We'd managed to find the staff room, washing the worst off the blood off with a little help from Jamie before we headed on. My arm now free, just incase we got into any more trouble.
Once we'd reached the third floor it wasn't long before we found a window that placed us directly on top of the school. Looking out at the cramped town, the sun on are backs.
"How long do you think we got?"
"Three, four hours max?" I replied. Walking to the edge.
"We got time. Sure is a good view though."
"Too quiet , it's weird not hearing the cars."
"I hear you. You see a church?"
"Not yet..." I answered, looking out into the town, searching for a steeple. It had to be around here somewhere!
"Other there! In front of the woods, no steeple, just a turret."
I turned to where she was pointing, squinting at the horizon. And there It was, it's wide turret poking out above the many rows of houses littering the ground. The only problem was, it looked a good couple of miles off!
"You sure that's the church he meant?" I asked.
"Only one I can see around so it must be."
I sighed."We better get going then, looks like where going to have to go through town centre."
"We need to find something to defend our selves with, we're not gong to make that distance without stumbling into the infected."
"We've been lucky so far..."
"So far... you know as well as I do how bad they can be. Especially if we meet a group of them, even guns won't stop a horde."
"Fine but let's be quick about it, we don't have long and as you said, nothing stops a horde."
She nodded, looking back towards the church one last time.
Swiftly we slipped back into the school making are way to the staff room.
"What we looking for, knifes and stuff for hitting?" I asked.
"Anything really, armour too." She whispered, opening the door.
I started off sifting through the draws, finding nothing more then a sharp pair of scissors. Jamie on the other hand managing to find a solid rounders bat. I ended up with a role of sellotape and a thick magazine, taping it to my arm for protection.
"Seriously?"
"Hay, I saw it on one of the zombie movies."
"Well if it saves your life."
Finishing our prep we left the room, heading downstairs to the nearest exit soon finding are self's outside in broad daylight. The playground was empty and deathly quite, not a person in sight.
"Which directions?"
"Ruffly that way..." She pointed with her bat into a maze of houses.
"Shall we?"
She nodded and we started jogging to the fence, scaling it with ease. Once over we continued on running though the silent streets eyeing every bend, every corner. I almost hoped Eve would run round the side and into use. Where was she! It was playing on my mind, the worry, was she alive? She had to be, but she was supposed to meet me at the school. The sooner we where back in camp the better!
*
We had navigated our way through the town for a good half an hour with nothing more then a couple of animals disturbing the heavy silence, slowing down to a gentle jog to catch our breath.
"I thought it was only supposed to be a couple of miles?" I whispered.
"If we where going in a strait line."
"Where not lost are we?"
"No, we got to be near the town centre. Hey you smell that?"
I rounded the bend, lazily checking the streets ahead before double taking, my brain trying to process what I had just seen. I just managed to grab Jamie, shoving her back round the street, clamping my hand over her mouth before she could cry out. Poking my head round the corner I triple checked.
Not but a hundred metres in front of use, a crowed of those things littered the streets aimlessly wondering in circles. From soldiers to civilians, there was at least a couple of hundred of them, bloody and ragged. You could smell the sickness, almost taste it, tickling my throat as I tried to slow my breathing. Jamie had finally stopped struggling and was looking at me questionably. I put my mouth to her ear barely whispering. "Two hundred plus, wondering in circles." Her eyes bulged in shock.
"What do we do," She mouthed.
I nodded my head back the way we came, not daring to speak so close. If they but wondered are way a little, we where dead, dead for sure this time. I could feel the sweat on my brow dripping as we tip toes back down the street, my heart sounding louder then a fire alarm. Once we had creeped a reasonably safe distance we stopped, crouching behind a wall.
"So..." She mouthed.
I shrugged. "We have to go round them."
"Every road converges on the centre, plus it will take too long!"
"Over them?" I suggested.
"
The roofs! That might actually work."
"How do we get on them though?"
"Same way we got onto the school roof, through a window."
"We make one false footing and where dead, you realise that."
"We got to try, just don't mess up."
"Easier said then done, only problem is we need to be across the street."
"Quick and quite, there attracted to sound more then anything."
"Least somebody was listening in the brief. We would be the ones to skip the training and get this!"
She nodded comically. "Let's get going then."
We began the long shuffle back down the street towards the horde, the smell becoming more potent the closer we got. We stopped at the edge, Jamie getting her first looks at the rabble, her breath catching. A few of them where facing us, sniffing the air like dogs but none of them where making any sudden moves. I got Jamie's attention, gesturing to myself then the other side, counting down on my fingers. 3...2...1...
Keeping low I swiftly ran across the street, focusing on the shared corridor of the two houses ahead. Nope I'm gonna look. Glancing to my side I noticed a couple of the infected slowly dragging them self's our way sniffing more viciously, more alert.
Hitting the corridor I waved Jamie to come over, eyeing the infected. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck raising, any second now they would spot us. But Jamie was still crouching behind the last house flicking between me and the fast approaching infected, becoming more and more flustered by the second. I signalled more fervently for her to come over, soon she wouldn't be able to! There was four of them separating from the crowed blindly drawing nearer.
Finally she'd plucked up the courage to budge and I held my breath as she darted across, the infected barely noticing. Not waiting round to find out what they did we rushed down the corridor and into the house through the back door, forgetting to check. Fortunately for use the house was empty and we jumped up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I stopped Jamie on the landing pointing to the window adjacent to the stairs. It went out onto the conservatory, high enough for use to find a ledge onto the roof. Pulling it ajar, I was the first one to drop through, balancing on the uneven surface.
I heard something smash inside the house followed by a low growl, panicking I grabbed Jamie by the shoulders dragging her the rest of the way as the monster came into view. Rightening herself she took a swing at the creature as it poked it's head out the narrow gap sending it tubing back into the hallway dazed. In doing so she lost her footing, slipping down the glass ceiling with a cry.
Thinking fast I hooked my bag onto one of the spikes, keeping hold of it as I dived after Jamie. Just managing to grab hold of her out stretched hand with a grunt. The monster was out on the roof now, tumbling down over the gutter in a matter of moments, hitting the ground with a thud. It didn't get up.
We lay there in silence for a moment, listening with baited breath, hanging on the edge. I could feel my arm seizing up as I held onto Jamie, barely coping. I forced my breathing to calm down, paying attention to the gentle sound of shuffling coming from over the house. Are luck had to be running out.
I could feel Jamie shaking under my grasp as I halled her up next to me. Her cheeks flushed, she had been crying but I didn't say anything. She wasn't the type to get all emotional.
I let her calm down for a minute before I began making my way back up the slanted roof, salvaging my bag. She soon joined me, her usual look of determination returning. "You okay?" I mouthed.
She nodded, giving me a quick smile. "Thank you."
I waved it off turning back to the task at hand. From the peak of the conservatory I should be able to reach the gutter and pull myself up. Carefully I made climbed up testing my theory with a quick stretch. My arm didn't like it too much but it would have to do.
With a little help from Jamie I managed to clamber up, rolling onto the tiles before pulling Jamie up along side me and together we began the assent.
Once at the peak we poked are heads over, holding back a gasp at the crowed ahead of use. There was so many of them dead and 'alive', if you could call it living. I could even see a tank situated amongst the horde strewn in blood. And the smell, don't even get me started, I was struggling to breath to say the least. Jamie had taken off her beanie and was attempting to breath through it. Which was saying something, In all the time I had know her I had only seen it off her hatless once.
Giving her a poke I signalled that we should continue and she nodded, treading low and speedily along the roof top. The constant presence of the infected keeping us in check, are hearts racing way ahead of us.
We where making good progress, my feet finally getting used to the odd angles and the crowed thinning. I could begin to make out the church amongst the houses, it's turret towering over everything surrounding it. We drove on harder are end goal in sight, we'd made it! Relief flooded through me egging me on. But it was too soon.
We had reached a ruff part of the roof when I felt my foot abruptly slip, the tile falling out of place and down into the streets bellow. I scarcely managed to keep myself from going down with it, clinging onto the top. I could see Jamie ahead of me turning back with the look of pure terror drawn across her face.
"RUN JUST RUN!" I screamed not caring to keep quite anymore, it was no use. Glancing down, I heard them before I saw them. The soft growling turning into snapping and howling like a hungry pack of wolfs. Skidding to my feet I bolted, every alarm bell in my body going off, the fear sinking in. I could see them now, hundreds upon hundreds of infected very much alert sprinting parallel, piling on top of each other to get at use. The noise was unbearable, I had killed use! I felt num on the inside, watching a scene that belonged in a horror movie unfold behind me, body piling upon body, forming a wave of the living dead heading strait for use. To make matters worse we where running out of roof, and the next one was a good 5 metres away.
Jamie was looking back at me desperately, pale faced. "YOUR...GONNA HAVE TO... JUMP!" I spat.
With out question she spirited the remaining distance, leaping out onto the next roof sending more tiles down into the alleyway. She made it look easy.
Reaching the final stretch, I pressed on harder, pushing off the top with a cry.
Time seemed to go by slower as I flew through the air, Jamie metres in front of me fleeing for her life. The seething horde so close that I was chocking for breath. I almost laughed at how quickly this situation had turned for the worst. Does that make me sound crazy? Inches from death and all I want to do is laugh. To hell with it.
Landing with a crash I bounded on, a grin plastered across my face, this world. Some of the infected had reached the roof by now but where finding it hard to stay as, stumbling all over the place ending with a quick fall to there doom. Those who did manage to stay on where swiftly dealt with by Jamie's batting skills but that wasn't going to keep us alive for long.
The church was getting closer but whether we made it was a different matter. All that kept going through my mind was pure terror, laughter and numbness. I seriously had problems.
Catching up with Jamie, I knocked the nearest infected aside with my protected arms, sending it off balance and disappearing over the edge with a snarl.
"Where...go...ing to have...to...jump it!" I puffed. Nodding towards the looming church.
"Your mad!" Was all she managed. Sweat dripping form her forehead. "Utterly mad!"
"If...we make it...to the ledge...we could find a way...in."
She looked at me afraid and determined. "Screw it." With a cry she smash an incoming creature out of the way, somehow managing to find the strength to speed up. The church now blocking out the sun.
I turned too look behind me but instantly regretted it. The roof was crawling with the infected, like insects piling on top of each other not caring if they knocked there neighbour off. It was utter chaos.
Couple more roof tops and I would be there. Jamie was already preparing for the jump, looking dead ahead with grim conviction.
As I reached the final stretch I watched Jamie throw herself over the edge, cringing as she collided with the solid stone wall, dropping her bat in the process. The good news was she had managed to get a grip on something.
With my heart in my mouth I flung myself off the roof, stretching out for the ledge. With a thud I hit the wall, missing the over hang by an inch, stunning my self as I began to grind down the wall helplessly.