Page 50 (1/1)

Exhausted and al wheel of the ht in his seat, instantly awake &039;Jesus Christ,&039; he cursed as the police van thundered past and tore into the field packed with bodies &039;Where the fucking hell did that come from?&039; Emma ran to his side and watched with surprise and disbelief as the van ripped a bloody path through thecorpses

Before she could speak the prison truck appeared &039;Follow theasped, her mouth dry with sudden shock and nerves With his heart pounding and his hands shaking Michael started the engine and attempted to move the motorhome forwards

All around theth and fury to the sudden ered after the van and the truck, others turned and lurched quickly towards the lu bulk of the motorhome

The police van skidded to a halt about a hundred meters ahead, the once white (but now muddy brown and blood-soaked) truck a fewout of the side of the truck and began to gesture furiously to the people in the van He aving back in the direction of the incline that they had just powered over Seconds later the reversing lights on the back of the van were suddenly illuminated and the vehicle sped back towards the ore and rotting flesh up into the coldair The driver slammed on the brakes when the two vehicles were parallel There was a gap of less than a metre between them He wound down hisand shouted over to Emma &039;Any room inside?&039; Cooper yelled Still stunned, Emma could only nod her head in reply &039;How many of you are in there?&039; &039;Just two of us,&039; she stammered &039;We think there&039;s a base here&039; &039;One of our trucks has gone down in the forest,&039; the soldier shouted back

&039;I need to go back for theers?&039; Emma didn&039;t kno to respond Could these people be trusted? Instantly sensing her obvious unease Michael leant across and took over the conversation Whether they could trust them or not, it didn&039;ta chance &039;There&039;s a side door,&039; he shouted &039;Get them out of the back of the van and I&039;ll open up&039; Without waiting for the other man to respond Michael left his seat and ran down the inside of the an kicking, pushing and hitting out of the way the countless sickly cadavers that reached out for him A meter and a half away the back of the van flew open and four survivors ju in the rabbed hold of Donna, hauling her quickly to safety Between the the door shut Jack Baxter pulled the van door closed before cli down next to Cooper He glanced over his shoulder and checked that the others were safe &039;They&039;re in,&039; he gasped, panting heavily with effort &039;Let&039;s move&039; Donna and the other three survivors from the city collapsed into the back of the motorhome as the police van pulled away outside Bodies all around the long vehicle shting to get at the people inside &039;There&039;s a base or so round here,&039; E to return &039;We were trying to get in&039; Donna nodded &039;Cooper ca in the direction of van that was et us inside&039; &039;How many of you are there?&039; Michael asked as he sat back down in the driver&039;s seat

&039;About thirty,&039; she replied, following hiht The hopelessness that had weighed hinorant to the hundreds of diseased cadavers still fighting to get at them, he allowed hiling The already rough ground had been churned up by the numerous military vehicles that had driven to and fro bodiesin a straight line along the uneven track and the tired engine struggled to cli The van&039;s wheels span furiously, sending rip the ground The soldier took his foot off the pedals and let the heavy vehicle roll a short distance back down the hill

&039;We&039;re never going to get back up there,&039; Baxter said &039;We&039;ll go round,&039; Cooper replied, glancing fro to work out which side of the hill to attack He chose to go right and powered forward again The ground was more level and, to his relief, he was finally able to build up a little speed He pushed harder and harder, knocking , until his velocity was such that he could risk atteain Baxter held onto the sides of his seat as Cooper swerved back round to the left and forced the van through the ree

The effort of the screaine was suddenly reduced as they reached the crest and began to travel along the flat again &039;Bloody hell,&039; Baxter said as they approached the prison truck lying stranded on its side

&039;What a damn mess&039; Cooper stopped the van a short distance back and surveyed the scene The nuetting out and atteh the majority of them remained in the field near the entrance to the base,nearby The front of the truck was surrounded by a dense throng of so cadavers &039;How the hell are we going to do this?&039; Baxter asked Cooper didn&039;t bother to answer Instead he drove forward again, turned the van round in a tight arc and began to reverse towards the truck&039;s upturned cab Distracted by the noise of the approaching vehicle, the bodies turned and began to move towards them &039;Open the doors,&039; he yelled as he leant out of theto his side and steered the van back Baxter quickly scrambled out of his seat and crawled to the far end of the van He threw the doors open and then jumped back as the van smashed into the cab of the truck

A randos pinned between the two vehicles, thrashed its arms furiously Before Baxter could react Cooper ith him The soldier punched the corpse in the face repeatedly until it dropped down and lay still The cab of the truck was sideways on, leaving the survivors just enough clearance to be able to claet the the his bloodied hands on the back of his trousers &039;We&039;ll get Paul and Phil out first&039; Carefully choosing his spot for fear of causing further injury to the two le heavy boot and kicked the centre of the cracked windscreen Already weakened, thegave way after just a fes Baxter leant forward and looked down at Paul Castle&039;s bloody body

&039;Poor sod,&039; he sighed, &039;he&039;s gone&039; Cooper nodded as he worked to unfasten Croft&039;s seatbelt Once freed, the unconscious bulk of the doctor dropped into his are and laid hinore the bodies battering on the sides of the van The bloody irony of it, he thought The only survivor who had the ood injuries like these was the one who lay there wounded &039;Get ready to help them in,&039; Cooper said as he climbed out of the van He hauled hi driver&039;s door and ran the length of the side of the truck There was a door halfway between the front and back He yanked at the handle but it wouldn&039;ton the wall, trying desperately to get out

&039;Gethelplessly The older h as left of the shattered windscreen and twisting his arers le he tried to tease the keys free and succeeded, only for the blood around Paul Castle&039;s icywhite face With equal amounts of revulsion, nausea and sadness he closed his eyes and leant down and grabbed at the keys, wiping them clean on his jacket as he lifted the them up onto the side of the truck

Cooper picked them up and immediately dropped to his knees by the door There were many keys on the bunch and it took several atteht one Eventually the lock clicked, the door opened outwards and the arms, head and body of the first bruised and bloodied survivor quickly eed &039;Get ready Jack,&039; the soldier yelled, &039;they&039;re on their way to you&039; He leant down and began to help a ed wo her out from inside, she was soon free &039;Get yourself down into the van,&039; Cooper said gently as he reached down for the next person &039;Jack&039;s waiting there for you&039; On her hands and knees, the woman shuffled towards the front of the truck As she athering on either side Sensing her unease, Baxter coaxed her forward &039;Come on,&039; he said, &039;nearly there&039; Back on top of the vehicle Cooper had pulled two children and another woman free

He peered back inside and counted another seven people still waiting He could also see a corpse He didn&039;t recognise the round, crushed by the others in the sudden impact and crash Baxter cliuided more survivors into the van, Cooper screamed more instructions to him &039;Get behind the wheel&039; &039;I can&039;t,&039; Baxter replied frantically &039;I can&039;t drive&039; &039;Then find someone who can,&039; the soldier frantically barked &039;Do it now, for fucking hell&039;s sake!&039; &039;I&039;ll do it,&039; the first woman to have been rescued mumbled &039;You&039;ll have to tell me where to&039;

&039;What&039;s your name?&039; &039;Jean,&039; she replied &039;I don&039;t know if&039; Baxter wasn&039;t listening &039;I&039;ll give you a shout e&039;re ready toher forward She clambered into the driver&039;s seat and froze as she looked up and around A dense crowd of grotesque faces stared back at her, their clouded eyes filled with pain and a savage intent bordering on hate She looked down at the ground and tried to keep control of her fragile elass around her now She held her head in her hands and prayed that they would soon be able to move &039;Last one,&039; Cooper yelled from on top of the truck Moments later the final survivor appeared and climbed down into the van Cooper was close behind &039;Pull forward and close the doors,&039; he ordered &039;Pull forward,&039; Baxter repeated

The woman in the front of the van pushed down on the accelerator and eased the van slowly forward, pushing steadily into the rotting crohich surrounded theh from the remains of the truck to be able to close the doors, Baxter looked up at Cooper &039;Close the fucking doors,&039; the soldier said again Helped by another survivor Baxter pulled the doors shut The van rocked momentarily as the soldier ju his footing, Cooper threw hied towards the front of the vehicle He sestured forward &039;Move!&039; he ordered &039;Just fucking ain

Cooper pressed his face down against the cold metal and held on for all he orth Back in the middle of the field Michael sat nervously behind the wheel of thefor the van to reappear &039;This isn&039;t good,&039; he o and&039; He stopped talking when the van powered over the ridge and began a fast and uncoordinated descent back into the field, obliterating countless bedraggled bodies Cooper clung onto the top of the van, his feet and one hand wrapped around the roof bars With his one free hand he gestured towards Michael for him to drive around a small mound in the centre of the field

Michael i close behind The re prison truck belched clouds of noxious exhaust fu air already polluted by the rancid stench of death and decay Around the back of the mound, coe grey door, partially sunken into the ground Bodies swary and bile &039;Hit the horn!&039; Donna screamed as soon as she saw the door &039;Let them knoe&039;re here&039; Michael slae did the sa the van did the same as it trundled round the corner The air was filled with noise, and the noise drove what remained of the massive croild The e concealed entrance &039;What now?&039; Michael demanded &039;For Christ&039;s sake, what are we supposed to do now?&039; &039;Just keep sounding the horn,&039; Donna sighed

&039;They&039;ll hear us eventually&039; &039;And so will every corpse in the fucking country,&039; he hissed under his breath Without warning the doors began to slide open Painfully slowly, the heavy barriers began to part As soon as a wide enough gap had appeared a streaed, every inch of their bodies hidden They aian to fire indiscriround The space left by each fallen corpse was i for instruction, as soon as the gap in the doors ide enough Michael accelerated and drove into the base It was i like it

The prison truck forced its way inside, followed close behind by the police van Cooper climbed down from the roof and looked around His exhaustion, nerves and fear were immediately replaced by a claustrophobic and cold faunshots continued to fill the air as the soldiers closed the doors and picked off the last few bodies, throwing their remains back out into the open before the doors slammed shut Michael, Emma, Donna, Baxter, Cooper, Heath and the rest of the survivors gathered in the centre of a cavernous and well-lit hanger packed with a vast array of roup The guns that had moments earlier been pointed at the bodies outside were now pointed at them