Chapter Three

Wandering the eerie, dark pier, which only had the lamp lights on, emitting a low glow, Claire shivered into Faye sideways to huddle for warmth. Both girls were in wet suits to go in the ocean, but they were short on the arms and legs, exposing their skin to the bitter cold air.

"What do we do now?" Poppy asked, nervously glancing at Leo who was pressing Haofang's wet jacket against his bite. The salty water stung, but Leo could only grit his teeth and follow listlessly.

They were all soaking wet from the sea, but fresh drops of sweat dripped down Leo's forehead.

"There's a first aid station ahead where Haofang can treat Leo's wound," Daichi replied, glancing at his Glock, relieved that the salt water shouldn't affect its efficiency.

Jerry had sounded in trouble on the other end of the radio earlier, he could only pray the old man made it to safety after they spoke. Thankfully, the guard gave him, who was assigned to people not places, the master code to get through anywhere.

The pier was called Pleasure Pier and had a long and rectangular shape. It was fenced in, coming from the North Wing. The rides were on the end over the water, whilst game stalls, food stalls, a gift shop, toilets, and a first aid station were over the sand and land leading to the ground floor arcades, shops, and restaurants.

All of which were thankfully closed and only monitored by a skeleton staff of guards.

So long the fence remained and the North Wing's exits remained intact, the young miss and her friends would be safe. Still, Daichi and Haofang kept their Glocks out, on guard, too shaken at how fast the kids on the beach had gone crazy, tearing their friends to shreds.

Traumatized by the world falling apart, the seven youths and two guards made their way silently through to the tiny first aid station. It had only a treatment room, an office, a supply cupboard, and a toilet.

Daichi opened the supply cupboard and grabbed towels to pass to the youths.

"Thanks, Daichi," Faye smiled faintly, wrapping herself in the snuggly white warmth, "don't forget yourself."

Nodding, Daichi wrapped a small towel around Haofang's shoulders. Since Haofang was an ex-army combat medic, he took it upon himself to search for medical supplies to tend to Leo's wound.

Grabbing one for himself, he tried to get through to Jerry again, but instead, another voice answered. He walked away from the youths to the office to talk, mentally preparing himself for the news he had expected.

Jerry had been attacked just before talking to him, what Daichi did not know was he was attacked by another zombie guard straight after.

"Is Leo going to be okay?" Laura asked Haofang.

Nervously she peered over, then twisted her face in disgust at the wound. When she tripped on the sand, Leo turned back for her, getting a bite on his arm, before Haofang shot the zombie dead. She owed both men her life.

"Nothing to worry about," Haofang smiled warmly, but Faye noticed a cold look in his eyes. They had all seen what had happened to Sophie who had been bitten by Alex.

Emir was pacing the small room, running a hand through his long brown hair with stress. "Everybody is dead, Aanya is dead," he punched the wall in frustration, then after repeatedly punching it a few times he collapsed to the floor.

Poppy rushed over, stroking his back and talking to him in a low soothing tone. Aanya had been his girlfriend and the girls had all been helping him plan out a romantic proposal just the other day. It was understandable to see him in such a broken state.

Faye felt at a loss on what to do. Seeing Daichi return, she anxiously turned to him.

"What did they say?"

None of the youths had their mobile phones and the guards' phones had been rendered useless by the water. All they had was the thankfully waterproof radio that only linked to the hotel security guards.

"What happened to us, happened inside too, but they all have guns, so don't worry Miss Fraizer, someone will come soon, we just need to wait."

Faye already knew from the screams and gunfire coming from the hotel, that this event wasn't restricted to just their group. Hundreds of theories ran through her mind, but the pandemic was the largest contender for the cause behind this freak event.

Alex had been a bit under the weather before she came into the ocean. At the time, he ironically joked that he wasn't dying. He excused it as 'just jetlag' because he and Sophie had only arrived in Australia earlier that day and hadn't slept yet.

If only he had gone to bed instead...

Shaking her head, Faye refused to let herself fall down the rabbit hole. He had come, despite being unwell, and over half of the friend's group and some of their bodyguards were now all dead.

Claire was leaning against her from the chair beside hers, "I'm hungry, wifey," she whined, looking rather pitiful and lifeless.

"Wifey will provide," Faye smacked her legs, before rising and looking around the first aid station's office.

There was a small kitchenette (two cupboards, one sink, a mini fridge, and a kettle) in the office. She could only find coffee, tea, creamer, sugar, and some biscuits.

Thinking it over, it was winter and it was night, plus they'd been in the ocean, so she made everybody a cup of tea with creamer and sugar.

Leo was unconscious when she returned, with Emir and Laura arguing over kicking Leo out of the first aid station. Poppy was between the two, stopping Laura from physically hitting him.

"If you toss him outside he'll die," Laura waved her arms dramatically, "why don't you fuck off outside if you're so scared? You have your own two feet, go, fuck off."

Before Emir could reply, Faye set down the tray of mugs and biscuits in her hand.

"Shut up and drink the damn tea or I'll kill you before the zombies get a fucking chance."

Faye was not one to swear, interrupt or argue. Like Poppy she often found herself the calm mediator between arguing friends, never taking sides or forming opinions.

So seeing her do all three things at once, both Laura and Emir zipped their lips and walked away from each other.

"Where's the food wifey?" Claire asked, greedily taking a mug to feel the steam hit her face.

"I only found some biscuits, do you want the chocolate ones?" Faye asked gently, her former shrewish behavior a distant memory.

"If you loved me, you wouldn't need to ask," Claire pulled another pitiful face, then took a sip, burning her tongue.

"Blow on it," Faye sighed like a doting parent, making Daichi wonder if the two were just friends or lovers.

"How long do you think we'll be in here?" Faye asked, blowing on her own mug of tea.

"Not long, the young master and my boss are on their way down from the North Wing office," Daichi explained, "there are only security guards in the building, so I'd say any minute now they'll get here."

Faye sat down, her aching muscles relaxing as she took a small drink, the hot liquid pooling in her stomach was like a soft caress to her heart. As Grandma always said, nothing helps soothe the mind better than a hot cup of tea.

Once the tea was all drunk and the two packets of biscuits were all gone, nobody had arrived.

Daichi attempted to get through to the others on the radio but had no response. Just when they began to give up hope, there was a reply in Mandarin.

Faye vaguely heard that the young master was unwell and they needed to hold their position for a bit longer.

"We're gonna need more food," Faye spoke up once Daichi had finished speaking to the men.

"The code I used to get in here is the master code, Boss said we can go and use whatever we need," Daichi stood up, dropping the radio and towel onto his chair.

"Okay, I'll go with as a pack mule," Faye offered, knowing Daichi would need hands free to use his gun. Seeing Claire also get up to join, Faye pressed her back down by the shoulder, "Claire stay here, you know first aid so can assist Haofang, David, you up for coming with?"

David, the eldest of them, who had just completed a Master's Degree in Computer Science, had been silently breaking into the doctor's computer.

Looking up with a sheepish grin, he paused the silent live stream filled with carnage on the screen, "Sure."

"We could do with one more... Emir, Laura, Poppy?" More hands made lighter work, but it was also noisier.

"I'll go," Emir offered. Laura let out a rather audible sigh of relief returning to Leo's side.

"Laura, Poppy, can one of you wash the mugs and refill the kettle, I'll want another cuppa when I get back," Faye smiled, then cast a curious glance at Leo who still slept on the treatment bed. Haofang had a Glock, so if the worst happened after she left...

"Get me plenty of chocolate," Claire interjected from behind, she was wiping the sweat from Leo's face, whilst Haofang began stitching the wound. He had been waiting for the Young Master Zhao to do it, but now they weren't coming he had to clumsily do it himself.

"Stay out of trouble," Faye nodded and followed Daichi outside.

Back outside in the chilly, night air, wearing only a thin, black wetsuit, Faye glanced at the stalls and stores around them.

Daichi raised a finger to his lips, to remind the youths to remain silent, then walked towards the gift store. It had both clothing and high-calorie snacks, which is what they needed most right now.

Once inside, they began filling the reusable tote bags from behind the counter, with all the snacks. Faye, feeling the cold, designated herself to pick from the merch t-shirts for them all to wear.

"All done?" She asked, after layering three t-shirts over her wetsuit, looking a little silly. In her hand were a few T-shirts in David and Emir's medium size, "It's cold and zombie's teeth hurt."

The two boys didn't argue, putting a few layers of T-shirts on themselves. Daichi stripped out of his wet, white shirt and jacket to put on some himself, but they were rather tight-fitting on his muscles giving a humorous appearance.

On the way out, she grabbed the bucket of baseball bats to walk awkwardly, like a waddling penguin, onward.

At the door, Emir opened it, letting Daichi go first to ensure it was clear.

David went next since he carried heavy bags of drinks. Daichi quickly followed to go to the corner so he could see them all as Faye was in the middle and Emir in the rear.

Noticing Daichi swiftly aiming his gun toward them, Faye squatted on the ground holding the bucket and totes of T-shirts.

A security guard had come from around the corner and pounced at Emir, who carried bags of snacks. He took the rear as his bags were light compared to the rest.

Daichi was unable to fire, due to Emir being in the way. Both bodies tumbled to the ground.

Letting go of the bucket and bags, Faye grabbed a wooden bat tightly and ran over to separate them.

Despite being barefoot, Faye saw an opportunity and kicked the guard in the ribs with enough force that Emir was finally able to push him off.

As the guard moved, his hands grabbed Faye's exposed leg, digging the nails painfully under the skin.

The pain forced Faye to wince and almost bite her tongue whilst swallowing her scream.

Emir scrambled backward to get up onto his feet as the zombie guard went onto the floor, still holding onto Faye's leg. She tumbled forward, on top of the guard, dropping the bat.

The sound of it hitting the floor and rolling away brought an unmeasurable fear to Faye's heart.

Teeth sunk into her leg, making it impossible for her to continue holding back her scream. Emir grabbed the bat off the floor and went to swing it, but a bullet fired faster, lodging right into the guard's brain.

"Miss Fraizer," Daichi called out, running over with a flustered David behind him.

"I'm good, I'm good," Faye muttered in disbelief. The pain had been unlike anything she had experienced before. The damn jaws were still digging into her even after the zombie's death.

Daichi had to pull the jaw to unclamp him, before taking off his top T-shirt to wrap tightly around her wound. After which, he helped her to her feet.

"Can you walk?" David asked, nervously looking into the darkness behind them, "All that noise will have any others coming here, we need to move quickly."

"Miss get on," Daichi bent down indicating for her to climb on his back.

"I can walk," Faye refused, testing her foot on the deck and clenching her jaw through the pain. With difficulty, she reached for the clothes and went for the bucket.

"Leave that for me," Emir interrupted, juggling to hold the bucket alongside the snacks.

Instead of going slow and quiet, the four only living souls outside on the pier, rushed back to the first aid station, hearing shuffling and a moan in the distance.

"You're hurt," Claire rushed over, taking and tossing the bags of clothes in Faye's hand. Carefully, she guided her to the second and only empty treatment bed.

"Just a small bite," Faye shrugged Claire off, feeling idiotic for the extremely doting treatment. When it came to caring for her loved ones she went above and beyond, but if they tried to do the same, she only uncomfortably pushed them away.

Daichi quickly picked her up from behind, ignoring her protest, to place her firmly on the bed, "Fang ge, take a look at her quick."

"You're fussing worse than my Grandma," Faye rolled her eyes, though her heart was tearing in two in her chest. She was doomed to the same fate as Leo, to become one of the undead.

Glancing at the Glock attached to Daichi, she noticed Haofang frowning at her, "Leo is doing just fine, you'll be fine too, don't make stupid conjectures from all those damn movies you watch Miss Fraizer."

These men were the guards assigned to her over the last four summers, she knew them well. When she was in Britain they were part of the resort's security team, which the hotel used as a service to only 'elite' guests.

The guards who protected her grandparents were from the government. Since they could not send them to guard others, her grandmother would ask her friend's help for the grandkids during their stay.

Due to their parent's background, running a global pharmaceutical company, the kids were always at risk. There had already been one kidnapping event from her youth, which made the elders force this protection regardless of her wishes.

"If I die, shoot me in the head, don't wait, don't let me turn okay?" Faye pleaded desperately at Haofang, knowing he was the weakest-minded of the two, so most likely to cave to her pleas.

"It could be cured later though Miss," Haofang's face twisted as he finished prepping the supplies to treat her leg.

"If I'm dead, I'm dead, even if I'm moving around eating people, I'm still dead," Faye exhaustedly went on, despite the fever clouding her mind. "You can't cure people from being dead!"