《Apocalypse》Episode 26: The Public Garden

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The height of the buildings above us meant I could no longer see the helicopters as they flew away, and quickly enough we could no longer hear them either. Shooting could still be heard from the park behind us, and this became quieter the further away we got. I saw there was a large military presence within the park, and as they were mainly behind the metal street fencing i retained a hope that this could remain a safe stronghold for us to return to. But hope was becoming increasingly harder to hold on to.

The size of the zombie horde that had targeted Regents Park had been dozens strong at our location. The Park was large in size and I had no way of knowing if this incursion had been repeated elsewhere on the parks perimeter, and if so, whether multiple groups had attacked simultaneously.

In a city the size of London, where the population swells to over 10 million on any given day, there was bountiful opportunity for the zombies numbers to increase dramatically, and quickly. Who knew how large their numbers were already? And whether their numbers killed in the attack on the park exceeded the number of people turned in the crowds around the park that they had penetrated.

We saw with Alistair that he had turned much quicker than we had expected. This kind of knowledge was going to be instrumental going forwards. Know thy enemy.

Both of us were winded, and as were in a constant state of nervous agitation I had to consciously slow my breathing to ward off an impending sense of doom.

We took the opportunity to look around us. On three sides were multi-storey residential blocks with a public garden on the fourth side. I saw that we had an audience as several people in upper floors were watching us. I wondered how long their supplies would last before they too needed to venture beyond the safety of their apartments, and what the streets of London would then look like once they did.

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I looked across at Mina and knew we were doing the right thing. The only hope was to keep moving, keep looking for safe passage out of this city, or to keep walking until we got to the other side of the city and to the relative safety of the outskirts and countryside beyond. To remain holed up in London itself would soon only mean living in a city of the dead.

From out of the public garden we heard a cry. We turned and peered into the gloomy foliage laden space, and waited. There was another cry, but this time like sobbing. Mina took one step forward, and then another. Before I could stop her she bolted forward and entered the garden.

I pulled the kitchen knife free and cautiously approached the garden gate. There was more rustling behind the bushes, and I raised the blade in case it should need to be swung.

Mina re-emerged and beside her was a child of perhaps 10 years of age. The child’s face was flush and wet from tears. Mina guided the child towards me when I saw the child clutch at its arm. I bent down and gently pulled the jacket sleeve back, and audibly sighed.

Mina looked in. “What’s wrong?”

I looked at the child. “He has been bitten.”

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