Autumn The City Page 0,88

wait to be searched by security) and moved towards the closest body.

What had once been a policewoman dragged itself towards him with willowy arms outstretched. He swung the heavy metal tube through the air and smashed it into the side of the corpse's head.

Deep crimson blood, almost black, began to ooze steadily from a gash above the body's shattered cheekbone. It moved forward again. Cooper lashed out again and again, his fifth strike finally making the pitiful creature crumble, leaving it limp and motionless on the dusty marble floor. Armitage stood in numb terror as an elderly cadaver stumbled towards him. With empty, emotionless eyes it stared at him and he found himself unable to look away or to react in any other way. Suddenly too close to be avoided, the lorry driver screwed up his face in disgust and lifted his arms to prevent the pathetic figure from advancing any further forward.

Although the body squirmed relentlessly in his grip, the survivor's strength was clearly too much for it to overcome. Becoming suddenly more confident now that he was aware of the physical gulf between the living and the dead, Armitage pushed the body away and into the nearest wall with angry force. The corpse stopped and then turned and began to move towards him again. This time Armitage grabbed hold of the rotting head, just below the chin, and, with weeks of pent up fear and frustration behind him, he slammed it against the wall, almost crushing it completely. They were cutting through the bodies with incredible ease.

The lethargic movements, slow reactions and comparative weakness of the cadavers was no match for the strength and coordination of even the most tired and unfit survivor. In less than five minutes the reception area had been cleared.

'Good job,' Croft said. He was breathing heavily. Paul Castle acknowledged their efforts. 'Bloody hell,' he gasped, clearly surprised, 'they were nothing, were they? Christ we could have torn a thousand of them apart...'

'But there are millions out there,' Bernard Heath reminded him. The university lecturer's voice was solemn and resigned. 'Don't think that's it,' Cooper said. '

There will be more of them around the building. Just keep moving and don't let your guard down.' With that he began to move towards a nearby corridor. 'Where you going?' asked Armitage, wiping his grease and gore-covered hands on the back of his trousers.

Cooper gestured towards a brass sign on the wall. 'Juror's suite,' he replied. His answer was met with blank looks from the others. 'Jurors sit in on trials,' he explained. 'Trials happen in court rooms. Prisoners stand in the dock in court rooms...' 'And...?' pressed Castle. 'And the prisoners have to get from the prison vans to the dock, don't they? We'll work our way back through the building.'

Chapter Thirty-Nine

'Christ,' mumbled Clare as she looked down from a high window onto the remains of the huge crowd outside the university building. 'Look at them! Just look at them!' Donna had been sitting silently on the stairs holding her head in her hands, waiting impatiently and anxiously for the men to return.

They had been gone for almost an hour. She got up and slowly walked over to where Clare was standing. 'Bloody hell...' she gasped as she stared into the mayhem below.

The bodies were moving with more force and speed than she'd ever seen before. Those nearest the centre of the city were continuing to break away from the main group and were stumbling away from the university complex in the general direction in which the six survivors had disappeared earlier.

This wasn't any random coincidence. It was obvious that the corpses were moving with a purpose and a new found drive.

And as the figures continued to stagger away, so more and more of them followed. 'What's happening to them?' Clare asked. 'What are they doing?' Down in the middle of the crowd she could see bodies beginning to fight with others to move through the immense gathering.

'It's like they're waking up,' Donna replied under her breath. In horror she pressed her face against the cold glass and watched the shadowy figures continue to move. In some ways it was almost as if they were beginning to herd like wild animals. Their movements were unerringly similar to a shoal of fish or a flock of migrating birds slowed down to a fraction of their natural pace. The implications were devastating. 'Where are you going?'

Clare wondered