Tim of the Dead.

Chapter Five : Death of a Hero.

Tim's life flashed before his eyes. Zombies were everywhere, and he could see himself shooting them with a large shotgun, laughing hysterically. Then he saw himself sitting on his sofa, playing on his Playstation. Marsha was sat next to him wearing a very low cut top. She leant towards him and whispered "Stop shooting and put that down Tim". Obeying, he turned to face her, their faces just inches apart. They moved closer and Marsha opened her mouth…

"Tim! Stop shooting and put that down!" Marsha shouted.

Tim opened his eyes. There was red paint dripping from the van roof where the paintballs had hit. His right hand ached where he'd been holding the paint ball pistol too tight. The magazine was empty. He blushed almost as red and the ceiling. Looking around, he saw Daisy was dazed, but Colin was just sat next to her, panting gently. If it were possible for a dog to smile, Colin seemed to be laughing at him.

Tim twisted to look in the back of the van. "Is anyone hurt?" he asked.

"No." replied Marsha. "Luckily Brian saved us all from injury."

"How?"

"He threw himself in front of us, cushioning our impact."

"No I didn't!" moaned Brian. "You lot jumped on me!"

"You know what they say Brian," smiled Tim, "you have to suffer for your art!"

"That's not funny."

"Got any more ammunition for that shotgun?" Tim asked.

"Sorry, Tim, that was the only cartridge." Replied Twist.

"That's what I thought. Mike must have taken the rest with him."

Tim checked out of the window. There were zombies all over the high street, but none of them seemed to be taking any notice of the van. He tried to get his bearings from the shops that still had signs above the doors. He recognised a second hand shop which was close to the Fantasy Bazaar, where he and Bilbo worked. There, on the opposite side of the road was the shop. On the opposite side of the road filled with zombies.

Reading his mind, Daisy asked "How are we going to get across?"

Tim checked the ammunition in Mike's paint ball guns. "We'll wait for a gap in the crowd and make a run for it. Bilbo's in there, I can feel it."

As if answering some silent code, Bilbo's face appeared in the window of the door. He spotted Tim in the van and waved. Tim tried his best sign language to tell Bilbo they were going to run across the street. Bilbo pulled a puzzled face. "What?" he mouthed. Tim tried again, miming very slowly.

Still puzzled, Bilbo opened the door and shouted "What?" at the top of his voice.

Several zombies turned to face him.

"We're coming over!" shouted Tim. The zombies turned to face the van.

"Got any food?" shouted Bilbo. The zombies turned their ashen faces back to the shop.

"Yeah, we got supplies!" shouted Daisy, showing him her basket of crisps and chocolate.

"Come on then!" shouted Bilbo.

"We're going to run for the shop!" cried Tim into the back of the van. All the doors of the van flew open and they all run for the other side of the street, dodging the flailing arms of zombies.

Colin got there first and ran past Bilbo. Then Marsha, who was surprising quick on her feet when it came to escaping death, and Brian helped Twist to fight off a couple of old men as they made their way over, swinging their shopping baskets at them.

Tim watched Daisy in front of him fall in slow motion. He skidded to a halt in the middle of the road and helped her to stand again. They ran for the Fantasy Bazaar with zombies closing in from both sides. Tim lifted the pistols and fired at anything that moved, accidentally catching Daisy on the side of the head with a paint pellet.

"Ouch!" screamed Daisy, stopping and turning to Tim. "That bloody hurt!"

"Sorry!" apologised Tim. They stared at each other for a second, then remembered where they were and started running again. Ten feet from the door, Tim felt a hand catch his shoulder as he watched Daisy disappear into the doorway, Bilbo beckoning him inside. He twisted, shaking the hand away and fired both pistols at the woman behind him. Another hand tried to get hold of his head, but only succeeded in pulling his hat off, which fell to the floor just outside the door.

Pushing the hands away, he backed towards the door and squeezed past Bilbo, who pushed on the door as hard as he could. Just before the door was fully closed, Tim's hand shot out and grabbed his favourite hat from the pavement, and the door slammed shut.

"Quick! Barricade the door! Do you have a back door?" cried Daisy.

"No." replied Bilbo. "Shops with backdoors cost more to rent."

They all rested on the floor, panting. Marsha opened a bottle of vodka and took a large swig, offering it to everyone, who politely refused.

"Bilbo! Good to see you're alright!" Tim said, giving him a hug. Bilbo returned the hug, but then they both realised everyone else was watching them and stepped back again.

"What are you doing here on a Sunday?" asked Daisy. "I thought you never opened on Sundays."

"I don't open the shop. Just go through the stock." He quickly covered up an open comic on the counter. Daisy noticed the title : 'Xena, warrior princess'.

"Stock. Right."

"What's the plan then Tim?" Bilbo said, quickly changing the subject.

"We need double A batteries for the walkie-talkie so we can contact Mike to rescue us. Do you have any?"

Bilbo stared at him, holding his hands out. "Tim, this is a comic shop. There's nothing here that takes double A batteries!"

There was a small beep from behind the counter.

"What was that?" Tim asked.

"What was what?" replied Bilbo. "Must have been one of the zombies at the door, or maybe a rat. Yeah, that's right, it was a rat. Make all kinds of strange noises, rat do."

There was another beep, followed by a few chirps and whistles.

Bilbo backed towards the counter, trying to block Tim's view. On the shelf behind the glass counter, between two towering stacks of comics, was a small white cylindrical robot with a silver domed head.

"No, Tim. Not R2!" pleaded Bilbo.

"Sorry Bilbo. Sacrifices have to be made."

"But he's so small and helpless!" cried Bilbo.

"Don't worry Bilbo. He'll have a good send off, and he's dying for a good cause."

Bilbo wiped a tear from his cheek as Tim gently lifted the R2 D2 model from the shelf. The others gathered round Bilbo, patting his shoulder and offering words of sympathy.

Tim placed the chirping robot on the counter and eased off the battery cover from the back of its head. He reached in with a finger and pulled at one of the batteries. The chirping went silent and the little red light in the silver dome faded, and then went out completely.

Tim pulled the small radio out of his back pocket and pushed the batteries inside. Flicking it on, he called Mike.

"Tim!" said Mike's muffled voice. "Thought you might have had it! Just rolled past Meteor Street. The house has been flattened."

Overhearing the conversation, Marsha's ears pricked up. "What?" She cried.

"Oh, hi Marsha." Said Mike. "Yeah, sorry about the house. The tank seemed to have a mind of it's own for a moment there. Sorry. Where are you?"

"We're at the Fantasy Bazaar on the high street."

Tim turned at the sound of the window smashing. Several arms were reaching into the shop, trying to catch hold of anything they could.

"Situation looks grim!"

"Stay put and stay alive. I'm coming to get you!"

Brian ran to the back of the shop, grabbed something and ran back to the window, waving two klingon swords over his head.

"No!" cried Bilbo, just as Brian was about hit one of the zombies over the head with the weapons. "You can't use them!"

"Why?" shouted Brian over his shoulder. His blow connected with a pale head and the swords disintegrated into a thousand pieces.

"Because they're made of plastic." Said Bilbo, sighing.

"Well, what can we use?"

"I have just the thing."

Bilbo went behind the counter and through the doors painted to look like Doctor Who's Tardis. He returned a second later carrying something long and thin, covered with a dirty cloth. He laid it on the counter and carefully uncovered it.

"Behold, the actual sword used in the first Highlander film."

"Ah, the original!" Sighed Bilbo and Tim together.

Brian lifted it to gauge its weight and smiled. "Nice."

Swinging it round his head, he ran for the window, slicing and chopping and stabbing.

"Is that really the actual sword they used in the film?" Asked Tim.

"Well, that's what the insurance people think." Smiled Bilbo, winking at him.

As Brian was busy hacking at the arms at the window, the others became aware of a low rumbling noise, which seemed to get louder and louder with every minute that passed. There were other noises accompanying the rumbling, such as gunfire, laughing and the occasional explosion.

Tim ran to the door and peered up and down the high street. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. Was he seeing what he thought he was seeing? He looked again. There, in the distance but rumbling ever closer, was a tank. It was covered with soldiers, who were firing at anything that staggered in front of their sight. In the commander's seat at the top of the turret, sat a man with a round face and a moustache. Mike!

"Hey everyone! Mike's here!" Cried Tim.

Everyone jumped and cheered. Marsha hugged Brian, who shrugged off her bear hug to cuddle Twist. Bilbo hugged the little R2 D2. Daisy hugged Tim, but then they both realised what they were doing and let go. Then they realised Marsha was watching them and hugged again, jumping for joy.

The tank rolled to a stop outside Bilbo's shop. A dozen zombies were still trying to get through the broken window. Mike, standing up on top of the tank waved everyone to stand back.

Bilbo led the way into the back room through the Tardis and closed the door behind him. There was a deafening sound of gun fire, bullets flying everywhere. After the sound had died down (and after their ears had stopped ringing), Tim popped his head through the doors to find himself staring down the barrel of Mike's M16 rifle. A red dot appeared on Tim's forehead.

"Are you alright Tim?" Mike asked cautiously.

"I am now mate. Thanks for rescuing us!" Tim took a step forward.

"Have you, or any of your party, been bitten by a zombie?"

"What? No, we've not been bitten."

"Can we do another strip search Sergeant?" said a voice behind Mike.

"I think we might have to Wilkins." Replied Mike over his shoulder.

Tim felt his knees buckle. "What?" he said weakly.

"I'm game!" said Marsha, popping her head through the blue doors.

"Nah," said Mike, looking at Marsha. "I don't think we need to do that."

Mike smiled at Tim and gave him a quick hug, as manly as he could.

"Looks like some more enemy approaching, Sergeant!" Shouted one of the soldiers from the tank.

"Right then. All aboard!" said Mike, waving them out of the shop.

As they got outside, Mike helped them climb up onto the tank.

"Sorry about your van, Mike." Said Tim.

"Don't worry about it. I've Got some new wheels now." Mike answered, patting the side of the tank. He handed Tim a shotgun. Tim smiled.

Once they were all on the tank it sped up the high street with a jolt.

Tim looked behind them but couldn't se any more zombies.

"I though he said the enemy was approaching?" Tim asked Mike.

"They are." Replied Mike, pointing.

Tim squinted and saw what he was pointing at. There was another tank, right at the far end of the high street.

Mike smiled at him. "Had to borrow the wheels." He shrugged.

Tim laughed. "So, what's the plan?"

"Well," said Mike. "Most of England has been infected with zombies, so we've got to get out."

Tim sighed. "You don't mean…?"

Mike smiled back at him. "That's right Tim. Disneyland Paris here we come!"

The end.