Rick growled and pointed his finger, but he let his arm drop and tried to make sense of what he had heard. “Huh?”
“Your brother told me to let you out. He wants to leave before it gets dark.”
“What? How long have I been out? What’s happened? He was dead set against leaving.”
“You’ve been out less than three hours, Rick, but a lot has changed. Come on, I’ll show you.”
Daniel opened the garage door and let Rick step through. It was still light outside, but the chill in the air told him it was getting late. “Where is he, Daniel? Where’s Keith?”
“Still inside, but wait…”
Rick marched across the gravel driveway towards the house, hands clenched in anticipation of what he would do to his brother. Instinctively, he glanced back over his shoulder at the gate.
But the gate was clear. The road deserted.
Rick stopped so quickly that he tripped and stumbled. By the time he had recovered, Daniel had caught up to him. “They left about an hour ago,” he explained. “Just dispersed suddenly.”
“What? Why?”
“Diane has been checking the web. According to some newspaper in Slough, the demons have assembled into three main armies. Your brother thinks the demons were recalled to go join their buddies.”
“So we’re safe?”
“Your brother thinks so.”
“But you don’t?”
Daniel shrugged. “Maybe, but if we are, then why be in such a hurry to leave? Why not wait a while until we know for sure that all is well?”
Rick nodded. “You’re right. It could be a trap.”
“I know you wanted to leave, Rick, but that was when you knew the demons were crowded around your front gate. Now, we don’t have any idea where they’re lurking.”
Rick thought about it. “We should all stay put. There could even be help on the way.”
“And there’s your problem. Your brother has everybody getting ready to make for the south coast. The nearest demon army is north, so he thinks it will be plain sailing all the way down. Ironic, actually, that he’s pretty much following the plan you laid out.”
Rick looked once again at the gate. Everything Maddy had said was true; they couldn’t stay trapped inside forever, but he had a bad feeling about leaving now. The demons were smart, not mindless monsters. The black haired corpse wanted them all dead. It was personal. Would he just up and leave so suddenly?
Rick decided. “I’m staying here, Daniel, and you’re welcome to join me.”
“What about your brother?”
“He can leave if he wants. I couldn’t care less, to tell you the truth. He’s always been a shit, but to do this…” He pointed at the wide gash on his forehead. “Fuck him.”
“The others will leave with him.”
“So?”
Daniel sighed. “Come on, Rick. You really want a young girl like Diane out there in danger? Maddy and Steve are both good people. They’re just a bit lost and following the loudest voice in the room—your brother’s.”
“What could I do, even if I wanted to? Maddy wants to go home.”
“Yeah, she does, but I think she’d rather do it later, and with friends.”
“I’m not her friend.”
“Rick, all of us are friends now, whether we like it or not. We have mutual enemies, and all we have is each other. You let your brother leave with the others, and you’ll be regretting it this time tomorrow. The television has already stopped, and the phones are working less and less. How long before the lights and water die? You want to be alone when that happens? We need to stick together and stay alive. Your brother has the first part down, but I worry he’s going to fall on his ass regarding the second.”
Rick said nothing else because he was still thinking things through. He went inside the house and found everyone huddled inside the kitchen. They were packing up supplies into a bunch of holdalls that belonged to him.
Keith smiled when he saw his brother. “Rick? I’m glad you’re okay. I’m sorry for what I was forced to do, but good news: We can leave now, just like you wanted.”
“It’s too risky to leave right now. We all need to stay put a little while longer.”
Maddy was the first to argue. “Rick, I told you how bad things will get if we stay here. We have to go while there’s a chance. The demons are gone.”
“But why?” asked Rick. “Why have they suddenly left?”
“Because there are armies forming up and they were called upon to head north. Diane found out all about it.”
Rick shook his head and shrugged. “Called by whom? We can’t be sure of anything right now. You wanted to stay so badly earlier, I can’t believe you’re being so stubborn about leaving. You don’t know why they left; admit it.”
Keith leaned back against the counter and grunted. “Maybe they’re telepathic and received orders. Only thing we know for sure is that they’re gone, and we have an opportunity to make a break for it. This is a good thing, Rick. If I hadn’t subdued you, then you might have been caught right in the middle of them as they left. I saved your life.”
The sudden burst of anger was so sudden that Rick snarled like a dog. “You saved my life? Are you kidding? You smashed a bottle over my head like a fucking savage. Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I’m your big brother, and I’m trying to look after you and everybody else here.”
“Who the hell asked you to?”
“Nobody. It’s a burden I’ve taken on for myself.”
Rick unclenched his fists and tried to calm down. “Look, Keith, if you want to leave, fine, but I’m staying. I suggest everyone else does the same. There’s nothing to tell us that this isn’t all a big trap. The demons can’t get inside because of the iron bars, so they’ve thought of a way to get us out instead. I’m staying here until I know more.”
“Me, too,” said Maddy, moving over to Rick’s side. “He’s right. We could walk right into a trap. Let’s wait until tomorrow and make sure the coast really is clear.”
Keith slammed his hand down on the counter. “If we don’t leave now, there might not be another chance. Do you people not understand what’s going on? There’s a war. We can’t just lie around here hoping help will come. We need to help ourselves.”
“I agree,” said Steve.
Diane nodded. “Me too.”
“And I’m with Rick and Maddy,” said Daniel. “So that splits us in two.”
There was silence while everyone waited for someone to change their mind, but no one did. Maddy had already taken off her backpack and sat down on a stool.
Keith shoved a bottle of water into a holdall and pulled the zip closed. “That’s fine,” he said. “We go our separate ways. When I find help, I’ll send it to come get you. Hopefully, you’ll still be alive.”
“Don’t do this, Keith,” Rick pleaded. His head was still thudding, but he didn’t want to see his brother make a mistake.
“I’m sorry I had to hit you, Rick. I was trying to save your life, but it seems there’s no helping you.” He shouldered the bag and shoved his way out of the kitchen. Diane hurried after him. Steve was a little slower in following and first stopped to speak with Rick before leaving. “Your brother is an arsehole, but I want out of here. It’s safe, so I’m going, but I want to say that it took backbone to stay calm after what your brother did to you. I would have smashed his face in. You’re a better man than he is. Thanks for letting me stay at your house.”
Maddy pulled up a stool for Rick. “They’re not leaving for twenty minutes,” she said. “Might still change their minds.”
“They won’t, but why did you?”
She shrugged. “I keep thinking about my husband, and who he would want me to tag along with. He would want me to be safe, and I feel safest around you. You did come and try to save me outside the pub after all.”
“Yeah, but it was Keith who came out and rescued us in the end.”
Daniel chuckled from the c
orner of the kitchen. “I suppose it’s the thought that counts.”
Maddy chuckled too. “It mainly comes down to me not trusting a man who can smash a bottle over his own brother’s head. I’d rather follow a good guy to my death, than a bad man like your brother. It was different when we were all leaving, but if it comes down to you or Keith, I choose you. Because my husband would have chosen you.”
Rick put his hand out to grab Maddy’s, which was placed on the counter, but he ended up hovering over it awkwardly. Maddy helped him out by standing up and giving him a quick hug. “You, me, and Daniel will have to think about leaving soon ourselves. If your brother gets out safely, we might end up chasing after him.”
“I hope so,” Rick admitted. “I hope I’m wrong and the demons really have all gone north.”
Maddy nodded and exited the kitchen, leaving Rick and Daniel alone together. “You still sure you want to stay now that everyone is splitting up, Daniel?”
“I’d rather we all stay together, but at least you convinced Maddy to stay. Three is better than two. Plus, if it was just us two dudes hanging around together, it would be weird.”
“Huh, you still think my brother is walking into a trap?”
“I do, yeah. Diane said the demons were forming up in three big armies, but she also said that there were smaller bands dotted around causing havoc. Your brother doesn’t seem concerned about that though. Me, I think that black haired demon has unfinished business here.”
“I can’t make the others stay, Daniel.”
“I know, but at least you tried. God likes a trier. Idle hands and all that.”
“You really think there’s a God? How can you?”
“How can I not? In the presence of demons, one cannot possibly deny the existence of God.”
Rick rubbed at his throbbing head, loosing several flakes of dried blood. “Then why isn’t He helping us?”
“Maybe he was caught as unawares as everybody else. Maybe backup’s on its way. Maybe you should pray.”
“If I live another day, I just might start. Feel like it would be easier to lay down and die right now.”
Daniel went to the fridge. The water had gone into the holdalls, so he was left with nothing to snatch up but a couple beers. He handed one to Rick.
Rick shook his head. “If I start drinking now, I won’t stop.”
Daniel took the beer back and broke the tab. “I hear you, pal. There was a time I let myself get carried away with things that were bad for me. Learned a little self-control since. It’s never too late for a man to start changing.”
“Not sure if I believe that. With Keith around, I’ve realised that I’m no different than when I was a kid.”
Daniel took a swig of beer before placing the bottle down on the counter. “You’ve changed since I met you. The guy I met wanted to bury his head in the sand and go sit in the corner and drink himself asleep while everyone else did what needed to be done. The man you are now marched into this kitchen and spoke up for what he believes in, then sat down and refused a beer. You’re not a little kid anymore, Rick. Your father’s long gone, and your brother’s a tit. That pop career you lament so badly can finally be put behind you. The world has changed, and so have you. You have a new cross to bear now, and it’s called: keeping everyone around you alive. Even if you don’t see it, people gravitate towards you. That will be important in the days to come. God needs leaders.”
Rick smirked. “That religious stuff never quite left you, did it, Daniel?”
“None of us ever loses the Lord, we just sometimes forget that he’s there. Believe me, though, Rick, he never forgets about us.”
Rick got up from his stool. “We should see the others off.”
They went into the entrance hallway and found that the front door was open. Noise came from outside. Keith was busy backing Rick’s Mustang up the driveway and away from the gate. Maddy, Steven, and Diane stood by, watching, so Rick and Daniel went and joined them.
“When we leave here, Rick,” Maddy told him. “I want to drive your car.”
“Be my guest. I was always too scared to put my foot down anyway.”
Keith parked the Mustang and got out. Then he went and got into his Range Rover, which he reversed out of the way of the gate as well. It felt like taking the safety chain off a front door during a dark and stormy night.
Keith got out of his car once it was parked and marched back towards the house. “I need the padlock key, Rick.”
Rick sighed. “Sure I can’t talk you out of this?”
“I’ve made up my mind. The only chance we have is to leave now.”
“I was talking to Steven and Diane.”
“Sorry, Rick,” said Steven. “I can’t stick around while there’s a chance to find help.”
“Me too,” said Diane. “The Internet said the coast is safe, so that’s where we need to go. There’s a gate too close to here. If more demons come through, we’ll end up trapped again.”
Rick pictured the gate in Crapstone and wondered if anything was coming through right now. Were there a limited number of demons, or would they continue to pour through forever? Did the Army have any idea of how to close them? Was it even possible?
“Okay,” he said with an air of finality. “I’ll open the gate for you all.”
He walked down the pebble driveway while Keith and the others got in the Range Rover. When he reached the gate he peered through the bars. The coast certainly did seem clear, but the road was too quiet. The cottages down the road were quiet, and trees obscured the farmland further along. There might not be a person alive for ten square miles, or there could be a thousand people dotted around, hiding in houses or in the woods. There was no way of telling what the world was like beyond the driveway.
Rick pulled the padlock around so that he could insert the key, and then unlocked it. Holding his breath, he took one last look through the bars, expecting demons to spring forth from the trees, but none did. The rev of the Range Rover’s engine jarred him, and he swung the gate open without further hesitation. It felt like stepping in front of a speeding train.
But nothing came.
Keith’s Range Rover crept forwards and almost shunted Rick out of the way. Tradition took him, and he lifted his hand to wave his former housemates goodbye, but Keith kept his eyes pointing forwards. The tinted rear windows kept Steven and Diane from view.
The Range Rover passed through the gate, turned into the road, and sped away.
They were gone.
Maddy and Daniel came up beside Rick. Daniel spoke. “You think we can get that gate closed again, pal?”
Rick took a hold of the gate and began to close it, but stopped when there was an almighty crash.
Maddy’s eyes went wide as she looked at Rick. “Jesus! What the hell was that?”
Rick held the padlock in one hand and the key in the other. He thought about putting the two together and going back inside, but he already knew he couldn’t. “Keith’s crashed the car. The demons never left. It was a trap.”
As if to confirm his suspicions, a group of corpses burst from the tree line on the other side of the road and sprinted towards the gate. One of them threw itself at the gate before Rick had chance to fully close it. It struck the iron bars and shunted Rick backwards. His ankle twisted in the gravel and he fell down onto his rump.
Daniel leapt forward and kicked the gate closed, but the demon was half inside and became trapped between the bars. Its skin began to smoke and burn until it squealed in agony and withdrew. Maddy ran up and helped Daniel keep the gate closed until Rick could get back to his feet and insert the key in the lock. His hands were shaking so much that it took him several attempts to get the gate secure, but once he had, the three of them leapt back towards the house.
The dead men and women threw themselves against the gate, even as the iron burned their flesh. They were angrier than before, snarling and hammering at the bars, like angry gorillas.
“They’re pissed off,
” said Daniel. “They had a chance to kill us, and they failed. Maybe they have a boss they’re going to have to answer to.”
“The son-of-a-bitch with the black hair,” said Rick.
Maddy looked around. “Then where is he?”
Rick remembered the sound of his brother’s Range Rover crashing. “He’s wherever Keith and the others are. We have to go rescue them.”
Daniel looked at him like he was mad. “Are you serious?”
Rick nodded firmly. “You said your God needs leaders. Well, I’m leading. We grab whatever weapons we can and we go out there. I’m done hiding.”
Maddy tried to stop him as he marched into the house and into the living room. “Rick, we can’t go out there. They’ll tear us to pieces.”
“Why? Because they’re monsters?”
“Well, yeah.”
“So we should just lay down and die? They aren’t monsters—we’ve seen them die. If all we do is cower away, waiting for someone to rescue us, then we’re all screwed. They’ll pick us off one by one. We need to fight back. In the pub, we fought back and won.”
“Sarah died,” said Maddy. “So did lots of other people.”
Rick nodded. “But so did lots of demons. I’m going to get my brother. He’s a complete and utter shit, but he saved my life. I don’t want to owe him anything.”
“Your mind is made up?” said Daniel, standing next to the couch.
“Yes.”
“Then I suggest we put all that booze in your kitchen to good use.”
“You want to get pissed?” Maddy asked.
Daniel grinned. “Oh, I’m already pissed, darlin’, but I wasn’t thinking about having a drink. Let me show you some of the things I learned after I left the church.”
Within ten minutes, the kitchen counter had been transformed into an armoury. A row of spirits—whiskey, tequila, and vodka—sat with dishcloths stuffed into their neck. Keith had taken the iron poker with him, but Maddy had found an old field hockey stick. Daniel had fastened a long chef’s knife to the end of a broom handle, producing a makeshift spear. Rick, himself, clutched the long stem of an antique brass lamp he kept in the conservatory.
Hell On Earth Box Set | Books 1-6 Page 23
