The message was passed to all that they’d be on the move soon. There were protests, as was expected; however, nobody was going to argue with the fact that staying was simply untenable if the town was about to be reclaimed by the undead.

Jay confirmed that they’d be leaving around sunrise the next day at the latest. He insisted everyone get ready to go immediately lest they should have to make their exit sooner. The reality was they had no idea when the horde would descend. It could have been in days; it could have been in minutes.

Georgina hadn’t let Ryan out of her sight. The thought that she’d lost him had taken its mental toll on her and she clung to him like a lovesick puppy.

When evening came around they retired to her room together. Everything was packed—not that there was much to pack—and gathered by the door in preparation for beating a hasty retreat. They lay with each other and talked. Many a subject was raised, from places they went together whilst still a couple, to things they missed about the old world, and many stops between. She listened in enraptured silence as Ryan described the events around his recent zombie hunt.

“Poor Keith!” Georgina exclaimed.

“Yeah, it was pretty gory. The guy went down swinging; I’ll give him that at least.”

“I’m just so glad you managed to help Kas to safety.”

“He’s a good bloke. There was no way I could leave him to get eaten by those freaks.”

Georgina looked admiringly at Ryan. She could feel herself falling in love with him all over again and had completely lost the will to prevent it from happening. He had changed. He had become a much more wholesome and selfless man. The alarm bells still rang, but they were far more distant now than they had been before. She was more attracted to him than ever. She craved his touch.

She looked him in his eyes. “Are we going to be okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean this apocalypse. Are we going to make it through? Will we see the end of it all?”

“George, I want to tell you so badly that this’ll all end well. I want to reassure you about everything. The truth is that I can’t do that because I don’t know how it’ll go. What I do know is that I won’t let anything bad happen to you as long as I’m here. I’ll kill anyone who tries to harm you, whether lurcher, human, or anything else.”

“And I’ll do exactly the same for you. I have your back.”

Ryan smiled affectionately at her; she felt her heart swell to ten times its size.

They slowly leaned into one another and shared a lingering kiss that quickly became one of unbridled passion. Georgina feverishly pulled his t-shirt up over his head and threw it away to the other side of the room. She ran her hands across his rippling abdominal muscles and kissed his chest amorously. A big smile crossed her face as she heard Ryan groan with satisfaction. She pulled away and looked teasingly into his eyes. “I’m going to fuck you so good, Lloyd!”

Ryan pounced on her and started to kiss her again. They came down perilously close to the edge of the bed and soon ended up falling off onto the floor in a chorus of laughter. It didn’t put them off their stride as they continued to kiss and remove each other’s clothes.

They were both down to their underwear when a loud knock came at the door. They looked at one another and sighed with agitation. Ryan slowly got to his feet and the knock came again.

“Alright, alright. I’m coming for fuck’s sake!”

He pulled the door open and wasn’t entirely surprised to see Jay.

“I’m sorry to do this, Ry, but the lurchers have broken out of the woods—and there are a lot of them!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me?!”

“I’m afraid not, bud. It’s our cue to leave. Kas is off to warm up the truck now. See you there in five.”

“Can we… uhm… make it fifteen?”

Jay grinned knowingly and couldn’t resist a quick look down at Ryan’s admittedly impressive bulge. “Afraid not. I’ll see you at the truck.” He started walking away down the corridor. “Five minutes, Ryan!”

Ryan screwed up his face irritably. What further cock-blocks lay in wait? He went back inside the room, where Georgina was already getting dressed, and approached her. She didn’t prevent him from putting an arm around her waist and pulling her in close for another kiss.

“Those lurchers have absolutely no fucking respect!” he said half-jokingly.

“Too busy yearning for a taste of blood to consider our needs, baby.”

They kissed again before Ryan started to dress himself too. He picked up his things and gentlemanly took a hold of Georgina’s also as they left the room and made in the direction of the multi-storey car park. The truck was parked on the level below and they used the stairs to reach it.

As they stepped out into the car park, Ryan curiously wandered to have a look out onto the street below. The noises gave it away before he even saw the masses of lurchers ambling around.

“Well, fuck me sideways!”

“Ryan!” called Jay.

“I’m on my way boss.”

Ryan approached the truck where the scared looking medical scientists were gathered. “Is everyone here?” he asked of Jay.

“All accounted for. We’ve got provisions enough to last us a few days at least on the road.”

“I suppose there’s nothing else left for it then. Let’s get the hell out of here!”

Everyone was ushered into the truck. Ryan and Georgina shared a kiss prior to her clambering into the back and Ryan taking his place in one of the front passenger seats alongside Jay.

Kas, in the driver’s seat, looked at his two friends and gave a curt nod. “Off we go again!”

“Another safe haven ripped away from us,” Jay mumbled.

“I’m starting to get quickly sick of this damned apocalypse,” Ryan joined in.

Kas turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared, causing a mini frenzy amongst the lurchers immediately outside the hotel car park. He put the truck in gear and slowly moved off.

TO BE CONTINUED

Check out chapter ten now!