The Divine Infection

Chapter Eleven: Liberation Transmission

[Two Days Later]

Sunshine beams down on us as our small group walks down the long road, trying helplessly to figure out which way is north.

"We haven't come across a town in ages." Jake frowns. "How long have we been out here for?"

"Two days." I reply quietly. Two days, and we haven't come across a town nor a single zombie. I'm starting to think something is seriously wrong (well, apocalypse aside and all).

"If we don't come across a town soon, then we can start to worry. For now, we'll be alright." Barrone reassures us blankly. Everyone just grumbles in reply. These past couple of days have been a nightmare; with only six of us, it seems we're more vulnerable to zombies attacking us, especially considering Barrone is the best (and only) fighter of our group, and we're in what Caleb would have called the "calm before the storm". This horribly hot weather isn't doing our progress many favours, either...

"Why is it so hot?!" Crilly groans, tugging off his hat. "This is Britain, it should be sub-zero temperatures and snowing..."

"In summer?" At least, it feels like summer. With no real way to keep track of the days, who even knows anymore. "Wouldn't surprise me if it started snowing later, really..." I mutter. The weather has been so bizarre lately, so who's to say it won't snow?!

"You know what we need?" Jim asks. "A radio. There'll be transmissions from safe points flying all over the place, I'm sure."

"Jim. We're in the middle of the Southern English countryside. Do you really think we'd get a signal out here?" Jake asks disbelievingly.

"You never know. If we find a radio, we can test it. Maybe transmit something ourselves, who knows." He sighs.

Just as though out of nowhere, I suddenly see a dark mass forming on the horizon, and I grin at the same time as the others - well, all apart from Barrone, who is as emotionless as always, and Alex, who hasn't spoken or responded to anything in two days. he's been just like an uninfected zombie since we left the others back in Lutton: unresponsive, sluggish, unemotional, speechless...it's almost scary. In fact, scrap that: it is scary, straight up.

"A town!" Jim and Crilly exclaim, darting forward. The sweltering heatwave is forgotten as we all follow suit, rushing towards the town. Making sure we have some sort of weapon in our grasps as we quickly approach the town, I begin to recognise the shadowed outline of a church, and smaller buildings that must just be houses. There's no "welcome to..." sign as we enter the town; where it must have been before, there are just twin poles, with rotted zombies' heads spiked on each pole. I shudder, and then glance around me at the small group of buildings.

To call it a "town" would just be plain pushing it: it's the sort of place that you can look down one main road and see right through to the opposite end. There are no cars, and the town itself is eerily intact. In fact...

"It's too peaceful. Too untouched." Barrone mutters. "Stay close; we'll check the buildings for supplies, then get the hell out of here." And so we do just that: building after building is raided, not one zombie is encountered, no corpses nor survivors in sight. In an old newsagents' we manage to find a portable radio, much to Jim's delight, and we also take as much canned food as we can find (which isn't much, considering the town must have been deserted not long after the start of the outbreak, and the food must have decided to leave too...). In the end, we end up with a pretty decent haul, and continue walking down the road, now rather content.

"I can't get a signal or anything...it's all fuzzy." Jim frowns, fiddling with the dial on the radio.

"Told you/" Jake looks smug - that is, until words emanate from the speaker, and the man's face falls flat for a moment in defeat.