The Grave: A Zombie Novel by Russ Watts Page B

the plane coming down and a minute ago, he had a blank. Tricia was with Tug trying to free Wilfred. His seat had been thrown forward into the one in front of him and it had jammed itself. Wilfred could wriggle his arms and legs, but there was no space to squeeze out. Will didn’t even need to get into the plane to help. He just stood outside and helped Tug, who was pulling at Wilfred’s seat. Tricia was holding Wilfred’s hand, trying to reassure him. He was saying nothing and looked very pale.
    “Come on, you bastard,” screamed Tug as he pulled at the back of the seat.
    Tug was sweating and Will noticed a few cuts and scrapes, but no serious injuries, apparently. Together, they pulled and Wilfred’s seat began to move. Slowly it began to inch backwards and eventually Wilfred was able to clamber out. He almost fell out of the plane and collapsed into Tricia’s arms.
    ‘My God, my God,” was all he said as he sat there on the ground with Tricia holding him.
    Tug jumped down and handed Will a rucksack. “Here, we’re going to need this, mate. Take it over there to the will you? Glad to see you’re back with us.”
    Will took the pack from Tug and walked slowly in the direction Tug had nodded. He felt like he was experiencing everything through a bubble; it was as if he was standing just beside his own body, watching what was going on. Memories started to pop back into his head. The plane had crashed into a village or small town. He remembered the trees giving way to houses and then...then he remembered waking up on the plane, still in his seat. Mark had been shouting at him, but he hadn’t heard a word. He touched his head and recalled that he had scrambled out of the plane with Mark. Claire and Kelly had already been out of the plane before he had collapsed. He must have passed out. He recalled seeing Tricia and a moment ago, Josef. Had he seen Suzy? He couldn’t think. Where was she?
    Will saw Kelly sitting on a low stone wall in front of a decrepit cottage and hurried over to her. His mind was now firing on all cylinders and he dropped the bag at her feet.
    “ Are you okay? Where is she? Where’s Suzy?”
    Before Kelly could answer, he heard the reply.
    “I’m here, Will, I’m fine.”
    Suzy appeared from behind him and he grabbed her, thanking God silently that she was alive. He held her out and looked her up and down. Her legs were already showing some nasty bruises and dirt streaked across her face, but she was looking up at him with bright, lively eyes.
    “Are you okay?” she asked him tenderly.
    “ I think so. How are you? Is everyone all right?” Will kept a tight hold of Suzy’s hand and turned to Kelly. She was holding a piece of cloth to the back of her head and grimacing.
    “It’s a god damned miracle, if you ask me,” said Kelly. She felt like someone had taken a hammer to the back of her head and she took a quick glance at the bloodied cloth before reapplying it to the back of her head. She needed to keep pressure on, let the wound heal and the blood clot. “Now that Wilfred is out, everyone is off the plane. I think Claire might have broken her arm, but apart from that, it appears we’ve suffered nothing more than cuts and bruises. Rasmus is wrapping her arm up now. He is remarkably fine, all things considered. Just a bump on his head, but otherwise...fine. Thank God, you got Josef up. I was just about to go over there myself but...Mark helped me off the plane. I think something whacked me when we landed. I don’t know, I was out of it for a while. Mark’s been trying to figure out where we are.”
    “ Holy cow,” said Suzy under her breath. “Here, let me see that.” She took the cloth from Kelly and examined the back of her head, parting the hair so she could see the cut. “You might have a concussion, you know. You’re going to have to take it easy.”
    Kelly pressed the cloth ba ck on her head and winced. The bleeding was stopping, but Suzy was right. Who knew how