Walking quickly, the soldier reached the Volvo and looked into the windows of the car.
Jax sent the third and fourth balls in rapid succession down the street, trying to lure the soldier farther away. With no other sound or movement to stimulate his senses, he followed the balls although he didn’t seem as interested now, as if he might have realised they were not worth pursuing.
I went through the house and out into the yard. “Let’s go,” I whispered to Jax.
We went to the first fence and placed the backpacks we were holding over into the next yard. We had packed towels between the cans so they wouldn’t make much noise but the sound of everything settling in the packs as we put them on the ground sounded too loud. I was sure the soldier would hear us. If he heard us now, we were dead.
Carefully, we straddled the waist-high fence and climbed over. It was difficult with the weighty pack on my back shifting every time I moved but I got over into the next yard and picked up my second pack. Jax was already waiting at the next fence. I looked at the row of yards ahead of us. There were at least a dozen fences between us and the last yard in the row. I groaned inwardly.
It took us nearly an hour to move along the yards. It was slow and strenuous work, lifting the packs over each fence and listening for the approach of the hybrid soldier. I had no reason to believe the soldier had some sort of super-hearing but even so, every little noise we made sent my heart hammering. I was bathed in sweat by the time we climbed out of the final yard. The sky was darkening into twilight with a few stars already visible.
We stood a hundred feet from the parking area where the white Nova and the red Toyota Camry sat. The Nova was as quiet as it had been when we first arrived, the zombies inside hiding and waiting for unsuspecting prey.
We pressed ourselves against the side of the house. We had no idea where the soldier was. He could be at the far end of the street or he could be standing just around the corner. Our ruse with the tennis balls had gotten us this far but now we had to run for the Zodiac. As soon as we stepped away from the side of the house, we would be visible and vulnerable.
I slowly leaned out and peeked around the corner of the house, half expecting to see the soldier standing right in front of me, yellow eyes glaring. But he was still at the other end of the village, standing still in the road. And he was facing in the opposite direction, toward the field and the crashed truck, his back to us.
I whispered to Jax, “He’s looking the other way. If we’re quiet, we can get to the boat.”
She nodded and we broke cover, walking toward the beach and carrying our heavy packs as quietly and as quickly as possible. I kept looking over my shoulder, afraid that the soldier would turn and see us, but he remained still as a statue staring the other way.
The tide had gone out and the Zodiac, which we had left in knee-deep water, now rested on the damp beach. The mooring rope lay twisted on the wet sand like a dead snake.
“Shit,” Jax whispered.
“We can drag it to the water without making too much noise,” I whispered back. “If we…”
A sudden noise to my right startled me. The zombies in the Nova had erupted into action and were banging and clawing at the car’s windows,
The soldier standing on the street turned slowly, saw us, and started running towards the beach.
We fled to the Zodiac, dropping our second packs and weighed down by the ones on our backs.
I grabbed the wet coil of rope and yanked it with all the strength I could muster. The rock anchor came out of the wet sand with a sucking sound. I threw it into the boat. It clattered on the aluminium floor.
We picked up the boat and side-stepped to the water as fast as we could. I glanced along the street. The soldier was less than a hundred feet away.
Splashing into the sea, we pushed the boat into deeper water and climbed on board. Jax fumbled with the engine, pulling at the starting cord with trembling hands.
The hybrid zombie soldier had reached the cars. The zombies in the Nova detected movement and went crazy but he ran past them, his deadly focus on us.
Jax pulled the starter cord again.
The engine burst into life, coughing out clouds of oily smoke.
The smell of gasoline had never been so sweet.
The soldier splashed into the sea, still running at us.
Jax grabbed the tiller and the engine roared. The Zodiac leapt forward so quickly, I almost went overboard, saving myself from such a fate by gripping the seat until my hands hurt.
We sped out into deeper water.
The hybrid soldier stopped when he was up to his waist in the sea. He stared at us with a malevolence that made me shudder.
Jax slowed our speed and steered us for the Lucky Escape.
I breathed deep breaths of salty air tinged with the smell of gasoline. We were safe.
I watched the soldier as he turned and strode back up the beach. He reached the white Nova and banged on the rear side window with his fists. The zombies inside were going crazy, clawing at the window.
The soldier smashed his fists through the glass and grabbed the closest zombie. He tried to drag it out through the small opening but the arm and head ripped away. He tossed them onto the ground and reached in for the second zombie, pulling it out viciously.
The rotting zombie tore apart as it was forced through the small window opening.
The soldier crouched down over the zombie parts on the ground, selected an arm, raised it to his mouth, and ate.
I leaned over the side of the Zodiac and puked violently into the sea.
twenty-two
The four of us sat in the living area of the Lucky Escape around the small table. The radio was on and Survivor Radio was playing a selection of rock hits. Beyond the windows, darkness had fallen and the lights inside the boat cast a pale light over the room.
We had eaten a dinner of pasta and tomato sauce and Jax and I had told Tanya and Sam about our experience in the village. They had listened intently, asking questions now and then and getting us to clarify parts of the story so they knew every detail. The appearance of the running zombie hybrid was big news. This changed things. If we were going to have to deal with hordes of runners as well as shamblers, the danger factor in our mission went up several thousand notches.
When we finished telling our story, Sam shook his head as if in disbelief. “That’s some fucked up shit, man.”
I couldn’t have put it better myself.
A sudden noise on the windows startled us but it was only rain hitting the glass.
“That’s another thing,” I said, “the hybrids won’t take shelter from the rain like the other zombies have to. The hybrids are alive. They aren’t rotting away so the virus doesn’t need to protect them in the same way. That soldier chased us into the sea without a second thought.”
Tanya sighed. “So they’re some sort of super zombie and the rain won’t protect us anymore.”
I nodded. “That’s what it looks like.”
“Any idea how many of them there could be?”
“It’s impossible to know for sure. But if everyone in the military is being vaccinated, that’s a lot of people walking around with the potential to become a hybrid. Since they work dangerous jobs and come into contact with zombies all the time, a lot of soldiers must get bitten or scratched every day.”
“So we’re screwed,” Sam said. “There’s going to be an army of undead hybrids.”
“Except the hybrids aren’t undead,” I said, “They’re alive.”
“Does it make a difference, man? Either way, if they catch you, you’re fucked.”
“Yeah, that’s true.” I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, feeling a wave of despair flood over me. There was no way we would survive on land once the number of hybrid runners increased. What was going to happen to the people in the Survivors Camps? I thought about Joe and my parents. How could they possibly survive a hybrid attack on their camp? And where was Lucy? For all I knew, she had been captured by the soldiers and was also in a camp somewhere.