Read Online I Dream of Zombies (Book 2): Haven by Vickie Johnstone - Free Book Online Page B

I can’t get used to not seeing any cars,” said Marla. “To start with we weren’t the only ones on the road, but gradually I saw fewer vehicles and then nothing. That was the weirdest thing – how quickly things changed.”
    Caballero nodded again and checked his mirror. “So many places got overrun too quickly. This time of day it’s quiet until you get into the residential areas. You can drive along thinking there’s nothing to be scared of out here.”
    Marla bit her lip and looked at Tommy, but she could not think of any light-hearted conversation. As the landscape sped by, she noticed a trickle of fear creep around her neck. Trepidation over what might lie ahead.
    “We visited this place, Shipton Bellinger, recently and put up messages. We only found a few people,” commented Caballero, breaking the silence. “From here we turn on to the A303 to Amesbury. We need to put up signs there too, just in case.”
    “Have you checked this town before?” Marla asked.
    “Amesbury? No, this will be the first time. ”
    After half an hour’s drive they reached the target town and drove into it via Porton Road. A sign pointed to a Holiday Inn and a car park, but Caballero kept going. Noticing a supermarket, he turned off the roundabout and stopped outside it. The convoy behind him did the same.
    “I’m going to put one of our posters on the notice board here. People tend to go to the main meeting places, like town halls and churches, to seek refuge – strong, secure looking buildings or others that seem safe just because they’re familiar. And they’ll head to supermarkets looking for food.”
    “You think people will see that?” asked Tommy.
    The commander shrugged. “We’ve got to try. Cover me.”
    “Sure,” said Marla , keeping an eye on Caballero as he stepped down to the ground. He walked straight up to the board outside the supermarket and taped a poster across it. She noticed how the soldiers in the vehicles behind had their guns trained on various parts of the street. The place was creepy in its stillness. It unnerved her more than any sudden noise could. Within minutes Caballero slid back inside the vehicle and she asked him, “Where next?”
    “No plan. We just look around and see what we find. But we need to stay on the main roads with a lot of visibility,” he replied. “Okay...” Starting the engine, he drove off, followed by the convoy. “There’s one,” he muttered, nodding to the left.
    “Freak,” mumbled Tommy, nodding towards a shadowy, slumped figure in a shop doorway. “Doesn’t like the sun that one.”
    Caballero laughed. “You call them freaks?”
    Tommy gave a wry smile. “Yeah.”
    “Fitting! ”
    As they progressed along London Road, Marla noticed one of the dead traipsing along the pavement with his neck bent. Wearing dirty clothes, he was wrapped in a blanket that resembled leather. She squinted at him and noticed that he did not stagger as he walked; he moved straight and sure. “Caballero,” she said abruptly, “I think that guy there is alive.”
    The commander turned and glanced out the far window to the right. “You think?”
    She nodded. “I know . Can I get out and speak to him?”
    “Sure that’s safe?” asked Tommy.
    “I can’t see anyone else down there, can you?”
    “Not yet.”
    Caballero stopped the vehicle. “I’ll give you a few minutes. We’ll cover you.”
    Marla winked at Tommy. He moved his legs and she slid past him before jumping out. As soon as her boots hit the ground the man on the pavement paused and pushed back his hood to look at her. Immediately, he took off running.
    “Hey!” she called after him. “We came to help survivors!”
    The man stopped dead in his tracks and spun around. His face was smudged with dirt, as was the blanket that he grasped tightly beneath his neck. As she had guessed, the surface of it was draped with what looked like... “Skin? Is that human?” Marla asked, nodding towards the stuff from