Stupid

Craig had the brilliant idea of hanging some pots and pans off the far end of the roof. Tied to a long length of wool and we just tugged it once in a while to make a loud clattering noise. It attracted attention from all the nearby Infected and left a nice clear path to the car. Alas, as slow as the Infected have become over the last weeks, they are still perceptive. One noticed me on my second trip to the car and when one comes, the rest follow. Craig spent fifteen minutes getting them back to the other end with his clanking pots.

 

It is a mistake to presume that the Infected are witless, that they are deaf dumb and blind unless you wave your arms in their face. The moment you think that, you are done for. The second time we attempted to move a lot of supplies into the car they noticed us straight away. We had time to clamber back inside. This time they only a few were drawn away by the noise pots and pans. The rest remained around the car or at the base of the wall where we had gone back inside the house. It took an hour for the last to wander off to investigate our distraction that time.

 

We got complacent. While we managed to get everything into the car, that third time we just assumed we would drive away once it was all loaded up. A mass of bodies swarmed over the car. We were a boat on an ocean in a storm. I thought they would tip us over or rip the doors off before we got away but our luck held. I had thought driving into them would part them like the Red Sea. The simple fact is that the more that fell, the less grip the wheels had. Worse, I worried that if enough fell under the car they might stop the wheels from reaching the ground at all. Had there been more Infected, we may have never escaped. The windscreen glass cracked, one side window imploded and then enough Infected fell before us that we were free.

 

I was so relieved and still scared that I forgot about driving around to look for abandoned cars to refill our fuel tank. I drove straight back to the main road and then onto the ring-road, taking the first exit that took us back to the motorway and then onto the M1.

 

Lots of debris and broken cars everywhere. We didn't stop. I assumed that these had broken down and were unlikely to yield any precious fuel. We continued until it began to get dark. Surprisingly we did not see a single Infected or anything else. You would think that in a country of over 60 million people that they would be everywhere, but it feels deserted.

 

Parked on the hard shoulder. I did not see the point of leaving the motorway. With few to no Infected around I feel safe enough even with the broken passenger side window. A plastic bag over the hole will do for now, but it leaves us vulnerable.

 

Craig is already asleep. I'm writing this by moonlight. Silent outside. Deathly. Never been anywhere so quiet. It's horrible being able to hear yourself so clearly. I want to be able to turn it all off and become one with the stillness. I feel every noise I make. That's why I am unable to sleep. I know they are out there and I am afraid they can hear me.