Coldbrook

8

He’s going to fucking shoot me! Vic thought, and then Sean lowered the gun.

‘We have to go,’ Vic said.

‘Where?’

‘Through the breach. Now!’

The gunfire had ceased, and from the direction of the common room two junctions away he heard an ominous rumbling.

‘Daddy?’ Olivia said, and Lucy was calming her, shushing her. I should have sent them on! Vic thought, but it was too late now. Much too late.

‘Where’s-?’

‘I’m here,’ Jayne said from behind Sean. She sounded weak and looked so slight, and Vic could barely credit that the future of their world might lie within her.

‘Footsteps,’ Sean said.

‘Come on.’ Vic ushered his wife and daughter towards the staircase, touching his pocket to make sure he had the spare magazines for his pistol. One in the gun, three in his pocket, thirty-two bullets, and Holly had said there were hundreds of zombies.

Sean and Jayne were following.

‘Ammo?’ Vic asked.

‘Not much.’

Jayne was slow. She groaned as she tried to run, crying, cursing, and when Vic caught her eye he saw the desperation there, and how hard she was trying. She didn’t want anyone’s death on her conscience.

Shapes moved behind them, and Vic paused, ushering Jayne and Sean past him. For a second he thought these were fellow survivors fleeing the zombies, because they were running so hard, arms pumping and feet pounding the corridor’s floor. Then he saw the blood.

He braced, leaned forward, aimed and fired. The first man’s head flipped back and he fell, tripping those behind him. They stood quickly and ran on, less than twenty feet away. Vic fired again, and again. A biker went down, face shattered, his arms bleeding from bites. The gunfire was deafening, but Vic could still hear his daughter’s screams.

Sean was by his side, firing five times in five seconds, and now there were ten bodies down, twelve.

One woman jumped, and Sean shot her in the eye in mid-air. She landed and slid almost to their feet.

‘Ammo!’ Vic said, and he changed magazines while Sean continued shooting.

‘Go!’ Sean said.

‘Fuck that.’ Another shot, another. Fifteen down. The others had to slow now, climb, step over dead people who’d been made dead again.

‘Your family!’

Vic glanced back and Lucy, Olivia and Jayne had gone, towards Control and the breach. But he wanted them with him. He’d vowed never to leave them again.

‘We’ve got time,’ he said. He grabbed Sean’s arm and pulled, and Sean saw the sense. He’d made his own vows, Vic realised. He’d rescued this special young woman, and in doing so had attached himself to her for ever. If a sacrifice was needed, Sean would make it without a second thought.

As they ran, someone screamed. Vic couldn’t tell which direction the sound had come from and he put on a burst of speed, slamming through a set of double doors and gasping with relief when he saw Lucy and the others beyond.

‘Block these!’ Sean said. The doors swung both ways, making them difficult to barricade.

‘Daddy!’ Olivia pulled the belt from her jeans — pink with the word Angel written in glitter — and handed it to Vic.

‘Clever girl,’ Jayne whispered.

The scream came again, much quieter now. Back the way they’d come.

‘Who’s left back there?’ Sean asked.

Vic was looping the belt through the doors’ handles. ‘Holly’s in Secondary.’ He paused, knowing that if he tied it too tightly-

The zombies crashed into the doors, shoving them back. The belt halted their movement, and three arms reached through the narrow opening. Vic and Sean leaned hard against the doors and Vic pulled the belt tighter, slipping his own through the handles as well.

‘Daddy,’ Olivia said, tears breaking her voice.

‘Come on, sweetie.’ Vic held her hand and ushered Lucy and Jayne ahead of him. Not far now, he thought. Thirty seconds down to Control, then through the breach, then-

The belts snapped and the doors burst open. Behind him, gunshots.

‘Go!’ Vic shouted, shoving Olivia after Lucy, turning, firing three quick shots. Five bodies fell, others were trampled. The zombies’ numbers were slowing them down. But Vic knew he might not be that lucky again.

‘Not far,’ he said to Sean.

‘I’ll stay and give you time.’

‘Fuck you will.’ He grasped Sean’s arm, pinching skin, eliciting a brief yelp. Vic laughed, high-pitched and crazy-sounding.

They ran, entering the staircase and securing the doors behind them. These were stronger; they might last longer. Down the staircase, veering around the slow bend towards Control, and when he saw the glass wall Vic put on a burst of speed, glancing through, terrified that he’d see the dead staring back. But Marc was there, standing defiantly just outside the breach containment and arguing with Drake. Several more of Drake’s people stood poised, their crossbows pointed at the open doorway.

Vic stood in the doorway and winced, realising his mistake, braced for the impact of a bolt. ‘We’re fine!’ he shouted. No one fired.

‘About fucking time,’ Marc said.

‘Come on!’ Drake waved them down to him, and Vic stood back to let Sean and Jayne pass. He snatched Sean’s gun as he went by, and the older man paused only for a second.

‘Vic?’ Lucy asked. She grabbed Vic’s arm as Olivia tugged at her other hand.

‘Mommy, Daddy, we’ve got to go!’

‘Come on!’ Drake said. He was pushing Marc towards the breach, gesturing for Sean and Jayne to follow. The Gaians withdrew in a tightening circle around the breach.

He heard them pounding against the staircase doors one level up.

‘Holly,’ Vic said.

‘Vic. .’ Lucy gasped.

‘She’s in Secondary. Shutting the breach for a short time. Otherwise the bastards’ll run straight through after us, and we won’t be ready.’

‘No,’ Lucy breathed, her eyes searching Vic’s face. He blinked.

‘I’ve got to help her,’ he said, but they both knew that was only part of the truth. The other part — the greater part — was that he could never leave Holly behind.

‘Damn it, Vic,’ Lucy said. She picked up Olivia and carried her down towards the breach.

‘Daddy!’ Olivia screeched. Vic watched them go. His wife’s hair was dirty but still looked gorgeous, and he wanted to run his hands through it one last time.

‘We’ll be the last ones through!’ he shouted. ‘Three minutes. Don’t shoot us.’

Before he ran, he tried to smile at his wife. But she did not once turn back.