The Hunted by Charlie Higson

This is the sixth book in "The Enemies" series.  We get to see what life is like in the English countryside for the first time since the series began.  Kids have set up fortified places to live in places like Ascot and Windsor.

They do scavenging supply runs as their London counterparts do, but the zombies are less dense out there.  

Our heroine this time around is Ella. At the end of the last novel she had struck out into the countryside with a small group.  They were attacked and presumed dead or dying in a nightmarish middle of the night attack in a resort hotel.

Here she has been taken in by a frightening figure who acts like a zombie, looks like a zombie, but is somehow her protector.

He never speaks, often does not respond in any way.  He has a farm set with traps and snares to keep everything out.  She settles into a strange life with him providing for her.

Their odd existence unravels when a group of scavenging kids come to the farm.  Ella welcomes them because she is so glad of normal conversation, and kids her age.  

From the group they learn that masses of zombies are moving through the countryside heading towards London.  A massive herd of them passes through the farm, destroying everything.

Ella has a chance to go to a settlement, but chooses to stay behind with her protector.

Everything is set up for a return to London and a final battle between children and the zombies.  These are published in England a year before we get them here. Each time I finish one I say I'm going to order it from Amazon UK so I don't have to wait.  Maybe I will crack this time!