Andy said, as I was about to start the engine.

  ‘What? Why?’

  ‘They just want to stay mate. I think it’s all a bit too much for them. They’ve been through a lot. They’re young and afraid and I reckon they think staying here would be safer than driving all over Northumberland in the middle of the night.’

  At first I was a little angry at the fact that we’d just saved these ungrateful people and now they wanted to bail on us, but deep down I understood. They’d been through so much. They’d already been accosted by evil men and subjected to godawful things and now, other men had come along and taken them somewhere else. They were most probably thinking, ‘out of the frying pan and into the fire’.

  ‘Well we can’t make them come with us. I’ll go and ask Sabrina’s dad,’ I said, even though I knew the answer before I asked.

  As expected Sabrina’s father welcomed them with open arms and hurried them through the gate. I reiterated to him the importance of getting away from their present sanctuary and finding another, then climbed into the truck and started the engine.

  This was the second part of the plan to keep the dead away from their gated colony. We sat there for a good ten minutes as I revved the engine. This would attract any deedaz in the area to us. Once I thought they’d all arrived I was going to pied piper them away from Sabrina’s home, although the plan didn’t work. No walking dead showed up. A couple of crawly ones but that was it. Where the fuck were they?

  I decided to have a snoop around the area. I turned the Mastiff one hundred and eighty degrees, squashed the crawlies that had turned up and headed towards the south of the village.

  In the distance we could see that the fires were still burning on the island and we could also see the bright orange glow of the garage fire on the southern horizon as it made silhouettes of the buildings of Amble.

  As Andy and I stared out at the war zone-like landscape, movement down on the beach caught my eye. Putting on my night vision goggles I could clearly see what had happened to the one hundred plus residents of Alnmouth.

  They had all been inadvertently trapped in the mud flats of the river Aln after our explosions had attracted them out onto the beach. They stood there up to their waists in the quicksand-like mud, unable to move an inch as the tide slowly came in to envelope them.

  I turned in my seat to have a look in the back to see how everyone was doing. Darren was still lying on his back in the centre aisle with his head resting on Sarah’s lap. I’m sure I spotted a wry smile on his face as he lay there. Jenna was sitting beside the girl who had been rude to me at the compound when I’d carried her out and set her down next to the minibus. Josh’s two young friends were on high alert keeping watch through the small firing slits that could be found on the either side of the Mastiff. Josh was guarding our six o’clock, through the small ballistic window at the rear of the cabin, while Bobby sat next to him.

  There were ten of us left after Sabrina and the others had walked out on us. That meant I was responsible for nine other lives. It was my job to keep them safe.

  The enormity of this revelation sent my stomach into cartwheels. This was Darren’s role. Not mine. I could barely look after myself, never mind nine other souls. What would Darren do? He’d push on with the mission. That’s what. Problems that popped up along the way would be met head on and kicked swiftly into touch.

  I started the engine, put the Mastiff into gear and moved off east, down towards the beach. Before we got there I turned north, crashed through a small fence and drove out onto Alnmouth golf course. I’d decided this would be the easiest route to the village of Boulmer. I didn’t want to take any chances of getting held up by abandoned cars on the narrow twisting road that linked Alnmouth with our destination. The only worry I had was falling into the many sand bunkers that peppered the golf course. The goggles aided me greatly but the height combined with the huge blind spot directly in front of the vehicle made it difficult to navigate, so I took it slowly. It was well after midnight now and I was beginning to tire, in fact I was shattered. It had been a very, very long day. As I was driving my mind started to wander, recalling the previous day’s events.

  The rude awakening by Sonny and Bumfluff. The terror that Sonny might find us, the battle royal between him and Darren, the disposing of the bodies, the journey to Boulmer, being shot at, finding the dead soldier poker game and the dying snipe
r who had tried to end me, being stalked by mysterious animals, the close shave Darren had in the Land Rover, the despatching of the five deedaz on the beach, finding Andy tied up and that Bobby had been kidnapped, watching the destruction of the island and of Gippa’s men, the assault on the compound, finding fucking Jenna and then the frantic escape from Gippa, his general and lieutenants. Each event had tapped into my already depleted reserves of adrenaline. Slowly but surely chipping away at my physical and mental wellbeing. How long could I keep this up for I wondered.

  ‘Carter, do you want me to drive?’ Andy said. ‘You look tired buddy.’

  ‘I’m fine, we’re nearly there,’ I said as we crossed an overgrown putting green, its tattered flag hanging limply in the windless night.

  We came to a wooden gate and I gently forced it open with the front end of the 6x6.

  ‘Boulmer village is just up ahead,’ I said as we joined the narrow road leading to it.

  ‘I thought we were going to the bas,’ Andy said.

  ‘We need to pick something up first,’ I replied as I steered us out onto the beach.

  I knew we couldn’t go straight to the RAF base. The place was still full of the dead who we’d locked in earlier that day. Someone was going to have to go there, open the gates and lead them away. That was why I’d chosen to come to the beach first. I drove down to the surf and turned the Mastiff’s headlights on for ten seconds to show Andy why we were there.

  ‘Oooooo,’ was all I heard Andy say.

  She was still there, thank the Lord. The beautiful, sleek, black, modified Land Rover.

  A voice right next to my left ear whispered, ‘Don’t even think about it, Carter. She’s mine.’

  I turned and there was Darren.

  ‘Enjoy ya nap you lazy fucker?’ I asked.

  ‘It’s been a long day. Any excuse for a little R&R mate,’ he replied. ‘Anyway, you’ve been doing fine without me.’

  I found out later that the sneaky bar steward had been awake since Warkworth and had been listening and evaluating my decision-making ever since, ready to jump in and take over if I’d fucked up.

  ‘Well done mate, I couldn’t have done better myself,’ he praised. ‘So what’s the plan boss?’

  My plan, was to take the Land Rover and lure the base’s inhabitants away, allowing the Mastiff to get in safely. After a loop of the surrounding roads I would then double back to the base.

  ‘Darren, take the Mastiff and secure the sniper tower and make sure the area is safe,’ I shouted through to the back of the truck. ‘Josh, you’re coming with me. Grab your Glock, SA80 and your bugout bag. Andy, jump in the back and pass my stuff through.’

  ‘I think I should come with you,’ Darren said.

  ‘Ha ha, you only want to come so you can drive the Defender. Not a chance I’m afraid. She’s mine now. The Mastiff is yours.’ Darren looked truly saddened by this.

  I told him to wait half an hour before heading to the base. That should give Josh and I enough time to get rid of the deedaz.

  Before we jumped out I shone a torch into the back of the truck to tell everyone what we were doing. Jenna didn’t even look at me as I explained the plan to everyone. She just stared at the floor.

  ‘Come on Josh, let’s go.’ I said as I turned off the torch and replaced my night vision goggles.

  ‘Here,’ Darren said as he handed me something before I jumped out. ‘Push the side button to talk, let go to listen.’ It was a walkie-talkie, or a two-way radio as Darren liked to call it.

  ‘Cheers mate.’

  Chapter Four

  The tide was out as we made our way down to the 4x4. We stowed our bags in the back and climbed in. I started her up and drove her slowly along the beach, glancing in the direction of the Mastiff. I could see Darren waving sadly through the window. I nearly waved back but then realised he wasn’t waving at us. He was waving at the fucking Land Rover. Dick.

  ‘Josh, I thought there were eight girls at Gippa’s compound?’ I asked, as we drove down the long, straight road that led to the base.

  ‘Yeah,’ he said sadly. ‘One of them didn’t make it. She died this morning.’

  ‘Oh,’ I replied, not knowing what else to say.

  We drove in silence for the rest of the short journey and I soon spotted the entrance to RAF Boulmer, but to my surprise the dead we’d entrapped there that afternoon were nowhere to be seen. Had someone come along and let them out? I drove closer to the gates. The zip ties Darren had used to secure the gates were still there.

  ‘Should we radio Darren?’ Josh asked.

  ‘Not just yet, I need to have a think.’

  Suddenly the penny dropped, the tiredness was obviously starting to affect me somewhat. I turned the jeep around, reversed up to the gate, beeped the horn five times and then waited. It didn’t take long before we heard the unmistakable sound of feet lauping on tarmac, then the sound of bodies crashing into the rattling gate.

  The deedaz had all been on the south side of the large base having been attracted to the huge explosion of the island earlier that day. Even from eight miles away the noise from the impact would have still been fairly loud.

  After a couple of minutes the zip ties finally gave way to the swarm. I started driving slowly westward towards the village of Longhoughton. This was the part of the plan I’d worried about. As you know, travelling through populated areas was always to be avoided, let alone while being chased by over a hundred hungry ghouls. If the village was in any way blocked by abandoned vehicles or worse, more dead, we’d be done for. The thin glass that protected us wouldn’t last very long at all against the onslaught from hundreds of dead hands.

  I mentally kicked myself for not doing a quick reccy of the village before going to the base.

  I kept my speed between ten and fifteen miles per hour. The deedaz were definitely getting faster: the twenty or so at the front were practically galloping after us; the laupers were being left behind.

  This wasn’t good. We were still around half a mile from the village and were in danger of losing most of our catch.

  I slammed my foot down and gained some distance from the galloping deedaz.

  ‘We’re going to have to sort out the fuckers at the front, Josh. Get your rifle ready.

  I slammed on the brakes and turned off the engine but left the ignition on and put the jeep in to reverse. It was still dark outside and Josh didn’t have any night vision goggles so I hoped the white rear reverse light would aid him in what we had to do. I opened my door, stepped out and took a knee on the ground. Josh immediately followed suit. It was a risky manoeuvre but the faster deedaz had to be dealt with if we were to shepherd the rest of them away from the RAF base.

  ‘Aim for the legs,’ I shouted as I started firing. We both had the guns set to semi-automatic, which meant one trigger pull, one bullet. Darren had still not found the time to show me full auto.

  Never the less the plan worked beautifully. The deedaz out in front fell in swathes and the ones behind tripped and fell over their brethren. They could run but hadn’t mastered the skill of jumping. Yet.

  By the time the laupers arrived, Josh and I had carefully and methodically finished the gallopers.

  ‘That’ll do, let’s go,’ I shouted and we both jumped back into the vehicle. As we were pulling away a tinny voice from the dashboard said ‘Carter. Darren. Come in. Over.’

  I picked up the small walkie-talkie and pressed the button, said ‘Hello?’ and then released it.

  ‘Is everything ok? We heard gunshots. Over.’

  ‘Yeah, everything’s cool. Just had to deal with some joggers.’ There was a prolonged silence. Had the batteries gone? I looked down at the small radio. A little red LED shone brightly, indicating that it had plenty of juice.

  I looked at Josh for answers. ‘You need to say it. He won’t speak until you say it.’

  I shook my head, pressed the transmit button and, feeling like a right numpty, said ‘Over’.

  Darren
’s tinny voice said, ‘That’s better, thanks Josh. Over and out.’

  Dick.

  Longhoughton was a ghost town. A makeshift barricade made from chairs and wheelie bins had been erected on the approach to the village. The Defender made short work of it and pushed straight through. As with most of the other villages we’d passed through, the dead here must have been drawn away by the island’s firework display. Again, the fortune of living in sparsely populated Northumberland was not lost on me.

  I was glad to see that the majority of the RAF Boulmer deedaz had followed us and I decided now would be a good time to lose the fuckers.

  I turned right and headed north on a road that dissected the small community and after a hundred metres took another sharp right on a single-track lane that led to the coast.

  I’d been up the lane before in happier times. The beach at the end of the road was called Sugar Sands. Jenna and I used to pick periwinkles there.

  I followed the road back around to Boulmer village and sped up to the base. The gates were still open and I drove through. I then jumped out and replaced the zip ties and drove around to the sniper’s tower.

  The half hour I’d planned for completing the mission had turned into an hour and a half. Darren was outside the tower waiting as we pulled up; beside him was a large mound covered with tarp. He was sporting what looked like a green turban on his head.

  ‘What’s that?’ I asked, pointing at the tarpaulin as I exited the 4x4 and tried not to stare at his bizarre new head apparel.

  ‘Our poker-playing friends. Andy and I had to sort it out before we could let everyone in. He’s still a bit green around the gills and is upstairs having a lie down,’ he replied.

  ‘Any of their friends lauping about?’

  ‘A couple, but I dealt with them with the AR. They’re not lauping any more by the way. More like cantering now.’