WalkerZ - A Zombie Apocalypse Story

Chapter 27 - Catch 22

Lily helped Merryn with the straps on her rucksack. "The folks inside understand that you'll be able to get through the throng surrounding the power station. We've told them you're immune and although they seemed surprised they smiled too, so I think they'll be okay. They're scientists and engineers so they should understand nature will take a hand here and throw up some interesting variations to the original virus.

"The jetty we're tied up to leads to the perimeter fence of a new power station complex. It's complete but not operational yet. The perimeter fence for the new station is there and complete so you'll be unable to get into the new build area. And you won't want to, it's teeming with trapped walkers wandering around in fluorescent jackets and construction gear. Our group is holed up in the older part of the power station with the reactor built in the eighties. It's a concrete monstrosity, but it is at least secure. They've recommended going down the jetty, then using an access ladder to get onto the foreshore. Follow the perimeter fence to the east, and you'll see a gate. They will let you in there and provide an escort. To get you in they will need to switch off the power to that section of fence. As soon as they do so, any walkers in the area will become active and be able to approach the fence and maybe you too. They will signal you when the fence is safe to approach. Do not approach it before they signal you as the electromagnetic field around it is huge."

Sands gave her a quick hug. "Good luck Merryn."

"Thank you." Merryn caught the look of concern on her face. "Don't worry, I'll be okay."

Lily nodded and walked back to the bridge.

Eddie, standing behind the glass at the top of the ship, gave her the thumbs up and the drone lifted into the air as Merryn climbed up onto the long concrete jetty.

~

It was as Merryn descended the ladder to the shoreline that she spotted the walkers. A few of them were wandering around on the exposed rocks, one still with a dog lead draped around their neck, its slack-jawed owner a stumbling wreck of a human with bones exposed in its left arm and patchy hair hanging lank from its scalp.

Merryn picked her way along the low cliff separating the tidal river from the power station, then made her way up a convenient set of concrete steps at the start of a sea wall so she could get a closer look at the fence and her destination.

The drone buzzed overhead its quadruple rotors holding it steady some fifty metres up. There were a great many more walkers on the flat area between the sea wall and the fence, with the ones closer to the fence moving less. Merryn stayed as close to the sea wall as she could and walked on, being careful to avoid contact with the walkers.

After a few hundred metres, the view changed from more modern concrete and building works to more established buildings and there were no walkers trapped on the other side of the fence dressed in fluorescent site garb.

There were a couple of people in warm-looking clothes smiling at her through the fence. A man and a woman in their thirties nodded and waved at her pointing down the coast a little further and she gave them a thumbs up.

There was a larger group of people waiting another hundred metres along the fence by a sturdy-looking gate, a gate that led to a fenced-off area inside the main fence, and a second gate, constructed so one vehicle at a time could enter the compound to maintain security.

A man stood by another whiteboard, nodded at her, and pointed at the board which she read. Concise instructions were listed there and she confirmed her understanding with yet another thumbs up.

The man pulled a radio from his belt and pressed a button on it three times. Looked at Merryn and counted down from three on his fingers.

As the power dropped, the walkers standing nearby jerked into action, and a collective moan rose from the ranks.