Survival Of The Fittest by Catherine Holland (novel24 .TXT) 📖

the car, then picked up the loaded gun from her lap, and got out of the car.

She kept her car door open, clicked the safety off of her gun, raised it, and cautiously approached the broken down car, "Hello?" She called, nobody answered her, she looked back at her car and saw her brother looking out of the open window. "Hello? Anybody there?" She called again, her brother called, "Gabby, there's someone in the car, I've just seen them move." She stuck her thumb up, to let her brother know she'd seen something as well.

Gabby was woken up by a banging noise, she opened her eyes and raised the gun, looking cautiously around her, before making sure that Angel was still asleep. She then cautiously got up from the floor, cradling Angel in her arms, as she investigated the source of the noise.

The plexi-glass out at the front of the office was still holding, the infected beating relentlessly on the closed and locked, fireproof door, as well as the glass. But that wasn't the source of the noise, Gabby returned to the side office and saw that Danni was awake.

Danni silently held her arms out for Angel, and Gabby said, "She should sleep for a good few hours, hopefully until the storm breaks, but don't forget to eat something." Dannie nodded and accepted the slight weight of Angel, then held her close to her chest. Gabby walked back out of the side office and into the kitchen.

Daryl was waiting for her there, and said, "You never answered my question, earlier." Gabby looked at him, the banging noise echoing loudly around them, she then replied, "Out of the three promises I made him, I've kept one." She then walked towards the toilets, and paused, then said, "My brother knows that I always keep my promises, my mother knew that as well, I failed her, but I won't fail him, he's all I've got left."

She then shook her head, stiffened her shoulders, took the safety off of her gun, and unlocked the back door, then stepped outside, closing the door behind her, and entering the dimly lit alleyway.

 

Chapter Five

Gabby discovered the source of the noise a few moments later, the infected were gripping the metal bars and shaking them, every now and again, one of the infected would run straight towards the metal gates, only to be pushed backwards on impact.

A few seconds later, it happened again, it would have been comical under different circumstances, but with every impact, and the infected blood spraying everywhere in a thick arch, it was clear that the infected were looking for another way in.

Gabby was soaked to the bone within two minutes, the occassional flashes of lightning were illuminating the alleyway, and the frantic, almost desperately violent attacks on the metal gates. More of the infected started running at the gates, and Gabby moved forwards.

She knew that she would have to kill those infected, before the sheer force of their numbers, and the relentless attacks, caused the metal gates to crumble under the pressure. Gabby moved forwards and took the gun from the waistband of her jeans, she took the safety off, then raised the gun. Which was when she encountered a problem.

The gaps in the metal bars were too small, the bullets would just get stuck, or worse, create holes, there was, however, a slim gap at the bottom of the gates, but that would mean Gabby would be wasting bullets, and exposing herself to the risk of infected blood.

She didn't want to risk having the infected blood near her, and yet, she knew that the metal gates wouldn't hold for much longer under the constant pressure. What she needed, was something that would kill the infected, but not damage the bars too much.

Gabby turned around and headed back into the office, she ignored the looks from both Daryl and Dominic, and went straight to her back pack, where she pulled out a medium-sized bottle, a box of matches and a piece of cloth. She moved to the sink, where she held the cloth, and poured some of the liquid over it.

She placed the rag, the bottle and the matches on the small drainer, then zipped up her bag, and turned to face the two men, Daryl looked at her, and said, "What do you plan to do with that?" Gabby looked at him, and replied, "If I time it right, then I intend to set the infected on fire, it will hopefully distract them from running at the gates."

Dominic said, "Will it work?" Gabby shrugged, "I hope so, if not, then we'll have to wait for the storm to break, and kill them all then, but I highly doubt that the gates will last that long." The two men nodded, and then watched as Gabby walked out of the office and into the rain. She stopped a few feet away from the infected blood, and looked at the alcohol soaked rag in her hands.

She then stepped dangerouslt close to the metal bars, held the bottle in her hand, and squeezed the flammable liquid over the infected. Once the bottle was empty, she dropped it to the floor, and fumbled with the matches, she finally got one lit, then touched the flame to the cloth and watched as it caught fire.

She waited until the infected ran at the gates, then pressed the burning cloth through the sllim gaps, and watched as the infected's clothing caught fire, as the infected backed away, he bumped into another infected, and passed the flame along.

Gabby held her breath, waiting, watching, hoping, then letting her breath out slowly in relief as the flame jumped from infected to infected. She stood and watched for a long moment, the rain soaking into her clothes and skin, and as she watched the flames, she let her memories come to the surface:

Gabby approached the car from the left-hand side, and tapped on the window, after a moments delay, the window rolled down, and a teenager stuck her head out of the window, Gabby lowered the gun and smiled, then said, "Are you OK?"

The girl hesitated, then shook her head, she looked behind her, and said, "We tried setting out for the docks early this morning, my parents thought it would be the best time to try. The sun was just rising when the infected attacked us, they formed a circle we couldn't drive through, so my parents told me to get in the front and drive away, whilst they distracted them.

"The screaming was horrible, and it lasted for so long, I started driving away, but I hit one of the infected and damaged the car, I got as far away as I could before the engine died on me, and we've been sitting here ever since, with the doors and the windows locked. The infected eventually passed us, and kept on going, it's as though we weren't here, our parents were walking with the infected, you're the first living people we've seen in hours." Gabby smiled and clicked the safety on, then said, "Myself, and my brother are heading for the docks, you're both welcome to join us, if you like?" The teenager nodded gratefully, then opened the back door.

She climbed out and took her younger sister's hand, then grabbed two duffel bags and a back pack, the teenager glanced at the gun in Gabby's hand, and said, "Were you really going to use that?" She stuck the gun in the waistband of her jeans, and replied, "Yes, if you had designed a trap for us, or tried to steal my car." The teenager gripped her sister's hand a little tighter, and remained silent, they climbed into the back of her car, and buckled themselves in. Gabby got into the front seat, closed her door and headed on up the motorway.

The four of them were silent for a long while, then Gabby said, "What are your names?" The teenager replied, "I'm Sophia, and this is my sister, Natalia." Gabby nodded, "My name is Gabby, and this is my brother, Seth." There was another long silence, then Sophia said, "Do you really think there will be a Submarine at the docks?"

Gabby looked in the rear-view mirror, and replied, "I really hope so, if not, then we'll probably never make it off the island alive." There was a tense moment, then her brother said, "Where do you think they'll out us? I always wanted to see Colorado, I don't really know why, I just like the name." Gabby was silent for a long moment, then she said, "Seth, I have to tell you something, I'm not getting on the Submarine."

Seth looked at her in complete shock, "Why? Why would you choose to stay here? You said we had to stick together!" Gabby took a deep breath, and said, "I know I did, Seth, but you also promised me that you'd do exactly as I said, and I expect you to keep that promise." Seth was quiet for a moment, then he said, "You're abandoning me."

The smell of burning, rotted meat, penetrated her nose, and Gabby stepped back a few paces, only to bump into a hard body, she whirled around and drew her gun, only to find herself looking at Daryl, he had an amused expression on his face, "I see that your plan worked." He then noticed the gun, "Were you going to shoot me?"

Gabby smiled wryly, "The thought crossed my mind, I'm not very fond of people sneaking up on me." Daryl looked thoughtful, then said, "So, why did you hesitate?" Gabby wiped the water from her face, and replied, "Because the body texture is different." He looked at her, and said, "What do you mean?"

Gabby sighed, and replied, "With a regular human, the bone structure is solid, sai if someone poked, or punched you, your muscles, and the skin would return to their natural shape, obviously you'd feel it, and depending on the punch or poke, you'd bruise. But with the infected, if you put a bullet in their head, or cut them with a sword, that part of their bone structure would just cave in.

"When I aim for the infected's head, I have to make sure that I'm stood outside of the spatter zone, their heads just explode, but that only happens to the infected after they've been that way for a while. Those who have been turned, or infected recently, their bone structure is soft, but not as soft as the others."

Daryl was silent for a moment, then said, "How do you know all of this?" Gabby didn't reply for a long while, instead she turned around, facing the metal bars, and the burning corpses of the infected on the floor. The falling rain was slowing down, the storm getting ready to pass them, just as she'd said it would.

She knew that Daryl was still waiting, so she turned to face him, and replied, "After I'd killed my mother, we went back the following day to bury her, when we moved her body from the floor into the trolley, it didn't feel right. When a regualr human dies, rigor mortis sets in, I take it you know what