Peter's Journey/Issue 5

Soon they reach the duel carriageway and Ben overtakes the RV, “Is he in a hurry or something?” Jokes Sam, “I think he like to be first there” replies Peter, as they both laugh, “what’s so funny?” asks Jean; “Oh, Ben just overtook us and Sam and I where just having a joke about it” replies Peter. “You okay jean?” asks Jim, “Yeah, I’m fine now that we’re out of that school, it was getting a bit scary” replies Jean, “Your 17 Jean, and I think you like someone” says Jim looking at Peter “Oh don’t flatter yourself, I don’t even know the guy”.

In the Nissan Andy is sitting beside Sarah, in the back Anna and Chris are sleeping, “Do you think we’ll be safe from those walkers up here?” asks Andy, “I dunno, I really don’t know” replies Sarah “and I don’t think anyone does, but I have faith in Peter, that he’ll make the right decision” adds Sarah, “What do you think of the three new people?” asks Adam, “They seem friendly” replies Sarah, she looks into the mirror to see Anna wakening up, “You okay?” asks Sarah “Yeah, just tired” replies Anna, “well you just relax back there we’ve got a long journey ahead of ourselves”.

Suddenly the Bike comes back to the RV, so peter stops the RV and winds the window down, “What’s wrong?” asks Peter, “the road up ahead has been closed, but I don’t know if it’s alright or not” replies Ben, he then turns off the bike’s engine, Peter gets out of the RV and gets Scott, Mark, Sarah and Shannon around the RV. “What’s the problem?” asks Mark, “Ben’s just told me that the road ahead has been shut” replied Peter, “so what happens now?” asks Shannon, “we take the other route” says Scott “that’s wasting too much fuel, we can’t double back” says Peter, “I think we should just go for it, we might get lucky, and besides the roads might be okay now” says Ben, Peter thinks for a second “ah to hell with it, let’s go” replies Peter, they all get back into their vehicles and the bike leads the way along the road, the RV knocks a few cones but just keeps on driving, Peter is very wary of the road and keeps a close eye out for their surroundings, in the back, Kerry is asleep on one of the beds and on the other one Henry is also sleeping, Jean and Susan are with them, “he’s been through a lot I can imagine” says Jean, “yes, but I don’t really think he knows what’s happening to be honest, Peter doesn’t want to scare him or anything” replies Susan, “what relation are you to Peter?” asks Jean, “I’m his youngest cousin, Mark’s my brother, and this little rascal is my youngest cousin Henry” replies Sarah “Jim’s my older brother, I did have another one called Wills but he died three years ago in a car crash” says Jean, “Oh, I’m so sorry” says a sympathetic Susan, Susan continues “so what where you doing at the school?”, “well when I heard that Jim, who went there, was still there I told my mum and dad that I was going to find him, when they came after me the walkers got them, so I kept on running, then I saw people running towards the school I ran even faster, as soon as I got inside the gate they asked what I wanted and I told them story of what had happed, then I eventually met up with Jim and Sam” replied Jean, “Peter told us what happened with you guys at the fall of the school” says Susan. “Yeah it...” Peter interrupts everyone “Oh no” says Peter, Everyone makes their way up to the RV as the lookout they all see three hundred dead people lying on the ground, but not moving. Ben gets off his bike and walks over to the RV “What do we do now?” asks Ben “We’ll have to go back” replies Peter so they all drive back from the way that they came from,

At least two hours have passed and they are now on a straight road to Newcastle, they come across a garage and they all stop. “What are we doing now?” asks Jonny “we’ll try and get stuff here, gas mainly, and any food” says Peter “I’m tired” proclaims Shannon “couldn’t we set up here for the night?” asks Sarah “I dunno if that’s a good idea, we’ve still got a lot of daylight and I think it’s best if we keep going, just remember we’ll need to make camp and everything when we get there” says Peter “Okay, let’s get supplies, Scott, Ross, Mark and I’ll get gas, Jonny your on watch, rest of you go inside and find supplies” orders Ben. So everyone goes and does what their told.

Inside they find different varieties of food, Peter tells them to take packaged and canned food only, so they get everything they can, outside they are siphoning the gas from the petrol tanks but also from the six cars that were left there, suddenly they hear a scream from inside, everyone runs towards the noise, Peter runs towards the room to find a walker on top of Jean, Peter takes a good grip of his axe and slices the walkers brain, “You okay?” asks Peter, Jean starts to sob, Peter bends down to her and holds her tight, everyone else comes into the room to find Jean in tears and the walker beside them, “Jean!” says a concerned Jim, as he also bends down to his sister “have you got all of the gas that you can get?”Asks Peter, “We’re almost ready, why?” asks Ben “I think we should just leave now” replies Peter “Sure, Mark” says Ben as he hints for Mark to follow him out for the gas, Peter and Jim bring Jean into the RV and lie her down onto the bed that Kerry was originally lying on, the rest of them go back to their cars, Ben and Mark re-fill all of the vehicles with the petrol, and they put the remaining forty litres into the RV and they return to their own litres, Peter gives Sam the keys of the RV for him to drive, so as he can sit with Jean and Jim. They get back onto the road with new supplies, around forty minutes later they arrive at a rocky lane, they drive half way up and arrive at a parking area on a piece of grass, they all get out, “why are we stopping here?” asks Michael “the cottage is only up the lane arrive at a gate, turn right, then come to another gate then the cottage, so you can leave your cars here, if you want, however I would take three up, I’ll take the RV up, Ben I’d leave your bike here, Scott, you take the Hyundai and Sarah you take the Nissan, the rest of you can leave your cars here and just walk up. You can leave all of your stuff in the RV to make it easier. So Ben, Mark and Shannon all park their cars and put everything into the RV, Peter walks up at the front so to close the gate, along with him is Ben and Susan “what all will we need to do here?” asks Susan, “I’ll talk to everyone as soon as we get settled” replies Peter, about five minutes later they arrive at the first gate, Peter gives Ben the other set of keys for the next gate and the Cottage, while Peter stays put to let everyone pass, inside the RV is Sam driving it along with Jim, Jean and Kerry, next to pass is Scott and Garry, followed by Sarah’s Nissan, minutes later the others walk through, they then take a right turn, and walk to the other gate, where Susan is standing, when they lock the second gate they see the RV has parked beside the back of the Cottage, they hear running water, “Is that water?” asks Henry “yep, and even better, it’s fresh” says Peter as he smiles “but we’ll have to boil it before usage, cows could’ve peed, or something, Scott and Sarah parked nearer the RV, beside a brick wall, which runs long the hole cottage, they parked, at the back yet again, at the front of the Cottage there is a long piece of land, filled with grass, at the side where they came through is all forests, joint onto the cottage is another area where all of the gardening tools are kept. “Alright everyone on me” shouts Peter, so everyone gathers around Peter, who is standing at the front door. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but the first thing that needs to be done, whenever I open the door is get a fire started, there’s a fire place and a mantle inside the cottage, however, I also wanted one outside just for warmth, now inside isn’t big, only a bedroom with two bunk beds, and a small kitchen, so only a few people inside at one time, I want two people on watch 24/7, so Sarah and Mark will be in charge of sorting a rota out, we’ll also need to get camp sorted out, get a perimeter watch as well, get the grass cleaned up and stuff like that, now I want to make it clear, this isn’t a holiday, we’ve still got to remember that there are still walkers out there, hopefully we won’t get too many up here, but that doesn’t mean that we let our guard down, when we’re out there we’ve got to have each other’s backs, care for one and other, ect, lecture over” “who gets the beds?” asks Jonny “Well we’ll have a rotation, but Kerry will need one, and I hope you all understand that” says Peter “Oh don’t worry about me, I’m...” says Kerry “You’ll need to rest that leg of yours if you go walking you may never walk again, and with no crutches you’ll be in trouble” say a shaken Jean “Okay, you mind going on watch for a few hours then?” asks Sarah, “I’ll do that for most of the day then. “Okay, let’s get the camp sorted” says Peter.

So the they al group off, Peter, Sarah, Susan and Jonny all sort out inside the cottage, Scott, Mark and Jamie sort out the gardening tools in the shed, Kerry and Michael are up on watch on top of the cottage’s roof, which part of it is a flat roof, the roof which is over the kitchen area is a pointed roof. Shannon, Garry, Sam and Jim are tiding up the garden, Kathryn, Anna and Andy are collecting litres of water in big basins, and five big tins, the rest of them are taking all of the tents and other stuff out of the RV and the other two cars that were brought up. “Peter, do you think some of us should go and collect wood for a fire?” asks Adam, “I’ll go with four others to collect fire, if you want to come with us then you can, but if I were you I’d check with Ross first” replies Peter, Adam then runs off to find Ross. “Who will you bring with you for the wood?” asks Susan “Anyone that wants to come with me” replies Peter. “I think we’re done in here” says Sarah.

Around an hour has passed, and they have all mustered around the main door. “okay, everyone will be given a melee weapon, which Ben will hand out to you very soon, this weapon is yours for the keeping, us it wisely, but also I could be used around camp, not just for killing a walker with, also the other reason for you to have one is that you’re not popping rounds off every time you hear a noise in the trees, just remember birds are still alive, and there are possibly other wildlife around the forest, now you where given a gun back at the school, but they’ve all been put away in the RV, the only people who are to be carrying a gun around is the watchmen, who will have a rifle and a handgun each, Ben, Scott, Sarah and I, and I don’t want any sulking, if anyone is seen with a gun they won’t be allowed to have one again, unless of an attack. Hopefully one day we’ll get gun practice, but that’s dependant on how Newcastle is with the walker situation, now, Ben will each hand you out a gun and melee weapon, they are both your to keep, but the guns will be handed back in whenever we’ve written down who has what”

Peter = axe, .22 Magnum Scott = pick-axe, sawed-off shotgun Ben = axe, sniper rifle Anna = spade, dessert Eagle Jonny = shovel, Berretta 92 Susan = Butcher’s knife, Glock-17 Ross = knife, Mossberg 500 Mark = sledge-hammer, Remington 870 Garry = hockey stick, Bersa Thunder 380 Danny = cricket bat, Beretta 92 Zara = folding knife, nothing Adam = golf club, glock-17 Henry = nothing Sarah = hatchet, Glock-19 Michael = hatchet, Remington 1100 Shannon = folding knife, Desert Eagle Sophie = screwdriver, Glock-19 Kathryn = crowbar, Desert Eagle Kerry = metal wrench, Bersa Thunder 380 Caroline = spade, Glock-19 Chris = hand-axe, Remington 1100 Jamie = hatchet, Mossberg 500

“Right, now that we’ve written everything down everyone hand their guns back to us, and keep your melee weapons at hand, at all times, even if you’re going to the RV to get something” say Peter, as he takes out a holster for their melee weapons, “Now for those with the longer objects you will need to just hold them, spades, ect. I’ve put my axe in my belt, as you can see, for those who have a belt, you could do that, but not for the spades and pitchforks, now for the next matter at hand, who wants to go for a wonder with Ben to fetch some wood?” asks Peter. Susan, Jonny and Adam all put their hands up; Ben then takes them to one side to have a chat with them. “Now who wants to go out with me for the perimeter patrol?” asks Peter, then Jean, Jonny and Kathryn all volunteer for that job. “okay, the rest of you can relax a bit, there’s water on the boil, and when that’s done and cooled down we’ll head off, so if you want to get ready to set out then that okay by me” says Peter, he walks off to the little stream of water to wash his face in, “you okay?”Asks Jean “me, oh, yeah, I’m fine. How are you?” asks Peter, “I’m better now, it was just the fright of it all” replies Jean, “You gave us a bit of a scare, I thought you were bit”, “no, but thank you for saving me, that was really nice” “it’s my pleasure” says Peter as he kisses her on the forehead and gets up and walks off, Jeans face starts to slightly red.