Chapter 10

"It is under the agreement of the British Government that no one is to go outside. Do not open the door to anyone. If any of your friends or family show symptoms related to high fever, coughing blood, intense muscle pain and fatigue, seizures, pale or grey skin, please remove yourself from their company immediately, for your safety. All police forces are currently doing their best to control the situation, please stay patient."

Dent turned up the radio.

"The cities we have lost contact with include London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol and Leicester; we will keep you updated as we receive more data." There was a low buzz from the radio and the fireman pounded his fist against it once to force it to regain signal, "communication with the royal family has also been lost as the gates of Buckingham Palace were run down earlier this evening."

Marie was quiet, her fists clenched tight around the rosary on her neck, her brother would be there. Right in the thick of it. Beauregard was strong… but even she didn't know if he could survive such a catastrophe… The only thing she could do was pray.

"We ask that anyone heading towards London to avoid the city at all costs, authorities have closed as many entrance roads as possible to contain the spread of the disease."

Dent sighed, "well that's our plan out the window."

The fireman took the opportunity to pull his fire engine onto the hard shoulder. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and turned to the quiet sister. After unplugging his seatbelt, he spoke softly, "let me have a look at your ankle, sister."

With a small nod, Marie raised her feet onto the seat, untying the laces of her boot. Dent tenderly took the small foot in his hand, her skin fiery against his cold touch. With his thumb he traced the skin of her ankle, watching her face closely for any signs of pain.

"Ah!" Marie gritted her teeth as his fingers traced a sensitive area.

"You did a number on your foot, it's very swollen." He grinned, "I think it's a sprain, but you may have broken something, you'll have to keep the weight off it for a while."

"You know first aid?"

"I'm a fireman, we're all trained in immediate medical attention techniques." Dent reached up to the shelf above his seat and pulled out a small green first aid box, he rummaged through the messy contents until he found a roll of bandages and a packet of painkillers. He handed Mari the tablets and a silver can of Monster from his door, "sorry this is all I have to drink at the moment, my bag is somewhere in the back."

"It's okay," Marie knocked back the tablets with a mouthful of the energy drink, blue eyes growing wide at the instant hit of caffeine. She coughed, "Woah."

Dent couldn't stop himself laughing as he tightly wrapped the compression bandage around Marie's ankle.

"So… Dent?"

"Yeah."

"Where's the rest of your team? Surely you can't be the only fireman to man this vehicle."

Somehow, the smile never left the man's cheeks were a set of dimples sat either side of his lips, "we got a call from the police asking for any type of back up we could provide. But we were attacked before we had the chance to leave, I was the only one to make it out of the station. The station manager told me to leave and help whoever I could, I was only driving around for about ten minutes when I saw St Margaret's on fire, but I came across you before I could get any closer."

"Thank you."

"If I can save just one person, I have done my job well." Dent finished his first aid and patted the dashboard, "put your foot up there, keep it elevated."

They were silent for a while, both working out what to say to one another.

"So, do you know if there's another place we can go?" Dent asked.

Marie shook her head, "all my family are back in Dover. The only brother I had a chance of meeting is in London. What about you?"

"Two sisters." There was a sigh, "but they're both holidaying in America with their other halves."

"Oh…"

Dent waved it off, "I'll contact them later, we have to get somewhere safe first, we can't spend the night on the road." He looked out the window towards the large blue sign, "so we can either head north past Dartford or south-west on the M25 around London."

Marie didn't know if the choice she was about to make was going to be the best for them both, "I want to stay around London for a while, I need to see if I can get in touch with Beauregard before we leave."

"Fair enough." Dent started the engine and pulled back onto the motorway. He then spoke, "I have an ex-girlfriend in Guildford, I still have her house key, maybe we should head there?"

"Guildford?" Mari raised an eyebrow, "ex-girlfriend?"

"Yeah, it's only about an hour from London so we can find out about Beauregard and stay quite close."

Marie nodded, "seems like a good option then."

Dent nodded in agreement before bursting out into laughter, "let's just pray she's not there."

"Why?"

A sheepish grin grew on his lips, "she broke up with me because she found out my full name, she then processed to accuse me of cheating on her because I spent too long working; I was station in London at the time."

Marie spluttered a laugh, "your full name?"

"Yeah, did you think my name was Dent?"

"I mean, I don't know what your parents were thinking when they named you.

The two laughed again, a warmth growing.

It was a restless night sleep for most of the group, the memories of the day before assaulting their dreams, making them relive every single monstrous experience.

Issac sharply sat up, a dirty layer of sweat shining on his tanned skin. He looked around; the others were still asleep, enclosed within their warmth. He felt sick; there were no words to describe anything they had been through. He rolled from the sofa, lightly placing his feet on the carpeted floor. The sudden urge to pee hit his bladder like a train and Issac jumped up, tiptoeing from the room as quietly as he could. To reach the door he had to step over a sprawled-out Jack on the floor. There was a rumble as someone snored loudly and Issac froze struggling to maintain his balance; he did not want to wake anyone up.

Certain people would probably shoot him if he woke them up.

He whipped around; eyes wide as he checked to see if anyone had woken.

Thankfully, everyone still either snored, drooled or hugged a cushion to death.

"Phew..." A pang shot through his bladder, "crap... bathroom."

He bounced from the room and into the dust-free hallway, the sun shining through the door's window, creating colourful patterns on the floor. After getting distracted by the prettiness, it took him a moment to realised he had no idea where the bathroom was.

"Fuck."

It became a panic. There were too many doors to count on the ground floor alone, the was a chance he wouldn't make it to the bathroom in time. Why did the freaking guy have to live in such a big home?

The doorway right if the stairs led to a large dining room – he had gotten a sneak-peek when they first arrived - while the one left of the square hallway was the lounge. But there was more, one he assumed was a kitchen and another three that were completely unknown.

It was insane.

"Fuck!"

It took trying three of the unknown doors to find the bathroom, after entering what seemed like a miniature library that was part of an office first, and a room that was dedicated to gaming consoles and a large TV second.

There was a struggle for the young Scottish man to not slam the bathroom door, he was busting to pee, bladder struggling.

"Woah." Issac lost his train of thought once again as the bathroom sparkled before his eyes, "you could eat food off this floor..."

But all thoughts could wait as he saw the toilet, taking a piss was the most important thing. After what felt like the greatest piss if his life, he turned to get a look in the mirror above the sink. Saying he looked like shit was an understatement, dirt was caked across his skin with dried sweat, his curly knots of hair still tinged red from the pools of blood he had fallen in. There was also a stench stuck to him, one that felt like it would never leave no matter how much he scrubbed.

He couldn't imagine what everyone else looked like. They were all in need of a shower.

Issac wondered if he could pop into the shower, it was so very tempting. But there was this nagging at the back of his mind that Keith would yell at him. He let out a loud sigh and rested against the sink.

A growl resonated from his stomach; boy was he hungry.

He could easily find the kitchen. Keith wouldn't mind if he munched on something... right?

He left the bathroom and wandered for one of the doors he was yet to try. However, one was slightly open, which he had not noticed during his desperate urination episode. Light seeped from the room, always with a low voice that was singing gently.

It was a voice that even with a Spanish accent he knew anywhere.

"¡A ella le gusta la gasolina, dame más gasolina, como le encanta la gasolina!"

Issac pushed open the door and poked his head into the kitchen. He immediately saw Seth by the kettle, a soft smile sat on his lips and his hips rolling in circles with the song. Isaac had known Seth for way too long and the years had flown by, but that did not stop the weirdness he got when he looked at Seth. Seth was incredibly open about himself, something Issac never had a problem with, but it made it so much harder to think about what was going on with himself.

Not that currently, his sexuality was the biggest problem in the world. Because… zombies were eating every living person he cared for. He could wait a few days.

"Seth… What are you doing?"

The singing suddenly stopped, the Scottish accent returned, "ah, Issac! Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, I had to pee."

"Okay. Did you sleep well?"

"Not really..."

"Yeah, someone snores like a bulldozer."

"That's you…"

"Lies!"

They shared a laugh; it lifted the heaviness in the air.

"Have you been awake long?"

Seth nodded, "I have to wake up by nine at the latest every morning to make sure I have my morning insulin and I couldn't sleep anyway. I was also going to raid the cupboards for some breakfast… I'm hungry, mi pequeño mierda be damned."

"I'll join you for eating food if it'll piss Keith off."

There was a grin from Seth, he held out the KwikPen to Issac, "so dear amigo, do want to stab me?"

Issac clasp a hand over his chest and gasped, "Seth… we've known each other for so long. I never thought you would ask me something like this."

"Ah, Issac. I'm so used to you being mean to me that this affection may just fulfil my heart."

"Screw you, you masochist."

The blonde was grinning as he received a hearty slap from the smaller male. Despite the violence, Issac took the pen gently. It was lighter than he thought it would be. Seth pulled off his pink shirt and placed it on the side, Issac locked in on the large tattoo dragon silhouette that covered his entire left side. It was a masterpiece against the tanned skin.

But then his eyes went higher and onto a silver metal piercing.

"When the fuck did you get that?"

"Hm?"

Issac pointed to Seth's nipple, "that."

"Oh, why you wanna know?" Seth wiggled his eyebrows.

"Just curious. Also, I'm sure you didn't have it last year."

The grin disappeared and it was replaced with a sad sigh, "you remember Luca?"

"Dude you started dating in college?"

"Yep, I've always wanted one and he persuaded me."

Issac remembered Seth's ex-boyfriend, he was a sweet guy. But one day he just disappeared off the face of the earth, around the same year that he started at the same university as Seth. The brunette shuffled over to the counter and pulled out one of the stools to sit on, "what happened to him?"

"The normal. After four years with him, I mess up big time."

And that was where the conversation ended.

"So… Are you gonna stab me or what?"

"Ah, yeah." The younger man quirked an eyebrow as he no realised why Seth was topless, "I thought it goes into your thigh."

There was a shake of the head, "I have to rotate, plus I think I was a little vicious with the injection last night, I'm a little bruised and tender."

"Oh, you poor, poor man child."

"Cállate," Seth then pointed to his abdomen, a couple of inches to the left of his belly button, "push the needle end in and press the button. There should be three clicks then you can pull it out, or you can just wait ten seconds."

Issac did take a little bit of pleasure stabbing the older man. Though Seth did not react to the needle entering his skin, after all, it was a daily occurrence for him. Deep down, it still bugged Issac that Seth had never told him that he had such a life-threatening issue. A minute later Seth was packing away the pen and Issac was preparing a warm drink for them both.

After pulling his shirt back on Seth sat on the stool next to Issac, sipping the cup of tea.

Issac sighed, "have you seen how big this house is?"

"No?"

"There's this massive bathroom just on the left outside of here, and like this office with a library and a freaking gaming room."

"Keith's a little rich kid isn't he..."

"And he's letting us stay here out of the goodness of his very tiny asshole heart, so just play nice for now." Jack stood in the kitchen doorway stretching up to the frame as he yawned. "Morning. You guys alright?"

"Yeah, still tired." Issac stared into his warm drink, waiting for the caffeine to hit. Jack walked into the kitchen and started snooping around the cupboards, he was not impressed with the lack of food he found. They needed some serious restocking if everyone was going to a decent meal.

"Mew!"

"Eh?" Issac stared between them, "Seth did you just meow at me?"

"No?"

Jack then gasped as a small, white cat with stumpy legs wrapped itself around his ankles, "he... has... a cat..."

With stars in his eyes Jack immediately bent down and scooped the small feline into his arms, he hugged it tightly. The cat made no effort to protest and instead started to purr loudly.

"Nico!" A call from the hallway yelled, "Nico, where are you?"

Jack turned and came face to face with Keith, Jack couldn't contain his joy when he saw a large long-haired cat sat over both of Keith's shoulders. The taller male was immediately in front of Keith, stroking the cat and grinning as it purred.

Keith leant back, "uh, why do you have my cat?"

Jack held the white cat closer, "he's mine now."

"Don't strangle him."

Keith wandered into the kitchen and stared at Issac and Seth, "you both stink."

"Well," Seth picked up his shirt and waved it about, "we don't have a change of clothes, unfortunately."

Keith frowned, before grabbing a mug from the cupboard and spooning a good few tablespoons of coffee granules into it before adding the warm water. He took a large gulp then spoke, "you could have taken a shower, I wouldn't have minded."

"Eh?" Well, that was a surprise.

"Though... I don't think any of my clothes will fit you. You'll have to wait until we go get supplies."

"Nothing like spending a few days in gross clothing to ease our nerves." Jack smiled.

"Guys it's like eight in the morning..." Lane slumped against the door frame, "how are you all awake when we only went to sleep a few hours ago?"

"Medicine."

"Caffeine."

"Sleep is for the weak."

"Seth's snoring."

"Hey!"

Lane shook her head, now that she was awake, she could not go back to sleep. She eyed the kettle, "so, is there something warm up for grabs?"

Keith walked to the dining table and perched on the corner, "help yourself."

Jack learnt over to Seth and Issac, whispering as he stroked the cat's fur, "has Keith mellowed out a little?"

There was a slow nod from both boys.

The cat on Keith's shoulders suddenly jumped across the table, launching themselves over the gap and landing on the counter next to Lane with the loud meow. Lane jumped, almost knocking over her mug, "Woah!"

"Rico!" Keith called, "no, down!"

"Your cats are called Rico and Nico?" Issac asked.

"Don't judge the beautiful creatures!" Jack defended, he started making kissing sounds as he rubbed the smaller cats chin.

The larger cat was closing in on Lane, eyes big and round. He stared up at the girl, knowing that she was in the need of some TLC. Lane gently patted his head, "what does he want?"

Keith knocked back the rest of his coffee, "he's a therapy cat, he knows when people are stressed or uncomfortable and wants to help them by giving them the attention and love they need."

Lane smiled down at the animal, running her fingers through Rico's thick brown fur. He was beautiful. It hit home a little; there was an animal back in London she had left behind after all. No matter what…. She wanted them back.

"Nico is one as well, but he's so vain he cares for nothing but his own pleasure."

The rest of the morning past slowly, the small gathering in the kitchen growing as the sun rose into the sky.

"Please tell me there is some food or something in here." Drake started going through as many of the cupboards much like Jack before him, Keith spared no energy in stopping him. After a few minutes, Drake slammed one of the cupboards shut and growled, "why the hell is the only thing you buy sweets, cakes, biscuits and fizzy drinks?"

"How do you know what I buy?"

Drake's eyes narrowed, "you literally came through ASDA yesterday buying nothing that even resembled a vegetable!"

"Oh, that's true, I did." Keith lazily looked at Drake.

"You infuriate me!"

"And as I said before the feeling is oh so mutual!"

Beauregard suddenly appeared in the doorway, a dark aura surrounding him. Someone didn't get a good night's sleep. He frowned, "my threat of gushy feelings still stands, don't push me! I would much rather be asleep right now, but Drake… your voice carries, and it has woken pretty much everyone up."

The two fell silent, both raising their arms in surrender.

"Keith, food, what you got?"

Keith shrugged, "A bit of everything, but it's only me and my dad that live here so definitely not enough for all of us."

"You said something about shops?"

"Yeah, there's a Sainsbury's and B&Q in Guilford."

"We need a plan of action. We get food, we get other supplies, we move on."

"Move on?" Keith asked, "and go where exactly?"

"Anywhere."

"But it's fine here."

"It won't be forever."

"You don't know that."

"We can't say here Keith."

"Other people have families too. We have to make sure the others have the chance of finding out whether the people they love are still alive."

Drake hissed, "you don't have to come."

"Then I won't." Keith picked up Rico and stomped over to Jack before promptly snatching Nico. He reached the kitchen door and stopped, there was a moment he looked as if he was going to say something. Yet, he stopped himself and left the room silently.

"Drake, seriously?"

"What?"

"Never mind." Beauregard shook his head, "let's go make a battle plan, tomorrow is where the real hard work begins."

So, this chapter was supposed to be updated straight after the previous as the last one was an April fools Jokes, but a lot of things got in the way. University is the big one, then university strikes, then COVID 19, which I hope you are all staying well and safe… and then my home life took a turn for the worse. I'm also no longer in contact with my proof-reader which really doesn't help and so there is likely to be more grammatical errors than normal, just everything is a bit of a mess.

This chapter is by far the one I hate the most so far. Hence, I actually cut it short by about 3000 words, I cut out so much useless shit because it wasn't important to the plot of the story, so that's why it feels a little abrupt here and there. Every character was supposed to be in this chapter, but due to the cuts…. Yeah sorry. I don't know what it is but I feel like this is the worst one I've written yet. And my mood doesn't really help. But, saying this, I love the next few chapters. I finally get to write about the characters kicking arse again!

So thanks for reading and hope you're all still around!