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  She looked him up and down, now wondering if his group were a bunch of males. Maybe things could get a whole lot worse for her. A bad feeling was growing within her and she said, "Forget it. I'm off."

  Marvin reached for her arm and pulled her against him. "I'm doing this for your own good," he snarled. "If you don't stick with us, you'll die. We have supplies."

  She pulled away from the middle-aged man once she could feel his erection pressing up against her, but he went to grab her once again. She moved to the side and palmed him at the side of his face, then grabbed his arm and put him under a thumb and wrist lock. He cried out once she squeezed, and gasped when she could see three figures running through the trees, towards her. She released Marvin once Joan, Gordon and Junior turned up, and a smile emerged on Joan's face when she could see Marvin on his knees, wincing with discomfort.

  "What the fuck's going on?" Gordon was the first to speak up, then clocked Kelly. "And who the pissin' hell are you?"

  "I'm Kelly," she panted, straightening her back.

  "I like you already," Joan announced with a smile, after seeing Marvin in pain. It was obvious that there had been a tussle and he had come off second best.

  "Is that your friend? I'm sorry." The redhead scratched at her scalp. "He was being ... weird."

  "Don't be sorry," Gordon laughed.

  "He was trying to..."

  Joan smiled and nodded. "You don't have to explain. I can guess what Marvin tried to do."

  "Is he always like that?" the redhead questioned.

  "I think so. To be honest, I hardly know him." Joan hunched her shoulders and held out her hand. "Look, I'm Joan."

  The redhead smiled. "I'm Kelly. Kelly Bronson."

  "How did you..?" Gordon pointed at Marvin who was now getting to his feet.

  "I'm a prison officer." Kelly smiled. "I can handle myself. In fact, I was on my way to work before I had to abandon my car on the M6."

  "I'm sorry about him." Gordon pointed at Marvin.

  "Then why do you let him hang around with you? Is he a relative or something?"

  "No, he's not," laughed Gordon.

  "Not up to us." Joan smiled. "It's up to the man with the boat."

  "Who?" Kelly said.

  "My dad," Junior spoke up at last.

  They could hear Lloyd's voice calling out, wondering where they had all got to. He was back.

  Joan laughed, "Speak of the devil."

  Kelly looked confused and Joan could see that she was unsure about them all.

  "Look," Joan began, "we'll tell you all about our story later on."

  "In short," Gordon tried to explain, "Joan was on vacation at a guesthouse. I ended up there after being attacked. I was coming back from my Nan's funeral. We had to flee the place and got to a pub. It's where this boy's father stays," he pointed at Junior, "then we left the pub to go to a cabin on an island on this pond."

  Kelly nodded. "I've seen it."

  "And that's when he turned up." Joan pointed at Marvin.

  "He ... has a fucking name, bitches," snapped Marvin, and finally scrambled to his feet, checking if anything had been broken.

  Lloyd called out again. This time there was a little fear in his voice.

  "We're just coming, dad!" Junior called out.

  "You coming?" Joan looked at Kelly.

  Kelly nodded. "You guys have a phone on you?"

  "Nope." Joan spoke up. "Between the lot of us, our phones are either lost or dead. You?"

  Kelly shook her head. "No. Left it in the car."

  Gordon asked Kelly, "Who do you want to speak to? Your husband or—?"

  "I don't have a partner. I wanted to see if my mum and dad were okay."

  They began walking through the trees, back to the open grassy area by the pond. Gordon walked beside Joan, Junior was in front of them, leading the way, and Marvin walked purposely next to Kelly. He glared at her, trying to make her feel uncomfortable.

  "Problem?" she asked.

  "I hate screws. Fucking prison officer." He spat on the floor, near her feet.

  "Somebody has to do it."

  He gave off a half-laugh and knew he had his work cut out with this one. "You try any more self-defence moves on me again, and you'll regret it. You hear me, Screw?"

  "And you rub your cock against me again, and I'll tear it off. You hear me, Marilyn?"

  "It's Marvin," he corrected her with his fists clenched.

  Kelly smiled. "I know."

  Chapter Nine

  An hour had passed, food and drinks had been emptied out of the boat and a fire had been lit. The fire was a small concern for Gordon and Joan, but Lloyd assured them that they needed to get rid of the two chickens before they went elsewhere. There was no fridge or freezer anymore, so eating the two birds first was for the best and would also lighten their load.

  A spit had been made and the two birds were hanging over it. All sat around the fire, except Gordon, and watched and waited patiently for the chickens to be ready.

  Gordon was on his feet, his back to the group, and stared out at the pond, wondering how it had all come to this. He could hear Lloyd telling the rest that he wasn't their leader and that he and Junior were going to head away from the area in the afternoon. If everybody else wanted to join them, then they were more than welcome. He reiterated that he didn't want to spend the night out in the woods, with those things out there, and told them that there should be cabins and farms scattered around the countryside. It was just a matter of trying to find them.

  Lloyd knew the area a little, and everybody seemed to be happy to go wherever he and Junior went.

  Gordon jumped when he felt a presence by the side of him. He turned to his left and smiled at Joan Burnley.

  "What're you thinking?" she asked him.

  Gordon sighed with sadness and grinded his teeth. "I'm thinking ... hoping that this is just one big fucking dream, like Lloyd said earlier."

  Joan could see he was getting emotional, but there was more anger in his voice than anything else.

  He continued, "I just want it to be back how it was: Me as a mailroom manager, staying in my little place in Gretna."

  "Same here." Joan placed her arm on Gordon's shoulder. "I'd do anything to be back home, back at Crewe, working in my little shop, driving around in my Clio..."

  "It's not a dream though, is it?"

  Joan shook her head. "It's a fucking nightmare, but we're in it ... for real."

  "I've known you for a few days now," Gordon laughed and shook his head. "Feels like years."

  "I know what you mean," she said with a smirk.

  "I can't stop thinking about the man in the gown. It was like something out of a Hammer House of Horror episode."

  "I can't stop thinking about shooting Sue's boy."

  Gordon lowered his head with sorrow. "I know. I just couldn't do it."

  "It's okay."

  Gordon gazed at Joan and smiled. "We're kind of lucky, me and you."

  "Lucky?" Joan moved her lips upwards to suggest that she was unsure what Gordon was talking about. "How?"

  "We don't have children. I'm single, and you're..." Gordon paused and felt his face flush red.

  When they first met, Joan had told Gordon and the others that she was divorced. In truth, after some probing from Lloyd she revealed that her partner, Jimmy, was actually killed in a car crash. He was driving and had crashed into a barrier. They were arguing before the crash. He was killed and Joan was left with a six inch scar on the left side of her neck.

  "It's okay," she said, and reached for her necklace. She took a quick gape at the gold heart pendant, rubbed her thumb gently over the 'Jimmy' engraving and lowered the necklace back down. "You're right. Unlike Lloyd, Sue and Stripy John..."

  "Was it two daughters Stripy John had?" Gordon tried to move the conversation away from Joan's partner.

  She knew what he was trying to do, but nodded and decided to play along. It wasn't Gordon's fault. "Yes." She remembered word-for-word wha
t John had told Gordon when he asked him if he had any family. I've got two daughters. Six and nine. They live with their mum back in Bristol. I still live there, but me and the missus are separated now. I came up here for a break, after losing my job.

  "Poor John," Gordon said. "If only he had held out."

  "Maybe he did the right thing," stated Joan.

  She walked away from Gordon, leaving him gazing out at the pond, stunned, speechless at what she had just said. He decided to ignore her comment. Maybe he had caught her at a wrong time. Maybe he had upset her. Maybe her harsh comment was made because she was upset and thinking of Jimmy.

  He could hear voices behind him. It sounded like they were getting to know the newcomer, but Gordon was happy where he was, with the beautiful view and the wind stroking his face. The smell of cooked meat was beginning to make his stomach growl with impatience, but it didn't stop Gordon Burns from daydreaming, remembering the old days.

  "Are you avoiding us?" he heard Lloyd call from behind. Gordon snapped out of his daydreaming and turned around with a smile.

  "Sorry," he apologised. He walked over to the group, who were all sitting in a circle around the fire, and sat inbetween Junior and Kelly.

  "Chicken's nearly ready." Lloyd passed an opened bottle of coke to Junior, Junior then handed it to Gordon.

  Gordon thanked Lloyd and Junior, then asked, "So, I take it we're all making a move soon?"

  Lloyd nodded. "I have to do what I think is right for me and Junior. I don't want to stay the night out in the open, here in the woods."

  "I can understand that." Gordon created a thin smile and added, "We have no blankets and I could imagine it being quite cold on a night."

  Lloyd laughed, "Well, I was kind of more concerned about those freaks, man."

  "Of course."

  "Like I said to the others: If you wanna come with me, man, then that's fine. If you want to go out there on your own ... that's fine as well. I'm not your leader or your keeper."

  "I understand." Gordon looked around the rest of the group. Joan and Kelly were engaged in their own conversation, and Marvin was strangely quiet. "But if the rest are going with you—"

  "Which they are."

  "Then I think we're safer in numbers. Count me in."

  Lloyd smiled at Gordon and seemed genuinely pleased that they were all going together. He reached behind him and took out bottles of water. He passed the bottles around, telling the group to drink whatever they could.

  "Do you think they'll be anything around here, little bro?" Marvin piped up. He drank the remains of the water and tossed the bottle behind him without looking.

  "I hope so." Lloyd hunched his shoulders. "Obviously I'm not from around these parts," he said sarcastically to his brother, "but surely there must be farms, cabins ... even a small village or community around here."

  "Only one way to find out," Junior said.

  Lloyd borrowed a knife from Joan and peeled away some of the skin from the breasts of one of the chickens. He looked over to Junior. "Fill all the tins and crisps in the two bags. Chickens are nearly ready."

  Marvin tried to joke, "I hope you've remembered to bring plates. Last time I went for a piss I pissed all over my hands. Don't wanna be eating no chicken from these hands." He began to cackle, but nobody joined in. His laughter was short-lived.

  "Nope, no plates." Lloyd smirked. "But I'm sure you'll survive."

  Marvin nudged Kelly, who was talking to Joan, and said with a wink, "I've supposed I've had worse in my mouth, and lived to tell the tale."

  Kelly sighed, "Go away."

  Chapter Ten

  After they had all eaten, Lloyd had told them that they should hide the boat, just in case they needed to come back and head back over to the cabin on the island. Lloyd wasn't sure if this scenario would ever crop up, but the group knew he was being cautious.

  The bags had been stuffed full of food and water, and Lloyd opted to carry one bag and Gordon the other. Marvin never offered.

  Lloyd kicked dirt over the fire and looked round to see if everyone was ready to leave. All were on their feet and Gordon picked up the other bag. Lloyd looked at his brother, Marvin, and nodded over to the rowing boat that was half on land and half in the water.

  "What?" Marvin laughed.

  "Make yourself useful," Lloyd said coldly. "Hide it."

  Marvin did as he was told, with no protest. He looked over his shoulder and pointed at the newcomer, Kelly Bronson.

  "Right, Screw," Marvin called over. "Give me a hand with this boat."

  "Sure thing, Marilyn." Kelly retaliated back, walking over to him with a smirk on her face.

  "Keep up with your cheek, Screw, and you'll see a side to me you won't fucking like."

  "You just watch your back when you drag that boat," Kelly mocked, enjoying winding up the middle-aged Marvin Dickinson. "You're no spring chicken, are you?"

  Marvin growled, but never responded verbally.

  Joan leaned over to Gordon and said, "I think I like her already."

  Gordon smiled. "Me too."

  "When you get tired with that thing on your back," Joan nodded at the bag that was around Gordon's shoulders, "I'll have a turn."

  "It's okay, Joan. Honestly."

  "Just because I've got tits, doesn't mean I can't pull my own weight."

  "Really?" Gordon then giggled, "I just don't want you breaking a nail or something."

  "Jesus, Gordon," Joan guffawed, knowing that he was trying to be funny, but not very good at it. "Don't even pretend to joke about things like that. I think one Marvin is enough, don't you?"

  Gordon said, "Fair point."

  Once Marvin and Kelly had the boat ten yards into the woodland and it was reasonably well-hidden, all six of them trudged their way through the area. Marvin asked his brother which way they should go, and Lloyd had told the group that there was only one way they should go: The opposite way where the motorway was situated and deeper into the Pennines. There were no objections.

  Gordon was struggling with the bag already and could see that the rest of them were a few yards ahead of him. Kelly Bronson took a quick peep over her shoulder and reduced her speed on purpose, so that she was eventually walking alongside the struggling Gordon Burns.

  "Hi," he said, pretending that the bag wasn't taking it out of him, but she could tell by his body angle that he was struggling. "Didn't get a proper chance to speak to you."

  "That's okay." Kelly smiled.

  She was a gorgeous thing. Gordon was never a man that went for redheads normally, but her face was beautiful. He gazed into her blue eyes for longer than was necessary, then blushed when he realised what he was doing. Even though it was inappropriate to think it, he fantasised what it'd be like to hold someone like Kelly, to go out on a date with her. He then tucked his bottom lip in and had to stifle a laugh. As if someone like Kelly would go with me.

  Kelly Bronson was a twenty-eight-year-old stunner, and Gordon was a forty-one-year-old.

  "I was in a world of my own earlier on," Gordon tried to explain, "you know, when we had the fire on. I wasn't being antisocial, I was just staring at the pond, gathering my thoughts, trying to make sense of what's happening."

  "You don't have to explain, Gordon."

  She remembered my name. He smiled.

  "I loved the way you handled Marvin earlier," he began to snicker, the sweat now streaming down his back. "If he wasn't Lloyd's brother..."

  "Lloyd seems okay," she said.

  "He is." Gordon then lowered his tone. "He looks like a thug, but he's a nice guy—a hard bastard, but a nice chap."

  "Have you killed any of these things yet?" Her question was blunt and straight to the point.

  Gordon nodded, but didn't have any stories to tell Kelly. He wasn't proud of what he had to do in order to keep being the Gordon Burns he still was, and not an infected psycho.

  "I've only killed one," she announced. "Still one too many."

  "Agreed." Gordon added, "They'r
e still human after all."

  "Are they?"

  "Yes." Gordon stopped walking briefly. "What have you been doing for the last..?" Gordon had to think. "...three days? Or is it four?"

  "My story is no more spectacular than any one else's. I wouldn't recommend drinking from the pond though."

  "You poor thing." Gordon flashed her a sympathetic look, then questioned Kelly, "So you've never heard any media reports or..?"

  She shook her head. "All I know is what I saw, and if it's like any of the films that I've watched—"

  "But this is really happening." Gordon then looked to his side. The other four hadn't noticed that Gordon and Kelly had stopped walking, and they were way ahead of them. The pair of them began to walk with a quick pace.

  "So what did you mean that they're still human?" Kelly panted.

  "Exactly what I said." The bag was killing Gordon's back and he was panting harder than Kelly. "They're still human, but infected. They don't necessarily eat you, although I think they would if they could, they just bite you."

  "I don't understand."

  "The infection only takes seconds ... a minute to happen. I think the blood gets contaminated so quickly, the Runners can't or won't continue with their feed."

  "A bit like vampires." Kelly couldn't believe what she was saying. It was laughable.

  Gordon threw his arms in the air. "To be honest ... I don't pissing know. I can only tell you what I saw on the news. You're better off asking Lloyd. But one thing I do know is that they can die like you and I: Drowning, strangulation ... burning, I think."

  "It's a lot to take in." Kelly began scratching her head and moaned, "Haven't washed my hair in days."

  "That's the least of your worries."

  She nodded. "I suppose."

  They both saw Lloyd wave at them frantically, telling them to get down. Lloyd dropped to his knees, behind a tree. Junior did the same and hid behind his dad. Joan and Marvin picked a tree to hide behind and Gordon and Kelly soon copied them.

  Gordon didn't need to ask what was wrong. He could see for himself.

  There was a Runner up ahead.

  Chapter Eleven