“Ghouls” his sobbed reply stole the breath from Victor’s lungs, and for a moment, the bearded man felt his legs threaten to buckle, a deep unfathomable pain opening up inside him like the worst indigestion, stretching his heart.
His fears had been right.
He had left two more children to die.
Victor blinked as the hot tears stung his cheek, mingling with the ice cold touch of the rain and he turned his head, meeting the haunted gaze of Bella as she stood watching him, her face pale.
“What the fuck was that?” Alice rose to her feet suddenly, Brandon joining her, the pair moving quickly to stand in the gap between Victor and Bella as they stood staring off down the road.
He heard it then, a deep guttural snarl and moaning emanating from the swirling mist, his blood running cold as he realised its source.
“Ghouls” Brandon sobbed once more, his eyes turning to meet the gaze of Victor and grimacing, the former priest grasped him by the arm and began propelling him towards the van, aware of Bella and Alice running beside them, cursing.
In moments they were inside the rear of the van, Brandon wincing in dread as she saw Freddy and Bethany, until Victor manoeuvred him to sit down against the tool rack, “Stay here OK”
“Ghouls” Brandon repeated, turning to nod at a terrified looking Freddy, his fear gone, “Ghouls!”
Grimacing, Victor moved back to stand behind the seat of Alice, watching as the two women locked their doors, the voice of Bella grim as she glanced into the rear, “With any luck they will walk straight past the van”
Time seemed to stand still as the trio stared out through the windscreen into the grey of the day, the mist and rain giving the moorland an almost ethereal atmosphere, then suddenly the ghouls were there, shambling into sight down the road towards the van, and Victor grimaced, his voice a grim whisper, “Don’t move…don’t speak…the ghouls are coming”
Chapter Forty Six
“Get out of my way!” Lauren’s voice was fierce as she pointed a finger at Doctor Green, her head shaking as she stared at him as he stood before her in the heavy rain, “I need to find Brandon!”
The silver haired man shook his head, hands raised before him as he held her gaze, his glasses as covered with rain as Lauren’s, “This isn’t safe!”
“Listen to him, love!” Valerie urged from slightly behind her, and turning her head, the nurse met the gaze of the farmers wife, seeing the concern on her features as she continued, “This weather is awful…the track up is going to be all slush! You won’t get the ambulance down there in this!”
“So what?” Lauren threw her hands up in the air, her head shaking as she turned to study those that were standing about her; Jiyaa standing beside her, hands clasped to her face in concern, the large figure of the farmer beside his wife as the pair stood near the front door of their home, the brother and sister standing watching intently from the doorway, their feud momentarily forgotten, the girl holding the dog with the broken leg in her arms, a hand stroking its head.
For a moment she let her gaze drift over them all and then she turned back to face Valerie, “Are you suggesting that I just leave him out there in this weather? He is severely autistic…he isn’t allowed to roam around the hospital on his own let alone unfamiliar moorland in a storm with a pack of fucking ghouls chasing him!”
“No-one is saying just leave him out there” the deep voice of Robert stated, the farmer shaking his head as he took a step forwards, “But if you get stuck out there trying to save him what then? Who are we sending out to rescue you?”
Lauren grimaced, knowing he was right but also knowing that the blame for Brandon being lost on the moorland and at risk was hers to bear.
A shaky breath escaped her as she pictured the ghouls as she had last seen them snarling in excitement as they had given chase, nausea washing over her as she recalled the fear in the scream that Brandon had given before fleeing.
He must be so scared and confused by all this.
Was he still alive?
Had the young autistic man somehow managed to evade the horde of ghouls that they had seen chasing him through the rain and into the mist?
Or was he now dead, torn to pieces by them?
She felt herself grow dizzy at the sudden thought, and she closed her eyes, tilting her head back so that the cold raindrops fell upon her features, sending chills coursing through her lean body.
Then with a heavy sigh, she nodded, turning to smile sadly at Jiyaa, and then the others, “I’m sorry OK…I am just worried about him…this is all my fault…I don’t know what to do”
“Come on, lass” Robert nodded at her, “Come back inside the house and we can discuss what’s to be done to get that lad back here safely”
“A cup of tea is what’s needed” Valerie gave a nod, gesturing for her to come back into the house and smiling sadly Lauren nodded at her.
“That sounds good”
Shoulders slumping, she took several steps towards the house, returning a smile at Jiyaa as the woman turned to her, gently squeezing one of Lauren’s arms, “Come on, my friend”
The nurse nodded, watching as Valerie entered the house, her large husband hobbling in behind her, and then she turned, watching as Doctor Green caught up with them, the silver-haired physician wincing as he met her gaze, “I am sorry for stopping you getting in the ambulance, my dear, you understand my reasons?”
Lauren nodded, knowing that he was being sincere, “Yeah, you are a good man Doctor, I am really sorry”
“Oh?” he raised an eyebrow, chuckling softly as she stopped walking and he turned to look back at her, “What for?”
Without another word, she spun on her heel on the muddy ground before the farmhouse, her arms pumping beside her sides as she sprinted for the now undefended ambulance, the gasps of shock from the doctor and Jiyaa loud behind her.
She reached the vehicle in a matter of seconds, dragging open the drivers door before locking it behind her before leaning over to lock the passenger door too, her head shaking as the figures of Doctor Green and Jiyaa suddenly appeared before the ambulance, calling to her.
Grimacing, she reached down for the keys that she had left in the vehicle after parking it there that morning after Dog and Bella had driven to the nearby village, sliding them into the ignition.
With a rumble, the engine came to life, and deliberately avoiding the gaze of the kindly doctor and the gentle Jiyaa, Lauren put the ambulance in first gear and reached down to remove the handbrake only to freeze. She had been intending to drive forward and turn around in front of the farm but she knew that if she even attempted it one of the small group would try and get in front of the vehicle to stop her, and as much as she wanted to save Brandon she knew she wouldn’t hurt a single one of these people.
Grimacing, she pushed in the clutch, shifting the gear stick into reverse and then removed the hand brake, her left foot rising as she pushed down on the accelerator with her right, letting the vehicle gently roll backwards under control.
For several metres everything was fine, Lauren using the wing mirrors to angle her drive back down the track, forcing herself to not think about the drop on the passenger side, and then she winced as the drivers side of the ambulance crunched, metal scraping as she failed to turn the wheel enough to avoid the rocks in the cliff face.
She cursed as her wing mirror was knocked off, smashed from its position by a jagged rock that jutted out from the rise on her side of the vehicle, her stomach knotting in dread as she felt the ambulance tip towards the passenger side.
Heart in her mouth she braked hard, slamming the ambulance into first gear as she tried to move forwards once more, cursing aloud as the vehicle started to move and then stopped as if caught.
Grimacing, she turned to stare back up the slope, realising that she had driven about a quarter of the way down it, then flicked on the headlights, and the windscreen wipers to clear her vision.
Halfway between the ambulance and the top o
f the rise, Doctor Green and Jiyaa were hurrying forwards, and as she watched the physician almost slipped in the wet mud, only barely righting himself before continuing onwards.
They stopped short of the ambulance, their hands raising to shield their eyes from the bright light of the headlights, and sighing, Lauren switched them off and tried to open her door only to curse as she realised the rocky wall was stopping it from opening more than two inches.
Gritting her teeth, the nurse shifted across the seat, over the gearstick and onto the passenger seat, her right hand opening the door wide.
She cursed as she saw the drop to the moorland below just a foot away from her door, and carefully leaned out, a quick glance towards the back of the ambulance showing that the angle she was parked had left the vehicle on the edge of the drop with no way to walk past at all.
“What have you done?” Doctor Green was suddenly beside the front of the ambulance on the passenger side, one hand gripping to the bonnet as if he feared falling over the drop.
“I know, I know” Lauren stepped from the ambulance and closed the door, her head shaking as she met the gaze of the physician and the Indian woman, “I fucked up…I understand!”
He nodded and winced, not pushing the issue when he quite easily could and would have been well within his rights. Instead, he gestured for her to move around the front of the ambulance, smiling sadly, “Come on, what’s done is done”
She winced, angry at herself, then turned to stare down past the ambulance as the sound of a vehicle came to them through the downpour, her brow furrowing as she saw a white van making its way up the muddy track towards them all, its headlights cutting through the mist, her voice thick with confusion, “Who the fuck is that?”
Chapter Forty Seven
It had taken what felt like an hour for all of the ghouls to make their way to the white van, though in truth it had been just a few minutes.
Trapped within its metallic walls, the six occupants stayed as still and silent as they could, especially Alice and Bella, sat in plain sight as they were up in the front of the vehicle, faces downcast, and Victor stood in the shadows of the rear, watching his pair of friends in dread.
Like before, the ghouls seemed unable to focus upon stationary objects yet all it would take was one quick movement or loud sound, and the ghouls would tear the van apart to get to those hiding within, their strength far beyond human.
So, they waited in silence, the two up front frozen like statues while Brandon sat sobbing quietly, hands over his face, and Victor and Freddy exchanged nervous glances while the black-haired Bethany now sat up beside the latter.
Worried that the young man was going to give them away, Victor moved to drop into a crouch before Brandon, smiling as the autistic man glanced up and then the former priest placed a finger to his lips. For a moment, the young black man studied him without moving, then he gave a nod, a finger rising to his own lips in reply.
Smiling, Victor rose to his feet once more and then glanced forward as in the front, Alice gave a heavy sigh, her voice barely audible and she leaned to look in her wing mirror, “They’ve gone…the last one is about ten feet past the van”
“Thank fuck” Victor muttered, “Can we go?”
“Not yet” the voice of Bella was grim, “We need to let them get into the mist and then we can drive off…the farm is only a minute or two down this road…if they follow us now they will follow us back to the farmhouse”
Grimacing, Victor swallowed the sudden wave of dread that washed through him as he considered her words and the implications they carried.
The farmhouse.
Brandon had not yet told them anything about it, nor why he had been running through the rain pursued by ghouls but it didn’t look good at all.
Fighting a wave of grief that rose within him, Victor met the gaze of Bella and nodded, seeing on her face that she was thinking the same thing.
“Whath the fucking point” the bitter voice of Bethany sounded in the back of the van and cringing at how loud she had spoken, Victor spun to face her, a finger rising to his lips to hush her but she sneered at him, the blood beneath her broken nose and on her lips crusted and dried, “I couldn’t give a fuck…everything’s gone to shit…we are all fucked…”
“Bethany!” the young male teacher sat beside her winced in dread and she turned to fix him with a glare from her bruised eyes, her head shaking.
“Oh, fuck you, you vile little prick!”
He blinked, head shaking, “What…I thought…”
“Oh fuck off” she gave a bitter, pained chuckle.
“Will you both shut the fuck up!” Bella turned to hiss at them through clenched teeth, “I am not fucking around…shut the fuck up now!”
“Fuck…you!” the voice of Bethany was loud, her feet turning to kick wildly at the back doors of the van, the sudden metallic din deafening.
“Bitch!” Bella snarled, and cursing, Victor moved to her side, desperately trying to restrain her.
“Get off me!” she screamed, her voice shrill as she struggled, “Freddy help me, I love you!”
“Leave her alone!” the young teacher was suddenly grasping at Victor, hands trying to drag him off the woman, clearly having forgotten her words to him just moments before, and cursing, Victor snapped his head back into the face of the other, throwing him back to the floor of the van.
“Oh my God!” the voice of Alice from the front was thick with terror, “Drive…fucking drive!”
Grimacing, Victor pushed himself away from the black-haired woman and rose, watching as Freddy crawled to embrace her, his nose now bleeding just like hers had been minutes before.
Grimacing, he studied the pair in silence and then raised his eyes to stare out through the dirty windows in the back doors of the white van, his blood running cold as he saw the horde of ghouls shambling quickly back towards the van, no doubt drawn by the noise the woman had made.
“Fuck!” Bella turned the key in the ignition, the engine rumbling but refusing to fire just like it had done back on the street where they had found it, and then the van suddenly shook as something struck it hard from behind, one of the windows in the rear shattering with the impact.
Instantly Brandon was screaming in terror, hands hugging to his knees and as Alice turned to try and calm him, there was another loud crash against the van, the vehicle suddenly beginning to rock as the ghouls began to jostle it, the sound of their snarls loud through the broken window.
“Start you mother fu…” Bella’s curse turned to a roar of triumph as the engine snarled into life, and the van was suddenly moving forwards, hurtling down the road through the heavy rain.
Holding on to the back of Alice’s chair, Victor stared out through the windows in the doors, feeling sick with dread as she saw the ghouls begin to follow them, several breaking into a run.
“Go on, floor it!” Victor grimaced, his eyes locked to the ghouls as they slowly became dots in the distance, as he addressed Bella, “Maybe we can lose them in the mist!”
His words trailed off as the van suddenly began to slow and grimacing, he turned to stare at her as she stopped, “What’s the matter?”
“We are here” her voice was thick with dread, a hand gesturing out of the window beside her to point at the side track which led off and upwards.
“Oh fuck” Victor turned away from her, staring out through the rear windows as she began to drive once more, steering the van onto the winding muddy track that led up the farmhouse.
“What the fuck is going on there?” the voice of Alice was confused, a grunt of surprise from Bella following it, and sighing in dread, Victor turned once more to the front, his eyes widening as he saw the ambulance a quarter of the way down the track but leaning to the side slightly, several figures standing beyond the front of the vehicle.
“Oh my God” the words escaped him in a rush as they pulled up behind the ambulance and parked, tears stinging his grey eyes as he realised that it was Lauren, Jiyaa and D
octor Green standing in the rain studying their approach in confusion.
They were alive, which might mean that the children, Eric and Emily were alive as well.
Even before Bella had stopped the van, he slid the side door open and leaned out, heedless of the drop below as he clung on to the van with one hand and raised the other in greeting, raw emotion coursing through him as he saw how happy they were to see him and the others.
For a moment, Lauren vanished inside the side of the ambulance but then the rear doors swung open and she jumped down, hurrying towards them as Bella parked the van, her eyes widening behind her glasses as she saw Alice in the vehicle.
Without a word, the brown-haired embalmer opened her door and stepped out, the pair of them throwing their arms about each other as they hugged, and stepping down from the rear of the van, Victor watched as they stepped apart, the nurse shaking her head, “I thought you’d gone home…I don’t understand”
“There was a problem” Alice’s voice was grim, her head shaking, “Marcus, the porter we rescued at the hospital…he changed, he became a ghoul…”
Lauren paled, head shaking, “Geri?”
“Dead” Alice told her simply, “He killed her, he nearly killed me…then this morning these two found me…I’ve been with them all day”
“She’s lucky we found her” Bella stated coming around the front of the van, smiling grimly at the nurse, “If she’d been out there any longer…”
Lauren nodded at Bella, then reached out to squeeze one of Alice’s arms once more as she smiled only for the expression changed to one of grief, head shaking as the former soldier pointed at the ambulance, “What happened here?”
“I have lost Brandon…we had an argument…he ran off, I was trying to reverse the ambulance out but I’ve got it stuck…”
“Hey” Victor called out to her, a hand gesturing into the van beside him, and as Lauren turned to look in his direction, he helped Brandon emerge from the vehicle, “Look who we ran in to!”
Ghoul: The Beginning Page 28
