Undead War (Dead Guns Press) by Thompson John

Author:Thompson, John [Thompson, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-07-04T07:00:00+00:00

There Was A Before

M. Leon Smith

The fire crackled noisily, its damp wood spitting angrily. A circle of hastily placed stones kept the fire from spreading and were used to cook thin strips of meat from the boar they had snared earlier in the day.

The light from the flames lit the faces of three teenagers, two boys and a girl, and that of their tutor. The small group huddled as close as they could to the blaze in a vain attempt to drive the cold from their bodies. Plumes of thick, white breath left their mouths as they exhaled before it dissipated in the heat of their improvised oven and heater.

Just behind them were three tents. Richard, their tutor, had his own as did Donna. Ian and Steve shared one but, although they would never admit it, they had the best deal. The tent itself was no bigger than the others and sleep was a cramped and uncomfortable endeavour but they had the benefit of extra body heat to drive back the frigid November air.

Beyond the tents, about three feet above the ground, was the ubiquitous razor-wire, hooked up to makeshift batteries. A fine layer of winter’s first snow covered the tree tops and before long it would find its way through the thick leaves and sizzle as it hit the bare, charged wire. Cans filled with dry gravel dangled from it to rattle and attract attention if disturbed.

All conversation was held in lowered voices. In the years since the world had forgotten how to die properly, humanity’s survivors had learned to keep the noise down. Every action was carried out in a silence that would once have been thought eerie but now was prudent.

They could hear.

“Tell us,” Ian urged their tutor. At thirty-seven, Richard was the only one to remember life prior to the zombies. In fact, he was one of the oldest people Ian had ever met and he fascinated him.

The tutor flipped his piece of meat with a small stick and looked silently out into the darkness. He seemed lost in thought and it was uncertain if he would talk. Suddenly he said, “There was a ‘before’. I know because I used to live there.”

The trainees, on their first foraging mission outside of the permanent Encampment, leaned forward as one. The rumours were true! Richard did know about the time before zombies and he would, unlike most others, talk about it.

“It was dirty and loud but very beautiful. So many people, so many cars and machines. Everyone carried a phone not a gun. Most weren’t armed.”

At the mention of the word ‘armed’ the three trainees reached for their guns. The idea of not having your own weapon was alien to them, they had been trained from infancy to shoot. Not only to shoot but to be accurate and mindful of when it was advisable not to take the shot. Guns were, after all, loud and sound attracted zombies like moths to a flame. When you brought down one of the undead, it could be an invitation for a hundred others to take its place.

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