British Zombie Breakout: Part Three (8 page)

'But then later
you left the castle. Why was that?'

'To get our
stuff of course. We reckoned we had a chance with all the zombies
and the army gone down to the harbour.'

Again the floor
manager signalled the interviewer.

'That sounds
very exciting, Rachel. I hope you'll tell us all about it after a
word from our sponsors.'

There followed
a longer ad break than usual, during which Rachel ran around the
studio, jumping up and down, squeaking and finally coming to rest
to hug her mum and dad who were standing ready to appear later in
the show.

'Rachel, you
were going to tell us how you left the castle.'

'OK, well we
got out through this tunnel thing. It was really easy, just had to
climb down into the dungeon and walk out, more or less.'

At the side of
the studio, Alex rolled her eyes at Steve. Again Rachel had skipped
over the part where she and Maisie had a screaming fit.

'Why did you
have to go out through the dungeon?'

'Because we
couldn't move the big gate thing. It was too heavy.'

'Lucky there
was another way out.'

'I was sure
there would be.' Rachel gave her best grin to the camera. 'So then
we went back to get our stuff from the school. That was a bit
exciting because the floor fell in while we were there. But we had
to go because my bag was in the classroom, with important stuff in
it and my jacket. You know, important girl stuff: all my makeup,
smart phone, that sort of thing?'

'It sounds as
though you were all very brave.'

'I can't speak
for the others but I know I helped keep us all safe.' Rachel nodded
and joined in the clapping to reassure herself.

'To begin with
there were just five of you who escaped the school?'

'That's right,
my friend Maisie and some kid in our class called Fred. He sat at
the back of the room so I didn't really know him before. In the
castle he was always wanting to fight zombies or whack something.
Then there was the nerdy pair Alex and Steve. I guess I'm the best
looking of the bunch, huh?' Rachel was so impressed with herself
that she stood up for another universally applauded twirl and
bow.

'And now,
ladies and gentlemen,' the interviewer said rising to his feet and
stretching out his arms, 'It is with enormous pleasure that I am
able to present you with all the heroes and heroines of the escape
from Kilkorne…'

The audience
erupted as Maisie, Fred, Alex, Steve, Janet, Sarah, Graham, Bill
and Karen joined Rachel around the sofa. No-one in the audience had
any conscious idea why they were clapping and cheering, many
standing up with tears running down their faces. They responded
simply to the general feeling of wanting to join in and be part of
a communal celebration of freedom. For the first time in months
people felt safe and happy.

Chapter
16: The Trial
Part One

'Minister, I
must remind you that you're under oath here,' the judge said. The
court public gallery was packed with journalists, and TV cameras
had been allowed in for the trial of one of the most notorious
individuals involved in the zombie outbreak.

The disgraced
Minister for Home Affairs sat motionless in the dock, wearing a new
and very expensive-looking suit. His face was composed and it
carried a casually indifferent expression. The judge wore pristine
robes and his voluminous white wig had the appearance of being
recently combed. He gave every impression of approaching his job
with a great deal of relish.

However, the
Minister was defiant. 'You already know all the answers, what
difference does it make what I say?'

'It makes a
difference to all the relatives of those who were killed when the
zombies broke out of Breathdeep.'

'You've got
your vaccine now. What more do you want?'

'For you to be
held to account for your actions, including those against the
courageous few who escaped Kilkorne and discovered the zombie
detector torch.'

'That was to
have been mine,' the Minister replied through clenched teeth.

'Thank you for
that admission, Minister.'

'What about my
defence?'

'Do you have
one?'

The Minister
sneered. 'Not really,' he said, causing uproar in the public
gallery.

When the court
had returned to order, the Judge continued, 'Then I shall proceed
with the first witness…'

The Minister
pleaded guilty to all the charges brought against him and his
associates, having no compunction whatsoever about naming any of
them. He made a full confession of his connections to the criminal
underworld, money laundering and, most seriously, his plan to
ensure Steven Reynolds, his mother and their friends were disposed
of so that he could go ahead with manufacturing the ZDT. Over much
of the course of the trial, the Minister appeared to fall into an
increasingly abstracted state, offering simple admissions of guilt
at each charge. He made no claim to there being extenuating
circumstances and he was unable to offer up any witnesses to speak
in support of him in any way.

During the
trial, evidence was brought forward about the role of the Minister
in the first outbreak of zombieism. He had not been instrumental in
appointing the infamous Professor Smith, who actually manufactured
the virus, infecting himself and his co-workers in the process. It
was stated, however, that the Minister could have done more to
prevent the spread of zombies through the countryside after the
breakout from Breathdeep. In the breakout, infected lab staff and
security officers smashed their way out of the Facility and
rampaged unrestrained through the countryside.

Smith, who was
one of the last to be infected, didn't report the breakout,
thinking that the zombies would die within a few hours. He believed
he would be able to soon prepare a vaccine and that, with the later
collusion of the Minister for Home Affairs, the whole episode could
be hushed up. Quite the opposite occurred when the virus mutated
once inside the human body, to the more potently infectious variety
which also allowed the host to live for several weeks.

The least
expected symptom of the virus was the force with which it drove
those infected to infect others. In the early stages of the
disease, zombies were quite capable of driving and for several days
still able to use public transport networks. As soon as the
Minister realised what was happening, he took steps to ensure that
he was in a position to make a profit out of the disaster, while
keeping himself as far away from any risk of infection as
possible.

The media were
not slow to broadcast zombie updates and it was through their
efforts that all UK borders were closed. Graphic images circulated
on the internet and the zombie situation 'went viral' within
thirty-six hours. Fortunately, the virus was not able to be
transmitted as fast as the news of its arrival. Many UK citizens on
holiday and business trips were trapped abroad, as no pilots could
be found who were willing to land in the UK. Similarly, visitors to
the UK were forced to stay, even though they may have been hundreds
of miles from the source of zombieism, because all flights out were
cancelled by international demand. The UN stated that, with regret,
any planes leaving the UK or marine vessels setting sail would be
either blown out of the sky or out of the water. Such was the
initial paranoia, that anyone holding a British passport was lucky
if they weren't shot on sight in some countries.

There was no
way to tell who was infected and who wasn't in the early days, so
the disease spread without hindrance all across the south west of
England. When the Minister realised the number of cases of zombie
rage reported had reached disaster proportions, he called in the
army to cordon off an area of thousands of square miles. Without
having a vaccine available, anyone exhibiting symptoms was shot and
the bodies burnt in short order. Sometimes it was not even possible
to identify the victims and so relatives could not be informed.
Without knowing just how infectious the disease was, army personnel
had no idea what precautions to take and it wasn't long before many
of the soldiers turned into armed and even more dangerous
zombies.

Emergency
curfew and quarantine laws were put in place and from there it
became a fight for the survival of the British people. Bitter
street battles took place in many cities, with full-blown zombies
careering through shops and offices. Despite curfews, rioters
rampaged after dark, looting and setting fire to buildings. The
government having learned its lesson in the Wealth Riots of 2011,
sent the police in full force to crack down on the
disturbances.

As soon as all
international airports and docks were closed, the zombies focussed
on other centres of population which were more accessible from the
south west of the country. This appeared to invest the zombies with
the ability to direct their actions. In fact, it was simply natural
selection, all the late stage zombies which headed for transport
hubs were easier to mop up than the early infectees who randomly
roamed through the suburbs.

In the first
outbreak the army ensured that much of London was unaffected,
however, huge swathes of England had been laid waste by the
fighting and had become no-go areas because of the virus
contamination of the ground. After four months, the application of
vast quantities of chemical decontaminant, and many assurances from
the government, people had moved back into previously affected
areas. The population was still sparse, as a result of the several
million fatalities.

Witnesses
stated that during this period the Minister manipulated property
deals in infected areas and set up companies selling armed forces
stocks of firearms and ammunition. He also maintained several black
market rackets in food supplies, after first instituting a national
system of rationing to deal with the collapse of the import-export
markets. Some munitions and foodstuffs were sold with the full
knowledge that they were contaminated.

Chapter 1
7: The Trial
Part Two

'All rise,'
rang out the cry across the court room in preparation for the judge
to begin what many believed would be one of the last few days of
the trial.

After two
weeks, the media had lost much of its interest in the trial, with
the almost monotonous catalogue of the Minister's devious schemes
and plots. According to the law of diminishing returns, as time
passed the status and prominence of his associates also fell below
the level of public concern. "He's guilty, just lock him up and be
done with him." became the most widely expressed opinion. Only when
the trial finally looked like it was about to be wound up did the
court gallery became full once again.

Before the
Minister was brought in, a representative of the prosecution
announced that a psychological assessment had concluded that the
Minister was criminally insane.

The Minister
himself was then led to the dock in a thoroughly disreputable and
dishevelled state, as if over the past weeks he had lost interest
in his appearance and slept in his suit. It was severely crumpled,
his shirt collar and cuffs were stained, and his tie was not
straight. The judge, however, looked as immaculate as he had on the
first day. There was general speculation in the media that the
proceedings would be something of an anti-climax, with the judge
simply summing up and adjourning the court to consider the sentence
to be imposed. No-one expected what took place that morning.

'Late last
night,' the judge said, remaining standing behind the bench, 'the
Prime Minister led a closed cabinet meeting to decide whether even
more serious charges than those brought forward in the first part
of the trial could be made in open court.' The judge's words caused
an eerie silence at such an extraordinary revelation. What he had
been unable to reveal was that the PM had been forced to make the
knowledge of the third zombie outbreak public, because it was about
to be leaked onto the internet.

Clearing his
throat, the judge continued, 'I speak of charges of international
terrorism and of conspiracy to kidnap British citizens. As a result
of these actions of which the Minister is accused, an outbreak of
zombieism occurred outside the United Kingdom.'

Gasps of
astonishment and a rustle of excitement went through the public
gallery; chairs were knocked over as journalists ran to the door to
telephone their editors. The judge, with gavel poised above the
bench, gave the gallery such a fiercely grim stare that all fell
silent within a few moments.

'It was only
through extreme vigilance on an international scale that mass panic
was avoided after the theft of zombie virus from Breathdeep, and
that an inevitable foreign outbreak was contained. It can be left
to the imagination what might have happened if the virus had been
mass produced, weaponised and dispersed over a major city.'

At that point,
the judge had no hope of returning the court to order and he
announced an adjournment. It was audible, amongst the hubbub,
solely to him and the members of court staff closest to him.

Twenty minutes
later, the judge returned to find the public gallery almost
bursting with TV crews and bristling with microphones. An expectant
hush fell as he approached the bench.

'I hereby open
the case of the theft of zombie virus and the kidnapping of Steven
Reynolds.'

The judge
shuffled his stack of papers and peered over his glasses at the
Minister.

The Minister
stared at the judge. 'Well, aren't you going to call a
witness?'

Staring back,
the judge said nothing, willing the Minister to make a confession
as he had so many times before but none was forthcoming.