“It was one of those hip bars. You go down some steps to get to it.”
“What were you doing skulking around in bars down dark alleys?”
“You’d be amazed at some of the places I went. This joint had the last stock of Golden Wonder tomato ketchup flavoured crisps left in the whole of Inverness.”
“I suppose you finished them all off?”
“Of course,” Wren said, trying to smile but wincing. She moved her hand up to her wound again.
They stopped at the end of the alley, and Robyn cased it for a few seconds before they headed to the bar. The other buildings mainly consisted of offices. There was an optician’s and travel agent but nothing that would compel someone to head along the narrow cobbled street unless they specifically knew about the once trendy nightspot.
Robyn withdrew her swords and slowly made her way down the steep staircase. Wren gripped the black wrought iron handrail tightly as she made her descent, remembering back to the months she had spent visiting the city and the many times she had dropped into this bar.
Robyn landed on the bottom step and pushed the door open. The lock had been jimmied a long time ago, but the door still opened and shut. It creaked as it swung inwards and she looked around the dim interior. She tapped loudly against the wood with one of her swords and waited for a few seconds. “All clear.”
Wren joined her. “Course it is. No self-respecting zombie would be found in a place like this.”
Small slivers of light passed through the frosted windows illuminating little more than the first row of tables. “Could you have picked somewhere a bit darker?”
“I’m guessing they didn’t have a big problem with blackouts in the past.”
“Okay. You sit down and take your jacket and top off, I’ll go and get some supplies to patch you up,” Robyn said, sliding the rucksacks from her shoulders and grabbing her torch.
Wren perched on one of the tables and carefully removed her jacket then her top. The whole area around the wound was covered in blood but less than she expected. She watched as Robyn disappeared behind the bar to the office suite, and Wren suddenly felt vulnerable, sitting there, naked from the waist up. She saw the handgun Robyn had taken protruding from one of the rucksacks. She picked it up, and looked at it carefully. Somehow it made her feel a little more secure. She heard a clatter and guiltily placed it into her backpack then sat back down, folding her arms across her chest.
Robyn re-emerged from the office behind the bar with the small torch between her teeth and a fresh white towel tucked under her arm. She grabbed a bottle from the display behind the cash till and headed back across to join her sister.
“Find anything good?”
Robyn placed the bottle and towel on the next table and took the torch out of her mouth. “I found what we needed. Okay,” she said, angling the beam towards her sister’s wound. I need you to lift your arm for me.”
Wren did as she was asked and Robyn took the torch, shining it from the ribcage next to Wren’s left breast, across to her left arm and back again. She grabbed her knife and opened the bottle of vodka, generously dousing the blade with the clear liquid before cutting the white towel into strips. She tore a square from the first strip and drenched it with the alcohol.
“Is it bad?” Wren asked.
“I can’t see properly. I need to clean it up to get a proper view. This is going to sting.” Robyn began to gently dab the wound with the piece of towel.
“Oww!”
“I told you it was going to sting.”
Wren grimaced as her sister continued. Robyn tore another square and soaked that in vodka too. With each moment the pain became a little less acute until, finally, Robyn stood back just holding the torch and looking.
“What? What is it?”
“You must be the luckiest cow alive.”
“What? Why?” Wren asked, desperately trying to angle her head to see the awkwardly positioned wound.
“The bullet passed between your rib and your arm. Don’t get me wrong, it took a little chunk of skin out of each, and I bet it’ll be as sore as hell for a while, but a couple of centimetres to the right and you’d have a holey boob a couple of centimetres to the left and you’d have a bullet stuck in your arm. The bleeding’s almost stopped already.”
Tears started streaming down Wren’s face. “I was so scared. I was trying to be brave, but I was so scared.”
Robyn wrapped her arms around her sister. “You were scared? I’ve never been so scared in my life. Now come on, I’m going to get you patched up, then we’ll sort that wound on your head and get you a couple of painkillers.”
Robyn quickly and efficiently bandaged the wounds. She cleaned the cut on Wren’s head too, and by the time she was finished, Wren suddenly felt a lot better. Whether it was the psychological effect of knowing the wounds were minor or the painkillers getting to work she didn’t know and didn’t care, but she was ready for whatever came next.
“Thanks, Bobbi.”
“You don’t need to thank me. We’re out here because of me, and the sooner we get back home the better.” A wide smile suddenly appeared on Wren’s face. “What are you smiling about?”
“You called it home.”
“Wren, wherever we end up, as long as we’re together it’s home.”
chapter 18
If it was any other situation, Robyn and Wren would have been getting as far away from the sound of the massive horde as possible. Right this minute, though, it was their only way to find out if Mila was still alive. They’d made good time, and now Wren knew that her wound was little more than a scratch, she insisted on carrying her own rucksack, although the twinges in her left arm precluded her from using both crossbows. However, if they came face-to-face with the horde, one crossbow or two would not make much of a difference.
“Okay, down here,” Wren said, turning right onto a narrow road. They carried on for fifty metres until it opened out into a small and badly kept car park. Faded white lines designated the parking spaces of the shop and flat owners who once parked their vehicles there. They walked up to a green door that, like the one at the bar, had been jimmied long ago.
“You were pretty busy with your crowbar, weren’t you?”
“You have no idea.”
“What are we going in here for exactly?”
“This is how we get to the street we want to see.”
“I’m no expert, but it still sounds like we’re quite a way off.”
“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
They both headed through the door, and Wren flicked the torch on as she pushed it closed again. They were in a cold, grey, narrow stairwell.
“This is pretty depressing.”
“I’m not asking you to move in; we’re just using it to get to the roof.”
“The roof?”
“Yeah. I told you; that’s how I made my way around the city, and this is one of my places.”
“What do you mean exactly by one of your places?”
“You’ll see soon enough.”
They made their way up the stairs, and it soon became obvious that they were not the only ones present. A familiar odour filled the stairwell, and the sisters looked at each other. “Is there another place we can use?”
“Remember, they’re more scared of you than you are of them.”
“You can say that as many times as you want, it doesn’t make it true.”
“Okay, how about this? Every second we waste makes it less likely that we’re going to get to Mila in time.”
Robyn gulped. “I suppose you’re right.” They continued up to the first landing, and they immediately saw movement on the edge of the torch beam. “Eek, eek.” First one then multiple high-pitched squeals came as a dozen giant rats scurried in different directions.
“Shit! Did you see the size of those things?”
“Err … you’re meant to be the one convincing me not to be scared.”
“Well, yeah. It’s just … crap
, they were really big, Bobbi.”
“Okay, on a helpfulness scale of one to ten you are like totally in minus figures right now. Can we just get out of here as quickly as we can, please?”
“Yeah, sorry.”
They made their way up the next flight with more haste as the squeals and pattering feet continued to echo up the stairwell.
“Jesus Christ!” screamed Robyn.
“What? What is it?” Wren cried, panning the torch around.
“Something the size of Shrek just ran over my bloody foot.”
“Don’t worry; we’ll be out of here in a minute.”
“Oh yeah. That makes all the difference. Now you’ve told me not to worry, I feel so much better.”
“Hey, I’m not exactly having a ball here either. Let’s just keep going.”
“I’m waiting for you to start moving.” Even in the dim light, Wren could see the fear in her sister’s eyes.
“It wasn’t like this the last time I was here.”
“Yeah, well, I’m guessing the whole neighbourhood’s changed since you were last here.”
“Just one more flight.” They ran up the final staircase two at a time until Wren pushed hard against the panic bar of the fire door. She wedged the door open with the red brick she had used dozens of times before and then they each sucked in lungfuls of air, but it was not as fresh as they had hoped. The stench from the massive decaying horde of creatures tainted it.
“So, where now?” Robyn asked.
Wren looked to the far side of the roof. A long aluminium ladder was laid out flat on the surface next to the safety railing. They both walked across and looked down to the empty street below. From their elevated position, the sound of the army of beasts was louder than ever, and for the first time since their journey began, they both grasped the true magnitude of what they were trying to do.
They remained there for a few seconds until Robyn broke the silence. “How do we do this?” she asked, looking down to the unwelcoming road and pavement below.
“Carefully.”
“Oh, right. I’m glad we cleared that up then.”
Wren slid the rucksack from her back and placed her crossbow inside. “You might want to put your bow down and maybe take your swords off. You don’t want anything snagging or it could get tricky pretty fast.”
“You’re not really selling this to me,” Robyn replied, putting down her bow and sliding her rucksack and scabbards off.
“It’ll be alright. I did this loads of times by myself.”
“After you’d just been shot?”
“You said so yourself. It’s just a scratch.”
“Yeah, but the bang on the head? I mean you could be concusted or something.”
“Err … the word’s concussed, Bobbi, and I feel fine.”
“Well, I suppose if you’re well enough to be a grammar bitch, you’re well enough for this.” They looked at one another and smiled warmly.
“Okay, give me a hand,” Wren said, walking to the end of the ladder that had the roof hooks fixed to it. They both lifted it until it was completely vertical and then carefully walked it into position against the safety rail. There was a small piece of rope attached to one of the lower rungs, which Wren tied around the railing.
“What now?”
“We let it drop across and hope we can stop it from bouncing off the railing on the other building and down to the street below.”
A nervous smile crept onto Robyn’s face. “You’re serious? That rope you tied around it. That should stop it if it bounces off, shouldn’t it?”
“I had a couple of close shaves, but I always managed to hold on. That rope is well and truly a last resort. I use it to secure the ladder into place when I’m climbing; I’ve never actually tested to see if it would take the full weight of it if it dropped.”
“That’s reassuring.” Robyn looked across towards the slightly taller building on the opposite side of the road. “No way will this work.”
“It will. You’ve just got to make sure you keep it as straight as you can and, whatever happens, don’t let go of the bottom rung when it starts tipping.”
“You’re really not joking?”
“No. Now, kneel down.” Robyn did as she was told, maintaining a firm grip on the frame. “Okay, on three, let go, let it tip forward and, like I say, whatever happens, don’t let go of the bottom rung. One, two, three.”
Robyn let go of the frame but gripped the bottom rung. The ladder slowly began to tip, pivoting on the safety rail, gradually picking up speed until the aluminium began to whistle and whoosh through the air. “Oh my God, oh my God, I’m going to lose my grip.”
“No, you’re not. Just hold on.”
“Wren!”
“Bobbi, hold on.”
There was a thunderous clatter and a bone-shaking vibration as it made contact with the safety railing on the other building. “Aaaggghhh!” Robyn fell back, completely unprepared for the force.
But Wren had done this plenty of times before. She knew what to expect and braced herself. A jolt of pain shot through her as she absorbed the initial wave. She grasped the ladder with both hands and her biceps tensed. “Aaarrrggghhh!” she screamed as her wound tore a little.
Robyn scrambled to her feet and reapplied pressure to the ladder as it bounced again but this time with less vigour. It finally came to rest, and she looked across to her sister, whose face was contorted into a pained grimace. “Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah. I’m great, thanks.”
“I’m so sorry. I thought I was ready for it, but then it just took me by surprise.”
“It’s okay.” Wren looked across to the other building then quickly undid the rope that she’d secured around one of the lower rungs. “You can let go now.” Robyn released the ladder and Wren dragged it towards her until the hooks on the other side looped around the sturdy safety railing. She gave it one final tug to make sure then retied the rope to secure it.
“This is like when we were trapped in that bank.”
“Exactly. That’s what gave me the idea. There were loads of supplies up for grabs in this city as long as I was smart about how to get them. The first couple of times I came in, I got out by the skin of my teeth. If it wasn’t the infected, it was Jax and his apes. Then I figured it out. I could set up a kind of causeway over the rooftops. I’d be the only one who knew how to navigate it. I’d be the only one who knew where each piece of the puzzle was. That’s why I had to go through this each time. If I left it all in place, others would soon know what I was up to.”
“You always were way too brainy by half.”
“Well, I didn’t have much of a choice. I either had to figure something out or I wouldn’t have lasted a week. It’s how I first met Mike.”
“Huh?”
“It was winter. He’d come in to find meds for his sister and got trapped. I’d been watching him from the rooftops for a while, trying to figure out if he was a good guy or if he was with Jax. Just as a load of those things were about to turn him into sushi, I threw a rope down. He barely got out in one piece.” Wren paused and took a deep breath then turned to look at Robyn. “I’m sorry I got angry earlier, but you were right. I have fallen for him. I’ve fallen for him in a big way,” she said sadly.
“But he’s with this older chick, this doctor?”
“Yeah, and she’s one of the nicest people you could possibly imagine. She’s looked out for me at every available opportunity.”
Robyn stepped towards her sister and hugged her tightly. “Well, look at it this way. If you didn’t save him that day, you wouldn’t have gone to Safe Haven. You wouldn’t have found Grandad and chances are I wouldn’t have found you. It’s a good thing you found him, Sis, and for all the pain you’re feeling now, you will get over him, and somewhere down the line, you’re going to meet someone who’s right for you.”
“Wow! That is like the Mummest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Don’t start that again. I m
ean it though, Wren.”
“Thanks, Bobbi.” She took a deep breath. “Well, unless you can think of any other conversations that can delay this a while longer, we’d better get across there.”
“Yeah, I was just trying to build up a bit more courage first,” she said, looking down again. “No way was the roof at that bank as high as this.”
“Maybe not, but there wouldn’t exactly have been a big difference in the outcome if we’d slipped.”
“I suppose. So, who’s going to go first?”
“I will if you like. Show you there’s nothing to worry about.” Wren walked across and grabbed her rucksack, immediately slipping it on her back. “Okay, see you on the other side.”
“Wait a minute.”
“What?”
“Give me another hug.”
The two embraced tightly again before Wren broke free and stepped back to look at her sister. “Are you okay? You’re starting to worry me.”
“Since we set off from Torridon, it’s not exactly been plain sailing, has it? We’ve been in a car crash, had a full-on battle with a gang of lowlifes, you’ve been shot, and now we’re about to do a tightrope walk across the rooftops of Inverness to get to an army of zombies, the size of which I can only guess from the noise is somewhere between massive and gargantuan. You’re worried? What do you think I am? I’m putting you through this for someone you’ve never met, who may or may not be dead.”
“I’ll say again, what I said earlier. This is my choice, and if this woman saved your life, if she let us be together again, then she deserves this. She deserves us making the effort to find out if she’s still alive at least. Now stop freaking out. We’re doing this, and we’re going to be fine.”
“Be careful.”
Wren climbed onto the ladder and slowly began to move across. The slight upward incline helped to take the focus away from the street below, and slowly memories of making past journeys across this same aluminium bridge came flooding back to her. She raised her head, keeping her eyes fixed on the opposite railing. Inch by inch, she shimmied across, controlling her breathing, keeping her composure every step of the way. Before she knew it, she was climbing down onto the roof on the other side.
The End of Everything | Book 8 | The End of Everything Page 15
