Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 47

"Lori!"  Joe's aghast cry brought the captain about.  His eyes widened as he saw the gun aimed at him.

"I'm sorry, captain." I said steadily.  "We're not going anywhere.  Going back to Cairns is a death sentence and the speedboat cannot carry all of us to safety.  You leave me no choice."

The captain held my gaze for a long moment.

"You would not kill an innocent man." The captain said confidently.

"You're right." I agreed with a calmness I didn't feel.  "But to save my family, I am perfectly willing to shoot an innocent man in the leg." I adjusted the aim of the gun slightly.  "And as I am a nurse, I can ensure the wound is treated properly so the risk of death will be low."  I hoped I sounded a lot more confident than I actually felt.  "If you - and anyone else- are determined to return to Cairns, in spite of all we have told you, then you can  take the speedboat.  But this boat is not going anywhere."

"For God's sake, Lori, put down the gun!" Joe hissed, appalled.  He doesn't really believe me either, I thought sadly, or he wouldn't be trying to stop me.

The captain nodded slowly.  "I see. Well, I guess I see your point."  He looked at the gun pointedly and then at the other men.  "Any of you want to go back to Cairns?"  Two of the men in the fishing expedition stood up and joined him.  One looked back at us and shrugged helplessly.  "If what you are saying is true, I have to go back and try to find my family."

I nodded, keeping the gun raised.  "Good luck to all of you."

Silently, we watched them climb into the speedboat and head into the horizon.  I knew we would not see them again. 

Long after they had disappeared from sight, I stood at the back of the boat, staring into our wake as Ken guided it in a long arc down to the town of Townsville.  Joe came and stood silently beside me.  As the stillness between us lengthened, I forced myself to face him.  "I'm sorry, Joe, but I couldn't let him take us back or force us back onto the speedboat.  You don't understand what we've been through.  I did what I had to do to protect my family."

His face was somber.  "I know you did, Lori. I'm just having trouble coming to grips with...everything."

"Do you believe me?" I asked in a small voice, dreading the answer.

He sighed, resting his elbows on the railing as he gazed out to sea.  "You cut off our daughter's arm.  Either I'm married to a crazy woman or you're telling the truth." He looked at me, his eyes tender.  "Of course I believe you."

Resting my head on his shoulder, I closed my eyes.  "I had to believe you were safe out here on the water.  The thought that something might have happened to you..."

Joe covered my hand with his.  "I had no inkling... it was really only on our way back that we began to even have a clue that something was wrong.  No other boats, no radio contact, no satellite phone...nothing."

"I'm glad.  If you had come back early, God knows what you would have sailed into." I shivered at the thought.  Joe wrapped an arm around my shoulders.  "One of these days you are going to have to tell me the whole story.  Some of the things Michele has told me...well, I'm sure she must be exaggerating your exploits somewhat."

I laughed.  "Oh, is that right?  You don't think I'm capable of handling myself, mister?" Giving him a shove, I glared at him with mock outrage.  Joe stepped back with a grin, hands raised in surrender. 

"Well, come on, we are talking about you, Lori.  You are the most harmless person I know.  Although after seeing you with that gun..."  He stopped abruptly, the blood draining from his face.  Slowly, I turned around.  The horizon was aglow, a glorious crimson false sunset. 

"My God," Joe murmured, eyes wide with disbelief.  "They really did it."

All I could see, as I stared at the hauntingly beautiful and dreadful sky, was Mike's face.  My heart ached with the knowledge that he was gone.  Really and truly gone.  Mike with his dry wit and laconic nature would never make me laugh again or give me comfort just by his presence.  The only thing that made the loss bearable was knowing he wouldn't have suffered, that he wouldn't have had time to turn into one of those monsters.

One by one, the others joined us.

"Do you think it will work?" Michele ventured eventually.  "You know, get rid of the virus?"

I blinked and dragged my eyes away from the rosy horizon.  It still seemed impossible that our government would choose to explode a nuclear bomb in their own country.  "God, I hope so, Michele."  If this virus succeeded in escaping our town, our country was going to be in a whole heap of trouble.  "If they destroyed our town with all those innocent people, for nothing...it doesn't bear thinking about."  I thought of Travis and his group, of the school hall full of kids - now nothing but ashes.

"What if it doesn't work?" She asked  in a small voice.  Kaye and I exchanged a glance.  It was a thought that had plagued both of us.

"Then we find somewhere safe and hole up." I answered steadily.  "We've survived this long by ourselves.  We can continue to do so."

A gloomy silence fell over all of us. I sighed and shook myself.  "Is anyone looking after the babies or are they running riot downstairs?"  I looked around and saw Jessie was missing.  Somehow that didn't surprise me.  For one so young, she had shown herself to be responsible and motherly towards the babies. 

"I'll go check." Michele said and headed belowdecks with Lucas close behind. Smiling, I tried to remember the last time I'd seen them apart.   Ken went to check on the new member of the group who was at the wheel.

I looked at Kaye as she hovered nearby, looking like she had something to say.     Years seemed to have fallen off her since she'd been reunited with Andy.  "It still feels unreal, having my all family together and well.  It would never have happened if it hadn't been for you, Lori."

I blinked.  "It wasn't just me." I muttered, pain flitting across my face at the memory of those we'd lost. 

"I know.  But you were the driving force behind us.  We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."  Impulsively, Kaye hugged me.  " I don't think I would have had the strength to face what we went through if you hadn't been there.  Heck, I know I wouldn't have survive and neither would my kids.  But now we're all together - and safe.  I just wanted to say thank you, Lori, for everything."  I nodded mutely.  As she walked away to join the others downstairs, Joe flung an arm around Michele and me and pulled us close.  "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"  He whispered fiercely.

"Aw, Dad." Michele protested happily.  "Puh-lease."  He looked at me over her head and the look in his eyes warmed my heart.

Below decks, Jessie and the dog were keeping my babies happily amused bouncing on the double bed.  I winced but let it go.  Kaye was right.  We had a lot to be grateful for.  I had my family together -and they were safe.  For the first time in days, my family was safe. 

Laughing, I threw myself on the bed in the midst of the mayhem.  I grabbed Jessie and tickled her till she squealed in delight.  Alex and Sarah demanded to join in while Lizzie the dog hopped around the bed and barked hysterically. It was bedlam and it was wonderful.

Was the danger posed by the virus truly gone?  None of us could know what tomorrow would bring, but if the last few days had taught me anything, it was to live for today.  And today I had the people I loved with me - and that was enough.

THE END

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 46

Overloaded as it was, the slim speedboat surged rapidly through the water making for Jorge's Patch.  As the sun rose above the horizon, I could almost hear the tick tock of my waterlogged and now defunct watch.  Go, go, go, it seemed to shout at me.  With every mile we put between us and Cairns, the more anxious I became.  Are we far enough away yet? How far away do we have to be?

"Carrying this amount of weight, we've probably only got a few hours of petrol.  If we don't intercept Joe's boat within the next hour, we're going to have to think about heading for one of the islands to refuel."  Ken observed.  Michele sent me an anxious look.

"We'll find him." I reassured her.  We have to. 

Half an hour later, the drizzle ended, much to our relief, allowing the warmth of the day to dry our clothes.  We scanned the horizon for any sign of a fishing boat, without any luck. 

"Are you sure this is the way Daddy went?" Michele asked, binoculars glued to her face.

"Unless they changed their plans when they were underway, yes."  It was the first time the thought had occurred to me, and I felt sick at the knowledge that we might miss them altogether.

Twenty minutes later, Lucas spotted a boat on the horizon.  As Ken set the speedboat on an intercept path with them, Michele stood beside me at the front of the boat.  It had to be them.  As we neared the fishing boat, I strained my eyes to see the name on the side of the vessel. 

"It's the Sea Princess!" I yelled. "It's your Daddy's boat!"  Michele screamed and hugged me excitedly.  We danced in a circle like kids - not the easiest thing to do on a small speedboat.

The Sea Princess slowed and stopped as we neared them.  Bumping against their hull, we waved and yelled at the faces appearing over the side.  The speedboat seemed so small next to their boat.

"Lori?  Michele?"  Joe's disbelieving voice drifted across.  "What the hell?"

I searched the faces of the men gathering at the edge of the boat until I found his familiar thin face.  I beamed him a smile of utter joy. 

"Daddy!' Michele screamed, a cry quickly taken up by Sarah and Alex. 

"Kaye!" Andy appeared beside Joe, looking bewildered.  The noise rose to chaotic levels for a few minutes as his wife and children greeted him ecstatically.

The captain of the ship stepped forward.  "Would any of you like to explain to me what is going on?"

I nodded.  "Yes.  May we come on board, first?"  He nodded.  Minutes later, the speedboat was tied up alongside and the group had started to move across.  I lingered for a moment and then, without really knowing why, I unwrapped the pistol from its' waterproof covering and stuck it in my belt.  Maybe I just felt naked without a weapon these days.

Stepping onto the boat, I saw my husband embracing Sarah and Alex tightly, a look of dismay on his face.  I felt sick.  How would he react when he realised I was responsible for the loss of his baby's arm.  His eyes found mine over her head, a look of confusion and disbelief in them.  Then he stood up and strode over to me.  I found myself enveloped in my husband's arms.  Sighing, I wrapped my arms around him and allowed the comforting feel of his embrace to seep through my body.  Home, it whispered, safety. 

"Are you okay?" He asked with concern, pulling away to search my face.  "Lori, what the hell happened?!"

I sighed.  "It's a long story."  Turning to Michele and Lucas, I asked them to take the babies and Jessie downstairs and find something to feed them.  It had been a long night for all of us. 

Sitting around the deck, Kaye, Ken and I outlined the situation to the captain, Joe, Andy and the three other men who had been on the fishing expedition.  There was silence for a long time after we finished.

"It did seem odd that we couldn't raise anyone on the radio..." The captain murmured.  A tanned, rugged man in his forties, he seemed competent and sensible.  "But I'm sorry, you must understand that this story is really incredible."

I nodded, looking at the stunned faces around me.  "I know.  But it's the truth."

He nodded grimly.  "Maybe." He stood up decisively.  "But you must realise that I cannot take your word at face value."

I nodded.  "Take us to down to Townsville and then you will soon find out what we're saying is true."

He snorted.  "Going four hours out of my way because of your story would make me a laughing stock.  I can be back in Cairns in no time and then I'll see for myself if there is any truth to your story."

Ken bolted upright before I could open my mouth to protest.  "Are you crazy?  Did you hear anything we had to say about nuclear bombs about to be dropped?"

The captain nodded.  "I heard you.  However, even if the rest of your story is oddly convincing, your basis for believing a nuclear bomb is going to be dropped on our city is pretty flimsy.  Certainly not enough to stop me going back, I'm sorry."

Kaye, Ken and I looked at each other with various degrees of frustration and anxiety on our faces.  We knew that we couldn't risk going back.  How the hell were we going to convince this man who held our lives in his hands?

"Captain, do you honestly believe we would take a boat all the way out here on a whim?"

"As I don't know you at all, it's possible.  However, it is far more likely that you are confused and mistaken."

"Confused!" I exploded, surging to my feet.  "I saw with my own eyes people die of horrendous wounds and then get up and try to kill me.  We all have.  What part do you think we are confused about?"  From the corner of my eye, I was aware of Joe staring at me.  I guess I didn't really sound like the wife he had left behind. 

"I don't know." The captain looked discomforted - and a little desperate.  "Maybe this is just your idea of a practical joke. " 

"I don't think you really believe that." Kaye interjected quietly from beside Andy.  "You just can't bring yourself to accept it.  Do you have family in Cairns, captain?"

He nodded jerkily.

"I'm sorry." She murmured sympathetically.  It was as if she had slapped him. The colour drained from his face.

"I'm returning to Cairns now." He spoke woodenly.  "If you do not wish to come, you are welcome to return to your speedboat." 

The captain turned to go.  I stood up without conscious thought and pointed my pistol at his back.

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 42

Desperately, she wrenched her arm away but the corpse immediately threw itself on her, knocking Emma to the ground.  As she hit the ground, Sarah flew off.  Immediately, the creature reared up and sank its teeth into Emma's neck.  "No!" I screamed futilely.  I heard a faint agonised cry behind me.  Lucas. 

Emma turned her head to meet my eyes.  So much sorrow and regret.  "Look after Lucas." She mouthed at me.  God, please.  Sarah sat up a few feet away, crying.  I was almost there.  And so was the horde.  They fell on Emma like a pack of hungry dogs.  As other corpses moved past them to reach out clumsy arms for my Sarah, I swooped her into my arms, their fingers brushing my skin as I burst by.  I kept running, knowing it was our only chance.

My lungs burned as I struggled to stay ahead of the dead mob.  Sarah clung to me, crying with fright, as I ran across the road.  If I could just reach the apartment block, we would be okay.  I grabbed the doorknob.  Locked.  Glancing around, I saw them stumbling eagerly across the road.  I ran down the side of the building to the adjoining garage.  There was an internal door, I remembered.  Please don't be locked, I prayed. 

Inside the darkened garage, I felt for the doorknob.  Sweet mercy, it turned in my hand.  As the sound of moans entered the garage, I stepped into the darkened stairwell of the apartment block.  A few seconds later, I was inside the bottom apartment with Sarah. 

Gasping for breath and trying to control my trembling limbs, I listened carefully for movement in the flat.  Thuds on the garage door and the front door made it difficult to hear anything but, nonetheless, the apartment felt empty. 

Carefully, I balanced Sarah onto my hip and held my parang ready as I investigated the flat.  No signs of blood, no body.  It was mercifully empty.  Breathing a shaky sigh of relief, I placed Sarah on the kitchen table and slowly sat down in an old, rickety chair beside her.

"Wan' to go home, mummy." Sarah wailed, her baby blue eyes welling up.  I stroked her curly hair, unable to say anything.  My heart was just too broken.  Emma had been my partner in crime for so many years.  We had worked together, griped together, even gone on girls' adventure holidays.  She reminded me that I was someone other than a wife and mother, as important as those roles were to me, and kept the spirit of fun alive.  And now she was gone.  Dead because she wouldn't sacrifice my baby to save her own life.  Oh, Emma.

The banging on the front door became heavier.  There were more corpses gathering there, I realised, and if they didn't give up, the flimsy door was likely to give way.  And if not the door, the glass in the windows certainly wouldn't hold up for long. I needed a plan for getting out of here.

A click. The back door, I realised, feeling sick.  Spinning around in my chair, I was dumbfounded to see Mike walking towards me, blood dripping from his machete.    "What are you doing here, Mike?!"

"I couldn't not come."  He said simply, coming to kneel beside me and take my hand comfortingly between his rough ones.  God, I couldn't deny that how happy I was to see him.

"Oh Mike, you idiot." The look of tenderness in his eyes made my heart ache even more.  "The others..."

"Ken's using a buggy to take them to the creek that separates the course from the marina.  They've insisted on waiting there for us.  I made them promise to go on if we don't join them in the next half an hour, though."

"Oh God, Mike." I laughed tearfully, horrified and touched in equal measure.  "Without you there, they won't make it.  You know that!"

He smiled at me.  "Yeah?  Funny, they said the same thing about you.  We'd better get back to them, hadn't we?"

I nodded, blinking back the tears.  The sound of cracking glass brought us quickly to our feet.   As I feared, the glass in the window was cracking under the pressure of all the bodies outside.  From the bedroom, came the sound of glass hitting the floor.  Even as we looked at it, the front door splintered.  A hand pushed through a hole in the door.  Mike swung Sarah in his arms and headed into the stairwell, with me following closely behind.  As exhausted as I was, fear has a way of giving you a second and third wind.   

The garage door had already splintered. I could see a head pushing its way through.  Mike sprinted up the stairs, heading for the second floor.  The second apartment on the left was unlocked.  We slipped into the dark apartment and closed the door behind us.  I guess the body is able to hear or see things that the conscious mind cannot register because I knew immediately that we weren't alone.  Mike handed Sarah to me and pulled out his hatchet.

I swung Sarah onto my hip, parang forward, and slid along the wall while Mike walked slowly beside me.  Nothing in the lounge room.  The kitchen was empty.  He jerked his head at the bedroom.  I nodded and followed him down the corridor.  As he pushed open the door, something shot out.  I only just managed not to scream as my brain registered that it was a cat.  As the large grey tabby disappeared, I breathed a sigh of relief. Not much chance the cat could have survived this long in a room with a flesh-hungry corpse.  That only left the bathroom.  The door was closed.  I hesitated.  Maybe I should just leave it like that.  Anything in there wasn't likely to be able to get out.  As I deliberated, Mike slipped by me and pushed the door open.  A moan sent a shiver down my back.  Glancing at Mike, I glimpsed a fleeting look of sadness on his face as he looked inside.  "Stay here." He ordered me as he walked in.  Yeah right.  Putting Sarah down, I gave her a firm 'stay' signal and then I followed him in.

A little girl of about two with dead eyes and a bloodstained mouth faced us. Long dark ringlets framed an angelic, plump face as she stood naked in the bath.  Her mouth opened and shut as she reached futilely for us.  Dried blood pooled on the floor before her and bloody fingerprints marked the walls of the bathroom.   My mind couldn't help but try to join the dots.  I surmised that the child had been infected first and had turned while her mother was bathing her, maybe in an attempt to bring down her fever.  From the amount of blood on the floor and walls, I guessed the child had torn out a major artery when she'd bitten her mother and the woman had quickly bled out and died.  She'd then wandered off, leaving the child trapped in the bath.

"We can't leave her like that." I said sadly.

"I'll take care of it." Mike responded. "You find a way out of here." Chicken that I was, I left him there with her.  Sarah was waiting obediently outside.  Happy to see me, she held up her arms up in a familiarly demanding gesture.

A look out over the balcony showed at least a hundred corpses pushing their way into the building.  Even if we made a sheet rope, there was no way out that way.  I briefly considered going onto the roof but I had not observed a ladder on the outside of the building.  We would be trapped and, come dawn, the corpses were going to be the least of our problems.  At the end of the building, however, I observed a possible solution...

Thud!  I whirled around as the door splintered.  Mike joined me, a few new blood splatters on his t-shirt.

"Things are going to get mighty cosy in here in a few moments." He observed. 

"Yeah.  Follow me.  I have an idea."  Sarah on my hip, I hurried into the bedroom and pushed open the window.  A tall mango tree loomed out of reach.  "If we could just reach the tree, we could climb down."

Mike was silent as he did some calculations.  I didn't need him to tell me how hairy an attempt it was going to be.  A thin ledge ran to the neighbouring balcony.  The tree stood a good distance away from it but it was still within jumping distance.

He tucked his machete in his belt. "As we're going to have to jump for the tree, I'll carry Sarah."

I nodded silently.  The gap between the building and the tree was at least five feet.  Her extra weight would make it very likely that I'd fall short. 

The sound of breaking wood and loud, hungry moans intensified.  Hurrying to the doorway, I saw arms and heads pushing through the splintered door.  I shut the bedroom door.  "We need to go. Now."

Tales of the Dead Tropics - chapter 41

As we entered the suburbs, I noted with sadness the many lit homes on both sides.  Each one stood as a testament to a family lost last night.  I knew that if there were people still alive, they would be huddling down in darkened homes, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, just as we had done.  So many homes also meant many zombies roaming the neighborhood.  Thankfully, the darkness and bobbing water had lulled the babies to sleep. I examined the trees and banks for any sign of movement as I floated by, intensely aware of how exposed and vulnerable we were.  

A dog barked in the distance.  I realised it was a sound I hadn't heard since this plague started.  I wondered how it had survived this long and, with sadness, how much longer it would remain alive.   "Head in, folks." Mike murmured, starting to swim sideways out of the current, followed by the rest of the group. It took us a little longer to reach them with the unwieldy boat.

"Okay, stay here." Mike whispered.  "Ken and I will find a vehicle."  I flared up, wondering why he didn't want me along.  Hadn't I proven myself yet? 

"We can't risk any noise." He continued, looking straight at me. "You have a much better chance of keeping your kids quiet than Ken or I have." I scowled but couldn't argue the point.  Michele was right - I guess I am a control freak, always needing to be in the thick of things. 

The men disappeared through the grove of trees giving us cover.  Lizzie quivered but I had to admire her obedience to Mike as she silently watched him walk away.  Now for my own kids.  Watching them like a hawk, I raised a threatening finger every time they opened their mouths.  They shut them again.  Kaye employed similiar tactics with her toddlers.  In this way, twenty minutes passed uneventfully, although my nerves were starting to feel considerably frayed by the time I heard a vehicle scream out of a driveway across the road.

"Get ready, everyone." I whispered, scrambling to my feet awkwardly with my babies.  Michele reached over and pulled Alex out of my arms.  We hurried to the edge of the treeline and saw the bright lights of a large vehicle heading our way.  Behind them, corpses poured into the street.  Ahead, the street was also filling.  This was going to be close, I realised.  The four wheel drive screeched to a halt in front of us.  Mike leaned out of the driver's window.  "Hustle, people."

Piling in on top of each other, we were inside the vehicle and on the move in seconds.  The road ahead was already thick with weaving bodies.  Mike plowed through them, accelerating to an unnerving speed.

"Um, Mike." I murmured, my face pressed up against his seat as the kids tried to untangle themselves and crawl in the back seats.  I got a foot in my back and an elbow in my side.  "Ouch!  Getting us killed...oof...in a crash...uh...won't be a big improvement...hey!...on dying in a fiery nuclear explosion."

"If they gather in enough numbers, we won't be able to get through at all." He responded calmly as a body bounced off our bonnet.  The wheels thudded over several more bodies before the car left the road and roared across the empty field behind the shopping centre, heading for the beach road.

The road stretched, empty and serene, before us.   Even the kangaroos and curlews one could usually spot beside the road were nowhere to be seen.  "Wow, it's like a ghost town." Lucas murmured in awe. 

"Let's hope it stays that way." Mike responded drily.  I knew what he meant.  If we ran into a horde of walking dead like the one at the airport...I shuddered.

Fifteen minutes later, Mike paused the car as we turned into the main street of Yorkey's Knob.  A sleepy little suburb, it nestled around a crescent shaped bay upon which the marina had been built.  The main street stood silent and dark before us, as did the whole area. The street lights had not come on. "We're about to re-enter a populated zone, folks, which means lots of walking dead, so be alert." Mike spoke, a tense edge to his voice.  The dark enveloped us on all sides as the car moved forward, except for the thirty or forty feet in front of the car illuminated by the headlights.  Within seconds, the first zombie appeared in the lights.  A bedraggled woman in her thirties, she stared at us as we passed within inches of her.  An old man bounced off the side of the car back into the darkness.  A face gleaming in the dark on the side of the road;   two children walking down the road, arms reaching for us; boys in board shorts banging on the door as we passed.  The tension in the car rose as more and more zombies appeared before us. 

Finally, we approached the turnoff for the marina.  "Hell." Mike muttered, braking sharply.  Looking up, I saw a wall of darkness at the outer reach of the headlights.  It moved into the light, revealing  blank faces and ragged limbs.  I drew in a sharp breath as an endless number of heads appeared behind the front line.  Ten, twenty deep, they just kept coming. 

With a harsh squeal of wheels, Mike reversed up the street. 

"There must be over three hundred." Lucas estimated from the back. 

"What are we going to do?" Michele asked anxiously.  No answered as we focused on the street around us.

"Mike!" I shouted. From behind us, a mob as big as the one before us, if not larger, spread across the street and gardens.  We were trapped.  The car screeched to a stop.

"Hold on, folks." Mike said calmly, and changing into first gear, charged up the street a bit before swinging a hard left into the car park of the nearby IGA supermarket.  "We're going to have to hoof it from here."

We piled out of the car. The babies cried and whimpered as they clung to backs, sensing the tension in the air.  I desperately wanted to comfort them but I needed to focus.  Pack on back and stake in hand, I ran after Mike into the dimly lit supermarket.  He stood in the center of the shop, gun in hand, warily looking around.  Blood stained the counter, fruit and vegetable were scattered and squashed on the floor, displays lay knocked over. 

As the others joined us, Mike looked at Ken and Lucas.  "Bar the doors, give us some time."  They nodded and hurried away as Mike turned to us.  "Stay close and stay alert.  We don't know what we'll find."

Single file, we walked slowly towards the back storage rooms, leaving Ken and Lucas to finish blockading the doors.  Emma cast an uneasy glance behind her as we left but said nothing.  With a toddler on her back, she couldn't offer to stay with them. She needn't have worried as they rejoined us a few minutes later.  "We've got zombies banging on the glass." Ken said tersely.  "We've maybe got about five minutes."  Mike nodded in acknowledgement.

A dragging, wet sound alerted us to company as we passed the deli.  A dark haired young woman with once-beautiful blue eyes dragged her torso towards us.  Her legs were shredded, gnawed stumps.  A long bloody trail marked her slow progress along the floor.  I wanted to end her miserable existence but every moment could mean the difference between life and death for our group, so I hardened my heart and walked by. 

From the cereal aisle on our right, came moans.  Lumbering down it towards us were three young - and very dead - employees.  Mike stepped forward and shot them, one at a time, through the head as their arms stretched out for us.  Without a word, he moved forward again.    From behind us, came the sound of crashing glass.  "Looks like we just ran out of time." Ken whispered grimly behind me. 

Knowing the horde was just behind us, our pace quickened as we hurried through the dim shop. I caught a glimpse of movement from the corner of my eye and then a figure launched itself across the aisle.  I blinked and saw Michele falling backwards, struggling with a figure, my son's frightened face peering over her shoulder.  My heart froze in my chest. Michele instinctively wrapped her hands around the woman's neck, forcing her head away.  Teeth gnashing in frustration, the woman flung her head from side to side in an attempt to sink her teeth into flesh.  My momentary paralysis broken, I ran over and pulled the dead woman's hair violently back.  Her eyes looked dully back at me as she bared her teeth.  I plunged my stake through her eyes and as her limbs stilled, I flung her body to the side.  The others circled in concern around us.

"Are you okay?" I asked frantically, as Michele regained her feet.  "Did you get bitten, scratched?" 

"No, I'm okay." She answered shakily as Alex threw himself at me.  I picked him up and held him tightly.  Moans, hundreds of moans, erupted behind us as the creatures responded to the ruckus.  Wordlessly, we all ran.

Through the swinging doors, we ran into the huge, dark storeroom.  Rows of shelves and boxes lined the room.  Someone banged against a shelf as they hurried towards us.  With a jerk of his head, Mike indicated the docking bay.  As we slid the door up, the swinging doors to the storeroom banged open.  God, they were so close now.  My heart banged frantically against my chest as I held my little boy close.  Looking around, I checked on Sarah who clung to Emma, an arm wrapped tightly around her neck. 

The alley was dark and deserted.  We raced away with the moans of the creatures behind us ringing in our ears.  A dark mass emerged from the end of the alley. Oh hell, no! 

"Over the fence." Mike said tersely, indicating the the property opposite us.  I glanced around us as the boys gave the girls and children a boost over the fence.  Corpses were closing in on us from both sides.  Their dragging footsteps and dull moans filled me with helpless revulsion.

"Your turn, Lori." Mike murmured.  I placed my foot in his hand and leaning awkwardly against the fence, handed a clingy Alex over it to Michele before pulling myself over.

We crept quickly along the side of the house to the street.  A glance showed it to be free of zombies.  For the moment. 

"The golf course is only a few blocks away." Ken whispered to the group.  "We can cross it to reach the marina."

A zombie staggered onto the street. "Here they come again." Emma whispered despairingly.  It seemed we were the only game in town tonight.

Quietly we slipped down the darkened street and weaved our way through the houses in the the direction of the golf club.  Again and again, we had to change direction or jump a fence as the horde - or hordes- blocked our journey.  We couldn't stop to draw breath or regroup.  We took turns carrying the children in an attempt to maintain a fast pace.  Exhausted mentally and physically, we pushed on in a zigzag manner, drawing slowly but inexorably towards our destination.

Finally, after two long, terrifying hours of playing a deadly game of hide and seek, the club house loomed before us. We huddled in the garage of an old apartment block, staring at the area we had to cover to reach the club house.  The clubhouse sat a good two hundred meters away, over a darkened road, parkland and a car park.  "Ready?" Mike glanced at each of us.  We all nodded, although I am sure everyone felt as drained as I did.  Emma took Sarah in her arms and I picked up Alex.  Jessie slipped her hand in Michele's.  The poor child had not said a word this whole trip.  I reached over and cupped her face gently.  Those serious brown eyes sought mine, searching for reassurance.  "You're doing so good, Jessie.  I'm really proud of you." I glanced up at Michele.  "Both of you."  They smiled at me and tightened their hold on each other's hands. 

We slipped across the empty road and into the bush parkland. A curlew cried its haunting call nearby.  Another curlew picked up the melancholic tune. Growing up, I used to think it was the cry of someone grieving. I shivered.  Tonight, it felt horribly prophetic.

"Here they come." Lucas called out softly.  Looking over my shoulder, I saw them streaming across the park on a collision course with us. What the hell? I wondered in frustration and weariness.  Could they smell us?  Were they communicating with each other somehow?

"Pick up the pace, folks." Mike called, coolly.  "Mike." I huffed, Alex already a dead weight in my arm.  "We can't keep this pace up right across the golf course."

"I know.  We'll find a vehicle at the clubhouse."

A scream brought us to an abrupt stop.  Turning around, my heart seized in my chest.  A tall, thin dead woman had pounced on Emma from the bushes.  With hungry desperation, it clung fiercely to Emma's arm.  Hampered by Sarah clinging to her chest, Emma struggled to pull away.

"Emma! Sarah!" I screamed.  Thrusting Alex into Mike's arms, I started running back. To my horror, I realised the horde were closer to them than I was.  Emma looked up at me, her face frozen with fear.  She couldn't defend herself adequately with Sarah in her arms.  Glancing fearfully to the side, she saw the horde stumbling with eagerness towards her and recognised what I had seen:  I couldn't reach her before they did.