The Last Survivors Book 1

Chapter 8

A bitter cold silence descended over them like a storm. Rob actually fell to his knees, weeping. Even Bri had tears in her eyes. Nobody could really believe what they were seeing.
I can't believe it...we all came this way and for what? Nothing. It doesn't seem like there is anyone here, Damon thought, devastated. He started sub-consciously taking a few steps forward, looking at one of the nearby tents, looking idly inside, wishing there was just someone else around. Looks like we're the only ones left, I don't understand. Damon stood there feeling sorry for himself, and the rest for a few moments. Then as he looked around him, it seemed very strange that there wasn't anyone around. How can that be? The UK had a population of over 60 million yet, there are not that many corpses, the dead, or the living around. Of course, we have killed a hell of a lot of them down the years....but still. Is it that many?
'Damon are you okay?' Scarlett said softly. Her voice came from behind.
He gave her a sidelong glance before looking back at the tent.
'I am not sure really...I do not know what to make of all of this.'
'What do we do now?' Scarlett said, coming closer to him.
He found himself feeling glad she was here; he needed someone around him right now. Even if she was a vampire. 'There must be somewhere where people have survived.'
'That church could be a good start.' Scarlett said, looking around.
Damon frowned, looking at her. 'What?'
'Are you playing games? The large church behind us.' Scarlett swirled around and pointed. Hidden behind a load of trees was a large stone structure poking through the gaps, complete with a partial spire. Some of it looked in dire need of repair. The building looked weathered. There were vines wrapped around the side of the building.
'Oh. I totally missed it.' Damon admitted.
'Hmph. Well what do you think?'
'Let's check everything else here first.' Damon said, looking towards some of the boxes on the floor.
'What do you expect to find?'
'I don't know. It just seems odd that there are no bodies around. There has to be some bodies about. Dead or alive.'
'I guess. It has been over twenty years. Maybe they've been dead a long time and perhaps soldiers saw people were starting to turn, and everyone died.'
Damon sighed, deflated. 'I guess you could be right.'
'But we won't know for sure until we look.' Scarlett said, a smile touching her lips.
'That's true.' Damon said.
'All right guys. Look for anything that's useful. Make sure you don't go wandering off too far. Always stay in sight of someone.' Bri gave the orders, her voice loud.
'Yes boss!' Resh replied, his voice coming from somewhere out of sight.
'Good.' Bri said. 'Everyone else?'
'Yeah!' Rob said.
'I got it.' Damon was last to confirm.
'Good.' Bri replied.
Damon moved over to some of the boxes, bending down to look in them. The first box contained what looked like junk, old postcards, albums, trinkets. Some looked broken and worn out.
'Nothing useful.' Damon muttered and moved onto the next box. Again nothing. 'Any luck?'
'Nope.' Scarlett replied. 'I found some mouldy cuddly toys. They must have belonged to a child.'
'We should move onto the next one.' Damon suggested.
'Okay.'
They stepped out of the tent and started to weave their way through the park, passing a number of tents. Some of them looked so bad they were not even worth checking out.
'I feel as though this is pointless,' Damon said.
'Yeah, we should just go to the church and search it.' Scarlett suggested.
Damon paused, searching the terrain around them.
Out of nowhere, the sky filled with bright lights and there was a crackle accompanying the lights. It was so bright, Damon had to look away dazzled. The crackle was not so different from thunder.
Then, the lights and noise only lasted a few seconds before fading entirely, as if it never happened.
Damon rubbed his eyes. 'What was that about?'
'I don't know but I can hear some—' Scarlett started to say but then her words were drowned out by movement. Damon looked ahead, looking beyond the tents. At the edge of the park, there were thick trees. A large figure came bursting out of the trees. Damon saw the enormous head first, pebbled grey-green skin first. An enormous body came bounding into view. Damon gaped at it.
It was a dinosaur.
Not just any dinosaur but it looked like a carnivore of some sort. It looked too small to be a T-Rex but it certainly looked familiar. The large dinosaur paused, sniffing the air.
It certainly did not look zombified but rather fully alive.
The dinosaur bellowed deep and loud yet not striking, like a volcano just before it was about to explode in full rage.
Damon felt his stomach drop.
It would draw any zombies in the nearby vicinity, straight to them.
It then growled, its head panning across the terrain. Then it started to move, drawn to something, moving so fast.
'Look out!' Resh shouted.
'Run!' Damon shouted.
Resh and Rob started running towards the perimeter wall.
'No run towards the church!' Damon shouted but they did not seem to hear.
Bri heard him though.
Damon, Bri, Liam and Scarlett ran towards the church building.
The dinosaur charged after Rob and Resh, knocking down tents and all sorts in the process.
Damon looked away though, focusing on the church.
They came rushing towards the church, pushing away branches and leaves before coming to an opening. Damon fell forwards, catching himself on something that sent him sprawling forwards onto the ground and into a dimly lit room. He glanced upwards seeing feet moving towards him.
'Stay where you are!' Called out a muffled voice.
Damon heard it but did not obey; he pushed himself onto his knees. He saw several figures moving towards them that were masked, carrying crossbows. Two figures held back, holding torches.
'Hands up! All of you!' The voice said. 'We warned you not to move!'
A bolt fired, whizzing through the air so fast that Damon barely registered it.
The next thing he knew, a piercing pain shot through his shoulder. The bolt had hit his arm. He stumbled forwards onto the ground, pain surging through his shoulder.
'Where are you people from?' The voice demanded. They were looking towards Bri, more so than paying attention to Scarlett.
Bri did not respond. Neither did Liam.
'Your friend is going to slowly die, bleed out without any of our medical attention. Now tell us what we want to know.'
Bri said nothing even then. Liam looked as though he was going to say something but one look from Bri changed that.
Another bolt fired, this time plunging into Damon's stomach, taking the wind out of him. He was starting to go in and out of focus. There was so much pain he barely registered what was being said anymore. Pain coursing through his body.
'Your friend is about to die and you won't even help him. All we want to know is where you're from. Where do you live?' The voice was growing more impatient, more agitated. 'We can save your friend if you co-operate.'
A loud crashing sound from outside distracted everyone for a second, followed by a thunderous bellow of the dinosaur. It did not sound too close but close enough.
Damon started to fall forwards, grunting as he hit the ground.
In that moment, there was a blur of movement from his right side, even faster than the bolt, and in seconds Scarlett was behind the main figure. She ripped off his mask tossing it to the ground like a doll, revealing a rugged looking man. He was a red haired with a rough looking ginger beard to match. But Damon could no longer focus with his eyes.
This is it...I'm about to die...Damon thought bitterly.
'You should drop your weapons.' Scarlett warned. 'I will kill you, I don't have too but I will.'
'H-how did you move so fast?' The man said.
'I'm a vampire, so if you all don't lower your weapons, this guy dies.'
'Vampires don't exist.'
'Didn't you just see that dinosaur out there? And the zombies?' Scarlett snapped. 'Now do it!'
The man hesitated.
Scarlett's face changed, her eyes becoming bloodshot, her fangs appearing like magic.
'Fucking hell! Do what she says!' The man shouted.
'Good.' Scarlett said.
Damon felt the darkness closing in but then he felt something strong rolling him onto his back. A familiar face stared down at him and it was last thing he saw.


Damon woke up, after a time. As soon as his eyes opened, he quickly realised there were people around him, including Scarlett.
'I don't believe it. He survived.' Bri spat from somewhere over to the side.
'How long have I been out?' Damon croaked. His throat was dry.
'Less than an hour.' The man said.
'Did you know Scarlett was a vampire?' Bri stalked over to him, raising her voice.
Damon glanced away.
'Bastard and you brought her into our home. She saved your life but not James.' Bri spat with so much hatred. 'Or Scott.' She turned towards Scarlett.
Damon forced himself to his feet, almost falling back down in the process. He was a little bit light headed but there was no pain. 'Calm down.'
'I couldn't save them, they were already infected. I don't know if my blood would help at that point.' Scarlett admitted.
'You didn't even try!'
'Calm down. Let's tone it down a little.' The man said. He was not demanding, more like pleading.
Damon was not sure whether Bri would react. For a moment it looked like she was going to fire the crossbow at someone but to his relief she did not.
'So who are you people? Do you live in this place?' Damon came forwards.
'I'm Micah.' The red head introduced himself. He came across as aggressive in his body language and tone of voice.
It was only then that Damon realised they had all taken off their masks. A mixture of faces stared at Damon as he moved over to Micah. Micah could have been in his forties, but he looked like he was in sixties. Time had not been his ally. He had bags under his eyes but he still looked suspicious of them but Damon could not blame for that. They were living with a vampire and most of the people back home were not even aware of it.
'And the rest of you?' Damon said, hoping it would break some of the tension.
'I'm Fiona.' One of the two women stepped forwards. She had impressive long black curly waves. She looked also in her forties but it was very hard to tell. She had a Caribbean look. 'That over there is my daughter, Larysa.' Larysa almost looked as though she could be her sister; again, it was hard to pin down her exact age. She was donning a denim jacket with rips in it that could have been through either fashion or wear and tear. Both of them looked rough around the edges too, as if they had been through some rough times. Then as his eyes passed around the room, they all did.
'My name is Connor.' A spiky brown haired male, came forwards and he actually offered his hand out to Damon.
Damon took it.
'Sorry for shooting you.' Connor said.
'It's fine. Don't worry about it.' Damon said with a shrug. 'Can't feel any pain what so ever.'
'That's good. And this is my friend, Gareth.' Connor gestured to another guy who was loitering a few feet behind that looked a similar age. Next up were Jon and Violet that are a couple. Finally, last but not least, to introduce herself was a woman called Paige.
'What did you do before the world ended?'
'I was a doctor.' Fiona offered. 'But who are you?'
Ah so they really do have someone that can heal. 'I'm Damon and I worked in the force before the world ended. This is Scarlett and Brianna...' Damon started, gesturing at each. 'There were two others with us. Rob and Resh. Did you look for them?'
'No. It was safer to stay inside for everybody. You were dying so I decided to stay with you.' Scarlett said.
'Shit.' Damon twirled around looking back towards the way they had come. He realised that it had been a door rather than it being a collapsed part of the building. 'We need to get back out there.'
'Okay, you do that then.' Bri said, shaking her head. Liam looked as though he was going to offer but Bri just glared at him and he changed his mind, saying nothing.
'I'll help.' Micah offered.
'Okay.'
Micah opened the door. Damon stepped outside first, into the fresh air. Damon scanned the terrain ahead. There was fresh destruction around them from the dinosaur.
'Where the bitch did that dinosaur come from?' Micah said.
'You've never seen it here before?' Scarlett asked, frowning.
'No.' Micah shook his head. 'I know I like to drink every now and then but I would like to think I would remember something like that ugly bitch.'
'Things are very weird.' Damon admitted.
'First zombies. Now in the same day, a dinosaur and a vampire appear. Sounds like some bad b movie from the 80's or 90's. Things can't get much worse...' Micah said glumly.
Scarlett ignored his remark. 'Where is the dinosaur?'
All their attention was drawn to the perimeter gate and fence that was around the park. A section of it had been crushed entirely. The dinosaur had left the park.
'It's gone.' Micah grumbled.
They walked towards the fence. Damon examined it. It did not take much effort to destroy it. He was still wondering though, what had been the crashing sound?
Damon stepped through the fence and looked down the road.
He soon had his answer.
The barricade had collapsed.
The dinosaur had burst through the barricade in its wake.
It was free.
'Great.'
'What the bitch? That thing is free?' Micah said.
'Looks like it.' Damon replied. 'I can't see any sign of Rob or Resh either.'
Micah looked at Damon, meeting his gaze. 'Maybe it chased them out of the park and up the road.'
It certainly looked that way and probably was true. Damon turned to look at Scarlett, he was going to ask a question but she already looked as though she was in concentration.
'What is it Scarlett?' Damon said.
Scarlett turned, looking at Damon. 'I can't hear the dinosaur nearby at all.'
'It can't have gotten far, surely.' Damon gasped. 'It has to be somewhere.'
'What do you vampires have super hearing?' Micah interjected. 'How is it your even a vampire anyway?'
Scarlett glanced at him. 'I turned before the apocalypse; I was turned by my friend. She didn't want me to ever die, or leave her. I agreed to it.'
'Some friend.' Micah muttered spitting on the ground. 'Then what?'
'Well she helped me control my feeding. She made me feed mainly of animals. Then a day or two before the apocalypse she disappeared. I haven't seen her since.'
'Holy cow. That's really fucking ironic.' Micah snorted, with a cough that followed.
'Why?'
'That she turned you into a vampire so that you wouldn't leave her. Instead she ups and leaves you behind.'
'Oh.' Scarlett looked crestfallen. 'I guess. I'd never really thought of it like that.'
'So how is it that vampires, zombies and dinosaurs all suddenly exist? You didn't cause the apocalypse did ya?'
Scarlett shrugged. 'It was a surprise to me just like everyone else. I didn't want the world to end, I was happy as it was even though I was missing Cora.'
'Shame. It still makes no fucking sense to me. It seems to just get weirder and weirder.' Micah said.
'Do you know what happened to all these people in the park?' Damon asked. 'If they had turned, there should have been hundreds of zombies waiting around. But there wasn't. If they had died then there should have been bodies somewhere.'
'We don't know. We only arrived a year ago. We had come from living in Chorlton. We literally stayed in our house but that is when there were more of us. We had made a makeshift barricade down either end of the street and then some. We struggled to survive, honestly. Winters were bad. We lost many people during those winters. The one before we came here though was the worst of all. I lost my girlfriend. She was sick at the time but it turns out she had been bitten. She just hid it from everybody. She turned when she was sleeping... We had to leave. We kept going. We found this place by sheer luck I guess. There was only a few of us left.' Micah said, looking from Damon to Scarlett. 'When we came there were no bodies, we just collected and found what we needed. Most of it is still in the church at the back.'
'Thanks. You can come with us if you want. We have space for more people in the quarantine zone.'
'I'll let the rest of the group know; we kind of decide things together on things like that.' Micah said. 'I hope you understand but thanks for the offer.'
'I get it.'
'Are you the leader...?'
'No I'm not. The person who runs our quarantine zone, is actually a soldier called Ironside. He's not too bad actually as soldiers go.'
'Ah okay.' Micah said.
A short silence came between them. Damon wished he knew what had happened here.
Was it the same as all the other quarantine zones? How did we survive and no other zone survived? Or did some survive?
Damon wasn't sure what to do now. He could not see Rob or Resh at all either.
'I'm sorry about your friends.' Micah offered.
'It's been a rough few days. We've lost a few people in the last few days. We lost James on our way here to one of those....pregnant zombies.'
'Ah you mean a carrier.'
'Carrier?'
'Yeah because they carry another zombie around inside.'
'Damn.' Damon said.
'It makes sense to us and easier than just calling it pregnant zombies.'
'I see that.' Damon said.
Damon just looked around them. On the other side of the road, running up the road were houses. There were few cars lying about.
'Have you checked any of these buildings out before?' Damon gestured over at them.
'Not really. There is a number of houses here. When we ran out of things from the park, but its likely that the first people that were in the park were from these houses. It could be they left something behind but I'm not totally hopeful on that.' Micah said with a casual shrug but there was an edge there. Defensive? Secretive? Or something else?
'Okay then.' Damon said.
'We should head back. I don't want to be in the open if that thing comes back open.' Micah said.
'You can, there is a good chance that maybe they ran towards the houses and holding up in one of them.'
'Damn that's a lot of ground to cover. Surely they would come back out looking for you once it was safe.'
'Maybe. I should probably check on Bri first.' Damon said, narrowing his eyes momentarily before relaxing.
'Okay then.' Micah said, and he sounded a little bit more relaxed then. If he tried to hide it, it certainly did not come off.
Micah walked ahead,
Damon followed slowly.
Damon wanted to look at those houses, but Micah probably would not let him out of his sight.
Scarlett, however...
Scarlett, trailed behind them as they crossed back into the park. She was fine for about ten paces but then she paused, stopping in her tracks.
'What's the matter?' Damon asked.
'I think I hear movement.' Scarlett said, looking back towards the trees that bordered the fence. Damon watched. 'What is it?'
'I'm not sure.' Scarlett said but then as they watched two figures emerged from the trees. They ran up to them. It was Rob and Resh.
Damon embraced Rob with a hug. 'It's good to see that you're still alive.'
'Same to you.' Rob replied as he pulled away. He looked okay; he had a few scratches here and there, and dirt. His eyes flickered over to Micah, and then his face turned to surprise.
'A survivor?' Rob said.
'I'm Micah.' Micah
'There's a group of survivors holding up in the church.'
'Ah okay.'
'How you doing Resh?' Damon said.
'I am just fucking wondering what happened to that dinosaur thing. Where did it come from? Where the hell is it?'
'It broke through the barricade, it could be anywhere now.' Damon said trying to stay calm, but Resh was starting to lose it.
'Am I the only one that doesn't think this is totally insane?' Resh placed his hands on his head, breathing loudly. 'This is totally messed up. What the fuck is going on?'
'I don't know but Resh take it easy...'
'Take it easy? We lost James...Eugene...Scott...we get chased by a fucking dinosaur. How can I take it easy? What else will this alien world throw at us?' He dropped to his knees, his hands going to his face. He screamed, yelling at the top of his voice.
Shit, Damon thought. Scarlett and Micah looked from Resh to Damon expecting him to do something.
Damon hesitated unsure what to do or say but then Rob took charge. Rob approached him and tried to reach out to him by placing a hand on him but Resh shoved him away.
'Don't touch me.' He said, sobbing. 'There has...to be an explanation for all this.'
Rob backed off then.
'If there is one, we aren't going to find it out here, Resh.' Damon said.
'Why did I survive? My family are all gone...' Resh mumbled. 'James is gone too now. And for what?'
'We have to head inside, we aren't safe out here.' Damon insisted, raising his voice.
It seemed to have little effect on Resh. Resh was still sobbing. 'It's all pointless...I can't take this...anymore.' Resh said.
'We can't give up now.' Damon said, edging closer. Rob was looking uncomfortable and Micah was even worse.
'Guys...I can hear them coming.'
'Them?' Damon said, as Resh continued wallow in his self-pity. Resh didn't seem as though he was going to move.
'Look!' Scarlett pointed towards the trees, the same direction as where the dinosaur had come. Instead, there were zombies coming through the gap in the trees, slowly ambling along. Damon lost count after ten. They were all spreading out across the field, searching for prey.
'We need to get moving, like right now.' Micah said, and he took a couple of small steps towards the church. 'They are coming for us!'
Even that, did not seem to make Resh move at first.
Damon had enough of it. He closed the gap between them and grabbed Resh by the arm.
Resh turned, snapped, trying to yank his hand free. 'Let go of me!'
'The dead are coming right now. Look!' Damon shouted, and then hit him in the arm. 'Get up or you're going to die. You'll die before you'll ever get your answers.'
Resh stared at him in the eyes with disgust.
Damon considered for a moment leaving Resh behind for a moment with that blank face of his.
Then something changed in him. He suddenly had a spark in his eye.
Damon offered him a hand and to both his surprise and relief, Resh took it. Resh stood up, spinning around.
'Finally.' Scarlett said.
Micah was already ahead, sprinting towards the church.
Damon ran, trying to keep up, as did Resh and Rob.
They sprinted towards the church with the dead incoming.
Micah barrelled through the door first, tumbling down to the ground. He was shouting for them to close the door.
Scarlett overtook them through the middle, stopping with such grace then spinning around to look at them. She eyed them both. 'You're both really slow. I could have done that with my hands tied behind my back and my eyes closed and still beaten you both.'
'Good for you.' Damon said, panting, turning back to the exit.
Two of the guys had gone over to lock the door, bolting it securely.
'We made it.' Rob muttered, then he suddenly seemed to realise there were other people around him. 'Who are you guys?'