Read Online Surviving The Evacuation (Book 5): Reunion by Frank Tayell - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Frank Tayell
Tags: Zombies
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the evacuation. It’s no good just rushing blindly into the unknown. Not now. Especially not now. There’s something else. I saw the undead on my way back. Not just a couple, but close to a hundred near Watford, all heading south.”
“We could go west,” Kendra suggested.
“Yes, but where after that. Scotland? One of the islands? Don’t you get it? The enclaves are set up around the coast. They didn’t kill everyone, just enough that they could keep the rest alive. The government controls the coast.”
“They control London too,” Richard said. Chester couldn’t blame the man for wanting to leave.
“So we scavenge some fuel, load up those pigs and chickens, and keep driving until we find somewhere. That’s your idea?” Mathias asked. “What if we don’t find anywhere? What if it gets to nightfall and we’re stuck on some desolate road in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of squawking chickens.”
“But we can’t stay here,” Kendra insisted. “The government people will come and find us.”
“Do you know,” McInery said, as if the idea was just occurring to her. “I don’t think they will. I mean, why should they leave? They were building a barricade, and if we add to that what Mathias said about the undead, it seems obvious why. They’ll be resupplied from the river, so why would they want to go out looting? If we stay put, and stay quiet, we’ll be safer than we would be anywhere else.”
“But the animals need feed,” Hana insisted. “They’ll need water.”
“And that would be the case wherever we go,” McInery said, her voice almost dripping with sympathetic understanding. “If we stay here, we won’t lose a day travelling.”
“And if they do come?” Dev asked.
“We have the train line,” she said. “If we have to, we disappear down there. We can lose ourselves in the Underground.”
“Which would mean losing the animals,” Dev said.
“Better them than us,” McInery said, and then adroitly ended the debate by starting to cook dinner. Chester had never seen her cook before, and in fact she didn’t do much of the work this time. She delegated and instructed until she had everyone else too busy working to think.
Chester headed down to the station. Partially open to the elements, it was one of those surface level junctions where half a dozen overground lines provided an interchange with the Underground. If he remembered correctly, the overground headed due south, crossing the river at Blackfriars, and to the north… to the north there were myriad bridges and crossings, and the undead could easily stumble over or across those onto the tracks. That left the Underground, and that would give them easy and unseen access to most of London but nowhere beyond. No, the railway lines didn’t strike him as a particularly safe escape route, but it wasn’t until the others had gone to sleep that he was able to mention that to McInery. She had led him down to the platform.
“Keep watch,” she said, as she took out her list of addresses and began copying them, this time in plain English, onto a sheet of paper.
“You’ve got a plan, then?” he asked.
“The same plan I had this morning, the same plan I had yesterday. This is my city now. I’m going to take control of it.”
“Oh, right? You and…” He gave an involuntary snort of laughter. “You and what army, because Quigley’s got one.”
“Since you seem in a mood for hackneyed aphorisms, the enemy of my enemy, even when undead, can be an ally.”
“You want to use the undead to clear out Westminster?”
“They kill the people, but leave the food and weapons standing. It’s almost too poetic.”
“How?”
“The tunnels. The Tube. All we have to do is lure the undead in, and let them follow us to Westminster. Then we sit back and wait. The survivors will flee, and we will have London to ourselves.”
“Ah,” Chester murmured, wishing he hadn’t asked.
9 th September - Cross Keys
“We could go west,” Kendra suggested.
“Yes, but where after that. Scotland? One of the islands? Don’t you get it? The enclaves are set up around the coast. They didn’t kill everyone, just enough that they could keep the rest alive. The government controls the coast.”
“They control London too,” Richard said. Chester couldn’t blame the man for wanting to leave.
“So we scavenge some fuel, load up those pigs and chickens, and keep driving until we find somewhere. That’s your idea?” Mathias asked. “What if we don’t find anywhere? What if it gets to nightfall and we’re stuck on some desolate road in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of squawking chickens.”
“But we can’t stay here,” Kendra insisted. “The government people will come and find us.”
“Do you know,” McInery said, as if the idea was just occurring to her. “I don’t think they will. I mean, why should they leave? They were building a barricade, and if we add to that what Mathias said about the undead, it seems obvious why. They’ll be resupplied from the river, so why would they want to go out looting? If we stay put, and stay quiet, we’ll be safer than we would be anywhere else.”
“But the animals need feed,” Hana insisted. “They’ll need water.”
“And that would be the case wherever we go,” McInery said, her voice almost dripping with sympathetic understanding. “If we stay here, we won’t lose a day travelling.”
“And if they do come?” Dev asked.
“We have the train line,” she said. “If we have to, we disappear down there. We can lose ourselves in the Underground.”
“Which would mean losing the animals,” Dev said.
“Better them than us,” McInery said, and then adroitly ended the debate by starting to cook dinner. Chester had never seen her cook before, and in fact she didn’t do much of the work this time. She delegated and instructed until she had everyone else too busy working to think.
Chester headed down to the station. Partially open to the elements, it was one of those surface level junctions where half a dozen overground lines provided an interchange with the Underground. If he remembered correctly, the overground headed due south, crossing the river at Blackfriars, and to the north… to the north there were myriad bridges and crossings, and the undead could easily stumble over or across those onto the tracks. That left the Underground, and that would give them easy and unseen access to most of London but nowhere beyond. No, the railway lines didn’t strike him as a particularly safe escape route, but it wasn’t until the others had gone to sleep that he was able to mention that to McInery. She had led him down to the platform.
“Keep watch,” she said, as she took out her list of addresses and began copying them, this time in plain English, onto a sheet of paper.
“You’ve got a plan, then?” he asked.
“The same plan I had this morning, the same plan I had yesterday. This is my city now. I’m going to take control of it.”
“Oh, right? You and…” He gave an involuntary snort of laughter. “You and what army, because Quigley’s got one.”
“Since you seem in a mood for hackneyed aphorisms, the enemy of my enemy, even when undead, can be an ally.”
“You want to use the undead to clear out Westminster?”
“They kill the people, but leave the food and weapons standing. It’s almost too poetic.”
“How?”
“The tunnels. The Tube. All we have to do is lure the undead in, and let them follow us to Westminster. Then we sit back and wait. The survivors will flee, and we will have London to ourselves.”
“Ah,” Chester murmured, wishing he hadn’t asked.
9 th September - Cross Keys
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