Surviving The Ravenous

by King, Christine

  Lance turned at the sound of Mark’s pain-filled yell.

  Mark kicked backward, knocking away his attacker and spilling further into the room. He fell heavily at our feet, blood spurting from the gaping wound on his neck. Lara screamed and as I ran forward, I saw an arrow fly from my right into the figure of the ravenous by the doorway. I didn’t even turn my head because I knew it was Jason who had fired. The ravenous went down, almost falling onto Mark. Lance rushed to Mark’s side, pulling off his coat and ripping the sleeve of his shirt; he used it to stem the flow of blood from the wound on Mark’s neck. Mark held the shirt sleeve in place and waved his hand urgently towards the door. There stumbling over the dead body of our unwanted visitor was three more ravenous. They tore at the corpse but finding it inedible they scanned the room, their heads tilted, listening for sounds. They sniffed the air and swayed towards Mark. Lance drew his sword and hacked at the figures, positioning himself between them and Mark. He almost beheaded the lead attacker, but the other two were closing in. Jason stepped forward and shot his bow again, taking out another one. “Shoot them!” he shouted at me, I raised my crossbow and as I looked towards the doorway, I saw another two entering. Lara was crouched low with her daggers at the ready. She didn’t look geared up to fight, she looked terrified. I stepped in front of her and aimed towards the door. I fired but my shot went wide. The sound made the two newcomers head towards Lara and me. I began to reload, but my torch was in the way, so I dropped it. As I fumbled with the arrows, the ravenous closed in. Suddenly Lara was at my side, she pushed an object into my hands, and I looked down trying to work out in the gloom what it was. It looked like a gun, I held it up and heard Lara shout. “It’s a water pistol, I picked them up at the garage and filled them at the pond, shoot it.” I aimed at the two ravenous, now just inches away. The water flew at them and they howled. Lara started shooting as well, and they backed off, trying to cover themselves. They hated the water. All at once, I realized how stupid we were all being and shouted at Jason, “Get out, get Mark into the snow.” Jason was loading his bow whilst Lance hacked at the ravenous still coming through the doorway. He looked at me as though I was mad, so I shouted again, “Get him outside, the snow is wet. They won’t follow.”

  Realization seemed to dawn on his face and suddenly Jason sprang into action, he scooped up Mark and threw him over his shoulder. The door to the outside stood no chance this time, as Jason kicked it down swiftly and ran outside with Mark. Lance backed towards us swinging his sword and we all turned and raced after Jason into the snow.

  The blizzard seemed to be over, but the ravenous wouldn’t come out of the building for fear of the surrounding slush. Lara sat packing ice onto Mark’s neck whilst I ripped up the rest of Lance’s shirt for bandages. Poor Lance was frozen but hadn’t hesitated to take off the remainder of his shirt for Mark’s wound. His jacket was still in the building, so Lara held him tight to try to warm him up. Jason passed him his coat and after a short protest Lance put it on. The ravenous could see us from the doorway and now and then one would try to walk out, but it would begin to howl and would push its way back inside. Jason wanted to stand there and pick them off, but Mark stopped him. There were too many of them and more seemed to be coming out of every room. We had been lucky that most of them seemed to have made their way upstairs and had trouble coming back down. I speculated that the reason they had gone upstairs was probably the owner of the light. Maybe they had been making noise. Whoever they were, they had almost certainly not expected the descent of hundreds of ravenous when the snow started. It was highly likely that they were dead. We began making our way back to the van, struggling through the darkness. Once we found the road and our poor broken van, we set up camp in the back and collected as much snow as we could in the containers we had brought along to catch any rainwater.

  Mark sat in the van insisting he wasn’t badly hurt and saying he could help, but Jason was firm and forced him to sit still and heal. Lara agreed with Jason, and as I watched him wrapping gauze and bandage around his throat, she brought him candy bars because she said she had seen people given sweet tea when they donated blood and that the sugar might help. She also brought him some tinned peas for vitamins, I almost laughed but realized she was doing her best and what did I have to offer that was better? Mark praised her for the water pistol idea, and I felt jealousy burn me, I looked at Lara and was ashamed of myself; she glowed like a little kid being given praise by her dad. Jason and Lance headed up the dirt paths nearby, scouting around for a new vehicle, and Lara chattered away about the farm she had grown up on in Germany and her father’s tractors. At one point she looked all thoughtful and said, “We passed some farmhouses. Will they have real guns in like my dad used to have?”

  Mark and I exchanged a look and Mark asked, “Do you know how to shoot a gun, Lara?”

  Lara smiled in a far-off kind of way, nodding, “Me and dad used to go target shooting all the time”.

  Mark got up suddenly. “I think we should go into a farmhouse and see if we can get ourselves a gun,” he exclaimed excitedly. “If Lara can shoot it, we can really protect ourselves.” Lara squealed ecstatically, “Oh, I’d feel so much safer with a gun.” Enthusiasm came off her in waves. I didn’t say too much as I wasn’t sure that Lara with a gun was an outstanding idea, but it was better than her having no protection. When the other two returned empty-handed Mark told them the plan, we would head to the nearest farm, one near a lake or stream and find a gun; we would also look for a new truck. We could make sure the place was secure first and then get as much ammo as we could and get out. Jason was very excited about Lara knowing guns and again I felt jealous. I had to get a grip. Lance looked very proud of his girlfriend and suggested we find an army base to get some serious firepower, but Mark stopped him mid-idea. “No good Lance, army bases might have bunkers and although we want to find survivors, there is no telling how a bunch of highly trained army dudes will react to us barging in and trying to steal their guns, they could be a bunch of muscle-bound morons. They might even kill us to have fewer mouths to feed. No, we can’t go rushing into heavily armed places.” Lance looked disappointed and Mark seemed to want to cheer him up, “But an excellent idea,” he continued in an interested tone. “Once we have some guns and maybe a few more people, it’s a place we will want to consider visiting. But not until we know we can handle what we find.”

  Lance nodded in agreement, and I noticed the way he had lit up when Mark had said it was an excellent idea. Mark was the kind of guy you wanted to please and the kind you wanted to follow.

  We decided to drive a little way on, as no one wanted to be near the power station if the snow suddenly melted; not far down the road we came across a large truck. Jason scouted around and after declaring it safe, we all went to have a look. It had no keys, but our mechanical wiz Lara hot-wired it, and again I felt useless. Everyone praised her skill with vehicles, but she shrugged it off saying, “If when you were little you had to fix trucks and tractors every time they broke down, you could do it too.”

  We loaded the new truck, piled in, and after a debate on fuel economy versus freezing, we decided that we would turn on the heating vents in the back. Mark worked out shifts, and we all took turns to sleep in the truck, just a few hours each to be refreshed while the rest of the group kept watch. I don’t know about the others, but I didn’t sleep well, the thought of the ravenous still so close was terrifying and I would have slept better if the truck had been moving but the night was uneventful. At one point, Lara got out a small camping stove, and we ate partially heated tinned potatoes and macaroni cheese, washed down with a few cans of coke. In the morning we all ate dried cereal and talked of full English breakfasts and hot buttered toast. We gathered our stuff and noticed the snow was almost gone, with a final look back at the old truck we continued our journey to the castle; Lara and I now in the front with me driving.

  Mark lay in the back, patched up and wincing every time the van went over a bump. He kep
t apologising to Jason for losing the bow he had given him. Jason didn’t seem bothered and kept telling Mark not to worry as it had been a bit of a girl’s bow anyway with all the strings and pulleys and that he would get him a proper man’s bow next time we stopped. I pulled into the driveway of a large farm, the last of the snow crunching under the tires; it had a partially frozen pond by the open gate and a stream running nearby. Jason had spotted it through the small windows in the back of the truck, and Mark had agreed that it was a perfect place to search for a gun. The door and windows looked intact, which boded well. We climbed out of the van, telling Mark to stay put. He protested, but after Jason gave him a look; he caved in.

  Lara passed Mark her daggers saying, “Take these to protect yourself, I don’t need them anymore, I’m getting a gun!” Mark took the knives and put them on his lap. “Thanks, I’ll use the walky-talky if anything comes along.”

  We started to walk towards the main house, and that’s when we heard the music. It seemed to be coming from the back of the property; it was loud and thumping.

  Jason loaded his bow, and I followed suit. Lance unsheathed his sword and with Lara behind us we crept up to the front door. It wasn’t locked and swung open at Jason’s touch. We walked into the front porch. Lance and Jason went first, Lance in the lead. I followed with Lara close behind me.

  Lance whispered something to Jason, and they moved towards a door at the end of the passageway. It seemed to be where the loud music was coming from. Turning the handle quietly, Lance pushed the door open. The music hit us along with the smell of smoke, drugs, and alcohol. A young lad in his early teens passed by the open door and stopped, shocked, looking at Lance with his mouth open. Lance lowered the sword, but I noticed Jason didn’t lower his weapon, so I kept mine loaded but dropped the tip slightly to look less threatening. The lad seemed to recover, and a huge goofy grin took over his face. I thought Jason would shoot him there and then as he looked so much like a ravenous with spaced-out eyes with a wide smile. “Hello, welcome!” He shouted over the music. He raised his arm and moved forward as if to embrace Lance. Lance backed into Jason.

  “Hi, we are… we were looking for shelter.” Lance mumbled. I realised he didn’t want to tell this drugged-up youth our actual plans. Suddenly two more youths appeared, young girls in tiny tops and shorts they could have been no older than fourteen, but they were dressed like they were about to go out hooking for the night. My initial thought was blimey they must be cold. But looking at their eyes it became obvious that the drugged-up drunken haze that they were staring at the world through probably stopped them feeling much of anything.

  Jason’s eyes almost popped out of his head. The two girls grabbed Lance by the arm, giggling hysterically and dragged him into the room. I noticed Jason lowering his bow and running a hand through his cropped hair. He followed them into the room. So, I tagged along, feeling reluctant to unload my weapon just yet. The girls wandered over to a huge sofa and pulled Lance onto it. He sheathed his sword and sat down. I looked around for Lara’s reaction, but she wasn’t behind me anymore. I wasn’t sure if I should make the others aware of her disappearance as she may have gone back to the van to warn Mark of the unexpected youths; if I made a scene, I could give away her and Mark to these potheads, and right now I didn’t trust any of them. I edged towards Jason, hoping to tell him quietly and maybe sneak out and see where she was. But Jason was being hijacked by an older girl dressed in something made of leather who had wandered into the living room from an adjacent kitchen area. I could see other people in there; they were bending at the counters and seemed to be interested in something off to the side. Plucking up some courage, I turned to the teenager behind us, who was now chugging from a bottle. “Who are you?” I asked politely. The youth offered me the beer. “I’m Alistair,” he said, slurring his name. “Fancy a swig?” I shook my head, turning away. Looking around at the kids drinking and smoking, I felt like an old woman. I wanted to turn down the music and tell them of the horrors of lung cancer and addiction. Jason was now sitting with the pretty girl in leather and trying to talk to her while she seemed intent on kissing him. I felt my hackles rise, and it was all I could do not to shoot her in the head and pretend I thought she was ravenous.

  To distract myself, I looked back at Alistair, “How have you got electricity?”

  He looked confused by my question, his face scrunched up in the effort of thinking, and then he smiled and mumbled, “Solar panels.” I nodded, returning his smile, and tried again. “How many of you are there?” Alistair looked irritated by my question; he huffed and shook his head. Then looking dazed, he shrugged me away and staggered off towards the kitchen. Lance seemed to be having trouble with his young girls who were trying desperately to get him to take a drag of the roll-up they were smoking.

  I looked on, not sure if I was amused or disgusted, Jason appeared at my side, “Where’s Lara?” he asked. I shook my head, “She’s gone back to Mark, I think.” Jason looked out into the passageway, concerned. An adolescent girl half-dressed came running in and a young guy came after her. Both of them were laughing, and they fell onto the sofa Jason had just been sat on. I noticed the girl who had first grabbed Jason was now on the floor, a bottle to her lips and that the couple who had run in were getting less and less dressed on that sofa. Jason looked away and noticing the gathering of people in the kitchen, he headed that way. I followed, checking my bow was still ready to be fired. As Jason walked into the room, he asked loudly and with authority who was in charge. No one answered, they just laughed and carried on drinking. There was a smell of drugs in the air. Jason tried to ask some guys a few questions but got answers like ‘You’re bringing me down, dude’ and ‘Who knows! Fancy a spliff?’ Jason didn’t look impressed. Suddenly a young guy reached out, and I felt his hands on my shirt buttons trying to undo them. I pushed him away. “What the hell are you doing?” I shouted, feeling the urge to cover myself, as Jason moved protectively in front of me. “Back off,” he snarled and pushed the youth back. The guy looked affronted but not afraid. “Hey, share and share alike,” he half moaned, scratching his head and almost falling onto Jason. Jason pushed him again, raising his bow. “The lady is not interested.”

  A guy behind me suddenly grabbed my arms. “What’s all this hostility?” he asked, spinning me around. “Don’t you know we are all that’s left in this world, which means we are gods!” he shouted the last word and a ragged cheer went up in the kitchen. I raised my crossbow to his eye level. “I bet you still die like a jacked-up junkie,” I said loudly and watched it sink in. The youth backed off, blinking his eyes rapidly and looking affronted. Then the little guy who had first touched me started shouting, “You should all get out.” As he yelled, he was almost crying. “You are not invited to the party.” Jason backed towards the door. “Don’t worry, we are going,” he replied. Lance appeared in the doorway, seeing us with our bows ready he unsheathed his sword. “I can’t find Lara,” he said, panic making his voice sound unnaturally high.

  Jason backed out of the kitchen and into the front room. “If any of you drugged up arseholes have hurt her…”

  I backed out as well, and then I heard a crash behind me. I looked and saw that one of the girls had smashed what looked like a vase over Jason’s head; she stood looking at him dreamily as he lay on the floor. I couldn’t swing my bow around because a few of the guys in the kitchen were following me out. “Lance,” I shouted, but he was in the corridor calling Lara’s name. The girl picked up a heavy-looking paperweight and brought it down on Jason’s head. “Oh God, Lance, get in here,” I almost screamed; Lance ran back in, and seeing the scene, he picked up the girl and threw her across the room. She sprang back up, almost as oblivious to the pain as a ravenous. Lance swung his sword and stood back to back with me. I looked down at Jason, his head was bleeding badly, it had started to pool on the wooden floor, and he wasn’t moving. “I can’t drop my bow to get to him,” I said, feeling tears in my eyes.

  “I
f I lower the sword, she might attack,” Lance answered, signalling the girl stood with the heavy object still clutched in her fist. I shook my head to stop the tears blurring my vision. “We can’t leave him here. What the hell have they done with Lara?” The pack in front of me seemed to sense my fear and upset, and they advanced. “You can’t shoot us all, darling,” one said, his eyes roaming my body. I swung the crossbow around to face the teenager who had spoken; this was getting out of hand. “Look this is silly,” I almost pleaded. “We are all survivors; we should work together. Not trying to kill each other.”

  Alistair looked up from his beer, his eyes met mine and they were cold and glassed over. “We don’t need you lot, we have a house, alcohol, and music. Mother nature has even supplied a way to keep our beer cold,” he gestured towards the melting snow outside the window. “We want to party, and you want to hurt people, you should go.” I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, we should go, let us find our friend and we are out of here, we need to take him too; he is wounded.” I nodded my head towards Jason. The girl that had originally accosted Jason stepped forward wailing like a baby, “No I want that one, he has to stay.” I shook my head and tried to reason with her, “He’s hurt, do you see the blood?” All the time I tried to keep my voice calm, “We need to take him outside, to help him.” The youths spilling out of the kitchen edged forward; I had no alternative but to move back. Jason was still bleeding and had not moved all the time we were talking. I panicked, was he dead? We couldn’t leave him, but I didn’t feel safe lowering my bow with all the jeering blokes in front of me. I decided I had to do something and lowered my weapon. “I’m going to pick up Jason, find our other friend, and leave.” Slowly I bent down to check Jason’s wound as I did so the guys rushed towards me and Lance spun round to defend us. The girl behind us ran forward snarling, raising the paperweight and screaming obscenities, suddenly there was a loud bang and the girl dropped to the floor.