WalkerZ - A Zombie Apocalypse Story

Chapter 10 - Marcia, Indomitable

"He's going to hit the crossroads at the same time as those walkers," said Eddie.

Andrew pulled his rifle from his shoulder, chambered a round, leant on the parapet of the viaduct for support and drew a bead on the walkers below.

"Andrew, what are you doing?" Merryn placed a cautionary hand on his arm.

"I'm not doing anything yet, but I want to make sure our options are covered."

"Stan is a walker," said Tom.

"Is he?" Andrew glanced away from the gun sight and looked at him. "We've given him a name. We know he is different."

Below them, the walkers had reached the junction. As had Stan. A collective moan went up from below and the deadheads staggered towards Stan.

"We have to help him," insisted Andrew.

"Why?" said Tom.

"They're fighting him like he's an enemy, not one of them. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Merryn swore and reached for her own rifle. Andrew took aim at the walker furthest away from Stan and fired, the shot slamming the zombie to the ground. As he reloaded, Merryn fired from his right, another deadhead tumbling to the tarmac.

Stan swung what looked like a baulk of timber at the walker closest to him, the large beam crushing the head of his opponent. Andrew fired again and a third walker joined the other two still moaning on the ground.

"Cease fire. Everyone down!" said Merryn. She waited a few seconds, then lifted her head a little above the parapet of the viaduct so she could see what was going on. Stan dispatched his downed opponents with massive blows to the head with his improvised club, then stopped. He looked around him, up to the viaduct, and walked into the shop.

"Go," commanded Merryn. "Go, go, go."

The group jogged away from the town at a trot, heading into the woods along the edge of the moor.

~

Tom took the first watch, leaving the rest of them to cluster around the open fire in the old pub. The place had been ransacked by others, but it was dry, secure, and secluded. A large pot of stew bubbled away on one side of the fire, spoils from the outdoor shop in the town earlier that day.

Eddie cleared her throat and addressed the elephant in the room as Merryn finished stirring the stew and sat back with a sigh. "What is Stan?"

"I don't know," said Merryn. "He's not human anymore, but he's also not your typical walker. The fact he and the walkers fought and that he used a weapon proves that. Andrew was right to help him. I hope we can find out more about him. I don't like unanswered questions."

"He looked into my eyes," said Andrew. "Back at the dock when we launched the boat. There's something there, some level of consciousness."

"But how can that happen?" asked Eddie.

"In the same way you and I can happen," said Hope. "The same way Merryn and I are different now too. Viruses evolve, some people react in a different way to things, and sometimes nature takes things in an unusual direction. We're a year or so down the road from the initial outbreak now, so there will be variants and evolutionary changes. We saw the same thing in the Covid outbreak back in 2019 and in the years after. That virus killed a great many people, but it also changed over time. This virus will do the same. The difference now of course is we do not have as many people to work on a cure or maybe even those with the know-how of how to affect one."

"Should we try talking to him?" asked Eddie.

"Well," said Merryn. "He waved at us. That doesn't seem like an aggressive act to me. So yes, I hope at some point we can try to make contact. I hope he will realise Andrew helped him out. The next few days are going to be interesting."