Aftermath

other side of the castle wall, less decayed and more controlled. Had they been hiding? Waiting for him?
    “The dead!” he screamed. “The dead are inside!”
    Ainsworth tried to drag him away. “Let’s get out of here.”
    Jas remained rooted to the spot, the corpses drawing ever closer. Ainsworth looked up and saw the other three running for cover. Were they heading back to the caravans? No, it looked like they had other plans. They were heading for the van which had been parked across the gate to block the entrance. And now someone was opening the gate …
    “Wait!” he yelled, but they ignored him. He started to run, but then looked back at Jas, who had hardly moved. The nearest of the dead had lifted their arms and were almost upon him now, ready to attack. He looked back again when he heard an engine starting. The van moved with sudden speed, skidding around in a tight circle, then driving straight out through the open gate and into the decay outside. It was impossible to see what was happening from here, but Ainsworth knew the dead would no doubt be pouring in through the gate too. After standing strong for so long, the castle was about to be overthrown.
    He grabbed Jas by the arm and pulled him away. Jas was terrified. Ainsworth couldn’t remember ever seeing anyone look so scared. “Come on, Jas. We have to get out of here.”

 
     
    46
     
    Freezing cold and disorientated, Michael, Lorna, Harte, and the otherswere struggling to keep moving.
    “Where now?” Howard asked, teeth chattering.
    “We need to find somewhere to shelter and get some fresh clothes. We’re going to get hypothermia if we don’t,” Kieran said.
    “You know the area better than the rest of us,” Harte said. “Where do you suggest?”
    “I’m not sure,” he replied unhelpfully. “I need to work out where we’ve come out in relation to the front of the castle. There are a couple of villages nearby. A few other places, maybe. But we don’t want to be walking all night in the wrong direction and…”
    Kieran’s voice trailed away. Michael was immediately concerned. “Problem?”
    “Shh…” he said. “Listen.”
    Everyone became completely silent. In the near distance they could hear an engine.
    “Who’s that?” Caron asked.
    “More of your lot coming back for us?” Lorna suggested.
    “I doubt it,” Michael replied, wishing he could be more positive. “Even if it is, fat lot of good it’s going to do us. They’ll check out the castle, but they won’t bother searching the area, will they? It’ll be like looking for a needle in a haystack. If I know Harry, he’ll be doing exactly what he said he’d do, and that’s getting those people over to Cormansey.”
    “What if it’s Jas?” Caron asked anxiously.
    “Do you really think he’ll still be interested in us?”
    “I don’t know. But what if he is?”
    “Then we’ll deal with it. Right now we’ve got a more pressing problem.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Getting back across a mile or so of dead bodies.”

 
     
    47
     
    When Harry arrived back in Chadwick, he was relieved to see the silhouette ofthe helicopter perched on top of the multistory car park. He drove the truck along increasingly familiar roads toward the marina. His passengers remained almost completely silent.
    Zoe, sitting up front between Harry and Bob, stared in disbelief at the dead world they were traveling through, a stream of tears rolling down her cheeks. She knew Chadwick well—she’d had digs in the town since starting at university—and she could make out more than enough of it tonight to be able to appreciate the full extent of its remarkable deterioration. Being back in Chadwick hurt.
    She hadn’t left the confines of the castle since the rescue of the others from the hotel near Bromwell. On that first morning when everyone else had died, she’d been stopping at the house of a friend who’d lived a couple of miles from the castle, and this was the first time she’d been back anywhere near home since her nightmare had begun. She’d been too scared to try getting back to her flat back then, and so had remained in her friend Sally’s house, with only Sally’s corpse for company. She’d tried phoning family and other friends tirelessly, but no one had answered and then the line had stopped connecting, and then her mobile signal had died. She’d stayed where she was for a while—unaware that there were other survivors so close—until she’d woken up one