Page 12 (1/1)

Hol aroundthe abandoned wrecks of other crashed vehicles Slaht turn and followed a narrow service road between two grey university buildings and down around the back of the accommodation block The number of bodies on the far side of the complex was considerably fewer Clare looked up and saw people watching fro Hole a short distance away from the block, close to an enclosed artificial turf football pitch In silence the four survivors quickly clas and boxes as they could carry fro with their loads and following Bernard Heath&039;s lead they half-ran, half-walked towards an inconspicuous blue door which was being held open by another survivor Hol his first load of supplies indoors, not about to leave behind his precious beer outside after he&039;d risked so et it

He slammed the boot of the car shut and turned and scra inside and pulling the door shut just seconds before the first of five approaching bodies could reach him &039;We&039;ll come back for this lot later,&039; said Heath as he dropped another carrier bag on the large pile of supplies &039;I need a rest first&039; Jack stayed close to Heath as they walked deeper into the bowels of the building It was dark, cold and quiet inside but it still felt safe and strangely welcos didn&039;tstill for a while and being with other people again &039;How many people did you say are here?&039; Jack asked He&039;d already been told once but so much had happened so quickly that he hadn&039;t been able to take everything in Less than an hour ago he&039;d been sat in the remains of the department store with Clare Until then she&039;d been the only other living person he&039;d seen &039;Forty or so, I think,&039; Heath replied &039;I&039;m not really sure This whole part of the complex was mainly student accommodation There are a few hundred individual roo themselves to themselves Lots of them just found themselves a room and shut the door behind them and no-one&039;s seen them since There are a few of us who have started to spend tis sorted out but there arethe group through the building was a tall, yhair in an untidy ponytail and wearing several layers of loose, war he looked as scruffy and unke outside His face was pale and drained of emotion He hadn&039;t smiled, spoken or even raised an eyebrohen the car had returned with an additional two passengers Jack attempted to catch his eye in an attempt to at least try and make contact but it was obvious that Peterson wasn&039;t interested The fact of the ling to ical hell that his previously structured and normal life had suddenly become They cliround floor As they cliht increased Jack and Clare looked frolass-fronted reception area Tightly packed bodies were pressed against every available square inch of glass, being forced forward by ing themselves out of the city towards the university The rest of the world had becoroup of survivors nificant it seeh to attract the unwanted attention of the dead hordes And the reaction of the nearest bodies to that noise as they slass frequently resulted in sudden frenzied activity spreading through therapidity In turn that activity attracted more and esturing towards the bodies, &039;started gathering here late last night

They seem to be able to hear us now&039; &039;I know,&039; Jack replied, &039;we found out thison, but if they can hear us and see us today, what are they going to be able to do tomorrow? That&039;s why a few of us have been out for supplies I think we&039;re going to batten down the hatches for a while&039; Clare was relieved when they turned right and began to walk down a darker, less corridor At the end of the corridor was the entrance to a large assembly hall Her eyes widened as they entered and as she saw that there were people scattered all around the edge of the roo people, not eenerally quiet but now and then an occasional whispered conversation would quickly begin and then end with equal speed The only constant noise caether in the furthest corner, blissfully ignorant to the pain and fear so obviously consu with Keith Peterson&039;s lack of interest in the new arrivals, every other survivor they passed also showed complete disinterest towards the on his side on the floor, covered by a grey blanket and rocking steadily His dark eyes ide open like saucers Clare thought to herself that he looked too afraid to shut the the rooh a fire escape and then walked through a small concrete courtyard towards another door There were a fewon a wooden bench wrapped in a thick overcoat nodded and ed half a sh

&039;These are the roo,&039; Heath explained as they reached another connected part of the building It looked and shts of stairs and then they followed a long and narrow corridor with nu off on either side &039;Those of us ere here on the first day cleared the whole place,&039; he continued, slightly breathless &039;You won&039;t find any bodies in here Fortunately term hadn&039;t started so there weren&039;t many people around, just a few of the overseas students who had co He turned round to face Clare and Jack and, for the first time, spoke &039;Most of us are on this floor,&039; he mumbled, his voice flat and est you stay on this side,&039; he said, nodding his head to the left &039;The other side overlooks the city There are thousands of those bodies out there We&039;re trying to keep out of sight as much as we can&039; Jack nodded in appreciation as the thin, lifeless man walked back in the direction from which they had just co again &039;Get yourself settled,&039; he said softly &039;I&039; back to the hall Coet you so to eat&039;

&039;We really appreciate this,&039; Jack said suddenly, his voice filling with very obvious and yet wholly unexpected e to find anyone else who&039; Heath s hand on the other man&039;s shoulder &039;It&039;s not a problehed &039;As does just about every other poor bastard unfortunate enough to be stuck here&039; The lecturer paused for a ht carefully, as if he was poised to say sonificance But the words wouldn&039;t coan to walk back down the corridor, tired and in need of rest &039;Thanks,&039; Clare said &039;I don&039;t know&039; Her words were abruptly truncated by a sudden screa It see from somewhere on the floor above them &039;Bloody hell,&039; cursed Jack &039;What the was that?&039; &039;Nothing to worry about,&039; Heath explained, turning back around to face the other two &039;We&039;ve got a lady upstairs who&039;s going to have a baby within the next couple of days The doctor reckons it ht even be born before the day&039;s out&039; Another scream Jack looked down at Clare, concerned that the woer &039;Jesus,&039; he said quietly &039;What a tih that

I h of an ordeal at the best of times, but now?&039; Jack let his words trail quietly away &039;I know,&039; said Heath &039;Look, I&039; to leave you to it I&039;ll see you both later, okay?&039; With that he was gone Jack and Clare were alone &039;You okay?&039; Jack asked &039;I&039;ht,&039; she replied &039;You?&039; He nodded &039;I&039;et these rooms sorted out&039; The rooms were small and compact but practical and more than sufficient compared to the departht A narrow bed, a wardrobe, a couple of small cabinets, a desk, two chairs and a sink were all they contained but that was ed to find adjacent rooms two-thirds of the way down the corridor Jack left his rucksack on the end of the bed, not bothering to empty its contents There didn&039;t seeh the accommodation block seemed to be a remarkably safe and sensible place for them to shelter and hide in, he didn&039;t dare think that they th of time The world was full of so ranted

AsClare sat down on a hard plastic chair by thein her room and held her head in her hands She felt ready to burst into tears but her e The relentless pressure of their bizarre situation see her fro The room was cold and clinical and her sense of bewilder It was only when she thought about her parents and everything else she had lost that she finally began to cry freely After just over ten minutes had passed Jack left his room and walked across the corridor to the room directly opposite

The panoramic view over the city from the as, for a few seconds at least, impressive But then, as his curiosity took hold, he allowed his eyes to wander down to street level Anbodies surrounded the front of the building And with the rest of the city appearing to be co themselves out of the shadows continually