Star Drawn Saga (Book 2): Lost Among The Dead by Stephen Charlick Page B

collection of bollards, scaffolding poles, tents and a long counterweight lever arm that had been broken midway across the road. ‘Oh,’ he continued, once he realized how it was going to be more of an irritation than a hindrance.
    ‘Christ, you’ve got to wonder what sort of bollock-brained moron thought that was going to keep anyone out,’ sighed Tom, shaking his head in disbelief.
    ‘Please form an orderly cue and would those at the back please try not to get their arse eaten by the Dead coming up behind them,’ tutted Fran, exasperated by the stupidity of those supposedly in charge; stupidity and bureaucracy that had ultimately sentenced many to a bloody and horrific death.
    ‘Exactly,’ muttered Tom, remembering that he himself had used his black cab to ram one such checkpoint when he had fled from London all those years ago.
    It was strange considering the sights he had seen over the five years but it was that one moment or rather that one soldier’s face that had always stayed with him. Young, scared and ill-equipped to deal with the panicking public that forced their way through his checkpoint, it was his face that Tom remembered; this one overwhelmed young man that caused a knot of guilt to twist in his stomach whenever he thought of him. Tom tried not to remember the scene he had witnessed in his rear-view mirror as his cab smashed through the barrier and sped away. The way the soldiers were instantly set upon by the mob venting their fear and anger at an establishment that had seemingly failed them; and then the brief gunfire and screams as they were torn apart by people that up until a few days ago had been decent, law-abiding citizens.
    ‘Well, it’s not going to move itself,’ huffed Fran, jarring Tom’s thoughts back to the present as she moved from one spyhole to the next checking for the Dead. ‘Kai, any on your side?’ she continued, once she had determined her side was clear.
    ‘Clear,’ he replied, letting the spyhole cover fall back into place. ‘Do you w…want me to come with you?’
    For a moment Fran paused, glancing briefly at Tom before speaking.
    ‘Yeah, okay,’ she replied, reaching for her trusty crowbar, ‘you can do the lifting, I’ll do the watching.’
    ‘Hardly s…seems fair?’ said Kai, with a smile on lips.
    Fran was about to speak when she noticed the look on Tom’s face as he turned back to look at the roadblock ahead of them. Fearing he thought she hadn’t asked him because of what had happened earlier she put her foot up on the bench and made a point of checking the knife from the sheath strapped to her calf.
    ‘How are your ribs?’ she asked as nonchalantly as she could while she wiped the blade on a piece of cloth. ‘If sitting in one position gets painful just let me know and we’ll swap, okay.’
    ‘Yeah… okay,’ Tom replied without looking back at her, his tone flat.
    ‘ Oh great, ’ thought Fran, slipping the knife back into its sheath, ‘ a grown man sulking like a baby… just what I need.’
    ‘Well the offer’s there,’ she sighed, ignoring his bruised ego. ‘I’ll go out first,’ she continued, turning her attention back to Kai. ‘There’s none of the Dead around at the moment but they can come out of nowhere so follow me and keep close, okay?’
    ‘Okay,’ he replied, with a sharp nod as Fran slowly opened the side hatch.
    ‘No… no, you stay here, Bob,’ she whispered, having to push the small dog back to stop it from following her.
    Jumping down, the loose gravel scraping beneath her boots, Fran instinctively dropped to a crouch by the side of the cart and scanned her surroundings. The abandoned cars, the thick bushes and high hedgerows, the shadows beneath the hastily erected scaffolding, even the flimsy remains of a nearby tent flapping on its metal frame in the breeze, all of these places could hide the Dead and without moving she checked them all. Only once she was satisfied that the only other things moving in the