Chapter 14 The Great Escape: Part Two

Daisy and James had the bottles of potion ready as three bedraggled figures, struggling against the wind, emerged into the clearing. They staggered, silhouetted against the burning mansion behind them, their clothing ripped and covered in blood splatter.

"Tim!" Daisy screamed. "Hurry! There's only a minute to go!" She held out their two bottles through the wide bars of the fence.

"Henry!" Yelled James, stretching his own arm through the divide to offer the final bottle. Henry grabbed it, ripped the lid off and was gulping it down within a matter of seconds. Tim took the bottles from Daisy and handed one to Mike. Mike fumbled with the lid with his uncoordinated, injured hands. Tim reached out to help him but, before he could grab it, the bottle tumbled out of Mike's hands, smashing on the ground at his feet.

"Shit!" Daisy and James cried in unison. Tim did not hesitate long enough even to blink.

"You can share mine!" He unscrewed the lid from his own bottle. "I'll hold it for you."

"Timmy!" Mike protested. "Can't take yours!"

"I didn't go through all this to leave you behind, now drink! That's an order!" Intimidation seemed to work and Mike opened his mouth obediently.

"Thirty seconds!" Daisy yelled. "You have to have drunk it before three forty-eight!"

Tim held the bottle carefully, concentrating fully on tipping it at exactly the right angle to allow Mike to slowly swallow it down without spilling any or choking.

"Shit, more of them are coming!" James was pointing into the woods. Daisy glanced up in the direction he was indicating. Moaning, lumbering shadows were slipping out of the darkness surrounding the clearing as zombies tried to escape the burning estate.

"Twenty seconds!" She called to the boys.

"Start reciting the spell!" James urged. Daisy looked at him in a blind panic.

"I... can't remember..."

James dived into his backpack and produced Henry's copy of 'Malevolent Sugar'.

"I brought it, just in case!"

"It says it has to be recited, not read!" Daisy countered.

"Just remind yourself of the first line! Then you'll be fine! You can do this, Daisy!" He was holding out the book, open at the relevant page, marked with a fluorescent post it note. She reread the words, determined to recall them perfectly.

"Ten seconds!" James called. Mike pulled back from Tim's now half full bottle.

"Rest's yours."

"You're bigger than me, you'll need more!" Tim insisted. Mike shook his head, lips pressed tightly together. "MIKE, DO IT!" Tim screamed furiously. "Or I swear I'll pour it on the fucking ground!" Mike accepted the bottle again, tears running from his tightly shut eyes.

"Five seconds!" James called.

"Oh noble spirits of darkness, let you see light!" Daisy began, shouting loud and clear over the snarling wind. "We do your bidding this special night!".

She forced herself not to deviate from casting the spell, though she could not take her eyes off Tim.

"Let your power be in mercy, and not in fear!"

"Three seconds!"

Tim pulled the bottle from Mike's lips.

"Let those be free whom we hold dear!"

"Two!" He knocked back the potion like a shot of tequila.

"One!"

Tim was still gulping and swallowing frantically when a deafening crack signalled the end of the spell casting window and a hot, paralysing light flooded the clearing. Thick, dusty smoke descended, surrounding them instantly, making it impossible to see more than a few centimetres. Daisy instinctively cowered away and felt James' arms going around her. She hid her face in his chest as the smoke swirled and the light buzzed and the hurricane roared around them.

Then just as suddenly, silence. Darkness. The air so still it would not lift a feather. Daisy tentatively raised her head and looked around to see the smoke and dust drifting softly to the ground. As it cleared, the figures of Tim and Mike materialised, holding onto one another, each of them with their heads bowed to protect their faces in the neck of the other. Daisy watched, not daring to speak, as they slowly looked up at each other. Tim smiled at Mike. Daisy could see the flash of his white teeth in the moonlight. Then blue eyes looked at her, eyes she had thought she might never see again, and she realised she was crying. Mike was saying something to Tim, who turned back to him, nodding, grinning, reassuring, then pulled him into a hug again. The zombies at the edges of the clearing were very slowly regaining their dulled senses, a couple of them beginning to moan in despair.

"Is everyone alright? Henry?" James asked, looking worriedly at Henry, who would not lift his gaze from the ground.

"I don't know." Henry said quietly. "I never felt that different. Tim, can you look at my eyes please?" Tim gave Mike's shoulders a final squeeze then went to Henry.

"Look at me, mate." Tim said gently. "Ooooh you've got such lovely brown eyes!" He exclaimed in a ridiculously camp voice. Henry stared at him for a second, bewildered and unsure. "You're fine, Henry. You're human." Tim assured him with a smile. The tension in Henry's body dissipated so suddenly that he collapsed against Tim. They hugged each other and Tim patted him on the back.

"Er, Daisy? Do those others look friendly to you?" James asked, pointing at a couple of the zombies who were starting to shuffle towards the boys, growling and groaning.

"No!" She gulped. "Tim! Look out for the others!" He looked over his shoulder at the advancing pack of zombies.

"Shit." Tim was glancing around for a way out but there were so many of them, coming from every direction. They could sense human flesh. He was no longer one of them. He was food.

"We'll have to climb out!" He shouted to Daisy. "Go! Start Climbing!" He pushed Henry towards the fence. "Mike! Come on!" He ran back to Mike, whose injured legs were slowing him down, and helped him along. The snarling zombies were closing in around them, reaching out, almost close enough to catch them.

"Tim!" Daisy screamed. Colin leapt out of the rucksack and, in a frenzy of barking, went dashing through the pack, snapping at zombie ankles and distracting them from their slow pursuit of Tim and Mike.

"Colin!" Daisy screamed again.

As Tim and Mike reached the fence, Henry was already half way up it, and out of reach. Tim and Mike began climbing, Tim scurrying upwards like a squirrel on a tree trunk. He looked back, saw Mike struggling to get off the ground and jumped back down to assist him. He lifted Mike's legs, finding footholds for him to stand on, gradually moving him the first few feet off the ground. Colin was going mental behind him, charging at zombies, tearing chunks off any that got too near. But there were lots, and the pressure of numbers was forcing them closer and closer. Tim ignored what was happening behind him, focusing only on getting Mike up the fence in the most efficient manner possible. Colin was losing the fight.

"Tim! Start climbing!" Daisy screamed desperately. Tim stepped up onto the fence as a dead hand clawed down his back, tearing through the fabric of his t shirt. Colin scampered back through the bars of the fence and jumped into Daisy's waiting arms. Mike had managed to haul himself another foot higher, just out of reach of the zombie hoards. Tim scrambled up the fence but bloodied fingers were grabbing and dragging, pulling him down. A ghoulish face sunk its teeth into Tim's left shoe. Gripping the fence with both arms, Tim spun his body and hurled his legs out, kicking viciously at his attacker. He booted the zombie with such force, the head was torn from its soft neck. Tim's body crashed back against the fence but he ignored the pain of metal meeting flesh and climbed as fast as he could, up to safety, as a cacophony of distant sirens heralded the arrival of the emergency services. Holding on with one hand, Tim helped Mike over the top before clambering through the curls of barbed wire himself. He did not even notice the rips and tears the wire inflicted on his skin. Halfway down the other side, they jumped to the ground to avoid the wailing creatures reaching through the fence. Tim landed and rolled in one fluid movement that ended with him on his feet again. Henry and James helped Mike up while Daisy ran to Tim and threw herself into his arms, almost knocking him over with the force of her embrace. Tim laughed breathlessly and gripped her tight as they stumbled backwards.

"Woah there, Pickle." He grinned at her. "Everything's alright now."

Several police helicopters went low overhead as James and Henry hugged and kissed each other, watched by a surprised Mike.

"Didn't see that coming." He murmured to himself. His mouth dropped open, though, when he turned around to see Tim kissing Daisy, her hands on his blood covered cheeks, his arms wrapped around her.

"What the hell did I miss?" He looked from one couple to the other in shock. Tim looked at him, still holding Daisy in his arms.

"Don't worry, Mike, you'll always be my number one." He reassured. Mike smiled from ear to ear, like a child opening a Christmas present he really wanted.

"Don't tell Mike." Tim whispered in Daisy's ear. "But you're my number one too."

"Oh really? A person can have two number ones can they?"

Tim smirked cockily.

"I can."

Daisy could not help laughing. The relief and delight that it was all over was making her somewhat hysterical.

"Let's go home, shall we?" She giggled. "I could murder a cup of tea!"

Tim reached out his hand for Mike to take and Daisy held his other as the three of them set off across the field with Colin bounding along beside them.